Fabric Shops In Norwich

A void that cannot be filled

The most telling of the initial offerings of sadness and tributes on the passing of Dr Pat Bishop comes, as I would expect, from the only person who could be placed alongside her in terms of calibre, quality and contribution—Peter Minshall.

Of Dr Bishop Minshall is quoted as saying: "Imagine if you had gone every day of your life for a walk around the Savannah and one day, you went for your walk and the Northern Range wasn't there."

Such is the magnitude of the void that Dr Bishop leaves behind, the metaphor is so true our artistic landscape and, by extension, our national fabric, has become irrevocably devalued with no sign of recovery or rehabilitation near.

From Carnegie Hall, to Despers panyard, to Queen's Hall to Naparima Bowl, Dr Bishop's tireless pursuit of beauty and art has heavily cauterised the eternal bloodletting that has characterised our national strife over artistic mediocrity.

With rare genius as hers comes an irreverent, unapologetic impatience with mediocrity. For those familiar with her, it is well known that she never waivered in pronouncing boldly and truthfully on things as she saw them. When asked about her future hopes, she replied, "that my countrymen may find their place in the sun... though that seems now, to be so remote as to be impossible''.

She continued however, "to be able to believe more fully with Julian of Norwich that 'all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well'.'' And finally, "to be able to leave this world, and soon, with serenity and a quiet mind.''

Ultimately, that serenity and quiet mind would be the illusive exit she wanted and many times over, deserved. In her final moment, not surprisingly, she was, though earlier feeling unwell, in service of her nation, in company of some of her peers, where she indicated that she had been to a lot of talk shop sessions, trying to bring culture to the mainstream and that she was a little sceptical of the outcome of these events," said Minister of Planning, Economic and Social Restructuring, Dr Bhoe Tewarie, who was present when Bishop suddenly fell off her chair around 4.20 p.m.

Transition Norwich Blog: The Spirit Level... and never said a word

The book in question is Heinrich Böll’s … und sagte kein einziges Wort (…and never said a word). It is set in Germany around the end of the 1940s and tells the story of a married couple as they struggle to meet their most basic needs and stay together in a world trying to rebuild itself from the ruins and trauma of war. This is a Germany in transition, a Germany in the predawn time of the Wirtschaftswunder (economic miracle) of the 1950s. The story is narrated in turns by the man and the woman and Böll’s language is sparse and clear as he relays an almost visceral sense of postwar reality. There are the bombed out churches, grey government buildings and the rented room the couple and their two children live in, separated from their neighbours only by a flimsy screen. There is also the face of the woman, prematurely lined from hardship and worry, looking into shop windows at clothes she can’t afford and the gaunt figure of the man as he enters a Kneipe to spend the last of his change on schnapps and the pinball machine. I am not a fan of books filled with statistical graphs. Having to prove everything exists by researching numbers then crunching them into averages has become endemic in our culture, even pathological. As far as social inequality goes, (which is what The Spirit Level is about) a good look around at our society (the recent riots, government spending cuts aimed at the least well off, a walk around any city, talking to people) will tell us most of what we need to know. The book looks at factors such as life expectancy, physical health, obesity, depression, education, teenage births, violence and punishment and provides evidence to show that in countries where the income gap is large (such as the UK), everybody is adversely affected. In other words it shows in tables and graphs what most of us in our hearts are aware of.

In cold blood, a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences

In defense of food, an eater's manifesto [additional copies -- 2]

Democracy in America

Reading Lolita in Tehran, A Memoir in Books

Democracy in America