Sorry, but I don't get your phrase due to how it is written. It seems that you refer to Ireland as part of the United Kingdom, when it is clearly not. If I said 'I would never move back to the UK, unless...' And the territories included in this kingdom are England, Scotland, Wales and NI. If I wanted to say I would never move back to Ireland, I guess I should have mentioned Ireland itself as a separate nation.

I understand. :up:

Thanks javi! However it turns out that England's stance on cannabis reform is somewhat archaic and, until that changes, moving there pose us a serious problem. There are worse places to be stuck than Canada I guess.... — Pantagruel

If that's the main point, yes, Canada is more lax than Europe regarding the planting, consumption, selling, etc. of Cannabis. :sweat:

Interesting perspective. I didn't think that it was a big city. But you are the English man here, and I must not object to anything but agree with your point.

Lewes — Punshhh

I searched for info. It seems a cute city. It has a castle, so it gives a +1 to my taste, and a brewery. A cool town to consider of, indeed. :up:

Hello, @Pantagruel. I was just reminded of you because I saw a documentary about Spaniards living abroad. One of them lives in Brighton. He seemed to be very happy, and he had a great experience living in England because he had previously tried to live in London and Bristol.
Yet, he claims that Brighton is probably one of the best places to live in England. His life experience is very interesting, and I searched for more information on Brighton.
By the way, this Spaniard works as a waitress.

Brighton is in South Essex. I am not an expert about English sociology but according to most Britons, Brighton is the hippest city of UK. It is funny because the paper where I read this claim, says: So are the residents of the south coast resort just a bunch of hopeless hippies - or do they know something the rest of us don't? Is Brighton Britain's hippest city?

I thought you would be interested in knowing about this city. It seems a cool place to try to live, indeed. :smile:

Hespèrion XXI - Nana Andaluza Duerme Mi Niña — punos

Happy to know that there are members who listen to Andalusian nanas. Hespèrion is a fantastic group, and Jordi Savall is a master. They also have interesting songs from the Balkans. :up:

That's not at all like where I teach at and I teach in a very rough area. Where are you at? — RogueAI

Spain.

There's a shortage of teachers. It's rewarding work. In some states it pays really well. — RogueAI

Here we have shortage of teachers too. Basically, most of the people don't want this job because it has a low income and the environment (as it is pointed out by the OP) is quite horrible. My generation has lost the basic sense of ethics and civism, and the classrooms are full of bullying, thugs, and stupid teenagers who think they are over of the teacher's authority.

Honestly, I think the worst environments nowadays are high-schools and even universities.

I prepared myself for the worse -- fired. (at that point, I didn't care about the job anymore) Three months later, I got my review: not only I got a nice raise, but I got the best office in the suite. — L'éléphant

It is interesting how our minds always make us think of the worst. I always had similar situations where I had to face disputes, and when the meeting was over or the email sent, I felt like I had to prepare myself for the worst...

But, in most cases, the events didn't turn out as badly as I expected at the beginning. I thought I was very negative regarding facing confrontation, but after reading your post I am not feeling alone any more.

Thoughts? Vaporwave flamenco.

Why not a Scandinavian country instead? — Christoffer

I thought about Sweden when I read the OP (and Baños de la Encina, of course) because of the socialist sentiment or the idea of removing class-like societies and having both public services and education accessible for everyone. Sweden has always been a role model in this area, but I don't know if they are on the same path. The current government is Conservative, and (correct me someone if I am wrong here) they are facing a big issue regarding illegal immigration.
As well as The Netherlands...

Are you from Banos de la Encina? — Pantagruel

No. I am from Madrid, but that's the municipality with the most sense of socialism in Spain.

Well, I don't want to speak about my country because this thread is about England. I think Liverpool or Manchester could be good options. It will be interesting to know what our Manc mate, @Sir2u, thinks about Manchester (or what he reminds about this city).



Interesting views and opinions, mates. I wonder now if it is a matter of the county or the neighborhood you live in. I searched for more info on Norfolk and the internet says that the largest city is Norwich. I guess there are different neighborhoods inside Norwich, and they differ on the concept of 'class'. For example, Here in Madrid, the middle-class doesn't live in the center, we all live do the outskirts. I don't really know if you are referring to this and whether @Pantagruel is looking for it.

By the way, the constituencies of Norfolk are Conservative. The Labour Party no longer held the urban constituencies they once held in Norwich North and Great Yarmouth, leaving them with no MP's. Norfolk
I don't know if this is a paradox or a contradiction. :chin:

I like your attitude! I wish you the best. Suffolk seems to be a good place to begin a new chapter in your life. Good luck!

Warm winters, village life... And a strong socialist sentiment? Mate, I guess Baños de la Encina is your place!

Jokes aside. Which English city are you thinking of? Because London is obviously discarded.

I'm intrigued by the premise. — Jamal

José, the main character, has an interesting hobby: he collects news from famous people in Portugal. But to give them reliability, he decides to complete them with the data of the Central Registry of Births, Marriages and Deaths, where he currently works. He decides to steal the records cards with the aim of 'collecting' them with news from famous people. One day, José steals the card of an 'unknown' woman and becomes obsessed with finding her around the city.

My dad gave me this book as a present because he knows I have a similar hobby of collecting data from public registries.
I am now an apprentice of land registry... so it is time to read the book. :smile:

Melancholia, Jon Fosse. — javi2541997

9.5/10.

Excellent. Fosse never disappoints. A novel charged with a big, deep sense of loss and understanding of a great (but mental sick) artist such as Lars Hetervig.

Currently reading: All the Names, José Saramago.

My first time reading Saramago. He seems to be both interesting and original. I wish I knew more about Portuguese literature and writers.

@Lionino. Thoughts on Saramago?

Long live to Iberia and the Crusades, brother! :up:

Oopsie! Try this one, please.

Thoughts? @Alkis Piskas

There's two sides to this silence, the silence of the described scene (Fosse's silence), and the silence of the reader. Remember, silence is used by Fosse as a tool, to provoke the imagination of the reader. — Metaphysician Undercover

It is very difficult to put in work my imagination in this novel by Fosse. The first book I read about him, silence was also an important factor in the plot, and the characters were more direct in the few dialogues they had. But in this story, Lars Hertervig is a person with schizophrenia. There are two classes of Lars: the one who communicates with the rest of the cast, and the other who speaks alone in his mind. The reader can find out both, but when the second version of Lars appears, most of the characters consider them as crazy.

I wanted to wait one more day. I am now on the 188th page. Hertervig is in Norway again. This is time is inmate in an asylum, and he suffers from sexual delirium.

Although it seems that he has been in Norway for two years, his family haven't shown up yet in the new chapter.

I will keep waiting. The final end of the first chapter ends walking in silence alone in the street of Düsseldorf, but having a tumultuous mental breakdown and shouting at his inner self. Where is Elizabeth? The name of his sister...

I would say that the family remaining in silence at the pier would be an implication of Lars' inability to communicate directly with them — Metaphysician Undercover

Probably. What would disappoint me and would make me feel very sad is if everything was imagined by Lars. Remember he has mental disorders, and I can't really trust every silence of him and his family. I don't even know if they are alive yet... let's see in the following pages.

:up:

Spanish Mediaeval songs! Yeah, they are pretty good. I can't understand some words because they are hardly used nowadays. But you are right. They have a harmonic jingle.

Thank you for your answer.

I will try to be more specific regarding the context.

The plot of the story is about the life of Lars Hertervig. A Norwegian painter of the 19th century. He suffered from schizophrenia, but apart from this mental disorder, he suffered a cruel prank played by his fellow students. It is shown that the classmates laughed at him in the book for being a Quaker and poor. This fatal experience in Germany led him to end up in an Asylum in Norway. Dying at the age of 72.

Fosse was inspired by the tumultuous life of this painter, and decided to write Melancholia, trying to put the reader in the painter's shoes. Following Fosse's writing technique, Lars Hertervig communicates himself in two different ways: with the characters around (dialogue) and speaking alone (soliloquy). When he speaks alone in the street or at home, he suffers from melancholia. He seems not to be really happy in Germany and misses the old days in Norway.

The reason why the father of Hertervig walked towards the pier is unknown. What I can tell you is that the pier itself always comes in the 'hallucinations' of him. Sometimes his father appears, another his sister, for example. In my own opinion, I think it is not a dreamlike scene. He experienced it in real life when he was young and lived in Norway.

For example: there is a scene in the book where his classmates are laughing at him because one of them says his family is Quakers. Instead of getting angry with them, he experiences a sense of melancholia (the pier appears again. His sister and mother are there, in silence. Smiling) and then suffers a mental breakdown in front of his classmates: he starts to shout 'mother' and 'sister' without control.

(The mother and sister remain in silence at the pier in this breakdown of the painter).
And the bullies start to saying to him: why are you talking alone? Who is Elizabeth? (Elizabeth is the sister of Hertervig). Here I feel that the noise of the bullying crash with the silently melancholia of Hertervig.

So if the narrator is on the pier daydreaming, using his imagination, then it's better that you the reader, use your imagination to better understand the situation described. — Metaphysician Undercover

I agree. But what makes me wonder about how Fosse wrote the book is whether the silence is a reference to death (his parents and sister passed away and he feels alone) or the inability to say to them that he wants to go back to Norway. In this novel, the silence is a key factor and, most of the time, is confusing because even the protagonist feels scared of why his family remain in silence at the pier.

Yeah. Javier Limón made many collabs with different singers around the world, listening carefully to the identity of each song. There is that fado, but I remember there were nice songs from Greece and Lebanon. :up:

@Metaphysician Undercover @Ø implies everything @mcdoodle

Hello again! I am currently reading Melancholia by Fosse. I have only read 132 pages, but I feel I need to express my emotions and thoughts with you guys. This great writer always have me in tears.
Context: This novel is about the tumultuous life of the Norwegian artist Lars Hertervig. Sadly, this painter suffered from schizophrenia and died in a mental care center in Norway. Basically, Fosse tries to write a story about the daily life of Lars when he was a student at Düsseldorf Arts Academy. I remember talking with you about Fosse's use of silence. In this story, this method is more important and emotional. For example (the following is translated by myself, sorry if the emotion is lost):

And my father raises his arm, my father raises his arm in the air and takes off his peaked cap, raises his peaked cap in the air and waves at me with his peaked cap. My father comes running down the pier, waving his peaked cap in the air.

I personally believe this is a nostalgic, familiar memory, very beautifully written by Fosse. I imagine Lars missing his dad and the old days living in Norway. Everything is in silence. Non verbal communication here.

This sense of melancholia continues:

And my father stops at the edge of the pier and asks me if I'm not doing well, if I want to go home. Yes, I have to go home, I say. And suddenly, my father is on the edge of the dock, and he takes a step forward. Just like that, my father walks on the water and then the waves swallow him up. And what's wrong with my father? Is he drowning? Or has he simply fallen into the water? Don't drown, father. Why did you jump into the water? Father! Father! You have to get out of the water.

Does Fosse refer to suicide here again? I think it was a traumatic experience lived by Lars and Fosse captured it very well. There is a lot of emotion in that quote.

What do you folks think?

By the way, if you are interested on seeing paints by Lars Hertervig, here is a nice link. His paints are dreamlike and hazy. Lars Hertervig.

@mcdoodle Did you read Melancholia by Fosse?

@Ø implies everything How much is Lars Hertervig appreciated in Norway nowadays?

Thoughts? @Lionino

What do you mean by 'teachings'? As far as I know, Jesus was just a revolutionary. He tried to face the Roman Empire with a very basic dialectic. I imagine him as a person walking around Judae and reciting speeches. Some clever folks see him as a big opportunity and decide to misrepresent his beliefs and ideas. He maybe didn't even know how to write, but had everything a religion needs: Poverty, drama, guilt, sacrifice, etc. The people who surrounded him decided to exploit his image through his teachings. We have to consider that the we barely know about Jesus is thanks to the Gospels. But the latter is based on Jesus Christ, the sacred image, not Jesus the fisherman. I believe in his existence. I don't buy the resurrection and the dogma but the persona of Jesus.

According to the Christian dogma, yes. The resurrection of Jesus, the trinity, and other aspects are key facts in the doctrine. As I said before, these are the patterns which build up the doctrine as we know today. This also happened to Asissi, for instance. We all agreed with the existence of St. Francis of Asissi, but it is obvious that he lived a very more complex life than we used to hear from partisans of Christianity. Did everything really happen what is typed in the Bible? What did exist? Jesus himself or the miracles?

Well, Kazantzakis wrote this in the novel: (The Last Temptation)

Jesus: Did you see resurrected Jesus of Nazareth? How did he look like?
Paul: He was a thunder... A thunder that was speaking.
Jesus: LIAR!
Paul: His disciples saw him. After the crucifixion, they were reunited in a garret, with its doors closed, and he showed up in font of them and said: May peace be with you!
Jesus: LIAR
Paul: A man wasn't born. Her mother was virgin. The Archangel Gabriel descended from the sky and said: I salute you, Mary! And his words fell down like a seed in her breast. This is how Jesus were born.
Jesus: LIAR! LIAR! I am Jesus of Nazareth. I never got crucified. I never got resurrected. I am the son of Mary and Joseph, not the son of God. I am the son of a man, like everyone else.

There is nothing unique about Jesus. :smile: He was a normal person like you and me. That's the key to understanding him.

My guess is that he did exist but that we know nothing about this man. It may even be that 'Jesus' became the name for a composite from the stories of different individuals claiming or believed to be the messiah. — Fooloso4

Exactly. This is what I attempted to say, but I didn't bother to keep debating because I understand that in this site religion is prosecuted and most of the members have baloney comments on theology. But I read your comment and your point is close to what Kazantzakis wanted to explain. Jesus of Nazareth did exist, but the people who surrounded him, poisoned his image with dogmatic purposes.
The last temptation by Kazantzakis is a very interesting book where the image of Jesus is humanized. There are even chapters where Jesus refuses to become a messiah or similar. As a very good comment I have read around the internet: Kazantzakis shows in this book a different image of Jesus than we are used to in the Gospels. This is probably what happened in reality.

Thanks. Interesting data and thoughts. :up:

I respect your opinion. But I don't get what you mean by the second historical facts or circumstances. I mean this: https://thephilosophyforum.com/discussion/comment/878630

Who is Mark or what is Mk 14.2?

I don't even believe Jesus was a real person. — Lionino

Jesus of Nazareth did exist.

I understand your scepticism towards his image and the Christian dogma, but we should not deny the existence of his persona.
He was a normal person, born and raised in Judaea. I have read some interesting books by Kazantzakis and after thinking about what this Greek intellectual purposed, I personally believe that Jesus existed, but the Church poisoned his image with lucrative aims.

A carrot usually works better than a stick

@Agree-to-Disagree :up:

https://thephilosophyforum.com/discussion/comment/881459

I do think javi's point about climate change is perspicacious and should not be overlooked. — Baden

¡Recórcholis!

but maybe more likely connects with social conflict in Ireland — Jamal

Exactly. It is considered correct this way of see it, because Seamus Heaney explained in an interview that 'The haw lantern' is a symbol of the dignity of the Northern Irish in the face of violence and trouble, and offering a small piece of light and hope in the darkness. :flower:

So, yes he was referring to The Troubles...

Extremely beautiful.

I have another in the collection:

The disappearing island.

Once we presumed to found ourselves for good
Between its blue hills and those sandless shores. Where we spent our desperate night in prayer and vigil,

Once we had gathered driftwood, made a hearth and hung our cauldron like a firmament,
The island broke beneath us like a wave.

The land sustaining us seemed to hold firm
Only when we embraced it in extremis
All I believe that happened there was a vision.

:flower:

Life Is Elsewhere, Milan Kundera. — javi2541997

10/10. A very good and well written novel.
I am happy about the discovery of Milan Kundera. A great Czech writer. My parents have three or four books by him, so I already know what I will do the next time I visit them.

Currently reading:

Melancholia, Jon Fosse.

The haw lantern, Seamus Heaney. This collection of poems is very Irish. It reminds me of the green plains, cloudy sky, the waves beneath me, and you, my Irish friend. @Baden :flower:

February 12th.

This photo was taken from the balcony of my house after a heavy rain. The clouds seem to be angry, outrageous, violent. Although the ochre colored sunlight does his job and evokes a sense of nostalgia, it lasted just an hour, while the rain fell incessantly.

It reminds me of a poem by the Swedish poet Harry Martinson:

Have you seen a tramp collier come out of a hurricane—
with broken booms, gunwales shot to pieces,
crumpled, gasping, come to grief—
and her captain gone all hoarse?
Snorting, she puts in at the sunlit wharf,
exhausted, licking her wounds
while the steam thins in her boilers. Harry Martinson. Poetry.

But, maybe you're right, maybe they ought to look into legislative amendments on appointing military leaders — jorndoe

Thank you for understanding what I attempt to say to @neomac.

Ah, OK. Fine. We are like kids in a kindergarten now. At least I explained why I refused to take your post seriously. I will make it easier for you so you don't have to read a long post.

Do you really consider Ukraine as a democratic nation? Yes/No. Explain why.

Does Zelensky act like a totalitarian? Yes/No. Explain why.

Sad, depressing and nihilistic feature occasionally, but not in my average day or even my average month — Tom Storm

Sadly, it is not my case, Tom. What it features occasionally is a peaceful state of mind. I don't seek happiness. I already accepted that this only pops up very often.

You misunderstood. I was simply pointing out that in Ukraine, as in other democratic countries... — neomac

Honestly, I stopped reading the rest of your argument when you state that Ukraine is a 'democratic' country. No, it isn't. This is why I would like to point out your double standards and hypocrisy. It is one of the main objectives of West media but, mate, I will not cross through that door...

You start with a false premise: Ukraine is a democratic country, which follows with another false middle premise: 'The Ukrainian Forces are dependent upon the President' and then with a false conclusion: Zelensky is entitled to remove him.

Well, in the real democratic world it doesn't happen as you state...

I agree that my country is not the best example. To remove a special chief or commander here, they have the right to be heard by a special commission and then conclude if the subject deserves being removed or not.

If a person unilaterally removes others without back up, it is totalitarian. I think the West is failing in defending Zelensky under all circumstances.

“Of course, if the situation at the war front worsens, Zelenskyy will get the blame. People will say, everything was good when Zaluzhny ruled the army,”

https://www.politico.eu/article/oleksandr-syrskyi-ukraine-commander-in-chief-butcher-volodymyr-zelenskyy-war-russia/