A cold afternoon, so I sat indoors and watched the movie Topsy-turvy, about Gilbert and Sullivan and the production of The Mikado. Great cast, great music, but probably did not get the acclaim it deserved because of the subject matter. Produced and directed by Mike Leigh, who is better known for his gritty modern movies like "Secrets and lies". Love the Victorian interiors and clothing; everything that could be decocrated was decorated, with bows and flowers and stuffed birds. Houses drowned in 'stuff', which we would now decry as clutter. It was a status symbol to have stuff, and the more stuff you had the more status you earned. The Japanese aesthetic of less is more must have seemed very puzzling, exotic and even crude to the Victorian mind, hence the fascination with Japonism and Japonaiserie.
But now I have to go and cook something for dinner. Why oh why is the desire to cook not consonant with the desire to eat?
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