Friday, July 07, 2006

Quote of the Week

As a teenager, I learned this when I saw an item on television about a London Pub in which the walls were lined with friezes showing merry monks. The pub was scheduled to be demolished to make way for road widening. In the TV programme, a slightly crazy-looking english poet was arguing that the pub was a temple to the pleasures of drinking and should be saved. It was. The poet's name was Betjeman. I thought at the time we needed more Betjemen. We don't call them that; we know them as conservationists. A pity. I prefer Betjemen. Until now, there has been no name for people who go a stage beyond conservation, and somehow bring back pleasures that have been lost. from Radial Brewing, by Randy Mosher, forward by Michael Jackson

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