For whom the bell tolls...

No man is an island,

Entire of itself.

Each is a piece of the continent,

A part of the main.

If a clod be washed away by the sea,

Europe is the less.

As well as if a promontory were.

As well as if a manor of thine own

Or of thine friend's were.

Each man's death diminishes me,

For I am involved in mankind.

Therefore, send not to know

For whom the bell tolls,

It tolls for thee.

(John Dunne)

To my dear uncle who left us today. Our world won't be the same without you.

Twenty Years Without Freddie

It has already been twenty years. Twenty years since Freddie died. Twenty years without him just trying to imagine what that great singer and composer could have still composed and sung. I saw them at the MTV Europe Music Awards, all that remains of the Queen, and listened to Adam Lambert performing Freddie’s classic hits "Thes Sow Must Go On", "We Will Rock You" and "We Are The Champions". He was brave and courageous. But when you listen to a good singer, you also realize who is really the best.

What consoles me about Freddie is that he was loved almost immediately and a lot. And he is still loved and will always be. No artist will ever be so memorable as Freddie Mercury with the Queen. Theirs was the first music video in history, Bohemian Rhapsody.Theirs was the most memorable performance at Live Aid.Theirs was the most memorable and irreverent closing act ever at a concert: Freddie with his red cape while the band played "God Save the Queen".

Midnight in Paris

A lot of us go about our lives wishing that things were different. Many people become so used to the lives they are leading that they end up being easily bored after a while and dream of living in the past, especially since the world seems to be getting worse and worse. 'Midnight in Paris' -written and directed by Woody Allen - deals with themes of nostalgia and what makes us want more out of life. Woody Allen opens the film with beautiful shots of Paris, showing us that this is a place we should be if we're not already there. Paris is more than a great holiday spot, it's an escape from the world and is a nice, classy environment where very little goes wrong.

As per his usual, Woody Allen provides one more couple at the apex of marriage and finds conflict in that universal clash between security and passion. Hollywood screenwriter and wannabe novel writer Gil Pender (Owen Wilson) with his fiancée Inez (Rachel McAdams) have accompanied her parents to Paris and the excursion shows up their differences in a most prickly manner. She's all about shopping for expensive items, while he wants to take midnight walks in the rain. Indeed, he loves Paris so much he wants to move there, an idea she rejects like he's completely crazy. Meanwhile, she becomes impressed by a conceited, know-it-all professor (Martin Sheen), who precludes every pontification with "if I'm not mistaken," the satire being that his enlightenments are usually untrue. One evening at midnight, dismayed by the way his life is taking, Gil wanders off around Paris and ends up being lost. As he sits down to pull himself together, an antique car drives up and…

Revealing any more would be a cruel deprivation of your pleasure taken by the amazing grace of the film's fluid, elegant surprises. The crisp pace, firm cutting and old-fashioned invisible style leave you longing for more as the movie flies by in 94 minutes of enchanting pleasure, what they always meant when they used to say "movie magic”.

Enough to say that Gil learns a lot more about himself and what he can do to improve his writing and his life in the process of his nostalgic psychological journey.

The film is very charming and Woody Allen's writing is just as clever and witty as it's always been. This is definitely one of the best films he's made in a while, and it's a beautifully shot and unique film with strong performances. Owen Wilson impresses me and every minute movement reminds me of Woody Allen and in particular revokes one of his greatest achievements in Annie Hall. Although it gives the impression of a rather light film, it also makes us look inside ourselves and think about why we so often yearn to venture backwards instead of forwards.

Silent Sunday

Children in Need 2011

Poverty is the single greatest threat to the well being of children and families.
It can affect every area of a child's development - social, educational and personal.

In 2010, the wealth of Britain's one thousand richest people rose to £395 billion. And yet, in the fifth wealthiest country in the world, the United Kingdom, it is estimated that 3.8 million of children live in poverty NOW. An incredibly shocking figure. Whilst we are squeezing our brains to think whether is better to get an ipod touch or an xbox for our children for Christmas there is a huge number of kids somewhere who do not know if and when will have their next meal.

So please stop and think about this for a minute and, if you can, save the money for a couple of lattes and donate to Children in Need on 03457 332233 or go to

http://www.bbc.co.uk/pudsey/donate

Bye bye Silvio, good riddance!

(RESIGNED - The Italian crowd celebrating in front of the Italian Parliament)


Silvio Berlusconi resigned as prime minister tonight at 21.43 after the Italian Parliament approved on a package of austerity measures. His "reign" (government) lasted 1284 days.

Demonstrators chanting "resign, resign, resign" had gathered outside parliament and Berlusconi's car was pelted with coins as it drove to the presidential palace.

This is the end of an era. Let's hope it's the start of a new positive one. Let's hope that Italy can make it. Let's hope that something will really changes in the future both for Italy and Europe. Whatever happens now it will take a long time. And the Italian people, after tonight's brief euforic moments, will start complaining again, they will easily get fed up with the interim government, then with the auterity measures and then with the new permanent governement (whenever this is going to happen). I hope I'm wrong.

In the meanwhile, le roi est "mort", vive l'Italie!

Fatal Colours, Towton 1461

“The red rose and the white are on his face, the fatal colours of our striving houses" (from Shakespeare’s Henry VI Part 3)

How many times I have driven up the A1M and the taken the turn-off to York oblivious to the nearby site of Towton and its significance? This year is the 550th anniversary of the ferocious Battle of Towton, the largest and longest battle of the Wars of the Roses which Shakespeare depicts in Act 2 of Henry VI Part 3. It took place on Palm Sunday 29th March 1461 in a blizzard and lasted for about ten hours; it was probably the bloodiest battle ever fought on English soil. Contemporary accounts, including a letter written by Edward IV to his mother, Cecily Neville, the day after the battle, put the losses at 28,000. And with the Yorkists victory against the Lancastrian force it settled the first Wars of the Roses in favour of Edward IV, at the time only 18 years old.

This brutal battle is well handled in George Goodwin’s book ‘Fatal Colours’. And thanks to him I have discovered a very important piece of history that contributes once more to my Plantagenet’s jigsaw, that’s currently my latest historical passion after the Tudors. Goodwin's book is a careful examination of the events at Towton but also creates the backdrop of fifteenth-century England. From the death of Henry V, with his baby son's inheritance first of England, then of France, he chronicles the vicissitudes of the 100 Years War abroad and the vicious in-fighting at home. He brilliantly describes a decade of breakdown of both king and kingdom, as increasingly embittered factions struggle for supremacy that could only be secured after the carnage of Towton.

A very enjoyable read that unfortunately was a bit spoilt for me by the clichéd depiction of Richard of Gloucester (later III) as a scheming and evil duke and subsequently monarch who not only murdered his young nephews in the Tower but also personally killed the crazy Henry VI. I think this is an accusation too far that, according to my knowledge and sources of information, has no historical evidence.



(George Goodwin talks about the Battle of Towton on BBC Look North)

11.11.11

What are your plans for tomorrow? Did you know that it will be the 11 / 11 / 11? In the calendar this curious combination of numbers occurs once every hundred years, and according to the oriental numerology it will be a very lucky date, that’s why many couples, especially in India, have chosen this date to celebrate their wedding.

But it is not considered lucky all over the world; in the Western medieval symbolism, for example, the number 11, going beyond the 10 Commandments, would be the number of sin.

Should we believe this? Of course not, because in the same Christian tradition the number 11 can take a completely different meaning; it is the number of the Apostles that remained faithful to Jesus after Judas' betrayal, but also the number of ships that accompanied St. Ursula to Cologne in her battle against Evil.

Superstition, however, is limitless and so, just look around a bit on the Internet and you’ll discover that the imminent arrival of 11/11/11 has sparked the imagination of many people around the world and led to over 194 millions web pages devoted to this subject.

Whether you believe in "the magic of number 11" or not, try this little “experiment” with your friends. It’s very simple. Add up the last two digits of your year of birth (for example "74" if you were born in 1974) with the number of completed years (or to be completed) during 2011. You will find that the result is always "111" ("74" + "37" in my example).What’s the trick? Actually, there is no trick; 111 is the result of a sequence of simple additions and subtractions:our year of birth - 1900 + of our current age = 111

Obviously next year the same formula will result in 112!

18 years ago...

(when he was one ...)

... my little baby boy was just born and I knew form the first moment I saw his little face that he would have been the love of my live. Although he is now officially an adult, he will be always my baby. Very soppy, but true. Happy Birthday, my dear son!

Sunday but not silent today

This may look like a hurricane on a Caribbean island but unfortunately it’s Genoa, a lovely port city in the Italian Riviera, where at least seven people were killed as flash floods tore through its centre last Friday, a week after torrential rain battered nearby coastal areas. There have always been floods but it is shocking that people still have to die because of them in 2011 when technology seem is so advanced and bad weather conditions should be forecast and measures taken to avoid these disasters. As I have mentioned before, in spire of all our might and arrogance, we are still powerless against the fury of nature.

(Photos from Primocanale)

Haunted York

York is said to be the most haunted city in the world with a total of 504 recorded hauntings according to the Ghost Research Foundation International. I have lived 17 years in this historical wonderful city and I have never seen a ghost myself. So Last Monday I decided to go on a ghost guided tour for the first. To be honest, I wanted to know more about the ghosts of
York but I also wanted to escape the never-ending knocks at the door for the usual Halloween "trick or treat"!

Unfortunately I was not the only one to have this idea on Halloween night as the many ghost tours, walks and trails of York seemed to be fully booked! York has around four million visitors a year, and there are plenty of people competing to show them the ghosts of the city. One of the best and oldest is the Original Ghost Walk, where you will hear some of the most famous tales of ancient betrayal and persecution. Here are just a few…

York is apparently still haunted by 2,000 year-old ghosts: the lost Roman Legion. An apprentice plumber installing a heating system in the cellars of the Treasurer's House, spotted the ghosts in 1953. He heard a horn in the distance, and then a disheveled Roman soldier on a horse emerged from the brick wall. This soldier was followed by others, all looking dejected, carrying swords and spears. They appeared to be walking on their knees, but really an old Roman road is located fifteen inches below the cellar, so the ghosts could have been walking on their own familiar road, on their way to the Minster.

Near Treasurer’s House and in a building attached to St William’s College, a ghostly child, who starved to death after her parents died from the plague, appears to haunt the upper parts of the house and is said to scream and bang against this small windows in search of help.

The story goes that several orphans died in the nearby Industrial Ragged School during the 1800's, due to the negligence of the alcoholic schoolmaster; now, on cold nights, people have reported walking by the arch only to feel a small child take them by the hand... Childish giggling and terrible screaming has also been reported.

Thomas Percy, Earl of Northumberland, was executed for treason in York: as a staunch Catholic he had plotted against the Protestant Elizabeth I. He was beheaded in 1572, and his head stuck on a large spike on Micklegate Bar as a warning to anyone else with similar ideas. There it remained for many years until eventually recovered and buried in the churchyard of Holy Trinity church in Goodramgate. The body of the Earl has been seen on many a night staggering through The Shambles, where his body was buried, searching for his mislaid head.

A load of horror tales or do phantoms and ghouls really lurk in the city of York? Just come and visit York to find out for yourself...