Siesta

Days off: The way we roll chez Tigerloaf.

In Praise of Idleness

“I want to say, in all seriousness, that a great deal of harm is being done in the modern world by belief in the virtuousness of work, and that the road to happiness and prosperity lies in an organized diminution of work.”

A characteristically witty, wise and provocative essay from the great Bertrand Russell.

Sleep in Safety

I truly envy people who can sleep anywhere. As someone who can only sleep well face-down in (preferably my own) bed, I suffer a lot of sleep deprivation, particularly when travelling. How useful it would be to find sleep wherever I needed it, on trains and planes, in the back of a mini-bus under a pile of cellos or in the dust beneath an old pickup truck. Consciousness should come with an on/off switch. So anyway, I’m still in bed, on a beautifully warm autumn day, when I should be cycling or listening to Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time in Oxford. Instead I’ve watched two (trashy) films that deal with the tribulations and aspirations of young people: Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome and Over the Edge. I’ll be back on my feet by tomorrow, dinner time at the latest.

Bed Time

What with weeks of amazing travel adventures, I’ve been neglecting this blog. I’ve missed it and hope my few, loyal readers have too. Now I am enjoying some well-deserved and, due to a nasty cold, entirely necessary bed rest. I hope to return soon with more of the usual profound reflections, and pretty pictures.

A Day for Reclining

Girl Reclining in a Hammock, Antonio Frilli,  marble

This late nineteenth century sculpture was found in a garden in Wales where it had been languishing for over fifty years and was subsequently auctioned for £125,000. It occurs to me that a life-size hammock carved from a single piece of marble is quite as bizarre as anything dreamt up by Jeff Koons. In any event I hope to spend as much of  today as possible re-enacting this work as a tableau-vivant.

strange and beautiful film of the week 2

Sedmikrasky aka Daisies (dir. Vera Chytilová, 1966)

Delightful document of the short-lived Czech New Wave, in which two thoroughly modern young women embark upon an epic journey of boredom, petty crime, provocation and mockery. A freewheeling romp of extreme montage, sudden shifts, spontaneous installations and special disaffections. Something like the futility of freedom.

let’s return to the trees

Lioness by Douglas Ross

more vintage indolence

from Paris Magazine, November 1931

(Au carrefour étrange)

L’apologie de la paresse

Pictures of old-time poppy enthusiasts from Histoire de l’Oeil

Siesta, or the Joys of Tigerloafing

Frederick Arthur Bridgman, The Siesta, 1878

In my lengthy search for a suitable image to accompany my translation of Govoni’s “Peonies”, failing to find a satisfactory painting of that flower, I began to look instead at odalisques, and gradually became somewhat obsessed with the motif of languidly reclining woman, so favoured by 19th century painters. I find this work especially soothing; the mild play of light and shade, the harmonious array of complementary colours, the glimpse of lush mediterranean greenery. I could spend days on this sofa, provided some discreet familiar to regularly refill pipe and teapot. Perhaps the monkey would oblige.