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Thoughts and cycling from Manchester to Rome in 2023

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20 Lines

April 3, 2020 by Simon Robinson 1 Comment

What thoughts and whose ideas have a value?

Lia bought 20 Lines a Day by Harry Mathews recently. Stendhal had commented that “20 lines a day, genius or not, was a good place to start”. I was deeply impressed by Scarlet and Black when I first read it perhaps 40 years ago. A conversation with Gerry Hanley in the bar of the Delgany Inn elucidated from him that Stendhal got him writing with those same words. I had only just finished reading Scarlet and Black and was quite surprised at the coincidence, his bringing Stendhal up over a pint, my knowing who he was talking about. But I didn’t write 20 lines a day. Maybe that was a good thing?

[Read more…] about 20 Lines

Filed Under: ManRom2021 Tagged With: an whitehead, booklink, Covid-19, gerry hanley, harry mathews, judith butler, photos, popular, stendahl, tim harford

Crosswords and Sudoku

March 29, 2020 by Simon Robinson Leave a Comment

29 March 2020 – 20:39 GMT – 1°C Mostly Clear – Co. Dublin, Ireland

It’s that kind of day. Cleaned some windows. Watched the news on TV while my wife visited with a public health nurse to learn about injecting our daughter, in case she needs the help later in her treatment.

I’ve been practising social distancing. I think the best defence is to behave as if you’re infectious and do not want to infect anyone else.

Fascinating catch-up TV about Eel Pie Island. As often as I walked past it while doing Thames Walks, I had no idea just how important it was to the music of the 1960s.

[Read more…] about Crosswords and Sudoku

Filed Under: ManRom2021 Tagged With: imitation, infectious, movies, music, photos, technology, tv

1970 or 2020

March 24, 2020 by Simon Robinson Leave a Comment

24 March 2020 – 13:57 GMT – 13°C Mostly Cloudy – Co. Dublin, Ireland

I’m struggling to understand the uneven and unfair responses of global governments to the covidgency.  Shoulder-to-shoulder prayer meetings in India and Bangladesh versus arresting curfew breakers in Macedonia versus Belarus selling TV rights for its continuing football games. Not enough ventilators in Lombardy, among the richest places on earth, a team in Bray just eight kilometres from me have an Open Source Ventilator project trying to coordinate mass production of ventilators on not-for-profit basis. When the symptoms are treated, we must address the cause. Could that really be related to deforestation?

19,000 deaths.

[Read more…] about 1970 or 2020

Filed Under: ManRom2021 Tagged With: biafra, Olafur Eliasson, photos, Tate Modern, ventilators, volcano

Haiku Way

March 9, 2020 by Simon Robinson Leave a Comment

9 March 2020 – 16:28 GMT – 10°C Light Rain – Co. Dublin, Ireland

the sound of the bat
flying in the thicket
is dark

A haiku I really like by Masaoka Shiki who in a short TB-curtailed life is credited with rescuing the poetry form of haiku. He urged poets to seek inspiration from the beauty of nature. He advised that we ‘encounter beautiful scenes and copy them realistically.’

In the bright room where I like to read, not just poetry, the rain is gently tapping the window glass.

[Read more…] about Haiku Way

Filed Under: ManRom2021 Tagged With: booklink, diarmuid fitzgerald, flowers, haiku, masaoka shiki, photos, poetry, thames, walking

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