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Take me to the world: Hide and Seek @parktheatre

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In a small town where everyone knows everyone, if you don't like it, you might feel that the only logical thing to do is to disappear. Especially if you think it will help your social media rankings. The loneliness and isolation of youth meet influencers in the wild in Tobia Rossi's Hide and Seek. And while events take a darker turn, the humour and the intimacy make this piece about youth on the edge (of trending) fascinating and enjoyable. It's currently playing at Park Theatre .  Mirko (Nico Cetrulo) is exploring a cave with his camera when he stumbles on Gio (Louis Scarpa). Gio has been missing for a while, and the town has been looking for him. But Gio is more interested in how much he is trending on TikTok. He also had a crush on Mirko. Soon, they establish a friendship and a bond. In the cave, they explore feelings they would not dare share outside. However, things turn darker when Gio is confident enough to leave the cave, while Mirko doesn't want his double life

Film: Dreamgirls

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DREAMGIRLS , originally uploaded by 浮躁 . Finally caught a preview of Dreamgirls on Sunday (which opens in the UK this Friday officially). I managed to drag Ad, F and S to see it with me based on what was probably about six months of hype that I had been drip feeding (including various podcasts, news updates and songs). Seeing it was closure more than anything else for all of us I am sure. I thought it was two hours and ten minutes of great entertainment. Ad, F and S were not so keen on musicals it turns out. At one point they were exasperating at yet another song. While I wasn't surprised with their objections, these guys really should have their pink cards revoked. Dreamgirls the show has been a cult, a hit and lost musical in the 25 years since it first premiered. The songs from it and the original Broadway soundtrack have been a staple in drag performances, dance clubs, and it even garnered mentions in episodes of Will and Grace. It's a story about black women made by g

Scenes from the Bakerloo line Saturday 23:24

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Scenes from the Bakerloo line Saturday 23:24 , originally uploaded by Pauly_ . A gay reader with a very big book... Must be one of those sci-fi novels...

Overheard in a Clapham Cafe Saturday...

Lady 1 : Oh I went to the dentist this week... Lady 2 : Is that the gay one Lady 1 : Oh yes, but he has lovely eyes, and nice hair... Lady 2 : I went to him once... Thought he was a bit stiff... Lady 1 : Oh but I could stare into his eyes all day...

Film: Babel

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Babel , originally uploaded by stef_install . Thursday evening I caught Babel . All three hours of it. Sitting there for that long you run through various thoughts such as, "can this drag on for any longer?" or "why is nobody wearing makeup?" "how much blood can Cate loose?". It aims to be a sprawling global story connecting everyone through a single moment but it really boils down to depressing and pretentious story. I can see why Americans may take to it as it is full of angst about Americas place in the world, but it is seriously undermined by really poor characterisations and a never ending stream of unbelievable events. Not all the actors have much to do in this flick either. Before Cate gets shot she just looks sullen and Brad Pitt looks very old and dusty throughout most of the film. If there was a makeup artist present, you wouldn't know it. It all seemed a bit depressing, but I left the movie feeling that the central message of the film wa

Scenes from Clapham Wednesday 8:59

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DSC04374 , originally uploaded by Pauly_ . A light cover of snow. It was the first significant snowfalls since 2003. By 9am it had started to melt and by the lunchtime it was gone... Pity... SW4 had never looked so pure...

Crap television of the week...

The things people do for publicity... Such as the London Gay Men's Chorus . Well I guess any publicity is good publicity...

Scenes from Leicester Square Sunday 17:33

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Scenes from Leicester Square Sunday 17:33 , originally uploaded by Pauly_ . TV celebrity with very pink turtleneck interviewing punters who were big fans of Beyoncé at Dreamgirls premiere in Leicester Square. Beyoncé showed up later so it was a bit of filler... I hadn't seen such a small crowd at a premiere since Superman Returns. There were more temporary barriers than people...

TV: That show...

The new insult is when I was drinking a vodka lime and soda over the weekend and told that was the sort of drink Jade Goody would drink. Jade is the latest bette noire after purportedly taking part in a series of racist incidents that appeared on Celebrity Big Brother. It came to its expected conclusion Friday night when she was voted off the show but over the past week it has been treated as if it were some major national event. Well the show needed the publicity as into its second week it was struggling to attract an audience. Jade Goody has in the past few years carved out a niche in the "lovable slapper" market making TV shows on Channel 5 - known for showing CSI and wacky police videos - and generally showing up in the celeb photo columns. That is, she is world famous in Britain. The fallout of the last week is that sponsors have "suspended their involvement" in the current series (at least until the whole incident blows over ) and Jade has even had her perfu

Scenes from Charing Cross Station Thursday 20:22

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DSC04340 , originally uploaded by Pauly_ . No trains due to the weather. People transfixed at blank screens. All the good reason not to live in Orpington I guess...

Weather: Severe Gales

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Millennium Bridge closed today , originally uploaded by Ian Tindale . The "death winds" closed the Millennium Bridge as police feared people could be blown into the water ... It would probably not be a nice way to go... The Tate Modern lost a few panels from the top of its chimney... All the action of the City of London police telling people where to go was captured by a Flickr user... By the end of the day the death count across Europe was: Britain - 9 Germany - 7 The Netherlands - 4 Czech Republic - 3 France - 2