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Belters and bohemians: Opera Locos @Sadlers_wells

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At the start of the Opera Locos performance, the announcement says that they really are singing. You could be forgiven for wondering that, given the amplification turns up the backing track and the voices so loud that you can't always tell what's real. But this is a mostly harmless and slightly eccentric blend of opera classics fused with the occasional pop classic. However, recognising the pop tunes would help if you were over a certain age. The most recent of them dates back twenty years. It's currently playing at the Peacock Theatre .  Five performers play out a variety of archetype opera characters. There's the worn-out tenor (Jesús Álvarez), the macho baritone (Enrique Sánchez-Ramos), the eccentric counter-tenor (Michaël Kone), the dreamy soprano (María Rey-Joly) and the wild mezzo-soprano (Mayca Teba). Since my singing days, I haven't recognised these types of performers. However, once, I recall a conductor saying he wanted no mezzo-sopranos singing with the s

Movies: 2 Days in Paris

2 days in Paris was pretty good. Written directed and starring Julie Delpy it was a bit like a French Annie Hall. It may not be such a great movie to see if you are single, with all this angst on screen about being in a relationship and being alone. Catching it with Mandy (who is single too) she didn't have as much a problem with that but rather that the characters didn't stop talking. Well they were New Yorkers. I just found it great therapy. It showed that there is hope for all eccentrics out there to find somebody just as weird. The funniest scene involved no dialogue on the metro as they were getting spooked by a crazy guy with no sense of personal space. Oh the memories of Paris that came flooding back (even if when I was there I knew the crazy guy). Shot on the streets of Paris I have made a mental note to get back there once the new Eurostar link opens in November. Sure Waterloo looks great in The Bourne Ultimatum but the Eurostar from St Pancras looks even better ...

Scenes from Soho Wednesday

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Scenes from Soho Wednesday , originally uploaded by Paul-in-London . It seemed fitting on the day it was announced that dining in London is more expensive than anywhere else in the world ... To eat out... Well, it was Busabai in Soho. Rather than do what another boy from Brisbane (well he is from Logan which is just outside of Brisbane and like Peckham but less pretty) did and get arrested on suspicion of racial abuse of the staff, we just started taking photos of the other diners who were well fit...

Dance: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre

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Source: http://www.alvinailey.org In a week with a head cold from hell (which meant no gym, a lot of rest, and no socialising), it was somewhat of a relief to get out and see Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre at Sadlers Wells on Saturday night. Arriving at the theatre with the above artwork plastered all over the theatre (and most of Islington), I expected little was spent on the costume budget. But in a programme set to legendary jazz music, it turned out to not be the case. This was a bit of a relief as after a week of coughing and spluttering who needs to have somebody else's physical fitness rubbed in your face? After the first interval I caught up with Fliss who was there with her posse. Fliss signed up to see the show on the strength of a viral video that was doing the rounds in the past month. I was there just for the artistic enrichment (plus I got a great seat at good price). Well that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Anyway I joined them the first interval o

Benefits of a tube strike

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, originally uploaded by Orhan* . 1. You can walk home while the weather is still good 2. Save money on travel fares 3. Excuse to get home early and watch the sultry Nigella flog Waitrose products on the BBC

News: Nobody's going anywhere

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Nobody's going anywhere , originally uploaded by thegareth . Unless you can take shanks's pony, the next few days are going to be a bit of a nightmare ... Until today I had no idea what shanks's pony was... I had to look it up... So there's a word for the day ...

Overheard from a family on cycles in the park...

Your seat looks really comfortable I don't know why you wanted to start the day cycling at 5pm I wanted to go out much earlier but everything's closed Aw come on mum...

Scenes from Kensington Palace Gates Saturday 18:42

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010920072370 , originally uploaded by Paul-in-London . That's the trouble with being the people's princess... The people can be a bit cheap and tacky with their memorials made out of cereal boxes, old newspapers and ball-point pens... Ten years after dying in some car tunnel thanks to a pissed Frenchman, the display at Kensington Palace must be the most hilarious thing in town at the moment... Cheap, tacky and nasty... And that's just the women (of a certain age) there pushing and shoving you if you take too long to read the messages (or photograph them)... All that was missing was "Die Camilla die"! Don't miss it... Those ASDA flowers won't last the weekend...