Just been re-reading Romeo
and Juliet and realised that under present law Romeo would be arrested for
child molestation. He is clearly considerably older than Juliet (in his late
teens - old enough to be banished). Though in the original source of the play
Juliet is 16, Shakespeare makes her 13, going on 14 – the age of Nabokov’s
Lolita! When she wakes after their
wedding night it’s quite clear that she has been well and truly, um, made love
to. Incidentally, Juliet’s nurse, always portrayed as an old or at least
middle-aged woman, is only 26 – and she lost her maidenhead at 12. What a fun
place Verona must have been! I suppose one of the youngest Juliets was Olivia
Hussey in Zeffirelli’s film (15). Leonardo Di Caprio’s Juliet looks about 18. No
producer would dare to show the play as Shakespeare obviously intended . . .
but why did he make Juliet so young? Was the boy actor who first played her
particularly young?
Monday, January 20, 2014
Plastic carriers in Aussie super-markets!
this blog is an off-spring of wwwparkeriters.com
Hello everyone - Julia here! Everyone of course, but it's my fellow Aussie bloggers I'm really contacting today. Now SURELY here is something where the stupid war of the Supermarkets Woolworths and Coles might just manage a truce! It's those blasted plastic carriers. Come on guys! Ireland did it years ago, and did I hear that one of your local rivals has got round to it? When I see shoppers with as many as nine or ten in their trolleys I very nearly throw a wobbly. Go on, you two, make the culprits PAY for the damn things! As a friendly gesture you just might bring 'Prices Down! Down! Down! when it comes to encouraging customers to purchase those nice strong permanent bags. Or, for one day why not be really bold and generous and give them away! To add insult to injury, Woolies now have some really nice pale green plastic bags in useful dispensers at the fruit counters, these are not produced proudly by some Aussie company - but are imported from the States! - And in our beautifully re-furbished Neutral Bay store, where all good customers return any old plastic bags, they have moved the bin to the far end of the store, rather than where we come up from the car park - such a brilliant incentive - I don't think!
Hello everyone - Julia here! Everyone of course, but it's my fellow Aussie bloggers I'm really contacting today. Now SURELY here is something where the stupid war of the Supermarkets Woolworths and Coles might just manage a truce! It's those blasted plastic carriers. Come on guys! Ireland did it years ago, and did I hear that one of your local rivals has got round to it? When I see shoppers with as many as nine or ten in their trolleys I very nearly throw a wobbly. Go on, you two, make the culprits PAY for the damn things! As a friendly gesture you just might bring 'Prices Down! Down! Down! when it comes to encouraging customers to purchase those nice strong permanent bags. Or, for one day why not be really bold and generous and give them away! To add insult to injury, Woolies now have some really nice pale green plastic bags in useful dispensers at the fruit counters, these are not produced proudly by some Aussie company - but are imported from the States! - And in our beautifully re-furbished Neutral Bay store, where all good customers return any old plastic bags, they have moved the bin to the far end of the store, rather than where we come up from the car park - such a brilliant incentive - I don't think!
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Cicadas in Sydney Australia!
This blog is an off-spring of www.parkeriters.com
Good morning world! Julia here! it's 10 am here in Sydney. Yesterday sitting near our post box I saw a largish insect which obviously had wings and what looked like a scaly hard shell. Earlier we'd seen a whole lot of them on our little lemon tree,and while I'd not seen one close up before and I assumed quite rightly it was probably a cicada, though having heard them ever since we've lived here! Now I know. It seems that us Sydney-siders are getting a terrific blast of them this year,and Dr Dave Britton says in the Telegraph that they have emerged from their underground dwellings to begin their summer choruses. It seems that it's not unusual to get large outbreaks like the the one we have at present, but they only occur in the order of ten to fifteen years intervals. I wonder if the same kind of 'vibe' has also encouraged the similar huge outbreak of fleas on dogs which is making for great business for the effective but very expensive 'Frontline' cure for those little nasties.!
Good morning world! Julia here! it's 10 am here in Sydney. Yesterday sitting near our post box I saw a largish insect which obviously had wings and what looked like a scaly hard shell. Earlier we'd seen a whole lot of them on our little lemon tree,and while I'd not seen one close up before and I assumed quite rightly it was probably a cicada, though having heard them ever since we've lived here! Now I know. It seems that us Sydney-siders are getting a terrific blast of them this year,and Dr Dave Britton says in the Telegraph that they have emerged from their underground dwellings to begin their summer choruses. It seems that it's not unusual to get large outbreaks like the the one we have at present, but they only occur in the order of ten to fifteen years intervals. I wonder if the same kind of 'vibe' has also encouraged the similar huge outbreak of fleas on dogs which is making for great business for the effective but very expensive 'Frontline' cure for those little nasties.!
AQUARIUS according to Mr Lilly
Welcome to visitors from parkeriters.com - and of course everyone else. This blog is an extension of the Web site, where we'll be posting bits and pieces of curious and amusing astrological ephemera. The following is astrology over 350 years ago, when the position of the Sun wasn't as important as it is now.
Qualities of the
Signe Aquarius Is an aierial, hot
and moyst Signe, of the aiery Triplicity, diurnal, sanguine, fixed, rational,
humane; masculine, the principall house of Saturn, and house wherein he most
rejoiceth; Westerne.
Sicknesse Governeth the legs, Ancles, and all manner
of infirmities incident to those members, all melancholy Winds coagulated in
the Veines, or disturbing the Blood, Cramps, &c.
Places Hilly and uneven places, places new digged,
or where quarries of Stone are, or any Minerals have been digged up; in Houses,
the roofs, eaves or upper parts; Vineyards, or neer some little Spring or
Conduit-head.
Shape and Forme In presents a squat, thick Corporature, or
one of a strong, well composed Body, not tall; a long Visage, sanguine
Complexiojn; if Saturn is Lord of this House, be in Caoricorn or Aquarius, the
party is black in Haire, and in Complexion sanguine, with distorted Teeth;
otherwayes, I have observed the party is of cleer, white or faire Complexion,
and of sandy coloured Haire, or very flaxen, and a very pure Skin.
Kingdomes, Countries,
Cities Tartary, Croatia, Valachia,
Westphalia in Germany, Piemont in Savoy, the West and South parts of Bavaria,
Media, Srabia, Hamburgh, Breme, Montsfarat and Pisaurum in Italy, Trent,
Tagelstad.
-
William
Lilly, Christian Astrology (1647)
Saturday, January 18, 2014
IWe went to a Saturday flea market!
This blog is an off-spring of www.parkeriters .com
Hi Julia here! Yesterday morning I felt rather restless and usually a good window shop or retail therapy in our City Centre works off this kind of feeling. Instead of the glamour of Gucci, Ferragamo and our favourite department stores, I opted for a flea market about thirty minutes by car on the other side of the Harbour. It is large and covers the whole of a school playground and other adjoining sites. It is full of stalls selling all kinds of stuff - as one would expect. However, a few things surprised me. One was several large piles on the ground of what I can only call rubbish - old books, masses of worn out clothes, discarded toys all in considerable heaps. I wondered if these were waiting to be sorted and added to the stock of someone's stall, or whether they were there waiting for the rubbish pick- up by the council after the market had closed. Very differently, on quite a few stalls there was fair bit of nice china and glass and actual complete sets of wine glasses, mugs and tea sets. Usually at markets like this there are rather forlorn groups of three or for or five - their 'brothers' having been broken. So were these items for sale because they were disliked wedding presents, or were they the remains of stock from unsuccessful businesses? There must have been thousands of dvd's and cd's; but none either of us wanted. A row of tempting new kaftans caught my eye for a mere A$25 especially as it was a very hot morning, and I nearly bought a nice scent bottle to add to my collection. but the accent was on the 'nearly'!
Hi Julia here! Yesterday morning I felt rather restless and usually a good window shop or retail therapy in our City Centre works off this kind of feeling. Instead of the glamour of Gucci, Ferragamo and our favourite department stores, I opted for a flea market about thirty minutes by car on the other side of the Harbour. It is large and covers the whole of a school playground and other adjoining sites. It is full of stalls selling all kinds of stuff - as one would expect. However, a few things surprised me. One was several large piles on the ground of what I can only call rubbish - old books, masses of worn out clothes, discarded toys all in considerable heaps. I wondered if these were waiting to be sorted and added to the stock of someone's stall, or whether they were there waiting for the rubbish pick- up by the council after the market had closed. Very differently, on quite a few stalls there was fair bit of nice china and glass and actual complete sets of wine glasses, mugs and tea sets. Usually at markets like this there are rather forlorn groups of three or for or five - their 'brothers' having been broken. So were these items for sale because they were disliked wedding presents, or were they the remains of stock from unsuccessful businesses? There must have been thousands of dvd's and cd's; but none either of us wanted. A row of tempting new kaftans caught my eye for a mere A$25 especially as it was a very hot morning, and I nearly bought a nice scent bottle to add to my collection. but the accent was on the 'nearly'!
Shakespeare Manuscript Discovered?
Derek says:
– To the street market at Balmain – or rather, the market in
the grounds of a school; as usual enormous mounds of rubbish – really, if ever
there was a place where over-optimism rules, it’s one of these markets, where
pretty much half of the stuff on offer will never be bought by anyone. Of
course from time to time something turns up: a page of the original manuscript
of King Lear, say, or a piece of
jewellery by Cellini. But by no means every
week. However, that DVD one’s always wanted to replace – never. The heat I think
probably kept a lot of people away; it wasn’t by any means a bustling scene.
Just read a wonderful long short story by Ruth Rendell, The Strawberry Tree. Note to self: Must read more of her. Otherwise a bit at a loss for reading at the moment - dipped into Tales of the City, but Maupin doesn't wear all that well; those books were so much of their own time . . .
Friday, January 17, 2014
Australian history or summer fashion !
Hi there - Julia here! For quite a long time I have been writing a family saga which is based on a group of my ancestors who came, from Plymouth England ( my birthplace) and settled in North Sydney some 15 minutes in the car from where we live. It is covering the ten years from 1882 when the family arrived on Boxing day until 1892. When time from other commitments permits I have often to do research into certain areas or events during that period and yesterday found me on the net discovering what was going on in the coal mining areas at Newcastle N.S.W. in 1887. Okay! well that must sound pretty boring, but when what I learned is going to move my story along in another new dramatic development - or story line - believe you me, it's anything but dull. One of our 'house rules' with every book we write - be it a big text book on astrology, dreams, travel or any of our novels we aim never to be dull, and thankfully we've never been accused of such dreariness. Today I am going to wear a lovely new red Veronika Maine cotton sun dress, it's a real honey for this hot weather- she is my favourite Australian Designer - I'm pretty choosy and while I can usually find something I like I do think that many Australian designers are just a bit O.T.T
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