Can it be true? Have all those songs FINALLY managed to get copyright clearance? Will I at long last no longer have to live on recollections and the dodgy non-sync sound of YouTube to enjoy the magnificent cast of "Takin' Over the Asylum"?!
Yippee!!
Friday, April 11, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Further positive reviews for Douglas Henshall in the Last Days of Judas Iscariot (Almeida Theatre, London till 10 May 2008)
From Variety (with courteous thanks)
It really is so wonderful to see him getting such wonderful reviews: even where the comments are only so-so about the play, it's been an across the board rave for Henshall's performance as Satan.
So I reinforce again, if you get chance to see the play before it closes, go and book!
But the juiciest role is Satan, played to acclaim in New York by the swarthy Eric Bogosian. Goold has gone the opposite direction in casting Scottish actor Douglas Henshall. Tall, strawberry-blond and silkily patrician, Henshall's performance is a comic marvel of ostentatious understatement. A knowing, sexy smirk on his face, this Satan's danger comes from the energy he generates by doing oh-so-very-little onstage: the odd flick of a walking stick, the cross of a Gucci-trousered leg, the devastating application of one of Guirgis' well-composed put-downs.I say again... **gah** and **swoon**
It really is so wonderful to see him getting such wonderful reviews: even where the comments are only so-so about the play, it's been an across the board rave for Henshall's performance as Satan.
So I reinforce again, if you get chance to see the play before it closes, go and book!
Blossom and E: a Joe in Vegas update
Spring is sprunging! And E grows more adorable by the week (check out the E Friday label on Joe's site).
I really have been shamefully poor at visiting sites of late: apologies people. It also seems each time I make a promise to improve it all goes pear-shaped*. Maybe it would be easier to not promise?
Nah, aim high.
Fail better.
* indeed I had good intentions last week, thwarted by a communication breakdown at work...
I really have been shamefully poor at visiting sites of late: apologies people. It also seems each time I make a promise to improve it all goes pear-shaped*. Maybe it would be easier to not promise?
Nah, aim high.
Fail better.
* indeed I had good intentions last week, thwarted by a communication breakdown at work...
Swiss Toni and the alphabeticon of CDs
God, I LOVE lists! It's the ordering thing I love, the completist nature in me (even if I do sometimes lose faith after a while).
Swiss Toni started this trawl some time ago and I have devoured it eagerly and stored the posts on bloglines ever since. It's just so lovely to get this picture of someone's music collection -- however incomplete it may be.
I am still seriously considering doing this myself. be warned.
Swiss Toni started this trawl some time ago and I have devoured it eagerly and stored the posts on bloglines ever since. It's just so lovely to get this picture of someone's music collection -- however incomplete it may be.
I am still seriously considering doing this myself. be warned.
Sunday, April 06, 2008
Misty's Big Adventure: Serious Thing
MBA are fun, frothy, and smart. Like a more pop version of Einsturzende Neubauten.
Anyway, you can catch their video/song of 'Serious Thing' here on YouTube.
Anyway, you can catch their video/song of 'Serious Thing' here on YouTube.
Partners in Crime: Doctor Who returns
What can I say: yesterday was a VERY good day.
Okay, so I had to wait an excruciating few hours to get home to actually see the ep (god bless Neil and the BBC iPlayer), but really this was a delight.
Sure, the adipose babies were straight out of the marketing department's "how-to-make-a-cuddly-'monster'-for-kids" textbook (even Marie wants one!), but somehow they worked.
Sure, the villain - Miss Foster - wasn't utterly evil-- but as Rob notes this actually worked very well really. (Miss Foster also had an uncanny resemblance to a friend ... hope my friend's not offended but both Neil and I made the same remark so I couldn't have been entirely imagining the resemblance!)
It was an RTD extravaganza and a season opener at that, so we weren't expecting Shakespeare (or even The Shakespeare Code), but dammit, it worked for me. Donna worked for me -- in ways I didn't anticipate. The whole 'lurve' thing was knocked firmly and amusingly on the head well within this first episode. And the appearance at the end (more or less welcomed by Anna)-- all I can say is I have obviously managed the non-spoiler efforts better than expected. Hurrah!
What I loved: the pace, the humour. Yes it was farce, but done with a real deft touch. I totally giggled like a nut when the silent meeting took place through the windows. And most of all I loved that Cloud had watched it live (whilst I was in London eating post-play*), then set up BBC iPlayer on his laptop AND then happily watched it with me again at 11pm. I think redhaired Catherine Tate may have had something to do with that, but we'll let that go.
Glasses: check.
Lankiness and running: check.
Licking: come on Rusty, do us proud!
*I nearly wrote 'post-Dougie' but that seemed to have very different connotations...
UPDATE: after the disappointment that the BBC may not be able to let commentaries on episodes be downloadable as podcasts, they've found a neat way around this via BBC7. Hurrah!
Okay, so I had to wait an excruciating few hours to get home to actually see the ep (god bless Neil and the BBC iPlayer), but really this was a delight.
Sure, the adipose babies were straight out of the marketing department's "how-to-make-a-cuddly-'monster'-for-kids" textbook (even Marie wants one!), but somehow they worked.
Sure, the villain - Miss Foster - wasn't utterly evil-- but as Rob notes this actually worked very well really. (Miss Foster also had an uncanny resemblance to a friend ... hope my friend's not offended but both Neil and I made the same remark so I couldn't have been entirely imagining the resemblance!)
It was an RTD extravaganza and a season opener at that, so we weren't expecting Shakespeare (or even The Shakespeare Code), but dammit, it worked for me. Donna worked for me -- in ways I didn't anticipate. The whole 'lurve' thing was knocked firmly and amusingly on the head well within this first episode. And the appearance at the end (more or less welcomed by Anna)-- all I can say is I have obviously managed the non-spoiler efforts better than expected. Hurrah!
What I loved: the pace, the humour. Yes it was farce, but done with a real deft touch. I totally giggled like a nut when the silent meeting took place through the windows. And most of all I loved that Cloud had watched it live (whilst I was in London eating post-play*), then set up BBC iPlayer on his laptop AND then happily watched it with me again at 11pm. I think redhaired Catherine Tate may have had something to do with that, but we'll let that go.
Glasses: check.
Lankiness and running: check.
Licking: come on Rusty, do us proud!
*I nearly wrote 'post-Dougie' but that seemed to have very different connotations...
UPDATE: after the disappointment that the BBC may not be able to let commentaries on episodes be downloadable as podcasts, they've found a neat way around this via BBC7. Hurrah!
"I Adored Satan": Paul Morley captures my experience of seeing "The Last Days of Judas Iscariot"
Where to begin?!
Well, for those who didn't catch it*, I'd first send you to watch Friday 4 April 2008 Newsnight Review on the BBC iPlayer (still available for another 7 days) and catch the roundtable - especially Paul Morley - virtually worshipping the excellence of Douglas Henshall as Satan in "The Last Days of Judas Iscariot".
I can't say as I blame them.
The play itself is sprawling, erratic, over the top, emotional, streaked through with humour, theology, philosophy, history, social commentary, hip-hop and is utterly, utterly compelling for its three hours (including a 15 minute 'recess').
The cast is excellent and each deserving of praise (Joseph Mawle, I hope the hypnotherapy helped you stay on your knees without pain, since you are caught in a pose of internal despair for much of the duration). So even if it hadn't had Douglas Henshall in it, playing Satan (**swoon**) it would be a magnificent piece of theatre: with him, it's simply unmmissable.
Morley described Henshall as Satan thus -- "I'm gonna use this word advisedly: he's 'awesome'..." and it's hard to disagree. When onstage, he is totally compelling, mesmerising and full of wryly maleavolent charm.
His interaction with Judas is brilliant; his demolition of both prosecution and defence electrifying. In short, you really REALLY hope that someone actually rewards this barnstorming performance.
If Henshall does get more offers of work from the US, if he does take them up, we can only hope that he is enabled to retain his passion and fire for what he does: for when he is alight, nothing can touch him. I wish him success whatever he does - and for, as ever, being so, so delightful to me afterwards when I saw him - and I hope his happiness in life (on and off stage) brings him to the audiences he deserves. Whether all of those potential audiences will appreciate him - and allow him the freedom that enables him to truly shine - remains open to question (as ever, even some Americans doubt that the system there will let him be the best he can be). But I -- and I sure he -- live in hope.
In the meantime, get your asses to the Almeida. Go see The Last Days of Judas Iscariot.
And tell him I sent you.
* You may, for instance, I don't know, have been watching Jonathan Ross... an interview which was almost timed to the second to begin just as Newsnight review reviewed the Judas Iscariot play. Come on boys: play nice, I'm trying my best here...
Well, for those who didn't catch it*, I'd first send you to watch Friday 4 April 2008 Newsnight Review on the BBC iPlayer (still available for another 7 days) and catch the roundtable - especially Paul Morley - virtually worshipping the excellence of Douglas Henshall as Satan in "The Last Days of Judas Iscariot".
I can't say as I blame them.
The play itself is sprawling, erratic, over the top, emotional, streaked through with humour, theology, philosophy, history, social commentary, hip-hop and is utterly, utterly compelling for its three hours (including a 15 minute 'recess').
The cast is excellent and each deserving of praise (Joseph Mawle, I hope the hypnotherapy helped you stay on your knees without pain, since you are caught in a pose of internal despair for much of the duration). So even if it hadn't had Douglas Henshall in it, playing Satan (**swoon**) it would be a magnificent piece of theatre: with him, it's simply unmmissable.
Morley described Henshall as Satan thus -- "I'm gonna use this word advisedly: he's 'awesome'..." and it's hard to disagree. When onstage, he is totally compelling, mesmerising and full of wryly maleavolent charm.
His interaction with Judas is brilliant; his demolition of both prosecution and defence electrifying. In short, you really REALLY hope that someone actually rewards this barnstorming performance.
If Henshall does get more offers of work from the US, if he does take them up, we can only hope that he is enabled to retain his passion and fire for what he does: for when he is alight, nothing can touch him. I wish him success whatever he does - and for, as ever, being so, so delightful to me afterwards when I saw him - and I hope his happiness in life (on and off stage) brings him to the audiences he deserves. Whether all of those potential audiences will appreciate him - and allow him the freedom that enables him to truly shine - remains open to question (as ever, even some Americans doubt that the system there will let him be the best he can be). But I -- and I sure he -- live in hope.
In the meantime, get your asses to the Almeida. Go see The Last Days of Judas Iscariot.
And tell him I sent you.
* You may, for instance, I don't know, have been watching Jonathan Ross... an interview which was almost timed to the second to begin just as Newsnight review reviewed the Judas Iscariot play. Come on boys: play nice, I'm trying my best here...
Lisa in stripes for the theatre
Thought I would share what I wore to attend the theatre yesterday (more on yesterday soon).
Friday, April 04, 2008
Help Stu_N talk about cars
Stu_N is interested in responses and knowledge about British cars.
I'll admit it's not my strong suit subject but I think that is kinda the point.
So, without recourse to Google, and with no embarrassment for writing 'Don't Know', I'm sure he'd appreciate your visits to answer the following questions:
Name three British cars (car makers will do, if you can't think of actual cars).
Name three current British car makers — that is, ones who are building cars now.
What makes a car British?
What makes a car maker British?
What's the biggest British car maker, at the moment?
What comes to mind when someone says 'British car'? I'm thinking about things like quality, design, performance, 'image', reliability. And have a think about what comes to mind about French, Italian, American, German cars.
When do you reckon Britain made the most cars?
What do you think the rest of the world thinks of the 'British automotive industry'?
I'll admit it's not my strong suit subject but I think that is kinda the point.
So, without recourse to Google, and with no embarrassment for writing 'Don't Know', I'm sure he'd appreciate your visits to answer the following questions:
Name three British cars (car makers will do, if you can't think of actual cars).
Name three current British car makers — that is, ones who are building cars now.
What makes a car British?
What makes a car maker British?
What's the biggest British car maker, at the moment?
What comes to mind when someone says 'British car'? I'm thinking about things like quality, design, performance, 'image', reliability. And have a think about what comes to mind about French, Italian, American, German cars.
When do you reckon Britain made the most cars?
What do you think the rest of the world thinks of the 'British automotive industry'?
I think I'm in love with Satan...
**Gah**
I mean, .... **thud**
Dougie, dear boy, you've just won me over to any dark side on offer. I love it when I nip across to the Henshall site and get goodies like this.
UPDATE: **double GAH**
"Douglas Henshall’s slick Satan, all tailored jacket, stylishly carved cane and Saturday Night Fever swagger, has the calm, casual danger of a sleeping volcano. His deep, whiskey-soaked tones and burning eyes could probably convince anyone to do anything." (Official London Theatre Guide)
I mean, .... **thud**
Dougie, dear boy, you've just won me over to any dark side on offer. I love it when I nip across to the Henshall site and get goodies like this.
UPDATE: **double GAH**
"Douglas Henshall’s slick Satan, all tailored jacket, stylishly carved cane and Saturday Night Fever swagger, has the calm, casual danger of a sleeping volcano. His deep, whiskey-soaked tones and burning eyes could probably convince anyone to do anything." (Official London Theatre Guide)
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Did anyone else see the piece on Brain Gym on last night's Newsnight?
I'd be interested in opinions in the plundering of Ben Goldacre's Bad Science columns that was last night's Newsnight piece on Brain Gym [if you're quick you may get to view the video piece].
My sense is that what Brain Gym does (e.g. the actions it gets children to do) are not in themselves unhelpful. The relaxation, the exercise, the physical co-ordination issues it encourages: all in themselves seem fine. They help focus, distract those from other problems or just plain allow some space for de-stressing so that actual physical, scientifically measurable things can happen which DO help the body.
Where my problem does come is in how much can be claimed for it on an inherantly scientific basis: brain buttons etc do not to me suggested a particularly evidence-based scientific analysis of how the body and brain work.
My sense is that what Brain Gym does (e.g. the actions it gets children to do) are not in themselves unhelpful. The relaxation, the exercise, the physical co-ordination issues it encourages: all in themselves seem fine. They help focus, distract those from other problems or just plain allow some space for de-stressing so that actual physical, scientifically measurable things can happen which DO help the body.
Where my problem does come is in how much can be claimed for it on an inherantly scientific basis: brain buttons etc do not to me suggested a particularly evidence-based scientific analysis of how the body and brain work.
On flying
Mindful of Stu-N's recent experience (first hand horrors of Terminal 5), I contemplated my own encounters with flying this year.
Of course, flying Emirates first class to NZ isn't something we're likely to do again - or at least not any time soon. After all, 28 hours in the air is STILL 28 hours in the air: you're no less tired just not additionally strained and exhausted by the physical cramping of economy class. In some ways then, flying BMI baby to Edinburgh was therefore a more normal experience for me.
The flight up was early (and alone: mate Annie came down with dread lurgy leaving her bed-bound and without the conference) but fine. We landed on time and efficiently.
Coming home was less good: we should have took off at 6.55pm. When I checked in, all seemed well. by the time I got upstairs to the departure gates it was now delayed by an hour. Turns out the plane itself had started the day off delayed coming in from Spain. They'd never caught up. So how come the check in screens mentioned nothing of a delay they must clearly have known would be in place as a knock on effect for the whole day?
That was grr number one.
Grr number two related to ticketing and seating. An elderly couple ended up in the middle of a severe row with a hapless young woman and two cabin staff, seemingly because seats booked in January hadn't been kept for them.
The fact they had seats seemed to totally by-pass them.
It seemed right to keep quiet when I realised as we dropped into East Mids airport that actually both myself and someone I knew on the return leg had managed to seat ourselves in the wrong row (especially as it was by doing this that a row was freed up for the elderly couple to be reseated...)
Ho-hum.
Of course, flying Emirates first class to NZ isn't something we're likely to do again - or at least not any time soon. After all, 28 hours in the air is STILL 28 hours in the air: you're no less tired just not additionally strained and exhausted by the physical cramping of economy class. In some ways then, flying BMI baby to Edinburgh was therefore a more normal experience for me.
The flight up was early (and alone: mate Annie came down with dread lurgy leaving her bed-bound and without the conference) but fine. We landed on time and efficiently.
Coming home was less good: we should have took off at 6.55pm. When I checked in, all seemed well. by the time I got upstairs to the departure gates it was now delayed by an hour. Turns out the plane itself had started the day off delayed coming in from Spain. They'd never caught up. So how come the check in screens mentioned nothing of a delay they must clearly have known would be in place as a knock on effect for the whole day?
That was grr number one.
Grr number two related to ticketing and seating. An elderly couple ended up in the middle of a severe row with a hapless young woman and two cabin staff, seemingly because seats booked in January hadn't been kept for them.
The fact they had seats seemed to totally by-pass them.
It seemed right to keep quiet when I realised as we dropped into East Mids airport that actually both myself and someone I knew on the return leg had managed to seat ourselves in the wrong row (especially as it was by doing this that a row was freed up for the elderly couple to be reseated...)
Ho-hum.
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