All right, let’s talk about the Prinsenhof. This translates as ‘Court of the Prince’. It was built in the Middle Ages originally intended to be a monastery. Later it served as the home of William the Silent, a prominent figure in Dutch Politics. William of Orange, as he is more commonly known, was the “main leader of the Dutch Revolt against the Spanish Habsburgs that set off the Eighty Years’ War (1568–1648) and resulted in the formal independence of the United Provinces in 1581.” (Wikipedia)
Interestingly, William of Orange was murdered in this building. The bullet holes from the murder itself are still visible in a wall near one of the galleries. The museum has deemed it fit to project silhouettes onto the wall of exactly how the murder happened. I found this improper and moribund but I suppose I am not in tune with the more morose elements of Dutch culture.
I must apologise for the picture quality. I had foolishly forgotten to charge my telephone the night before visiting Delft and had to use an iPhone to take the photographs. These were indeed the last days of Sodom.
The above painting is titled “Man Reading a Letter to a Woman”. It is one if Pieter De Hooch’s finest works, completed between 1670-1674. A true highlight of his later works. De Hooch is considered one of the prominent painters of the Dutch Golden Age. His mastery of light depiction inspired countless contemporaries to follow in his stead. Observe for example, in this painting, how the lady to whom the man is reading is the main focus. Not only is she the focus of the man’s attention, she is also the centre piece of the painting. The paintings on the wall and the mantlepiece are out of focus but her and the wonderful velveteen frock shines with deep resplendence. The light from the high window highlights the woman who is staring somewhat incredulously at the reader. I was most impressed by the vivacity of the fabric in her garb but also by the care with which the light falling on the tiles was displayed.
Now that you have read my own musings, what do you think about this piece; “Woman Lacing Her Bodice Beside a Cradle” by the same painter, painted a decade earlier in 1660?
The de Hooch exhibition was most rewarding for me. I learned something about what Louise would term “Good Best Art” and improved myself marginally in the process. I recommend Delft as a city and for its magnificent museum as well as the central square, which can be seen below.
You know I lived in Coventry for three years. Not sequentially, of course. But in my time there, I had been to the Cathedral countless times. The more devoted Cedric Suggestibles among you will recall that I reviewed Rising Cafe very early on in the Cedric Suggests archives. This was in fact the first place I reviewed for food, despite being the second eatery on the blog. I remember it fondly and was glad to eat there again this weekend with my closest friends and confidants.
The original St Michael’s Cathedral in Coventry was built between the late 14th century and early 15th century. It now stands ruined, bombed almost to destruction during the massive attack on the city by German bombers on the night of November 14th, 1940. AtlasObscura
Little remains of the original Cathedral except the tower which emerged from the bombing relatively intact. It is now open to those who wish to climb the 106 steps up to have one of the finest views of the city I have ever seen. See of the views pictured below.
One can see Holy Trinity Church in its splendour, the Cathedral Lanes Centre, which is home to the Cosy Club, part of Godiva Place and the Lower Precinct shopping centre. If you have spectacles, or if you’ve decided to come from Hull and not bring your spectacles, squint, you’ll see Coventry Market. This is home to Ed’s Coffee and Vinyl Destination where I bought Abraxas by Santana – a superb album. Listen especially to Black Magic Woman, if you have ears of course.
The view from another side of the tower(apologies for not giving you these in the standard North/South binary, I wasn’t wearing my hearing aids so I forgot to bring my compass. Silly of me, really. One can see the corner of the Transport Museum (now £14 entry!), part of Coventry University and a lovely urban sprawl of purest green.
The final side I shall be sharing with you showcases the hull of St Michael’s Cathedral. We discussed the architecture while there, concluding the Romans did a good job in setting out the layout of most modern Cathedrals. Of course the question then asked was “Where did the Romans get the idea to do that?”. Perhaps this is too great a question for this humble blog.
One can also see the Hubert Art Gallery, which is free and delightfully well thought out, as well as FarGo Village. The latter deserves a post all by itself, and may well get one.
I really recommend the St Michael’s tower to you. It’s a fantastic way to get a great view of the city as well as some exercise. You can even see the mechanical bells which St Nick lectured me on at great length, being a bellend of some repute himself.
Some of you may recall that I have extolled the virtues of Legoland last year. I’m not in the habit of repeating myself consciously but this place is really worth talking about. As per, I was invited to go to the Adult Night at Legoland. One can compare the different themes by reading both posts. Or just looking at the pictures if you can’t read, no judgment here.
The fabulous above picture is in the building room adjacent to the Master Builder’s Office (featured image) I imagine this is in connection with the Sealife Centre which is just around the corner. I recommend this place also, just not on a weekend. There are only so many screaming toddlers one should tolerate at once.
What amazed me most about this month’s theme is the references to cult films scattered around Miniland. Observe the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters and the little Ghostbusters themselves tending to him lovingly by the Birmingham Library.
Observe the angry Octopus coming out of Edgbaston Reservoir heading straight for the Waterworks Tower (which was Tolkien’s inspiration for Sauron’s Tower in Lord of the Rings franchise.
Observe the frightful spider’s web on the Wesleyan Building in Snow Hill. Even the detail of the authorities at the foot of this building is well thought out. I am thoroughly impressed with this month’s display.
I really hope you will go to Legoland this month. Therein lies a feat of the imagination which few places in this town can boast.
St Nick and I disagree on a host of conversational pieces, chiefly whether Britain should return to the gold standard. But one thing we can agree on is that I have written a few poems. Below is embedded one which came to me in a dream. Subsequently, I wrote it out with Louise while we were having lunch at Cafe Reem after Mass.
When Louise proposed that we went to see the latest Almodovar, my immediate thoughts turned to La Piel Que Habito, which I saw some years ago. I was so disturbed by the simply grotesque plot that I expected something of equal horror here. Sadly, this is due in fact to my own ignorance of the great scope of Almodovar’s work. As with the aforementioned film, Almodovar manages to take a subject close to heartbreaking and make something beautiful and important out of it.
Banderas, winner of the Best Actor award at Cannes, is immense but tiny. His performance is world-weary and downcast, trying to reconcile himself with his past while not having the strength to deal with the present. It’s an actor opening himself up to share doubts and expose frailties without a hint of showboating. Empire
Dolor y Gloria (Pain and Glory) follows the story of a director, Salvador, being forced to reconcile himself with his past when asked to do a retrospective of his 1980s hit, Sabor. This brings him face to face with his estranged lead actor, Alberto Crespo (Etxeandia). Through a whirlwind romance with heroin, episodes from Salvador’s youth give us a wonderfully clear and shocking picture of the director’s life. The tale of love and loss, of struggle against sexuality and parental expectation is told with extraordinary tenderness.
He has been autobiographical before — Law Of Desire, Bad Education — but never so open-heartedly. Just as Salvador is a filmmaker jaded by life and cinema, Almodovar is the opposite. Pain & Glory beautifully negotiates the past and present to land in a personal place the filmmaker has never been before. Long may he stay there. Empire
One of the most striking aspects of this film for me was the use of colours. Red is the most prominent, featuring on jackets, chairs, doors and in paintings throughout the scenes in the film. Importantly perhaps was the absurdly bright doctor’s lounge. Almodovar has enormous control over his colour palette which translates very well in the film.
I’m not terribly well versed in film reviews, I find in the necessity to hide the main plot points but give a full account of the salient points and reasonings for one needing to see the film quite daunting. Nonetheless, I am more well versed in ignoring people’s opinions, so I’ll just carry on.
For me, the standout moment was just before one of Crespo’s performances. He is wearing a beautiful silk shirt and is dancing to the opening bars of Grace Jones’ La Vie en Rose, the first song from her first album. It’s only for a few seconds but it affected me greatly. Grace Jones is a great inspiration of mine. The song talks about falling in love and seeing life through rose tinted glasses as a result. I’ve never been addicted to heroin, but I imagine this is the impression Almodovar was trying to convey in tandem with being addicted to love in the context of the play within the film.
Dolor y Gloria is possibly the best film I have seen this year. It is a wonderfully moving pseudo-biographical work which says something important about pain and growth. I recommend this to you whole heartedly.
My favourite artists include Grace Jones and Todd Rundgren, this much is evident to anyone who has dared ask me the question. But, of late, I have become enamoured of Nina Simone. Many know her only for ‘Feeling Good’ or ‘My Baby Just Cares for Me’ but her repertoire and indeed the impact she has had on the music industry as a whole is staggering.
What Happened, Miss Simone? takes its namesake from a poem written to her by Maya Angelou. In essence, it is a 2015 biographical film which opened the Sundance Film Festival of the same year.
The film was nominated for six Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special and Outstanding Directing for a Nonfiction Program, winning the former. Wikipedia
The film covers Nina’s life and career and gives unrivalled insight into how she became the icon and star that she is today. This, friends, is not an easy film to watch. It covers unpleasant topics such as domestic abuse and, of course, racism. The fact is that Nina was 25 at the release of her debut album in 1957 and schools in America were only de-segregated in 1954. This means her childhood in North Carolina was peppered with discrimination. One particularly poignant moment in the film for me was when Nina described one of her early recitals, aged 8, when her parents were asked to sit in the back on account of their skin colour. Nina fought back saying she would not play unless they were in their allocated seats in the front row. This is a powerful and potent image which set the scene for how Nina’s life would unfurl.
What I didn’t know was that Nina Simone was a civil rights activist as well as a wonderfully talented recording artist. She regularly involved herself with the civil rights movement in the 1960s and sang songs like Mississippi Goddamn and Young Gifted and Black to protest injustices and bring to light the beauty of people of colour, something which had not been done at the time. This was detrimental to her career, as the film explores, but she found fame once again in her later years after a brief absence from the industry.
In short, my admiration for Nina Simone has deepened by watching this film. Director Liz Garbus has really achieved something, showing us who Nina was and why, while placing her in the context of the times which moulded her. This film is phenomenal and I am not surprised it has been nominated for so many awards. Please watch it and learn something of the woman behind the music. Nina’s soul is so often bared through song without us realising what went into making her the icon she is.
