It was a typical Saturday evening in Lewes, UK. Everyone likes dressing up in this ancient market town so when it was my neighbour Harvey’s birthday, it was inevitable that everyone went in for a bit of a make-over. Harvey…
My reading at the splendid Polari literary salon at London’s Southbank Centre last month will remain a fond memory. Luckily, I discovered the other day that it doesn’t have to be just a memory as Adele Ward, my tirelessly supportive…
It felt good getting the train to Mortlake for a poetry workshop with the poet Ruth O’ Callaghan – it was my first solo journey since I started being treated for blood clots in my lungs, known as pulmonary embolism.…
Roberto Alagna as Marseilles’ operatic Le Cid, 2011 I might’ve done it anyway but during this enforced time of relaxation due to my illness, I have been catching up on less well-known French operas on that wonderful modern treasure-chest, Youtube.…
Ivan The Terrible (1530 – 1584), Tsar of Russia Vlad The Terrible, the terrible new Tsar ———————————————————————————————– STEPHEN DEARSLEY’S SUMMER OF LOVE BY COLIN BELL My novel, Stephen Dearsley’s Summer Of Love, was published on 31 October 2013. It is the…
On Sunday, I had tickets for the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Mahler’s Third Symphony conducted by their musical director, Michael Tilson Thomas. I bought them as soon as they went on sale last year, long before I…
I’m currently enjoying a relaxing moment or three in the hospital waiting room. This morning I’m here for what will become a weekly appointment for the next few weeks while my recovery from lung blood clotting is monitored. While I…
I’m just “taking it easy” folks because that’s what nurse tells me to do. At least for a week or two while the drugs take in. If I behave, they tell me, I have a good chance of a complete…
Tony Benn (1928 – 2014) I am sad to see the passing of that seemingly eternal ‘young Turk’ of British politics, Tony Benn. He lived long enough to survive the vilification and ridicule that was often thrown at him by…
The Syria will have been at war with itself for three years this week. Statistics don’t always paint the whole picture I know, maybe we just need to see the above photograph, but the crisis in that collapsing country has…