A Mix of Media (2): BBC Costume Drama

The Guardian reports that the BBC plans to spend less money on period drama productions. Little Dorrit failed, apparently, to pull in the punters. From Larkrise to Candleford, however, is due to run for a third series. The Diary of Anne Frank and the Penry Jones 'version' of The Thirty Nine Steps had high ratings and will set the trend for future adaptations. I, for one, would be very sad to think that there were not going to be many more productions of classic literature. I would love to see dramatisations of Buchan on television ... but only if the screen writers stick to the original storylines.

Just for Fun? (1): Cornish Pasty and Crisps?

The Zennor Mermaid
(as seen on Britain's Best Drives BBC4 last night)

You may like your pasty and chips, but have you tried the Cornish Pasty-flavoured crisps? Lusty Pirate crisp packets are adorned with literary legends such as King Arthur, the Giant of St Michael's Mount and the Zennor Mermaid!

On a serious note, you can read about the composer-poet, Ivor Gurney, and his travels around Zennor on Philip Lancaster's blog.

Wonderful Words (1): Save the Words

A colleague of my husband's has just sent a link to this extraordinary site. You can learn new words and help to 'adopt' old ones. A real Aladdin's Cave (unless you are of the belief that words live for a season and then die, in which case you may like to read this entry on Ronnie Knox).

A parcel of secondhand books arrived at my door wrapped up in pages from The Guardian, 9 February 2009. I unravelled the newspaper and was particularly interested in the Country Diary feature by Mark Cocker. It was about Claxton, a small village on the Yare in Norfolk, a few miles up-river from Bramerton, where I spent my teenage years. I can still smell the beautiful scent of the rush matting in St Andrew's Church in Claxton!

As readers of this blog will know, I was captivated by Cocker's Crow Country, which you can buy via my Amazon widget to the right of this page. In the Guardian column, Cocker ponders the origin of the name, godwit, and offers the evocative local alternate, yarwhelp.

• World Book Day
• World Book Day (official site)
• ...oh, and a Siberian Thrush was spotted in Glandford in Norfolk yesterday.
  

Poetic Persona (2): Seamus Heaney

Dennis O'Driscoll's book, Stepping Stones: Interviews with Seamus Heaney, was published recently. A fascinating interview can be read here. I was particularly struck by Heaney's comment about poetry and the path of a tank.

• Heaney and Walcott and their production of one of the Theban plays, Antigone by Sophocles.
• Egyptian Secrets: Meresamun, a singer priestess from Thebes (The Guardian).
  

Window on Wildlife (1): Ladybirds, Hoopoes ... and a Pink Dolphin

I was very taken with a news story in The Telegraph about a pink dolphin. I had to look twice at the photograph, and yes, it really is a pink (albino) dolphin.

The Telegraph also ran a story on the exotic birds, like the hoopoe, from Europe, Africa and Asia that will soon be making a home in the UK. It seems strange to me that our shores are not only attracting birds from the frozen north like the snowy owl seen in Cornwall, but also a number of visitors from warmer countries. Climate change can be very confusing at times! Fellow blogger, Mistlethrush, has just seen a crossbill. You can read about the species here.

On the subject of wildlife, I am rather intrigued by ladybirds at the moment; and was delighted to discover in a posting on LiveJournal that the collective term for the species is 'a loveliness of ladybirds'. Do you have a favourite collective noun? How would you feel about inventing one?

Creative Corner (2): 1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse call for submissions

1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse, call for submissions

Calendar Corner (1): Daffodils for St David's Day

Above: Daffodils at Middleton, The National Botanic Garden of Wales
Below: The Alfred Wallace Garden, Middleton

1 March is St David's Day here in Wales. The National Botanic Garden celebrated with daffodils, national costumes - and a live Service of Sunday Worship on BBC Radio 4. The theme was 'Journey into Seeing: Observing Lent through the Senses'. The preacher was Dr Anne Richards and Cor Caerfyrddin provided the music.

The Wallace Garden has always intrigued me. It looks a bit bare at this time of year, but I chose this photograph because, unlike my summer views with lots of flower and foliage, you can see the intertwining structure of the double helix DNA path.

• Previous posting on poets, Padel and Cluysenaar, with science-orientated collections.
• A poem in DNA?