Shakespeare??? - what's wrong with me, I thought I didn't like the bard! We went to A Comedy of Errors, starring Helen Martin (!) and it was one of the best, most entertaining plays I have Ever Seen in my Life!! A plot and characters which make Brian Rix seem straightforward; brilliant acting (especially by Helen need I add): after it finished I wanted to see the whole thing again. Did I mention how good Helen was? Her character leapt out from the stage, and had us alternately squirming and in stitches. I love Shakespeare all of a sudden! And there's more - I've just watched the film of "Much Ado about Nothing" with Emma Thompson, Denzel Washington, Richard Briers et al and thoroughly enjoyed that too!

The musical event of the month was going to see Bach's B minor Mass at the Sheldonian in Oxford on Saturday with Chris and our old friends Keith and Tonie. Keith is a highly analytic retired university lecturer who absolutely loves Bach. Not surprising as Bach must be the ultimate "Maths and Music". It was marvellous to hear this work live, having only heard it on CD before. Genuine old instruments including trumpets that looked like they were from a museum; a curly-wurly precursor to the souzaphone (about nine coils); a double-bass with 6 strings; a thin sounding old violin and a lovely cello which could be nearly as venerable as Lowri's! We were right at the front, just metres away from the soloists, which was rather exciting; the most extraordinary was the counter-tenor James Bowman who managed to make the [usually odd-sounding] voice sound authentic, rich and voluminous! At the end we mused as to whether this fulfilled our Sunday obligation; Keith thought it was worth at least 5 or 6!




So, here's a bit of Maths for you:

It's been a while, so here's a quick post to show I'm still here! I love reading other people's blogs eg. Clare, Peter so keep it up!

The Power of Blog - Chris got an unexpected email the other day from her Fourth Cousin in New York - needless to say they had never met and were not aware of each other - I don't think Chris even knows the names of all her first cousins! He is an avid genealogist and had tracked her down via the Internet, and eventually through finding Clare's blog, then mine, then Peter's, which had an email address... Once they had exchanged a few emails he came up with a plethora of information on her ancestors!

Words Words Words - I'm loving reading this book by David Crystal, an authority on the English language yet totally readable! Origins and quirks galore. I like this quote from Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost [entre parentheses, note use of apostrophes in the title] : the clown Costard, having received some 'remuneration' from Don Armado, looks at the coins in his hand, and wryly reflects: "Remuneration - O, that's the Latin word for three-farthings".