{"id":2023,"date":"2005-04-12T08:41:55","date_gmt":"2005-04-12T08:41:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.john-howe.com\/blog\/?p=2023"},"modified":"2020-09-25T08:39:53","modified_gmt":"2020-09-25T07:39:53","slug":"past-tense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.john-howe.com\/blog\/past-tense\/","title":{"rendered":"Past Tense"},"content":{"rendered":"

Or What\u2019s the Appropriate 15th-Century Term for \u201cWeekend\u201d?<\/h4>\n

THE MIDDLE AGES<\/p>\n

I dearly love that term. What other historical term covers, in three easy-to-learn words, more or less one millenium of recent Western culture. What other term implies that the millenium in question is a sort of waiting room, a thousand years in the antechamber of the Renaissance, after having been turned out of the theatre when the curtain fell on Antiquity\u2026 (this is of course without the Dark Ages, which were just\u2026 dark one supposes). What other age has variously \u201cwaned\u201d, \u201cdeclined\u201d, and otherwise guttered out shamefacedly. What other period saw the rise the fabulous cathedrals that dot Europe and is nonetheless qualified as an architectural dead end, rescued only by a revisiting of a more distant past. What other age lends itself so well to enthusiasts, fantastical and historical alike. The Middle Ages seem to have room for everyone. Umberto Eco describes his \u201cTen Little Midle Ages\u201d precisely, tongue firmly in cheek.
\n(By the way, ever noticed how the \u201cre\u201d and \u201cneo\u201d movements seem to occur more and more frequently? The initial Renaissance looked back to a few thousand years before. Neoclassic and Neogothic to rather more recent heritages. The sell-by date on nostalgia seems to get shorter and shorter. Now we have neo-70\u2019s and \u201890\u2019s revivals.)
\nI doubt the inhabitants of the late 15th century were much preoccupied with their unfortunate state. Imagine all those people just hanging around \u201cMom, is it the Renaissance now?\u201d \u201cHush darling, it\u2019ll be a while yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why do a considerable number of otherwise normal adults get dressed up in hose, doublets and mail shirts and run about for a weekend? Beats me. Maybe it\u2019s the research, the pleasure of physically recontructing so many wonderful objects and accessories and using them, the pleasure of what amounts to being in a painstakingly crafted illusion and the visual nourishment it provides.
\nAs for me, I think it\u2019s crowd involved, who come from all walks of life in England, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Sweden and Switzerland, are a truly inspiring bunch. Having a huge castle<\/a> to play in for a few days helps\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Photos: Arnaud Besson<\/a>, Alexander Graff<\/a><\/p>\n

LORDS & BRUSHES<\/p>\n

The documentary<\/a> will be aired in September , but in the meantime here\u2019s the temporary DVD sleeve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

TORONTO<\/p>\n

More information on the book signings in Toronto<\/a>.
\nThere is also a line party<\/a>, which will be a novel experience, at least for me.
\n\u201cThe first 45 people will receive a copy of EA GAME, \u201cThe Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle\u2013earth\u201d a real time PC strategy game.\u201d\u00a0 The FIRST 45 people!? I hope to emerge from all this alive. I promise I will take photos.
\n(I love visiting Canada.)<\/p>\n

CAROUGE<\/p>\n

The exhibition in Carouge will be opening Monday June 26
\nMore information soon on [url=http:\/\/www.seigneurdesanneaux.ch]http:\/\/www.seigneurdesanneaux.ch<\/a>[\/url].
\nGENEVA BOOK FAIR<\/p>\n

The originals of The Abandoned City<\/a> will be at the Geneva Book Fair from April 27th to May 1st.
\nI\u2019ll be there on the 29th at 6 p.m. The documentary THERE AND BACK AGAIN will be shown at 7 p.m. and a signature session at 8 p.m. Everything will take place at the Librairie Payot Stand.<\/p>\n

18H SOIR\u00c9E JOHN HOWE
\nillustrateur du \u00abSeigneur des Anneaux\u00bb
\nD\u00c9BAT \u00c9CRITURE, ILLUSTRATION, ANIMATION
\nJohn Howe, illustrateur, Fran\u00e7ois Boetschi, r\u00e9alisateur
\net Olivier Muller, directeur du NIFFF.
\n19 H PROJECTION JOHN HOWE : THERE AND BACK AGAIN.
\nDocumentaire in\u00e9dit de Fran\u00e7ois Boetschi et Anders
\nBanke, film de 52 mn en anglais.
\n20 H ENTRETIEN ET D\u00c9DICACE AVEC JOHN HOWE
\nLes originaux du dernier livre illustr\u00e9 par John Howe
\net \u00e9crit par Claude Cl\u00e9ment \u00abLa ville abandonn\u00e9e\u00bb
\naux \u00c9ditions Casterman, seront expos\u00e9s sur notre
\nstand pendant toute la dur\u00e9e du salon.<\/p>\n

The originals will later be at the Librairie La Bulle in Fribourg (CH), with a book signing at 3 pm. on May 7th, and at a date to be determined at the Librairie la Dam\u2019Oiseau in La Chaux-de-Fonds.
\nCOMING UP<\/p>\n

This October, Kingfisher Books is publishing an encyclopedia of fantastical creatures with a few pictures of mine inside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

ON THE DRAWING BOARD<\/p>\n

Quite a lot, which explains the infrequent newsletters. Currently somewhere between Heorot and Helm\u2019s Deep.
\nTHE JOY OF TRAVEL<\/p>\n

Returning from Paris a while back on the TGV fast train. The customs agents, both French and Swiss, board the train at Pontarlier, the last stop in France, then work through the train in the time it takes to reach Neuch\u00e2tel. The French go by, and then one ofthe Swiss guards (complete with gun, dog and an undeniable air of authority) looks me straight in the eyes and says \u201cSir.\u201d
\nI\u2019m like a lot of people, even if I haven\u2019t a thing to reproach myself, being singled out by a uniform makes me imagine all manner of unconscious and unintentinal offenses.
\n\u201cYes?\u201d I quavered (maintaining that air of indifferent nonchalance while sweating profusely and trembling like a leaf).
\n\u201cIs your new book out yet?\u201d<\/p>\n

I was so relieved I\u2019d have given him one if I\u2019d had any with me\u2026\u00a0 but on seconmd thought, with my luck, I\u2019d likely have been busted for attempted bribery.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Or What\u2019s the Appropriate 15th-Century Term for \u201cWeekend\u201d? THE MIDDLE AGES I dearly love that term. What other historical term covers, in three easy-to-learn words, more or less one millenium of recent Western culture. What other term implies that the millenium in question is a sort of waiting room, a thousand years in the antechamber […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[461,490,72,367,88],"class_list":["post-2023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chronicles","tag-lord-of-the-brush","tag-middle-ages","tag-paris","tag-toronto","tag-travel"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1PY8Y-wD","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.john-howe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2023","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.john-howe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.john-howe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.john-howe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.john-howe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2023"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.john-howe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2023\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.john-howe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.john-howe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.john-howe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}