Happy Birthday: Achille Claude Debussy (22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer, born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Born to a family of modest means and little cultural involvement, Debussy showed enough musical talent to be admitted at the age of ten to France's leading music college, the Conservatoire de Paris. He originally studied the piano, but found his vocation in innovative composition, despite the disapproval of the Conservatoire's conservative professors. He took many years to develop his mature style, and was nearly 40 when he achieved international fame in 1902 with the only opera he completed, Pelléas et Mélisande.

Debussy's orchestral works include Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1894), Nocturnes (1897–1899) and Images (1905–1912). His music was to a considerable extent a reaction against Wagner and the German musical tradition. He regarded the classical symphony as obsolete and sought an alternative in his "symphonic sketches", La mer (1903–1905). His piano works include sets of 24 Préludes and 12 Études. Throughout his career he wrote mélodies based on a wide variety of poetry, including his own. He was greatly influenced by the Symbolist poetic movement of the later 19th century. A small number of works, including the early La Damoiselle élue and the late Le Martyre de saint Sébastien have important parts for chorus. In his final years, he focused on chamber music, completing three of six planned sonatas for different combinations of instruments.

With early influences including Russian and Far Eastern music and works by Chopin and Liszt, Debussy developed his own style of harmony and orchestral colouring, derided – and unsuccessfully resisted – by much of the musical establishment of the day. His works have strongly influenced a wide range of composers including Béla Bartók, Igor Stravinsky, George Gershwin, Olivier Messiaen, George Benjamin, and the jazz pianist and composer Bill Evans. Debussy died from cancer at his home in Paris at the age of 55 after a composing career of a little more than 30 years.

[I must admit that I only really started getting into Debussy after obsessively listening to my brother's Tomita record - yes, on vinyl - where they covered various of his pieces electronically. I loved it so much that it was one of my first CD purchases. It took me a little while to appreciate the original artist but once I did I loved it!]

Erm.... Doesn't *everyone*...? There's a LOT of idiots out there!

"It's necessary to be slightly underemployed if you are to do something significant." 

James Watson, Co-Discoverer of DNA 

"Always remember that it is impossible to speak in such a way that you cannot be misunderstood: There will always be some who misunderstand you." 

Karl Popper 

"No rational argument will have a rational effect on a man who does not want to adopt a rational attitude." 

Karl Popper 

"No experiments are wasted." 

Thomas Edison 

"Whoever lives for the sake of combating an enemy has an interest in the enemy's staying alive." 

Friedrich Nietzsche 

"No matter how many instances of white swans we have observed, that does not justify the inference that all swans are white." 

Karl Popper 

"No one is rich who cannot afford his own army." 

Marcus Crassus, 54 BC. 

"If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?" 

Albert Einstein 

"Sometimes we stare so long at a door that is closing that we see too late the one that is open." 

Alexander Graham Bell 

"We often miss opportunity because it's dressed in overalls and looks like work." 

Thomas Edison 

"We are called to be the architects of the future, not its victims." 

Buckminster Fuller 

"When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this – you haven't." 

Thomas Edison 

"Whenever a theory appears to you to be the only possible one, takes this as a sign that you have neither understood the theory nor the problem which it was intended to solve." 

Karl Popper 

Just Finished Reading: The Last Days of Night by Graham Moore (FP: 2016) [357pp] 

New York, 1888. Young lawyer Paul Cravath couldn't quite make up his mind. Was the offer an opportunity of a lifetime or the ultimate poison chalice? On its face it looked simply too good to be true. Paul was barely out of law school and had only just become partner in a very minor law firm with few clients and no reputation, so why was George Westinghouse - THE George Westinghouse so interested in having Paul as his companies' main lawyer? What was more perplexing, and a lot more frightening, was the reason the Westinghouse company needed a lawyer so badly. They were being sued by a man unaccustomed to losing and who had deep pockets and many friends in both high and low places – Thomas Edison. The case seemed to the untrained eye a straightforward one but the result - either way – would not only determine the future of both companies but the technology that would illuminate the whole of the continental United States. Whoever won the case to decide who invented and therefore owned the 'light bulb' would make a considerable amount of money in the coming decades. With stakes that high how far would those involved go to prove their points and just how far would Paul go to combat them and stake his claim as a lawyer of note? 

This was an interesting one. It certainly made a very nice change from my usual historical fiction reads which normally revolved around either crime or conflict. The comment on the front of my cover says "John Grisham meets Edith Wharton" but as I've only read (I think!) one Grisham over 100 years ago and have yet to read any Wharton I couldn't possibly comment! As you might imagine a goodly chunk of the narrative revolves around the legal arguments of Edison's patents for his light bulb as well as the argument between the uses (and dangers) of Direct Current, proposed by Edison, and Alternating Current, proposed by Westinghouse, with Nikola Tesla thrown into the mix. Along the way we also meet Alexander Graham Bell and J P Morgan – it's quite a list of characters!  

I know a little about the events covered in the novel. Usually I'm not a HUGE fan of fictionalisation of actual events. If they play too much with the narrative and stray too much into the fiction side they, at least, muddy the historical waters. If they adhere too closely to the history itself then it really stops being a novel and becomes a questionable work of historical non-fiction. It is, I think, a very hard line to walk which is why I tend to avoid this kind of thing. The saving grace here, however, is that the character of Paul (and indeed his love interest) although he existed is historically hazy enough to be used as an entree into the actual events. Many of the events that make up the substance of the novel actually happened and the author has (apparently) made great efforts to be as accurate as possible including using biographical and private diary entries to make his main (real) characters as truthful as possible. 

Both the story itself - the technological side of things - and the setting of late 19th century New York/America are well handled and there was never a time I was jolted out of the narrative by anything unexpected. It did actually make we want to know much more about what actually happened and to know more about all concerned. Strangely Edison was most definitely the 'baddie' here (and not just because he apparently enjoyed taking people to court). That's definitely something I need to read more about. J P Morgan was an interesting character, so I predict at least one book on HIM in the future as well a deeper look at the US as it transformed into a global power in the run up to and after WW1. Recommended. I noticed that the authors last published work was another fictionalisation this time around the emergence of economic warfare in the early days of WW2. Sounds interesting.....     

"Back in the Good Old 1980's.... When things were so Uncomplicated....." ELO - Time.

Just Finished Reading: The Last Assassin – The Hunt For the Killers of Julius Caesar by Peter Stothard (FP: 2020) [246pp] 

One of the things that has long fascinated me in my reading of History is what happened afterwards – after the liner sank, after the bomb was dropped, after the battle was won (or lost) and after the assassins had suceeded (or failed). THEN what happened? Unfortunately in my experience the 'afterwards' part is all too often relegated to a few pages of epilogue (if you're lucky) as the majority of the book is focused on the events that led TOO the event and then the event itself. For me that's often 2/3 of a job done. Not so here. 

Here we spend a handful of pages going over the fact that JC crossed the Rubicon (where the phrase comes from of course) and then, eventually, had himself appointed as 'Dictator for Life' rather than accepting the short-term elected position that had gone before. However, the Romans were generally very fond of their Republic and had no intention of suffering under a King and some at least decided to remove that option permanantly (the idea of a No Kings Day protest was no doubt considered either too difficult to organise or would have taken too long). The solution was to put the knife in on the Ides of March.  

The interesting thing I found here was the fact that the 'conspiracy' seemed to be more open than it really should have been – although SOME effort was taken not to involve any of Caesar's actual friends or supporters – and yet no one uncovered it or tried to stop it. The warnings from sooth sayers were characteristically ignored by JC himself as unfounded. The other thing that I was previously unaware of was that the assassins themselves – some 18 in number – had as many reasons for killing him as the toga's they wore to the event. A few were indeed dead set againgst being ruled by a King, but others had personal grudges against the man himself and a few simply expected to profit from the murder. The thing they most expected to happen once the blood was washed off the marble (you have NO idea how difficult that is) was that they would be lauded as heroes. They were wrong, VERY wrong. 

The major thing they wanted to avoid – apart from their own deaths – was a Civil War as JC's potential replacements fought over the vacant throne. Yet, almost immediately (once the initial shock had passed) this is exactly what happened as JC's grandnephew Gaius Octavius (later Augustus) – who Caesar had adopted as his son and successor – and JC's friend Marc Anthony began manouvering for position and finally coming to blows. Along the way, where opportunity or circumstance allowed Octavius had each and every named assassin hunted down and killed. The process took years but Octavius was determined that no one should prosper (or indeed drawer breath) after being involved in his adopted fathers death. So much so that those who bragged about being involved – despite evidence to the contrary – and many of the assassins associates were executed wherever they were found across the empire. 

This definitely filled a hole in my knowledge of Roman history. I knew some of the story, a few of the highlights, and some of the main players but reading this detailed and well written account showed me just how much I DIDN'T know. Although it took me a little while to get into, this was a very imformative and indeed gripping look at one of THE major events in Roman and indeed European history. Recommended.   

NAILED it....!

Happy Birthday: James Keir Hardie (15 August 1856 – 26 September 1915) was a Scottish trade unionist and politician. He was a founder of the Labour Party, and was its first parliamentary leader from 1906 to 1908.

Hardie was born in Legbrannock, Newhouse, Lanarkshire. He started working at the age of seven, and from the age of ten worked in the Lanarkshire coal mines. With a background in preaching, he became known as a talented public speaker and was chosen as a spokesman for his fellow miners. In 1879, Hardie was elected leader of a miners' union in Hamilton and organised a National Conference of Miners in Dunfermline. He subsequently led miners' strikes in Lanarkshire (1880) and Ayrshire (1881). He turned to journalism to make ends meet, and from 1886; was a full-time union organiser as secretary of the Ayrshire Miners' Union.

Hardie initially supported William Gladstone's Liberal Party, but later concluded that the working-class needed its own party. He first stood for Parliament in 1888 as an independent, and later that year helped form the Scottish Labour Party. Hardie won the English seat of West Ham South as an independent candidate at the 1892 general election, and helped to form the Independent Labour Party (ILP) the following year. He lost his seat in 1895, but was re-elected to Parliament in 1900 for Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales. During the same year, he helped to form the union-based Labour Representation Committee, which was later renamed the Labour Party.

After the 1906 general election, Hardie was chosen as the Labour Party's first parliamentary leader. He resigned in 1908 in favour of Arthur Henderson, and spent his remaining years campaigning for causes such as women's suffrage, self-rule for India, and opposition to World War I. He died in 1915 while attempting to organise a pacifist general strike. Hardie is seen as a key figure in the history of the Labour Party and has been the subject of multiple biographies. Kenneth O. Morgan has called him "Labour's greatest pioneer and its greatest hero".

The Results are IN....!

Well Done to the Count! Getting almost HALF of Reforms vote..... Not bad... Better luck NEXT time!

Just Finished Reading: The Last Unicorn by Peter S Beagle (FP: 1968) [292pp] 

It was an overheard conversation at it changed everything. Whilst hiding in her wood she listened in to two hunters passing through. One warned that hunting here was useless because the local wildlife had learnt to hide too well in emulation of the resident unicorn. His companion laughed heartily and explained the unicorns were a myth and even if they had existed (which he doubted) they had long vanished from the world of men. Both amused and irritated by the debate she couldn't help but wonder: was she the last unicorn? If so, what happened to the others? Did they leave to go elsewhere or did they, rather illogically, die – being immortal kind of squashed this idea. There was, she thought, only one way to find out. She would have to leave her sacred wood and venture out into the world and seek out others of her kind or at least find out what happened to them and what might, ultimately, happen to her. Her quest was about to begin... 

Despite this being a classic (although apparently 'lost' for some time) and despite being listed as one of the 100 greatest fantasy novels of all time, I had honestly never heard of it or the author. I think a big part of that is that Fantasy isn't exactly my favourite gene. I've dipped my toes in before (and even wiggled them a bit) but have never really 'dived in' - to extend the metaphor a little further. This book/author might be the start of turning that around because I totally LOVED it! 

I think part of that reaction was sheer surprise. For one thing the novel was really well written - simply beautifully. But it was much more than that. As usual I'll bang on about characterisation. The unicorn herself, as she progressed from understandable naivety to depressing knowledge, is very well drawn. Her companions on the quest likewise are a delight. The immortal (but only until his magic actually starts working properly) wizard Schmendrick was a particular favourite of mine throughout. He's fully accepting of how inept he is but at the same time knows with iron certainty that he CAN do great things given the right opportunity. 

The world building is superb. If you have had any experience of either Fantasy tales or Fairy tales, you'll fit right in. Layered on top of this is the VERY knowing humour that had me literally howling with laughter. We meet a bandit chief who composes songs about himself so that he'll become a part of the local folklore and, eventually he hopes, a myth (yet he doesn't believe that Robin Hood was ever a 'real' person). There is a local villager who, when asked to explain his actions – or actually inactions - responds with (I'm paraphrasing slightly here) the fact that he knows what a hero narrative looks like when he sees one. One other conversation almost floored me the way it fell. One of the other main characters asked why the prince in the spooky castle was 'so important'. The magician looked at her and said, "You've never been in a fairy tale before, have you?" MUCH laughing ensued as the magician clearly knew he was a character in a story and was happy to go along with it! 

This is the kind of book that you could read to your children at bedtime (I suggest for the over 7's as some of the ideas might simply fly over their heads otherwise and there are a few scary bits for the very young). Older children would, I think, not only get a LOT out of this but also get a lot out of re-reading it every 3-5 years. Each read, I think, would reveal more as they matured. But that doesn't mean that this is simply a well-written and enjoyable children's book. Nothing of the sort. This is one of those rare books that just about anyone can read and enjoy. All readers of all ages will get different things from it, but everyone will come away entertained, bedazzled and oddly comforted too. It is a tale of heroism, friendship, love, conviction, exploration and much, much more. Definitely a highlight of the year and DEFINITELY recommended even if you're not normally a Fantasy fan. More to come from this author. 

The VERY Best of Luck to Count Binface in today's By-Election in Clacton! Make Your Vote COUNT! 

Just Finished Reading: The Last Gentleman of War – The Raider Exploits of the Cruiser Emden by R K Lochner (FP: 1979) [303pp] 

In 1914 the war drums, ever louder, could be heard all the way in China. It would only be a matter of time before Germany's Far East fleet was trapped in her home port and either starved into submission or destroyed by the Allies superior numbers. There was only one thing to do – leave port and strike at the superior enemy forces wherever they could be found. In order to do that the commander, Admiral Graf von Spee, wanted to keep his entire force together. One captain, Karl von Muller, asked is his ship Emden could be detached to operate independently. After some musing the Admiral agreed and the historic exploits of that ship began. In the coming months Commander Muller not only managed to evade the sweeps of British, French, Russian and Japanese warships but he also managed to sink thousands of tons of Allied cargo vessels, destroy an oil facility in Madras, raid Penang (an Allied port) sinking both a Russian and a French warship running the Allies a very merry chase for over 3 months without any access to port facilities or the possibility of resupply. What's more, all of the encounters with civilian vessels – both enemy and neutral resulted in not a single death or injury (except maybe to their pride) which was universally praised by all sides. 

But such a run of luck (and skill) cannot last forever. Deciding to attack and destroy an isolated British radio station and cut the international cables which met there, Commander Muller made a fatal mistake. Believing that the nearest Allied warship was at least 250 miles away he sent ashore a party of men to undertake the task at hand. Aware that a message had been sent out of a 'strange ship' in the harbour the German crew knew that they had to work fast. What they didn't realise was just HOW fast they needed to move. Unfortunately for the Emden a heavily escorted Allied troop convoy was only 50 miles away and a fast cruiser – the Australian HMAS Sydney – was dispatched to investigate. Sydney was a more modern, faster and more heavily armed vessel than Emden which quickly found that it was outgunned and could neither stand and fight nor successfully run from her bigger opponent. Within a few hours of the opening salvo Emden lay wrecked, beached on a carol reef surrounded by the dead and dying. It was over – or not... 

The landing party has seen part of the fight and had a decision to make. They could either hide on the island (unlikely) or stand and fight (suicide against a cruiser and any troops sent to follow up any offshore bombardment). Neither option found favour. There was only one alternative – escape and return to Germany, which would mean sailing from North Keeling island (located 1750 miles west of Australia in the Indian ocean) across the Indian ocean, to the Red Sea coastal area, across Arabia to Constantinople and from there, by train, finally to Germany itself. This is exactly what they accomplished with minimal casualties all round. Unsurprisingly they were treated like heroes on their return over a year later. 

I knew the early part of this story having read about Graf von Spee's fleet actions at Coronel and the Falklands (where his command was destroyed much to the relief of the Royal Navy). But I didn't know much detail (or just how heroic) the actions of Emden were. It's an amazing story, well told with lots of detail gleaned from the dairies and reports of those involved on all sides. I was particularly impressed by the logistical nightmare of keeping a ship in action that needed HUNDREDS of tons of coal on a regular basis just to keep going - never mind food and other items. I can definitely see why they shifted to oil ASAP! If you're interested in WW1 away from the mud, shells and gas of the Western Front this is definitely a recommended read for you and worth the effort of tracking down a copy. 

Translated from the German by Thea and Harry Lindauer.  

Happy Birthday: Terence Joseph Nation (8 August 1930 – 9 March 1997) was a Welsh screenwriter and novelist. Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who, as well as the series Survivors and Blake's 7.

Nation first made his name as a comedy writer before becoming a prolific writer for drama, working on many of the most popular British series of the 1960s and 1970s, such as The Avengers, The Baron, The Champions, Department S, The Persuaders! and The Saint. When Nation was commissioned to write The Daleks (1963) for Doctor Who, the villainous eponymous creatures established the series' early popularity. He later devised the recurring character of Davros in Genesis of the Daleks (1975). His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as "much-loved cult TV classics".

In 1965, he and Dennis Spooner co-wrote the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan, after which Nation, who still held the copyright to the Daleks, attempted to launch a Dalek spin-off TV series in the United States. Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others. Over the next few years, appearances by the Daleks in Doctor Who became less frequent and were written by other authors (Whitaker wrote The Power of the Daleks (1966) and The Evil of the Daleks (1967), and Louis Marks wrote Day of the Daleks (1972)).

Following an eight-year absence from the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serials Planet of the Daleks (1973) and Death to the Daleks (1974). Producer Barry Letts and script editor Terrance Dicks felt that the Dalek script Nation submitted for season 12 was too reminiscent of previous Dalek stories, and suggested that Nation rewrite the script to focus on the Daleks' origin. The resulting serial, Genesis of the Daleks, was voted the greatest Doctor Who story of all time by Doctor Who Magazine readers in 1998. In Genesis, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines. Nation also wrote two non-Dalek scripts for Doctor Who, The Keys of Marinus in 1964, which introduced the Voord, and The Android Invasion in 1975, which introduced the Kraals. Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979.

Having returned to writing for Doctor Who, the BBC commissioned Nation to create a new science-fiction drama series. First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague. Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two series were produced without Nation's involvement.

The production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems. This series follows a group of criminals and political prisoners who are on the run from the evil "Terran Federation", piloting a stolen spaceship of unknown origin. Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981. Although Nation scripted the whole of the first series of Blake's 7, his creative influence subsequently declined in the following two series despite writing some key episodes, as script editor Chris Boucher exerted a greater influence on those seasons. Nation didn't write any episodes in the fourth series of Blake's 7. In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth series of Blake's 7.

[Terry Nation played a HUGE part in my teenage years not only in the creation of one of my all-time fave baddies in the Daleks - and as part of one of my all-time favourite TV shows in Dr Who - but also in 2 other series that I loved - Survivors and especially Blakes 7. So, a happy birthday indeed!]

Happy International Cat Day!

NEVER crossed my mind until I saw this..... [lol]

Just Finished Reading: The Last Sunrise by Robert Ryan (FP: 2006) [303pp] 

Singapore, 1948. Lee Crane was finally leaving South-East Asia before it killed him. He'd been offered a job flying cargo into a besieged Berlin and jumped at it. He even entertained the possibility that a certain girl would be there despite her not returning his letters. But fate, it seems, had other ideas along with echoes from his past. He knew what was coming long before Elsa punched him, throwing her entire weight behind it, in front of everyone. He knew that his ex-copilot would show up eventually and that they would use the memory of Kitten to manipulate him to fly somewhere for something illegal that might get them all killed. It was only a matter of time before he was looking down at the jungle again wondering if the airstrip could handle his arrival or whether he had enough fuel to make it over the mountains. Maybe, just maybe, he'd actually get out and leave the god forsaken place. Maybe... 

Although I've had a few books by this author for a while now this is my first time with him. I'm sorry that I waited so long. Overall this reminded me of the thrillers I read in the 70's with characters down on their luck, hoping to make a quick buck and who are still trying to live with the consequences of previous incidents (often war related) that were left hanging and unresolved but still ate away at them. All the elements were there: Lee is a cynical cargo pilot who had ALL of his innocence kicked out of him during the war in Asia first with the Flying Tigers and then as a cargo pilot flying cargo over 'The Hump' for the Nationalist Chinese. Then we have Else, the femme fatal of the piece (I liked her!) who could throw a mean punch and seduce just about anyone. There was even a love story, well told for once, with the mature and somewhat mysterious Kitten who was the focus of the green and very young Lee as he both found his feet and his wings in wartime. The story – full of crosses, double and triple –crosses – friends, enemies, sudden death, espionage, self-dealing and betrayal – was both complex and highly satisfying. The narrative moved at a steady pace and there wasn't a single moment when I found myself even slightly nudged out of the story. It was a good, solid thriller with more than a few nice moments and some great, very well drawn, characters. The only 'slight' niggle I had was with the number of cliff-hangers (some literal) which I thought was somewhat more than necessary. Whilst there's nothing TOO flashy here and the novel didn't exactly knock me on my heels it was still a very entertaining read and I'm looking forward to his other works Recommended. 

WEIRD.....!

Bonus points if you recognise the music playing in the background!