tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post7289957823381084317..comments2024-02-26T00:59:26.907-08:00Comments on Ana the Imp: Going down the long slideAnastasia F-Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-76565798967383343142010-10-10T16:59:14.895-07:002010-10-10T16:59:14.895-07:00I'd really appreciate that.I'd really appreciate that.Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-1025509478397570232010-10-10T16:50:16.932-07:002010-10-10T16:50:16.932-07:00You so should. I haven't been in the right mo...You <i>so</i> should. I haven't been in the right mood as yet to read it. I'm like that. I have it, maybe I'll read it tonight. I'll forward you an email I received about it from one of his close friends.Rehan Qayoomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02391797858691917631noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-17714084178549326192010-10-10T11:50:56.119-07:002010-10-10T11:50:56.119-07:00Yes, Rehan, I have. Did you read Ted Hughes' ...Yes, Rehan, I have. Did you read Ted Hughes' newly published poem in the New Statesman this week? I intend to write something about this.Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-59810579189537809942010-10-09T10:16:58.140-07:002010-10-09T10:16:58.140-07:00Here is a recording of Larkin (one of my own favou...Here is a recording of Larkin (one of my own favourite poets) reading High Windows: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcLNHNyzVcU<br /><br />There are far too many of his poems that I love to mention here - Have you read 'Going, going'? There are too many I am thinking of. I'm unsure whether I posted the brilliant evocative segment from Laura Barton of <i>The Guardian</i> who recently penned her own brilliant novel (which I read, I rarely read fiction any more) on 'The Whitsun Weddings' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kleo0lA5Yf4<br /><br />Andrew Motion recently spoke brilliantly (as he does) on Larkin and his poetry. I love the anecdote about meeting him for the first time and Larkin choking and Andrew not knowing how to react, what to do. You can watch the talk here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWNihMubl5ERehan Qayoomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02391797858691917631noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-37470311439538838472010-10-06T15:38:35.060-07:002010-10-06T15:38:35.060-07:00Tim, and to you. :-) I'm just about to add t...Tim, and to you. :-) I'm just about to add the education blog.Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-7361140272798585082010-10-06T15:37:22.260-07:002010-10-06T15:37:22.260-07:00Anthony, hugs to you. :-)Anthony, hugs to you. :-)Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-6668227019760933552010-10-06T15:35:11.757-07:002010-10-06T15:35:11.757-07:00Hmph - probably the same age as your father!! :)
I...Hmph - probably the same age as your father!! :)<br />I'm sure that your earlier musings will be as interesting and erudite as your other writings on here - I have greatly enjoyed reading your blog. Beauty and intellect combined -your father must be very proud of you :) Keep up the good work!thecompanyfinancemanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07490080491419864973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-34021884183253244682010-10-06T09:43:05.254-07:002010-10-06T09:43:05.254-07:00You will have a long and productive life Ana.You will have a long and productive life Ana.anthonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02931330128135957439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-58890356335605694562010-10-06T03:24:50.351-07:002010-10-06T03:24:50.351-07:00Anastasia Fitzgerald-Beaumont said...
Tim, thanks...Anastasia Fitzgerald-Beaumont said... <br />Tim, thanks. You don't sound at all reactionary; you sound just like father. :-) I have a piece I wrote after the A level results were published. It's on another, multi-author site I used to belong to. I'll have a look at it and see if it's worth posting here. If it is I'll put it up later today.Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-85990269977882604752010-10-06T03:15:43.853-07:002010-10-06T03:15:43.853-07:00I was a little too young to enjoy sexual intercour...I was a little too young to enjoy sexual intercourse in 1963 - only by half a decade or so! <br />Looking back, the sixties do appear to have been times of optimism and relative contentment. We had a good schooling system - which successive governments have done their best to dismantle in the name of 'equality' (some animals will always be more equal than others, however!) The 'class' structure was reasonably well defined, but there was plenty of upwards mobility through the school system. Working -class lads (and lasses!) could move up through the grammar schools and take their place at Oxbridge with the sons and daughters of lords and be proud of their achievements. Now we look to dumb-down the education system so that almost everyone can get 10 GCSE's and four A-levels. I do some part-time lecturing at a university, and the standard of students coming on to the courses is appalling. Everyone expects to get a degree 'as of right' because they have paid their fees, and there is enormous pressure on the lecturers to 'maintain pass rates'. The overseas students are particularly problematic. Although in theory they are supposed to be able to speak a reasonable standard of English, many struggle to put a sentence together, consequently, although many of them are undoubtedly as clever (or more clever) than the British students, they cannot achieve a satisfactory standard. The drive to attract these foreign (specifically non-EU) students is of course nothing to do with the uncapped fees they are charged!<br />The level of crime also seems to be significantly higher than it was in the sixties. Again I feel that the wooly-minded 'liberals' who favoured comprehensive education have much to answer for. Prisons now are more akin to hotels. Friends who have to work in the service tell us of many 'old lags' who say they have a much better life in prison than out. I strongly favour both capital and corporal punishment as part of the justice system, and a significantly tougher regime in the prisons. Educate the prisoners to give them a better chance of a job but also make them work hard while they are inside and give them sentences to fit their crimes - particularly the young scum who wander the streets terrorising people. <br />I know this sounds a bit reactionary :) but I do strongly feel that the long slide since the sixties has been built on the deterioration of the education and policing/justice systems. I cannot see this weak ineffectual government currently in power changing this.thecompanyfinancemanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07490080491419864973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-25993360415765962282010-10-05T07:46:00.998-07:002010-10-05T07:46:00.998-07:00Some parents do their best,others should not have ...Some parents do their best,others should not have children. Some times little think they know it all brats are the problem.anthonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02931330128135957439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-10575820373107503482010-10-05T00:25:29.736-07:002010-10-05T00:25:29.736-07:00Like me! You know, Calvin, I have a somewhat fata...Like me! You know, Calvin, I have a somewhat fatalist vision, that I really won't live to grow old.Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-47233233897946800662010-10-04T22:30:33.768-07:002010-10-04T22:30:33.768-07:00Don't worry about lost youth, Ana. We don'...Don't worry about lost youth, Ana. We don't live long enough to grow old - unless we are born that way.Calvinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10640148105202971907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-66820702196060253862010-10-04T16:20:22.227-07:002010-10-04T16:20:22.227-07:00As do I--typically whilst drinking an English ale...As do I--typically whilst drinking an <b> English</b> ale.Fletch's Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16402507296202065300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-31943983461847241582010-10-04T16:13:50.048-07:002010-10-04T16:13:50.048-07:00I'm sure it is, Adam, but I only read it in En...I'm sure it is, Adam, but I only read it in England!Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-33338372659397636702010-10-04T16:02:39.910-07:002010-10-04T16:02:39.910-07:00...not much though, to be fair....not much though, to be fair.Fletch's Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16402507296202065300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-76462573099668497862010-10-04T16:01:41.425-07:002010-10-04T16:01:41.425-07:00The Daily Telegraph is also read in Scotland, Wale...The Daily Telegraph is also read in Scotland, Wales and Ulster.Fletch's Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16402507296202065300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-51121804595673457582010-10-04T16:00:30.574-07:002010-10-04T16:00:30.574-07:00Oh, and Peter Sinfield, another of my favourite 20...Oh, and Peter Sinfield, another of my favourite 20th century English poets. Vastly more beautiful than Larkin.Fletch's Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16402507296202065300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-73383695489724151392010-10-04T15:59:12.370-07:002010-10-04T15:59:12.370-07:00The letters are indeed a fascinating look at this ...The letters are indeed a fascinating look at this odd man. I can appreciate why others like his poetry, but for me it did less than nothing. The finest English poets to write in the 20th century were, Houseman, Eliot and Powell.Fletch's Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16402507296202065300noreply@blogger.com