Category Archives: Uncategorized

Copyright Alon Alush, from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0 3/10/2024 I said to somebody today: “You wouldn’t think I like writing comedy, would you?” But sometimes something is so serious, it’s hard to put a comic spin on it. First of all, I would like to wish a Happy New Year to all my Jewish friendsContinue reading “Dominus Flevit: The Tear Chapel in Jerusalem”

4/9/2024 The disease of Polio has been much in the news recently because of a ceasefire in the current Gaza/Israel conflict. The no-doubt welcome lull in this horrible war has resulted from the discovery of Polio among Palestinian children. The children of this community are currently undergoing a course of anti-Polio treatments. Poliomyelitis is anContinue reading “Polio and Water: Memories of an Australian film produced by Walt Disney”

I am writing in a café in Islington and I see many men in shorts. “Why are they in shorts in wintertime?” I think. I mean… so many of them. They are allowing quite a large proportion of their body to meet the cold! What’s worse – they are probably runners. Running plus the wind-chillContinue reading “Step-fathers and Water”

Overdone it a bit? Feeling the pinch around the midriff? Not to mention the bank balance. Recently my husband and I visited Turkey to attend a marriage ceremony. We had a great time. Too great a time, as a terrible bout of indigestion kicked in, at one point, for my other half. Could he getContinue reading “Post-Festive: A Lemony Cure from Turkey”

The air is very soft here, where I am. We’ve just had a Coronation, and I’ve come away from London so I can appreciate it, as one would a work of art. And a work of art it was. Spiritual, musical, historical art.In the nights before the ceremony, I caught glimpses – on the televisionContinue reading “On a Serious Note: Contradictions and Conflicted Feelings”

Maggie Steed and Peter Quince star in a completely barmy one-off script I have written, based on the Coronation Form transcribed in my last post (before I consulted the Oxford English Dictionary). Performed practically sight-unseen by two brave friends. Hurrah! No Frenchman was harmed during the making of this audiofile. Vive La France! Long LiveContinue reading “Bath-time for the King: an old Coronation form rehearsed”

Taken from British Library Lansdowne MS 285. https://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/ILLUMIN.ASP?Size=mid&IllID=3997 Here is a modernised transcription of a form of a coronation. It is published here to mark the crowning of King Charles III. Extracts from Folio 2 onwards: First the Prince that is now to be crowned the day before his Coronation shall be 1 | apparelledContinue reading “‘The Maner and Forme of the Kyngis and Quenes Coronacion in Englande’”

By Eva Griffith, 25th April 2023 So I’ve disappointed everyone, I guess, saying that Sir Henry Seckford was not a privateer-pirate in the “Arrr!” sense. That research must be gone into more deeply… I have a friend who had a quick look (and thought I might be right), and I’ll be in touch with himContinue reading “Hiding in Plain Sight: the case of the Missing Plumber”

In London, Easter Sunday was sunny this year. A blessing for those who work indoors all day, like the kind and friendly shopworkers I meet. They could finally tank up on Vitamin D. I kept Easter Vigil on the Saturday night at a Roman Catholic church I know, and heard the Exsultet welcoming in EasterContinue reading “The Journey to the *Ten-Year-Old* Book”

Here is a very old Catholic proclamation for the night that welcomes Easter. It’s said before the Paschal Candle in a dark world brought to light. I will embolden the relevant part. Does it remind you of anything? “It is truly right and just, with ardent love of mind and heartand with devoted service ofContinue reading “Exsultet: Happy Easter. And Shakespeare”