Sep
10
BBC Proms on TV are boring
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Why are the BBC Proms on the TV so boring? The Proms themselves are a marvellous festival combining the very best soloists, orchestras and chamber groups; popular with varied programmes and all at an accessible price for anyone who doesn’t mind queuing.
The TV coverage, though, is terribly boring. But much of the chat around the concert was impenetrable with my B at music A-Level. Watching a symphony orchestra is not a visual extravaganza on the best of days.
But if a Haydn and Schubert concert on BBC4 is this dull, to a semi-trained muso, then the BBC may struggle to convince politicians that its lavish proms budget is fulfilling a public service. That would be a disgrace.
Sep
9
Dear Brian Hartzer, Nat West CEO
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Dear Brian Hartzer Thank you for your letter to me as a customer of Nat West.I’m sorry that the following letter is not more entertaining but bank charges makes for a dry subject. I was surprised to read about it in a full page advert in The Times. I don’t usually get the Times in [...]
Aug
26
Gang Leader for a Day by Sudhir Venkatesh
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Gang Leader for a Day: a rogue sociologist crosses the line by Sudhir Venkatesh recommended itself to me becuase Mr Venkatesh is the man behind the “why do drug dealers live with their Moms?” of Freakonomics fame. To cut a long story short, Venkatesh was studying at university in Chicago and wandered into one of [...]