Maria Callas (2 December 1923 – 16 September 1977)
Just in time for the start of the month, Wichtel Wolfram is back in No. 10.
He would even have moved in a night earlier, but unfortunately, as he wrote, he was unable to install his door, let alone make himself comfortable, as everything was clogged with toys, which he asked to be cleared away by the next evening.
Which of course happened immediately.
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Anarchy's brief summer: the life and death of Buenaventura Durruti |
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Never Let Me Go |
Kazuo Ishiguro *8 November 1954
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German Autumn (1946) |
Stig Dagerman (5 October 1923 – 4 November 1954)
Asmik Grigorian * 12 May 1981
Rusalka
Antonin Dvořák (8 September 1848 – 1 May 1904)
* for Paula @ el racó de sa luna ;-)
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Code name Adler (Eagle) Klaus Barbie and the Western secret services* |
* Also highly recommended:
Hotel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie, which in 1988 won Marcel Ophuls the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature
The older I get, the less time I have to be diplomatic, which is why I'm not ill-disposed to (at least largely) put an end to blogging at the end of this month.
Time to write! Without scissors in head.
To put it with Seamus Heaney:
Between my finger and my thumb
The squat pen rests. ...
Digging
Between my finger and my thumb![]() |
The last visitor |
* [For first time visitors]:
Typo in the title?
Nah. It's just that I would not let a tiny T spoil an avantgardistic alliteration.
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... |
Máirtaín O'Cadhain (1906 – 18 October 1970)
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The Swan |
Guðbergur Bergsson (16 October 1932 – 4 September 2023)
The American who was the first to discover Columbus made a nasty discovery.
Der Amerikaner, der den Kolumbus zuerst entdeckte,
machte eine böse Entdeckung. [G 183]
Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742 - 1799)
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This is ... |
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... no fairy tale. |
* [For first time visitors]:
Typo in the title?
Nah. It's just that I would not let a tiny T spoil an avantgardistic alliteration.
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Not even in Seanhenge can be overridden what seems to be natural law. In this case, a suddenly approaching distraction ensured that the little mouse escaped with its life. |
Jacques Brel (8 April 1929 – 9 Ocober 1978)
* All the crying is pain
“[...] The renewal of Ireland is scarcely thinkable outside the process of the development of a political and cultural Europe. [...] It (the EU; sj) is the greatest example of conflict resolution in the history of humanity. Nations who for centuries invaded each other, occupied each other’s territories, expelled each other’s peoples and massacred each other, came together freely to bury their old hatreds. [...] But the fact that these nations have preserved their identities is even more encouraging. It proves that institutions can be created to pursue common objectives without sacrificing Europe’s diversity of culture and traditions. [...] The more people are given responsibility for their future, the more they show their ability to take such responsibility. The more people believe that their political institutions belong to them, the more effective those institutions will be. [...] Working for a new Ireland in a new Europe [...] It is time to look honestly at the virtues and defects of our society and find new answers capable of preparing us for the challenges which lie ahead. It is time to paint a realistic portrait of society and to abandon the consolation of outmoded imaginary mental pictures. We need the courage to imagine new perspectives which will help us to formulate answers to the questions of social diversity, possible political institutions and the eventual resolution of our conflict. ”
John Hume in Everything is Political in a divided Society. Above excerpts were taken from “Arguing at the Crossroads – Essays on a changing Ireland”, 1997, pp 105/106.
John Hume (18 January 1937 – 3 August 2020)
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... |
Gerry Adams *6 October 1948
Long Kesh
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When health is bad and your heart feels strange, And your face is pale and wan, When doctors say that you need a change, A PINT OF PLAIN IS YOUR ONLY MAN. |
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The last potato cellared for this year, my heart rose up like a falcon to the sky: Two bees and a bumble-bee enjoying a sunflower feast. |
Once again I feel relieved
that Fortune favours fools,
or as a German saying goes,
"Die dümmsten Bauern
ernten die größten Kartoffeln."
/
"The dumbest farmers
harvest the biggest potatoes".Sometimes a saying
can be a great comfort.
* [For first time visitors]:
Typo in the title?
Nah.
It's just that
I would not let a tiny T spoil an avantgardistic alliteration.
Freedom of the press is not only endangered in war zones or dictatorships.
Today, the 1st Hamburg Press Freedom Week began; with interesting guests talking about interesting topics.
Coincidence it's September 11?
My thoughts go back ... no, not 22 years. 50 years.
September 11, 1973: Chilean coup d'état
Never shall I forget this day and the atrocities that followed.
And I shan't forget José Carrasco.
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Chile, my tortured country |
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As I am just once again re-reading Bulgakov's "The Master and Margarita and to please Paula with her favourite flower. |