The University of Cusop Dingle

King Richard has been wintering in Spain, but now he's back he's lost no time in putting together his new venture.
The University of Cusop Dingle (motto: "We get wise by asking questions, and even if these are not answered we get wise, for a well-packed question carries its answer on its back as a snail carries its shell" from Irish Fairy Tales by James Stephens, 1920 - the logo of the university is, of course, a snail) held its first meeting last week, at the Rose and Crown, with a talk on Homer by Tim the Gardener. I'm sorry I missed it, because it seems that Tim went to a great deal of trouble, even photocopying handouts for the audience. When I spoke to him later, he was still enthused enough about the subject to tell me about how Homer saw himself: "He wasn't just a praise singer - the only mention of a lyre, which was the symbol of his craft, was when Achilles was playing it and singing of the heroes of old, so you've got a little bit of Homer inside Homer, you see what I mean?" However, he was rather unhappy that no-one in the audience offered to buy him a drink!
Apparently Eugene Fisk, the artist, has expressed interest in doing a talk about the relationship between the artist and the person viewing the art, which may take place next month, date and venue to be decided.