Thursday 31 August 2017

One of the creepiest cemeteries in London, the Highgate Cemetery

Having Grade I on the Historic England Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England and with 53,000 plus graves, it is a vast cemetery with a size of about 150,000 square meters.
It is split down the middle into an east and west cemetery.
Established in 1839, it is now home to 170,000 people that found their peace here.
It is divided into two parts, named the East and West cemetery. Photo Credit
It is divided into two parts, named the East and West cemetery. Photo Credit
Just north of the Oakshott Avenue is the main gate.
The other gate is located at the Chester Road.
The cemetery is located on both sides of Swain's Lane in Highgate, N6, next to Waterlow Park. Photo Credit
The cemetery is located on both sides of Swain’s Lane in Highgate, N6, next to Waterlow Park. Photo Credit
The “magnificent seven” is the main reason behind the need to build the cemetery as mentioned above in 1839, and it is actually a plan to provide the city of London with seven large modern cemeteries.
This idea sparked from the need to have bigger cemeteries because the inner-city cemeteries were found to be an undignified way to treat the dead.
Circle of Lebanon, West Cemetery. Photo Credit
Circle of Lebanon, West Cemetery. Photo Credit
The man that lay the blueprints for the Highgate  Cemetery is the same person that build the Terrace catacombs (among the many projects) and is the founding member of the cemetery company.
It seems like a creepy choice for a profession but it was one in which Stephen Geary was very much successful.
The first burial was Elizabeth Jackson of Little Windmill Street, Soho, on 26 May, 1839. Photo Credit
The first burial was Elizabeth Jackson of Little Windmill Street, Soho, on 26 May 1839. Photo Credit
On the 20th May 1839, Charles Blomfield, Lord Bishop of London, dedicated the cemeteries to St. James.
It was Elizabeth Jackson of Little Windmill Street that was the first resident of this not so “little town” called Highgate cemetery.
She was buried on 26th of May that same year.
The Victorian attitude towards death is responsible for the magnificent looks that this place has today.
A wealth of Gothic buildings and tombs can be found here, and it is a place with a high frequency of visitors.
The entrance to the Egyptian Avenue at Highgate Cemetary. Photo Credit
The entrance to the Egyptian Avenue at Highgate Cemetary. Photo Credit
Between the buildings and the tombs, there is lots of vegetation and a high number of trees, many of which were not nourished by a human.
As strange as it may sound this place is not only home to the dead.


Many small animals such as foxes find Highgate cemeteries to be their home as well.

There are many other prominent figures, Victorian and otherwise, buried at Highgate Cemetery. Photo Credit
There are many other prominent figures, Victorian and otherwise, buried at Highgate Cemetery. Photo Credit
In order to protect the oldest part of this cemetery, a number of beautifully carved tombs and Victorian mausoleums, the cemetery company agreed to allow admission only in tour groups.
Karl Marx grave, East Cemetery. Photo Credit
Karl Marx grave, East Cemetery. Photo Credit
Highgate cemetery is home to the graves of many famous people: Karl Marx, the father of socialism, is buried in the east cemetery; the author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams; the writer of Gray’s Anatomy, Henry Gray; the grave of the original manager of the Sex Pistols, Malcolm McLaren; the mastermind of the Great Train Robbery, Bruce Reynolds; the author Mary Ann Evans, also known as George Eliot, and many more.

Wednesday 30 August 2017

The Toadstool

THERE 's a thing that grows by the fainting flower,
And springs in the shade of the lady's bower;
The lily shrinks, and the rose turns pale,
When they feel its breath in the summer gale,
And the tulip curls its leaves in pride,
And the blue-eyed violet starts aside;
But the lily may flaunt, and the tulip stare,
For what does the honest toadstool care?
She does not glow in a painted vest,
And she never blooms on the maiden's breast;
But she comes, as the saintly sisters do,
In a modest suit of a Quaker hue.
And, when the stars in the evening skies
Are weeping dew from their gentle eyes,
The toad comes out from his hermit cell,
The tale of his faithful love to tell.
Oh, there is light in her lover's glance,
That flies to her heart like a silver lance;
His breeches are made of spotted skin,
His jacket 'is tight, and his pumps are thin;
In a cloudless night you may hear his song,
As its pensive melody floats along,
And, if you will look by the moonlight fair,
The trembling form of the toad is there.
And he twines his arms round her slender stem,
In the shade of her velvet diadem;
But she turns away in her maiden shame,
And will not breathe on the kindling flame;
He sings at her feet through the live-long night,
And creeps to his cave at the break of light;
And whenever he comes to the air above,
His throat is swelling with baffled love.
Oliver Wendell Holmes
Art John Anster Fitzgerald



Monday 28 August 2017

My world




Literary Selfies: When Authors Sign With a Self-Portrait

by Richard Davies

Books are good. Signed books are better. But books signed by the author who have also added a self-portrait might be the best of all. These self-portraits vary from a quick sketch to a detailed drawing. Books containing these literary selfies are relatively hard to find - after all, authors are usually people of words rather art.
The man who knew the most about author self-portraits was Burt Britton, an avid book collector who founded Books & Co - an iconic bookshop in New York that operated from 1977 to 1997. Britton requested and received self-portraits by authors but also musicians, sports stars and other well-known people. Britton's first self-portrait was provided by author Norman Mailer whom he met while working as a bartender at Village Vanguard in New York.
Random House eventually published Britton's amazing collection of hundreds of self-portraits in a book called Self-Portrait: Book People Picture Themselves. Woody Allen, Margaret Atwood, James Baldwin, Anthony Burgess, Truman Capote, Roald Dahl, Don DeLillo, Joan Didion, Edward Gorey, Joseph Heller, Toni Morrison, Philip Roth and Paul Theroux are just handful of the people to have supplied self-portraits that appear in the book.
Another book featuring author self-portraits is Who's Writing This? Notations on the Authorial I With Self-Portraits by Daniel Halpern, which contains numerous text and drawings from writers as they consider themselves. Jim Harrison, Edna O'Brien, James Salter and Susan Sontag are among the contributors.

13 Literary Self-Portraits

Sunday 27 August 2017

Roasted Courgette Salad With Lemon, Chilli, Basil And Crispy Shallots


This roasted courgette salad with lemon chilli and basil is a quick, way to add some spicy zesty flavour your courgettes.
 Course Main
 Prep Time 5 minutes
 Cook Time 20 minutes
 Total Time 25 minutes
 Servings 4
 Author Recipes From A Pantry

Ingredients

For the roasted courgette salad

  • 4 courgettes
  • 1.5 tbsp olive oil
  • Salt

Lemon chilli dressing:

  • Zest and juice of 1 large lemon
  • 1 tbsp mild finely chopped chilli
  • Salt
  • 10 basil leaves finely sliced into ribbons
  • 3 tbsp crispy fried shallots optional

Roasted Courgette Salad with lemon, Chilli, basil and crispy shallots-4 | Recipes From A Pantry

Instructions


  1. Preheat oven to fan assisted 180 C / 200 C / 400 F / Gas 6.
  2. Slice courgettes into thick discs and add to a baking tray.
  3. Mix in the olive oil and salt and bake in oven for about 20 mins (turning half way through) until courgettes are cooked through but not too soft.
  4. Remove them from the oven and let them cool very slightly.
  5. Make the salad dressing by mixing together the lemon juice, zest, chilli and salt.
  6. Pour the dressing over the courgettes and let them marinate for at least 30 mins, mixing half way through.
  7. Top the salad with the sliced basil and crispy shallots and serve.




Bully Humour

Saturday 26 August 2017

Cult Books: Obsession with the Obscure

Defining a cult book is not easy. Let's start with the more obvious aspects of cult lit. To begin, a cult book should have a passionate following. Buckets of books fall into this category, including classics like J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye and On the Road by Jack Kerouac. But even mega sellers Harry Potter and 50 Shades of Grey can be considered cult lit by that definition. A cult book should have the ability to alter a reader's life or influence great change, and for the purpose of this list, it should also be a bit odd and a tad obscure.
Many of the titles we've selected have barely seen the light of day beyond their incredibly dedicated and perhaps obsessive following. Only five copies of Leon Genonceaux's 1891 novel The Tutu existed until the 1990s because Genonceaux was already in trouble with French police for immoral publishing when he wrote it and feared a life in prison if he distributed the book to the public. Similarly, The Red Book by Carl Jung was reserved for Jung's heirs for decades before it was made available to a wider audience.
Some of the books on our list are more widely known (though not necessarily widely understood). Robert M. Pirsig introduced the Metaphysics of Quality, his own theory of reality, in his philosophical novel Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. The book was rejected by over 100 publishers before it was finally published by William Morrow & Company in 1974 and today it's regarded as one the most influential texts in American culture.
From funny fiction and serious science fiction to knitting manuals and alternative art, the books on this list have steered the course of an individual's life, created a wave of change in a society, culture, or generation, and garnered fanatic attention from a few or few million readers for their quirky and obscure content.

A Selection of Cult Books

The Fan Man by William KotzwinkleThe Fan Man
William Kotzwinkle
This cult comic novel tells the story of a drugged up hippy who manages to attract a following of fans with his obscure lifestyle.
 
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy TooleA Confederacy of Dunces
John Kennedy Toole
Published over a decade after Toole's suicide, this comedic novel celebrates the anti-hero, a misfit struggling to find his place in the modern world.
 
Naked Lunch by William S. BurroughsNaked Lunch
William S. Burroughs
Controversial and banned in numerous American states for its profanity, obscenity, and incessant portrayals of drug use, the book has collected a steady and dedicated following in the fight against censorship.
 
Ham on Rye by Charles BukowskiHam on Rye
Charles Bukowski
Semi-autobiographical coming of age story set during the Great Depression, a critical work to any Bukowski follower. The title is thought to be a play on Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye.
The Red Book by Carl JungThe Red Book
Carl Jung
The manuscript was written in the years following Jung's separation from Freud, but Jung's heirs did not allow publication until the following century. Until then, it was reserved for their eyes only.
 
Siddhartha by Herman HesseSiddhartha
Herman Hesse
This story of a spiritual self-discovery became an influencial text in 1960s America after it was translated from German.
 
Dianetics: the Modern Science of Mental Health by L. Ron HubbardDianetics: the Modern Science of Mental Health
L. Ron Hubbard
The best-selling self-help book launched the movement of Scientology in the 1950s and is still considered to be the canonical text of the religion.
 
The Doors of Perception by Aldous HuxleyThe Doors of Perception
Aldous Huxley
The controversial book details Huxley's own mescaline trip and is an important text within the study of psychedelics and the history of understanding drugs in a spiritual context. It's also the namesake of Jim Morrison's band.
The Jerusalem Bible illustrations by Salvador DaliThe Jerusalem Bible
illustrations by Salvador Dali
This out-of-print edition features 32 full-page color illustrations by surrealist Salvador Dali.
 
Howl and Other Poems by Allen GinsbergHowl and Other Poems
Allen Ginsberg
When Lawrence Ferlinghetti was arrested and charged with obscenity for publishing Howl, demand for the book erupted. It became a pivotal work for young people in the 1960s.
 
The Dice Man by Luke RhinehartThe Dice Man
Luke Rhinehart
A psychiatrist makes life decisions based on the casting of dice. Many readers have followed suit, confirming the book's subheader, "This book will change your life."
 
The Fountainhead by Ayn RandThe Fountainhead
Ayn Rand
The story of Howard Roark, a young architect who refuses to compromise his artistic integrity. The book became an anthem for unrelenting individuals in the mid-century.
Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas PynchonGravity's Rainbow
Thomas Pynchon
Any Pynchon novel would be a good fit for this list. This 1973 title about power and war was released at a critical time in America.
 
The Magus by John FowlesThe Magus
John Fowles
The story of a young disillusioned English teacher and the psychological mind games of an eccentric Greek recluse.
 
Tree of Codes by Jonathan Safran FoerTree of Codes
Jonathan Safran Foer
The book was created by cutting pieces of text from Foer's favorite book, The Street of Crocodiles and has quickly become a vital piece of work to fans of die-cuts.
 
Codex Seraphinianus by Luigi SerafiniCodex Seraphinianus
Luigi Serafini
Thought to be one of the weirdest books ever published, artists, philosophers, and code breakers have obsessed over the book's illustrations, meaning and text.
Voynich manuscriptVoynich manuscript
Unknown
A cryptographer's dream. This illustrated codex from the 15th century was handwritten in an unknown writing system and is still studied extensively.
 
Une Semaine De Bonte: A Surrealistic Novel in Collage by Max ErnstUne Semaine De Bonte
Max Ernst
A series of collage images made from cut-up illustrations from Victorian encyclopaedias and novels. First editions of the 1934 publication are incredibly collectible.
 
The Tutu by Leon GenonceauxThe Tutu
Leon Genonceaux
Author and publisher Leon Genonceaux was already in trouble with French police for immoral publishing when he wrote this twisted novel in 1905. He held it back, and only five copies existed until the 1990's. Publishers of the 'anti-classic' Atlas Press released 2000 copies in 2013.
 
Neuromancer by William GibsonNeuromancer
William Gibson
The seminal work of the cyberfunk culture popularized the term cyberspace, coined by the author himself.
Ralph 124C 41+ by Hugo GernsbackRalph 124C 41+
Hugo Gernsback
An early and incredibly influential science fiction novel. Despite being published in 1911, the book successfully predicted television and transcontinental air service, among other modern achievements.
 
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail BulgakovThe Master and Margarita
Mikhail Bulgakov
The story of Satan appearing in atheistic Soviet Union was banned by Joseph Stalin. Today, Bulgakov fans and Satanist groups in Moscow gather at museums dedicated to the author and his work.
 
The Golden Dawn: The Original Account of the Teachings, Rites & Ceremonies of the Hermetic Order by Israel RegardieThe Golden Dawn
Israel Regardie
Written in the 1930s, the book remains a mainstay in modern occult organizations and magical practices.
 
Magick Liber ABA Book Four by Aleister CrowleyMagick Liber ABA Book Four
Aleister Crowley
The magnum opus of one of the most important figures of the Western occult practice, and the inspiration behind Regardie's work.
Diableries: Stereoscopic Adventures in Hell by Brian May, Denis Pellerin, Paula FlemingDiableries: Stereoscopic Adventures in Hell
Brian May, Denis Pellerin, Paula Fleming
Diableries, or Devilments, is a series of stereoscopic photographs of sculpted clay vignettes satirically depicting life in Hell. Dating back to 1860, these stereocards are prized by collectors.
 
The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam translated by Edward FitzgeraldThe Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
translated by Edward Fitzgerald
Originally written in the 11th century by a Perisan poet, the book of poetry has been translated by many and is subject to various interpretations.
 
Twentysix Gasoline Stations by Edward RuschaTwentysix Gasoline Stations
Edward Ruscha
An odd and highly coveted collection of photographs of gas stations across Western America. The book was the first of its kind among pop artists.
 
Birds of Britain by John D. GreenBirds of Britain
John D. Green
A highly sought after out-of-print photobook from 1967 that details many of the famous British women from the Swinging Sixties in lavish photographs.
The Recently Deflowered Girl by Edward GoreyThe Recently Deflowered Girl
Edward Gorey
An illustrated parody of an old-fashioned etiquette book originally published in 1965 and intended for women who have recently been, well, deflowered. The book generated a new following and was republished when it was mentioned by a blogger in 2009.
 
Seven Years in Tibet by Heinrich HarrerSeven Years in Tibet
Heinrich Harrer
The text that introduced Tibet to a world of readers who then rallied for Tibet in its fight for freedom.
 
The Female Eunuch by Germaine GreerThe Female Eunuch
Germaine Greer
Greer believed the nuclear family repressed and desexualized women. Published in 1970, the book was a key text in the early stages of the feminist movement.
 
Honor Blackman's Book of Self Defense by Honor BlackmanHonor Blackman's Book of Self Defense
Honor Blackman
Who better to teach self-defense than 1960s The Avengers star and feminist icon Honor Blackman? The manual is one of the first ever to be aimed specifically at women.
Fanny Hill's Cookbook by Lionel Braun and William AdamsFanny Hill's Cookbook
Lionel Braun and William Adams
Quirky and erotic, this comical cookbook is illustrated by Brian Forbes. Fanny made her first appearance in John Cleland's 1748 novel, Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure.
 
Tudor Roses by Alice StarmoreTudor Roses
Alice Starmore
The knitting world has elected Starmore queen, but her books are largely out-of-print. This rare title was inspired by the Tudor royals and their embellished fashions and is in high demand among knitters.
 
Fast Times at Ridgemont High by Cameron CroweFast Times at Ridgemont High
Cameron Crowe
When Crowe went undercover at Clairemont High School in the late 1970s he came out with the book that defines the high school experience.
 
A Treasury of Great Recipes by Vincent PriceA Treasury of Great Recipes
Vincent Price
Unlike most celebrity cookbooks, Price was actually a gourmet cook. This out-of-print cookbook is highly sought after.
The Modern Gunsmith by James Virgil HoweThe Modern Gunsmith
James Virgil Howe
Originally published in 1934 and now out-of-print, this gun manual is still the go-to book for gun enthusiasts.
 
The Regulators by Stephen KingThe Regulators
Stephen King
Published under the name Richard Bachman, this leather-bound copy has four Winchester bullets emerging from the front cover and the shell cases entering the rear of the book. This and other editions are passionately coveted by the most fanatical King readers.
 
Action Cookbook by Len DeightonAction Cookbook
Len Deighton
Spy novelist and cookery writer Len Deighton attracted a dedicated following with his quirky recipe book.
 
The Alexandria Quartet by Lawrence DurrellThe Alexandria Quartet
Lawrence Durrell
An early example of quantum fiction, Durrell's tetralogy exposed readers to not only the notions of continuum, but also to life in the Mediterranean.