11.30.08
Posted in Family & Friends, Food, London, Media & Internet, Writing at 8.00 am by Caitlin
Today is the last day of NaBloPoMo – I’ve managed to blog every single day in November. It’s certainly not been as hard as NaNoWriMo last year!
Have you enjoyed the extra blogging? I can’t promise to keep it up at this rate but it’s been fun and has helped me recover my blogging mojo, so hopefully I’ll be around a bit more.
I have friends coming to lunch today and house guests arriving tonight. I’ll keep this brief as I need to get the lamb in the oven – not the Jamie Oliver version this time since it’s quite boozy and our friends are bringing their kids.
I have two other blog posts today as well:
- A post on unusual vegetables featuring pics of Romanesco cauliflour on The Gooseberry Fool.
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11.29.08
Posted in Family & Friends, London, Theatre at 5.59 pm by Caitlin
Last chance for tickets to see me in The Tempest.
I’m playing Miranda in an amateur production of The Tempest on Tuesday night. Today was the first dress rehearsal and we have another run-through on Monday night.
We are performing at the Candid Arts Trust in Angel-Islington, which is an atmospheric room filled with ready-made props like red velvet thrones and melted candlesticks.
The play has been substantially cut – total running time is under an hour and a half and we will actually be doing two performances on Tuesday night since we can only accommodate an audience of 35 at one time. We are not doing a straight interpretation but in keeping with the magical essence of the play we are doing an Artaud-style interpretation where we are trying to give the audience more of an immersive experience. The main character Prospero, who is my father in the play, is played by three different people sharing a magical cloak and we also have the parts of the sprites and monsters – Ariel and Caliban – shared. Some of the scenes such as the opening shipwreck scene will be interactive – though we are trying not to go over the top because we don’t want to completely lose the audience!
I’m really looking forward to it. Don’t get me wrong – it’s amateur, we’ve officially only had two hours a week for 10 weeks to rehearse, and I’m not expecting the world of it. But I think it’s coming together really nicely and is something a bit different to the stodgy Shakespeare productions that are sadly all too common. I play a reasonably straight character but it’s fun reacting to the different characters and scenarios – I absolutely adore my fellow thespians’ creation of Caliban, not to mention my favourite scene of all where two of the shipwrecked mariners are drunk.
I’m not sure whether the 7pm or 9pm production will be better. The 9pm performance will be more rehearsed but then again, the opening night of a show is traditionally better than the second night. I have my fiancé and two other friends coming to the early performance and I have two spare tickets for the 9pm show if anyone is up for it. It’s a little experimental and interactive but in a fun way, not in a threatening, pretentious kind of way! Tickets are £8 each and I could probably get tickets to the early show instead if that’s preferred.
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11.28.08
Posted in BookCrossing, Books at 8.46 am by Caitlin
BookCrossing book is discovered and journalled after three years. Hurray!.
I released this on 19 December 2005 in the little stone play cottage in Birchgrove Oval in Sydney.
Three years later, an anonymous finder has picked it up and left this message:
Journal entry 8 by Members Plus details…AnonymousFinderMembers Plus details… from n/a, n/a n/a on Thursday, November 27, 2008
Found discarded in a local bin.
CAUGHT IN SYDNEY NSW AUSTRALIA
Read all journal entries on this book.
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Posted in Media & Internet, Travel at 8.00 am by Caitlin
Only two more days of NaBloPoMo after today. I hope you’ve enjoyed the extra blog posts!
I’m not writing a full-length post on The Niltiac Files today but instead want to direct you to my Photo Friday contribution on Roaming Tales – pictures of Goree Island, off the coast of Dakar, Senegal.
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11.27.08
Posted in Career, Family & Friends, Life, London at 10.24 pm by Caitlin
No turkey and pumpkin pie on this side of the Pond, but I’ll take the opportunity to give thanks all the same
Happy Thanksgiving to any American readers. And happy belated Thanksgiving for my Canadian friends (who celebrated it a month ago).
Being Australian and living in Britain, Thanksgiving does not form part of my cultural heritage. Halloween has crept in (and actually has its origins in Europe anyway) but Thanksgiving is out and out a North American phenomenon.
Despite some debate over whether celebrating Thanksgiving is respectful of the native American population, and despite the fact that I don’t literally believe in a God to give thanks to, I do like the idea of Thanksgiving.
I think we could all do with a little more gratitude in our lives – after all, it’s said to be the secret of happiness. So much unhappiness in the world is caused by people wanting more than they already have – not only does this breed discontentment, but also their greed can be enormously destructive the other people and the world.
I don’t want to preach – I’m no angel, after all. But I thought I would take this moment to share with you some of the things I’m grateful for, at this very moment in time.
- The love of my very wonderful partner and the fact that we are committing to spending the rest of our lives together.
- My wonderful family and the fact that I see them once or twice a year and can speak regularly on the phone relatively cheaply, despite living half a world away – something that would have been unthinkable in times past.
- My friends, both at home in Australia, here in the UK, and around the world. I feel very connected and never lonely.
- My warm leather gloves. Also my coat, hat, scarf and knee-high boots. Not to mention my warm bed.
- The fact that I’ve been able to travel and see so much of this beautiful planet, from the Arctic to Africa.
- The pick-me-up from a good cup of coffee in the morning.
- The opportunity to spend a few years living in such a big, exciting city as London.
- My Australian passport and knowing that I can always go back home.
- Having enough food to eat. Having good food to eat. My health.
- Playing Miranda in The Tempest next Tuesday and the fun and creative fulfillment that comes from that.
- My lovely writer’s circle and the great feedback I get on my attempts at fiction.
Once I start, it’s hard to stop – I keep thinking of more and more things. Maybe there’s something in this gratitude thing! I’ll sign off now.
See: 25 Gentle Reminders to Cultivate Your Gratitude Attitude on EcoSalon.
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11.26.08
Posted in Environment, London, Media & Internet, Society & Politics, Travel at 8.17 pm by Caitlin
I had a meeting in town today and I walked back to the Tube via St James’s Park – one of my favourite parks in London. It’s officially still autumn but there’s a distinctly wintry feel to it right now – no snow but it’s been seriously cold. The trees have almost lost their leaves and the water birds are huddling on the islands in the pond.
Parks do have their appeal in winter but it’s not usually related to the vibrant colours. Yet, I found some surprising patches of colour in the park. Firstly, a tree with beautiful amethyst-coloured berries – I don’t know what the tree is called though so if anyone can help me out that would be great. Then purple crocuses growing in the still emerald green grass – I thought crocuses were a spring flower but apparently not. The final one was a tree covered in pink blossoms – I’m fairly sure that one IS early, which is a bit of a worry.
Apologies for the quality of the photos – I took them with my mobile phone but I want to share them anyway.
Meanwhile, I also want to refer you to my post on Passports for Purpose on Roaming Tales – it’s a great cause and I hope you’ll support it and buy raffle tickets when they go on sale next week.
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11.25.08
Posted in Environment, London, Travel at 9.01 pm by Caitlin
Adventures in wedding dress shopping.
Yesterday I went West Norwood in south London to pick up what I hope will be my wedding dress. I bought the dress at auction and decided to go in person to pick it up rather than pay for a courier. I bid for it online but had some trouble with the system – fortunately when I called, it turned out the lot hadn’t sold, so I got to have it.
Getting there was a bit of a mission – I had to catch the train from Victoria to West Norwood. Then I made my way to Martell Road following my printed map of the area. I thought I’d be clever and cut through the cemetery instead of going around by road. This was a grave mistake because it turned out the cemetery only had one entrance. I didn’t find this out until I was on the opposite side of the cemetery.
I got a bit lost and found myself in the baby section. Like a scene from a B-grade horror flick, the place was utterly deserted, probably because of the cold. To top it all off, it started sleeting sideways so it was stinging my eyes and I could barely see through my glasses. In order to get back to where I started I had to walk past grave after grave for babies, many of whom had died a few days after birth, and some of whom didn’t even seem to have names. Some of the graves were shaped like teddy bears.
On a more positive note, I’m delighted with the dress purchase. I was the only bidder so I got it very cheaply and it came with a white lacy dress that might be suitable for my bridesmaid, a blue jacket, a skirt suit and a doll’s corset. I imagine I can sell anything I don’t want on eBay.
I really like vintage styles and fabrics. I was originally looking at 1930s and 1940s dresses but this one is actually from 1912. It’s made of a very delicate silk with lace and embroidery and the detailing is gorgeous. It’s also tiny and I’m not so I need to take it to a tailor to see if I can have it altered or remade. I’d like to lose a little weight before the wedding but I’m still not going to have a 20-inch waist. It does seem to have generous seams so hopefully it can be let out, as trying to colour match panels could be difficult.
Apart from style and price, the other advantage with vintage is that a second-hand dress sits well with my environmental principles.
And no, I’m not going to post a picture online – sorry! You’ll just have to wait.
***
Meanwhile, over at Roaming Tales I’ve written about my latest travel article – a guide to Damascus on Guardian.co.uk.
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11.24.08
Posted in Food at 8.40 am by Caitlin
Today’s post is also over at The Gooseberry Fool – I’ve tested the recipe for pumpkin pots de creme from another food blogger.
I have a busy day ahead of me so I need to press on.
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11.23.08
Posted in Life, London at 5.31 pm by Caitlin
It was meant to snow in London today but it hasn’t materialised so far – it’s just been really cold with patches of icy rain that moves sideways. Revolting. Update: Apparently it snowed early this morning and melted by the time I got up. Meh.
This morning I led my regular tour in the Japan Gallery at the British Museum. Then I caught the train out to the new Westfield London shopping centre in Shepherd’s Bush and met my fiancé for a spot of window shopping and some lunch.
I’d been to the centre briefly on opening day for work – I was writing a media story about the digital advertising screens. On that day, I’d had a five minute wander before meeting people for lunch in a restaurant, so this was the first time I’d experienced it as a shopper.
They’ve made a really big deal of the opening of Westfield – it’s apparently the largest mall inside a town centre in Europe, and is on par with Bluewater mall in Kent. They’ve even built a new Tube station at Wood Lane and done a major upgrade of Shepherd’s Bush Central line station. There’s a whole section that is meant to be very exclusive – kind of like Bond Street undercover. It has Tiffany’s and Prada outlets and valet parking. The rest of it is more Oxford Street undercover – Marks and Spencer, Topshop, Zara, HMV and so on. The design is very modern, with that style of curving glass roof that is very popular right now held up by columns that look like branching trees.
A few observations:
- Malls of this scale are planned years in advance and no one could foresee it would be opening at the beginning of a recession. I was curious to see what impact this would have. It was actually very busy everywhere we went but it looks like people are just looking at this stage – there were not that many people carrying store carrier bags.
- It’s not that big. It’s big enough and it’s impressively big for its central London location. However, by New World standards it’s fairly average. It’s nowhere near as big as Warringah Mall or Westfield Parramatta in Sydney – it’s probably a bit bigger than the Mid City Centre.
- The food retailers are making all the money – not everyone was shopping but everyone was eating lunch. We had lunch in food court and it was completely crammed. It was hard to find a table and all the food vendors had long queues. I waited in line for over half an hour for some pho (Vietnamese soup), while my other half waited at least 20 minutes for a falafel roll. It was expensive too – my pho was £7.45, and with summer rolls and a juice, the total was £14.15. That’s a lot of money for lunch in a food court, even in London!
- It’s deeply foreign to me to see people queuing up to buy Ugg boots – yet there was a queue out the door of the Australian Ugg shop every time we walked past. Weird.
I’ve also written today about Japanese at Abeno on The Gooseberry Fool.
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11.22.08
Posted in Family & Friends, London, Skating, Theatre at 10.07 pm by Caitlin
Monkey: Journey to the West – awesome show, shame about the theatre layout.
On Wednesday night we went to see Monkey: Journey to the West with Natalie, Jess and Andrew, and Matt and Tash. It’s on at the O2 – formerly known as the Millennium Dome – in north Greenwich until 5 December.
It’s actually the second time I’ve seen it. The first time we saw it at the Royal Opera House in, I think, June. It was only on for three nights and had sold out but I was desperate to see it so we ended up spending a fortune, buying tickets on eBay. They were standing room tickets so the view wasn’t great and the dress circle above us blocked us from seeing some of the high wire work and the top of the animation screen. The tickets only had a face value of £10 each so I guess that’s to be expected. Despite the crappy tickets, the show itself absolutely blew me away. It was truly one of the best things I’ve ever seen on stage and I was on a Monkey high for days.
The story is based on the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West – the same book that was the basis of the 1970s television show Monkey Magic. I used to watch Monkey Magic after school on the ABC I was in primary school and like my friend Jess, I’m sure I played it once or twice as well. I might have been Tripitaka while my cousin Kim was Monkey but I’m not sure.
The story was told partly with live action acrobatics and opera and partly with animation designed by the guys from Gorillaz on a giant screen. It was a fantastic spectacle – the acrobatics with everything from plate spinning to beautifully choreographed fight scenes gave a Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon meets the circus effect. There’s plenty of comedy with the mischief-making, crotch-scratching Monkey and the lusts and appetites of Pigsy. The music, which is available as an album, is also really cool – thankfully nothing like Chinese opera! I particularly enjoyed the Spider Woman seduction scene for visual effect and the Princess Iron-Fan scene for the music. I also liked the animation so much that I bought a limited edition print of the enlightened Monkey for £70, though I’m yet to get it framed. (They were sold out at the Opera House shop but I ordered mine directly from the Monkey website).
When I heard the show was coming back to London and would be on at the O2, in a specially constructed tent, I leapt at the chance to see it again and organised a group of friends. This time I tried really hard to buy good seats – they were £45 each or £50 with the booking fee, which was not the most expensive but certainly towards the top end. Unfortunately, the seats were very disappointing.
While I knew from looking at the seat plan that we would be to the side of the stage, I was imagining a horseshoe arrangement, or that the rows would start far enough back that it wouldn’t matter. Instead they screwed up on two counts. Firstly, the front row started really close to the stage. Secondly, the rows went on for five metres either side of the stage but still facing directly forwards. Our tickets were at the very far right-hand end of the second row – we had a good view of the orchestra but could only see half the stage and then only if we craned our necks. In any other theatre, these would be restricted view tickets! The really annoying thing was that I selected the seats online and had a wide choice of seats at the time of booking but how was I to know that in this case, the seats further back would be better?
Fortunately, it was not sold out so we were all able to move back about six rows, which meant we were able to enjoy the show. It’s a relief but it does bother me that we had to do that when the tickets were so expensive. They were going pretty big on the upselling – there was a three-course Chinese banquet on offer for £28 per person as pre-show dining, and the programmes were a whopping £10. (Packs of posters were only £8 at the Royal Opera House show and on the Journey to the West website).
We all really enjoyed ourselves. I don’t think it had changed at all since last time I saw it but, since I was closer, I picked up details such as the fact that one of the warriors in Heaven was on rollerblades! Also last time, I couldn’t see Guan Yi at all because he was on a high wire and my view was blocked.
I didn’t leave on an enormous theatre high like the first time I saw it, but I would still give it four stars. It would be five stars if they had the venue situation sorted out but I thought the audience aspect of the staging was thought out very poorly. My seats were better than my standing room tickets at the Opera House and I paid a similar amount – but my expectations were justifiably higher because the face value was more than quadruple.
Read Jess’ review.
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