Secret Cinema 21...

On Saturday night Stu, Darren, Tim and I went to the latest Secret Cinema in the old Town Hall in London's trendy Crouch End. We'd been told what to wear, where to go and who to meet - but were a bit surprised (and mildly disappointed) by the film. It was a 'classic' - just a not very good one!

The 'business' beforehand was excellent would with all the actors playing their part very well.

Still worth a punt on SC even if the film choices can be a bit variable.

Kate Bush Live...

I wonder if Rolf Harris will be in her backing band...

Before The Dawn...

OMG! Kate Bush has announced some gigs. Called Before The Dawn they will take place at the Hammersmith Apollo Eventim in August and September.

Before the Dawn

I am delighted to announce that we will be performing some live shows this coming August and September.
       I hope you will be able to join us and I look forward to seeing you there.
          We'll keep you updated with further news on the web site.
                  Meanwhile, all details of concert dates and tickets are in the note below.
                    Very best wishes,
                             Kate


Before The Dawn at London's Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith 

AUGUST

Tuesday, 26th August
Wednesday, 27th August
Friday, 29th August
Saturday, 30th August

SEPTEMBER 

Tuesday, 2nd September
Wednesday, 3rd September
Friday, 5th September
Saturday, 6th September
Tuesday, 9th September
Wednesday, 10th September
Friday, 12th September
Saturday, 13th September
Tuesday, 16th September
Wednesday, 17th September
Friday, 19th September

Tickets

Tickets will go on sale at 9.30 am (GMT) on the 28th March 2014 and will be available exclusively from the following agents:

www.eventim.co.uk
www.gigsandtours.com
www.ticketmaster.co.uk

Please note that tickets are not available directly from the venue Box Office.  Additional order enquiries should be directed to the Eventim customer service department at: 
customerservice@eventim.co.uk or 08443760021

Ticket purchases are limited to a maximum of 4 per order.  For example, you can try to purchase up to 4 tickets for just one of the 15 concerts, or 4 tickets for 4 separate shows.

The name of the lead booker will be printed on the first ticket.  As the number of tickets is limited they will be allocated on a first-come first-served basis.

Tickets cannot be resold or transferred under any circumstances. If the promoter reasonably believes this to be the case the barcode on the ticket will be voided, prohibiting entry to the concert.

We hope to see you there.

Cum Again?...

The lubes has been squeezed. The knuckles shuffled. The results are in. And it looks like straight men last longer than gay men. Left-handers cum quicker than right handers. And 10.5% of straight men wank with a mate.

A few years ago adult shopping site LoveHoney.co.uk "...wanted to find out the average number of strokes it takes a guy to ejaculate when he masturbates. The Shootout Survey was a rigorous scientific study that involved more than 1,000 participants." Check out the full The LoveHoney Shootout Survey here.

And in case you were wondering. The average: 59

Cosmic Inflation...

When I was an Uni studying cosmology the idea of cosmic inflation was first put forward. We thought it was nuts. "Space expanding faster than light? Ha!" Well, they've only gone and proved it. And found those elusive gravity waves first predicted by Einstein. And confirmed that the total energy in the Big Bang is consistent with just the four main forces we see around us. Nobel prizes all round I think.

Luncheon With The Parents...

I had a lovely day out with Myrtle and Dad on Friday. We laughed and laughed.

Johnica's 40th...

We had a great time at John's 40th birthday party on Saturday night. Monica had organised a photo-booth which was great fun. Dave Marshall bought his awful coat - so we all took turns wearing it in the booth and giving it the exposure it so richly deserved.

Blithe Spirit...

Last night Stuart and I went to see Blithe Spirit at the Gielgud Theatre in London's glitzy West End.

When Noel Coward wrote it in 1941 is was the height of sophistication - a comedy of manners concerning an upper class couple milling about in their country house with their skeptical friends who start by engaging a dotty clairvoyant for researching a book but end up communicating all too directly with the dead.

Many am dram productions later (I was a rather limp wristed 'Charles' in the North Herts Youth Theatre production back in the early 1980s) and we see this revival hit the Gielgud starring Angela Lansbury as the eccentric medium Madame Arcati (played by Margaret Rutherford in the film version.)

Lansbury makes for a fine Arcarti dressed in garishly vivid oranges and purples. She stalks the stage... like a tall garish orange and purple stalking thing.

The rest of the cast gamely acts on; Charles Edwards good as Charles, Jemima Rooper very good as Elvira and Janie Dee excellent as Ruth. And the play is amusing. Funny, even, in parts. But it perhaps suffers the fate of all start vehicles. You are constantly aware that it is Angela Lansbury up there on the stage - not least because she gets a round of applause at every entrance and exit!

Gay Gunners...

I think they caught my likeness quite well. It's not everyone that can carry off purple and black stripes!
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2014/03/12/bayern-munich-face-fine-taunting-arsenal-fans-gay-gunners-banner

Mmmmm... Beer....

Ronnie Spector...

On Sunday night Stuart, Darren and I went to see Ronnie Spector at the Queen Elizabeth Hall at London's glitzy South Bank Centre.

Telling the story of "Beyond The Beehive" 70 year old Spector treated us to a slideshow cum confessional cum gig peppered with happy reminiscences, missed chances and woe. Phil Spector loomed large over the night - meeting him, her big break, the hellish marriage, the abuse, the bullying and the controlling influence even to this day.

Ronnie was a charming hostess with a dry line in (albeit well-rehearsed) patter. She choked back a tear or two as she told us about her first gig, meeting Phil, falling in love, meeting The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Dusty Springfield, her drinking, her break-up, her failed attempts at trying to perform, her wonderful successes then she did, the unpaid monies, the court case, her comeback, the pleasure and the pain of working in rock and roll.

Her voice still sounded good and along with her eight piece band she performed hits such as Walking in the Rain, Time is On My Side, She Talks To Rainbows, Back To Black (Amy Winehouse's mother was in the audience) and encored with Be My Baby - a song she had not been allowed to sing for years.

It was an emotional show and ended with a defiant statement from the voice of the beehive herself, “Ronnie Spector will not be erased.”

Wembley.... Wembley....

Having stuffed Everton 4-1 it looks like we (and by we I mean Arsenal) are on our way to Wembley for the FA Cup semi-final. Playing Wigan too. Go Gunners!

House Of Cards...

The other day I got to go to The Houses of Parliament for a chat with some security chappies. All very interesting.

"Have you signed the OSA?" they asked.

 "Yes" I said.

"Well, that's OK then." 

There's nothing like a thorough security check, is there? And that was nothing like a thorough security check.

The Tyburn Tree...

On Sunday night Stuart and I went to see Marc Almond and John Harle perform The Tyburn Tree at the Barbican Concert Hall. It was a grand project. A concept album brought to life. It was hypnotic, complex, lyrical, dark, sinister and joyful.

Made-up ashen white and preaching from the pulpit Marc sang songs, recited nursery rhymes, told tales of Gothic horror, screamed and howled, got us to sing along to tales of hanging, and then pranced around the stage like a diabolical jester.

The songs were great, the neurotic prog-rock blended perfectly with Marc's voice and the night got a well deserved standing ovation.

The critics didn't like it, but as they say... "Critics? Cretins!"

Goldfrapp: Tales of Us...

Last night Darren treated me to a trip to the cinema to see Goldfrapp who were screening six new videos films inspired by music from their album Tale of Us. After the films were shown the band performed an hour long live set via a satellite broadcast from Air Studios in London.

The films were great albeit all rather similar in tone: black and white, sensual, shaky camera work, nudity in big country houses, murder on windswept beaches, slow-motion cycling, night-time shoots with people running through smokey back-lit forests, water (lots of water) - that sort of thing. Very 1980s. Very Vienna.

One video which did make me weep though was Annabel. A moving story of a little boy's inner voice.

The live set was good too - although perhaps missing that special something that a live audience gives back to a live performance.

Mind you, I was back to my crying again during Clay - a story of two soldiers' love.

So all in all a success as an event. Nice to see their videos on a big screen - but perhaps just missing that live interactive element that an audience provides.

United Visual Artists: Momentum...

Last Friday lunchtime Bobby and I went to see the United Visual Artists: Momentum exhibition at the The Curve in the Barbican Centre. A few swinging lamps in a smokey darkened room. Meh.

1984...

Last Thursday Stuart and I went to see 1984 at the Almeida Theatre in London's glitzy Islington. It was a slightly confusing production as it repeated traveled from a book reading club in 2050 back to the events of 1984 and back again without much indication of the time jump.

There was no interval so the production had a chance to ramp up the tension as Winston Smith gradually began to realise the doublethink/thoughtcrime/newspeak hell he was living in. The final half a hour got quite harrowing with the torture scene although we were assured no rats were harmed in the making of the show.

My review: Brave but rather confusing.

Lake, No Lake...

Scorchio...

Looks like it'll be another hot one in Town name again today. Almost boiling.

The Pet Shop Boyes...

Tell Me On A Sunday...

On Friday night Stuart and I went to see Tell Me On A Sunday at the Duchess Theatre in London's glitzy West End Theatreland.

Starring Marti Webb as 'the girl' she took us bath back 35 years to when it all began - to a zoo, that's got chimpanzees...

Tell Me on a Sunday is a musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Don Black. A one-act song cycle, it tells the story of an ordinary English girl from Muswell Hill, who journeys to the United States in search of love. Her romantic misadventures begin in New York City, lead her to Hollywood, and eventually take her back to Manhattan.

Starting the show with the show-stopper Take That Look Off Your Face we knew we were in for a treat. Marti had lost little of her magnificent voice. As she gamboled through the other songs the memories all came flooding back... I'm Very You, You're Very Me... Come Back with the Same Look in Your Eyes... You Made Me Think You Were in Love...

The show is very short though. Forty-five plus encore meant fifty-five minutes after taking our seats we were back out on the street again. In previous revivals they have had a 2nd half of dancing - Song and Dance starring Wayne Sleep. This time round we didn't particularly miss the lack of Sleep.

So all in all it was a  fun, albeit short, night of nostalgia. As Stuart mentioned to me on the way out she's botoxed to buggery. So ironically she won't be taking that look off her face anytime soon!

A Taste Of Honey...

Last night Stuart and I went to see A Taste Of Honey at the Lyttelton Theatre, part of the National Theatre, on London's glitzy South Bank.

Written by Shelagh Delaney when she was nineteen, A Taste of Honey is one of the great defining and taboo-breaking plays of the 1950s.

The production was a delight - coarse, fun and funny.

When her mother Helen (Lesley Sharp) runs off with a car salesman, feisty teenager Jo (Kate O'Flynn) takes up with a black sailor who promises to marry her, before he heads for the seas, leaving her pregnant and alone. Gay art student Geoff moves in and assumes the role of surrogate parent until, misguidedly, he sends for Helen and their unconventional setup unravels.

A Taste of Honey offers an explosive celebration of the vulnerabilities and strengths of the female spirit in a deprived and restless world. Bursting with energy and daring, this exhilarating and angry depiction of harsh, working-class life in post-war Salford is shot through with love and humour, and infused with jazz.

"We don’t ask for life, we have it thrust upon us."

World Cup, Anyone?...

Brushing...

While at the dentist last week I got to thinking. If I brushed my teeth as thoroughly every day as I did before going there, I probably wouldn't need to be going there.

Staines...

I was flashed by a speed camera going through Staines Upon Thames today. Don't know why... I was only doing 30 knots.

Valentine's Day...

I asked Stuart if he fancied going away for Valentine's Day.
He took it surprisingly well.

Early Bath...

Floppy Music - Soft Cell - Tainted Love - Now With Marc Almond Vocals!...

Floppy Music - Soft Cell - Tainted Love...

Sochi Fail...

In 18 shorts months I've gone from loving the Olympics to hating it. Homophobia isn't cool. #SochiFail

Peter Grimes...

Last night Stuart and I went to see Benjy Britten's opera Peter Grimes performed by the English National Opera. Having seen it put on a few years ago at The Royal Opera House it was interesting to see this production at the London Colesium.

Sadly it wasn't as good. Not least because the lead actor was ill. His understudy was ill. The lead lady was ill. And her understudy was ill too. So with the entire A team ill and the entire B team ill too we got some (admittedly excellent) stand-ins to make up the C team. Not a good start.

The orchestra was fine and the singing good but the production was only OK - bonkers in places and slightly overblown - it just never really engaged. We didn't really care what Peter Grimes did, or didn't do.

It didn't help that the auditorium was boiling hot and the long ponderous pauses did little to keep a few people near us from nodding off. The overlong three and half hour running time could have been snipped a bit.

Tube Strike Day 2...

Despite the tube strike the Victoria Line is running well this morning. Too well. In work early! #tubestrike

Tube Strike Day 1...

Few tube trains running today so getting bus to work. Treating it as an adventure.
"Back seat! Back seat!" ‪#‎tubestrike‬

Arsenal vs. Crystal Palace...

We beat Crystal Palace 2 - 0 at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. It was a fun game and nice to be able to take the lovely Chewie Baron along for the first time. Although he's a Manchester United fan at heart his 'London team' is Arsenal and he was soon singing along with all the songs. I'll get him to see the error of his ways soon enough!

American Psycho...

On Friday night Stuart and I went to to see American Psycho The Musical at the Almeida Theatre in London's trendy Islington.

Based on the controversial 1991 novel American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis the tale is set in Manhattan during the Wall Street boom of the late 1980s, We follow the daily life of wealthy young investment banker Patrick Bateman whose thoughts turn to murder.

Matt Smith (yes, him) plays Bateman with a suitably (and suited) devilish charm. He can't perhaps hold a tune to quite the same high standard as his colleagues but that aside he carries the day.

The musical perhaps arches its eyebrow rather more than either the book or the film in that it plays it for laughs. But we like a show when the black humour is as dark as the blood is red.

A bevy of original songs are accompanied by a string of 1980s hits; Hip to Be Square, Don't You Want Me, Everybody Wants to Rule the World, True Faith and In the Air Tonight.

If it gets a West End transfer (which is rightly deserves) you should get ticket.