Bruno Hope - A Walking Legend

Walking Home - Pencil drawing by Nigel A JAMES

Under A Roman Moon

Bruno Hope’s story of survival

Life is a journey of risks and sometimes great danger. But, for some people, perils and hazards are just part of life’s course, and, Bruno Hope is just such a person!

It was 1945. Bruno Hope was busy walking home across Italy. He was a young man; he had survived his war, and Vienna, although still far away, was getting nearer and nearer as each day passed by. Things couldn’t be better. Soon his favourite beer would be flowing and the schnitzels he had missed for so long would be sizzling once more in the pan; and, even that war torn Italian village seemed like heaven on earth as he passed through it on his way to the north. But then it happened!

The partisans struck. The firing was coming from every direction. There was no escape. Bruno went down in a hail of bullets. Then, with one of his shoulders completely destroyed, and his heart holding on for all it was worth he passed out. And there, beneath a Roman moon he lay, waiting to die – in a pool of crimson deepening blood!

But not yet! His death was not meant to be. Long ago, a gipsy had told him so, and he had believed it! He knew in his heart of hearts that the beer and the schnitzels would wait.

The doctors fought hard to save him, and they did a wonderful job. But his left shoulder and arm had been too badly hit to repair. They would never work again! But Bruno Hope thought differently, and, so it was, that he went to work on himself.

He began by lifting the lightest of weights, and, within eighteen months of hard work and increasing the load, his arm was back once again to full strength. He had managed to cure himself and get himself working again. He had fought the impossible and won!

And that’s how Bruno’s life has been ever since. Downs are for getting up from and not giving in to; and, most importantly, what ever authority tells you, follow your own inner voice and do what it tells you! It usually knows best!

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Saviz Foroughi - Over a Coffee

Saviz Foroughi - photo by Nigel A JAMES

Heart Strings

Living the life of a dream means having the strength to follow the path of one’s choice. This is not always easy, and Saviz knows best. There is the pressure to do that which is normal, and there are those who always know better. But, despite all of this, Saviz has succeeded in becoming herself.

Saviz works in the Schönbrunn Puppet Theatre in Vienna, and she is unseen, for she is one of those who are pulling the strings!

And it all started when she was a child in Iran. Like all little girls she loved playing with her dolls, but, unlike the others, Saviz was already living the life that was growing within her. Her little dolls were the actors in her home-spun theatre, and her neighbourhood friends were those queuing up for a seat in the stalls.

School followed and Saviz grew up. And then came the crossroads. After successfully saying goodbye to her school, and with top marks in her pocket, she found that her way forward had already been thought of and planned in great detail!

And so, following the desires of the hearts of the others, Saviz signed up for medical school. Everything was set for a life as a doctor; guaranteed and secure; and what could be better? But within her was always the pull of the stage.

And feelings that are real can not be suppressed, and so, after a while of doing that which was never to be, Saviz was back at the cross-roads. But this time she took the way of her wishes and found herself back on the path which was hers! A school of drama came next.

And then came the marionettes! Her childhood dolls had grown up and what Saviz was doing was real. Learning the art of pulling the strings wasn’t that easy, and it took almost 6 months to learn even the basics; and 3 years to master the art quite completely. And so she continued and the jobs started coming. And then came Vienna.

Vienna was for family; her husband’s job was there and Saviz followed. But, that what’s within you will always be there, and, after a while, she was once again pulling the strings. This time in the little puppet theatre in Schönbrunn.

And now, Saviz has another world, too. At home, she and her husband have two very nice children, a boy of 9 years and a girl who is 2.

But that’s not all! In between working and bringing up children, Saviz has time to sketch and write short stories, too. Her life is that of fulfilment and the satisfaction of doing that which she loves.

And, I wonder, too, who at the end of the day is really pulling whose strings? Maybe it’s the little people of the theatre who have Saviz in hand, and not the other way round! Who knows? Marionettes have not only characters and feelings, they also have souls!

http://www.marionettentheater.at/

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Poem for January

Night Eyes - Schnittkunst by Nigel A JAMES

George Gordon Noel, Lord Byron – 1788 - 1824



So, we’ll go no more a-roving


So, we’ll go no more a-roving
So late into the night,
Though the heart be still as loving,
And the moon be still and bright.

For the sword outwears its sheath,
And the soul wears out the breast,
And the heart must pause to breath,
And love itself have rest.

Though the night was made for loving,
And the day returns too soon,
Yet we’ll go no more a-roving
By the light of the moon.

Lisl Wong - Saying Hello

Lisl in Her Rocking Chair -Photo by Nigel A  JAMES

Lisl, Her Cat, Her Home, Her Chair and Her Garden

There’s a thread that runs through everyone’s life. For some it is real in the life that they lead; whilst, for others it’s a dream that takes years to come to fruition. But, for Lisl Wong, it was a wish that came true just as soon as she stepped over the line that divides years of hard work from the wide open space of time that is waiting and there for the taking.

And time was the thing that she needed, and filling it was never a question. After years at the top, this bundle of strength and dynamic ideas was moving on quickly to her life-long goal of becoming a carpenter. And so, Lisl enthusiastically began a course of learning by doing; and now, with new skills in her hands, she has succeeded in bringing out the restorer that was always within her!

“Of course”, she says, “one has to be able to see how the object once was and how it will be”. And, it is to this end that Lisl’s deep interest in art and design comes handily in. But what she does is fantastic, and, the best example of her work is the wonderful old Thonet rocking chair that she has lovingly brought back to life!

But fine pieces of furniture demand perfect settings, and Lisl’s home is amongst the best that there are. It is not only an oasis of quietness and peace amidst the hustle and bustle of Viennese city life; it is also the perfect home for her art, her books, and her furniture; and, of course, her cat and her plants.

And, plants mean much for Lisl, as well. When she’s not busy with her sawing and gluing and putting old chairs back together again, she can be found in her garden where she tenderly cares for all that she grows and the 4 legged creatures that come calling at night.

But Lisl’s life isn’t just gardens, carpentry and Vienna. Travelling, too, has always been important for her. Her feet have trod the dry paths of Israel; she has stood behind forbidden walls of China; she has seen the sun come up o’er Africa, and she has felt the white shining cold of clear Arctic moons!

But, however far you may travel, you can only be where you are now, and rocking comfortably beside her fire - with her cat on her lap - is the place that Lisl loves best!