#annual concert review

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

About Harry's comment that he was "literally" cut off financially -

This is just my speculation, but like you, I also assume that Harry still gets some sort of annual allowance from Charles and that he absolutely lied in the Oprah interview.

What I think he meant is that-

1. Part of their salary, their allowance from the Duchy of Lancaster (at the time, under the Queen) was stopped. Obviously, because they stopped working for The Crown.

2. Their salary from the Duchy of Cornwall (at the under Charles) stopped. Read somewhere that this was in the range of 3 to 4 mil.

3. Their official expenses for their staff, likely being covered separately by the Duchy/BP stopped.

4. Their upkeep expenses like travel, housing etc, being covered by the Duchy/BP stopped.

5. Their official security, being covered by the govt, stopped.

6. Whatever perks their diplomatic status afforded them, stopped. I'm assuming this is what Canada/Trudeau said he won't be covering post March 2020. And so they fled to USA.

7. Private expenses - household, lifestyle etc, being covered privately by Charles via the Duchy stopped. I'm assuming this included clothing allowances, holidays that weren't comped by friends, rentals or lease for homes anywhere other than crown property, like their Cotswold home.

Like you said, I do think Charles privately funds Harry. Either via a trustfund that may have been set up ages ago, and so Harry takes that for granted and it doesn't count in Harry's mind. Or, Charles gives them an annual lump sum.

Of course, he may very well be spending his inheritance from Diana or the Queen mother as well. But both harry and meghan live their life like they don't much care about where their money comes from. They also doy seem to much effort into their Netflix, Spotify deals. We know they don't have any brand deals. So the money must come from somewhere.

And Harry keeps going over the UK every year around the same time each year. It can't be as simple as just a layover enroute to Invictus. My personal conspiracy theory (I have no rational explanation for it) is that he goes to UK, and stays at Windsor, to sign whatever documentation in person, so he can recieve this money from Charles.

Maybe part of the deal is that he comes and sign for it in person. And staying at Windsor makes it easier to meet with the lawyers or staff that handles this for him. He usually comes around April or May. His megxit trial separation review was March 2021. In my mind atleast, his annual trips in April or May along with that review date.

Another thing is that it was around this same time last year, in 2023, that negotiations for Harry's coronation appearance were happening. The result of which was that Meghan was absent (disinvited?) and Harry, quietly, weekly, came and went and did not create much of fuss for the way he was completely excluded from the coronation pomp. I think he may have got some money back then as well, and likely, got a bonus due his dad's promotion.

Old ask from June 2nd

I suspect Harry was given some money around the coronation too, and I feel like there might’ve been a condition that required Meghan to be radio silent for the whole weekend.

We talked about it at the time, but it was *very* strange, and very noticeable, that she completely disappeared for Coronation Weekend, considering that her usual MO is to smother us in PR any time the BRF steps out as a family - like trooping, Remembrance Day, post-summer holidays, the Platinum Jubilee, The Queen’s funeral. (Yes, she papwalked the first second she could, during the coronation concert, but by then most of the official festivities were over and no one really cared.)

I suspect maybe Meghan had gotten some kind of money for the coronation too. Probably a “half now, half after if you cooperate” kind of deal as I think that’s the only way Meghan would agree to anything. Or maybe Charles’s letters she leaked about just before the coronation (the ones where she claimed Charles names the racist royals) actually worked and they paid her for her silence. 🤷‍♀️

But anon picked up something I hadn’t — Harry really does have a pattern of going to the UK in the spring and what if it actually is tied to him getting the allowance from Charles?

Let’s review:

March 2020 - Sussex “farewell” tour

April 2021 - Philip’s funeral

April 2022 - secret Windsor visit on the way to The Hague Invictus Games that Meghan leaked because no one actually saw them. They reportedly wanted a meeting with The Queen, but she required them to meet with Charles and Camilla first. Supposedly they were late and never got to meet The Queen. I think this is the visit where Harry claimed he was making sure The Queen was protected and had good people around her.

June 2022 - Platinum Jubilee visit

September 2022 - Sussex “revenge” tour, overshadowed by The Queen’s illness and passing, royal mourning, and the funeral.

May 2023 - Harry returns for the coronation

June 2023 - Harry returns for lawsuit hearing/trial. Conveniently he’s in the country the same time that Charles is traveling and named Harry as a Counsellor of State.

February 2024 - Harry returns to see Charles after cancer diagnosis. He tries to see Kate but William blocks him.

May 2024 - Harry returns for 10th anniversary Invictus Games service. He doesn’t see Charles because Charles didn’t read Harry’s mind that he wanted to be personally invited by him despite an offer being made through staff. He tries to see Kate again but William blocks him.

I’m going to have to remember this theory next spring to check if the pattern continues.

[missredherring]

Develop

Joel Miller x Female Reader

Rating: R

Word Count: 1.4k

Warnings: one-sided feelings. unspecified age gap. stalker behavior. a dash of voyeurism? female masturbation.

Summary: Your fingers freeze on the mouse when you get to the last pictures of the final roll of film. You scroll through, eyes straining to understand what the thumbnail is showing you. 

It looks like Joel had an adult sleepover of his own.

A/N: This came from @psychedelic-ink and the idea that Joel has a collection of dirty pictures. Thank you @johnwatsn to the moon and back for being an amazing beta.

A little thrill zips through you when you see the name on the blue and white striped envelope on the counter. You crane your neck to see if he’s still in the store, but you only see a pair of broad shoulders and curly hair walking out the door.

There, filling out the request form printed on the front of the envelope in neat and legible handwriting, is his name, contact information, and print order.

Joel Miller.

The envelope is slightly larger than a 5x7" print so it can fit the two offered print sizes and negatives easily. It can begrudgingly fit an entire disposable camera, maybe two with seams near bursting, but not the four that Joel had left in a line under the envelope. You smile at his thoughtfulness. Other customers toss them on the counter without a care, but his are lined up neatly with the envelope resting on top. Had he looked around for a rubber band to keep them together? You’re disappointed at the missed opportunity for small talk, but there’s always a chance you’ll be working when he picks his order up. 

You get to work, cracking open the plastic case of the disposable cameras like crab shells. Four rolls of film go into the processor, unspooling and revealing their secrets. Usually he brings in one or two every couple of weeks. They’re filled with things like his daughter’s soccer games, family cookouts with who you think is his brother: they have the same eyes and nose. Sometimes they’re pictures from jobs he does. You don’t know anything about construction, but you think he’s good at what he does. The lines are clean and the structures look solid.

The machines run through their functions and your computer screen steadily fills with thumbnails of pictures as each negative is scanned. It looks like his daughter had a sleepover. There’s picture after picture of faces too close to the lens. Red eyes and toothy grins take up the frame. An impromptu concert with music video dance moves frozen in time, and peaceful faces peeking out of sleeping bags. It looks like a nice time, making you remember sleepovers of your own, and the fuzzy feeling you usually get when looking over Joel’s pictures warms you almost as much as the heat coming from the machines.

Your fingers freeze on the mouse when you get to the last pictures of the final roll of film. You scroll through, eyes straining to understand what the thumbnail is showing you. 

It looks like Joel had an adult sleepover of his own.

Included in your job description as a photo technician is the duty of reviewing photos that people want prints of and deciding if they were too adult in nature to print. That meant no nudes or anything illegal in nature. Thankfully, it’d never been an issue baring the few rolls of film that showed up after an annual biker rally. 

Objectively, these photos aren’t anymore risqué than a boudoir photoshoot. It’s hard to be objective right now. 

Some of the lines are blurry from the camera being operated with one hand. A woman in lingerie pushing up her chest with her arm, just the hint of a coy look on what you could see of her face. The last two are different. The angle, the perspective, and the photographer has changed. 

The lace of the lingerie teasing the curve of a hip and a hand, big and rough-looking, resting just where the line of fabric gives way to skin. The indent of his fingertips just beginning to show as they press down. 

The woman’s face. Her lips are plump and open like she’s waiting for another kiss. Large glassy eyes don’t look back at you from the lens. Instead they’re looking just off to the side, where he must be. 

A man’s hand. It has to be Joel’s; you recognize the fading bruise on his thumbnail from when he handed over his disposable cameras last time. His hand is cupping her jaw, tilting her face to the side just so. Like he was directing her to the perfect pose for this picture. 

Your mind has turned to static. Before you can form a coherent thought, your finger twitches, increasing the print count for the last photo, and before you can cancel it the order is starting, the printer rumbling to life. 

You know you shouldn’t have done it. It’s an invasion of privacy. It’s against the rules. It’s probably illegal. It’s just not right.

The picture, still hot off the rollers, is shoved into your purse like the contraband it is. 

***

You’re too old to be sneaking things into the apartment like this, but it feels like there’s a giant sign pointing right to your purse that tells everyone what you did. You shove it under your mattress and try to forget about it. You can’t. It feels like hiding a dead body. A tell-tale heart under your mattress that beats along with throbbing in your pussy. 

It’s a slip of paper. Nothing. But as you lay in bed that night you swear you can feel it. It makes you feel silly, like the princess and the pea, but you don’t remove it. You don’t have to.

The tableau is seared into your mind’s eye. Showing the negative image on every blank surface you look at. You can’t stop thinking about it, wanting it.

You want to be the one his hands are on. So you touch yourself to that fantasy, and it’s so strong, the closeup of his hands so detailed, that you’re close to coming in minutes. 

You shouldn’t be doing this, but you don’t care about wrong or right; you just want Joel Miller to fuck you. The thought, blunt and delicious, spurs you on and you come, turning your head to your pillow to muffle the whimper that escapes you.

The endorphins rush through your body, and there's some satisfaction from coming, but the ache, the want, is still there as you clench around your own fingers. 

Crossing your arm over your chest, you cup your own face with a trembling hand in the same way Joel had in the picture. Tracing the curve of your lip, you press down, as if admiring the darkened hue.

Did he turn her head just for the camera? Was her pulse hammering in her ears so loudly that she couldn’t hear the crank of the film advancing or the click of the shutter? Did she smile at him after? Did he call her his good girl? Did he call her his "Baby," “Sweetheart,” or “Darlin'” in that southern drawl? Yea, you like that one.

“Look at me, Darlin’.��

Wind, wind, wind. Click.

You imagine it’s his weight on the mattress that makes you shift. The way he’d keep himself back, maybe even still wearing his jeans and nothing else. The bulge in those jeans would be evidence enough of his desire, even if you couldn’t see his face, partially covered by the camera. 

You widen your thighs and lift your hips to him; to his touch and to his view. Your hand goes back down to your pussy and you start touching yourself again, opening the swollen lips for him. The cum makes everything slippery and you know you must look a mess. Spread open and on display for a phantom photographer. Would the flash catch it and make it shine?

Would he want a picture of this moment too? A keepsake from a night of passion. When memories and sensation fade, would he take the picture out and remember you fondly? Would he touch himself while he looked at it? Remembering how you felt? The softness of your skin, the taste on your tongue, the heat of your pussy. Would he be careful not to cover the glossy paper with his cum so it wouldn’t stain? Or would he like that so much he’d do it again on purpose. Covering your image in his cum just like he had covered your body that night. He wouldn’t have had enough wits about him to take a picture of that. 

Your entire body tightens up as you continue to press against your clit, circling and circling, pushing into overstimulation as one orgasm rolls into another. “Joel.” His name echoes in the room and the climax feels better this time.

You go back and forth on whether you want to be the one to hand him his completed order before you fall asleep. 

[eptodaytommorowforever]

Events In The History And Of The Life Of Elvis Presley Today On The 12th Of November In 1972

Elvis Presley Tour And Show Comes To San Bernardino CA.

A look back at Elvis Presley's 1972 outstanding concert at swing auditorium in San Bernardino CA

Sunday night, Nov. 12, 1972. The Santa Ana winds were howling, so typical of San Bernardino in November. And it was cold. But a sold-out crowd stood patiently to have an audience with The Legend . Elvis Presley was in the Swing Auditorium.

The Swing was the place east of L.A.'s Fabulous Forum to see virtually every top name act in the rock world, circa 1964 through 1981. Located on E Street, the auditorium was built in 1949 on the grounds of the National Orange Show and was named for Senator Ralph E. Swing, a San Bernardino legislator. What a glorious barn it was and what history played out on that stage. The Rolling Stones did their first American concert there in June 1964. The place rocked until a small plane crashed into it on Sept. 11, 1981 and the auditorium had to be demolished. One of the last shows played there featured Iron Maiden.

In between, rock royalty were regulars. Fleetwood Mac played more than five times. The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, Jefferson Airplane, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Cream, Jimi Hendrix Experience, Led Zeppelin, The Doors, Black Sabbath, Ramones (as opening act), Chicago, Jethro Tull, Alice Cooper, the Grateful Dead (multiple times), Faces with Rod Stewart (also multiple times), Santana, the Kinks, Janis Joplin, Eric Clapton, the Beach Boys, and more. Look up how many of these acts are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Just about everybody but the Beatles made it to the Swing.

Prior to the modern rock era, Bob Hope was almost an annual fixture at the Swing during the National Orange Show Fair. Other notables who performed there in the '50s and '60s included Sammy Davis Jr., Jack Benny, Judy Garland, Jerry Lewis, and George Burns. But never had a King played there before that night.

Yet, it wasn't as if Elvis Presley had never been to the IE. He did own a house for several of the Priscilla years in Palm Springs and was known to do some boating in Big Bear Lake. Many scenes of the totally forgettable remake movie 'Kid Galahad' were shot in Idyllwild. And, some of the outdoor footage in 1964's 'Kissin' Cousins' was shot in the San Bernardino Mountains. Still, this was different.

Elvis Presley's nationwide tour began at Madison Square Garden in New York, a city he had never before performed live in. The four concerts there were sold out and got rave reviews. At 37, he was 'lean, tanned and greasily handsome, his coal-black hair glistening with an oily 1950s sheen', as the New York Times' Grace Lichtenstein put it. At a press conference before the Madison Square Garden appearance, he was asked about the secret of his longevity on the pop music scene. 'I take Vitamin E', he told reporters.

From New York, the tour moved west, passing through cities like Milwaukee, Chicago, Wichita and Tulsa before continuing on to Las Vegas. Elvis stayed there for most of October before continuing the tour, which took him to Texas, Arizona, and into California. He hit Oakland, then San Bernardino, where he performed two sold-out shows - one on Nov. 12 and another on Nov. 13. rom there, he headed to the Long Beach Arena for two shows, the last stop before catching a plane for Honolulu where the tour would wrap up. Originally, the Honolulu show was planned to be broadcast worldwide by satellite, but the broadcast date was changed to early 1973 so it wouldn't conflict with the release of MGM's musical documentary Elvis on Tour. No matter. The show (actually four of them) went on. And in Honolulu, as well as in other cities on the tour, fans of all ages crowded concert venues to get a live view of the King.

So it was in San Bernardino. The Swing could hold about 10,000 people with a concert take of around $60,000. On that cold November night, fans crammed into the sold-out auditorium. With reserved seating, there was none of the festival seating chaos that marked the Swing rock shows - kids pushing and shoving and fighting to get to the stage area. This crowd was real diferent. I was way too young at 21. For the usual Swing rock show, most of the concertgoers were my age or younger. The guys had long hair, wore boots, Levis and denim work shirts (think the cover of a Creedence album.) The girls went braless, wore tight jeans or peasant dresses. There were always more guys than girls.

For Elvis Presley though, these fans had jobs, mortgages, and kids. The women clearly outnumbered the guys. They wore bright yellow or orange dresses, lots of makeup. Hairspray was huge. And, there were more than a few suicide blondes with hot pants and go-go boots. (I would never have sat on anything in the Swing in hot pants.) Jean Naté was locked in mortal combat with Charlie in a fragrance war. My Sin perfume held its own. Smoke from the bathrooms came from real Marlboro men (and women.)

My seat was in the cheap section - off to the side and high up, close to the glued-on tinsel that was a prominent feature of the Swing. The place always had a peculiar smell. Close to show time, greedy Colonel Tom's minions were at the stage hawking T-shirts, photos, and other assorted gee-gaws. I wonder just how much of that cash Elvis Presley received.

Finally, the lights lowered. The band started playing the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Then, there he was - The King. He was resplendent in a black and red concert suit.

Though his show was typical of his Vegas show that he performed at the International Hotel (later known as the Las Vegas Hilton and now called the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino), it didn't matter to his loyal subjects. He was live in San Berdoo! Old ladies screamed. It was hard to tell from my cheap seat, but I believe there were a few panties thrown at him.

His voice and physique were in A-plus form. He ripped through concert standards such as 'Polk Salad Annie', crooned to crowd favorite 'Can't Help Falling In Love', and did a couple of religious numbers with the gospel group J.D. Sumner and The Stamps.

No Elvis Presley show would be complete without the hits 'Hound Dog', 'All Shook Up', 'Jailhouse Rock', and 'American Trilogy'.

His band and entourage - the Sweet Inspirations, legendary guitar hero James Burton - provided a full sound that could not be duplicated by the typical four-man rock act. It was a show truly becoming of a King. The crowd responded as if seeing him for the first time. Bedlam broke out among the thousands of fans.

After about 90 minutes, despite fans calling for more, Elvis Presley left the auditorium for the San Bernardino Hilton, about $60,000 richer. I was a poor college kid. I went to Del Taco. What a Sunday night! rare candid photo's one captured of elvis presley leaving Oakland CA captured here by a female ep fan boarding is executive chartered jet heading to San Bernardino CA and performing here at this show wearing the white pinwheel jumpsuit and the white cape and the lions head belt captured by a fan audience member who was at this show concert.

[rock-and-roll-hell]

July 24, 1977

Love Gun Tour

Pacific Coliseum - Vancouver, British Columbia

According to the promoter: “The cops heard of KIϟϟ’ so-called reputation and they ordered four squads to the show. They played poker all night and billed us $8,000 for overtime” (Montreal Gazette, 8/2/77).

From a local review: “Hype? Not really. KIϟϟ promise nothing less than the greatest spectacle in rock and nothing less is exactly what they provide. From that it is easy for the unaware parent or pundit to mistake KIϟϟ for a threat to our civilized way of life. But understand this, KIϟϟ are not self-pitying, humorless nihilists like the punk rockers. If anything, they are a fantasy for an age that has seen just about everything. Of course they appeal to the escapist stripe. It would be fun to stand seven feet tall, spit fire, deafen everyone within a 1,000 yard radius and make a million bucks doing it” (Vancouver Sun, 7/25/77).

From another local review: “The KIϟϟ concert Sunday night was better than the fireworks display the Sea Festival holds annually. The Coliseum took on all the aspects of kid’s day at the PNE’s Playland with harried parents leading offspring by the hand up into the stands, plopping their plump selves down into the same seats they had at The Ice Capades or The Shriner Circus, and stopping up their ears with cotton… KIϟϟ was perfunctory as you please, well rehearsed, but musically deadening and the sound from the press box was, as usual, muddy except when Ace Frehley took off into one of his solos. Frehley appeared to be bored, or tired, or sick, or drunk, or all four, while batman, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley did their best to whip up a surprisingly complacent audience which eventually succumbed and went nuts when the hits and the gimmickry got into gear” (Georgia Straight, 7/28/77)

[ourshadowstallerthanoursoul]

On this day... - July 27th

+ 1969 : Gold Creek Park in Woodinville, Washington, USA

“More than 50,000 rock fans gathered at Woodinville’s Gold Creek Park over the weekend for a practically non-stop three-day festival of music, events and exhibitions. The first annual Seattle Pop Festival was a marvel of crowd control and smooth organization. Sunday night was supposed to belong to The Doors but it was stolen right out from under them by the great English blues group, Led Zeppelin. Coming onstage about 11:30pm, immediately after the forced extravaganza of The Doors, the Zeppelin faced a jaded and uncomfortable audience that had been standing in the cold all evening. But the electricity of lead singer Robert Plant and guitarist Jimmy Page quickly warmed them up.” review by P. Macdonald (Seattle Post – Intelligencer)

+ 1973 : Madison Square Garden in New York, New York, USA

“I saw the Friday opening of the Led Zeppelin concert from backstage, feeling the weight and response of the packed Madison Square Garden. It was possibly the best place to test the power of the British rock group, making the final dates of its current and very successful American tour. And power it is – Led Zeppelin provides a kind of tent-show hard rock revivalism, healing and providing succour to the faithful. […] Led Zeppelin remains unchanged. The group may perform different pieces, but the effect is the same.” – ‘Led Zeppelin rocks to a close at Garden’ (New York Times)

[djamilyaova]

How can a music band impact the local Economy

For this topic, the first band to come to my mind was BTS. They’ve been an important part of my teenage years and I got the opportunity to see their influence drastically grow over time.

All of the members are Korean, speak Korean and sing in Korean, but still, they somehow reached fans all around the world. The diversity of a music fanbase has always intrigued me – all those differences came together to form a universal entity.

So I decided to explore one of the maaany points part of this idea. I wanted it to be quite concrete to be able to provide statistics

Quick introduction, BTS is one of the most popular bands of the world. Their music has significantly contributed to South Korea's economy. The band debuted in 2013 but they started to gain an international popularity between late 2015 and 2016. Just like many other artists they’ve inevitably become a symbol of "soft power" and drove global interest in Korean culture.

According to a study published by Hyundai Research Institute, BTS contributes around $3.6 billion annually to the South Korean economy, comparable to the 2018 Winter Olympics, which is undoubtedly a huge number for a single band (I did not find any other Korean band’s statistics to compare with :/).

The members are said to contribute indirectly to the exports in multiple industries such as clothing, beauty or even food industry. The impact can be estimated to reach about 1% in those industries.

But the most obvious contribution is tourism. It’s estimated that they draw approximately 800 000 tourists to South Korea per year, making it roughly 7.6% of total tourist visits.

Another concrete example is the "Magic Shop" concerts in Busan and Seoul in 2019. That year, those concerts made up 1.6% of Busan’s GDP and 0.9% of Seoul’s​. (Borgen Magazine/McGill Business Review)

Of course Korean music was already popular at the time thanks to various bands from the ‘2nd generation’, but it remained mostly popular in Asia. BTS’s debut was a turning point for this industry.

[world-of-wales]

─ •✧ CATHERINE'S YEAR IN REVIEW : DECEMBER ✧• ─

1 DECEMBER - Catherine visited the sets of Strictly Come Dancing along with Charlotte and Louis. 5 DECEMBER - The Princess of Wales was received by Colonel Jane Davis (Vice Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London) as she opened the Children's Surgery Unit at Evelina Children's Hospital in London. Afterwards, she joined William at the annual Diplomatic Corps Reception. 6 DECEMBER - Catherine appeared in a promotional video for the Together At Christmas Carol Service. The Waleses were spotted Christmas Tree Shopping at Windsor Great Park. 8 DECEMBER - The Princess of Wales was joined by William and their children as she held a Christmas Carol Service in Westminster Abbey. 9 DECEMBER - The Wales Family's Christmas Card was released. 11 DECEMBER - Kensington Palace released a video featuring The Princess of Wales volunteering at a local Baby Bank along with her kids as part of the rollout of the Centre For Early Childhood's initiative to support families with young children in the lead up to Christmas. 12 DECEMBER - She held an Early Years Meeting. 19 DECEMBER - Catherine appeared in an episode of Secrets of the Aquarium shot in 2022. 23 DECEMBER - Kensington Palace released three new photographs featuring Catherine at a Christmas Tea Party with Russell, Ray and Brenda, who have made a difference to the lives of young people. 24 DECEMBER - Catherine 'Together At Christmas' Carol Service aired on ITV. 25 DECEMBER - A personal tweet from Cat & Will was released wishing everyone a merry christmas by Kensington Palace. Later, they along with their children joined other members of the Royal Family for the Divine Service at Sandringham Parish Church. The Waleses appeared in a video during the King's Christmas Address. 26 DECEMBER - Catherine appeared in 'Charles III : A Coronation Year'. 29 DECEMBER - An 'Year In Review' video was released by Kensington Palace. 30 DECEMBER - Matt Porteus released a new photograph of the Waleses attending the Coronation Concert in May.

[eopederson]

Elton John and Bernie Taupin, Gershwin Prize Concert, Constitution Hall, Washington, DC, 20 March 2024. Upper photo: Elton John with Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. Lower photo John with Bernie Taupin leaning on the piano.

Yesterday was an eclectic one for music. In order to make reviewing a pile of income tax documents tolerable, I queued a playlist of recordings that had been lost in the depths of the CD cupboard and only recently copied to the iMac. The list began with some 12th and 13th century Spanish music by the group Alia Música.  That was followed by a recording of Beethoven’s Christus am ölberge, a Haydn symphony, some show tunes by the Tin Pan Alley tummler Leonard Bernstein, and the first of two CDS of Bach’s Johannes-Passion (listening to the second disc as I write this). After an early dinner it was off to Constitution Hall for the Gershwin Prize tribute concert for Elton John and Bernie Taupin. Staged by the Library of Congress annually to honor winners of the Gershwin Prize, the 2024 concert included performances by, among others, Metallica, Annie Lennox, Brandi Carlisle, Garth Brooks, and, amazing as it sounds, Joni Mitchell. The musical day concluded with a performance by the overweight and crippled Elton John who despite health challenges is still a master of the rock piano.

[icontherecord]

ODNI Releases 25th and 26th Joint Assessments of FISA Section 702 Compliance

  September 29, 2023

In accordance with the Principles of Intelligence Transparency for the Intelligence Community, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), in consultation with the Department of Justice (DOJ), is making publicly available, with redactions, the 25th and 26th Semiannual Assessments of Compliance with Procedures and Guidelines Issued Pursuant to Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (“Joint Assessments”) submitted by the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). These Joint Assessments cover the periods of 1 June 2020 through 31 May 2021.

About the Joint Assessments

Section 702(m) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, as amended, requires the Attorney General and the DNI to assess the Government’s compliance with the Section 702 targeting, minimization, and querying procedures, as well as the Attorney General’s Section 702 Acquisition Guidelines, at least once every six months. A joint team of experts from the DOJ National Security Division and ODNI conduct regular assessments to review compliance and evaluate how agencies that receive unminimized Section 702 collection implement the authority. DOJ and ODNI submit their assessments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), relevant congressional committees, and the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board semi-annually through the Joint Assessments. The Joint Assessments describe how those agencies that receive unminimized information acquired under Section 702—the National Security Agency (NSA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC)—implement their authority under Section 702, including agencies’ internal compliance efforts, training efforts, and responsive actions to prevent recurrence of compliance issues. The Joint Assessments also include metrics and narratives describing the Government’s compliance with Attorney General Guidelines and with FISC-approved targeting, minimization, and querying procedures.

Key Findings of the 25th and 26th Joint Assessments

DOJ and ODNI assessed that NSA, FBI, CIA, and NCTC continued to implement the Section 702 procedures and follow the relevant guidelines in a manner that generally reflects a focused and concerted effort by agency personnel to comply with the requirements of Section 702.

Due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, DOJ and ODNI note that caution is warranted when drawing conclusions regarding some of the compliance trends from the 25th and 26th Joint Assessments. While the total number of reported compliance incidents decreased significantly, the joint oversight team was not able to determine to what extent the decrease reflects changes in the number of compliance incidents that occurred—whether as a result of the coronavirus pandemic or other factors—as opposed to difficulties in discovering and reporting compliance incidents as a result of the pandemic. For example, while the number of NSA targeting compliance incidents fell sharply, most of the NSA targeting decisions covered by the 25th and 26th Joint Assessments occurred during the pandemic. If a Section 702 target travels to the United States, NSA must detask—or stop collection on—that target while the target is in the United States. Reduced travel during the pandemic likely resulted in fewer Section 702 targets traveling to the United States, thus reducing the likelihood that detasking delays would occur as a result of such travel.

Similarly, while the number of FBI querying incidents reported in the 25th and 26th Joint Assessments was significantly lower than pre-pandemic, the decline may be attributable to difficulties in discovering and reporting querying compliance incidents. FBI field office reviews have been responsible for discovering a significant portion of FBI querying incidents. DOJ suspended its reviews at FBI field offices for eight of the 12 months covered by the 25th and 26th Joint Assessments and was able to conduct only four query audits of FBI field offices during this time. By contrast, DOJ conducted query audits of 27 FBI field offices in 2019 and 29 FBI field offices in 2018. Additionally, the FBI querying compliance incidents discussed in these Joint Assessments occurred prior to the corrective measures FBI implemented in mid-2021 and 2022. Thus, these Joint Assessments do not reflect the effects of FBI’s corrective measures.

Additional Information

The 25th and 26th Joint Assessments are posted in full-text searchable format on Intel.gov.

25th Joint Assessment (dated April 2022): Reporting Period 01 June 2020 - 30 November 2020

26th Joint Assessment (dated August 2022): Reporting Period 01 December 2020 - 31 May 2021

[moontyger]

But a shooting near the rows of food booths last year dampened the revelry.

Investigators said one man opened fire on another, injuring three people and resulting in police clearing the fairgrounds. Videos posted on social media showed groups of people running along sidewalks and climbing barriers as they fled.

Defending the new policy Wednesday, fair spokesperson Karissa Condoianis acknowledged it has attracted “both criticism and praise.” She noted that the fair previously allowed gun owners to carry concealed weapons “even after virtually all other public events ceased to allow the same.”

“This is the right decision moving forward to ensure a safe environment and family-friendly atmosphere,” Condoianis said.

Republicans lawmakers urged the fair to reconsider in a letter signed by more than 70 legislators, arguing that the ban made the fairgrounds less safe and was “anything but a celebration of Texas.”

In a separate letter to the City of Dallas, Paxton argued that the ban infringes on the rights of Texas gun owners. The city owns Fair Park, where the annual fair takes place; Paxton argued that gun owners can carry on property owned or leased by the government unless otherwise prohibited by state law.

A city spokesperson said in a statement Wednesday that they were reviewing Paxton’s letter “and will respond accordingly.”

Condoianis said Wednesday that the fair, which is a private, not-for-profit organization, “is not a government entity nor is it controlled by a government entity.” She said they are aware of Paxton’s letter to the city, and that it appears he’s “seeking clarification” on the city’s relationship with the fair and its use of Fair Park under the long-term lease agreement between the two parties.

Condoianis also disagreed that the ban makes the fair less safe, saying the policy is similar to rules at large community gatherings such as sporting events and concerts.

[blackswaneuroparedux]

Those who have achieved all their aims probably set them too low.

- Herbert von Karajan

The Soprano Christa Ludwig described him as ‘Le bon Dieu’, while scores of musicians, reviewers and listeners have long regarded him as simply untouchable in the art of conducting. There was, however, much about Herbert von Karajan that was distinctly ungodlike. Ruthlessly ambitious as a young man and grimly autocratic in his later years, his life story is marked by bitter rivalries, feuds and, most notoriously, membership of the Nazi party.

But then, just listen to the results. It’s fascinating to look at the career, the controversy and the achievements of a conductor who still intrigues fans and detractors like no other musician long after his death.

The early career of Herbert von Karajan continues to be swathed in controversy.

Was he an ardent Nazi or an ambitious opportunist? If he was a zealous party member, should we revere his recordings as much as we do? To what extent should any moral accountability weigh against Karajan’s musical achievement? And how much latitude can we extend to people who have artistically given so generously?

Karajan is not alone in occupying this uncomfortable situation during this era. Similar debate surrounds Richard Strauss, Carl Orff and Karl Böhm. Indeed, Wagner also evokes hostility in certain quarters with regard to his racial sentiments.

When Adolf Hitler swept to power in January 1933, the 24-year-old Austrian Herbert von Karajan had already notched up nearly four seasons as an up-and-coming opera conductor in the South German city of Ulm.

Born in Salzburg in 1908 into a prosperous family, he had demonstrated gifts as a pianist and conductor while studying in Vienna. After graduation, his debut orchestral concert with the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra in January 1929, featuring works by R Strauss, Mozart and Tchaikovsky, caused a local sensation and helped to secure him the contract in Ulm.

Karajan seized on the opportunity to learn his trade in Ulm and cut his teeth on much of the operatic repertory from Mozart and Beethoven to Puccini and R . Strauss, including the opera Schwanda der Dudelsacker by the Czech Jewish composer Jaromir Weinberger.

Yet, after the Nazi take-over, Karajan’s future wasn’t assured.

In early 1933, German operatic life was thrown into turmoil as the regime hounded out musicians that were deemed politically and racially unacceptable, and also pursued a protectionist policy to limit employment for non-Germans.

Against this context, Karajan’s decision to join the Nazi Party in Salzburg in April 1933 should be understood as an opportunistic move which was probably designed to safeguard his position at Ulm. Whether it also signalled enthusiasm for Nazi policy is open to speculation, though he no doubt hoped that the strong-arm methods of the Nazis would bring cultural stability to Germany.

Karajan retained his Ulm job for a further season, during which he expanded his repertory to include a praised account of Strauss’s opera Arabella. But in March 1934 he was fired for professional intrigue involving a potential Jewish rival.

He did not have to wait long for a new post. Three months later he was made general music director in Aachen.

Working in a larger theatre enabled Karajan to tackle more ambitious repertory, such as Wagner’s Ring cycle, Verdi’s Otello and Strauss’s Elektra. He also consolidated his reputation in the concert hall, taking charge of Aachen’s annual season of orchestral and choral concerts. One pre-condition for accepting was that he should re-apply for membership of the Nazi Party, his earlier membership in Salzburg having lapsed. This was confirmed in March 1935.

Although in his denazification trial in March 1946 Karajan argued that he had joined the Party to further his career, he could not escape his obligation as Aachen’s general music director to provide the musical background for political occasions.

On 29 June 1935 he took part in a huge open-air orchestral and choral concert that celebrated the NSDAP Party Day and at a similar ceremony four years later he conducted the close from Wagner’s Meistersinger. But his concert programmes seemed untainted by political interference – works by Debussy, Ravel, Kodály and Stravinsky rubbed shoulders with German ones. In 1938 he flouted the law by programming Dukas’s Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Party authorities must have overlooked that Dukas was of Jewish descent.

Karajan conducts Dvořák’s “New World” Symphony No. 9, performed by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

By 1937 Karajan’s achievements in Aachen were attracting national interest.

In a special edition devoted to Germany’s conducting legacy, the journal Die Musik singled him out as a man who ‘can lead the new organisation of our cultural life in the spirit and direction which National Socialism demands’. Concert engagements in Gothenburg, Vienna, Amsterdam, Brussels and Stockholm helped to spread his name beyond Germany.

Yet for all this, Karajan set his sights even higher by hoping to make an impact in Berlin. This ambition was realised in 1938 with a ‘Strength through Joy’ concert with the Berlin Philharmonic and engagement as conductor at the Berlin State Opera in Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde in October of the same year.

Karajan may not have anticipated that with his move to Berlin he was stepping into a political cauldron over which he would have little control.

It began with a review of his Tristan which appeared in the Berliner Zeitung. Under the title ‘Karajan the Miracle’, the critic Edwin von der Nüll lavished praise on the performance suggesting that in conducting Wagner’s score from memory the 30-year-old conductor had achieved ‘something our great men in their fifties might envy’.

This was calculated to offend the conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler who had previously ruled the roost in the same theatre. Karajan was set up as a pawn in the struggle for control of Berlin’s cultural institutions between Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels, a Furtwängler supporter, and Minister of Interior Hermann Goering, the patron of the Berlin State Opera.

In June 1939 Karajan conducted Wagner’s Die Meistersinger at the State Opera without a score. The performance collapsed when the baritone, a drunk Rudolf Bockelmann, made a serious error. Alas Hitler, in the audience, was furious, blaming instead Karajan’s insufficiently Germanic approach to Wagner by conducting from memory.

Further problems arose over his marriage in 1942 to the quarter Jewish Anita Gütermann, technically against the law.

Yet, despite this and the continuing hostility and suspicion of Goebbels and Hitler and Furtwängler’s jealousy, his career prospered during the war. He conducted Bach’s B Minor Mass in Paris for the occupying German soldiers in 1940 and returned to the French capital in 1941 to present his performance of Tristan with the Berlin State Opera.

From 1940 he appeared in Italy and gave concerts in Romania and Hungary. A major achievement was to secure popularity for Orff’s Carmina Burana, a score that had aroused some hostility from the Nazi hierarchy at its first performance in 1937 before Karajan’s performances in Aachen and Berlin during the early 1940s.

Driven by a fanatical love of music and a desire to advance his career, there’s little doubt that Karajan’s involvement with the Nazi regime was opportunistic.

Doubtless though there were also areas of Nazi policy that may well have chimed in with his own views. At the same time falling foul of the regime on occasions, his personal ideology can be best described as a montage of greys; nothing is ever clear-cut and nor perhaps should be our assessment of his work.

[queen-susans-revenge]

Book reviews: Spare and Endgame

At the rate royal "bombshells" drop, one might imagine Buckingham Palace a smoking crater of charred ruins.

But after years of drama, not only do all the grand old piles in the British royal family’s vast portfolio of real estate still stand, but the royal machinery that sustains them isn’t even dinged. And that's because all the smoke and dazzle is part of a calculated strategy, a show cooked up in concert between "the Firm" and the tabloids that profit from royal clickbait. The gossipy headlines generate profit for the papers, sustain public interest in Britain's royal family, and provide a useful way to punish members who don't toe the institutional line.

Prince Harry's biography Spare became the fastest-selling nonfiction book of all time and generated countless media headlines. Omid Scobie's Endgame is currently providing chum for another tabloid feeding frenzy.

But ironically, both books are packed with stories the tabloids won't repeat, because they illuminate too much of the "invisible contract" between palace and press.

In probably the best coverage of Spare, Zeynep Tufekci wrote for the New York Times: "Any close follower of the British media should not have been surprised that after Prince Harry fell in love with Meghan Markle, the biracial American actress, years of vitriolic, even racist coverage followed. Whipping hatred and spreading lies — including on issues far more consequential than a royal romance — is a specialty of Britain’s atrocious but politically influential tabloids.

"People like me, uninterested in celebrities, shouldn’t dismiss the brouhaha around Harry’s memoir as mere celebrity tittle-tattle. He has made credible, even documented claims that his own family refused to stand up against their ugly, sustained attacks against Meghan. In other words, it appears that Britain’s most revered institution, funded by tens of millions in taxpayer funds annually, plays ball with one of its most revolting institutions.

"At the very least, it seems clear by now where some senior members of the royal family position themselves in all this."

Endgame goes even farther than Spare in detailing the often sordid workings of the invisible contract between journos and courtiers. Scobie details how Christian Jones, Prince William's communications secretary, fed negative stories about the Sussexes to Dan Wootton at The Sun in exchange for burying another story that might have been highly damaging to the heir: reports of private dinners and a "rural rivalry" that hinted at an affair between Prince William and Rose Hanbury, the Marchioness of Cholmondeley.

No proof or confirmation of that royal affair was ever provided, because after Jones' intervention, those stories were comprehensively scrubbed from The Sun's website. Instead, the paper was allowed to break the story of what it would call "Megxit": Harry and Meghan's desire to separate themselves from the Firm.

According to both Endgame and a report by the Byline Times, when Harry pursued legal action against The Sun, he was punished by the withdrawal of his official security. (It's worth noting that the disgraced Prince Andrew is still covered by taxpayer-funded security, despite having a much lower threat profile than Harry.) Scobie quotes a source as saying: "I have never seen the Palace circle the wagons like they did with Christian." Byline Times also quotes a source: "They threatened the removal of the funding to try and protect the royal household from a potential courtroom scandal with Jones and Wootton very publicly at the centre."

Why would the Firm pull out all the stops to protect a courtier, even if it meant putting the monarch's own second son in real and immediate danger?

Because Jones is merely a flunky for Prince William, and it's hard to imagine that Jones's press machinations were conducted without the approval of his "principal." Indeed, he wasn't William's only communications secretary to openly collude with the tabloids against Harry and Meghan: another highly placed aide, Jason Knauf, gave testimony on behalf of the Daily Mail in a case brought against it by the Duchess of Sussex, regarding the leak of a private letter. (Despite the attempted sabotage from William's camp, she won that case and was awarded a front page correction and a large settlement.)

The details of all this sordidness — the sacrifice of Harry and Meghan on the altar of tabloid drama, with obsidian knives wielded by Harry’s own closest kin in an attempt to secure more favorable coverage for themselves — forms the narrative backbone of both books. And William isn't the only one implicated in the matter: Queen Camilla emerges as a canny and ruthless operator, buying the rehabilitation of her own image with the coin of gossip leaked against both her stepsons.

"In a funny way I even wanted Camilla to be happy," Harry writes. "Maybe she'd be less dangerous if she was happy."

It's pretty hard to tell if anyone's happy in Britain's royal family. Endgame tells us that Charles is jealous of William, that William is jealous of Harry, and that Harry will probably never get any of the remorse he'd like to see for the way he and his wife were thrown to the wolves. Hating Harry — and even more so, Meghan — has become its own lucrative, self-sustaining industry. Literally hundreds of negative articles are published about the two every day. It's a relentless, often racist onslaught of character assassination that exploits the same culture-war fissions that drove Brexit.

Spare mostly comes off as a good-faith effort from a deeply weird person to explain to the rest of us why he's like this. Endgame isn't as well-written or compelling, but it backs up a lot of what Harry puts into generalizations with names, dates, and specifics. Together, they paint a very damning portrait of two rotten institutions propping each other up at the people's expense.

But by and large, you won't read about that in the press.

[thislovintime]

Peter Tork, early 1980s (photo 2 taken in Japan).

“In addition to the [Studio 19] club shows, Tork and his band will play Sunday night [March 21, 1982] at Peaches Records in Clearwater at 6:30, 7:30 and 8:30 p.m. The Peaches shows were added because many of Tork’s fans are too young to be admitted into the club, said a spokesman for Studio 19.” - The Tampa Tribune, March 19, 1982

“Last weekend in Clearwater, Tork and his new band, The New Monks, broke up. Until then, his latest comeback attempt had been rolling along smoothly during the last 18 months. […] The breakup resulted from poor attendance at two Studio 19 concerts, an abruptly canceled canceled gig last Sunday and a flare-up resulting from an on-going friction between band and management, Tork said earlier this week. ‘It was the culmination of a long, slow descent,’ he explained. ‘It’s been a struggle. I thought things had been getting better.’ However, drummer Vince Barranco recently said that the band’s split-up is not final, just in limbo, pending working out problems with management. ‘Oh, it’s further out than limbo,’ Tork said. ‘The band is not intact, and not functioning.’ Calling from a pay phone at a YMCA in New York City, where he works out regularly, Tork said his trip to Florida, which coincided with the annual Monkees Fan Club Convention last week in Largo, has left him in less-than-enviable financial shape.
 He said the band members claim they did not get paid for the Clearwater concerts. ‘I’m broke,’ he said flatly. ‘I cannot buy a sandwich. Well, I can, but it’ll stop me from eating for two days.’ Tork said only bass player Paul Ill has served official notice of quitting the band. The rest are ‘not too anxious to get back to work,’ he said. Barranco, pianist Tom Myers and guitarist Phil Simon remained in Clearwater last week waiting to get paid for last weekend’s concerts from the promoter, Barranco said, adding that the break-up is not based on personal hostilities. ‘Peter’s a nice guy and all,’ Barranco said. ‘It’s strictly business. ‘I’m game (to rejoin) if everything’s comfortable,’ he said, noting relations between management and band members would first have to be cleared up. […] ‘When I left the Monkees, I found that I was not grounded,’ [Tork] said, referring to his lack of dues-paying and basic music industry know-how. ‘I wanted to learn the trade from the bottom to the top. In California, you can’t do that — there’s no middle ground.’ The small turnout at the Clearwater shows made him question his career direction. ‘I asked myself, “Do I not draw?” Maybe I overplayed my own value,’ he mused, ‘or maybe it’s Reaganomics.’ Due to cost of traveling, The New Monks have been giving small, well-received performances only in Boston, New Jersey and New York, shows featuring Tork on banjo and guitar. […] ‘Some reviews said “don’t do any Monkees material,“ some said “do only Monkees material,”’ Tork said. ‘We decided to call our own shots, but we don’t have enough consistency or experience.’’ […] [During Monkeemania] separating the musicians from the characters on the show was almost impossible. Cast as the dunce, Tork’s character undermined his formidable musical talent. ‘The Peter Tork character reached a lot of people,‘ he said. ‘He was an outcast — he lurched around, not getting hurt by his own bumbling idiocy.’ The character had a built-in protection system — that dumbfounded, naive look — that appealed to everyone, he said. One of Tork’s fondest Monkee memories came during a break in the filming for the pilot of their first TV episode, in which they had been pretending to play instruments. ‘We got them to give us power in the amps and we just started playing,’ he recalled, ‘and everybody started dancing.’ However, Tork is most proud of the second stage [of Monkees history], circa 1967. On ‘Headquarters,’ their third album, the group, for the first time, played almost all of the instruments. Other personal favorites from that period include ‘Pleasant Valley Sunday’ and ‘Goin’ Down,’ a one-take jam released only on the flip side of ‘Daydream Believer.
’ […] [I]n 1978, Tork started easing back into show business, circulating his picture in hopes of landing a spot on a sit-com but drawing few offers. 
After a brief stint as a strictly oldies act, he founded The New Monks, ‘and now here I am, broke in New York City,’ he said. But the 38-year-old [sic] singer is far from calling it quits. ‘I’m going to keep plugging,‘ he vowed. ‘I’m not done — this is my craft, my trade.’” - The Tampa Tribune, March 27, 1982

[rock-and-roll-hell]

July 24, 1977

Love Gun Tour

Pacific Coliseum - Vancouver, British Columbia

According to the promoter, "The cops heard of KIϟϟ' so-called reputation and they ordered four squads to the show. They played poker all night and billed us $8,000 for overtime" (Montreal Gazette, 8/2/77).

From a local review: "Hype? Not really. KIϟϟ promise nothing less than the greatest spectacle in rock and nothing less is exactly what they provide. From that it is easy for the unaware parent or pundit to mistake KIϟϟ for a threat to our civilized way of life. But understand this, KIϟϟ are not self-pitying, humorless nihilists like the punk rockers. If anything, they are a fantasy for an age that has seen just about everything. Of course they appeal to the escapist stripe. It would be fun to stand seven feet tall, spit fire, deafen everyone within a 1,000 yard radius and make a million bucks doing it" (Vancouver Sun, 7/25/77).

From another local review: "The KIϟϟ concert Sunday night was better than the fireworks display the Sea Festival holds annually. The Coliseum took on all the aspects of kid's day at the PNE's Playland with harried parents leading offspring by the hand up into the stands, plopping their plump selves down into the same seats they had at The Ice Capades or The Shriner Circus, and stopping up their ears with cotton... KIϟϟ was perfunctory as you please, well rehearsed, but musically deadening and the sound from the press box was, as usual, muddy except when Ace Frehley took off into one of his solos. Frehley appeared to be bored, or tired, or sick, or drunk, or all four, while batman, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley did their best to whip up a surprisingly complacent audience which eventually succumbed and went nuts when the hits and the gimmickry got into gear" (Georgia Straight, 7/28/77).

[consanguinitatum]

Rare David Tennant audios: The Return Of Chorb

So a little bit ago I posted about an obscure David Tennant audio project I'm trying to FIND, since I'm only missing a few of all the audio works DT's done. Today I post another of these few. Sad to say I don't know much about this one, but I'll share what I do know!

The subject of tonight's feature is another of his audio dramas that isn't listed at http://david-tennant.com or at VK's David Tennant Asylum. This one was broadcast twice - 19 Mar 2004 and 17 Nov 2004 - and was based on a short story by Vladimir Nabokov: The Return Of Chorb.

Both broadcasts of the The Return of Chorb began at 8:20p. It was the featured play on Twenty Minutes, dramatic pieces used as interval programming for the BBC Radio 3 series entitled Performance On 3. BBC Radio 3 concentrates on live & classical music as well as the arts.

From the Evening Standard, 17 Nov 2004

On 19 Mar 2004, the broadcast of The Return Of Chorb was used as the interval piece between the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and a performance of Schumann Operettas 92 and 52.

On 17 Nov 2004, the broadcast of The Return Of Chorb was used as the interval piece between The Musicians Benevolent Fund's annual Royal Concert from Birmingham, and the Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique.

And the plot? "A municipal German opera house is the backdrop for a sublimely awkward evening in this atmospheric tale of love and loss. Aging German couple the Kellers are forced to confront some unexpected news when their son-in-law Chorb returns home early from his honeymoon."

The Guardian gave DT a good review! "Today's Twenty Minutes is a masterpiece of melancholy: Nabokov's story, The Return of Chorb. Chorb's wife has died during their honeymoon, and now he must break the news to his in-laws. Don't miss David Tennant's beautifully understated reading."

If these little teasers have made you curious, you can go read an in-depth analysis of the story here!

Sadly, that's the extent of my knowledge about The Return Of Chorb. I wish I knew more about it! I'm in active search mode for an audio recording - as I am for all DT audios I've yet to locate - and I hope to find it soon. I may have stumbled across a promising lead, but time will tell.

I'll be back soon with more interesting Tennant tidbits!

[princesscatherinemiddleton]

The Princess of Wales’ Year in Review: December

December 1st - The Prince and Princess of Wales began their day in Boston at Greentown Labs, the largest clean-tech incubator in North America. They then visited Roca, a charity focusing on high-risk young people considered at high risk for becoming the primary victims or drivers of violence. The couple undertook a surprise walkabout outside following the engagement. William and Catherine then visited East Boston’s waterfront (Piers Park) to attend an East Boston Climate Resiliency event. Afterwards, the Princess of Wales, in her role as Patron of the Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales, held a telephone meeting with Professor Marc Brackett, from the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence December 2nd - For their final day in Boston, the Prince and Princess of Wales began their day with a reception at the Four Seasons Hotel. They then undertook solo engagements; Catherine travelled to the Harvard Center for the Developing Child, in her role as Patron of the Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales, as part of her work in the Early Years. That evening, William and Catherine attended the Earthshot Prize Awards at MGM Music Hall, where the Princess presented the 'Revive Our Oceans' award. Finally, the couple attended a reception at Fenway Park December 5th - The Princess of Wales, Patron of the Royal Foundation of The Prince and Princess of Wales, held a meeting December 6th - Pictures of the Prince and Princess of Wales behind the scenes at the 2022 Earthshot Prize were released in People Magazine; the photos were taken by Chris Jackson. The Princess of Wales, Patron of the Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales, held an Early Years Meeting. That evening, the Prince and Princess of Wales joined the King and Queen at an evening reception at Buckingham Palace for the Diplomatic Corps. Late in the evening, it was announced the Princess of Wales, amongst other female working royals from the British Royal Family, had written an article for Good Housekeeping, promoting her Patronage Family Action December 11th - A photo of the Princess of Wales - taken from the filming of a 'teaser' for her 'Together at Christmas' carol concert - was released December 13th - The official Christmas card of the Wales family was released by Kensington Palace December 14th - The Princess of Wales planted a wild cherry tree for The Queen's Green Canopy in the Dean's Yard of Westminster Abbey, in honour of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. That evening, Kensington Palace released a video of the Princess of Wales decorating a christmas tree at Westminster Abbey to promote her 'Together at Christmas' carol concert December 15th - The Princess of Wales, in her role as Patron of the Royal Foundation of The Prince and Princess of Wales, hosted the 'Together at Christmas' Christmas Carol Service at Westminster Abbey. She was accompanied by the King and Queen, Prince of Wales, Prince George, and Princess Charlotte as well as other members of the royal family and members of the Middleton family December 21st - King Charles III announced the Princess of Wales as the new Colonel of the Irish Guards December 22nd - Kensington Palace released a video of the Princess of Wales' introduction to her 'Together at Christmas' concert December 24th - The 'Together at Christmas' Christmas Carol Service aired on TV. During the airing, surprise footage of the Princess of Wales meeting with three members of the public at Windsor Castle - Cat, Lionel, and Akbar - was shown. It is likely this was the meeting which took place on December 5th December 25th - The Prince and Princess of Wales, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, along with the other extended members of the British Royal Family, attended the annual Christmas Day service at St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringam