Zombie

Can’t get masks in UK Even if we could, apparently they’re single use so each person would need quite a lot... People are told to maintain a 2metre “social distancing” gap - not possible on public transport and difficult in small shops. Larger shops seem to be marking out spaces on the floor at checkouts and operating “1 in 1 out”

Signed up with a local delivery milkman 3 weeks ago who’s got his own cows, so one less thing to worry about He’s now had to stop taking on new customers ‘cos the cows are being sucked dry...

I’m still having nightmares...

Interesting item just caught my attention on the local ITV news about a retired dentist, Dr James Hull, who has contracted four different kinds of cancer (bowel, pancreatic, liver and skin) since 2010 and survived them all despite being told by doctors that he was unlikely to survive. When he later questioned doctors he was told he was just “lucky”. But he didn’t accept that and believes there is something about the white cells in his blood, the T cells, that is unusual. He has been funding research, started in 2018, by six universities looking into not just his white cells but those of other survivors of aggressive forms of cancer (he can afford to - he made a lot of money out of dentistry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hull) https://www.itv.com/news/2020-01-28/i-m-trying-to-find-the-cure-for-cancer-says-man-who-fended-off-disease-four-times/ “Dr Hull is funding a study by six universities to investigate why some patients with advance cancer remain well after treatment. The team are particularly interested in those who've had aggressive forms of cancer who've remained free of the disease without treatment for five years or longer.” The email address is: cltsstudy@continuumlifesciences.com

Or loss of libido?

UK - Samaritans 116-123 https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/support-and-information/worried-about-someone-else/myths-about-suicide/

I love the Merchant Ivory movies, especially Howards End and the beginning where Vanessa Redgrave wanders through the twilit gardens looking in through the open windows at her family talking, laughing and enjoying family life while a serene and hauntingly beautiful piano piece is played. I assumed it was composed for the film but it wasn't, it’s by the somewhat neglected but brilliant Australian composer, Percy Grainger. It was written for Karen Holten, a Danish music student whom Grainger had met in 1905. Even though their love-affair was mostly by correspondence, when found out by Grainger's mother she disapproved so much that Grainger ended the relationship. But he never forgot Karen, and he gave her this short piece - just 17 bars - as a wedding gift when she later fell in love again and became Karen Kellerman. There is a real sense of sadness, regret and loss but Grainger was clearly glad she had found happiness. Here it is performed, as in the film, by the English pianist Martin Jones: Percy Grainger (1882 - 1961) Bridal Lullaby (1916)

I’m a fan of Merchant Ivory movies, especially Howards End and the beginning where Vanessa Redgrave wanders through the twilit gardens looking in through the open windows at her family talking, laughing and enjoying family life while a serene and hauntingly beautiful piano piece is played. I assumed it was composed for the film but it wasn't, it’s by the somewhat neglected but brilliant Australian composer, Percy Grainger. It was composed by Grainger for Karen Holten, a Danish music student whom Grainger had met in 1905. Their love-affair lasted several years - mostly by letter - but Grainger's mother disapproved so much the relationship was eventually broken off. This short piece - just 17 bars - was written as a wedding gift for Karen when she fell in love with someone else a few years later and became Karen Kellerman. There is a real sense of sadness and regret at what had been lost but Grainger was clearly glad she had found happiness. Here is that ravishing piece performed, as in the film, by the English pianist Martin Jones: Percy Grainger (1882 - 1961) Bridal Lullaby (1916)

More Schubert Franz Schubert, Ave Maria - piano transcription by Franz Liszt More info here if you’re interested

Franz Schubert, Ave Maria - piano transcription by Franz Liszt More Schubert - this is Franz Liszt’s piano transcription (one of three) of Schubert’s "Ellens dritter Gesang" or "Ellen's Third Song", composed in 1825 as part of his Op. 52, a setting of seven songs from Walter Scott's “The Lady of the Lake”. Here it is played by the Ukrainian-American pianist Valentina Lisitsa on a Bösendorfer 290 Imperial Concert Grand Piano. The Imperial has an extra 9 keys in the base (darker coloured to avoid distracting pianists not used to them) which gives a full 8 octave keyboard. Those extra keys are rarely used because piano music is written for the standard 88 note keyboard. So why have them? Because those notes provide a richer sound with extra harmonic resonance from those additional strings.

Procol Harum “A Whiter Shade of Pale” 1967 - the organ part One of the most famous, enduring and all-time classic pop songs from the 1960s. What makes this song so good is the fantastic Hammond organ part. It was written by Matthew Fisher after Gary Brooker, lead singer of Procol Harum, contacted Fisher (who was advertising himself plus his Hammond organ for hire in Melody Maker) to add a Hammond organ line to a new song Brooker had written. Brooker never gave a writing credit or any share in the royalties to Fisher, who always felt his contribution to the song should be recognised. In 2005, nearly 40 years later, Fisher eventually sued Brooker, winning in the High Court in 2006 but then losing on appeal when the decision was reversed in 2008. Then Fisher got leave to appeal to the House of Lords and in 2009 - after lugging his Hammond organ into the courtroom at the Palace of Westminster and playing his solo part - their Lordships, in the last ever case decided by the House of Lords (before it was replaced by the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom), reinstated the original High Court decision. Fisher’s part, and Gary Brooker’s original song, are clearly inspired by JS Bach. But the House of Lords ruling established that Fisher’s Hammond organ part is much more than just a line in the song. It is so good, so well crafted and exploits the iconic Hammond organ sound so wonderfully that it fully deserves being heard as a solo piece just as it was by their Lordships in their musty fusty dusty old courtroom (OK, with an added cheesy rhythm track!) Here’s an analysis of the music and chord progressions taken from https://telescoper.wordpress.com/2011/09/22/a-whiter-shade-of-bach/ "It is true that it sounds very much like Bach, especially the trademark descending bass figures which feature in the Hammond organ part; indeed, the first few bars of the accompaniment are pretty much identical to the second movement from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068 better known as “Air on the G String“. After that, although the piece continues to sound like Bach, in the sense that the chord progression has a compelling sense of logic to it, it’s not an copy of anything I recognize (although of course I stand ready to be contradicted by music experts…). The melody is also, as far as I’m aware, quite original. Here are the chords, by the way, if you’re interested. They’re a great illustration of the difference between a real progression and just a sequence. In fact I’m quite surprised this hasn’t been taken up by more jazz musicians, as it looks like very fertile grounds for improvisation – just as much of Bach’s own music is."

Franz Schubert Impromptu No. 3 in G flat Major D899 Op 90 More info here if you’re interested

Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828) A prolific Austrian composer, especially for the piano, Schubert wasn’t very well known or regarded as a composer during his short life. Much of his work was unpublished including this now famous “impromptu”, written the year before he died, which was only finally published some 30 years later. In fact Schubert wrote two sets of four impromptus for piano and this is the third in the first set, played by Alfred Brendel. The melody is hauntingly beautiful. Impromptu No. 3 in G flat Major D899 Op 90

It’s a Doctor Who thread so time is relative

Some Christmas music for this festive period In dulci jubilo (“In sweet rejoicing") is one of my favourite carols This version is by Bach - but maybe one you’ve never heard of...

In dulci jubilo (“In sweet rejoicing") Over 600 years ago, one of the most famous carols was composed (the composer is unknown) The earliest known manuscript, Codex 1305, dates the music from c 1400 and is held in Leipzig University Library. Various arrangements have been made over the centuries and this especially beautiful version is by Bach. This is a recording by the exceptional English organist, Peter Hurford (who died this year), as part of Decca’s monumental 12 year project from 1974 to 1986 to record all of JS Bach’s organ works. Except... we now know this piece should NOT have been included in the series because it was NOT composed by JS Bach, but by another member of the Bach family, Johann Michael Bach (there are a lot of Bachs ) For over 250 years it was attributed to JS Bach who did in fact compose several arrangements of In dulci jubilo including two organ works: the Orgelbüchlein, BWV 608, and chorale prelude, BWV 739 (BWV - Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis, or Bach works catalogue - is the unique identifier numbering system prefix for all works by J S Bach). This arrangement was found in a manuscript copy made in the 1730s by Johann Gottlieb Preller, which attributed the work to "di Bach" and was assigned the JS Bach catalogue number "BWV 751" in the nineteenth-century. But after the BWV catalogue first appeared in print (1893), there were doubts that the style was more consistent with Johann Michael Bach rather than his famous relative, Johann Sebastian. Then, in the 1980s, another copy of this arrangement was discovered among the so-called "Neumeister Chorales", proving once and for all that this chorale is indeed by Johann Michael Bach.

oh god! *shudders and hides*

This discussion reminds me of an author interview I heard a while ago - forget who - but they said their planning process included writing a full backstory and profile for key characters containing masses of detail, much of which never featured in the final text. Just wondering if this is something any writers here do and, if so, whether they had left significant character elements “on the cutting room floor” because, well, those elements simply contributed nothing to the finished story.

High BigBen - welcome, and that’s a great member name Just to put you right, I’ve lost count of the number of out and proud UK politicians across all the major parties. The first was Chris Smith who came out in 1984 - he was later appointed as a Cabinet Minister. Ruth Davidson was Leader of the Scottish Conservatives but stepped down this year to spend more time with her partner and their new child - she had been tipped to become next Leader of the UK Conservative Party. So being “out” hasn’t been an issue in the UK really for 35 years. This wiki page is quite fun: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LGBT_politicians_in_the_United_Kingdom#List_of_LGBT_Members_of_the_Northern_Ireland_Assembly - it’s a long list going back to Anthony Bacon (brother of Francis) who was a a Member of Parliament in the 1500s and also an intelligence officer in the spy network of Queen Elizabeth (the first one ). He was known to be homosexual but many of the later names in the wiki list up until the time of Chris Smith would have been closet gays. Sorry to go off topic but it’s an interesting subject and well worth looking up the biogs of some of them ———— Edit to add - hah Thorn beat me to it!

and then there’s Sherlock... queerbaiting?

God I hope you’re not going to test us... ————————- Edit to add oh no now this phallosexual (your post on Queerbating) and quora question “Is there a name for a sexual orientation for people who are attracted to the opposite sex (biological), regardless of gender identity?” https://www.quora.com/Is-there-a-name-for-a-sexual-orientation-for-people-who-are-attracted-to-the-opposite-sex-biological-regardless-of-gender-identity

“Shameless” queerbating? Clearly not in the terms you define queerbating: “not explicitly mentioned if characters are gay or not” - in the original UK series Shameless is very explicit on this so clearly not ”we’re given a few breadcrumbs... to maintain deniability” - again in the original UK series Shameless is very explicit on this so clearly not As per your last post this is about your own personal response to the storyline and how you would have preferred it to take a different track - which is entirely legitimate. But the scriptwriters took their own track, also for entirely legitimate reasons - to string out a mediocre soap story line. Homosexuality in the UK Shameless was a strong and explicit theme throughout. No “breadcrumbs” here. No “deniability for heterosexual audiences”. No queerbating.

Yeah, these are American shows I simply don’t recognise the premise having any relevance in the UK. The BBC, ITV, and Channel Four write gay characters and storylines as a matter of routine. I can’t speak for other European countries’ TV but it’s certainly not an issue in the UK. Maybe the UK is unusual, I don’t know.

“Queerbaiting” isn’t there also perhaps a tendency for any minority group to look for fault and then - guess what - find it? where there may be none? Killing Eve - not seen it but from what I’ve read wasn’t it a key driver in the plot to maintain viewer interest in the two lead characters: are they/aren’t they? isn’t this “problematic” “topic” more about those media selling to and within specific countries / cultures / markets e.g. USA, Middle East etc?

It’s about the Green Man pub - an ancient hostelry in rural village setting - it’s dissolute landlord, and a controlling malevolent ghost that “lives” there I’d just thought you might be referencing it with your themes. Anyhow, looking forward to getting into your story and commenting further