Weekly Online Timetable
As usual, we have sent you the timetable as a separate document so that you may access it more easily. You may also see it if you click here.
The Monday Talks
This week’s Monday Talk at 10.30 asks ‘Can you believe that we still get Medicine from Plants!’ Tony Dayan, former public health physician, pathologist, toxicologist, academic and regulatory advisor talks about plant derived medicines and why they are still valuable today.
Next week 22 February: Linda Shannon talks about female roles in Shakespeare’s plays in ‘Squeaking Cleopatras: Boy players in Shakespeare’s plays’. Before retiring, Linda was a drama teacher and has coordinated the Shakespeare study group for our U3A for several years. She has been a steward at Shakespeare’s Globe for 25 years and works as a volunteer at The Rose Playhouse, just round the corner from the Globe where Shakespeare’s plays were performed before he became a shareholder at the Globe.
In last week’s talk ‘Dementia Research: Trials and Tribulations’, Anna Byrne gave contact details for those interested in further information: Imperial.memory.research@nhs.net
Website: imperial.nhs.uk/imperial-memory-unit
Tel 0203 311 5228
Other events this week:
Aspects of Japan
This week: Ikebana Tomoko Kenny – includes a demonstration of the Japanese art of arranging flower and other live materials.
From Stanley Volk
‘Singing Workshop for all levels”. The meeting on 18th February at 12.00 will be a This will include 10 minutes’ fun warm-up exercises, singing in harmony etc. to be followed by a Sing-Along with Matt Monroe. Come along to sing or just listen.
From Shafeeq Siddiqui
On Monday 15 at 3pm,‘Stories behind the Headlines’, is ‘Elon Musk: Projects update.
From Naomi
I strongly believe that our U3A is like a family, not merely a club or an organisation. This belief has been firmly reinforced by the genuine concern many of you have expressed over our recent loss of membership. Amalia and I have been deeply touched by those of you who have offered additional financial help.
When I wrote about the fall in membership, it was never with the intention of seeking additional funding. It was to make members aware of what has been happening and to ask you to help recruit more members to replace some of those lost. I’m sure a number will return once we resume face to face classes but in the meantime, it would be good to bolster our numbers while providing an excellent programme for those in isolation and looking for ways to cope.
Ironically, many U3As are financially better off now as they have saved money on hire of halls and rooms. That is not true of us, where we have a legal commitment to pay the rental of the rooms at the Town Hall. Thankfully, because of past bequests and donations, as well as careful management, we have a financial cushion that does not require us to find extra funding now. This in no way lessens our appreciation and affection for you and your generosity.
Stay well, Naomi
For the fans of Wally Howard
Here are the links to Wally’s talks for w/c Monday 15 February: the final part of Joe Hill in the Miscarriages of Justice series, his Memories at 95 Part 28 and Reflections on the Thalidomide Disaster.
Watch “Joe Hill – the conclusion and the aftermath” on Vimeo:
Watch “Memories at 95 – Part 28” on Vimeo:
Watch “Reflections on the Thalidomide Disaster” on Vimeo:
Duplicate Bridge
Let Alan Unerman know if you would be interested in taking part in the on-line game of Real Bridge on Friday afternoons. You don’t have to be a member of Alan’s regular Monday duplicate group – anyone from U3A can join but you should know how to play duplicate Bridge.You can email him on alanunerman@btinternet.com
If you decide to take part, you will be sent a link and all you have to do is to click on the link each time you attend. Alan hopes he will be able to start the sessions in March and he will be sending more details to those who have contacted him. There will be a registration fee of £5 for the session from March until the Summer term ends in mid-July which will cover the nominal fee charged by Real Bridge
More good news about the Hebrew classes
Jeff continues with the Tuesday class and his wife, Debbie, will be taking the Wednesday class for beginners – both classes are at 10.30.
From Michael Baum
Dear friends, after my lecture on 9 February last week, I offered my loyal followers a copy of my novel ‘Aaron’s Rod’. This was foolish as I only have 12 copies left to give away and there were 45 in the audience. Then there was the problem of postage etc that is tricky in these times of lockdown. So as a compromise I have a PDF file of the complete text that was sent to the publishers. I retain the copyright so I’m not breaking the rules. I hope you enjoy it and the notes at the end will tell you what is historical fact and what is hysterical make believe! Regards, Mike
From the Drama Group
We had our first zoom meeting on Wednesday. Those involved (apart from myself) are Anthony Guter, Leslie Stukins, Catherine Osborne, Evanna Morris, Morris Peckman and Pauline Rowlands.We hope to perform a 35 minute Tom Stoppard play “A Separate Peace” at Easter, Best wishes, Terry Sopel
From Michelle Jason’s Monday Collage Art class
From Judith Fiennes
Dear Naomi,
I have only just seen your comments about the appalling decrease in our U3A membership. I couldn’t believe it. Maybe people don’t have pc’s with Zoom. How could they not appreciate and enjoy, the amazing programmes you and your team put on each week – not only appreciate the programmes, but also the time and effort you all spend in arranging them? Membership at £75p.a. is less than £1.50 per week, and less than the cost of a cup of coffee and since most of us don’t have the opportunity of buying one at the moment, surely they could renew their subs by way of support. Presumably we are still being charged for the use of the rooms in the Town Hall which we can’t use at the moment. I wonder if people are aware of this. Best regards, Judith
From Howard Shelter
Should you wish to listen to my latest composition of an orchestral suite of music in three movements, I have uploaded it to Youtube. It is fully orchestrated and is available only by the following URL link:https://youtu.be/VGPoYJ7zbEs
This has led to a transformation of my previous method of presenting “Visual Opera Experiences”. You can access, all the opera film excerpts of each session, to replace the former multitude of emails. Pleased see the revised description “Music: Opera – Visual opera experiences on Youtube with talks.”
To make you smile – Snowpeople!
Here’s another legal tale from Herbie:
A renowned lawyer in ancient Greece was approached by a young man seeking to become his student. The lawyer told him that he would have to pay a hefty fee for his tuition. ‘Sir,’ said the student, ‘I am from a very poor family and I could not afford to pay you, but I want to learn law to better myself and make my way in life by earning a good and honest living. I want to learn to think and act smartly and persfouade the judges that my clients are in the right’.
The lawyer thought for a second and, impressed by the young man’s honest ambition, offered him a deal. ‘You shall be my student, and I shall teach you for no cost. Only when you win your first case will you pay my fees out of your earnings.’
The young man spent three years studying with the lawyer and then began to practise law, but after five years he had lost every single case that he undertook. The lawyer became impatient and told his student ‘I cannot wait any longer for my fees so I shall take you to court and sue you for them. If I win, you will have to pay me; if I lose, then you will have won your first case and by the terms of our contract you will have to pay me.
The student replied ‘Not so, for if you win the case, then I will have lost the case and under the terms of our contract I will still not have won a case and therefore I won’t be compelled to pay you. If you lose the case and I win, then by the decision of the court I won’t need to pay you’. And we’re sure you’ll find this intriguing. It was sent to Diana King on Friday:
From Friends of Belsize Community Library
Zoom Meeting ID: 889 6466 1765 on 18 February at 7.30 p.m.
“Pandemics Old and New: Parallels between the ‘Spanish Flu’ of 1918 and Covid 19” with writer and science journalist Laura Spinney.
Best Wishes from the Team
Naomi Gilli Herbie Amalia and Gerta