Start the week #30
First Commons televised speech, Moo Moo, writings and readings
Greetings!
Astute readers will immediately recognise that this isn’t the start of the week. Unfortunately, what with teaching over the weekend1, destocking a book case so we could have some plastering done, and being generally knackered because of the heat, and having to attend a creative rotting course, yesterday was not able to be a publishing day. Sorry!
As my bath day is coming up, I decided to do what the Royal Family does and commission a special birthday photograph. I decided to hire the services of a top photographer. Unfortunately, they weren’t available so I took a selfie instead. Here it is:
But enough of this persiflage! On with the newsletter.
Terry
First televised speech of the House of Commons
I hope you enjoy this speech in the House of Commons. The timing and dry humour are masterful. It was the first one recorded on television. Sadly, Ian Gow was killed by an IRA bomb some years later.
Learning the sax
I’ve had a long-standing itch to learn the sax, so recently I decided to scratch. Having hired an alto sax I was delighted to discover that I could actually get a sound out of it. I even managed to produce something approaching a tune, even though I didn’t know what the hell I was doing.
“I know”, said Elaine. “let’s go to the music library.” Our borough has a music centre housed in an old school, and the erstwhile school library is now devoted entirely to music books and records. Naturally, they are using the original library shelving, so it was rather disconcerting to discover a book called “Learn to play alto sax” on a shelf labelled ‘Fiction’.
All I can say is: listen to this space.
Remembering Moo Moo
I tend not to write very often or at length about my personal feelings, but you might wish to regard this as a corrective to the kind of things I tend to write about our cats2. Recently I’ve been feeling sad about a cat called Moo Moo, so-named because he had similar colouring and markings to a Friesian cow, as you can see in the picture.
He and Willow were brothers. When we acquired them, the rescue centre said they mustn’t be separated. We have no idea what had happened to them, but they were very traumatised. In particular, they were terrified of the sound of a ding-dong doorbell. Every time one sounded in a TV programme, they ran for cover.
Moo Moo was also scared of men, including me. It took him years to start to realise I wasn’t going to hurt him.
Willow was very assiduous towards him. For example, soon after Moo Moo came here he ran up a neighbour’s tree, but couldn’t get down. We thought we were going to have to enlist the services of the fire brigade. However, Willow ran up the tree and led Moo Moo to terra firma.
Unfortunately, unbeknownst to us, Moo Moo had a heart condition. He came in one night screaming in pain — we thought he’d been run over. We leapt in the car and took him to the vet, who gave him the equivalent of a huge dose of morphine. The vet told us that Moo Moo was likely to pass away in the night.
The next morning we returned to the vet, and one of the staff ran out to us saying “He’s doing OK!”.
Usually, cats with the condition he had tend to last days, or with a bit of luck weeks. We managed to keep him going for two years.
Sadly, in the end the inevitable happened. We found him in the garden, not moving and very cold. We took him to the vet, who said that it was time to say goodbye. So while we held him, the vet put him to sleep. Even the vet and the nurses were crying.
Willow was depressed when he couldn’t find Moo Moo. He lost twenty percent of his body weight in a matter of weeks. The vet said the only thing that would cure him would be to get another cat.
We weren't sure that would work, because cats tend to be very territorial. Moreover, we were worried that Willow would think he was being replaced. But a few months later the vet phoned us to say someone had left four kittens in a cardboard box outside the door, and would we like some of them. We took two sisters, and that’s how Minty and Mocha came to be part of our happy household. Willow and Minty in particular have really bonded, and Willow has a new lease of life. He races around like a young cat, and the vets are astounded that he looks and behaves as if he is five years younger.
So everything has turned out well.
But we still miss Moo Moo.
Recent writings
A couple of weeks ago I wrote a story called Superstition, which was a puzzle on three levels. Click that link if you feel the need to give your brain a workout.
Last Tuesday I told my paying subscribers how I constructed the Superstition story.
Then on Wednesday I wrote my letter to Rebecca, in which I talked about cooking and other stuff. Rebecca will be replying tomorrow (Wednesday) on her Substack.
I wrote a story for my creative writing class, which I might publish here when I’ve polished it up a bit.
I’ve written some of an article about ChatGPT etc, and I’m working on another story for my creative writing class. In fact, I’ve written it already, but only in my head. Maybe I’ll post that here too at some point.
Finally, last Sunday I wrote a Footnotes version of a simple story in my Experiments in Style series. Read it for a good larf.
Recent readings
There’s been some great reading on Substack in the last week, far too many to list here I think. So, I’ll mention a few but not all.
publishes Writing in Company. Her posts contain writing prompts but also sometimes a mixture of prose, poetry, and video. I especially liked On waking early, whenever that is.I think hearing snippets of conversation is a great stimulus for writing. In fact, there’s even a website full of quotes overheard in New York called, erm, Overheard in New York.
by Jim Cummings has featured a few similar articles, such as this one: Convenience Store Chronicles #3.And here’s a very moving article by Abigail:
To my Seventh Grade Algebra Teacher, Mr. Cardine
Outside of Substack I’ve been reading Classic Irish Short Stories (Amazon affiliate link); Girl, Woman, Other, which won the Booker Prize a few years ago; and I’ve just started The Anomaly, by Herve Le Tellier, a president of the Oulipo.
I’m really enjoying the short stories, especially one called Jury Case by Eric Cross. Girl, Woman, Other was, at 450 pages, about 400 pages too long. The Anomaly is supposedly a brain-teaser and it’s just starting to get interesting (I’ve only read about 8 pages so far!).
Well that’s it. If you can see your way to commenting, sharing, subscribing or upgrading that would be great. Otherwise I might be forced to grab my sax and start busking, and I don’t know what the residents of London have done to deserve that.
Which reminds me, a few weeks ago I took a short (30 second) video of some bloke lying down in Tottenham Court Road in London playing the saxophone. I don’t know how he can play like that, but he wasn't’ bad. I wish now I’d dropped a few coins in his hat. Trouble is, I hardly ever carry cash these days. Knock yerself out:
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Best comment I ever had was: good looking tutor with a nice line in socks.
Such as using them as footrests and calling them a bunch of malingerers.
What a special bond Willow and Moo Moo had! Animals are amazing creatures. I’m so glad Willow was perked up by her new companions. Life is meant to be lived with friends.
I feel your discomfort when, days later, you're still thinking about the guy playing the sax while laying down (wow!) and wish you would've been able to give him something. I am the same, I would carry that with me and consider trying to find him again to drop a few coins, which isn't exactly a useful way to roll through the world because there's always something like that lurking in our minds😂. Busking is probably less lucrative work these days in our almost cash-free world, never thought of that until you mentioned it.
Sorry about your lovely cat Terry and happy birthday!