Paul in London

IMG_1093 , originally uploaded by Paul-in-London . Is it a coffee shop? Is it art? Is it both? Certainly this year's pavilion is an inspired piece of design. Also at the Serpentine is the Jeff Koons Popeye Series . While some at the gallery commented that if you shoved any inflatable water toy up your arse this could constitute as a Koons installation, it was brief enough for me to not get too bothered about it one way or the other... Both run through the summer.

Friday evening I caught The Mountaintop at the Trafalgar Studios. The two-hander is about the night before Martin Luthor King Jr is assassinated and imagines King as a man. A man with stinky feet, no toothbrush and afraid of thunder. There with him is the hotel's maid. After bringing him a cup of coffee, the stage is set for an astonishing set of revelations, many of which are hilarious. Much of the humour derives from the banality of everyday life. There are pros and cons about different brands of cigarettes, whisky, coffee, the weather. Martin Luthor King has just delivered his I've Been to the Mountaintop speech, and as the play unfolds, both his regrets about what more there is to do, and the knowledge the audience has about what lies ahead, gives this play its strength. Katori Hall 's play is fast paced and the production is slick. The chemistry between David Harwood as King and Lorraine Burrough as the maid Camae was incredible too. Who knew summer plays could be so...

Don't mess with my tutu , originally uploaded by ian_fromblighty . Flickr user captures Katie Price in Selfridges in a tutu... To publish some book... Nice Aussiebums though...

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DOG POO MISERY , originally uploaded by the_moog . It isn't just the swine flu... There is dog poo too...

It has been a a summer of opera for me. And a very enjoyable one as well. After catching Renée Flemming in La Traviata earlier in the season, I caught the opening night performance of The Barber of Seville. This production has to be a highlight of the year and one of the best productions I have seen. While Joyce DiDonato's fall in the first act gathered the headlines, what really was sensational about this production was how great the cast was. Particularly DiDonato, Pietro Spagnoli and of course, Juan Diego Flórez as the Count. Flórez in the final fifteen minutes of the opera was simply amazing, even more so after reading DiDonato's account on her blog , where he was holding her up... Literally. After his final aria, the audience couldn't stop cheering, stamping, hollering (you name it). It is moments like this that you remember why you go to the opera. The other moment of high drama in this opera was when DiDonato fell in the first act. I thought it was those chunky s...

Man #1: So we could have salad for dinner... Man #2: Yeah like lettuce? Man #1: Yeah like lettuce... Lettuce and... Chicken...

The house dress as art. Discuss. See and download the full gallery on posterous (although trust me, it isn't worth it) Posted via email from paulinlondon's posterous

Initial impressions of Forbidden Broadway which is currently in preview but opens later this week at the Menier Chocolate Factory Listen! It has been a while since I have been to the theatre and blogged about it. Sure I could have written about Frances Ruffelle's cabaret show at Madame Jo Jos saying it was good but after a long day rehearsing with the London Gay Men's Chorus , I wanted something funnier. I could have also written about opening night of La Traviata with Renée Fleming which was also fantastic (overlooking the first act and the over-egged production). But it was the sheer cheap laughs and silliness of Forbidden Broadway that is worth a blog update. While it was a little short side, there were enough fresh barbs at the London theatre scene including Elaine Paige, the West End Whingers , audience members, and even Susan Boyle , along with with material previously performed from the off-Broadway review to keep everyone entertained. Well maybe everyone who is a lit...

Picture 500 , originally uploaded by Paul-in-London . It is that time of year again when naked people cycle through the streets of London . While it lacked the body paint and noise of last year's ride, it made up for that with the huge numbers of naked people cycling. And amongst all this full-frontal nudity there was a message that we should get back to nature and stop relying on oil... More ass , less gas or something like that... Walking back through Hyde Park afterwards one stumbled across a sea of naked and semi-naked people who had finished the ride. There were also loads of people taking photographs of this nakedness. I resisted the urge to capture close up nudity in favour of the magic of the ride... Besides some things are best viewed when they are whizzing by you...