Reading Scheme

Here is Peter. Here is Jane. They like fun.
Jane has a big doll. Peter has a ball.
Look, Jane, look! Look at the dog! See him run!

Here is Mummy. She has baked a bun.
Here is the milkman. He has come to call.
Here is Peter.Here is Jane. They like fun

Go Peter! Go Jane! Come, milkman, come!
The milkman likes Mummy. She likes them all
Look, Jane, look! Look at the dog! See him run!

Here are the curtains. They shut out the sun.
Let us peep! On tiptoe Jane! You are small!
Here is Peter. Here is Jane. They like fun.

I hear a car, Jane. The milkman looks glum.
Here is Daddy in his car. Daddy is tall.
Look, Jane, look! Look at the dog! See him run!

Daddy looks very cross. has he a gun?
Up milkman! Up milkman! Over the wall!
Here is Jane. They like fun.
Look, Jane, look! Look at the dog! See him run!

wendy cope

perspective from the outside

tonight i sang, like most thursdays, with the krakow gospel choir, where like most thursdays, there was not a huge, mountainous black woman with a voice of gravel, and 'soul' exuding from her pores conducting.

last week however there was, and i was thinking about a few things. Namely:

white folks cant sing gospel. true and not true because this director from england had us sounding better than we had done in ages, and really feeling the music. i thought at various intervals that it was because we were too lazy, or too young, or just couldnt uderstand the half of it. when i say we i mean they, the choir consists of 45 18-23 year old blond polish girls and me. well, and about 10 other guys but they dont really count. me of course i understand.

And then i just had a great conversation with I about polish culture (even if she doesnt think so). Poland is an interesting place but one of the reasons that i am still here is that it is so damn hard to figure out exactly what is going on here in terms of social reality and protocol.

that and recent experiences with polish hierarchy, notably with educational structures. this is a country where nothing less than twenty years of study qualifies you to say something, and once you are qualified, there is nothing in the country that can contradict you. the discourse smacks of eloquence and righteousness and it makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up in frustration and anger. i think, most probably, because it doesnt allow for creativity, or the possibility that someone might have something intersting to contribute unless they have studied about it for 20 years. it makes me crazy. maybe even crazier whe i can understaand it in its native tongue. and most crazy of all because people accept it.

There is no questioning academia here, and it is exactly the reason why it hasnt changed for the last twenty years, and wont in the near future.

it goes back to the choir because not five days after this magnificent bawling mound of positive energy went back to england, the choir is again, in the grips of the polish conductor who 'knows' how things should be, and mocks the things we learned last week. and he's qualified to know because he has studied it for 10 years of course. it all smacks of a lack of common sense, and no ability to questions what is going because of a lack of faith in your own convictions. so frustrating.so frustrating.

anyway. maybe itll be easier to deal with itin my dreams. kolorwych snuv wszysce.

rx

heeheeheeheeheehee

i'd like to welcome Romek Zon to my address book. You are now the new last person on my list. great.

frustration

a few years ago i read all the robert b parker books back to back in about three weeks. he's a pulp detective fiction writer, with a great hero called butch, or ace,or duke. said hero was fantastic, not least because everytime he'd get frustrated, hed go for a run and then go and box someone or something. afterwards he'd invariably go home and cook up a gourmet meal for his stunning girlfriend, not before showering or going to bed with her. the end result was almost tangible relaxation.

funny how books that i like are ones that can accurately recreate a real life feeling for me, even if its not the main theme of the book.

this is related to my life at the moment because of an extremely frustrating day, followed by a pathetic shambles for 25 minutes at jogging pace along the frozen river, then a pathetically warm and feeble shower in my empty apartment, and a tomato (no butter or ham left) sandwich on a stale roll to top everything off.

but man do i feel better after it all- imagine if all the rest were here!

the play's the thing

please use your own name to post on this blog- sorry, but it's a matter of respect. comments that dont, or havent used an original name, will be deleted. if you have something to say then theres no reason to hide behind a curtain.

thanks
rob

famous quotations

OF1 :'its all fun and games until someone loses a testicle'. -alternatively till people who are close to me are not feeling so comfortable.

OF2 :'if you havent got anything nice to say, dont say it at all'

so true so true.

welcome haloscan to the site, which means that now one and all can identify themselves when adding comments, not just those with a blogspot account.

rx

cat

(im)r-o-b(mo)
b,i,l:e

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OattumblI

sh?dr
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away wanders: exact
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in memoriam

Hic sepultus robertius smithicus
non dulce et decorum est, pro subuculae zara mori:
Esto perpetua exempli gratia posse moda