I am humbled and honoured to call Thelma my dear friend and I highly recommend her book about Bach’s Sacred cantatas.

[...] Thelma Lovell, who lives quietly in Cambridge, may be the most overlooked Bach scholar. Her 2011 book A Mirror to the Human Condition suggests that the theology of the cantatas can teach us ‘how to live and how to die’ even if we aren’t religious. In her forthcoming magnum opus, J.S. Bach’s Sacred Cantatas: A Cultural Christian’s Companion, she takes us through every cantata in the liturgical year, teaching us painlessly how to understand Bach’s theological and musical language.

Lovell draws on an extraordinary breadth of cultural references: Sophocles, Horace, Keats, Nietzsche, Adam Smith, Terry Eagleton and the Epic of Gilgamesh. She also recommends recordings for each cantata, including interpretations by Harnoncourt, Herreweghe, Marriner and Suzuki. But more often than not she chooses Lutz. Perhaps she feels that he best understands what she calls the question of pulse: ‘Music, like the heart, has a continuous beat; its pace, whether fast or slow, has a bodily effect. Everywhere in Bach there is a forward impetus that communicates itself as life’s urgency… Bach’s ability to play with danger and then resist it becomes a token of faith’s miraculous power to conquer despair.’ ©

“The Substance” (2024)

Так, ну по «Субстанции»:

1. Честно законспектировали все боди-хорроры масс-культа по списку — Кроненберг, Расселл и проч. Заполировали цитатами из Лиготти, а кто-то из режиссерской группы, судя по всему, вспомнил прочитанного в ранней юности Клайва Баркера.

2. Шоубизу не дает покоя кубриковское aspect ratio из «Сияния», и киноиндустрия пихает его везде, где только можно*.

3. Оммаж Карпентеру, в целом, мог бы быть и поаккуратнее, но уж как получилось: видимо, в гонке за призами всех артхаусных фестивальных сборищ времени на до-обработку сырого материала (лол) не хватило.

4. Гламурный вырвиглаз цветопередачи и много глиттера — новая искренность™ антиметапостмодерна.

The much anticipated book by Luke Sherlock, “Forgotten Churches: Exploring England’s Hidden Treasures,” has finally reached Cambridge, and it’s a very atmospheric read.

 That boisterous April.

Кромерские tutti quanti: P.16 “P. S. The gift from Poppyland”

 The subject:

Кромерские tutti quanti: P.15 “P. S. Misc.”

Life on Holidays:

Кромерские tutti quanti: P.14 “P. S. Cromer as Kêr-Is”

Kêr-Is (or Ys) was a mythical city swallowed up by the ocean.

King Gradlon ruled in Ys, a city built on land reclaimed from the sea, sometimes described as rich in commerce and the arts, with Gradlon's palace being made of marble, cedar and gold. In some versions, Gradlon built the city upon the request of his daughter Dahut, who loved the sea. To protect Ys from inundation, a dike was built with a gate that was opened for ships during low tide. The one key that opened the gate was held by the king.

Most versions of the legend present Gradlon as a pious man, and his daughter, Princess Dahut, as wayward. Dahut (sometimes called Ahez) is often presented as frivolous and an unrepentant sinner, or, sometimes, as a sorceress. However, in another version, that of an ancient ballad, Gradlon himself is blamed by his people for extravagances of every kind.

In most variations, Dahut acquires the key to the dikes from Gradlon, and its misuse leads to catastrophe. Commonly, Dahut steals the keys (made either of silver or gold) from her father while he sleeps, either to allow her lover inside for a banquet or after being persuaded to do so by her flattering lover. She opens the gates of the dikes, either in a wine-induced folly or by mistake, believing she is opening the city gates. ©

Кромерские tutti quanti: P.13 “P. S. Lovely pests of Cromer”

It turns out, starlings are the most adorable pests of winter Cromer: they can sit in the closest imaginable proximity to you, singing you the best song of their people and waiting (somewhat impatiently) for whatever you nibble. If you don’t eat anything, they perform for you for another minute or two and then leave with “smh” expressions plastered all over their silhouettes

(Upd. Apologies for the “toilet” part in the video: not exactly demure, but it is what it is)

Кромерские tutti quanti: P.12 “Winter Cromer as a memory”

Winter Cromer is already a memory, and looking at the photos I think it was a joyous dream.

Кромерские tutti quanti: P.11 “Time to go home”

It’s time to go home, but it was one of the most wonderful celebrations of my slowly acquired Britishness.