The writings of Peter Tammer

A Baker's Dozen

In October 2006 I wrote the first of these stories and sent it to some friends for feedback. Their responses were favourable so I wrote another. Then my friend Ruben Mowszowski sent me some of his own stories from Capetown, as well as two by Ken Barris, one of which was Ken's astonishing "The Flying Room".

Then John Flaus sent me a slender volume of stories by an English writer, A. E. Coppard, the title story of which, "Adam and Eve and Pinch Me", completely bowled me over.

With such a fertile mix floating around in my mind other stories seemed to come easily and in no time I had "The Baker's Dozen".

Writing these stories was both a lot of fun and a way of putting my insomnia to practical use.

Long before the great civilisations of Greece and Rome, the Egyptians produced many architectural wonders. We all know about Pyramids and massive temple complexes, and we've all seen countless documentaries detailing their construction.

It is the site of a failure in Egyptian monumental architecture. This site forces us to consider the enormity of their enterprise and the breath-taking optimism of their endeavour.

Like millions of young children around the world, as a child I was fascinated by obsolete weapons such as swords, spears, bows and arrows. Later in life I began to question the nature of that allure. In this essay I have examined the relationship between weapons designed to kill and their aesthetic appeal. That led me to examine the relationship between the rectangle and the curve, order and chaos, symmetry and a-symmetry. It brought me to consider the idea that the development of aesthetics in human consciousness is in some way connected to the development of objects whose primary purpose it to kill an animal, or another person.

From my earliest years I was attracted to stories: fables, myths, legends, and history. Often I was taught that an event was a factual historical event, when it was either legendary, mythical, or a pure fabrication. Sometimes it took years to discover that “a true historical fact” was, putting it in its best light, pure fantasy.

Telling imaginative stories which pose as history may be completely harmless. However, historical texts have caused enormous harm to many people since the first written records were created.

This essay explores some effects which false histories have had upon our world, and which continue to be harmful to modern nations.

The editors of the online journal "Documenter" asked me to interview Albert Maysles, of the famous Maysles Brothers team, which was responsible for three magnificent observational documentaries:

"Gimme Shelter", "Salesman" , "Grey Gardens".

In 1999 I had the great pleasure of chatting with Albert via telephone connection to USA for approximately 45 mins. This is the transcript of that interview which appeared in Documenter in January 2000.

home films writings

	writings of Peter Tammer


Printed and bound by Legion Office Works, Castlemaine © Copyright Peter Tammer 2007 ISBN: 978-0-9804360-0-6 Cover photos: Richard Leigh	A Baker's Dozen In October 2006 I wrote the first of these stories and sent it to some friends for feedback. Their responses were favourable so I wrote another. Then my friend Ruben Mowszowski sent me some of his own stories from Capetown, as well as two by Ken Barris, one of which was Ken's astonishing "The Flying Room". Then John Flaus sent me a slender volume of stories by an English writer, A. E. Coppard, the title story of which, "Adam and Eve and Pinch Me", completely bowled me over. With such a fertile mix floating around in my mind other stories seemed to come easily and in no time I had "The Baker's Dozen". Writing these stories was both a lot of fun and a way of putting my insomnia to practical use. An Ancient Egyptian IQ Test Long before the great civilisations of Greece and Rome, the Egyptians produced many architectural wonders. We all know about Pyramids and massive temple complexes, and we've all seen countless documentaries detailing their construction. One enigmatic site deserves more attention than it has been given in our time. It is the site of a failure in Egyptian monumental architecture. This site forces us to consider the enormity of their enterprise and the breath-taking optimism of their endeavour. A Terrible Beauty Like millions of young children around the world, as a child I was fascinated by obsolete weapons such as swords, spears, bows and arrows. Later in life I began to question the nature of that allure. In this essay I have examined the relationship between weapons designed to kill and their aesthetic appeal. That led me to examine the relationship between the rectangle and the curve, order and chaos, symmetry and a-symmetry. It brought me to consider the idea that the development of aesthetics in human consciousness is in some way connected to the development of objects whose primary purpose it to kill an animal, or another person. Lessons of History? From my earliest years I was attracted to stories: fables, myths, legends, and history. Often I was taught that an event was a factual historical event, when it was either legendary, mythical, or a pure fabrication. Sometimes it took years to discover that “a true historical fact” was, putting it in its best light, pure fantasy. Telling imaginative stories which pose as history may be completely harmless. However, historical texts have caused enormous harm to many people since the first written records were created. This essay explores some effects which false histories have had upon our world, and which continue to be harmful to modern nations. Interview with Albert Maysles The editors of the online journal "Documenter" asked me to interview Albert Maysles, of the famous Maysles Brothers team, which was responsible for three magnificent observational documentaries: "Gimme Shelter", "Salesman" , "Grey Gardens". In 1999 I had the great pleasure of chatting with Albert via telephone connection to USA for approximately 45 mins. This is the transcript of that interview which appeared in Documenter in January 2000.