Nation by Terry Pratchett
This book was a pleasant departure from the Discworld series, and it addressed several different themes that are modern in concept even though the setting is historical. The author’s humour and style was familiar to those who have read his other books, but there were some more thoughtful elements apparent in this story.
‘Finding himself alone on a desert island when everything and everyone he knows and loved has been washed away in a huge storm, Mau is the last surviving member of his nation. He's also completely alone - or so he thinks until he finds the ghost girl. She has no toes, wears strange lacy trousers like the grandfather bird and gives him a stick which can make fire. Daphne, sole survivor of the wreck of the Sweet Judy, almost immediately regrets trying to shoot the native boy. Thank goodness the powder was wet and the gun only produced a spark. She's certain her father, distant cousin of the Royal family, will come and rescue her but it seems, for now, all she has for company is the boy and the foul-mouthed ship's parrot. ‘
Use of Weapons by Iain M Banks
This was an entertaining book and I felt it was quite familiar – I may have read it before, or perhaps he has written about the same characters in another story. I like the character development and the background setting.
‘The man known as Cheradenine Zakalwe was one of Special Circumstances' foremost agents, changing the destiny of planets to suit the Culture through intrigue, dirty tricks or military action.
The woman known as Diziet Sma had plucked him from obscurity and pushed him towards his present eminence, but despite all their dealings she did not know him as well as she thought.
The drone known as Skaffen-Amtiskaw knew both of these people. It had once saved the woman's life by massacring her attackers in a particularly bloody manner. It believed the man to be a burnt-out case. But not even its machine intelligence could see the horrors in his past.’
Thursday, December 03, 2009
More of wot I have seen…
More than a day in the air gives you plenty of time to watch movies, unfortunately there don’t always have a great selection to choose from. Here are some of those I saw.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
A bit of modern boys-own macho fun with all the elements covered – robots, shiny cars, sexy girls, explosions, more robots.
‘With the help of the Autobots, Sam and Mikaela must uncover the secret history of the Transformers presence on earth as they prepare for the return of an ancient Decepticon’.
The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3
I haven’t seen the original, but this seemed to be quite well conceived and was certainly well executed. The story was gripping and the main characters were very well played.
‘A New York subway dispatcher has his day thrown into chaos when a subway train is hijacked by a criminal mastermind who intends to kill passengers unless he receives a large ransom.’
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
More madcap adventures with those lovable prehistoric characters.
‘When Sid the Sloth gets into trouble after creating a makeshift family from hijacked dinosaur eggs, the rest of the Ice Age gang attempts to rescue him from a mysterious underground world.’
The Hangover
A fascinatingly disturbing movie with a potential cautionary tale about the dangers of alcohol and drugs that all seems to be ignored with the unsatisfying ending.
‘Doug and his friends head to Las Vegas for a bachelor party. However, the next morning his friends soon realise Doug is missing and that they have no recollection of the previous evening.’
Safari
A mad French comedy that relies on slapstick humour and very little plot.
‘When a tour organiser loses at poker to a feared mob, he is blackmailed into allowing an extra tourist to join his upcoming safari, and must ensure the safe delivery of a locked briefcase.’
EX
A soppy chick flick with a very saccharine aftertaste to it.
‘EX looks at a series of intertwined episodes that revolve around matters arising from the end of a love affair.’
Fermat's Room
This French film I liked very much for its outrageous concept and intellectual conceits.
‘Four mathematicians invited to solve a great enigma at an abandoned house discover they are in a shrinking room that will crush them to death if they do not discover what connects them.’
On a return journey from one side of the world to another there was plenty of opportunity for watching films and there were quite a few more that we saw that we have ignored either intentionally or by accident.
In addition to this we went out as a family and saw a new release at the cinema.
Surrogates
We saw this in NZ on the day it was released and being a Sci-Fi nut I enjoyed it very much. Sue was quite disturbed by the initial appearance of Bruce Willis’s surrogate. The world is well realised and the supporting websites are fun to trawl through.
And recently we saw at Dorking
2012
This is a bonkers movie so full of CGI effects that I guess it could have been made in a film lot just about anywhere. The effects are so wild that they lose all credibility and in doing so lose any impact too. Even so there is a certain satisfaction in watching wholesale destruction (primarily of America) knowing it is all fake – and as it takes a while to destroy the earth it is probably a large tub of pop-corn sort of movie.
And at Guildford
Men Who Stare at Goats
This was a mad and not all that well thought out story that suffered from a lack of direction. Even the all star cast could not lift the film above the mundane. The title refers to several experiments that the US and Soviet military were supposed to have been working on (though I understood these were back in the cold war days) to try and determine if it could be possible to use extrasensory powers to tactical advantage.
Rather than just explore the historical farce that surrounded these experiments in a historical context, the film makers tried to update it and make a political point – I think they missed the target.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
A bit of modern boys-own macho fun with all the elements covered – robots, shiny cars, sexy girls, explosions, more robots.
‘With the help of the Autobots, Sam and Mikaela must uncover the secret history of the Transformers presence on earth as they prepare for the return of an ancient Decepticon’.
The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3
I haven’t seen the original, but this seemed to be quite well conceived and was certainly well executed. The story was gripping and the main characters were very well played.
‘A New York subway dispatcher has his day thrown into chaos when a subway train is hijacked by a criminal mastermind who intends to kill passengers unless he receives a large ransom.’
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
More madcap adventures with those lovable prehistoric characters.
‘When Sid the Sloth gets into trouble after creating a makeshift family from hijacked dinosaur eggs, the rest of the Ice Age gang attempts to rescue him from a mysterious underground world.’
The Hangover
A fascinatingly disturbing movie with a potential cautionary tale about the dangers of alcohol and drugs that all seems to be ignored with the unsatisfying ending.
‘Doug and his friends head to Las Vegas for a bachelor party. However, the next morning his friends soon realise Doug is missing and that they have no recollection of the previous evening.’
Safari
A mad French comedy that relies on slapstick humour and very little plot.
‘When a tour organiser loses at poker to a feared mob, he is blackmailed into allowing an extra tourist to join his upcoming safari, and must ensure the safe delivery of a locked briefcase.’
EX
A soppy chick flick with a very saccharine aftertaste to it.
‘EX looks at a series of intertwined episodes that revolve around matters arising from the end of a love affair.’
Fermat's Room
This French film I liked very much for its outrageous concept and intellectual conceits.
‘Four mathematicians invited to solve a great enigma at an abandoned house discover they are in a shrinking room that will crush them to death if they do not discover what connects them.’
On a return journey from one side of the world to another there was plenty of opportunity for watching films and there were quite a few more that we saw that we have ignored either intentionally or by accident.
In addition to this we went out as a family and saw a new release at the cinema.
Surrogates
We saw this in NZ on the day it was released and being a Sci-Fi nut I enjoyed it very much. Sue was quite disturbed by the initial appearance of Bruce Willis’s surrogate. The world is well realised and the supporting websites are fun to trawl through.
And recently we saw at Dorking
2012
This is a bonkers movie so full of CGI effects that I guess it could have been made in a film lot just about anywhere. The effects are so wild that they lose all credibility and in doing so lose any impact too. Even so there is a certain satisfaction in watching wholesale destruction (primarily of America) knowing it is all fake – and as it takes a while to destroy the earth it is probably a large tub of pop-corn sort of movie.
And at Guildford
Men Who Stare at Goats
This was a mad and not all that well thought out story that suffered from a lack of direction. Even the all star cast could not lift the film above the mundane. The title refers to several experiments that the US and Soviet military were supposed to have been working on (though I understood these were back in the cold war days) to try and determine if it could be possible to use extrasensory powers to tactical advantage.
Rather than just explore the historical farce that surrounded these experiments in a historical context, the film makers tried to update it and make a political point – I think they missed the target.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
There and back again…
Well that was a short (but eventful) holiday in NZ, and now we are back trying to reset the old body clock and get back into the daily grind.
Our trip out included a leg on the new A380 double-deck airplane which is an amazing vehicle (just wish we could afforded to really experience it at its best)
Sue and I went with Jamie for a couple of weeks (less the time taken to get there and back and stopping off in Singapore) and spent our time there between Rotorua (known colloquially as Roto-Vegas) and Auckland (or just out in the country).
While in Rotorua we participated in several traditional activities such as:
Zorb (Jamie and I got into individual hamster balls along with a bath full of water and rolled down a hill on a slow spin cycle)
Luge (Travel up a hill in a gondola and then Jamie and I repeatedly slid down it again on a small wheeled sled)
Jet Boat Thermal Safari (Packed into a twin engine jet boat nicknamed the brute we rode down to geothermal park, wandered around it on foot, and returned again via jet boat and several 360 degree spins)
Polynesian Spa (Sit in sulphurous mineral hot pools until we became more wrinkly)
We had a couple of parties at Mum and Dad’s; one with selected neighbours and another for a couple of school friends and their families. It was good fun to catch up with every one (We have come to the conclusion that almost every memorable incident in our school years had something to do with Nic)
On the weekend we visited the Otara Market to soak in the culture and see if we could pick up a bargain or two.
We also visited Alexander Park Market where Mum and Dad have a stall before we went into Auckland to stay the evening.
The Shakespeare Hotel was our venue where we arranged to meet any friends who were available for a chat and a few drinks of the hotel’s own brewed beer.
A few people came and went and we enjoyed their company (except for Sue who was in her room suffering from an upset stomach). Craig stayed on with Jamie and me for a few more refreshing ales before a short tour of the town. Afterwards Jamie went out on his own to see if he could find any excitement (not much of a chance in Auckland on a Sunday night), he ended up in a bar with two others (one being the barman) feeling as he had walked into the start of a joke as they were a Scotsman and an Irishman with Jamie being the Englishman.
After picking up a car for the day we visited another friend for a coffee and drove around the waterfront towards my old hometown of Howick where we had a meal with an old work colleague.
Mid week we again went into town and this time the family stood around and watched as Jamie and I jumped off the tallest free standing structure in the southern hemisphere – twice (there was not many people doing the jump that day so we were given a chance to jump again for free, which Jamie ‘jumped’ at… …and I couldn’t let him think I was a coward)
Sue’s choice of activity was a wine tour, so we hoped to do this along with a trip to the beach to play on the sand yachts , unfortunately the wind was not strong enough, so we diverted and Jamie and Gary did electric go-karts instead. After this we went around the Scenic Drive to the wine area and stopped at Hallertau (because they brewed beer as well as made wine – unfortunately the wine was fruit wine and not to everyone’s taste). So we then went onto one of our favourites, Coopers Creek where we did enjoy a few samples before buying a couple of bottles. Unfortunately it was starting to get late in the day and we didn’t manage to get to any other vineyards.
After our visit we felt as if we were several sizes bigger as a result of the food and alcohol consumed. The portion sizes in NZ seem much bigger than we are used to (a light lunch at a café was a huge plate full and the fish and chips include two pieces of fish). We had a nice meal out in a good Auckland restaurant (the deserts were a work of art - what’s that foam stuff all about anyway?). Another good meal was had a local restaurant Chin Wags with the family. In Singapore too we out did ourselves when we ended up eating the largest and messiest chilli crab we have ever seen.
Our trip out included a leg on the new A380 double-deck airplane which is an amazing vehicle (just wish we could afforded to really experience it at its best)
Sue and I went with Jamie for a couple of weeks (less the time taken to get there and back and stopping off in Singapore) and spent our time there between Rotorua (known colloquially as Roto-Vegas) and Auckland (or just out in the country).
While in Rotorua we participated in several traditional activities such as:
Zorb (Jamie and I got into individual hamster balls along with a bath full of water and rolled down a hill on a slow spin cycle)
Luge (Travel up a hill in a gondola and then Jamie and I repeatedly slid down it again on a small wheeled sled)
Jet Boat Thermal Safari (Packed into a twin engine jet boat nicknamed the brute we rode down to geothermal park, wandered around it on foot, and returned again via jet boat and several 360 degree spins)
Polynesian Spa (Sit in sulphurous mineral hot pools until we became more wrinkly)
We had a couple of parties at Mum and Dad’s; one with selected neighbours and another for a couple of school friends and their families. It was good fun to catch up with every one (We have come to the conclusion that almost every memorable incident in our school years had something to do with Nic)
On the weekend we visited the Otara Market to soak in the culture and see if we could pick up a bargain or two.
We also visited Alexander Park Market where Mum and Dad have a stall before we went into Auckland to stay the evening.
The Shakespeare Hotel was our venue where we arranged to meet any friends who were available for a chat and a few drinks of the hotel’s own brewed beer.
A few people came and went and we enjoyed their company (except for Sue who was in her room suffering from an upset stomach). Craig stayed on with Jamie and me for a few more refreshing ales before a short tour of the town. Afterwards Jamie went out on his own to see if he could find any excitement (not much of a chance in Auckland on a Sunday night), he ended up in a bar with two others (one being the barman) feeling as he had walked into the start of a joke as they were a Scotsman and an Irishman with Jamie being the Englishman.
After picking up a car for the day we visited another friend for a coffee and drove around the waterfront towards my old hometown of Howick where we had a meal with an old work colleague.
Mid week we again went into town and this time the family stood around and watched as Jamie and I jumped off the tallest free standing structure in the southern hemisphere – twice (there was not many people doing the jump that day so we were given a chance to jump again for free, which Jamie ‘jumped’ at… …and I couldn’t let him think I was a coward)
Sue’s choice of activity was a wine tour, so we hoped to do this along with a trip to the beach to play on the sand yachts , unfortunately the wind was not strong enough, so we diverted and Jamie and Gary did electric go-karts instead. After this we went around the Scenic Drive to the wine area and stopped at Hallertau (because they brewed beer as well as made wine – unfortunately the wine was fruit wine and not to everyone’s taste). So we then went onto one of our favourites, Coopers Creek where we did enjoy a few samples before buying a couple of bottles. Unfortunately it was starting to get late in the day and we didn’t manage to get to any other vineyards.
After our visit we felt as if we were several sizes bigger as a result of the food and alcohol consumed. The portion sizes in NZ seem much bigger than we are used to (a light lunch at a café was a huge plate full and the fish and chips include two pieces of fish). We had a nice meal out in a good Auckland restaurant (the deserts were a work of art - what’s that foam stuff all about anyway?). Another good meal was had a local restaurant Chin Wags with the family. In Singapore too we out did ourselves when we ended up eating the largest and messiest chilli crab we have ever seen.
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
Wot is hot...
...in the 70’s
What do you remember about the 1970’s that was cool?
Soda Stream
Bata Bullets
Silly Putty
VHS vs BetaMax
C60 Cassette homemade mix tapes
Raleigh Twenty and Raleigh Rodeo bicycles
Banana toothpaste
Chicken Chow
Casio Digital Watch
Rubik’s Cube
Slinky
What else?
Thursday, September 24, 2009
See you at the bar…
We are coming over to NZ for a short visit during October and we are intending to be in a bar in Auckland on Sunday 18th to meet up with any old friends who can make it (venue to be confirmed).
Avast, me hearties…
A bunch of our regular gamers came over to our place on the weekend and celebrated ‘Talk like a Pirate Day’ this year by playing a table top role playing game where we were Privateers (not quite Pirates – we have a license you understand). It was great fun and I quite enjoyed playing the part of ‘Jolly’ Roger the Cabin Boy – especially when I nearly managed to take down the dastardly French Captain.
Probably the best Swedish TV cop show ever…
We had recently seen the British remake of, Wallander, with Kenneth Branagh in it and enjoyed it very much, so when we saw it again on the schedule we originally thought it was more of the same. It wasn’t until we started watching it that we realized it was the original Swedish series.
We really enjoyed the series, even more so than the English speaking adaptation (which was very good). The acting is fabulous, the scenery bleak and the music moody.
Thoroughly enjoyable
We really enjoyed the series, even more so than the English speaking adaptation (which was very good). The acting is fabulous, the scenery bleak and the music moody.
Thoroughly enjoyable
Empire Irregulars…
One of our friends suggested it might be a good idea to combine his interests in military uniforms and parading with morris dancing and start up a military morris side. I was thinking it might be fun to call it the Empire Irregulars and have the members choose items off uniforms from past British forces (Red Jacket, Pith Helmet etc) yet still have knee length trousers and bells on their ankles.
Hedgerow bounty…
Autumn is the time to harvest and we have been out in the nearby fields collecting Blackberries and Elderberries. We have had plenty to pick and so our freezer is full of berries and we have enjoyed puddings and I even made another batch of Elderberry Jam (too much sugar again, so it is very thick and sweet).
Summer-House warming…
One of our neighbours has had a new summer house put up in their back yard and we were invited over to celebrate with a drink and some nibbles. The construction is wonderful with a sizable decking around a well appointed building that is so good we all wanted to move into it. We had a great time talking to their friends and family and we well impressed with the rocket scientist.
Just slap it on all over…
Our house has desperately need some tender loving care taken on the exterior and recently we had the pointing repaired in preparation for repainting the woodwork and stonework around the windows and doors. Sue had the impression we could have it all done and dusted in a couple of hours. This was not quite the case, even though we have done the majority of it, with the not insignificant help of family, and the rest should be completed this weekend.
Operation Pied Piper…
We went along to a very enjoyable and informative talk at the local Westcott History Group on the subject of Operation Pied Piper as part of the remembrance of the start of WWII.
Operation Pied Piper was the code name for the evacuation of major cities on the day that war was declared, where many children were taken from possible danger zones to areas of relative safety in the countryside. The village of Westcott was host to two schools from London and this talk concentrated on them and what happened.
The Reading Room was packed with people; many of who were of a generation that could remember the events first hand (some even stood up and added to the talk with personal details). Several local children came in and acted out the roles of evacuees by reading out letters written by them to their parents. A woman also read out passages from the memories of the local lady responsible for the allocation of the children to suitable accommodation. I particularly like that she referred to her self as the Dumper and the children as the poor Dumplings. I think this episode and memories would make for an interesting children’s story, luckily I obtained a copy of the talk for reference. So you never know – another incomplete project.
Operation Pied Piper was the code name for the evacuation of major cities on the day that war was declared, where many children were taken from possible danger zones to areas of relative safety in the countryside. The village of Westcott was host to two schools from London and this talk concentrated on them and what happened.
The Reading Room was packed with people; many of who were of a generation that could remember the events first hand (some even stood up and added to the talk with personal details). Several local children came in and acted out the roles of evacuees by reading out letters written by them to their parents. A woman also read out passages from the memories of the local lady responsible for the allocation of the children to suitable accommodation. I particularly like that she referred to her self as the Dumper and the children as the poor Dumplings. I think this episode and memories would make for an interesting children’s story, luckily I obtained a copy of the talk for reference. So you never know – another incomplete project.
More wot I have read…
The Host by Stephenie Meyer
This is a new book from the author of the Twilght series, this time with aliens as the subject rather than the supernatural. It certainly has the potential to change young female reader’s attitudes in the same way and introducing them to Sci-Fi. It was well written and thought out with a lot of attention spent on characterisation and personal interactions and not so much on the whole alien thing.
'Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away.
Our world has been invaded by an unseen enemy. Humans become hosts for these invaders, their minds taken over while their bodies remain intact and continue their lives apparently unchanged. Most of humanity has succumbed.
When Melanie, one of the few remaining "wild" humans is captured, she is certain it is her end. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, was warned about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the glut of senses, the too vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn't expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.
Wanderer probes Melanie's thoughts, hoping to discover the whereabouts of the remaining human resistance. Instead, Melanie fills Wanderer's mind with visions of the man Melanie loves—Jared, a human who still lives in hiding. Unable to separate herself from her body's desires, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she has been tasked with exposing. When outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off on a dangerous and uncertain search for the man they both love.'
This is a new book from the author of the Twilght series, this time with aliens as the subject rather than the supernatural. It certainly has the potential to change young female reader’s attitudes in the same way and introducing them to Sci-Fi. It was well written and thought out with a lot of attention spent on characterisation and personal interactions and not so much on the whole alien thing.
'Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away.
Our world has been invaded by an unseen enemy. Humans become hosts for these invaders, their minds taken over while their bodies remain intact and continue their lives apparently unchanged. Most of humanity has succumbed.
When Melanie, one of the few remaining "wild" humans is captured, she is certain it is her end. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, was warned about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the glut of senses, the too vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn't expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.
Wanderer probes Melanie's thoughts, hoping to discover the whereabouts of the remaining human resistance. Instead, Melanie fills Wanderer's mind with visions of the man Melanie loves—Jared, a human who still lives in hiding. Unable to separate herself from her body's desires, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she has been tasked with exposing. When outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off on a dangerous and uncertain search for the man they both love.'
Thursday, September 03, 2009
All the best folk…
We went to the Towersey Folk Festival on the last bank holiday on August and had a brilliant time.
Three of us went along and camped the weekend at the site in Oxfordshire. Although it was grey and windy for most days, apart from Monday afternoon’s sunshine, we were lucky that it didn’t rain, as I am sure that could have dampened our spirits.
We were on the go all day seeing many concerts and acts, interspersed with some liberal consumption of alcohol and the regular burger before bed. Even though we kept busy we still missed seeing anything at the off site venues or the ceilidh tent (pronounced kay-lee, or if you are Sue, see-li-dah).
There wasn’t an act that we didn’t like though there were a few favourites and I now have a longer wish list on Amazon. The highlights for us were:
The Imagined Village – an exciting cosmopolitan folk collective demonstrating how tradition can be made contemporary and grow from it
The Spooky Men’s Chorale – ‘a vast, rumbling, black-clad behemoth’ group of Australian (led by a Kiwi) ‘blokes’ who sing in great harmony and like a bit of silliness. We also went to the Spooky Men’s – Sing Like a Bloke workshop, where a large group of people learnt the ‘Let Me Through’ song and then invaded the Market Square, singing at the top of our collective voices, much to the puzzlement of the other visitors.
Megan and Joe Henwood – a great young brother and sister act – winners of the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Awards 2009 and an act to watch for
John Smith – another great new act, unbelievably unsigned
Chris Smither – an old school American Blues singer who sounds like he has been gargling gravel and looks a bit like a cross between Roy Orbison and Johnny Cash
Karine Polwart – a successful new Scots singer with an angelic voice
Devon Sproule – a quirky North American songstress with an unique sound that wasn’t universally liked by the old school folk audience. We had seen here last year at Womad and love her stuff
We also saw…
Roy Bailey – an old school folky, from before it was big the first time around. Popular with young and old alike
Mawkin – a fun modern folk group who are making waves on the new scene
The Lark Rise Band – this band were around before the TV series promoting the works of Flora Thompson with readings and song
4Square – a group of young, precocious and extremely talented youngsters who will undoubtedly go onto big things
Ross Ainslie and Jarlath Henderson with Ali Hutton – a talent couple of pipers with their friend
Pete Coe – another old school folky who has been around for a while and has a big following
Demon Barbers – the noisiest group we saw who like to keep things lively
Cupola – a talented group of traditional folk musicians
Various Dance sides and musical acts in the Market Square, Beer Tent and the Rope Circle.
Three of us went along and camped the weekend at the site in Oxfordshire. Although it was grey and windy for most days, apart from Monday afternoon’s sunshine, we were lucky that it didn’t rain, as I am sure that could have dampened our spirits.
We were on the go all day seeing many concerts and acts, interspersed with some liberal consumption of alcohol and the regular burger before bed. Even though we kept busy we still missed seeing anything at the off site venues or the ceilidh tent (pronounced kay-lee, or if you are Sue, see-li-dah).
There wasn’t an act that we didn’t like though there were a few favourites and I now have a longer wish list on Amazon. The highlights for us were:
The Imagined Village – an exciting cosmopolitan folk collective demonstrating how tradition can be made contemporary and grow from it
The Spooky Men’s Chorale – ‘a vast, rumbling, black-clad behemoth’ group of Australian (led by a Kiwi) ‘blokes’ who sing in great harmony and like a bit of silliness. We also went to the Spooky Men’s – Sing Like a Bloke workshop, where a large group of people learnt the ‘Let Me Through’ song and then invaded the Market Square, singing at the top of our collective voices, much to the puzzlement of the other visitors.
Megan and Joe Henwood – a great young brother and sister act – winners of the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Awards 2009 and an act to watch for
John Smith – another great new act, unbelievably unsigned
Chris Smither – an old school American Blues singer who sounds like he has been gargling gravel and looks a bit like a cross between Roy Orbison and Johnny Cash
Karine Polwart – a successful new Scots singer with an angelic voice
Devon Sproule – a quirky North American songstress with an unique sound that wasn’t universally liked by the old school folk audience. We had seen here last year at Womad and love her stuff
We also saw…
Roy Bailey – an old school folky, from before it was big the first time around. Popular with young and old alike
Mawkin – a fun modern folk group who are making waves on the new scene
The Lark Rise Band – this band were around before the TV series promoting the works of Flora Thompson with readings and song
4Square – a group of young, precocious and extremely talented youngsters who will undoubtedly go onto big things
Ross Ainslie and Jarlath Henderson with Ali Hutton – a talent couple of pipers with their friend
Pete Coe – another old school folky who has been around for a while and has a big following
Demon Barbers – the noisiest group we saw who like to keep things lively
Cupola – a talented group of traditional folk musicians
Various Dance sides and musical acts in the Market Square, Beer Tent and the Rope Circle.
Shakespeare is always better outdoors…
Recently we went up to see my Uncle and go to the local production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Pendley Manor. The costumes and setting gave it a 1920’s feel and Puck was a fantastic with mannerisms that reminded me of Charlie Chaplin and Tommy Cooper.
There is something about watching Shakespeare outdoors that adds to the experience, I think it reminds me of earlier days when we went to see productions with friends at the Auckland University.
There is something about watching Shakespeare outdoors that adds to the experience, I think it reminds me of earlier days when we went to see productions with friends at the Auckland University.
Swingball Champion 1977…
We went to Sue’s Brother’s place a while back to help put up some guttering and to have a family get together. The weather was great and we sat out in the garden and played swingball, something I had not done for many years.
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Flying south…
We are planning a short visit down under to visit friends and family in NZ in October and to show Jamie around some of the sites (he wants to do the Sky-Jump and Zorbing). So we will try and set a date when we are in Auckland
Where has the sunshine gone…?
I know we shouldn’t expect too much of the British Summer but our hopes were initially lifted by a good spring and the promise by the forecaster’s of a BBQ Summer. Now that June and July have been predominately wet and gloomy the forecaster’s have revised there predictions for the worst.
On the plus side the wet weather has meant that we have not had to water the allotment, though we have not had much time outside and we are getting fed up with the wet and cold. We do have the occasional day of sunshine and heat, but it is unpredictable and short lived as another shower passes through to dampen our enthusiasm. Oh well, I guess it will soon be Christmas!
More banjos than is healthy…
We went to another festival recently, though on a much smaller scale and restricted musical theme as a local village held its 9th Surrey Mini Bluegrass Festival in the village hall. We have been to folk festivals, jazz festivals and now a bluegrass festival, and it seems there are similar types of people at each, just wearing different ‘uniforms’. It was a small, intimate and friendly atmosphere and we did hear some very talented musicians, and I even enjoyed one so much I bought their album.
Wood, Wire and Words are a family trio of husband and wife and wife’s dad who played a more accessible style of bluegrass that was centred on the lyrics of the young lead singer.
Wood, Wire and Words are a family trio of husband and wife and wife’s dad who played a more accessible style of bluegrass that was centred on the lyrics of the young lead singer.
Mad for Womad…
Our now regular trip to the Womad festival was not hampered greatly by the British summer weather and we managed to dress accordingly and shelter when necessary as the rains came and went. The site was prey good again though the organisers suffered problems with the toilets, and we mourned the lack of the Pieminister food stall and the small Little Italy Tent.
Again we saw and amazing selection of artists that most of us knew nothing of. There seemed to be a jazz influence to this year’s line-up culminating in the foremost Acid Jazz performer – Roy Ayers.
Some of the acts we saw included:
Caravan Palace downloaded their album)
Rachel Unthank and The Winterset (on my wish list)
Sarah Savoy & The Francadians (would love to get something of theirs)
17 Hippies (on my wish list)
Victor Deme (on my wish list)
Hindi Zahra
Hypnotic Brass Ensemble
Mec Yek
Solomon Burke
Roy Ayers
Youssou N’Dour
Spiro
Nneke
Ethiopiques
Los Desterrados
Long days (and nights) of prolonged drinking and festival atmosphere did produce some amusing incidents, like putting an order in for tea & toast in the middle of the night under the name of ‘fudgy-foo-foo’ and having another late night cuppa in a chi tent as kids inhaled ‘laughing-gas’ from balloons and a single mum smoked a joint as her baby slept in a pram nearby.
It was such an education for us innocents abroad in everyway.
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