Sarah Nicolls is an English pianist.

By the way, I'm now beginning to wonder if she has (unwittingly) commenced a tradition in photographed female hand positions, noting as I just have on page 7 of the current edition of Highnotes (the freebie magazine of the National Federation of Music Societies) a photograph of a pianist name Amandine Savary (is she related to Peter de of that ilk?) who follows the Nicolls example of displaying open palms as if to demonstrate that the hands had been well washed prior to the photography...

Best,

Alistair

Good God, Mary! That`s appalling. Was it a mini-cab or a black cab? Not that it makes any difference to the outcome, but a black cab driver would probably face losing his licence over such an incident and wouldn`t want to take that risk. Mini-cab drivers are a different thing altogether. I booked a mini-cab the other week for what should have been a journey of three-quarters of an hour. He ignored my directions, got lost and then I couldn`t give him directions either. When we finally reached North London he then started shouting at me, telling me we were in the wrong post code. The whole journey took 2 hours No, he did not get a tip!

Your son's experience is appalling Mary,as equally is yours.   Last October an apparently licensed cab driver started shouting at me,
reversed directions 10 miles into the trip, started driving dangerously fast, then when i managed to get out of the cab drove off with all my possessions. i got them back 3 days later at a police station but the sabotage of the event i was heading for put me down by about 5 grand. It bothers me\that there is no recourse in law for the driving aspect from a passenger point of view.
All we can do is stop using the bloody things.

From Alfred Brendel's book of poetry, A Finger Too Many, p. 53

The Coughers of Cologne
have joined forces with the Cologne Clappers
and established the Cough and Clap Society
a non-profit-making organization
whose aim it is
to guarantee each concertgoer's right
to cough and applaud
Attempts by unfeeling artists or impresarios
to questions such privileges
have led to a Coughers and Clappers initiative
Members are required to applaud
immediately after sublime codas
and cough distinctly
during expressive silences
Distinct coughing is of paramount importance
to stifle or muffle it
forbidden on pain of expulsion
Coughers of outstanding tenacity
are awarded the Coughing Rhinemaiden
a handsome if slightly baroque appendage
to be worn around the neck
The C & C's recent merger
with the New York Sneezers
and the London Whistlers
raises high hopes
for Cologne's musical future

Mary -
When I was beaten up, I was picked up by a passing car and, against my worse judgment, bundled off to hospital. Everyone who heard the story expressed horror that it happened in the area and went out of their way to be helpful.
My nose was also broken, but thankfully it set correctly, which meant that a previous, badly set breakage (I was putting away the Christmas decorations while drunk and didn't lock the loft door properly, which caused it to swing open and whack me in the face) which was causing rather a lot of snoring, was erased.

I remember once stifling a cough all the way through a performance by the Kreutzer quartet of Ligeti's 1st String Quartet. It was painful. It finally erupted beyond my powers of stifleage on the last note of the piece. I was mortified. Is it better to cough discretely when it is less urgent? Is there any thing that you can do if someone sitting next to you smells of something that triggers your asthma? I noticed that during Ferneyhough's 5th quartet, there was a gentleman who could not stop coughing. Until the piece finished. That's what really gets me.

Nice to see you back, hh. What an awful experience. It`s all too easy now to think that people just walk on by, because many do but .... there is  the occasional Samaritan out there.

As this is the Grump Room, has anyone else had a carp weekend, because I have!

hh - coughing is bad enough. I remember a Lontano concert (broadcast later on R3) in which an elderly gent who had obviously had more than his fair share of pulses that day relieved his internal tensions during a dramatic silence in PMD's A Kestrel Paced... (solo flute)

The extraordinary sound that echoed around the hall was faithfully picked up by the BBC mikes (no compression in those days). I hope it is preserved in the BBC archives as lovingly as it is preserved in mine!

Thanks Mort, I am glad that you missed me 

A