Paul Edwards
Retired journalist, living on a small farm. Right now in lockdown but this kind of activity helps.
Location Australia
Activity
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Paul Edwards made a comment
This has been a very worthwhile experience. Thanks to all who presented it - and to my fellow students for their interesting comments.
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Paul Edwards made a comment
The term ‘runaway’ implies these people were doing something wrong. Are the people living and dying against a barbed wire fence in Belarus ‘runaways’ or are they seeking sanctuary? Is it perhaps an unfortunate collective term when applied to slaves?
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Paul Edwards made a comment
The artist, and presumably the patron, apparently thought the black groom was entirely inconsequential - a ‘warm prop’, an ‘extra’.
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In Under Milk Wood Dylan Thomas has Captain Cat asserting rights over a woman of colour: No, I'll take the mulatto, by God, who's captain here? Parlez vous jig jig, ...
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Paul Edwards made a comment
I’ve been informed but not surprised. There is so much about English or even British history that makes one question terms such as pride and patriotism.
But many thanks for this excellent course. -
Paul Edwards made a comment
Because hunting these magnificent creatures was ‘of its day’ does not excuse the practice nor its practitioners. It was wrong then and it’s wrong now, just as bullfighting is repugnant and cruel and should be banned immediately.
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Well, I dunno … allegedly he said one day as a tiger is better than a lifetime as a sheep. Unachievable chest-thumping, of course, but I fancy a world full of sheep would be nicer than one full of tigers. What’s wrong with sheep, anyway?
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Paul Edwards made a comment
Clive was a fringe criminal in his youth, and perfected this vocation throughout his adult life. Millions died on his watch in India, but our hero brought back his stolen goods together with fanciful tales of good governance among the heathens. A thoroughly despicable man - yet with plenty of friends in the good old Mother Country.
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Paul Edwards made a comment
‘There are more Mughal artefacts stacked in this private house in the Welsh countryside than are on display in any one place in India – even the National Museum in Delhi.’
So send ‘em back where they belong, then - send the Elgin Marbles too. There’s no doubt this stuff was stolen in the most villainous circumstances - surely we’re bigger than that now? -
Paul Edwards made a comment
Black Hole of Calcutta, Gandhi, Kipling.
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Paul Edwards made a comment
What little I was taught about the early cotton industry had no contextual bearing on slavery. We were taught about engineers, inventors and benevolent industrialists who provided income and shelter for their workers. An absolute whitewash.
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Paul Edwards made a comment
The English skiffle singer Lonnie Donegan had a hit with a song called Pick a Bale of Cotton (accessible on YouTube) in which the lyrics totally gloss over slavery and the misery involved in picking the raw material. Instead, the words are almost boastful; the picker contending he’s some kind of champion.
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Paul Edwards made a comment
I think perhaps it’s understandable that the popular history of cotton and the industrial revolution in Lancashire and elsewhere in UK usually focusses on the hardships of the local workers. They were, after all, our ancestors, easily traceable on many family trees. But although it’s understandable, it’s not desirable. The full story must always be told and...
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Ironic, isn’t it, that sugar is now recognised as one of the greatest threats to our health?
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Paul Edwards replied to Carol McNamara
So was it the case that these unfortunate people started the voyage as convicts and then became slaves?
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Paul Edwards made a comment
Many things surprised me, although I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised given a society that has sealed over gaping flaws in its cruel history. Why do we keep banging on about Rule Britannia, with the promise that Britons never shall be slaves?
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Paul Edwards replied to Paul Edwards
I’m not sure asking a god to grant me serenity is going to change the facts of this matter. A supernatural being capable of granting me anything at all would also, presumably, have been capable of stopping slavery. No such being seems to have come along. So I don’t think I will be steadying on.@DavidWise
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Paul Edwards made a comment
Country houses, especially those to which the public has access, are beautiful things which must be treasured. They are an integral aspect of the British landscape. But given what we are learning here I would much prefer they had never been built if this were a consequence of nobody ever being enslaved.
And that goes not only for those strictly defined as... -
Paul Edwards made a comment
I wonder what the typical process was - what did the enslaved people know about the life ahead of them when they stepped (or, more likely, were dragged) on to the ship?
Were they told of a new, better life in a land of milk and honey? Were they promised food, shelter, peace - a total con? Or were they whipped and bound and told absolutely nothing?
Even... -
Paul Edwards made a comment
Keep going, Ayanna! This is a very worthwhile project. Keep shining those lights.
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Paul Edwards made a comment
How many members of the House of Lords owe their wealth and privileges to slave trading ancestors? Is the very existence of this non-representative branch of government a sign that oppression is still alive and kicking?
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Paul Edwards made a comment
A powerful and poignant couplet - I’d like to know more about its context. It seems to be a better way of saying ‘history is written by the winners’ - often attributed to Churchill and quite often factually incorrect.
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Paul Edwards made a comment
Many country estates were developed by industrialists who treated their workers as little better than slaves. Particularly the case in parts of Wales, Yorkshire, Lancashire where adults and older children worked long hours in dangerous conditions for minimal wages.
Their ‘free time’ was often spent listening to preachers who, directly or indirectly,... -
Not sure what you mean by empirical actions. Imperial, perhaps?@SueManchip
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Paul Edwards made a comment
It’s painful to be reminded (or informed) of Britain’s inhumanity in its colonial dealings. While we might applaud people such as Wilberforce for their work in abolishing the slave ‘trade’ we must remember the men (instigators were almost always male) who devised and perpetuated those disgusting practices, thus allowing them to build and furnish some of the...
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Paul Edwards made a comment
The British (English?) ruling classes have a lot to answer for. But I’m not sure that your average Lord Bladderburst, sitting in his country gaff, can be held directly responsible for centuries of atrocities. Trading companies, insensitive and frequently brutal colonial governors are more to blame.
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Paul Edwards made a comment
Skins of animals shot for fun by the nice owners. Then the usual stuff - antiquities obtained by dubious means, religious artefacts obtained without regard for their spirituality.
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Paul Edwards made a comment
I’m Australian but have often visited English country houses. Struck by two thoughts: How beautiful they are and: Where did the money come from? Hopefully this course might help answer that question.
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Paul Edwards made a comment
A common ambiguity involves ‘only’.
Eg: Matilda only eats in restaurants.
This could mean the only thing she does there is eat. She doesn’t talk, read, drink, smile, whistle the Marseillaise …
So, substitute ‘Matilda eats only in restaurants.’ Is this an example of what we’re learning? -
Paul Edwards made a comment
1. Might have to read: It is not the case that any of Tom’s friends are judgemental.
2. Ok to claim: It is not the case that Tom and Barry are great singers.
3. Not viable. If not winning means losing, then Fatima actively wants Alex to lose. But by substituting ‘It is not the case …’ we have a situation where Fatima might be ambivalent about the outcome. -
Paul Edwards made a comment
Substitute ‘so’ for ‘and’ and you have some kind of proof that the Trumpster really was inspired to run by Obama’s jests. Thus ‘so’ is stronger than ‘and’ - but does that have anything to do with what we’re discussing? Come to think of it, how (if at all) does the conjunction ‘and/or’ fit into the language of logic? Is it like an each-way bet? Is it modifying...
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Percy: You wouldn’t believe what just happened!
Spiros: Why wouldn’t I? How do you know what I would or wouldn’t believe? Are you claiming some kind of insight into my capacity for belief? I’d thank you not to make weird assumptions about me. I can’t believe you said that. Well, I can believe it because I heard you say it. Anyway, what happened?
Percy:... -
Paul Edwards made a comment
Not totally knowing the connection between logic and common sense, I’d say while the dinner jests might have added to the swell of resentment/vision of opportunity felt by Trump they were unlikely to have been his sole inspiration to run for the presidency. To me that’s common sense but whether it’s logical I don’t know.
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Trump lying? Oh, my shattered illusions.
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I haven’t yet gained enough from the course to read anything particularly deep into these words/phrases. Very happy to learn!
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Paul Edwards replied to Nancy K
Good one, Nancy. Politicians do it frequently: ‘I apologise if some people were offended …’ thus implying that most people were not offended, so those who were shouldn’t have been and therefore were wrong. So, not an apology at all; rather a way of dismissing opponents.
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Perhaps an additional problem is that words evolve, and seem to be changing more rapidly than in the past. Take disinterested, decimated, problematic - I think in the past they would have had rigid meanings, but now, due to ‘incorrect’ usage they are given alternative definitions.
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Paul Edwards made a comment
I’m looking forward to learning how logic and language mesh with probability and thus the many forms of gambling. I also suspect concepts such as conspiracy theories and anti-vax movements would melt away if the world truly understood logic and weasel words. But I could be wrong - it’s only Week One!
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Paul Edwards made a comment
To accept the milk/fridge claim as true would require a scientific analysis of the contents of the bottle/pack. Could be all sorts of non-milk substances.
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Paul Edwards made a comment
Ok, Anne Izzard - can you prove there’s always a doubt?
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Paul Edwards made a comment
You know you want to. Therefore let me do it.
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Paul Edwards made a comment
If anyone called Trump applies for this course, please tell them no.
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Paul Edwards made a comment
I want to know when politicians are lying. ‘When their lips are moving’ surely can’t be right in every instance?
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Paul Edwards made a comment
I am rarely the first in anything. Let’s see!
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Paul Edwards made a comment
Is the stars’ obligation to take part in all kinds of promotions always written into their contract?
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Paul Edwards made a comment
I’d like to know why Avengers made 49% of its huge annual total in the first weekend, while others that made very healthy totals were much lower at launch.
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Paul Edwards made a comment
Rocky has been an enduring franchise.
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Paul Edwards made a comment
I guess Bridget Jones was a franchise? Wonder what happened there?
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Paul Edwards made a comment
Interesting example is the Danish Play, where Hamlet insults Ophelia, telling her to ‘get thee to a nunnery’. Had he been extolling her qualities he would have used ‘you’. Interestingly, in some demographics of Australia ‘youse’ is now used when referring to more than one person. Is this peculiar to Australia?
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Paul Edwards made a comment
I wonder whether Portia’s argument would stand up in court today. Where in the contract does it stipulate that not one drop of Christian blood must be spilled, and where does it specify the penalty for such spillage shall be confiscation of Shylock’s possession?
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Paul Edwards made a comment
This is all new to me! So much depended on the players’ literacy, at a time when very few people could read and write.
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Paul Edwards made a comment
Like any well realised character, Shylock is complex. Certainly he appeals to the honorable sentiments of an audience; perhaps more today than in Shakespeare’s era, when casual or intentional anti Semitism was ‘of its time’
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Paul Edwards made a comment
The writer is using the sonnet to reveal the nature of his principal characters; their insights and wisdom, their maturity, their burgeoning love.
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Paul Edwards made a comment
Love. Violence. Mistakes.
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After that excellent introduction I’m looking forward to watching the plays develop in a new and different dimension.
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Paul Edwards made a comment
Perhaps we need to know why the woman is going to the shop, buying milk, returning home, having breakfast. Doesn’t sound very interesting, so if that’s all there is, maybe cut out the whole sequence. If, however, she has overcome a fear of venturing outdoors and meeting people, let it run, and bring in dialogue with the shopkeeper and others. We need to know...
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Paul Edwards made a comment
We’ve had excellent mentors right from the start. I’m sure I’ve learned a lot; whether I can put it on film is another matter. But I’m better equipped for taking the course so far.
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Paul Edwards made a comment
Excellent advice all round. What I take away above all is - less is more.
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Paul Edwards made a comment
Oh well done, Destiny! Words great. Cameras great. Actors great. And it all started and finished with you!
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Paul Edwards made a comment
Collaborating, in the way that Destiny and Bola made this film, must be very difficult, particularly in the ‘getting to know you’ stages. I think you must develop complete intellectual trust in the other person - or persons. I imagine it has to be an equal partnership, much like Bernie Taupin and Elton John.
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Paul Edwards made a comment
This genre is pretty new to me. It’s a lot of fun, with a lot of legitimate messages. Well done, Destiny!
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Paul Edwards made a comment
Martin McDonagh has written and directed many fine films, including In Bruges and Three Billboards. He likes to work with people he knows well, such as Irish actors Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell. Woody Harrelson is another of his ensemble. He is not afraid to mock and shock, but there is usually an underlying good heartedness.
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Paul Edwards made a comment
I wonder if, in the last 100 years, we have improved on the short film brilliance of Charlie Chaplin. The man could write, direct, act, compose music, produce, promote, do his own stunts ... makes you sick, doesn’t he?
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Paul Edwards made a comment
Hi everyone. I’ve just completed first draft of a feature film. Now everybody is saying ‘what happens now?’ Hopefully after this course I can tell them. Favourite films? Well, recently, Spotlight. Reinforces my view that a good investigative journalist has the most important job in the world.
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Paul Edwards made a comment
I think if a film is purely a commercial entity then it will be a cynical enterprise and fail on several counts. If purely cultural with no regard to the bottom line, then it won’t find an audience and will be a self indulgent and expensive failure. It has to combine both elements.
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Paul Edwards made a comment
I’m based in Melbourne and am about to start writing a first draft. Not sure this course will help with that task, but it should help with the processes after that treatment is completed. I hope!
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Paul Edwards made a comment
Interesting that Mr Deathridge points to the consequences of conductors literally dying on the podium ... everything collapses! Now why am I not surprised?
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Paul Edwards made a comment
Are there female equivalents to bass and bass baritone?
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Paul Edwards made a comment
I wonder what degree or level of consciousness we can ascribe to a newly born baby. Can it think, or does it simply react?
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Paul Edwards made a comment
Not sure where the boundaries are. Is West Side Story a modern opera? Some say it is, others disagree. And what is an operetta, like The Merry Widow? Where does Madama Butterfly fundamentally differ from Miss Saigon?
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Paul Edwards made a comment
Hi I’m Paul from Melbourne. We have excellent opera companies and symphony orchestras in Australia and I’m hoping this course will benefit my understanding and appreciation.
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Paul Edwards made a comment
I wonder where (or if) meditation comes into this. I believe successful meditation depends on control and dismissal of extraneous thoughts. Is this done by the mind, or by the brain?
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Paul Edwards made a comment
Could the mind exist without a brain? And/or a brain without a mind? So far as I know, no one has ever seen a mind, but every doctor and every butcher has seen a brain.
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Paul Edwards made a comment
Does there have to be a purpose to life? I guess it’s a personal choice; there doesn’t seem to be any empirical evidence nor natural laws revealing such a thing. Neither does there seem to be any anatomical proof of the existence of a mind. Or a soul, for that matter. Are both entities just symbols projected by the brain? Looking forward to expanding my mind....
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Paul Edwards made a comment
Hi, I’m a 76 year old Australian, now just about retired from travel writing and general journalism. I’ve always had a love for film, but until now have usually focussed more on the acting, score etc than the screenplay. Hopefully this course will add another dimension to my enjoyment.