Scenes from the DLR Sunday 19:04: the view from the front of the train... 

Scenes from Canary Wharf Sunday 18:20: After a spot of shopping it is time to go home... 

Scenes from WC1 Saturday 14:56: Cleaning up the street... 

Cabaret: Janie Dee

Caught Janie Dee in concert tonight. She is an awfully talented singer, dancer, actor from the British stage and it seemed like various odd sorts of theatre types came out of the woodwork to see her perform at the Shaw Theatre. The Shaw Theatre is just around the corner from where I live so it was very handy to get to...

Her choice of music was varied and often was new music. Some of it was worth hearing as well. She also premiered a new Andrew Lloyd-Webber song "All the love I have". Well the music has been around for a while - I have the previous version on CD - it was just given new lyrics and a different orchestration (apparently this counts for a new song). But aside from an unfortunate foray into Ave Maria and a song called "No-one believes in a Mermaid" it was a great evening.


Overheard at the Theatre Friday night:

Old Luvvie (to female companion): Well there are three men who are very talented who are vying for the leadership so the Jewish one with the immigrant parents had to do something.

Politics in Britain... The little things that are different

Its a bit gay (except for the BNP)
Stayed up late on Thursday night watching the election results (as one does, although I wasn't wearing an anorak)... Fell asleep at one point in front of the television only to wake up to see lovable Schools Minister and Member for Enfield and Southgate Stephen Twigg concede defeat. He looked very glum. It was a bit of a shock. Mainly because I was so close to the television and I woke up and saw his glum face in widescreen. I certainly wasn't expecting to see that. I sort of met Twigg at the start of this year (I was in the same room he was and he was talking to a friend of mine briefly). My brush with a man with a red box. Smart man, in politics and openly gay. Being gay and in politics in Britain is expected as politics is pretty gay. And with all those Westminster traditions you can't get much gayer than the oldest democracy of them all.

People here can't believe it when I tell them that you can't be openly gay and in politics in Australia. Well at least not in a major party. I tell them you can wear smart suits and dabble in the Arts, but that's as far as it goes. You must have a show wife, force her to live upstairs from you, trot her out for photo ops, then dump her when you are defeated... Whereas at this election in Brighton, all three candidates were gay and trying to outgay themselves. The Tories were playing up just how gay they really were too...

Paxman takes on the grub
There was much talk today about Jeremy Paxman's "interview" of George Galloway. Journalists here love to be antagonistic, but Paxman is the best at this sort of interview. Galloway ran in the East End against black (and Jewish) New Labour Oona King. This electorate has a high proporion of Muslims and so he made it a referendum on the war in Iraq. It was a grubby and bitter campaign so it was nice to hear Paxman start the interview by asking: "Mr Galloway, are you proud of having got rid of one of the very few black women in Parliament?"

Tactical voting
You are elected by a first past the post system here so voters have learned how to vote tactically - and vote for the person most likely to defeat a candidate - even if that means Labour voters who didn't like Blair ending up voting Tory... Backingblair.co.uk describes the process.

Political tv advertising
It doesn't exist. And the debate seems a bit more intelligent for not having it.

When is a 60 seat margin still not good enough?
When you have a core of 30-40 MPs in your own party who will vote against you at (almost) every turn. They are old Labour, and very few of them lost last night. The new parliament will be very different from the last...

Scenes from Covent Garden 21:35. Polls close at 10pm and people work through to 3am to complete the count... so Friday is a quiet day for many! At 00:35 the swing is on and many Labour MPs will be out before the dawn... Exit polls are projecting a loss of 100 seats for Labour and a majority reduced to 66 seats... Swings against Labour are between 4-6%.but it is early in the evening (only 01:50)...  

Concert: Barenboim plays Bach

Sunday Afternoon caught Daniel Barenboim playing Bach's Preludes and Fugues from Book 1 of 'Das wohltemperite Clavier'. Translated that is "the well-tempered keyboard". The first hour were numbers 1-12, then after intermission there were 13-24.

It was a sellout concert given Barenboim's mega-star status. There was a long queue waiting in vain for returns. Inside the hall, it was just him, the Steinway and the preludes and fugues.

On stage there was magic. There was also a bit of tapping and fancy footwork, which initially was a bit distracting. The hands may do the hard work, but the rest of his body seemed to be locked in a constant struggle with the counterpoint. I didn't have the best vantage point and wished I was sitting on the other side so I could see his hands (rather than the body of the piano) but I guess you can't have everything...

He has just released a CD of this as well, which he was signing at the end of the concert. I assume that with the amount of tapping onstage that he must have worn shoes with rubber soles in the recording studio.

I do think there is a limit to the amount of Bach one can take in in an afternoon and during the second half of the concert my mind began to wander. Scanning the audience I noticed that I wasn't the only one getting restless as there was some serious fidgeting and moving about going on. Running into a colleague from work after the concert there was agreement with this sentiment. I had to go home and listen to something less pretty and complex. So I passed on the signing of his new CD, leaving hundreds of others waiting in line...

And then...

During the Bach concert while my mind was wandering I decided that I would give the memorial service for D that was on today in London a miss. There is nothing like Bach to get your mind straight and your thoughts in order...

Scenes from the Barbican Sunday 14:43. There were plenty of punters out for the sun and the food in the concrete and brown tiled area overlooking the artificial ponds. The ponds act as a sound barrier as the circle line runs directly below it. Only a small portion of the Barbican residential area is seen here, but in the glorious sun it can be seen in its ghastly speldour... 

Musical: Acorn Antiques!

Caught Victoria Wood's Musical based on her popular (and very much loved) sketch-show last night at the Theatre Royal Haymarket.

Acorn Antiques the soap was about two sisters who ran an antique store in Manchesterford. Mrs Overall (who is working class and from Birmingham) is the help and makes the tea and macaroons while dealing with her osteo-arthritis. It was a parody of soaps full of bad acting, missed cues, ludicrous intrigue and all things awfully British...

Julie Walters plays Mrs Overall, Celia Imre, Duncan Preston, Josie Lawrence, Neil Morrissey and Sally Anne Triplett also star. And it was directed by Trevor Nunn.

The Musical picks up after the unceremonious axing of the show, after it was unable to compete with the likes of Celebrity Breast Implants From Hell. The principals have been reunited to turn the soap into a musical at the Enoch Powell Arts Centre in Sutton Coldfield. Their careers are in a tailspin so they resort to turning Acorn Antiques into an opera where the store is threatened by controlled parking zones and general urban decay. It is during the rehearsals when Julie Walter's character (who plays Mrs Overall) wins the lotto and uses her winnings to take it to the West End with a much happier storyline (Mrs Overall is the focus) - and more songs and dancing. So cue act two.

For a show that is almost two musicals in one it was hilarious - as funny as anything playing at the moment. Knowing some of the references from the sketch show would help, and at times it was like being in the audience of a sit-com with everyone breaking out into applause when the stars entered, but Julie Walters gives a star turn and it was worth seeing just alone for her amazing performance. She sings, she dances, wears a pinnie, has a hump and varicose veins and still manages to make the tea and macaroons.

While it has been a sellout (with a spare ticket here or there such as front row last night that I snapped up) it is a pity that it will close this month when Julie Walters contract runs out as they had trouble recasting. Perhaps it could return in the near future in a running time under three hours (and one musical rather than two)...

Then again, when the top price ticket is £65 (a new record for the West End) maybe the punters deserve quantity and quality for that price... Definitely a musical curiosity piece. Oh and at the box office you could also purchase Acorn Antiques rubber washing up gloves - aprons too - although no pinnies... Still a nice merchandising touch I thought...

And then...

Caught up with A after the show for drinks. A few hours later we were having a rather early vegetarian breakfast in Soho (I think it was 3am) and I attracted the attention of a passer-by and his friend. How I did this I am not quite sure as I had consumed a few Becks by this time. There seemed to be interest in either me or the grilled tomato, beans and toast, but they didn't join us for the meal. Later we saw him having coffee and a conversation ensued. It turned out the two were from Oxfordshire, in a relationship, and looking for a special guest star for the evening. I said that was lovely and wished them luck. So it all happens in Soho late at night... or doesn't... But it's always nice to meet strange and interesting new people...

Scenes from Seven Dials Covent Garden Saturday 17:27. As it was over 20degrees this weekend, the punters were out en masse...  

Scenes from Millbank 20:49 - Tate Gallery and Millbank Tower 

Overheard at the Tate Friday Night:

Man with a woman (to woman #2):Edith has been here once before, but she was sixteen and it was with the nuns...

Art: Turner, Whistler & Monet

Finally caught the blockbuster at the Tate on Friday night of Turner, Whistler and Monet. A room full of Monet's paintings of the Houses of Parliament and of Waterloo Bridge and Charing Cross were worth the price of admission. I always have thought Monet's paintings of the Palace of Westminster capture it far better than any photograph. The purpose of the exhibition was to highlight how all three artists explored light and atmosphere in landscapes. A blockbuster exhibition that was well worth the visit...

And then later...

Caught up with M&M for Friday night drinks. A long day and nearly two hours at an exhibition took its toll. Left them both at G-A-Y around 2am. I got a text from M1 Saturday saying:
End a bit of a blur again. Not only did I end up with a Brazilian in my bed but a can of Strongbow on my shelf in the fridge
To which I replied:
I am assuming you mean boy not wax
Well hey, both are a dime-a-dozen in London...

Conversations: Soho and rough parts of town

During the course of Friday evening the following was part of a conversation that took place with two New Yorkers:
Mike: Tom wants to go to The Hoist but the concierge of our very nice hotel says that we shouldn't go there as it is in a rough part of town.
Paul: You are obviously staying at the wrong hotel if the concierge says that. You need to stay at a dodgy one so you can get advice on the dodgy venues.
Tom: So what is open in Soho after 2am?
Paul: Fuck all
Mike: Oh "Fuck All"... I didn't see that venue in the press?
Paul: Yeah it's new so you may not have it in your Spartacus guide...

And so on and so on and so on...

Scenes from Charing Cross Tube (Northern Line) 23:30... L'amour est dans le ciel... 

Scenes from London Bridge 23:00 - Caught up with drinks with B tonight and made my way home a little bit tipsy - but still managing to capture the banal... 

News: swim for your life

This week Hampstead bathers win court case establishing their right to swim in freezing ponds - without a lifeguard - if they wish to do so. Bathers and their supporters hailed it as a victory against the Nanny State (which is very important here, unlike in Australia where people love the government to tell people what they should and shouldn't be doing). The case was seen as a test case against endless regulation and fear of litigation. The judgement paves the way for members or the swimming club to swim at the ponds without life guards on duty - and also protects the Corporation of London from being sued should anything go wrong. That sounds awfully sensible.

Rats

• A rat went scurrying past me in the kitchen last night. He seemed to be in a bit of a hurry. This news seemed to be just as shocking to my flatmate as the news that I should vote Tory. I suggested that warfarin would solve the rat problem, but that Tory voters are bound to flourish as Labour continues to stay in office.
• At the National Theatre tonight a rat ran out from under one food counter and hid under the table near me. It then ran back. A few of us watched this rat run with bemusement. Have made mental note to just use the bar at intermission in future.
  
• They do seem to be getting closer...
  

Theatre: History Boys. Pass it on...

Finally caught The History Boys at the National. It was closing night of its extended run and it was another astonishing piece of theatre. As theatre goes, this has to be as good as it can get. At the conclusion, the audience gave a standing ovation to the cast and playwright Alan Bennett.

The play is described as "an unruly bunch of bright, funny sixth-form boys in pursuit of sex, sport and a place at university". But there is so much more going on here. Broader issues of Education are explored as just the starting point. This is a play that is full of witty barbs and sharp dialogue that surely will have a place in future dictionaries of quotations. A particular favourite of mine in the second act...

Mrs Lintott (a teacher): Our Headmaster is a twat. An impermissible word nowadays but the only one suited to my purpose. A twat. And to go further down the same proscribed path, a condescending cunt.

At a point later in the second act the actor playing this teacher lost the line and had to be rescued by having it called out offstage, which temporarilly broke the spell of the performance. But the cast as an ensemble worked so well together during the near three hours they were onstage, that this stumble was soon forgotten. Besides, there was so much memorable dialogue to take in.

The play is due to go to Broadway and tour Australia next year, but surely this play has even more future in it. I have an autographed hardcover script as well...

Overheard at the theatre after the play

Mahn #1: I think it is time tea...
Laaydy: Time tea?
Mahn #2: Yes it's the new talk for time to have some tea.
Laaydy: Oh yes well it is probably a good idea since look it's raining now...

An open letter to Mother

I had a quiet weekend (not counting getting home at 3am on Saturday and Sunday morning) so I used the time to catch up on some letters from home. Since my mother is probably the only person that reads this I thought I would answers some questions from her recent letters:

1. I don't know anybody that collects stamps. I try not to use the word philately in conversation in case it is misunderstood...
2. Don't let Dad leave you outside the men's toilets. It isn't a good look.
3. I did hear about the baggage handler who had a camel's head. It is nice to hear that QANTAS employs all sorts...
   
4. When seeing London in only one day, Do breakfast in Soho not Piccadilly, go to the Tate not Saatchi Gallery, and see a £10 play at the National or use the TKTS booth.
   

So there you have it.

Scenes from Selfridges Oxford Street Sunday 19:38 

Tory boy and didn't even know it...

I found out from the following website that I should vote Tory if I did bother to register to vote. Actually on my first attempt it suggested because I had such non-committal responses to all their questions I should vote for nobody - so I am doing the right thing by staying out of this one.

Only after I decided on the questionnaire to keep Britain out of the Euro and to believe in tax cuts and ID cards did the site suggest I should vote Conservative. Labour came second. Interesting stuff, although it does not factor in the character of candidates and the type of person you would be more inclined to vote for... Policy, pledges and platforms (for whatever that rubbish is) surely can only get you so far... Personality of the leader will always clinch it for me...

The other thing is that I don't know how I am going to break this to my housemate who did the test and was told he should vote Green... He will be horrified. It was his birthday the other day and there was a birthday card that had TB on it. I had to get it for him as the idea of giving him a card with Blair on it (that also was mild political satire) really amused me...

Who should I vote for?
Your expected outcome:Labour
Your actual outcome:

	Labour 3
	Conservative 7
Liberal Democrat -20
UK Independence Party -6
Green -19

You should vote: Conservative

The Conservative Party is strongly against joining the Euro and against greater use of taxation to fund public services. The party broadly supported the Iraq war and backs greater policing and ID cards. The Tories are against increasing the minimum wage above the rate of inflation, and have committed to abolishing university tuition fees. They support 'virtual vouchers' for private education. And they have a leader who is a bit spooky and known to have a potty mouth

Take the test at Who Should You Vote For


News: Plastic and Glass

• One of the more perplexing things about the tube is that they have soft cushioned seats. For something that is used by so many millions of people everyday, you have to try not to focus on all those asses (and everything else) that sat down before you. Now it has emerged that plastic seats may be considered on some lines that are a little bit dodgy...
  
• A window opens and it falls out of the Gherkin (aka the Swiss Re building in the City) today. That's a big bit of glass to go flying about the city...
  

Scenes from Kensington Park Sunday 19:18.  

Scenes from High Holburn 14:59 - Boys on the street 

Rubbing it in...

At after-work drinks last night, J mentioned he was going to his partner's place and was looking forward to a night in. Massage was mentioned as part of the night in. I commented that it had been some time since I had that... The massage, not the night in... So J told my mission for the evening was to get a massage - without having to pay for it (as that would be too easy)...

Today I texted J: Mission Accomplished

London is like that... When it works, it works very well...

News: Flounders and Flowers

• Variety called it "Les Miz lite" and others have been even less unkind. So much so that The Independent suggests there is a curse of the Shaftesbury theatre... Or at least a curse of crap productions playing in it...
  
• Oh and Kew Gardens has a big, smelly flower
  
• And lock your doors, Violent crime in London is up, although crime overall is down. Part of the increase in certain stats is that they are now being recorded. For instance, sexual offences are up, as indecent exposure now is a criminal offence and is recorded. Fascinating stats are available across all of London to enthrall.
  

News: The Sun endorses Labour

The Sun Newspaper - not to be outdone by the conclave in Italy - set up its own chimney and set off a puff of smoke today in London. The smoke was red indicating it will support Labour for its third term. Oh and the front page today read "From Hitler Youth to Papa Razi"... Boom boom!

Post France

The weekend trip has had a positive impact on me.

1. I have been drinking more French red... It helps with the cold I still have...
2. I have been enthralling colleagues with photos from France.
   
3. Plus since returning I have downloaded some music off iTunes by Dalida.

Quand on voulait la danser
Il suffisait de marcher
Le lambeth walk
C'était pas compliqué
He !

So I now have the French version of "The Lambeth Walk"... And I never did have enough eighties French pop in my collection...

Scenes from the National Theatre 19:18 - Book signing with Julian Clary. After a talk tonight that I attended I picked up a copy of the book as well... and got Julian to sign it... Up close he doesn't look half bad. However his good hair stylist and tailoring made one feel downright shabby so avoided any conversation...

Bad news...

Hearing about the death of a friend today has put blogging a little on hold... But coming home on the tube tonight I did listen to a song by William Finn which contains some great lyrics:

I believe,
And I have found,
Hyperbole, is not what makes the world go round,
Just living, just navigating firm and level ground,
Has power to astound,
I have found.

It's been said,
And I have heard,
That quiet, doesn't have to be a dirty word,
Just talking,is often more expressive than a shriek,
Its nice to merely speak,
I have found.

Look around

Contentment it seems,
Simply happens
It appears
Accompanied by no grovels
And no tears

from "I have found" - William Finn

And so life goes on...

Scenes from outside Angers Sunday afternoon: Complete with National Front posters urging a no vote in the upcoming referendum on the EU constitution... 

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Paul's Travelling Tips Miscellany

More on my weekend later but first my observations travelling 300kph out of Paris:

• A trip to Paris, then on to Angers need not be tiring... Just travel first class. My return leg was in a solo seat so I did not have to play footsie with anybody... The seats are bigger and the cars are quieter... And in general the cars have much better looking people in them... Although the only attractive people in my car tonight are the women...
  
• You also get nicer messages on the PA system, and the crew are much more polite. Unless of course you are Grace Jones trying to get a free upgrade, or the Asian woman at Gare Du Nord who showed her ticket to the smart French gent after me and got: "YOU ARE CAR THREE THIS IS CAR TWELVE! MOVE ALONG!"
  
• I am typing this while having a nice glass of champagne. There is a bottle of Bordeaux waiting after that as well...
  
• The 3pm train out of Waterloo is a good one to catch if you wish to pick up a Gaelic Businessman returning to Paris. I just didn't try hard enough, but then again I only had the Perrier as an aperitif...
  
• I am enjoying myself more as I type this and quaff champagne...
  
• Oh and check the Price differential between 1st and 2nd class when you book... For me it was only £20 so I figured that was a bargain...

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Travelling

Travelling on the Eurostar speeding through the French countryside, one notices how much smarter it is to travel in first class. However one can sympathise with Grace Jones as the leg room is still a bit minimal. Have been playing footsies with the French businessman sitting opposite me for most of the journey. Oh and there is an over representation of laptops in the car I am travelling in - hence getting out the iPAQ to be a poser as well...

Scenes from the Barbican Thursday 22:03. Intermission 

Theatre: Alas thou has misconstrued everything... Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar last night at the Barbican was a marathon effort. First half ran for two hours, then half an hour intermission, followed by another hour. F thought there were a few places they could have cut, but with things falling onto stage, loud explosions, huge crowd scenes, and an updating of the production to a Bush-like era, there was plenty to take in.

Sitting in second row, Ralph Feinnes as Marc Antony was particularly engaging. Of course he could read the back of a cereal packet and have had the audience hanging on to every word. But the rest of the cast was just as good.

Being a preview there were a few little odd bits, such as a very bright torch falling on stage and pointing out to the audience. The effect was that half the audience in the stalls had to squint for five minutes until an actor picked it up.

Given the star power of the cast, it seems like it will be a popular blockbuster production. Whether everyone will buy the updating to the Bush era - complete with battles fought wearing desert fatigues - may be another matter.

It all happens during interval:

A woman brushes by Paul.

Paul (to F): Did you see that woman rub her breasts up against me?
F: Yes... Complete waste of time for her wasn't it...

Actually, the audience was much better looking at the LSO concerts... But anyway...

Scenes from Charing Cross Road 20:24 - Outside Foyles bookstore 

News: Freud's latest

Lucian Freud new self-portrait goes on show at the National Portrait Gallery. The speculation over who the young naked woman clinging to the 82 year old painter is commences... Nothing like a bit of mystery in the art world, particularly involving a superstar artist...

Alas the gallery was not open when I walked by it tonight... Some other time

News: Sock it to him

Cherie Blair last night tells the East End constituency of New Labour MP Oona King to give George Galloway a bloodied nose at the ballot box. George Galloway used to be a Scottish Labour MP who was famous for visiting and brown nosing Saddam in Iraq. Now with his own loony left / broad coalition of anyone against the war party, he is hoping to capture the Muslim vote in the east end. The papers tried to pin many things on Galloway but he won libel suits against them, but there is something unpleasant about this beady-eyed bald Scotsman. Still that has never stopped anyone from getting elected...

News: Outfoxing the mugger

South Kensington City Fund Manager (and woman) gets pistol whipped in a botched mugging Monday night. Rather than hand over her ring she threw it into bushes and told the would-be mugger that she dropped it... Don't mess with the city fund manager...

Misc

No gym tonight as picked up lurgie in the past couple of days. But:

• Will catch the Barbican production of Julius Ceasar Thursday night
  
• The show is now estimated to run for three and a half hours. As Thursday night is the show's first night it is probably too early to expect too many cuts...
  
• Julius Ceasar cast includes Ralph Fiennes and Fiona Shaw.
  
• I was to take Marc to this but that was in the before time, so I am now taking colleage F from work.
  
• This change of plans did not go down well and I more emails from him in one afternoon than I have had in the past four months (which provided for interesting reading for my friends who love reading the rantings of a madman). Of course personally when you have done the madman relationship in the past it is all a bit frightfully passe.
  
• Planning to consume the odd can of Red Bull to make it through Thursday and the occasional Lemsip
  
• Friday afternoon take off to Angers, France for the weekend. Planning on catching some sleep on the Eurostar...
  
• Life goes on...
  

Scenes from Tottenham Court Road 21:26 

Scenes from the Central Line Monday 21:24 - Between Holburn and Tottenham Court Road 

News: Is this the way to Amarillo

Tony Christie's ditty has been four weeks at No 1. It is a catchy tune, and has a very tacky video clip which may explain the enduring appeal. Even guys working out at the gym will stop to look at the TV screens when it starts playing... Hmmm...

New Look... new products

Today was told my skin looked fabulous. I explained could have been the result of:

1. Several litres of water (with gas) I have consumed in the past 24 hours
   
2. Some anti-aging face mask I had a sample of and applied overnight
   
3. Sauna at the gym at Bayswater from Sunday
   
4. Bronzing anti-shine face powder (just the thing for polluted London streets)
   
5. All of the above
   

Much later, after a 20 minute jog at the gym, one did not look as great. Yet to master the look cool in the gym. Just look sweaty instead.

Scenes from Bayswater tube Sunday 18:41.  

Scenes from Goodge St Tube Saturday 22:22 

News: Misc

'Rubbish' art offered to visitors at the Serpentine today as Takahashi's installation is offered to the public...

Wearing an Abercrombie & Fitch t-shirt ordered online this week which has on it "Here's to being single". A&F are quite popular here amongst the gay punters with their modern takes on classic clean cut items. Late last year they settled a class action discrimination case which accused the company of being a little too clean cut and a little too all-white. Of course none of this stops the punters buying the goods...

Overheard on the Tube tonight:

Chav #1: I am not doin' any more girls until school finishes...
Chav #2: Yeah?
Chav #1: But Jo came yesterday at 5 and I gave her a good shaggin'... She won't forget that...

Overheard at the London Lesbian and Gay Film Fest tonight:

Leather Man #1: You know Peter, the young boy that hangs around us sometimes?
Leather Man #2: Oh yes I know the one
Leather Man #1: Well he sent me a text around lunchtime which said, "Get yourself to a TV, she looks faaabulous in oyster silk and chiffon!"