the round dance and the jaws of cerebrus

the round dance

'five people in a circle. are they singing? is there an instrument accompanying them? is bruegel announcing the autonomous and tolerant world, at once turned in on itself and in unity?

for my own part. I would like to hear the round dance in the background of carnival's quarrel with lent as the culmination, not the inauguration , of a struggle begun twenty-five centuries ago. I would like to hear it as the forerunner of postpenitence, postsilence, at the back end of the church, not the rearguard of pagan carnival, supplanted by capitalist lent in the foreground.'

- jacques attali, noise: the political economy of music, english translation 1985.

the jaws of cerebrus

hot day yesterday. (hot day today).

'... nous marchions sur un tapis de fleurs qui nous cachait un abîme...'

- comte de ségur, mémoires, souvenirs et anecdotes (1824). 

such was the quote that made it into in the jaws of cerebrus, a radio 4 documentary about global warming (but particularly in the south of europe - spain, greece, italy).

it’s been about 32C out here in the wilds (35C on thursday) and horsemouth is cowering indoors. he knows that his friends in london and the south east have it worse - one is working on a roof, another will be in the kitchens.

he’s just been to the village. he passed two of the bell-ringers mowing and strimming the graveyard - he didn’t stop to lend a hand.

how hot things get changes what work can be done and when it can be done

the heat warps railway lines and overhead power cables and knocks out signalling systems. 

heat and rainfall alter where crops can be grown and where is good for animals. hotter weather causes more evaporation from the sea and then later more (and more sudden) rainfall on land - and thus more flooding.

in france they’ve had to shut down a nuclear reactor because the cooling water was too hot.

ok stay cool and stay safe peoples (and better yet stay in).