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I Miss The Mountains: Fly More Than You Fall @Swkplay

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Losing a parent when you’re still figuring out who you are and your place in the world seems like a bummer of a topic for a musical. But somehow, Fly More Than You Fall tackles grief and loss with a light touch, catchy music and enthusiastic performances. While it may not offer great insight into the exploration of grief, it gives pause for thought and a few laughs on the way. After all, death doesn’t take a holiday, and nobody gets out of here alive. We just hope it doesn’t happen too soon. It’s currently playing at Southwark Playhouse Elephant .  We first meet Malia as she prepares for summer writers' school. She aspires to be a writer and has a story in development. Encouraged by her mother to keep going, she is looking forward to the summer. But the summer school is cut short when her mother is diagnosed with stage four cancer. Back home so her mother can spend her last days with her family, Malia has to grow up quickly and find her voice while watching her mother slip away.  T

Scenes from London Bridge Thursday 18:22

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Scenes from London Bridge Thursday 18:22 Originally uploaded by Pauly_ .

Scenes from Liverpool St Station Thursday 17:35

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Scenes from Liverpool St Station Thursday 17:35 Originally uploaded by Pauly_ . Watching England beat Trinidad and Tobago ... At this stage no goals but plenty of beer... While I didn't watch the game you could tell how well England was doing by the silence. If there was a roar that dropped off instantly you knew there was a near-miss. A roar that continues means there was a goal... England are now through to the next round. Interestingly at a hardware store the other day I was offered one of those flags for cars for free. I told the lady behind the counter I would be just fine without one...

Scenes from the City, Thursday 17:05

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Scenes from the City, Thursday 17:05 Originally uploaded by Pauly_ . The streets were empty but the pubs were full...

Scenes from Noel Coward Theatre Wednesday 22:29

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Scenes from Noel Coward Theatre Wednesday 22:29 Originally uploaded by Pauly_ . Trekkie Monster and actor Simon Lipkin post Avenue Q tonight. It is still in preview until the end of the month but if the audience reaction is as strong as it was tonight for the show, then Avenue Q surely will be around for a while in the West End. A great show with an amazing amount of energy where twenty somethings (some real, some puppets) sing about life lessons such as "What do you do with a B.A. in English?" and "The Internet is for Porn". The latter song is where we meet Trekkie Monster... Of course humourous songs aside, this show has a real story and a lot of heart. It is warm and fuzzy on so many levels. If the Muppets grew up (and were not sanitised when Disney bought them out) then they would be doing shows like this. A show for the Miss Piggy generation if there ever was one...

Scenes from Liverpool St Tuesday 17:51

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Scenes from Liverpool St Tuesday 17:51 Originally uploaded by Pauly_ . Rush hour home...

Scenes from Clapham Common Sunday 18:27

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Scenes from Clapham Common Sunday 18:27 Originally uploaded by Pauly_ . Love on the common... Even in this heat and with the shopping...

Scenes from Clapham Common Sunday 18:21

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Scenes from Clapham Common Sunday 18:21 Originally uploaded by Pauly_ . That lovely light effect is the smog hanging over the city. Nevertheless as temperatures hovered near 30 this afternoon, the punters flocked to the Common thinking it was a lovely day for fresh air... Across London high moderate levels of ozone were measured and it is expected to get worse over the next few days...

One last look back at New York

There is just one more thing I will mention about my trip to New York. It involves an exotic dancer and getting lost in the East Village until the wee hours of the morning. Of course no illegal substances were consumed. Read on…

Scenes from N1 Saturday 15:16

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Scenes from N1 Saturday 15:16 Originally uploaded by Pauly_ . It is going to be a quiet month if England do as well as expected in the World Cup . England's first match yesterday afternoon against Paraguay emptied the streets and filled the pubs. It also closed shops (such as this one). I was in a pub where the match was only on a 42" CRT television set so it wasn't quite such a focus of attention (a true sports pub should have nothing smaller than a standard issue plasma television nowadays)... Interestingly England's performance yesterday wasn't as crash hot as everyone was expecting . Their victory (thanks to an own goal by Paraguay) wasn't really celebrated on the streets of London. The reaction was more like relief... Assuming the team picks up their game, it is going to be a long month...

Scenes from SW4 Saturday 13:43

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Scenes from SW4 Saturday 13:43 Originally uploaded by Pauly_ . If you drive a really crap-looking car in London, then the chances are that you will have St George flags protruding from the back windows of it to show your support for England in the World Cup . The flags are sold everywhere and are really cheap. This makes up for the extra £10-20 you are likely to spend on fuel consumption due to their drag if you have them up for the entire duration of the cup. To be fair to England supporters, now that the cup has started other flags have appeared as well. On Friday I saw a Merc sporting both English and Mexican flags...