Nice evening picnic today on Jesus Green with some of Michael’s colleagues from Rohan in Cambridge. The idea was to have the night for Mike F’s 18th birthday, but in the end he went home as his family had arranged an evening for him. Michael made some, lovely potato salad, and we took some nice wine. Rachel and Adam brought a massive picnic, a disposable BBQ (with bricks to stand it on) and pineapple to BBQ (which was great). Jay brought lots of beer and sausages, and a frisbee and Nerf Vortex, which were great fun. Mike A, came along for a drink, and a nerf.
Ended up in the pub afterwards!
Really interesting book, following the history of the South Bank in London, and the story of one house in particular which is still standing next tot he Globe Theatre.It is amazing how much the area has changed, gone up, down etc. and how many people pass through.
“The House by the Thames: And the People Who Lived There” (Gillian Tindall)
This took less than 24 hours to read—it’s the book for the next Free Press Book Club evening. I disliked the opening a lot, and almost didn’t bother to read past the first ten pages. But Michael persuaded me to persevere and although I still don’t like the way the book is written, I think there is a lot to discuss for the book club. More later then (on the 2nd September in the Free Press.) In the mean time there is a bit of info on Wikipedia.
“Boy in the Striped Pyjamas” (John Boyne)
When I started reading this I feared it may be a PhD thesis and end up being quite academic. IN fact it’s not. The chapters have strange titles, such as ‘The Cigar’ and ‘The Gear Stick’ which make perfect sense once you red the book. I liked the way the story was told with different emphasis. Roughly following historical periods where the penis was worshiped, studied, demonised, racialiased, politicised, and then medically mastered.
Lots of fascinating facts: Particularly the effect of Augustine and Thomas Aquinas on demonising the penis through religion: page 31;
Viewed in a modern light, Augustine’s victory seems a triumph of medical marketing with a splash of proto-Freudianism. He taught that man is diseased by lust and semen, then established the Church as the Great Spiritual Physician.
The discussion then leads on to the veneration of the Holy Prepuce, and how at one stage there were so many of these and other bits of saints that there were official authenticators who could tell whether the leathery things were genuine by giving them a quick chew!
It’s all in here: feminism, female eunuchs, Bobbit …
“A Mind of Its Own: A Cultural History of the Penis” (David M. Friedman)
Started with a little breakfast ina self service place off Place Plumereau, and the Adam and Barry had time for a quick shop. Tours was a great place to end the holiday. There is a good lively culture, and lots to do, but it isn’t packed with tourists looking at big sites. I could image being happy there for a longer holiday. Walked the the train station becasue we couldn’t work ou how to geta taxi—it was an ok walk! TGV and Eurostar were both good and before we knew it we were back in the UK. We managed to get straight on a train at King’s Cross, which was handy.
Went to the Free Press book club in the evening to discuss In Cold Blood. It was a great book to discuss, as it was quite controversial and there was a lot of information about Capote that could be brought into the discussion.
Lots (and lots) of Photo’s on Flickr Loire July 08 photoset.
Rough night, and skipped breakfast. The hotel breakfast wasn’t great anyway, and we ended up buying breakfast from a boulangerie and having it along with a coffee from a cafe. There were long queues at the boulangerie as not many were open on Bastille Day. Walked through quiet streets to visit the Jardin des Prébendes d’Oè, which is a lovely tranquil park in the middle of the city. Lots of people picnicing there and we spent a couple of hours in the sun, reading and chatting on the grass and on the benches.
Nice sandwich lunch in a place off Place Plumereau. On the way back visited the Charlemagne Tower close to St Martin Basilica, where we had a quick stop.
Had our last evening meal in Tour at a very busy little restaurant called Le Zinc, on the place du Grand Marché. The place was so busy because it was firework night and we were the last table to get served (slowly). Luckily the staff all wanted to go and look at the Bastille Day fireworks too, and so were managed to leave on time. I had a lovely freshwater fish and Michael had a lovely steak. The fireworks were by the town bridge, close to our hotel. The river was lined with people and we had a great view over the water to the fireworks that were fired form an island in the middle of the river.
