Paul in London

Monster music on Good Friday: St Matthew Passion Caught the (near) sell out concert of St Matthew Passion with the City of London Sinfonia and BBC Singers last night. Richard Hickox conducted, and the Evangelist was played by Tom Randle who was superb. The first time I had seen someone treat the role as though it was retelling a drama and not reciting an oracle (although the music at times does tend to lend itself to being the latter). At three hours in length however it is a marathon effort - for the performers and the audience. It is one of those pieces that can work really well or fail spectacularly. I was in a performance of the latter once, so it was nice to see the former happen last night. For those in the audience that didn't feel like DVT was setting in, they rewarded the performers with a raptuous applause. They had definitely earned it, and you could sense the relief in the faces of the orchestra members and chorus that it was over. They certainly earned their performa

Music: Musical Theatre Students Thursday night caught a performance of this year's Musical Theatre Students at the Royal Academy of Music . It was ninety minutes of songs from musical theatre from this year's class that includes Ian H Watkins (or H as he is known). He wasn't a star for this performance however - it was the class and the ensemble on show. I went with a group of musical aficionados which meant while they were appreciative of a good performance, they was also pretty ruthless when some individuals chose songs that just didn't work for them. Beware the group of musical aficionados if the costumes look too tight, there is a milky white stain on your trousers, or if the song isn't right for you... On the other hand I was wondering whether they were getting marks for degree of difficulty, such as the man who couldn't pronounce "H" singing the Billy Joel song "Say Goodbye to (H)ollywood" or the woman who just didn't have the not

Scenes from Euston Square Station 19:03.  

News: Bang! Bang! and Pussy Galore Last night was a bit of an odd night really. First a man gets attacked by a large black furry thing while he is looking for his kitty, and it is assumed that another 'Big cat' is on the loose in London Then at Brixton Academy two shots were fired in the air during a rap concert causing a situation and stampede out the exits . Gun crime is a hot issue at the moment in Brixton so this sort of publicity was the last thing that was needed. Fortunately there were no injuries in all the kerfuffle, but the English language took a bit of a bruising with this music critic's account of the evening and the "spewing muzzle" ... Bleah! Life Miscellany Ran into the old Australian flatmate from Haringey last night. It was one of those chance meetings that in such a big city you would never believe would happen, but hey Charing Cross can be like that! He has been on a six month holiday around the world and back in London to li

News: Gypsies and other wedge issues The phony election campaign will last for at least a couple more weeks, but it is Howard that has been getting all the dream press. Today it was the plan to crackdown on gypsies and travelers on illegal campsites ... There is a serious issue here but you can't get too bogged down on that during an election campaign. The mastermind behind the Tory campaign is Australian Lynton Crosby and the Guardian has been asking can he win one for Michael Howard? You would have to say the smart money is no, but there is always the problem for Labour seeking a third term in office that nobody showed up to vote for them... Garden variety Labour voters might be bit prissy like that after the war and things like university fees and may just take their ballot and ball point pen and stay at home...

Scenes from the Northern Line 20:41: It sure aint rush hour... 

Scenes of Paul: Apart from retail therapy on Saturday also got standard issue gay mens short haircut. My hairdresser is straight, so does that make it a straight gay mens short haircut or a gay mens straight short haircut?? Whateveryoucallit, I look like everyone else at the gym (except for those one or two horrid people who have long hair, which on men should be banned unless your name is Meatloaf)... 

Music: LSO and Elgar One of the nice things about London is that You can go online Sunday morning and see what's on, and book a ticket to see an evening of Elgar . It was the Elgar Violin Concerto and Symphony No 1 with the London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Hickox (conductor) and Tasmin Little (soloist for the violin concerto). It was a fabulous performance. You can get a cheap seat at the Barbican to see it. Mine was £5 because I couldn't see the full orchestra, but I could see the double basses very well (for what that was worth) and the sound was excellent. You can show up to the concert wearing any old thing including sandals with socks. I didn't, but the man next to me was in sandals. He was with his wife and they looked like they had been together for some time so that may explain why they let themselves go. Incidentally I wore a smart new jacket that I picked up yesterday for a song while doing some retail therapy. Forgot to bring glasses however so I have no idea i

Scenes from Old Compton Street, Sunday 5pm. The temperature dropped on this smoggy day so arms were covered. 

News: Delusions The Socialist Worker put it at 200,000 people - so it was at least half of that that turned out in London yesterday to protest against the ongoing military presence in Iraq. The Washington Post put the figure at 45,000 (based on actual police estimates). Does it show that the ongoing military operations have ceased to be a hot issue for the election? I suspect so... Interestingly it was lovely how the Socialist Worker article could use "civil liberties" and Iran and Syria in the same sentence. Why does the looney left always have to side with the criminals? There were a few protesters with left-over placards in Covent Garden yesterday. As after a jolly good protest to relive your baby-boomer rebellious youth, there is always great coffee and cake in Covent Garden (or the all you can gorge pizza deal for £20)...

Scenes from Covent Garden 13:54: Behold the fine weather - warm enough to show bare arms for the first weekend this year. Also note the signs. Human statues and people holding very large signs are the prominent feature in the street behind the Royal Opera House... Not really that keen to take up the crap pizza deal, or the crap rock memorabillia... 

News: Last orders still at 11 and other bloody stories Since February when pubs have had the opportunity to apply for extended trading hours there hasn't exactly been a rush of applications ... To the surprise of many. Not that they could have opened for longer until November this year, but the application process is such a long and involved process that they need almost 10 months to fill out the form. So no extended drinking hours look likely in the foreseeable future. That article appeared in many papers, but it is always fun to read the Sun as apart from the tits, you get a very different slant on the world of England (not much more either for that matter)... By the way despite that axe murder on Monday Eton Avenue is still a lovely street with nice friendly people . Just keep away from the ones with the large heavy implements. Meanwhile the Hamstead and Highgate Express is calling it Bloody Monday as a nice Jewish pensioner was also killed the same day in what is

Scenes from Tottenham Court Road 10:12pm. Being St Patrick's day there were plenty of punters out on the street - all wearing Guinness drinking hats ...  

News: Axe Murder latest * The victim was gay * The killer worked at upmarket west London department store Peter Jones The story unfolds... Weather The weather started getting hot today. The first t-shirts on the street were sighted. By lunchtime even singlets displaying bare arms were in view. It was a glorious sunny day and from 8am until 7pm I was inside away from it all... Ah well. It isn't as if I haven't seen the sun before!

News: Murder, pollution and feeling peckish Found the Evening Standard photographs . Still no motive for the public murder. One other thing I didn't know about the Swiss Cottage corner (that I used to walk by) is that it is the second most polluted spot in the UK ... So what's the first??? The other smashing story is about the man who was sentenced to life for two murders - and one of the victims he started eating the brains of (fried in butter). He killed the second while on release from being sectioned, but there are no systematic flaws in the mental health system Weather: Spring is here Well actually, from the 15th it is officially spring, but today was the first day it really felt warm. Winter may have been cold and harsh, but you can always wear something fabulous and warm... Not anymore... It was a balmy 15 degrees today... Theatre: I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change Caught a fringe production of I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change tonight. It has been pla

News: The waiter did it A waiter has been charged with the murder yesterday . The Evening Standard website had photographs taken from a neighbour's house that showed a man on the street face down in a pool of blood, which have disappeared this evening... It has been alleged that the waiter described the motivation behind the killing as all very long and involved... Movie: Kinsey Finally managed to catch Kinsey last night. Whether it is true to life is another matter (it only briefly touches on some of the more bizarre things that Kinsey performed on himself as "research" - and it is a movie biography), but it does make for a smashing film about a pioneer of his time, who created the scale of one-to-six long before we started using such terms as metrosexual, fauxmosexual, straight-acting, and all those other euphemisms... Amazing how science could be infused with such drama as well... It was worth waiting around until the end when the footage of animals humping was play

Interestingly too, while I have walked down this street - which is home to many celebrities - I wouldn't recognise one even if I fell over one. And therein lies the problem. How can you spot the difference between an axe-weilding murderer and a media personality?

News Correction It wasn't a beheading, and it may not have been an axe, but it still sounds pretty gruesome and a Man was killed in street attack at Swiss Cottage ...

News: time to move You know you made a good decision to move when Man dies after being 'beheaded' not far from where you used to live, (and just around the corner from the Swiss Cottage Hotel where you recommended friends should stay when visiting London)... There goes the neighborhood...

Weekend etc... Caught up with my sister's friend Jen who was in town for a few days with her friends. I met them at Hyde Park since they were staying at Earl's Court (sensibly Australian thing to do). One of friends had fed a squirrel and was bitten so while they went off to seek medical advice on squirrel bites, I took Jen to the Serpentine Gallery. Future tourists to London should take note: It is probably not worth feeding squirrels in Hyde Park...

Mess at the Serpentine Gallery - Hyde Park. Tomoko Takahashi’s installation throughout the gallery was an interesting look at junk being art. Personally I would have found it more interesting if the artist was still living in the gallery and walking about with a cup of coffee and in fluffy slippers but that wasn't the artistic experience we were going to get... 

Music: Rufus Rufus Wainwright's latest album was released officially this week and he was in town signing copies of it last Monday. Tonight there is a doco on him on Channel 4 as well. He is very popular here and given his talent for songwriting: An old whore's diet Gets me going in the morning Ain't nothing like it Gets me going in the morning It is not surprising...

News: The day that almost never was Yesterday while it was Friday for most, it was still Thursday at Westminster in what was the third longest day in parliamentary history. As they didn't break the 30 hour session, that means that Thursday never finished and the legislation passes on Thursday (even though it was late Friday by the time it did). This means all sorts of things including the fact that Peers will not get paid for Friday (or get anything for their huge overtime on Thursday) Quirky parliamentary traditions aside, the fuss was all about the anti-terror legislation and so the parliamentary ping-pong all makes sense with the election looming. All parties need to say enough to get noticed at this point, but the matter of being detained without trial is probably also something many are concerned about. And the secret the MPs and Peers used to stay up all night? Champagne, beer and pizza.

Scenes from Leicester Square 12.00am 

News: Free travel and technology This morning the entire electronic ticketing system on the tube was down due to a glitch which by some gross exaggerations will cost £2 million as commuters travel free ... That sounds expensive... It would only be a free trip if you had pre-pay which (when it works) deducts money every time you pass through a gate... Travelcard users pay a flat fee for a weekly ticket. And technology is failing me more locally. Have discovered that my wifi setup is not correct (as it has rendered my flatmate's computer unable to connect to the internet) so will be offline until the weekend when I get the new bits to fix it... I think I will manage ... Weather: warmmmmmm It is a lovely mild seven degrees (c) today. It feels so hot after the last couple of weeks. It also feels hot as the central heating in most buildings still is on "bake" after the last week of snow. I have some potatoes on my desk going a golden brown as I write...

News: The newsreader Matt Barbet is back reading the London News on evenings. His beady eyes and marvelous speaking voice are just the antidote for the end of the day...

Scenes from Apollo Theatre: 9.15pm 

Theatre: A Life in the Theatre Caught up tonight with the latest play starring Patrick Stewart and Joshua Jackson A Life in the Theatre by David Mamet. Told as a series of glimpses through a season of repertory theatre, it was a good chance to see Patrick and Joshua in various stages of undress changing in and out of characters and costumes. Some of the audience members found both Patrick and Joshua in pants to be worth making a noise about. Even wearing glasses I didn't see what the fuss was about. The interaction between the characters change as the season progresses. Initially Stewart sees himself as a mentor to the younger Jackson, but over time, rivalry and jealousy set in. While it is a comedy, it also depicted the life of the theatre as some nighmarish hell is enough to make you feel happy with my day job. Stewart also says "She's a cunt" which has to be worth the price of admission as well. An interesting (if not very substantial) evening's diversion for

Scenes from Archway Bridge Saturday before noon: peering through the anti-suicide spikes looking south towards the City...  

Where has the time all gone to: The weekend I am back online today after buying a router (that is pronounced, row-ter, which I only mention as I was in a meeting the other day where non-techy people debated the correct pronunciation of this device) and hooking up wifi in the flat. It was a four-hour odyssey to do this as I managed to get my MAC addresses confused. I have no claims to being a techy and am far too impatient to read instructions that are poorly written and can be bypassed in any event, but the outcome is now that I can blog regularly from home once more... I can do this as out of the settlement for being in a relationship - I got the laptop. As it was one of those "desktop replacement" models that were oh-so fashionable January 2004 (before people came to their senses in March) it is a big ugly motherfucker of a laptop and I don't particularly like it, but as I curse it, I can think that it is storing nearly two years of photos and cheap laughs, so that has

Scenes from a bedroom window, Friday: Snow. It wasn't hard to find an excuse to get to work late on Friday. My real excuse was to stay at home and take some photos. Afterall, it was just a light dusting... 

Weather: Snow and Ice It snowed in central London this morning so I decided with this new cold that I managed to pick up in the last day or so I wouldn't rush to work. I got in at 10.30... A sensible start to Friday I say! Work hard and give advice In between the usual madness at work I have been advising a colleague at work on relationships which I think has been good therapy for the both of us. Here is a sample from yesterday: -----She wrote----- Sent: 03 March 2005 15:04 To: Paul Subject: I know what he wants. Good times, lovely ladies, but deep down someone special. -----So I wrote----- Sent: 03 March 2005 15:23 Subject: Deep down we all want someone special, but the question to ask is how low do you have to go to get there???

News: Cold malaise The temperature drops and everyone here seems to get the flu or some exotic stomach bug that makes you throw up and feel miserable. Have managed to avoid all that this week (touch wood). I still keep getting asked by people why am I here and I tell them it is the weather. Today a combination of weather and essential works caused Icy Chaos For Commuters , but you have to put it into perspective. Just the other day a woman from Sydney was in the office talking about how dreadful the transport can be here, and I was thinking well compared to Sydney, getting around in London is a dream... Of course, my 20 minute commute into work now is a bit of a luxury that most people don't have, and it was only lengthened by a few minutes this morning with the delays (and sidestepping around the black ice)...

News: Luv'ly fush and chups Jamie Oliver has been getting kudos for his new programme on Channel 4 where he has introduced something novel into a Greenwich School canteen - fresh food. The programme is on Wednesday night's just before Desperate Housewives, so I don't get in early enough to see it, but his drive to serve fresh healthy food has now got MPs backing him It turns out school meals at present are cheaper than prison dinners... perhaps the school caterers should swap with the prison caterers for a while... Weather: Cold It has been snowing on and off all week. More off than on however the Met office gives such colourful descriptions of severe weather ... Strengthening northeasterly winds will also bring problems with blowing snow across hills... Oh the humanity!

News: Secret Squirrel guide to London and other moving stories A Spy's guide to surviving London life has surfaced. It includes tricks to lose a tail by dashing into Liberty department store on Regent Street. It is a rabbit warren of designer clothing and various grades of handmade paper (amongst other fine merchandise). Marble Arch may be moved. It currently straddles the "roundabout" at Park Lane and is only accessible via a series of smelly underground subways. Not really the most accessible or interesting monument in London anyway Other Moving Handed in the keys to the flat in West Hampstead. The real estate agent commented that she wished all her tenants were as good as we were in keeping the place tidy. Hey I'm tall, thin and neat... It goes with the territory...

Housekeeping and the Weekend No computer set up at home yet, so have done this update from an internet cafe on the Strand. Oh well, it's nice to get out on a Sunday evening... Even if nobody else does! I will look back at this weekend and think of the fabulous things that could have been done such as: * Russian Orchestra at the Barbican * Walk through the Heath in the light snow * Take coffee throughout Bloomsbury * Major blockbuster Turner, Whistler and Monet at the Tate But no, instead I cleaned the old flat at West Hampstead and after downsizing (ie throwing lots of things out or giving them to Charity) I moved everything else into my new place in Bloomsbury. It was exhausting. You don't want to be carrying an ironing board, two boxes of books and clothes and a wheelie suitcase everyday on the Thameslink. It didn't help that this weekend the Jubilee Line was out for engineering works either. There is no dignity when moving on the cheap. By the time I got to Kings Cross

Location Location To think I was considering moving to the East End - Mile End to be particular and just yesterday a bit of meat cleaver incident happened at Mile End tube station . WC1 seems so much more sensible. Especially since I have found that there is an Italian cafe nearby that sells the best coffee I have tasted in London for just £1... I am easily pleased... Dialects Was talking about accents to a manager here who is Melbournian and returning to Oz shortly... She was scoffing that neither of us have strong accents and I went... "Naaaooooooooh we doooaaaant". She is so Melbourne with her dark clothes and dark makeup... Actually some people referred to her as the "Ice Queen" so I would just tell them that's what all Melbournians are like... They wear dark clothing and sit in inexpensive restaurants offering quality food while espousing liberalism while downing a double expresso... I tell them as well that you can't do that in B

The view from the city In some ways the view on the cover of Ian McEwan's novel Saturday is the view I see of the BT Tower. Although it is definitely from another angle since there are none of these homes within visable distance!

Snow and Lights in the city... BT tower is somewhere there in the clouds as well... 

News: No snow without ice As no let-up is predicted in Britain's big freeze (and it is snowing outside as I write this), I can confirm that it is cold and London has finally had winter. Its cold but bearable. During a bit of snow last night, I went out last night to get some water and odds and ends at the local M&S and found myself being accosted by Scientologists on Tottenham Court Road. Alas I forgot that I now live just around the corner from the cult and I had to pass it to get to the store. It isn't their centre for celebrities which is Mayfair, this is just their shopfront for plebs so there was no chance of spotting Tom or John or Kirstie or whoever. The pleb-shop's ploy last night was to get perky happy looking people to stop you on the sidewalk outside their lair and offer free personality tests and a break from the snow. But I knew once entering there would be no exiting. So I kept walking. Will this be a regular ordeal to have to pass by... or wil

News: Ok just this once Youngster Pete Doherty, who rose to new heights of fame in the past few weeks having photos of him drugged out (and possibly drooling) on the front page of most of the tabloid press following a hotel fight will be allowed out late for a gig in Brixton. His previous bail conditions required him to be home between 10pm and 7am. The bad druggie boy image however has just given him more street cred amongst the twenty-something punters... Weather: Brrr It has wavered between sleet and snow today. Snow after lunch and then sleet into the early evening... There is a chance of "significant snow" overnight but anything is possible in a city that has its own weather... It is a great time to be out there moving the last bits and pieces into the new place... Or not...

Scenes from Bloomsbury 5.26pm: Cold and quiet, but at least the rain and sleet held off as I moved my stuff out today, or rather, this afternoon / tonight 

Scenes from West Hampstead 5.21pm: Late afternoon lunch 

Moving from NW6 to WC1 Today I finalised getting a new place in Bloomsbury. Hello Central London. Farewell West Hampstead. Its a downsize but a sensible location. Rather than pack of course spent way too much time wandering around West Hampstead, which seemed a little daft given the light sleet/snow that was falling from time to time. Theatre: Talk to the hand/ass/stigmata Jerry Springer outing last night wasn't bad, although some of the principals were not performing and it showed a little (lacking a bit of style alas). I sat next to a man from New York (who was in London for a week and had seen at least a show a night - although he was a theatre teacher/director) who enjoyed it a lot and couldn't believe what he was hearing (or seeing)... Unlike a Jerry Springer show, the characters in the Opera are quite likeable which gives the show its charm amongst all the profanities. The morality of it all is still a bit ambiguous. Is it a critique of modern TV - the celebrity culture w

News: No tube for smarties Mass consumer hysteria has broken out over the news that Smarties are set to lose their tube packaging and plastic lid and will be sold in a box. Consumers have hit the BBC website demanding a boycott. Smarties have been sold in a tube in Britain since 1937, so people are finding the thought of life with a tube-less Smarties a bit hard to take...

News: Light up London Landmarks are to be lit up tonight for Olympic bid . They should commence in a few minutes and are expected to woo the 2012 Olympic Bidders, who yesterday traveled two stops on the Jubilee Line to see how well that would work should London get the games... London Weather It hovered somewhere in between 1deg and 8 deg today, but there is a chance of snow over the next few days... Whatever happens, it will be a bit of a brisk weekend to start moving things... But it looks like that will be the case.. Another Jerry Springer Moment Going to see Jerry Springer: The Opera tonight. It closes tomorrow night before going on a national tour... It will be a chance to again savour opera with such lyrics as: I don't give a f*ck no more If people think I am a whore...

The move? I may have found a new place to live. Will have to sort out the details tomorrow but it is a small flatshare in central London. I discussed this option with my colleague at work and she pointed out: * I go home late * I like old buildings * I got on well with the potential flatmate So it all seems like the logical thing to do... But that means that this weekend will mean I have to start moving... Moving Which books are yours? Which tapes and dreams belong to you and which are mine? - From "Where Do You Start" Johnny Mandel and Marilyn & Alan Bergman In reality however: * All the computer magazines and tech books are not mine * All the books about literature and art (and the Tube) are mine * Most of the CDs and DVDs (of Elaine Stritch and Betty Buckley) are mine. Simple. Cleaning There is a product that has been around for a few months called Cillit Bang which has caused a bit of minor storm amongst the domesticated since it is one of the few cleaners on the mar

Scenes from Westminster Tube 9:15pm 

Living: The hunt continues Went to Ravenscourt Park (near Hammersmith) to see another place. Definitely would take it if offered. Don't know if I passed the "beauty contest"... Since I was late coming from work (again). It was the first place where the person offering it described a 10 minute walk as 10 Minutes. This was unusual given the London exaggerations such as: * A five minute walk really takes ten to fifteen minutes * Close to shops and transport links means forget about getting to them without a car * Modern furnishings = Ikea * 8" = 6" Its all part of the games people play in London. Sometimes you just have to go what-evaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. Actually I say that at work a bit and for a skinny white guy saying that, it gets lots of cheap laughs. News: Ken not sorry London Mayor - that's the Mayor of the Congestion Charge and general publicity - Ken Livingstone is in hot water for likening a reporter to a concentration camp guard. While most reporters

Scenes from the tube 22:20: Heading home from a flatshare hunt in the east end of London. Seat coverings in garish yellow and "back the bid" logos... As for the place at Mile End... Great place and unusually large as it is a warehouse conversion...