If any of my more ordinary 'followers' or 'friends' have the slightest inclination towards self-improvement they will get over to http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/blogon/ the on-line Saatchi magazine, to see, on the front page - no clicking required- a video of dozens of famous portraits of beautiful women morphed into one 'shot'. And this over one of the Bach Suites for un-accompanied cello. (If the musical credit is wrong please don't tell me, my memory is in serious decline after 12 years in this god-forsaken land of the gods that is modern Greece.)
Seriously, please do this for me if you can, and don't dare trying to find my miserable page in this wonderful Gallery. After about 15 years to hear this music again, suddenly and without warning, was like meeting one of my daughters in person as she was at the age of 5, still bubbling over with affection and wonder.
Does anyone remember the old Lyle's Golden Syrup logo with the picture of the stinking corpse of a lion in which bees had made a nest, and were presumably making honey? Just occured to me thinking of a great gallery with the name Saatchi over it. Don't know why.
I needed a quite good night's sleep after blundering into a site by some people who believe that UFO sightings are proof, yes proof of vehicles of extra-terrestials - that they mean us no harm - that they are deliberately restraining from making actual contact with us until they have established the sanity or whatever (I forget) of earthlings. I hope they are good at holding their breath.
There is no earthling alive who more wants to believe that beings from another system have found this most beautiful of planets, and will one day make a landing, having learnt the language or actually conscripted a few lucky humans to introduce them in the flesh. Just one point. If, as some people want us to believe, ETs have been intelligent enough to subduct, re-educate, and return people without tangible, physical, evidence in a plastic shopping bag with the name of their planet on it, then they are (un)intelligent enough to land and mingle happily, especially with Americans...
Who, after all, are by a very long chalk the only ones on earth with minds open enough to embrace visitors from elsewhere, and with the facilities to deal with the PR. Another thing, ETs will not attempt to improve our morality, teach any new virtues or anything, not if they know what happened to Jesus. Right?
I am still being serious when I point out that enough is known about the universe, about the certainty of millions, yes millions of galaxies like our 'milky way' ('gala' = milk) where the non-occurence of hundreds of thousands of planetary systems just like ours is statistically almost impossible. Sorry about the sentance. There are just too many suns the same size as ours, and debris of all the materials it takes to create planets like ours floating around in space, for the earth to be unique. Sadly, light, and electro-magnetic stuff is all that can travel between galaxies. There are better sites than this to learn about astronomy, art or music, but one does what one must.
That is indeed one of the Bach Suites for Unaccompanied Cello (or it's a Dotzauer rip off), it's hard to tell sometimes; I had to play the one right before it for my Grade 8 conservatory exam, a long, long time ago. :( The accompanying visuals are extraordinary.
ReplyDeleteAs much as I too hope that life on other planets exists and has a hankering to meet us, I'm always reminded of Douglas Adams' brilliant line on the subject;
"The surest sign that there's INTELLIGENT life on other planets is that none of it has tried to contact us."
I miss Doug.
Julian, I have condemned you to 'Friend for Life' purely on the basis of your having caressed a cello, and not long ago too. Don't worry, as sentences go it is bound to be short compared with what you deserve.
ReplyDeletePlease tell me about Douglas Adams, sounds my sort of bloke. I am probably moving to Wordpress. Keep in touch. Bob
Please tell me you're joking about Adams! The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy? The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul? The man who inspired me to try and fly (and was indirectly responsible for more than a few breaks and scrapes) with one simple line of prose; "...there is an art to flying, or rather a knack. The knack lies in flinging oneself violently at the ground and missing."
ReplyDeleteIf you haven't read him, put down your computer, drive to the nearest bookstore post haste, and grab the Hitchhiker's series in a box set or single volume. Fantastic reading (and he was a dedicated atheist who was buddies with Richard Dawkins) that will change the way you view towels and Jesus.
"One morning a guy woke up and said, 'wouldn't it be nice if we could all get along for a change?' So the Romans grabbed him and nailed him to a tree."
Send me the link if you move.
Cheers,
Julian
I used to enjoy the series of the 'guide' but was distracted at the time. I am going to get on my scooter, drive to the port, take the ferry to Igoumenitsa, the coach to Ioannina where they have book shops. The few quotes you have sent me made me angry at having missed out. It WILL be rectified. thanks.
ReplyDelete