tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2526736757651414061.post8499757932777312943..comments2024-03-25T15:07:41.959+00:00Comments on Nigeness: Meanwhile in Dogger...Nigehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314891387515045404noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2526736757651414061.post-44986548509459573582011-01-07T17:06:08.643+00:002011-01-07T17:06:08.643+00:00But why is it so mesmerising? Something to do with...But why is it so mesmerising? Something to do with the solemn, almost liturgical repetitions, I suppose -- but also the way those names evoke vast storm-lashed solitudes, making your own bed seem so much more safe and comforting by contrast? <br /><br />The Heaney poem is splendid but there's an equally famous sonnet by Carol Ann Duffy that captures something of this:<br /><br /> Prayer<br /><br />Some days, although we cannot pray, a prayer<br />utters itself. So, a woman will lift<br />her head from the sieve of her hands and stare<br />at the minims sung by a tree, a sudden gift.<br /><br />Some nights, although we are faithless, the truth<br />enters our hearts, that small familiar pain;<br />then a man will stand stock-still, hearing his youth<br />in the distant Latin chanting of a train.<br /><br />Pray for us now. Grade 1 piano scales<br />console the lodger looking out across<br />a Midlands town. Then dusk, and someone calls<br />a child's name as though they named their loss.<br /><br />Darkness outside. Inside, the radio's prayer -<br />Rockall. Malin. Dogger. Finisterre.jonathan lawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05986943428040953041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2526736757651414061.post-70623407001048431212011-01-07T13:35:14.780+00:002011-01-07T13:35:14.780+00:00interesting choice of words nige - "mesmeric ...interesting choice of words nige - "mesmeric recitation of sea areas for the benefit of mariners." As far as I was aware, there is nary a mariner anywhere who uses the shipping forecast these days as they all have their own super-accurate electronic systems these days. The shipping forecast is maintained for the "benefit of people trying to go to sleep", and the sort of people that write purple-inked letters of complaint whenever you try and change any long standing institution.<br /><br />I love the shipping forecast, although I have noticed that in the last few years it's not always as somnolent as it was, as frequently they have reedy voiced youngsters reading it and it sounds all wrong. It should be read out in the style of a funereal foghorn sounding quietly through the dark.wormhttp://thedabbler.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2526736757651414061.post-35700095386584806072011-01-07T12:40:45.416+00:002011-01-07T12:40:45.416+00:00I guess the shipping forecast is the equivalent of...I guess the shipping forecast is the equivalent of the slave whispering in the emperor's ear at the triumph. What's not to like?Markhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06074816573442173758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2526736757651414061.post-52585324911125118252011-01-07T11:00:00.971+00:002011-01-07T11:00:00.971+00:00There was something about the Shipping forecast, a...There was something about the Shipping forecast, a comfort blanket, a set of worry beads, as long as it rang out loud and clear from the wireless and the ravens remained then all was well in this world, Britannia ruled, Madge was our main man, Johnny foreigner was just an out of focus mass on the distant horizon, the fuzzy wuzzies kept in their place with cold steel, they don't like it up 'em you know. Doctors and lawyers deemed to be pillars of the community, yes, honestly,<br /><br />Then along came Harold Wilson.maltyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02936465848907794425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2526736757651414061.post-16797598515258120982011-01-07T10:47:43.194+00:002011-01-07T10:47:43.194+00:00With you on the shipping forecast, Nige, but I mus...With you on the shipping forecast, Nige, but I must defend the Barmy Army here from your little, dare I say it, ill-informed swipe.<br /><br />1) were it not for them, almost no bugger would watch Test cricket live outside England. Have you seen the attendances on the subcontinent? They keep major Test touring alive and that's proper creekit: they don't even bother with tweny20 bish bash.<br /><br />2) They have responded to the main criticisms: they have a 'no-repeats' song policy these days, and restict the most annoying one ('Everywhere we go'...with its monotonously chanted 'Barmy Army') to a max of 3 outings per day.<br /><br />3) They're incredibly well-organised and do a lot for charidee (eg. McGrath Foundation).Brithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00390560583798960760noreply@blogger.com