Advantages: looks good Disadvantages: can be pricey
Doctor Who has been on and off our screens for many years now, and the amazing sci-fi family show returned in 2005 with Chris Eccleston as our nineth Doctor. We then had David Tennant taking us through three more series as the tenth Doctor. On the way, we met many of his companions.
The Doctor's second companion was Martha Jones, from Series 3. He met Martha when the hospital she worked at as a trainee was taken away to the moon by upside down rain (Smith and Jones, series 3 - amazing episode!).
The BBC have produced, alongside Character Options, a range of figures of different sizes. One of their newest options is the Micro Universe figures. These are about 1 inch in height and stand on a little black hexagonal base. They come in packs of either three or seven, and unfortunately you can only see one, or three or the ones you are ...
Advantages: A chance to catch a living legend among pianists. Disadvantages: Appearances in US much too rare, but Martha, rightly so, refuses to tour the world like a performing monkey.
MarthaArgerich was slated to perform Chopin?s Piano Concerto No.1 at Carnegie Hall on April 8, 2002. That is, until some two weeks before the concert. Word got out that Martha had changed her mind: she was going to play the Schumann A minor Piano Concerto instead.
Well, no matter. Martha could play the ?Happy Birthday? song, the crowds would still show up just for the chance to be in her rarefied presence.
Martha stands apart today as one of the last truly great pianists of our time?a towering figure despite her petite frame?in the tradition of Vladimir Horowitz, and I say this without the least hyperbole.
Pre-concert miscellany.
On that crisp, cool Monday evening, the concert was, as usual, a sold-out affair. The visiting artists would be coming in fresh from a couple of winning performances just days before ...
Advantages: lovely apartment, nice pool, great location Disadvantages: it wasn't cheap
by the beach rather than staying by the pool, we decided this was a bit dodgy, so opted for the next cheapest apartments - Marthas, in Palmanova.
We made the mistake (or not) of only looking at the reviews for Marthas after we had booked and paid our money. Basically all reviews pre-2008 or so stated that the place was AWFUL, but apparently the apartments had been renovated around about that time and were brilliant now. We weren't really sure WHAT to believe but it was a done deal now. We'd chosen, whether we liked it or not, this is where we were staying...
****THE LOCATION****
Palmanova is located on the Balearic island of Majorca between the capital Palma and the notorious party resort of Magaluf. It is a busy, popular resort in its own right but far quieter and calmer than Magaluf - thank goodness! (I'm a bit old for those kind ...
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827); (Franz) Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809); César (-Auguste-Jean-Guillaume-Hubert) Franck (1822 - 1890); Robert (Alexander) Schumann (1810 - 1856)