Broken Britain - 12: Two tales that expose why Britain will forever remain Stuffed….

I wondered how long it would take to get back to ranting and raging. Two recent stories that explain exactly why this (once-great) country will forever remain in the Doldrums: Attitude.

Part 1: Today (Monday 4th April 2011) our mailing prices increased, by a considerable degree actually - but that’s not what I am raging about. This morning I wanted to send some things to a friend of mine in the USA, air mail / small packet. And so I queued at my local Post office (for over twenty minutes, but that’s normal now) with my package. The lady behind the grill weighed it and quoted me £18.44.

I thought this was somewhat outrageous and she explained to me the reason it was so high was because it was “over the one kilo threshold” (whatever that was). She also made it clear to me that it might work out cheaper if I sent the items in two packages.

So I went away and re-boxed up the things in two packages and returned later to the same Post Office (with a 30+ minute wait this time) and the very same counter clerk weighed both and charged me £6.48 for each. That’s a total £12.96 (and a saving of £5.48).

If the Royal Mail were an independently-run business they would have gone to the wall pronto with that attitude. How do they get away with it!? [Because they can].

No wonder the Royal Mail is regularly holding its hand out to successive Governments for hand-outs to stave off bankruptcy (financially and in “customer-services”).


Part 2: This story happened just a few days ago.

I wanted to book a short trip away to Amsterdam and decided the best route was with what’s called the “Dutch Flyer” (a train/boat/train package from Stenna Lines that works out about £37 each way).

So I phoned up Stenna to discuss matters. “You can book over the phone if you like”, she informed me…”but we need two days notice”…… “or”, she continued, “you could always book online!…. But we would need five days notice for that one”.

I asked her: “Well, seeing as the journey starts at Liverpool Street Station” (local for me in the East End of London)…”could I not just turn up at the station and book my tickets there and then?”.

There was a silence at the end of the phone. Maybe I should’ve sensed this was going to go all pear-shaped. “Well…..”, she said…..“We’ve had this all before.....Technically, you should be able to get your tickets from them, yes. But, you see, it all depends on the mood of the people in theTicket Office that morning. If they don't feel like selling you the tickets, they won’t do”.

I then asked “what if I turned up at Ilford Station and bought the ticket there?” [After all, Ilford is just down the road from where I live and the train runs from Liverpool Street and stops at Ilford en route to the coast].

“I’m afraid the same thing applies”, the Stenna woman said, “It really does depend on what side of the bed they got out of that morning”.

At which point I said: “D’you know something? It would be easier for me to just turn up at Victoria Coach Station with my suitcases and get on the coach on the day. It would probably be cheaper too”. [I later checked, and it was cheaper: £66 return].

Is it any wonder that, with attitudes like these, this country is never going to pull its socks up and get out of the crud we are in. And thus I return to my past mantra: Nobody actually Cares anymore in this country - about anyone or anything”. This country is Fucked.

Another Cartoon featuring Me???

I have mentioned before that certain friends of mine have included me in their splendid cartoons (see: 

http://rayfrenshamworld.blogspot.com/2009/07/and-now-im-featrued-in-cartoon-strip.html and 

http://rayfrenshamworld.blogspot.com/2011/01/and-now-i-am-appearing-in-photo-story.html

This week (on the occasion of Valentine’s Day, perhaps?) some chums drew my attention to another cartoon, dating back to 2008 which seemed to feature me by default!). It’s entitled: “In Which Jake Does His Best”.
[Again, click on the picture and it will open out to full size].  Enjoy:-

Did it predate me or I inspire them? - who knows, who cares. I enjoyed it.

It can also be found at: http://wondermark.com/380/

Henry de Winter + BHS: an update

Just a short note to inform everyone that I have just updated my main blog regarding the legendary Sir Henry de Winter:
http://rayfrenshamworld.blogspot.com/2010/09/henry-de-winter-at-last-his-website.html

New links (including one to FaceBook) + a couple of extra photographs.

The latest news is that Henry has just returned from Bratislava where, after a few days rehearsal with the Bratislava Hot Serenaders, did a couple of performances (the latter being filmed) and then went into the studio for a few days of recordings. That is all I know. But here, at least is a photograph from that weekend:-

Cufflinks anyone?

OK, I admit it, it was love at first sight. From the moment my eyes came across this on e-bay recently, I have been going back to that page just to drool over it.

It’s billed as: CLASSIC SOLID OAK 30 x 4 TRAY CELL CUFFLINKS BOX - Made2Order

And the Cost? (gulp)…

[[Usual protocol: click on the pics to open out to its full version]]

£165 + £10 Courier delivery. Custom-made, they said it would take about eight weeks from order to delivery.

For what it’s worth, here is the (current) link: 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370475459158#ht_2648wt_905

and their website:
http://www.aandtcrafts.co.uk/

Perhaps it’s because my father was a carpenter & joiner I’ve learned to really appreciate well-made and skilled woodwork and craftsmanship. But then maybe that’s just an excuse because…there it was - and that yearning ache in the pit my stomach was clearly there and just grew over the weeks.

Eventually, today, I succumbed. and contacted the maker to make my order - And, surprise surprise, they said “just pay a £10 deposit and pay the balance nearer delivery date”.  How could I resist?

Here’s a few more details of the spec: 

Made from solid oak (Thickness of the wood will depend on what we have in stock and how much we have to plane it . But typically 15-20mm for the box, approx 10+mm for the lid and approx 8-10mm for the dividers)

Box dimensions

- Trays: 30 cells, 6 across and 5 deep (each cell is 35 x 35 and 30mm deep)

- Tray internal dimensions 260mm x 280mm x 30mm deep

- Tray external dimensions 280mm x 235mm  x 40mm deep

- Overall box internal dimensions 280 x 235 x 165mm - approx

- External dimensions 310-315mm long and 265-270mm wide and 190-195mm deep 

- Box is rounded at all outside corners and outside edges & corners.

- Trays are square edged and removable

- Matrix are square edged and fixed for ease of lifting out the trays….

The first question my friends asked me when I showed them what I was thinking of buying, was: “but do you have enough cufflinks to fill the thing?” [A total of 120 slots for you mathematicians out there]. Well, it’s fess-up time, I’ve been collecting antique cufflinks and accessories for about three decades now and somehow I think I might just have enough to fill the trays. Dammit, alright, I’ll come clean, I’ve probably got more than enough to fill the bloody box.

And I do feel that this is the kind of item that can only increase in value over the years (well that’s what I’ve convinced myself anyway).

But I don’t care. I shall just smugly sit here and wait for delivery of this little (er…big) beauty in about early April. Call it a belated Christmas present to self (or an early Birthday present -  it’s  March 2nd, in case anyone wanted to know!).

And now I am appearing in a Photo-Story…

A chum of mine on Facebook asked me if he cold use some of my photos and insert me into one of his historical slide-show stories. I agreed (after all, this is not the first time I have been depicted in some fictional storyline: see my visage being portrayed as Jack the Ripper  here: http://rayfrenshamworld.blogspot.com/2009/07/and-now-im-featrued-in-cartoon-strip.html ).

So here goes. I present to you …

Facing the Past: 1932 by Professor William Boxington

Professor Boxington must finally face a mistake from his past and correct it before moving on into the future... 

The telephone rang early one morning at the home of Professor and Mrs. Boxington in Arkham, Massachusetts. 

William Boxington, professor of esoteric folklore at Miskatonic University, was surprised by the source of the call. 

Mr. Ray Frensham, head Regent of Miskatonic University and Master of the Esoteric Order of Dagon, was calling to offer William the position of dean of the University! There had been so many mishaps and deaths in Arkham lately that the pool of candidates was quite small. Boxington ignored the insult and accepted the job.

Regent Frensham was rudely interrupted during the installment ceremony for Professor Boxington's elevation to dean of the school... It seemed that a particular dinosaur, from Professor Boxington's 1925 expedition to South East Asia, had not perished in the wilds after all! 

The Regent and fellow members of Miskatonic's educational board all dived for cover when the beast let loose with a mighty roar. 

Fortunately the Boxingtons never left home without being fully prepared. Too many adventures had taught them that harsh lesson! Mrs. Boxington quickly tossed her husband a rifle from her front row seat.

Professor Boxington caught the rifle and he chased the beast down the main street of Arkham, away from the University. Frightened by the automobiles, the monster realized it was time to fight or die. It turned to attack William. The creature was no match for the gun and was laid low. William felt bad for the beast but there had been no other alternative.

The following month, after the dinosaur had been carefully dissected and scientifically studied, Regent Frensham said with a little exasperation, "Well, William, as a professor or as the dean of the university, I can see you will always be in the thick of it! But please, really now, can we tone the adventures down for your new position? We would not want Miskatonic to get a bad name, after all!"

The Boxingtons, very pleased with events, moved into their new residence on the grounds of the University. Being dean of the school was defiantly going to have its advantages! Despite Regent Frensham's wishes, they knew that their adventures would certainly continue.

Shoelaces anyone???

I came across a rather bizarre website that is clearly a labour of love……

You know how some people get really obsessive about things like How Many Ways to Tie a Tie?

Well, this site just Has to be one of the most anally retentive ever: Ian’s Shoelace Site

The thing is, once you start reading it, and the more you get into it, it becomes curiously addictive.

Just go to it explore and indulge (for starters) in the 33 different ways to tie a shoelace. Revel in the Sawtooth, the Bow Tie (illustrated above), the Twisty, the Double Helix or the Hexagram.

http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/lacingmethods.htm

Oh, and I’d better warn you, the list is growing regularly. Bravo Ian - whoever you are, wherever you are - your site has educated and informed and made me smile and be baffled in equal measures.

The Blog is BACK! - (and now I’m a Guest Blogger too)

It seems quite frightening to realise that I haven’t posted up a blog here for three months.

What happened?….. A combination of things:-

- To be honest, most of the time I’ve simply been out there in the real world just living a life (it’s not bad out there, apart from the bloody weather), and besides I got a bit lazy!…

- media-wise it all got a bit frantic: after decades away from it, I sort-of fell back into doing bits of background artiste / extras work in tv and films…first on Midsomer Murders (the episode Noble Art that went out in October 2010), then on Pirates Of The Caribbean (4): On Stranger Tides (yes, I did do a few days with Mr. Depp) and then, without a pause for breath, straight onto the latest Martin Scorsese movie The Invention Of Hugo Cabret working alongside Ben Kingsley (you’ll just have to wait ‘n’ see how much). I shall inevitably be blogging about these exploits in due course…

- I must admit I also got a bit ticked off with Blogspot changing a little their settings for posting up blogs - nothing major, just annoying little things that really piss you off and you have to pointlessly re-learn things all over again. [It’s a disease that notably afflicts sites like Facebook and MySpace: changing formats just for the sake of change; I guess these people do it to attempt to justify their exorbitant salaries. Hey Buddy, listen up, try this one: if it Ain’t Broke, DON’T Fix it!]

- and now (January 2011) Hodders, my publishers, want me to update and expand (considerably) my book Teach Yourself Screenwriting for a new edition due out in July/August, and to be retitled Break Into Screenwriting (a Teach Yourself book)…I mean, it's been a best-seller for fifteen years, just why they've decided to change things...what was that I said about ‘if it ain’t broke….’ ?

…So what made me apply the seat of my pants to the seat of the blogging chair again? Well, a few days ago my pals Matt and Enrique at www.FineandDandyShop.com asked me to contribute a guest blog to their site. 

They had noticed that UK GQ had done a “50 Best Dressed Men in Britain”. 

http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/style/articles/2011-01/03/gq-style-news-best-dressed-men-in-britain/2010-2011

And asked me to come up with my own list of Stylish Men.
I took a look at the GQ list and realised:
- a third of them I had never heard of,
- a third were somewhat scruffy buggers (to say the least),
- and only the remaining third were what you might call borderline acceptable.

I didn’t feel exactly stretched to come up with a riposte. So I just went to the local coffee shop, sat down for a bit and just created a list of chaps I know / admire / fancy who are on the cusp of ‘breaking bigger’ into the public eye whom I regarded rather stylish and classy.

And these are the ones that came into my mind, pretty much in the order they arrived:

http://fineanddandyshop.blogspot.com/2011/01/dandys-list-of-15-most-dapper-men.html

I hope you liked them (and my reasons for choosing them). If you disagree with the names, tuff - I like annoying people. 

[Naturally, since publishing this list, I’ve thought of plenty of faces I have overlooked. Maybe next year]. The good news is that FineandDandyShop have asked me to be a regular guest blogger…in which case, I guess I had better get my s**t together…I have a few ideas. (Naturally, I will cross-post and cross-reference).

- And I guess I had better start blogging here again. Hold onto your hats…and bow ties!

…Oh, and I shaved my moustache off yesterday……

T.O.B.I. - Tired Of Being Ignored

I’ve had a few bits of correspondence since I posted up my last blog (yesterday). One of them (Paul) suggested I change the name of this blog to RAY FRENCHES 'EM’


And then listening to a radio broadcast this evening about the Tea Party grassroots political movement in the USA, it occurred to me someone should start up a similar people-power activist group in the UK (although not along the political parameters of the Tea Party)….

And remembering one of my favourite all-time movies Network and its mantra: “I’m Mad as Hell and I’m Not going to Take it anymore!”…

… the name came to me:

T.O.B.I. - Tired Of Being Ignored……

Let me think about it over the next few days…

Selling on Amazon? FORGET IT! - another Rant

OK, I’ve been holding this one back a couple of weeks, letting it brood and fester.
And seeing as I shall probably be filming in the coming weeks, I thought it best be posted now.

Isn’t it always the way, like London buses, you wait for one for ages and then three come along together?
I’m starting to get the same feeling about life, and the cock-up principle. First there was BT (see my blog of 22nd August inst. http://rayfrenshamworld.blogspot.com/2010/08/bt-part-4-yet-another-broadband-rant.html) - and that is still unresolved…I’m still waiting for your phone call, Mr. Das…

And now it’s amazon.co.uk - something that started a couple of months ago and then started to spiral out of control and travel to another planet. Here’s my latest communication to Amazon, I think it sets out ‘the story so far’!:-

Let’s go back to the beginning, shall we?:
3rd June, 2010: I decided to sell a few items on amazon.co.uk. I was led to your complex web of buttons and ended up setting up a Merchant Seller account. However, having the listed the few titles I had for sale, I immediately realised your company were going to charge me about £25 per month for the privilege.

I immediately sent a request (3rd June) to close down my selling account / capacity. But your site is so complex and confusing (rather like the structure of your company, I have come to realise) it took you about five days to respond.

8th June, 2010: I receive a communication from Michael Janowicz ( mjanowi@amazon.com ) telling me he will look into my case.
 
22nd June, 2010: Case No. 9126312 is created.
You also inform me that I have sold an item (for £25 - £2.75 charges) and that I have yet to transfer this money to any of my accounts.

Amazon then make a couple of attempts to extract money from my account - all rejected.

24th July, 2010: Consequently, I discover that my selling account is still open, Against my expressed wishes.

3rd August, 2020: Eventually (!) I am sent an email by Amazon Services Europe that my Pro Merchant account subscription (sic) is cancelled.

18th August, 2010: I receive an e-mail from one Narsing K of Amazon.co.uk Seller Support [quoting Case No. 10111292 - a new number] informing me “I have checked and confirmed that your account has been closed”. I thought that was the end of it.

How wrong I was. (This is, after all, amazon - and it is very evident to me by now that your departments are not co-ordinating or even communicating with each other). Because….

31st August, 2010 (5pm GMT): I receive an e-mail from amazon telling me your company had taken out of my bank account an unspecified sum…(characteristically helpful, amazon) [I later discover, from my Bank, the sum is £11.83] - Unauthorised by me.

When I attempt to raise a query with you, you respond (31st Aug) by telling me that the Ray Frensham selling account was Open (you had already assured me it was closed) and informing me you were Unable to cancel my Merchant Account.

…There was a trace of a silver lining, of course: you invited me (sic) to…(here we go again)…open up a new case! [N.B.: Trouble was, the link they sent me was Not one where I could open up a new case but to a place where I could edit my credit card details].

Well this is it.

I want ALL (and any) selling account/s in my name cancelled immediately; I want an explanation as to what the heck is going on; I want action; I want it done NOW; I want my money/ies refunded into my bank account. A.S.A.P.

But it still doesn’t end there:-

1st September, 2010 (7.13.pm GMT): I receive yet another e-mail from your company (this time from “Joannne” at amazon.co.uk Seller Support), with yet Another new case number [No. 10356622] - the third one to date - assuring me “this matter is being investigated”.

To be honest: I don’t believe you anymore. I don’t think that one part of amazon knows what any other part is doing. What a mess.

The word “compensation” is starting to creep into my vocabulary: not just the amount/s of money you have already taken from my bank account unauthorised, but for the precious time I have wasted in dealing with this matter (repeatedly) and for the stress caused thereby - which is still on-going.

[[For what it’s worth, I am now in discussions with my own publishers (Hodder & Stoughton/Hodder Headline and McGraw-Hill) to have my book titles withdrawn from your distribution database - worldwide (including foreign translations).

You have clearly demonstrated to me that amazon cannot reliably handle customers’ accounts I am starting to wonder whether the sales figures you return to my publishers are accurate in the first place. Please do not force me to send in the Accountants to examine your books.]]

…and don’t even flatter yourselves into thinking I will use amazon again to buy stuff. [I think this story is good enough to post up on my blog].

- And that was where my (new) complaint letter ended. But that didn’t stop Amazon, oh no. Because three days later…

4th September: I received another e-mail from Narsing K of Seller Support (.co.uk) [Ref. Case No.: 10111292 - remember that one?]: “I can now confirm that your account has been closed”. [Although he didn’t specify it, I presume he meant a Seller’s account…which one?]. He added: “The £-11.83 (sic) was the pro merchant subscription fee charged on a pro rated basis [don’t they mean pro rata?] for your account upgrade in June. Warmest regards…”

Warmest Regards? Warmest Nothing! The question remains: why did Amazon charge me £11.83 - without my authorisation and without even informing me until after the event - for an account that should not have been open in June anyway, had Amazon actually listened to their customer and done their job properly?

The case continues…

Postscript:
Oh, and for the casual reader, angry at the way Amazon has treated them, I recommend the following websites / information:

Amazon.co.uk’s well-hidden Customer Service phone number
0800 496 1081

You can also try this number 0207 084 7911 (listed as for ‘International Customers’) The 0800 number is working as of January 10th 2010

[[Where did I get this info? http://www.saynoto0870.com/ . Why did I have to go there? Because it’s deliberately buried on the Amazon website so you can’t find it]].

You can also try:-
http://www.edifyingspectacle.org/usedbookdealer/archives/online_bookselling/i_hate_amazoncom.php

…and if you are in the USA:
http://gethuman.com/Amazon_com-customer-service_44.html
Another Very Useful link:

http://ceoemails.com/
This gives you the personal e-mails of the CEOs and Managing Directors of many major companies. Bombard them with complaints direct and see if you get anywhere. (I was recommended this site by someone in Government, so it should be effective, if a rather hush-hush site).

I shall regularly update this posting and see where it takes is. Are you reading this Amazon.co.uk??? …and if you are, do you CARE?

Filming in London with Off-Beat London site

Another look back to earlier this year (10th April, to be precise) and a day spent filming in London with Murielle Gonzalez Oisel for a new website called OffBeat London: ( http://www.offbeatlondon.co.uk/  ), specifically:-
http://www.offbeatlondon.co.uk/Issue03/quirks/eccentrics.html

She later posted up the video on Vimeo:
http://vimeo.com/11324381
…and on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E3Ihl7oo8A
[or just put into YouTube’s search box: Ray Frensham Living Victorian].
- it’s only 2’ 16” long so it won’t tax your brain too much and people seem to like it - Ah! my wonderful adoring public…I love you all!.

Basically, we spent a very nice sunny Spring Saturday afternoon together, being interviewed at an outside coffee shop in Jermyn Street and then a stroll through Green Park - from Piccadilly to Buckingham Palace - chatting and filming and snapping away as we went. Listening to the film she made, my voice was terribly gruff and gravely that day - maybe it was the effect of the traffic exhaust fumes from Jermyn Street.

I lost count of the number of times we were stopped by tourists and asked for a photo (see the results below) - you can tell it was sunny, I seem to have with a permanent squint that day.


When I look back on that time of the year, it was a busy time. The sun had started to peek through after a long, hard and cruel winter, it was only a few days after I’d done the film with Russian TV (see this blog: http://rayfrenshamworld.blogspot.com/2010/04/filming-with-russian-tv_06.html
or http://www.ntv.ru/novosti/189725/  )
and just a day after Ian Flitman and I had filmed my section for The People, his interactive video installation (see this blog: http://rayfrenshamworld.blogspot.com/2009/08/and-now-i-am-become-art-installation.html
or http://www.blipstation.com/thepeople/webversion/release/ThePeople.html  )

The Art of Acting British

A few days ago I came across a recent piece by my chum and fellow dandy Winston Chesterfield. He made such pertinent points and so elegantly expressed I felt compelled to simply re-post as is (which I do with his permission).

He was also photographed by Stephanie Rushton, (http://www.stephanierushton.com/ ), below - whose portraits I recently posted up in three parts - for her English Eccentrics project:

The Art Of Acting British (September 12, 2010)


“On the 4th September Jermyn Street, London’s shoe-and-shirt mecca, was closed to traffic. However, this was no ordinary inconvenience. The entire street had been taken over for the celebration of a particular Art; the Art of Being British. Many of the street’s retailers had set up stalls exhibiting their trade, trumpeting British values of quality….

“…It was a confection as British as an imagination would dare and, acknowledging the special occasion, some of the crowd had taken the opportunity to exhibit their Art of being British. I say ‘being British’, when in fact I mean ‘acting British’; most of the fantastically, elegantly and colourfully dressed gentlemen there were not British at all yet they chose to mark the day in particularly British ensembles; tweed suits, fedoras, bow ties and even bowler hats. I heard Italian, American, Spanish and French visitors enjoying their promenade on this special day, attired in beautiful British classics. My fellow countrymen were largely anonymous.

“You see, the trouble with the British is most of them are trying to be something else. They want to be Italian, or American or French. They’re either not comfortable with their nationality, or they secretly believe the grass is greener. Admittedly, the effect can be repeated elsewhere – Milan is full of men who see British tailoring as the pinnacle of elegance. But despite all the apparent British nationalism, our connection with Britishness, all the stuff that Jermyn Street was celebrating – that oaky, tweedy, burnished state of being - has become a museum in itself. Our citizens wander around in this world with a passive unconcern that suggests it no longer exists. Whereas those looking in on Britain see such things as worthy of protection and celebration, the curious Brits who peer in through the windows seemed to have lost all association with that world.”


- Food for thought indeed. Winston’s own blog can be found at:
http://venividivrai.blogspot.com/

Henry de Winter - At Last: his Website !!!

Since I discovered this man and his music a couple of years ago I have written regularly about Henry de Winter:-

http://rayfrenshamworld.blogspot.com/2009/03/bratislava-hot-serenaders.html ,

http://rayfrenshamworld.blogspot.com/2009/07/bratislava-hot-serenaders-henry-de.html
and
http://rayfrenshamworld.blogspot.com/2009/04/so-who-is-henry-de-winter-quest.html

But there was such scant information about him, I felt helpless when responding to all the enquiries I received from my friends (not just in Europe but from America, where HdeW is now gaining a growing fan base, mostly thanks to his two YouTube recordings with the Bratislava Hot Serenaders - links above). [Again, click on the pics to get larger versions, then click again on That pic to get the full  sized versions].

I knew he had released 3 CDs (see my previous blogs for photos), all of them very difficult to obtain and a trifle expensive [I am still looking for Volume 1 myself], as were the postage costs from Germany via amazon.de . Sometimes the odd item might appear on ebay.de, as I recently bought this card (below) dated December 1997, but these were very rare occasions. And hard information was still proving elusive.


He did have a website presence, but that had been dormant for years (possibly unactivated). All it showed was a photo of Henry gardening with his dog Bobby - Peter, his original dog, and the one who appears in the YouTube videos and on the cover of his 2nd CD - having passed some years ago.

…even when gardening, he still looks immaculate!


Things started to change earlier this year (2010) when my chum Imants, who runs the Eccentric Club (http://www.eccentricclub.co.uk/ ), gave me his home address. In typical fashion, Henry has an e-mail address but is not online himself. [They have a term for “these people” now: Digital Refuseniks… and their numbers are growing!].

And so began our mutual efforts to bring this Legend to the UK. We had to start with the complex negotiations with Pet Passports and forms for Bobby (Henry goes everywhere with his canine companion, you may have realised by now). Unfortunately, at the very last moment, illness intervened and any planned gig had to be postponed.

HOWEVER, now - At Last!, Henry’s Official Website has been launched and here it is:-
http://henry-de-winter.de/

It’s in German (for the present), so here’s a link to Google Translator, which may help you:-
http://translate.google.com/#deen
[[Henry has since been in touch, to tell me that an English version is being worked on]].

                                                                                                    

Sir Henry and the BHS are also now on FaceBook:-
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Henry-De-Winter/194716343888147

and
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bratislava-Hot-Serenaders/58985520945
…and their FanClub page:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=53174855459

- And even on MySpace:-
http://www.myspace.com/henry-de-winter

http://www.myspace.com/bratislavahotserenaders

…and here’s the official website for the Bratislava Hot Serenaders (in English):-
http://www.serenaders.sk/?lang=en
 
Here are four pictures from Henry’s website, to give you an idea of the quality...

Also posted up on the site are his two YouTube recordings with the BHS + details of his CDs. There are lots of photos in the Medien section (no, you can’t ‘grab’ them, but you can on the FaceBook page), including a particularly splendid shot of Henry and the BHS on the Orient Express.

I am now in contact with his [new?] agent (Diana Enders) and have asked whether we can buy his CDs direct from the site (it’s not specified).

Over the recent months I have been sent a selection of random photos of Herr de Winter from various sources, which follow. Firstly, a couple of shots of Henry and the BHS on their 2002 debut in the Netherlands … and of the Morning After (Henry still impossibly immaculate! - how does he do it?):-

The Trocadero Ball in Wuppertal, Germany, 2003:

Dancing at Berlin’s Club Sauvage in 2007:

A candid photo at the Berliner Kunsthall (November 2009):

A shot from an Art Gallery, unknown date, but probably 2009/2010:



Two shots with a German Vogue magazine link (from 2010?): a shot from the magazine itself and one taken a few months later at that issue’s launch party:

And perhaps the two most recent photos of the man (?): one taken a few months ago, with Bobby again, when he played a Benefit for a young Leukaemia patient named Lisa:

And one taken on 29th August, 2010, out for a pleasant Stroll in Berlin [look at the faces on the people passing-by…hilarious! They just don’t ‘get’ it]

So, the website is active. Henry is active and performing: he’s currently working on a new show (which will be touring 2010 and 2011) and a new album of recordings is promised. His next immediate live show is part of the Berlin Story Salon (which, it seems, is also a TV series) on October 6th. Here’s the link + details:-
http://www.berlinstory.de/salon/programm-salon/henry-de-winter.html

I will finish this blog entry with what, I think, is my favourite shot of Henry (and just look at those trousers: Double-braided seams!!…fantastic). It epitomises everything about the man and his music...

[[ For those interested in this type of music, Henry is at the forefront of a whole new wave of German performers (mostly based in Berlin) like the Trio Ohrenschmalz, Daniel Malheur, Max Raabe & his Palast Orchester, Robert Kreis etc. (I shall no doubt get round to covering them at some point) - but I discovered Henry de Winter first and in This household, the man is a Legend!]]

From Berlin… to the World!