We are such stuff / As dreams are made on, and our little life / Is rounded with a sleep. (W. Shakespeare, The Tempest: 4.1.146-158)
My summer was less rounded by a sleep as topped and tailed by Martinis: the first [above left] downed in a sweltering London, the second [on the right] consumed in a cooler, and damper Helsinki. Both were excellent, as was the company, although sadly, the Library Bar at the Hotel Kämp is currently undergoing renovation, so an alternative venue had been crafted by a side entrance, no longer facing the Esplanade, which was not quite as impressive as the drinks.
To quote Ogden Nash,
There is something about a Martini,
A tingle remarkably pleasant;
A yellow, a mellow Martini;
I wish I had one at present.1
To fair, as I write this, it’s a bit early to be thinking about Martinis; but the way the world is going, especially the seemingly endless litany of horror and despair, I find myself frequently thinking about the potential benefits of day-drinking. Yes, I know that sort of behaviour is neither appropriate nor any sort of a solution; though at least it’s still an occasional option and a source of some small respite. (Having recently read Tom Hiney’s biography of Raymond Chandler, and watched Charlie Sheen self-serving account of his surviving himself, any descent into substance addiction is clearly “no way to go through life”.)
I had started writing this Blog, as I will insist on calling it, mainly for my own amusement, and over the past 12 months or so, I have written a couple of dozen pieces. I’d thought I’d continue this summer, but found I’d lost much of my enthusiasm for doing so, in part because of Substack’s willingness to countenance writings emanating from the extreme right wing, or as The Atlantic put it back in 2023: Substack Has a Nazi Problem. A statement which, of course, reminded me of the Sobchak Doctrine, “Nihilists! Fuck me. I mean, say what you want about the tenets of National Socialism, Dude, at least it’s an ethos.”
I knew that, and I know that many writers have moved on or migrated to other platforms, and, to be honest, I still might do. Yet there seems to be a preponderance of intelligent, well-written and thoughtful work which is published on here. This leaves me a in bit of quandary, to continue to write on a platform that hosts groups and people who’s views I find highly objectionable and offensive, or to leave…
This is of course a three Martini lunch problem…but for the moment I’ll stay, and continue to shore up some fragments against our common ruin, like olive stones piled up next to empty glasses.
I hope you stay, Martin. Continue to be one of the voices of resistance on this platform. I hear and share your concerns--but we have to speak where others can hear us. Curious, have you read Daniel Kehlmann's novel, The Director, about filmmaker G.W. Pabst? It's all about the slippery slope of acquiescence to and then support of vile voices. On another note entirely, I so want to steal your lines for one of my novels: "This is of course a three Martini lunch problem…but for the moment I’ll stay, and continue to shore up some fragments against our common ruin, like olive stones piled up next to empty glasses." (Nice reference to Three Body Problem.)
I don't understand the argument. There are people voting for the far right in England and you don't leave England...