Robin Hill Composes....

At last the sun has reached the north of England and we are basking in beautiful weather.
Not Robin though, mind you, he has just returned from the Caribbean...
The muse is upon him, and he is locked away in the music room composing another movement to, 'A Walk in the Park.' Not a guitar in sight!
It isn't the first piece he has written for other instruments, there's a piano concerto called, '3 Van Gogh Portraits', which is a personal favourite of mine.
As 'A Walk in the Park' progresses I am periodically called to 'listen' to a particular part and proffer an opinion. It's all rather exciting.
The problem is that Robin has another trip coming up fast, and I have a long list of things for him to deal with before he goes.
Dilemma. Do you interrupt a musician at work to deal with mundane everyday household decisions.
Answer. No, how could I deny the world some music. I'll just have to make a few executive decisions myself.
Meanwhile, it was good to read in 'The Daily Telegraph', and article by Edmund Conway and Harry Wallop. BA have managed to make a fortune out of Robin's various missing suitcases, and even guitar, in the last few months. For every call I have had to make to the lost luggage department, they have been making money. Hardly an incentive for them to improve their record...

Home Again

Robin is home and delighted to see all the family. He actually arrived 5 hours earlier than scheduled which was very nice.
Credit where credit due, after recent scathing comments about BA it is only fair that I point out the good side.
An alert check in assistant in New York noticed Robin had two flights, and put him on 'stand by', for a direct flight to Manchester. They had a place, paged Robin, got him on board, and therefore returned him home early.
Also, his case managed to catch the same plane, and there were no problems taking his guitar in the cabin. Well done BA.
If we think we have problems transporting instruments then read this article. Oh dear...
It seems unlikely that this Bosendorfer piano will be played again.
And another thing, as Shane Richmond reports, we have to be nice to each other here in the blogosphere.

Elgar Again, and nearing Grenada

Poor old Elgar, why won't they leave him alone. Read this article by Amy Iggulden.The fact that people like the music, isn't that enough?
Norman Lebrecht says, "He left three works of great stature, the Enigma Variations, the Violin Concerto and the Cello Concerto, but the rest is of rather medium quality."
In my view, if he'd only composed one of those pieces he should still be classed as a 'major figure in music history.'
Well done to Julian Lloyd Webber, and James Inverne from 'Gramaphone', for standing up for Elgar.
Meanwhile out at sea, there is a rumour that someone, somewhere, has put a suitcase with Robin's name on it, on an overnight plane to Grenada.
The QM2 will be docking there later today.
We don't know if this is true, or if it is in fact his case, because, as yet, I still haven't managed to speak to a 'person' at BA. Still, six days 'on hold' isn't bad, is it?
Until I hear from Robin I don't think I'll believe it, so you'll have to check back later to see if it has arrived.

A Case of the Borrowed Tuxedo....

You can imagine how I felt to see this front page headline in 'The Daily Telegraph' today. It's almost as if the Telegraph have been following the saga!
As David Millward and Paula Sheppard report, BA are the 'worst airline in Europe for losing luggage'.
They are losing 23 bags per 1000 passengers and most of them seem to be Robin's.
Yes, they were responsible for the lost case and guitar only a matter of weeks ago, and the current missing suitcase.
For anyone in the same position, take it from me, the online baggage tracer is a waste of time. It continuously says, 'No information available', and in the last episode we had, it still said that after I'd finally spoken to someone, and they told me it was on the way to our home!
Trying to actually speak to a person is also a nightmare. If you're lucky, you get put 'on hold' and are able to listen to some soothing guitar music, which was infuriating when it was a guitar I was trying to trace, but now, I seem to just get a message saying all the operators are busy, call back later, then the line goes dead. I'm not surprised with the number of bags they're losing.
It's all very tedious and, as yet, Robin is still struggling with a very limited wardrobe.
That's unfortunate as the first of his two concerts is today.
He seems to be keeping his sense of humour though. I had an e mail from him last night saying that he had managed to borrow a tuxedo, which fit him like a glove - it had 5 arms....
The reception area have also lent him a pair of shoes.
I do feel for him, it's hard enough getting up there on stage and playing the notes, without having to worry about your 'thrown together' appearance!
Robin is also currently stalking the decks of the QM2 on the look out for anyone with an Apple computer. He needs to recharge, and, of course, the charger is in the case. So far, he has found two Apple enthusiasts, but they have older models which don't have the nifty magnetic connector that his does.
So if you are reading this on board and have the right charger, please go and find Robin Hill, otherwise our e mails will dry up shortly...