English eccentricity? - Update

Video clips from this year's Durham Savoyard's wonderful performance of The Mikado can be found by clicking here.

Thanks and acknowledgement to Darryl and Mary Freedman for recording this for prosperity.

English eccentricity in North Carolina?

English eccentricity? Definitely not (well maybe). I refer to those ingenious Victorian gentlemen William Schwenck Gilbert and Arthur Seymour Sullivan.

After living in North Carolina for four years and gradually becoming more "American" in many of my habits and, indeed outlooks, even though clinging to my "Englishness", I was reminded, with a (very pleasant) jolt that I still retained it. On Thursday evening, our son Stuart (English born, American citizen) invited me to the preview performance of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado at the wonderful Carolina Theater.

I had heard of The Durham Savoyards, as a neighbor and his wife are very involved. The Savoyards have for 47 years been performing the dynamic duo's works. Stuart had been before so knew what to expect. I was ready to enjoy myself, especially as The Mikado is probably the best known of the fourteen operas created by G&S. I looked forward to hearing the familiar music and clever lyrics with keen anticipation.

What I wasn't ready for was the amazing appeal of Gilbert & Sullivan to an audience of enormous cultural diversity. Imagine my surprise when, immediately after the orchestral conductor was introduced, a familiar drum roll saw everyone standing for the British national anthem! A spotlight was directed on "The Royal Box" and shone on none other than "Her Majesty Queen Victoria" (accompanied, I noticed, by John Brown).

125 years after the first performance of The Mikado, sub-titled The Town of Titipu, this performance was as fresh as ever (no, I wasn't at that first performance). To say I enjoyed the evening would be an under-statment. The send-up of Victorial England's social customs disguised in a Japanese setting, gives us such characters as Nanki-Poo, Yum-Yum, Pooh-Bah, Pish-Tish. The appeal I can understand, as nearly 48 hours later I am still singing the songs.

The Durham Savoyards deserve praise and support for this wonderful production and yes, I have already pencilled in my diary the dates of next year's performances of Princess Ida.

Weather and critters

The English, they say (and who "they" are, I've never known) are a nation of moaners. Our Australian friends don't call us "whinging Poms" for nothing.

As Stuart says, "the English have a God-given right to complain". Hmm, I sort of agree with him and certainly "The Weather" is one subject that we do comment and usually complain about. It's too wet, it's too cold, it's too hot, it's too windy, etc.

One of the many considerations we gave to moving to Andalusia was that following retirement and spending time out of an office/factory environment, it struck me just how grey (gray) and overcast most days seemed. Even during the summer and the temperatures were obviously warmer, clear, "wall-to-wall" sun days seemed rare.

Of course, Andalusia has a share of them too, and the Costa del Sol is known for it's windy days. The climate - lack of wind (generally) and the Carolina blue skies and plenty of sun, even during the winter, attracted us to the Old North State.

The English are not alone in making "The Weather" a frequent topic of conversation. It happens here too folks. There is an excellent forecasting service throughout the media - one of our local TV news channels has detailed forecasts every ten minutes.

What's all this got to do with "moaning"? Okay, I'm ready for Spring and warmer weather. This has been, without doubt, the coldest winter we've spent since leaving England. Whilst I usually enjoy the four seasons, temperatures here have generally been considerably lower than normal, and I'm now ready for warmer days. We have forecasts of a warm-up next week - 65 on Thursday. Bring it on! Bring on the 80s too! And when we are sitting on the porch during the 90s, yes, you've guessed it - I'll be moaning about the heat!

The critters? We have a yard full of wildlife with many species of birds. They give us so much pleasure throughout the year that we repay them by making sure that they are well fed and watered during the winter. We have managed to keep most of our feeders "squirrel-free" - except for one. It's a clear plastic one which fixes via suction cups to a window. We have tried fixing it to different windows, but however successful we think we are, dear little "Squirrel Nutkins" manages to find a way to reach it, knock it off the hooks thus spilling the food for him and his bushy-tailed friends to feed at leisure on the ground.

I can't help admire his ingenuity, but I'm sure this cheeky little critter would try the patience of Saint Francis himself!

The battle continues.