Friday Five: More TV Shows

I was doing posts about ISO TV, but feel slightly fraudulent calling it that in Australia, where almost everything is back to normal operations - apart from theatre and festivals. So let's just go with TV shows; here are another five that I have been watching.

5 TV Shows Recently Watched:

1. Belgravia (ITV) It's not a patch on Sanditon, but it has some pretty bonnets, sly asides and wildly anachronistic character developments. The nineteenth-century drama focuses on illegitimate children, inherited wealth and social climbing as one would expect from Julian Fellowes, writer of Downton Abbey. The cast includes Tamsin Greig, Philip Glenister, Tara Fitzgerald, Paul Ritter, Harriet Walter, Saskia Revves and Tom Wilkinson, who are all marvellous, even if they barely get to flex their acting muscles.
2. Between Two Worlds (Seven Network) The monochromatic colour palette (almost everything is a shade of blue or grey) is matched only by the complete lack of inflection in the acting and dialogue. The premise should have been interesting - a man who has a heart transplant starts to imagine he has inherited characteristics of his donor - but the simultaneously tawdry production and deadpan delivery cannot raise a pulse. Models are all very well but their acting is more of the cardboard cutout variety.  Hermione Norris, what were you thinking?
3. Roadkill (BBC) Hugh Laurie seems to be cornering the market in nasty bastards. This political drama written by David Hare has a touch of Yes, Minister crossed with The New Statesman, but the comedy is replaced with cold hard pragmatism. Hugh Laurie plays Peter Laurence, a government minister on the rise until a past scandal threatens to bring him down. Helen McCrory and Saskia Reeves also star. The four-part thriller was filmed last year and, if COVID and finances permit, is perfectly poised for a second season. 



Julia Davis and Catherine Shepherd in Sally4Ever



4. Sally4Ever (Sky Atlantic/ HBO) Inevitably this will be compared with Fleabag because it is written by a woman  (Julia Davis) and features 'normal' women (Catherine Shepherd; Julia Davis) dealing with life and having sex. I long for the days when this isn't such a unique premise and the gender balance is more equal in terms of writers and actors getting decent work. In the meantime, this is a good benchmark. The seven thirty-minute episodes cause the viewer cringing discomfort and cathartic guffaws of laughter. It's black comedy at its best. 
5. The Good Fight, Season Four (CBS All Access) It begins with Diane (Christine Baranski) in an alternate reality where Hilary won, the #MeToo movement has never happened and Harvey Weinstein is still a good guy. After she wakes up it continues with military whistleblowers and an investigation into the death of Jeffrey Epstein. It's well-written and topical, with characters we grow to love (Cush Jumbo as Lucca Quinn; Sarah Steele as Marissa Gold; Nyambi Nyambi as Jay DiPersia; Michael Boatman as Julius Cain) and it combines stand-alone stories with a continuous thread. It's like a cross between Boston Legal and The West Wing, and I enjoy the glitzy American courtroom drama with powerful women not just doing the filing and answering the phone. Only seven of the scheduled ten episodes were fully completed before production was halted due to the COIVD-19 pandemic, and it feels unfinished with a tantalising mystery still in the air and Lucca has left the series. I feel a bit bereft. 

More of this sort of thing: Cush Jumbo, Christine Baranski and Audra McDonald in The Good Fight

Friday Five: Everybody Wants to Rule the World

As part of the highly informative kings and queens of Scotland at Stirling Castle exhibition, there was a section entitled: Dos and Don'ts of Kingship. This was a straightforward checklist for any would-be ruler, which I thought I would share with you here.

5 Dos and Don'ts of Kingship:

1. Assert Your Authority: As the kingdom became more stable, kings assumed greater power and responsibility. Do confront nobles who have grown too powerful - James II was only six when he inherited the crown. He was a pawn in the hands of the Livingston and Douglas families, who used their control of him to gain power and land. At 18 the king took personal control of his kingdom, swept the Livingston's from power, and had the leading members of the family executed. But don't go too far... At Stirling Castle in 1452 James II, then 21, lashed out and murdered the Eighth Earl of Douglas when he refused to bow to his demands. Such a ruthless, unlawful elimination of his rival was very risky and caused general outcry. But James did some swift damage control. He showered traditional Douglas supporters with land grants and so neutralised the threat of a serious invasion.
2. Build a Power-Base: To ensure support, kings had to involve their nobles in government and reward their loyal service with lands and wealth. Do encourage loyalty through good management - James IV exercised an inclusive style of government, giving the appearance of taking advice from a wide circle of advisors. He was a dynamic ruler, whose attractive personality allowed him to build close personal ties with his nobles. Although James IV held relatively few parliaments during his reign, the nobility had access to him which they believed gave them influence in policy-making. Don't alienate your most powerful nobles. James II was seen as remote and disengaged. He isolated many of the greater nobles, the king's traditional advisors. Instead, his inner circle consisted of a few lower-born favourites. The nobles were rarely consulted by the king, whose pro-English policies were particularly unpopular. Discontent grew. Eventually the nobles launched a rebellion which ended with James's death after the Battle of Sauchieburn in 1488.
3. Wage War: Kings need to be commanding military leaders, in whose service fame, fortune and honour could be won. Do set an example for your followers - Robert the Bruce has the reputation for being Scotland's most successful warrior king. He was the military role-model of medieval kingship and fought, against the odds, for Scotland's freedom. His most famous victory was won at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. Don't flee the field before the battle begins. In 1436 James I led a major - and very expensive - expedition to recapture Roxbugh Castle from English control. What should have been a demonstration of military superiority turned into a fiasco. James abandoned the siege before it began. He left behind his expensive artillery - the visible status symbols of a warrior king. James's failure was seen as poor kingship and was a catalyst for his assassination in Perth the following year.
4. Secure the Dynasty: Royal marriage was a powerful tool used to build alliances and seal agreements. It was also essential for the provision of a legitimate heir. Do make a prestigious marriage - As their dynasty became more secure, the Stewart kings began to look to other European courts for their brides. They made some impressive diplomatic alliances, bringing wealth in the form of the bride's dowry. When James III married Margaret of Denmark in 1469 her dowry ultimately comprised the highly desirable Orkney and Shetland islands. Don't fail to produce an heir. David II, son of Robert the Bruce died childless in 1371 despite two marriages. He never gave up hope of producing an heir, and attempted to divorce his second wife, Margaret Logie, to marry his mistress, Agnes Dunbar. But Margaret successfully appealed to the Pope to obstruct the divorce. Agnes was still queen-in-waiting, living at Stirling Castle, when David died. The king's infertility ended the Bruce dynasty and the crown passed to David's nephew, Robert II, the first Stewart king. 
5. Stage a Spectacle: A successful king knew how to make an impression by ensuring he had a physical presence in the realm, while publicly displaying his wealth and status at every opportunity. Do host elaborate events at the royal court, such as pageants and tournaments - In 1449 James II hosted an international tournament at Stirling Castle. Knights o horseback hoped to unseat their opponent and gain fame for their deeds. This sporting event provided welcome entertainment for the nobility and gave James a chance to parade his importance in front of his influential guests. Don't neglect your public image... James III seems to have avoided chivalric sports and public entertainments. There is no evidence of a tournament being held in Scotland at any point during his reign. Instead he horded his wealth. This failure to provide crowd-pleasing spectacles for the court was part of the reason for the eventual rebellion against him.

At Least It's Not a Marathon: Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days

Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days by Jake Knapp with John Zeratsky & Braden Kowitz

Bantam Press

Pp. 264

In this ‘How to’ manifesto, a group of guys from Google Ventures show us a ‘new’ business method. Of course, it is not really new and we’ve heard it all before, packaged differently. A rich white guy has a period of self-reflection, which leads him to want to work smarter rather than harder. As one would expect of a Google product, it’s written in an approachable and accessible sanitised way, with some good basic knowledge and an eye on the bank account.

The question the boys tackle is how to take an individual activity and focus on finding a solution. The basic idea is to provide a DIY guide for running your own sprint (five-day problem-solving exercise) with a clear daily focus and checklists (including shopping lists for necessary materials) in the back, along with FAQs and a link to the website (thesprintbook.com) for more information and resources.

The authors recommend removing all phones, laptops and tablets from the room to focus more fully on the immediate task. “These devices can suck the momentum out of a sprint. If you’re looking at a screen, you’re not paying attention to what’s going on in the room, so you won’t be able to help the team. What’s worse, you’re unconsciously saying, ‘This work isn’t interesting.’” They acknowledge that not everyone has the luxury to set other work aside for a week (who picks up the slack?), so this method can only really work in a big organisation. Interestingly, it can only really work in person, which is a shame in these ‘unprecedented’ times when nearly all meetings are conducted over video conferencing systems. The concepts involve using simple graphics and sketch designs: many of the suggestions are worked out on white boards and with sticky notes.

They maintain that deadlines force one to focus when pitching ideas while they also recognise that smaller parts of the sprint can be used if there is insufficient time to run the whole week. The ideology can be applied to making a small decision or dealing with a frustrating problem, and customer interviews can be conducted at any time. The highlights of the process are the focus on asking the experts, interviewing potential users, and making decisions on solutions.

They make an effort to use female pronouns – “The Decider needs to choose one target customer and one target event on the map. Whatever she chooses will become the focus of the rest of the sprint.” – but all the references are Silicon Valley frat boy (Star Wars; Apollo 13; Ocean’s Eleven; Lord of the Rings; Led Zeppelin; Huey Lewis and the News). The examples they use for the businesses which benefited from a sprint are: a coffee outlet; a hospitality robot; a software company; and a medical assessment service. A quick glance at the bios at the back (masquerading as thank-you notes), reveals that they spent their ‘ordinary’ childhoods computing, recording, designing sailing yachts, playing basketball and producing music.

There are some good ideas in this sprint methodology, but you have heard them all before. Now that they are repackaged in a slick, accessible, practically comic-book-style, you are likely to hear them repeated again and again, if you strain to hear the sound over that of the cash registers ringing.

Friday Five: Kings and Queens (and a Bonus Oddball) of Scotland

When we visited Stirling Castle, we saw an exhibition about the kings and queens of Scotland and their relations with the castle itself. It began with a family tree, which claimed to illustrate the direct blood link between Kenneth MacAlpin and Robert the Bruce. A cautionary note warned that 'the route between was often complicated'. This was written by the master of understatement.

Now, I have no illusions that I am any good at this sort of thing, and this is certainly not any attempt at providing a definitive history. There are, however, a few names that capture the imagination here.

1. Kenneth MacAlpin (842-858) - Kenneth (snort); it just doesn't seem like a very regal name. He was, however, apparently a notable warrior and the first leader to establish power over the Picts and the Scots to unite them in the kingdom of Alba, now known as Scotland. 

2. Macbeth (1040-1057) - There is a section of the long line (or tenuous ribbon if you prefer) of divine monarchical inheritance which reads, 'Duncan I 1034-1040; Macbeth 1040-1057; Lulach 1057-1058 ; Malcolm III (Canmore)1058-1093'. 

It would seem that Duncan I launched an attack on Moray, Macbeth's lordship, and was killed in action by Macbeth's troops. Macbeth subsequently became King of Alba where he ruled peacefully for 17 years with apparently little opposition. His only major confrontation during his reign was an English invasion in 1054, led by Siward, Earl of Northumbria on behalf of Edward the Confessor. Macbeth was killed at the Battle of Lumphanan in 1057 by forces loyal to the future Malcolm III. He was buried on Iona, the traditional resting place of Scottish kings. Macbeth was briefly succeeded by his stepson, Lulach, who only ruled for a few months before being killed by Malcolm III, whose descendants continued to rule Scotland for another two hundred years.

Wikipedia tells us, "Macbeth is today best known as the main character of William Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth and the many works it has inspired. However, Shakespeare's Macbeth is based on Holinshed's Chronicles (published in 1577) and is not historically accurate." Wait, Shakespeare fudged the facts? Well, I never...

3. Joan Beaufort (1424-1437 & regent 1437- 1439) - She was twenty when she married James I: he made her co-monarch and gave her Stirling Castle as a wedding present, which was nice.  When James I was assassinated in 1437, Queen Joan smuggled their young son, James II, to Stirling Castle for safe-keeping. She then ruled from here as regent, surely making her one of the most powerful women in the land.

4. James IV (1473-1513) - Apparently this James was a passionate supporter of arts and culture (hurrah!). He was clever and well-educated, spoke seven languages and surrounded himself with poets, musicians, writers and philosophers. He was influenced by Classical ideas and the culture of the European Renaissance. He also seemed to rather like building (or at least, having other people build things for him). While at Stirling Caste he commissioned building works on a grand scale including the old Chapel Royal, the Great Hall the Forework and the King's Old Building.

Also, somewhat importantly, in 1502 he signed the rather ambitious-sounding Treaty of Perpetual Peace with England, and the following year married Margaret Tudor, daughter of the English king, Henry VIII. Well, that's all nicely settled then.

5. John Damian - Not a king, but a fascinating figure nonetheless. He was an Italian alchemist who believed he could transform base metals into gold.  As James IV's court welcomed artists, scientists, and classically-trained poets and thinkers, Damian's claims intrigued the king and he was set up with a laboratory at Stirling Castle. "Despite the generous royal funding, Damian had no success." I wonder why...?

In 1507, in an attempt to retain the king's support, Damian tried a new experiment. He made wings from chicken feathers and announced he would use them to fly to France from the walls of the castle. His doomed flight from the Ladies' Lookout on the west side of the castle ended in a dunghill. Damian blamed "the wrong kind of feather". Is there a play about this? If not; there should be.

6. Mary Queen of Scots (1542-1587) - All joking aside (because she's not exactly known for her sense of humour), Mary is probably the queen that the country knows best. She lived at Stirling Castle until 1548 when she was sent to France "for safe-keeping". She returned to Scotland in 1561. 

As an adult, Mary spent much of her seven years at Stirling Castle. In 1566 the Old Chapel Royal was the setting for the baptism of her son, the future James VI. No expense was spared. Mary borrowed twelve thousand pounds (about two million today) to fund the event. During a great ceremony to impress the foreign emissaries, Mary laid on three days of "feasting, fireworks, music and masquing" in a celebration to rival anything Europe had ever seen.

Friday Five: Favourite Books I Read in 2020

I have been checking my spreadsheet of what I read in 2020 (yes, these things need to be taken seriously) and I see that I read 60 books and 24 plays last year. I rate everything that I read out of five, and these are the highest-ranked books that I read last year. Yes, I know there are more than five, but the post fits the profile. I can't claim that they are of last year because I only read one book actually published in 2020 and that didn't make the list (The Insider by Christopher Pyne, since you ask, rated a 3.5). 

My Favourite Books I read in 2020

1. The Penelopiad - Margaret Atwood (2005) - a retelling of the myth of Odysseus as narrated by the 'faithful wife' left behind while her husband travels the world having adventures. It's sharp and witty and short. 4.9/5
2. A Gentleman in Moscow - Amor Towles (2016) - When people use words like charming and delightful, I tend to shy away, but this book is everything it promised to be. Count Alexander Rostov is sentenced to live out the rest of his life in house arrest in the Metropol Hotel in Moscow. He befriends the guests and the staff and manages to spin an epic tale in a confined environment. Published before hotel quarantine was a thing we all recognised, expect this to be made into a film. 4.8/5
3. Ducks, Newburyport - Lucy Ellmann (2019) - I wasn't sure I ever would, because I borrowed it from the library twice (having to return it because it was reserved), but I finally finished it. And wow! Just wow! It's one hell of a challenge (what with being over a thousand pages long and nearly all one continuous sentence), but so rewarding. I am so glad I persevered with this book. It's so complex and insightful and devastating and affirming, and I'm going to miss it. 4.8/5
4. Girl, Woman, Other - Bernardine Evaristo (2019) - The joint winner of last year's Booker Prize, this exploration into the lives of twelve black British women is absolutely life-affirming. Each narrative is individual yet they weave together, with some of the stories overlapping to create a tumultuous landscape of love, loss, sorrow and joy, while touching on timeless issues of race and feminism. This might sound worthy and intense: it is, but in the very best way.  4.8/5
5. Becoming - Michelle Obama (2018) - Michelle Obama relates the experience of what it's like to be a black woman in a white man's world. She explains how it feels to sacrifice her own career to support that of her partner; to balance the needs of the country with those of her family while being under intense pressure and scrutiny; and how to remain true to her values in a job with no position description but an overwhelming weight of expectations. And she does it all with grace and style. 4.7/5
6. The Warlow Experiment - Alix Nathan (2019) 4.5/5 - This novel is based on the true story of an eccentric Victorian gentleman, Herbert Powyss, who conducted an experiment; he placed an advert in a newspaper asking for a man to volunteer to be placed in isolation in his cellar for seven years with ‘every convenience desired’ but ‘without seeing a human face’. John Warlow was the only person who answered the advert, ‘a semi-literate labourer with a wife and six children to provide for’. Alix Nathan imagines how this experiment might have worked, or not, and she has created a rich novel of mental manipulation. She imagines that Powyss wants to see how a mind would cope without social contact and write up his findings to present to the Royal Society.



7. The Story of the British Isles in 100 Places - Neil Oliver (2018) - Neil Oliver's story of the British Isles is very personal to him as he shares the places that he thinks are important to the story of who we are. It's fascinating to read his explanations, to remember landmarks or consider them in new ways. It also makes one consider which places one would include in an individual account (For the record, that would be Pendle Hill, Anfield, Manchester Free Trade Hall, Teddington Lock and Marlow Bridge for me.) 4.5/5
8. Finding Baba Yaga - Jane Yolen (2018) - This contemporary retelling of an iconic myth is written entirely in blank verse. It is reminiscent of the artful design of a Russian Matryoshka nesting dolls, as elements of Slavic myth, Russian folklore and fairy tales cleverly fit among the contours of American realism. It also explores a number of themes including the nature and power of language, the journey from childhood to adulthood, the relationship between religion and language, ‘good’ and ‘bad’ words, the unique dynamic of female friendships and the mother/daughter relationship. It is familiar; it is unique; it is brilliant.4.4/5
9. Dream Angus - Alexander McCall Smith (2006) - Part of the Canongate Myth Series, this novella adapts the Celtic myth of the Celtic God of Dreams. It's concisely and charmingly written and introduces vignettes of characters who drift through the story with all the strange combination of directness and magic that I expect from the writer of The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency and 44 Scotland Street series. 4.3/5
10. The Inheritance of Loss - Kiran Desai - (2006) Winner of the Booker Prize 2006, and the reason I read fiction. It is an atmospheric elegy to a bygone era, taking the political (national divides; crumbling international alliances; religious and cultural diaspora) and making it personal (family relationships; love and tolerance; self-identity). Set in the Himalayas and the USA it has a wide scale and detailed language. 4.3/5
11. Hollywood Wants to Kill You: The Peculiar Science of Death in the Movies - Rick Edwards and Dr Michael Brooks (2019) - According to the authors, “It may not sound great, but it is. Partly, because it’s an excuse to explore science. Much of scientific endeavour is really about finding ways to avoid death.” It is also an excuse to revisit disaster movies and question whether they really were as crap as you thought. Apparently, despite the fact that all trainee managers at NASA are shown Armageddon to see how many of the 168 factual errors they can spot, drilling a hole into the centre of an asteroid and blowing it up from within is still the best way of dealing with this potential threat. 4.3/5
12. The Bear and the Nightingale - Katherine Ardern (2017) - A historical fantasy set in Medieval Russia that incorporates elements of Russian folklore? Yes please. A blend of mythical creatures and Orthodox Christianity? Yes again. Finding out that this is the first part of a trilogy that promises more evocative prose and atmospheric settings? Thrice yes!4.2/5
13. The Wall - John Lanchester (2019) - Described as the new 1984, this is sharp and bleak dystopian fiction that isn't so far removed from the present. The younger generation have to patrol the wall and protect what is theirs from the Others who want to come and take it. If anyone gets over the wall, the same number of people (and those who failed to defend it) are put out to sea. It's very powerful and very grim. The first line is, 'It's cold on the wall' and I literally shivered all the way through this (short-ish 270 pages) novel. 4.2/5

You'll do girl, you'll do: Finding Baba Yaga

Finding Baba Yaga by Jane Yolen

Tom Doherty Associates

Pp. 131

This contemporary retelling of an iconic myth is written entirely in blank verse. It is reminiscent of the artful design of a Russian Matryoshka nesting dolls, as elements of Slavic myth, Russian folklore and fairy tales cleverly fit among the contours of American realism. It also explores a number of themes including the nature and power of language, the journey from childhood to adulthood, the relationship between religion and language, ‘good’ and ‘bad’ words, the unique dynamic of female friendships and the mother/daughter relationship. Yolen begins her tale, “You think you know this story. / You do not.”

Teenaged Natasha lives with her parents, and knows she must get away from them and their constant fighting. Ever since her father has discovered religion, it has become worse as he monitors her language and behaviour. She runs away into the forest but, although the woods, stones and water are a recurring fairy tale image or reference, this is not the one familiar from storybooks and the settings are slightly skewed; “The forest opens like a yawn,/ as if it knew I was coming,/ has seen me before,/ can’t be bothered to resist.” We recognise the motifs of the lost child in the woods, but Yolen suggests there is more to the story if we look, listen, and abandon our preconceptions. At the end of Chapter Two, The Runaway, in This Is Not a Fairy Tale she writes, “Expect no princes./ Expect no magic rings./ Expect no glass slippers./ Expect no fairy godmothers. / Expect no singing dwarfs. / Expect no talking dragons. / Expect only/ seven deadlies delivered:/ exhaustion,/ boredom,/ regret,/ hunger,/ anger,/ danger,/ death./ All part of God’s taketh away.”

And then she encounters Baba Yaga, with all of her traditional traits. She lives in a house which turns about on its chicken legs: “It is like living on a house boat:/ the swell of the waves, the turn of the tides,/ a moment of emotion, with the ‘e’ removed.” She is a tough old woman with an iron nose, and the contemporary references to strong women are apparent; “She’s tougher than Clinton or Thatcher ever were.” This clash of realism and magical imagery continues as she explains how Baba Yaga flies through the sky in her mortar, guided by her pestle, but no one see her “unless you count bad dreams”. She flies “across tundra, taiga, major highways,/ avoiding traffic jams, roundabouts,/ only bothering the occasional helicopter/ or low-flying private planes.”

Natasha learns to tell her story, and that “A story is, not always means.” It may be grim – “I think I know now/ there are no happy evers./ Only happy moments.” – but she grows as a narrator, examining the meanings of words and exploring postmodernism through form and structure, drawing attention to the artifice of the narrative. “I am becoming a poet./ I am thinking in metaphors./ I am walking through a poem.”

As Natasha rewrites the myth with herself as the hero of her own story, she discovers that “Stories retold are stories remade.” After all, if we believe critical analysis, there are only seven stories anyway, so we need to refresh them every now and then. In searching for (and finding) Baba Yaga, Natasha is really on a quest to discover her own inner vice, strength and truth. By the end of the book she states, “So, this is a tale/ both old and new,/ borrowed, narrowed,/ broadened, deepened,/ rethreaded, rewoven,/ stitches uneven,/ re-plastered, re-harled, rehearsed, reworked/ until it’s my own.” It is familiar and unique. It is brilliant.

Friday Five: Happy Cross-Stitch

Being as my previous post was about some of the most intricate and exceptional tapestries I have ever seen, I feel somewhat inadequate posting this with the latest examples of my own work. I like doing them, however, so I'm going to continue to share. Let's just not compare though, shall we..?

When my parents were visiting my sister, she bought my mother a cross stitch to help her pass the time and give her something relaxing to do. Apparently my mother is not good at this form of relaxation, and she began it, but after a few rows she gave up. My sister gave it to me instead to complete, which I did, and returned it to her to display, as a memory of family dynamics!

A friend saw this image and thought of me -I can't imagine why! She sent it to me and I turned it into a cross stitch pattern. Now, the question is to who do I give it? There are so many possible recipients!

The following designs are Mandala cross stitch patterns from a calendar that a colleague had at work. She printed them off for me and I enjoyed making them. I didn't always have the exact colours that were specified, but I had a stab (as it were) so they may not be quite true to the original pattern, but I like the art anyway.