Thomas Miller Carol Service 2008

Thomas Miller's annual carol service was held at St Katherine Cree Church in the City on 17th December.

This was the second of the carol services that Herry has been able to attend this year, the first being the Mission to Seafarers in St Michael Paternoster Royal. He would have loved to go to the service at Coventry Cathedral on Friday 19th when they sang Handel's Messiah but wasn't able to make it. Litchfield's was on Sunday 21st December, a jolly affair in which the vicar has us all singing different parts of 'The Twelve Days of Christmas"

Some favourite carols are on line here. The essential is for a good choir to sing the descants!

Once in Royal David's City
In the Bleak Midwinter
Silent Night (a beautiful Irish version)
Of the Father's Love Begotten
The Sussex Carol
The Coventry Carol
In Dulce Jubilo
Hark the Herald Angels Sing

Lincoln Seligman

One of Lincoln Seligman's larger paintings at Taikoo Square in Hong Kong. Click the image for a better view

The artist Lincoln Seligman is an old friend who recently held a private showing of some of his work at his studio.

Click the heading for some informal photos of his work and here for some paintings from an earlier exhibition

Fine Cell Work at the Drapers' Hall

Fine Cell Work is a charity that teaches needlework to prison inmates and sells their work. The prisoners do the work when they are locked in their cells, and their skill and earnings give them hope and greater independence.

The charity is supported by the Drapers' Livery Company among many others, and a Christmas sale was held at Drapers' Hall on 15th December 2008 which was very well attended. Lord Ramsbotham, one of the patrons of the charity, gave a moving speech on the value of Fine Cell's work, while bemoaning the fact that it was currently only sanctioned in 26 of the UK's 140 prisons.

Click the heading for more examples of their work and scenes from the evening

On 19th November 2009, Fine Cell held their 2009 Livery Company sale at the Leathersellers' Hall.

Favourite Films - Stardust

I was delighted to come across a film this week that I had never heard of and which matches my somewhat lowbrow tastes perfectly - 'Stardust' - starring Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert de Niro, Clare Danes and others. It's a romantic fantasy about the quest for a star that falls to earth (Clare Daines) and reminds me much of books like The Well At the World's End and The Night Land. It's produced and directed by Matthew Vaughan in Lord of the Rings tradition (it even has Ian McKellan as the narrator) and has the most stunning scenes and scenery. It was filmed in Scotland, Wales (my old haunt Pen-y-Fan) and Iceland. Click the heading for some stills from the TV showing of the film.

Mission to Seafarers' Carol Service 2008

The Mission to Seafarers held their annual Christmas concert at St Michael Paternoster Royal on 10th December. The Princess Royal attended as president and Robert Woods (an old friend from business and school) attended as chairman. It was the Rev Canon Bill Christianson's last carol service before his retirement as Secretary General. Laudamus Chamber Choir and Nigel-Evans Thompson led the carols and Richard Baker read several of the lessons including two very amusing pieces by Clare Bevan.

Inspector Wallander

Photo from BBC TV
Henning Mankell has written nine superb novels in which Inspector Wallander, a fallible, unfit and very human detective in a police force in Skane, southern Sweden is the main character. The BBC have now made films from three of the books, with Kenneth Branagh playing Wallander, but the Swedish versions are still better. No matter, Wallander is one of the most interesting and sympathetic characters in detective fiction.

Christmas Scenes 2008

One of my favourite shops - Joanna Wood, Pimlico

The Wellbeing of Women Christmas Fair at Drapers' Hall

The Lexus

The Lexus at Richmond

The Lexus Coupe (in Japan, the 'Soarer') is one of the finest cars ever made. I was lucky enough to get one secondhand in 1994 - and I still have it. It passed 100,000 miles this week and so deserves some accolade.

Designed in California and built between 1991 and 2000, it's a true four-seater coupe with lovely lines. It comes in two basic versions - the V8 automatic and the GT twin-turbo manual which turns out 330bhp. Mine is the latter type, and the garage which looks after it says it's one of only five in the country.

It has been completely trouble-free - apart from a clutch (from too much city driving) and the occasional flat battery, due it being left for weeks when I travelled. It's not even thirsty; but recently it has had to give way to the Prius for London driving, as it still attracts the congestion charge.

But for sheer well-mannered fun on the open roads of Hampshire and Wiltshire, there is no better car. I'm sure that one day it'll be recognised as a classic.

Click the heading for more photos of the Lexus

Terrorist Attacks in Bombay

Photo from BBC News

It's only too easy to imagine the dreadful situation in the Taj and the Oberoi today, as terrorists take hostages and kill indiscriminately at these two hotels, Victoria train station, Leopold's Cafe on Colaba Causeway and a Jewish Centre. The hotels and Leopold's are places I have visited for the last 40 years and I was there again six weeks ago. Fortunately my friends and business colleagues who visit and work in the area are all safe, despite one of them having been invited to have dinner in the Taj last night.

The southern tip of Bombay is a virtual island and simple to approach by boat. Both the Taj and the Oberoi have waterside frontages. There are many tens of pleasure boats sailing out to the Elephanta Caves and on tours of the harbour from the Gateway of India, 100 metres from the Taj. Although the Taj has had special security for the past few years, the Oberoi has not. In any event, neither was safe.

A couple of years ago I wrote about the Taj - my favourite hotel - for Lloyd's List, the shipping newspaper, here.

Emily Patrick Exhibition in Spitalfields 2008

An exhibition of Emily Patrick's prints (by Walter Curtain Cave) at Chris Dyson's Gallery at Eleven Spitalfields

Emily Patrick Self Portrait

For more photos, click here

And at the Air Gallery 2010