This and that whilst sipping a fine malt.
Who said the words that have stuck in your head throughout your life ? I was 8, I think, when a school inspector crept up to my desk, accompanied by a self-important teacher, and stared at my drawing of a puffin. I had practiced my puffins and I could draw them from memory, no problem.… Continue reading Who said what …
My standard Saturday afternoon these days is one of nervous tension as I monitor the live update scores, or lack of, of my favourite football team. Whatever I’m doing I have to check a screen on a regular basis between 3 and 5 pm. However, last Saturday was a break from routine. Mrs. Monkey and… Continue reading Some sort of character…
I’ve never considered that I might have an addictive nature. I don’t do drugs. I drink in moderation and even my sweet tooth can be tamed. But the hardest Jones I am finding to kick, since the damn thing was developed, is the need to check 24 hour news. I’m a current affairs junky and… Continue reading Aargh, leave me alone !!
I struggled last year to be energised by the music I was hearing. Little seemed to be breaking new ground or even beautifully relaying the old ground enough to entice me on to it. Perhaps I just wasn’t hearing the right stuff. 2014 had been laden with diamonds and perhaps I was hoping too much… Continue reading Such difficult themes – such wonderful music
Last weekend was special in so many ways. I passed another anniversary and was royally treated by Mrs. Monkey. We joke how I have become accustomed to the life into which I have become accustomed. But it is a joke – our joke – we never take any of it for granted. A three day,… Continue reading Reflections from London
It is undoubtedly sad when a famous musician, a person who has amassed a following, someone with a respected body of work, passes on to that great stage in the sky. I wonder, though, how many of the Converted ruminate on what their hero/heroine would have gone on to create. Would it have been better,… Continue reading Better to burn out than to fade away ?
One of the better aspects of living in Europe is that some of the worlds most charismatic cities are within easy distance. If you live on mainland Europe they are only a drive away. Berlin. Amsterdam. Florence. Rome. Milan. Barcelona. If you live in the UK there’s a stretch of water to navigate but we… Continue reading Istanbul and the building that took my breath away.
As promised, the story of the art from our Paint Andalucia trip. Casting our eye back to the beginning and my Garlic Bulb practice it is worth saying that this was my comfort zone. Pen and ink. Something you recognise. I understood it. Yet one of my great passions is abstraction. Experimentation. Pushing the boundaries… Continue reading Is it art or a shower curtain?
So, good morning blog fans, back after a week or so in the lovely sunshine of southern Spain where the Monkey’s keeper and I have been painting the landscapes around us with Paint Andalucía. Suffice to say we had a great time and more stories will come out as the week(s) go by. Fi and… Continue reading Sun, sangria and a dash of paint……..
This morning whilst listening to the superb journalist, Jon Snow, on Desert Island Disks, he chose a piece by Pat Metheny that I'd never heard before. Apparently he'd used it in a film he'd made about the poverty of some people, I didn't catch which country I'm afraid, but listening to it was very moving.… Continue reading The truth will always be……….
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