Modestly adventurous, while also endeavouring to look both ways when crossing the road.
31 January 2023
The end of the Irish Civil War
27 January 2023
The longer one plays cricket, the more there is to know about it
A Message From W. A. Hadlee
I am grateful to the Editor for an opportunity to express the gratitude of those seventeen New Zealanders lucky enough to tour Great Britain in 1949. To the administrators, players, cricket writers, and our many friends, both in Great Britain and in Germany, where B.A.O.R. were such grand hosts, we say "thank you" for the grand tour provided for us.
We came to England very well aware of our limitations - and we have returned to our small Dominion still knowing that the longer one plays cricket, the more there is to know about it. For example, we learnt that it pays to have infinite respect for a piece of turf known by some as the wicket, but better named the pitch, whose moods can vary, like those of a spoiled child.
Even under apparently unchanging conditions, pitches throughout our tour underwent sudden changes, perhaps encouraging the spin bowler for half an hour, and then spurning his most strenuous efforts to turn the ball. We were of the opinion that although wickets occasionally broke up on the third day, they generally lost their "bite" and played more slowly as the match progressed.
Much discussion takes place upon the relative merits of cricketers of this generation compared with some previous generation. One thing is certain - that in this generation Denis Compton and Len Hutton must be reckoned as great players by any standards. Those of us who had toured England in 1937 would, I think, agree that counties lack the all-rounders of the earlier period - and it is generally agreed that there is urgent need for fast bowlers. To bring on the latter, it is important that wickets should be made faster.
But there is nothing basically wrong with English cricket. As club cricketers, we did think we saw the need for two-day club matches played on a competitive basis, or the provision of some channel through which the Saturday afternoon player could appear in first-class matches. Perhaps a club conference side in the County Championship would be helpful. But these, no doubt, are matter which have been considered from time to time and are purely domestic problems.
As visitors, and guests, in our Motherland, we came to know that there is nothing amiss with this great Game which provided so much enjoyment for so many players and spectators alike. May it always be preserved as the traditional sport in Britain, for as such it will continue to strengthen the strong ties of fellowship within the Empire.
- Walter Hadlee, in Playfair Cricket Annual 1950, p.46.
26 January 2023
The joy I've named shall not be tamed
Thursday music corner: Influential proto-punk singer-songwriter Jonathan Richman (b. Boston, 1951) has been releasing music since 1976, first with his band the Modern Lovers, and then as a solo artist since 1989. He has released over 40 albums in that time, and has had three top 40 singles in the UK charts during the peak of the punk era: Roadrunner (which reached number 11) and Egyptian Reggae (which reached number 5), both in 1977, and Morning Of Our Lives, which reached number 29 the following year.
The wistful That Summer Feeling appeared as the opening track on Richman and the Modern Lovers' 1983 album Jonathan Sings!, which received praise from critics in both the Village Voice and the NME. Richman also recorded a longer version of the song on his 1992 album I, Jonathan.
Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers - That Summer Feeling (1983)
25 January 2023
The perils of being an opinionated unpaid teenage film reviewer
23 January 2023
Whack
Australian import Laura Harris, in her first T20 game for Wellington, turns the match with her 67 not out off 27 balls. Her 108-run partnership with fellow Australian import and Wellington debutant Charli Knott (51 off 24) was a T20 record for Wellington, which defeated Canterbury by a whopping 114 runs.
22 January 2023
Men debate the prettiest ankles in all of Europe
19 January 2023
You'll try to figure out what life would be without her
14 January 2023
Neither men nor laws could resist them
Lady Mary rejects the advances of Pope, from the Auckland City Art Gallery, 1852 (link) |
These Amazons now shewed themselves qualified for the duty even of foot-soldiers; they stood there till five in the afternoon, without either sustenance or evacuation, every now and then playing vollies of thumps, kicks, and raps, against the door, with so much violence that the speakers in the House were scarce heard. When the Lords were not to be conquered by this, the two Duchesses (very well apprized of the use of stratagems in war) commanded a dead silence of half an hour; and the Chancellor, who thought this a certain proof of their absence, (the Commons also being very impatient to enter) gave order for the opening of the door; upon which they all rushed in, pushed aside their competitors, and placed themselves in the front rows of the gallery. They stayed there till after eleven, when the House rose; and during the debate gave applause, and showed marks of dislike, not only by smiles and winks (which have always been allowed in these cases), but by noisy laughs and apparent contempts, which is supposed the true reason why poor Lord Hervey spoke miserably. I beg your pardon, dear madam, for this long relation; but 'tis impossible to be short on so copious a subject; and you must own this action very well worthy of record, and I think not to be paralleled in any history, ancient or modern. I look so little in my own eyes (who was at that time ingloriously sitting over a tea-table), I hardly dare subscribe myself even.
- Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, letter to Lady Pomfret, March 1739, in The Oxford Book of Letters, F & A Kermode (eds.), Oxford, 1995, p.66-67.
12 January 2023
You know what I mean
Thursday music corner: Jeff Beck, who died in East Sussex aged 78 on Tuesday, was one of his generation's finest guitarists, whether with the Yardbirds, solo, or performing with many other artists. His work was hugely influential across multiple decades. Alex Petridis writes of his innovation, his technical prowess, his eclecticism, and, most of all, the undying respect of his peers:
His influence spanned generations. Brian May, David Gilmour, Slash and The Edge all attested to being inspired by Beck. Metallica’s Kirk Hammett claimed he learned guitar by playing along to the Jeff Beck Group’s Let Me Love You. The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ John Frusciante recalled listening to Truth as a kid and marvelling at Beck “pulling all these sounds out of the guitar … I didn’t know where they were coming from”. Even Eric Clapton, whose departure from the Yardbirds had kickstarted Beck’s career, marvelled at his replacement, “the most unique guitarist, and the most devoted”.
Beck was never a chart-topper in the pop scene. His four UK hit singles didn't graze the top 10, but include the jaunty perennial favourite Hi Ho Silver Lining, a top 20 UK hit in both March 1967 and November 1972. His peak of solo commercial popularity came with two albums that went Platinum in America: Blow By Blow (1975), which hit no.4 in the US album charts, and Wired (1976), which reached no.16.
Co-written by Beck and keyboardist Max Middleton, You Know What I Mean is the opening track from the all-instrumental, George Martin-produced jazz-rock-fusion Blow By Blow.
Jeff Beck - You Know What I Mean (1975)
11 January 2023
The American porch visit shines with civility
The backyard is for privacy. Only people walking in the alley will bother you, and they're the sort who would anyway. The porch is sociable, but certain rules apply:
- Even if you're screened from public view, it's polite to call out hello to passers-by you know. It's up to them to stop or not. It's up to you to invite them in or not. The porch is a room of your house, not part of the yard. Only peddlers or certain ministers would barge right in.
- If you say, "Why don't you come up and sit for a bit?," it is customary for them to decline politely. If the invite was legit, it should then be repeated.
- An invite to the porch is not an invite to the house. Its terms are limited to a brief visit on the porch, no refreshments necessarily provided unless the occupants have such at hand.
- When the host stands up and stretches or says, "Well --," the visitor should need no further signal that the visit has ended. Only an oaf would remain longer. If the host says, "You don't have to run, do you?," this is not a question but a pleasantry.
Humankind knows no finer amenity than the screened porch. It is the temple of family life, and the sacred preserve of the luxurious custom known as "visiting." Compare it to the barbarity of the "business lunch," the hideous conversational burden of the cocktail party, and the prison that is the formal dinner, the porch visit shines with civility.
08 January 2023
05 January 2023
Strung out on lasers and slash back blazers
Thursday music corner: Brett Morgen's 2022 David Bowie documentary Moonage Daydream includes an inventive and intriguing soundtrack of obscure alternative versions plus modern remixes handled in a sensitive and creative fashion, as befitting the stature of Bowie's work.
To commemorate what would've been Bowie's 76th birthday this Sunday, here's the ludicrously incendiary Hammersmith Odeon 3 July 1973 live medley of The Jean Genie from Aladdin Sane married with the Beatles' Love Me Do, supported by the prodigious guitar talent of Jeff Beck (as if Mick Ronson wasn't quite enough!). This was the famous final show of the Aladdin Sane tour, which concluded with Bowie's shocking denouement, 'Of all the shows on this tour, this particular show will remain with us the longest, because not only is it the last show of the tour, but it's the last show that we'll ever do', as he 'killed off' his Ziggy Stardust persona and entered the next phase of his music career.
David Bowie - The Jean Genie / Love Me Do (live medley feat. Jeff Beck, 1973)
03 January 2023
My top 10 films of 2022
2. Top Gun: Maverick (dir. Joseph Kosinski, US)