Went to see Sufjan Stevens at the Barbican on Friday night - he played a really colourful show. He and the band came out with bird masks and colourful wings on, and there were also piles of inflatable Supermen and Santa Claus that he threw into the audience during the show.
The music was really lovely - he had a five piece brass / wind section that gave a sweet depth to the music.
(this photo isn't mine - it's one I picked up off Flickr).
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
spurious!
How ridiculous is this list of awards presented at the Q Awards yesterday? Did they just invite all the music luminaries they could think of and then try and fit in awards that kind of suited them?
Q inspiration - A-ha
Q outstanding contribution to music - Smokey Robinson
Q Groundbreaker - Primal Scream
Q Icon - Jeff Lynne
Q Idol - Take That
Q Lifetime Achievement - Peter Gabriel
Q Merit - Manic Street Preachers
Q Legend - The Who
Q Band of bands - U2
Most of the awards seem to be copies of each other - I can understand a Lifetime achievement award and a groundbreaker type award but all the others seem like they're just they're given to ensure the attendance of pop stars. For a lifelong Q reader, this gives me yet another reason to stop buying it, in preference to The Word!
Q inspiration - A-ha
Q outstanding contribution to music - Smokey Robinson
Q Groundbreaker - Primal Scream
Q Icon - Jeff Lynne
Q Idol - Take That
Q Lifetime Achievement - Peter Gabriel
Q Merit - Manic Street Preachers
Q Legend - The Who
Q Band of bands - U2
Most of the awards seem to be copies of each other - I can understand a Lifetime achievement award and a groundbreaker type award but all the others seem like they're just they're given to ensure the attendance of pop stars. For a lifelong Q reader, this gives me yet another reason to stop buying it, in preference to The Word!
Monday, October 30, 2006
spooky!
Made this cake to celebrate Halloween - it's just the normal chocolate gingerbread cake, but with a spooky cobweb design on the top. Took me hours!!.
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Friday, October 20, 2006
rockin'!
Went to see the very cool and rocking Raconteurs at Brixton last night. Haven't ever been to see the White Stripes, but it was interesting to se this instead. I think if Jack White thought he could be an equal part of a four piece band, he's sorely mistaken - he was definitely the dominant force on stage. I guess if you've got the rock star gene, you can't hide it!
(This isn't one of my photos, I picked it up on Flickr).
(This isn't one of my photos, I picked it up on Flickr).
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
historic!
I've just taken part in the 'One Day in History' project tonight - it's been set up by History Matters, a heritage charity, to capture one day in history on a blog. You write up your day and post it on the website, and the details are stored at the British Library. It was quite interesting reflecting on my day and thinking how it would differ from other years. The main difference I guess is the technology - mobiles, wireless broadband, iPods, digital television, instant messaging and the different pieces of kit we use at work as well. All of these are so different from ten years ago and goodness knows what the situation will be in ten years!
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
'The Kiss' sand sculpture
Ernst & Young are sponsoring the Rodin exhibition at the Royal Academy at the moment and so there's lots of activity around to promote this. In our More London building there's a huge sand sculpture of 'The Kiss' - yes it's all sand and water! It's very impressive.
Monday, October 09, 2006
relocated!
Well I'm all moved into my new home - I wouldn't quite say I was settled yet as there's a bit of organisation to do yet, but it's fab to be there and have my own space. Had a fantastic tag team of helpers to assist me in the move on Saturday. Many hands really did make light workand it was nowhere near as exhausting as the up and down stairs slog of last weekend. I still haven't quite worked out how the heating works and I have to get the hang of the electricity key! Also, I rang BT to get a phone sorted out and they said they needed to send an engineer out, and the first one isn't available til the end of the month! So, I'll be phoneless and internetless for the new few weeks :(
Will post some photos up on Flickr when I get that organised (and my flat is tidied up!).
Will post some photos up on Flickr when I get that organised (and my flat is tidied up!).
Monday, October 02, 2006
recovering!
Fiona and I were meant to stay at the Sweet Olive B&B in New Orleans last year. Our trip was washed away by Hurricane Katrina and we rearranged to have a very enjoyable trip to New England and New York. The Sweet Olive wasn't too badly damaged by the hurricane and has stayed open pretty much throughout. It looks like a lovely place, and Fiona has kept on their mailing list for any possible future visit. The mailing list has just been transformed into a blog - good to read that life is returning to normal in many ways!
Sunday, October 01, 2006
limbo!
Am now all moved out of Hartham Road and into my temporary accomodation at Li-Ann's flat in Maida Vale - strange to be back in the old stomping ground again, and back on the number 6 bus!!
After the move, I went out for Cristina's birthday with Li-Ann and Andrew - we went to Ping Pong for dim sum first of all. It was absolutely delicious! All the traditional dim sum dishes but jazzed up a little bit. Also had a gorgeous vanilla, peach and rum cocktail. Following that we went along to Milk & Honey for a couple of drinks. We were up in the Games Room and I chose 'Beyond the Valley of the Dolls' for the plasma screen. It ended up being quite a saucy film and caused much merriment!! I was so exhausted with all the moving that I ended up falling asleep on one of the chairs.
Today, Li-Ann and I went to see 'The Devil Wears Prada'. It was quite enjoyable, if a little predictable and frothy. Made New York look fab!
After the move, I went out for Cristina's birthday with Li-Ann and Andrew - we went to Ping Pong for dim sum first of all. It was absolutely delicious! All the traditional dim sum dishes but jazzed up a little bit. Also had a gorgeous vanilla, peach and rum cocktail. Following that we went along to Milk & Honey for a couple of drinks. We were up in the Games Room and I chose 'Beyond the Valley of the Dolls' for the plasma screen. It ended up being quite a saucy film and caused much merriment!! I was so exhausted with all the moving that I ended up falling asleep on one of the chairs.
Today, Li-Ann and I went to see 'The Devil Wears Prada'. It was quite enjoyable, if a little predictable and frothy. Made New York look fab!
Friday, September 29, 2006
interrupted!
So I'm going to be in limbo in many ways over the next couple of weeks. We move out of our flat tomorrow morning - I'll be staying with Li-Ann for a week before I move into my new flat in Stoke Newington. Bit of a stressful time trying to get everything packed up and into storage at Annie's place, then organising another move next weekend. Have had fantastic support from all my friends so it should be easy!
And to top it all off, my MacBook has developed Random Shutdown Syndrome, so I need to take it to a repair center - reports on the web say that Apple know about this and are fixing the computers (I think it's something to do with a heatsink - not sure what that is!). Hopefully it won't take too long, but as I'll be in temporary accomodation for a week, and then there'll probably be a delay in getting my broadband setting up in my new place, it hopefully won't be too bad. Will miss my little white buddy though!
And to top it all off, my MacBook has developed Random Shutdown Syndrome, so I need to take it to a repair center - reports on the web say that Apple know about this and are fixing the computers (I think it's something to do with a heatsink - not sure what that is!). Hopefully it won't take too long, but as I'll be in temporary accomodation for a week, and then there'll probably be a delay in getting my broadband setting up in my new place, it hopefully won't be too bad. Will miss my little white buddy though!
Saturday, September 23, 2006
completed!
Our challenge of sleeping rough for one night in London has been completed - we had a fun night sleeping out under the stars beside the Houses of Parliament in aid of Byte Night. Actually managed to get some sleep and thankfully Hurricane Gordan had swept through earlier in the afternoon!
At the start of the evening we had drinks on the terrace of the House of Lords where this photo of the Eye was taken.
At the start of the evening we had drinks on the terrace of the House of Lords where this photo of the Eye was taken.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Monday, September 18, 2006
Sardinia - the rest of the trip
Internet cafes were not very much in evidence in Sardinia - or at least we didn't really go looking for them, hence the lack of an update while we were away!
We had a lovely relaxing holiday. After my last update, we picked up the car (a silver Lancia) and drove from Cagliari up to Baia Sardinia at the very top of the island. The drive was pretty straightforward - the main roads are very good and it was easy to find our way up there with minimal maps! Middle of the island was very hilly with lots of greenery. Motorway went as far as Olbia, the main town in the north east and then the roads were a bit smaller (and windier!) until Baia Sardinia.
Baia Sardinia is a resort that's in the Costa Smeralda area - some towns in the area, especially Porto Cervo, are very posh and are seen as the Monte Carlo of Sardinia. We just visited for a drink one morning, and sadly got around to shopping just when all the boutiques had closed for siesta! Probably just as well...
Highlight of the visit was a trip out to the Maddelena Islands on a boat. We drove to Palau where quite a few of the cruise ships and charter boats are moored, touting for custom. We initially put our names down for one boat, but then realised that there were going to be over 100 people on this boat, and so we ended up on a much smaller boat with four other passengers and Pietro, the skipper. There was a lovely area on top of the boat for us to lounge around and get sunburnt (in my case). The four other passengers were two Italian couples our age. We visited a couple of beaches and had a gorgeous three course lunch with antipasti, pasta, fruit and Mirto, the Sardinian spirit to finish off with! We also visited a beach with pink sand - well it was actually normal white sand but with little pink organisms in it. Very lovely! It was quite a long day - Pietro was a bit of a character and seemed to spend the whole day visiting his mates! But the sea was gorgeous.
We also saw the Maltese Falcon, the world's largest (and newest) privately owned yacht. We'd seen it in the distance a couple of times with all three sails in full expanse, looking a bit like a Chinese junk. But we managed to get up close to it on this trip and had a good look. A Google search later on revealed that the yacht belongs to Tom Perkins, who used to work for Hewlett Packard and was once married to Danielle Steele. It was a truly beautiful vessel - would love to go on it one day (in my dreams...)
After four nights in Baia Sardinia, we drove back down the island to Villasimius, in the wilder south east. We thought that the landscape was much more like Australia and New Zealand - the road down there was very windy and the beaches were much more suited to surfing that lounging. We tried to lounge on the beach a couple of times (didn't even try to swim!) and were nearly blown away! It was fascinating though.
Our last night we stayed in Cagliari again, in a lovely B&B in the heart of the old town. We'd gorged ourselves on seafood most of the week, but for our last night asked our B&B owner to recommend a place which specialised in suckling pig, a Sardinian delicacy. He directed us to a place just down the road (can't remember the name but will add it) which was a gastronomic delight! More food than we could ever eat - about five different courses with great antipasti, pasta and of course the pig. The amaretti for dessert were also delicious - gorgeous!
We had a lovely relaxing holiday. After my last update, we picked up the car (a silver Lancia) and drove from Cagliari up to Baia Sardinia at the very top of the island. The drive was pretty straightforward - the main roads are very good and it was easy to find our way up there with minimal maps! Middle of the island was very hilly with lots of greenery. Motorway went as far as Olbia, the main town in the north east and then the roads were a bit smaller (and windier!) until Baia Sardinia.
Baia Sardinia is a resort that's in the Costa Smeralda area - some towns in the area, especially Porto Cervo, are very posh and are seen as the Monte Carlo of Sardinia. We just visited for a drink one morning, and sadly got around to shopping just when all the boutiques had closed for siesta! Probably just as well...
Highlight of the visit was a trip out to the Maddelena Islands on a boat. We drove to Palau where quite a few of the cruise ships and charter boats are moored, touting for custom. We initially put our names down for one boat, but then realised that there were going to be over 100 people on this boat, and so we ended up on a much smaller boat with four other passengers and Pietro, the skipper. There was a lovely area on top of the boat for us to lounge around and get sunburnt (in my case). The four other passengers were two Italian couples our age. We visited a couple of beaches and had a gorgeous three course lunch with antipasti, pasta, fruit and Mirto, the Sardinian spirit to finish off with! We also visited a beach with pink sand - well it was actually normal white sand but with little pink organisms in it. Very lovely! It was quite a long day - Pietro was a bit of a character and seemed to spend the whole day visiting his mates! But the sea was gorgeous.
We also saw the Maltese Falcon, the world's largest (and newest) privately owned yacht. We'd seen it in the distance a couple of times with all three sails in full expanse, looking a bit like a Chinese junk. But we managed to get up close to it on this trip and had a good look. A Google search later on revealed that the yacht belongs to Tom Perkins, who used to work for Hewlett Packard and was once married to Danielle Steele. It was a truly beautiful vessel - would love to go on it one day (in my dreams...)
After four nights in Baia Sardinia, we drove back down the island to Villasimius, in the wilder south east. We thought that the landscape was much more like Australia and New Zealand - the road down there was very windy and the beaches were much more suited to surfing that lounging. We tried to lounge on the beach a couple of times (didn't even try to swim!) and were nearly blown away! It was fascinating though.
Our last night we stayed in Cagliari again, in a lovely B&B in the heart of the old town. We'd gorged ourselves on seafood most of the week, but for our last night asked our B&B owner to recommend a place which specialised in suckling pig, a Sardinian delicacy. He directed us to a place just down the road (can't remember the name but will add it) which was a gastronomic delight! More food than we could ever eat - about five different courses with great antipasti, pasta and of course the pig. The amaretti for dessert were also delicious - gorgeous!
Sunday, September 17, 2006
partying!
We had a CBK Summer Party a couple of weeks ago (some of you may have heard that I made a rather late arrival at work the next morning). Thankfully the photos are not too dreadful and I thought I'd share a picture of me learning line dancing from my colleague Steve (he's in the plaid shirt).
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Sardinia Day One
Li-Ann and I had a pleasant trip out to Cagliari from Luton last night. We made sure that we were out there in plenty of time and so we had an hour to enjoy the new terminal at Luton - lots of new shops and eating establishments, very pleasant!
Flight down to Cagiliari took about 2 and a half hours. On arrival we took a cab to the very new and very flash T Hotel - it's a business hotel so has good weekend rates. Design is lovely and very modern.
Was quite late by the time we got here so we got changed and took a taxi into the old town where we had a quick wander and then went for some pizza and beer. The old town has lots of little lanes and a fortress at the top that I'm sure we'll explore more when we return here on our last night. We were both really exhausted so were eager to get to bed. We weren't sure how to get a taxi back to the hotel so asked who we thought were a couple of police how to call for one. They were actually guarding what must be the town hall here and one of them popped into the building and called one for us - bless!
We're driving up to Baja Sardinia at the top of the island tomorrow.
Flight down to Cagiliari took about 2 and a half hours. On arrival we took a cab to the very new and very flash T Hotel - it's a business hotel so has good weekend rates. Design is lovely and very modern.
Was quite late by the time we got here so we got changed and took a taxi into the old town where we had a quick wander and then went for some pizza and beer. The old town has lots of little lanes and a fortress at the top that I'm sure we'll explore more when we return here on our last night. We were both really exhausted so were eager to get to bed. We weren't sure how to get a taxi back to the hotel so asked who we thought were a couple of police how to call for one. They were actually guarding what must be the town hall here and one of them popped into the building and called one for us - bless!
We're driving up to Baja Sardinia at the top of the island tomorrow.
Sunday, September 03, 2006
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