The story behind this image is that a friend was managing a band and, as a cunning ploy to get me to come to one of their gigs, suggested I take some photographs. I had never taken pictures at a live venue before and so decided to have a go.
Tag Archives: uk
Protect The Human
Last night we went to the Royal Albert Hall to see the Secret Policeman’s Ball, a charity gala in aid of Amnesty International. Despite the great cast — everyone from The Mighty Boosh to Eddie Izzard — beforehand I was worried that the “charity” aspect would take too prominent a position compared with the comedy. Obviously there’s a need to make people remember what the show is all about but often these events become preachy and, ultimately, a little dull.
I need not have worried. There were a few “cut sequences” as they re-arranged the stage, but even they provided laughs. (I particularly liked the QVC-style advert for the AK-47.)
There were many memorable moments so it’s certainly worth watching when it comes on TV in a few weeks. Personally I liked the sign interpretation of Natalie Imbruglia’s “Torn” and Eddie Izzard’s demolition of so-called Intelligent Design.
You Wouldn’t Buy a Toaster Drunk
Last night we went to see Dylan Moran do stand-up comedy at the Hammersmith Apollo here in London.
Here in the UK he is probably most famous for his role in the sit-com Black Books where he plays, well, pretty much himself it turns out. It’s a version of Moran who works in a book store with Manny (Bill Bailey).
It’s difficult to say much about his show as he doesn’t really tell jokes as such, more a stream of observations. A couple of years ago when I first saw him live his most memorable line was “Children are just small drunks.” This time it was about relationships: “The first time you meet your partner you are generally drunk. Why would you do that? You wouldn’t buy a toaster drunk. It’s too important a decision.”
We were impressed. If you get the chance, he’s well worth seeing.
Silver
When I think of “silver,” this weeks theme for PhotoFriday, bright, gleaming things such as London’s Canary Wharf come to mind.
Please vote for my entry in last weeks PhotoFriday! I’m entry 245.
Paris, 2006
I am occasionally told that I have been “everywhere.” My usual retort to this — that I have made it as far as Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, but not Paris, the capital of the next country south — is going to need changing after this weekend.
We did all the usual tourist things — so thanks to B for being so patient as she’s been before — including checking out some of the more elaborate metro stations such as Arts et M?tiers.
Of course no first time trip would be complete without seeing the Eiffel Tower, although we didn’t actually go up it. Assuming long queues we decided to view Paris from the top of the Arc de Triomphe instead. Later we found that we probably could have climbed the Eiffel Tower but by then we were hungry…
Also on the agenda was the was the Louvre. Given the beautiful weather we decided to stay outside and just look at the buildings. I’d see these glass pyramids again a few weeks later when The Da Vinci Code came out on general release.
Naturally I also wanted to see Notre Dame. At least, the Parisian Notre Dame. I’d seen another when I was in Ho Chi Minh City last year. The French version was missing much of the neon, which should probably be considered a good thing.
With many of the famous landmarks out of the way, perhaps next time we can take some time to look at some of the less well known but equally deserving places in Paris. Hopefully it won’t take me quite as long to get around to going as last time.
The mince pie and the ewok
What does a two year old mince pie and an ewok have in common? The answer, it turns out, is “wedding cake.”
Huh?
Let me explain.
Wedding cakes have a bit of a history for us. Americans tend not to be very keen on the traditional British fruit cake, which was a bit of a problem since I got married to a Californian in New York! Even the hotel concierge could only track down a fruit flan which is not what I’d call traditional. In the end we had to make do with less conventional but still delicious “normal” deserts.
We didn’t think much more about it until a month later when we were in California for B’s best friends wedding. She had a big wedding, including nearly two hundred guests. I’m not sure if this is normal, but they had two cakes. One, from the groomsmen I think, was shaped like a burger. The other was more like what most people would imagine at the suggestion of a wedding cake. Except for one small detail. Hiding underneath the top layer, behind some marzipan foliage, was a tiny ewok. The groom is a serious Star Wars fan, and the theme music at the end of the ceremony was not enough to keep him happy!
But back to the fruit cake saga. For our party, my sister-in-law wanted to make one for us but, unfortunately, started getting together the ingredients a bit too late. If you’ve every tried to make one you’ll realise that it takes at least a few days. Kudos for the attempt, though!
My father-in-law wasn’t going to allow the short time-frame to thwart his attempt. The cunning use of long forgotten boxes in dark cupboards was to (nearly) save the day.
A couple of years ago B brought a Harrods Mince Pie back home for Christmas. It had been placed in a cupboard, then in storage while the kitchen was remodelled and then back in a dusty corner. Now was its time. He unboxed it and, using tinned frosting (icing), transformed it into… well — let’s be honest here — an iced mince pie. Most people refused even to try it, but the few brave souls who did said that it wasn’t as bad as it looked. A valient effort.
Fast-forward a couple more months. It’s now two weeks before our UK wedding reception, a cruise down the Thames, and we’ve just started thinking about cakes. I wonder if my mum would make one for us. I don’t like to ask. It’s quite hard work to make one and then she’d have to carry it two hundred miles south on the day.
Eventually I decide to call and ask.
After some small talk I edge up to the subject. “Would you mind… um… you know…” Well, it was something like that. In fact, she wasn’t going to say anything, wanted it to be a surprise, but she had put one in the oven only thirty minutes previously!
So on the day we finally got a proper, British wedding cake. Everyone was very appreciative. A few people asked if my mum had really made it as it looked so professional!
Thanks mum!