Saturday, April 25, 2009

Thanks Bo!

I’m a great fan of Deezer. I can listen to whatever music I want at anytime without breaking any laws. I love remembering names from the past and typing them in to see what comes up. Recently I’ve been listening to a lot of Bobbie Gentry. Do you remember her? Pretty, slim with lots of black eye makeup and long back-combed hair. She takes me back to the late 60s, early 70s, her show was on TV every week, I watched religiously with my mum and sisters.

At school, our geography teacher couldn’t understand why, for the first time ever, the entire class could spell Mississippi. My best friend and I who were the eldest in our families dreamt of Bobbie as an ideal older sister. Where did Bobbie go? That is a mystery equal to that of the object thrown from the Tallahatchie Bridge…

If you read the Wikapedia entry for Bobbie Gentry, take a moment to move to the discussion page.

I’ve chosen a video of her singing Fancy. A reminder of how the role of women has changed in the last 40 years.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Info

Jo has decided to make her blog Brilliantgirlgenius by invitation only. I you were a regular reader and would like to have access to her blog email her at revolutioninmyhead(at)gmail(dot)com or me at the address on the right hand side just under my picture and I’ll forward your email to her. If you are shy you can always check out some of your sister’s blogs in my list.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

A disappointing book

The most disappointing book I ever read was The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens. I remember watching a BBC dramatisation of the story as a child and being terrified of Daniel Quilp.

If I were Nell, I’d have dumped my grandfather in the nearest poor house. He was pathetic and lets face it he gambled away his own granddaughter’s virtue. The best character by far in the book was the villain Quilp. Having said that, the pages of the book which cover the part of their journey through the industrial Midlands is a must. Hell on earth. An interesting documentation which I’ve heard quoted by historians at least twice.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

A couple of quotes

I’m a great fan of the Daily Literary Quote which I have on the first page of my iGoogle. Everyday there are wonderful, quotable quotes from writers of all nationalities. A little while ago there was a quote from Yevgeny Yevtushenko, a Russian poet:

“Translation is like a woman, if she is beautiful, she is not faithful; if she is faithful, she is not beautiful.”

Having struggled with translations myself, I know how painfully true that can be. A few days later another quote, this time by the French poet Paul Verlaine:

“Baiser ! Rose trémière au jardin des caresses. - To kiss ! Hollyhock in the garden of caresses”

See what I mean? A rose trémière sounds so much more romantic than a hollyhock!