Here are a couple of photos of The Herbaliser that I took last night at the Jazz Cafe in Camden. They’re not great pictures but do show nicely what it is I like so much about the Jazz Cafe, which is that you can get close enough to take pictures like these.
I decided that since 35 is a kind of “special” birthday - well, it marks the traditional half-way point in one’s life - that I ought to do something to mark the occasion. Since Clare’s excellent Christmas Karaoke/Dinner party, I’ve been wanting to do karaoke again, so that’s what I decided to do for my birthday.
I realise that the picture just shows me, but that’s because I don’t like to post other people’s pictures on the internet without asking. I could happily do karaoke all on my own, but it is much more fun with other people. And, of course, I’d like to thank those delightful people for coming along to help me celebrate!
Last night I went to see this - Jeff Wayne’s musical version of The War of the Worlds, based on the book by H.G.Wells.
You can read all about the original 1978 concept album here.
The show was a faithful rendition of the album with all live performers, many of them from the original album, band and full string orchestra. Even Richard Burton made an appearance as a computer generated animation lip-synched to his original recording.
So, how was my second trip to The O2 (to see Madness last week - fun, but they’re clearly getting a bit old) in just over a week?
Select: A Night with Mark Titchner was part of this Friday’s Late at Tate Britain night. The theme of the presentation was “the psychology of excess, control and altered states.” - sounds like a pretty normal Friday night, then.
You can read about Mark Titchner here and here.
This is an example of his work:
I thoroughly enjoyed the films he’d gathered together, so for the benefit of those of you who missed the event, I’ve put together a list of all the video clips he used, with links to the actual video where possible. Enjoy
It’s been a busy weekend. I’ve been out for each of the last four nights and each of those nights has involved loud music and staying out late.
This picture is from Friday’s Mobile Clubbing event which was held at Tate Modern.
Mobile Clubbing is a bizarre experience which involves turning up at a pre-arranged time and place (pre-arranged via the internet, of course!) and dancing to your personal stereo, along with a horde of strangers. The Turbine Hall of the Tate Modern was a perfect venue for this. Even the artwork currently on display conveniently allows plenty of room for people to dance around in the open space.
And speaking of the “artwork” … I guess it is pretty much obligatory for me to offer my comment. Being fair, the hall was very busy when I got there, so I couldn’t really take in the awesome wonder of a hole in the ground all at once. Being realistic, though, it is a hole in the ground. Neat idea with the name, though - Shibboleth. Only this time I think the Shibboleth is meant to flush out pretentious art critics and not the Ephraimites.
And that was just the start of the weekend clubbing experience …
Sometimes it seems like you just can’t keep me away from Thorpe Park. You can read about previous visits here and here.
First off, here’s the obligatory rollercoaster picture:
Flying Fish isn’t the wildest ride in the park, so I was able to get a couple of on-ride shots like this taken at arm’s length. It isn’t the best picture in the world, but I include it for historic reasons. It is the first picture of me for a couple of years where I don’t have a moustache. Haven’t decided if I’m going to stay that way yet.
This trip to Thorpe Park was a bit of an experiment…
I wasn’t sure which picture to put in this blog entry. There’s plenty I could write about - I even have a decent sized selection of possible pictures I could use. I chose this one because … well, Prince wouldn’t let me take any pictures at his concert, which is what this entry would have otherwise been about …
I took this at London Zoo at the weekend which I visited with my parents. We were fortunate enough to have nice weather and had a very pleasant afternoon strolling around trying to find an animal, any animal that was actually doing something. Anything!?!
(more…)
Happy Memories! My friend Eva took me to see Brett Anderson, former lead singer of Suede performing live at Shepherd’s Bush Empire.
For me, Suede’s highpoint was the album Dog Man Star which was released in 2002. So, not exactly a bang up to the minute band, then.
Read on to find out how Brett has fared since then …
April’s been a busy month - I’m back chained to a desk full time in The City, which although it hasn’t stopped me going out, it certainly hasn’t helped. Still, my loss is the world of finance’s gain, I guess. And some rich person is now just a little bit richer thanks to my efforts. I can’t begin to describe how happy (or otherwise) that makes me feel.
Anyway, work’s not what life’s about. Not for me, at least. So, what else have I been up to?
The picture shows the Art! part of the title. Or at least a part of the art. It is the Tate Modern, taken (unbelievably, looking at the pic) on a bright and sunny day. I visited the Tate Modern twice in April, once with a group from friend Clare’s Meet at Last website for their Sunday Serendipity outing, and once a week later on a date.
Any more art?
Ooops! Another long delay since my last blog entry. And it isn’t like there’s not been anything happening in my life to write about. More like a lack of time to write about it. To start with, here’s a picture I took on a recent trip to London Zoo.
It is a shade blurry due to my poor photography efforts, but what you see there is exactly how they look at the zoo. The monkeys are kept in a special enclosure which visitors can walk through without any fences between them and the monkeys. That’s not a big monkey. It’s a tiny cute little one right up close.
I probably wouldn’t have dreamt up the idea of going to the zoo by myself, so thanks to Clare for inviting me along to help out on her Meet at Last Sunday Serendipity outing. My duties were to take the group photograph, and that was pretty much it.
So, what else have I been up to?