Never mind the Hallmark movies, if you want a great Christmas film, you can’t go wrong with this. Starring Cary Grant, David Niven and Loretta Young, “The Bishop’s Wife” involves Bishop Henry Brougham (David Niven) who becomes obsessed with the idea of building a cathedral. This needs funds, and his main donor is a self-absorbed…
And man, at war with man, hears not The love-song which they bring; O hush the noise, ye men of strife, And hear the angels sing. No! shout the people of strife We won’t listen! Love is meaningless Peace is for the strong Justice is for the rich So tell heaven’s all-gracious king we will…
On the face of it, there’s nothing much to it. The run time is under half an hour, the animation is shoddy, and the voice actors mostly inexperienced. The plot is rudimentary at best. And yet … there’s something about Charlie Brown and his friends that appeals to people all over the world. They inhabit…
Check the clock, organize shop, visit, eat, drink invitations issued and accepted, cards dutifully filled out gifts dutifully bought tick off the to-do list until at last it’s all organized Christmas by the numbers How much is duty how much is expectation how much is actual love how much is remembrance of God’s great…
He’s lovely, truly lovely Old bulldog with squashed in face, plenty of drool, stinky doggy breath with wagging rump and happy pants pleased to meet me and get pats and praise so lovely Lovely, so lovely, stray cat in the shelter battle-scarred and scruffy, face only a mother could love climbing into my lap,…
Dawn over the water Early morning glow of gold and red reflecting back from the blue depths Spring announces itself with buds encapsulating promises of glorious colour Baby leaves begin to unfurl on mostly bare trees Birds sing softly it’s a new day And in this moment the world turns In this beauty all…
There is a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is…
Time was, when I cried I did so without fear of discovery when I was anxious and afraid I weathered the tempest alone No one saw me because I was invisible Momentary notice occurred if something was wanted then back to insubstantiality I went Walking through a sea of other people’s lives reaching out to…
What do we mean each time we speak communication so often set adrift on a sea of misunderstanding What we try to say becomes foggy, misty intangible and tenuous drifting wisps blown away in the wind A wrong word changes things but so does how we speak why we speak history of our interactions plays…
Arkady and Boris Strugatsky were writing in Soviet era Russia, and the environment in which they worked gives their books an added nuance, knowing the societal constraints under which they were working, and what they managed to achieve. This is the second book I have read by these authors, and I have enjoyed it just…
Eclectic Assemblage 