The first joy was the rewiring of the record player (a donation from youngest son's best mate, as surplus to his requirement, ours having finally bitten the dust!!). For over a year, I'd had movement but no sound, a dismal state of affairs.
Last week, we finally decided to tackle the horrendous task of moving the heavy item of furniture on which the music-stack stands, surrounded as it was by a plethora of tangled wires - nightmare. After much heaving and shoving and unravelling of aforesaid tangles, we reached the plugs. The 'phono' plug was in the wrong hole!! Whoopee, we had sound.
Now I could start to play through my LPs. These have been pruned over the years (honestly) and are reduced to my very favourite selections. Arranged as they are, in alphabetical order, first is the 10in LP of Die Fledermaus. (It's there because it's smaller than the others, which trumps the alphabet!).
Not only do I LOVE the music, it was my dad's and he loved it too so that's an added happy memory. As soon as the music starts, I feel transported by joy. It surely has to be one of the most joyful pieces ever written, every tune a gem.
The record is old and jumps on the 'best' bits where I've probably lifted the stylus and replayed it once too often! I'm now on the first 12 inch, my second favourite piece of all time, Bach's Double Violin Concerto with the Oistrachs, David and Igor, father and son. This is the first by alphabet.
What pleasure awaits as I go through the others, all beloved, unheard for far too long; ah bliss. I will while away the evenings, especially when football on the telly keeps the menfolk occupied!
Well, each to his - or her - own, I say!!
PS The tune I love the most is "So muss allein ich bleiben" but for Dad, it was always the beautiful chorus, "Bruderlein und Schwesterlein". These words translate to me as, "Little brothers and little sisters". If we would but remember that we are each other's little brothers and little sisters, the world might be a better place. Maybe we would learn to laugh at ourselves a little more, as they do in this lovely operetta and find more joy in life. It is there if only we would look.
Thursday, 7 April 2016
Saturday, 2 April 2016
On Rome - and Life
You can look down
and see the messiness,
or you can look up
and see the magnificence.
and see the messiness,
or you can look up
and see the magnificence.
On the legacy of our lives
What will matter,
at the end of our lives,
is the size of our hearts
and not the size of our bank balances.
I have the feeling that this thought
might not be wholly original
but it is what I've written in my notebook
so I hope there's just the trace of something a little bit new.
at the end of our lives,
is the size of our hearts
and not the size of our bank balances.
I have the feeling that this thought
might not be wholly original
but it is what I've written in my notebook
so I hope there's just the trace of something a little bit new.
Tuesday, 23 February 2016
On 'cold calls' - another ploy!!
In recent days, when the incoming number on our phone's caller display looks a bit 'suspicious', I've tried saying nothing!!
Woohoo, it has worked in about 4 or 5 cases out of about 8!!
There's a silent pause for a few seconds and then the line goes off. Great, I think; yesssssss!!
However, have you noticed a new tack by the callers? Instead of an immediately obvious, number withheld or some-such give-away, the number looks more like one you might know!!
Ah well, revert to plan A! (See last year sometime.)
I came unstuck two days ago though when, not immediately recognising the number, I tried the silent approach but then, thinking, oh actually it might be genuine, said tentatively, hallo, and it was a call for husband. I explained and apologised and caller and I shared an understanding laugh.
Oh will I ever come up with a foolproof method!
No matter, I'll keep trying so you could watch this space for ploy no.3!
Woohoo, it has worked in about 4 or 5 cases out of about 8!!
There's a silent pause for a few seconds and then the line goes off. Great, I think; yesssssss!!
However, have you noticed a new tack by the callers? Instead of an immediately obvious, number withheld or some-such give-away, the number looks more like one you might know!!
Ah well, revert to plan A! (See last year sometime.)
I came unstuck two days ago though when, not immediately recognising the number, I tried the silent approach but then, thinking, oh actually it might be genuine, said tentatively, hallo, and it was a call for husband. I explained and apologised and caller and I shared an understanding laugh.
Oh will I ever come up with a foolproof method!
No matter, I'll keep trying so you could watch this space for ploy no.3!
Sunday, 24 January 2016
On opera despoiled by nudity (Take 2 - less of a rant!)
Twice in the last three years or so, I have been to see performances of 'Rigoletto' which were desecrated by, for me, totally unnecessary nudity.
The first was the film of a live performance by the Royal Opera company. I had taken a friend who had never been to an opera before. I only wish we had left early because no amount of brilliant singing could take away the taste in our mouths. It had bare-breasted singers in the chorus, showed simulated sexual acts, including rape, and full-frontal male nudity. Had this been in the advertising material, we would have made the choice not to go, hence a sense of betrayal.
How can these brilliant singers prostitute their art, as it seems to me, by agreeing to perform in that way? Do highly reputable companies such as this not realise that they may seriously upset the senses and sensibilities of some (hopefully it's not just a few) of us by showing such explicit scenes. We don't need to see debauchery on stage to know it happened and happens, we have imagination for that. It ruined a night of glorious music and singing. Depicting it, in my view, is cheapened art.
The second performance was by the Ellen Kent company, whose productions I've seen many times before and found excellent. I thought I could trust them; not so, sadly. Life models (rather than singers) were used in the opening act but far more discreetly than in the Covent Garden production. The effect was disappointing rather than distressing. Could it be that when one company removes a barrier, it paves the way for others who may feel they have to follow suit in order to compete?
I truly believe that 'Nakedness', in a physical and spiritual sense, should be a gift bestowed by one person upon another, in a totally private situation, both of whom are inextricably joined to each other by intimate love.
Here, I would recommend one of Robert Graves brilliant poems, "The Naked and the Nude". He says what I feel - but with humour! I know it's lacking in my 'rant' but this issue is something which really upsets me, feeling as I do that it undermines what should be both the beauty of art and the beauty of physical love, the latter, requiring the privacy which taste and decency and etiquette used to deem appropriate. It debases the currency of what should be the highest expression of love between two people. (I'll shut up now I've had my say.)
PS The poem begins:
"For me, the naked and the nude
(By lexicographers construed .." (Don't you just love that rhyme!)
and ends:
"By Gorgons with long whips pursued,
How naked go the sometimes nude!" (")
The first was the film of a live performance by the Royal Opera company. I had taken a friend who had never been to an opera before. I only wish we had left early because no amount of brilliant singing could take away the taste in our mouths. It had bare-breasted singers in the chorus, showed simulated sexual acts, including rape, and full-frontal male nudity. Had this been in the advertising material, we would have made the choice not to go, hence a sense of betrayal.
How can these brilliant singers prostitute their art, as it seems to me, by agreeing to perform in that way? Do highly reputable companies such as this not realise that they may seriously upset the senses and sensibilities of some (hopefully it's not just a few) of us by showing such explicit scenes. We don't need to see debauchery on stage to know it happened and happens, we have imagination for that. It ruined a night of glorious music and singing. Depicting it, in my view, is cheapened art.
The second performance was by the Ellen Kent company, whose productions I've seen many times before and found excellent. I thought I could trust them; not so, sadly. Life models (rather than singers) were used in the opening act but far more discreetly than in the Covent Garden production. The effect was disappointing rather than distressing. Could it be that when one company removes a barrier, it paves the way for others who may feel they have to follow suit in order to compete?
I truly believe that 'Nakedness', in a physical and spiritual sense, should be a gift bestowed by one person upon another, in a totally private situation, both of whom are inextricably joined to each other by intimate love.
Here, I would recommend one of Robert Graves brilliant poems, "The Naked and the Nude". He says what I feel - but with humour! I know it's lacking in my 'rant' but this issue is something which really upsets me, feeling as I do that it undermines what should be both the beauty of art and the beauty of physical love, the latter, requiring the privacy which taste and decency and etiquette used to deem appropriate. It debases the currency of what should be the highest expression of love between two people. (I'll shut up now I've had my say.)
PS The poem begins:
"For me, the naked and the nude
(By lexicographers construed .." (Don't you just love that rhyme!)
and ends:
"By Gorgons with long whips pursued,
How naked go the sometimes nude!" (")
On sorting things out
I wrote this some time ago and am now trying to figure out what I meant.
Your House (your life?)
You have to sweep it clean
and keep it clean!
I think I meant that we can never assume that our houses/lives are definitively sorted even when we've had a classic clean up and think,"That's it now, that's the definitive version. I'll never need to sort that again; I'll be able to keep it just so!!"
I usually find I manage that for a while and then, oh so gradually, it slides back into the mire.
Once the slide has started, it's downhill all the way because it needs such a massive effort to turn the tide. (A few mixed metaphors there; sorry!)
Having written about messiness quite a few times, I think it's probably pretty obvious that this is the story of my life and I hope I'm not too alone in this because it would be a lonely situation!
Your House (your life?)
You have to sweep it clean
and keep it clean!
I think I meant that we can never assume that our houses/lives are definitively sorted even when we've had a classic clean up and think,"That's it now, that's the definitive version. I'll never need to sort that again; I'll be able to keep it just so!!"
I usually find I manage that for a while and then, oh so gradually, it slides back into the mire.
Once the slide has started, it's downhill all the way because it needs such a massive effort to turn the tide. (A few mixed metaphors there; sorry!)
Having written about messiness quite a few times, I think it's probably pretty obvious that this is the story of my life and I hope I'm not too alone in this because it would be a lonely situation!
Monday, 11 January 2016
On putting away the Christmas crib
This morning, it finally came down! Usually, this is done in our house on the 6th, the feast of the Epiphany, but Father happened to remind us that the Christmas season goes on until the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, which was yesterday.
When I explained to Sue, who HELPS us with the cleaning (I stress 'helps' as I wouldn't want anyone to think that we sit here doing nothing and it IS a very big house), that the poor old kings had only arrived IN the crib itself last Wednesday so I had decided to give them a longer stint in the stable, she laughed at the idea of the 'poor old kings'. (Until the Wednesday, they'd been gradually approaching along the shelf as the days went by.)
So the annual effort began. The crib itself was purchased by my mother from our church when son no1 was born, so quite some time ago!! It was hand-made in Austria and has to be fitted together each year and IT'S a NIGHTMARE! Each year I have to work out again which of the eight wooden pieces goes where, as I erect it on the base, put the straw (courtesy of our green-grocer) in the stable, place the (very unstable) figures inside and gingerly transport it to the shelf where it resides throughout the Christmas period. It falls down repeatedly and requires me to start all over again, generally driving me mad.
So guess what, after all these years, I finally decided to number each piece as I dismantled it and mark left and right fences etc. Why on earth did it take me so long to come up with such a simple and OBVIOUS device!? It either shows I'm completely daft or a slow learner - or- it gives hope that it's never too late to come up with a good idea.
When I explained to Sue, who HELPS us with the cleaning (I stress 'helps' as I wouldn't want anyone to think that we sit here doing nothing and it IS a very big house), that the poor old kings had only arrived IN the crib itself last Wednesday so I had decided to give them a longer stint in the stable, she laughed at the idea of the 'poor old kings'. (Until the Wednesday, they'd been gradually approaching along the shelf as the days went by.)
So the annual effort began. The crib itself was purchased by my mother from our church when son no1 was born, so quite some time ago!! It was hand-made in Austria and has to be fitted together each year and IT'S a NIGHTMARE! Each year I have to work out again which of the eight wooden pieces goes where, as I erect it on the base, put the straw (courtesy of our green-grocer) in the stable, place the (very unstable) figures inside and gingerly transport it to the shelf where it resides throughout the Christmas period. It falls down repeatedly and requires me to start all over again, generally driving me mad.
So guess what, after all these years, I finally decided to number each piece as I dismantled it and mark left and right fences etc. Why on earth did it take me so long to come up with such a simple and OBVIOUS device!? It either shows I'm completely daft or a slow learner - or- it gives hope that it's never too late to come up with a good idea.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)