THINGS TO COME

New Zealand Listener, Volume 5, Issue 113, 22 August 1941, Page 6

THINGS TO COME

A Run Through The Programmes

pays to be a rebel if the revolution has been successful. If the rebellion fails, it ‘is better to be a loyalist. Thus can we adapt ourselves to the needs of the moment. Later, however, it is possible to tell the truth, and the. truth about the American War of Independence is just beginning to sink in. Professor Leslie Lipson will tell.as much as he can in the talk he is giving in the " Democracy " series from 2YA on Monday, August 25, at 7.30 p.m. Listeners may learn. with surprise that the stupidity and dishonesty which encouraged the rebellion were well matched by the same qualities in its conduct, and by both sides. We hope this popular historian broadcaster will have a large audience for history as opposed to the sentimental romancings which so many people indulge in about a past which proves, on closer examination, to be less glorious than once we believed. Hark, Hark, The Harp An experiment was carried out in 1YA studio last May. The experimenters were Winifréd Carter (harpist) and Henri Penn (pianist), For the first time in the knowledge of these two performers, the harp and the piano were played in a joint recital. The result of the experiment may be found in the 2YA programmes for next week. At 7.50 p.m. on Tuesday, August 26, the pair will give another recital. Winifred Carter and Henri Penn have both played a revolution it always

under famous conductors and in famous company, and in New Zealand have become more widely known and more popular each time they have been heard. Among all the possible reasons for the steady incredse in the number of radio receiving licences in New Zealand, one must surely be that artists like these can be heard for the paying of the fee and turning the dial at the right moment. Fine Art of Murder It is one of the series of Dramas of Life now playing from the ZB stations; it will be heard from 1ZB at 10.30 a.m, on Thursday, August 28; and the title is "2, Method of Murder." That is all we know about it, and one cannot help wondering what 1ZB listeners are in for. One is reminded inevitably of De Quincey’s whimsical essay On Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts, which is not as hair-raising as one might think, for, as the editor of the periodical in which it was first printed pointed out, it is difficult to imagine that De Quincey is any more serious than Dean Swift was in his proposal to eat babies. De Quincey, you may remember, stoutly insisted that he was "all for morality . .. and for virtue and all that," but argued that a man was not bound to put his eyes and ears and understanding in his breeches pocket when he encountered something which diverged from the common public definition of virtue. Prodigies Mention of the Wellington Competitions was mdde on this page: in our last issue. In case readers were insufficiently impressed, here is another reminder,

| with a black and white drawing thrown in. Next Saturday, August 23, 2YA will broadcast the opening programme from the Wellington Town Hall, the following Saturday, August 30, after 8.19 p.m., listeners will hear another relay. By now readers probably realise that Russell Clark nearly always draws what he shouldn’t, and that this picture of such an objectionable -looking prodigy really means that the competitions deserve as well as demand attention. They will appeal to thoughtful people who want to know what is going on, musically, among the performers and what effect, if any, the war is having on those important people who thus put themselves annually on trial before the public. They will appeal to listeners

wanting entertainment. And they will appeal to the friends and relatives of those competing. Money in Wartime Professor Souter and Russell Clark are two very different people, but they have managed to reach common ground in their ideas about financial problems in wartime, a subject which Professor Souter will discuss for the benefit of 4YA listeners at 7.35 p.m. on Tuesday; August 26. Mr. Clark, having considered

the matter carefully, at otic | behest, decides; as you see, that the big problem of finance in wartime is the lack of it. Professor Souter, we have no doubt whatever, will say something like that to his Otago audience. And it would not be surprising to find that many other people have the same point of view: Mr. Nash, for example, ourselves, and the man on the other end of the budget speech. Crumbs! The A.C.E. if one is to judge from the subject which is to be discussed in its session from 1YA and 3YA on Thursday of next week (and from 2YA the day after), has in the midst of the alarums and excursions of war, made a most momentous discovery. In the absolute sense, of course, there is nothing new in non-crumbling biscuits. Our own cara sposa, for example, presented us with non-crumbling (or should we say, splinter-proof?) shortbread the first week we were married-but we feel sure that the A.C.E.’s biscuits are edible as well as non-crumbling. But why stop at biscuits? Can something not be done about the tensile strength of the cream horn, or must it always burst like a grenade in the entanglements of our moustache? And what about a crumbless toast for those who prefer. breakfast in bed? The possibilities are limitless. In Person When Station T.O.T. goes on the air at 3ZB next Staturday night, August 30, there is pretty sure td be a crowd of several hundred Christchurch youngsters blocking up the studio, for the programme will be presented by Station T.O.T. "in the flesh." Usually, of course, the young artists who comprise the cast of this mythical radio station, put it all down on records in Wellington. This

time, eight of the artists, complete with their compére, young Albert McGowan, and Bryan O’Brien, the producer, are making their first visit to Christchurch, and will appear at the 3ZB studios on the Saturday and at a patriotic concert in the Civic Theatre the following evening. Their only previous personal appearance was at Blenheim, where they were lionised to such an extent that. had Bryan O’Brien not kept a firm rein on the hospitality, Station T.0.T. might still be suffering from stomach-ache. Cleaning Hints Next Monday the A.C.E. is to broadcast a talk from 1YA on Miscellaneous Cleaning Hints. Knowing their flair for completeness, we wouldn’t be surprised to hear them detail some such hard-to-come by item as Aunt Daisy’s recipe for cleaning Masonic aprons, which appeared in The Listener a week ago, Frankly we don’t know what we would do without the A.C.E. and its helpful hints, Think how much happier the Macbeth household would have been if they'd been able to listen to a YA station and discover that the easiest way to eliminate bloodstains was, not to have recourse to "multitudinous seas" or "all the perfumes of Arabia," but to hop down to the corner shop and buy a shilling packet of but that would be advertising, and perhaps the A.C.E. would prefer us to leave advertising to Aunt Daisy.