MORE ABOUT LABYRINTHS

The labyrinth image is used to suggest complexity. Jorge Luis Borges has a collection of stories that appears under the title Labyrints and reflects the complexity of his prose.

'The world is a book and the book is a world, and both are labyrinthine and enclose enigmas designed to be understood and participated in by man'

There is even a labyrinth in Mendoza, Argentina created in honor of Borges

whitechapel

This weekend I have been watching a drama series, whitechapel, settled in East End London. The figure of Jack the Ripper emerges when a series of murders occurs which resemble those carried out by him 120 years before, in 1888. The spectator is trapped by the development of the plot.

The modern Jack th Ripper tries to recreate the murders with extremely accuracy whereas Detective Inspector Joseph Chandler tries to solve these crimes.

Rupert Penry Jones is Joseph Chander, and obsesive character that gets involved in this twisted mistery that leads him extreme situations. I really like this actor since I first discovered him in Spooks (another fantastic series drama).

This is a piece of the 1st episode:

I have to confess that I didn't have much idea about anything related to Jack the Ripper and after watching the series I have come across this webpage.

Here I have learnt that the main character's name, Joseph Chadler is also the name of a witness at Annie Chapman's investigation. He was also an inspector that helped in the investigation of this 2nd victim.

In season 2 of Whitechapel (which I haven't seen yet) we are approached to the fascinating world of the East End mafia and the Kray twins. I'm really looking forward to watch this second season.

DEGAS VS PICASSO

Last weekend I went to the Picasso Museum to see a new exhibition about the work of Picasso and Degas. The exhibition portrays Picasso's passion for the impressionist artist.

One of the most beautiful and impressive works of Degas included in the exhibition is the Fourteen Year Old Little Dancer. One of Degas favourite subject was ballet dancers.

This little ballerina influenced very much some of Picasso works.

Picasso's Yellow Nude and Dwarf ballerina share the same pose with Degas' Ballerina

This is a PHOTO GALLERY of this exhibition

I particulary find the figure of Degas very fascinating. He potrays many social issues in his work, showing the hierarchical structure of French society, which distinguished the bourgeoisie from the lower classes. The world of ballet dominated by female dancers is also very important in his work. These ballet pictures together with his pictures of women bathing caused much controversy and contention.

Besides he lived in a period of great turbulence in France. During the last decades of the 19th C the Franco-Prussian War, the Commune insurrection and the Civil War affected the country for decades. The Dreyfus Affair which began in 1894 when a Jewish army officer was falsely accused of treason also divided the French community. Artists, writers and the French people in general were divided on the issue of Dreyfus's innocence of guilt. His stance on the matter was anti-Dreyfus what made him break with all his Jewish friends. He became isolated due in part to the Deyfus affair and to his belief that a painter could have no personal life. His life was being a painter, draughtsman, printmaker and sculptor who in his later years he also undertook experiments in the new medium of photography.

KOREAN TEA O SULLOC

Now that it is getting chilly here in Barcelona I want to start using this thermos cup that I bought in Seoul, last summer.

I bought it in this tea shop in Insadong.

O'Sulloc is a well know Korean tea branch and they have tea houses and tea shops all over Korea. It is actually the largest tea producer in Korea. I love green tea so I also bought O'Sulloc green tea which is originally from the isle of Jeju.

They have a tea museum there in Jeju. Unfortunately I didn't have the chance to visit it when I was in the isle because there were so many beautiful places that I wanted to visit in Jeju that I didn't have enough time. Besides, I got stuck in Jeju city due to a typhoon.

They say that the volcanic tea fields in Jeju and the volcanic water make the O'Sulloc tea very special. I don't know if it is true but what I know is that it is really delicious.

OLD BARCELONA

These are old vintage postcards of the city I live, Barcelona. I love the antique sepia tonning of this photographs.

CHARLES DICKENS' S ENGLAND

Last week I watched a documentary, "Charles Dickens’ England" and I loved it. Sir Derek Jocobi, the documentary presenter, was a fantastic host that introduced us to the life of the British writer and its connection with different spots from Great Britain.

I learned that Dickens travelled to Yorkshire to investigate matters linked to child abuse in some orphanages. It is also mentioned a train crash in which he was involved and that traumatized him.

Here you have more information about the documentary.

Sir Derek Jacobi is a well known and prestigious British actor that has played several Shakespearean roles in plays and films. He has a special connection with classical literature.

1965 Laurence Olivier's Othello. Derek Jacobi debut on Shakespearean films.

1978 Richard II

1980 Hamlet

1989 Henry V, chorus

1996 Hamlet, Claudius

LABYRINTH (3)

Baccio Baldini. Teseo and Ariadna next to the Creta Labyrinth. 1460-1470 Stone Carving BRITISH MUSEUM

Alice in Wonderland maze. Merritown house. Hurn

LABYRINTH (2)

Giovanni Fontana draw this design in his diary. He read the myth of Theseus and couldn't see how the exisisting drawn mazes were relevant since they were unicursal, and so you couldn't get lost

LABYRINTH (1)

Some days ago, I went to the CCCB museum (Barcelona Contemporary Culture Centre) to see the exhibition. The main subject in this exhibition was the labyrinth. It was fantastic, I learned a lot about the physical and abstract concept of labyrinth. The labyrinth as a construction and symbol remains in several traditions

MOGOR LABYRINTH

ARTHERA LABYRINTH

Julian's Bower

My Emma copy

This is my copy of Jane Austen's Emma. I bought it in a charity shop in London. I love the 70s style cover. It had a surprise inside. I found an old postcard inside that I use it as a bookmark.

It's a postcard from the VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEM about 'Promenade dresses' in 1873.

Here I found more information about fashion during the 19th Century.

I have always loved 2nd hand books. You can see through them traces of what other readers leave behind. You learn about the live of the books and their readers. It's a discovery path that we follow when we read a used book.

takoyaki たこやき

The first time I visited Japan une of the things that surprised the most is the Japanese cuisine and fast food. One of the commonest fast food dish is 'takoyaki' (originated in the Kansai area; Osaka, Kyoto...).

Takoyaky literally means fried or grilled octopus.These are octopus balls usually bought from a street vendor.

Although I am vegetarian and I never tried TAKOYAKI, I was attracted by this TAKOYAKI shop while I was walking around Kyoto.

I love how Japanese display their businesses. They have shaped their own style which is a feature of their own identity.

This takoyaki shop is an example, not uncommon at all, of that childish, naive style that I like so much. It is connected with the concept of KAWAI or cuteness. Cute elements can be found in Japan almost everywhere.

MISTAKES

Today, in my Japanese class I have learned a proverb:

猿も木から落ちる　Even monkeys fall from trees.

The implied meaning of this proverb is that anyone can make a mistake. It is often used to keep the arrogant or overconfident in check.

Lern how to say "Even monkeys fall from trees" in Japanese

Anyone can make mistakes. So, they have to learn to cope with and learn from them. James Joyce said that 'A man's errors are his portals of discovery'. So we have to look at the advantages of making mistakes.

Albert Einstein declared: 'Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new' and Winston Churchill considered that 'All man make mistakes but only wise men learn from their mistakes'.

I found this last quote from Winston Churchill especially accurate because mistakes can also be a source of knowledge if you are able to learn from them.

JANE AUSTEN'S EMMA

Currently, I'm reading Jean Austen's Emma and I am really enjoying it.

I have been trying to look for curious drawings and illustrations linked to this novel and I have foung quite interesting ones.

These are cravat styles that would wear men from Emma's time.

This is a hypothetical map of Highbury according to Emma.

In this scene Mr Elton, the vicar of Highbury is enjoying a drawing of Harriet made by Emma.

Mr Woodhouse. "I am very sorry to hear, Miss Fairfax, of your being out this morning in the rain" chapter 34

Old illustration, 1870s

Most of Jane Austen old illustrations were created by Charles Edmund Brock. During the 1890s he became a successful illustrator of books authors such as Jonathan Swift, William Thackeray, Jane Austen and George Eliot.

Here we have more illustrations by C.E.Brock.