ELEANOR MARCH
MISCELLANEOUS
WHAT I'M LISTENING TO THIS WEEK:
Classical:
New Ground (Gudmunsen-Holmgreen)
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Non-classical:
Pearl (Chapterhouse)
FIVE PIECES OF MUSIC YOU SHOULD UNDERSTAND TO UNDERSTAND ME:
String quartet No. 15 Op. 132 in A minor, mvt. 3 "Heiligedankgesang" (Beethoven)
"Dona nobis pacem" from Mass in B Minor BWV 232 (Bach)
Vapour Trail (Ride)
Both Sides, Now (Joni Mitchell)
Frou-frou Foxes in Midsummer Fires (Cocteau Twins)
SOME THINGS I CURRENTLY FIND INTERESTING TO MULL OVER:
Was T.S. Eliot really just grappling with what determinism plus time reversal symmetry means in the opening of Burnt Norton?
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Compare early/middle-period Schoenberg with late Ligeti. There is a sense in which they are doing similar things, despite the fact that they're really not. Contemplate what this means for our understanding of modernism and/or post-modernism.
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"The string quartet (qua composition) as dialogue (of the players)." Understood from the perspective of embodiment.​
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Christopher Knowles' libretto for Knee Play 1 of Einstein on the Beach as an exploration of Aristotelian potentiality.
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Compare Einstein "like Copernicus [reaching] above himself into space" (see the bottom of this page) with William Blake's Newton. Do you agree? (Bonus: why isn't this a category error?)​​​
MY MOST REQUESTED RECIPES:
Brownies ("quite literally transcendental but in the non-Kantian sense")
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Ingredients:​
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150g dark chocolate (plus optionally extra chocolate chunks to add to the batter)
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100g butter or margarine
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100ml milk or non-dairy milk
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250g caster sugar
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3tsp vanilla extract
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160g plain flour
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60g cocoa powder
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pinch salt
Method:
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Preheat the oven to 170°C (160°C fan). Line a 20cm (8 inch) square pan with baking paper.
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Melt the chocolate and butter in a saucepan on a low heat (or in microwave, stirring at 30 second intervals) until smooth and glossy.
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Whisk together the sugar, milk, and vanilla extract. Fold in the melted chocolate mixture.
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Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Fold into the wet ingredients (along with the extra chocolate chunks, if using) until no lumps remain.
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Transfer the batter to the pan and smooth the top. Bake for 25 minutes.
Variations:​
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Biscoff brownies: crush 6-8 Biscoff biscuits and fold into the mixture with the dry ingredients. Swirl Biscoff spread into the top of the batter and top with 8 Biscoff biscuits before baking (make sure they are pressed well into the batter).
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Oreo brownies: crush 5 Oreos and fold into the mixture with the dry ingredients. Top with 9 Oreos before baking (make sure they are pressed well into the batter).
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PB&J brownies: swirl peanut butter and jam into the top of the batter before baking.
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Jammy Dodger brownies: crush two Jammy Dodgers and fold into the mixture with the dry ingredients. Swirl jam into the top of the batter and top with 6 Jammy Dodgers before baking (make sure they are pressed well into the batter).
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Earl grey cookies (okay, no-one has ever described these as 'transcendental' but one of my friends did joke about marrying me so I could make them every day for her)
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Ingredients:​​
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For the cookies:
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200g plain flour
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150g caster sugar
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1tsp baking powder
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80g butter or margarine
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50ml milk or non-dairy milk
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2 earl grey teabags
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1tsp vanilla extract
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For the icing:
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150g icing sugar
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25g butter or margarine, softened
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2 earl grey tea bags
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Method:
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Preheat the oven to 180°C (170°C fan). Line two baking trays with baking paper.
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To make the cookies, put the butter and milk into a small saucepan with the tea bags. Heat on medium until the mixture starts to bubble, then simmer on low heat for 5-10 minutes, stirring regularly. Remove the teabags, squeezing out as much liquid as possible.
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Sift the flour and baking powder and combine with the sugar in a large bowl. Add the butter-milk-tea mixture and vanilla, and combine gently into a dough.
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Divide into 12 equal parts, roll into balls and place well spaced apart on the baking trays, flattening with your hand. Bake for 12-14 minutes until golden. Bash the trays on the surface to flatten the cookies when they come out the oven and leave to cool.
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To make the icing, brew the tea bags in 25ml boiling water. Remove the tea bags, squeezing out as much liquid as possible, and leave to cool slightly. Mix the butter and icing sugar, and then add the tea, a little at a time, until you have a smooth glossy mixture. Spread over the cooled cookies.
LIBRETTO FOR "ALL MEN ARE EQUAL" (FROM EINSTEIN ON THE BEACH):
"In this court, all men are equal." You have heard those words many times before. "All men are equal." But what about all women? Are women the equal of men? There are those who tell us that they are. Last week, an auspicious meeting of women was held in Kalamazoo! The meeting was addressed by a very prominent lady who is noted for her modesty. She is so modest that she blindfolds herself when taking a bath. Modesty runs in her family. She has a nephew who is just ten years of age. Sometimes, the nephew says, "I'm going to the forbidden name store." The little fellow is too modest to say, "I'm going to the A&P."
Well, here is what the modest lady said to the gathering of women in Kalamazoo. "My sisters! The time has come when we must stand up and declare ourselves. For too long have we been trodden under the feet of men. For too long have we been treated as second-class citizens by men who say that we are only good for cooking the meals, mending the socks, and raising their babies."
"You have a boyfriend, and he calls you his queen. Then, when he marries you, he crowns you. These are the kind of men who, when they become romantic or, I should say, when they are in a certain mood, they want to kiss you and kiss you and kiss you again. My sisters! I say to you: put your faces against it, and if the man takes a kiss from you without your permission, look him squarely in the face, roll your eyes at him, and say to him, 'How dare you, you male chauvinist pig! You put that kiss right back where you got it from.'"
"My sisters! We are in bondage, and we need to be liberated. Liberation is our cry. Just yesterday, I talked with a woman who is the mother of fifteen children. She said, 'Yes, I want to be liberated from the bedroom.' And so, my sisters, the time has come when we must let this male chauvinist understand that the hand that changes the diapers is the hand that shall rule the world."
"And now, my sisters, let us stand and sing our national song. For the benefit of you who have not yet memorized the words, here they are:
The woman's day is drawing near, it's written in the stars.
The fall of men is very near, proclaim it from your cars.
Sisters, rise! Your flags unfurl!
Don't be a little girl.
Say: 'Down with men, their power must end:
Women shall rule the world!'"
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S.M.J.
"Es gilt viele Mauern abzubauen."
I.B. and R.H.