Menoturals; Flowery Feature

Time to share with the LLB Gang's Nature Friday meme. I find myself out of animal-related info to post, so for a few weeks, I am going to fall back on the remaining flower photos from last summer's visits to various gardens. Let's begin with a couple from the blue spectrum...

Menondering; This, That, The Other...

April is a slightly challenging month for me. It didn't used to be, but the way things have fallen, it has become something of an administrative month... and I am finding, despite once being an ace administrator, that I am now a bit more of an ostrich. I have to work hard on myself to get things done. Home insurance, vehicle insurance, vehicle registration, vehicle service... and now for the first time, add in MOT (in early May, but still to get booked), certain other fiscal matters. I am realising my age and the desire to not have to deal with all this stuff. Gone are the days when things were set in place and then left to roll over. Now, every year, one must do one's diligence and be prepared to shift to yet another provider to get the best deals. 

Ugh.... Anyway, bit by bit, I am chipping away at the tasks. In between, I continue to distract myself with viewings, listenings, and yarnings. 

I have been watching Person of Interest on Prime... the looming of AI makes this a disturbing, yet riveting watch. Now we also have The Copenhagen Test and The Capture, two shows taking us on a trip into the hi-tech chicanery available to us. On a lighter note, there have been the likes of Great British Menu, Beyond Paradise, and Race Across the World. 

Books listened to have been from authors such as L J Ross, Richard Osmond, Stuart MacBride, Marion Todd, Denzil Meyrick, and Alex Pine. I am reaching the 'caught up' stage for most of these now and am on long waiting lists for the next in series (if at all they are yet available). 

I did a podcast post recently, but this week, on The Rest Is Politics: Leading, the interview was no less a person than Volodymyr Zelenskyy... and if I tell you it was beyond impressive, trust me - it's fifty minutes of your time well worth spending. The warmth, the charm, the dedication, the logic and strategic-mindedness... the common sense that flowed from him was moving in the extreme. I am going to embed it here - but you may have to go to Spotify for the whole thing (or find it on your own preferred platform).

Menoizikul; Midweek Musicalisms

Week three of the month brings us to Giacomo Carissimi, born on the 18th of April, 1605, in Marino, Italy. Composing in the early Baroque movement, his works pertain specifically to the Roman School, which is to say, almost entirely sacred in nature. He is credited with formulating the 'rules' for Latin oratorio and produced many masses, motets, and cantatas himself. Here's a short item to give you a taste...