Songs and Sounds on Saturday

Ralph McTell, English singer-songwriter and acoustic guitar player, along with poet and singer, Rod McKuen (more about him another time), were favourites of mine over thirty years ago. Their music never fades.

Potpourri of Favourite Pics

 Do you ever look at photographs and remember every detail of where you took them? Some places more than others impinge on the memory. For example, I can remember everything I did or saw in Italy (Sorrento) and America (particularly New York) yet other places are now a blur. 

Saw this young lady taking pics as we sailed by on our gondola in Venice. I remember the incident, the trip on the canal, and the glass museum, but that's all. 

Passers-by!

Cactus in all its splendour

Somewhere in America!

Now ten years! I still look at this and wish I was there. 

One of Capri's scenic views

Guess where this was taken!

And the bad news is that I can't find the many holiday photographs I took. They seem have been lost somewhere in the changeover of computers. However, I may find them on old blog posts so there's still hope.  

Books and their binding...

Have you noticed that bookbinding is no longer the art it once was? I can understand it in paperback books but hard covers also prevent the opening of a page without it turning back to a closed position. Yes, tight bookbinding makes reading difficult at times.

It is so frustrating when an enthralling story is interrupted by a need to try and force the pages into an open position – a permanent one.  Having rheumy hands doesn’t help although they don’t present a problem at any other time.

The worst time is if I want to read in bed. I can’t read in a sitting position so I have to lie down and hold a book in front of me. Paperbacks are the best, unless I get one that is too tightly bound, in which case I spend half the time forcing the pages to defy the binding. Real problems come with hardbacks. They’re too heavy, you see, and they defy all attempts to keep pages open if the binding is too restrictive.

So, it’s paperbacks in bed and hardbacks in my chair in the lounge where I can use a lap tray to rest the book; this leaves both hands free, one to hold the book and tray steady and the other to stop the pages flipping over while I’m reading.

Book binding skills seem to have gone by the board. From what I can make out they are now glued solid into their covers instead of hand stitched, although I suspect valuable tomes are still bound the old way. Still, it’s only to be expected that cheap methods lead to cheaper products and larger sales. I just wish someone would tell the bookbinders about my hands! 

Songs and Sounds on Saturday

You all know how much I love Sorrento... and this takes me back there

The Three Tenors, which one do you like best? My favourite is Placido Domingo