Egypt

I wrote these prose after my first visit to Egypt 40  years ago.

Carry on Parasite

At lunch time, I went to see the Oscar winning South Korean black comedy thriller film, ‘Parasite.’
Basically it concerns members of a poor family who scheme to become employed by a wealthy family by infiltrating their household and posing as unrelated, highly qualified individuals. It started off interesting, but after about an hour I was getting bored as the film became predictable. Then it moved into another mode which regained my interest after the wealthy family went camping. This, for me was when the comedy actually started. That’s when this thought drifted across my mind, ‘This would make a good Carry on film if a few double entendres were added.’ Basically, if this could win an Oscar, then the Carry On films should have won few.

Sheaves

Glass paint on sheet abstract painting representing tied sheaves of corn with flames from a wildfire rising up between them.

Bamboo with green leaves

Ink painting on a box canvas frame depicting Bamboo plants with green leaves within shoots of small grass under an orange sun.

Bamboo in grass

Ink painting on a box canvas frame depicting Bamboo plants within shoots of small grass under an orange sun.

Bored

I wrote this a few years ago while sitting at my desk on a countdown to my retirement. 

Just like Julie

On this sunny but cold afternoon I took myself off to Sunderland Empire to watch ‘The Sound of Music’ musical. Yes, I know it’s been out for years but I’ve never seen the musical only the film.
So, the music starts and ‘Maria’ enters the stage and begins to sing the title song. I close my eyes and believe I’m in the presence of Julie Andrews. Emilie Fleming, playing ‘Marie’ sounded just like Julie and continued to do so throughout the entire show. Andrew Lancel as ‘Captain von Trapp’ gave an excellent performance. Normally, I dislike children performers but as these are essential to the story they all performances of a high standard of which they should be proud. For me, the star of the show was the ‘Mother Abbess’ played by Megan Llewellyn, who gave an emotionally powerful vocal performance, especially ‘Climb every Mountain’ which brought tears to my eyes. I think this is the best musical I’ve ever seen! Great set, great cast, great performances and of course, great songs.

Flores

Glass paint on 2mm clear glass painting representing four abstract branching flowers whose petal s are falling through thin strands of red-tipped grass.

Birds over mountain waterfall

Ink and watercolour paint painting in watercolour paper depicting three birds flying above a mountain waterfall flowing through a snowy landscape under a wintry sun.