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."

Gravesend

Terry wanted to visit the area just outside of London called Gravesend, where a lot of people (including some Beaumont ancestors) emigrated to New Zealand.

The town is recorded as "Gravesham" in the Domesday Book of 1086, probably a corruption of grafs-ham meaning "at the end of the grove". However, myth has it that Gravesend got its name during the Bubonic Plague as the place where victims were no longer buried on land, but at sea.

It was about a 50 minute train ride from London Bridge station, and we had a good view of the docklands and some industrial suburbs of London as we travelled. The town has a busy little main street, but we quickly made our way toward the Thames. The river front has many sites of interest, the first being St George's Church, where Pocahontas is buried.

Pocahontas was the first Native American to visit England, but on returning home to Virginia in 1617 she was taken ill. She was therefore taken ashore at Gravesend, where she died, only 22 years old. She was buried in St George's, but the church burned down in 1727. On rebuilding, the exact site of her grave was lost.

A life-sized statue by American sculptor William Ordway Partridge was gifted by the Governor of Virginia.

Bawley Bay: This historic tiny bay, adjacent to St. Andrews Church, was named after the many shrimp boats which used to moor there in the 19th century. Many families set sail from there hoping to start a new life in Australia and New Zealand.

The Gravesend Blockhouse: one of five small forts built in 1539/40 on either side of the lower Thames to protect the river approaches to London against the possibility of an attack by an enemy fleet. This was part of Henry VIII's national programme of defence.

The New Tavern Fort: remains of a fort built in the 1780s to defend the Thames against the threat of a naval attack from France, and extensively rebuilt by General Gordon between 1865 and 1879. The Fort was re-armed in 1904 and guns representing that period of development are now on display.

Part of the Canal Basin:

Always time for a pint - just make sure you avoid the Spitfire, it's far too bitter!

Warwick Castle

Before heading home to London, we took a bus to Wariwkc Castle, also overlooking the River Avon. Legend has it that the first fortification was erected by Ethelfleda, the daughter of Alfred the Great, though the majority of the remains are Norman. Indeed, William the Conqueror appointed Henry de Newburgh as Earl of Warwick, during which the motte-and-bailey fort was erected.

Terry posing with some musical peasants. The one on the left is playing a hurdy-gurdy...

Now run as a museum, the castle has engaging exhibits run by Madame Tussauds. There are some of her famous wax dummies throughout (including a young Winston Churchill), which do a great job of evoking the historic atmosphere.

We had a great time exploring the castle, climbing the turrets, wandering in the grounds, visiting the tropical house, and watching an archery demonstration. There were also additional exhibits from the Warwick paranormal investigation group. Waste of time if you ask me, but then I'm a skeptic.

On the ramparts:

Stratford-upon-Avon

I organised a weekend trip away for us and Terry - originally to Portsmouth, but that plan turned sour when I discovered that there was a massive marathon taking place there. So instead we switched to Shakespeare's birth-and-death-place, Stratford-upon-Avon. The riverside town (literally in Anglo-Saxon: strat-street, ford-river crossing, avon-river) developed as a market in medieval times, specialising in wool and tanning.

The beautiful Avon river:

Outside the tourist centre:

There are 5 houses relating to Shakespeare's life scattered throughout the town, owned and operated by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. We dutifully made our way around them all, taking a tourist bus here and there. The first is on Henley Street, where John Shakespeare bought a half-timbered Tudor farm house in 1556. William was born here in 1564.

It's a very pretty little cottage, with a lovely garden planted with herbs and flowers referred to in Shakespeare's plays and poems. The interiors have been kept in period, but it was hard to get the atmosphere with so many fellow tourists shuffling about.

The Americans have built a Shakespeare monument by the market square. It doesn't evoke much to me, but it does have some nice carvings on it - little animals and monsters and the like.

The second of our stops was Anne Hathaway's Cottage at Shottery, the home of Shakespeare's wife's family prior to her marriage.

There was a little orchard, though the fruit wasn't yet in season. Nonetheless I did try an apple (crunchy, but tart), a pear (too hard to eat) and a quince (hideously dry in the mouth).

This is authentic Tudor bird-scaring device - a potato stuck with feathers that rotates on a string.

Further out in the countryside is stop number 3, Mary Arden's House, the family home of Shakespeare's mother. This is well worth the stop, with lots of farmyard animals, including plenty of chooks, sheep and even some birds of prey.

Back in town we stopped at #4, Nash's House. This is built beside the site of New Place, a mansion-like complex built by Shakespeare at the height of his fortune. He lived and died here, but alas!, the site was demolished by Nash in a dispute over taxes. Afterwards we we wandered through the theatre quarter, where the Royal Shakespeare Company operate.

Boats in the Avon river named after female characters from Shakespeare's plays:

Brass rubbing centre:

Holy Trinity Church, where Shakespeare was baptised and is buried. The present building dates from 1210 and is built on the site of a Saxon monastery. It is Stratford's oldest building, in a striking position on the banks of the River Avon, and has long been England's most visited parish church.

It is said that Shakespeare's body is buried 20 feet deep to prevent its theft. Above the grave, a badly eroded stone slab displays his epitaph:

Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbear,
To dig the dust enclosèd here.
Blest be the man that spares these stones,
But cursed be he that moves my bones.

A 14th-century sanctuary knocker in the church's porch (built c. 1500):

Hall's Croft, the one-time home of Shakespeare's daughter, Susannah, and her husband Dr John Hall. Outside is a large mulberry tree, grown from a cutting off Shakespeare's own mulberry tree. Obscure!

In the evening we went to see the Royal Shakespeare Company production of Henry V. It was brilliantly staged, but very tiring as we only had standing 'seats'.