I’ve come late to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon but I’m loving the audiobook read by Ben Tibber. Wondering if DC George Cross was like that as a boy. Also wondering if @timsullivanauthor.bsky.social has the same love and knowledge of the organ as Cross.

Any Tim Sullivan @timsullivanauthor.bsky.social fans out there? The DC George Cross thrillers are clever, witty and extremely bingeable, particularly the audiobooks read by Finlay Robertson. And @stephenfry.bsky.social is ‘insanely in love with George Cross’. Can’t get a better recommendation!

I’ve just watched Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value (2025), hot on the heels of his earlier film The Worst Person in the World (2021). Both wonderful and I highly recommend.

A deconstruction of the safari or Roorkhee chair (invented bt the Indian Army Corps of Engineers) by Chris Connolly, on display at the Sargeant Gallery in Whanganui. Beautiful hanging poplar veneer.

I was lucky enough to hear Anne-Sophie Mutter and the Orchestre National de France play Ardès’ ‘Air for Violin and Orchestra’, written for the violinist, at the George Enescu Festival in Bucharest in September. It’s a sublime piece but hasn’t been recorded yet. Can’t wait til it is!

Another wonderful episode of ‘This Cultural Life’ from John Wilson and the BBC

A lovely introduction to Bach from the legendary András Schiff at the Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin www.boulezsaal.de/en/online/vi... There are other Bach videos too, as well as a great series of masterclasses with Daniel Barenboim.

As if three defensive walls with eight towers and gates weren’t enough of a deterrent, invaders had to get past this lock to get into the sacristy of the Biertan fortified church in Transylvania.

Tower in walled city of Sighișoara in Transylvania where Vlad the Impaler was born. Shows where he got his inspiration.

Bessey clamps — one of the woodworker’s best friends, along with double-sided tape and blue-and-red pencils — in the service of art at the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin.

‘Bach’s harpsichord’ at the Musical Instruments Museum in Berlin. Seems like there’s some debate about its authenticity but I’m putting that aside and imagining him composing on it. What a bonus to have my very knowledgeable friend Elizabeth Kerr along at this fabulous museum.