If outdoor opera is magical, then outdoor operetta lakeside is utterly enchanting. Der Vogelhändler (Carl Zeller) at Mörbisch – a cast of thousands, a spectacle extraordinaire, lavish costumes, lavish scenery and a plot so complicated that I’m not even going…
DelAugust 20, 2017
Stone quarry, giant chandelier, stage-set, mostly red. Verdi’s Rigoletto. Breath-taking. There’s something magical about opera al fresco – unless, of course, it’s raining. Red symbolises “passionate love, seduction, violence, danger, anger, and adventure” (colormatters.com). And Rigoletto has it all. But…
DelAugust 13, 2017
*UNDER CONSTRUCTION* Looking at the urban environment at the end of the tube and tram lines in Vienna. I feel that this is going to be a lifetime’s work as the ends keep moving … this needs a lot more…
DelAugust 3, 2017
Farewell to the Bunch, farewell to the shade and the whispering sound of the cool colonnade ... We did it. A month ago I didn’t think it would be possible. From offer to completion in thirty days. And as anyone…
DelJuly 2, 2017
Cover Image © Harvey Benge One of my biggest ‘wish-I’d-thought-of-that’ moments occurred a few years ago when I discovered One Day – Ten Photographers. This is a delightful box set containing ten slim volumes (one per photographer) of images created on…
DelJune 28, 2017
I’m behind on my author confessions ... first of all, a holiday on a planet that didn’t have wifi (deepest joy), then zipping hither and thither with limited internet access (it is remarkable that so much of the UK still…
DelJune 13, 2017
MisterMac and I have had a week off. We’ve been basking by a lake. Sans internet. Sans phone signal. Deep joy. I have returned with Repetitive Kindle Thumb, having clicked thousands of pages as I voraciously consumed book after book…
DelJune 7, 2017
I’m not sure how I missed The Vulgar – Fashion Redefined in London, but as luck would have it, it’s moved to the Winterpalais in Vienna. Curated by Judith Clark, the exhibition takes ‘a new look at “high fashion”’ based…
DelMay 25, 2017
‘I adore quarrels in other people’s houses. One has the vicarious excitement with no anxiety about one’s crockery.’ (Winston Graham, The Little Walls) I enjoy crime fiction, and, over the years, have discovered some favourite authors through the CWA Gold…
DelMay 21, 2017
Cover Image © Karen Knorr Some years ago, I was mooching through a second-hand bookshop when I came across Marks of Distinction by Karen Knorr. It was so different from any other photography book I’d seen, that I was at…
DelMay 16, 2017
I’ve never been very fond of bees. They sting. I have vivid childhood memories of swollen limbs as a result of getting too close to them. So I was somewhat perturbed when I turned up at the cottage last week…
DelMay 14, 2017
I have a few hours to spare recently, so thought I would start my part of Wiener Blut in earnest. Like the other participants, I have my section of the map (parts of the seventh and eighth districts), but I’m…
DelMay 7, 2017
A is for Apotheke, B is for Bugs, C is for Chill and D is for Drugs The influenza A to Z wiped out the A to Z challenge, but there's always next month ...
DelApril 27, 2017
As the self-appointed bartender (or mixologist, as I believe the cocktail makers and shakers are known in modern parlance) of our cabin at #CampNaNoWriMo, it is my duty to my fellow cabin-mates to find new concoctions. I have news for…
DelApril 8, 2017
Last post about our show, I promise ... at least for now. We wanted to have some sort of ‘do’ to end the exhibition and the #obvs thing would have been an artists’ talk, but with six of us, that…
DelApril 7, 2017
I wanted to continue to promote Remembrance of Things Passed, but struggling to do that with the letter E, although E is for Eggs and there are some eggs in the show, but it’s not my picture, so we’ll have…
DelApril 6, 2017
... Drop In. I’m invigilating at the Magic Gallery tomorrow (11.00 to 6.00) – do drop in and see our fabulous show (she says modestly) if you’re in London. Remembrance of Things Passed A Mixed Bag Exhibition curated by Cheryl…
DelApril 5, 2017
If he were still alive, Chap would have been ninety today. We’re celebrating his life this evening with the opening of our small exhibition Remembrance of Things Passed. I have surpassed myself on the canape front – cheese and pineapple…
DelApril 4, 2017