Live Longer, Dyson, Barenboim, Groups

Brian's Blog
I started blogging several years ago after deciding to keep my travel notes of two months of independent travel across the Silk Road in China on the Internet instead of a notebook. An important advantage was that interested parties anywhere in the world would be able to follow our progress. This was never a blog in the conventional sence of floating ideas but simply my way of keeping a diary. I tidy up those often badly written and poorly spelled efforts on return to the UK into a record with summary, conclusions and photographs, reversing the posting order so they read from from start to finish.

When I undertook the role of Group's Coordinator for Swansea U3A four years ago under 30, of 650 members email addresses were known to the committee and email was barely in use. But it was obvious to me that email offered a far more efficient means of mass communication than telephone, word of mouth, or slide shows at the Wednesday Lectures, then the main source of information on Group activities. So I decided to collect email addresses at every opportunity and to write a blog to promote the new groups being formed and those in need of more members. It would also give members a reason to use the Internet. At its peak new email posting alerts went out to over 500 members and the number of groups doubled over the period. Things of course developed a lot in those four years and the main point for information exchange has now become email, the Swansea U3A website plus an emailed Newsletter.

Often postings were written weekly whenever I was in Swansea, over 70 have now been made. Since retiring from the committee last June after a three year stint postings have been very intermittent, being issued only when I feel I have things to write about, which may have little direct connection with the U3A except for comments about those Groups which interest me as an ordinary member.

Anyone interested can find links to all my blogs by Googling 'Oldie Backpacker', the pen name I use when blogging, and following the link given to my profile. 

EAT, FAST and LIVE LONGER

A recent Horizon program by Michael Mosley, medically trained and with a GP wife interested me a great deal because it suggested a do-able way forward to improve physical and mental, health, and stave off ageing. But first I will set our scene to explain why we were so attracted

I am well known as a good eater, who will eat anything even raw sago worms, considered a delicacy by tribes living in Long Houses in Borneo. With our style of pay as you go travelling both Joan and I find we lose weight on holiday but have put it back on again within a few months of getting home. It has been particularly noticeable that we tend to lose around 5kg on a 1 or 2 month trip to India. In India we eat well three good meals a day and one of my favourite breakfasts is Puris a fatty deep fried bread crisp the size and shape of a football. We eat vegetarian like most Indians do, including the rich middle class. I think theirs is delicious food but Joan who has a more sensitive pallet tries to avoid over much chilli. The talk here in the UK seems to be Madras curry because it's hot and macho but curries are more varied over there so watch out for Hyderabad on the menus.

During this spring trip to France we proved, much to Joan's surprise, that a travel style which had worked well in Asia and South and Central America for over 20 years, worked equally well in France. We didn't miss not having a car, nor did we need to join a tour party in order to travel about (see my blog). We found we were tired in the evening after an active day on our feet and so lived quite naturally (without trying to diet) on a good breakfast and a good three course lunch. When we returned home we found we had each lost weigh, in spite of finishing the holiday with 8 days eating extremely well, at our son's house.

A few days before leaving home for France Joan started to have extremely painful spasms in one knee (both hers are artificial, this one is over 13 years old and starting to fail). By the time of return she came to the conclusion she needed to reduce the strain on the joint by losing weight. I came to the conclusion we had to eat smaller quantities and at least continue the progress made in France. Eating less means cooking smaller quantities for those like us brought up in the era of 'Waste not, Want not'. Too often I would finish off oversized casseroles with glee which could have been enough for two days. 

Once home we now ate two meals a simple but cooked breakfast dinner, but little except fruit in between. Our weight continued its down ward path, 3.5kg in my case, but had started to plateau when we noticed the Horizon program about intermittent fasting, since following that advice our weight is going down again in my case another 2.8kg. 

HORIZON PROGRAM ON FASTING

Michael Mosley aged 50 and medically trained was seeking an acceptable route to better health, physical and mental, in old age, with particular fears of prostrate cancer and dementia. 

He started with exercise and asked Harbinger Singh 101 years old who had just finished the 26 mile London Marathon in under 8 hours the secret of his longevity. The answer was 'eat less and follow a normal Punjabi diet', Michael estimated Harbinger's portion size at a half that of most adult males. 

He then headed for America to talk with those involved in the search for better outcomes in older age, who named reducing the risk of diabetes and cancers, and the delay of dementia as being possible via diet and fasting. It had been noted that during the 30's depression, when the dust bowl resulted in a shortage of affordable food, average American longevity had actually risen by 6 years. He approached universities in Washington, Los Angeles, Chicago and Baltimore all of whom were researching into the benefits of Fasting and eating less. The benefits were measured in terms of loss of body fat, lower total cholesterol (inspite of higher 'good' cholesterol), IGF-1 (Insulin-like Growth Factor), Blood sugar and Blood pressure.

In Washington he was introduced a daily diet rich in nutrients but low in calories and told it would eliminate the risk of cardiac problems or cancers. One long term cronie took it to the point of eating a huge plate of raw fruit for breakfast which included apple skin without the rest of that sugary fruit. This was not for him or me.

In Los Angeles he was introduced to experiments comparing normal mice to those genetically modified to have much lower IGF-1. The modified mice lived 40% longer, if transferable to humans this would mean living to 120 rather than 80. Also to a small section of the Equadorian population with Leron Syndrome who for the same genetic reasons exhibited similarly low IGF-1, physical smallness and vastly improved longevity than the rest of human population, inspite of poor lifestyles. The explanation given was that this genetic type led to slow production of new cells balanced by better maintenance of existing cells.

Protein consumption increases human IGF-1 by creating a 'go-go' effect powering cell production and pushing the body to eat more. Research in the USA has shown fasting to be an alternate route and to be much more effective than simply reducing to the same number of calories per week.

He asked the obvious question since genetic modification is not on. 'How else can I reduce my IGF-1?' Answer By Fasting. Here that meant fasting with only 50 calories for four sucessive days followed by a lower calorie and protein diet, maintained by one 50 calorie day per month. Michael tried a four day 50 calorie diet and halved his IGF-1.

In Chicago he was won over by the principle of feasting and fasting as a way of treating overweight people. Alternate Day Fasting at just 600 calories, eat what ever you like on the others. Alternate Day Fasting/Feasting was shown to give impressive reductions in weight, cholesterol, glycerides and blood pressure, though there was no mention of IGF-1.

At the National Institute on Ageing in Baltimore Mark Bratson showed him the benefit of Intermittent Energy Restriction in mice prone to dementia which resulted in impressive delay in the onset of dementia in mice, equivalent to an increase from say 50 to 80 years old in humans, whereas a high sugar diet lowered it to 30-40 years. The fasting was seen to have resulted in brain cells growing in an experiment which made them remember where to find food. In mice hunger stimulated evolution of an improvement in cognitive ability, so as to improve the search for food and thus to avoid starvation.


Eventually Michael decided on Mark's advice on 2:5 intermittent fasting each week. Eat normally for five days and fast with only 600 calories on the other two. He adopted this and chooses the fast days to suit his regime, he chose to eat breakfast on fast days. He chose breakfast as his time of eating, we have decided to eat our only meal after 6pm. During the period of his 5 week trial he had even spent days trekking on The Pennine Way! 

At the time of the broadcast he had completed 5 weeks of 2:5 fasting. His GP wife was obviously pleased to find his IGF-1 and his Blood Sugar had halved. 

Previously in Los Angeles every other day complete fasting for 4 days a month had shown IGV-1 falling from 215 to 125 mg/dl.

Good cholesterol had increased though overall cholesterol had dropped.

His weight had reduced by well over a stone (say 7.5kg) to 174lbs (79kg). 

He intends to continue this regime, 2 fast days at 600 calories each week with 5 days eating normally. Fast days chosen to suit.

Our Trial is Ongoing
Joan and I are were convinced and have now completed just over two weeks, for five days we are eating two meals a day as before and two days/week fasting with a single 500/600 calorie meal. We have completed just five 600 calorie fast days. On normal days we continue to eat just breakfast and dinner, which is absolutely no problem.

I have seen a weight drop of 2.8kg in those 16 days. I am now 80.6kg, just under the 81kg weight at which I used to box light heavy annually at university against other London colleges. (I finished with the nickname of One-Round after a 'bottled' fiasco in the London University heavy weight final. Having made the 12 stone 10 lb light-heavy limit already and been asked to move up a weight by my skipper in search of points for Imperial, because no-one else entered at heavy weight. Unfortunately the Royal Vet skipper had the same thought and sent for a giant who had boxed in the army. The referee stopped what he, and I, thought was an unequal fight - but note that it was the future Vet, not me, who ended up the round sporting a closed eye!)

Not bad progress on weight reduction since I left for France at the end of May at 87.0kg, six weeks ago. For those who deal only in Christian units (the ones that measure weight in ounces, pounds, stones, hundred weights, quarters and tons) that 6.4kg reduction is just over 1 stone. But losing weight is only one of the benefits. Putting off diabetes, cancer, cardiac events and dementia sound even more important. Joan and I intend to continue for it really isn't hard. The only modification to my previous home diet is a reduction of quantity, the restriction we had already decide on to two meals per day, and so far avoiding only one of my main weaknesses -  cheese.

A chance discussion over dinner with grand-daughter Rachel's slim boy friend elicited that he too had followed intermittent dieting recently. He had continued eating the huge quantities of a fast growing teenager and felt he had to take action. So maybe this fasting method is well known - but it was new to me. He also mentioned to Joan to avoid reaching the point where you are burning off muscle, the cause of which I intend to establish.

My regret is not to have started on retiring 16 years ago, though blood pressure was then already a problem, but my power sapping/stroke risking/breath stealing arrhythmia arrived just less than three years ago. Significant memory recall deterioration, even completely wrong word selection, has become clearly evident in the last twelve months. 

I really do not want to follow my mother who was playing badminton weekly at the Leisure centre at 90, though even then her memory had deteriorated to the point of being a danger to herself. This made living alone risky and making making new friends. 
But, although still in good health, not in pain, and pleasant to the very end, she didn't recognise me 4 years later and frequently asked if she had ever been married. My hope is that when my time comes euthanasia will be allowed to prevent those pointless last years existence without memories. Indeed I tend to go further and say for me that point will be reached when, for unalterable reasons associated with old age, I can no longer live independently in my own home.

Joan's knows her artificial knees would have had a far less stressful and prolonged life if she had weighed less. 

I should add a warning, as in the Horizon programme, that no-one already underweight or sick should contemplate fasting without the agreement of a doctor. 

In terms simply of weight reduction dropping to two good meals a day, one we could easily follow for life, was very effective and is a good starting point. We have found that absolutely painless. But we do feel hungry on 600 calorie days which is the whole point, you might say it is a case of 'no pain - no gain, though unexpectedly find the hunger pangs easier when we are physically active - even working very hard all day.  


'Failure can be an Option'
 Geoff Dyson (vacuum cleaners) writes Guardian article
An interesting article highly relevant to a man like me who spent a career in creative engineering design/development. Few people perhaps see engineering design in terms of creativity but since motherhood is not in my realm few opportunities compare, think Brunel for Railways and Steam Ships, think Mitchell and his Spitfire, Rolls Royce aero engines, Rockets and Space, think Fertilisers and Glass, think Electricity Generation and Grids, X-Ray and Scanners, Wireless and TV, think Computers and Internet, Software and Google's searching prowess. If you must, think Vacuum Cleaners and Washing Machines, but they don't excite me too much.

All were the result of scientific concepts being converted by ideas into reliable applications, useful, exciting products created by engineers. Designing and selling, then manufacturing, commissioning, maintaining, and refining. Almost all result from team working taking the idea through all stages of its development, as we often said the process is 5% inspiration and 95% perspiration. A few, perhaps unfairly, think of it all as the work of the originator, but the team too need moments of inspiration as well as perspiration. After decades of evolution the originators would scarcely recognise its modern face. 

The point James Dyson was making in these Olympian days is that instantaneous success is not the be all and end all, and that failure can often be a spur to eventual success.

Incy Wincy spider  climbed the water spout, down came the rain and flushed the spider out. Out came the sun and dried up all the rain, so Incy Wincy spider climbed the spout again.

He goes on to point out that engineering design work is a continual search for better and better solutions. In my experience the early ideas are almost always over complicated, but that simpler more appropriate solution are hard to find. But when you do they are much better, easier for others to understand, and far more reliable. Continual evolution is the name of the game and not just in the present form but reacting to new technology as it arrives. 

In so many things success needs time, patience and perseverance. It may be hard to achieve Olympic Gold Medal standard but in his case it took 15 years of trying and failing to arrive at an outstandingly successful vacuum cleaner.

He says he excelled in Invention and Art and honed the trial and error skills he needed at The Royal College of Art. His plea was to persuade more schoolchildren to follow D&T (Design and Technology), not just to GCSE level but through 'A' Level as well. It teaches them to sketch, build, test, rebuild, not to learn the answers to exam questions by memory and rote. (In my field sketch means outline an idea rather than draw it.) He feels there is a need for inspiring teachers with an in-depth appreciation of this approach - that is my worry too. He believes D&T 'just needs to be reinvigorated, brought up to date'.

As a society we can't really afford to have a select bunch of winners with the rest thinking, and allowed to think, of themselves as losers.

The PROMS and Barenboim's Beethoven Symphonies
Weren't they wonderful, I could  kick myself for missing the first four on TV especially the Eroica and the 4th, but to compensate we listened to the replays on Radio 3. 

I have seen some great conductors in my life including monthly concerts by Barbirolli and the Halle at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester. I will never forget him opening with a rendering of Brandenburg No. 3 and wishing it would never stop, or with a fine concert version of the opera Otello. Nor will I forget Karajan with the wonderful strings of the Vienna Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall in the late 50's with Schubert's Unfinished, or Klemperer and our own Philharmonia with Beethoven on the South Bank. One of my most treasured possessions is the first ever complete set of LP recordings of Beethoven symphonies by Toscanini.

But I felt the way Barenboim conducted the 9th was for me the best ever, with little obvious time keeping but full of subtlety and expression in his hand movements to bring out nuances I hadn't heard before. Using his face, and even protruding his tongue slightly on one occasion, to get the sounds he wanted. He felt that Beethoven needed a text to make his ideas clear to all and thus chose the Schiller's 'Ode to Joy', hence the choral movement. He rightly congratulated our National Youth Chorus for a superb performance.

Barenboim's Talk
His hour long talk about  the symphonies was magic. Beethoven first conducted in Salzburg at the age of eleven in 1781, and continued to compose even though he became deaf in his late 20's. The discussion on the then revolutionary steps in music composition follow, moving harmonically far beyond Haydn and Mozart, and beyond the religiously inspired music of pre-Bach. The symphonies often start with unresolved harmonic chaos to provide tension, instability which is always resolved into stability - to give a sense of morality. 'Complexity and conflict', switching from major to minor keys brought 'darkness and light ... despair, sadness, hope and humour'. Beethoven 'deals by sound with everything which exists in the the human condition'.

How his symphonies were always full of sudden dynamic changes of sound intensity, tempo, mood and key, which keep the instrumentalists on their toes. Beethoven's composing 'converts simple parts into cathedrals' as one of his violinist's said, a thought which resonates to me as a innovating engineer.

This musical theory would have meant more had I listened to my mother so many years ago, but it was intriguing none the less. My mother taught classical piano and played in our front room whilst the bus queue outside stood and listened.

But it was the importance of philosophy that was most intriguing. In his opinion Beethoven was saying 'this is right, and this wrong, and this is how I want to live'. Beethoven was very political and a great supporter of the French Revolution, though he fell out of love with Napoleon when he elected himself Emperor, feeling thereafter that he was just like the rest of the self seeking politicians.

Then again he felt Beethoven was saying, 'religion is gone and God is gone, now we are faced with our own sense of responsibility, morality, justice', a theme which resonates to me as an atheist. I remember wondering, after a very religious upbringing, where I would get my standards in a future without religion, and later realising it was from within myself. Nor do I think are the standards of my children have been reduced by the lack of religious instruction.

Barenboim dealt only briefly with the East-West Divan Orchestra itself though it is composed solely of Israelis and Arabs, gradually learning to work in harmony. Divan by the way is a Turkish term for one of their highest Councils of government

His message like Beethoven was of freedom and peace. . Barenboim emphasised his views saying
'I believe very strongly in the universality of music, that it can take this message which is part of our inner feelings.'

U3A GROUPS

JIVE
I apologise for leaving less space than normal but I must say a word for Jive the first new group formed in my time as Coordinator following the ideas and endeavour of Gerwyn Thomas, who also founded MOTO (Members On Their Own). In spite of a near fatal heart attack he returned to running this group on a weekly basis. He has now decided to hand it on to Pam Williams, who has taught throughout, and continued with 'King' Eric Broadbent whilst Gerwyn was ill. Ken Huntley, who tried long and hard to establish a Chess group, will now work with Pam. They will try to work out how to deal with the demand from beginners.

Thanks a lot, Gerwyn.

Free of U3A duties I have gone back to being a regular and feel a lot fitter for it. Every now and again Angela Blewett, like me one of several founder members still dancing, boosts my confidence after a couple of years off by telling me I am dancing well again .

It's amazing remembering the excess of women early on how many men are now regular attenders, in fact we get there first! Surely it's the only Swansea U3A group to boast equal numbers of men and women. The clientele changes from week to week but that gender balance somehow continues. We change partners every minute or so whilst learning new moves. It's a great social group too, with quite a few going out together weekly to jive as far abroad as Cardiff, with long weekends in places like Eastbourne and Painton.

YOGA
I am a regular every Thursday and am glad to see satisfactory turnout at last, there were 10 of us last week. Chris Bryan moved to the big downstairs room at Hazel Court this year so there is plenty of space for several more members.

It's another excellent way of staying physically fit, breathing, stretching, bending, twisting, and my weaknesses balancing and posture. Around 90 minutes per session  finished with a few minutes relaxing when some of us have been known to fall asleep!

Next sessions 13 September until 4 October, then a short break until 25 October.
  
Contact Christine Bryant at   c.bryan682@btinternet.com  
or Telephone 301938 



POLITICS & CITIZENSHIP
Another great group which could well have folded with the death of its founder Margaret Hammond a year ago. It was taken over by Gabrielle Suff and is in rude health, though it would be nice to see new faces especially from more recent members. We had an outing and dinner last week to the Coastguard Station at Mumbles, but I promised Gabrielle to submit a write up to the Website so that's enough for now, but give me a day or two. 

Gabrielle reminds me that she has completed two years as convenor of this group having taken over when Margaret Hammond wished to retire. She can be contacted at
gabrielle.suff@googlemail.com 

WEDNESDAY MEETINGS
Barbara Ellis and team are doing a great job providing us with stimulating talks on a wide variety of topics. Nevertheless I have the feeling that attendance is dropping off, a great pity for what, as I mentioned in the preamble to this posting was once the major meeting point of the membership.

One big problem is the absence of parking on the University campus so most people now go by bus. Easily solved for motorists by parking on a bus route to the University, say to catch Bus 82 from Hendrefolian which run around every 10 minutes, the Bendy Bus, or any bus going to, or past, Singleton Hospital.

ARMCHAIR TRAVEL
Will start again in the new university year. It is now run by Bob Hughes who would be delighted to send potential new members details of next years programme, which will see more members than ever contributing.
Contact him by email at   bobhughes1504@hotmail.com
I will be talking next spring on our trip to Turkey in autumn 2010.

BLOG NEWS
There are two new blogs besides this one.

1) Transferring our Style of Asian travel to France 
If you are interested in the recent holiday that led indirectly to intermittent fasting then follow this link.
http://francemay2012.blogspot.co.uk/

2) Our 2 month trip by the Silk Road across China in 2006
This has just been updated to bigger typescript and made easier to read, but above all to include over 100 photographs.
http://silkroadchina2006.blogspot.co.uk/ 

NB I intend to work on a similar modification on our trip south in Chile and Argentina in 2007

Get to the website by Googling, U3A Swansea,

Get links to all my Blogs by Googling, Oldie Backpacker.
(Follow the link to my profile to get the links to the latest blogs)

Swansea Spring

I am amazed by how much time has passed since I wrote the last posting in this series which carried the title of Christmas Turkey. In Swansea we had our summer week way back in March - remember - but it is beginning to start to feel like spring.

U3A WALKING GROUP
To start with I'm fulfilling a long standing promise to Eileen Jones and David Michael who both thanked me for the blogs. David sent me the series photograph of Berian James with the comment 'I don't know how he keeps his hat on'. Eileen wrote:-

Dear Brian

Berian The Leap
This is him making out he is still 21 and making an excellent job of it. It was taken on the Overton Mere Walk.
Ever since he has to be restrained from tackling obstacles in his way in a similar manner. Fortunately we have U3A insurance cover!
Eileen Jones

Well my understanding is that the U3A insurance does not cover personal injury but it would defend organisers like David and Eileen if Berian decides to sue them for negligence in failing to keep him safe.

Berian's Leap

U3A RAMBLING GROUP
Whilst on the subject of walking it is good to see that Harry Lewis's Rambling Group is going strong. It was one of the last flurry of the groups formed during my term as Groups Coordinator.  They seem to have gelled around a pattern of moderately hard 6 to 8 mile rambles in a wide variety of locations. He tells me they usually number around ten walkers but he would welcome a few more, if interested phone him on 484297 or contact him via the website.

WEATHER FORECASTING
We had our French family over for a week who rather nervously brought four newcomers to Swansea fearing the worst from the weather forecasts. I always say I don't believe anything more than about 12 hours in advance and that the weather could be better though knowing Swansea it is usually worse. They had a more than passable break and we were delighted to learn that they had avoided a nasty period in France. Since they all live south of the La Loire, the crossing of which in my family camping day's I always regarded as the entry to France proper. Incidentally did you know there is also a relatively insignificant Le Loire in the same region?


COMMENT
Thinking of Springs and France it's nice to see a socialist government emerge under Francois Hollande, someone powerful with a fresh approach to the economic crisis. However such is the predicament of Greece, and perhaps even Spain that I feel it may prove too late to save Europe from a real crisis. I have always argued in these postings that Britain's austerity drive might have succeeded given an enhanced opportunity to export by the unannounced devaluation of the pound, had our neighbours not followed the same austere path so reducing the capability of their population to spend at the same time as Britain. The strategy has clearly been a failure in Greece, too much was asked of them too quickly and looks to have resulted in a country without democratic government. So far we are happy out of it and our currency is seen as a safe haven. Luckily the winner in the last local elections was a main stream political party, but for how much longer can we escape the deluge?

Whilst away on holiday I missed the discussion led by Mo Ellard in the U3A Politics and Citizen Group on The Future of Democracy. A very timely theme not only because of what is happening in Europe, where Greece and Italy have leaders imposed by Eurozone bureaucrats to supervise their economic policies. But also because of the rot which is being exposed daily in our own political process.


So much is talked of the importance of 'growth' when all that is needed is simply a return to the employment level of three years ago, even though necessarily accompanied by a reduced standard of living for the population at large. It looks as I predicted a several years ago, that the major brunt would again be borne by the young, a repeat of the 'lost generation' thirty years ago. People earning a wage almost all pay taxes, some millionaires got rich by avoiding them, but without adequate tax returns there is no way out of Sovereign Debt crisis (money owed by a country). Even the spend on 'benefits' is recycled and so helps keep up aggregate demand in our shops, they can't afford not to spend it, but in many cases they will no longer have it to spend.

I repeat my definition of £1,000,000 (a million pounds), 'the amount an average person earns in a lifetime if he remains healthy and stays in full-time employment'.


BOOKS 
For many years, well before my involvement in committee work, my only U3A activities were attendance at the Wednesday Lectures and one Activity Group. That was Mo's Reading Group1. I hoped in this way to develop a love for novels and speed reading. In both respects it was a failure, but since leaving I have read even less.

Nevertheless, armed with a couple of down loads to my newly presented Kindle, I thoroughly enjoyed two seemingly diverse books, to the extent of not wanting to put them down. The first 'Casino Capitalism' being a study, by Hans Werner Sinn a German economics expert from the University of Munich, into the roots of the world economic crisis of 2008 - not every body's idea of holiday reading! The second, which Jill Govier described in my reading group as the greatest (American?) novel of the twentieth century, 'The Grapes of Wrath' by John Steinbeck, which I first read over 50 years previously, whilst a young man living in Canada, without any of the impact it has for me today. 


And the connection between the books, the dysfunctional but widely different economic conditions. In America in the 30's it describes vividly the way the 'dust bowl' caused by drought and wind resulted in the impoverishment of the subsistence farming community and their mass emigration with their last possessions across the States to California, who didn't exactly welcome the immigrants! Industrial farmers from the north bought their land at rock bottom prices. I found it a harrowing, haunting, sympathetic insight into their tragic lives. 

As for the crisis caused by Casino Banking (gambling) the blame was rooted by the author firmly in the principle of Limited Liability, which stemmed from a much earlier year to support the massive risks inevitably involved in financing trading by long voyages in the sail era, and then to encourage of the development of the huge industrial enterprises of the Victorian era. 
 
But limited liability was equally as effective in stripping the risk from today's high volume financial trading by allowing them to operate almost entirely on borrowed money with typically only 2.5% equity component covering their risk. If the firm collapsed the remaining 97.5% borrowed money was ultimately backed by the state, ie the tax payer. This allowed ever riskier financial gambling aimed at making returns typically of 25% per year for the lenders. The huge interest payments were salted away in much safer investments. So far so good, but the music stopped, panic mushroomed and they were all on the point of failing together. Only this week was it reported that JP Morgan in the States had lost 2 billion, by my reckoning the third major disaster since Nick Leeson brought down our oldest investment bank Baring's fifteen years ago. J P Morgan will be damaged like Society General but both survive to gamble again. Activities which Lord Turner of the FSA described as being of no benefit to society.

The writer Hans Werner identifies sub prime mortgages in the US market as the root of the problem. Followed by the design of toxic financial packages designed as a cleverer way to sell on mortgages, by mixing (slicing) good and bad, to provide the finance to grow the risky mortgage market. Prominent amongst those were the CDOs (collateral debt obligations) which caused so much of the trouble, which were thought to be solely packages of mortgages but also included debt of other forms, for instance credit card debts. Our own early example of a mortgage operation intent on growing ever more rapidly by selling mortgages on was the collapse of Northern Rock.

He never appears to take sides and records how the German Deutche Bank were the biggest buyer in Europe of CDOs but were sensible enough to hedge the risk by buying insurance from AIG (the giant US insurer). AIG would have collapsed had it not been deemed to be too big to fail by the US government - so that particular bill went back to the US tax payer. Nice to know that the infallible Germans bankers were lucky.


I learnt the huge difference between the US mortgage market and the European model, including ours, was the absence of risk on the part of the house buyer. American buyers on being unable to keep up with loan repayments had only to return the keys to escape all obligation. Whereas in this country a punter would remain liable for the debt remaining after the mortgage company had recovered as much as it could from sale/rent of the property. He emphasised that Presidents, including Clinton, thought that everyone should be able to take part in the house owning bonanza, regardless of means to repay a long term debt, and encouraged their inclusion. 

Only in recent days have I become aware that the Spanish Banks were forbidden to buy CDOs. So, just as in the USA, Spanish banks created a sub prime mortgage industry of their own, accelerating mortgage sales regardless of the risk of there being no recoverable value in the property being built. 


PERFORMING ARTS
After exposure to London, New York, Stratford Ontario Canada, even Montreal & Toronto and most surprisingly Stoke -on Trent where there was a thriving small professional theatre in the round (including Alan Ayckbourn as a young actor). On arrival in 1967 we found Swansea sadly lacking in this area. Even the Music Festival failed to attract an audience if they ventured off the popular well known classical track, one years emphasis on Mahler I recall as a flop. It has long been my hope to see Swansea competing in this area of the arts with the likes of Bristol and Bath.


To quote from the brochure produced by The Tobacco Factory 'Over the coming year public subsidy of the arts is falling fast and many arts organisations around the country are worried about their future. Bristol however is booming.' 

In fact they have opened a second theatre across the road, The Brewery, and both run performances seven days a week. My especial interest is the two month long festival of Shakespeare, which is performed 'in the round' and runs eight times a week, two matinees, to full houses of just over 200 people. The standard of acting and directing are outstanding for which they get rave reviews yearly. This year the first month was King Lear and the second, departing from Shakespeare for once was Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard. However on Sundays in this period and daily for the rest of the year there is 'less highbrow' fare to rival Edinburgh but on a year round basis. Check them out on the web. 

What is true of theatre in Bristol is also true of music including jazz.
Jazz is the one area where Swansea Jazzland in Saint James Crescent, Uplands, can rival their quality though only once weekly, on Wednesday evenings at 8pm. 

We were amazed to find a packed enthusiastic audience at the Taliesin last week to hear Three Greats of European Swing who mixed their own compositions with those of Django Rheinhart. Perhaps 30years ago Fapy Lapertin was a yearly favourite at Swansea Jazz Club in a similarly constructed four piece (Belgian?) band called WASO consisting of Fapy and one other lead guitar plus rhythm by bass guitar and frequently one more melodic input, often on accordion or squeeze box. At last week's concert there were five, Lollo Meier on the other front line guitar and Tcha Limberger on violin plus rhythm guitar and string bass. I would there was  similar audience for jazz clubs to rival that demonstrated by an almost entirely different audience for Gypsy Jazz.

I wonder for instance how many would not have enjoyed the wonderful evening with Gilad Atzmon's superb quartet at Swansea Jazzland the night before. The excellent string bass of Yaron Stavi and piano of Ross Stanley (coming back to Jazzland one Friday soon) and a young American drummer with a compelling original style making his very first appearance with the band. The best of Gilad's many performances in Swansea in my opinion.

After being part of the dismal single figure attendance in Dylan Thomas Centre a year ago for his day-long insights into Shakespeare plays, viewed from his lifetime as a director of plays, it is pleasing to record the increasingly thriving following of Peter Richards, Director of Fluellen Theatre. We had already seen, in The Arts Wing of the Grand Theatre, excellent, well attended productions in the round of Hamlet and Cymbeline. Their most recent offering was Kindertransport by Diane Samuels, in a play first performed by Soho Theatre Company in 1993 and seldom since. It was a thoroughly absorbing account from the child's eye of this process of 'saving' Jewish children from the Nazis only to endure a lifelong guilt of survival. The ending was particularly poignant as the mother of the child in question, who had survived a concentration camp, was now living in America and had at last traced her child. She came to England hoping to reclaim her now grown up daughter only to face rejection.

Whilst thinking of Shakespeare I will pass on a tip, always spend a little time researching the plot and the themes on the Internet - I find 'sparknotes'  particularly helpful. A couple of days after we returned from holiday in Sri Lanka we went to the last performance of As You Like It by Clywd Theatr in the main auditorium of the Grand. We didn't take the opportunity to refresh our knowledge of the play and both struggled to follow the first act because of misidentification of the opening characters. When we arrived home we independently read through the script to sort out our problems. Act 2 was superbly funny and easy to follow. However the audience on Saturday was only about 50 people and that I gather was the best night, considerably less than Fluellen get in the Arts Wing.

It was particularly touching for me as a similarly placed girl Lisa came to our house as babysitter when I was perhaps seven and she but a few years older. My memory is of someone who would recount marvellous stories to me in bed. My younger sister also remembers her and met her recently through the Christadelphian Church, who were very active in welcoming such Jewish children and had presumably found her a home. Margaret was surprised to find her now a fully immersed baptised Christian member of that church, who in so doing had effectively renounced her birth, exactly the path of the character in the play.

Peter has been running a monthly series of lunchtime theatre at the Dylan Thomas Centre featuring and discussing a different playwright each time. The 45 minute presentations, script in hand, are made by just a few actors, usually Peter and his wife Claire plus a couple of younger actors. The next one is on Alan Bennett this Saturday 19 May at 1 pm, then Anton Chekhov and The Bear on 6 June. The sessions last an hour and cost just £5.

INDEPENDENT TRAVEL
Joan and I spent just over 30 days in Sri Lanka Feb/March. Joan and I always keep separate diaries on our travels and in the past 4 or 5 years I have done this by creating blog postings.

Since John Oats, a long standing personal friend, is to talk to the Armchair Travel Group on their visit to the same country I had been holding its release for a month or so but since the group meeting was recently postponed several weeks I am giving the link below. There are around 100 photographs which should help make up for the paucity in this posting.


http://lanka2012sri.blogspot.co.uk/

John's talk is now to take place on Friday the 22 June 2pm downstairs at Hazel Court. See you there?

Christmas Turkey

Happy Christmas to all my readers. I have almost got out of the habit of blogging, so much though that although with camera in pocket I continually forgot to use it. So you will have to be satisfied with pictures from Turkey, which 15 months after the event I have just sorted out. Blogs will be somewhat different and less frequent than the weekly issue of old, but I will still write about U3A activities but from now on it will be limited to those of personal interest.

 The Bosphorus of old


JIVE
I always declared this my favourite U3A group but I had not been for ages when I went back this last Wednesday. Never have I seen so many there (40?) about half were old friends but the rest were new faces. It has always been the best balanced group by gender but recently I am told men have been known to outnumber women, the sexes were equal in number on this occasion.  But the sense of fun and good humour remains the group's biggest attraction. It was good to see compere Gerwyn back in lively form after such a severe heart illness. He had arranged a sandwich buffet lunch and the whole downstairs area of the Monkey Cafe was full of chatter of jive weekends in Painton, New Year celebrations at the Ice House, bowling painting and Cruising. 


Unlike most groups there is no popular demand for an extended Christmas break so the next meetings are Wednesday 21 December and 4 Jan. As I have said many times before this is the best group of all in terms of its welcome and ability to welcome and integrate new members most of whom go on to join other groups.


Obviously it is a very pleasant way to keep physically fit but I find it taxing my memory as well, remembering three moves in series is not something I find as easy as I used to. So it keeps you on your toes in more ways than one! 

 Ezgi never could stop dancing in Amasra, or Joan

 Asian Turkey North Coast fishing port Amasra


POLITICS and CITIZENSHIP

Old timer Eileen Jones of the walking club set the quotations and left us to identify by whom and discus. We split into two groups to identify quotes which led us from recent past politics back to the war and over the centuries to the Bible and back. It was an enjoyable exercise.


But the meeting made me aware of the sad news from Marjorie Vanston another old timer who lost her sight in one eye following an operation for cateract which obviously went horribly wrong in Bridgend. A bitter fate for such an avid reader and continuing lively mind. Eileen had obviously tried her quiz out on in advance on a hospital visit to Marjorie, who by all accounts put the rest of us to shame.

As I was leaving office I was amazed to see her take on both the Research and the Scrabble groups as convenor in addition to her Welsh group. Another reminder of the debt we owe to our oldest members. If I survive as long I just hope to retain their mental acuity.  I send Marjorie our best wishes, no doubt someone will relay them for me for she belongs to a generation that can be forgiven for not joining the computer age.

Many many years ago returning from Manchester, then the home of  British computing, I remember discussing the proposition that it would be better for the world if they had never been invented, for we insiders were privileged to foresee what computers and automation would do to to the prospects of employment in industry. We didn't foresee what a boost they would give to the new gambling industries, producing ever more rapid, lucrative, seemingly 'risk-free', financial transactions.

GARDENING
The talk was given by Stephen Hopkins, Specialist Parks Development Officer for Swansea, who earlier on had a similar role in the Ebbw Vale Garden Festival, a site originally devoid of top soil. So massive was his target he recounted scouring the country by helicopter looking for potential sources of good soil.

Very seldom do I attend Gardening but having bought what Stephen described as a 'Redrow House', one where the builder's main objective was to clear and level the site in the preparation of good foundations, leaving the new owner with a good-for-nothing garden. I have had a nearly 50 year struggle to persuade my heavy blue clay site to grow anything at all. When the first weeds appeared after I dumped the ash from our first coal burning central heating boiler I knew I was on a winning run - trouble was it was due to last 30 years. More recently I have imported tons & tons of sharp sand, which has solved the texture and drainage problems so although friable it is now too sandy. But the down side, which I suspected all along, was the introduction of salt courtesy of 'Bideford', by which sharp sand is known in this area, a few more years of South Wales weather should put paid to that. Problems of fertility were dwarfed by problems of drainage, thanks to Stephen I now realise it is an offence to export the 'surface' water, the only approved solution being to build massive soak-aways. I now live in fear of being sued for flooding Clyne Valley and deflecting blame away from Global Warming!

Another mistake, obviously, was to hire DIY rotavators because according to him they destroy soil quality by homogenising destroying good soil and bad. Except in my case there was no good soil and an even more fundamental problem was very soon evident since the machine refused to dig more than a couple of inches. Manual digging and even double digging is OK but in my experience does nothing but keep you fit, the sort of punishment handed out to King Sisyphus.

Stephen's solution obviously was to bite the bullet, or give up - which ever way you view it - and import 6 inches of topsoil. Interestingly he said that Swansea were now making more compost than they could dispose of and in his case at least they were prepared to deliver it for free in 7 cubic metre lots, which I pictured of as seven large sling bags of the type builder's merchants use to deliver sand in bulk. That obviously is the solution employed by Swansea Parks Department, the only identified downside being the fragments of green plastic in the mix.


Having got your top soil the next stage was to find its PH level, that is find out the extent of acidity or alkalinity of the soil and then grow only things which suit your soil. Over the years I have had little help from such methods and enquired about soil sampling methods, he said to mix a few samples taken across the garden but of soil taken from 3 inches below the surface. In fact he emphasised the importance of root health and interestingly described the Water Table as being the level below which there was no free air so the roots could not breath. Once knowing the PH try to grow only suitable plant types. I need to give up trying to grow Brassicas (although Chinese Pak Choi related varieties are growing well) and root crops, except potatoes which do moderately well except for blight which appears to be inevitable in South Wales, for all these need more lime than my soil has. When I suggested making one sector of the garden soil a different PH to the other he suggested growing root vegetables in pots. I am thinking of diverting the garden to industrial scale strawberry growing, for they threaten to take over anyway! Learning to go with the flow is not easy at my age.


His advice on compost making was very interesting, for every layer of green in the garden waste he suggested adding a sprinkling of soil (to populate the compost with insects, worms and insects) and a little scoopful of artificial fertiliser (Ammonium Sulphate or Ammonium Nitrate), advice perhaps not so popular with the 'organic' sector of the audience, and possibly a little slaked lime. But all composts he viewed simply as soil conditioners but not in themselves the whole secret of a good growing environment, which led him onto fertilisers.

They needed to match the needs of the season, used little and often but not in bulk which will simply be leeched away to over effect the lower layers. He was in favour of gel pellets which release chemicals slowly.

Spring: Phosphate for root growth
Summer: nitrogen for greenery, use Ammonium Sulphate
Late season: Potash for fruit/flower/seed 

Fancy living in a cave, no garden

But balloons outside the front door


But to me the most pleasing thought was that leaves made easily the best compost of all, and decomposed quicker if shredded but may take two years in black bags. That idea delighted me so I asked him to persuade my wife who considers dead leaves in the garden an evil to compare with dirt in the house and whisks them away ASAP to the council garbage collectors before I can get my hands on them. His response simple a telling 'I don't do domestics'


YOGA
Christine Bryan runs an excellent class the only one left in our U3A. She is now using the large ground floor room at Hazel Court where there is space for many more members than currently attend the Thursday morning class. Last year whilst operating in the much smaller Exercise Room she lost five regulars in quick succession, four from illness related causes and me turning my attention to my garden. The membership has not yet recovered, she deserves better.


Her current 90 min routine is perfect for anyone who like me aims to remain as flexible as possible (back, waist, shoulders), to improve posture and breathing control and to counteract loss of balance. Two members sit on chairs to ease the more severe challenges. I intend to go regularly at least until the spring sees me turn to landscape and vegetable gardening outdoors.

I would advise others to try. Jive on Wednesday and Yoga on Thursday make an excellent combination. The next class will be 10am 19th January.

 Whirling Dervishes, in Konya the heart of Turkey


SPANISH LEARNING GROUP

Goes on to challenge Jive for my support on Wednesday morning. Unfortunately we are now without a tutor as Keith Barry has taken himself off for a long stay in South America, as he always said he would. Unfortunately we don't know when or even if he will return. The small class was determined to continue and took shares in leading the class. Since convenor Christine Broomhall returned from holiday in China she has taken on that tutor role with enthusiasm. Amongst other models we are using Michel Thomas CDs to improve speaking skills and in my case badly needed improvement in pronunciation including not least accentuating the correct syllable. The next class will be 18 January.


Would any member with good command of Spanish who is willing to help tuition please contact Christine Broomhall or Alison Burns convenor for the Spanish Conversation Group.

View of Old Ankara from the Citadel


TRAVEL
There has been a marked increase in attendance since Bob Hughes took over as convenor of this group from Brian Davies. I first up and staggered at getting an audience of 60+ for my talk on two months of touring Southern India last winter, the contrasting states of Karnaktaka (large and little visited) and Goa (tiny but a mass tourist destination). I apologise for the viewing shortcomings resulting from using, as last year, the large TV set for it was not big or high enough for seven rows of audience to see. Bob arranged to use the U3A Digital projector for following Fridays, a far bigger screen and extra height also aiding visibility. 

 Selimiye Camii, architect Mimar Sinan's masterpiece in Erdine


Last month I felt totally upstaged by a talk by member Ian Smith who specialises on challenging treks and climbing expeditions in the highest mountain regions of the world. He, and his wife, obviously like the challenges of 'living on the edge' and would seem to have done everything except climb to the top of Everest or K2. Joan and I couldn't even match him on Annapurna (Nepal) for he had done the full 14-21 day 'round' when we had done only the most popular half up the Kali Gandarki to Muktinath before retracing our steps back to Pokhara in 14 days. One of the regrets I will carry to the grave is of not aiming at the whole circuit in 1989 for as it turned out we did have just enough time off work and plenty of energy. That trip to Nepal remains the one which pointed us to a new international DIY style of travelling. Today we can't even contemplate Rambling 6-7 miles with Harry Lewis's U3A Group at sea level. 


Friday 6th January at 2.15pm should be fascinating, Esther Searle and Owen Lewis sharing the billing, Esther on a visit to The Philipines and  Owen Lewis on Yellowstone Park in the USA, one of the world's great wildernesses.

BEGINNERS INTERNET

Last November I inaugurated a course for beginners on four sucessive Saturday mornings in Hazel Court. It was well received. This year Anthony Hughes and I decided to run a similar course each taking the major role for two weeks. It again went well though the attendance of 'learners' was as patchy as last year when the biggest problem was the horrific weather. In a passing comment Anthony asked me 'What are you doing next November?'

I think there will be a repeat but we perhaps need to more careful about the commitment  of  'learners', ideally so that we select 12 who will attend throughout. 

As last year the 'helpers' (giving one on one assistance) were very dedicated, my only reservation being that having broadcast 450 members looking for help I was left with almost the same set of volunteers as the year before and almost all those perform other roles in Swansea U3A. Maybe the top priority should be convenors, we first need to identify their needs, if any, which are probably outside the scope of the current course.


In the meantime members with a current interest in computing are urged to try Digital Media for Fun a group run by Anthony on alternate Friday mornings.

Gelibolu South Coast of European Turkey


POLITICS

I have rarely felt less optimistic about the outlook for the world economy. I take no pleasure from having long predicted that the way things were headed with country after country opting for austerity there would be a worldwide absence of demand and that we would pull each other down. Austerity as practised first by this government might have worked in tandem if the 25% devaluation of our currency had allowed us to export our way out of debt, but there is now a serious risk that not only has Greece never had a chance of paying its debt off but Italy Spain and even the UK could be doomed to see national debt actually increase thanks to ever lower tax take coupled with higher spending on benefits.

 


Two Japanese friends persuaded us to to Syria this summer!!

Meanwhile top pay soars, greed was never was going to be limited to investment bankers. But we are all supposed to be in this together, if you believe that you'll believe anything. No consolation if you are at the bottom of the pile and without hope let alone material well being, the young, the unemployed, those on short time, those trapped on benefits, or those simply stressed out fearing worse to come.

But to me the most depressing thought of all is the lack of political leadership ranging from deadlock in the USA to all the European Countries of which the UK is one, like it or not. At least no-one still blames it all on Gordon, maybe we will remember him one day for World Leadership which galvanised a successful reaction at the time of the collapse of Lehman Brothers in the USA. Why he made such a poor showing as PM is an unexplained mystery to me.

All European countries are fighting for their own nationalistic interests and we are now lined up against even those who are trying to find a common way out. Across Europe, the Arab world and the Middle East (where they are already taking to the streets) there is a great danger of the breakdown of society. We all know who sprang out of youth despair last time and his message was not one of austerity but one of rebuilding and expansion. This taboo subject is well worth re-visiting, Hitler was a truly evil leader but he must have had political skill and foresight to turn Germany around from the most extreme basket case in the world to its urge for territorial domination in just one decade 1929-39. 

A much happier reflection and one more appropriate to this piece is to consider the political changes in Turkey started in the same period. The Ottoman Empire in tatters Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk) credited with the game changing military victory over the allies at Gallipoli went on to be political leader in1928 and in the War of Independence drove the British, French. Italians and Greeks out of Turkey before modernising their out of date failing culture. He convert Islamic Ottoman Turkey into modern secular republic, changing the laws, banning the wearing of head-scarves in school and other government employment, and even realigning the unique Turkish alphabet with those of Europe. Anyone interested in the political heritage he built and left should spend one or two days at the picture book tribute to his life in his mausoleum, the Anit Kabir in Ankara.

Our lasting impression of Turkey was one of the universal welcome from the people, rapid progress in building infrastructure - not to be compared with the rate of development of China but entirely beyond the rest of Europe.

Invited to break fast of Ramadam in Istanbul park

No tables left we'll odge up, Bergama (Pergamum) Central Turkey


For any interested there is a blog of the 5 week trip round western Turkey at     http://www.istanbul-and-turkey.blogspot.com/

OPEN DAY 2011

OPEN DAY 2011
This is the very first time since retiring from the committee this spring that I have found the space to relax from dealing with a huge backlog at home. How pleasant it was to be able to go around late in the day chatting on the various tables. We the U3A activists are a friendly lively lot. Rather than concerns about support and organisation for the day I was able simply to reflect on what a good impression the event must have given to a newcomer. 

I am told it was another success in attracting new members for now we have well over 50 groups to offer with increased diversity. Too late in the day to catch the throng at its height I remembered the camera in my pocket and recorded the closing moments.

Anthea enthuses to Gillian about her British Film Studies

Joy and Hon Sec Angela at the membership table

FEEDING A GROWING WORLD POPULATION
I take it that's the theme of the lecture this Wednesday 26 October by agriculturist Ian Howie with whom we made contact last year on the outing to Llangorse Sailing Club. His title speaks of a world population headed from today's 7 billion towards the 9 billion predicted by the UN for 2050. But the front page of today's Guardian talks of a revised estimate for 2100 perhaps as high as 16 billion. These are frightening figures especially when you take into account the potential demand for meat production and fuel as the world's populous poor countries, like India, Indonesia, and China, who will surely  aspire to 'Western' standards of living.


It will be interesting to hear what he has to say.

 Judy asks, Anyone for Short Tennis?


RISKS in BANKING
Asked to lead the Politics and Citizenship group's or last session on the current proposals for 'Ring Fencing Retail Banking' in 2019, I opted instead to investigate the risks in across the banking/financial services sector.

Within days the urgency was underlined by the news of the third major 'rogue trader' event in recent history had threatened the huge Swiss bank UBS. Kweku Adoboli had lost the massive sum of 2.3billion euros in what is termed Delta Trading, trading high volumes for low price differences in order to make money for the bank and its clients. Jerome Kerviel had lost 4.9billion euros for the French Bank Societe General in 2008. With sums of this order think of UK pounds as being equal to euros - it makes little difference, but do note we are talking of billions not millions. 

To put these figures into some sort of perspective think back to the exploits of Nick Leeson in 1995 who lost £827million (under 1 billion) but that caused the failure of the UK's oldest Investment bank Barings, which ceased to exist.

I am tempted to think non of these three were criminals exceeding their authorisation but rather that their seniors had turned a blind eye to their risk taking because hitherto since they were making lots of money for the bank and the funds owned by clients like us. There is much talk of the failures of government sponsored supervision, but these look like failures of the internal bank supervision.  


Lord Turner head of the Financial Services Authority, the regulator created by the last Labour Government in 2000, frequently talks of much banking as being of no value to society. Frequent trading for small differences just to make money seems to fall into that category. The fact 70% of our GNP is now accounted for by financial services indicates how successful and dominant that sector has become for London and the UK and why we are so reluctant to follow practices which could damage our position in banking. Hence the current reluctance to consider a Tobin tax on each trading transaction as proposed by major European countries but opposed by the financial service interests of The UK and the USA as ways of throwing away our competitive position. I read recent description of the Tobin tax as being a way of 'throwing sand in the wheels' of pointless trading - putting a break on the heart of the problem sounds much more appropriate to me than talk of ring fencing in 2019.

The Dragon on Swansea U3A Open Day

More Open Day


ARMCHAIR TRAVEL
Ever thought of over wintering and touring in India for £38 a day for two all in, comfortable beds and eating especially well - of tasty Indian vegetarian food and freshly caught sea fish. Then come and hear about Joan and Brian's experiences last winter in the southern Indian states of Karnataka and Goa. See what South India offers, down stairs in Hazel Court Friday 4 November at 2.15pm.

STEVE JOHNSON'S 80th
He invited us to his birthday celebration with the family in Norton House just last Saturday. It was such a happy gathering and Steve looked well again and very smart in his Royal Engineers blazer (sorry Steve but I forgot the camera or I'd do the honours).


Steve you may remember was the person I met on Open Day 2008 when starting my stint as Groups' Coordinator. He, returning to the UK after 30 years in Paris, offered to take over the French Group which was then on the point of failing. He soon had to relinquish that task due to ill health but not before securing the future for an important group. For some considerable time NHS surgeons backed away from taking the risk of the heart operation he needed so desperately but eventually it was successfully done. Having too much exposure to health care in France and NHS Swansea he always has spoken far better of health care in the NHS than that available in France, exactly the reverse of what one expects. I just hope the currently proposed changes will not upset our applecart.

The second person I met in the closing minutes of that day in Open Day in 2008 was Gerwyn Thomas and that led to the immediate formation of the Jive and the MOTO groups. I was well and truly on my way to making a success of expanding the group. Then he too was struck down with heart problems but happily recovered from a near death experience at the Liberty Stadium. Makes me wonder what lies ahead and contemplate on how suddenly good health can be lost.

SWANSEA JAZZLAND
Very recently I learnt that in this year of severe cuts to the Arts Council grants particularly outside London, the grant for this club actually went up. The Arts Council were reported as saying they were to take a fresh look at the allocation of grants with a view prioritising those most deserving. This aligns with the view I expressed on the previous posting that Jazzland was the jewel in Swansea's crown. Coupled with the fact that the theatre I am always recommending, The Tobacco Factory in Bristol, this year received their first ever grant, I feel encouraged in the quality of my advice. The Tobacco Factory stages plays virtually every day of the year with a scope far beyond the February/March Shakespeare season, they have recently opened a second theatre (The Brewery) over the road in another old factory.


Alan Barnes - this coming Wednesday
The quality of the performers seems yet again to be peaking at this time of the year. This Wednesday 26 October the great English reed player Alan Barnes is to play clarinet and saxes with the resident Dave Cottle Trio. If you only come to the club once then make this the night, it is held in St James's Social Club in St James Crescent Uplands, from 8pm if you want a good seat, £10 reduced to £7 for members.

Jure Pukl
Two weeks ago Jure Pukl and his quartet played a superb set. Jure is from Slovenia and a fine young tenor saxophonist who played a high proportion of his own composition. The string bass player Michael Janisch from the USA was exceptional, arguably the finest bassist I have ever heard, far away from the normal timekeeping function into creating exquisite melody. He had a strong understanding with the multi-award winning young British vibraphone player Jim Hart, who has appeared frequently at the club and at the Taliesin with young Welsh eclectic pianist Gwilym Simcock. The drummer too had a very interesting original style.


I came away with a CD 'Purpose Built', recorded in New York mainly of compositions by Michael Janisch played by his own quartet also featuring Jim Hart but a different saxophonist and drummer. I recommend that without hesitation.


Steve Waterman
Last week was equally good as Steve Waterman brought his own quintet to play numbers from his latest CD 'Buddy Bolden Blew It!' It is as fine a statement of the beautiful melodies of 13 Trumpet greats from Louis Armstrong, to modernists like Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis and Freddie Hubbard. The CD is particularly easy listening, to a degree which reminded me of what Stan Getz did to popularise Jazz via Bossa Nova recordings like The Girl from Ipanema and Desafinado. Since Buddy Bolden, although generally acknowledged as the first jazz great playing from late 1890's, did not leave written music Steve wrote a number for him the for in memory of his normal apparel 'Red Vest Man'.

The average time of the CD tracks is around 6 mins whereas in the club he took twice that time, therefore with a great deal more scope for improvisation. Steve generally plays with a vibrato free bell like tone. He is Professor of Jazz Trumpet at both the Royal Academy of Music and Trinity College both in London, and visiting professor at Northern and Welsh schools of music.

Once again it was an all-star band with Alec Dankworth on string bass, Anthony Kerr on vibraphone - rather more direct less intricate than Jim Hart and non the worse for that, Chris Allard on guitar and last but my no means least Dave Barry on drums - the only old-timer on view. A balance of sounds quite a refreshing contrast to the usual trumpet and sax.

SLAPSTICK

One Man Two Guvnors
Having thoroughly enjoyed the previous National Theatre Live film performance of The Cherry Orchard I vowed to go the Welfare in Ystradgynlais for the next performance. I almost didn't make it and was rewarded last Thursday by the most hilariously funny performance I have ever seen.  

The National Theatre Live is a video of a performance at the National Theatre in London on a prearranged night which is beamed by satellite across the world and shown simultaneously at cinemas across the globe. It attempts to give the impression that you are actually at the theatre and certainly it is far removed to a contrived film version of the play and the next best thing to being in the theatre. The nearest venues for us are in Cardiff, Milford Haven and Ystradgynlais, not much of a recommendation for Swansea. The charge is £10 per person, many times less than the cost of seeing it in the London theatre. By my count they were showing at 129 venues in the UK last Thursday, one of which was an outdoor showing next to the south Bank theatre itself,where the cast were seen taking a bow in person shortly after the performance, rather like viewing the tennis action at Wimbledon from the Hill or the PROMS on a large screen. I think they claimed 400 venues worldwide. 

As to the show itself it was five star rated by almost all the quality newspapers and its success is demonstrated that when its season is completed at the National and following touring England and Edinburgh the production will transfer to the Adelphi in November. But for the difficulty of finding actors able to carry out the parts I could see it outliving the Mousetrap. There was lots of very funny sheer slapstick, lots of clever quips and something between a Shakespearean comic plot and a scat on a gangster scene from The Lavender Hill Mob. A skiffle group complete with washboard player, though the T-chest looked very much like a genuine double base, amused the live audience whilst it took its seats, and then slowly modernised to emerge in different forms each time the curtains closed for a change of scenery, even transforming into the Beverley Sisters at one stage.

Shakespearean, for Roscoe mysteriously appears in flesh having apparently risen from the dead two days after his murder, 'thus having broken the previous world record by a day' only to turn out to be his 'identical twin' sister Rachel in disguise who ends up marrying the very gangster Stanley who murdered her brother. This couple, both men at the time, are the two guvnors whom Francis Henshall milks and panics for all he is worth. Francis is played by the star of the show comic actor James Corden.

An east-end criminal, with a daughter 'so dumb they can't make bricks thick enough' to compare is kept out of nick by a fat cat lawyer with an unworldly actor son who ends up with the actor, and Dolly a real life Dolly Parton is paired off with Francis in the finale. The play on which it is based was written in Italian in 1743 though in this adaption it is Brighton and 1963, just 'before intercourse was invented'. See if Shakespeare had lived another 100 years he might have pinched the plot.


The next National Theatre Live event is The Kitchen 6.30 (beware- the early start almost fooled us) on 6 October. These performances now include performances of ballet by the Bolshoi in Russia the first being Esmeralda (based on Victor Hugo's Notre Dame de Paris) on the 9 October at 4pm. I read on my previous visit the scheme hoped to include performances of the Metropolitan Opera in New York, so Opera lovers watch this space. 


One more memory of the evening was a woman smiling and saying she found it difficult to recognise me without a grass skirt. I have only twice trod the boards this pantomime was one and the other was an all night carnival at college when I and seven other rugby playing savages helped give a woman an excuse to perform the dance of the seven vales - well we were nearly naked as well.


One more comment the couple sitting next to us told us they were from Gower and kept up a habit of going to theatre in London. Nice to know we aren't the only theatre enthusiasts in Swansea.



U3A GROUP NEWS

I have been following the fortunes of two of the most recent new groups.


RAMBLING
Talking to Harry I find him happy with the progress of this new group which he tells me he now has core support from 9-15 members, an ideal size for a rambling group. He is clearly throwing a great deal of thought and energy into group leading which is obvious from the information and photo records in his regular email feed to the group, including me. Hence the use of a few of his photographs.

 Battling the breeze

 Lindsay concentrates

 Facing the gale

After lunch

SPANISH LEARNING
Another group which has gelled extremely well as currently obvious due to the absence of their excellent tutor Keith Barry because of sickness. None of us have further information at the moment, but I have just sent a handwritten note on behalf of the group to his home address hoping it will be forwarded. (Keith is one of the few members with an aversion to computers and delights in receiving handwritten letters. (I could name some other prominent members sharing this view - but won't.)

Christine Broomhall the convenor is determined to drive the group on and there is a strong response from the others who will share in leading future sessions. I like the emphasis on verbal communication, so far without mention of grammar, and that will continue in self led sessions with the help of recordings.

What started a few months ago as a Course of genuine near beginners is of course moving on and the group will have to wary of too much addition in the near future whilst the new teaching approach is bedded in. I must say it is refreshing to see a group responding via shared self help.


SAVE the HISTORY GROUP

This course has had good attendance and is attempting to reorganise now that Margaret Winter has retired from the role as convenor after 11 successful years. Their September meeting is traditionally the time the group agree the programme for the following year (2011/12). It will be this Friday 23 September at 2.30 in the first floor meeting room of the Environment Centre, Pier Street which runs beside the Evening Post Offices.

Rob James, who organises the Annual Outing, has agreed to act as contact and convenor providing some other member(s) agree to be fully responsible for the monthly lecture programme.

Please attend if at all interested in the future of this group which will fold immediately after the meeting in the absence of the support to take it forward. 

GARDENING 
Just a few shots I took when the group visited our garden. Last year rain kept us all penned indoors, this year it seemed like a fine day but the heavens opened just as the first visitors arrived with their umbrellas on high. Luckily it turned out to be just a short a sharp shower and the Gazebo had its first outing in a miserable summer. Thinking to make further use we left it up only for the tail end of a hurricane to finally destroy it. The steel frame lives on so we plan to use as a cage for soft fruit next year. 'Waste not want not' is our usual message to the grand children - if anyone can translate that into French please let me know, my attempts brought increasingly increasingly strong guffaws from my Franco-Anglo grandchildren.

 Rear view of Joan with Marnie, Margaret Cross and Vicky

 My Gazebo on its last legs

 Sun at Last

 Old timers corner

ARMCHAIR TRAVEL
Just little publicity I am down for a travel presentation on Friday 4 November on our last trip to the state of Karnataka in southern India. I have just reissued the blog of our two months of travel with a myriad of photographs. Anyone interested can view it at
http://karnataka2011.blogspot.com/


GRAND THEATRE
In what is for me a promising new departure they have circulated a DRAMA Newsletter for Autumn 2011 featuring the genuine drama offerings. We are sorry to have missed Bred in Heaven with a well respected director Michael Bogdanov, from the Royal Shakespeare and Wales Theatre companies.


I fully thoroughly recommend Cymbeline by Shakespeare which will played presumably with minimal scenery 'in the round' (square), by and here is the important point the local professional Fluellen Theatre Company Tues 4 to Thurs 6 October in the Arts wing of the Grand Theatre.

Others to have caught my eye include Of Mice and Men in the main theatre on Friday 14 October, a wonderful short story by John Steinbeck, the Lord of the Flies on 20 to Sat 22 October in the Arts Wing.

FLUELLEN at the DYLAN THOMAS CENTRE
Peter Richards, wife and son Hugh, who played Hamlet so well last year in the Arts Wing of the Grand, run a monthly Saturday 1 am presentation of a different playwright, and script in hand perform a section of his work, ideally a one act play. A week ago the subject was George Bernard Shaw and the play was O'Flaherty VC a young Irishman recruiting soldiers for England. Anyone familiar with the history will realise how the Irish hate the English, with good reason So O'Flaherty's line is not that he is recruiting soldiers to fight with the English against Germans (an unrealistic proposition) but that he is recruiting soldiers to fight with Belgians and the French who everyone knows are sworn enemies of the English. His mother has to be kept in the dark or she would explode with anger but she is also two faced in dealings with an English lord (O'Flaherty's boss) to his face and behind his back. Add a second young actress playing the money grabbing girlfriend who is happy for O'Flaherty to bring home the wages, by the only way open to him to earn a living in impoverished Ireland, and you have a scene full of comic possibilities. 

Well worth the £5 and well attended again including by a quite different set of U3A members than for the last time I reported. It is a delight to see that Peter, with worldwide experience of directing plays, and Fluellen Theatre are beginning to get the following they deserve. He was also the one doing whole day presentations on Shakespeare plays last winter at the Dylan Thomas Centre which Joan and I enjoyed so much for the humour and demonstrative depth of his insight, but which were embarrassingly poorly attended.

Next lunchtime session Saturday 15 October 'A Celebration of Ibsen' with excerpts from several of his most famous plays. See you there ? 

SWANSEA JAZZLAND
This club has to be one of the jewels in Swansea's crown. A weekly stream of one night stands from the best jazz musicians in Britain, at well below London prices where they are mostly based.

I'm returning to one of my first loves after not having the energy to attend for some time, a result of months of intensive modification to house, garden and contents. No we are not about to sell!

This Wednesday 21 September at 8 for 8.30 be sure not to miss guitarist Luis d'Agostino & the Argentinian Connection. Pete Oxley - no less - as a second guitar, an ace trumpeter John Hoare and a British rhythm section make a unique line up.  £10 entry reduced to £7 for members. 

They will play Jazz of the 50's and 60's. The era of the invention in New York of 'Beebop' by Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker and pianists galore, followed soon after by invention of the 'Cool' in California by Miles Davies, Gerry Mulligan and others. A high point, perhaps the high point, in the development of jazz, my preferred period anyway, it should be a great night.