Of the various plots a gentleman always has in motion, moving from my current prison-cell residence to new quarters has been of the highest priority in recent weeks. The most important part of the process: what the place looks like when I move in.
In my musings upon the perfect living space, I decided upon two interesting products that I hope none of you are without:
1. Candlesticks. They are the easiest way to read musty old tomes by candlelight when the wind is howling outside. Get the "distorted" kind from the Museum of Modern Art: no sticks more perfectly combine anarchy and panache.
2. A Chaise. Its impossible to sit on a chaise-longue and look like you give a damn, frankly.
Without what other furnishings will the anarcho-dandyist's living space be soulless and incomplete? Leave a comment!
As any man worth his whiskers could tell you, rooms in the City are absolutely necessary for living a cultured life. Rooms are good for reclining on your chaise longue in an opium-induced haze, dictating poetry and divine revelations to your blind Chinese mentor, with a bowl of dates on the antique pedestal to your right.
However, one must at times leave your chambers to replenish your supply of tobacco, attend your Lodge meeting, visit your club, escort a lady to some social function, or perch on the cliffs overlooking the Hudson, flashing messages in Morse code to mysterious Ecclesiastical contacts.
To do any of these things requires a mode of transport befitting one's station. Although options such as a sedan chair or vintage motorcar are classic favorites, I suggest a mode of transport that is rich in tradition, completely stylish, and light on upkeep the high-weel bicycle, or the Penny Farthing.
Although some now try and credit a Frenchman for the success, The Anarcho-Dandyist knows that the magnificent vehicle was a child of Englishmen James Starley. That fact, and the following images, should be enough of a testimony to convince you that the Penny Farthing is the only way to travel for a man of savoir-faire.
These magnificent gifts from God to the human race can be sought after by master craftsmen here.
"...let him consider well whatever he does or says, the place where he does it, in whose presence, its timing, why he is doing it, his own age, his profession, the end he is aiming at, and the means that are suitable; and so, bearing all these points in mind, let him prepare himself discreetly for all he wishes to do or say" - Castiglione
The Lady of Shallot, 1888 (Picture taken by John William Waterhouse)
Lady Snooki, 2010
"um i woke up today put makeup on straightend my hair trying to impress the men so i walk to my first class cancelled i thought wow this is great til i realized that i have the same lady for 10 and 12 so both were cancelled and i could have just slept in. soooo pissed so like i couldnt go back to sleep my hair was done and my makeup was done so ask me what iv been doing all day, WATCHING FUCKING TV. and eating the mural of this story is that teachers should send out emails bc this is 2010 saying that class is cancelled."
This is a real story which I just witnessed on Facebook. I went to high school with the girl who wrote this.
This writer spends a decent bit of thought on how to recapture the word gentleman and give it meaning again. However, with a larger and larger segment of society being made up by inane females like this, its less easy to be frustrated with how far men have fallen these days.
This post is dedicated to the true "ladies" of the 21st century (of the non-Gaga variety). You are a rare breed.
The King's College has chosen a new President, and I don't think we could have asked for anyone better.
From his convocation speech:
Many Christian institutions seek to shelter their students from society. Even if they succeed, and especially if they succeed, they marginalize those students because in shutting them out from the mainstream institutions, they have no access to those institutions. Right now if someone were to ask me, “Where is Christianity strong in America?” or “What is the Christian capital of America?” I’d have to say: Orlando, Florida. Or Colorado Springs, Colorado. Or Tupelo, Mississippi. Now I know that there are lots of good, solid Christians in Orlando and Colorado Springs and Tupelo. But, ladies and gentlemen, the major political and economic and cultural decisions in America are not made in those places. They are made in New York and Washington and Boston and Chicago and Los Angeles and San Francisco. Those are, if you will, the secular capitals of America. So if we want to make a real difference, we have to go where the action is. Here at King’s, we’re not running away from the problem. We are running in the direction of the problem. New York, by the way, is only our base. Our goal is to have a global impact. How can we do this? First, by attracting to King’s the leading Christian thinkers and teachers in the world. We are going to expose our young people to “the best that is being thought and said,” if I can borrow a phrase from Matthew Arnold. King’s has already started to do this, through its curriculum and through its distinguished speakers and visitors program. When you graduate from King’s, I want you to be able to say, “I cannot believe all the incredible teachers and visiting scholars and speakers that I was directly exposed to in this place. There is no way that I would have gotten this kind of exposure at any other college in the country. Not any other Christian college—any other college. That includes Harvard.”
Let the good times roll.
The King's College is often compared to Hogwarts (at least by me). Are we now members, not of Dumbledore's Army, but D'souza's Army? D'army.
In a somewhat unusual vindication of my political affiliations, reknowned director and theater-godfather (? -Ed) Sir Jonathan Miller recently denounced my favorite operettists, Gilbert and Sullivan, as nothing more than "UKIP set to music". He also describes their work as "boring, self-satisfied English drivel".
It is probably best to write this off as pretentious posturing, as Sir Jonathan is best-known for a famous performance of The Mikado. Even the Daily Telegraph reports, "These words are especially surprising from the man whose 1986 English National Opera revival of The Mikado is regarded as a classic. It starred Eric Idle as Ko-Ko and Lesley Garrett as Yum-Yum, and was set not in ancient Japan, but in a 1920s seaside hotel with sets and costumes in black and white."
Leaving aside the hypocrisy of claiming one has always held in contempt the creators of a play one has directed oneself, this is also an example of the arrogance of the liberal socialist elite. UKIP is rarely confronted on the issues, but is instead brushed off as "the BNP in blazers" or "absurd little Englanders" by those on the opposite end of the spectrum. Of course, this should surprise no-one: the whole philosophy of modern liberal socialism rests on arrogance. The arrogance being that it presupposes the helplessness of everyone else in the state, thus the need for the elite to step in...because they know whats best.
This arrogance and name calling has been thrown at UKIP for the past 15 years. However (and this is why I am a member), they always parry and riposte with style. Because I cant seem to avoid posting UKIP clips these days, here's a perfect example.
I cant get enough.
True to form, UKIP response to Sir Jonathan was quick. From the article on the UKIP website:
UKIP MEP Godfrey Bloom penned a missive to the Daily Telegraph saying:
"I read today that Jonathan Miller disparages Gilbert and Sullivan as “Ukip set to music” (report, August 10). How right he is. As the libretto of HMS Pinafore says: “I, humble, poor, and lowly born,
The meanest in the port division The butt of epauletted scorn The mark of quarter-deck derision Have dared to raise my wormy eyes Above the dust to which you’d mould me, In manhood’s glorious pride to rise, I am an Englishman, behold me!”
Good natured, humorous, pomposity-pricking, but with serious intent, and, above all, proud to be English. Suits me."
Meanwhile, Dr Fred McGlade, UKIP's regional organiser in the North West was also moved to reply.
He said: "What a sad spectacle the ageing Jonathan Miller has become.
"Ranting that Gilbert and Sullivan’s, The Mikado, is UKIP set to music, is indeed, deluded, highbrow twaddle.
"Despite his own public school and Cambridge education, he sent his children to state schools where they failed miserably as academics and he then criticised them publicly for that failure.
"Clearly riddled with guilt at applying his own Socialist principles to his children’s education, he rambles on about UKIP, Gilbert and Sullivan and anyone else that stings his sensitivities."
Dr McGlade said: "Miller should note that one thing UKIP and its members do not do, is stand up for principles and then allow others to suffer from the consequences."
Of course, maybe it's not a coincidence that Gilbert and Sullivan should have fans in the UKIP camp. UKIP is bound to attract the true Anarcho-Dandyist, because they are the most succesful party in British politics (even in Western politics) to actually take a true stand for freedom. Freedom, that virtue most central to dandyism. And there were never two more shining paragons of anarcho-dandyism than W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan.
