A foray into Russian literature

After going to see Viv Groskop at the Edinburgh Book Festival in August, I read her book The Anna Karenina Fix, which was a light-hearted run through some of the Russian classics and what life lessons can be learned from them. It re-ignited my interest in Mikhail Bulgakov; he had such a difficult life due to being a writer in Stalin’s Russia. Anything that he wrote was banned by the government and he had to live in fear of being arrested, as he saw his fellow intellectuals being arrested and even executed. I read The Master and Margarita a few years ago but I didn’t fully realise how subversive it is - it wasn’t published for decades after his death. Bulgakov was desperate to travel the world and dreamed of gong to Paris but Stalin never allowed him to leave the Soviet Union and he died aged only forty-eight. I went on to read a collection of Bulgakov’s diaries and letters called Manuscripts Don’t Burn and it was really interesting. I loved the few Russian novels that I have read and I can feel myself being drawn back there. 

Autumn Leaves in Rouken Glen

These past few days it has become a lot chillier, not surprising I suppose since it is nearly November. There has been frost on the grass on Sunday and Monday, but it has been very sunny with blue skies, so on Sunday we wrapped Grandma up snugly and took her for an outing to Rouken Glen park. She’s very frail and was happy to use her wheelchair, which meant that we could take her all the way up to the pond and the waterfall, and she chatted about how beautiful were the autumn colours. The park was busy, with people of all ages out enjoying the sunshine. I remember that in the early 1980s it was threatened with closure by Glasgow District Council - what a shame that would have been. Luckily it is now run by East Ren. After our walk we had a cup of tea in the garden centre and Grandma chose her Christmas cards, she was very pleased with her outing and her purchases.
And then in the evening James and I collected Ally from the airport; he was telling us all about his adventures with Cat on their holiday to Jordan, it sounds marvellous. And finally we FaceTimed Jamie in New Zealand; he was in excellent spirits and looking forward to NZ summer. It was a good family weekend. 

Oktoberfest in Glasgow

Last night James and I found ourselves in the Bavaria Brauhaus in Bothwell Street, on the last day of Oktoberfest, Glasgow style. Unfortunately we had missed the oompah band that had been entertaining the punters earlier, but there was still a festive atmosphere, a DJ playing 80s music, and a huge selection of German beer from which James chose his favourite weißbier. We had already had our dinner in Tempus, the restaurant in the Grand Central Hotel, thanks to Marjory and Forrest’s generous gift of a voucher for the venue last Christmas. We decided that it was high time that we used it and we enjoyed a slap up dinner. Beforehand we had a slightly mystified wander around the busy interior of the hotel, nearly gatecrashing someone’s wedding in the process, but after making our way up and down several staircases we found where we were supposed to be. The food was tasty and the service was friendly.
The train home was very crowded and many of the clientele were very, very inebriated. There was much jocularity, pushing, shoving, shouting and a lot of people were eating fish suppers. Despite all of this it was quite good-natured and was still not the worst train journey I have ever been on! 

Hurricane - 303 Squadron

Recently James mentioned a film that he wanted to see at the cinema. It’s called Hurricane, and is about Polish airmen during the Second World War, who had escaped from occupied Europe to Britain, and who were formed into a Polish squadron of the RAF. However when we checked the cinema listings, we found out that we were too late and it was finished at the cinema. So we decided to stay at home and watch a film on television instead. James was serving out our curry while I looked for a film to watch - and guess what? The film was available on the Virgin Media On Demand Service. James was very surprised and pleased that we could watch it after all!

The Polish pilots were at first greeted with suspicion by the British but their flying skills earned them respect and they were the highest scoring of the Hurricane squadrons during the Battle of Britain. What was very sad was that after the end of the war they were not included in the 1946 London victory parade for political reasons, because they were loyal to the old pro-democracy Polish government-in-exile. Instead, representatives from the new Soviet-backed Polish government were invited. The airmen were invited at the last minute to march with the RAF but declined, and then the Soviet-backed Polish Government didn’t turn up either - because the pilots had been invited. It was certainly an interesting film but there was something kind of awkward about the script, it seemed a bit stilted sometimes and I felt that it could have told the story better. But I learned some new things; I remember my Mum and Dad talking about how badly Poland was let down by the Allies after the war. 

Bizet not Brahms

I went to Symphony, Soup and a Sandwich today at the RCH for the second time. Catherine came too and we had a nice chat over lunch. Lunch was held in a dining area beside the Strathclyde Suite where the concert was held. We were seated at round tables for about ten people and the atmosphere was friendly. The lady next to me overheard me mentioning Bizet and told me that I was mistaken, and that we were going to listen to Brahms, which was printed on her ticket. After having a look at it I gently pointed out that she had brought her ticket for January instead of for October! We were offered scones or cakes as well as our soup and sandwiches, followed by coffee or tea, so by the time we went into the hall to take our seats I felt quite replete.
More people arrived for the actual concert and the hall was full. A younger crowd joined our ranks and I wonder if some of them were on their lunch hour from work. First we were treated to Fauré’s gentle Masques et Bergamasques, and then we heard Bizet’s Symphony in C which was very lively. Conducting the RSNO was the enthusiastic young conductor Tung-Chieh Chuang. I thoroughly enjoyed the music; what a lovely way to spend lunch-time. 

Psychedelic

Having been to see Roger Waters performing in Prague in May, James and I recently went to see his erst-while band mate Nick Mason in concert at the Armadillo in Glasgow. Nick Mason was the drummer in Pink Floyd, and he as with his newly formed band “Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets.” This included former Spandau Ballet singer Gary Kemp. James explained to me that much of what they played was early Pink Floyd music from the 1960s, and he seemed to enjoy it very much. So did the rest of the audience, clearly all Pink Floyd devotees. I did like it fairly well myself, finding only some of it too obscure for me. By obscure I mean not tuneful enough. I like a proper melody.
Since Richard Wright and Syd Barrett are dead, James pointed out that we need to find out if David Gilmour will be touring soon so that we will have been to concerts by all three living Pink Floyd members. Of course in 1988 I did see Pink Floyd play at Wembley - although Roger Waters had left the group by then. James saw all four of them at Earls Court in 1980 when he went to see The Wall with Gordon. He certainly is a stalwart Pink Floyd fan! 

Swimming Bangers

A few months ago I purchased a set of waterproof earphones with an inbuilt MP3 player, with the intention of using them to listen to music during my swimming sessions. Needless to say, when they arrived I had no idea of how to load music on, so they lay on a shelf for some time. Enter David, who very kindly set up a file of the sort of exuberant music that I wanted, gave it the title “Mum’s Swimming Bangers” and started loading it onto my MP3 player. After this promising start, progress ground to a halt because the music stubbornly refused to be uploaded. Then in September, enter Jamie, who, after much footering, successfully uploaded my music. Since then I kind of forgot all about it - until today!
After yoga, I went for my swim at Hamilton, armed with my swish headphones. There was a slight hitch at the poolside when I couldn’t remember how to switch them on, but luckily a young and helpful pool attendant showed me how, and soon I was swimming up and down the pool while listening to some of my favourite music. I loved it, and I felt really happy and well disposed towards my fellow swimmers. Several people even stopped me to ask where I got the earphones! I will definitely use them again.