Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man

Mr and Mrs Headmaster treated mrs maytrees and I to a Pizza Express
b4 the last performance of Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man at the
New Wimbledon Theatre yesterday. HM's attempts to have everything
made into pizzas from the salad nicoise to the ice cream started the
evening off on a great atmosphere of good humour and not a little drama.

The atmosphere continued and intensified with curtain up. Fantastic
choreography and dance. A small town in backwoods USA. The setting
was of the town's gas station and car repair workshop alongside Dino's
Diner. Car mechanics interwove with waitresses.
Bizet's Carmen provided the musical weave in this tapestry
of dance drama and automobiles - no words or singing. The garage was managed
by an old stick with whom his wife was obviously bored.

Two vintage American cars on stage were very imaginatively
used as were their headlights. A "man wanted"
ad was answered almost at the outset by the handsome back packer
passing through. Scenes of love, lust and jealousy
involved some men in steamy shower scenes; some fabulous dancing,
murder of the old stick and mayhem.
The jail sequences in the second half were
brilliant with the innocent victim managing his
jail break from a warden with unwanted carnal designs.

The denouement of the true murderer took place in more mesmorising dance
scenes and red paint over the Diner's shutters.

All the programmes had been sold out well before we took
our seats and no more could be bought even with ready money.
A full house too - well deserved; and being able to walk home afterwards
was an added bonus.

Burma - Where Might is Right Rules

The pictures of military might being used with deadly force on the streets
of Rangoon to quell protestors are profoundly disturbing.
No country's government or politicians are perfect but a system of
government that depends on brute force to impose its will on
its unwilling citizens must be fundamentally flawed.

Sending an envoy from the UN to parley is right but what of neighbouring
China's view that the violence in Burma is an internal matter
for those peoples as it does not jeopardise peace outside its borders?

I would like to thank that the Chinese are wrong but in practice as
the use of military might by one nation to quash
malavolent military might in another
shows, huge bloodshed is usually the outcome.

More subtle resistance to such abhorrent regimes, like targeted sanctions
and boycotts, may take time and look less dramatic, but as their success
in South Africa illustrates, they can bring about the necessary changes
with a lot less bloodshed than sending the troops in.

Afganistan may be an exception however...

Shares investing - a waiting game or ZYZYGY again.

Investing in London's LSE AIM share market
is a risky business at the best of times but my theory is that
the key quality of
of good investor is patience. I bought some ZYZ shares for my pension
fund eons ago and the way things are going I may have to wait
until retirement until any gains show through. They have been talking
of their expected big contract win for months, as AIM companies usually do.
However today's ZYZ official news is that maybe only a couple more weeks...

"The directors of Zyzygy Plc announce that whilst the intended IPO of their
investee company MarineTrack plc ("MarineTrack") is proceeding, they have
decided to delay the process until a decision has been made in respect of
certain major contract negotiations currently being undertaken by MarineTrack
and the effect of that decision on MarineTrack's valuation becomes clear. The
Zyzygy directors believe that a decision will be taken within the next two weeks
following which the Company expects to complete the AIM admission process."

Meanwhile patience continues to be a virtue and the jury is still
out on my theory that that virtue is a key quality of a good AIM investor.

Davis Cup 2007 Tim Henman's SW19 swan song

The atmosphere at the Davis Cup GB v Croatia doubles match today was
much more like that at an FA Cup final than that of normal
Wimbledon Tennis. White and Red checked Croatian flags and T shirts
mixed and matched well with the by far greater number of Union Jacks.
The druming and cheer leading too were more reminiscent of Wembley
than of Wimbledon.

The Croatian men were Marin Cilic and Lovro Zovko and team GB
opponents were Tim Henman and Jamie Murray. The two Croatians
had clearly played togther as a team before whereas it was equally
clear that Tim and Jamie had not. The Croatians won the first set 4-6
but soon Henman and Murray began to gel as a pair. They fought back
winning 6-4 then won the third set after a thrilling tie break.
The fourth set was then taken to match point and Henman won the final
point thus making a fitting end to his professional career.

A great afternoon and the sun shone too.

The Beaumont Union

Beaumont College was closed by the Jesuits forty years ago yet never can
a society of old pupils from any school have thrived for so long after
the school's demise.

The HCPT about which this blog is strewn with posts, even has a
London Beaumont Region, 7 groups from which are still run by Old
Beaumont boys (including yours truly) or their friends or families.
The BU annual dinner is usually a crowded rombustious affair
and many BU members are hugely successful or influential
in their personal or professional lives.

My "passing of an old friend" blog post in May 2007, recorded with sadness
the death of a much loved and respected BU contempory, fellow HCPT pilgrim
and close friend. Last night another old BU friend and his wife
together with mrs maytrees and yrs truly, went out for supper
at SW19's Lighthouse restaurant, with his widow. A lovely evening
then ensued,
of fond remembrance, of catching up with news, gossip and laughter
all of which arose out of old Beaumont childhood.

A moment of feigned discord arose out of the other BU couple learning
of the existence of this blog. "Naff" "absurd" and other derisory
quips and comments were their reactions.
Yet I am not so sure that
a blog even one whose reader numbers barely reach double figures,
is fairly so described.

Reading though some of the previous posts at random, is at least as
interesting for me as their author as say occasionally going through
an old photograph album. Blog posting itself is anyway much more creative
than say slumping down in front of a TV.

Collecting one's thoughts on a topic matter of moment or even trivia
and writing them down in a medium
which might (though usually isn't) just be read by friends or
strangers is I think also good self discipline.

I'm Blogging on naff or no.

FT and "The Second Dissolution of the Monasteries"

An article in today's FT suggests that the time might be nigh for
the remaining religious communities in the UK.

Shortly after starting this blog about a year ago I attended the annual general
meeting of the Conference of Religious of England and Wales where Father
Christopher, abbott of Worth Abbey and who has featured on TV programmes
about monastic life, gave the keynote speech. My blog post last year
gives more details but the consensus then was that of some pessimsism
but lots of hope. The CoR AGM this year which I attended on the 13th September
was packed to the gunnels. The previous custom of allowing people to buy tickets
on the day had to be abandoned though sheer weight of numbers. The keynote
speaker Sister Camilla from USA spoke of science, mysticism and the big bang.
The conversations started last year were continued and the outlook was
very upbeat.

Yet upon speaking with Nigerian religious superior, Sister Bernadette,
this morning, she mentioned that Wimbledon's Marie Reparatrice convent
is at risk of closing through lack of numbers. Sister Bernadette
(who is not a sister from that Order) sees no reason why the many
sisters and religious in India, Nigeria and elsewhere, who live
under the same constitutions as those in the UK, should not be called
upon to fill the gaps.

Essentially the West sent forth missionaries to Africa and India
and Sister Bernadette's straightforward answer to the problem highlighted
in today's FT mag, is for India and Africa now to reciprocate
by sending forth missioniaries to these lands - I agree.

Jogging and Health

Jogging miles most weeks over recent years became my routine
and though my London Marathon times are not brilliant - pb only 4:18 -
completing six was I thought not a bad achievement.

However over 2007, even only a
7 mile jog began to become a bit of a struggle. Interspersing running
with some walking during sessions soon began to deteriorate into
walking most of the way round my Wimbledon Common route rather than
the jaunty jog of previous years. Feeling faint
exhausted and breathless after only a few yards began to form
an unwelcome part of the running routine. I began to appreciate
how good health is easy to take for granted, until a bout of poor health
is experienced.

Earlier this month my 'headmaster' jogging companion queried whether
these worrying symptoms might result from some anaemia.
Subsequent checks on the www led to the conclusion that whatever the
failings of the British National Health Service hospital provision,
its self help website stands head and shoulders over others


A couple of weeks high iron diet, supplemented on the advice of mrs maytrees,
by a Guinness night cap, are now working wonders so seven mile jogs
are thank God, easily do-able and enjoyable once more.

Amazing how the absence of a tiny trace element (in my case Iron Fe) from
one's diet can make such a huge and negative impact on the
proper functioning of the human body.

I'll not take good health for granted again in a hurry (I hope).

Teccie stuff for Non Teccies

For some reason my personal profile avatar has vanished. If this
attempt at republishing it in this test post succeeds I might try to
add it again to its personal profile compartment.

Apples at Home and Abroad

One advantage of the damp British summer in 2007 is that
English apple trees are now laden with delicious fruits.

The benign neglect of our two apple trees at home
leading to the absence of any pesticide use, has
resulted a glut of what I am sure supermarkets would
describe as "organic" English applies.

Despite the delicious and largely unblemished fruit at home,
the local supermarkets fruit shelves are
still piled high with apples shipped in from
far away places. So much for concerns about global
warming and carbon footprints.