Dear all,

Below is an optical illusion and is characterized by visually perceived images that differ from objective reality, also called visual illusion. The below is a painting by Oleg Shuplyak.

How many people can you see in the picture?

In 1966 my Dad suddenly became ill on Good Friday. After Easter the Doctor sent him straight to the LGI where he was operated on the following day. He had bowel and liver cancer, for which there was no treatment then, and was given between 6 weeks and 6 months to live. I was distraught.

I’d just bought the Walker Bros. record and I played it over and over again that day. Dad just wanted to see England win the World Cup which he did on July 30th. On August 30th he passed away. I played my record again – ‘The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Any More’ but the sun did shine again – as it always does.

Lovely tune Maureen and words, and may the sun continue to shine for you.

Click on the link below
ps. If it asks you to sign into Youtube, just click on ‘no thanks’ and then click on ‘I agree’, you may also have to watch the start of an advert first, you can skip ad once it shows bottom right – enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASzhmXCzoWg

I’ve been thinking since I got locked down, that this would be a good time to try and improve myself; although really this should have occurred to me earlier because it’s far easier to improve yourself at seven or 17 than it is at 70.

Despite this, I’ve started an on-line drawing course in the hope that, if I work hard enough, I might eventually reach the competence level of a 17-year-old who had paid some attention to art lessons.

Which I can’t have done because I have no memory at all of being taught to draw anything recognisable, such as, say, a carrot, which, I’ve discovered, isn’t as easy as you’d think unless you’ve got a carrot-coloured crayon or are allowed to use labels.

My dream would be draw anything as solid and  real as some examples of ancient cave art dating from 40,000 or more years ago and done without any help from the Lakeland pencil company or adult education classes.

Their trick was, in half-light and with improvised materials , they could portray a whole herd of prey animals in flight, as if caught for an instant by the BBC’s wildlife unit, or giant bisons looking so thoroughly solid that the tribe’s butchers would know immediately where to start taking slices out of them.

I know that, because of my hopelessness in turning the world into pictures, which, at the least, is what art is, I would have let the pre-historic world down badly if I had been let loose on a cave-painting wall.

My theory, which has the great advantage of being disprovable, is that the best cave art was not done by your average, run-of-the-mill  cave people but by a small class of rarely talented and practised illustrators.

It seems plausible that early people, having mastered hunting and  gathering, would have moved on fairly quickly to trying to relay their most exciting experiences, such as deer hunting, by any means available, including converting the cave walls they were forced to stare at for long periods into living canvasses or virtual movies.

That’s why humans, from toddlers to pensioners, can’t help trying to leave their mark on the world, even when education ministers tell them they would be better off getting proper jobs.

It’s also why any blank wall in any inner-city area is soon covered in inept daubings by people who have had all the advantages of a modern education combined with a desperate need to express themselves, but have failed to progress even to the caveman stage.

And to return to the question, why do I want to be able to draw? Well, because wouldn’t anybody like to be able to draw? It should be a primeval skill we’re all heir to, so that, given a bit of a steer by skilled tutors, we should all, armed with only a pencil and paper, be able record what we see in a way which has been compulsively attractive since the dawn of humanity.

Failing that, I might sign up for Conversational Croatian.

Wonderful Oliver, I do hope you continue to enjoy your art, until next time….

The theme for the 2021 event is ‘be the light in the darkness’. Click on the link below to register for the Holocaust Memorial event that will be streamed live at 7pm tonight.

https://www.hmd.org.uk/uk-holocaust-memorial-day-2021-cere…/

At 8pm, households across the UK will be lighting candles and safely putting them in their windows to remember those who were murdered for who they were and to stand against prejudice and hatred today (if you are able to do so safely).

WE REMEMBER THEM – BY SYLVAN KAMENS AND RABBI JACK RIEMER.

At the rising of the sun and at its going down
We remember them.
At the blowing of the wind and in the chill of winter
We remember them.
At the opening of the buds and in the rebirth of spring
We remember them.
At the blueness of the skies and in the warmth of summer
We remember them.
At the rustling of the leaves and in the beauty of autumn
We remember them.
At the beginning of the year and when it ends
We remember them.
As long as we live, they too will live;
for they are now a part of us
as we remember them.
When we are weary and in need of strength
We remember them.
When we are lost and sick at heart
We remember them.
When we have joy we crave to share
We remember them.
When we have decisions that are difficult to make
We remember them.
When we have achievements that are based on theirs
We remember them.
As long as we live, they too will live;
for they are now a part of us
as we remember them.

© Jewish Prayer Book

You can also watch another event hosted virtually at Leeds Town Hall on the link below which is available until midnight tonight.
https://www.leedstownhall.co.uk/…/holocaust-memorial-d…/7449

ps. If it asks you to sign into Youtube, just click on ‘no thanks’ and then click on ‘I agree’, you may also have to watch the start of an advert first, you can skip ad once it shows bottom right.