Meeting Saviz Foroughi and a poem by A. E. Housman - On the Idle Hill of Summer

Saviz Foroughi by Nigel A JAMES

Saviz Foroughi

Pulling on 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 decided and planned in great detail!

And so, following the desires and wishes of the hearts of those who know better, Saviz signed up for medical school. Everything was set for a life as a doctor; guaranteed and secure. 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! Drama school came next, and the marionettes quickly followed. 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 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 11 years and a girl who is 4.

But that’s not all! In between working and bringing up children, Saviz finds 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!

Poetry!

Mother and Infant by Nigel A.  JAMES

From A Shropshire Lad

by A. E. Housman

written in 1896

On the Idle Hill of Summer

On the idle hill of summer,

Sleepy with the flow of streams,

Far I hear the steady drummer

Drumming like a noise in dreams.

Far and near and low and louder

On the roads of earth go by,

Dear to friends and food for powder,

Soldiers marching all to die.

East and west on fields forgotten

Bleach the bones of comrades slain,

Lovely lads and dead and rotten;

None that go return again.

Far the calling bugles hollo,

High the screaming fife replies,

Gay the files of scarlet follow:

Woman bore me, I will rise.

listen to ‘On the Idle Hill of Summer’ on Audioboo

Poem for April

Jumper - by Nigel A JAMES

Home Thoughts from Abroad

by Robert Browning

listen to ‘Home Thoughts from Abroad’ on Audioboo

Oh, to be in England

Now that April's there,

And whoever wakes in England

Sees, some morning, unaware,

That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf

Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf,

While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough

In England-now!

And after April, when May follows,

And the whitethroat builds, and all the swallows!

Hark, where my blossomed pear-tree in the hedge

Leans to the field and scatters on the clover

Blossoms and dewdrops-at the bent spray's edge-

That's why the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over,

Lest you should think he never could recapture

The first fine careless rapture!

And though the fields look rough with hoary dew

All will be gay when noontide wakes anew

The buttercups, the little children's dower

- Far brighter than this gaudy melon-flower!   

Margarete Mizera

 Margarete Mizera by Nigel A JAMES

A Night in the Hay!

When travelling back in our thoughts to long, long ago, it is, more-often-than-not, that the nice people of then are the ones who come right to the front of our minds! And once upon a time, there was a friendly policeman who deeply impressed a very young lady. And, 50 years later, Margarete Mizera – for she was that very same person – still remembers him well!

The day was coming to a close, and Margaret and her husband had just completed a strenuous 7 hour climbing tour. They were not only exhausted, but tired and hungry as well; and, of course, they were looking for a bed for the night. But it was summer and very high season, and, in the beautiful Austrian mountains of Styria where they had gone for a week there wasn't a bed to be found. They had tried everything. They had knocked on every door, and they had even considered sleeping under the bridge, but, with a storm coming up they were desperate. A night in the mountainous open with no shelter at all was not such a very good thing!

But then, through the darkness of desperate thinking came shining a light. In front of them, and not far away, was the village police station. And, why not?

And the policeman was an angel. Although his police station cell was full, he knew of a way! And then, before they knew what was happening, Margarete and her husband were in the back of a police car, a very small VW Beetle, and being taken to a farm on the side of a mountain. And their luck was still in.

The farmer was their second angel of the day, he had no rooms, all were taken, but, what he had to offer was not only a night in his barn, but also a delicious evening meal! And they needed it, and they were thankful.

And, as Margaret and her husband lay wearily down to sleep in the hay, they could hear from outside the rain and the storm in all its great fury. They were warm and they were safe, and, as they peacefully dreamt the morning gradually came, and with it another surprise.

The farmer and his wife had prepared an unimaginably fantastic breakfast – the best they could offer! And, so it was, that the next mountain was climbed with not only a very full feeling, but, also a heart full of thanks! The policeman and his friend will never be forgotten!  

Robert Watzka

Robert Watzke - by Nigel A.  JAMES

Shadow Life!

Robert Watzke is a man of the Austrian mountains, but his Styrian heart beats to a very special sound, The Marvin Sound. The Sound of the legendary Shadows, the group that was founded by the even more legendary Hank Marvin in 1958. And the thing that made the group’s music so renowned was the great and celebrated electric guitar with its magical,haunting and deep moving tones. And, with his compositions and interpretations, Hank Marvin succeeded in putting himself and his group at the top of the list of the all-time greats. A position that they still enjoy today!

Of course, it is impossible to separate The Shadows from Cliff Richards. They made two great films together, The Young Ones and Summer Holiday; they toured together, they played together, they became big together, and, for millions of people, they became the bedrock of a musical way of life. Cliff and the Shadows had millions of fans, and Robert Watzke, too, became one when he was still very young.

It was while he was still in the 4th grade of high school that Robert Watzke was introduced to the Shadows by a friend. Something happened to him that definitely set the course for his future life. He took the Shadow’s music to heart, and, after becoming fluent in the playing of the electric guitar, he founded his own group, The Nobodies in 1973.

For 20 years the Nobodies continued to play. They not only took their music to the remoter corners of the Austrian mountains, they also played in all the major cities as well. Robert Watzke passed on to his audiences the music that the Shadows had given him!

But time goes on, and now, with the prospect of more time to spare, Robert intends traveling even more with his wife, Annie. But there is one flexible destination that will always be on the top of his agenda, and that is Shadow Mania, the concerts which the Shadows still perform. And where the concerts go, Robert goes too.

Of course, there is a home life too. Robert is an expert cook, his favourite dish, and the one that he’s best at, is Cordon Bleau; and the best thing to drink with it, he says, is a glass of Styrian beer!

And, at the end of the day? It is, of course, music. Robert has a record collection that can only be envied, but the record that he still enjoys the most is one which was written by Hank Marvin and sang by Cliff Richards, The Day I Met Maria. And his own music? From time to time, the Nobodies still come back from the past and play in Styria. People there still talk about them; and Robert’s guitar is still very much a very big part of his life!