Raynes Park

A fine haul from the Raynes Park platform library on our return from hearing the Belcea Quartet the other day.

From the right, the booklet about Israel already noticed at reference 1.

Then a couple of books which have set off an astrology hare, on which I shall be reporting shortly. Now three books, as a subsequent visit turned up another.

Next up the 'Wealth' magazine, from the people at reference 2. Sufficiently foreign that you read it from the back, turning the pages from left to right. More or less no English apart from some in the advertisements. What appears to be a much higher proportion of copy than would be the case in an English language magazine with such a title. And what few advertisements there are, a surprisingly mixed bag, by no means dominated by cars, watches, perfume and jewellery. Including one for some pills called 'Culcer' which neither Bing nor Google could find, but then I found the company selling the stuff at reference 3. With a bit of help from the Google translation service I now know that it is 'a Jiweifu treatment of ulceration. That is to say gastroesophageal reflux, hyperacidity, stomach and duodenal ulcer. Also aids digestion'. There is also a suggestion that the Taiwanese take an awful lot of pills. With Jiweifu probably not the chap at reference 3.

An advertisement for a presentation case of ten bottles of Spey single malt whisky, a bottle for every year from 1990-1999, the people at reference 4. Another advertisement for the award winning whisky from Ka Va Lan, the people at reference 5.. I eventually broke through the age trap, to learn about delights such as Kavalan Concertmaster and King Car Conductor. While Kavalan Podium is 'created from specially selected brand-new American casks and re-fill casks, the expression is surprisingly delicate and extremely complex. It is a further endorsement of the dedication of our rigorous wood policy'. Maybe something to ask for next time I am in Gerry's (references 6 and 7), to which a visit is clearly overdue.

Next 'Socialism Today', No.227,  a magazine I have not looked at for many years, if ever. Of rather smarter appearance than 'our reporters are working class and young people taking part in the struggle' would suggest. But, sadly, the content still seems to be cast in the class warfare jargon of half a century or more ago. I might be a lefty, but I did not find this of help or comfort. Not the right way to make friends and influence people. I don't know where the right road to our socialist utopia is, but I don't think that this is it.

And last but not least, 'Asylum',  a magazine which gives most of its space to people who have spent quality time with our decrepit mental health services. They appear to be against compulsion - sectioning in the jargon - which they claim is both humiliating and over-used. There was also a rather sad article about the difficulty a (clearly difficult) in-patient had in obtaining sanitary products. More humiliation, which one might have thought could have been better handled at no great expense.

Reference 1: http://psmv4.blogspot.com/2019/05/israel.html.

Reference 2: https://www.wealth.com.tw/.

Reference 3: https://jiweifu.blogspot.com/#!.

Reference 4: https://speysidedistillery.co.uk/.

Reference 5: http://www.kavalanwhisky.com/cn/age.aspx.

Reference 6: https://gerrys.uk.com/.

Reference 7: https://psmv3.blogspot.com/search?q=old+compton+street.