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Some Melodious Plot

@somemelodiousplot.bsky.social

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‘I read, much of the night, and go south in the winter.’ https://somemelodiousplot.blogspot.com/

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Some Melodious Plot @somemelodiousplot.bsky.social · 20d

More from the Theatre Picasso exhibition at Tate Modern. Grey guitars, doves, and a cock and a pair of balls. And a more than welcome bit of Frank O'Hara.

@tate.bsky.social

somemelodiousplot.blogspot.com/2025/09/why-...

‘Why I am not a Painter’ - Theatre Picasso (II)

“If I knew Picasso, I would buy myself a grey guitar and play.” (Counting Crows, ‘Mr Jones’) * The first time that Picasso flas...

somemelodiousplot.blogspot.com

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Some Melodious Plot @somemelodiousplot.bsky.social · 3h

Excellent! Glad to have at least one fellow traveller on Bluesky.

Some Melodious Plot @somemelodiousplot.bsky.social · 4h

Yep, and it makes your foot land truer. It shouldn't really make a huge difference, but it totally has.

Some people complain about their ankles getting tired or damaged. But so far fine.

Some Melodious Plot @somemelodiousplot.bsky.social · 4h

So would you if you found them on the street! 😆

Some Melodious Plot @somemelodiousplot.bsky.social · 4h

They are really light, almost like a more sturdy & waterproof sock, and they have something called 'zero drop' which is key to their efficacy.

Some people are finding them amazing and life-changing - I've been rocking them for over two weeks now and am getting stronger and stronger. Others less so!

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Some Melodious Plot @somemelodiousplot.bsky.social · 4h

I do also realise that they are not very attractive.

I don't care a jot! I'm walking with pleasure again and not worrying about the next sit-down stop!

Some Melodious Plot @somemelodiousplot.bsky.social · 4h

I've been toying with trying barefoot trainers for quite a while now. And a few weeks ago, discarded outside someone's door, I found a pair. I picked them up (don't judge, like my Mum) and tried them on!

Cinder-bloody-ella!

An absolute revelation. It's like I've got new knees and legs!

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Some Melodious Plot @somemelodiousplot.bsky.social · 8h

Today's favourite piece of Tuscany art. Pollaiuolo's 'Temperance'.

The first set of paintings that grabbed me in the Uffizi - was it the change from tempera to the more explosive oil?

And an image of all seven ... they are for the backs of chairs. [Looks with with derision at my office chair].

Reposted by Some Melodious Plot

Some Melodious Plot @somemelodiousplot.bsky.social · 20d

‘Why I am not a Painter’ - Theatre Picasso (II)

“If I knew Picasso, I would buy myself a grey guitar and play.” (Counting Crows, ‘Mr Jones’) * The first time that Picasso flas...

somemelodiousplot.blogspot.com

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Some Melodious Plot @somemelodiousplot.bsky.social · 8h

It's certainly a much more complex painting, & familiarity - I don't think I've ever been to the National Gallery without paying it a visit - has made me love it more. But the colours & directness in that Titian are extraordinary.

Overall I think I'm with you though and prefer the Velasquez.

Some Melodious Plot @somemelodiousplot.bsky.social · 14h

Well that’s kind of timely. Great song.

Counting Crows and ‘Mr Jones’.

“If I knew Picasso, I would buy myself a grey guitar and play ….

www.theguardian.com/culture/2025...

‘The vocals were on another level’: how Counting Crows made Mr Jones

‘It’s about the night me and my best friend Marty Jones hung out with a flamenco troupe, wishing we were cool musicians too – so we could talk to the girls a little better’

www.theguardian.com

Some Melodious Plot @somemelodiousplot.bsky.social · 1d

Mark Twain called the Venus of Urbino ‘the foulest, the vilest, the obscenest picture the world possesses … it was painted for a bagnio and it was probably refused because it was a trifle too strong … in truth, it is a trifle too strong for any place but a public art gallery.’

Some Melodious Plot @somemelodiousplot.bsky.social · 1d

Today's favourite piece of Tuscany art (I'm back in Tottenham, but that doesn't mean I can't keep posting).

It's not a competition, but I can't stop flip-flopping over whether or not I prefer Titian's Venus or Velasquez's Venus (in London)?

Urbino v Rokeby?

Bluesky prude label inbound.

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Some Melodious Plot @somemelodiousplot.bsky.social · 1d

I think I need to be clear that I didn't go and have a rummage either. Far too early in the morning! :-)

Some Melodious Plot @somemelodiousplot.bsky.social · 1d

Old Street filth!

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Some Melodious Plot @somemelodiousplot.bsky.social · 1d

In light of Anita Lasker-Wallfisch's anecdotes about being forced to play her cello for Joseph Mengele in the death camps, I'm listening to Schumann's Träumerei over and over again, and willing the piece to take as much time as it needs.

Some Melodious Plot @somemelodiousplot.bsky.social · 1d

And Bradford City apparently.

Some Melodious Plot @somemelodiousplot.bsky.social · 1d

An utterly gorgeous and riveting piece on Kate Kennedy’s new book on the cello. Reading, with Jacqueline du Pré bowing majestically in the background. @lrb.co.uk

www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Thomas Laqueur · A Different Life: Can cellos remember?

Cellists and violinists in particular are haunted by the musicians who played their instruments before them and those...

www.lrb.co.uk

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Some Melodious Plot @somemelodiousplot.bsky.social · 2d

Drop off party for the boy, so the last Soho Square tin of the year? And Northern Monk? I might have been called that before! 😅

Some Melodious Plot @somemelodiousplot.bsky.social · 2d

Sunday mood! 🐈‍⬛

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Some Melodious Plot @somemelodiousplot.bsky.social · 2d

And not just because it’s very funny … but in reaching for the euphemism, she’s only doing what Forster does.

Some Melodious Plot @somemelodiousplot.bsky.social · 2d

I love this Katherine Mansfield quote on E.M. Forster:

‘[He] never gets any farther than warming the teapot. He's a rare fine hand at that. Feel this teapot. Is it not beautifully warm? Yes, but there ain't going to be no tea.’

He certainly brings out the tea in ‘Maurice’ though.

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Some Melodious Plot @somemelodiousplot.bsky.social · 3d

I like that. Getting the street kids into the Cardinal’s court. :-) Currently reading the arguments about whether the model is Mario Minniti or Caravaggio himself. I’m not buying the latter though.

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Some Melodious Plot @somemelodiousplot.bsky.social · 3d

That red is glorious. Maybe that’s why I didn’t touch a drop of white on my trip. :-) Look at the distortion on the glass as well … I’m more and more convinced it’s a deliberate nod to drunkenness.

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Some Melodious Plot @somemelodiousplot.bsky.social · 3d

Weird shallow glasses aside, I love the dirt caught in the ends of Bacchus’s fingernails. Wine coming from the ground and all that.

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Some Melodious Plot @somemelodiousplot.bsky.social · 4d

It’s wonky … but maybe the wine has gone to Caravaggio’s head. 😅There’s arguments that it’s a self portrait and he’s painting himself in a mirror. Holding a glass of wine and painting would be trickier than painting the Sistine Chapel on your back.