John Welford
Bio
John was a retired librarian, having spent most of his career in academic and industrial libraries.
He wrote on a number of subjects and also wrote stories as a member of the "Hinckley Scribblers".
Unfortunately John died in early July.
Stories (501)
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Dining Room on the Garden, by Pierre Bonnard
Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947) qualified as a barrister in Paris in 1889 but his main interest was in art, having already enrolled in the Académie Julian in 1887. While there he was encouraged by Paul Sérusier to adopt a style of painting that used pure colour in flat areas with strong outlines, as developed by Paul Gauguin. Bonnard became a member of the “Nabis brotherhood” of painters (Nabi being Hebrew for “prophet”), led by Sérusier and which included Maurice Denis and Edouard Vuillard, that was devoted to this approach as an alternative to Impressionism.
By John Welford5 years ago in Geeks
The origins of the Cape Colony (South Africa)
The Cape of Good Hope, at the southern tip of Africa, was always going to be an important place for a European nation that was interested in establishing colonies anywhere further east. Before the Suez Canal opened in 1869, the Cape had to be rounded by any ship bound in that direction. Seeing that several countries besides Britain, most notably the Netherlands, France and Portugal, had imperial ambitions to the east of the Cape, it is hardly surprising that competition for control of the Cape was fierce.
By John Welford5 years ago in FYI
Saving the World, Photon by Photon
(This poem began life in free verse with the title "Capturing the Sun", but I thought it might be an interesting exercise to rewrite it in a different format, namely a variant of blank verse. This was the format used by Shakespeare to write most of his plays and by Milton for "Paradise Lost". My blank verse falls far short of theirs! Proper blank verse comprises unrhymed iambic pentameters - my poem meets the requirements of lack of rhyme and 10 syllables to every line, but I cannot claim to have written in perfect iambs throughout!)
By John Welford5 years ago in Poets
Our power station on the roof
We have made a decisive move to do our bit to combat global warming and save the oceans by installing solar panels on the roof of our house. At the time of writing, they have been in place for less than a week (and the scaffolding has yet to be removed), so we cannot as yet tell just how big a contribution we will make over time, but we certainly expect it to be worthwhile.
By John Welford5 years ago in Earth
Cosi Fan Tutte, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Mozart cannot be held totally responsible for the absurdities of the plot of this delightful "chamber opera", because the libretto was the work of Lorenzo Da Ponte, an interesting character in his own right. He was an Italian Jew who converted to Catholicism, changed his name, moved to Vienna, and ended his days in New York as a naturalised American. Cosi Fan Tutte, which appears to have come from nowhere but Da Ponte's own head, has caused justifiable angst in modern times, with its suggestion that women are fickle and easily led astray.
By John Welford5 years ago in Beat
The Barber of Seville, by Gioacchino Rossini
Gioacchino Rossini was born on 29th February 1792, and thus only had a birthday once every four years! He wrote 40 operas between 1810 and 1829, after which he retired from composing operas for the remaining 39 years of his life before his death on 13th November 1868.
By John Welford5 years ago in Beat
Getting Out
The recent annual cricket match between the Shakespeareans and the Chaucereans was not without its usual features of interest and controversy. Lessons were, however, learned from last year’s encounter, in that the disastrous decision to invite Hamlet to stand as umpire was not repeated. His complete indecision when asked to judge on just about anything had led to the match being slowed to a crawl and half the players falling asleep as he pondered on: “Is he out or is he not out, that is the question”, time after time.
By John Welford5 years ago in Unbalanced
Achilles and his heel
The name Achilles is remembered today mainly because everyone has two Achilles tendons, which connect the calf muscle to the heel, and many people have suffered considerable pain, discomfort and inconvenience when one of these has been strained or torn.
By John Welford5 years ago in FYI
