Terry Gilliam's latest magnum opus, featuring Heath Ledger in his fateful last ever role, is opening tomorrow in cinemas across Britain. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is a beautiful gothic fantasy set in modern day London. The story revolves around the mysterious Doctor Parnassus who has the skill to guide your thoughts to reveal your inner imaginary world. Parnassus was once a monk who made a deal with the devil for long life, and many other deals and bets since then, one of which involves the soul of his first child due at the age of 16. Parnassus tried to prevent this by never having a child, but (un)fortunately he did - a daughter played by the sparkling Lily Cole. And so the scene is set for the story.

As Parnassus and travelling show troupe try to save his daughter's soul they come across Tony, played by Heath Ledger, hanging from Southwark bridge. They save him and he, in turn, acts to save them - or does he? All is not clear as Tony's character evolves. Along the way Tony finds out about Parnassus' magic mirror that reflects your innermost mind and enters it himself - and it is here that Terry Gilliam's genius saved the movie when Heath unfortunately passed away - every time Tony enters the mirror he becomes another actor; Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell all take up the reigns to play the mirror Tony and to great effect.

Go and see this movie. You won't see much press about it as Terry Gilliam is one of the most talented Directors in the world today but his movies never sit comfortably in the 'blockbuster' genre and so marketing departments seem to give up in despair - instead he makes us pay attention to the wonders he creates on screen and use our brains and imaginations to full effect. Parnassus sits with Gilliam's classic fantastical movies; Time Bandits, Brazil, Baron Munchausen and the Brothers Grimm - all wonderful flights of fancy and visual feasts. More info on the film and a larger copy of this wonderful poster can be found here.

Labels: heroes, London, movies

Hmm.. seem to have been a bit too quiet on the ol' blog-o-sphere this month! This I attribute to not having anything witty or insightful to say. Apparently my Mercury is heavily retro-graded according to my ever helpful friend Paula. Possibly I'm just recovering from an epic August full of weddings and other fun stuff.

So, a brief update on the month so far: we've wandered around many areas in North London to try and work out where to live next. Hampstead was very nice but stupidly expensive, but the heath is lovely and you can swim in the lakes as long as you don't mind catching something! London Fields was lovely but stupidly expensive. Stoke Newington had a nice park, and was only ridiculously expensive - notice a trend here? Living in London may have its upsides, but cost of living certainly isn't one of them. We also went along to the London Twestival, which was great fun - most of which was had doing craft making small Twitter style birds. Ah, bless.

This last weekend we saw the ever wonderful Massive Attack at Brixton Academy last friday, where Martina Topley Bird did a stunning beatbox version of Black Steel. Then Saturday was a day full of family nephew related fun around London, followed by our first trip to Buttoned Down Disco which was highly enjoyable.

Sunday we braved the many thousands of other cyclists at the London Skyride. It's a wonderful chance to cycle round car free streets in central London, but I have to say it feels less safe cycling round with little kids either wobbling around left and right or zooming through small gaps than it does with cars! That and the somewhat OTT corporate sponsorship from Sky and the highly un-environmentally friendly rubbish, plastic bags, etc generated by the free giveaways. Bio-degradable bags, anyone?

Other than that I are mostly be running a lot. Or was at least until last night, when my knee gave out going past the Houses of Parliament. So another fitness regime has bitten the dust.. for now!

Labels: gigs, London

In what is likely to be one of the 'must see' gigs this year for indie rockers, if not the rest of us, Pearl Jam have announced a special one-off gig at Shepherds Bush Empire on August 11th. It's time to beg, borrow or steal your way in there folks, as this promises to be something else.

Of course considering Pearl Jam sold out London's humongous O2 in 17 minutes I think we can all safely assume that those not in the industry will have a gnats piss chance in hell of getting in. Still, hope springs eternal, and for those of you who are hopeful (read: 'deluded') what you need to do is pre-order a copy of Pearl Jam's new album Backspacer from HMV.com. They will then send you a unique link that lets you fight it out during the pre-order period between 21st and 22nd July. For the rest of us tickets are on sale July 23rd but let's face it.. there won't be any beyond 0.1ms into the pre-sale assuming HMV's servers don't go into meltdown. Which they will.

Labels: Bands, gigs, London

Just back from a fun day down at the London Marathon, helping raise awareness of Battens Disease with my sister. We were camped out down by the west entrance to Canary Wharf, next to the BBC London radio bus, all wearing our bright orange t-shirts. And while we were there who should run past but Gordon Ramsey. Bless. Who knows, next year maybe I'll give it a go... Maybe.

Labels: Annual Events, celeb spot, Charity, London

Back in London again after my super fun week and a bit back in New York. Thanks to everyone for making time to hang out - it was great to see you all - and those of you who I didn't get to see, fingers crossed for next time! Plus a big 'up' to Sandra for letting my couch surf for the week. You rock!

Now I just need to adjust to getting up in the morning for work at the time I was just about finishing carousing for the night... Ug. Thankfully it's a bright and sunny morning, so the walk in should shake the last bit of sleep from my eyes. Then it's the longer term trauma of re-adjusting back to London life after a week of the New York simplicity and intensity, with the usual question - "why don't things in London just work as well as they do in New York?". Or cost as little. I mean.. $25 for a week metro card in New York.. that's about £18 for unlimited travel all over the five boroughs 24 (yes, count them) hours a day. It's always a sobering thought. Not that London isn't a great city, it's just one you have to work at enjoying more than you do in NYC.

OK.. enough blog related procrastination. It's back to work with me.

Labels: London, new york

We were fortunate enough to get tickets to see Pete Postlethwaite King Lear at The Young Vic before it, very deservedly, sold out. So last wednesday we all headed down nice and early to get our seats, as it's open seating, and ended up three rows back in the centre with splendid views. Nice. The seats are also pretty comfortable, which was useful as the performance is just shy of four hours including its two, very short, intervals.

The lights come up on the members of King Lear's court dressed in late 70s garb, with everyone gathered around as Lear splits his kingdom unfairly between his daughters, and from that moment on we were gripped. Postlethwaite sounded for a moment as if his voice was going, but that might have been affected for the role as later his voice sounded amazing. The stage is set up to look somewhat like an abandoned set of steps, with grass growing through (freshly sown each performance I'd imagine given the treatment it gets later), and in the background corrugated iron leading up to a rickety set of covered steps.

So much happens in this amazing play, from the length and epic scale of the play itself, through the amazing performances of Lear, Gloucester, Kent and Gloucesters sons Edmund and Edgar, amongst others, through to the staging itself - at times light and whimsical, at times bloody and gory, but always gripping. This is not a lightweight Shakespeare, it grabs the play by the lapels and shakes it into a worthy spectacle. Modern, yet timeless, owing much to cinema, but rooted in the theatre. That said it's not one to bring young kids to, as some of the gore is mildly brutal and disturbing, as well as the more overt sexual themes in places.

This is a great play. Postlethwaite is brimming with emotional intensity, not least during Lear's steady decline into madness. His loss at the end, fighting for sanity and gripping his dead daughter Cordelia between his legs as he himself dies is wrenching. A solemn contrast to some of the set pieces that went before. Stand out moments: Lear in a dress twirling his parasol having completed his descent to madness, Gloucester's son Edgar avenging his father against his half-brother Edmund with an amazing 'play fight' with bright plastic swords that ends with brutal reality, Gloucester's earlier torture scene - paying homage to Reservoir Dogs, the flight through the rainstorm - with real rain - and the birth of Lear's grand-child, the late 70s/early 80s staging - subtle and pervasive alongside English flag painted faces in Lear's retinue, the fool's capering intensity and banter, and Lear's rage as his plotting daughters abandon him. So much to enjoy, and enjoy it we did. Very much indeed.

Labels: London, Shakespeare, Theatre

Since I'm happily on Christmas hols already, combined with last week's random purchase of a Tate membership, I decided to head down to the Tate Modern today to check out the Rothko and Cildo Meireles exhibitions. Oh, and the apocalyptic future vision currently in the turbine hall. Good fun - but have to say the Rothko didn't grab me, so no real change there. The Meireles work on the other hand was wonderful. Highly engaging conceptual art that you get to play with and enter - from rolling balls around, to fighting your way through suspended rulers to cracking underfoot glass - my favourite. Well worth a visit, but hurry - it ends January 11th.

In other random news - it sounds like David Tennant may be returning to Hamlet in the last week, no guarantees though. Of course this means there will be a flurry of activity waiting for returns, etc if it does happen and I'll find myself wondering if it's worth the, usually effective, returns queue wait. Somehow I think returns will be unlikely after all the furore thus far. Still, if he does return to tread the boards we may brave the line. And if that doesn't work, there's always Pete Posthlethwaite in King Lear at the Young Vic I guess.

Labels: Art, Celebrities, London, Shakespeare, Theatre

And last night the answer was, unfortunately, 'not'. As has been widely reported, David Tennant has had to pull out of his acclaimed and rapidly sold-out performance of Hamlet in London until at least Christmas. For those of us who had been excitedly waiting to see the man himself in action, having been fortunate enough to get tickets in the few hours they were available, this was a bit of a blow. Thankfully, the rest of the amazing cast put on a show that will not soon be forgotten, and his under-study - thrust unexpectedly into the limelight before a London audience for an extended run - does a bang up job. He's not Tennant, although at times you feel from his mannerisms he's trying to be, but Edward Bennet carries of a complex role with aplomb.

Aye, the play's the thing, and all the world's a stage. So what of it? The stage opens dark and mysterious, lit just by the lights of the soldiers on the battlements, and it is then you notice that the entire stage is semi-mirrored as the soldiers' lights bounce off the ground onto their faces. This amazing setup is used to great effect throughout the play, with minimal stage furniture and subtle lighting you are transported to a gothic castle at various times of the day. The huge mirrored panels at the rear rotate, allowing people to enter and exeunt at various times in different ways - and semi-mirrored glass gives us the necessary arras to hide behind. Later, the rear glass itself becomes even more of an actor - refelecting the sudden death of a key character. I feel that we were lucky in the Grand Circle - seats C11/12 - in that we literally had a perfect view down onto this mirrored stage, seeing the actors from both sides is grabbing and makes you appreciate what can be done on stage.

Against this stunning scenery, the players are caringly lit as they deliver characters with such precision and emotional force that you're swept along. Patrick Stewart's Claudius is at times the caring father, at others the malevolent plotter, and at all points believable. Polonius, played by Oliver Ford Davis is a revelation - a stumbling buffon who mutters and loses words that can still be heard across the auditorium (thankfully unlike the time he has to stage whisper words to Laertes stand-in). Hamlet's mother Gertrude was engagingly played by Penny Downie, capturing to full effect her concerns about Hamlet's mind and soul. Strong players all, and the only flat spots seem to be where the understudies are having to find their feet suddenly as all the roles shift. So what of the biggest shift? Our new Hamlet was spot on - word perfect and emotionally ranging. Perhaps he's not quite as mercurial as we would have expected Tennant to be, but he's starting to make the role his own - and hopefully by the end of his run he will have done so. Even at such short notice he delivers the goods. Encore!

So, to David - get well soon, we hope to see you on stage somewhere somewhen. To the rest of the performers - thank you for popping my Hamlet cherry with a stunning show.

Labels: Doctor Who, London, Shakespeare, Theatre

There's one thing you can guarantee about an Eddie Izzard gig... that there will be a wide selection of animals exclaiming about some issue affecting their lives, oh and a healthy dose of history. Guess what - he still delivers all that, and much more, but what's missing is his usual choice of sparkly clothing. For some reason, Mr Izzard is now cutting a suave figure in jeans, white shirt and a long backed jacket for his Stripped tour in London. This shouldn't come as such a surprise, since last time we saw him in Montreal he was wearing much the same, but tonight was a much, much better show. Tighter, more laughs, and more cute animals complaining about over-crowding on the ark.

Stripped is standard Eddie fare, ramblingly hilarious discursions on how the world can be put to rights, how cool iPhones are and how giraffes hide. What's good to see is that after so long punting the LA stand-up scene, he seems very happy to be back on home ground. The jokes seem more relevant to a UK audience, although at times the American references passed most of the audience by. That said, the audience didn't seem to mind - and that audience included random celebrity attendees Lenny Henry & Dawn French.

So another big thanks to Mr Izzard for another splendid night, and to those of you who don't have tickets - get your arses down to the returns queue like we did and keep your fingers crossed! It's worth the wait.

Labels: comedy, Genius, London, Theatre

Last night we went to see the Coen Brothers' latest, Burn After Reading, at the Curzon Soho - after an abortive attempt to go see it at the over-mirrored, off-putting Apollo Picadilly. For those of you who don't know, Burn After Reading is a dark comedy set around the 'Intelligence' scene in Washington DC, with a roster of acting stars the likes of which is normally only seen in Soderberg movies - Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, John Malkovitch, Frances Dormand and many more. With all those talents vying for space you'd think the movie might end up over-baked, but it's an amazing set of twists, turns, laughs and surprises as you might expect from such talented film makers as the Coens. Definately a must see, especially for fans of the Coens.

The Curzon was, as usual, showing an interesting range of previews most of which looked like great films. One in particular caught my eye - Steven Soderberg's two part epic Che. This true to life biopic, previously called 'The Argentine and the Guerilla', follows the life of Che Guevera from his early days as an Argentine doctor through to cultural icon that he is now. Che is played by Benicio del Toro and goes through an amazing range of body sizes along the way. All looks very exciting, although the early reviews are somewhat mixed.

BTW, How come it costs £12 or more to go to the cinema in London these days? This comes as a brutal shock after getting used to $12 in New York for, what I'd imagine, is the same film just with bigger, more comfortable seats (to fit the larger gentleman). I don't think cinema's can blame pirates for a decrease in film attendance when they're gouging us like that!

Labels: film reviews, London, movies

As we approach the end of British Summer Time this weekend the weather is getting much cooler but thankfully staying bright and sunny. Aside from Monday's torrential rain this means I've been able to cycle into work every day with my nice 15-20 minute ride into Shoreditch. Yesterday was a perfect example of why cycling is best, as I left our house and crossed the roundabout the traffic almost immediately stopped solid allowing me to wind my way through the, often too small, gaps left by the cars. As I got closer to Tower Bridge I found out why the traffic was so solid - the bridge was up letting a boat through. Luckily I'd timed this perfectly and raced up the empty side of the road reaching the gates just after they'd opened. Yay!

There seems to me no reason why the bridge should go up during rush hour given the havoc this causes, and strangely enough the Tower Bridge lift schedule agreed with me saying that the Rainbow Warrior was due through at 10.45 but nothing before then. So who knows why it was up. Today it's due to go up at 10.15 for Steamboat Will, so who knows if they'll decide to come through on time or not. For those of you with big boats that need to go up the Thames just that little bit further (as you're not getting past Wandsworth Bridge however much you hope) you'll be glad to hear that bridge raises are free... to you at least. To everyone in the traffic you're blocking it costs raised blood pressure, running engine fumes and being late into work - something in this climate most people don't want to be. Still, it's pretty for the tourists.

Labels: City Life, London

I was amused this morning to come across an article in the Daily Mail discussing how our British excess drinking habits appear to people from the US. The amusement was doubled by seeing a quote from my friend and ex-drinking partner in New York, Robert Kelsey - yes, he of book writing fame. The article can be summed up pretty succinctly in that we, as Brits, not only like our booze but actually need it to function as the witty, urbane folk that the rest of the world see us as. Alcohol in all its forms acts as a necessary launching pad to having a good time, impressing the opposite sex and finding a life partner - dictated perhaps by whether they have the same capacity for alcohol as ourselves, or maybe just enough propriety to not mention our drunken indisgressions once we sober up.

The whole world of British drunkenness has now been re-presented to me on my return from the US. As a Brit abroad it used to amaze me that our American friends would generally limit themselves to two beers a night, with rare exceptions. Now I have US friends who can, and do, imbibe to relative excess and handle it very well indeed, so I know that stereotype doesn't hold true for everyone. The different does seem to be how drunk New Yorkers act when compared to drunk Londoners, and driving across town at 10pm last night after a great game of five-a-side football was yet another eye opener. The pavements of Old Street were overflowing with people barely able to stand upright, and seemingly intent on committing suicide with every passing car. Groups of skinny, rat faced boys, dressed in sharp shirts with slicked down mousey brown hair, seemed intent on catching our eyes as we drove past in obvious need of causing a fight with any excuse. "What you lookin at? I'll fuckin' have ya!".

Drunken Brits at our best achieve Oscar Wilde levels of eloquence and witty banter, at least in our own minds and those of our drunken friends. At our worse, we're lying on pavements in our own vomit, clothes in various states of disarray, blood on our faces from the last fight and looking forward, when we regain some small portion of our alcohol ravaged brains, to a chance to recount our heroic exploits to our friends, most likely over a pint. As an ex-ex-pat all of this is at times something to be embraced, and at other times a great source of embarrassment. Why can't we just have a few, quiet drinks without feeling the need after the second to carry on? Why can't we learn to get drunk while retaining some level of class? Perhaps this is the great leveller of class, with everyone from royalty down being a complete drunken idiot at some time. The only difference is that one drinks Krug by the carriage-load, the others drink cheap, strong Stella by the shitload. Social excess drinking is surely the glue of our entire empire.

Labels: Being British, Brit Stuff, Drinking, London, new york

After last weekend's theatre fix, we decided to try for last minute returns for the Globe's Midsummer Night's Dream which closes this weekend. Turns out getting return tickets at the Globe is not so bad, or at least wasn't tonight - but maybe that's because everyone else checked the weather forecast and realised it was going to be hella-chilly out there! Still, the production was excellent and it was good to see one of my favourite Shakespearean outings in a different venue. The last time was back in NYC with the traditional Gorilla Repertory summer outdoor performance in Washington Square Park. Happy days indeed.

Labels: London, Shakespeare, Theatre

On Saturday Miette and I braved our hangovers to finally get down to the Globe Theatre for a production. Given it's all of 15 minutes walk from our house and we've had most of summer days relatively free while job hunting it's a bit of a travesty that we never went earlier, but them's the breaks. Given also that it was splendid fun and only five quid for a standing ticket I'm slightly annoyed at myself for this oversight! Ah well, next season..

The play we saw was Timon of Athens, one of Shakespeare's less well known efforts, co-written with one of his proteges, Thomas Middleton. The story centres around Timon (in olde English 'Tymon'), a rich member of Athens society whose life revolves around throwing lavish parties for fellow Athenians, and granting opulent gifts to people who please him. All of this Timon does in the theme of being generous for generosity's sake, but the people around him, his so-called friends, take advantage of his good nature, so much so that he ends up in the poor house hounded by debtor's agents. All his money gone, Timon ends up in the wilderness where he chances upon some gold in the ground while digging for roots to eat - and almost immediately people arrive, having smelled the money from afar. Timon, now an angry, bitter, broken man, uses the money to abuse them and funds an attack on Athens itself. Eventually he dies, kept company only by his faithful steward who watches over his fall into madness.

As you can plainly see, it's a dark morality tale that fits well with the current financial situation going on in the world. Thankfully the story flows with moments of high humour, especially in the interchanges between Timon and Apemantus, a local philosopher who refuses Timon's generosity and points out how the people around him are not really his friends. The production at the Globe is beautifully considered and executed, with a running theme of birds - the carrion crows of debtors dressed in black flying down from netting suspended over the theatre floor - harrying Timon increasingly through the play. We were lucky enough to be standing in the round, something I highly recommend, and the actors come through the crowd regularly - sometimes from the doors and sometimes from the sky, rappelling down from the netting above, sometimes throwing chocolate coins (my favourite method of entrance).

The Globe itself is a stunning recreation of the original Globe theatre, and a must see if you're visiting London, especially with the high quality production values and cheap standing ticket prices. The seated patrons rise on vertical walls in a circle around the standing floor, the round, and the stage itself is situated at one side of this circle. Luckily for us it was a bright, sunny autumn day which made standing without any cover a much more enjoyable affair, although our legs were pretty sore at the end of two and a half hours. So take comfortable shoes and a bottle of water to drink (no glass).

Thanks to the entire cast and crew of Timon of Athens for a highly enjoyable show. We'll be sure to visit again as soon as we can - just make sure it doesn't rain again!

Labels: London, Shakespeare, Theatre, Tourist

Well, for those of you who aren't Doctor Who fans turn off now.. for those of you who are, you'll be sad to hear that the London run of the RSC's Hamlet, starring David Tennant and Patrick Stewart sold out in a few hours earlier today.

Having been one of the many thousands who beseiged the Novello's ticket site earlier today, I can only say it was one of the more stressful moments in my life. The site was constantly up and down, in the same way that the phone line was constantly engaged. In fact, even when we somehow managed to, apparently, book tickets the site refused to confirm the purchase! How stressful is that? Well it turns out a lot less stressful now after the box office confirmed that my payment had gone through - yay!

Of course now I have to find out how many times I paid for those tickets, as without a confirmation page and unable to get back through again I tried repeatedly to 'Confirm and Purchase' to no avail. Fingers crossed the ticket server was sensible enough to work out that the tickets had already been sold and not charge again, but given how badly it dealt with the whole thing then nothing much would surprise me. In all fairness this was extreme demand, but surely it was expected? Still, it could be worse - Ticketbastard could have taken even more of my money along with other people's as they sell tickets for a thousand quid markup on their 'fan to fan' touting site with their 'service fee'. Why hasn't this travesty been shut down yet?

Personally for popular, limited events such as this I believe London's theatres should start to follow a Glastonbury style of ticketing to prevent the amazing levels of touting. Named tickets, that can only be used by the people whose names are on the ticket and present valid ID. Can't make the show after all? Then return your ticket for a full refund, allowing real fans to get last minute tickets at the face value rather than 10x, and you get a priority place in line for returns on another day - for example if you happen to be ill. Admittedly this is a lot more work for the ticketing facilities, but if people are dedicated to getting rid of touts and helping the fans then what other options are there? Or the other option is to follow a Madonna-esque model of pricing, with an auction being held for the better tickets ensuring that all the money goes to the RSC rather than anyone else. Then with the extra cash they can run more cheaper tickets to help expand the audience of Shakespeare to those less able to afford it - which was part of their goal of casting David Tennant in the first place.

As for me, I can't wait for my yearly dose of 'Sci Fi Shakespeare'. Last year it was Patrick Stewart as MacBeth and the show was wonderful. This year - it's Whovians and Trekkies in the audience as two great British actors tread the boards in one of the world's most famous plays. Allons y and make it so! Sorry, my geek side kicked in.. resistance was futile. Coff.

Labels: Celebrities, Doctor Who, London, Shakespeare, Theatre

Through a random sequence of events (thanks Kate) I found out that The Mighty Boosh were doing their last 'pre-tour' show at Riverside Studios tonight. And through an even happier sequence of events I managed to get a ticket. This combination of events means that I've now, finally and very happily, seen The Mighty Boosh live - and not only live, but in a relative intimate, few hundred people venue. Huzah!

As you can imagine I'm pretty darn happy right now, high on the buzz of seeing Noel Fielding and Julian Barrett, as well as their talented accomplices, execute some fine Boosh magic live and unleashed. The show was a little bit on the haphazard side, as this is their pre-tour previews where they get to iron out the glitches, but then with the Boosh you feel that the glitches and subsequent recoveries are all part of the general mishmash of comic wonder. And wonder it is. There's something simultaneously childish and childlike in the Boosh, and it's good to see it brought across in the live show - even in this embryonic form.

Ahead be spoilers... be ye warned...

For those of you planning to attend the relatively sold out tour this year - expect to see some, if not all, of the following as the fine fellows refine and condense their mayhem; Future Sailors performed live (with the added bonus for us of 'False Howard' being in the audience watching), Bob Fossil leading a sing-a-long 'I Can't Go For That', Tony Harrison's genius chat show - complete with badly constructed, only partially Noel hiding, chair and special guests including Rudi with a blistering guitar solo, Bolo with David Attenborough and the genius of Rich Fulcher's Eastern European taxi driver who does his act without English - Grip!, the crack fox, plenty of new songs and the culmination of the show with Howard's genius post-apocalyptic epic play about how a failure to recycle will destroy us all (with notes from Chris Martin and an extra-extendary performance from the Fulcher tin man that you won't forget - believe me I'm trying). Phew! I'm sure there's more I've forgotten to mention, but by the time you see it some or all of it will have changed and, most likely, the chaps won't be working pretty much directly off their scripts the whole time (to oft hilarious effect) so you can expect more audience interaction and banter as they get comfortable.

Thanks to The Mighty Boosh for an epic night. As always.

Labels: comedy, London, Reviews, Stage

Well the Beijing Olympics 2008 is now over, and amazingly Britland managed to come fourth - following China, USA and Russia. Congratulations 'Team GB' - but please don't take this as a reason to stick with that ridiculous, over branded name. What is it in the British mentality that can't take pride in things that have been the same for a long time? We just have to re-brand and re-invent it all the time, normally to the embarrassment and frustration of most people. I think it's something to do with the fact that, as British people, we don't fully embrace the re-branding process but just pay lip service to it. Brand is something that has to represent your character fully, it isn't just a flashy new logo (however jaggy and unreadable it is) or a nice tagline, everyone has to buy into the brand.

So with all this heroic expenditure on new Olympic logos for London 2012, and the general excitement/lack of government support for the Olympic re-generation in east London how come no-one spent a few minutes telling London Mayor Boris Johnson how to act at an international event? On stage we have three men in suits - the Mayor of Beijing, the head of the Olympic committee and Boris Johnson. Two of those man manage to stand still, with suits smartly closed - one of those men is moving back and forward on his feet, suit open showing an expanse of shirt clad belly, occaisionally waving into the crowd. Guess which one? Then there was the flag 'waving'. To be fair though, it is a big flag. My only question is this - did no-one think, amidst all these millions of pounds of expenditure, that teaching Boris how to act would be helpful in representing our country? Or did the extra money go to really nice stickers on the London bus that was our main contribution to the handover ceremony? I would link to the video on BBC, but for some reason it's hard to find now...

Of course if all this Olympics-ness raises a feeling of 'nuh' in your soul, then check out the Hipster Olympics instead. Whuh?

Labels: Brit Stuff, London, News

We all had a splendid afternoon yesterday at the Rise Festival - a diverse collection of musical groups that combined together to support racial tolerance in the form of a free concert in Finsbury Park. The weather had been threatening all morning, but once we got there and met up with Chris et al the weather stayed lovely and sunny for the most part. Of course none of us had brought suntan lotion so there are a few tan lines today.

We arrived in time for the Dub Pistols, who I don't really know, but they were accompanied by Terry Hall from The Specials who I do know which meant we all got very excited when they played some Specials tracks. They also played a dub version of Peaches by The Stranglers which made me think for a moment they had some of those guys up there with them as well, but unfortunately not. And as Terry Hall reminded us, this festival is not really about music, it's about saying 'F*ck the BNP!' Nice. In-between the main bands we were entertained by beatboxing from Beardyman, who is something quite special indeed with his beatbox versions of most popular dance anthems.

My personal highlight of the day was CSS - who were as strange and bouncy as ever, even if the sound was a bit off. Although they got most of the crowd bouncing, they were outdone by Jimmy Cliff who played some classic tracks that had the whole crowd swaying along. Lovely stuff, and the sunset that accompanied him was perfectly timed.

Labels: festivals, London, Music

The British Government in an attempt to curb the 'increasing' scourge of knife related violence has decreed that youths caught carrying a knife should be made to visit victims of knife crime in hospital. Genius. I mean what would really stop a young kid, scared enough to carry a knife at the thought of being attacked by other kids with knives, other than seeing how gruesome knife wounds are. Plus if you'd just been put in hospital with a knife wound then getting lots of visits from young thugs, some of whom might even be the ones who knifed you, would surely be a wonderful aid to the healing process. Not.

Perhaps a better way to fix this would be to take an approach like learner plates on cars. Until you've learnt that carrying a knife is not a responsible way to behave then you should be forced to wear an embarrassing t-shirt or cap visible at all times, something so ugly and patently designed by a committee of caring types that it could never become a badge of honour. In fact can I suggest the London Olympic logo committee as a good place to start for design suggestions.

Labels: Government, London, Stupidity

While wandering back through Soho we spotted a slightly grumpy looking Graham Norton, striding purposefully northwards. Apparently he doesn't smile all the time - amazing!

Labels: celeb spot, London

For some reason Westminster Council is trying out a new way to charge people for parking that boggles the mind. The scheme, ostensibly aimed at people on a budget, charges people more or less depending on how full the car park is - a scheme inspired by easyJet's cheap fares for the first purchasers. So arrive first, and you get charged 20p an hour, arrive when the car park is full and be charged £2 an hour.

Will it save people money? Or is it just the most ridiculous thing ever? I mean, if I knew a car park only charged 20p an hour I'd try and park there, but so would everyone else - so most likely it will be full, and hence at the two quid an hour level. Still not bad by London standards of course, but not a bargain. With easyJet this system makes sense, as it encourages people to book early and lets easyJet keep the money and get interest - a bird in the hand and all that. With car parking when people turn up and pay it sounds crazy to me. People looking for a bargain will turn up, find it's not that cheap, then drive somewhere else leading to an increase in fuel consumption and pollution, not to mention frustration. Crazy.

Labels: Cars, Crazy, London

Yesterday we headed up to Primrose Hill for a picnic with Olwen, Sarah and friends, on a grey but thankfully un-rainy Sunday. It was, unsurprisingly, Miette's first trip to the hill to see the dramatic views of the London skyline. More surprisingly it was also my first trip, which having sat there for a while I found pretty outrageous as it is a most splendid view. We were lucky in that the grey weather seemed to be keeping the place relatively un-crazy from fellow picnicing Londoners, just the odd hip hop possee having their photos taken.

Thanks to Olwen for giving us the excuse to head up there, and to bringing along plenty of good company to hang out with. Some photos will appear once I have a chance to upload them, as right now we're un-interneted at home (I'm in a local pub) due to our O2 broadband not yet being installed, and our 3 broadband currently on the fritz since yesterday... come on 3, sort it out!

Labels: friends, London

Not long now and we'll be on a plane to Heathrow, ready to enjoy an English summer of warm beer, cricket and CCTV. What ho!

The Montreal apartment is all packed up and stored in various places. Our aches, pains and bruises from moving all the boxes are starting to fade. We're enjoying some last Canadian sun so we land nicely tanned and I might even have a shave so I don't get pulled aside for looking too suspicious. Ah, modern travel.

See you all soon...

Labels: London, travel

Today is our last day in Montreal, at least for a while, as tomorrow morning we begin our roundabout journey back to London. We arrive in London early Wednesday 14th May, ready for a hectic week of settling in, finding jobs and family birthdays. Before that we have to load up a 17" U-Haul lorry with most of our possessions, drive to Toronto and Miette's family, spend a few happy days catching up with Toronto folk and then onto a plane to London and onto another chapter in our lives.

Right now both of us are a bit tired - mentally and physically. Thankfully the Montreal sun is shining down which is keeping our spirits up, as we prepare to leave the home we've created for ourselves here. Our first shipment of 'life crap' is boxed, waiting in a Montreal warehouse, soon to start it's own journey to London by sea. We've ticked most of the boxes on the 'Montreal things we'll miss' list; hanging out with friends, a last yoga session, eating way too much poutine, walking around the Old Port, dinners at our favorite restaurants (Chez Jose, Stash and last night L'Express) and just enjoying the Montreal chilled out pace of life. Personally I hope we can take some of that calm and stillness that we have here to the more hectic, bustling London world.

Sitting last night at L'Express, enjoying foie gras and beautifully cooked steaks, we wrote down the things we're looking forward to in London; seeing family and friends, jogging along South Bank, going to the art galleries, shopping at Tesco, trips around the country, watching Doctor Who without waiting for someone to upload it to youTube, cycling around and finding out how we create our home over there for a while at least. There's an adventure ahead of us that's for certain, and fond memories of the adventure so far to enjoy in the quiet times. Ta ta for now.

Labels: Life, London, Montreal

Well Led Zeppelin have just finished their one-off gig at the O2 arena in London. From the Radio 6 broadcast I'm listening to the set list was full of classic Zeppelin tracks - Song Remains the Same, Kashmir and Stairway to Heaven all featured. Hopefully soon someone will put some bootleg tracks up and we can all have a jolly good listen to find out how the old rock fogeys have held up. Some of us can't afford £86,000 for a pair of touted tickets y'know.

In related news, the Vicar owner of Bron-Y-Aur, the small cottage in Wales near Machynlleth, has asked that Led Zeppelin fans refrain from doing the pilgrimage to his remote home. Back in my young student days in Birmingham I made that trip as part of an ill fated camping weekend. I hadn't planned on it being a special visit, but as soon as I saw that cottage named on the Ordnance Survey map I had to go. It was dusk when I got there, so I snapped a photo of the wonderfully atmospheric, tree covered driveway then went home - happy to see the place where Page & Plant had spent a weekend creating some amazing songs.

Labels: Brit Stuff, Genius, gigs, London, Music

For our last night in London we splurged out and went to see Patrick Stuart in Macbeth, at the Gielgud Theatre. There was one word for this performance - outstanding. I've never actually seen Macbeth, or Stewart act for that matter, but both the production and the acting from the entire cast kept me riveted to my seat the whole three hours. Great stuff, with an intense modern production, some disturbing effects and fine timing of Shakespeare's words. Highlights, aside from Patrick Stewart's amazing Macbeth and Kate Fleetwood's magnetic Lady Macbeth, were the three sisters as nurses, the sheer gore of the production and the re-enactment of the dinner scene once with and once without the ghost of Banquo. Genius.

As an aside; In an attempt to be 'organised' we tried to get tickets yesterday, but it was already sold out as the run finishes 1st December - but they told us that at 10am every day excess premium tickets can come up, so today at 9.56am we got to the counter and got the last two tickets, much to the dismay of the person behind us. So a big thanks to London Underground for getting their act together this morning for a change {:).

Labels: London, Theatre

The Kinetica Museum, slated to be the site of the first demonstration of the Orbo perpetual energy device from Steorn, has now announced that the opening of this exhibit has been "postponed until further notice"...

Labels: London, Technology, treadmills

Today at the Kinetica Museum in London, Steorn are supposed to be demonstrating their new Orbo technology - a technology they claim offers free energy, or perpetual motion as it's also known. As of now, July 5th 3pm BST, the demo is not working - with the following explanation:

"We are experiencing some technical difficulties with the demo unit in London. Our initial assessment indicates that this is probably due to the intense heat from the camera lighting. We have commenced a technical assessment and will provide an update later today. As a consequence, Kinetica will not be open to the public today (5th July). We apologise for this delay and appreciate your patience."

Labels: London, Technology, treadmills