'You look like a local,' said the man who hailed me this morning as I strode along by Minster Pool. He wanted to ask me about the location of a launderette, and I was unable to help him, but I was strangely gratified to have been taken for a local, after little more than a year in the City of Philosophers.
Lichfield is also, decidedly, a City of Dogs. They are welcome almost everywhere, and many pubs and eateries have a self-service display of dog treats, some confined to little bone-shaped morsels, others more ambitious. But this bill of fare, which I noticed yesterday, surely takes the (dog) biscuit –
The treats on offer from Sir Woofington's Canine Hospitality include, as well as various approximations of human meals (Bark Burgers, Bark Bangers, Sunday Roast and Fish& Chips), two 'alcohol-free and refreshing' drinks – Bark Brew Dog Beer (chicken flavour) and Paw Star Dog Martini (chicken and passionfruit), both of which can either be served a drinks or, er, poured over the dog's meal. Yum.
To move from the ridiculous to the sublime, I have been enjoying my Christmas-present CD of Benjamin Appl singing orchestral arrangements of Schubert lieder. Appl isn't my favourite Schubert voice (call me old-fashioned but it's Fischer-Dieskau or Hotter, with Gerald Moore, for me), but I loved his film of Winterreise, and I'm delighted he brought out this unusual lieder album. One of the most beautiful tracks, I think, is Webern's orchestration of 'Du Bist die Ruh' – this link should take you there...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBHTiJfDOuY
No comments:
Post a Comment