Well what an extraordinary month October was, and November looks like following on in the same vein which is nothing short of remarkable really. The Concert to the Bears has attracted so much media attention as to the plight of these wonderful animals and the powers that be in the Vietnamese government, who lead the way in Asia regarding banning the bear bile industry and supporting the work that Animals Asia do in saving these wonderful moon bears from a life of pain, suffering and misery and it's hoped we will have all the remaining 125 bears still in tiny cages, rescued and in one of the wonderful sanctuaries before the end of this year.

There was hardly time to take a breath before we were off to Tenerife for the Starmus Festival and the gala evening on the Saturday with the Tenerife symphony orchestra with Andrea Bocelli guesting and Brian May performing incredibly as he always does! More details about the whole event can be found on the Starmus website. Sharing transport with the crew of the Artemis moon mission was pretty amazing, as was renewing my friendship with Chris Hadfield the Canadian astronaut.

On the Sunday night I performed with the Starmus Chamber Ensemble a new 50 minute piece entitled Echoes from Black Holes based on the lectures about Black Holes by Stephen Hawking… and what an amazing night that was! The orchestra was tremendous and the musical director and conductor, Stuart Morley, was as outstanding and professional as you would expect him to be having conducted both Les Misérables and also We Will Rock You.

The 6 hour flight delay the next day didn't dampen our spirits and even struggling in with our suitcases at 2.30 in the morning didn't stop us buzzing with all the great memories.

And so now it's on to the next projects which need my full attention and right at the top of the list is doing more work on the music for the English Youth Ballet and their upcoming new production of Alice in Wonderland which they are touring next year. I have a big meeting with the choreographers and designers on November 4th to finalise much of the timing for the music.

Finishing off October I have more than a dozen interviews to do for the Return to the Red Planet album which I'm told is doing really well… which puts a huge smile on my face.

On the 23rd of October there is an evening of conversation with myself and Peter Egan at the Oaksmere in Suffolk, near Diss and all in aid of Saving Strays… do come along if you can get to the evening.

More podcast recordings with Mark Jeeves which are so much fun to do and then I'm off on a promotional tour for the Wizard of Prog book …..and to the best of my knowledge I will be at Simply Books at Bramhall, Stockport on the 28th of October, then on the 29th, after doing Breakfast Time at the BBC live, I will be at Waterstones in Manchester at 7 o'clock.

On the 30th I will be in Blackpool at The Winter Gardens for a 7 o'clock talk and signing event and that rounds off October and we're into November and on the 4th, I travel to London for an intense meeting with Brian Lane, (my manager) and Alan Day (my agent) about what I am hoping will happen between now and my 80th birthday which will mark the end of my touring with hopefully a real biggie with guests around my birthday.

On the 5th I am recording Inheritance Tracks for Radio 4, and then scoot over to Channel 4 to record with Dan Walker.

The 6th sees me at David's bookshop in Letchworth and the next day I will be appearing at the Petworth Literary Festival before finishing up in Brighton on the 8th at the Wagner Hall.

On the 10th I go to Topping in Ely. Toppings are our favourite bookshops and if we can't get to one of their shops to browse it's where we buy our books online from. Then on the 11th it's another Topping bookshop, this time in Bath.

On Friday 13th, (yes I know, but I'm not superstitious) it's the rearranged event for Return to The Red Planet at Mars Yard. I'm really looking forward to this as all the English Rock Ensemble will be attending and it will be a great opportunity to talk about the album as well as a playback and demonstrations.

Then Erik and I will be in the studio putting together a few final templates for the Wizard of Prog tour next year to send to everybody.

I've then got to get a lot of private rehearsals in for the A Hint of Xmas tour before I go to London on the 30th to record a Xmas show with Simon Mayo for Greatest Hits… always a great time had by all and so that will lead me perfectly into December… and that's manic as well!!!

Cheers Rick

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