Or, more accurately, 2p amusement arcade wizard. He just needs to look at it and it barfs coins and sweets.
Tag: holidays
In vino veritas
Saw this at one of the vineyards we visited. Very appropriate.
Chili farm
I really was looking forward to visiting the chili farm and shop on the Isle of Wight. Unfortunately, it really bummed me out because almost all of the hot sauces had garlic in them. I mean, I must have looked at 30-40 different labels and couldn’t find anything that was allergy-friendly and looked appealing.
They did have a dried chili pick-n-mix, so at least I’ll be able to make my own insanity sauce.
The owl and the kite
Bobble looks scared for his life, but the kite is more interested in dismembering the dead chick in his talons. Chloe, the handler, looks on, bemused at the situation.
It’s the small pleasures in life
Happiness is a full English breakfast. It’s fat in many colours.
Pink Floyd – Their mortal remains
All pictures here: https://www.flubu.com/blog/pictures/pink_floyd_tmr_jul_2017
We finally got to see the exhibition. I’ve had tickets since last year! We went to Byrons for lunch, then Humming bakery, then V&A, then the Lego store in Leicester Square. We wanted to go to Taro for dinner, but turns out it’s closed ??. We went to a little pub and had very acceptable pub grub (with shite service).
The Pink Floyd Exhibition: Their Mortal Remains is an immersive journey through the world of Pink Floyd. The show begins with a look at the band’s early digs gigging in London’s underground music venues and goes on to explore the making of their most famous albums – from Animals to Dark Side of the Moon.
The exhibition was conceived by the late Storm Thorgerson and developed by his Hipgnosis creative partner Aubrey Powell. Pink Floyd’s visuals are a key focus of the show – it is as much a celebration of the band’s iconic album art and theatrical live performances as it is their music. Scaled models of set designs are shown alongside inflatable puppets, music videos, animations, tour programmes and sketches for album covers, offering a look at the process and ambition behind the band’s visual output.
The exhibition begins with a look at pyschedelia and the counter-culture movement from which Pink Floyd emerged in the 1980s.
The space – with its black-and-white walls and trippy visuals projected on to the ceiling – highlights the strong influence of psychedelia on Pink Floyd’s visual output.
Circular screens are now a signature feature of Pink Floyd gigs. The band first used one in 1974 – lighting and production designer Arthur Max created a 40-foot wide screen for the band’s tour of France that was used to project animations by Ian Emes and film sequences by director Peter Medak.
Pink Floyd’s The Wall tour was an elaborate production involving large-scale inflatable puppets, eerie masks and a wall that separated the band from the audience.
The album follows the story of a troubled rock star who isolates himself from the outside world after struggling with loss, abuse and the breakdown of his marriage. Mark Fisher and Jonathan Park designed the live show based on sketches drawn up by Waters while illustrator Gerald Scarfe designed puppets based on characters depicted in the record. The original production visited 31 cities in 1980 and 1981 and a later tour featuring more advanced puppets ran from 2010 to 2013.
Waters’ early drawings are displayed in the exhibition alongside clay models of the show’s ‘Wife’ and ‘Mother’ inflatables and masks worn by children in the video for track Another Brick in the Wall. Suspended from the ceiling is a vast inflatable ‘Teacher’ created for the 2010-13 tour – the kinetic puppet highlights the scale of the show and hangs alongside a replica of the pink pig featured on the cover of Animals. Nearby are concept paintings by Scarfe for the teacher, which show him spewing bile into the mouths of young children.
Roger Waters conceived the cover design for Animals while driving through Battersea to record at the band’s studio in Islington. The image shows a bright pink pig floating over Battersea Power Station – a reference to both the record (inspired by George Orwell’s Animal Farm) and the phrase ‘pigs might fly’.
The shoot was an eventful one – the 40-foot pig broke free and drifted into the flight path for Heathrow airport. Flights were grounded, Powell was arrested and both the police and the Royal Air Force were sent out to recover the offending animal. (It eventually landed several miles away in Kent.)
A look at the release of Dark Side of the Moon and the album’s iconic artwork closes the exhibition’s opening section. The artwork was a departure from the surreal photographic images created by Hipgnosis for the band and is one of the most recognisable album covers of all time. (The album is also the band’s most successful, with around 45 million copies sold to date.)
An adjoining room contains a holographic installation based on the cover design. Visitors are invited to gaze at the installation while listening to Pink Floyd’s music on headphones – an oddly mesmerising experience that brings the instantly recognisable image to life.
Storm Thorgerson’s cover for Pink Floyd’s 1994 album The Division Bell is inspired by the idea of communication. The image was shot in a field in Ely and shows a pair of metal heads facing each other as if engaged in conversation.
Images from the shoot are shown alongside Thorgerson’s sketches and six-metre tall models created for the Division Bell tour.
The cover for album Wish You Were Here shows a man being set alight as he shakes hands on a business deal. Like the artwork for The Division Bell – and many of Hipgnosis’ covers for Pink Floyd – it was created for real and the man really was set on fire.
The powerful image is projected on to a wall in the exhibition. It is displayed alongside the original photograph and images from the shoot that show assistants standing by with fire extinguishers. An accompanying manuscript written by Thorgerson explains the creative process and concept for the artwork.
As well as celebrating Pink Floyd’s experimental approach to visuals, Their Mortal Remains highlights the band’s innovative use of new technologies. The band was one of the first to use synthesisers in their music and a Mini Moog synthesiser owned by Richard Wright is displayed alongside hand-painted drums and custom guitars. A glass-fronted display includes over 50 instruments while an interactive element allows visitors to mix their own version of the track Money.
The exhibition opens with a larger-than-life model of the band’s Bedford Van. The replica is over twice the size of the original vehicle that the band used while touring in the early 1960s. It’s a lovely way to kick off the show – inside the model is a hand-written letter from Roger ‘Syd’ Barrett to his then-girlfriend with a small picture of the freshly painted van. “When I got back to London tonight the others had painted the van with a white stripe, which looks good with our name on it,” Barrett writes.
Capturing the scale or impact of a Pink Floyd gig in an exhibition space is an impossible task – the band played to vast audiences in some of the world’s biggest arenas – but a performance room at the end of the exhibition aims to give some sense of the spectacle. Footage of the band performing Comfortably Numb at Live 8 (their last performance on stage together) plays out across multiple screens while sound blasts from 18 loud speakers and seven sub woofers. It’s a suitably ambitious ending to a spectacular show.
Well, the holidays are over for this year
The xmas booze and food and dwindling fast (thank god!), the tree and the trimmings have been put away, it’s no longer snowing on my blog and I’m back at work so that means that the holidays are officially over until next year. Time to start saving the pennies again.
Current Mood:
Tired
Canada Trip Redux
I had home leave this year and we went to Canada for 2 weeks in early October. My sister and some cousins had organised a big party to celebrate some milestones in our extended family, so we just had to go. I was a bit apprehensive about the whole thing, seeing as it was the Bean’s first long-haul flight and all, but the whole trip went surprisingly better than expected.
We boarded the cats, left the house keys to a plumber who would be redoing our bathroom while we were away and went to Leicester for a few days prior to our departure. That way, Mel could be our chauffeur to/from Heathrow. We went to feed the ducks and geese at Groby Pond and saw deer in Bradgate Park.
The flight to Canada was long, but fairly uneventful. Bean was very good in the plane. He slept during take-off and giggled while there was heavy turbulence during the landing. It took a bit of fiddling to get the CARES harness properly setup, but once we figured it out, it wasn’t too bad. It was a good thing that we got him his own seat in the plane though, because he wouldn’t have stood to be sat on us for the whole flight. He kept getting up in his seat and waving to everybody, especially the poor woman behind him. Changing a nappy at 37,000 feed is interesting and lets just say that conditions are a bit cramped. Even though he didn’t sleep a lot, there wasn’t too much fussing. We managed to keep him fairly well entertained, even if we had to watch Shrek the 3rd about 5 times. In the end, when passengers were departing, Bean got complimented on hid good behaviour. It must be said, ironically, that this was the first time ever that I flew long haul with only one child present in the flight – and it had to be mine.
Bean was good at the folks’. He got used to little dog quite quickly, even if he was a bit reticent about her the first night there. Once he got over that, he kept chasing after her and kept feeding her food. We had to put the dog out at every meal because half his food went to her. Even then, he ate like bottomless pit. He was always outdoors, playing on the swings or in the sand pit, eating apples, and running through the leaves or grass piles.
The party was more fun than I expected it to be. I ended up doing a fair bit of the catering, but that wasn’t too bad as it meant that I was certain that I’d be able to eat the food :) My boar roast marinade gravy got lots of good reviews as well, which is always nice for the ego. Bean got lots of fuss and compliments, and tried his first taste of beer. He also kept trying to get into ladies bathroom. That’s my boy.
Both Katy and I noticed that Bean seemed more grown up during this trip. He got more and more chatty, started eating with a fork and could drink out of a glass without giving himself a milk facial. He also discovered a very important word for him: “MORE!”, shortly followed by “JUICE!”.
Having 3 kids in the same house is chaos and Katy and I were taking bets on how soon it would take for all of us to get horribly sick. We were hoping we could hold out until after we did all that we wanted to do. We had a full calendar planned. We went to see horses at a neighbour’s farm. We tried feeding Ben to them but they weren’t interested.
We went to the Canadian Museum of Civilisation and for a jaunt to Ottawa. It was really funny to see Bean constantly run up to my mom’s car and try to get in for a road trip. The museum was fun. Bean rode saddles in horse display. We bought way too much stuff at the gift shop, including a beautiful ‘Children of the Raven’ rug. We went to the Byward market for a wander round and stopped for tea and a biscuit at a nice but very chaotic tea shop in the market. Bean has really taken to being carried on my shoulders, but we had a bit of an incident with a rogue tree branch :( That’s what gave him a scar on his cheek in the other pictures. On the way back to get picked up by my mom at the museum, Bean was waving to everybody, including dogs and pan handlers who – surprisingly – waved back :)
On Tuesday, we headed to Montreal. We had lots of things planned in very little time. We had a photo shoot with Isabelle at the Botanical Gardens. Bean got tired and grumpy part way through it but we managed to get some really nice pics in the end. I was impressed at how easy he was to put down for nap at my sister’s place while I tried to fix her wifi setup. In the end, I gave up and we went to our hotel. Very spanky! We got a suite upgrade with a jacuzzi for Katy. I had a boys night out with the old gang. Katy wasn’t in the mood to come so she stayed in, had a very nice meal (got a bit tipsy) and pampered herself (and accidentally ordered a PPV movie). We had a “Fuck it!” moment regarding the money situation when we realized that the holiday would cost a bit more than we expected, but sod it. We have one nice trip every two years. We’re going to enjoy Montreal. Boys night was fun, but we got old. We spent the evening in the kitchen, standing around a kitchen island and talking about work, kids and motorcycles while one of the guys was itching for a rant and really let rip at the poor St-Hubert restaurant that delivered his food one hour late and cold. That was impressive, especially considering that the restaurant is only 5 minutes away (this prompted the quote of the evening – “Would it be quicker if I just went there and cooked the damn thing myself?”)
The following day, Katy had her appointment with Norm for her tattoo and I had some time to do a few errands. I even managed to sneak in some tea at Ming Tao Xuan, even though all the shops open stupidly late in the old port. We had plans to meet Michel and Isabelle at Bishoku for dinner but those well through when Isabelle caught the man-flu that Michel had just gotten over. I’ve been going to Bishoku for over 10 years, when it was still called Tokiwa. When I was still living in Montreal, Michel and I used to go at least once a week. I’ve been living in the UK coming on to 6 years now, but I still go every time I have home leave. Amazingly, when I phoned up to make reservations, they remembered my voice and were thrilled that I was going. I was told that we needed to come!!! Going to a restaurant that remembers what you like after a two year absence and makes you stuff that is no longer on the menu speaks volumes for the service. I love those people, and they never disappoint :) We had sooooo much food, but damn, it was good. It was better than good. I wish them well – they need to be there when we go back in two years. We got a bit tipsy at Bishoku and Katy was dorphed-out from her 6-hour tattoo session, so we hailed a cab (yay! cabs everywhere! took 5 seconds flat) and we headed back to the old port. Katy was asleep before her head hit the pillow. I watched the glow from our fake fireplace for a while then did the same.
We came back to Ottawa on Thursday, when we had booked ourself a night at the Hilton Casino. It took a bit of stress and faffing to get us there, but we got a suite upgrade when we got there and that more than made up for it. We had late dinner reservations, so we went to the cigar lounge to chill a bit and have a drink. The bar only had roasted almonds as a snack. When I informed the nice lady bartender that I was allergic to nuts and we were getting rather tipsy on the good red wine we were enjoying, she got the kitchen to smuggle some sandwiches into the lounge for us. Unfortunately they had loads of garlic in them but its the thought that counts. That’s the sort of service that you don’t get hereabouts. I didn’t have the heart to let her know I couldn’t eat them. I went to the little corner shop and bought a bag of crisps. Not as posh, but very effective.
We went back to the suite to get presentable before dinner and had an amusing encounter with the bed turn-down maid service. Poor lady, we must’ve made a bit of an impression. Having said that, I’m sure it’s not the first time something like that happened…
The evening ended on a bit of a sour note. Katy’s meal didn’t completely agree with her. The restaurant declined my credit card because the computer at the front desk had mis-scanned it and I had to call Natwest to clear everything up. The room aircon was being a pain. There wasn’t a kettle to make tea so I had to use their weird percolator, but the water coming through reeked of coffee and to top it off, the the teabags were already waterstained. When I called up for tea to be sent up to room service, it took 30 minutes before it came but once it did and I showed them the state of things, the attendant was less than impressed, apologized and said that his manager would be informed. We were comped the tea. Tea made it all better.
The following day, we went to Kinki in the market for a sushi lunch. I have to say, for as much as I hold Bishoku near and dear to my heart, Kinki is a cooler place to eat. The ambiance is a lot more hip and the food is a bit more avant-garde. We had really good panko chicken and wasabi calamari as starters, followed excellent rolls. I especially recommend the beef-fillet wrapped shrimp surf n’ turf roll.
On Saturday, we went to the Science and Technology museum in Ottawa, to show Bean the train gallery. Bean was a bit grumpy and a bit of a handful, but I think he enjoyed it. My mom has bad laryngitis and completely lost her voice and my dad’s back was playing up.
On Sunday, I met up with Michel in the market before Roger Waters show. Had “small” pint of Hoegaarden at D’Arcy McGees on Sparks St. then went for dinner at Kinki. I found out that previous meal there had garlic and sesame in it, but I was pre-loaded with antihistamines so no harm done. I ended up doing the same thing again and it was still good.
The Roger Waters show was kick ass. I had a little something to enhance the show but there was a ton of stadium security and they were acting as kill joys. We went outside during the intermission, along with a significant number of people. They were scanning people in and out. It was a mess. Let’s just say, however, that the second part of the show was more intense than the first.
The show was excellent and I can’t wait until May to see it again in London. It sounded just like the CD. Now, normally, if you go to a live show, you expect that things will be different, but in this case, different would have been disappointing because the album is so iconic. It didn’t disappoint. It was spot on and almost perfect. I cried, again. Sue me.
Monday was our last day in Canada and it was a bit hectic. Bean had broken my mom’s chain so I gave her mine. I knew it would make her feel good to have something of mine with her all the time. Thing is that I feel naked without it now, but xmas should fix that. After a bit of a packing, weighing and repacking frenzy, we headed to the airport. Even with all our best efforts, we still had one suitcase that was 3.4kg over its allowed weight limit. The lady at the desk told us that we could shift stuff around to our other two suitcases, who were a few kilos light each. Unfortunately, both other suitcases were packed solid and nothing would have fit (trust me, we tried). In the end, those 3.4kg cost us a flat penalty fee of $100. Fuck you, Air Canada.
The trip back didn’t bode well, when Bean had an emotional outburst at being restrained in his seat. It was probably just fatigue, and he chilled out when other people starting boarding the plane. I changed him into PJs after take-off and he fell asleep around 8 while we were watching Avatar. Things seemed to go smoothly, until he woke up round 10:30pm roasting hot. He must’ve finally caught what the boys had. Perfect timing… We gave him water and meds and, although he was a bit listless, he spent the flight chilling in Katy’s arms watching Sherlock Holmes and another movie after that.
The only bad thing is that he slept the whole of 2 hours that night, when he normally sleeps 12. We went through customs and baggage with little hassle, and then we met up with Mel for the trip back to Leicester. Bean and I slept in the car and then we managed to make it through that day. The end of the story is here and here :)
All in all, a very good, very positive, very tiring, very expensive trip. But worth every penny, even if we’re broke now :)
Current Mood:
Contemplative
Les Mis 25th anniversary screening
On Sunday, 3rd of October, Katy and I were there :) Ok, so we weren’t there live and in person, but we did the next best thing. I am, of course, talking about the live telecast of the 25th anniversary performance of Les Mis at the 02, which we saw at the Cinema de Lux in Leicester.
With a cast of 600, including Gareth Gates and Matt Lucas, the world’s longest running musical was transmitted live via satellite to more than 130 cinemas nation-wide across the UK and more widely, throughout Europe, North America, Japan and Australia. European countries joining in the big screen birthday party include Germany, The Netherlands, Ireland, Norway and Denmark. It was also re-broadcast in Canada and the US.
Alfie Boe, who played Jean Valjean, was such a hit Sunday night that he received a standing ovation in the middle of the show as he finished the song “Bring Him Home.” Later even McKintosh said that in that 25 years no one had received a standing ovation during the show. It was a first.
I cried like a little girl throughout the presentation. I mean, big chest-heaving sobs and full waterworks. Katy laughed at me.
People were wondering what Cameron Mackintosh could have planned to out-do his 10th Anniversary Concert at the Royal Albert Hall. In 1995 the stage was stormed by no less than 17 Jean Valjean’s from productions around the world marching in full evening dress with their countries flags, singing snatches of “Do You Hear the People Sing” in their native tongues.
The answer, what Mackintosh referred to as the “Company of Companies”, was well worth the wait: the cast of the production which has toured the UK, “coming home” to the Barbican after 25 years and soon heading for Europe; the cast of the Queen’s Theatre show, a constant fixture of Shaftesbury Avenue and the West End’s longest running musical; the London company which created Les Miserables way back in 1985; and the assembled O2 concert cast all took the stage together. The best bit was they each brought a Jean Valjean with them!
Having created the role, there is no denying that Colm Wilkinson is the voice of Jean Valjean. His effortless falsetto for “Bring Him Home” has to be the reference for every subsequent performer. The highlight of the entire evening was to hear the four Jean Valjean’s (Colm Wilkinson, John Owen-Jones, Alfie Boe and Simon Bowman) perform “Bring Him Home” as a quartet. Even aged 66, Wilkinson gave the other three tenors a run for their money and he seemed to be loving every minute of it. This man has a voice that can make a stone weep with pleasure. It was… breathtaking. A performance of “One Day More” followed from the cast of 1985 and every one of them proved that a quarter of a century on, they’ve still got it.
“Les Misérables” originally opened in London at the Barbican Theatre on 8 October 1985, transferred to the Palace Theatre on 4 December 1985 and moved to its current home at the Queen’s Theatre on 3 April 2004 where it continues to play to packed houses. When it celebrated its 21st London birthday on 8 October 2006, it became the World’s Longest Running Musical. In January 2010 the West End production broke another record by celebrating an historic 10,000th performances. Seen by over 57 million people worldwide in 42 countries and in 21 languages, it is undisputedly one of the world’s most popular musicals ever written.
The original London show, a collaboration between the Royal Shakepeare Company and Cameron Mackintosh, opened at the Barbican on 8 October 1985. Despite mixed reviews – and a bum-numbing three-and-a-half hour running time – the musical found favour with audiences. It transferred to the Palace Theatre in December that year where it stayed until 2004. It then moved to the Queen’s Theatre, where it still runs today. Based on Victor Hugo’s door-stopper of a novel, it follows one man’s story of survival in the face of persecution amidst social and political upheavals in 19th Century Paris.
To mark the Silver Jubilee, here are 25 facts about the world’s longest-running musical:
1. The original French version of the show – by lyricist Alain Boublil and composer Claude-Michel Schonberg – ran for 107 performances in 1980 at the Palais des Sports in Paris.
2. The London production was co-directed by John Caird and Trevor Nunn. The English lyrics were by Herbert Kretzmer – who at the time was TV critic for the Daily Mail.
3. That didn’t stop the Mail on Sunday’s Kenneth Hurren writing in his 1985 review: “Watching it is rather like eating an artichoke: you have to go through an awful lot to get a very little.”
4. Michael Ball, who played Marius, has told the BBC since: “We thought we’d be looking for new jobs after the first night.”
5. In the original London production, the role of Inspector Javert was played by Roger Allam – who can currently be seen in the film Tamara Drewe.
6. The role of thieving innkeeper Thenardier was played by Alun Armstrong, who currently stars in the BBC series New Tricks.
7. There are approximately 101 cast and crew directly involved in every performance.
8. Each performance requires 392 complete costumes – and 31 wigs.
9. There have been almost 40 cast recordings of Les Misérables.
10. On 22 January 2010, the show celebrated its 10,000th performance in London.
11. The RSC is estimated to have made £19m from royalties from touring productions.
12. Productions have played in 42 countries including Iceland, New Zealand, Bermuda, Philippines, Mauritius, China, Mxico, the Channel Islands and the Dominican Republic.
13. Les Misérables has been translated into 21 different languages: English, Japanese, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, German, Polish, Swedish, Dutch, Danish, French, Czech, Castillian, Mauritian Creole, Flemish, Finnish, Argentinian, Portuguese, Estonian and Mexican Spanish.
14. The production has played over 45,000 professional performances worldwide to a total audience of more than 57 million people – that’s almost the population of Italy.
15. Contrary to popular opinion, the musical is NOT set during the French Revolution of 1789. The action begins in 1815, and follows events over the next two decades including the Paris Uprising of 1832.
16. Les Misérables is the third longest running show in Broadway history after Phantom of the Opera and Cats.
17. The Les Misérables schools edition was launched in the US in 2001 and in the UK in 2002.
18. In school productions, the entire cast must be 19 years of age or under, and must be amateurs.
19. The biggest single live audience for Les Misérables to date was 125,000 at the 1989 Australia day concert in Sydney.
20. In 2004, a special concert performance was given at Windsor Castle in honour of French President Jacques Chirac to celebrate the centenary of the entente cordiale – Britain’s friendly agreement with France.
21. Les Miserables celebrated its 10th anniversary with a gala concert at the Royal Albert Hall, London.
22. The concert starred the original Jean Valjean, Colm Wilkinson. The finale featured 17 different Jean Valjeans from around the world singing in different languages.
23. Les Misérables became the West End’s longest-running musical on 7 October 2006. On that night super-fan Sally Frith from Gloucestershire saw the show for the 740th time.
24. In 2009, Susan Boyle sang Les Mis song I Dreamed a Dream on TV show Britain’s Got Talent. It became one of the most watched videos on YouTube.
25. Producer Sir Cameron Mackintosh is currently developing a film version of the musical. (The first movie version of the novel Les Misérables was a silent film in 1909. There were no songs.)
Current Mood: Contemplative
Quick update
After many trials and tribulations, we’re back in Saffron Walden. Holiday’s over. Katy went to work last night and is working tonight and I’m back at work bright and early tomorrow morning. Bean is fairly back in his UK schedule and is going to be in nursery full-time for the next two weeks. That should really cement his routine. Now only if his attitude could get back into gear :) He’s a proper little monster at times these days. Yay, terrible twos.
On the bathroom front, we have a toilet, sink, shower and bath. We’re still missing a tiled floor and the final finishes, but that should come on monday. Pictures to come soon. We winterized the garden by dead-heading the flowering plants, bushwacking the out-of-control herbs and planted some violas and pansies. More pictures to come soon.
I need to write a massive post-holiday post and process a few hundred pictures. That should come within the week.
So yeah. Holiday over. Back to the grind.
Having said that, I’m rather looking forward to a bit of boring routine for the next little while.
Now if only Katy could stop watching the bajillion episodes of Neighbours and Home and Away that have been series-linked on the sky box, life would be good. As a side note, we only had about 20% free space on the box with all the junk that had been recorded). We’re going to have hours and hours of catch-up TV for the next little while ;)
Current Mood: Tired