England News/Georgia Weather

   

 

Hey! Do you all remember me writing about the discovery of King Richard III's bones being discovered in a car park in Leicester, England? Phillipa Langley wrote a book about her experiences in bringing this discovery about and it was made into a film, "The Lost King".   I have written about it on my blog; you may find one post just here.  (If you look at that one, there is a link to the post where I mentioned it before that one.)

Now, I have been reading all week about Richard Taylor, an employee of Leicester University.  who sued Steve Coogan, who was the writer and producer of the film "The Lost King".  The court ruled in Richard Taylor's favor, and Steve Coogan and his company must pay "substantial damages".  Mr.  Taylor objected to his portrayal in the film. Phillipa Langley was unable to attend any court proceedings due to ill health.  To me, this does not seem fair.  You may read the court ruling just here.

Even though Richard Taylor won in court, he was still not satisfied and felt that Steve Coogan owed him an apology. If you don't click on any other link here, I hope you will read the piece that Steve Coogan wrote in The Guardian. He will not apologize! I hope you can read the article just here.  It is so well written that I wanted to share that with you!

Oh, and in other news from England...as I was getting my thoughts together about this post, I see that Prince Andrew has been stripped of his titles and must move out of the royal residence and will henceforth be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.  

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Really do wish I could think properly to write this post today, but I am a bit under the weather.  Normally, it is warm and sunny in October, but it has rained all week and the temps so cool, it has felt like wintertime.  Gray skies all week with pouring rain, off and on. Why, I had to wear my gold sweatshirt to create my own sunshine! The sun peeped out for a few moments today and I could see the lovely yellow of the hickory tree in my yard! Never mind, we are promised sun tomorrow.

Look, the last of our summer veggies. If those green tomatoes don't ripen on the windowsill, they will become fried green tomatoes. You know I can make them.

These rain lilies bloom at the Monastery; these were just photographed last week or so. They come out after a rain. How I love flowers.

Take care, everyone.  Hope this post makes some sort of sense!

Peace, Love and Understanding

 

 

I wish we lived in a world where a person would find a butterfly with a broken wing and take it to an animal rescue center for help.  Oh wait, we do!  Hope you can see the video above!

I wish I could find a hidden treasure.  Guess what, I did!  I was going through some old CD's and saw one that I had never seen before.  Richard had gotten it years ago.  He either forgot to tell me about it or else, he did, and it was at Christmas time, and I was very busy. Whatever the reason, it was brand new to me. What a wonderful surprise it was to hear "Quality Street". a Christmas album from Nick Lowe. He is an English songwriter/musician/singer and even though the name sounded familiar, I had to look up some more of his music. (And yes, I do know Quality Street chocolates, you know I do!)

    "What's So Funny about Peace, Love and Understanding" 

This song was written by Nick Lowe, but Elvis Costello had a big hit with it in 1978/1979.  Now, I found a video of Nick Lowe singing it himself and it is just lovely.  (It seems like a totally different song when you hear it slowed down like this.)  I hope you can listen to this video also.

Thanks to all who left comments on my last post about the passing of John Lodge.  I mentioned in a reply to someone that so many left messages of how he personally connected with members of his audience, either from the stage or elsewhere.  Richard just met a friend today who said she saw him in concert in Atlanta a few years ago and John Lodge had spoken to her son. Unforgettable, of course! Upsetting when our heroes die, I didn't mention Robert Redford or Jane Goodall, but I was sad to hear of their passing also.  They were both nature and animal lovers and really, those two go hand in hand.  Great kindness links them all together, in my mind.

Pumpkins everywhere just now, ready for Halloween.  Richard took this photo last year in a local neighborhood. I don't think I shared it. Those jack o' lanterns would have terrified me as a kid. Not to mention Frankenstein and the skull at the door! Nowadays, I bet children just laugh at them. 

Take care and let me know if you can see those videos.

"Isn't Life Strange"- Keep the Faith (John Lodge)

 It is difficult to type this since my eyes are filled with tears. John Lodge passed away today unexpectedly.  He was an English songwriter and musician and if you don't know that he was the bass player with The Moody Blues, then I hope you will search out their music! We are huge Moody Blues fans. I have made the joke that if I had seen the Moody Blues in concert before Christopher was born, he would have been "Justin John", and I would have called him JJ.  (That is really not a joke, that would have happened!)

Richard and I saw them in concert several times when they were in Atlanta. (And each time, Christopher was with us!)  Richard saw Justin Hayward and John Lodge in England in 1975 when they performed as "The Blue Jays".) In 1981 when I first met Richard, he invited me to his home, and he proudly showed me the new Moody Blues album that he had just purchased. Now, let us pause here and remember great album covers, shall we?  This album was "Long Distance Voyager".  Isn't it lovely?  Wonderful songs too!

Fast forward to 2023...and Christopher gave Richard a John Lodge CD signed by John himself! ("The Moody Blues John Lodge- Days of Future Passed-My Sojourn".) A very special gift.

Richard got a poster when he went to the Blue Jays concert.... let's see if I can show it to you here....

When Christopher was five years old, we drove over to Birmingham, Alabama to see the Moody Blues perform.  (And John Lodge was also from Birmingham except he was from the one in England!) This concert was most memorable for me as John Lodge waved to ME! Here is my story:  We were on the second row in the balcony. There were two women in front of us, and they were waving and screaming at the band as soon as they got on stage.  Now, they were waving not just their hands but their arms in a very wild fashion. Knowing what English folks are like, I reasoned that if I waved my hand in a very small way that I might be noticed. Sure enough, John Lodge looked right at me and mimicked the exact wave back at me!  We had made friends with the couple sitting beside us and I said, "Look, he waved at us!". They said, "No, he waved to YOU".  There, that is a wonderful memory and reading just a few things on Facebook, that story is not unusual for John Lodge. 

John Lodge always ended concerts with these words, "Keep the faith"! He was a great bass player and singer, and his love of life and positive energy were always in evidence. Even though he is no longer with us, his music lives on forever. John had a stroke in 2023 but had recovered and was touring. I had just seen where he had scheduled new shows in California for December of this year.  After his stroke he had written a song "Love Will Conquer All".  I have it for you here.

 Peace, love and music!