Newsletter #2: Plants, Portraits, Graduation, Monsters, and More
Hello! I hope you’ve had a nice week. I’ve been quite busy myself, doing some of those touristy things with my friend Shankar that I mentioned last time. Last Sunday we went to the Royal Botanic Gardens of Edinburgh. And on Friday we took a gander at the Ray Harryhausen exhibition in the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art before going to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.
All three are outings I’d recommend, particularly the Harryhausen exhibition. It was quite something seeing all the monster models and drawings made by that old maestro of special effects. Harryhausen’s pioneering work on films like Jason and the Argonauts has inspired filmmakers then and since, from George Lucas to Peter Jackson. Harryhausen’s hands, they say, were insured for a million dollars. And no wonder, given the magic they worked, bringing to life and giving real character to weird and wonderful creatures long before CGI. He retired after 1981’s Clash of the Titans, noting that with the likes of Star Wars coming along the special effects industry was changing. He wasn’t complaining; he merely realised the world was different and hung up his hat having done a few decades of great work. There’s something quietly admirable about that. He died in 2013, lauded by Hollywood, and, far more importantly, his imaginings seared into the minds of generations. Not bad for the boy who was inspired to get into the business by 1933’s King Kong, a movie his diary tells us he watched 31 times!
The Portrait Gallery was also a treat, not least for the haunting and intriguing Ken Currie paintings. And the Botanic Gardens were gorgeous too- a morning and afternoon there is a morning and afternoon well spent. Followed by lunch in Leith, it comes close to a perfect day. See pictures from these outings below.
By the time you read this, I will have been to Rosslyn Chapel, and throughout the next week more trips are planned- Edinburgh Castle, Linlithgow, and a boat on the Forth with a stopover at Inchcolm Island among them.
Also this week, I officially finished university when I received my final results and degree classification. I got a first! As I wrote on Facebook:
Well, today I received my final results and degree classification. I now officially hold an English Literature and History Master of Arts with Honours, First Class degree from the University of Edinburgh. It's been a long, long journey: from my first steps into higher education after my Dad died, to coming to this beautiful city and brilliant institution, to being knocked out for a year thanks to my appendicitis sending me to the verge of death, here I am. I couldn't be happier. Sorry for the soppiness, but I'm feeling quite emotional. Love to my Mum and all my family and friends, in the knowledge that my Dad would be so very proud of me today.
And now…well, we’ll see. If you know of any paid writing jobs/opportunities, let me know!
In other news, I recently finished rewatching Breaking Bad. I already appreciated it as one of the finest pieces of drama ever made but a second viewing, after an interval of a few years, really confirms its brilliance. An epic tragedy, full of pride and rage and ambition and darkness and redemption, it’s a story worthy of the ancient Greeks and Hebrews, made even more exquisite by clever, funny writing and extraordinary performances by the whole cast, but in particular Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul.
It’s one of two shows which I think are pretty much perfect; the other is Hannibal. Both have great, and utterly appropriate, endings, too, which is a hallmark of brilliance: too often good shows are let down by poor finales. They are very different beasts, mind you: one is a Gothic, operatic, sometimes ridiculous show about the devil incarnate and the man he loves, the other is a grounded, realistic yet epic story of human weakness and bad choices on the part of an ordinary, decent man. One is unlikely to be or become a Hannibal Lecter, but Walter White? Human, all too human.
Watch both shows if you haven’t. If you have, rewatch them. Exquisite stuff.
Time for some admin. My proper piece for this week will be delayed until tomorrow, most likely, as I’ve been a bit preoccupied, just in case you were wondering. And let me reiterate that, starting with that piece, my more substantial writings for this Substack will be for sign-ups only (these newsletters will remain public). So if you’re reading this and want to read more of my stuff, sign up (it’s free!).
And finally, let me state again that I’m helping to host the activist and scholar Jonathan Rauch for an online Free Speech Champions discussion on 6th July. Sign up for free here. It’ll be interesting and fun and you’ll get to put your questions to the man himself. Here’s a quote from his new book The Constitution of Knowledge to inspire you: “We gay people...did not spend the last half century and more fighting against it so that we could turn the tables and make pariahs of others." He’s talking about cancel culture there. If you disagree- well, come and tell him! Once more, sign up for free here.
For now, all the best,
DJS