Musical Prodigy. Harbingers of US-NK War. Scots Saving the World

Nectarine skin

Well, I should be writing the blog on today's news. Instead I am fascinated and transfixed by the Imagine program on the child prodigy Alma Deutscher, composer and musician at the age of 12. Music and stories seem to flow from her in a multifaceted stream. I found it fascinating that she had a composer in her head, whom she sometimes consults for the darker sides of music, as she herself is a very positive and happy person. It is also amazing how the conductor and the musicians unselfconsciously listen and take on her directions in terms of interpretation, as they rehearse her Opera, Cinderella, composed at the age of 10.

Obviously already a woman of her age, Alma has decided - no wimpy Cinderella losing a shoe and being found that way! Her Cinderella is on an equal level as the prince, he a poet and she a composer - and the aim is for the two to find each other. 

The heroine in the painting on the wall behind Alma is Maria Anna (Nannerl) Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus' sister. She was a prodigy, musician and composer in her own right but had to give it up when she became 18 - because she was a woman. It is interesting, that when they were young, Wolfgang adored his older sister and they invented their own imaginary kingdom in which they were King and Queen. Alma has also invented imaginary worlds and characters.

News? The Pink Lady of North Korea, TV Presenter Ri Chun-hee, is waiting to announce yet another missile launch in defiance of sanctions and opprobrium of the rest of the world. A dark clad US UN Representative, Nikki Haley proclaims “We have kicked the can down the road long enough. There is no more road left.”

Scotland is however doing its bit to save the world. It will be the first country in the UK to implement a plastic bottle return scheme! Similar schemes have existed in other countries (e.g. Australia) since the 1970's, but we Brits didn't want to be too hasty. Ironic, as the first bottle return scheme was established by A & R Thwaites & Co in Dublin, Ireland, in 1799, when it was still a kingdom ruled by the British Crown.

Within the week, there had been memorials to a past princess, 20 years after Diana's tragic death and now news that a newer princess Kate is expecting her family's third child.

Brexit news? A YouGov poll conducted in a range of EU countries looked at attitudes towards Britain Leaving EU: Staying in EU. The results standing at 28th August are in percentages UK 47:43; France 38:32, Germany 25:49; Denmark 18:62; Sweden 20:56; Finland 22:51; Norway 34:37. So the balance in both the UK and France is (still) slightly towards the UK leaving the EU, whereas the other countries would like the UK to stay, see https://yougov.co.uk/news/2017/09/04/french-public-are-more-likely-want-uk-leave-stay-e/.