Daily Archives: May 14, 2009

Counter-tenors: if you liked Greg Pritchard then you will love this

Posted by Wendy on May 14, 2009 No comments

In the last twenty years counter-tenors have enjoyed a renewed interest in their art by the music loving public and the wonderful thing is that there are younger stars in the making today which will ensure that this beautiful style of singing will continue to attract attention.

Counter-tenors today include Franco Fagioli, David Walker, David DQ Lee (this guy is one to watch) and Andreas Scholl. Australia’s Graham Pushee is one of those at the forefront of the counter-tenor repertoire today and here is a clip of him singing the aria Bella Asteria from Handel’s opera Tamerlano.

Copyright © 2007-2012 Cultured Views. All rights reserved.

Katie and Peter: worst PR move ever…?

Posted by Wendy on May 14, 2009 No comments

katieandpeterfamilyThere is growing cynicism over the recent ‘split’ between Katie Price and Peter Andre with some well-placed sources claiming that the whole thing has been planned by Katie to rejuvenate public interest in the couple. Or ‘herself’ to be more to the point. They split, they reunite and they make masses out of the resulting interviews and publicity. Cynical…me???

I don’t know what her cash flow problems are but with an estimated fortune of £30million I’d say her cash will be flowing on for quite a while yet…

Katie is now reported to be hiding out in the Maldives with her two youngest children Junior and (the strangely uncute) Princess Tiiiiaammmmiii. Unfortunately for Katie her plans for a lucrative ‘reunion’ with Peter are going awry as OK! magazine have advertised a special exclusive for this week – “My final days with Pete” – the very interview her PR people claimed was not going to happen.

So she disappears with the kids within an hour of the separation announcement being made and then within 48 hours ‘her side of the story’ appears in a glossy magazine. Do I still sound cynical?…

For a woman who has such a sharp business acumen this could be the worst decision she has ever made.

Copyright © 2007-2012 Cultured Views. All rights reserved.

Volkswagon or Clubman…?

Posted by Wendy on May 14, 2009 No comments

miniclubmanWe went out for one of our country drives last weekend and came across a car rally featuring a range of vintage volkswagons. I have to admire the way those people look after their cars – true enthusiasts to the hilt.

I was never a vee-dub type of person but the older makes, some forty years old, looked wonderful. The thing about the VW is that they did not really have much ‘vroom’ in them despite the lawn-mower sound they made (at least that is my memory of the one’s my uncle owned…)

Modernising such cars can leave you with a rather untraditional looking model but at least two guys there had a Volkswagen turbo which would considerably up the ante on the engine capacity.  The internet must be a boon for these car enthusiasts these days with sites like Turbochargerpros that offer everything that help add value to their investment. 

As for me, I lost my heart to a 1977 mini-clubman (pictured) that a fellow had for sale at £3,500.  Well, I do have a birthday coming up soon…

Copyright © 2007-2012 Cultured Views. All rights reserved.