Skip to main content

Monday April 18, 2022

The Internet is super spotty tonight so here are the highlights from last night and today:

The entertainment last night was a fellow (the name escapes me and I can’t find the program) who played several instruments (not all at once) and was an amazing showman. He started off on the marimbas (I would have called the instrument a giant xylophone) and played several well-known pieces, such as “Flight of the Bumblebees” and some Bavarian beer hall tunes. Then he switched to this funny small instrument he called an electric Hawaiian guitar? He played a beautiful melody that I recognized from the 50s but can’t remember the name (I’m not doing too well on the informational side, am I?) It’s something like “Slow Slide”—he said it was the first Hawaiian melody that made it to the pop charts back in the 50s. Then he switched to the Romanian pan pipes and played a tune popularized by Georg Zamphir (Remember him? I do.)  It’s called “The Lonely Shepherd”—beautifully haunting. 

Then he went on the drums and did a duet with the Queen Mary orchestra’s drummer that was toe tapping. A short piece on a little horn. Another piece on a saxophone. And then he ended his 45-minute set with Rod Stewart’s “I Am Sailing” on the pan pipes again. It was a wonderful show!

Today we went to a lecture by a retired Rutgers professor on English stately homes’ architecture that was fascinating, a Queen’s Counsel barrister gave an overview of how barristers become barristers in England and Wales (Scotland is different, he said he wouldn’t cover that) and what’s happening with “the law” right now. Interesting but 45 minutes left more questions than answers. Tomorrow his lecture will be on how common law evolved. The Rutgers professor will be speaking about Hogarth—R isn’t interested in Hogarth, too earthy for him, but I am because I studied him in one of my courses for my BA way, way back when. 

And then, after lunch, I went to see a show on Cunard’s history, a combination of four of the entertainment crew describing various events in its history with photo montages on the screen behind them and a guitarist and pianist playing music from the eras. Much more interesting than I am making it sound.

I read for the rest of the afternoon, we then had dinner up at the buffet restaurant. Tonight was another one of those dress-up Gala evenings in the main restaurant that I would have enjoyed going to in the days when Richard was interested too. Now it’s not fun to go solo. Still, it’s been another wonderful day, I did my exercise in on the treadmill, chatted with several folks here and there, enjoyed listening to music all over the ship (there’s ALWAYS music!) 

Just three photos—it’s very slow to upload photos. The first is the Verrazano Bridge that the ship has to pass under to leave New York. Not a lot of distance between the stacks and the bridge, the ship has to wait for just the right tide level to leave. The second photo is of the ship’s lobby; I took the photo from the mezzanine above. And the third, well, the third is of my treadmill this morning :)







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Life on board the Queen Mary

Passenger's log on the Queen Mary 2: Dec 9th - First Day at Sea Didn't sleep well--think it was the soused mackerel at dinner. Anyway, R and I woke up at about 6:00 am and discussed the order of the day. Quite the swell outside and I can feel the roll of the ship. (No seasickness thank goodness!) Despite the mackerel, I was hungry so we went to King's Court at 6:30 a.m. Buffet with loads of choice of course. We sat in an alcove looking out at the ocean. Our server was from Croatia, Slavan. I asked him my burning question of the day--why did we get a free bottle of wine but a regular bottle of Diet Coke cost $3.75? Diet Pepsi is $1.00 less. Fruit juices are free on tap. Coffee, tea, milk, ditto. But you have to pay for soft drinks. Very odd. Slavan says it is because Cunard can't get a good contract with Coke. Hmmm.... our local School District back in Sierra Vista can negotiate .50 a can for the soda machines in the teachers' lounges but Cunard has to cha...
Post a Comment
Read more

Sunday in Richmond Park & Memories

  One of the reasons I came back to London after Ireland was to keep a date with my cousin Elizabeth: a Sunday morning walk in Richmond Park. When I moved to England in May of 1978, I rented a room in a house near Richmond Park. I'd heard of the room through a colleague at McGill University's Human Resources Department, where I was working as a Senior Clerk. Montreal had become a bit difficult for me to be in owing to a twice-broken heart and a feeling I wasn't going anywhere at McGill. It seemed like an omen, then, on the plane returning from South Africa in January of 1978--I keep promising to write about that--that I came across an article in a magazine about young Canadians living in London. I'd always loved the idea of being in London what with growing up on a diet of British movies and then all of the articles about Swinging London in the 1960s/early 1970s.  By the time I arrived at Mirabel Airport, I had the perfect antidote to my wounded pride over South...
Post a Comment
Read more

Christmas

  Ogilvy's Christmas window with thanks to Pinterest I hadn't really been very much in the Christmas spirit after US Thanksgiving this year. Tiredness, a feeling that it was all too much. And then, slowly, as the neighbors' Christmas decorations went up, as the Christmas songs and carols started playing on the radio, memories crept in. When my granddaughter performed in our local Nutcracker here in Sierra Vista--four years' worth of memories. When we had ward Christmas dinners with turkey and all the trimmings in Toronto--another four years' worth of memories. Concerts in Toronto and Laurie and I dressing up to go to them—the “professional” Nutcracker performances. Going farther back, to when I was 18-19-20, going to Radio City Music Hall in New York with my sister and her family, seeing the annual Christmas movie and live stage performances, then walking over to the Lincoln Center and watching people skating on the skating rink. Much farther back, to as early as I ...
1 comment
Read more