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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

Scenes from a Brixton Bar Friday 19:42

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Scenes from a Brixton Bar Friday 19:42 Originally uploaded by Pauly_ . Cocktail hour...

Catch phrase of the week...

I miss you like tiramisu.

Film: A Scanner Darkly

I caught the movie A Scanner Darkly on Wednesday evening. Based on Phillip K Dick's novel and set seven years in the future in California where the war on terror and the war on drugs seem to have merged as the same threat. The film was a trippy sort of story full of paranoia and hallucinations. It was probably deliberate that it all didn't make sense until the last half hour or so. It was also a film that was shot normally and then animated using a process called interpolated rotoscoping which added to the dreamlike feel to it… In the end I kind of liked it as it was like a graphic novel. The only problem I really had with it was that it was a bit hard to take a movie about drugs featuring Robert Downey Jr and Winnona Ryder… It felt like watching a sensitive documentary on the holocaust narrated by Mel Gibson or Tom Cruise doing a community awareness spot on depression: just all wrong and a distraction. The author acknowledges at the end of the film all the people who have do

News: Poppy seed cake is popular nowadays...

All the news today is about the 420,000 Eastern European migrants who have come to the UK since enlargement of the EU in May 2004. This number does not include self-employed individuals. They didn't all try to settle in London (after all it is the antipodeans that have 18 people living in a bed-sit in Dollis Hill), the migration patterns appear to have covered all over the UK – with a particular focus on the Anglia region…

Overheard on the 255 Clapham Omnibus Tuesday evening...

Man on phone : Yeah he was just… He was just… He was just… He was just "Well you can just go to Dubai"…

Overheard at the gym sauna Saturday...

Lad #1 : Hey your middle toe is longer then your big toe… Lad #2 : Yeah I know. That Mexican bird who did me a manicure mentioned it… Lad #1 : You mean pedicure… Lad #2 : Oh yeah…

Scenes from Clapham South tube Sunday 22:15

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Scenes from Clapham South tube Sunday 22:15 Originally uploaded by Pauly_ . Going up...

Theatre: The Seagull

Friday night I caught The Seagull at the National Theatre. It is a new version of the Chekhov play by Martin Crimp that has been getting good notices but not so great audiences as they have been discounting tickets to get the punters in. Juliet Stevenson as Arkadina the fading leading leady features in a great cast in a story about artists and the new Turks, unrequited and lost love. Her son Konstantin is a new writer and is in love with Nina but Arkadina's lover Trigorin steals her away. Meanwhile Masha is in love with Konstantin but it is unrequited. In between the high drama there are a lot of things unsaid but then again this is Russia and Chekhov. The ending (spoiler to follow) left a lot of people dazed and startled when it ends in the suicide of Konstantin offstage with a loud bang. It certainly made me jump. Arkadina barely has enough time to scream at the news before the curtain came down. We all filed out of the theatre not saying much… Maybe the drama felt a little too

Film: The History Boys

Preview for the film version of The History Boys is out now. It will open in London in October and there is already a huge buzz behind it. When I saw the play in April 2005 apart from thinking it was the best thing I have ever seen on stage, I also thought it definitely deserved to be turned into a film… Original cast all feature in the film including Frances de la Tour. For reason (that now escapes me) last year I decided not to mention her name in my post but talked about her character. She got the Tony this year for this performance…

Friday email banter...

From: R Sent: 18 August 2006 17:32 To: Paul Subject: Re: you are like a fione wione me dear…. full bodied and fresh.....haaaaaahhhhhhh ---- From: Paul Sent: 18 August 2006 17:33 To: R Subject: Re: Really? And I thought I was more like vinaigrette... Good to have around with lettuce... ---- From: R Sent: 18 August 2006 17:34 To: Paul Subject: Re: you calling me lettuce ---- From: Paul Sent: 18 August 2006 17:38 To: R Subject: Re: Like a roquet... ---- From: R Sent: 18 August 2006 17:41 To: Paul Subject: Re: any blue cheese involved here or just a salad medley ---- From: Paul Sent: 18 August 2006 17:50 To: R Subject: Re: Tossed salad... Maybe some blue vein... ---- From: R Sent: 18 August 2006 17:52 To: Paul Subject: Re: oh my god I have just spat tea out all over my desk..... ---- It was one of those days…

Scenes from Old Compton St Soho Wednesday 20:11

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Police seal off the street after a noxious substance was found eminating from Comptons bar. It wasn't flatulence from the punters (which wouldn't have been a surprise looking at the punters that go there), but to date nobody can quite explain what the gas was...

News: Big Bush in Brixton

Keeping in SW2, the big news today was that a man who trimmed his hedge into the shape of a whale could keep doing so , providing that it wasn't a blue whale size… Given that it is topiary it does require a little imagination to make out it is a whale. Some people have mistaken it for a peacock… Others have mistaken it for a hedge owned by a loony…

Scenes from a pub toilet in SW2...

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I'm not quite sure what this is all about... Was it somebody's experience with a skilled tradesperson? Photo was taken in the ladies by M...

Scenes from Clapham Sunday 20:04

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Scenes from Clapham Sunday 20:04 Originally uploaded by Pauly_ . It was a bit of a cold and damp weekend... But it no doubt was nice to get the Porsche washed... I am not quite sure why everyone living on this street owns a black car... Maybe it is an SW4 thing...

Scenes from a bus on Oxford Street Saturday 17:18

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DSC02669 Originally uploaded by Pauly_ . Despite the sales concluding last week, people still persist in shopping on Oxford Street... I only go there for the John Lewis store and the egyptian cotton sheets... Ahhhhhhhhhhh...

News: We're critical how are you?

As travelers come to grips with what it means to be living in a CRITICAL security threat level , there is heated debate on the Newsnight website about the raids. Some people are sceptical about intelligence after Forrest Gate, Stockwell and many other recent arrests where suspected terrorists were subsequently let go. Others are troubled by the fact that under normal security measures does that mean you could smuggle nasty things on board? Newsnight is a fantastic news programme and I figured it was about time I made reference to the show on my blog.   The news media in this country is such a relief from the hysterics of back home or in the US. I was only in New York for a week and I felt impending doom based on the way they managed to inject fear and armageddon in every news   And for those of you asking if I have been affected by the new security measures I have to declare that I won't be taking breast milk on flights... But I am not flying in August anyway... Shocking tim

Travel: News on Heathrow at 9.00 BST

Hand luggage is banned from flights today as the highest security in recent times is implemented following the discovery of a plot to blow up planes mid-flight . Liquids and electronic items are a particular focus of the ban… Heathrow is closed at present to all incoming flights.

Scenes from Harlequin Saturday 23:16

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This picture is really an excuse to show tits with tassels on my blog (as I don't think I have had the opportunity to do this before), but at the Harlequin bar on Saturday night in Brighton there was an excellent cabaret act from Dave Lynn and Lola Lasagne... They sang, they danced (sort of) and provided a lot of laughs... What the straight woman was doing wearing this in a bar full of gays, lesbians, bi and trans persons is anyone's guess. It did cause a bit of a stir when the lesbians in the audience wanted to get a bit closer... A doctor behind me wanted to inspect first hand if one breast was bigger than the other but she was held back... But it wasn't all drag acts for the evening. Later J and I moved on to Monkey where apart from it being warm enough that a sudden turn of your head would make beads of sweat fly across the room, a gentlemen latched onto me in what would have to be best described as a k-hole-induced-koala-hug and would not let go. I wasn't quite su

Scenes from Brighton Pride Saturday 19:02

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DSC02553 Originally uploaded by Pauly_ . After a long day in the park in those heels one would need a nap...

Scenes from Brighton Pride Saturday 17:47

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Matching black and white kilts were popular among the 150,000 plus punters in Brighton for Brighton Pride this weekend... As to be expected for a free pride event the place was heaving (including the bushes towards the back of the park) but full of people having picnics, buying overpriced fake sunglasses, having the odd drink or taking the odd vitamin...

Overheard on the tube Thursday evening...

Young luvvy #1 : They're going to have a competition to find the new Maria for the Sound of Music. Oh it's such a great show… Young luvvy #2 : I can sing Do-Re-Mi in Japanese… Young luvvy #1 : But Japanese is such an unmusical language… Although I'm sure your voice is lovely…

Scenes from Soho Sunday 20:13

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DSC02480 Originally uploaded by Pauly_ . After the party and the punters have moved on... From the streets to the bars mostly...

Scenes from Soho Pride Sunday 19:37

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DSC02473 Originally uploaded by Pauly_ . More gratuitous shots of the punters in Soho...

Scenes from Soho Pride Sunday 19:00

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DSC02465 Originally uploaded by Pauly_ . Two things you don't see at London events normally: 1) recycling bins 2) AFL football shorts I was impressed by the efforts to promote more responsible partying by providing bins labelled for cans, bottles, plastics and landfill. The landfill labels were popular with the punters taking them and sticking them on their behinds...

Scenes from Clapham Common Saturday 17:01

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Scenes from Clapham Common Saturday 17:01 Originally uploaded by Pauly_ . Walking on past those sprawled about on the grass...

Things to do in London this week...

Look in vain for signs of biodiversity in SW4. Only in central London could it be possible to have no sounds of insects or birds in summer.  Mind you I saw a man attacked on the tube tonight by Mothra (it must have been an attack given he leapt out his seat when the moth fluttered near him)… But I don't think that counts… Take part in a water pistol assassination … It would be small relief from the temperatures and smog… Check out Hampstead Heath for unemployed men from Brighton . I hear it’s a popular pastime in NW3… Drop by at Soho Pride on Sunday. The one day of the year when Westminster Council allows the streets of Soho to be what they should be all year round – pedestrianised… Then again this is the same council that earlier this year finally decided flying a flag from a building did not need planning permission .

Scenes from Leicester Square Tube Tuesday 22:00

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Waiting for the next tube. Oh and orange shorts are popular in London this summer. Especially if you are working in dark spaces or resurfacing roads that have melted in this heatwave...

Scenes from near London Bridge Monday 21:44

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Scenes from near London Bridge Monday 21:44 Originally uploaded by Pauly_ . Night scenes...

Theatre: The Last 5 Years

Monday night I caught The Last Five Years at the Menier Chocolate Factory . More a song-cycle, the work charts the different perspectives of a relationship between Cathy and Jamie. It travels backwards from the Cathy's point of view and chronologically from the Jamie's over the past five years, with one song – their wedding song – sung by them together. Jason Robert Brown – one of the "new school" of theatrical composers – wrote the piece. It quite engaging with some terrific and amusing songs with lyrics like: "I could have a mansion on the hill I could lease a villa in Seville But it wouldn't be as nice as a summer in Ohio With a gay midget named Karl, playing Tevia and Porgy…" Once again the Chocolate Factory comes up with a great production. The leads Lara Pulver and (Australian) Damian Humbley were terrific. But a combination of things did work against the show for me tonight. The first is that the characters are not that appealing. The show star

Scenes from SW4 Backyards Saturday 14:22

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Scenes from SW4 Backyards Saturday 14:22 Originally uploaded by Pauly_ . Gardens are popular in London. Nowhere else in the world will you find such a concentration of low maintenance spaces of mixed paving surfaces and dead plants...

News: George takes it outside (again)...

George Michael has been at it again. This time he has been caught at Hampstead Heath's having sex with a fat man from Brighton. The News of The World has the photos of the exact location and Michael's reaction to the photographer taking the pictures… Even more bizarrely they tracked down the fat man and he posed for pictures and bragged about how he has a special secret that Michael responded to… All rather titillating but perhaps not the best thing to read over cornflakes on a Sunday morning…

Scenes from Soho Friday 23:20

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Scenes from Soho Friday 23:20 Originally uploaded by Pauly_ . Hot in the city...

Opera: Turandot

Friday night I caught Turandot at the Royal Opera which was a good classic production of the opera. I gather from A that the ENO did a truly dreadful version a few years ago that prominently used old television sets for some unexplained reason so it was nice to see it performed in a largely standard way. This production now at least 20 years old is showing a few signs of age with clunky costumes and a stale take on Commedia dell'arte for the characters of Ping Pang and Pong, but overall it still looks good. Ben Heppner and Georgina Lukács were great in the lead roles but the biggest applause was reserved for Elena Kelessidi in the role of Liú. She had an incredible voice that would not be drowned out by the occasionally overpowering orchestra… This is a very accessible opera full of melodrama and soaring music… And also the aria "Nessun Dorma"… Discussing the plot of the opera later with A he suggested that the riddles were too easy for Calaf to get and that he should

Scenes from the Strand Thursday 19:26

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American businessmen lost in central London. They didn't ask for directions so I couldn't tell them where to go...

Scenes from Leicester Square Tube Wednesday 22:00

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Scenes from Leicester Square Tube Wednesday 22:00 Originally uploaded by Pauly_ . Descent into hell in this weather...

World Cup head butts

For those that are suffering withdrawals now that the World Cup is over, and you have already thrown away those polyester flags attached to your car, there is now an internet game for those fans who just can't get enough of Zidane head-butting Italians …

It's too darn hot, we're having a heatwave...

With the temperature reaching 36.6 degrees near Gatwick on Wednesday, it was not a day for bragging when one was in one of the few offices in the building with air conditioning (and sitting right under it). I stayed back late at work just to enjoy the cool. In this heat other anti-social acts include: Going out for ice creams and not coming back with enough for everybody Closing the ventilation windows on the tube trains claiming it is too breezy standing next to it Perspiring over fellow audience-members at a Proms Concerts (it was the Queen's 80th Birthday tribute tonight and the television cameras have picked up the audience battering programmes desperate for some movement of air) Forgetting deodorant and using the grab rails on a peak hour Clapham omnibus It is weather strictly for the Abercrombie and Fitch cargo shorts , a light t-shirt and flip flops… Incidentally thanks to global warming summer temperatures are expected to become more Mediterranean in London over the next

Scenes from Albert Hall Tuesday 18:18

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The mad dash to the hall to make the 18:30 start of the semi-staged version of the new Glyndebourne production of Cosi Fan Tutte - Prom 6 . The concert was great and showed to me that with a decent director this opera actually can have some life to it... The only problem is that Albert Hall is a bit warm when there is a heatwave... It was opera with your neighbour sweating over you... And your neighbour at a proms concert is more likely to be a shocker than a looker... Best avoid the concerts and listen to them on Radio 3 instead... All concerts are streamed live from the BBC website for a week from their performance.

Scenes from Piccadilly Sunday 01:15

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Scenes from Piccadilly Sunday 01:15 Originally uploaded by Pauly_ . On the night bus to Trafalgar Square...

Movie: Superman Returns

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Ok it isn't a photo of mine, but there has been a bit of chatter on cyberspace about the rather phallic looking Florida peninsula that is prominently on display. I'm not so sure about that, but the religious overtones of the poster as well give you an idea about the film as well (which has also been dubbed as "the Passion of the Clark"). But anyway is Superman Returns a good film? Well after seeing an IMAX presentation of it, I thought it was great fun and had an interesting story to kickstart a new series of films. Of course seeing it in IMAX means that you feel like you are in the film at points, and it is loud, very loud at times. The latter is a good thing as it drowned out my exclamations of "Jezusfuckingchrist!" when it was all getting a bit too much (so the family audiences around me were none the wiser). Being a bit of a devotee to the first two Superman films I could appreciate many of the in-jokes to the film, such as when Lex Luthor steals Kryp

Cabaret: Topping and Butch

I caught Topping and Butch Friday night at Central Station which is in N1 and a long way from SW4 (as I found out catching the night bus home). Still, it is good to get out and see the city, even if it is at 2am... But back to Topping and Butch. They have been getting better (and ruder) since I last saw them at the Soho Theatre and Comedy Camp two years ago. They were also trying out bits of their new show they are taking to Edinburgh Fringe next month. Their show is basically a mix of jokes about current affairs, other topical issues and smut. Naturally at a gay bar this goes down like a treat. As I was sitting in a comfortable leather lounge suite watching the show I was also a target for their banter, but fortunately for me they were gentle (my name was only referred to a few times during the show).  This was far less confronting than when I arrived at the venue and was greeted at the door by a lady who asked me if I was there for Club Fukk. That caused me to pause for a moment. &q

Idle bar chatter... Friday

Paul : Do you think those two are together? J : Who? Paul : That old guy and that young boy over there… J : Yes they are. Paul : Because…? J : Because they are wearing the same sort of shirts and the older one is being protective of the younger one… Paul : Like by giving you those death stares he is doing right now because he knows that you are talking about them… J : Exactly! Paul : I don't know what he is worried about… They both look shocking who would want 'em??

Scenes from Brompton Cemetery Saturday 14:42

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DSC02343r Originally uploaded by Pauly_ . There's nothing more refreshing than soaking up the sun lying on a couple of gravestones. Londoner's can't get enough of it...

Scenes from Leicester Square Thursday 20:05

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Scenes from Leicester Square Thursday 20:05 Originally uploaded by Pauly_ . The square post premiere of the new Superman movie... Not as popular as a Tom Cruise flick...

Scenes from Kennington Tube Tuesday 23:57

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Scenes from Kennington Tube Tuesday 23:57 Originally uploaded by Pauly_ . After having a few sensible vodkas catching up with J fromAustralia, snapping photos of nice looking people was one way to pass the time waiting for the next southbound tube... Oh and the gentlemen centre was inspecting his abdominals. He must work out. The 6-pack is popular in London for those who don't eat chocolate, drink beer, eat pizza and spend most of their free time in the gym perched atop a swiss ball. I don't have one. I still eat a little bit of chocolate...

Overheard in Covent Garden Monday 21:48

American woman : Yeah it was like… It was like… It was like… It was like… It was like… Ffffuck! Man : Yeah?

Scenes from outside Costa...

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Scenes from outside Costa... Originally uploaded by Pauly_ . Some people chose to listen to the match rather than watch it (that way they could photograph everyone from their rather good seats outside Costa coffee...) Oh and hopefully this answers the request for more photos of Paul in London locations... Well... It's a start...

Scenes from Old Compton St Soho Sunday 19:56

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DSC02307 Originally uploaded by Pauly_ . Old Compton Street becomes and extended viewing area outside Pulcinella where there is a tv facing out on the street...

Scenes from Soho Sunday 18:25

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DSC02255 Originally uploaded by Pauly_ . The World Cup final still had over half an hour before it started but it was ground zero for fans who were shouting EEE-TAL-YA, EEE-TAL-YA, EEE-TAL-YA... Having a three syllable name for a country makes it all the more exciting really...

Scenes from Bedford Square Sunday 18:09

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Scenes from Bedford Square Sunday 18:09 Originally uploaded by Pauly_ . WC1 is home to many beautiful squares. This one - Bedford Square - is famous for its historic homes and crack dealers . The square has just been tarted up a little as well...