It is important for one’s self and children to keep options open when doors appear to be closing. So I have made connection with my ancestry.
Author: telboy2
Local Derby Win
Queens Park Rangers 0-2 Brentford – BBC Sport
Romaine Sawyers scores his first goal for Brentford as they beat Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road for the first time in 52 years.
NZSO trip for nearly all
Four plus Swen went to the Michael Fowler to experience something a bit different. Certainly a popular event with the auditorium being nearly full. We sat close to the stage so could see the musicians in action though only the feet of the star pianist!
The Elgar Symphony No 1 was recognisably Elgar and the full numbers and force of the orchestra made for a great sound.
Always good to try out the various musical options. Next up is the ‘traditional’ trip to The Messiah.
Grease is the word
We have just finished weeks of preparation and he four nights of performance for Grease at St. Pats.
Isaac loved the experience again of being on stage and played the nerdy role of Eugene very well. There was a family outing on the second night to watch the action and I caught the second half again on the last night.
A very enjoyable show, with very entertaining performances all round and and a well executed funny Eugene.
From one of my favourite blogs
Gongs for the boys — again
Looking at David Cameron’s ‘resignation honours’ list of people given peerages, knighthoods and other gongs either for doing their (often well-paid) jobs or for giving money to the Tories reminds me of a conversation I had recently with a friend who is a Life Peer. He is an eminent, decent, intelligent and thoroughly honourable person. I asked him how it felt being a Lord. He thought for a moment and then replied: “It’s a privilege but it’s no longer an honour, given some of the other people who now get peerages.”
Sums it up, really. Also, recall that we recently had a vote to leave the EU because we didn’t want to be governed by ‘unelected’ bureaucrats in Brussels. We are apparently still content to be governed by unelected political donors in London, though.
Source: Gongs for the boys — again | Memex 1.1
Donald Trump is in the news
Trump is the Republic party candidate for the presidential election in November. His campaign has been tracked with ongoing disbelief from the outset. He continues to confuse and shock the world but maybe not his intended audience with his words. Here is a neat description of him by Rupert Cornwall in the Independent:
Before he entered the race, he was merely the flashy, ever-bragging entrepreneur, with a knack for TV. Now we know Trump the politician. He’s shown himself to be incapable of self-discipline for more than five minutes. His relationship with the truth is next to non-existent.
He’s got an incredibly thin skin. He never lets an insult go unreturned. He lacks uttterly that vital political skill of sometimes turning the other cheek. And, even though he’s hopelessly ignorant on policy matters, he seems unwilling to listen to advisers, convinced that he himself is the source of ultimate wisdom on all matters.
International Film Festival
The NZIFF has started. Yet again it will be a long run to the finish line for us. So far I have been to three films and Sara four, over the first weekend.
The 5th Eye is a doco made in NZ and this showing was it s world premier (a little less grand that it may imply). It tells the story of the perpetrators of the damage to the spy station in Blenheim by the “Waihopai Three” in parallel with a broader coverage of the surveillance in New Zealand, how it was done illegally, the law was changed without popular support to give more power to the national spy agencies, while John Key was, as ever, sucking up to the Americans. All this allowing more spying on Kiwis and support for the US government’s international terror actions. An important topic but the documentary was too ling, insufficiently focused and its techniques did not work as well as hoped.
I, Daniel Blake follows the misery of having to use the UK benefits system and I am sure has echoes of how other national systems work against individuals too. A Ken Loach film. A worthwhile one to watch and shows how badly the system treats people both those accessing it and those working in it.
And into the foreign experience A Country of Mine that recounts how German POWs at the end of WW2 are forced to remove mines from the Danish beaches. No one comes out well from war. the essentially boy soldiers at teh end of the war pay the price for the actions of their country and superiors. Are they responsible? Who can blame the danes for getting the perpetrators to clear up the mess rather than risk their own lives again after five years of occupation?
No one looks good. I am sure that is part of the reason for doing the film. A good one to see.
On the way home
