Recent viewing and listening
BBC4 did a very good documentary the other day on the Krautrock scene of the 60s to 80s. There were interviews with and performances by some of the major players including Faust playing the cement mixer. There seems to be a common thread of "Well, think that that's what happened, but we did smoke a lot in those days." Ee, I have fond memories of working my way through Stafford library's collection of Progrock / Krautrock. It's on again live on 8th Nov and more details, samples and information are available here. Alternatively there's quite of a lot of this genre cheap on Emusic.
There is an ongoing History of Private Life on radio 4, based on contemporary accounts of life at home in letters and diaries - quite fascinating. The one I listened to was about how upper class women occupied themselves. Apparently there was a fad for the gentry to study nature and the men would collect unusual animals and the ladies would draw them, press them, stuff them or make ornaments out of them as appropriate. While marriages were normally arranged, part of the prenuptial negotiations involved the decoration and furnishing of the home(s) - one fiancee wrote 'My dearest, how I tire of writing to you about houses!'
There is an ongoing History of Private Life on radio 4, based on contemporary accounts of life at home in letters and diaries - quite fascinating. The one I listened to was about how upper class women occupied themselves. Apparently there was a fad for the gentry to study nature and the men would collect unusual animals and the ladies would draw them, press them, stuff them or make ornaments out of them as appropriate. While marriages were normally arranged, part of the prenuptial negotiations involved the decoration and furnishing of the home(s) - one fiancee wrote 'My dearest, how I tire of writing to you about houses!'