Last Saturday my wife and I took a trip to Worcestershire. We went to Pershore Abbey, which dates centuries before the American nation was even thought of. We had gone to hear a performance by the Worcestershire Symphony Orchestra. This is not a well-established professional outfit, but a band of dedicated amateurs and students who wish to make good music together. Offspring Senior also happened to be a member of the ensemble.
We got to the venue and I took one look at the shape of the venerable old building and thought "the acoustic is going to be awful". How wrong I was!
You could sit anywhere in the building and get a beautiful sound. It was wonderful. All concert venues should be shaped like this - using high vaulted ceilings and great 10ft-diameter pillars to support it. Admittedly the pillars severely restricted the view - but the sound was what we had really come for and that was perfect.
We were treated to Saint-Saens' Danse Macabre, Pavanne by Gabriel Faure, Maurice Ravel's
Mother Goose Suite, and finally the stirring Symphony in D minor by Franck.
An unbelievably beautiful concert by a dedicated group of musicians who were completely uncluttered by fame or fortune. They just did it because they like to make music.
I am glad that my son was associated with this concert. I am also glad that he wants to contribute to the next concert by this orchestra, which is at St George's Church, Barbourne, Worcestershire, England, on Saturday, March 10 at 7.30 pm. The programme will include Haydn, Shostakovich and Dvorak.
See you there!
PS: Why the hell does the spell-checker on Blogger insist on American mis-spellings? Can't they have a version for us Brits who want to spell correctly instead of the stupid American way?
Monday, November 27, 2006
Friday, November 17, 2006
Child Protection . . . ?
So a government organisation, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, has created a website naming offenders who have in some way breached the conditions of registration on the Sex Offenders Register. So far there are five men listed on the site. Members of the public are asked to notify the police if they see them so that the full weight of the law can be brought to bear.
But who do they think will look at this site? Fine upstanding upholders of the law? Model citizens who have nothing in mind but the good of the community?
If that is the case they are being totally naive.
News of this site has, naturally, been published in all the news media, from the BBC to rags like the Sun and the Star. They all state the official line of asking the public to report sightings of these offenders. But the type of person who reads this will vary widely from publication to publication. The typically hypocritical Sun would be a good example. They happily exhibit pictures of young wannabe models showing tits and bums while decrying "Paedos" (they probably think the standard of intelligence of their readers is such that they could not understand the word "paedophiles" - let alone spell it).
Six years ago in the South of England it was discovered that a certain establishment was housing paedophiles who had recently been released from prison. The reaction from a certain sector of the community (probably many of the Sun readers) was to march on the building shouting slogans like "Paedos out".
Around the same time some morons mistook the word "paediatrician" to mean "paedophile" and attacked the home of an honest, hard-working doctor whose work was centred around the well-being of children. This is the mentality with which we have to deal.
I am not saying that we must not keep tabs on paedophiles. It seems to affect some people so much that they cannot stop offending. But it should not be up to the public to do this. If people can slip the net then the net must be tightened, not by the public but by the authorities.
If we leave it to Joe "Moron" Public we leave the whole of the community open to descent into vigilante rule which is not too far away from total anarchy.
The law must be seen to be working so that idiots do not have the chance to "take the law into their own hands".
But who do they think will look at this site? Fine upstanding upholders of the law? Model citizens who have nothing in mind but the good of the community?
If that is the case they are being totally naive.
News of this site has, naturally, been published in all the news media, from the BBC to rags like the Sun and the Star. They all state the official line of asking the public to report sightings of these offenders. But the type of person who reads this will vary widely from publication to publication. The typically hypocritical Sun would be a good example. They happily exhibit pictures of young wannabe models showing tits and bums while decrying "Paedos" (they probably think the standard of intelligence of their readers is such that they could not understand the word "paedophiles" - let alone spell it).
Six years ago in the South of England it was discovered that a certain establishment was housing paedophiles who had recently been released from prison. The reaction from a certain sector of the community (probably many of the Sun readers) was to march on the building shouting slogans like "Paedos out".
Around the same time some morons mistook the word "paediatrician" to mean "paedophile" and attacked the home of an honest, hard-working doctor whose work was centred around the well-being of children. This is the mentality with which we have to deal.
I am not saying that we must not keep tabs on paedophiles. It seems to affect some people so much that they cannot stop offending. But it should not be up to the public to do this. If people can slip the net then the net must be tightened, not by the public but by the authorities.
If we leave it to Joe "Moron" Public we leave the whole of the community open to descent into vigilante rule which is not too far away from total anarchy.
The law must be seen to be working so that idiots do not have the chance to "take the law into their own hands".
Saturday, November 11, 2006
Remember, remember . . .
The date is November 11, 2006. You can read that at the top of this blog. But it is worthwhile reminding you.
Outside my house there are fireworks exploding, making pretty sparkling displays in the sky.
In the UK we have a day which we call "Fireworks night" or "Bonfire night" or "Guy Fawkes night" on November 5. This commemorates the Gunpowder Plot in the 17th century when one Guido Fawkes (known as Guy Fawkes) plotted with others to blow up the Houses of Parliament with large amounts of gunpowder. The plot was successfully thwarted by the government and effigies of Guy Fawkes are traditionally burned on a bonfire on the anniversary of this event, along with fireworks. When I was a lad family fireworks displays were held in the back garden, or groups of neighbours would get together to have fireworks parties. Obviously accidents would happen and so we were encouraged to attend more formal organised displays. But to this day many people still have their own displays. On November 5, and indeed the days around that date, fireworks can be seen and heard in the neighbourhood. Relatively harmless fun, a little annoying if it is too late a night, but - what the hell - it's only for a short period during the year.
I remind you now that the date is November 11, 2006.
November 11 has another significance for Brits and many other Europeans. That date is set aside as Remembrance Day. It is the anniversary of the day that the First World War ended - November 11, 1918. Every year we buy imitation poppies sold by the British Legion. They represent the poppy fields where so many servicemen died on the battle fields of Flanders. The money raised goes towards helping those ex-service people who suffered in wartime and need our help. At the exact time of the signing of the Armistice, the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of the year, we hold two minutes silence in remembrance of all those who suffered and died in all the conflicts in which Britain has participated. The two world wars, the Far East, Kenya, Aden, Palestine, Vietnam, Eastern Europe, the Falklands, Kuwait, Iraq - the list is almost worldwide and endless.
They were all the sons and daughters of loving families and should be valued as members of a society which respects the sacrifice they made to keep world order.
Maybe my point is obscure. Maybe I am being obtuse - even paranoid.
The sound of fireworks - so late after the designated date for Guy Fawkes night - on the date which we might remember the guns and bombs which killed those poor soldiers, sailors and airmen fighting for the freedom of the world, to me is at least in extremely bad taste. I would even go so far as to say that the bangs, crashes and flashes almost make fun of the death and agony of those who fought, willingly or otherwise, for what has been thought was democratic freedom.
George Bush and Tony Blair have also done their bit to denigrate the real fight for true democracy by setting up a puppet government in Iraq - but that's another story.
It seems to me that there could be a case for banning the use of fireworks on November 11. I wonder how many close relatives of fallen servicemen feel the same as me?
Nuff said . . .
Outside my house there are fireworks exploding, making pretty sparkling displays in the sky.
In the UK we have a day which we call "Fireworks night" or "Bonfire night" or "Guy Fawkes night" on November 5. This commemorates the Gunpowder Plot in the 17th century when one Guido Fawkes (known as Guy Fawkes) plotted with others to blow up the Houses of Parliament with large amounts of gunpowder. The plot was successfully thwarted by the government and effigies of Guy Fawkes are traditionally burned on a bonfire on the anniversary of this event, along with fireworks. When I was a lad family fireworks displays were held in the back garden, or groups of neighbours would get together to have fireworks parties. Obviously accidents would happen and so we were encouraged to attend more formal organised displays. But to this day many people still have their own displays. On November 5, and indeed the days around that date, fireworks can be seen and heard in the neighbourhood. Relatively harmless fun, a little annoying if it is too late a night, but - what the hell - it's only for a short period during the year.
I remind you now that the date is November 11, 2006.
November 11 has another significance for Brits and many other Europeans. That date is set aside as Remembrance Day. It is the anniversary of the day that the First World War ended - November 11, 1918. Every year we buy imitation poppies sold by the British Legion. They represent the poppy fields where so many servicemen died on the battle fields of Flanders. The money raised goes towards helping those ex-service people who suffered in wartime and need our help. At the exact time of the signing of the Armistice, the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of the year, we hold two minutes silence in remembrance of all those who suffered and died in all the conflicts in which Britain has participated. The two world wars, the Far East, Kenya, Aden, Palestine, Vietnam, Eastern Europe, the Falklands, Kuwait, Iraq - the list is almost worldwide and endless.
They were all the sons and daughters of loving families and should be valued as members of a society which respects the sacrifice they made to keep world order.
Maybe my point is obscure. Maybe I am being obtuse - even paranoid.
The sound of fireworks - so late after the designated date for Guy Fawkes night - on the date which we might remember the guns and bombs which killed those poor soldiers, sailors and airmen fighting for the freedom of the world, to me is at least in extremely bad taste. I would even go so far as to say that the bangs, crashes and flashes almost make fun of the death and agony of those who fought, willingly or otherwise, for what has been thought was democratic freedom.
George Bush and Tony Blair have also done their bit to denigrate the real fight for true democracy by setting up a puppet government in Iraq - but that's another story.
It seems to me that there could be a case for banning the use of fireworks on November 11. I wonder how many close relatives of fallen servicemen feel the same as me?
Nuff said . . .
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
