Philomena The Film The Book and Amazon.com

From Amazon.com to Janette Miller Your review could not be posted.  Thanks for submitting a customer review on Amazon. Your review could not be posted to the website in its current form. While we appreciate your time and comments, reviews must adhere to the following guidelines:http://www.amazon.com/review-guidelines Here is the rejected review

Philomena the book - The other side of the story. I came to this book via the film of the same name which I had enjoyed. I often seem to see the film first and the read the book. I expected more of the same as the reviews of the film did admit to dramatic license and having experienced Irish Catholic nuns for myself I was curious to know more. The book is very very different from the film. Perhaps the name and the first section  in the convent is all they have in common. From then on the film is about Philomena  and the book is about her son Michael. From the moment he leaves the convent the  book is about him. In the film this amazing man hardly gets a look in. I suppose  because he was gay and the book is quite frank about his choice of lifestyle. Not   shocking for most of us but enough to make film distributors anxious. The film  would have been better if it were more like the book. The film was hard on Micheal's partner who in the film is depicted as an unhelpful  man and deservedly hard on the RC church which behaved in the way it usually does.  The book by contrast hardly dwells on Philomena herself, the USA visit never took  place, and is far more truthful about the whole discovery process which I preferred.  Truth is always stronger than fiction. I did enjoy it. I suppose for most of us convent educated girls reading this is a form  of masochism as we relive our school days with horrible nuns and creepy priests  which we can recognise only too well. The good thing is that if you have seen the film  you actually see the convent and surroundings so ones imagination does not have  to work so hard. What a pity the film did not have the courage to do it this way.

We encourage you to revise your review and submit it again. A few common issues to keep in mind:  Your review should focus on specific features of the product and your  experience with it. Feedback on the seller or your shipment experience  should be provided at www.amazon.com/feedback. We do not allow profane or obscene content. This applies to adult products too. Advertisements, promotional material or repeated posts that make the same  point excessively are considered spam. Please do not include URLs external to Amazon or personally identifiable content in your review. Here is my accepted Amazon review: This is a very difficult book to review because of its topic. My first review  was rejected by Amazon because I mentioned this topic. So I will just have to say I enjoyed it. It was different from the film because the focus was on the child not the mother. The child and mother are both amazing. I was astonished that my first review was rejected. It should not have  been rejected but it was. My last review was useful and I encouraged you to read it book I still do so. This shows what happens when Belief Systems are in control.

Janette Miller's project for 2016 - My Winter Journey

Janette Miller's Winter Journey

2016

Based on the Die Winterreise song cycle by Franz Schubert

In life, everyone should have a project. I go from project to project and if one ends, even if I don't want it to, I start another maybe in a completely different field or maybe sometimes more of the same. I can get tunnel vision which is a good thing as I get things done and cut out distractions. Not so easy now I am older as living takes a lot of my time. Seeing the house does not fall down, the garden gets done takes time.

In 2015 I had to do an upgrade on my technical skills. In 2015 the technology made a big leap and it took me months to catch up. I had to upgrade my website janette-miller.com to Muse from Dreamweaver and this was a challenge as Muse is still a very new platform but oh what you can do with it. It took me the last three months of 2015 to do it. Huge job but tis done. I have an ulterior motive in doing this as it is the basis for My Winter Journey. 

Ever since  I first heard Die Winterreise at Aldeburgh I knew I one day would have a go at this. Britten and Pears loved Lieder or Songs as Peter would pontificate when making me feel awfully small. Peter was so good at this. Peter always said he was afraid of this cycle and it could only be sung in maturity which of course is a lot of rubbish as the story is about a young rejected suitor and the devastation of unrequited love which the young lover gets over. However I did not know this then and I thought, wrongly, at the age of 16 with nil German, that it was about an old man approaching death and I think half the audience did too and still do if they cannot speak German. Certainly, a lot of elderly men sing it!

As Peter  Pears made clear, a young girl could sing some Lieder but Winterreise was off the menu for me as it was a man's cycle so I never bothered with it until....ah! that little word until...until my husband died. We had been working on Die Winterreise at the time and The Organ Grinder the last song in the cycle was the last song we ever sang together. The hardest song I have ever recorded.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptOVMp2dDiU

Years later I discovered iMove2 and put up an appreciation  for Miles using this song and I again let it go because although we had recorded the whole cycle some of it was just not up to standard as we had done it so quickly and I could not afford to pay an accompanist or pay for transposing the songs into more suitable keys for me.

But then came Garageband and all changed. I could write out my accompaniments and sing again. I recorded Die Schone Mullerin and then I thought about Die Winterreise. Why not?

Well, there is a hundred reason Why Not? All of them good but I have not been an L'Enfant terrible all my life for nothing and quite frankly I do not see why men should have all the good songs and young maidens encounter unrequited love too. Winterreise is not an old man's song. It is a young person's cycle. and luckily my voice sounds quite young.

There are 24 songs in all and each song can be taken as an individual item. I have been working on the complete cycle all my life. The first was On the River  with my first DVD movie camera. I had a friend's daughter for Norway staying with me and she kindly let me film her just before Miles died in 2001. You can see her in the trail above.

I have joined it all together but and it is almost roughed out and if I die before I have finished the world can get a rough idea. Styles and technical formats and styles change too and I have allowed for those. I have also altered the running order of the last 12 songs. Shock Horror! But no one knows what order these are supposed to be in, not even Schubert because like me, Schubert did not encounter them in order. Anyone can see that the order after the first 12 songs is wrong so I have put them in the order I think they should be.

2016's project is about to start. I need a website so that I can let anyone know who is interested where I am at, I need to finish the 25 songs, yes - there is one extra, which may come as a surprise to purists but this is my personal journey and I can do what I like. At 73 I can do what I like and I do hope you will come along with me. I know that my friends on FB find it hard to watch and much prefer my garden when it comes to the Like button but I do live in hope that one day they will enjoy it too.

Gchttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrUIVvo5FGc

Maestro Kurt Masur and David Lichine as their singers and dancers remember them

Conductor Kurt Masur 1927-2015

Today on Facebook I heard of the death of Kurt Masur. He worked in New York for the New York Philharmonic Orchestra but I had never heard of him. My omission. The famous singer who had alerted me to his death had written these words which immediately struck a chord.

 You screamed at me in front of a full dress rehearsal audience (to be fair, I screamed back at you..), you grabbed my arm during a performance, you flat out fired me, and you made me madder than hell sometimes.

..and I have learned so very much from having had the privilege of working with you.

RIP Maestro.

This was my first introduction to this famous man and the above singer was obviously not alone for then followed a list of singers that he had yelled at, one was as young as 12!

He yelled at me too...guess I'm in good company!

It was always out of the want of perfection for the music. Not generally to be a jerk... We know who those guys are.

A great conductor, and it now seems yelled at the wrong people now and then. He I suppose is forgivable. He made a great career, if only by reviving the NYPhil.

He yelled at Daisy Eagan, and she was 12! Still, he made some amazing music and lived an important life. Rip.

This was the first thing these singers remembered about this conductor not that he was a brilliant musician but that he had yelled and humiliated them in public. In this position it is impossible for an artist to yell back. It is sad to think that this conductor will be remembered in this way and I feel sure when he yelled at, as it appears quite a number of artists he never gave a thought that one day his yelling would be made public.

Conductors, directors and choreographers did this in his day. They considered themselves Gods and above reproach. How many careers have they ruined? Being yelled at in public is totally devastating and many lose confidence as a result from which they never recover.

My Bete Noire was the choreographer David Lichine who had been one of Diaghilev's young men and was employed for the first Nutcracker by London's Festival Ballet. As a choreographer he was a success and in fact I have never seen a finer version but as a person he was cruel and horrible so horrible that when a book was written to celebrate this production it was even mentioned that many of the children thought Uncle David was too hard on them! Understatement he was Mr. Lichine, we curtsied to him, we curtsied to everyone and he was a tyrant.

He dismissed dancers without a thought. I only got my part because three others before me were summarily dismissed. If we put a foot wrong we were out. To begin I managed but it all went wrong for me when I discovered just how thoughtless  and cruel this man could be.

It was at the dress parade and the press had been invited for publicity. The wardrobe at our school had only managed to make 3 costumes. The designs were by Benois and my design was ghastly. A huge green and white spotted monstrosity with a heavy Broderie Anglaise collar. It was hideous. Lichine didn't like it either and as I stood there he started to scream at everyone. I was terrified. I was only 14 and had know idea what was happening. You can see the offending dress in the right corner.

Then Lichine walked up to me and in front of the cast management and press ripped the dress to shreds with me in it. By the time he had finished I was virtually naked and clutching the remains to cover my modesty. Pre pubescent girls with no bras are very touchy. Yes it wasn't my fault and the dress was horrible but this I realised later was his way of getting the dress remade and it was remade by my mother on dress rehearsal day but this was another story.

However at a photo call that afternoon I still had to wear the dress as there were no others and they needed three. The poor photographer had to disguise that my dress was in shreds and the photos are very awkwardly posed. My face just pokes into one. From that moment the man scared me as I knew then he had no feeling for anyone. Just himself.

All remained well for me until the public dress rehearsal with Princess Margaret in front. In the middle of the prologue for Act II, Kingdom of Sweets, I got my second public humiliation and I could do nothing about it. We all had to lick an enormous lollipop. I was dead centre, kneeling down with my back to the audience, I had to lick the lollipop and turn around and smile. This was fine in rehearsal room as it was flat and where ever the prop landed  I could turn around and smile and even on the run throughs there was just enough room for me on the stage to do this.

At the Royal Festival Hall we had no footlights. There was just a white line to show the edge of the stage and one had to be careful as there was a long drop onto the orchestra. On this dress rehearsal everyone was nervous and somehow the lollipop was place too far downstage and there was not room for me. I was dangerously near being pushed over onto the orchestra. I was scared stiff and I failed to look around when I should.

Lichene yelled at me! Turn around girl, I want to see your face! The whole audience gasped as at ballets one hardly expects such a vocal performance. I was clinging on for life and the orchestra pit was dangerously close so I could not oblige although I felt like standing up and screaming at him so I got a second blast. By this time the music had moved on and I scrambled to safety but I felt awful. I had been screamed at in public. It was humiliating.

If this had happened in rehearsal I should have been out and in fact I think he wanted me out but my mother had made my costume and was busy helping with the other wardrobe disaster that had occurred and while I might not have been missed my mother would have been missed. Needless to say I just wanted the floor to open up and swallow me and really I lost my performance confidence that night.

A few days later this man arrived in our dressing room to autograph our programmes. We all lined up. He never said a word or looked at anyone till it got to me and then he did. He started to sign and then he looked at me and gave me a look of exasperation. He was going to say something like You ruined my Nutcracker by not turning around  but he thought better of it. Obviously I had made some sort of impression, I do this, and I feel sure he remembered me but why did he do it?

Why did the man pick on me? Why did he chose to belittle me in front of a whole audience. It was such a tiny point. Did he want me to fall into the orchestra pit? I was doing my best.

Artists never forget these types of reprimands and it appears many have not forgotten Maestro Kurt Masur outbursts.  I don't think any of us really forgive either. We don't make  errors deliberately. Things go wrong that are beyond our control. We do not deserve to be screamed at in public.

I feel sure Masur and Lichine would be surprised that their outbursts of bullying would be remembered so many years later and form part of their legacy. They both deserve it.

Can SkyPath fit 14337 cyclists on Northcote Point? SkyPath says it can!

Bike the Bridge 2015 a few of the 3,000 cyclists leaving Smales Farm

Can SkyPath fit 14,337 cyclists & pedestrians on Northcote Point between noon and 3 pm? SkyPath says it can! Many Northcote residents would like to know how SkyPath plans to do this. It is a big secret but they are sure they can do it.

A glance at the photograph above showing a few of the 3000 cyclists from Bike the Bridge 2015 leaving Smales Farm gives some idea of what the numbers involved might entail. The above crowd is by any standards huge and the official numbers were 3,000.  It looks more as they take up so much room. Northcote Point is to receive 14,337 every summer Saturday and Sunday between noon and 3 pm according to the Official Research by Auckland Council  into the viability of SkyPath and this is to rise to 20,000 + in 5 years time.

The Mayor and majority of councillors, SkyPath itself and the Independent Commissioners, Ms Karyn Sinclair - Chairperson, Ms Jenny Hudson, Ms Melean Absolum, and Mr Mark Farnsworth who granted the Resource Consent feel that the effects of this 14,337 on Northcote Point will be minimal.

The Resource Consent  Advice of Decision:

The adverse amenity effects at the Northern Landing (primarily associated with increased activity, privacy/overlooking, noise, and perceptions relating to safety and security) can be adequately mitigated through design and site management as proposed by the Applicant. 

The problem is no one has informed the residents of Northcote Point just how they are going to cope with this problem. The Mayor and SkyPath are convinced that they can  but refuse to say how. Maybe they do not  know exactly how much space is needed for 14,337 people queuing to get into a 4 meter tunnel with only two entrances and exits which are blocked by turnstiles.

Reasons for the decision: 

The reasons for this decision are included in the decision report above but can be summarised as follows: 1. In terms of section 104D(1)(a) of the RMA, the adverse effects of the activity on the environment at the Northern Landing have been considered as moderate. Turning to section 104(1)(a), mitigation measures have been incorporated into the design of the proposal, and a range of consent conditions have been imposed to ensure that any adverse effects on the environment for the entire proposal can be satisfactorily avoided, remedied or mitigated.

How exactly do the Commissioners propose to ensure that 14,447 can be accommodated with no adverse effects?  Are they experts in crowd management?

For Bike the Bridge 3000 cyclists needed the whole of Smales Farm with acres of car parks and all the Bus Station lanes as a meeting point. 300 official marshalls to slow down the traffic, a bank of porta cabins at each end, and around 100 buses to form a barrier for safety. NO pedestrians or children allowed and the traffic which filled the Bridge Lanes was just one way. Traffic was all one way and moving all the time. No stopping.

One has to be blind or stupid to see that Northcote Point with just 50 meters of available land for Skypath that even the 3000 for Bike the Bridge are not going to fit. There is virtually no space either side and one road entrance of about 8 meters, This is for traffic both ways plus pedestrians with children and push chairs.

Buildmedia simulation under Northcote Point. Over 14,000 people are expected!

The Official Research says this is the correct number and in fact SkyPath needs these numbers if it is not to fail financially. If it is built and it is underwritten by the Council and these numbers do not turn up these losses will be paid for by the Ratepayers of Auckland. To add insult to injury Northcote had it rates put up by 16% this year.  To date the costs to the Ratepayers must be millions.

Bike the Bridge Cyclists arriving at Westhaven 

Until last week there was really no visual evidence to support Northcote Point's predicament  but now there is evidence. Plenty of it. So come on Len Brown, Mayor of Auckland, Bevan Woodward, SkyPath's promoter and Ms Jennifer Valentine - Auckland Council's Lead Senior Planner, front up. Northcote Point is waiting.

Women's marriage opportunites then and now - Janette Miller

The dating gap: why the odds are stacked against female graduates finding a like-minded man

How great to have so many clever, educated young women spilling out every year, but there could be negative consequences, as a new book, Date-onomics, points out: there may not be enough educated men to go around.

So writes Emine Saner in today's UK Guardian.  Not enough educated men to go around!

So different from  my day. I am circa 1900/1970, then 80% of women of whatever class were, what would today be called, uneducated. Our parents just did not think educating their daughters was a priority as they would get married. Amazingly men of whatever education did not worry about this. Those were the days and it is not so very long ago when Oxford colleges did not admit women.

It was very obvious to all intelligent single women that not only did we require a husband as a career of any meaning was unobtainable without the unobtainable degree but we required a pension as well. This narrowed the field of acceptable mates.  Lucky for us too that most men had to put up with silly women. Most of us, me included, had to be educated after marriage. I certainly was - sex, science and Darwin. I had been educated by the nuns who did not seem to realise these subjects existed. Enough said. 

Today it seems that there are not enough educated men to go around as women have been admitted to the university ranks and rightly wish for a partner of equal intelligence, unlike my day when it was almost impossible for a man to find a partner who was basically educated let alone of equal intelligence.

Maybe the contributor is correct and women will have to lower their sights. Men of my day needed someone to run their lives, like house and children, so they married a woman who was by his standards uneducated  and it worked, sort of. This creature was called a wife. Today many high powered women could do with such a wife to do these useful tasks. 

I found this out when my Oxford educated husband  was  physically attacked in his surgery and had to give up medicine. It was then our roles changed as I become the breadwinner and had to keep husband and daughter in the manner to which they were accustomed. I wished then I had a wife to help me with the living part as neither husband or daughter obliged. It would have helped if I had had a formal education but that is by the by. To my surprise I did manage to keep house and family even though I was not supposed to do this.

Today I should have had a career and an education. If my husband had got to Oxford I think I should have got there too. I should have chosen someone as a husband who could fulfil these roles of housekeeper. lover and father and let me get on with my career.  Today's educated women should think about this.

Slippers the horrible footwear -Janette Miller

Should slippers shuffle off this mortal coil?

Lucy Mangan: Only slippers give you true domestic freedom

 
Who invented slippers? Those awful check monstrosities one buys at Marks & Sparks.

My mother had a thing about slippers. She hated them. "Nasty sloppy things" she would decry " Make your feet spread".

My ballet school didn't like them either for similar reasons and veroukas. "Never let you bare feet touch the floor" was the order of the day.

So imagine my horror when I got my first solo role in Benjamin Britten's first Noyes Fludde at Aldeburgh when the entire caste of hundreds were kitted out with traditional slippers from Marks & Sparks. They were horrible, infact my whole costume was horrible and green!

I got used to wearing horrible costumes, designers hate women it appears, but I think those horrible slippers were the worst.

I think my mother and school may have been right.

Auckland's SkyPath take heed, human stampedes are not one offs!

The SkyPath proposed for the Auckland Harbour Bridge it is still on track in spite of the dangers that are known to exist. The promoters are still certain that it will be built sometime next year in 2016. They plan a 4 meter wide, 1.2 kilometer enclosed tunnel for pedestrians and cyclists to share with just two exits which are just 5 meters wide and blocked by turnstiles. At peak times the Auckland City Resource consent  plan says officially that for three hours on a Saturday and Sunday there will be 5000 movements per hour at least and that 2000 people will be on  the SkyPath at any one time. They are quite happy with this.

2000 people, packed in a tunnel with 2.5 square meters each with nowhere to escape in an emergency.

Since the hearing which SkyPath won there have been two horrendous human stampedes/crushes both of which could happen with SkyPath. The first was at this year Hajj where 1600 people were crushed to death in streets that were unsuitable for such huge numbers. The streets at Northcote Point are in this category. There is at present no way that 14,000 rising to 20,000 people can be accommodated on a Saturday Afternoon without serious danger. There is nowhere to escape in an emergency and no way fire engines and ambulances could access the area. It would be hard even with no crowds but with even a small panicking crowd impossible. One has to be able to evacuate large number quickly and safely.

Today was the Romanian Bucharest nightclub fire  where out of 300 people 27 are known to be dead and 128  seriously injured. The death toll like the hajj is sure to rise. The one small exit was not enough for 300 let alone the 2000 that could  occur on SkyPath. In Romania there have already been calls for manslaughter charges to be laid on the people who allowed this and this should be a warning to those 4 independent commissioners and SkyPath that their lack of concern about the danger of their proposal could lead to criminal charges if anything goes wrong.

Yes the photos are uncomfortable to look at. This link is a horrific example of what could happen. These stampedes are totally preventable and the danger should not be ignored but at present when it comes to bicycles and pedestrians all safety concerns are overlooked as the risk seems low but as shared paths become the norm the accidents will rise as they have in Denmark where the only research is available by 47% for cyclists and 27% for pedestrians and these are not in an enclosed cage but on paths where people can run out. In SkyPath one it trapped with nowhere to go.

Fortunately those in power do realise the dangers. Simon Bridges the Minister for Transport arranged for me to meet with the NZTA who were very reassuring.  SkyPath as it is shown, as yet no plans have been lodged, will have to undergo a thorough safety examination and that means solid scientific research of which there is none at present. The Minister and NZTA know that they cannot ignore the danger even if Auckland Transport, The SkyPath Promoters and the Mayor of Auckland can. Hopefully the environment Court will be more sensible. The impact is huge.

Auckland does not need a human crush of any kind. It would be better for all if the cyclists and pedestrians wait a little longer and use some of the lanes on the Bridge that will become redundant when the new harbour crossing tunnels are built. This will cost Auckland nothing, be free and what is the most important safe.