Last Saturday, in the afternoon, while the rest of England was obsessing over Sweden v England, I was taking the train from Victoria around the south of central London to South Bermondsey, to see an actual man, about a metaphorical dog. My train stopped off at Denmark Hill on its way to Bermondsey, and there … Continue reading Helipad next to a railway station
I remember when there was no way to learn about interesting and admirable conductors, other than just listen to their performances and gawp at their photos on record sleeves. Now there is Twitter. E-PS’s thoughts about leaving New York, as reported by the New York Times, can be read here. And here is a photo … Continue reading Esa-Pekka Salonen says Bye to New York
This afternoon, I will journey to the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, to see and hear the first night, no less, of Lohengrin. It will be deep into the darkness of the evening before I journey back home. It will take, I believe, the best part of four hours. According to this Summary and Comment: … Continue reading Lohengrin at the ROH
I was attracted to Nick Bryant’s Twitter Feed by this Tweet, which someone on my Twitter Feed had flagged up. And that got me looking at other Nick Bryant Tweets. In one of these, Bryant alludes admiringly to this quote: “If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.” Which Bryant … Continue reading Maybe not such a smart idea
In Quimper, the city in Brittany which I recently visited on account of having friends who live there, I photoed this: My camera’s ability to notice details that I didn’t notice at the time … … immediately enabled me to learn who did it, and what else he has done. I love the internet. Originally … Continue reading HOZ PHOAICK?
And by personalised, I mean personalised for your cat. This evening I had a Last Friday meeting at my home, and during it, I learned about a cat phenomenon that suits my Friday Cats and Other Creatures blogging habit. It seems, or so I was told by one of my lady guests, that a recent … Continue reading Personalised cat flaps
Says Armin Navabi: The only way to reform Islam is to get rid of Islam. A short video, lasting just over two minutes. Navabi is right, provided by “reform” we mean “make nice”. That verbal quibble aside, agreed. There are many nice people who want to remain nice but also to remain Muslim. Can’t be … Continue reading Islam can’t be made nice
Yesterday GodDaughter2 arranged for me to accompany her and and a selection her singing student friends to a dress rehearsal of the ENO’s La Traviata. Like every show at the E(nglish) NO, It was sung in English. It was also somewhat strangely directed, as operas tend to be nowadays. So, the students were all grumbling … Continue reading ENO Traviata dress rehearsal
According to Legend, Bette Davis, on hearing that Joan Crawford had died, said this: “You should never say bad things about the dead, you should only say good … Joan Crawford is dead. Good.” Legend may have made this up. But if so, I say: Well done Legend. Terrific stuff. Keep it coming. I learned … Continue reading BMdotcom insult of the day from Bette Davis (or from Legend)
My camera is pretty good, but it isn’t ideal for me. I only use a bit of it at all regularly, the automatic bit. So if, on a rainy day, I push, by mistake, some stupid knob on it that tells it to stop being automatic, it stops being automatic. And, the automatic focussing refuses … Continue reading Camera not conked out – I just pressed the wrong knob by mistake