(no subject)
I've had a reasonably busy time since I last posted. The g-d headed off to her family in Bristol for the weekend, and was replaced by my niece Katie, who turned up for the concert/open night at the British Library on Thursday and stayed until Sunday.
The British Library event was great fun, although the stage was set up in the entrance hall, rather than outside, which was not really ideal. Eventually, we went up to the gallery above the foyer, where there were comfy chairs. Louise Setara, who sang first, had an excellent soul-type voice, but of a style that I don't really like, and I spent most of her set watching the antics of her new and very tiny puppy, which wandered about the sound desk in a blase sort of way. Francoise Atlan and Bahaa Ronda were much more to my taste - singing songs of the western Mediterranean, in Ladino, Occitan and Arabic, accompanied by Mohammed Briouel's Orchestre Andalou de Fes. Katie especially liked this, as she was just back from backpacking in Morocco, and has many intentions to return and study Arabic. Since it was an open night, we managed to get a look at the Sacred exhibition, about the three religions of the Book, which was remarkably well-presented. It had some extraordinarily lovely books - particularly the gilded pages of Sultan Baybar's Koran, and a lot of additional stuff, like pretty icing-sugar models of a synagogue, church and mosque and and wedding dresses from each faith (the Moroccan Jewish one, in red velvet and gold, was definitely the nicest). The last performers were Fantazia from Hackney, who played a fast loud blend of Gnawa, Chaabi and dance music.
On Friday, we pottered about Leather Lane market and the British Museum, on Saturday, she met a friend in town, and on Sunday we took a very late lunch of lamb tagine in Crouch End, then I made her try on a lot of my old clothes. On Monday, my legs hurt and I moped about the house, doing minor household repairs and reading. On Tuesday, I went for another job interview, where I seem to have secured a little part-time work I can do at home. Hooray for income! I may be even able to parlay it into enough work to finance an unpaid internship in a museum.
So anyway, here are some pictures of the last week, featuring people for a change, including a couple of the g-d and boyfriend on her birthday.
The British Library event was great fun, although the stage was set up in the entrance hall, rather than outside, which was not really ideal. Eventually, we went up to the gallery above the foyer, where there were comfy chairs. Louise Setara, who sang first, had an excellent soul-type voice, but of a style that I don't really like, and I spent most of her set watching the antics of her new and very tiny puppy, which wandered about the sound desk in a blase sort of way. Francoise Atlan and Bahaa Ronda were much more to my taste - singing songs of the western Mediterranean, in Ladino, Occitan and Arabic, accompanied by Mohammed Briouel's Orchestre Andalou de Fes. Katie especially liked this, as she was just back from backpacking in Morocco, and has many intentions to return and study Arabic. Since it was an open night, we managed to get a look at the Sacred exhibition, about the three religions of the Book, which was remarkably well-presented. It had some extraordinarily lovely books - particularly the gilded pages of Sultan Baybar's Koran, and a lot of additional stuff, like pretty icing-sugar models of a synagogue, church and mosque and and wedding dresses from each faith (the Moroccan Jewish one, in red velvet and gold, was definitely the nicest). The last performers were Fantazia from Hackney, who played a fast loud blend of Gnawa, Chaabi and dance music.
On Friday, we pottered about Leather Lane market and the British Museum, on Saturday, she met a friend in town, and on Sunday we took a very late lunch of lamb tagine in Crouch End, then I made her try on a lot of my old clothes. On Monday, my legs hurt and I moped about the house, doing minor household repairs and reading. On Tuesday, I went for another job interview, where I seem to have secured a little part-time work I can do at home. Hooray for income! I may be even able to parlay it into enough work to finance an unpaid internship in a museum.
So anyway, here are some pictures of the last week, featuring people for a change, including a couple of the g-d and boyfriend on her birthday.