Happy New Year 2010
The view from the first day of my new decade. A clear vision is no bad way to start it. Happy New Year. Click for pictures
Why are dusters yellow?
Here’s something to mull over before the year goes out. Why are dusters yellow? And why has it never occurred to me to wonder why until now? It seems I’m…
Musical surprises #25: A bit of Tooting history
Happy Christmas! Today’s revelation is not strictly a musical surprise, except that it vaguely concerns me and I’m a musician. But it’s quite surprising all the same, and I love…
Musical surprises #20: The end of Sleeping Beauty is a French song
That’s not the whole surprise, because it’s a fairly well-known fact that the big tune in the apotheosis of The Sleeping Beauty is an old French song, the pre-revolutionary national…
Musical surprises #19: That Russian sound is Italian
When you think of Russian folk music, what do you hear in your head? Probably the sound of someone playing a tune on a balalaika with that heart-rending tremolo on…
Musical surprises #16: The skating in Les Patineurs is nothing new
I wasn’t going to post this since I thought it was no longer surprising, but then I overheard an announcer on Radio 3 only this morning give full credit to…