Issue 416 RBW Online

Issue 416 4th December 2015

2

FLASH FICTION: Random words: binge, sparkling, David, orange,

déjà vu, beetle, church

Assignment: Way up north

A warm welcome awaits. COME to WORKSHOP ... Every Monday 1.30 start Rising Brook Library

DIARY DATES: Please note:

Mince Pie Monday will be December 14th

which will be the final workshop for 2015

Sorry this bulletin was a bit late, it

was due to the Editor having a

slightly damp time in

bonny inclement Scotland ...

Observation: …. I heard how annoyed David

Cameron and the Tories had been when the

House of Lords kicked out the welfare reform bill

recently. He maintained that as an un-elected

body, they were not entitled to stand in the gov-

ernment’s way. Yet when I was at school, I was

taught that that was precisely the role the Lords

should perform; - to scrutinize and moderate the

Commons.

Some say attention span is decreasing ...

Saw this challenge on Facebook:

Write a story in six words.

So I thought ... “I came, I saw, I conquered.”

Ahh the benefits of a classical education ...

Unexpected, allergic reactions to common

foodstuffs can be very frightening.

Thank you for your

support we raised

Over £20.00

Excess books were

donated to

charity.

www.issuu.com/risingbrookwriters

INFORMATION FROM THE CAMPAIGN GROUP 38 DEGREES:

The government is trying to push through the plan that would allow private compa-nies to access our personal medical data and increase privatisation of the NHS. The scheme’s called Care.data. 38 Degrees members, along with other campaigners and the media, helped to put the brakes on when it was first announced back in 2014. But now it’s back. And it still plans to give private companies, hungry to make money privatising our NHS, access to our data. But there’s an opportunity for us to change this. The people behind the scheme are asking 38 Degrees mem-bers what we think about the plans. So let's use this opportunity to show them that we won’t let our health data fall into the slippery hands of private companies. Tell the government to keep our medical records away from private companies: A different, anti-privatisation version of Care.data could be used to make our NHS better. Doctors and re-searchers could use our data to improve public health and develop new treatments. But the current plan offers our valuable data to corporations. That's a breach of our privacy - experts say pri-vate companies could see details of our medical history. Even if our data was shared anonymously, experts fear people could be easily identifiable - especially if they are living with a rare health condition. It's also a dan-gerous boost to privatisation - giving corporations data which will help them take over more of the NHS. Allowing private companies, to access our data is part of the drip, drip privatisation of our NHS that 38 Degrees members are keen to stop. That's why we've worked together to keep Care.data out of the hands of the corpo-rations before - and why we could have a big impact together again. So let’s take this chance to fix their plans now, before it’s too late. Can you add your views? You don’t need to be an expert and it should only take a minute or two: We believe the public need to show NHS bosses that we want an NHS that works for us, not private compa-nies. If they don’t change Care.data, the public will opt out. SURVEY: https://speakout.38degrees.org.uk/surveys/care.data-what's-your-opinion?utm_source=38degrees&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign= The 38 Degrees team NOTES: [1] Computing: NHS England claims Care.data is not paused: http://www.computing.co.uk/ctg/news/2425184/nhs-england-claims-caredata-is-not-paused [2] 38 Degrees blog: NHS Care.data we’ve won a breakthrough: https://home.38degrees.org.uk/2014/02/19/nhs-care-data-weve-won-a-breakthrough/ [3] The Guardian: The NHS plan to share our medical data can save lives – but must be done right: http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/feb/21/nhs-plan-share-medical-data-save-lives [4] Pulse: RCGP demands new publicity campaign to address 'crisis in confidence' over care.data scheme: http://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/your-practice/practice-topics/it/rcgp-demands-new-publicity-campaign-to-address-crisis-in-confidence-over-caredata-scheme/20005847.fullarticle [5] Royal Statistical Society: The risks involved in Care.data’s anonymisation system: http://www.statslife.org.uk/opinion/1296-the-risks-involved-in-care-data-s-anonymisation-system

Random Words: jungle, absurd, blue, port, deciduous, daffodil, corn

A port in a storm. That was what the garden had become for Julia. She had had to move in with her only son, Mau-rice and his wife, due to her advancing years and ill health. It was absurd, she knew, but she had found it hard to

settle in, and her daughter-in-law was difficult. Julia felt she was not really welcome. Until recently, she had been able to potter about, weeding and dead-heading. Her family had no interest, so

she had found peace there, and was able to stamp herself on it, in some small way. Now though, she could no longer work in it, and it showed. The row of tall, deciduous trees along the back fence was overgrown and badly needed surgery. In fact, the whole garden was like a jungle. The lawn needed mowing and feeding and the long

grass was yellowing and dry, like stalks of corn. Julia could remember how good it had once looked, in the spring last year, with the wonderful blue of the muscari and the daffodils beneath the trees.

Assignment: Refreshments

I‘ve always been nuts about cricket. It started when I was quite small.

I put it down to my father, Whose name was Walter Clyde Hall.

He‘d listen to it on the wireless, On a large, brown Bakelite set With a sunburst dial and knobs of black-

I can almost picture it yet

John Arlott‘s voice was hypnotic

And soon had me under its sway. I became a fanatic, like my old man

And I‘m still a fanatic today. My fiancé played cricket at college,

And I went along for support. (I played sometimes when a schoolgirl, But I never was much good at sport.)

―Will you help us out with refreshments?‖

The other women asked me.

―We‘ll butter the sarnies and put out the cakes

If you will see to the tea.‖

―I really want to play my part,‖ I told them one and all. ―But unlike you, I love the game,

And want to watch each ball.

With this in mind, can I suggest Another task for me, Then I can watch the cricket,

And you can serve the tea?

I know the rules, I know the ropes,

So could I keep the score?

That way, I help but get to watch

The game that I adore.‖

TOPIC FOR DISCUSSION: A Country which Forces Children, The Disabled and Unem-

ployed into Poverty in order to Cut Taxes for Millionaires is Morally Bankrupt and Has No Future ... ACW

AS I UNDERSTAND IT: Missed from the above group are poor pensioners on the lowest state pension of any rich nation on earth, save impoverished Mexico (source OECD), which leaves pensioners on the

breadline, hardly affording to either heat or eat, but not both. See who are amongst the losers as new pensioners next year at end of: https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/state-pension-at-60-now The flat rate next year leaves one set of women with no state pension for the first time in dec-

ades, with the end of the housewife or divorcee 60% of the basic state pension, eligibility being from husband‘s full National Insurance history. And from next year, widows will never inherit their hus-

band‘s state pension, at the same 60% rate of state pension money. This after the Widows Pension for women over 45 was abolished in 2002, replacing with merely the Bereavement Benefit for 52 weeks only, then nothing. So for pensioners things are getting worse.

For those in work, working tax credits are threatened that help the working poor paid nowhere near on a living wage (around £10 per hour according to TUC) to survive. Once those in work get that

money lost, they lose other money from the welfare cap. Cuts to child tax credits loom. 90% of new claimants for housing benefit are to the working poor (source TUC). With the

growth of reducing wages, not least from privatisation of public sector jobs, and zero hour contracts, a quarter of all those being referred to food banks are in work (source Trussell Trust). When Universal Credit is nationally rolled out, it will cut Carers Allowance to half of current

claimants, as only those who would be eligible for Universal Credit will get that benefit. Most of these are ladies in late 50s/early 60s not in work and denied the state pension at age 60 since 2013.

Universal Credit will replace Working Tax Credits around 2019 and be less money even to the current around 3 million claimants saved by the Opposition from the loss of that money next April. But

new claimants from next tax year have lost that money. The unemployed will not be the only ones sanctioned for months or up to three years from benefits that are sole food money, when Universal Credit replaces all other benefits.

Low waged part time workers will be sanctioned for failing to get a better paid job or attain full time hours. Under Universal Credit, sanctions will become permanent as the Hardship Payments will

cease to be a benefit and become a court recoverable loan from future benefit or wages. So state cre-ated debt will strip food money from the poor ever more. Meanwhile rich companies and people have gained huge tax breaks since 2010 from the govern-

ment. …‖Hills says that what surprised him most about his findings is how little Cameron has actually cut

overall government spending, just 3%. How odd, given the recorded cuts.‖ To public services and help for the poor. ―The answer is that the money cut from services was recycled into tax cuts for the

better off.‖… Source Guardian article showing the University research proves how deep the inequality gulf between rich and poor has become: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jan/27/cameron-tax-cuts-voters-labour-austerity

Shown by the Working Tax Credit cuts is that the poor have been hit hardest since 2010. Now it is the turn of the Tory voter in work with wages that have been outstripped by cost of living, espe-

cially the highest rents in Europe, to realise that they too are the ‗benefit scroungers‘ they sneer at. Meanwhile, the rich laugh all the way to the bank.

Meanwhile, all the poor, in or out of work, or pensioners, pay the same taxes as everyone, from the 75% of all taxes that come from each pound spent, from stealth taxes, the risen VAT and ever more Excise Duties, that have all doubled over the last ten years.

(Source: information gathered onto my Facebook page on top post: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=968104723239729&id=968086016574933) (ACW)

And a final Christmas message from The Bible: "What do you mean by crushing my people and grinding the faces of the poor?" Isaiah 3:15

7

Gardening Tips for December ... Frances Hartley

It’s not much like gardening weather

now, but we do have the Spring bulbs

to look forward to. If you are buying

indoor plants for Christmas, do not

buy Poinsettias, indoor Azaleas or

Crotons that have been standing out-

side on open market stalls because

they will almost certainly have come

from heated nurseries and will usu-

ally have been transported in heated

or insulated vans. Standing them

outside in the cold like this after be-

ing raised in the warm will kill them

and a day or two after you have

bought them they will wilt for no ap-

parent reason.

Re-cycling places have complained about shredded paper clogging their machinery

and are asking people not to put it in with other paper for re-cycling. I have a small

paper shredder and scatter the shredded paper from receipts, old bank statements

and such on the compost heap amongst the grass cuttings, or it can be put in small

quantities in the bottom of pots when re-potting plants or bulbs. Some can be scat-

tered with a little soil on in the garden to act as a mulch. If wet it will not blow

about and soon rots down when the worms have pulled it into the soil.

I keep a book in which I write notes of what plants have done well in different parts

of the garden in our changeable weather and then go through seed catalogues with

the aid of my strong magnifying glass to see what’s new and suitable for the next

year.

I think I have mentioned before that if you receive a planted bowl for Christmas

with a Cyclamen in it is better to take it out and re-pot it in a separate pot, as they

prefer a cool place, unlike some of the other plants, such as the Poinsettias that they

are likely to be potted with. Also Cyclamen don’t like water on their corm, so they

are best watered from the bottom and then only occasionally. Cyclamen should

never be allowed to stand in water but Azaleas on the other hand should never be

allowed to dry out as they are thirsty plants and will drop all their leaves if they do.

This will be the last article before Christmas so best wishes to everyone.

By for now. Frances Hartley

EDITOR NOTE: I’m sure readers will join with the team at RBW in thanking

Frances and Alan for sharing their vast knowledge of plants with us.

“ALL THAT

JAZZ”

Won the vote and

will be the next

RBW farce.

ALL THAT JAZZ. CAST OF CHARACTERS

Many of these characters are two dimensional as yet: where you have a physical description in mind please write it in some-where so that we all know about it. AND check these notes for updates and send in any updates please.

Hotel staff free for all to use - opening gambits by CMH. Nigel Thomas Bluddschott – Manager part owner of ‗Hotel Bluddschott'. Married to Winifred. Tubby, balding, brown hair,

brown eyes, 34, 5' 7‖ tall. Tenor voice but wobbly and hesitant unless using a prepared script. Not good at thinking on his feet. If something CAN go wrong it WILL. Smuggles brandy, fags and other taxable goods as a part time job.

Winfred Alice Bluddschott (nee Gray) – Manager part owner of ‗Hotel Bluddschott'. Wife of Nigel. Plump more than tubby, brown hair bleached blonde, brown eyes, 35, 5' 6‖ tall. MUCH more capable than hubby with a hard edge to her speech.

CMH.

Sally Gray. - A MYSTERY WOMAN in any case. Don't know (yet) if she's staff, entertainer (torch singer or fan dancer) or

guest. Youngish woman. Tall, hazel eyes, auburn hair, very capable. I have her earmarked as an ex-QA/WRNS/WRAF

officer who has just completed her time & wants to 'get away from it all'. BUT, she could be something entirely different! Norbert Bunbury. Staff, driver and odd job man at the HB. Was Infantryman – possibly W.O.2 (Sgt. Maj.) or higher. I fancy a field promotion, mid 1918, not a Sandhurst man – with a few gongs to his credit. Tall, brown eyes, dark brown hair. Well built.

Blackleg Bill Bluddschott - the ghost of. AT and CMH Comic relief characters. You never know! These ladies may, possibly, be descended from those who went with Captain Fowlnett onboard 'The Star' in 'Packet to India'. They are middle aged, overweight, often slightly 1-over-the-8 and about to be tented! Vera Accrington -

Gloria Stanley - Dorothy Calcutt (their much younger niece) Ronnie Manservant only lasts a day.

NP Griggleswade (Griggles). Flyboy. Ex-RAF now working for M.I.5 (or something) as some kind of 'Air Detective'. Ch. Supt. Chorlton-cum-Hardy. Previously Colonel. Griggles superior officer in M.I.5

Mossy. Working with Griggles. Windle. Working with Griggles. Jones. Aircraft mechanic works for Griggles.

Wilhelm von Eisenbahn, aka Osbert Lessly or 'Big Shorts'. Khaki Shorts leader. Comrade 'Ironside' aka Joseph. Lenin boys leader. Comrade Plotskie aka Leon. Assistant to 'Ironside'.

ACW.

Christiana Aggott posing as Lady Arbuthnot Christian. Novelist. Actually married to Col. Beaumont Walsgrave but using a nom-de-plume for secrecy; & for advertising purposes about her new book, 'The man who shed crocodile tears'. (This neatly gets the requisite reptile into the plot line)

Arbuthnot Aggott or Uncle Arbuthnot. Head of a Security Organisation (Home Office?) Christiana is working for him.

General Arbuthnot Aggott. Christiana's father and brother of Arbuthnott Aggott. Something in the War Office (as the

MoD (Army) was known then) to do with Counter Espionage. Col. Beaumont Walsgrave. Christiana's sorely missed hubby.

Bright Young Things: Ruby Rawlings, Charlotte Ponsonby-Smythe & Katherine Wallasey. Bright Young Things brothers: Everet Rawlings, Eugene Ponsonby-Smythe & Virgil Wallasey.

Communists et al ACW Comrade St. John. Lenin boys Comrade Bunson-Smythe. Lenin boys

Bro.?? Muckleby. Leader of 'The Workers Party' also something to do with Arbuthnot Aggott. Bruder Wilhelm Bergmann. German trades union leader.

Bro. Kevin Harvey. A Workers Party member. (Changed from Hardy) Ernst Graf von Rockenbaker. Sir John Keithly.

Lord John Markham. Sir Martin Wickham.

SMS. Barnard Hot Sax Player Musician and nice guy. Errol Holiday. Band leader and piano player Tallulah tubby torch singer Errol‘s girl friend, hates Jo-Jo Jo-Jo. Fan dancer from Red Parrot Club, Paris sister of Errol. Hates Tallulah.

Cpt Digby Makepeace — hotel guest Barrington nephew of Makepeace knew Jo-Jo in Paris and knows PoWales.

LF Rooster Pearmaine detective — drunkard

Balsom Fry valet Cpt Hove-Brighton assistant on trail of missing novelist

AP

Boys and Girls Camp‘s characters and storyline Gilbert and Walter

Simon Bligh pack leader Jenny H.B. STAFF LIST. Awaiting names/descriptions and free to use. Head Waiter. Head Gardener. Head Chef. (Unnamed but has been used) Geordie pretending to be a French Chef, as they get paid more. No good at accents. Head porter/Concierge. 'Dell boy'. He knows about the smuggling racket. Wine Waiter/Sommelier/barman. All on the take from the 'duty free' wine.

CMH Helpful ? NOTE 1. If you are going to involve Security Forces (police and military) then please note that there was nothing like the MoD, it was FOUR (4) separate organisations. Admiralty for the Royal Navy. War Office for the Army. Air Ministry for the RAF. The Home Office for the Police. However, Policing was done by County/Borough. The Home Secretary couldn't give orders to the Chief Constable and the Met. was ―Asked to assist‖ if he thought they were required. I would think that Trentby, being a City or Borough would have its own Police force. Just to make things interesting H.M.Customs was – still is - a part of the Treasury. As civil servants, they did NOT have military rank equivalence or titles nor, except for two of the higher grades, dress uniforms. It gets complicated because in 1923 there were a few organisational 'hold-overs' from earlier times and some officers did get working uniforms issued.

OH dear ... Clive is still RANTING ...

What are they wearing? Hello me fellow writers! It's me, your favourite reader, what's ranting from this page yet again. Showing good taste you've probably ignored my other rants. Readers can't have everything, can they?

Well, if they moan loudly enough it could happen. My topic, if I can be excused for having one, this time isn't about what a character looks like, what they

sound like, speak like nor about what they consume. An important factor in any society – at least in historic times – is and always has been what you WEAR

and how you wear it. Whom would you trust with your life savings? [£4.50 and a packet of gently sucked mint humbugs?]

Somebody wearing smart clothes, well-polished shoes, washed, clean-shaven [where required] and generally looking trustworthy.

On the other hand, would you loan it to a scruffy individual in need of the attention of a barber or hairdresser, wearing tatty trainers and clothes that have seen better days. How about a person wearing a top hat, spats, an extra-long woollen scarf, Wellington boots and a kilt – the rest is optional.

Well it's obvious isn't it? The first is a banker, and as they've already got lots, doesn't need the money. The second is a dressed in a bang up-to-date style. Could be a pop-musician earning ridiculous

amounts; you don't let them get anywhere near money [they spend it]. Whilst the third is a Haggis Herder in fancy dress – the spats give it away No! Put it back under the

bed where you know it's safe! However, seriously the clothes a character wears, and the way they are worn, can speak volumes about

that character. Naturally, this depends upon the era you have cast the piece in and the age of the charac-ter. Young folks tend to dress to a style, but older folks dress for comfort, unless the occasion you are describing is FORMAL when all the rules change and the dress code is prescribed.

Please RESEARCH the era. Take a fellow who is young, fit, flashy, wearing an open necked lace shirt and leather doublet, a rapier

slung on his left hip and who is obviously a tough guy. You may ask, who is this Shakespearian character, and what's he doing in a 1930's setting? You wrote it

so you need to decide; is he an actor in a film, a seriously mislaid Time Traveller, an out and out nutcase or going to a fancy dress ball? Also, where did he leave his pants?

But don't leave it there; think of the colours that may make a difference to the overall impression. Imagine a woman wearing a well-fitted Black trouser suit, and court shoes. What sort of difference is

there between her and someone wearing a White trouser suit with 6” heels in white Satin? Then come adornments. The difference between a woman dripping with gold and jewels and one who

subscribes to the minimalist ideal may be profound. With men, it could be the difference between a striped, two colour, tie and a monogrammed club or association tie. Which one is likely to be the accountant?

Hats are another clue. Baseball caps – worn backwards [can you trust folks who can't work out which way a hat goes on the head?] - versus a trilby, a bowler hat or a shapeless cloth cap are all status indica-tors and give clues as to the role played by that character in the piece.

So please dress your character appropriately – naturally, you won't forget to tell the reader - particu-larly if he's the one dripping with jewels & wearing a White trouser suit with 6” heels in white Satin!

For now may I wish you the sun on your back, a soft wind in your face, and may the ground rise kindly under your car wheels.

Editor Note: He does have a point ... Who said: clothes maketh man? However, how one describes how the character is wearing

their clothes and what they are wearing is another thing entirely. Remember the drip, drip of information and not to produce a list

of clothing. Characters are not clothes horses or models in a shop window. A swish of a hemline through the grass is less clumsy

than she was wearing a long skirt.

Blackleg Bill Bluddschott and the smugglers

It was broad daylight as Blackleg Bill Bluddschott hung around in his favourite haunting spot, near where the road came onto the island, and moaned. Being a ghost, he didn't care that he was

overheard by a passing group of Vixen girls who giggled. 'See! I told you that this place is haunted, Brenda,' said one of the older ones, looking down on

one of her 12 and 13-year-old companions from the vantage point of a whole 14½-years. 'You youngsters don't know anything about ghosts.'

'And I suppose that you've got a ghost hunting badge to prove it, Annabelle,' Brenda replied.

'Don't be silly, there's no such thing! But my Auntie Jean has one of those what-do-you-call-'ems … physic powers, that's it, physic powers, and she's told me that I'm sensible to thing like that. Says

that I could be a spiritual, or something. Anyway, she says that I can hear things!' Brenda giggled as she said, 'Well, you can certainly hear the grub-up call from further away than

anyone else can, Annabelle. So what's this ghost saying then?'

'Nothing much. Stop giggling you lot! I can't hear a thing when you giggle.' Blackleg Bill Bluddschott pricked up his intangible ears when he heard this, 'So, we've a young

witch on the island, and one who tells all about it!' he said to himself, however, Annabelle over-heard him.

'I am not a witch!' she retorted, 'I'm only 14 and witches are very old, thirty at least, everybody knows that you stupid ghost thing!'

The group looked at Annabelle in amazement and shrank away from her. She seemed to be talk-

ing to somebody but there wasn't anybody else around. Brenda whispered to the others, 'She talking to a ghost, she really must be a spiritual like she

says!' 'Now!' demanded Annabelle, 'Who are you and what do you want? None of this messing about;

straight talk or shut up!' Brenda opened her mouth, but before she could speak Annabelle said, 'Not you Brenda. I mean

the ghost thing that's haunting the spot. Well get on with it ghost!'

Even when he'd been alive Blackleg Bill Bluddschott hadn't been spoken to like that, and by a young girl too.

'You must stop him smuggling … Ware, the preventatives,' was all he could say before his energy store ran out.

Annabelle misheard much of the sentences, 'He says that we must stop snuggling and something

about wearing a preventative. We've got to tell somebody about it as well though. Doesn't make much sense to me. Who do we tell?'

'Leaders! We need to tell the Vixen leaders at tonight‘s camp meeting,' Brenda decided for the group. 'I'll start it and you tell them exactly what he said. Got it?'

Just then there was the cheerful honking, ―Beep – Barp‖ sound of a motor horn and Norbert pulled up alongside them in the charabanc. Sally, who, even in an oily set of dungarees, could man-age to look elegant, was in the cab with him.

'Hello girls. Fancy a trip around the island,' Sally said. 'We've got to go to the boat landing to get some bits and bobs, then to the lighthouse, after that to the boy‘s camp and then back to the hotel.

You should get back here in time for lunch.' Brenda looked at Annabelle. Norbert and Sally counted as adults and they could tell adults, espe-

cially Sally. 'Tell!' she mouthed. Annabelle nodded. 'Well,' she began, and then it all spilled out of her like water over a dam.

'You poor dear,' Sally said when the flow of words stopped and she hugged the sobbing young-ster to her. 'It must have been very hard for you to keep up with Blackleg Bill. Unless you've loads

of practice, he's not the easiest of shades to handle and you managed it for your first contact. You must be something special.'

'You mean that you've spoken to him, Miss?' Brenda was agog. Not only had she, nearly, seen an

actual ghost but she was there when somebody spoke to one. Not only that, but here was an adult who took it all for granted!

'Not me, young lady,' Sally answered the unspoken questions of all the other girls in the group. 'I‘ve heard him, but I'm not fortunate enough to be a sensitive, such as Annabelle is, however, I

have done some fact finding about this island.' She wagged a finger at them, 'Use your libraries

girls; you'd be surprised what's in there. Yes, the ghost of Blackleg Bill Bluddschott haunts the is-land, just slightly. There's not much known about him though. According to local legend, he was

hung for Barratry in 1789, but it's wrong as he was shot. Probably for cheating at cards.' She knew the truth; but wasn‘t going to tell these youngsters the sordid detail that he was shot by

somebody‘s wife for cheating, and it wasn‘t about cards. 'You mean that the whole island is haunted by raging ghosts, Miss?' A frightened Brenda asked. Sally saw that the girls were getting hysterical, so she decided to calm them down, 'Oh no! No,

Bill's the only one and he's only a voice that's heard now and again in a few places. Somewhere around here is one of them. Annabelle was very lucky to have heard him at all, and to get a real

answer is fantastic. Are you related to the Bluddschotts by any chance, Annabelle?' Annabelle didn't think so and the girls calmed down. Sally put on her best command voice, 'Right, onto the bus girls! We're off to see if we can find

any wizards in light house land.' The girls, all of whom had heard the American fairy story, giggled. One, a plump girl, shouted,

‗I‘m called Dorothy so I bags me the front seat,‘ and sat back.

~o0o~

Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff 1 April [20 March] 1873 – 28 March 1943), was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered as one of the fin-

est pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Rachmaninoff

The Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, is a concerto for piano and orchestra composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff between the autumn of 1900 and April 1901. The second and third movements were

first performed with the composer as soloist on 2 December 1900. The complete work was premiered, again with the composer as soloist, on 9

November 1901,with his cousin Alexander Siloti conducting. This piece is one of Rachmaninoff's most enduringly popular pieces, and established his

fame as a concerto composer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Concerto_No._2_%28Rachmaninoff%29

YouTube contains several concert videos which include this piece.

Piano Concerto No 2 Rachmaninov

This music is not yours. ―I‘ve been deprived, haven‘t I?‖ you smiled, vaguely. We searched, we ordered it too late, Yet ominous the piano creeps … Invades … Swells … Rampages … roars victory … and then it pauses, struck by the strength of friendship. It feels clear air and meadows calm with sheep, remembers ferny, mushroom woods – you in Jane‘s cape, green tea-cup caravan mornings – you singing with the kettle, sees Powys Castle car park – empty. (We‘d got it wrong. Again.) It walks the path to Welshpool, hears laughter in a café. We laughed so much, the three of us, revelled in laughing, revelled in each other, linked supporting arms. This is not your music, yet it recalls your strength, your quiet courage, coping, carrying on; your self-effacement, underlying qualms, your love of children, music, gardens, books. This music is not yours, but knows the sureness of your triumphant life, and makes you stay.

HAVE YOU SENT IN

YOUR POEMS

FOR “LINKS”?

Links is the theme for RBW’

2016 e-Poetry Collection.

Find all

RBW FREE e-publications Online at

www.issuu.com/risingbrookwriters

http://

www.risingbrookwriters.org.uk/

DynamicPage.aspx?PageID=15

www.issuu.com/

risingbrookwriters

Time and Tide

The 2015

Short Story

Collection

Click picture

For site link

If you are a subscribing email recipient to leave RBW Online is easy just email and say ‘unsubscribe’ and you will be immediately removed from the list. If you have any suggestions for improvement to this service please let us know. You don't have to take an active part to receive this workshop bulletin you can just sit back and enjoy the ride, but if you could send feedback, it is greatly appreciated. RBW Privacy Promise: A few simple contact details are all that are required and they will only be used for this bulletin service. RBW promise to:

Only send you details via the newsletter.

To never pass on your details to anyone else.

To always allow recipients to opt-out and unsubscribe at any time.

www.risingbrookwriters.org.uk

To contact RBW please use the website contact box.

PATRON Ian McMillan www.ian-mcmillan.co.uk

Present and Previous Memberships and Funders.

Rising Brook Writers strives to be compliant with the requirements of the Data Protection Act. RBW strives for accu-

racy and fairness, however, can take no responsibility for any error, misinterpretation or inaccuracy in any message

sent by this mode of publishing. The opinions expressed are not necessarily in accordance with the policy of the char-

ity. E-mails and attachments sent out by RBW are believed to be free from viruses which might affect computer sys-

tems into which they are received or opened but it is the responsibility of the recipient to ensure that they are virus

free. Rising Brook Writers accepts no responsibility for any loss or damage arising in any way from their receipt, open-

ing or use. Environment/ Recycling: Please consider carefully if you need to print out any part or all of this message.

To the best of our knowledge and belief all the material included in this publication is free to use in the public domain,

or has been reproduced with permission, and/or source acknowledgement. RBW have researched rights where possible,

if anyone’s copyright is accidentally breached please inform us and we will remove the item with apologies. RBW is a

community organisation, whose aims are purely educational, and is entirely non-profit making. If using material from

this collection for educational purposes please be so kind as to acknowledge RBW as the source. Contributors retain the

copyright to their own work. Fiction: names, characters, places and incidents are imaginary. Any resemblance to actual

people living or dead is entirely coincidental.

This bulletin is produced by volunteers. The editor’s decisions are final and not open to discussion.

© Rising Brook Writers 2015 — RCN 1117227 A voluntary charitable trust.