How many wonderful classical music pieces have been ruined for you? Let’s count the ways: used in tv or movies, overplayed on the radio, spruced up with a disco backbeat, or – worst yet – spurious lyrics added. We experienced it all last night. It was billed as the Last Night of the Hallé Proms. Not the legit concert at the Royal Albert Hall, but the Manchester version thereof. Very promising program: Dvorak, Borodin, Bizet, Puccini, some lesser known stuff…
Donovan may have sung of the Hurdy-Gurdy Man, but last night we heard his female counterpart. She was one of ten or so musicians gathered for Folk Night at a pub. The ensemble consisted of squeeze boxes, spoons, penny whistles, an Irish harp, autoharp, a pedal organ, guitars. Granted, there were bits where they were “singing songs of luh-uh-uhve” but actually there were more sea chanties and traditional folk tunes, music hall oldies and a few original numbers. High level…
Yesterday we hiked into Hinckley. It was more than a mile to reach the town center, excuse me, town centre. Andrew wrote earlier about the heritage museum but I want to share thoughts about markets. Hinckley is not a official market town. Having been to several towns with official market status, it would be a bit hard to see the distinction nowadays. But historically, not every town could randomly decide to hold markets. Generally markets were established near fortified areas…
This is the final weekend of an exhibition of David Hockney at the Van Gogh Museum. Hockney’s swimming pool works? His LA’s beautiful people themes? Nope, it’s all about his extensive investigations into landscape. We had experienced some of his multi-screen videography of Yorkshire when the deYoung in SF hosted an exhibit. But this was much more extensive and allowed a deeper exploration of how humans see. Sadly, the Van Gogh Museum doesn’t allow photography (which may be why Andrew…
So. Occasionally I get inspired to chime in here. We are definitely liking it here. The Old Town is charming but after 4 days of being accosted by every hat seller on the streets, we made a break for it today. We took a taxi to the Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas, a big fort built to secure the city after Drake and others had plundered so successfully. Even on our approach, multiple people tried to get us to…
My maternal grandfather was born in Ireland. Years ago, my Mom had been here and she took a picture of the ancestral home being used as a farm building. The area was clearly not a tourist destination. But, on a whim, I asked a few cousins if they had any info about Grandpa. After poking around on line, and with info and encouragement from my dear cousin Regina, we trundled off to Saint Mary’s Church Newmarket Co Cork, established in…
We had seen the school boys walking around Kings College in top hats and black gowns. 7 to maybe 12 years old. Very cute, very quaint. I knew that the local colleges educate local boys in return for their indentured servitude as choristers. I also saw that every day, they sing “Evensong” in Kings College Chapel, one of the masterpieces of Gothic architecture. It was free. I figured I could enjoy listening to choir boys in such a gorgeous spot….
Guest author: Paula And who better to write about parallels to the Midwest than a Midwesterner? I had had concerns. Having been to Cambridge before, I knew the region is flat. I didn’t know the area along the River Nene and was very pleasantly surprised by the rolling countryside, lovely honey colored stone buildings, a beautiful river. (And cows.) But there was a niggling worry: what if the countryside goes all flat on us? And low and behold: we left…
Airplane! Spend 10+ hours on a Norwegian Airline “Dreamliner”. Norway hasn’t produced too many notables, so Norwegian has done some cultural appropriation from other Scandinavian nations. We taxied past Danish Victor Borge on the tail of one plane. We had bulkhead seats in Economy. Plenty of leg room but narrow seats, not much shoulder room and a stranger on one side. I took my first ever Ambien sleeping pill, hoping to get knocked out. No. Such. Luck. Pretty groggy yesterday…
I like shopping. It’s part of my personal history, it’s in my genes (Mom, Dad and grandmother), and even where I met Andrew. Marshall Field’s Housewares Department. I worked in retail management for many years because, Music Composition Degree. These days, though, probably my favorite venue is thrift stores (or Charity Shops as the Brits say). I enjoy the thrill of the hunt, the visual stimuli and that peculiar smell of used clothing. The chance that there will be a…