E Wynn Williams: Britain’s Story

     E Wynn Williams Britain’s Story (4th revised edition, August 1940) Edited by J L Gill and R F S Baird for use in Ontario schools.
     Jon would have liked this history text. Published at a time when Canada was resolutely British, this school book appears to be aimed at middle-school pupils. The history is told in clear language, the more morbid and disreputable bits are left out, and a slew of generalised judgments and characterisations are delivered with few supporting details. Thus, pupils learn that Pepys was a great diarist, that Newton was a great scientist, and so on. But they aren’t told of the General Strike in England, nor of the Winnipeg massacre in Canada; it seems that “modern” ideas of labour rights, safety, and so on emerged as sensible people arrived at a consensus.
     The bias is monarchist, imperial, and progressive, with a great deal of implicit praise for the way the British Empire was established, and how the British Commonwealth of Nations grew out of it. The book includes chapters showing ways of life at different periods, and how housing, clothing, food, social life and so on changed over the centuries. The authors take it for granted that there has been pretty steady social and political progress since the Renascence, and wonderful technological progress since the 1700s. The progressivist stance seems quaint now; reading the book offers a way of thinking about history that is itself now of historical interest. Neat little line drawings in the text and on the end papers provide some visual pleasure. **½

27th March , 2013. A poem for Jon.

27th March 2013
Grief seizes me and twists my bowels.
It grabs me by the neck and shakes me like a rat.
It darkens the sun, eclipses the moon.

O Jon, my son, my son, my son.

You were a gift we held too briefly.
You showed us joy in learning,
music, games, and friends.

Death, the impassive calculator,
saw your thread come to its end,
tapped you on the shoulder, and said, Come.

You went into the light of perfect knowledge.
We linger here in the shadows,
waiting for the time to follow you.

Live in our daily dealings with each other,
let memories of your kindness and delight
shape our minds and heal our hearts.

O Jon my son, my son, my son.

My son Jon

Update 26 March, 2013: My son Jon died on 19 March. He was 48 years old, but to me he was still the boy with whom I had conversations on our walk to school, about history and anything else that caught his interest.  I don't know how much of what I think I know of history I learned from him, but by now it's most of it. His choice of books for gifts was always thoughtful; he had little money to spend, and must have searched yard sales and library book  sales all year long. He liked yard sales, actually, he was a great searcher-out of treasures that others didn't value. I shall miss him. Grief seizes me without warning. Obituary via etouch.ca or legacy.com. The last book he gave me was Uncle Tungsten by Oliver Sacks. I posted review of it on February 12, 2013.

Art Curren. Kitbashing HO Model Structures (1988)

     Art Curren. Kitbashing HO Model Structures (1988) Curren was a master at recognising the possibilities inherent in plastic model kits. This book, consisting of reprints of articles he wrote for Model Railroader, displays his talent wonderfully. It’s enough to look at the drawings and photographs to understand his method and be inspired to emulate it. His painting methods are pretty good, too. An Art Curren building never looks to be made of plastic, but of honest wood, brick, and concrete. Some of his designs, for example the “homes on Maple Street”, are pretty straightforward, but others express more than a little whimsy, which extends to the names (The Perry Shibble Fruit & Produce Co-op, The Hardly Abel Mfg Co.) And of course, unused parts and leftover bits and pieces are thriftily reused for small lean-tos, dormers, loading docks, and so on. Nothing goes to waste. Curren also has an eye for the parts lurking within parts: I especially like his methods for changing the look and size of windows. *** (2003)

Mike Schafer, ed. Railroads You Can Model (1976)

     Mike Schafer, ed. Railroads You Can Model (1976) A somewhat better book than its successor, perhaps because Mike didn’t get his hands on the track plans as much in this one; but most of the plans are not really buildable as shown; they make poor use of the space, and have not been designed from the point of view of a user. Many of the layouts feature shelves that wander out into the middle of the room, but there’s no awareness of the use of backdrops to separate scenes, which in several cases would enable a doubling back of the line without sacrificing scenic integrity. Still, the plans are simpler than in the second book, especially the ones of the short lines, such the Bath & Hammondsport, or the Aberdeen & Rockfish, but they still use more space than they need to.
     The DM & IR is shown in a 58x29 plan featuring a massive ore dock connected through the backdrop to an ore treatment plant (taconite pellet maker) which allows a loads in - empties out operation. The plan is interesting as an exercise, but not really buildable except perhaps for a museum dedicated to displaying the iron ore industry. On the other hand, the B & H is a point to point shelf arranged into a G, easily reduced to fit a smaller space, and using the prototype track arrangements to good effect.
     The best plan, oddly enough, is based on the Tehachapi loop. It fits into a 24x15 space, is designed to display the loop in all its glory, and to show off the heavy traffic over it. This plan is designed for the modeller who prefers to run trains in a spectacular setting. Staging yards are in the form of stacked loops. A slightly longer space would permit wider radii on the loops, and a few more staging tracks, sorely needed to enable reproducing something like the frequency of trains over this line. But the plan is fairly simple, with fewer than 20 turnouts as shown, and perhaps another half dozen with the extra staging. Scenery would be relatively simple, since the vegetation is sparse, but the few buildings and roads would have to be modelled to a high standard to make the scene believable overall. Still, the simplicity of the plan makes this a buildable project despite its large size. **½ (2003)

Mike Schafer, ed. More Railroads You Can Model (1978)

     Mike Schafer, ed. More Railroads You Can Model (1978) Each chapter is adapted from an article in Model Trains or Model Railroader. The potted histories of the railway companies are useful, and often interesting. The plans based on them vary in quality. Several are simply too large, or too much in the spaghetti bowl tradition. The best ones concentrate on about three major features of the prototype, and maintain a low track-to-scenery ratio. E.g, a 9x11 L-shelf depicting the Graham County Railroad runs from Topton to Robbinsville, with a high curved trestle in the corner, scenic highlight of the layout, and a chance for the bridge builder in all of us to get out and have a ball. The plan is buildable in a reasonable amount of time, and a staging yard at one end would permit interchange of cars with the Southern. The plan is easily expandable. Draping the plan around the room would allow addition of a half-hidden Southern oval and versions of the GCRR’s Bear Creek (which had a sawmill) and Sweet Gum (flag stop in the middle of a North Carolina mountain valley).
     The 4x8 based on the Milwaukee Road’s “beer line” shows just how much track can be squeezed into that classic space, and how believable it is when it depicts an urban switching line. But the 5x9 version of the Ma & Pa doesn’t work; there’s too much track in too small a space. A round-the-walls version would work better, and it doesn’t take much to visualise one. * to *** (2003)

P. D. James. The Skull Beneath the Skin (1982)

     P. D. James. The Skull Beneath the Skin (1982) The second of the Cordelia Gray novels, this book has more than a whiff of the gothic about it. An actress is killed and her face bludgeoned to a hideous pulp. Several old sins haunt the characters in the story, the puzzle is well set up, but the solution is weak. Cordelia’s narrow escape from death doesn’t help either, it’s too melodramatic. ** (2003)

Nancy Mitford Don’t Tell Alfred (1960)

      Nancy Mitford Don’t Tell Alfred (1960) Continuation of Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate. Fanny’s husband Alfred has been posted to Paris as ambassador, her cousin Northey is acquired as secretary, and the plot, such as it is, revolves around the fortunes of her family and a diplomatic spat about some islands (rocks surrounded by sandbanks, really, that emerge, just barely, at low tide). The book lacks the energy of the first two books, but amuses. ** (2003)

La Diva by Natalie Choquette.

     La Diva by Natalie Choquette. A one-woman show about opera. Lots of fun. If you get a chance, go see and hear it. Choquette sings the familiar hits in different costumes with commentary in different accents to suit the sources of the songs. She sings beautifully, and can conjure the scene and mood so well that we don’t notice the absence of the production values that seem to play such a huge role at the Met.
     Most of the songs were more or less happy or romantic, but Un bel di vedremo from Madame Butterfly was seriously affecting. At several points, Choquette came into the audience and focussed on one person, or brought him on to the stage. I don’t usually like this kind of audience participation, since it can feel forced, but Choquette does it so naturally that it works. Disclaimer: I was one of the lucky ones, and thoroughly enjoyed it . It was easy to follow her lead.
     Here is Marie’s e-mail to our friends’n’family:
     The link at the end is to a sample of the show we saw by Natalie Choquette, la Diva. She is an opera singer with a big voice. She loves to interact with the audience. She talked, and talked, in many exaggerated accents. She changed costume 4 or 5 times. All costumes were exaggerated and stunning.
      When she first came out in her multi-layered big dress with hooped over skirt and scarf, she told us she was a Diva and the audience must yell "Bravo, Brava" and throw flowers at her, "like this" (and she threw out a bunch of flowers). Her Queen of the Night solo was great!
     The first person she chose from the audience was Dennis Jacques. She brought him on stage and had him take off his jacket and help her shed her big dress and hooped skirt, while she sang. Underneath she had a close fitting sequined gown.
     The only back-up person travelling with her was the piano player who first came out suited in tails, wearing a gray, fuzzy wig. (In real life he is an organist and choir director).  Later he changed to a Liberace wig and had extra lace, candles, rose etc. The Diva made many attempts to "distract" the piano player, while he was playing and she was singing.
     In the Moscow Olympic set he wore his shaved head and a black tank so he could show his muscles.  For that set, Natalie wore a short, red athletic dress and bare feet. She climbed on the piano to sing, lay down and did a head stand, all while singing.
     Her Madam Butterfly solo was beautiful. Later she summed up the story and told how it could have had a better and happy ending. "The trouble is the women always die in opera... That is why I sometimes like to sing the tenor parts". She spoke for the DLM or "Diva Liberation Movement". Her happy ending for La Boheme was for the artist to get enough money to buy aspirin to cure Mimi. She chose Ron Gauthier to be the artist. She gave him a floppy hat, a big smock and a pencil and easel. He drew while she sang.
     The piano player got to play "his music" when she was off stage. One good piece was Bach's Toccata and Fugue on piano!
     While she was walking among the audience she chose Wolf to be her partner for the tango part. She wore a black, knee length dress which was open from waist down and showed a pink and gold lining and ruffled white pantaloons. She chose Pat Fortino to come to stage at the very end and dance with her while she sang. She made each man the romantic-centre-of-attention while he was on stage.
There's a video of “Nessun dorma” and others on YouTube.
    A great evening. ****

Update 2025-06-21: Choquette has a new version of her show "... et le Maestro", and issued several CDs.

Mordecai Richler. Belling the Cat (1998)

     Mordecai Richler. Belling the Cat (1998) Essays, reviews, etc, so-called occasional writing that kept Richler supplied with Scotch and cigars, and his family in groceries. Richler is a witty writer and intelligent and close observer of politics, sport, literature, and the foibles of humankind. He tends to forgive the ordinary weaknesses, but has no patience with cruelty and hypocrisy. A fun read; even the pieces dealing with crises that we have left behind appeal, because Richler is master of the telling detail. Worth keeping on the shelf for occasional reference when a politician seems to have forgotten what he stood for in the past. Richler loved hockey and baseball, and his knowledge of these sports far exceeds mine: in other words, I’ll have to take his words for it. *** (2003)