A Precious Moment!

I love music.

Rock n Roll or Country, Jazz or Folk. Classical or Opera, I simply love music. And the good Lord blessed me with a life in which I am surrounded by like minded souls.

Sometimes I am lucky to meet some very special people. But to me, there is none more special than Mr Vytautas Landsbergis MEP, who I have written about before on this blog. He is not just a great composer and musician, but he is also one of the true political heroes of our time. And his office is close to mine, and so I am able to share some moments with him far more often than I really deserve.

And so....

He kindly agreed to attend a concert to mark the events unfolding in the Ukraine. After the occasion, a conversation on the stage went something like this:

Me: "Mr Landsbergis, I regret that I never heard you play in this house..."

Mr Landsbergis: "Hmmm...."

At which point he promptly sat down and played for us. I have a soft spot for this stage, because in 2009 it saw the launch of a project to bring more classical music into the parliament. A project initiated by former MEP Tom Wise, under the banner 'FREEDOM OF SPEECH - FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION' and inspired and elevated by the Ukrainian pianist, Dmytro Sukhevienko, a former student of Yehudi Menuhin, and also my daughter's teacher. He is also a good friend and inspiration to me. Dmytro is totally dedicated to to the classical cause.

I was thrilled beyond belief when I was sent the above photo. It is a picture that I will cherish forever.

My thanks to Olga Kaminska for this wonderful image, and for preserving this wonderful memory.

Well Done Canada!

The men's Ice Hockey final is one of the real highlights of the Winter Olympics, which is why it is saved until the end.

It was obvious, during the semi-final between our two former colonies, Canada and the US, that whoever won that game would take the gold. And lo, it came to pass!


The Swedes looked dangerous at the beginning, and their goalkeeper gave the Canadians a hard time - the goal tally could have been higher.

But the big loser in these games has been Vladimir Putin. A lot of money, lots of favours, and some lives, were sacrificed for what was to be his crowning glory. But the world was looking not at Sochi, but at Kiev.

As I have written before, in 2004 Putin feared that he would be remembered as the man who lost the Ukraine. But he got lucky, and played it well. EU Commission President Barroso was to go down in history as the man who lost the Ukraine.

But now, in what was to be his finest hour, Putin has lost it!

The EU is not the winner either - the Ukraine, Germany, and the US have pulled it off.

Exit stage left, Mr Barroso.

Well Done England!

That was a tight one. Both the tries were textbook jobs - very nice!

I have to admit, I somewhat expected Ireland to put in another try in the last 60 seconds, that being a bit of a feature of English sporting events. Nobody can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory like we can!

But a win is a win!

Thanks for that, John.

Any more like this will always be well recieved!!

Just thought that I would share this with you.... :)

Belgian Drivers - Generally Pissed, & Amongst The Worst In The World.

Federal police carried out massive checks on drivers on the A12 Brussels to Antwerp Motorway (partially ploughed section) this weekend. Nearly a quarter of motorists were found to be over the legal drink-drive limit.

Those of us who live here were surprised that the number was not higher.

The entire motorway was closed for the operation. In all 124 drivers were stopped. 27 motorists were over the limit and had to hand in their driving licence. Two were on illicit drugs. Drugs and arms were also seized. Four people on the wanted list were detained.

In total, it was anounced, only three drivers were observed to be driving in a sensible and courteous manner - two Brits and a German.

(OK, I sort of made that last bit up!)



 

After last week's helter skelter match against the perfidious French, it was a joy to see it come together today. Well, sort of.

Again, this thing about dropping the ball. Do they need gloves, or what?

Anyway, it was a well deserved win. I had a bit of a dream about England playing Wales on March 9th, with both sides going for the Grand Slam. That is not to be, but |I still hope that the tournament will be decided on that day.

Well Done Wales!!

Great start to the Six-Nations!

Italy played better than expected, and Wales were a bit sloppy at times, but it was the desired result.