Source: Musings on Visits to a Museum and a Library- Sept 25 and 26
Category: Uncategorized
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I’m not sure if all of these are visible to blog readers or not, but if anybody is interested, here they are.
Books/Trombones/Dream Girls-October 1-3
A basement level book shop just down the street from my flat! I can’t even tell yowhat it was like to step into that warren of pure joy. This sojourn to London has been long enough to give me the time to appreciate the places near my flat. The local shops and their charms are something I am particularly enjoying.
Wigmore Hall did not disappoint with another Tuesday concert. This time it involved a pianist and a trombonist! They were part of the Young Classical Artists Trust series. These fellows played a variety of classical pieces. They were very accomplished but, sadly, looked like a pair of accountants. They also played a new recently premiered composition called “Three After Dinner Pieces.” Each piece was named for a piece of cheese. The composer, Jack White, who was present to introduce the pieces, explained that he had worked in a cheese shop during his studies.
With another Wednesday upon us, I was on a search for a bargain Matinee. I was expecting a potential Tube strike on Thursday. So, Thursday had the possibility of being a day of extensive “walkies.” I settled on: 
Dreamgirls, of course, is the thinly disguised tale of the Supremes and what might have happened if original Supreme Florence Ballard had not died shortly after leaving the group. I grew up a huge Supremes fan and knew the real story well. This production was well staged and very engaging. Both the acting and singing were outstanding. The actress portraying Effie, the Florence Ballard character had an amazing voice. During the interval between Acts 1 and 2, I overheard the Americans behind me expressing confusion about the relation of the story to the real history of the Supremes. I couldn’t help myself, I turned around and offered the benefit of my Supreme Knowledge. Before the show began, I had the chance to begin a new book (on the Kindle) called “The Lost Way.” Its about how the New Testament came to have4 Gospels and what some of the other Gospels say.
First Post New Blog
Happy Equinox! After a couple of weeks in London, I thought I might start blogging again, but my blogsite has not been cooperative, so I am trying wordpress. Lets see how this goes.
Yesterday, I had another theatrical experience at a matinee at Donmar Warehouse. The play, “Knives in Hens” was a “three hander,” two actors, one actress, ina an intense 90 minute drama. I was in Row B. At the Donmar that means I was literally about 3 feet from the stage, level with it. To my friends, the Krahns, I have to say, walking into “the house” (the theater proper) it smelled like a winter’s afternoon in your parlor. There was a lovely peat fire burning. The play was intense! It was the story of a ploughman, his wife, and a widowed miller. 
These three were so good. I don’t know how they keep up the intensity performance after performance. I had a pleasant chat with two young women from Norway who were sitting next to me. I mentioned my plans to visit Denmark which the Norwegian ladies informed me was much preferred to Sweden. Before the play, I had lunch at Balan’s Society Café. Their crispy ginger kale was superb again.
So, since yesterday was about the arts, today was to be about the sporting life. I took the Tube up to Arsenal Station and went on the “self-tour” of “The Emirates Stadium” where the Arsenal FC play their home fixtures. Having taken a similar tour last year at the Olympic Stadium, now the home of West Ham, I pretty much new what to expect (sort of like the whisky distillery tours after the first one), But like the tastings at each distillery, 
Each stadium offers its own delights. Emirates Stadium is another cathedral. It soars. The views are fantastic. The history of the team and its well-deserved reputation are presented well. I particularly liked the availability of the Arsenal players like Nacho 
Monreal. I passed on the picture with the FA Cup, but couldn’t miss this one. Even though Nacho is Spanish his last name always reminds me of my friend Yves from Caen, France, who has a brother who lives in Montreal, Canada. Yves pronounces Montreal the same way Nacho’s surname is pronounced.
Mark In London 