It was my birthday yesterday, and like most anniversaries, a time for reflection perhaps. For me, as someone severely disabled, a time to reflect on not only how my life has been changed by my disability, but perhaps more positively how much I have achieved in spite of my disability.
That I can still speak means that I can use the voice-activated software with which I can write my blog.
The fact that I can use my Macintosh computer fairly effectively means that I have a connection still with the world.
Recently, I have discovered that the broadcast films I record with my hard disc recorder can be transferred to my computer, and so I have a library of almost 200 films available at my fingertips.
I am a great fan of good films, films with a good story.
I don't like horror and fantasy too much, but otherwise my tastes are fairly eclectic.
The other day, I discovered something interesting when I watch a film entitled The Quiet American. This is based upon a Graham Greene story, and is not the first of his books to have been made into a film.
It is as fascinating as his output of other novels, and doesn't disappoint when translated to the screen. In this case, Michael Caine is the lead actor, and it is typically thrilling, with a surprising and yet perhaps typically for Graham Greene, morally challenging ending.
What was more interesting for me personally was the way in which it made me realise some of the connections I have made in the world. Before I became not exactly reclusive, but more limited in what I can achieve.
Disability does not stop the imagination, and within reasonable bounds, so much more can be achieved than anyone might typically realize.
So for example, my birthday treat to myself this year was to attend a performance of The Magic Flute at English National Opera in London.
The fact that I am in receipt of Self-Directed Support makes this kind of outing more straightforward to plan, because the lengthy journey means that I require the attendance of a carer, and in this case, there were engineering works which prevented me from getting directly to London by train.
Fortunately, the train companies have taken seriously with the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act, and provided me with a taxi to pick up the train from Littlehampton, enabling me to travel to London to see the performance, a matinee and the last opportunity to see this production by Nicholas Hytner.
It was stretching my capacity to travel from home to its limit, but it was a success. And a memorable one.
Going to the Opera is a strong reminder of the life I used to lead, in the Education Department of Opera North, the full name for which was originally English National Opera North. A Northern outpost of the London based National company.
Although I am not a musician, my work at Opera North enabled me to go on and become the Development Director at the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in Edinburgh, where I was responsible in effect for the education programme.
This is where I came into contact with the composer Craig Armstrong, who I was surprised to discover had composed the soundtrack for the film version of The Quiet American.
He has also composed the soundtracks of films such as Love Actually, and Moulin Rouge. He has a number of other film credits to his name, but too many to list.
I had tea with Craig in his Glasgow house once, when I employed him to work with students at the Edinburgh School of Art to help them compose soundtracks for their animated shorts. It was part of my work for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and the resulting compositions were performed live by a small ensemble of about five musicians from the orchestra, to accompany a showing of the student's films.
It was a great success, and Craig asked for the same person to conduct his music at this event as conducted the music that was recorded for Moulin Rouge.
And so whenever I see one of the films that Craig Armstrong is credited as the composer, I have the glow of pride that comes from having been connected to much greater things in the world.
It is those connections, and the strangeness of them that constantly surprises me. When I saw The Quiet American I was reminded that I had once or twice slept overnight in the house in London where Graham Greene once lived.
A friend of mine was living in the house, which had passed to the granddaughter or great granddaughter of the author, and a number of mainly women shared the house, and therefore its upkeep.
I can remember that one of the girls that had lived in the house had been an unfortunate member of the party that had been involved in the sinking of a boat on the River Thames, when so many young people died in a tragic river accident. The Marchioness claimed so many lives.
And so another sadder connection to world events, and I am sure most of us, if we care to look, can discover a network of connections that stretch strangely far into the world.
Tuesday 25 September 2012
Tuesday 11 September 2012
A Worthy Challenge For Those Post-Olympic Blues
I suspect I am not alone in feeling bereft of something, now that the Olympic period has drawn to a close.
In the wake of this, I have an appropriate and worthy challenge for all of my blog readers, across the world. Please pass it on.
In the eight months that I have been writing my blog, nearly 1000 page-views have been registered on my statistics, and the reading of the statistics resembles in some small way the medal table for the Olympics.
In other words, a large number of countries have been represented, often surprising to me, and this has given me the idea for a challenge that is perhaps my way of competing for that wave of opprobrium that so many of the athletes, and not just those from team GB, have experienced in that stadium that has no doubt in this focus of a worldwide audience for the past several weeks.
My concept is simple, and like the Olympics, participation need not cost anything.
On the other hand, for a small cost, it will be possible to earn for your country a gold medal in the medal table. Perhaps this cost, because of its charitable application, should be compared to the effort that a gold medallist might invest in their preparations for the Olympics.
The worthy cause I have in mind is a Hospital, and not just any Hospital.
It happens to be just across the road from where I live in Worthing in West Sussex, but it began life in 1915 as the George V Hospital in London, where its construction took place in the shell of the Imperial Stationery Office, which was in the process of construction at the time.
The plans were swiftly altered, and a 2000 bed Hospital came into being, which was the first point of treatment for so many of the badly injured soldiers returning from the front from the trenches of The Great War.
Perhaps unsurprisingly the work of this Hospital did not end with the signing of the armistice in 1918, and until its move to Worthing in 1933, where it still continues to provide support and rehabilitation to members of the armed services predominantly, it was located just north of London in a country house that was provided on a charitable basis by the Charrington Brewery family.
It was the place where Douglas Bader got his tin legs fitted, in the film Reach For The Sky, and today although there are additional patients not drawn from the services, it is still fundamentally a home for soldiers ranging in age from 22 years to 100 years of age.
It is an extraordinary place with an extraordinary history, and I have been greatly honoured by the fact that my first volume of poetry is available for sale through the fund-raising shop online at the Hospital, with all proceeds from sales contributing to maintaining the extraordinary standards that the home achieves.
I think part of the reason for my confidence in approaching the Hospital with this idea for a fundraising proposal was that when I gave two copies of my book of poems to my local Library, one copy was placed in the Lending Library, and one copy was lodged in the prestigious County Local History Collection, recognizing perhaps not so much the quality of my poetry as the fact that I have included in this special fund-raising edition an essay about meeting Dame Vera Lynn at the hospital, and both Dame Vera and the Hospital are considered important enough for my volume to have been included in this collection, where it is rubbing shoulders with works by Shelley, Kipling, and Balzac.
At the 2012 International Festival of Disability Film, in Calgary, Canada a short 12 minute film made and edited by me was accepted for exhibition, and this film includes two of my poems, completed whilst I was on location during a respite week at an extraordinary historic home near Ipswich, which is very much the subject of this short film, and the quality of the care that I received during my respite week there with the Sue Ryder Trust.
I had hoped that my film might have made its way into the Cultural Olympiad which has taken place alongside the Olympics, but have been unsuccessful in my efforts.
But these three things, my book and its purpose, the film and its ambition, and perhaps simply my blog, might satisfy the gold, silver, and bronze which athletes have striven for in competition.
And so what I propose is to produce a medal table, say one year from today, just three days after team GB have paraded majestically through London, in which participation is possible in these three different ways.
A gold medal is achieved if a copy of my poems in this special fund-raising edition is purchased, directly from the Hospital, a silver medal is allocated if the film is viewed and I am notified in some way, and a bronze can be achieved simply by reading my poetry online, which can be done free of charge through my print on demand publisher.
It is a kind of challenge I suppose, but I have been so impressed at the way in which my blog has achieved such a wide readership, that I believe perhaps this could be translated to the purpose I have outlined.
It is so much in the spirit of the Olympics, in that participation itself is the object. I will not benefit personally at all financially, but the Hospital may.
And so I provide within this blog all of the links needed to participate, and you have my word as an equivalent to the oath taken by athletes and judges alike that fairness will be my constant companion.
Perhaps the point to aim for in my special edition is the essay about my meeting with Dame Vera Lynn at the Hospital, which is a short 3000 word piece, and will give a small flavour of the Hospital at one of its annual open days.
At the end of the book, I provide my e-mail address, but comments about the film could be communicated via YouTube, the link also provided.
I will ask the hospital to keep me informed of Gold medal purchases, and as no copies have as yet been purchased, there is no hidden home advantage.
Although you can read the poems for yourself, if you did need any recommendation, I have received my first Arts Council of Great Britain award for a project linked to this volume. This ought to be some recommendation of its quality.
Good luck and thank you in advance if you should take part in this challenge.
It is after all a worthy cause.
To purchase:
http://www.qahh.org.uk/get-involved/donate/shop/
The Film:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPDcI8cTSLo
The poems:
http://www.completelynovel.com/books/50-x-50-useful-poetry-for-troubled-times-extended-edition--2/read-online
In the wake of this, I have an appropriate and worthy challenge for all of my blog readers, across the world. Please pass it on.
In the eight months that I have been writing my blog, nearly 1000 page-views have been registered on my statistics, and the reading of the statistics resembles in some small way the medal table for the Olympics.
In other words, a large number of countries have been represented, often surprising to me, and this has given me the idea for a challenge that is perhaps my way of competing for that wave of opprobrium that so many of the athletes, and not just those from team GB, have experienced in that stadium that has no doubt in this focus of a worldwide audience for the past several weeks.
My concept is simple, and like the Olympics, participation need not cost anything.
On the other hand, for a small cost, it will be possible to earn for your country a gold medal in the medal table. Perhaps this cost, because of its charitable application, should be compared to the effort that a gold medallist might invest in their preparations for the Olympics.
The worthy cause I have in mind is a Hospital, and not just any Hospital.
It happens to be just across the road from where I live in Worthing in West Sussex, but it began life in 1915 as the George V Hospital in London, where its construction took place in the shell of the Imperial Stationery Office, which was in the process of construction at the time.
The plans were swiftly altered, and a 2000 bed Hospital came into being, which was the first point of treatment for so many of the badly injured soldiers returning from the front from the trenches of The Great War.
Perhaps unsurprisingly the work of this Hospital did not end with the signing of the armistice in 1918, and until its move to Worthing in 1933, where it still continues to provide support and rehabilitation to members of the armed services predominantly, it was located just north of London in a country house that was provided on a charitable basis by the Charrington Brewery family.
It was the place where Douglas Bader got his tin legs fitted, in the film Reach For The Sky, and today although there are additional patients not drawn from the services, it is still fundamentally a home for soldiers ranging in age from 22 years to 100 years of age.
It is an extraordinary place with an extraordinary history, and I have been greatly honoured by the fact that my first volume of poetry is available for sale through the fund-raising shop online at the Hospital, with all proceeds from sales contributing to maintaining the extraordinary standards that the home achieves.
I think part of the reason for my confidence in approaching the Hospital with this idea for a fundraising proposal was that when I gave two copies of my book of poems to my local Library, one copy was placed in the Lending Library, and one copy was lodged in the prestigious County Local History Collection, recognizing perhaps not so much the quality of my poetry as the fact that I have included in this special fund-raising edition an essay about meeting Dame Vera Lynn at the hospital, and both Dame Vera and the Hospital are considered important enough for my volume to have been included in this collection, where it is rubbing shoulders with works by Shelley, Kipling, and Balzac.
At the 2012 International Festival of Disability Film, in Calgary, Canada a short 12 minute film made and edited by me was accepted for exhibition, and this film includes two of my poems, completed whilst I was on location during a respite week at an extraordinary historic home near Ipswich, which is very much the subject of this short film, and the quality of the care that I received during my respite week there with the Sue Ryder Trust.
I had hoped that my film might have made its way into the Cultural Olympiad which has taken place alongside the Olympics, but have been unsuccessful in my efforts.
But these three things, my book and its purpose, the film and its ambition, and perhaps simply my blog, might satisfy the gold, silver, and bronze which athletes have striven for in competition.
And so what I propose is to produce a medal table, say one year from today, just three days after team GB have paraded majestically through London, in which participation is possible in these three different ways.
A gold medal is achieved if a copy of my poems in this special fund-raising edition is purchased, directly from the Hospital, a silver medal is allocated if the film is viewed and I am notified in some way, and a bronze can be achieved simply by reading my poetry online, which can be done free of charge through my print on demand publisher.
It is a kind of challenge I suppose, but I have been so impressed at the way in which my blog has achieved such a wide readership, that I believe perhaps this could be translated to the purpose I have outlined.
It is so much in the spirit of the Olympics, in that participation itself is the object. I will not benefit personally at all financially, but the Hospital may.
And so I provide within this blog all of the links needed to participate, and you have my word as an equivalent to the oath taken by athletes and judges alike that fairness will be my constant companion.
Perhaps the point to aim for in my special edition is the essay about my meeting with Dame Vera Lynn at the Hospital, which is a short 3000 word piece, and will give a small flavour of the Hospital at one of its annual open days.
At the end of the book, I provide my e-mail address, but comments about the film could be communicated via YouTube, the link also provided.
I will ask the hospital to keep me informed of Gold medal purchases, and as no copies have as yet been purchased, there is no hidden home advantage.
Although you can read the poems for yourself, if you did need any recommendation, I have received my first Arts Council of Great Britain award for a project linked to this volume. This ought to be some recommendation of its quality.
Good luck and thank you in advance if you should take part in this challenge.
It is after all a worthy cause.
To purchase:
http://www.qahh.org.uk/get-involved/donate/shop/
The Film:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPDcI8cTSLo
The poems:
http://www.completelynovel.com/books/50-x-50-useful-poetry-for-troubled-times-extended-edition--2/read-online
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