Bonnie Greer

The audience and Bonnie Greer were the best parts of this Question Time. She showed intelligence and was a clear example of why the BNP are so intrinsically wrong, Griffin was a mess. I am sure if he became elected to the House of Commons, which could happen, he would be eaten alive by the real politicians in the house. He seemed incapable of honestly stating his party’s policies or is his party in shock since it now has to stop being a whites only and gay hating party? As the skin of the snake fell off the serpent that was the National Front and became the serpent of the BNP is the BNP being forced into a new metamorphosis? Or is it the end for the BNP? Will there be a schism? Who knows

Granny had a Humanist Funeral says News Quiz

News Quiz cracked me up with this quote; "Roasted and Ground like a Winsiet clad coffee bean at the municipal dump of the dead."

St Alfege

Its good to be off work for even just one day. It is cold, but the sun is beating down. I wandered around Lewisham and ended up in Greenwich. The dwellings of the locals strikingly change from mundane late Victorian terraces into Georgian villas. Their shape and characteristic of classical depth seems more pleasing. Mind you I am not a great lover of Paladian architecture as it turns every building into a Greek temple. Would the Greeks in their ancient periods have dreamt that by their hard labours building so many columned structures to their gods that three millennia later the Brits would be aping their architectural styles not to keep the gods happy but to express the wealth and power of a new secular age? Of course the church aped the styles of this retro building tendency. Hence the style of St Alphage, a neo Greek temple, but thankfully not a Parthenon, it has the feeling of a more harmonious mixture of English style with a few Greek bits thrown on to give it a fashionable twist. I went inside and is often the case I fell upon a free concert. Kyoko Murai an exquisite Japanese soprano was accompanied by Taro Takeuchi a lutenist and baroque guitar player. They were performing music from the 17th century and how beautifully they performed. Purcell, who was born 350 years ago, seemed to sit perfectly within the accoustic of this lovely church. She sang excerpts from The Indian Queen, the History of Dioclesian and parts from the evening music. Her voice is pure and without vibrato which sits so perfectly for this type of music. I was moved by her rendition of I attempt from Love's sickness, which hit the correct balance between contemplative control and emotional integrity. Taro accompanied her with a Theorba which is long necked guitar like instrument, its accompaniment gave a true feeling of authenticity many lesser recitals would have used a piano. Taro played with such a wonderful intuitive accompanying weight. Some accompanists would over shadow their partner but he held the singer up with a delicacy and depth their interactions were well attuned producing a wonderful experience in music. I was so sad when they eventually finished as I could have sat in the church all afternoon experiencing their music making. Taro also performed using a baroque guitar; it is smaller than a modern guitar and has a sweeter tone. He played two pieces Matteis's air for guitar and Corbetta's Ciaconne. Taro has done a few recordings so I know what I will be spending all my ill gotten gains on. When I witness music performed so well it fills me with the eagerness to be a better performer their passion, veracity and humour inspires me. Hail bright Cecilia...

Morphing into what?

It was lovely and sunny today but the autumn has brought a chilling breeze. Brrrrr, I wandered around Lewisham and sauntered into the Pound Shop. It has a magnetic pull and as far as any attempt I make not to go into these sub pound places their pull is stronger than my desire to stay away. Like the Innovation catalogue that falls out of the Sunday paper they are brimmed full of things that I do not want but since they are so cheap I think well it wont hurt if I have it. I end up spending £20 on twenty things I hide in the kitchen cupboard that go in the category, could be useful in the future, but they never are. Time comes when I decide to do a bit of spring cleaning. Suddenly I eventually come across the accumulation of these Pound shop purchases and like Tony Robinson in Time Team I spend far too much time wondering over these bits of sub pound detritus. Its like a Squirrel and its nuts. Talking about nuts while I was browsing the multitude of bits and pieces, a family were acting out lets shout at each other at the top of our voices. Suddenly the mother of this vocal tribe started screaming at what appeared to be her eldest son and began franticly hitting him. She stormed out of the shop. The Pound shop spell had been broken. I looked at the boy and he had gone from naughty mirth to a lost boy crying. Luckily his siblings surrounded him swearing blue murder about their mother. For once I did not buy anything. I was amazed at how many people were wandering around today and were all around the places I wanted to be. This became an annoyance.. I think the older I get I dislike crowds or rather being in crowds. I wonder why? Is it because they walk so slowly or is it because I am morphing into an old git?