Gyvania

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Why Brasil

There are several reasons for being in Brasil: first, it is at a fairly happy stage that the UK seemed to be in when I was a child: when there was still thoughtful conservation of the countryside and historic buildings, and no heedless 'town planning'; there were still individual businesses with the personal touch, before the 'supermarket' giants sprang up from their dung heaps (along with all the 'celebrities'); secondly, the weather (getting a tan off the mid-winter sun); all the space, filled with natural beauty; the gathering prosperity (the GB£ and US$ have halved in value against the Br$R in five years), and not having to watch 'up close and personal' the disintegration of a civilization and a way of life - Gone With The Wind Without The War (without much of a struggle really): morally, socially and economically. "The falcon cannot hear the falconer".

The trouble is that, from as far away as this, it actually seems clearer to me than to my cocooned friends back there what is going on as the Ye Olde England joins the "Glory that was Greece and the grandeur that was Rome".

It has been noted many times that Brasil involves a learning curve but this is not the place to go in to all that. Let's just say that "This is Brasil" covers every unusual occurrence. But I love it here.

New & Lingwood Silk Jim-Jams

A friend just sent me this shot of a pair of woven silk jim-jams that he bought from New & Lingwood. Needless to say, they would be too hot for Brazil, which is hot enough as it is and wearing anything at all at night would demonstrate a case of sunstroke. Still, they are splendid looking jim-jams.

Hedy's Houdini Escape

Originally, there were four kittens: two toms and two she-cats. Now (despite the low kitten survival rate) there are, well, several cats but only one of the Big Four is left: Hedy, so-called because she was the prettiest of the Big Four and also extremely clever. Just how clever has been demonstrated in the last twenty four hours. For various reasons, I wanted to keep the cats from straying from the grounds at the back of the house. Accordingly, I identified two points of egress over the high walls. The first was a low-hanging lightweight roof on beams over the water pump house and the second was the low roof of the gas-cylinder house against a main wall. So I spent yesterday removing the lowest part of the water pump house roof and raising the roof on the gas cylinder house. At dusk, when the bigger cats wake up from their sun-soaked slumbers, and start to run amok, I watched and waited from inside the house. For an hour or so no cats appeared in the usual places and I began vainglorously to wallow in having stymied them all. Then Hedy appeared outside the doors on the lower back verandah (which is at first floor level). I still have not worked out how she managed it. She stayed in the house last night and I let her out to be fed with the rest this morning. A few minutes after that she appeared at the front of the house and the picture shows her, just after I let her in again, sitting on my shoulder. Once more, quite how she managed this different feat, when none of the others can defeat my ploys is beyond me.

Style Icon LXIII: Maurice Chevalier

Maurice Auguste Chevalier (in the 'still' from Love Me Tonight (1932), with Jeanette MacDonald, 1888-1972 was a popular French star of stage and screen on both sides of the Atlantic. Born into obscurity and poverty, his career stretched from the beginning of film and ended with his final screen performance, singing the title song for The Aristocats  (1970). In between, he delighted audiences with performances in musicals as diverse as The Merry Widow (1934) and, of course, the modern classic musical Gigi, with Hermione Gingold; Leslie Caron; Louis Jordan, and Eva Gabor (1958); from which, amongst others, we remember Thank Heaven For Little Girls; I'm So Glad That I'm Not Young Anymore, and I Remember It Well. Chevalier was the recipient of a special Honorary Academy Award for lifetime achievement.

Bangles: Thought For The Day

I have noticed a modern trend towards men, outside the tribal unit (where, I daresay, they have actual significance), wearing bangles on their arms. Even the Duke of Cambridge (who avoids jewellery to the extent of refusing a wedding ring) seems to sport the things; as do a couple of popular 'style gurus'. Frankly, I do not like them and regard them as a sign of the decadent times in which we live. Moreover, there is a clanger of a mismatch between either a city or a sporting suit and such items, which suggests that the spirit of subversion lurks in the wearer's breast.

The definition of 'Town', relevant to the custom of "No Brown In Town"

Someone asked me about this and I think that 'town' in this context means the City and the West End of London (and the centres of the world's other capital cities which have fallen under British influence), excepting the parks. Rus in urbe , such as tweeds and brogues, is a better option in 'town' than jeans and trainers (sneakers) but, despite the opinions of the modern trend-setters, I generally stand by the old custom of 'No Brown In Town': Touché!