Overheard on the Tube Monday night...

Guy: You fancied that guy didn't ya?
Girl: Gehorf he was all o' twenty
Guy: Didn't ya! didn't ya!
Girl (looking in Paul's direction): Shh I think that guy over there can hear us...

Scenes from the Royal Academy Monday 15:20

Scenes from the Royal Academy Monday 15:20, originally uploaded by Paul-in-London.

Great views, great location... Probably a bit drafty... I wonder if the RA would consider renting out their Jericho installation...

Scenes from a deli in SW4 Sunday 14:56

DSC04795, originally uploaded by Paul-in-London.

We have big butter in Clapham...

Movies: Sunshine

Murphy looking all wistful...

With all the flat hunting that has been taking up my time in the past few weeks I have not had the chance to see any theatre. Such a shame as everytime I write something about the theatre I get at least an extra person reading this site. And I have been informed that my site ranks up there on Google when you type in Elaine Paige's Tits so that gives me good theatre cred surely...

Anyway, I did manage to catch the film Sunshine on Saturday. It is part 2001 A Space Odyssey, part Alien and part Stargate. But anyway, Cillian Murphy even looks a bit like Sigourney Weaver (and conjures up a little of Jaye Davidson as Ra in Stargate too).

The plot involves a mission to restore the dying sun. It starts off slowly and maintains this pace throughout. Some people have told me they felt the film was boring, pretentious rubbish but anything that plays homage to 2001, while throwing in some strange weirdo alien being that has had a bit too much sun can't be all that bad. There are some nice themes of morality and religion that play here as well...

I could have done with less fight scenes and a little more ambiguity. Although the ending with its shaky camera and distorted effects is so ambiguous I took to guessing how it actually ended... Hmm maybe I should go to the theatre. At least you can see what is happening there...

Scenes from The Green Clerkenwell Friday 15:07

DSC04765, originally uploaded by Paul-in-London.

Good Friday and good weather...

Scenes from a street in SW8 Tuesday 17:38

Scenes from an SW8 Street 17:38, originally uploaded by Paul-in-London.

One of the joys of checking out new properties (as I will be shortly moving) is finding strange and interesting new streets, full of rubbish and debris... I passed on the property in this street... The search continues...

Film: Wrestling with Angels

Tony Kushner and composer Jeanine Tesori

Earlier this week I caught the documentary Wrestling With Angels which was a brilliant snapshot of the life of one of America's great living playwrights and liberal political activists. It captures the period of Kushner's life from September 11 2001 through to the presidential elections in 2004. During this period it traces the filming of his major work Angels in America (by HBO), a book with Maurice Sendak, an opera and the musical Caroline, Or Change. The film ends with Kushner's attempts on election day to ensure that people get to the polling both.

You leave the movie with a sense of wanting to go out and do something to change the world. Although given the outcome of the 2004 election, you are inclined to wonder what is the point... Definitely the best movie I caught at the film festival. One to look out for on the film festival circuit...

Bartalk...

Paul: Eww, that man with the beard who keeps smiling at you has missing teeth...
Adam: That's okay, I quite like gummy bears...

Scenes from an over-engineered office Thursday 16:23

Scenes from an over-engineered office Thursday 16:23, originally uploaded by Paul-in-London.

I was in a meeting room on Thursday and after going "What the f---" managed to take this little memento... I think they are sitting in water but it could be that stuff hairdressers sit their combs in...

The art of Feedburning...

Adding Feedburner to my site has unearthed some interesting things about who reads my blog. For instance if you search Google using the following terms my blog is (apparently) of assistance:

• Nearest IKEA store to Finsbury Park (but I prefer John Lewis!)
  
• Catherine Naglestad Tosca Covent Garden 2006 (fair enough I did write about that)
• Paul Lange Australia address (who the fuck is that?)
• BFI Southbank (fair enough I have been there a bit in the past week)
• THE RISING BALLAD OF MANGAL PANDEY (there's no need to shout!)
  
• Testicle torture Daniel Craig (what?)
  
• Hampstead Heath gay exact location (what am I George Michael's personal assistant?)
  

And alas if you type "Paul in London" and "motherfucker" in Google I somehow top the list...

Scenes from BFI Southbank Bar Wednesday 23:22

Scenes from BFI Southbank Bar Wednesday 23:22, originally uploaded by Paul-in-London.

Perhaps one has stayed too long at the bar when they start putting up the chairs around you...

Movies: Only Connect / Bermondsey

How many cheap jumpers can one take in an evening? Well I guess it was the 1970s... And it was Bermondsey...

Wednesday evening I caught a double bill of 1970s television movies at the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival. I was dreading the experience thinking that it would feature a lot of cheap woolen knits and moaning about socialism. It did of course, but the treat of the evening was catching the 30 minute play Bermondsey which was described in the programme as Brokeback Mountain in a south east London Pub.

It was a bit more sophisticated than that, and told the story about a love triangle and how the wife and gay lover conspire to keep a man from running off with his mistress. Written by Sir John Mortimer and filmed in 1972 it was definitely a cut above the usual fare that is served up at these festivals. There was plenty to talk about over post cinema drinks at the smart new bar at the BFI Southbank (not that an excuse was really needed for that anyway)...

News: Tube skis

In a slow news day like today, police are warning people not to attempt to recreate the stunt of skiing down the Angel Tube escalator, which is the longest escalator on the tube network. The video below was recorded over a year ago which means that it is too late to prosecute under railway by-laws. Filmed with just a helmet camera, it captures the 1992 station refurb quite nicely I thought...

Scenes from the Southbank Monday 18:03

DSC04660, originally uploaded by Paul-in-London.

The evenings are getting longer...

A series of plantings of pansies along the Southbank is commemorating the murder of David Morley in 2004.

Movies: Le Long Weekend

Scene from "Eating Out 2". That is Adrian in the centre... Guy from American Idol and Rebekah Kochan are either side...

All has been quiet over the past few days as I have been taking a few days off work and just enjoying springtime in London. I have also caught a couple of screenings at the London Lesbian and Gay Film Fest at the newly refurbished BFI Southbank

On Sunday it was a collection of shorts filmed in Britain, but it really should have been called Made in London. Most interesting of the films was one called Le Weekend which featured an irritating and sexually ambivalent Frenchman (is that a tautology?) who also is a film maker. The premise is that he comes to London to do a film school assignment and ends up wandering around central London with the help of a friendly (and rather fit) local. It all ends in tears (sort of) but in the meantime there are some great locations of Soho and surrounding areas.

On Monday it was a charming film called Eating Out 2: Sloppy Seconds. Actually any film with Mink Stole in it can't be too bad. And it was a well made sex comedy about a gay man who pretends to be straight to attract the attention of a rather ambivalent man who happens to do modeling for their art class. This was a repeat screening and a lot of people commented on Sunday how Marco Dapper who plays this ambivalent man was rather appealing. Well it takes all sorts I suppose...

News: Abercrombie and Fitch

Abercrombie & Fitch, originally uploaded by 8lettersuk.

The new Abercrombie and Fitch store has opened as of Thursday and the signature features of a flagship store are there: low level lighting and two male store greeters with washboard stomachs (if you look hard they are in this photo from a Flickr user 8lettersuk).

A&F has been big here for a number of years (particularly amongst gay men) thanks to e-bay and online orders. Will be interesting to see if classic American tailoring with a twist now explodes across London... Particularly on Savile Row which is not known for its casual wear... Mental note: must get Fierce. Have run out...

Early week bar conversations...

Man in a bar: You have great teeth...
Paul: Are you a dentist?
Man in a bar: Uh... No...

Overheard on Old Compton Street Sunday

Man #1: Nooo, noo. I've had pills I don't want to eat anything!
Man #2: Aw come on...
Man #1: Nooo I've had pills...

Music: Thomas no Bryn and Susan no Sarah

You know you might be in for an interesting evening when the director for the Barbican addresses the audience before the start of the concert apologising for the every-changing line-up.

Originally it was Thomas Hampson and Susan Graham who were appearing in this concert with the BBC Symphony. In February it was announced Hampson was withdrawing for personal reasons (a curious euphemism up there with gardening leave) and Bryn Terfel was stepping in as his replacement. Curiously the Barbican expected loads of people to get rid of their tickets at this point and offered replacement. I held on to mine. Then on Friday came the announcement that Sarah Connolly was stepping in to replace Susan Graham. By this point I had lost all interest in the concert, but since I hadn't seen Terfel sing live I figured it was probably worth still going to see.

Terfel is a great performer and even in the circle row seat which had some unusual acoustics (you could hear the orchestra like it was beside you but the soloists sounded like they were in the bathroom) it was great to see. The programme was a bit of mixed bag, but given the ever-changing line-up I suppose one should be grateful the concert ever happened...

Scenes from Waterloo Bridge Saturday 16:19

Scenes from Waterloo Bridge Saturday 16:19, originally uploaded by Pauly_.

One fine day in March... Bare arms have now been spotted in London...

Good housekeeping

Tonight while I have had a quiet night in, in between playing "Rear Window" with the neighbours in the properties opposite my bedroom window, I have made some minor changes to the blog layout including setting up being able to Subscribe to Paul in London by Email... So Mum and that other guy from Wichita who reads the blog can know when I update...

Scenes from a rehearsal at Haywood Gallery Thursday 18:29

Scenes from Haywood Rehearsal Thursday 18:29, originally uploaded by Pauly_.

Good quality mineral water and loads of fresh towels... Who could want anything else?

Rehearsal 101

Wednesday evening I took part in rehearsal for a concert the London Gay Mens Chorus is performing at the Hayward Gallery as part of An Evening of Radical Singing. I am not sure how radical it is to sing "Come Fly with Me" and "The Rose" (although I do tend to get the lyrics about the Rose mixed up and get my seeds and bleeds confused so that could sound a bit radical). We will also be doing something interesting involving a bit of movement and free singing with "Wade in the Water" a classic spiritual song. It should put the variety back into Thursday evening anyway...

Theatre: The Glass Menagerie

Tuesday evening I caught the excellent production of The Glass Menagerie starring Jessica Lange. I thought it was a superbly staged, acted and directed show. For over two hours I was kept alert (no falling asleep in the stalls tonight). Lange was great to see on stage. A simple stare seemed to convey so much. And when in the second act she puts on her best outfit for a gentleman caller you can't help but feel horrified and pity for her as well.

The rest of the cast were just as good. There was Ed Stoppard as Tom - the son who always seems to be going to the movies and coming home late (one time with a red handkerchief in his back pocket... Say no more). And Amanda Hale as the Laura the crippled daughter too nervous to face life and its disappointments... It may not be Tennessee William's best play (some of the flashbacks and the narration is jarring and unnecessary) but there is so much in this story to ponder over (at interval and at the bar after, on the tube home) that it is easy to overlook these minor flaws.

It was a pity this great production isn't playing to packed houses. Across the road, some guy who has done a few Harry Potter films is starring in a play about the psychology behind poking the eyes out of horses. He appears completely naked and it is playing to packed houses. I gather the only impressive thing about the play is the six-story billboard outside the theatre... Although the publicity shots look a bit smashing... Go figure...

Scenes from a South Bank subway Saturday 16:46

Scenes from a South Bank subway Saturday 16:46, originally uploaded by Pauly_.

Art: Gilbert and George and poop

As a tribute to the Tate Modern's excellent Gilbert and George exhibition I thought I would include some imagery of their less confrontational shitty art. An entire floor has been devoted to their work and it isn't hard to do this since as they progressed through the years, they really went for large scale stuff. Some of it is quite impressive, but the period where they were fascinated in bodily functions seems a little quaint these days.

Going through the exhibition, a highlight was watching one father point out to his two young sons the bright green and pink buttocks and testicles of the artists in a piece titled. the City Fairies. Judging by the looks of other punters in the gallery they seemed to think this was a bit inappropriate. I guess with parental guidance anything goes these days...

All told, it is nice to see that their latest works have moved away from bodily fluids and to the big issues of the day such as terrorism, intolerance and extremism. Besides, turds on a giant scale look like bread rolls... The exhibition runs through to May.

Film: The Good German

The Good German poster, originally uploaded by Daryl Van Horne.

At one point during The Good German I turned to Ad and said to him, "Forget it Jake it's Potsdam". There was a hint of Chinatown about this movie. The only difference was it wasn't as well acted, directed or with an intelligible story.

But there was plenty of confusion as Clooney plays a character called Jake who spends most of the film chasing Lena (Cate Blanchett) all over the American and Russian sectors of 1945 Berlin. Why he pursues a woman with such a badly fitting wig is anyone's guess. She spends most of the movie pouting and talking in slow, low and deliberate voice. Her line "Yuu shud naht huv cum bahk to Berlin" evoked memories of Meryl Streep as Karen Blixen in Out of Africa "Yuu have mede me barrhen"...

Tobey Maguire also has a role. He gets to say very non film noir words such as "fuck" and "cunt" in an unusually high pitched voice. Fortunately he gets "done in" early on and we are left wondering who did it for all of five minutes... Well war is hell... So is the peace it seems too...