Tuesday, June 29, 2004
Ben Harper
Ben Harper and “guests” were playing at the Hammersmith Apollo. We got there at 9 pm and found out that the support act didn’t play and Ben Harper had been on for an hour. Bummer! We rushed in but didn’t get far, the floor was packed. Luckily the floor is sloped so even at the back you can get a good view if you can the right spot. The sound was very good, you could hear each instrument and Bens voice clearly.
He played many of his classics such as Burn one Down, Faded, Another Lonely Day (I was a little disappointed to miss Excuse Me Mr.). An interesting part of the performance was that on some songs they would play a cover in the middle. The encore consisted of a 45 minute solo acoustic set, which started off great but Lou was getting a bored by the end. We think he played by himself for longer to satisfy latecomers.
John Soane’s Museum
Sir John Soane was a prominent architect in the early 1800’s credited with designing the Bank of England among other civic buildings. After his wife’s death he decided to turn his house into a museum to educate and inspire ‘Amateurs and Students in Painting, Architecture and Sculpture”.
The rooms themselves are tastefully decorated, each room with a distinct colour scheme with both furniture and art in harmony. However it is the artefacts that take your eye, large paintings, marble busts, antique clocks and statues and architectural designs fill every room.
The most amazing room in the house is out the back. There is a large room with a high ceiling with skylights letting in an abundance of natural light. It is full, floor to ceiling, with roman architectural sculpture from full columns to small chards you can only guess from where they originated.
Laurence’s party
Lou’s cousin Laurence turned 30 this weekend. He combined with two others to hire out Dust bar in the trendy Holborn area. One of the other birthday boy’s, did a good job on the turntables. We left a little early and so we could get a good nights sleep, I hope Laurence got home OK.
Greenwich
It has to be done, the whole Greenwich Meantime thing. Luckily the weather was great and we were not too hung over to enjoy it. Greenwich is on the south coast of the Thames in east London. We caught the train to Island Gardens on the northern side of the river and took the foot tunnel to the other side.
Greenwich is like a little town on its own. To the north is the river. Bordering on the east was supposed to be a new Royal Palace but became the Royal Naval Academy and is now a University. To the south is the large Greenwich Park (site of the Royal Observatory).
We grabbed some food from the local market and joined the other picnickers in Greenwich Park. We climbed the hill to the observatory and joined the hundreds of US of A tourists. I must say I was a bit disappointed by the marking of the Meridian line. It was this line of glass with lights underneath bordered by markings of longitudes of cities around the world.
What I found interesting was the incredibly intricate clocks. They were displayed in transparent cases so you could see the inner workings. I also enjoyed the videos showing how the last astrologer based there used to take readings of stars to update the star charts.
(1) comments
Ben Harper and “guests” were playing at the Hammersmith Apollo. We got there at 9 pm and found out that the support act didn’t play and Ben Harper had been on for an hour. Bummer! We rushed in but didn’t get far, the floor was packed. Luckily the floor is sloped so even at the back you can get a good view if you can the right spot. The sound was very good, you could hear each instrument and Bens voice clearly.
He played many of his classics such as Burn one Down, Faded, Another Lonely Day (I was a little disappointed to miss Excuse Me Mr.). An interesting part of the performance was that on some songs they would play a cover in the middle. The encore consisted of a 45 minute solo acoustic set, which started off great but Lou was getting a bored by the end. We think he played by himself for longer to satisfy latecomers.
John Soane’s Museum
Sir John Soane was a prominent architect in the early 1800’s credited with designing the Bank of England among other civic buildings. After his wife’s death he decided to turn his house into a museum to educate and inspire ‘Amateurs and Students in Painting, Architecture and Sculpture”.
The rooms themselves are tastefully decorated, each room with a distinct colour scheme with both furniture and art in harmony. However it is the artefacts that take your eye, large paintings, marble busts, antique clocks and statues and architectural designs fill every room.
The most amazing room in the house is out the back. There is a large room with a high ceiling with skylights letting in an abundance of natural light. It is full, floor to ceiling, with roman architectural sculpture from full columns to small chards you can only guess from where they originated.
Laurence’s party
Lou’s cousin Laurence turned 30 this weekend. He combined with two others to hire out Dust bar in the trendy Holborn area. One of the other birthday boy’s, did a good job on the turntables. We left a little early and so we could get a good nights sleep, I hope Laurence got home OK.
Greenwich
It has to be done, the whole Greenwich Meantime thing. Luckily the weather was great and we were not too hung over to enjoy it. Greenwich is on the south coast of the Thames in east London. We caught the train to Island Gardens on the northern side of the river and took the foot tunnel to the other side.
Greenwich is like a little town on its own. To the north is the river. Bordering on the east was supposed to be a new Royal Palace but became the Royal Naval Academy and is now a University. To the south is the large Greenwich Park (site of the Royal Observatory).
We grabbed some food from the local market and joined the other picnickers in Greenwich Park. We climbed the hill to the observatory and joined the hundreds of US of A tourists. I must say I was a bit disappointed by the marking of the Meridian line. It was this line of glass with lights underneath bordered by markings of longitudes of cities around the world.
What I found interesting was the incredibly intricate clocks. They were displayed in transparent cases so you could see the inner workings. I also enjoyed the videos showing how the last astrologer based there used to take readings of stars to update the star charts.
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Wednesday, June 23, 2004
Onegin
Last Friday Rachel and I had another lovely outing to the Royal Opera House. This time it was to see a performance of John Cranko's ballet, Onegin. It is based on verse by Pushkin and was made into a movie with Ralph Fiennes and Liv Tyler.
The dancers in the lead roles in the cast I had orignally booked to see were either indisposed or injured. Luckily the dancers who replaced them were excellent and the bonus was that the lead female was the star in my year at the Royal Ballet School, Laura Moera. She was techinically very sound and her acting was very convincing. Her partner was a young Brazilian who Rae and I thought looked rather dashing. The music is so beautiful and I was humming it for some days afterwards. It was one of those magic nights at the ballet. So romantic and passionate.
Red Hot Chilli Peppers
We went to see the Red Hot Chilli Peppers perform in Hyde Park last Saturday. Well, maybe 'see' is not the best word. We saw lots of heads bobbing up and down and lots of lights flashing. The best point was when I got on top of Joseph's shoulders for one song. The view of the humongous crowd, stage and screens was amazing. The bad thing was that the best area, a semi circle in front of the stage, was reserved for Gold ticket holders. This is corporate hospitality and others who can afford the exclusive tickets. I think this is shyte, because the true fans can't get up close to their heros. I think that those who are determined enough to line up early should get the prime spots, not those with more money! End of rant.
Sport
There are two focuses of the moment, Euro 2004 and Wimbledon. We watched the latest England game against Croatia on Monday at Rae and Steve's place. It was great. There is this teenager called Wayne Rooney who has come into his own. He scored two goals and has all the confidence in the world.
I would love the chance to go to Wimbledon but you either have to queue for many hours on the day or go into the Public ballot for tickets. I will enter the ballot for next year and hope for the best. I will have to take another visit to Rae and Steve's to see some games on the telly on the weekend.
(0) comments
Last Friday Rachel and I had another lovely outing to the Royal Opera House. This time it was to see a performance of John Cranko's ballet, Onegin. It is based on verse by Pushkin and was made into a movie with Ralph Fiennes and Liv Tyler.
The dancers in the lead roles in the cast I had orignally booked to see were either indisposed or injured. Luckily the dancers who replaced them were excellent and the bonus was that the lead female was the star in my year at the Royal Ballet School, Laura Moera. She was techinically very sound and her acting was very convincing. Her partner was a young Brazilian who Rae and I thought looked rather dashing. The music is so beautiful and I was humming it for some days afterwards. It was one of those magic nights at the ballet. So romantic and passionate.
Red Hot Chilli Peppers
We went to see the Red Hot Chilli Peppers perform in Hyde Park last Saturday. Well, maybe 'see' is not the best word. We saw lots of heads bobbing up and down and lots of lights flashing. The best point was when I got on top of Joseph's shoulders for one song. The view of the humongous crowd, stage and screens was amazing. The bad thing was that the best area, a semi circle in front of the stage, was reserved for Gold ticket holders. This is corporate hospitality and others who can afford the exclusive tickets. I think this is shyte, because the true fans can't get up close to their heros. I think that those who are determined enough to line up early should get the prime spots, not those with more money! End of rant.
Sport
There are two focuses of the moment, Euro 2004 and Wimbledon. We watched the latest England game against Croatia on Monday at Rae and Steve's place. It was great. There is this teenager called Wayne Rooney who has come into his own. He scored two goals and has all the confidence in the world.
I would love the chance to go to Wimbledon but you either have to queue for many hours on the day or go into the Public ballot for tickets. I will enter the ballot for next year and hope for the best. I will have to take another visit to Rae and Steve's to see some games on the telly on the weekend.
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Saturday, June 19, 2004
More Photos
I have uploaded some more photos to our picture gallery. Check out picutres from the first test between New Zealand and England at Lords, the Chelsea Flower show, and some more photos from Rome
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I have uploaded some more photos to our picture gallery. Check out picutres from the first test between New Zealand and England at Lords, the Chelsea Flower show, and some more photos from Rome
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Sunday, June 13, 2004
Photo gallery new additions
Joseph has just uploaded some new photos off our trip to Rome, Barcelona and our flat.
Much Ado About Nothing
Tuesday was a lovely balmy evening and what better thing to do than take a visit to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre to take in a performance. Much Ado About Nothing was the play of choice and the cost was a mere £5 to stand in the 'yard'. There was an all women cast and boy (excuse the pun) they were great. The women who played men were very convincing and quite dishy! Josie Lawrence (of 'Who's line is it anyway' fame) was fantastic as Senor Benedict. I enjoyed it much better than the movie version which starred Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson and Denzel Washington. The timing was perfect, and that's no mean feat in a comedy, let alone a Shakespearian comedy. Thoroughly enjoyable.
The Datsuns
On Thursday we went to see some full on 70's inspired rock played by Kiwi band 'The Datsuns'. They certainly had all the moves down pat which made for a charismatic performance. Their musicianship was good too with the lead guitarist, Christian Datsun, playing some excellent guitar solos. Dolf de Datsun, the lead singer, had an ear piercing scream which made the fans go wild. I hope their second album does as well as the first. After many years of knocking on the door of stardom, they deserve it.
Bombay Dreams
On Friday Rae and I went to the musical Bombay Dreams. It's London run finished this weekend. I have wanted to go for a long time so was looking forward to it. Unfortunately it did not live up to my expectations. The sets and costumes were spectacular but the show lacked really powerful songs like those you find in Les Miserables and The Phantom of the Opera. I may have lost a bit of my love for the genre as well as I was cringing during the clichéd, corny bits when in the past I would have been lapping it up. I blame Joseph for instilling this cynicism in me!
Canterbury
The week ended wonderfully with a trip to Canterbury to see my friend, from my Royal Ballet School days, Victoria, her husband James and their Scottie dog Bertie. James gave us a tour around the famous Cathedral, the headquarters of the Anglican faith. When Catholicism was still the rage the then Archbishop, Thomas Beckett, fell out of favour with the King (Henry II) and was brutally murdered in the Cathedral. Following that the site was a shrine to Thomas, who was made a saint, and the destination of many pilgrimages. There are many fine examples of medieval stained glass windows and a few dregs of the ancient Norman architecture.
James works at Kings College, a mixed gender public boarding school, which is right next to the Cathedral, so Victoria and Bertie were able to show us around the beautiful grounds. The students have to attend a service in the Cathedral every Sunday morning in their full uniform which includes stiff collars, pin stripe trousers/skirts and suit jackets. They also attend classes in this formal attire.
We had a delicious dinner in a gastro pub conservatory on Saturday night and a lovely lunch in Victoria and James' garden on Sunday. Of course there was a lot of catching up to do regarding our time at the Royal Ballet School and our classmates. By the end of our visit I think we had discussed the well being and whereabouts of most of them. Many are still dancing.
(0) comments
Joseph has just uploaded some new photos off our trip to Rome, Barcelona and our flat.
Much Ado About Nothing
Tuesday was a lovely balmy evening and what better thing to do than take a visit to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre to take in a performance. Much Ado About Nothing was the play of choice and the cost was a mere £5 to stand in the 'yard'. There was an all women cast and boy (excuse the pun) they were great. The women who played men were very convincing and quite dishy! Josie Lawrence (of 'Who's line is it anyway' fame) was fantastic as Senor Benedict. I enjoyed it much better than the movie version which starred Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson and Denzel Washington. The timing was perfect, and that's no mean feat in a comedy, let alone a Shakespearian comedy. Thoroughly enjoyable.
The Datsuns
On Thursday we went to see some full on 70's inspired rock played by Kiwi band 'The Datsuns'. They certainly had all the moves down pat which made for a charismatic performance. Their musicianship was good too with the lead guitarist, Christian Datsun, playing some excellent guitar solos. Dolf de Datsun, the lead singer, had an ear piercing scream which made the fans go wild. I hope their second album does as well as the first. After many years of knocking on the door of stardom, they deserve it.
Bombay Dreams
On Friday Rae and I went to the musical Bombay Dreams. It's London run finished this weekend. I have wanted to go for a long time so was looking forward to it. Unfortunately it did not live up to my expectations. The sets and costumes were spectacular but the show lacked really powerful songs like those you find in Les Miserables and The Phantom of the Opera. I may have lost a bit of my love for the genre as well as I was cringing during the clichéd, corny bits when in the past I would have been lapping it up. I blame Joseph for instilling this cynicism in me!
Canterbury
The week ended wonderfully with a trip to Canterbury to see my friend, from my Royal Ballet School days, Victoria, her husband James and their Scottie dog Bertie. James gave us a tour around the famous Cathedral, the headquarters of the Anglican faith. When Catholicism was still the rage the then Archbishop, Thomas Beckett, fell out of favour with the King (Henry II) and was brutally murdered in the Cathedral. Following that the site was a shrine to Thomas, who was made a saint, and the destination of many pilgrimages. There are many fine examples of medieval stained glass windows and a few dregs of the ancient Norman architecture.
James works at Kings College, a mixed gender public boarding school, which is right next to the Cathedral, so Victoria and Bertie were able to show us around the beautiful grounds. The students have to attend a service in the Cathedral every Sunday morning in their full uniform which includes stiff collars, pin stripe trousers/skirts and suit jackets. They also attend classes in this formal attire.
We had a delicious dinner in a gastro pub conservatory on Saturday night and a lovely lunch in Victoria and James' garden on Sunday. Of course there was a lot of catching up to do regarding our time at the Royal Ballet School and our classmates. By the end of our visit I think we had discussed the well being and whereabouts of most of them. Many are still dancing.
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Monday, June 07, 2004
Tuesday - Ricky Gervais
We heard that Ricky Gervais (David Brent in "The Office") was doing a theatre show that was about to end. We bought his earlier show, "Animals", on DVD for Rachel and Steve and found it very funny. He performed in The Palace which is aptly named. The theatre is very ornate with lots of green and gold sculptures on the walls and ceiling. It was also quite large and almost full. Luckily we managed to get good seats.
Ricky is just as good live as on TV. Very animated with great comic timing, he can be crass but not so much to really offend. He covered a range of political topics from Gandhi to the NHS, Sweatshops in Asia to the morality of nursery rhymes but his main focus was gays and the disabled. You learnt about his schooling and Philosophy studies at University. Most comedians go from stand-up to TV but Gervais shows you can go the other way too.
The weekend - Brighton
I decided to take Jo (my old boss at Islington Council) up on his offer put us up for the weekend in Brighton. Brighton is a classic English seaside town on the southern coast. It is 1 hour (on the fast train) from Victoria station. Many people living there (like Jo) commute to work in London. Jo lives about 10 minutes from the station in the centre of town. We took the train down on Friday night.
On Saturday we visited The Pavilion, a hunting lodge converted into a grand Palace by George IVs architect, John Nash. From the outside it looks like an Indian Place with many iron domes and minarets all painted cream. Inside the theme is oriental with silver dragons, sketches of Chinese scenes and vibrant Chinese material. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos inside. It has to great rooms, the dinning and music rooms with enormous chandeliers, domed ceilings and draperies.
In the afternoon we went shopping. Central Brighton is full of small record, second hand, designer and jewelry stores. Those in Wellington think of Cuba Street spread through many winding lanes. I will never go back to Oxford St. again.
That night, after dinner, we strolled down to the Pier. It is very well maintained, clean, freshly painted with all the amusements and food stalls you would expect. We played a game called Dolphin race were you roll balls into holes to advance your Dolphin towards the finish line. To my embarrassment Lou won the soft toy and gave it to me! The shame.
Sunday morning was beautifully bright and we strolled along the promenade past the different shades of English from pasty white to lobster red on their striped deck chairs. There was the oldest electric railway and sailboats out in the sea. It was just like you see in "The darling buds of May" (well the second part when they go on holiday) and Roald Dahl’s "The Witches" they have their convention in a seaside hotel.
We arrived home on Sunday exhausted but determined to visit the lovely seaside town again.
(0) comments
We heard that Ricky Gervais (David Brent in "The Office") was doing a theatre show that was about to end. We bought his earlier show, "Animals", on DVD for Rachel and Steve and found it very funny. He performed in The Palace which is aptly named. The theatre is very ornate with lots of green and gold sculptures on the walls and ceiling. It was also quite large and almost full. Luckily we managed to get good seats.
Ricky is just as good live as on TV. Very animated with great comic timing, he can be crass but not so much to really offend. He covered a range of political topics from Gandhi to the NHS, Sweatshops in Asia to the morality of nursery rhymes but his main focus was gays and the disabled. You learnt about his schooling and Philosophy studies at University. Most comedians go from stand-up to TV but Gervais shows you can go the other way too.
The weekend - Brighton
I decided to take Jo (my old boss at Islington Council) up on his offer put us up for the weekend in Brighton. Brighton is a classic English seaside town on the southern coast. It is 1 hour (on the fast train) from Victoria station. Many people living there (like Jo) commute to work in London. Jo lives about 10 minutes from the station in the centre of town. We took the train down on Friday night.
On Saturday we visited The Pavilion, a hunting lodge converted into a grand Palace by George IVs architect, John Nash. From the outside it looks like an Indian Place with many iron domes and minarets all painted cream. Inside the theme is oriental with silver dragons, sketches of Chinese scenes and vibrant Chinese material. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos inside. It has to great rooms, the dinning and music rooms with enormous chandeliers, domed ceilings and draperies.
In the afternoon we went shopping. Central Brighton is full of small record, second hand, designer and jewelry stores. Those in Wellington think of Cuba Street spread through many winding lanes. I will never go back to Oxford St. again.
That night, after dinner, we strolled down to the Pier. It is very well maintained, clean, freshly painted with all the amusements and food stalls you would expect. We played a game called Dolphin race were you roll balls into holes to advance your Dolphin towards the finish line. To my embarrassment Lou won the soft toy and gave it to me! The shame.
Sunday morning was beautifully bright and we strolled along the promenade past the different shades of English from pasty white to lobster red on their striped deck chairs. There was the oldest electric railway and sailboats out in the sea. It was just like you see in "The darling buds of May" (well the second part when they go on holiday) and Roald Dahl’s "The Witches" they have their convention in a seaside hotel.
We arrived home on Sunday exhausted but determined to visit the lovely seaside town again.
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