Originally posted by LMcD
View Post
-
I was really looking forward to it, L, but only lasted about twenty minutes. To me it felt like the programme could do with leaving a fair bit on the cutting room floor - might have another go at it, but don't see me sticking with the whole series. -
Good News for British Music (etc) enthusiasts:A programme about the music of Malcom Arnold - BBC4 tonight.
Less good news: Featuring/ about the music for "Bridge on the River Kwai" (but with more general references to Arnold's life (remains to be seen how long that occupies....))
Even Less Good News (to a constituency here) : Presented by "televisual face of the Proms" Katie Derham
Discovery Concerts
Discovering The Bridge on the River Kwai - Malcolm Arnold
Katie Derham introduces a performance by the BBC Concert Orchestra of the full score to David Lean's 1957 film. She talks to film composer Debbie Wiseman about what makes it so special, both as a piece in its own right and as an element of the film, and discovers the story of the composer's troubled life, from his committed pacifism during the Second World War to his later struggles with mental illness and alcoholismComment
-
Most of his books are still in print which suggests he sells in the tens to hundreds of thousands a year in the US and UK. In the 80’s , twenty years after his death, he was selling 750,000 copies a year. Looking forward to the series - he was so much more complex a character than press coverage suggests.Originally posted by LMcD View PostComment
-
Next Sunday BBC4 will be showing the annual Vienna Philharmonic Summer Nights Concert. This year Daniel Harding conducts, and the soloist is Igor Levitt.
The concert featured the following programme, although it is quite common for one item to be dropped from the Broadcast to keep within the 90 minute slot.
G. Verdi, Overture to Les vêpres siciliennes
S. Rachmaninoff, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, op. 43
L. Bernstein, Symphonic Dances from West Side Story: Prologue – Somewhere – Scherzo – Mambo
E. Elgar, Salut d’Amour, op. 12
J. Sibelius, Karelia-Suite, op. 11: No. 1. Intermezzo
C. Debussy, Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune
G. Holst, The Planets, Symphonic Suite, op. 32: Jupiter, The Bringer of Jollity
I expect that, as in previous years, Katie Derham will be the presenter, providing voice-over introductions to each piece."I do not approve of anything that tampers with natural ignorance. Ignorance is like a delicate exotic fruit; touch it and the bloom is gone. The whole theory of modern education is radically unsound. Fortunately in England, at any rate, education produces no effect whatsoever. If it did, it would prove a serious danger to the upper classes, and probably lead to acts of violence in Grosvenor Square."
Lady Bracknell The importance of Being EarnestComment
-
Mr Burns does like to take his time, it's true. I find his measured approach rather soothing, and a welcome contrast to the prevailing fashion for compression and speed.Originally posted by johncorrigan View PostComment
-
-
I overlooked that yesterday, so thanks! James Lovelock of the Gaia Theory based on the idea that Earth is a self-regulating organism, and, for me, a bigOriginally posted by Bryn View Post
- James Lovelock being the big star! 
Comment
-
Wasn't Lovelock marvellous? His synaptic processes are more responsive than mine, at 27 years younger!
Lovelock is saying, and has been doing saying for more than 40 years, what were basic principles in one branch of Mahayana Buddhism, the Dharmadhatu, nearly 2000 years ago, lade down as four realms by Chinese commentators in the T'ang dynasty, according to Alan Watts - Point 4 below being the most salient in this connection*:
"1. Shih, the unique, indivual 'things-events' of which the universe is composed.
2. Li, the 'principle or ultimate reality underlying the multiplicity of things'.
3. Li shih wu ai, 'between principle and things no obstruction', which is to say there is no incompatibility between nirvana and samsara, void and form. The attainment of the one does not involve the annihilation of the other.
4. Shih shih wu ai, 'between thing and thing no obstruction', which is to say that each 'thing-event' involves every other, and that the highest insight is simply the perception of them in their natural 'suchness'. At this level every 'thing-event' is seen as self-determinative, self-generating, or spontaneous, for to be quite naturally what it is, to be tatha - just 'thus' - is to be free and without obstruction.
The doctrine of the Dharmadhatu is, approximately, that the proper harmony of the universe is realized when each 'thing-event' is allowed to be freely and spontaneously itself, without interference. Stated more subjectively, it is saying, 'Let everything be free to be just as it is. Do not separate yourself from the world and try to order it around'. There is a subtle distinction between this and mere laissez faire, which may be suggested by the way we move our various limbs. Each one moves by itself, from within. To walk, we do not pick up our feet with our hands. The individual body is therefore a system of shih shih wu ai, and a Buddha realizes that the whole universe is his body, a marvellously interrelated harmony organized from within itself rather than by interference from outside". (Watts. A. (1962) The Way of Zen, Pelican, London, PP90-91)
All this comes from the Avatamsaka Sutra, one of whose central images, Watts says, is of "[...] a vast networjk of gems or crystals, like a spider's web at dawn, in which each gem reflects all the others. This net of gems is the Dharmadhatu, the universe, the realm of innumerable dharmas or 'thing-events'. (ibid.)
Things are events insofar as the eastern spiritual traditions see everything as undergoing change in ever-changing circumstances, and as therefore inseparable events. Karma is defined as fate inasmuch that once interference takes place contrary to the natural course of events due to actions in pursuit of being one-up on them, ie ignoring the principles of balance and interdependence which have underpinned evolution in the Darwinian sense from the very beginnings of life, human beings have no alternative but to carry on interfering. This interference is karma, but the spiritual practices prescribed in meditation and mindfulness are seen as the cultivating of a mindset appropriate to the task of thereafter managing the running of human affairs as sustainably and ecologically non-damagingly as possible with given resources, resourcefulness and fulfillment in a sensitively lived present. In environmentalism this is known as "plagioclimax management".
*I can try and explain points 1-3, if anyone is interested.Comment
-
It was pure chance that I caught the Lovelock interview. I had channel hopped to check out the news headlines.Comment
-
Just reading about Emmy TV Awards 2021. Found myself to be hopelessly out of touch with nominations dominated by programmes I have not actuallly watched.Comment
-
I was going to check the nominations, but the pdf runs to 58 pages!Originally posted by gurnemanz View PostComment
-
Just ending now on BBC FOUR, a rather good programme on probability: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00yh2rc
A repeat from 2012, but don't let that put you off.Comment
-
-
... yes, excellent as one wd expect from Prof: Sir David Spiegelhalter.Originally posted by Bryn View Post
I enjoyed his comment that each half hour you exercise by running every day would add a half hour to your life expectancy - as he pointed out, you would have spent that half hour running, so you had better enjoy running....
.Comment
-
Comment