Giveaway results

A couple of weeks ago, in the probably vain hope of drumming up some interest in my books an unaccustomed fit of generosity, I ran a giveaway to mark the second birthday of Six Things. It was wonderful to have so many entries – I thoroughly enjoyed reading them all, and really appreciate the time and effort everyone put in to compiling them. Extremely honourable mentions to Lyndsay Cedarwood and Sheila O’Connor, whose entries were full of excellent things and entirely in the spirit of this publication. But I’ve chosen to share below Joanna Wyld’s very fine selection. As well as an accomplished Six-things-er, Jo is also an excellent writer of programme notes and such like.

Congratulations, all, and thanks again for entering.

If you didn’t win a prize on this occasion, you can assuage your disappointment here.

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Thing 1 – Pottery Frogs

We’re not talking about frogs who potter here, ambling aimlessly with not a care in the world – although it’s entirely possible that this is exactly what frogs enjoy doing and that they’re an incredibly laid-back species, who’s to say? No, Pottery Frogs are a variety of Sunderland Pottery, and huge thanks must go to Chris Tiplady on Bluesky for drawing my attention to them.

These aren’t just any ceramic frogs, oh no. They’re peeping out of mugs forged in the 19th century in the North East (which just happens to be one of my favourite parts of the world, so this discovery already gained bonus points for reminding me of that area, with its best-bits-of-England-and-Scotland-rolled-into-one beauty).

It seems that the sole purpose of these treasures is to surprise you when you’re drinking your nice cup of tea or your tot of rum or whatever else they drank in 19th-century Sunderland (probably rum in this case, as all the items seem to have a nautical theme). And their facial expressions are, quite frankly, priceless. These frogs have seen some things. Here are a few highlights:

Nobody really knows why someone thought it a fun idea to start putting pottery frogs into mugs, but put pottery frogs into mugs they did, and I for one am glad about it.

Have a shufti here.

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Thing 2 – Fungi

I recently went for a long walk at Down House, once Charles Darwin’s home, a place now looked after by English Heritage. It boasts an incredible fungi field with, apparently, hundreds of fungi recorded in the grounds, some of them quite unusual.

I’m not an expert so I wanted to learn more, and signed up to an excellent crash course offered by the excellent London Wildlife Trust. We were sent a daily email helping us to identify different species, with morel-sels (sorry) of information, such as the fact that in the Latin name for puffball Lycoperdon perlatum. The Lycoperdon bit means ‘wolf’s flatulence’, apparently – so now you know.

The course was a temporary feature it seems, but their website has loads of other great information about all sorts of species, with quizzes including ‘Which Fungus Are You?’. I’m chicken of the woods, since you ask. And bless them for resisting the predictable ‘you’re a fun-gi – with not mushroom for improvement!’ type gag.

Play along and find out your own mycological state here.

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Thing 3 – Beethoven

I really like it when two quite disparate things I like overlap in some way. So I was chuffed to discover that Mo Willems has created a series of artistic responses to Beethoven’s symphonies. Beethoven, I imagine, needs no introduction, but if you don’t know who Mo Willems is, he’s a very funny artist and writer who worked on Sesame Street and is one of those clever people who’s created kids’ books that are also really funny for adults. In my family we were and are big fans of Elephant & Piggie and The Pigeon, the second of which series included such chaotic greats as Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! (read them if you can).

But with Beethoven Symphonies Abstracted, we see a more serious side to this very funny man. Created for the Kennedy Center, Willems has produced some abstract artworks that put me in mind of the Bach bit in Disney’s Fantasia – patterns and colours that evoke the music. It may be that the images don’t reflect your own experience of these mighty works, but that’s part of what makes them interesting.

View the artworks and accompanying videos about each one here.

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Thing 4 – Romsey Signal Box

I visited Romsey Signal Box a while back and it’s genuinely fascinating to see how everything connects up and how the levers work and so on. I love enthusiasts and small museums and this place ticks both, er, boxes. Visit on one of their open days.

But Romsey is also remarkable and memorable for perhaps the jauntiest marketing video I’ve ever seen. The juxtaposition of music and images is quite something and never fails to make me smile.

Enjoy.

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Thing 5 – Theologygrams

Look, I wrestled with the ethics of including something by my own flesh and blood, but these are fun and show the workings of a mind very different from mine, so I can’t claim any second-hand credit. My brother, the Reverend Doctor Rich Wyld to you, decided to create some fun diagrams explaining theological concepts and bits of the Bible. This wasn’t some evangelical tool (I’m rising above the obvious gag here), but was purely intended to amuse and enlighten.

The idea of theology being interesting has sadly got rather lost these days, muddied by all the annoying political nonsense and weird stuff done in the name of religion. But as I think these pictures show, sometimes it’s interesting from an historical perspective, regardless of one’s beliefs, to understand what people are wanging on about.

Anyway, here are a couple of examples

And the website is here.

If you’re really taken with them, he’s also produced a couple of books’ worth. Here’s one of them.

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Thing 6 – Oxfam Books

To counteract the dubious ethics of promoting something by my brother, here’s a reminder that, alongside buying books to support excellent authors such as Lev (he made me write that (He bloody didn’t – Ed.)), Oxfam Books online is a superb online treasure trove with proceeds going to good causes, and is particularly useful in the run-up to the Festive Season.

The early edition bit is particularly glorious, with a mixture of bizarre books titles and truly amazing rarities. A few books available in the Antiquarian section at last glance include:

Hootenanny Tonight!

Carlisle Breweries and Public Houses, 1894-1916

The English Regional Chair

More Irish Street Ballads

I Am Spartapuss [I’m not sure I want to know]

A 1929 edition of Winnie the Pooh

A 1914 edition of Punch

An early edition of Breakfast at Tiffany’s

(I mean just have a browse, it really is an astonishing resource.)

And here’s my current personal favourite: Curlews on Vulture Street, with a curlew looking incredibly badass on the cover. (Point of order, made in the full knowledge that it marks me out as an unbearable ornithological pedant, but simply inserted because if I don’t, someone else is sure to – this is not a Curlew but a Stone-curlew, which belongs not to the family Scolopacidae, like its curve-billed cousin, but to the family Burhinidae ok ok I’ll shut up – Ed.)

Which reminds me of my favourite second-hand book find from the gorgeous Barter Books (we’re back to the North East again): Pheasants & Their Enemies.

Incidentally, I was lucky enough to buy from Oxfam Books online a very cheap first edition of the first English biography of Scriabin, by Alfred Swan – who happens to have been Donald Swann’s uncle. Which is an excuse to leave you with this gem (Romsey isn’t mentioned, but it’s beautiful regardless).