Last week we saw our first "community theatre" since moving to London. The New Black at The Oval Theatre was smart, fast and very funny.
The theatre, which is in Vauxhall, probably held 100 people. I was able to buy tickets for £12 each the day of the show. A real change from the intensities of West End theatre.
The play is set in a cabaret, with a keyboard player who says little and David Mills, the star. An acerbic rant on contemporary society, the mostly monologue kept the audience laughing throughout the entire play while forcing us to reflect on our own viewpoints and actions, as good art can do.
The play was American in origin, but had been localized in a way that reminded me of Shear Maddness. I'm not sure if The New Black is traveling elsewhere, but if you need a good laugh, don't miss it.
A man, a chair and a stage...my kind of play.
A Little Punk
The theatre has a gallery space which I strolled while waiting to head to our seats. The show featured three artists that are members of The Union Gallery. The theme was Punk-art related and I found a piece I just had to have - the Union Jack with the word P U N K spelled out with Scrabble tiles by the artist Ben Oakley. It's on the gallery wall until the show closes on 13 June.
29 May 2009
22 May 2009
I passed!
Last week the 18 month, £1,000+ saga of getting my UK driver's license came to a successful end. Well, almost, after I passed in true British process fashion they confiscated my driving permit and will send me a new license in 2 to 4 weeks. Trust and DMV, not usually words I'm comfortable with in the same sentence.
If you've been following the blog you know that I passed my written and video hazards tests last July. That was proceeded by a multi-week investigation into how to get a driver's permit followed by the actual application process which involved trying to find a six week period during which I could surrender my passport to the UK equivalent of the DMV, the DVLA. Unlike in the States there are no counters with surly government employees, just a mailing address.
After a break from test stress, this January I contacted the Royal Auto Club's official driving school, BSM. A littel side trivia here, the RAC was started in the very early days of the automobile and while they helped motorists and enthusiasts, according to a recent BBC documentary, their big initial membership jump came when they developed a system to warn members about speed traps. Teens on bikes...I kid you not...who would signal to members displaying their membership medalion of a speed trap ahead. For some reason that's not mentioned in their official Wikiepedia entry.
After 19 hours in the car with my awesome instructor Makabia I passed the first time around. Just as stressful as when I took my first test a long time ago... It was all about learning to drive like a 17 year-old again and forgetting gut and common sense to follow the rules to the letter. Makabia was an awesome instructor. I had been concerned that I would get some "kid" who wouldn't get that I had been driving for a long time, but he was great. Ask for him if you're taking lessons in South London. The fact that he's smart and funny is a bonus.
All my American friends keep asking me about how it is driving on the other side of the road. That part is amazingly easy. The hard part really comes down to vocabularly. The best example is pavement. In the States that's the road. In the UK that's the sidewalk, the road is the carriageway.
After it was all over I took myself out of champagne lunch. I was talking with one of the guys that works at the restaurant who is from South Korea and was telling him my story. He was shocked. He told me all he had to do was mail his South Korean license in and he got a UK one, didn't even have to take a written test or surrender his passport.
As one of my friend's over here says, "it's just part of the hazing of the American's, we're worried you'll get too arrogant."
If you've been following the blog you know that I passed my written and video hazards tests last July. That was proceeded by a multi-week investigation into how to get a driver's permit followed by the actual application process which involved trying to find a six week period during which I could surrender my passport to the UK equivalent of the DMV, the DVLA. Unlike in the States there are no counters with surly government employees, just a mailing address.
After a break from test stress, this January I contacted the Royal Auto Club's official driving school, BSM. A littel side trivia here, the RAC was started in the very early days of the automobile and while they helped motorists and enthusiasts, according to a recent BBC documentary, their big initial membership jump came when they developed a system to warn members about speed traps. Teens on bikes...I kid you not...who would signal to members displaying their membership medalion of a speed trap ahead. For some reason that's not mentioned in their official Wikiepedia entry.
After 19 hours in the car with my awesome instructor Makabia I passed the first time around. Just as stressful as when I took my first test a long time ago... It was all about learning to drive like a 17 year-old again and forgetting gut and common sense to follow the rules to the letter. Makabia was an awesome instructor. I had been concerned that I would get some "kid" who wouldn't get that I had been driving for a long time, but he was great. Ask for him if you're taking lessons in South London. The fact that he's smart and funny is a bonus.
All my American friends keep asking me about how it is driving on the other side of the road. That part is amazingly easy. The hard part really comes down to vocabularly. The best example is pavement. In the States that's the road. In the UK that's the sidewalk, the road is the carriageway.
After it was all over I took myself out of champagne lunch. I was talking with one of the guys that works at the restaurant who is from South Korea and was telling him my story. He was shocked. He told me all he had to do was mail his South Korean license in and he got a UK one, didn't even have to take a written test or surrender his passport.
As one of my friend's over here says, "it's just part of the hazing of the American's, we're worried you'll get too arrogant."
canapes & such
Had a couple of friends over a couple of weekends ago for dinner. Just had a chance to look at the pictures and I'm hungry all over again. It was one of the best dinners I've done in a long time. The food came out perfect and we all had so much fun it was over before we knew it.
Everything was from scratch, including the puff pastry and french rolls. I really believe my puff in the UK is much better than in the States, but I give all the credit to the hand-churned french butter I get at Borough Market. The rolls were the only disappointment, they were the right texture and a great crust, but I made them a little big.
Hors d'oevures
Pimms No. 1 Original Cocktail/Hendrick's G&T
Olive Tapenade/Goat Cheese & Sage Puffs
Stichelton/Goat Cheese/Olives Stuffed with Almonds Hot Puffs
Hummus & Crudites
Olives & Nuts
Soup
Broccoli Stichelton with Wild Rice and Red Pepper Confetti
French Rolls with Hand-churned French Butter
Entree
Appenzeller Souffle Extra Fine String Beans Steamed in Lime & Orange Pepper
Salad
Mixed greens , Mandarin Oranges, Pomegranates
and Sunflower Seeds
Topped with Fried Scallions and Dressed with Sunshine
Olive Tapenade/Goat Cheese & Sage Puffs
Stichelton/Goat Cheese/Olives Stuffed with Almonds Hot Puffs
Hummus & Crudites
Olives & Nuts
Soup
Broccoli Stichelton with Wild Rice and Red Pepper Confetti
French Rolls with Hand-churned French Butter
Entree
Appenzeller Souffle Extra Fine String Beans Steamed in Lime & Orange Pepper
Salad
Mixed greens , Mandarin Oranges, Pomegranates
and Sunflower Seeds
Topped with Fried Scallions and Dressed with Sunshine
Cheese Assorted British and French Cheeses Proseco
Dessert Pear Sauce Cake Topped with
Belgian Dark Lavender Chocolate with a selection of coffees, teas & ports
12 May 2009
tweet
I finally bit the tweet and opened a Twitter account. More for professional/work reasons than for social networking, but I'm doing both. It's an interesting medium and getting the hang of it for commercial purposes is fun for me.
I am having some annoying technical challenges. Mostly related to the fact that I can seem to receive Tweets on my Blackberry. I've activated my mobile and can send using the text function. I also installed TwitterBerry, but I have the same problem, I can send, get my list of friends, but can't get anyone else's Tweets. Hope springs.
I am having some annoying technical challenges. Mostly related to the fact that I can seem to receive Tweets on my Blackberry. I've activated my mobile and can send using the text function. I also installed TwitterBerry, but I have the same problem, I can send, get my list of friends, but can't get anyone else's Tweets. Hope springs.
Water for Elephants
Finished Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen last week. Despite its popularity I had set it aside because the edition I got from someone, somewhere included a book club discussion guide. I don't really see myself as a book club kind of guy, so I couldn't imagine that I'd get into it.
What a wonderful read. It was a fun jaunt with the circus that compelled you to turn the page. The ending is a little disappointing though. I found the book to be very believable up to that point, but it just ended on such an unrealistic note. But the last few pages didn't diminish how much I enjoyed the ride.
If you haven't already, you should get a ticket for the big top!
What a wonderful read. It was a fun jaunt with the circus that compelled you to turn the page. The ending is a little disappointing though. I found the book to be very believable up to that point, but it just ended on such an unrealistic note. But the last few pages didn't diminish how much I enjoyed the ride.
If you haven't already, you should get a ticket for the big top!
05 May 2009
Trails from the East
This week I finished watching an incredible 13-part documentary on LinkTV called Trails from the East. Produced by Dutch documentarian Rob Hof, it is conversations with people, just regular people, riding trains. The film travels from Vietnam, across Asia, the Middle East and Europe and ends in the EU in the Balkans.
It was riveting. The conversations mostly focused on the speakers' opinions about globalization, economic opportunity, politics and religion. The editing was done in such a way that it's rarely an interview and is more often a monologue.
The way it's shot you feel like you are in the train, sitting across from the person just listening. The viewpoints are varied and present a balance between people who see a global way forward of peace and those that want to build barriers and retreat into their own spaces. Perhaps most amazingly, given the subject matter, the film makes no judgments of the people, though the oppression of human rights is noted from time to time.
Hof, a social anthropologist, speaks eight languages and had traveled much of the same path before. I attributed much of this to his ability to get people to open up and speak so freely. He does a great job of explaining his motivations for the film and the approach he used in this short video.
It filled me with hope for a future long beyond me. Don't miss it!
It was riveting. The conversations mostly focused on the speakers' opinions about globalization, economic opportunity, politics and religion. The editing was done in such a way that it's rarely an interview and is more often a monologue.
The way it's shot you feel like you are in the train, sitting across from the person just listening. The viewpoints are varied and present a balance between people who see a global way forward of peace and those that want to build barriers and retreat into their own spaces. Perhaps most amazingly, given the subject matter, the film makes no judgments of the people, though the oppression of human rights is noted from time to time.
Hof, a social anthropologist, speaks eight languages and had traveled much of the same path before. I attributed much of this to his ability to get people to open up and speak so freely. He does a great job of explaining his motivations for the film and the approach he used in this short video.
It filled me with hope for a future long beyond me. Don't miss it!
Float
This weekend I did something I haven't done in about 15 years. I spent an hour in a flotation tank. If you don't know about these, check out this news story featuring the place where I went:
Both times I found that it really does do all the things they promise. I was able to meditate very easily and deeply and when the hour was up, I felt incredibly relaxed and energized.
The next day, when I woke up my back and neck muscles, where I store much of my stress, were sore. Not in a strained kind of way, but the way they feel the day after you've had a really deep massage that releases lots of toxins.
I probably won't make the effort to do it again anytime soon, but I wouldn't hesitate to do it again. My shoulders are still hanging relaxed and lower than they have in months.
Both times I found that it really does do all the things they promise. I was able to meditate very easily and deeply and when the hour was up, I felt incredibly relaxed and energized.
The next day, when I woke up my back and neck muscles, where I store much of my stress, were sore. Not in a strained kind of way, but the way they feel the day after you've had a really deep massage that releases lots of toxins.
I probably won't make the effort to do it again anytime soon, but I wouldn't hesitate to do it again. My shoulders are still hanging relaxed and lower than they have in months.
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