I've beaten Youtube (and some quality music)

I used to tell everyone that Youtube had everything, literally everything.

It hasn't. Having been alerted to a clip of Decca and the Dectones doing The Beatles' 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer' and Decca (my heroine Jessica Mitford, the titled Communist who ran away to the Spanish Civil War with Churchill's nephew, then moved to the States where she spent her time agitating for socialism and Black Liberation (hence her friendships with Angelou and the Black Panthers' leadership)) duetting with Maya Angelou, played on Radio 4's The Write Stuff, I rushed to Youtube to post these cultural artefacts for your pleasure.

Defeated. No Decca and the Dectones. No Jessica Mitford. No Decca Mitford. What's wrong with this planet? I've had to download the album, and will post some for you. It's hard to describe but I'll try: drunk aging aristocrat (b. 1917) with no musical talent but a massive ability to cause mischief and have fun 'sings' hippy song. Bear in mind that is the polished studio version, and unfortunately the one without Angelou.

1. 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer' by Decca and the Dectones:

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2. Grace Darling' by Decca and the Dectones:

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Sorry students!

I just talked for almost two hours on Why Iago Isn't The Bad Guy In Othello And Why God Is. Failed to build in much interaction. Still, it was a fun exercise in critical theory.

Only one session left this week… and an awful lot of marking.

Still hurting from the football. But some books have helped. On Kim and Ben's recommendation, Kathleen Jamie's Findings, and a very rare pamphlet, Decca Treuhaft's (aka Jessica Mitford's) 1956 Lifeitselfmanship, an affectionately humorous guide to Leftwing Linguistics, and a witty riposte to her sister Nancy's Noblesse Oblige, which listed U (Upper-class) and Non-U usages.

e.g.
Non-U - serviette, dentures, lounge. U - Napkin, False teeth, Hall or dining room.

Non-L: Suggesting a bum plan. L: projecting an incorrect perspective.
Non-L: Time will tell whether that plan was OK. L: The correctness of that policy will be tested in the crucible of struggle.

Lifeitselfmanship is a typed brochure with line drawings. The very few copies were sold for 1 shilling. I've just paid £30 and think it's a bargain.

Join the sisterhood

My dear sister Maura has sent me this article which claims that having a sister leads to better mental health, increased motivation, more friends and a richer social life. I have four sisters and a brother, yet the voices in my head are telling me not believe it.

All I ever wanted as a child was peace and quiet to read books. Come to think of it, that's all I want now. What's your experience? Certainly my sisters were often at war and some still have complicated relationships with each other.

I can't recall the verbatim quote, and I'm not at home, but Jessica Mitford was asked if having sisters helped with life's obstacles. Her reply was 'But sisters are life's obstacles', or something very similar.

Normal service is resumed

Ho hum, back in the office, with a PGCE day to look forward to tomorrow. Lots of work to do for that in this month. I need to go swimming today too - all that standing around eating delicious pierogi, and zupa gulaszka, and kabanos etc etc hasn't done my waistline any good at all.

At least I was greeted with two books in the post: Jessica Mitford's The Making of a Muckraker and The American Way of Death - wonderful, spiky books. I also bought a couple of books yesterday: Adam Roberts' alternative steampunk history Swiftly and John Burrow's magisterial A History of Histories. I only went out to buy birthday presents for other people!

More books

Jessica Mitford's The Trial of Dr Spock… - in which lots of old square guys realized that the Vietnam War was a bad idea and joined the long-hairs on the street, got themselves arrested then put on a great performance in court.

Also: Bonnie Prince Billy's Beware. Feels a bit weird to buy it on CD as I've got the previous twelve on lovely vinyl.

In case you aren't convinced

… that Jessica (Decca) Mitford was the best of the lot: she started a Running-Away fund from an early age, and used it to go to Spain with Esmond Romilly, Churchill's nephew. She had Leadbelly to stay, as well as many of the Black Panthers. She tried to give her share of an inherited island to the Communist Party (largely, I suspect, to annoy her sisters). J K Rowling named her daughter after Jessica - a great role model.

Those wonderful Mitford gels

Right now I'm reading Mary Lovell's The Mitford Girls and not enjoying it much. I've an interest in the Mitfords - Jessica (Decca) is a hero of mine, and the rest of the brood are an object lesson in the iniquities of the aristocracy. Unfortunately, Lovell's book is essentially a long paean of praise to poor misunderstood Diana (unrepentant Fascist, friend of Goebbels, wife of Mosley etc), an elegy for Unity (personal friend of Hitler etc. etc.) and an attempt to paint Decca as a liar and fantasist because she was a Communist (who lived most of her life in rough Oakland, California, fighting for the poor and black population). Lovell, it seems, divides the world between those who hunt (good) and those who don't (rotters).