Van Gogh Self Portraits @ The Courtauld Institute of Art...

Last Saturday afternoon Stuart and I went to The Courtauld Institute of Art at the glitzy Somerset House to see the Van Gogh Self Portraits exhibition.  And we agreed with the critics - who simply loved it - in that we simply loved it too. 

 

★★★★★

“An exhibition of electrifying intimacy.”

The Guardian

 

★★★★★

“A landmark exhibition.” “Sensational.”

The Telegraph

 

★★★★★

“An unprecedented and not-to-be-missed show.”

The Times

 

★★★★★

“Van Gogh’s art at its rawest and most intimate.”

The Independent

 

★★★★★

“That search “deep in the soul” for an original form of expression, is abundant in this extraordinary show.”

Evening Standard

 

Taking as its springboard Van Gogh’s iconic Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear, one of the most celebrated works in The Courtauld’s collection, the exhibition brings together around half of the self-portraits Van Gogh created during his short years as a painter.

 

This is the first time that the full span of Van Gogh’s self-portraiture has been explored in an exhibition. Several works in the exhibition were last together in Van Gogh’s studio and have never been reunited, until now.

 

There is an outstanding selection of 16 self-portraits tracing the evolution of Van Gogh’s self representation, from his early Self-Portrait with a Dark Felt Hat, created in 1886 during his formative period in Paris, to Self-Portrait with a Palette, painted at the asylum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence in September 1889, one of his last self-portraits before his death in 1890.

 

The myth of Van Gogh today is linked as much to his extraordinary life as it is to his stunning paintings. This exhibition allows both aspects to be explored.

 

 

London Transport Museum...

Last Saturday Stuart and I went to the London Transport Museum in London's glitzy Covent Garden.

Steam trains, omnibuses, taxis, posters, tickets, art work, and tube trains - there was lots to see and do. It was an entertainment and an education. Who knew the London Underground network used to go out as far as Southend-on-Sea?

If you're ever at a loose end in town and you like that sort of thing - go. And they have a shop!

 

Francis Bacon: Man and Beast @ Royal Academy of Arts…

Last Saturday morning Stuart and I went to see the Francis Bacon: Man and Beast show at the Royal Academy of Arts in London's glitzy West End.

As you may know, artist Francis Bacon was one of the most important painters of the 20th century. What you may not know is, he was an Irish-born, horse-breeder’s son.

An openly gay man at a time when homosexuality was illegal, he was banished from his conservative family home by his father at 16. After that, he drifted through Berlin and Paris before establishing himself in London, with his formative years running parallel with some of the 20th century’s most profoundly disturbing events.

This powerful Man and Beast exhibition focuses on Bacon’s unerring fascination with animals: how it both shaped his approach to the human body and distorted it; how, caught at the most extreme moments of existence, his figures are barely recognisable as either human or beast.

It also explores how Bacon was mesmerised by animal movement, observing animals in the wild during trips to South Africa; filling his studio with wildlife books, and constantly referring to Eadweard Muybridge’s 19th-century photographs of humans and animals in motion. Whether chimpanzees, bulls, dogs, or birds of prey, Bacon felt he could get closer to understanding the true nature of humankind by watching the uninhibited behaviour of animals.

Spanning Bacon’s 50-year career, highlights of the show included some of Bacon’s earliest works and his last-ever painting, alongside a trio of bullfight paintings which will be exhibited together for the first time.

Seen together, these raw expressions of anxiety and instinct – both animal and human – feel poignantly relevant today.

 

The Chairs @ Almeida Theatre...

Last Friday night Stuart and I went to see Eugène Ionesco's surreal, absurdist play The Chairs at the Almeida Theatre in London's glitzy Islington.

Initially we hear the actors backstage deciding whether they want to put the play on that night or not. "It doesn't make much sense." "Do you think people will walk out?" "Too many words. They'll get bored. And I'll forget them." It's funny - but unsettling.

The curtain drops.

An old man (Marcello Magni). An old woman (Kathryn Hunter). An empty stage. And the water is rising.

Alone in a room, the couple set out the chairs ready for the arrival of a very special audience. They’ve invited everyone. The dancers, the chancers, the editors, the creditors, the picketers, the hecklers, the Leavers, the Remainers, the Remoaners. Even the bankers. All the movers and shakers are gathering to hear the old man’s final message to humanity. But will the message ever be delivered?

Invisible guests arrive. An emperor appears.

Part-meta, part post-modern, and part panto - translated and directed by Omar Elerian - it's all very silly and a lot of fun.

The audience are part of the performance. I was thrown a handkerchief. Then later I was called up on stage. A bit of chat (the old woman liked my shoes) and then asked to help with the chairs. All in character.

Eventually the Orator (Toby Sedgwick) arrives. The stage begins to attack him.

Meta, meta, meta, meta, meta....

Today’s FaceTime chat topics with my 85 year old mother ->

My mum is 85. Topics she brought up in our usual Sunday morning FaceTime today: how corrupt the UK banking system is, the best recipe for Vichyssoise, the merits of the NHS vs private healthcare, the potential benefits but cost/benefit hurdles of nuclear fusion, alternate Wordle strategies, how to best support a driver from the passenger seat, WhatsApp’s confusing Archive interface, how limiting immmediate post-War education was for girls, how much we both like Clive Myrie, and how funny it was we both had eggs, marmite on toast and home-made marmalade for breakfast. Oh and we pissed ourselves laughing at Liz Truss in that stupid fucking hat.

 

& Juliet @ Shaftesbury Theatre...

Last night Stuart and I went to see coming-of-age jukebox musical & Juliet at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London's glitzy West End.

Cut to the chase: It was shit. And a mess. A shitty mess.

Ok, let me explain a bit more... & Juliet features the music of Swedish pop songwriter Max Martin, with a book by David West Read. The story focuses on a 'what if' scenario, where Juliet does not die at the end of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

"What's in a name, anyway? That which we call a nose by any other name would still smell."

Playing like a badly thought-out end of term skit at a sub-par stage school the 'comedy' is lame, the plot eye-rollingly bad, the acting dreadful, and singing barely passable.

The songs are crow-barred in so badly it would make any other self-respecting jukebox musicals squirm with embarrassment. "At least it's not as bad as Bat Out Of Hell" is small compliment.

Judging by the half-empty auditorium word has got around.

The karaoke-slaughtered songs (or parts of them) were:-

Larger than Life
I Want It That Way
...Baby One More Time
Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely
Domino
Show Me Love
Blow
I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman
Overprotected
Confident
Teenage Dream
Oops!... I Did It Again
I Kissed a Girl
It's My Life
Love Me Like You Do
Since U Been Gone
Whataya Want From Me
One More Try
Problem
Can't Feel My Face
That's the Way It Is
Everybody (Backstreet's Back)
As Long as You Love Me
It's Gonna Be Me
Shape of My Heart
Stronger
Fuckin' Perfect
Roar
Can't Stop the Feeling!

An Evening Without Kate Bush @ Soho Theatre...

Last night I went to see cabaret star Sarah-Louise Young perform her tribute to Kate Bush at the Soho Theatre in London's glitzy West End.

Developed alongside Russell Lucas, An Evening Without Kate Bush is just over an hour long but boy did it pack a lot in. Wow. It was fab.

Ms Young has an amazing voice, is obviously a super-fan, and knows how to gently find the humour in La Bush's work and in her fellow fans. We laughed, we sang, and we laughed some more.

We heard about fifteen or so KB songs - some just as KB would perform them, some as clever reworkings. There was some funny stage craft pointing out KB's "five signature dance moves", the props were fab, and the costumes and wigs all playing their part. 

First, she was herself as a school girl performing at assembly, then as a cleaner sweeping up the confetti from the stage at Hammersmith Apollo gigs, and then reading out YouTube comments verbatim from beneath KB videos.  

We were schooled in the correct pronunciation of 'Babooshka'. We were asked to name our favourite KB song (I had to explain what One Last Look Around the House Before We Go was about). We were encouraged to join in with some communal singing and, yes, muggins here with the trio as my table were all hauled up on stage to sing backing vocals to Cloudbusting.

The songs were, if I remember correctly:-

And Dream of Sheep

Hounds of Love

Wow

Babooshka (in Russian!)

The Man with the Child in His Eyes

James and the Cold Gun

Rubberband Girl

Moments of Pleasure

Under the Ivy

Cloudbusting

Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)

Don't Give Up

Army Dreamers

This Woman's Work

Wuthering Heights

Here's the promo clip

https://youtu.be/fUUPKtxtbkU

Pretty Woman: The Musical @ Savoy Theatre...

Last Friday night Stuart and I went to see Pretty Woman: The Musical at the Savoy Theatre in London's glitzy West End.

Audiences seem to love it. Critics seem to hate it. I think you might be able to tell who I side with...

Based on the 1990 film of the same name the songs by Bryan Adams are all rather bland and the plot's gender dynamics have aged pretty poorly.

The story is one of a free-spirited ravishing prostitute Vivian and her bestie chasing after men to love them and give them money. Yup, it pretty much fails the Bechtel Test at the first note.

Sure, it's escapist clap-trap but it can't quite decide if it wants to be Cinderella or Pygmalion - the trope of both being that it's the handsome, rich men who hold all the cards (and shoes), the women should be grateful of the attention. There is precious little female backstory.

The shirts might be short, the mini-skirts may be tight - but this just goes to prove how a lot of thought has been given to Vivian's curves, but not much to her arc.

The audience were something else though. Drunk, noisy, shouting out stuff - it was like 1500 people on a hen night. A couple near us got thrown out mid-way through the first act.

The Gin Journey…

Stuart, Kerry, Sheila, Angie, and I took the Soho Gin journey last Saturday afternoon. Maestro @theginmann schooled us in sustainable gin production. 5 venues, 5 shots of gin, 5 gin cocktails. Great fun.

Back to the Future: The Musical - 🚘 88mph⚡️🎸

Last night Stuart and I went to see big-budget musical Back to the Future: The Musical at the Adelphi Theatre in London's glitzy West End.

Based upon the 1985 sci-fi nostalgia blockbuster the show is full of songs (some good, some not quite so good), loads of in-jokes, hammy performances, crowd-pleasing call-backs and call-forwards to the film franchise, and buckets good-will to spare.

BttF:TM stars mother-fucking Marty McFly (played solidly by Olly Dobson) who with the help of weird science chum "Doc" Brown (played hilariously by Roger Bart) goes back from 1985 to 1955 to give some dating advice to his dad George McFly (played to the goofiest hilt by Hugh Coles). Farce ensues as Marty mum (beautifully played by Rosanna Hyland) tries to get into  his rather over-padded pants (purple Calvin's if you must know) and they 'all sings songs about it'.

It's a great, fun night out. It won't scare the horses but it does exactly what it says on the tin; a wonderful tribute to the film and the final action sequence alone was worth the price of admission.

Being interviewed @Arsenal for #LGBTHistoryMonth. Gay, dear? Me, dear? YES, dear!

Life of Pi @ Wyndham's Theatre...

A couple of weeks ago Stuart and I went to see Life of Pi again at the Wyndham's Theatre in London's glitzy West End.

Based upon Yann Martel's eponymous philosophical novel and the 2012 film, Life of Pi is an epic show adventure full of hope... and puppets.

The protagonist is Piscine "Pi" Patel (played brilliantly by Hiran Abeysekera), an Indian boy from Pondicherry who explores issues of spirituality and metaphysics from an early age. He survives 227 days after a shipwreck while stranded on a lifeboat in the Pacific Ocean with a Bengal tiger called Richard Parker which raises questions about the nature of reality and how it is perceived and told.

The show is very special effects heavy (hence our second visit, the boat broke down first time) but all the better for that. The multitude of animals were puppets; some with single human handlers, some with many - Richard Parker alone took three people of control him.

There were lots of laughs too. The staging was great. And the philosophical magical realism worked well too.

Some of the supporting roles perhaps didn't meet the high-water mark set by Abeysekeraof but it was him we came to see / sea.

Coffee or Tea?

Sunday Roasting…

What a fabulous day with Mark and Toby. Laughter, warmth, and a bit of dirty dancing….

Spring Awakening @ Almeida Theatre...

Last night I went to see Spring Awakening at the Almeida Theatre in London's glitzy Islington.

It is perhaps a tad audacious of Rupert Goold to stage such a flamboyantly morose alt-rock musical about teenage repression, angst, rebellion and suicide at a time when most people want to just be cheered up. But here we all are watching a tidal wave of surging adolescent hormones breaking against a stony wall of adult repression in the musical that is Spring Awakening.

It's a surprisingly faithful adaptation too - based as it is upon the 1891 tragedy by the German playwright Frank Wedekind. Perhaps a little too faithful for my taste.

The dated ideas; for the focal pupils, it’s a time when school grades are a matter of life and death; when losing your virginity is your own personal Mount Everest; when sex is a fantasy involving your teacher; and when lying side-by-side, hands touching, on frigid nights is enough to be mistaken for true love.

Goold has missed a trick in not updating the setting. There is plenty of modern day rebillion to call upon.

With the exception of the song "Totally Fucked" - with its 'Save The NHS' and 'Black Lives Matter' slogans projected onto the otherwise black steps that make up the stage - there is precious little to indicate any modernity.

And given you've decided to put the musical on at all it seems odd to then shy away from some of the important and shocking aspects. The botched abortion scene, in particular, is skimmed over so ambiguously it makes it impossible to feel any emotion other than bafflement during the subsequent graveyard scene.

Full marks to the cast though. There are usually 7 boys and 6 girls but last night three of the girls were struck down with Covid. One understudy helped out but they were still two leads down. They soldiered on though and we all made it through to The Song of Purple Summer finale.

A good night out but I would have liked more bite and more modernity to really shake the show awake.

Fabulous Evening Out With This One…. (Yes, we laughed a lot)

Virgin Media Loyalty Penalty. £50 per month EXTRA for being an existing customer! Yes, really. Read on... -->

I'm leaving Virgin Media. I wanted to stay with them but as I am an existing customer - I can't afford to.

Ultimate Volt Bundle (18 month deal)
New Virgin Media or O2 customers: £99 / month
Existing Virgin Media customers: £149 / month
Existing O2 customers: £149 / month

So the loyalty penalty for getting the same Virgin Media / O2 services compared to a new customer is an additional £50 per month.

So as an existing Virgin Media customer I would pay a penalty of £50 / month (£900 over 18 months).

Even as an existing O2 customer if I took those same VM services I’d pay the same £50 / month loyalty penalty.

Think about that.

VM & O2 are the same company but they penalise (not reward) existing O2 customers who want to take VM services and vice versa.

Customers got a better deal before the companies joined together.  Surely the competition regulator should look into this.

Utter madness!

Virgin (Media) On The Ridiculous...

I pay a lot for my current Virgin Media broadband. £55.50. Too much. And they are putting up their prices (again) to £59. I've been a customer since 1997 but it's time to find something cheaper.

So I called them on Friday to cancel my broadband service. Couldn't get through. I got held on the line for 3 hours and eventually had to hang up.

So tried again yesterday. And this is what happened....

11:49am
"We are sorry you are still waiting to be connected to one of team. Our wait times are very high at the moment due to an unprecedented demand to speak to the team."

16:34
So far have been waiting 4h 45 mins 'on hold' for @virginmedia So far... "We are sorry you are still waiting to be connected to one of team. Our wait times are very high at the moment due to an unprecedented demand to speak to the team."

17:34
5h 45mins... Do @virginmedia care about their customers? In all these hours I've been waiting I have calculating how much money I have given them over the years. I was stunned.

19:14
7hr 25mins so far…
"We are sorry you are still waiting to be connected to one of team. Our wait times are very high at the moment due to an unprecedented demand to speak to the team."

19:50
8hrs…
"We are sorry you are still waiting to be connected to one of team. Our wait times are very high at the moment due to an unprecedented demand to speak to the team."

20:12
Been waiting 8hr 23mins so far…

20:29
8hr 50mins still waiting…
"We are sorry you are still waiting to be connected to one of team. Our wait times are very high at the moment due to an unprecedented demand to speak to the team."

21:37
They answered. After 9hr 45mins. To say…. “Please call back tomorrow.” 🤬😤🤯😡


Finally got through the next day at 8am. I told them I was leaving Virgin. I don’t want to pay money to a company that kept me on hold for nearly 13 hours (nearly 10 hours yesterday and the 3 hours I waited on Friday) and that still happily wanted to charge me a ‘loyalty penalty’ (how much extra existing customers pay over new customers) of £50 per month on an 18 month deal. They offered to reduce my bill by £49 per month for 6 months. Still a £600 loyalty penalty. I told them to sling their hook. Why would I reward a company with such lousy response times and has just stupidly high loyalty penalties?


VM: “I’m sorry to hear that, pet. What are you gonna do for your Internet now then?“
Me: “G.Network. Faster, cheaper, and they answer after two rings”
VM: “Oh. Ok then.”

Me: "Bye"

Trouble in Mind @ Dorfman Theatre...

Last Friday night Stuart and I went to see actress and playwright Alice Childress's masterfully stinging satire Trouble in Mind at the Dorfman Theatre on London's glitzy South Bank.

Wow. Wow. Wow. What a play. We were blown away.

First staged over 60 years ago, the piece depicts a multi-racial cast all backstage tackling a clumsily worthy Broadway melodrama about racism while their white director Al Manners (Rory Keenan) goes on a power trip; we see the characters squabble, miscommunicate and bond while rehearsing their show.

Wiletta Mayer (played superbly by Motherland's Tanya Moodie) is a talented black actress. She starts out as a woman who gets to rehearsals early, just so she can be alone with the stage. And indeed, her career thus far has also been an apprenticeship in how to act around white people – always laugh at what they say, don’t act as clever as you really are. She imparts this knowledge to rookie castmate John (Daniel Adeosun) who arrives a little later and who will be playing her son.

Ultimately, it's the gifted and passionate Black actors that are being held back by a predominantly white theatre world.

The humour, like in all good satire, is fierce, naked, and uncomfortable.

And then, mid-play, we are brought up short. In a speech about witnessing a lynching as a young boy, Cyril Nri as older cast member Sheldon brings the audience to a standstill. You can hear a pin drop.

This encourages Wiletta to ignore her own advice of white appeasement and challenge the director's interpretation of the play within the play. However, she finds that her arguments to tell the truth of the story are constantly dismissed by Manners. Her arguments about the play fall on deaf ears - “you’re great until you start thinking”, he says. After her frustrations have become overwhelming she finally she decides to act. She delivers an extraordinarily furious speech about the handful of racist stereotypes she’s had to play in the past.

Written in 1955, the year the Montgomery bus boycott began, Trouble in Mind is funny, startling and has an incredibly modern-feeling.

Backstage is brought lovingly on stage by Rajha Shakiry’s set and Elena Peña’s sound design – we get the battered old piano, the cavernous echo of the back door closing. The rehearsal room lights the touch paper for a set of fascinating power dynamics.

If you like to be challenged, and to laugh all in one night, this play is great - and it makes for an unforgettable night.

RIP Meat Loaf - You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night) ...

Boy: On a hot summer night, would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses?

Girl: Will he offer me his mouth?

Boy: Yes.

Girl: Will he offer me his teeth?

Boy: Yes.

Girl: Will he offer me his jaws?

Boy: Yes.

Girl: Will he offer me his hunger?

Boy: Yes.

Girl: Again, will he offer me his hunger?

Boy: Yes!

Girl: And will he starve without me?

Boy: Yes!

Girl: And does he love me?

Boy: Yes.

Girl: Yes.

Boy: On a hot summer night, would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses?

Girl: Yes.

Boy: I bet you say that to all the boys.

My brand new Dualit toaster just caught fire! Obv sending it back to @AmazonUK @DualitLtd [Dualit 46603 Domus 4 Slot Toaster]

My brand new Dualit toaster just caught fire! So obviously sending it back to Amazon UK.

The central heating element between slots 3 and 4 is faulty. The lower half of this faulty element gets super hot and the upper half doesn't heat at all.  This causes the inserted bread in sections 3 or 4 to remain untoasted in the top half but to burn in the bottom half and eventually catch fire!  

[Dualit 46603 Domus 4 Slot Toaster]