I am a journalist, writer and broadcaster ... lately I've been concentrating on music, I spent many years as a music critic and a travel writer ... I gave up my last editorship a while ago and started concentrating on my blog. I was also asked to join AirTV International as a co host of a new show called Postcard ...
Stravinsky often wore his specs on his face and his shades on his head, giving the impression that he could go from light to the darkness with a flick of the wrist.
It was a pose of course, but a statement too from a strange, determined man who was almost ruthless in his pursuit of success.
He was a musical ”dissident’ who lived the life of a Hollywood star and often sold part of his powerful and enigmatic musical soul to cartoon god Walt Disney.
One way or the other though Stravinsky created a musical revolution throughout Western society.
And yet his musician parents had insisted that he study law at the University of St Petersburg instead of music…
Stravinsky knew what he wanted to do. And that was a good thing for us all. His music – sometimes pompous and over-blown – spoke to the century it was created in and still now resonates across the world.
He was a Russian traditionalist too, pulling at the heart-strings with folk stories and raising the heart-beat with his foot-stomping calls of rage and pride.
His third work for the Ballets Russes was The Rite of Spring, which first made its mark in Paris in May 1913....
It told the story of a young girl who was chosen as a sacrificial victim and danced herself to death. It was set against the violence of Stravinsky’s ferocious rhythmic drive.
And somehow this photograph, by Alexander Petrosyan, of wild street dancing in St Petersburg captured the real heart of Stravinsky music, dogged determination against all the odds, stoicism, abandonment and fire.
***
Alexander Petrosyan is probably one of the best photographers working in Russia today.
He was born in the Ukraine in 1965 but has lived in St Petersburg for almost half a century. And it shows … he knows his city warts and all.
Lonely Planet said ‘the sheer grandeur and history of Russia’s imperial capital never fail to amaze, but this is also a city with a revolutionary spirit’.
And Alexander’s photographs capture not only the grandeur but the squalor and despair of this city of five million souls… he also captures the city’s pride and its memories of revolution.
Alexander, who worked for his local newspaper for many years, has been published in the best publications across the world … and he agreed to us publishing his work… we will be returning often.
No one knows for sure how many black bears live in the High Tatras mountains of Slovakia.
But it is thought there are about 800. And, generally, they are getting by quite well, thank you.
However, as the forests in the foothills have fallen to fire, axe and pestilence the little mountain city of Poprad has become a bit of a honey trap for them.
There hasn’t been a fatal bear attack in Slovakia for 100 years but it is still a bit scary if you open your front door to be confronted by a bunch of black hair, claws and gnashing teeth …
The official advice is to treat this 350lb grinning slathering ‘teddy bear’ exactly like you treat your missus when she comes home from the pub … talk to her in a nice way, use a calm soothing voice, tell her how lovely she is and how nice it is to see her.
Then slowly start walking backwards.
Now, to be fair you don’t very often bump into a black bear on your doorstep. But it’s not unheard of.
In fact a few years ago, a family of bears did take over a local railway station for the winter. It was quite homely really, Daddy Bear would commute into town and Mummy Bear would amble off into the local forest ‘supermarket’ for sustenance … and Baby Bear? Well he had the world’s greatest train set to keep him amused morning noon and night.
So, in the land of mountains that can play tennis with an electrical storm for weeks, what do you do if the city is invaded by … well, a cow?
What you do is call the police!
That’s what you do!
And the pictures here show how a little lost cow ran circles around one of Poprad’s finest as he tried a Western-style round up on Popradskej Brigady a short walk from the town centre.
Resident Monika Frankobska captured the moment from her apartment window.
She laughed: “I captured the cow while the officer was trying round it up .. but sadly only on film!”
Eventually, the animal was captured and taken away.
But the mystery still remains – where did it come from in the first place?
There is the odd farm on the outskirts of Poprad but, because of the local wolves and bears, security is very tight.
As one elderly Popradian said: “Quite often you can see a bear rummaging in the town, or even a wolf! But a brown cow? Never been heard of before in my knowledge!”
If anybody knows where the cow came from – let us know!
Boris’s baffling new Northern lock-down rules are causing real fear and despair in Manchester.
A darkness of mood has descended on the city famous for its nightlife and music.
And its the elderly and the lonely who seem to be suffering the most after they were granted small bubbles of hope a few weeks ago but have been effectively burst by coronavirus spikes across the region.
The Manc madness from Boris’s boffins has confused so many – particularly when they appeared to mean that couples who do not live together could meet up in hotels, campsites and B&Bs. But not in their homes, gardens or houseboats.
Emergency coronavirus restrictions imposed on the region have been signed into law — banning 4.5 million people from visiting each other.
Official figures have shown the average daily number of infections has topped 800 for the first time in a month. And Ministers say the new restrictions could be applied to any part of England where the virus soars.
From midnight last night, anyone found flouting the new rules in the restricted areas could be fined £100 and up to a maximum of £3,200 for repeat offences.
Here is a Letter to the Editor from an elderly grandmother, with health issues, who is facing yet another lock down in her small detached home on a 1930s suburban estate with tiny gardens and narrow roads:
“Round here in Manchester all sorts of people are struggling with changes because of the virus spiking.
Friends who are are living alone like me are not leaving the house, choosing not to have a bubble i.e one single house hold or person they can visit.
I am going out for a walk, many other people are not even doing that.
I have realized that my cleaner is my ‘bubble’. She is the only person I see and talk to face-to-face. Now she has pointed out that with the new laws she understands if I decide I don’t want her to come and do my cleaning.
Her other ladies have each decided – one to cancel and the other to carry on but be in separate rooms as far as possible.
Another of my friends has a cleaner who wears total PPE and takes her shoes off at the door, uses antiseptic gel coming in and out and leaves her ‘overall’ for my friend to put through the wash after each visit.
Another friend who is herself a front line worker who goes to families to check very young children in families with problems also has all the above precautions and more.
Another neighbour never leaves the house and bleaches all the packaging of anything that comes into his house.
He has no cleaners, just a friend who gets his shopping.
Basically my cleaner is the only person I have but she doesn’t adhere to these strict measures.
She shops, she goes to the pub, out for a meal (all within present rules), she wears a mask in shops and uses hand gel.
And she wears gloves when cleaning.
Today I have to give my decision and it’s not an easy one.
It is EASY actually, I should not let her continue. But for my mental health and coping she is invaluable. Writing it down to share with you is helpful – but obviously nobody can decide this for me …
Q. My daughter bought a 4×4 for £15,000 and took it on a holiday trip. It broke down an had to be taken on a low-loader 220 miles back to the car dealer. My daughter wants her money back – what are her chances?
A.You should allow the trader a reasonable time to respond to the letter – perhaps 14 days which will allow them to look in to the problem and to get back to you. When the deadline is up, if the trader still has not made any attempt to put right the problem then you can take them to court.
The cross we carry as family courts use our children as weapons against us
This cross is for all the mums, dads and grandparents who are fighting for their children’s rights through the world’s dreadful, draconian family courts.
These awful ghosts of what was once family law are witch-hunting absent parents and treating them as if they are the evil doers.
Some victims of these befuddled and careless ‘judges’ say they feel they have been abandoned on a ledge, hanging on by their finger tips.
The bench of fools has no care though, no remorse and no second thoughts for the children and their wishes and feelings.
Children are used as weapons and not just by the ex. No, it goes on behind those courtly closed doors to keep the dirty little secrets.
The heart of hope family represents the children. Each heart represents a child.
The family fight is the cross we bear.
The parents grandparents and family members who have no choice but to fight.
My case ended a little over two years ago after three years fighting the most horrendous battle of my life.
I made a vow to fight for every child out there.
Unless there is a genuine risk of significant harm to any child they should be in contact with both parents both families.
Warring parents are said to be using coronavirus as a weapon to stop their estranged partners spending time with their children.
On top of this, a leading campaigner has revealed how many parents are killing themselves because of parental alienation.
Andrew John Teague, from D.A.D.s and NAAP, said this: “I was up until 5am with suicidal members. Then later was told about another dad who had taken his life. I think we could have saved 300 people in the last four years, this dreadful.
“The courts across the world don’t want to admit there is parental alienation … we need to educate these people in power over what is happening and stop people being forced to feel so low about their relationships with their children that they go to these tragic lengths.
“I have spoken to well in excess of 100 members in the last year who have been suicidal and I know of many who have survived overdoses and self-medication with alcohol. And coronavirus has become a new weapon to push people over the edge with.”
Meanwhile, Prime Minster Boris Johnson‘s divorce lawyer stepped in to the arena after being consulted has recently been consulted over a case of PA, based on fears of coronavirus.
A mother approached Neil Russell, a solicitor at the London law firm Seddons, saying that her children didn’t want to visit their father because they were afraid they could end up not being able to get back to their usual home..
Russell said: ‘I have been doing this for 30 years and I have not seen anything like it concerning money or children.
‘In many situations childcare arrangements may be precarious, and we have a catastrophic pandemic that is unsettling fragile working relationships between separated parents.
‘Where there is already distrust between parents, this virus inflates that distrust.’
Across in America, researchers claim that 22 million adults, and close to 4 million children, have been victimized PA and say that 47% of moderately to severely alienated parents had contemplated suicide within the past year.
Andrew told the heartbreaking dtory from last year when a 31-year-old mother had to be taken to hospital after what was feared to be a suicide attempt after years of battling to keep in contact with her children.
Andrew said: “A mum was rushed into hospital very lucky to be alive. She had to be revived. She has endured over four years fighting for her children “How many more need to go through this? It’s hell on earth for any parent, grandparent and family members.
“And what happens now, because of coronavirus? People who are so depressed could also be victimised for wasting NHS time – or not be able to get taken to accident and emergency quickly enough. It is all very daunting.
Andrew said: “The awful thing is that many parents become alienated from their children because of manipulation and lies and because of the unfairness of it all and anxiety if it all they get depressed – and their depression is used against them by social workers in court to prove their not fit to be parents!”
“How many more parents must die before there is a change to the law?”
And the number of grandparents taking their own lives after being cut off from their grandchildren was highlighted by an MP some time ago.
Nigel Huddleston said last year that at least ten people have killed themselves following family splits. Campaigners want the law changed so kids have a right to see their grandparents.
Mr Huddleston told MPs of the tragedies at a Westminster debate. Grandparents have no real control over access and growing numbers are turning to the courts for help. But for some the battle is just too much.
According to Stand Alone, a UK charity dedicated to providing support for those experiencing estranged relationships, is piloting a new project to support fathers who have been affected by domestic abuse.
The initiative launched n the Welwyn Hatfield District, Hertfordshire, will hold weekly meetings and online support giving men struggling with abuse, the chance to talk without judgement.
They say: “What many don’t realise is that one in six men in the UK will experience domestic abuse in his lifetime and of the two million cases, a third are male victims.
Last year, Project 84, a campaign aimed at raising awareness over suicide, recently staged 84 human sculptures in Central London, representing the reality of the men who sadly take their lives each week.
I vividly remember the moment recorded in this video below, because I was there at the Sydney Entertainment Centre in 1986, and Bob Dylan was my hero.
He had helped me to confirm me in my own calling as a poet and a songwriter, and the songs from his “Christian period” had influenced me to read the Gospels. I had encountered this Jesus in those texts – the same one he seemed to be singing about on Slow Train Coming, Saved and Shot of Love – but not really so much in any of the churches I had visited.
This Jesus took a whip of cords to drive profiteers out of the Temple, made it clear that the worst of sins was hypocrisy in the face of social injustice, stopped bigots from throwing stones at women, told rich men it would take a miracle to get them into heaven, put children ahead of dignitaries, and took his uncompromising radicalism to such a point that he chose an agonising death over worldly power and influence.
And here was Dylan singing, it seemed to me, not of the dogmas of the Church, but of this person who, unlike Mel Gibson, Bruce Springsteen or Michael Jackson, had displayed such moral and spiritual consistency that he really did deserve the name of “hero”. It was a humbling moment for me, because my own hero had just said that for him there was only one hero – one who demanded a total overturning of our priorities, just like those money-changers’ tables.
The date of this performance – 1986 – testifies abundantly against those who claim that Dylan “went secular” again with the release of Infidels in 1983. That had always flummoxed me, because Infidels was so obviously a spiritual album, and one which helped to show the continuity which had always been there.
Slow Train Coming, Saved and Shot of Love may have represented some sort of eruption in Dylan’s own life, when undercurrents which had always been there became overt.
But I didn’t see how anyone could deny that John Wesley Harding was a spiritual album, or that the author of ‘Father of Night’ was a secularist, or that there wasn’t a genuine vision of the apocalypse in those words in ‘Romance in Durango’ about the face of God appearing “with serpent eyes of obsidian”. Dylan had been identifying with Jesus in ‘Shelter from the Storm’.
He had given us the whole of ‘Street Legal’ as a prelude to what was slowly coming down the tracks. “How much longer?” those gospel singers asked again and again and again. Dylan has always been a person with Jewish heritage who has been fascinated by that person in the Gospels.
It was always coming.
And yes, it all culminated with ‘In the Garden’: the song which to me was at the heart of those three albums, and at the centre of the one that is often most maligned – an album which, in my opinion, contains not one dud song.
Dylan puts us at Gethsemane and asks us relentless rhetorical questions to which, I felt at the time, the answer was a remorseless “No”: they didn’t know who they were coming for, they didn’t hear when he enjoined Peter to take the path of radical non-resistance, they hadn’t listened, they hadn’t noticed the healings, they hadn’t dared to speak out against him, and they would never understand anything about his wilful encounter with death.
We’re good at ignoring the challenges, we humans; in fact, many of us are doing it now as we eschew our social responsibilities in the face of racism, inequality, mass-extinction and the Coronavirus. We find it easy to not listen, to not be impressed by the miraculous. And when we are finally forced to make a reckoning with something sacred, we neutralise its uncompromising demands by packing it in dogma, or by commercialising it, making, as Dylan wrote at another time, “flesh-coloured Christs that glow in the dark.”
I found many luminous Christ effigies in the churches I visited in my formative years, but rarely saw a genuine attempt to put the Sermon on the Mount into practice.
I perhaps found the attempt most sincere amongst the Quakers, but by that time, I had read Robert Graves’ The White Goddess, and it had set me seeking the divine feminine.
So I gave up trying to find anything in the churches that lived up to the example of the man who fashioned that whip of cords to chase the Mammon-worshippers away from the place of worship, and sought my spirituality in trees and stones and birds, in the stories of the Mabinogion and the ancient Irish tales.
But I’ve never lost my love for the integrity and conviction with which Dylan sung about the Jesus of the Gospels, and I think that the people who voice their contempt for Slow Train Coming, and even more to Saved, should perhaps lay aside their preconceptions for a while and give those albums a fresh listening.
I think it’s significant that the songs from those albums have inspired gospel singers to record their own versions, many of which are deeply compelling. If you don’t believe me, try listening to Helen Baylor singing ‘What Can I Do For You?’ And then, go back to Saved, and listen to Dylan performing it again. Notice how he answers the question in the title with two staggeringly beautiful harmonica solos.
That’s the sound of Dylan offering up his talents to his hero. You can have your own ideas about the dogmas, but you can’t argue with the integrity of the spirit.
Nigel Farage has said he is joining GB News as the channel’s viewing figures plummet. Obnoxious Farage, who retired from frontline politics earlier this year, said on social media: “I will not be taking the knee on this show” in reference to star Guto Harri doing so on air last week.
A very personal view … by Leigh G Banks
Nigel Farage looks like a tobacco stained, beer burping, pop-eyed frog …
And I say this with heart-felt sincerity.
I also picture him as an international sickipedia of vileness, hiding his dystopian distemper in a half-light of untruths and vomitus invective.
As I’m sure you have gathered by now – and after only 39 words of overstated lampoonery and downright insult – I despise the bones of Nigel Farage and his beer-swilling bonhomie as the lowest common denominator in Britain today.
And I have a lot of reasons for saying this!
One of them just happens to be his own dark art of insulting over-statement.
The difference between mine and his over statement though is simple… I insult an ugly hearted bloke.
He wears his ugly heart on his corduroy sleeve and is more than happy to flick the switch on anything that might shine a dishonest light on the plight of our world’s refugees.
For instance, his suggestion that the 2020 total of channel-crossers might hit 3,000 and become an “invasion” of a country of 73 million is an over statement of shocking proportions and designed to pander to the lowest of the Neanderthals of the UK who begin every sentence with “I’m not a racist but …”
Vulnerable people, many fleeing for their lives, are groomed by people traffickers and are put in peril in of sea.
I say they deserve better than a Captain Hogwash floating in a little boat off the coast of Dover claiming to be a journalist, which is rather fishy anyway as he has only written the odd column and done a bit of broadcasting!
His “over 300 attempted migrant boat crossings” last year turned out anyway to be 244 migrants picked up by British authorities and 77 stopped by French officials.
Nigel Farage, the former Brexit party leader, didn’t try to help those refugees in leaky boats and freezing conditions, some with young children to protect.
No!
He filmed this stateless flotsam of fear and claimed the French were actually escorting them into British waters where our own border guards waited to taxi them to a new life of benefits and smart TVs, foreign holidays and day trips to McDonald’s ….
Nothing is further from the truth of course. They were actually being taken to cold hard concrete compounds to be processed like lost letters found floating in bottles.
Posting on Twitter, the twit who is the former parliamentary candidate for Thanet South and Sandwich wrote: “I witnessed first hand our Border Force acting as a taxi service for illegal migrants in Dover this morning. This scandal continues and people have got every right to be angry about it.”
This is what Nigel said though way back then: “Lots of press reports over the weekend suggesting I was quite wrong to have come to East Sussex. This is a scandal and it’s continuing, so I’m here.”
He later added: “The illegal migrant scandal is bigger than anybody realises. Our government should stop the boats from coming, not help them to shore.”
However, the Minister for Immigration Compliance and the Courts, at the time, Chris Philp said: “Criminals are abusing vulnerable men, women and children by trafficking them across the Channel. This illegal and criminal activity is subject to heavy law enforcement activity by Border Force, the National Crime Agency, Immigration Enforcement and French law enforcement.
“Over 1,100 migrants were arrested in France in the first quarter of this year and in 2019 Immigration Enforcement made 418 arrests, leading to 203 convictions for a total of 437 years.
“Our actions are focussed on going after the criminals perpetrating these crimes and prosecuting them for their criminal activity.”
So, when Farage burps and farts about scandal, why does he not consider that many of these people he is trying to sink are genuine asylum seekers – and that what he says is actually a scandal that he has been allowed to get away with on our shores for far too long?
National Crime Agency figures show the bulk of arrivals are from Iran, where the repressive regime punishes human rights campaigners, the LGBT+ community, atheists and adulterers with long prison sentences, torture and even death.
Surely people have a right to flee these regimes.
And surely that is not over-stating any case about anything other than an ugly heart pumping bad blood round an ex-banker who has a fashion fetish for corduroy and wants to leave the weak drifting too far from any shore.
So we’ve been Trumped, Boris-ed, virus-ed and microwaved in a heatwave that could melt a plastic surgeon – in fact we’ve had a belly-ful, lock-down, shot down, knocked down and blown apart by the little Napoleons of our health watchdogs!
In recompense the Preservation Society presents a compilation by writer Mark Mason for your delectation:
Yes ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls – it’s time for a belly full of laughter!
‘What do you call a man with a spade on his head?’ ran a joke in the experiment carried out by University College London recently.
Answer: ‘Dug.’
Did you hear about the man who was sacked from the calendar factory? He took a couple of days off.
What do you call a Mexican whose vehicle has been stolen? Carlos.
What’s the difference between a poorly dressed man on a tricycle and a well-dressed man on a bicycle? Attire.
What do you call a man with a seagull on his head? Cliff.
What do you call a deer with no eyes? No idea.
What do you call a reindeer with no eyes and no legs. Still no idea.
I’m reading a book about anti-gravity. It’s impossible to put down.
Which Spice Girl can carry the most petrol? Geri can.
How do you light up a football stadium? With a football match.
What do you call it when a hen looks at a lettuce? A chicken caesar salad.
Dad: It said on the news that an actress has stabbed someone. Think her name was Reese.
Mum: Witherspoon?
Dad: No, with a knife.
I met some obsessive chess players in a hotel reception, going on about how good they were. They were chess-nuts boasting in an open foyer.
A dad is washing his car with his son. The son says: ‘Dad, can’t you use a sponge?’
I accidentally handed my wife the superglue instead of her lipstick. She still isn’t talking to me.
RIP boiled water. You will be mist.
My dog can do magic tricks. He’s a Labracadabrador.
Two cats swam the English Channel. They were called One Two Three and Un Deux Trois. Which cat won? One Two Three, because Un Deux Trois cat sank.
Did you know that Davy Crockett had three ears? His left ear, his right ear and his wild frontier.
A Dutchman has invented shoes that record how many miles you’ve walked. Clever clogs.
An actress got a part playing a very small mother. She was paid the minimum wage.
Two parrots are sitting on a perch. One says to the other: ‘Can you smell fish?’
What’s brown and sounds like a bell? Dung!
What’s the difference between a snowman and a snow-woman? Snowballs.
Lots of cars in a multi- storey car park have been broken into. That’s wrong on so many levels.
What’s a foot long and slippery? A slipper.
A red ship collided with a blue ship. All the sailors were marooned.
A new shop has opened called Moderation. They have everything in there.
Dad: Can I administer my own anaesthetic?
Surgeon: Go ahead — knock yourself out.
I refused to believe that my dad was stealing from his job as a road worker. But when I went round to his house all the signs were there.
An apple pie in Jamaica is £1.50, a cherry pie in Barbados is £1.60 and a mince pie in Trinidad is £1.80. These are the pie rates of the Caribbean.
Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
Two sailors see an enormous hand come out of the sea. It moves all the way over to one side, then all the way over to the other. One sailor says to the other: ‘Wow, did you see the size of that wave?’
Dogs can’t operate MRI machines. But cats can.
A neutron walks into a pub and orders a pint. The barman says he won’t take its money: ‘No charge.’
Two cannibals are eating a clown. One says to the other: ‘Does this taste funny to you?’
A cartoonist has been found dead. Details are sketchy.
Why don’t ants get ill? Because they have antibodies.
What should you call a woman whose voice sounds like an ambulance? Nina.
What do you call a man with a plank on his head? Edward. What do you call a man with two planks on his head? Edward Wood. What do you call a man with three planks on his head? Edward Woodward.
Why do you never hear a psychiatrist go to the loo? Because the ‘P’ is silent.
The Invisible Man married the Invisible Woman. Their children were nothing to look at.
A pair of jump leads walk into a pub. The barman tells them: ‘I’ll serve you, but don’t go starting anything.’
Did you hear about the explosion at the cheese factory? There was nothing left but de brie.
I gave my dad his 50th birthday card. He said: ‘One would have been enough.’
How do you organise a party in space? Plan it.
Two TV aerials got married. The ceremony was boring, but the reception was great.
Why did the pony ask for a glass of water? Because he was a little horse.
Why did the Mexican man push his wife off a cliff? Tequila.
What did the buffalo say to his son when he dropped him off at school? ‘Bison.’
What was Beethoven’s favourite fruit? A ba-na-na-na.
Did you hear about the greedy clock? It went back four seconds.
What do you call a man who can’t stand up? Neil.
What do you call a cow with a twitch? Beef jerky.
Why did the wedding cake need a tissue? Because it was in tiers.
I keep having a nightmare where I’m a marquee, then one where I’m a teepee. The doctor says I’m too tense.
I once bought a dog from a blacksmith. As soon as I got it home, it made a bolt for the door.
Why do bees hum? Because they don’t know the words.
How do you stop a baby lettuce from crying? Rock it.
Why couldn’t the bicycle stand up on its own? Because it was two tyred.
I used to work in a shoe recycling shop. It was sole destroying.
