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Yet more plans adrift

For the second day of my friends’ visit I had decided to take them to Devil’s Dyke, a local beauty spot which John Constable painted and described as the grandest view on earth. It has commanding views over Sussex and beyond. Sadly there was a sea fret which created a pea souper that meant one [...]

September 10, 2021 // 0 Comments

And here (possibly) is one he made earlier

Most Rusters will be at least aware of the infamous Salvador Mundi, the subject of one of the art world’s all time greatest controversies, which – if legend is to be believed –  currently resides upon a massive super yacht owned by the crown prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin [...]

September 10, 2021 // 0 Comments

The treading of a dangerous line

One of the downsides of being a senior citizen – besides straightforward “invisibility” as far as other generations are concerned – is that often one can see “the bleedin’ obvious” when others cannot and yet nobody will believe or take any notice of you when you point out this benefit [...]

August 31, 2021 // 0 Comments

Bulletin 3: surviving life with a driving disqualification

Here is the third dispatch on my disqualification from driving because of “speeding” offences – specifically the one I committed in January whose 3 penalty points took me up to the 12 in total which inevitably meant that a disqualification had to be considered by the presiding court. Regular [...]

August 29, 2021 // 0 Comments

Going going gone

For Xmas Alice Mansfield gave me an art board game called Going Going Gone in which you have to build up an art collection. This is chiefly done by acquiring in auction art works from various periods namely renaissance, baroque, impressionism, modernism, surrealism, pop, installation, contemporary [...]

August 24, 2021 // 0 Comments

Cosi fan tutte ( Glyndebourne) & opera v musicals

Last night I saw Cosi fan tutte at Glyndebourne. It was the third cooperation between Mozart and the librettist Lorenzo da Ponte. It might be termed opera buffa (comic opera) as it’s light-hearted, even silly, and unlikely to resonate with a modern audience. The story is of two soldier [...]

August 11, 2021 // 0 Comments

“What’s Going On” (as Marvin Gaye would have sung)

I’m glad I’m not a politician – it’s got to be one of the most unenviable jobs known to man (or woman), notwithstanding the fact that there are (and will always be) those who are inexorably drawn to taking their chances at standing for public office and indeed becoming an MP – and then [...]

August 10, 2021 // 0 Comments

Fings ain’t what they used ter be …

There are those among the contributors to this organ – and probably also its readers – who are familiar with – and/or are even habitual visitors to – the Talking Pictures television channel whose particular raison d’etre is to broadcast popular British and other television [...]

August 6, 2021 // 0 Comments

It’s about everything – and nothing …

As I begin my post today, reflecting upon some of the issues thrown up by the Olympics currently belatedly taking place in Tokyo, I’m conscious that I’m sailing gingerly into choppy and potentially hazardous waters and also simultaneously at significant risk of losing my thread or even [...]

August 3, 2021 // 0 Comments

Countdown to surrender/PBS

It’s an interesting issue as to why and how capably the German army fought in the latter stages of World War Two when there was little chance of successful resistance. The answer was supplied in this excellent documentary. The most telling reason was Adolf Hitler himself who not only thought [...]

July 29, 2021 // 0 Comments

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