Between October 2022 and December 2023 we have seen three Der Ring des Nibelungen cycles. All in cities starting with the letter B. This is the first of my blogs regarding each one. We started in Berlin in October 2022. I've blogged about every other bit of our visit there, including describing a tour of the opera house here (search Berlin on this … [Read more...] about Three Rings: Berlin
Deanne Gilson. Karrap Karrap Beenyak – Flower Baskets of Knowledge.
We went to the opening of this exhibition on Saturday 5th November 2023. It's on at the Dainesinger Gallery in Weston Street Brunswick (just down from Doherty's Gym) until 16th December. The paintings are wonderful, as I expected because I've been to an exhibition of Deanne's before which I've written about here - it's interesting to revisit that … [Read more...] about Deanne Gilson. Karrap Karrap Beenyak – Flower Baskets of Knowledge.
Lambley Nursery
I visited Lambley Nursery about which I've heard much praise, on the 24th of September, when Instagram told me the garden was at its loveliest and again on the 2nd of October 2023 when girlfriends - and very knowledgeable - gardeners were free to go. This post is mostly so I can keep the photographs. The gardens were certainly looking lovely in … [Read more...] about Lambley Nursery
Ballarat International Foto Biennale
We visited this on the 17th of September, which feels an age ago though it's not really. We only spent a day and so didn't get to see as much as I would have liked. Nevertheless there were lots of terrific exhibits. My favourite was How to Fly by Erik Johansson from Sweden; exhibited in the Mining Exchange which was the perfect venue for his large … [Read more...] about Ballarat International Foto Biennale
Philip Larkin Poems
Andrew Motion in his biography of Philip Larkin (see this post) says Larkin was popular because of the familiar language and syntax of his poems, their ambition to speak from and about 'ordinary life and their tendency to aspire to the condition of epigram. Which made them at once approachable and memorable. But at the same over-simplified them and … [Read more...] about Philip Larkin Poems
Latest Reading: September – October 2023
Philip Larkin: A Writer’s Life, Andrew Motion Reading Andrew Motion's memoir, Sleeping on Islands (see this post) led me to this which I enjoyed very much. One way or another, mostly memoirs and books about literary circles and poetry, I've absorbed some knowledge about Larkin but I've not read much of his poetry. Motion was, along with … [Read more...] about Latest Reading: September – October 2023