Xmas diorama

We bought a nice little Xmas tree from the local dairy, and decked it out with the cards we received and our (and Emma and Frank's) pressies. I'm wearing the mohair blanket from Mum and Dad.

Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of the War of the Worlds (O2) 22/12/07

Simon, me and Frank outside the O2 centre:

Rocking out to Jeff Wayne's 70s martian-themed rock musical. Check out the on-stage tripod blasting the audience with its deadly heat ray:

Jack the Ripper tour

We've been waiting to do this London Walks tour for ages, and what better a time to do it than in the company of some friends from home! We had a perfectly atmospheric evening for it - the fog was in, and it was suitably freezing. We had a great guide, but the walk was actually a bit disappointing. We only made a few stops, and it was very much 'stand and listen, not so involving. Nonetheless we really enjoyed the scenery...

Emma and Frank's first Tube trip:

The Tower of London:

Where the Goulston Street Graffiti was found, near the cut-away piece of victim Catherine Eddowes' apron:

Emma and Frank (party)

The funtimes continue for our guests. After a busy day touring the city and taking in the sights, the London kiwi contingent all met for dinner and drinks in Convent Garden.

Anna and Emma:

Connor showing off his work-out photos:

James and Anna:

We don't get to see James much because he's a big city lawyer. See how much we've missed him!

Emma and Frank (dinner)

We were delighted to invite our friends Emma and Frank to London for December. They came over via a little holiday in the continet to join us for Xmas. Fortunately I had a day off and was able to meet them at the newly renovated St Pancras station, where the Eurostar now arrives. I supplied them with a few UK treats - Minstrels, Newcastle Brown, Jaffa Cakes etc - while they chilled out in the comfy surroundings of our little lounge.

I had to head off to my work Xmas party, but Anna took them to our local pub - the Lord Stanley - for dinner with Jan and Emma's sister Anne. Gordon Ramsay was having dinner there at the same time. What a great example of how much goes on in this city!

Indiana Jones hats!

Found myself outside Bates, a vintage hat merchants, and supplier of Indiana Jones' original fedora:

Untitled spy film

I've just finished principal photography on a short spy film, and thought I'd share a few of the photographs. Will be editing in January...

Daniel Lane's costume test:

Warming up after an incredibly cold shoot in Piccadilly Circus. Kirk, James, Dan (L-R):

Kirk being fitted with a prosthetic wound by our FX guru, Zoe Lee:

Shooting in Bedale's Wine Bar, Leadenhall Markets. Georgia, James, Dan, Kirk, Connor (L-R):

James and I setting up a shot in the presidential suite of XXXXXX hotel (name withheld by request):

Zoe's gruesome make-up kit:

Kirk suffering for my art:

Spice Girls (O2) 15/12/07

Setlist:
Introduction

Act 1 - The Power of Five:
Spice Up Your Life
Stop
Say You'll Be There
Headlines (Friendship Never Ends)

Act 2 - Seduce Me:
The Lady Is A Vamp
Too Much [fast version]
2 Become 1

Act 3 - Bitter Sweet:
Who Do You Think You Are
Like A Virgin/Supermodel (You Better Work) [Victoria Beckham solo catwalk]
Are You Gonna Go My Way [Melanie Brown solo]
Maybe [Emma Bunton solo]
Viva Forever
Holler [without Geri Halliwell]
It's Raining Men [Geri Halliwell solo]
I Turn To You [Melanie Chisholm solo]

Act 4 - Celebration:
Let Love Lead The Way [without Geri Halliwell]
Mama
Celebration/That's The Way I Like It/Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)/We Are Family
Goodbye

Encore:
If U Can't Dance (reprise)
Wannabe
Spice Up Your Life (reprise)

Jan's Xmas party

Róisín Murphy (Koko, Camden) 28/11/07

Saw a lunchtime piano recital by Alexander Karpeyer at the St James's Church in Piccadilly (designed by Christopher Wren, and where William Blake was baptised). Was also interviewed by a street camera crew for a Virgin 1 documentary called Money Envy!

All in all an interesting day, capped off by another gig at our Camden local, Koko - this time by irish electronica singer Róisín Murphy, formerly of Moloko:

Roisin Murphy has become the fashionistas’ favourite dance-pop diva since striking out solo. More cutting-edge than Kylie, much cooler than Madonna and with an adventurous dress sense surpassed only by Alison Goldfrapp, the glossy blonde had only to stride on stage and strike a modelling pose to send the Koko crowd crazy.

Murphy altered her outfit between every track — skintight trousers and a body-hugging top were accessorised with a puffy smock, long leather gloves and a bright pink beret. Later came various outrageous hats, designer jackets and, for a routine with a chair, what looked like a feather-trimmed negligée.

Setlist:
Cry Baby
You Know Me Better
Checkin' Up On Me
Primitive
Dear Miami
Pandora
Sow Into You
Footprints
Scarlet Ribbons
The Truth (Handsome Boy Modelling School)
Somewhere Over the Rainbow/Movie Star
Tell Everybody
Forever More (Moloko)
Let Me Know
Overpowered

Encore:
Ramalama (Bang Bang)

More Lucky Quid

And that's a wrap!

Lucky Quid

Spent all weekend working on Andy's new short film, The Lucky Quid. It was a tough shoot, as we were outside the whole time (it was freezing) and I did a lot of set dressing under a filthy rail bridge. I still haven't been able to clean my nails properly :)

They say 'don't work with children or animals'. Well, this weekend we did both. Our child actor was pretty intransigent on Saturday, but was blessedly well-behaved on Sunday. We also did a sequence with a couple of rats, which turned out to be a cakewalk - without a single escape attempt!

Andy directing Keo:

Andy and cameraman Simon checking a shot:

Keo becomes a film-maker himself with my little Sony:

Filming in the same underpass as the hobo scene from Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange:

Freya, our downtrodden lady of the evening:

I know it's cold, but that's only going to keep him warm for a few seconds...

Simon shows off some of his mountaineering skills to get a tricky shot:

A few embers in the BBQ set to keep the fingers warm!

Keo grabs a few minutes...

The adult rag-boy in his hobo hovel:

November update

Cold, cold, cold. London is officially freezing the balls off a brass monkey again... and it's only Autumn! In preparation, I have bought a nice new jacket (with Anna's capable assistance of course). I had my eye on a rather spiffy jacket at a nearby Italian samples shop, for a mere £185. Anna helped me find a much cheaper, yet suitable and similar alternative at Esprit.

As it happens, right now is a bad time to be shopping in London. The Christmas lights are out over Oxford Street, and the foot traffic has increased exponentially. Fortunately, we have done all of our holiday shopping, and sent the pressies home with Terry, so we don't have to worry about the crazy seasonal mail either.

I wanted to show Anna the neat displays at Hamleys, but it was like entering a mosh pit, so we only made it a few feet in before high-tailing out again. They do have a great Dr Who window display, with a life-size Tardis and Dalek, and a couple of the clockwork monsters from The Girl in the Fireplace. Seemed popular with the kids, and dorky old fans like me.

Recently we've attended a couple more BFI events. First we went and saw the cast and writers of popular Mitchell and Webb comedy Peep Show, and then did the same a week later for the cult Simon Pegg series Spaced. A great atmosphere both times, and some interesting background discussions. Didn't bother with signatures and photos this time - it's too cold to wait around!

We also said goodbye to some emigrating friends. York-pal Rachel is back off to NZ, and our first London hosts, Ian and Nerida are back to Aussie. Now we need some new immigrés to fill the gaps. Boo hoo hoo!

What else? We managed to miss all of the Guy Fawkes celebrations. Anna got her UK passport. I got food poisoning. We saw kiwi horror-comedy Black Sheep with Simon, and came 7th out of 13 at a pub quiz with Connor and Mark. (We just need a British team member to raise our average.) I had my first short week at work, and mostly finished editing a music video.

Bat for Lashes (Koko, Camden) 29/10/07

Took Anna to see this wonderful band last night. It's a female four piece headed by singer/writer Natasha Khan, and they play a rather odd, but deliciously layered, kind of music. It was a great show, with a decorated set of ghostly trees and support from a string trio and a brass section with French horn, trumpet and trombone.

Intro band was a French group called Spleen, who were fun to watch as they interacted with the audience and seemed to be having a good time.

Setlist:
Trophy
Tahiti
Horse And I
What's A Girl To Do?
Sad Eyes
Missing Time (new song)
I Saw A Light
The Wizard
Bat's Mouth
Lonely (Tom Waits cover)
Sarah

Encore:
Moon And Moon
Prescilla

Natasha also sang a little ditty from 1955 film The Night of the Hunter: "Once upon a time there was a pretty fly, he had a wife this pretty fly but one day she flew away, flew away. She had two pretty children, but one night those pretty children flew away into the sky, into the moon."