London’s River of Music Welcomes Bosnian Songbird Amira
London will come alive to the sound of music from around the world, when hundreds of international musicians take part in the BT River of Music, this weekend. Performers from Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania will take to stages at iconic sites along the River Thames as part of the London 2012 Festival.
Trafalgar Square, Somerset House, Battersea Park, the London Pleasure Gardens, the Royal Naval College Greenwich and the Tower of London will all stage concerts on Saturday and Sunday, with established stars such as Scissor Sisters, Beverley Knight, Jools Holland, Baaba Maal, Mariza, Hugh Masekela and Angelique Kidjo among other top names from countries competing at the London 2012 Olympic Games. With tickets costing just £3 (administration fee), thousands of people are expected to attend and discover new music.
Life’s Rich Grind
Life’s simple pleasures are the best. A satisfying cup of well-prepared coffee is up there among the very finest and it is stealing a lead on its lighter rival. A refreshing tea is often described as the cup that cheers, but coffee beats tea hands down when it comes to giving life a much-needed lift.
Coffee has been my saviour during many dull meetings, it has sparked me up on a fuzzy morning, and it has delivered a swift after-dinner kick towards the next stage of many a long night. I take it strong, black and without sugar. Preferably in double shots and definitely without cream. Don’t even dare mention decaf, as that pale pretender to the heady brew of deep flavour and rich aroma will just not hit the spot.
When I am in the Balkans, I drink so much good coffee. Not all of it is to my taste, I should add. Specifically, Turkish coffee (and the same brew by any other name) is not really for me.
What Makes Tesla A Genius?
Nikola Tesla was a prolific visionary on a par with Leonardo da Vinci, the great and the good of London’s Serbian community heard at an event to celebrate the birth date of the man whose impact is still felt today. London’s Serbian Embassy hosted the various groups of the diaspora who were united in celebrating the life and work of the great Serb scientist and to consider his incredible legacy.
“On this day 156 years ago, a genius that was to light the world up was born in the small village of Smiljan, which was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire,’ said Serbian Chargé d’Affaires Branimir Filipović. “His father, an orthodox clergyman, couldn’t have envisaged the greatness his small boy would achieve.
“His visions could be only measured by those of Leonardo da Vinci. If someone can name another man to compare with this great gentleman, please tell us.”
The Cyclist Conspiracy: A Book Review
Some things in life come easily while others need more effort. When extra effort is required, the rewards can be even greater. In art this is regularly the case, and it is definitely the situation with The Cyclist Conspiracy by Svetislav Basara, a prolific and awarded figure in contemporary Serbian literature.
When published in Serbia in 1988, this challenging and ambitious book attracted mixed reactions. Some claimed it was an academic indulgence that went one step too far, while others proclaimed it as a masterpiece from one of Serbia’s literary figureheads.
The style of the book (translated by Randall A Major) was often related to the work of Argentina’s Jorge Luis Borges, to the great Umberto Eco, and even to the current big-hitter of the conspiracy romp, Dan Brown. But while this book shares a fashionable fixation with secret societies and conspiracy theories, here the symbolism is neither over-bloated nor dumbed-down.
