School Chamber Music

The 2nd Scottish Schools Chamber Music Festival took place yesterday, and I was able to go along and listen.    The format is that a group plays, and then is workshopped by a leading professional player who runs through parts of the piece and gives huge encouragement.
The standard was unbelievably high, particularly a wind quintet and [...]

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Babel

Enjoyed this film about a random shooting in Morocco, children being taken to a wedding in Mexico, and a deaf-mute Japanese girl trying to make sense of her life after her mother’s death.    It was all compelling, although somewhat contrived.   
There were some teriffic performances though, particularly from the Moroccan ‘terrorists’, and the Japenese girl.    Actually, for [...]

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All My Sons

All My Sons at the Lyceum in Edinburgh last week is certainly going to be one of the ‘must-see’ productions of 2007.   
There was a wonderful team of actors giving everything to this sad story of the pressures and economies of wartime.    It is set in the garden of a clapboard house in an unnamed American town [...]

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Perth Caledonian Cinema Hygiene

A visit to Perth Cinema last night.  
It was actually not a pleasant experience.    The whole building stank of stale popcorn, and Cinema 4 which we were in was (let’s say) less than fresh.    It was really pretty stinking.   My feet were actually sticking to the carpet in front of my seat.    The place needs powerwashed [...]

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Dr Korczak’s Example

“All of this really happened …….”
Dundee Rep once again came up trumps with a stunning short play by David Greig chronicaling the true story of Dr Korczak, who ran an orphanage for Jewish children in war-torn Warsaw.   He was a principled leader who believed that by setting a civilised example in his community, he would be [...]

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Internet Radio

I was ‘listening again’ to some Saturday morning BBC Radio 3 – Stravinsky Pulcinella on the internet.   I have a fairly decent broadband connection, but the sound was not really very great, which was a pity.
Which got me to looking at internet radio streaming bandwidth.     I don’t understand why stations like “The Jazz” can stream [...]

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Library Sale – Lots of Books.

Library sale time again.   February 17th.   Hooray!   
Once or twice a year, Perth Library has a sale of surplus books (plus a few cds etc.) which is well worth getting along to.     Books are displayed on tables by category and replenished from boxes throughout the day.
It can be a bit of a scrummage, but the books [...]

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Slow Traffic

It took us 108 minutes to go 50 miles yesterday from Perth to Edinburgh.    That’s an average speed of almost 28 mph.     It is pretty ridiculous when at least 35 of those miles are on a motorway.
First holdup:   roadworks at bridge of Earn – carriageway resurfacing.    Understandable and necessary.    Second holdup:   accident at the big Dunfermline junction.    [...]

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Displacement Activity

This is a totally mad site:   you create a ‘person’ who then dances on a podium in front of a crowd of similar people to the one you created.
Totally addictive.
http://roxik.com/pictaps/?pid=a393510

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Trinity Guildhall Showcase

There was a Trinity Guildhall Scottish Showcase concert in Perth Concert Hall last night.     Lots of young musicians from all over Scotland.
 In a very varied evening, I was particularly impressed with our local Perth Youth Orchestra who ably performed two pieces, and the String group from St Mary’s Music School in Edinburgh who played Britten’s Simple [...]

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