Through a haze fuzzily

I was in hospital this morning for a gastroscopy - nothing too worrying, just one of those camera and light thingies they put down your throat to make sure everything's in one piece. I'm pleased to report that it is.

The most fascinating aspect is not the procedure itself but the sedation used in the process. It's the second time I've had it - and it's the weirdest feeling. Unlike a general anaesthetic there is no sense of slipping away. You are fully conscious as they inject the stuff, answering a couple of questions. And the last question is after the event, not before. You are conscious to some degree throughout, but there is just a slice cut out of your memory with nothing in between. It's so strange, but rather fascinating. I wouldn't recommend having a procedure requiring sedation just for the fun of it, but if you have one, enjoy!

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Why I hate opera

If I'm honest, the title of this post is an exaggeration to make a point. I don't really hate opera. There are a couple of operas - notably Monteverdi's Incoranazione di Poppea and Purcell's Dido & Aeneas - that I quite like. But what I do find truly sickening is the reverence with which opera is treated, as if it were some particularly great art form. Nowhere was this more obvious than in ITV's 2010 gut-wrenchingly awful series Pop Star to Opera Star , where the likes of Alan Tichmarsh treated the real opera singers as if they were fragile pieces on Antiques Roadshow, and the music as if it were a gift of the gods. In my opinion - and I know not everyone agrees - opera is: Mediocre music Melodramatic plots Amateurishly hammy acting A forced and unpleasant singing style Ridiculously over-supported by public funds I won't even bother to go into any detail on the plots and the acting - this is just self-evident. But the other aspects need some exp...

Murder by Candlelight - Ed. Cecily Gayford ***

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Is 5x3 the same as 3x5?

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