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Literate Hamster

Published on March 8, 2012 by in Uncategorized

It’s amazing what folk will do in the name of publicity. Driven to extremes by the competitive jostling for attention rife on the web, I have retained the services of this high-functioning denizen of the subfamily Cricetinae to boost my image. That it should come to this. If you look at nothing else on my site,

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Our Mutual Friend on the Beeb

Published on March 6, 2012 by in Uncategorized

Seeking some respite from my occasional insomnia, I have just written this lengthy Amazon review of the BBC 1998 version of Our Mutual Friend. I’ve wanted to get this point off my chest for a long time. Characters in books are often ugly for reasons which are key to the plot. Aragorn in Lord of the

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Mandolins

Published on March 4, 2012 by in Composing

In an attempt to prove the old dog/new tricks dichotomy false, I am teaching myself to play the mandolin. This is not quite such a novel departure as it might sound since, as a fiddle player, I pretty well get the left hand for free, although the technique for fingering a fretted instrument differs somewhat.

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Pain in the Back

Published on March 3, 2012 by in Piano

As many pianists know more about back pain than they want to, I quote here my Amazon review of Robin McKenzie’s wonderful book ‘Seven Steps to a Pain-Free Life’ – ‘If you are reading this review then you almost certainly already know about the crippling pain that back problems can inflict and anything which might help is

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The Rite, I Mean Right, Word

Published on March 2, 2012 by in Opinions

The English language can be confusing, and I am grateful to be a native English speaker if only because I can think of few other languages more difficult to learn. That said, I am weary of hearing, on the radio, mistakes made by people who have had, I assume, the benefit of an expensive higher

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