festive felicitations

Not much to say except

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!

Timmy "Yule Blog" Magic

miss belgium misses the point

BBC News reports on the recent furore in Belgium - it's not the governmental issues but those regarding the "Miss Belgium" contest.

The newly crowned Miss Belgium, Alizee Poulicek, doesn't speak Dutch. She does speak French, through living in a Francophone region of Belgium, Czech through parentage and English. This, though, was not acceptable for the audience in Antwerp, who booed Miss Poulicek at her crowning ceremony.

While Dutch speakers make up 60% of the population, is it reasonable to shun someone who doesn't speak the language. French is still an official language of the country, as well as of other world nations. It is an official language of the EU. It is the second language of a large proportion of school learners in the UK.

When I spent time in a Dutch speaking area of Belgium a number of years ago, a Francophone friend entered the reception of the place we were staying and asked a question in French. The receptionist then asked if he spoke English and, if he did, would he use that instead.

How does the political (as it ultimately is) situation get so bad that a member of staff at a tourist location would decline to speak an official language of their country for the sake of what would be a foreign language? Equally, how does it get so bad that it can have repercussions on a national beauty contest?

Timmy "Magique/Magie" Magic

blind opera singers and childrens toys

This YouTube video combines two things I like a lot - Classical music and child's toys.
It doesn't feature Moses, but it does feature Andrea Bocelli and Elmo from Sesame Street!



Plus its a great song too!

Timmy "Time to Say Goodnight" Magic

surreal carolling experiences

It must be nearly Christmas - the carolling season has started! Those famed 25 days or so when people abandon families, wives, girlfriends, housemates and friends for evenings and weekends.

I have done 3 carolling jobs in the past 3 days detailed thus.

1) Thursday - The Norwegian Christmas Tree

Each year since the end of World War 2, the people of Oslo have given a Norwegian spruce tree to the people of London to show gratitude for the support given to the Norwegian people during the war years. Regent Hall Band were present at the lighting of the tree in Trafalgar Square this week. The Norwegian PM waved at us, and we played "Ja, Vi Elsker Dette Landet", the Norwegian national anthem

2) Friday - NAWCs

The National Association of Women's Clubs. NAWCS.
The favourite Christmas band job of the year. It is inside, its warm and we dont have to wear scarves, caps or coats. We played assorted Christmas marches and carols and listened to the dulcet tones of a couple of soloists and choirs.

3) Saturday - YP Band Carolling

The YP Band carolling was reasonably uneventful apart from a couple of things. The father of the composer of one of the band's cornet solos, "This Is My Story" was present and took a large number of photos of the band as they carolled. I, on snare drum, was then approached by a Finnish lady who asked about the "carol" we had just played. The carol was "Frosty The Snowman" and apparantly the chamber choir that the lady lead had been singing it. The lady then asked for me to write a note to the choir saying that we had played it.

So I wrote

We played 'Frosty The Snowman'
Kind Regards
Regent Hall YP Band

Timmy "Scandinavian Carol Player" Magic

magic's phone thoughts

Timmy Magic was wondering if it was possible to blog from his new iPhone - it is!

By the way, I have an iPhone

Timmy "iLike my new phone" Magic