Emily Cat 176

This is the book l'm going to read this week.  The author is Ruth Rendell. She was a great English crime writer. In fact, l think she was in a long line of good English crime writers. Can you think of any good female crime writers.

He is my favourite composer.  Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky 1840-1893. Ballets, concerto, symphonies and more. I consider this man to be a musical genius. As with many his talent was recognised early. He worked lowly jobs to support himself before a patroness allowed him to concentrate on his music. The very next year he wrote Swan Lake. The music lives on because of his genius.

I'm on the hunt for a film for my film club.  There's not much on. I have said before that any who like Marvel or Star Wars or franchise films good luck to you. I hope you see them, and, enjoy them. But what about those of us who want something different? I think what is missing is original ideas. The cinemas here are even showing 20/25/30th anniversary showings of films that came out years ago. I had such a good year last year with the films l saw. Each one different and enjoyable. This year is turning out to be a real disappointment. Let me know if you have seen any good films lately.

She is still such a popular writer.  Agatha wrote about 66/67 books and gave the world Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote The Mousetrap, a play that is performed today. I actually saw a production of this play last year. Her stories are still be filmed today and they still remain very popular. I'm sure you will have read some of these books. Have a think about it and let me know what your favourite book is.

Remembering a wonderful musician today.  Jacqueliene du Pre was a world famous cello player by the age of 20. Her career was cruely cut short by illness. In her 20's she lost feeling in her fingers and couldn't hold the bow confidentely. She was eventually dagnoised with Multiple Sclerosis. She turned to teaching when she could no longer play befor dying at 42 years of age. Such a promising musical life cut short. I love the cello. It has a wonderful sensual sound that envelops all that listen to this music. I am also thankful for the music Jacqueline left behind. Look at the numerous on You Tube of this wonderful musician playing.

I like ballet.  I'm talking about Georgian ballet today and, if you haven't seen it can l suggest that you do. High energy, wonderful dancing and a style of ballet that has a rich history. Check it out yourself.

I'm going to read The Lord of the Rings books again.  I'm starting with The Fellowship of the Ring. So far, so good. It's been a long time since l read them so it's like l'm starting off new. There have been transport issues this week in Melbourne. Buses replacing trains, and, as l'm housesitting at the moment it affects me. If you see me this week l may look like l'm waiting for a bus but, in fact, 'm travelling with Frodo and Sam. Have you read these books?

102 years old and still sounds as good as the day it was written.  

Couldn't find the group l was going to meet because l had the weeks mixed up.  So what to do.  I walked the streets and saw wonderful street art. The street art festival was on in March and l saw many new pieces. Do you have a street art festival where you live.?

 It's an Australian classic and it's a real mystery.

In a crowed world of opera why is it that the Italian operas are still so popular? I'm going to play Italian opera in class this week so l have been looking at a lot of different Italian operas. Look at any list of Italian composers, it's a long list. Let me know what you think.  

If you're in a cinema do you stay or do you walk out?  On Saturday l saw a film. It was a film l saw with my movie club.  When l'm choosing the film l have to keep in mind that it's not just for me; l have to pick a film that l think most members will want to see. I didn't want to see this film myself, but, went into the cinema with an open mind. So, what did we see? The Devil wears Prada 2.  It had a great cast and the production was good. The film itself not so good. If you watch my videos you can see that l don't follow fashion, nor do l read fashion magazines. I didn't see the first film either. That came out 20 years ago and l did wonder why, after all that time, make another film. In the past Meryl Streep has never made a sequel, l think this is the first time. The scenery around Milan was good. I've been to Milan and it is beautiful. There were all these different cameo's and , as l said, it had a great cast. What went wrong? I thought it was a fi...

My search for a new book continues.  Last week l asked you what you had been reading. I got my free credit from Audible and the hunt was on. I settled on Mad Mabel ( isn't that a great name for a book )by Sally Hepworth. So far it's not grabbing me, like the book Coastlines by Joanne Harris didn't grab me last month. I can't seem to settle on anything to read at the moment. Do you ever get like that? Pick up one book after another and not find any you like.  I have to admit that l haven't listened to them much. Am l expecting to much to think that a book needs to grab me right from the start. Perhaps l need to follow my own rule: read 4 or 5 chapters and then decide if it's worth reading. Life's too short to read books you don't like. When l first read my favourite book, Asta's Book by Barbara Vine l didn't like it at all, couldn't get into it at all so l left it for a few months and went back to it and, boy, did it connect then. Perhaps mood...