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Reflections on Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel

Recently I visited the Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel exhibition at the Versa Studios in Leeds, one of its final venues on a world tour that was being staged by Special Entertainment Event, Inc. From the outside, the studios looked like a

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The Monarchy

At this time of the accession of King Charles III, I feel it is appropriate to reflect on the monarch’s role in the British Constitution. I make no claims to the validity of my views; this is simply my interpretation

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‘George’ update, April 2021

Update: first readers’ draft (manuscript 4.3) completed April 24, 2021 At 2.15 pm. on Saturday April 24, 2021, the book was completed. Just over a decade’s work (started research in February 2011). Here’s a picture of the various manuscripts, including

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George Stainforth biography – coming 2022

An outline of George’s life story Many of the stranger features of George’s life (seen here sitting at his mother’s feet, front left) can be traced back to his being brought up in a very strict evangelical Christian family, and

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Secrets of The Shining

On Monday 1 April I had the interesting and enjoyable experience of being interviewed on the BBC Radio 4 Film Programme (to be broadcast on Thurs 11) about my work as music editor on Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining in the

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The Shining: 40th Anniversary

A nice mini-documentary put together by Warner Bros to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the release of Kubrick’s The Shining. It’s slightly odd that none of the music used in the actual film is used here, but I guess that

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Bojovian Covidiocy

The latest graph, showing the number of deaths relating to coronavirus in different countries in Europe, depicts in an even more chilling way the level of Johnson’s much trumpeted ‘world beating’ ‘achievement’, the ‘success’ that he’s apparently so proud of.

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Champions of parochialism

A similar madness to that which swept America and enabled Trump to get into power swept the UK when we voted first for the far-right Brexit project, and then for Bojo the Clown as ‘Prime Minister’. Many who voted for

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A Question of Balance

The following is written as a counter-argument to ideas expressed in a video about a life that’s committed to climbing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KT8VgfApLE I present it simply as a counter-argument. I’m not saying I’m right; I just want to express a worry

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Peter Stainforth talks about his war days

In the course of researching the biography I’m writing about air ace George Stainforth, I’ve unearthed a recording of my father, Peter Stainforth, talking about his war years to the author Ian Mackersey in April 2000. My plane was shot

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The Second Ascent of the Matterhorn

I recently came across a spectacular aerial picture (taken by Fi Bunn of FiPhotos) of the final 700 feet of the Matterhorn taken from an unusual angle from the west, and suddenly realised that it showed, better than any picture

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