Fun Things Lately
First of all, thanks for all your thoughts on the iPhone dilemma. I think I am (at least right now) decided to hold off for a while at least until one of the following dies: palm, existing mobile, mp3 player. At that stage, I'll look to make a definitely move, but for the moment my current set up is working (no more duplicates in my gcal, yay!), so there is no pressing need.
But on to some really fun things that we've done since the Rachmaninov concert in September. It has slowed down rather considerably due to school, but that's to be expected. Still, no point in living in London if you don't get out to enjoy it, right? Right. So what have we been up to?
Visual Art: Cold War Modern at the V&A.
The V&A in general is really quite a unique museum that I think manages to blend both super modern, trendy ideas with an enormous collection of classics. One of those places that is just really good for a wander. We don't go for many of their special exhibitions though, but we saw advertisements for this earlier in the year, and both being some what geeky for futurism and modernism styles, this was a "not to miss!", even if it is way on the other side of the city from us.
Overall, it was a really fascinating exhibit that covered an insane amount of ground (1945-1975) in a very manageable fasion. From Post War archicture to futurism to the beginnings of technological fascination and, of course, war. I think one of my favourite pieces were the original set sketches from Dr. Strangelove set amongst the James Bond and really helped set the tone for the fear that was the dark flip side of the optimism of the times. Well that and the really cool immediate post War posters and sculptures were quite awesome. A brilliant mix of art and normal life. The audio guides could have been better - I'm not sure I would do that again in hindsight. Still an excellent day out and definitely recommended.
Theatre: Oedipus at the National
Beautiful stage design, really good staging, and some good acting, but they couldn't have used a worse translation if they tried. The dialogue ended up feeling very stilted and really forced, to the point where much of the emotional impact was lost. The chorus was awesome though and probably saved this from being a complete disaster. Shame really as the Naitonal is usually quite good about such things. Still, glad we went and provided much good discussion after. Wouldn't go out of your way to see this one, but if you get the chance you could do worse.
Food: Chilango, which was the Mexican place hosting the Day of the Dead party, which turned out to be less party and more of an excuse to try the wares. . .nothing wrong with that at all. . .and super tasy wares they were! For those of you in the Austin/Houston metroplexes, basically think FreeBird's. For those of you not acquainted with such tastiness - you make your own burrito, essentially. The choice isn't huge by American/FreeBird standards, but it is certainly sufficient and very, very yum. The pulled pork is especially amazing. I think I may have a new haunt for lunchtimes. . .
Music: Nicolaus Meier Group at the brand new King's Place venue. The venue itself was quite cool. Very minimalist and functional. We were in one of the smaller halls, which both had good acoustics and a nice intimate feel. For this group, I could have done with a more relaxed seating arrangement (it was just folding chairs), but you can't have everything. The music itself was an absolutely phenominal blend of more traditional (to me) jazz with Turkish and other cross Mediterranean sounds. So good, in fact, that we ended up buying two CDs, and that's rare for us. I'm not sure what is was about their music, but it pressed all the right buttons in my brain.
Movies: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
I had very few expectations coming into this, and am still not entirely sure after the fact what I thought. Everything is very veiled - the characters' intentions, the plot, the dialogue. Unfortunately, it isn't really compelling enough for a secon d watch. The Cinematography is gorgeous though. In fact, I think that saved it.
Breakfast on Pluto
This was really quite different from what I was expecting - it is just as good, just different. A very interesting view of a particular time and place, namely Troubles Ireland and England through the lens of those who don't quite fit in. Very touch ing and beautifully done. Not sure I would classify it as comedy though
But on to some really fun things that we've done since the Rachmaninov concert in September. It has slowed down rather considerably due to school, but that's to be expected. Still, no point in living in London if you don't get out to enjoy it, right? Right. So what have we been up to?
Visual Art: Cold War Modern at the V&A.
The V&A in general is really quite a unique museum that I think manages to blend both super modern, trendy ideas with an enormous collection of classics. One of those places that is just really good for a wander. We don't go for many of their special exhibitions though, but we saw advertisements for this earlier in the year, and both being some what geeky for futurism and modernism styles, this was a "not to miss!", even if it is way on the other side of the city from us.
Overall, it was a really fascinating exhibit that covered an insane amount of ground (1945-1975) in a very manageable fasion. From Post War archicture to futurism to the beginnings of technological fascination and, of course, war. I think one of my favourite pieces were the original set sketches from Dr. Strangelove set amongst the James Bond and really helped set the tone for the fear that was the dark flip side of the optimism of the times. Well that and the really cool immediate post War posters and sculptures were quite awesome. A brilliant mix of art and normal life. The audio guides could have been better - I'm not sure I would do that again in hindsight. Still an excellent day out and definitely recommended.
Theatre: Oedipus at the National
Beautiful stage design, really good staging, and some good acting, but they couldn't have used a worse translation if they tried. The dialogue ended up feeling very stilted and really forced, to the point where much of the emotional impact was lost. The chorus was awesome though and probably saved this from being a complete disaster. Shame really as the Naitonal is usually quite good about such things. Still, glad we went and provided much good discussion after. Wouldn't go out of your way to see this one, but if you get the chance you could do worse.
Food: Chilango, which was the Mexican place hosting the Day of the Dead party, which turned out to be less party and more of an excuse to try the wares. . .nothing wrong with that at all. . .and super tasy wares they were! For those of you in the Austin/Houston metroplexes, basically think FreeBird's. For those of you not acquainted with such tastiness - you make your own burrito, essentially. The choice isn't huge by American/FreeBird standards, but it is certainly sufficient and very, very yum. The pulled pork is especially amazing. I think I may have a new haunt for lunchtimes. . .
Music: Nicolaus Meier Group at the brand new King's Place venue. The venue itself was quite cool. Very minimalist and functional. We were in one of the smaller halls, which both had good acoustics and a nice intimate feel. For this group, I could have done with a more relaxed seating arrangement (it was just folding chairs), but you can't have everything. The music itself was an absolutely phenominal blend of more traditional (to me) jazz with Turkish and other cross Mediterranean sounds. So good, in fact, that we ended up buying two CDs, and that's rare for us. I'm not sure what is was about their music, but it pressed all the right buttons in my brain.
Movies: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
I had very few expectations coming into this, and am still not entirely sure after the fact what I thought. Everything is very veiled - the characters' intentions, the plot, the dialogue. Unfortunately, it isn't really compelling enough for a secon d watch. The Cinematography is gorgeous though. In fact, I think that saved it.
Breakfast on Pluto
This was really quite different from what I was expecting - it is just as good, just different. A very interesting view of a particular time and place, namely Troubles Ireland and England through the lens of those who don't quite fit in. Very touch ing and beautifully done. Not sure I would classify it as comedy though