Ghost-grey

"The days are short,
The sun a spark,
Hung thin between
The dark and dark."
- John Updike


Ghost-grey the fall of night.
Ice-bound the lane,
Lone in the dying light
Flits he again;

Lurking where shadows steal.
Perched in his coat of blood,
Man’s homestead at his heel.
Death-still the wood.

Odd restless child; it's dark;
All wings are flown
But this one wizard’s - hark!
Stone clapped on stone!

Changeling and solitary.
Secret and sharp and small,
Flits he from tree to tree,
Calling on all.
- Walter De La Mere, The Robin


It is Yule, Montol, Brumalia, Lohri, Yalda, Koliada, Dongzhi, Midwinter's Day [whatever you choose to call it], the Winter Solstice - the longest night - today.

Good news, however - the days get longer from here on!

Roll on Spring...

The most expensive drag queen in the UK

The world is a far less glittery place, with the sad news that the legendary Stanley Baxter - one of the most popular entertainers in Britain over several decades - has shaken out that "Duchess of Brendah" wig for the very last time and ascended the glittering London Weekend Television stairway to Fabulon, at the magnificent age of 99.

Another piece of my childhood gone...

As the faboo Television Heaven site put it:

For 25 years Stanley Baxter produced the type of television spectacular that Morecambe and Wise could only afford to put on as part of their Christmas specials. Those legendary song and dance routines that Eric and Ernie performed in their shows may well be the stuff of television legend, but for Stanley Baxter, spectacular musical-comedy specials, reminiscent of Hollywood's best extravaganzas, were part of every series. And they were so flamboyant, and proved to be so costly, that Baxter was sacked not from just one, but two TV channels, who simply couldn't afford to keep him...

He was one of the true creative geniuses in British television light entertainment, and as far as comedy goes... Stanley Baxter was the true King of Scotland.

With his background in variety theatre, the Combined Entertainment Unit of the army in the post-War National Service years (alongside Kenneth Williams, John Schlesinger, Gordon Jackson and Peter Nichols) and - of course - panto, he was almost destined for a career in the fledging world of television (starting out in the 1950s), where his comedic talents and in particular his talent for mimicry (and drag) became a staple of Britain's "light entertainment" genre.

Very much a product of his time - his ITV "spectaculars" won the BAFTA Best Light Entertainment Programme Award two years running in 1973 and 1974 - much of Mr Baxter's fondly remembered output would nowadays be considered extremely non-PC, so repeats (were there ever to be any anyway) would needless to say be heavily edited [deep sigh]; hence the reason why he is largely forgotten. However, by way of a tribute to the great man [who, incidentally, only decided to finally "come out" as gay at the age of 94(!)], here are just three of Stanley's memorable sketches...

Stanley Baxter - Towering Quake '75

Stanley Baxter - The Fast Food Follies

Stanley Baxter - The Duchess of Brendagh

Irreplaceable!

RIP, Stanley Livingstone Baxter (24th May 1926 – 11th December 2025)

Vilja, O Vilja

Yesterday marked the 110th anniversary of the birth of Dame Elisabeth Schwarzopf, German-born British lyric soprano and a much-lauded performer throughout the 20th century.

There was much speculation during her lifetime about her alleged involvement in the Nazi party during her early career in WWII - rumours that were well-and-truly discounted by the eminent art and music historian Charles Scribner III in the New Criterion - but there was nothing that discredited her long and successful career. She performed with the Vienna State Opera, at London's Royal Opera House, La Scala Milan, New York Metropolitan Opera and just about every major opera venue across the world.

She was marvellous, and here are just a few examples of her talent:

Elisabeth Schwarzkopf - An die Musik [Schubert]

Elisabeth Schwarzkopf - Vilja [Lehar, The Merry Widow]

Elisabeth Schwarzkopf - Final Encore in Amsterdam Recital - Seligkeit [Schubert]

Dame Olga Maria Elisabeth Friederike Schwarzkopf, DBE (9th December 1915 – 3rd August 2006)