writing

  • Where’s the orchestra?

    Some people might recognize the title of this piece as the title of a Billy Joel song, and you would be right. It is a beautiful song which has a sad intonation, in a way it is a haunting piece of music, a story of something that is no longer there. Billy Joel’s grandfather Karl…

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  • As the saying goes “all is fair in love and war” In the autumn of 1944, an almost twenty-nine-year old English soldier named Jim fell head-over-heels for nineteen-year-old Emelia Sluys. Emelia was staying with relatives on Groesbeekseweg in the city of Nijmegen,the Netherlands, because her home had been destroyed during the Battle of Arnhem. To…

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  • There dwelleth a fair lady, convinced that all that doth glitter be gold,And she doth seek a stairway to yon celestial abode.When she arrives at her destined place, she shall perceive,If all the shops be shuttered, with but a word, she can cleaveTo that which she hath long sought—O, and she doth purchase a stairway…

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  • I love to sing and I don’t care where I am or what I am doing, if I feel the urge to sing I just do it. However there is one song I can never sing along to, It is not that I don’t like the song, the opposite is true it is one of…

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  • Rest in Peace Greg Iles

    The sad news broke today that author Greg Iles passed away on Friday August 15, 2025. Greg Iles was my all time favourite author. Greg Iles (1960–2025): A Tribute Born in Stuttgart and raised in Natchez, Mississippi, Greg Iles transformed the landscapes of the South into electrifying narratives that traversed genres and generations. From his…

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  • Act I, Scene I Enter Chorus. Chorus:Hark! Attend, good people, to a tale most dire,Of conflagration fierce and lute’s sweet lyre.Beside fair Geneva’s tranquil lake it fell,A tragedy where smoke and water tell. Enter noble musicians: Lord Ritchie, Sir Ian, Sir Roger, and Sir Jon. Lord Ritchie:Upon the glassy shore we’d planned our art,A hall…

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  • Title: “Here I Go Again: A Tragedy of the Wandering Soul” Setting: A dark, stormy night. The winds howl as the protagonist, Sir Valour, a knight of fortune and folly, stands alone in the middle of a desolate road. He is garbed in battle-worn armor, his face obscured by the shadows. A long journey lies…

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  • “Let Legend Mark Me King” is a song by the legendary actor Christopher Lee, best known for his roles in classic horror films and as Saruman in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. However, he also had a lesser-known but impressive career as a heavy metal vocalist in his later years. This particular track comes…

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  • The First Kindertransport

    This post will be about the first Kindertransport, which arrived in the United Kingdom on 2 December 1938. However, I am starting with a speech by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain on 30 September 1938. “There are only two things I want to say. First of all, I have received an immense number of letters…

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