David Jones, artist and poet (1895-1974) begins his PREFACE TO THE ANATHEMATA :

'I have made a heap of all that I could find.' (1) So wrote Nennius, or whoever composed the introductory matter to Historia Brittonum. He speaks of an 'inward wound' which was caused by the fear that certain things dear to him 'should be like smoke dissipated'. Further, he says, 'not trusting my own learning, which is none at all, but partly from writings and monuments of the ancient inhabitants of Britain, partly from the annals of the Romans and the chronicles of the sacred fathers, Isidore, Hieronymous, Prosper, Eusebius and from the histories of the Scots and Saxons although our enemies . . . I have lispingly put together this . . . about past transactions, that [this material] might not be trodden under foot'. (2)

(1) The actual words are coacervavi omne quod inveni, and occur in Prologue 2 to the Historia.
(2) Quoted from the translation of Prologue 1. See The Works of Gildas and Nennius, J.A.Giles, London 1841.


03 August 2014

they, biodata

    
LOGOS : The Speaking into Being of the World
         
HA HA :  from the same bag of wind and gas, disruptive other sounds - burps, farts, laughter
                  
LOGOS/HA HA : the imperfect Word, the broken Promise, weasel words (see: biodata)
       
bLOGOS/HA HA : a heap of such
     
The extract below is the start of yesterday's Editorial in 'The Saturday Paper'. Click here to read the lot.


Suffer the children


From the gallery of press there were audible laughs. Not because it was fun but because what was being said was so appalling, because language and decency were being so defiled in the hearing room of the Human Rights Commission’s inquiry into children in immigration detention. If it were not laughter, it would have been tears.

Martin Bowles, the immigration department secretary, was being asked about the 157 Tamils held for weeks in a customs hulk before their reluctant transfer to Curtin detention centre. It could not be said how many were children, or how many were babies. The department was, he said, still addressing “biodata”.
     

 detail
 A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
 someone looks at something ... 

 LOGOS/HA HA