PeterRS

To those who enjoy classical music (horrible term but I can't think of a more obvious one) the name Jessye Norman on an ad for a concert or a CD or a DVD was enough to ensure a sell-out. Along with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa she was the reining worldwide diva for more than four decades. To the non classical world, she is best known perhaps for her appearance in 1989 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution when she sang the Marseillaise draped in the French flag on the back of truck as it progressed down the Champs Elysees. Or singing at the opening ceremony of the Olympics in her home town of Atlanta in 1996. A big and tall African American with a soprano voice described as a "grand mansion of sound" - having heard her several times I would actually change that to a magnificent mansion of sound - that thrilled listeners with the intimate delicacy of quiet passages to the pure thrilling majesty of the highest of high notes, she died in 2019 aged 74. I addition to that amazing soprano voice, she was incredibly intelligent and knowledgeable. I heard from a friend that when she did a tour around the National Museum in Taipei, there was virtually nothing she did not know about Chinese jade. Then, surprisingly, she had rarely sung in public since 2015. An exclusive article in yesterday's Guardian explains that her death was not as earlier described. Suffering from constant back pain, she had been persuaded by her doctor in America to consult a specialist team at London's London Bridge Hospital. They advised she undergo a little performed procedure which they had performed before. This was to leave her paralysed from the waist down and the desperate sadness of her final years when she was rarely seen in public. While in London she had commenced a lawsuit against the doctors and the hospital which is, like several other London hospitals, owned by an American Insurance giant HCA. Following her death, her brother has taken over the suit. Naturally, no-one is talking. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/sep/30/jessye-normans-family-sue-over-treatment-that-allegedly-left-her-paralysed All this reminds me of the fate of the voice of Dame Julie Andrews. With a voice of extraordinary range, she had been appearing in the stage version of her earlier hit film "Victor Victoria" when informed that she had developed a small polyp on her vocal chords. Her husband, the movie director Blake Edwards, persuaded her to have it removed. The 1997 operation failed and she was left without that amazing voice. A substantial settlement was agreed. Unlike the case of Jessye Norman, though, Dame Julie was able to resurrect her career as an actor. This is a short song from one of The Four Last Songs written by Richard Strauss two years before his death in 1950. This is "Beim Schlafengehen" (When I am falling asleep) which beautifully illustrates her extraordinary voice with amazing breath control and notes that seem to float in the air. The theme of the song is basically "All my senses now want to sink into slumber."

This is merely typical Thai gobbledygook. And it's nonsense. As if retirees earn more than the Thai hi-so set or even many middle income Thais. In the last few months, for the same condition I have seen a doctor at Bumrungrad, one at BNH and one at the public King Chulalongkorn Hospital. The first was at Bumrungrad where the doctor's fee was Bt. 1,500. At BNH it was Bt. 900. At Chulalongkorn it depends which of two options you choose. In the first which means you have to first register to see the doctor between 06:00 and 07:30 am, the fee is Bt. 250. For the more convenient and much less crowded afternoon time, it is Bt. 700. As far as medical tourism goes, I don't think the increase will matter one jot. The fact is that most medical tourism is paid for by major insurance companies who refer patients to Thai hospitals where it is still much cheaper for many procedures than it would be at their home base. Or, as at Bumrungrad, it is very often the rich from the Middle East. Those put off by prices here, still have Indian clinics and hospitals where average prices are still far less than Thailand.

Based on my limited experience, I agree. In fact I did not like HCMC at all. The area around Danang, Hoi And Hue was very active, though. And I am told that in Can Tho a little further south there are some eager young guys.

More competition should be good for cheaper fares - even in biz class. I'd be happy with a few days stopover in Vietnam - although HCMC is not my favourite part of the country. Easy, though, to get to the southern delta, the lovely island of Phu Quoc and the central part of the country in and around Da Nang.

I wonder who was your best and worst Bond actor? I suspect George Lazenby, the former used car salesman and model who replaced the irreplaceable Sean Connery, will be at the top of most readers' lists for the worst. He had met the producer Cubby Broccoli when they were having their hair cut in the same barber shop. His co-star Diana Rigg did not enjoy working with him. "I can no longer cater for his obsession with himself." she said, adding, "He is utterly, unbelievably, bloody impossible!" Desmond Llewellyn who played Q in many Bond movies was no kinder. "How can you expect someone who's never acted before to take on a leading role?" Amazingly, although he had first been offered a contract for seven Bond movies, he did just the one. Thankfully! Roger Moore? I totally disliked the use of silly comedy throughout many of his Bond movies. He was always too lightweight and I enjoyed none. I actually enjoyed Timothy Dalton who started to bring back more drama and daring. Pierce Brosnan never convinced me even though many really liked his portrayal and believed he would be impossible to replace. To me he was just Pierce Brosnan being Pierce Brosnan, the actor acting a part. Is it age that results in Connery being top of my list? Or the fact that the genre was so new and so exciting in those days? Perhaps, but he is still my top Bond. That said, Daniel Craig has grown on me and seems a better Bond for our time. I hope his swan song will consolidate his reputation in the role.

Wonderful!. Just love that A380 aircraft although I definitely prefer the Emirates seating layout to that of Qatar. I wonder which routes it will serve. Since one full A380 is roughly the equivalent of two A350s or 787s, I wonder how the total emissions compare.

After delays of 18 months due to covid, Bond is back. Its premiere was held last night in London with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in attendance. No, I haven't seen it, but the reviewers so far seem to give it huge plaudits and 5 stars. The Guardian review starts - Craig’s final film as the diva of British intelligence is an epic barnstormer, delivering pathos, action, drama, camp comedy (Bond will call M “darling” in moments of tetchiness), heartbreak, macabre horror, and outrageously silly old-fashioned action in a movie which calls to mind the world of Dr No on his island. Director Cary Fukunaga delivers it with terrific panache, and the film also shows us a romantic Bond, an uxorious Bond, a Bond who is unafraid of showing his feelings, like the old softie he’s turned out to be. The BBC reviewer writes - No Time To Die does exactly what it was intended to do, which is to round off the Craig era with tremendous ambition and aplomb. Variety writes - “No Time to Die” is a terrific movie: an up-to-the-minute, down-to-the-wire James Bond thriller with a satisfying neo-classical edge. It’s an unabashedly conventional Bond film that’s been made with high finesse and just the right touch of soul, as well as enough sleek surprise to keep you on edge. Only CNN so far is less enthusiastic particularly critical of its 2'43" length.

The article notes that flight distance is around 12,500 kms. And perhaps adding "one of" clarifies that it is not the longest. But pre covid and even now there are plenty of longer flights. I listed three, one of which is almost 3,000 kms longer. I could have added Dubai to Buenos Aires at 13,670 kms, Dubai to San Francisco at 13,000 kms, Doha to LAX at 13,321 kms etc.

I think that is a slight overstatement. Qantas non-stop 787-900 from Perth to London covers a distance of 14,498 kms. Qatar's 777 Doha to Auckland is 14,535 kms. And Singapore Airlines has restarted its non-stop Singapore to New York flight (changing to JFK from Newark) using A350-900s covering 15,341 kms. Good for PR, though!

With November on the horizon, there will no doubt be a thread started on the conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination of President Kennedy. Few are aware that there was another death just two days earlier, one that attracted few headlines in most countries. So as not to overload the Board with the two events at the same time, let me recount the first here. It's a curious and fascinating story. The Fontainebleau is an iconic 1950s luxury hotel on Miami Beach. Over the years many famous guests have stayed in its suites and rooms. No doubt also the hotel has seen many strange goings on in those suites and public spaces. None, though, is likely to have been as odd as that of one guest who at the time would only have been known to a few Americans. He had checked into the hotel once before. A week or so later he returned and was soon to be at the centre of one of the most famous political scandals for many a year. John Stonehouse was a young, dashing, handsome, ambitious member of the British parliament. He had caught the eye of the Leader of the Labour Party and was earmarked for a future cabinet post. In 1964 after a Labour victory he had been appointed Minister for Aviation, being promoted three years later Minister of State for Technology. After two more years he was promoted again to Postmaster General, a title soon changed to Minister for Posts and Telecommunications. Concerned for years about bringing up his family of three children on a meager parliamentarian’s salary as well as entertaining his short-term mistresses – and his secretary who had become his lover, he ventured into several business sidelines, one a charity. His future seemed bright. On November 19 that fateful year, he checked in to the Fountainebleau Hotel. It was 1974. There he met up with an old friend who was to accompany him the following day at meetings for his private business ventures. Beforehand, he suggested they go for a swim. He changed in his room and met his friend shortly after 10:30 am. on November 20 by the beach cabana on the hotel’s private beach. There he gave his casual shirt, shorts and slippers to the lady on duty, making a point of asking her if she would kindly look after them for him. A strong swimmer, he was in the water for about 30 minutes before returning to his room after collecting his clothes, changing and preparing for the meeting. Late that afternoon following the business lunch with executives from the First National Bank, he wanted again to swim but suggested his friend might prefer to rest. They would meet up for drinks in the bar at 7:30pm. He repeated his actions of earlier in the day, making sure the lady in the cabana remembered him from the morning. He then strode confidently into the calm water and started to swim well out to sea. By 7:45, Stonehouse’s friend became concerned that he had not shown up in the bar. Thinking he might be having a snooze, he knocked on his door. When there was no answer, he asked the hotel management if they could check his room. The room key was at the front desk. Inside, everything seemed normal, even to his watch, wallet, passport, some travellers cheques and return air ticket to London being on the desk. Now worried, his friend went to the beach. Although the cabana was no longer manned, he was able to see inside where he noticed Stonehouse’s beach clothing. Fearing his friend might have got into difficulties or perhaps even been killed by a shark, the police were summoned. All during the next days, nothing was found of John Stonehouse. Indeed, nothing was ever found of him in or near Miami. Very soon he was presumed dead and obituaries published in the British press. After just two days, the Miami police became suspicious. In the case of drowning or a shark attack, it was unusual for there to be no body or body parts washed up somewhere on the beach. Nothing ever appeared. But they had nothing else to go on. Everything pointed to a tragic death in the water. While John Stonehouse had died that afternoon in Miami, another man, Joseph Markham, was on a plane, first to San Francisco where he changed to another bound for Honolulu where he spent the next 5 nights at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel. Joseph Markham wanted a few days rest before yet another long flight all the way to his final destination, Melbourne. He arrived Australia on November 27 and checked in to a hotel. But he was very tired, homesick and desperately missed his lover who would not be able to join him in Australia until some months later. Although just having arrived in Australia, the next day he hopped on a flight to Perth, Singapore, Tashkent and finally Copenhagen’s Grand Hotel where he would finally rendezvous with her. After a few days of passion, he was back in Melbourne by December 10. Having placed a deposit on a rented flat but by now short of cash, the following day he went to withdraw a substantial sum of money from one of the accounts he held in Melbourne banks. From that point on any interest in Joseph Markham should have ended, had it not been for an extremely observant bank teller. This Bank of New South Wales teller had paid out A$22,000 in cash to Mr. Markham just before lunch – a huge cash sum in those days. Returning from his snack lunch, by complete chance he happened to notice the same Mr. Markham walk out of the Bank of New Zealand a few doors down. Something made him concerned that there might be some money laundering going on. So he made discrete enquiries with a friend who worked at the other bank and learned that a very large deposit had indeed been made, only this time by a Mr. Donald Mildoon. After speaking to his manager, the bank called the local police. After tracking down the man who seemed to have two names, they eventually put a tail on him. On Christmas Eve, the Melbourne police swooped and arrested him on a charge of money laundering. By now it will be obvious that Markham and Mildoon were aliases for none other then John Stonehouse. Far from the outward success he seemed to all, Stonehouse’s life was a total mess. His business ventures were all failing badly, he owed investors a great deal of money and his attempts to improve balance sheets were illegal. He had lost his government post when the opposing Conservative Party had won the 1970 election. When Labour was returned to power, he was not given any government position. Perhaps this was a result of an earlier discovery kept highly confidential that soon after becoming a member of parliament he had been spying for the Czechoslovak Secret Police. It is believed he had been caught in a honey trap while on a visit to Prague, although no proof has ever been found. The information he handed over was basically peanuts and he was paid accordingly. He was an amateur and nowhere near the infamy of the famous “Cambridge Five” group of spies who had done untold damage to UK and US interests when spying for the Soviet Union – Burgess, Maclean, Philby, Blunt and Cairncross. But his exposure would have been extremely damaging for the government. With his life in the UK collapsing about him, Stonehouse had for several months decided to disappear, and the ideal way to do this was to fake his own death. But how to do it? Over time he came up with a plan. He would disappear while on a visit to the USA well away from the prying British press, fake death by drowning and flee to Australia. Australia then was far enough away from Britain so that he would not be recognised Perhaps ironically it was the spy fiction writer Frederick Forsyth who had given him the clue about how to obtain his second and third passports. In the hit novel The Day of the Jackal, the Jackal obtains a second passport by looking at gravestones and applying after first selecting the name of a dead person of about his age. Stonehouse phoned the local hospital seeking similar information, making up a story about how as an MP he was investigating under payment of benefits to young widows. Armed with the Markham/Mildoon names, he falsely obtained birth certificates, applied and was provided with his two fake passports. He then transferred money stolen from his companies to his Australian account under the name Markham. He had actually planned to disappear a week earlier. On that occasion he did the same ‘trick’ at the Fountainbleau. Having placed a change of clothes and a suitcase in a disused building a little further up the beach, he had entered the water, swum out quite far and then turned parallel to the beach before getting out of the water. In the fading early evening light he knew no-one on the beach would notice. That time he flew to Houston where he was to pick up a long multi-stop fight to Australia. But the flight from Miami arrived late and he missed the connection south by 10 minutes. With just one Australia flight a week from Houston, he headed back to Miami and returned to London. Once apprehended, the Melbourne police at first thought he was another fugitive who had fled from Britain earlier that same month. The aristocratic seventh Earl of Lucan was suspected of bludgeoning to death his children’s nanny on 7 November. A professional gambler with very expensive tastes, Lucan’s finances were also in a mess, his marriage was on the rocks and a bitter custody battle for his children was in progress. Hours after the murder, which he had admitted to his wife whom he also attacked, he quite literally disappeared and has never been found. In the absence of any further information he was declared legally dead in 1999. Soon the Melbourne police realised it was the missing MP John Stonehouse they had in their jail. The problem was that they could do nothing with him. Although he had entered the country on an illegal passport, that was not technically an offence as in those days British MPs were permitted free entry into the country. Stonehouse could only be deported if the British parliament stripped him of his parliamentary status – an extremely complex and lengthy procedure. It took six months of legal wrangling for the UK to succeed in having him extradited. While still officially a Member of Parliament, he and his lover were tried for fraud in connection with his business ventures. He was sentenced to seven years in prison. His lover of course was his former secretary Sheila who was given a two year suspended sentence. Stonehouse suffered three heart attacks while in prison and was released on medical and good behaviour grounds after only three years. He divorced his wife and married Sheila. He went on to write three books, appeared on television chat shows and eeked out a living. Following another massive heart attack he died in 1988. As was often written following his death, during his 62 years he had lived a life that seemed much more the subject of fiction, a surreal episode in a turbulent decade. But surely any half decent fiction writer would have avoided the simple mistakes that had quickly led to the discovery of the fake death of John Stonehouse and his notoriety at the Fountainbleau Hotel.

My friends in China all agree. As for Xi's sabre rattling, I reckon it is more to prop up the hardliners in his government and the loyal Party supporters around the country. It makes for good copy and reasserts China's (make that Xi's) ambition. He can keep the situation in Tibet, Xinjiang and to a large extent in Hong Kong pretty much out of the media in China. But even in China there is absolutely no way an army of censors could keep news of an invasion of Taiwan with hundreds of thousands killed from his own people, the more so when he would have massacred fellow Chinese.

But how often do we have to be told that that argument holds no water in international law? Control of Taiwan was given to mainland China. Period! Almost every country in the world now agrees that there is but one China. That the Chinese government changed and became communist has nothing to do with it. Governments change all the time but that rarely affects their status in international law. That the communists beat Chiang fair and square should have the same result - no matter what the Taiwan islanders have wanted for a few decades and most of the rest of the world would prefer. Chiang Kai-shek was a fool in addition to being a gangster. His aim was always to marshal his forces on Taiwan so that eventually he would reconquer the mainland. I assume he reckoned that the USA would assist him. With his powerful and extremely persuasive wife Soong Mei-ling being a very popular and powerful figure in the USA, had he tried to do that in the 1950s, perhaps he just might have been successful, the more so after Mao's frightful campaigns Let a Hundred Flowers Boom and The Great Leap Forward when tens of millions of Chinese died. But he did not. What held him back, I do not know. But following Nixon's visit to China and the abandonment of the two China policy, it was Chiang's son, Chiang Ching-kuo, who accepted reality that he had to get rid of Martial law (1987) and do a great deal more than his father to develop Taiwan. The Taiwan situation is one of the longest-lasting outcomes of the Japanese Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, the Second World War and the Cold War combined. It is an outcome absolutely no one ever anticipated.

I find some of the comments in this thread mystifying. I don't know how often I have to write this but the legal position of Taiwan is actually pretty clear. As a result of the Cairo Conference with Churchill and Roosevelt during World War 2, agreement was reached that all countries invaded by Japan during its expansionist years would be returned to the countries which had in effect ruled them immediately beforehand. Like it or not, virtually all of Taiwan was ruled by Beijing and had been so for around 200 years The wording of the Declaration states ""all the territories Japan has stolen from the Chinese, including Manchuria, Formosa, and the Pescadores, shall be restored to the Republic of China" (mainland China then being named prior to the revolution The Republic of China). Could that be more clear? At that time, of course, the gangster and murderer Chiang Kai Shek was the ruler of China. And so it was to Chiang and his Kuomintang Party that all Japanese occupied territories in China were returned. No-one, least of all the Americans, ever thought that Chiang and Mao would split after the war and that Chiang would be soundly beaten and flee to Taiwan. The accusatory "Who lost China?" was a refrain heard for years in Washington after 1949. Naturally the USA wanted out of the agreement it had formerly made. And so it summoned another Conference in San Francisco in 1951. The US wanted Chiang's newly declared Republic to represent China. The UK and others objected. They wanted Mao's government as the legitimate government of China. The result was that neither side was represented. The US then attempted to get out of its Cairo commitment but failed to do so. The delegates agreed that the legal position of Taiwan would remain in limbo to be determined at a later date. Since there has so far been no further legal determination and it remains uncertain if the declaration made at that Conference has any validity, whether we like or not - and most do not - in international law mainland China retains the rightful government of Taiwan. Of course, since 1951 events have moved on at great pace. China is now a world power. Taiwan has established democracy and a thriving economy. But the USA and the UN has also recognised mainland China as the legitimate ruler of all China. More recently, China has all but broken its agreement enshrined in the UN over its actions in Hong Kong. Beijing will certainly have noted that no other country has done anything about it, although the UK has promised to resettle a large number of British National Overseas passport holders - a rather strange document handed out to any Chinese in Hong Kong who wanted it prior to 1997. No other country seems to have done anything but make a small fuss. China is now too big to go against it for long. I agree, for the recent events in Hong Kong have definitely changed the equation. China knows it can do what it pleases in what it and international law regards as its territory. Could war erupt? Taiwan has defence forces (and a lot of extremely cute young guys who have been through the mandatory national service) but anyone who thinks they could stand up to the forces Beijing has at its disposal are in some fantasy land. They would be quickly wiped out. Against that, would Beijing wish to govern an island knowing that those whom it did not kill hate it. Taiwanese have now a taste for making up their own minds. They will not as easily be taken in by mind control as the Tibetans and the Uighyrs. Then there are Biden's latest foreign policy announcements. In the event of a seeming invasion, would the US come to Taiwan's aid, the more so given the legal situation? Who knows? But i'll put money on 'No'! It could build up its naval and air assets in the Taiwan Strait as a show of force, but would it actually use them? To do so would almost certainly risk a major war that could easily escalate and involve other countries. My good friends in Taiwan all would prefer independence. But to a man they certainly do not want any kind of war. So hopefully the stalemate resulting from the 1951 Conference can continue. This may mean Taiwan being a little less hostlle to China - as used to be the case in the first decade of this century. As I see it, the only way Taiwan can gain independence is if China collapses from within. And Xi Jinping is certainly not going to allow that to happen.

What a load a total b/s! I have lived in Bangkok for 20 years and have never had any transport problem with taxi drivers other than a couple with dodgy meters form the airport. The BTS and MRT are extremely safe! What are the new traffic rules for tourists that make it difficult to be part of the public transport system? I have never heard of any unless it is wearing a mask. And which parts of the city are highly dangerous for tourists? Never heard of any apart perhaps from gambling dens which tourists would never find. As for Bangkok being at risk of tsunamis? Funny, Bangkok has never suffered from a tsunami and is too far from the sea for this to be a potential risk. Earthquakes? Bangkok is not in an earthquake zone. There are no records of any earthquake in or near the city. I believe Chiang Mai might be close to a fault line but not Bangkok. The only time I recall the effect of any earthquake was the one off Indonesia 1,500 kms away which triggered the massive 2004 tsunami..

I wonder if they are so concerned about their dreadful image in the country that others mocking them by wearing part uniforms in sex videos may be too close to the truth.

I did know - and still know - friends of John Williams and I did know one friend of William Pleeth's son, one reason I added his father's story. I admit, though, that I have never quizzed any one of them about the sad death of Jacqueline du Pré. Although I had heard the rumours of her death having been hastened, I just assumed that were they true - and I repeat I have not the faintest idea if it is true or not - it was of no business of mine. The poor lady was clearly close to death and suffering badly. The only fact that concerned me was that one who lit up the world of music for a desperately short time had finally been released from her pain. What annoyed me about your initial post was your comment about Ms. du Pré's family which was in fact totally inaccurate and that the 'confession' in the autobiography might just have been inserted to help the publisher to sell the book. As if there is not enough controversy and gossip elsewhere in the book without making up a total fiction! Unfortunately, even her husband comes out of the tale without much credit, apart from getting his mother to come over from Israel for long periods. It is true he moved to Paris to become Chief Conductor of the Orchestre de Paris and therefore to be closer to London. But there he met and had an intense affair with the young Russian pianist Elena Bashkirova with whom he had two sons, both born before du Pré's death. So he had much more reason to be in Paris than looking after his sick wife in London. Only after du Pré died, though, did they marry. I know precious little about MS and have no idea what condition Ms. du Pré was in in the days immediately prior to her death. From the autobiography, Ms. Branch clearly knew her and was clearly a friend of some description. Equally, she had clearly visited the house. Yet in the Daily Mail article, Cynthia Friend neither confirms nor denies this. She also does not confirm when du Pré might have been able to say a few words. But as Daniel Barenboim points out, a man who more than anyone might perhaps wish her death to be hastened (although I absolutely do not believe this), the story is "unverifiable". Conspiracy theorists might suggest he could perhaps have been more emphatic by saying he absolutely did not believe it and considered it a stupid fiction! "Unverifiable" sounds a somewhat strange response! This all happened almost 35 years ago. In the death certificate, knowing her condition and that she was going to die in a few weeks, would her doctor have considered that there might have been a drug in her system which hastened her death? Had he done so, would he not have insisted on an autopsy? We cannot know. So, yes, there are two sides to the story and neither is fully believable. All we can do is listen anew to Jacqueline du Pré's recordings and marvel that such an extraordinary talent was with us if only for the briefest of periods. And that although her family treated her badly, her friends in the world of music adored her - as did the public. Let's just remember her for her music. The Elgar Concerto is stunning and arguably her greatest achievement but Elgar is not to everyone's taste, so here is a lighter, lusher Haydn Concerto with her husband Daniel Barenboim conducting the English Chamber Orchestra.

With respect, that is nonsense! I'm not sure where you get your information. Is there a website with the detail? I can only comment from what i have read in the reviews and articles regarding the autobiography AND the fact that the story of Ms. du Pré's death not being by natural causes is not new. We have to remember very clearly that her family was not at all caring for her, despite your claim. That was total fiction. Her sister Hilary and her husband were Jesus worshippers and lived in a pseudo-religious Sixties commune. They never forgave Jackie for converting to Judaism when she married the Argentinian/Jewish piano virtuoso, Daniel Barenboim. In fact, they were horrified. And they never let her forget that God would not forgive her! Hilary wrote a book "A Genius in the Family" in which she portrayed herself as an intense and loving sibling. She virtually portrays herself as a sort of Virgin Mary. Yet musicians who visited Jackie regularly, like the virtuoso Australian guitarist John Williams, totally reject that description, describing Hilary as a "nutty" woman who never cared for her sister, who abandoned her despite claiming that she was with her throughout her illness. Williams stated in a 1999 Observer article that her sister and brother were nowhere near her to support her. He adds "Two of her great friends, Cynthia Friend and Diana Nupern, who also died young, used to visit her every day." Cynthia Friend was actually with her when she died. Williams adds - "This stuff by Hilary is - well, it's all woohoo." Cynthia Friend writes - 'I saw her every day, just about. I used to sit and feed her by the end. I rarely saw her brother or sister - once, twice perhaps. I was an only child myself, and I always felt Jackie had no family either. 'They endlessly told her it was God's punishment. She used to ask me if that could be true. It's a bit sick really. 'At the end, the doctor said her death was imminent - it could be two hours, two days, a week. They didn't come. I don't understand that. There were a few of us there, and they didn't come. They came when she was dead. There was, says Friend, one member of the family who was amazing to Jackie - Barenboim's mother, Aida. 'When Daniel was away, touring or whatever, he would call her in Israel. One phone call and she'd drop everything: teaching commitments, husband, home. She'd come, for a month, six weeks. She always used to say to me, in that Israeli-Argentine accent of hers: "She has all this family, and where are they?" She could never understand it.' A few days ago, Friend read a magazine report that Hilary said that at the end Du Pré's so-called 'celebrity friends' had abandoned her. 'I felt like vomiting when I read that. We never deserted her. At the end, it got more and more difficult, but we didn't desert her. Her diary was full of people who came to be with her. Another article makes clear that not one of her family were with her the day she died. One who was was the cellist William Pleeth, the son of her beloved childhood teacher. Although she was by then unconscious, he had heard about people still being able to hear in such a state. So he put on the gramophone her superb recording of the Schumann Cello Concerto. It was during that recording that life slipped from her body. So I for one take what her family claimed as virtual nonsense. I agree with John Williams. They virtually abandoned her. They would have had no clue who visited and what a visitor might or might not have done. Miriam Margolyes' story had nothing to do with a made-up sensation to help sell a book. https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1999/jan/24/theobserver.uknews1

She says in the book that she really enjoys them - and let the cat out of the bag by saying guests get £10,000 for each appearance!

I have no idea how Cathay still exists! The quarantine regulations in Hong Kong have been so severe for such a long time its business has clearly been decimated. I see it has just announced that for the fourth quarter it will only be operating 13% of its pre-covid passenger capacity. Thanks to its scheduling and excellent service (e.g. five daily JFK flights and five to London), it used to make a lot of its profit from first and business passengers on its many long haul routes. Much of that will have vanished. Pre covid it tried to raise some additional revenue by adding extra economy seats on its long haul 777s - from 9 across to 10 across. Having flown one of those aircraft, although thankfully only short haul, I would not be happy sitting in such cramped conditions on a New York or London flight. I remember during the SARS epidemic, it was quick off the mark by sending quite a number of its planes to Australia and parked them in some desert area until business picked up again. I guess quite a lot of its fleet is presently parked down there. Like Singapore Airlines, Cathay's biggest problem is that it has no domestic market. Every flight is international (assuming you count mainland China as international). Once Hong Kong finally opens up again, I expect front end travel will also pick up quickly. But since it already has HK Express, I simply cannot understand the rationale in opening up yet another LCC. Why not simply expand HK Express?

Well he can prosecute quite a few of us for writing about the continuing disappearance over so many years of the Red Bull heir for murdering one of his own cops own by mowing him down whilst speeding around 200kph on Sukhumvit with alcohol and drugs in his system and then fleeing justice. Start charging real criminals, Pol. Lt. Gen., before you go after those who offend your sense of morality. And you can put me in jail for a night for saying that, if you wish.

THAI has been unable to sell most of its A340s for well over a decade, ever since 2008 when it gave up its daily non-stop JFK route for which they were purchased. With no buyer for 13 years, I wonder how it is going to offload other outdated aircraft. Does any carrier still have plans now for the 747-400s? Only the -800 series with the slightly longer upper deck seems to be flying and it did not get many orders.

You may not know the name but no doubt you have seen her, either on television on cinema screens. She was a stalwart in the "Blackadder" tv series, played Professor Sprout in the "Harry Potter" movies, regularly appears in the UK on Graham Norton's show and more recently internationally as one of a group of pensioners visiting india and Japan in a series "The Real Marigold Hotel" based on the movie "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" and its sequel about retirees in an Indian hotel. Or in more serious vein in Martin Scorsese's movie "The Age of Innocence" and as the Nurse in Baz Luhrmann's version of "Romeo and Juliet" with Leonardo DiCaprio as Romeo. Now aged 80, openly lesbian since her early 20s and an LGBT activist, Miriam Margoyles has written her autobiography. One critic wrote, "Reliably outrageous and entertaining . . . a riotous memoir packed with jaw-dropping anecdotes." Another, "the heartbreaking emotional honesty of the book quite took my breath away." This is far from the usual rather stilted life story of a public figure. Margolyes lays it all out exactly as it happened, warts (of which there are many) and all. The book is all about sex, religion, money and politics with a little bit of early cock-sucking thrown in. Celebrity means nothing to her. After meeting Leonardo DiCaprio, she remembers the "dank unwashed" smell of his body. At Cambridge University she found the famous Footlights Review, that cradle of so many future professional comedians and actors, did not allow women. She reserves particular scorn for John Cleese who, she claims, "bullied and ridiculed her at 19. I'd not met studied cruelty like that before." Even today, 60 years later, she cannot forgive nor forget. Introducing herself on set to Stephen Fry, she simply said she was "the fat Jewish lesbian they have to have in this kind of film." Meeting her interviewer in her garden in South London, she calls over to the handsome gardener, "Marcos, do up your flies, there's a young lady here." Margolyes lives close to the daughter of famed actor Dame Judi Dench. During the lockdown, said Dame Judi, "She'd sit on her steps and have a cheering conversation with anyone passing by. I can think of no person that fits the description 'larger than life' as well as Miriam." The autobiography also gives away a very serious secret. For two years she went to therapy. Her therapist, Margaret Branch, remained a close friend. One day she wanted to talk about another patient, no longer alive. Anyone interested in classical music in the 1960s will know that one of the world's most famous young cellists was the extraordinary Jacqueline du Pré. She was in demand all over the world. Even today her recording of the Elgar Cello Concerto with Sir John Barbirolli is regarded as the gold standard for that work. Yet this English rose with so much to live for was forced to retire aged only 28 with the onset of multiple sclerosis. Her life then descended rapidly as the disease took hold until she died 14 years later in 1987 after being bedridden for years. In her memoir Margolyes reveals that du Pré had asked Branch to help her die. Unknown to the world until now, she did so. Margolyes recalls the conversation, the slow retelling, of how Branch had taken a syringe and “the liquid” and let herself into du Pré’s house when her staff had a day off. “I was trained during the war,” Branch told Margolyes. “If you want to help someone to die, or murder them without a trace, you inject them above their hairline. So, of course, I kissed her and I injected her…… And nobody ever knew it was me.” There is a pause. “A lot of people might ask, ‘Why tell that story? It isn’t yours,’” Margolyes says. “But I felt that it was such an important story about a very great artist it should be known, a kind of a public duty. I think it’s wonderful. Heroic, actually.” Naturally some of her autobiography concentrates on her partner whom she first met in 1968. Oddly, perhaps, they have never lived together. Heather lived in Australia for much of their relationship and is now based in Amsterdam. But they meet frequently for long periods and are still clearly very much in love. In her long life she has few regrets. As an only child, one was coming out to her mother about her sexuality. “Ian McKellen doesn’t agree with me,” she adds. “We often have discussions about this, because he feels that you should tell people who you are and they will eventually adapt. But,” she chuckles darkly, “he doesn’t know Jews.” "This Much Is True" by Miriam Margolyes is published in the UK by John Murray Press. https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/sep/19/miriam-margolyes-writing-my-memoir-was-terrifying-its-quite-revealing

You said you'd bottom! Bummer!

On my only visit I also stayed with a couple of gay friends with a home there. But i have another unrelated reason for liking the city. As part of a round the world ticket I had flown in from LAX and then on to SFO. The airline code for Palm Springs is PPS. When I got my monthly mileage statement I was amazed to discover that I had many thousands of miles for what is just a 100 mile trip. Checking in more detail, I found that American Airlines had credited me with mileage to DPS. DPS is Denpasar Bali! I'm the first to complain when mileage is under credited. Did I call American about the over credit? I'm not stupid! LOL Like @TotallyOz, I have visited all the top ten cities. Much as I love New Zealand which I visited twice for extensive trips, Wellington is too windy and too wet for my liking. I'd need to be in Auckland. Thanks to friends, I have spent many happy visits to Sydney which a few years ago would have been my first choice. But the climate issues and the dreadful annual bush fires would put me off now. So I'd opt now for the lovely city of Stockholm.