Wednesday 31 December 2014

Danny Boy, The Ballad "Written by Angels" (or the Somerset Barrister and Songwriter, Frederic Weatherly)



Marvelous documentary

Watch on BBC iPlayer

"How did an obscure Irish melody become one of the greatest songs of all time, recorded by music's biggest names? One hundred years after 'Danny Boy' was first published, the true story of its astonishing past is uncovered, while contributors including Gabriel Byrne, Rosanne Cash, Brian Kennedy and Barry McGuigan explain its enduring appeal and what it has come to symbolise".

Clips

Danny Boy, Memories 

See also my earlier posting

Elvis home recording, Germany 1959

PF 2015: Pour féliciter - Šťastný a veselý Nový rok! Gott Nytt År! ΕΥΤΥΧΙΣΜΕΝΟΣ Ο ΚΑΙΝΟΥΡΓΙΟΣ ΧΡΟΝΟΣ!





Pour féliciter 2015


Šťastný a veselý Nový rok! 


Gott Nytt År!

ΕΥΤΥΧΙΣΜΕΝΟΣ Ο ΚΑΙΝΟΥΡΓΙΟΣ ΧΡΟΝΟΣ!




Jak na Nový rok, 
tak po celý rok!







Tuesday 30 December 2014

UK Architecture: "Ten Geometric Principles"; Prince Charles



From Arch Daily (Architecture News)

Prince Charles’ 10 “Geometric Principles” for Architecture Cause a Stir in the UK (with photos of Poundbury)

My own photograph of some geometric features,
Queen Mother Square

"The revolting phrase 'The Battle of the Styles,' wherein architecture is now considered a fighting ground between old gentlemen who imitate the Parthenon and brilliant young men who create abstract designs, can only have been coined by the stupid extremists of either side...There are new materials, a new social order, new proportions to be commanded, and the possibility of creating a new beauty which this generation must not be too stultified to see".

Date? Author?

(Sir) John Betjeman, The Death of Modernism, Architectural Review, December 1931.

To be back in Bermuda!






Horseshoe Bay, Bermuda


The whole family at Stonehall Bay
This photo and the one below by Amanda Temple, Fine Art Photographer




Issues in Education, UCL Institute of Education; Why it pays to have a parent who went to university



Just received the Winter edition of UCL Institute of Education Alumni Life

Interesting research and analysis in a study that provides new evidence about the "Great Gatsby Curve"  ("Income inequality, intergenerational mobility and the Great Gatsby Curve: is education the key?" John Jerrim, Lindsey Macmillan)

On another topic, the magazine lists books by members of the IOE alumni community, including one on "British-Islamic identity" by Aminul Hoque:

"How does it feel to be constructed as the violent, terrorist, un-British “other”? To be a minority in a majority situation, to have no sense of belonging, to be voiceless, marginalized and invisible? British-Islamic Identity examines these issues through an ethnographic account of the lives and multifaceted identities of six British-born third generation Bangladeshis from east London".




UK: The Poll Tax and the Quality of Political Advice



From The Guardian

Dorset Echo

Updated

Greece: "Migrant Ship" Blue Sky M at Risk? SOS Distress Call near Othoni Island, Corfu; now in Italy, Port of Gallipoli







Armed people on board?

Now heading towards Italy (Kathimerini)

Reuters

The ship seems to change shape in every photo published



Photos from The Telegraph



"A cargo ship said to be carrying 700 clandestine migrants which was taken under Italian control at sea has docked in the Italian port of Gallipoli.

The Blue Sky M had apparently been abandoned by its crew and at one point seemed to be heading directly towards the Italian coast on autopilot".

A Gael in Greece: A Message



One of the best blogs about Greece

A message from Damian Mac Con Uladh

Keep up the good work!

Monday 29 December 2014

Greece: Snap Elections and Democratic Choices



From Bloomberg

New York Times

Financial Times

From Yanis Varoufakis

Greece is about to give European democracy a chance

"Is this what our dreams of Europe have come to? Has Europe come to a point where elections are seen as a problem, rather than the source of solutions? Have Brussels-based government appointees grown so stupendously arrogant as to imagine that they can tell electorates how to vote?"

BBC  Where does national democracy fit in?

The Telegraph

Greek expulsion from the euro would demolish EMU’s contagion firewall

"Should EMU leaders choose to cut off liquidity support for the Greek banking system they might find that their contagion defences are a fiction"

Greece on the front pages again (Kathimerini)

British Spy Movies: BBC4



Might be one to watch (see clip)

BBC iPlayer

Greece: Presidential Election, The Third Round; General Election, 25 January 2015; Greece-Italy Car Ferry (Norman Atlantic), Adriatic Sea




Back from Bermuda. Heard the news in the car on way home from Gatwick (-3 degrees on arrival).

From Reuters

Also on the news, developments aboard the burning Italian car-ferry.

There is optimism that all survivors will be lifted off the ferry by the end of the day.

BBC update

Kathimerini

A terrifying experience

Fear for the worst

Relief of reunited family

Death Toll Rises to Ten

Albanian Seamen killed

Fears grow about missing passengers

Kathimerini update

Death toll rises to thirteen

Euronews (video phone footage from passengers)

Sunday 28 December 2014

West Bay, Dorset: The "Broadchurch" Impact Locally; David Tennant Interview




Not all positive

"Despite the runaway success of the first series, it has not been the expected money spinner for West Bay, in Dorset, which, it claims, did not receive "a single penny" for entertaining the actors and crew".

Broadchurch, ITV, January 5, 9pm

David Tennant interview



Saturday 27 December 2014

Private Eye Covers, 2014



No respect! I never cease to be shocked.

Some satirical covers from 2014.



Greece: Two Viewpoints (Schäuble and Tsipras)




Ta Nea:

From Schaeuble  (quote from Wolfgang Schäuble Bild Interview) English version

From Bild Interview

Griechenland und kein Ende: Wenn die Präsidentenwahl übermorgen scheitert, drohen Neuwahlen in Athen. Dann dürfte Schluss sein mit dem Sparkurs. Wäre dann auch Schluss mit EU-Hilfen?

Schäuble: „Griechenland hat seit 2009 enorme Fortschritte gemacht. Davor sollten wir etwas mehr Respekt haben. Wir werden Griechenland auf diesem Weg der harten Reformen mit Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe weiter unterstützen. Wenn Griechenland einen anderen Weg einschlägt, wird es schwierig. Neuwahlen ändern ja nichts an den Schulden Griechenlands. Jede neue Regierung muss vertragliche Vereinbarungen der Vorgänger einhalten.“
From Tsipras

UK: Wills Online



BBC News

Wills archive: Millions of documents available online

Patrick Leigh Fermor: Preserving the Mani House; Greece



Kathimerini

The Patrick Leigh Fermor Society

Books

Greece: Pension Funds Shortfall



From Kathimerini

Pension funds have cost an extra 6.6 billion euros

Friday 19 December 2014

Greece: A Lighter Touch?



Moscovici, To Vima

"The European Commissioner of Economic and Monetary Affairs Pierre Moscovici has favored a much lighter and less invasive supervision of the Greek economy".

Greece and the Euro (Telegraph)

Dorset: Sandbanks. The Price of a Small Plot of Land



From Prime Location

"You too can rub shoulders with football legends Harry Redknapp and Graeme Souness... if you can scrabble together the £6.25m needed to buy a plot of land in their neighbourhood, Sandbanks.

The empty piece of land on Banks Road on the famous peninsula, dubbed a millionaire’s playground, measures 89ft by 59ft".
I'm not tempted, even at a small fraction of the price!

GREECE: Thessaloniki Metro Construction Contract



Greek Reporter

Μετρό Θεσσαλονίκης: Κινδυνεύει να κοπεί η χρηματοδότηση από Ε.Ε.

Wednesday 17 December 2014

Greece: Presidential Election, Round One



From The Guardian

"In a ballot of MPs that disappointed government officials, 160 lawmakers backed Stavros Dimas, the conservative-led coalition’s candidate and former European commissioner".

BBC

Kathimerini

Critical vote will be on 29th December, the third round

Dorset: Ridgeway Reading Project



Information here

Wish I'd known about it earlier:

An Artsreach project exploring literature inspired by and written about the South Dorset Ridgeway

Contact:

Artsreach
The Little Keep
Barrack Road
Dorchester
Dorset
DT1 1SQ

Roots Reading Group: Tuesday Evening


Moonfleet. J M Faulkner
The Sailors Return. David Garrett
Dorset Stories. Sylvia Townsend Warner
Maiden Castle. J Cowper Powys
A Changed Man and Other Tales. T Hardy
Under The Greenwood Tree. T Hardy
Dorset Essays. Llewelyn Powys
Poems of William Barnes
In the Country. Kenneth Allsop


Ridgeway Reading Group: Sunday Afternoon


Dorset Stories. Sylvia Townsend Warner
Moonfleet. J M Faulkner
The Sailors Return. David Garrett
Under The Greenwood Tree. T Hardy
Dorset Essays. Llewelyn Powys
Poems of William Barnes
In the Country. Kenneth Allsop
Maiden Castle. J Cowper Powys
A Changed Man and Other Tales. T Hardy

Back in Nairobi, Kenya



Not me, but Nina, in Nairobi yesterday:


From Washington DC via Dubai to Nairobi, back to Washington and then on to Bermuda a day later.


Wish I could be back in Kenya too!



circa 1976-1977



Really looking forward to Bermuda!