Wow, amazing info, Hannah. Sounds like it's going to be a fascinating read when published. Will you be able to share it with us here?
The perception of rats certainly tends to be inversely proportional with that of hygiene. Perhaps they've been given a bad rap, though.
Happy birthday! Looks like a tasty spread. Hope it's been lovely back home in London for a bit. Have a wonderful week, and congratulations on the milestone of sending out Pen Friend letters :D
Congratulations on your birthday and your party offerings look just delicious! Your mother is a wonderful person to do that for you.
As for the rats every big city has them; if that city is worth a damn. And yes your comment about rats having a political context is absolutely correct. I recall as a child of working class parents we had an older home that still had a coal chute on it and rats had come in through the coal chute. Our neighborhood had rats simply because there was a bar and a store that provided the fodder for the rats. I remember my father putting out two huge traps in the basement and I remember peering down the steps as probably a five or six year old child and I remember to this day he got two rats one in each trap.
This quote from your letter really made me laugh: "...describes his shock at seeing “a whole-ass family” of rats." As a "grown-ass" man" I find the comment hilarious. As in this Ismo comedy routine: https://youtu.be/RAGcDi0DRtU?si=RQEZ3YZp5tsNkMDc
My best friend and I would do a comedy routine to this where I would say, "That's pretty good pie for a change, what was it, blueberry pie?" and he'd say, "Yeah blueberry!" And as 6th grade boys will do we laughed out loud !
Hi Judge! Thank you for your kind birthday words and for sharing the clips! I didn't know Ismo before, what a great routine! As you can guess, I love it when someone looks at a culture from outside and points out the absurdities. I remember trying to explain to American friends why British people say "taking the piss out of someone" to mean 'to make fun of'. Fantastic vintage ads! Since reading that book I've got really into finding vintage ad compilations on YouTube. The story of you and your friends reenacting the ads is so sweet! Something about the ads we heard in childhood really sticks on our brains, I think.
Tor!! This brings me so much joy!! Bikini and Trouble <3 I would love very much to see you draw them. Or perhaps you've already drawn them? They are so clever. After I wrote this, I went back through my mum's photo albums and found photos of me and Jackie Chan. I seemed to take him everywhere with me, even on a holiday to the countryside! Justice pour les rats 4eva !
Jackie Chan is a great choice for movie star fave and name. Have you had a chance to visit his statue on Hong Kong’s Avenue of the Stars? It’s a pilgrimage!
Rats have been an inspiration for many stories. I remember James Herbert's little horror yarn that on the surface could be reduced to a mere slasher trash pulp story but the "underlying theme is the lack of care by the government toward the underclass and a lack of reaction to a tragedy until it is already too late." Quite political, maybe Hidalgo should read James Herbert. Either way, a fascinating topic. I once saw a rat coming out of a Paul Boulangerie, you live almost 20 years here, you see a lot of Rats.
Congratulations on your one-year anniversary! PS. Jackie Chan as a name for a rat made me chuckle.
Now that’s a feast!
Happy newsletter birthday - and actual birthday! X
Thank you Yasmina! x
Wow, amazing info, Hannah. Sounds like it's going to be a fascinating read when published. Will you be able to share it with us here?
The perception of rats certainly tends to be inversely proportional with that of hygiene. Perhaps they've been given a bad rap, though.
Happy birthday! Looks like a tasty spread. Hope it's been lovely back home in London for a bit. Have a wonderful week, and congratulations on the milestone of sending out Pen Friend letters :D
Thank you Nathan! Hope August has treated you well!
Here is the rat piece - https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/news/paris-rat-problem-mayor-anne-hidalgo-climate-change-tourism/ Drop me an email if you can't access it and I'll send bootlegs ;)
Yay, thank you. And the linked worked :)
August has been great, thanks, especially now there's a sense of spring creeping across the land down here.
Congratulations on your birthday and your party offerings look just delicious! Your mother is a wonderful person to do that for you.
As for the rats every big city has them; if that city is worth a damn. And yes your comment about rats having a political context is absolutely correct. I recall as a child of working class parents we had an older home that still had a coal chute on it and rats had come in through the coal chute. Our neighborhood had rats simply because there was a bar and a store that provided the fodder for the rats. I remember my father putting out two huge traps in the basement and I remember peering down the steps as probably a five or six year old child and I remember to this day he got two rats one in each trap.
This quote from your letter really made me laugh: "...describes his shock at seeing “a whole-ass family” of rats." As a "grown-ass" man" I find the comment hilarious. As in this Ismo comedy routine: https://youtu.be/RAGcDi0DRtU?si=RQEZ3YZp5tsNkMDc
And as for Alka-Seltzer the best ad that I can remember growing up in the 60s was this one about professional pie-eating: https://youtu.be/2DkCfLIZAkI?si=prRs8pGbAmtwCraH
My best friend and I would do a comedy routine to this where I would say, "That's pretty good pie for a change, what was it, blueberry pie?" and he'd say, "Yeah blueberry!" And as 6th grade boys will do we laughed out loud !
Hi Judge! Thank you for your kind birthday words and for sharing the clips! I didn't know Ismo before, what a great routine! As you can guess, I love it when someone looks at a culture from outside and points out the absurdities. I remember trying to explain to American friends why British people say "taking the piss out of someone" to mean 'to make fun of'. Fantastic vintage ads! Since reading that book I've got really into finding vintage ad compilations on YouTube. The story of you and your friends reenacting the ads is so sweet! Something about the ads we heard in childhood really sticks on our brains, I think.
Thank you for your reply, Hannah. I am a huge fan of British slang since I often make a "dog's breakfast" out of my attempts to comment! Bollocks!!
Loved this Hannah. And I also had two rats as a child, Bikini (urgh) and Trouble (double urgh). I loved them, they are such clever pets aren’t they!
Tor!! This brings me so much joy!! Bikini and Trouble <3 I would love very much to see you draw them. Or perhaps you've already drawn them? They are so clever. After I wrote this, I went back through my mum's photo albums and found photos of me and Jackie Chan. I seemed to take him everywhere with me, even on a holiday to the countryside! Justice pour les rats 4eva !
Loved this, my clever Pen Friend x
You're MY clever Pen Friend! xx thanks Hattie
Happy belated birthday and wonderful first anni for your great newsletter, your thoughts and happenings are so lovely to read my dear (pen) friend ♥️
Thank you my lovely!!
Happy birthday!
Jackie Chan is a great choice for movie star fave and name. Have you had a chance to visit his statue on Hong Kong’s Avenue of the Stars? It’s a pilgrimage!
https://www.hongkongextras.com/_avenue_of_stars.html
Thank you! Oh my goodness I haven't! It would be my dream. My mum also grew up in Hong Kong, so this is yet another reason to visit.
My sister-in-law also told me this week that Jackie Chan is the voice of the male lead in Mulan in the Chinese version, which has brought me much joy - https://www.google.com/search?q=jackie+chan+mulan+voice&oq=jackie+chan+mulan+voice&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIKCAEQABiGAxiKBdIBCDQwMDVqMGo3qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:16d13884,vid:5SLJJc8siyU
He is?! I had no idea! Will watch with my son.
I lived there for 8 years. Such a wonderful place, even with all the changes. Hope you get there someday soon :)
Rats have been an inspiration for many stories. I remember James Herbert's little horror yarn that on the surface could be reduced to a mere slasher trash pulp story but the "underlying theme is the lack of care by the government toward the underclass and a lack of reaction to a tragedy until it is already too late." Quite political, maybe Hidalgo should read James Herbert. Either way, a fascinating topic. I once saw a rat coming out of a Paul Boulangerie, you live almost 20 years here, you see a lot of Rats.
Congratulations on your one-year anniversary! PS. Jackie Chan as a name for a rat made me chuckle.