SouthseaScene

Happy new year everyone! People are talking about new year resolutions and I hope they never ask me. I don't have one. It's just nice to hope and think of possibilities as we welcome the new year. I learnt early on that every January I look back to the previous year with disappointment of things I have not achieved. Really, we should look at the positive. The things we have achieved! Hopefully the new year mean a happier you!

Article as seen in Portsmouth View, October 2014, with some modification Autumn is here with the temperature dropping and days getting darker earlier. The rhythm of the academic year is back in place. At the university where I work, the public lecture series went off to a good start with the first two lectures being sold out. We do have a good lineup in the next couple of months. The Portsmouth Chamber Music series sponsored by the university also had a very good start in its new home in the Guildhall. The use of the stage as a concert venue with seats 'in the round' proved popular. Big names such as pianist Melvyn Tan and clarinetist Emma Johnson will grace this year’s series. Check out the Music in the Round website http://www.musicintheround.co.uk/events.php?location=Portsmouth The Big Screen was relaunched with a new branding and already it saw the successful screening of a couple of films and an opera. You can expect more activities in the Guildhall Squa...

This has been a beautiful weekend in Southsea. On Saturday I joined the gentle 3K Memory Walk organised by the Alzheimer Society. A couple of hundreds of people walked together to raise awareness of Dementia. Some came with a group of friends, some with their family and then there were people like me, who were there singly, but each has a story to tell of life touched by Dementia. We started the morning with some warm up Zumba and the Hokey Kokey! Many generations took part, celebrating the life of various members of family touched by Dementia. It was a quite contemplative morning and a humbling experience to learn how many people are affected by this condition and how much is still needed to be done to raise awareness.

Article as seen in Portsmouth View, August 2014 As I drove around the Hampshire countryside the past week, I came across a stunning view of lush green hills and fields of ripe wheat waiting to be harvested. I longed to walk the hills and the fields. I read that walking is good for you. Besides the exercise, walking also allows you time to think. So I made a resolution to do more walking for the rest of the summer to improve my health and well-being. We are fortunate that we have such lovely countryside around us for walks. For those who cannot travel far, there is always the walk along the seafront that will invigorate. There is the incentive to stop at the new Southsea Beach café for a cuppa in the middle of the walk, if you need any excuse! On one of my recent Southsea walks (from Camber Docks to Palmerston Road) I had time to think about this column and about attending live events. People, in general, love enjoying shared experience and the opportunity to comm...

My favourite dish if you can find some juicy lamb rump steak. Ingredients: 2 lamb rump steaks about 150g each 2 tbsp orange juice 2 tbsp soy sauce 1 tbsp vegetable oil 1 tbsp clear honey/maple syrup Marinate for about an hour and then grill for 5-7 minutes on each sides. Best eaten with couscous: 75g couscous 'fluffed' in boiling water for 5 minutes (in a covered dish) 1 medium onion, sliced 1 tbsp vegetable oil for frying 1 medium red pepper, sliced Fry the onion in the oil for about 15 minutes until the onion is caramelised and then add the pepper and cook for 5 minutes. Add the remainder of the marinade juice to the pan, cook for 3 minutes and then add the couscous. This is one of the quickest dishes you can cook and it's the most delicious!

The Tallis Scholars performed at Portsmouth Cathedral last Friday night. I changed my mind several times over the course of the concert. Each piece proceeded with one more beautiful than the last. The opening piece, Monody's L'Homme Arme, impressed with the unity of the starting and ending and purity of the voices. The Tallis Scholars sang each piece with such great voices, resounding in the beautiful setting of the  Cathedral. The programme selection, some played at royal funerals past, made me think of what I might like played in my own funeral. Some of the pieces were so beautiful and fast paced that it sounded as though death is something joyful. Overall, I thought both the Victoria's pieces were the best and certainly the Tallis Scholar ended the concert stunningly with the Libera me from Missa pro Defunctis. Review: The Tallis Scholars, Friday 20 June, 7.30pm at Portsmouth Cathedral PS: I looked up Victoria, whose full name is Tomás Luis de Victoria and I li...

Portsmouth Festivities opened with a great fanfare, literally, courtesy of John Sampson. He was part of a duet with poet laureate, Carol Ann Duffy. Carol said The Queen gave him to her, which was greeted with laughter and that very much set the tone for the next hour. First, Portsmouth Poet Laureate, Sam Cox, read her newly penned poem Pages of Possibilities. I love her sing song delivery and phrasing.  In this poem I love the line 'tapestry of people colliding' and I thought this is the poem that would inspire people to want to write their own. Carol Ann Duffy read from her book The World's Wife, which was published in 1999. This was a collection inspired by stories she heard in her childhood. She gave a voice to the women involved in the stories. The first she read was from Midas' wife, who recoiled from his great gift, afraid to be immortalised into a gold statue and finally assigning him to a motor home. I was delighted by the twist in the ending of her poe...