Something those outside the loop may not consider in the first instance is that a cathedral musician lives in tied accommodation: resign from your post and you resign from your home. Any cathedral organist choosing to not only leave post but to make themselves homeless must have very strong reasons for so doing.
ICTH Archbishop Cardinal Vincent Nichols and the board of governors of Westminster Cathedral Choir School whose short-sighted and foolish decision to dispense with full boarding has not only led to pupils living outside London having to leave (as predicted), but is surely part of the decision of the Master of Music, Martin Baker, to leave the Cathedral. Even when the cathedral was heavily in debt previous archbishops have been staunch and unflagging in their support for the UK's only Roman Catholic full choral foundation; sadly Cardinal Nichols seems unwilling and/or unable to emulate his august predecessors.
That is horrible. I'd read about the anti-music decision to dump full boarding, but had hoped that more sensible voices (as it were) would prevail. They've just killed what was an excellent music program. (I particularly liked having boy altos to supplement the adult falsettists.) Is Cardinal Nichols tone-deaf, or what? Dammit!
Something those outside the loop may not consider in the first instance is that a cathedral musician lives in tied accommodation: resign from your post and you resign from your home. Any cathedral organist choosing to not only leave post but to make themselves homeless must have very strong reasons for so doing.
Just a point: I have ministerial colleagues who live in tied accommodation (i.e. manses or vicarages) but who possess their own property as well, usually as a legacy from their parents. In some cases they use them as holiday cottages, others rent them out commercially. Clearly I don't know Mr. Baker's situation (and clearly he will at the very least have to suffer the inconvenience and cost of moving), but he may not be actually homeless. But I agree that resignation is a big decision to make - as, indeed, it is for most clergy.
I've never been quite sure whether it was a good thing that none of D's organ posts came with a house.
Having been in (and coveted) the organists' houses at Durham and Winchester, I used to think it was a shame we weren't in those elevated circles, but knowing how completely rubbish we were with money, it was maybe just as well that we had to buy our own houses. I can't imagine we'd ever have saved enough to buy ourselves somewhere if we didn't have to.
He doesn't have his own place but rest assured there are plans in hand to help with this.
Being in a cathedral property can be a mixed blessing: yes, its convenient but some closes can be rather gossipy and if anything goes awry things can turn toxic very quickly.
Westminster Cathedral doesn't have a close: the clergy all live in one house (looked after by nuns, at least in the past) and two of the musicians have flats within walking distance.
Being in a cathedral property can be a mixed blessing: yes, its convenient but some closes can be rather gossipy and if anything goes awry things can turn toxic very quickly.
I'm suddenly thinking of Joanna Trollope's The Choir. (And desperately wishing that the DVD were available in a U.S.-friendly version.)
Being in a cathedral property can be a mixed blessing: yes, its convenient but some closes can be rather gossipy and if anything goes awry things can turn toxic very quickly.
I'm suddenly thinking of Joanna Trollope's The Choir. (And desperately wishing that the DVD were available in a U.S.-friendly version.)
You can play all sorts and regions of DVDs on the puter, using a code-independent mediaplayer such as VLC - if that's the issue.
Being in a cathedral property can be a mixed blessing: yes, its convenient but some closes can be rather gossipy and if anything goes awry things can turn toxic very quickly.
I'm suddenly thinking of Joanna Trollope's The Choir. (And desperately wishing that the DVD were available in a U.S.-friendly version.)
You can play all sorts and regions of DVDs on the puter, using a code-independent mediaplayer such as VLC - if that's the issue.
Thanks -- I think. That link might have been written in Greek as far as I could tell. What's a "code-independent mediaplayer"? I assume this would require the purchase of some expensive techy equipment, somehow trying to figure out how the heck to connect it to something (not sure what), and use it -- and all for one DVD?
Being in a cathedral property can be a mixed blessing: yes, its convenient but some closes can be rather gossipy and if anything goes awry things can turn toxic very quickly.
I'm suddenly thinking of Joanna Trollope's The Choir. (And desperately wishing that the DVD were available in a U.S.-friendly version.)
I actually bought an all-zones DVD player in order to be able to watch it. And it was absolutely worth it.
Pigwidgeon, I may have mixed up the words 'code' and 'zone', my apologies. TICTH my utter confusingness.
Rossweisse's advice is excellent, if you want (or need) to watch films on an extra DVD player!
The download link for the VLC mediaplayer is on this site. It's simply a small piece of software you download and install, nothing techy about it, no virus, no ads, totally free. It has been around for many years, and plays most audio and video files.
Which, at one time, it may just have been - if it was on an upper floor!
I also CTH the difficulty obtaining even bog-standard meds. I may have mentioned before that our local Pharmacy has a notice in the window, apologising for delays/difficulties in obtaining supplies, and explaining that it's a nationwide problem.
Thank you, Boris, and your minions. May you all one day rely on a drug (other than a recreational one) that YOU can't get hold of.
Supplies have been running down for the past two years, first in response to new EU regulations which came in last February and which meant some generic suppliers decided to restrict themselves to other, newer markets.
Second, as the rest of the world gets better healthcare and more money there is an increasing market for phamaceuticals. Meanwhile, far from the number of suppliers having grown to cope with this increased demand the number of factories producing drugs worldwide has shrunk.
“It's not only the UK that's affected. Shortages have also been reported in the United States and in a number of European countries including Poland, Denmark and Germany.”
One notes that the US spends more on healthcare per capita than any other nation (so how is it about funding?) and is outside the EU (so how is it about EU regulations?)
“Medicine shortages are an increasing problem. A range of factors are responsible for shortages, such as manufacturing problems, global demand for medicines and fluctuations in the exchange rate.”
O - I stand corrected. It's the fault of the EU...
Thank you for enlightening me.
I didn't say that. I said that our pharmacies, just like those in France, Germany, etc, etc, etc, were finding it harder to source drugs because there was a perfect storm of new regulations, quite properly brought in to protect the public, with a catastrophic fire in a manufacturing facility and increased demand from elsewhere in the world.
There are shortages all over Europe and further afield. Think about something other than bl***y Br**it.
Shortages all over Canada too if it makes you feel any better. My own issue today is with a nasty service person and cracked ribs. Let's just say that neither is making me feel very well today.
When my father-in-law died, the date of his funeral was largely dictated by when they could get a "slot" at the crematorium. As it happened it suited us - we were still in the UK on holiday, and D. was able to play for the funeral, but it was about two-and-a-half weeks after he died.
TICTH dodgy contractors who cause hugely expensive plumbing bills 20 years after their work, because of shoddy shortcuts. Wednesday, when the "good" drain guy shows me how the contractor split off the main sewer line and 'secured' the split, I was like "Krikey, Ken, I could have done a better job"...
I'm with you on that, Bette! The en-suite loo in the house we moved into in 2018 never did flush properly (MOST embarrassing!) and when the cistern came away from the wall and the emergency plumbers had to dis-assemble the cupboards built around it, I discovered that the original contractors had expected the waste to flush not only round a 90-degree bend, but also uphill?
There's an entertaining Facebook page titled RAF Plumbing (RAF is nothing to do with Her Majesty's aviators). Simply put, if plumbing looks like anything on this page, be aware!
TICTH my own clumsiness gene, which led to me going over on my ankle while fetching the logs in from outside the gate. I have torn all the ligaments and now am laid up on the sofa while poor Mr S waits on me hand and foot (ha!) and I reflect on all the things I should have been doing and now can't
TiCTH laryngitis, which is preventing me from not only my usual singing commitments, but also a very special Come and Sing I had booked in for tomorrow.
Whispering is banned. Very bad for the vocal cords.
At least I am not still teaching. I became very creative with sign language. I also found many ways and means of getting the pupils to do more talking, of the right sort, I mean. Fortunately they were very co-operative.
Just heard that I cannot have a refund for the Come and Sing I am now unable to attend through illness.
The cut off date for cancellations was 6 January. I actually did not pay until the 7 th!
I am sure I could take this further, as the organisation has made pure profit of £25 out of me. But I probably won’t.
Oh there are several round here, most being fully booked in advance. This one is run by a small chamber choir, with settings of O Magnum Mysterium by various composers. They would not thank me for sharing my germs and my coughing and croaky voice (which I am trying to preserve not destroy)
Are they including the setting by Peter Maxwell Davies? We did it when I was in school, and I ended up with a solo because the girl who was supposed to do it lost her voice.
Blephiritis. Two types of antibiotic eye drops, diluted baby shampoo very carefully applied to eyelid, all failed to eliminate it this time around. It's better but still hanging around.
Piglet, I am not sure about Peter Maxwell Davies. Definitely Victoria, Palestrina, Poulenc, Lauridsen. Am so sore about missing it today. Throat is starting to ease but it would be foolish to attempt it.
It might be a bit "niche" for a Come and Sing, right enough! It's actually a sequence of pieces, some choral, some instrumental, that he wrote for Cirencester Grammar School, and we did it in Orkney in about 1976.
He was very good at writing for whatever forces he had: apparently the French horn player in Cirencester had only just started to play, and only knew two notes, so the French horn part only has two notes!
Comments
We'll have to await further information.
Just a point: I have ministerial colleagues who live in tied accommodation (i.e. manses or vicarages) but who possess their own property as well, usually as a legacy from their parents. In some cases they use them as holiday cottages, others rent them out commercially. Clearly I don't know Mr. Baker's situation (and clearly he will at the very least have to suffer the inconvenience and cost of moving), but he may not be actually homeless. But I agree that resignation is a big decision to make - as, indeed, it is for most clergy.
Ticth? Almost
Having been in (and coveted) the organists' houses at Durham and Winchester, I used to think it was a shame we weren't in those elevated circles, but knowing how completely rubbish we were with money, it was maybe just as well that we had to buy our own houses. I can't imagine we'd ever have saved enough to buy ourselves somewhere if we didn't have to.
Being in a cathedral property can be a mixed blessing: yes, its convenient but some closes can be rather gossipy and if anything goes awry things can turn toxic very quickly.
Westminster Cathedral doesn't have a close: the clergy all live in one house (looked after by nuns, at least in the past) and two of the musicians have flats within walking distance.
I'm suddenly thinking of Joanna Trollope's The Choir. (And desperately wishing that the DVD were available in a U.S.-friendly version.)
You can play all sorts and regions of DVDs on the puter, using a code-independent mediaplayer such as VLC - if that's the issue.
Thanks -- I think. That link might have been written in Greek as far as I could tell. What's a "code-independent mediaplayer"? I assume this would require the purchase of some expensive techy equipment, somehow trying to figure out how the heck to connect it to something (not sure what), and use it -- and all for one DVD?
Rossweisse's advice is excellent, if you want (or need) to watch films on an extra DVD player!
The download link for the VLC mediaplayer is on this site. It's simply a small piece of software you download and install, nothing techy about it, no virus, no ads, totally free. It has been around for many years, and plays most audio and video files.
There never seems to be any explanation as to why, which I find frustrating. It must be very hard for the elderly etc to be chasing meds constantly.
I also CTH the difficulty obtaining even bog-standard meds. I may have mentioned before that our local Pharmacy has a notice in the window, apologising for delays/difficulties in obtaining supplies, and explaining that it's a nationwide problem.
Thank you, Boris, and your minions. May you all one day rely on a drug (other than a recreational one) that YOU can't get hold of.
Supplies have been running down for the past two years, first in response to new EU regulations which came in last February and which meant some generic suppliers decided to restrict themselves to other, newer markets.
Second, as the rest of the world gets better healthcare and more money there is an increasing market for phamaceuticals. Meanwhile, far from the number of suppliers having grown to cope with this increased demand the number of factories producing drugs worldwide has shrunk.
Thank you for enlightening me.
The BBC Reports that:
“It's not only the UK that's affected. Shortages have also been reported in the United States and in a number of European countries including Poland, Denmark and Germany.”
One notes that the US spends more on healthcare per capita than any other nation (so how is it about funding?) and is outside the EU (so how is it about EU regulations?)
According to A Royal Pharmaceutical Society Spokeswoman
“Medicine shortages are an increasing problem. A range of factors are responsible for shortages, such as manufacturing problems, global demand for medicines and fluctuations in the exchange rate.”
There are shortages all over Europe and further afield. Think about something other than bl***y Br**it.
It's a shame it's not more like taxis - "we're going to the same place - shall we share it?"
How is that even a thing?
At least I am not still teaching. I became very creative with sign language. I also found many ways and means of getting the pupils to do more talking, of the right sort, I mean. Fortunately they were very co-operative.
The cut off date for cancellations was 6 January. I actually did not pay until the 7 th!
I am sure I could take this further, as the organisation has made pure profit of £25 out of me. But I probably won’t.
@The Intrepid Mrs S - poor you!
They've got your money - why shouldn't you go and make a Joyful Noise Unto The Lord, anyway?
What could they do? Haul you away to Jug? I think not...
He was very good at writing for whatever forces he had: apparently the French horn player in Cirencester had only just started to play, and only knew two notes, so the French horn part only has two notes!