Top tier L-R: carrots, snowpeas, hommus (in my awesome Stitch sauce cup!), purple seedless grapes.
Bottom tier L-R: sultanas (orange cup), chickpea crisps, dry-roasted chickpeas and edamame, dry-roasted green peas, home-made dried fruit mix (papaya, rockmelon, pineapple, mango; pink cup).
Carolan’s Concerto by Caiseal Mor.
This book was an absolute joy to read. It was a delightful narrative, weaving together elements of fairy-tale and historical reality in a manner that leaves you constantly questioning how much is real, and how much is fantasy. But within the context of the book (through the character of Edward, who is hearing the life-story of Turlough Carolan, being told by a blind brewer), you seen the gradual acceptance of the magical as being possible.
It really does pay tribute to Irish culture, without being overtly OMGIRISHGUINESSGREENLEPRECHAUNS!!! etc. It’s in the subtle capturing of the national pride, but also the fierce pragmatism that is prominent in the many Irish people I’ve met. That is to say, he doesn’t rely entirely on hyperbolic stereotypes and shallow portrayals.
On that note, it was interesting that it treated the Irish rebellion against English rule in the manner that it did; the standard ‘fight for your country, patriotic hatred of the English’ trope of so many novels, films and poems was absent. Personally I don’t have a problem with that sentiment, when expressed well, but it was interesting that Mor instead chose to focus on the reality of any culture that’s been oppressed by an invading force; that, ultimately, many people are forced to choose between sacrificing everything in the name of their ideological beliefs, and instead enduring in order to ensure the survival of themselves and their families. And he does portray it well; there’s the sense of fierce Irish pride, but it’s tempered by the weary acknowledgement that Connor’s rebellion is a subtle one, by necessity, as they try to survive in hard times.
So, for a brief overview; Mor uses mis en abyme (framing a story within a story) to particularly fantastic effect. Both stories are equally engaging, and the ‘containing’ story isn’t simply a framing device, it’s a rich tale of its own, and the combined stories work beautifully. The external story is of a Dublin-based rebel, who shoots an English officer and then escapes and seeks refuge with a country family; while hiding out there, the patriarch of the house recounts tales of his master, Turlough Carolan, arguably Ireland’s most famous musician. Throw in liberal doses of Sidhe mythology, sharp humour, and beautifully subtle cultural references, and you’ve got yourself an enchanting fantasy novel.
Stylistically, this is another of those books that, much like Zimmer Bradley’s Mists of Avalon, you read for the narrative content, not for syntactical experimentation. So, the structure is fairly basic, though Mor uses his customary evocative description and expansive vocabulary to paint a very vivid mental picture.
Overall rating: 10/10.
Incidentally, Caiseal Mor is one of my all-time favourite authors. If you’re looking for fantasy that isn’t full of stupid names (or ones that are a blatant, and insulting, plagiarism of Tolkien’s works), bodice-ripping shit, and 4 pages of nothing but a description of the stock-standard ‘heroine’, definitely check him out.
From here. This is another relatively new discovery of mine, and it’s consistently brilliant.
Top tier: brown rice, carrot, broccoli and mushroom with soy sauce (panda!).
Bottom tier L-R: broken up muesli bar, raw cashews, couple of sugared peanuts, home-made dried fruit mix (mango, rockmelon, papaya, pineapple; orange cup), khatta meetha.
Sorry for the rather overbright photograph, my kitchen is shocking for light sources. Stay tuned for (hopefully) more frequent updates coming soon!
Top tier: strawberry (yellow cup – and it’s a SMALL strawberry. Gives you an indication of tiny, tiny bento size lol), home-made dried fruit mix (papaya, mango, rockmelon and pineapple) with red peanuts on top, dried winter melon, and pepita and sunflower seeds (orange cat cup).
Bottom tier: dry-roasted chickpeas (yellow cup), mini bhakarwadi rolls, haw flakes, dry-roasted edamame, and khatta meetha (pink cup).
And then a ‘fruit/salad box’ containing green and purple seedless grapes.
Top tier L-R: dry-roasted chickpeas, sugared lotus root, dried guava, vanilla almond, pepitas and sunflower seeds (yellow cup), home-made dried fruit mix (papaya, pinapple, mango and rockmelon) with a couple of red peanuts on top, strawberry mochi (yellow cup).
Bottom tier: chickpea, broccoli and seitan curry with brown rice.
This particular tangent was inspired by a fantastically well thought out post on Southern Pagan.
I think a lot of NeoPagans get so caught up in the community (which is, realistically, not all that big – that’s not a bad thing, either) that they seem to forget that we are a religious minority. Well, let me qualify that – they forget that we are a religious minority when it comes to their expectations of how NeoPaganism should be accommodated within broader society. They sure don’t forget we’re a minority when it comes to crying wolf persecution.
I mean, seriously, so many NeoPagans expect that society should cater to us. Not just tolerate us, or be open-minded (that would be nice, but not just in regards to NeoPaganism), but openly provide specific opportunities designed to meet specific needs. Here’s a thought – why? It’s not a direct ‘persecution’ of NeoPaganisms, nor is it a denial of rights. Generally, it’s simply a case of practicality and lack of a realistic demand.
For example, the University of Sydney has Muslim prayer rooms specially set aside, because there are a large number of Muslims at the uni. None of the high schools that I went to made accommodations for this, because there was little to no demand – maybe one or two Muslim students. Considering that’s one of the major world religions, what’s the likelihood that society is going to go out of its way to make special arrangements for a religious tradition that is exponentially smaller?
Well, one could argue that it’s all about quality, not quantity. That the rights of one person is justification enough for changes being made. And theoretically, I’d wonder what planet you’re from agree with you, to an extent. No-one should be denied the basic human rights. Hence, I believe in tolerance, sure (and I do belief in tolerance – not even necessarily acceptance, just tolerance, because I really don’t care if you’re just humouring me). I also believe that there is a marked difference between not being accommodated and actively being discriminated against.
If you consider ‘not being given special time/space for religious services’ to be persecution/discrimination, your life is apparently way too easy. If they don’t go out of their way to accommodate every other religious tradition, major or minor, other than NeoPaganism, then you’re not being persecuted, you’re just not their primary concern. Most public domains do not have the time or motivation to cater to any minority group. That’s possibly bad, definitely sad, but it’s the way of the world. You’re not special, you’re not being discriminated against.
And when it’s all said and done – to what extent is it impacting on you, anyway? Sure, I go to university on days that are of religious significance to me; that’s what evenings are for. Or the day before or after. Sure, I don’t have a dedicated space/time/group devoted to my religious practices on-campus. So I’ll go climb a tree, or sit on the lawn, and don’t give a shit if there are other NeoPagans around to hold my hand and ‘lend support’ during class hours. Given the fluidity of the ‘orthopraxy’ of virtually every NeoPagan that I’ve ever met, I’m skeptical about people’s claims that this is a really that big of a deal.
Is it really about religious rights? Or is it about wanting to feel justified in your feelings of persecution?
The wheel of a homemade caravan in the national park. My dad thinks it looks like an old circus caravan, and I think that he’s probably right. The title is, of course, borrowed from the genius of Tolkien’s canon.
20 vegan bento posts! How exciting! I feel the quality is often variable (in my defense, I’m pretty busy these days), but hopefully people have enjoyed seeing them, and will continue to do so in the future. And just for something to look forward to: in the next few lots, there are actual meals depicted, not just snacks packed in!
Top tier L-R: chunks from a cinnamon Larabar (my favourite flavour, that I’ve tried), vanilla almonds & red peanuts, homemade dried fruit mix (papaya, mango, rockmelon & pineapple) with dried sugared winter melon on top, a strawberry.
Bottom tier L-R: dry-roasted peas (pink cup), TVP jerky, dry-roasted edamame, dry-roasted chickpeas (yellow cup), haw flakes (see previous post).
Top tier: two strawberries, homemade dried fruit mix (papaya, rockmelon, pineapple, mango), and vanilla almonds & red peanuts (in the cat cup).
Bottom tier: dry-roasted green peas (yellow cup), seaweed twists, dry-roasted chickpeas, dry-roasted edamame, TVP jerky.
The “Haw” roll to the side is a roll of dry pressed crushed hawthorn berries; I bought a bunch of them in Chinatown as a random and very cheap purchase, and they’re weird yet delicious. And I included a the gratuitously cute lid – yes, it’s a children’s bento. What can I say, ‘Lilo & Stitch’ is one of the very few Disney films that I’ll happily watch. Mainly because Stitch is awesome (and reminds me of my devilish-yet-strangely-loveable brother).
