Eurovision 2011: My Favourites and Picks

The running order for tonight:

1. Finland

2. Bosnia & Herzegovina

3. Denmark

4. Lithuania

 5. Hungary

6. Ireland

7. Sweden

8. Estonia

9. Greece

10. Russia

11. France

12. Italy

13. Switzerland

14. United Kingdom

15. Moldova 

16. Germany

17. Romania

18. Austria

19. Azerbaijan

20. Slovenia

21. Iceland

22. Spain

23. Ukraine

24. Serbia

25. Georgia

I will be waving the flag for Blue tonight, but they do have stiff competition and this is Eurovision, so anything could happen!


Blue is the first UK entry for very many years that I wholeheartedly feel has a chance. The band has also been working the build up in very professional manner. Win or lose I hope they do well out of it.


My big worry is Eric Saade from Sweden. A part of me really hates this, as Sweden had a much more adventurous and better song last year: they’ve just been utterly cynical this year, giving the punters a bit of what they want! Eric is handsome and engaging and will no doubt win over many many fans. Another Aleksander Ryback?


My favourite song of the whole competition is What About My Dreams, sung by Kati Wolf for Hungary. Unfortunately, Kati’s performance on thursday was somewhere below her best, and unless she can rise to the occasion tonight I doubt she will win. I’ll be thrilled if she does, though.


Jedward are amazing! It will be a laugh if they win with Lipstick for Ireland, and much of Europe may feel the same on the night. This strategy certainly worked for Lordy.


Alexei Vorobiov from Russia was also an early favourite of mine with Get You (his song about Gypsy grabbing), but the buzz seems to be fading away around his act. Can Russia do it again?


The big five are really mounting a strong fight back: Amaury Vassili from France has got an amazing tenor voice matched with amazing looks and seems to have taken Europe by storm. He’s been the bookies’ top favourite from the beginning and could easily storm away with the prize with Sognu.


Azerbaijan’s Ell & Nikki impressed strongly with their live performance of Running Scared on Thursday. Azerbaijan always seem to be bookies’ favourites and this could be their lucky year.


A special mention for Lena with Taken by a Stranger - I don’t think Germany expect to win twice running with the same artist (and I would be hugely surprised) but this is a lovely, haunting song and the video is gorgeous - huge plaudits to Lena and Germany.
Well, Good Luck UK’s Blue! Only a short wait until we find out.

Eurovision 2011 Semi-Final #2

So, last night was the second Eurovision semi-final in Dusseldorf!

squawkbox: *dashes back to flat for #eurovision semi final 2*

squawkbox: Fanfare! Eurovision semi final 2 has started #eurovision

HotLabour: If France wins, I'm switching back to freedom fries. #Eurovision #ESC11.

JayRow: Oh Christ, 30 seconds in and I think the Irony App on my iPhone just crashed.... #eurovision

nickminers: Dammit you’re all watching #eurovision instead of looking at my lovely photos http://bit.ly/lqmBVu

mrchockabloke: I've watched the Eurovision semi-finals. Prefer to save myself for the full horror that is the final.

The ten lucky countries going through to the grand final tomorrow are:

Bosnia & Herzegovina

Denmark

Ireland

Sweden

Estonia

Moldova

Romania

Austria

Slovenia

Ukraine


As usual, I’ve compiled a taster of tweets from the evening. One of my favourite tweeters, thoroughlygood, was strangely absent from my twitter stream. I discovered later this was because he was actually in Dusseldorf Stadium! He provided a great audioboo which captures the highly-charged stadium atmosphere:



The evening was the story of two sets of twins. Unfortunately, Eurovision couldn’t ultimately handle both pairs and the lovely Twiins from Slovakia had to leave the competition. Jedward from Ireland, however, stormed through to the finals with one of their best performances ever. Both pairs inspired huge numbers of tweets from their admirers and detractors, and Jedward’s haircuts proved strangely trend-setting amongst the contestants.

edwardclarke: Belgium is very distinctive. That's a plus #eurovision

handbagpets: @edwardclarke that is possibly...the only plus?


edwardclarke: ooh gorgeous legs, Slovakia #eurovision

nok32uk: Two mini-Geri Halliwells dipped in gold #eurovision #esc2011

ScotDale: The Slovakian Twins really are identical! #Eurovision.

feggie: Go Twiins. The slovakian Jedward but more fuckable. Audience like them, me too. #Eurovision

vikkiharris1976: #EuroVision (Slovakia) Ha Ha! Not trying to sell sex at all! Certainly aint there for their vocal talents! #BitchyMe

Zipacna_42: OOh! it's the other twins! The attractive #Slovak ones! #Eurovision


korearian: MOLDOVA HAVE GNOME HATS. EVERY OTHER ENTRANT IS IRRELEVANT. #eurovision

CornishCalzone: Moldova = the motherfucking best #eurovision

scattermoon: Moldova: it's like the Smurfs on acid #eurovision (and it's awesome!)


squawkbox: POPULAR #eurovision

HotLabour: Saade on my face and tell me that you love me. #Eurovision #ESC

owenblacker: I'll have two, thanks, delivered to my room. Don't bother gift-wrapping #Sweden #esc2011 #bbceurovision

owenblacker: I think, performing in front of most of the gay men of the Western world on Saturday, you will indeed be popular #esc2011 #bbceurovision

robitito: By far the best so far. #Sweden #eurovision And they've got a key change.

owenblacker: O HAI! #Cyprus #esc2011 #bbceurovision

Soeno: I'll have the one in the rear! So to speak #Cyprus #bbceurovision


ms_cornwall: OMG the outfit is a killer #ESC #Slovenia

PRDH: This woman is the spiritual successor to the slutty Roman soldiers that the Ukraine had last year. #eurovision

gooneruk: Good BOOTS from Slovenia #eurovision

owenblacker: Instant favourite RT @lordofmisrule: It's alright, I know how defeat her. Does anyone have any stairs? #eurovision

grwndi: Oh how clever! They've kept all the Stupid Hairstyle Acts until the end. #bbceurovision


SequinedShoes: i want #jedward hair. badly. #bbceurovision.

Dr_PaulC: Lead singer of Demark looks like a rather fit version of Jedward grr! #bbceurovision

prlivesey: Jedward should sue for haircut copyright violations. #bbceurovision #denmark

ScoobyDoofus: Considering they're twins, Jedward are REALLY out of sync with each other! #eurovision

LandersIE Hunter: So after months of rehearsal #Jedward are STILL out of time and tune. #Eurovision

fechtech: FANTASTIC performace JEDWARD! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! #bbceurovision

Daniel_Penfold: It's a real talent to not be in time with the beat, your twin or yourself #jedward #bbceurovision

memyselfandjohn: #bbceurovision proof Europe has no musical taste, as the wrong twiins go through!!

johnmanthorpe: I don't know what to do now it's over? Puff. Wrestle a giraffe? #bbceurovision #eurovision

Ai Weiwei - Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads

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Ai Weiwei's magnificent ceramic sunflower seed installation at Tate Modern has just ended, and today his first monumental bronze outdoor installation, Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads opens to the public in the courtyard of Somerset House, having just been to New York and Sao Paolo.

"Designed in the 18th century by two European Jesuits serving in the court of the Qing dynasty Emperor Qianlong, the twelve zodiac animal heads originally functioned as a water clock-fountain, which was sited in the magnificent European-style gardens of the Yuanming Yuan. In 1860, the Yuanming Yuan was ransacked by French and British troops, and the heads were pillaged. In re-interpreting these objects on an oversized scale, Ai Weiwei focuses attention on questions of looting and repatriation, while extending his ongoing exploration of the “fake” and the copy in relation to the original."

The installation is a real triumph - very imposing physically, and richly layered conceptually - a wonderful icon of the way cultural exchanges happen through the centuries. It can only add to this most prominent contemporary Chinese artist's global reputation.



So it is absolutely extraordinary that at this exact moment the Chinese authorities have chosen to 'disappear' the artist - he hasn't been seen or heard of since the 3rd of April when he was arrested while boarding a flight to Hong Kong.

Gwyn Miles, Director of Somerset House Trust, has issued this statement:

"Like everyone who admires and respects the work of Ai Weiwei we are dismayed and aggrieved by the news that he has been detained by Chinese authorities. We deplore the actions taken against Ai Weiwei and his friends and colleagues, and indeed any curtailment of individual’s human rights. We are very concerned about their safety and wellbeing and ask for information on their whereabouts to be released and them not to be detained without a fair trial."

"Ai Weiwei has chosen and approved the installation set up for Circle of Animals at Somerset House and the works have already been shipped to the UK. The sculptures will be installed as planned and Circle of Animals will open to the public on 12 May. We believe that more than ever, his work should be seen and appreciated by as many people as possible."

Anish Kapoor, one of our leading sculptors, has issued a call to action by artists and the world's cultural organizations:

"As a colleague – I don't know him personally – I feel that as artists we have a communal voice and it's important that we stick together, that we have a sense of solidarity with each other," he said.

"It would be nice to see the art world come together a little more. Perhaps all museums and galleries should be closed for a day across the world. I think some such campaign needs to form itself."

Kapoor said the Chinese state's behaviour was reminiscent of the Soviet era, when "the voice of artists of different kinds was seen as being dangerous".

He added: "It does bear witness to the barbarity of governments that if they're that paranoid they have to put away artists. It's a ridiculous situation."

The situation is very distressing. China should view this artist as a tremendous asset to its image and growing cultural reach in the world.

I do recommend popping along to the exhibition at Somerset House. I particularly enjoyed they way they have chosen to exhibit the scultures next to fountains, as an echo of how the originals were designed to be viewed.

Eurovision 2011 Semi-Final #1

.photo © Alain Douit (EBU)

And the competition has begun! Tonight saw ten countries proceed to the finals, and the hopes and dreams of another nine dashed. Amongst them was the wonderful Stella Mwangi of Norway with Haba Haba - such a pity.

My favourite, a rather nervous Kati Wolf for Hungary with What About My Dreams wasn’t up to her peak vocally but looked amazing in an asymmetrical turquoise mini, and more importantly got through. Alexey Vorobiof from Russia also made the cut. My guilty pleasure Turkey dropped, as did Armenia (a stunning effort). This means the large diaspora vote for both countries will not affect the final unduly.

Azerbaijan as ever had a very popular number. It grew on me in performance - this might actually be a contender. Unless Kati finds her voice sadly I doubt she can win, as storming a tune as What About My Dreams is. And of course the UK holds thumbs for our brave boys Blue with I Can (as one of the big five we are automatically in the final)

And the winners are:

Serbia
Lithuania
Greece
Azerbaijan
Georgia
Switzerland
Hungary
Finland
Russia
Iceland

These tweets caught my eye:

Ewan Tonight's Eurovision drinking game is simple (as always). Drink on a pyrotechnic effect (warning, Azerbaijan might kill you)

Con_Dem_Nation why are people watching eurovision when they don't have to?

MrLondonStreet Surely it's crazy that you can vote in #eurovision before you've heard all the songs? Anyone would think people choose on nationality alone.

HotLabour It's no single ladies is it?

squawkbox No number of flames will help her! *drinks Irn Bru* #eurovision

MrLondonStreet This Armenian entry is quite spellbindingly dreadful. Exactly what Eurovision should be about. #eurovision

Daaniellle Turkey, ever heard of a band called The Darkness? #eurovison #turkey

miketd Would I enjoy Eurovision more if I got very very drunk, very very quickly? Desperate times call for desperate measures...

taylorjauk #Eurovison San Marino is this a real country???

KathrineHoegh #eurovision semifinals. The only think worse than the #eurovison finals.

bryanboy BF on Croatia: "I'm suffering!!"

thoroughlygood Look. At the size. Of. That. Rock. #Eurovision #esc2011 #Hungary

nickminers Uh oh. There's a program on the telly that I don't like but loads of people are Tweeting about it.

benlocker Portugal has gone mad. #eurovision

MrLondonStreet Oh dear, Finland. James Blunt meets Zak Goldsmith (and it's even more horrendous than that description suggests). #eurovision

Con_Dem_Nation Does anyone know how much is spent on Eurovision and what the financial benefit of it is? There's a saving right there!

thoroughlygood Somebody's welding. #Azerbaijan

MrDuncanJames So far loving hungry and Azerbaijan and they both got the biggest cheers here in dusseldorf stadium!

stebax Shit. Missing some stellar badness from Portugal in Eurovision! I'm hearing great things about them

Celiaka What's up with all the dresses this evening? They only have one sleeve. Austerity measures? #eurovison

squawkbox I'm in love with CHEW #armenia #eurovision

Bluesilvahalo YAY! #Azerbaijan is trending! I know a good crap eurovision song when I hear it!!

Microphonunlock Norway goodbye ... Europe sucks!!

redexile These are the *top* ten finalists? #eurovision

tiza_ GO BLUE!!! #eurovison

Twitter exploded with hard-core Eurovision tweeting. However, there was some stiff competition, as this tweet attests:

Jason_Cobb #apprentice reminds me that capitalism isn't working, Comrades.

Qype: Spuntino in London

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London - Eating & Drinking - Restaurants


Spuntino has a slightly sinister and forbidding exterior (and is so discreet one might have trouble finding it) - and is right in the middle of one of Soho's most seedy streets. One enters from the street straight into a tiny room - originally a Victorian fishmonger, with high, pressed ceilings and tiles wall to ceiling throughout. They have inserted a central polished steel bar and 25 diners sit on fixed stools around this. No reservations, and no telephone even! - one just turns up and queues (or is lucky like we were and gets seats straight away).

The decor leaves the rather damaged interior virtually intact as it was excavated from subsequent redecorations, but there are your typical American caged naked light bulbs and design touches. It all feels very East Village or SoHo NYC, with the food (and staff) to match. The actually very charming, friendly and efficient staff all had the most amazing tattoos on display. They do "tasting plates" - the idea to is order a few and share. They gave us chili popcorn when we sat down, and we ordered aubergine chips with a fennel yoghurt dressing as a starter. For our main sharing dishes we had macaroni cheese (a superb version, zinging with mozzarella, fontina and parmesan, mustard and leeks and a crispy breadcrumb topping), grilled chicory and speck and spicy Italian sausage and lentils. Stunning, and came to just over £10 per head (we had soft drinks; not alcohol).




There was a lovely chilled, dare I say romantic vibe in the restaurant for our late weekday lunch. However, I can imagine at peak times this place would be jumping. It’s definitely worth frequent visits.



Check out my review of Spuntino - I am hedgiecc - on Qype

An Ancient Roman Altar in Clapham

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According to records, this inscribed Roman altar stone was discovered during building operations at Clapham Common South Side in 1912. It was erected by Vitus Ticinius Ascanius, probably in the first century AD. Clapham High Street and Abbeyville Road were Roman Roads (heading towards Chichester) so the Romans were active in these parts but it is nce to have hard physical proof that they were in the neighbourhood almost 2,000 years ago.

It has now been re-erected outside Clapham Old Town public library. I've been going here for years but not noticed it before! (However, in my defence it is behind a heavy iron railing and almost hidden under a hedge and shrub). The inscription is very faint.

By complete coincidence I came across the English Heritage records last night, and as today was voting day in the Alternatve Vote referendum I kept a look out for it when I went to vote :)

I was the only one there at lunch time! - voter apathy rules supreme. As I write this, there is still some time to get to the polling station and vote if you haven't already. Despite all the cycnicism engendered by the behaviour our current crop of politicians, this is actually an opportinity to change our democracy for the better. :)

An Open Letter to the Management of the John Snow Public House

photo courtesy of metacheetr

On the evening of Wednesday 13 April 2011, Jonathan Williams, 26, and James Bull, 23, were asked to leave the John Snow public house for kissing while on their first date. A member of staff allegedly described the couple’s behaviour as obscene and evicted them from the establishment.

The media have reported several accounts of this incident. The general consensus has been that the couple's behaviour was entirely appropriate for a couple enjoying their first romantic evening together.

The strength of feeling that this mistreatment of a gay couple raised in London’s LGBT community was such that in the course of less than 30 hours, a gay kiss-in was organised with several hundred participants at the John Snow on the evening of 15 April 2011. Another kiss-in followed the next week on 21 April 2011. Rather than allow the LGBT protesters into or around the pub, the John Snow closed its doors on both of these evenings.

Despite several attempts at contacting the management of the John Snow, as well as the Samuel Smith Old Brewery, which owns the pub, neither the pub nor the brewer have released any comment, statement or apology to this date.

While we agree that any establishment is entitled to refuse entry, and/or the provision of goods and services to individuals they deem unsuitable or inappropriate, if this refusal is motivated by a person’s sexual orientation (real or perceived) it contravenes the Equality Act of 2010. This legislation came into force in October 2010 to prevent any business discriminating on the grounds of sexual orientation, gender, disability, religion or ethnicity, or against pregnant or breastfeeding mothers.

Anyone found to be the victim of discrimination on those grounds could be considered liable for compensation from the venue that discriminates against them.

We, the undersigned, therefore ask that the John Snow management, and/or the Samuel Smith Old Brewery issue a statement:

1/ specifying exactly why Mr. Jonathan Williams and Mr. James Bull were asked to leave the John Snow public house on the 13 April 2011.

2/ clearly stating the venue and company’s compliance with and commitment to the Equality Act of 2010.

3/ officially apologising to Mr. Jonathan Williams and Mr. James Bull

Continued silence on this matter by both the John Snow Pub and the Samuel Smith Old Brewery can only be seen by the public as acquiescence to the fact that discrimination had taken place, something that is likely to damage the reputation of the business. Direct actions will continue against this pub until it, or the brewery has started to engage in the meaningful and respectful dialogue that we believe this serious matter warrants.

You can sign an online petition via Facebook.

Graham Greene lived here!

Graham Greene lived here!
Originally uploaded by hedgiecc

No. 14 Clapham Common North Side

The novelist received an official blue plaque from English Heritage last week.

"Graham Greene (1904-1991) lived at 14 Clapham Common North Side from 1935 until he was forced to leave the house due to war damage in 1940. His novel The End of the Affair is set in Clapham in 1945-6. The narrator lives in a bedsit 'at the wrong side of the Common' (South Side), drinks in the 'Pontefract Arms' (The Windmill) and visits 'the dark church at the corner of Park Road - a Roman Catholic church full of plaster statues' (St Mary's).
Writing to his mother, Greene describes Clapham thus: 'the whole appearance of Clapham Common is lovely, like a wide green plateau on a hilltop above Battersea with the Common stretching out in one direction and on three sides surrounded by little country-like shops and Queen Anne houses."

- from Clapham Past by Gillian Clegg

Greene lived here with his family from August 1935 to October 1940, when the house was bombed.

"The English Heritage blue plaque will be installed at 14 Clapham Common North Side, where Greene lived with his family from August 1935; at that time he described it as “a most beautiful Queen Anne house … done up absolutely like a museum piece”. It remained his home until October 1940 when it was hit in a bombing raid and became uninhabitable; the house was empty that night as Vivien and the children had been evacuated to Sussex and Graham was staying in Bloomsbury with his lover, Dorothy Glover. This devastating event later inspired the pivotal point in his novel, The End of the Affair. Despite the damage, the outer walls of the house remained intact, allowing the interior to be rebuilt after the war. The house is Grade II* listed and forms part of a terrace built by the architect John Hutt in 1714-20.

Greene’s daughter, Caroline Bourget, said of the house: ".... my father evacuated us to his parents' home in Sussex in August 1939 when I was only 5 yrs old......but I do remember the magnificent staircase. Some well-known writers and publishers visited the house such as John Betjeman and Evelyn Waugh. When I met them later, they recalled seeing me at the age of 3 or 4."

English Heritage blue plaque historian Dr Susan Skedd said: “Graham Greene is indisputably one of the great British writers of the twentieth century. He achieved the rare distinction of enjoying both critical and popular admiration throughout his career. Since the centenary of his birth in 2004 his literary reputation has been increasing and we hope this plaque will act as a focus for old and new fans of his work alike.”

A Cut Back

Carol Ann Duffy is definitely shaping up to be one of our most interesting Poet Laureates. I've quoted her amazing Last Post before, this one is her response to the Art Council's decision to cut all funding from the Poetry Book Society from April next year. It originally featured in the Guardian, and I'm quoting it from Belinda Hollyer's blog. Here's how you can help the Poetry Book Society.

A CUT BACK, by Carol Ann Duffy

It’s no go the LitFest, it’s no go up in Lancaster,
though they’ve built an auditorium (still quite wet, the plaster)
a bar, a bookshop, office space … well, they won’t need wheelchair
access.
All we want is a million quid and here’s to the Olympics.

London’s Enitharmon Press was founded in 1967,
but David Gascoyne and Kathleen Raine are writing now in heaven,
with UA Fanthorpe, John Heath-Stubbs; dead good dead poets all.
The only bloody writing now’s the writing on the wall.

It’s no go the national art, it’s no go cake with icing.
All we want are strategic cuts, it’s no go salami slicing.

It’s no go the Poetry Trust, it’s no go in East Suffolk;
Aldeburgh’s east of Stratford East. As Rooney says, oh f-fuck it –
because it’s no go First Collection Prize, it’s no go local writers.
We’ve been asked to pull the plug, the rug, by coalition shysters.

National Association of Writers in Education?
No way, NAWE, children and books, the train’s leaving the station.
It’s no go your poets in schools, it’s no go your cultures.
All we want is squeezed middles and stringent diets for vultures.

It’s no go the pamphlet, the gig in Newcastle no go.
All we want is a context for the National Portfolio.

Three little presses went to market, Flambard, Arc and Salt;
had their throats cut ear to ear and now it’s hard to talk.
They remember Thatcher’s Britain. Clegg-Cameron’s is worse.
Deathbyathousandcuts.co.uk, the least of which is verse.

It’s no go the avant-garde, it’s no go the mainstream.
All we want is a Review Group, chaired, including recommendations.

Stephen Spender thought continually of those who were truly great;
set up the Poetry Book Society with TS Eliot, genius mate.
But it’s no go two thousand strong in the Queen Elizabeth Hall.
Phone a cab for the Nobel laureates as they take their curtain call.

It’s no go, dear PBS. It’s no go, sweet poets.
Sat on your arses for fifty years and never turned a profit.
All we want are bureaucrats, the nods as good as winkers.
And if you’re strapped for cash, go fish, then try the pigging
bankers.

I dare to hope again

UK Eurovision fans are a hardy lot used to disappointment (much like all UK sports fans). However last year’s crash-and-burn entry was so catastrophic (thanks Pete Waterman) I was scared to take any interest this year. I heard the Beeb decided in its wisdom not to have any sort of competition or build-up, and sub-contracted the gig to boy-band Blue. Whatevs.

So I was a bit surprised to see Blue’s song “I Can” mentioned warmly in internet posts - seems there is a bit of a Euro buzz about it. Whisper it - we are something of a favourite to win! Cripes!

The video indeed shows promise:



I really like the way they’ve found a way to do “London” in a novel and imaginative, yet understated way. The song itself is catchy and poppy, not too dated in sound and all-round a respectable contender. I quite like it. The flame of hope reignites in one’s heart! I’ll now have to scope out the competition.

I Never Get Dressed Till After Dark On Sundays

Yesterday was the 100th anniversary of the birth of the great American playwright Tennessee Williams.

Some of the most famous post-war plays were written by Williams, largely in the 1950s. Some great actors made breakthrough, iconic performances in the plays on stage and on screen: Marlon Brando, Vivien Leigh, Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman amongst them. Williams won the Pulitzer prize twice and achieved many other awards, and yet his reputation has perhaps dimmed over the years - the view is his later work in particular was disappointing.

This late play was never performed in his lifetime, or indeed ever published. The Cock Tavern Theatre in Kilburne certainly is to be congratulated for putting it on the stage for the very first time, in such an enchanting production. As it was the world premiere I thought I had to attend: something to add to my collection of theatrical experiences: the world premiere of one of a great dramatist’s plays - actually on his 100th birthday, no less. They don’t make them like this any more.

I certainly wasn’t expecting to enjoy myself so much - I saw Rose Tattoo at the NT a few years back and really hated all the simmering poetic sentimentality (and that was an early work!)

And INGDTADOS has all the classic Williams’ hallmarks - a potent, virile, sensual yet feckless and inert male in a doomed yet compelling relationship with a downwardly mobile idealistic female unable to maintain traction on reality and clearly fated never to achieve her ambitions. Seedy glamorous New Orleans surroundings, self-delusion, sex, the threat of violence, over-the-top melodramatic backstory, poetry, terminal illness - it’s all there. However, the new element in all of this is that it forms part of a play within a play.

This is all brilliantly staged, with the play’s director and author suddenly emerging from the actual audience to argue over the lines - we are witnessing the final read-through before previews start. The actors complain about their lines - “Who talks like this?” - Tennessee is clearly relishing getting back at his theatrical foes.

By highlighting the theatricality of the piece Williams cleverly creates a space which privileges the drama; to some extent protecting it from the critics. It’s allowed to be a conflation of hackneyed old tropes, seeking to shock only by upping the ante (the male lead is practically nude for virtually the entire play; there is quite a lot of sex -the actors complain about the sex scene; the director argues with the playwright about it - “it will scare off backers”)

As a commentary on his own work it’s completely fascinating and it has the contrary effect of making the melodrama more emotionally affecting. I only wish he developed this strand of the play some more - there are slight, tentative hints of Williams’s identification with his heroines, especially towards the end, which are really evocative and promising. However, as it stands the dramatic framing is not thematically developed and only tangentally touches the play-within-a-play: all too easily, one can imagine the drama existing without the framing elements. And one of the stand-out set-pieces - an incompetent stage-manager’s hissy fit right after missing a crucial cue - threatens to completely derail the action. As amusing as it is, and as much as the audience absolutely loved Graham Dickson’s performance as Hilary the stage-manager, Williams the playwright should either have cut this completely or integrated it more organically into the action of the piece. I think it’s worth comparing this to Michael Frayn’s meta-theatre play Noises Off, where the back stage / on stage action is completely seamless and forms an organic whole, something this Tennessee Williams play doesn’t quite achieve, even as it tantalisingly hints at what could have been.

Which is not to say it is unworthy - I loved this production. The intimate, low-key space and delicate design tremendously enhanced the experience of the play. All the acting was superb: Lewis Hayes was suitably Brandoesque physically and was very natural emotionally as Tye. Shelley Lang as Jane was also magnificently cast, in the tradition of Vivienne Leigh and Elisabeth Taylor. And Keith Myers as the author gave an authoritative Tennessee Williams.

All in all, a terrific birthday present for Tennessee Williams.

Mon Plaisir in London

London - Eating & Drinking - Restaurants - French


I appear to be going through a French restaurant phase - I was taken to this one last night my my friend Harry, in London on business from the USA. He looked tired from his flight and I was keen to find somewhere close to his hotel; this Covent Garden restaurant looked good and fitted that criterion. We also chose it in honour of Harry’s absent francophile wife, a best friend since my early childhood.



Both of us loved the ambiance right from entry - this place is exquisitely decorated in authentic French fashion. The menu states this is London’s oldest French restaurant. General De Gaulle, no less, dined here during the war.



Tables are stacked very close to each other - I worried our conversation was disturbing our neighbours. We were chatting up a storm, so their conversation didn’t disturb us.

Service was awkward, in that typically Parisian way familiar to tourists. The staff were perfectly efficient, I just felt judged by them the whole time. There were communication issues. Harry, being American, wanted to add a tip and as service was included I prevented him - if looks could kill!



My steak tartare was good - finely chopped rather than minced; absolutely zero fat; well-flavoured and seasoned (just perhaps slightly too much pepper for my tastes). It didn’t come with the extra garnishes the menu seemed to promise but to be honest didn’t need them. The waiter thoughtfully offered me extra bread. The fries it came with were sublime - very fine cut, they hit that perfect fried potato sweet spot of being crisp and crunchy while also meltingly yielding. A side of creamed spinach was a perfect complement. We washed this down with an excellent Merlot from the house list.

I’d be happy to go again; the cheese board looked very tempting.

Check out my review of Mon Plaisir - I am hedgiecc - on Qype

Shock

Watching Channel 4's Dispatches: Britain's Secret Fat Cats while blogging. I read and was very impressed by Naomi Klein's No Logo; however I missed out on her next book The Shock Doctrine when it came out. It seems to be cited more and more frequently these days though so I ordered it in from Amazon.

Basically, it appears to be Cameron and Clegg's playbook (with truly staggering amounts of Blairesque mendacity and spin of their own on top). Dispatches is showing, quite methodically and clearly, how government cuts will force privatisations which will enrich a very few at the expense of decent public services for all. One could perhaps argue that Reagan and Thatcher had genuine hopes of their "free-market" ideology actually working. However, 30 years later, after an economic apocalypse brought about by the very deregulation Thatcher and Reagan initiated, with middle and lower-class incomes over that time stagnating and even retreating while the top 1% soars exponentially ever higher, imposing the same policies without an explicit mandate is crassly stupid, if not criminal.

"A more accurate term for a system that erases the boundaries between Big Government and Big Business is not liberal, conservative or capitalist but corporatist. Its main characteristics are huge transfers of public wealth to private hands, often accompanied by exploding debt, an ever-widening chasm between the dazzling rich and the disposable poor and an aggressive nationalism that justifies bottomless spending on security. For those inside the bubble of extreme wealth created by such an arrangement, there can be no more profitable way to organize a society. But because of the obvious drawbacks for the vast majority of the population left outside the bubble, other features of the corporatist state tend to include aggressive surveillance (once again, with government and large corporations trading favors and contracts), mass incarceration, shrinking civil liberties and often, though not always, torture.

From Chile to China to Iraq, torture has been a silent partner in the global free-market crusade. But torture is more than a tool used to enforce unwanted policies on rebellious peoples; it is also a metaphor of the shock doctrine's underlying logic."

- Naomi Klein, The Shock Doctrine, 2007

Pancake madness

The Telegraph has a real bee in it’s bonnet about the UK’s growing fascination with pre-made pancake mixes and pancakes. It’s had a flurry of articles, some admiring the healthy growth of shop sales but most contemplating the [presumed dire] social significance of the phenomenon - the funniest being this satirical effort.

To me pancakes are one of the pleasures of a trip to France, where they seem to be a traditional part of street-food and fast food outlets. In the UK, we mostly ignore them until Shrove Tuesday when they become a big thing, despite most of us being extremely lapsed Christians. It’s all about the food, isn’t it?!

Why are we buying pre-made pancakes? Possibly because, like all cultural traditions, they have accumulated a mystique consisting of all kinds of conflicting rules and theories, guaranteed to confuse the low-skilled time-poor domestic cook.

Even Delia Smith, the patron saint of easy domestic cookery, rabbits on about sifting flour in piles, breaking eggs blah blah blah. In this regard I always remember my friend Mark’s approach - just bung all the ingredients (flour, milk, eggs) in a blender and flip the switch. Hey presto - pancake batter in seconds!

The next debate is whether or not to ‘rest’ the mixture. I’m with the resters - if the mix is in a blender jug it can just stay there for an hour or so until you are ready to start cooking.

Delia helpfully suggests using a soup ladle to ladle the mix into the hot frying pan - this is a really good idea and helps you gauge how much mix you need to cover the bottom of your pan. The first pancake is traditionally the sacrificial practice one, but no matter how disastrous looking always still tastes good!

And they really are pretty fantastic items - amazing that such relatively simple ingredients can achieve such a culinary peak experience. Crispy and golden, yet also meltingly yielding; fragile but with the tensile strength to wrap around a variety of fillings.

My pan is deep with sloping edges and a quick dipping motion is enough to get the pancake to flip. But it’s easy enough to use a spatula to flip them as well.

It was pancakes all the way last night - so I started with savory Roquefort cheese and spinach pancakes and moved on to the traditional lemon and sugar ones (still as amazingly good as when first made for me by my mum many years ago; pancakes have a real affinity for sharp citrussy flavours). The Nutella jar was eventually put away unused - too rich for me - but I experimented with a passion fruit decanted onto a pancake. Recommended.

The downside is they are very calorie-laden beasties, and like all fast food very more-ish - you can’t just have one or two. I had nine all told, which tots up well in excess of 1000 calories. Back to the diet today!

Black Swan

Wow! This is an extremely well-made melodrama. Great direction and cinematography - it all feels incredibly claustrophobic, and the white/black/mirroring themes are pursued relentlessly. Lots of wobbly-cam, and black industrial spaces. Very silly and great fun.

The acting is superb throughout. Barbara Hershey as Nina’s stage mother is freakily scary and Natalie Portman’s Nina and Mila Kunis’s Lily, Nina’s rival, are great foils for each other. I think Mila had the better part though, even if not the lead.

I’m not quite sure about what I feel about Natalie winning the Best Actress Oscar, though. It is a fine performance, understated as befits the reticent character she plays. The trouble is her character isn’t ultimately very likeable, so the performance is more admirable than heart-warming. And neither lead is much good at ballet - I mean, I’m totally ballet ignorant and even I could see they weren’t great (and the script calls for their director to repeatedly call them brilliant, which grates when they are plainly not). But these are minor quibbles - I sense it’s a budding camp classic in the mode of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane or Mommie Dearest.

I wholeheartedly applaud Natalie Portman however for her brave (given her contractual obligations to the company), outspoken response to Dior’s designer John Galliano’s drunken anti-semitic rants. She was practically alone amongst celebs in speaking the truth, and perhaps bumped Dior into doing the right thing.

Quote London

“I love that London is a city on the run - I think if you want to see a little bit of all the world, London is the best place for it; everything that's impossible becomes possible in London.”

~ Simona Visinskyte, worker on the Shard. (Quoted in Evening Standard 4/3/2011)

My Birthday Number Ones (2002 - 2011)

This is the final post in this series looking at songs which made number one in the charts on my birthday. It been an interesting exercise, because I think it disproves the old chestnut "Pop is not as good as it used to be": every decade has thrown up classic songs as well as horrors. And the last 10 years has certainly seen some great songs that I'm pretty happy are in my birthday chart. So here is the final run down:

2002: Enrique Iglesias - Hero

Enrique comes across here as the male version of those power divas from the 90s, singing very much a power ballad. He looks good though.

2003: Christina Aguilera - Beautiful
Disabled by request A gorgeous ballad by Christina - will this be a clasic? She succeeded Tatu as number one in 2003; they were the official on my birthday number one:

2003: Tatu - All The Things She Said

Hard to believe now this manufactured girl band were number one for a whole month. Great fun pop song though.

2004: Busted - Who's David

Huge in the mid-00s. Why? Oh wait. This trio completely passed me by; I have no recall of this song.

2005: Jennifer Lopez - Get Right

Stunning sounds and moves from Jenny from the block

2006: Meck ft Leo Sayer - Thunder In My Heart Again

"It wasn't just because it was a hot tune, it was all because "Oh my God, it's Leo Sayer" - Leo Sayer
And Leo becomes the third artist to have two number ones on my birthday chart! - this time, almost three decades apart. Stunning achievement, Leo ( and great assistance from Meck)

2007: Mika - Grace Kelly

The next three hits are amongst my favourites of the last few years; amazing to think they all made number one around my birthday. Mika's video was another one directed by Sophie Muller (who did Shakespears Sister's Stay)

2008: Duffy - Mercy

Duffy's amazing voice and debut single livened up the beginning of 2008.

2009: Lily Allen - The Fear
Embedding disabled by request
How can anyone say Pop has dumbed down faced by this brilliance?

2010: Helping Haiti (Various Artists) - Everybody Hurts

I prefer R.E.M.'s original version, to be honest, but still this was in aid of a very worthy cause and it's great having something by R.E.M. in my birthday chart - they are one of my favourite bands.

And the final, most recent song, is:

Adele - Someone Like You

Words cannot express how thrilled I am Adele made it to number one with this astonishingly affecting song. She blew me away when she sang it on Later With Jools Holland last November - I pre-ordered her album on the strength of this performance - but I never imagined she would get to number one with it, even less so against Lady GaGa's hugely hyped Born This Way (which I have also bought!) Big congrats to Adele.

from viagogo:

"Adele tickets are likely to become even more in demand as she has made history this week with her latest chart positions.

The singer has become the first artist since the Beatles to have two top five singles and two top five albums in the charts simultaneously.

Fans of the soulful singer appear to have been inspired to buy her latest single 'Someone Like You' after her Brit Award performance last week as her single jumped nearly 50 places to land the number one spot."

And that's all folks - thanks for coming with me on the journey :-)

My Birthday Number Ones (1992 - 2001)

Here we are in the 90s, the time when super divas roamed the earth. It is also another decade in which an artist scored two number ones on my birthday. Who do you think? Is it one of THEM? Time to find out.

1992: Shakespears Sister - Stay

I absolutely love this, and the video must be in my personal top three (it was directed by Sophie Muller). Just wonderful stuff. This stayed at number one for 8 weeks.

1993: 2 Unlimited - No Limit

"No no lyrics" - but this slice of Eurodance was the best-selling European song of 1993, and clearly popular in the UK too, as it reached number one. I sneakily quite liked it too.

1994: Mariah Carey - Without You
The first of the super divas reigning supreme (Embedding disabled by request). Mariah takes the 1970 Badfinger song to number one again, and stays there for a whole month. Although it is possibly the most covered song of the last forty years, Badfinger themselves never released it as a single, not seeing its potential.

1994: D:Ream - Things Can Only Get Better

Maria was preceded as number one by D:Ream's biggest hit. The song achieved immortality as the theme tune to Tony Blair and New Labour's successful 1997 Election campaign.

1995: Celine Dion - Think Twice

. . . and the second super diva hoves into view. Celine's voice is of course incredible but this is surely a very poor choice of song: desperately cloying, sentimental, and obvious. I actually can't remember this at all; it must have passed me by completely in 1995.

1996: Babylon Zoo - Spaceman

A bit of an oddity, this: although it held the record for the most number of records sold in the first week of release, and stayed number one for a month. Jas Mann seems to have had bad luck with contracts which slowed down his subsequent career. Nice, very memorable debut though.

1996: Oasis - Dont Look Back In Anger

My 1996 birthday week saw Oasis's iconic song claim the number one spot, and mark out space for mid-nineties Britpop.

1997: No Doubt - Dont Speak

No Doubt's biggest international hit, featuring Gwen Stefani's stunning performance.

1998: Celine Dion - My Heart Will Go On

And here it is folks - Celine Dion's second outing in my birthday charts, singing the theme from THAT film. She was number one until the 22nd February, and on that day was superseded by:

1998: Cornershop - Brimful Of Asha

Cornershop reached number 60 in 1997 with this song, but Fatboy Slim's remix took them to number one in February 1998.

1999: Britney Spears - Baby One More Time
Britney's stunning iconic debut video is disabled by request. A brilliant pop song, and one of the highest selling singles in the UK ever, it has already been covered by a multitude of artists, notably by Travis.

2000: All Saints - Pure Shores

The theme to the movie The Beach starring Leonardo DiCaprio, and witten by William Orbit and Shaznay Lewis, this was the first single off All Saints' second album (and one of the UK's best sellers of 2000). I remember the group single handedly made combat trousers fashionable in the late nineties.

2001: Atomic Kitten - Whole Again

Aww, poor Atomic Kitten! This was their real-life "save me" song, as Virgin Records wanted to drop them and were persuaded to release one more single. This was it. The record company was unwilling to plough any money into the video (hence the obvious cheapness), and finally, Kerry Katona dropped out of the band just days before the song charted, on account of her pregnancy. Well done in spite of everything!

So that's it for this decade, the last in this series coming up tomorrow.

My Birthday Number Ones (1982 - 1991)

My third decade of No.1 Birthday hits starts off with a classic:

1982: The Jam - A Town Called Malice

A bit controversial at the time, as EMI complained that as it was part of a 'double sided' single its aggregated sales were unfairly keeping their contender, Golden Brown by The Stranglers from reaching No.1. Life is tough.

1983: Kajagoogoo - Too Shy

The New Romantics are upon us! Kajagoogoo actually achieved a no.1 - this one - before Duran Duran ever did. Unfortunately it appears to have been their only one, and tensions in the band the band soon soon resulted in the lead singer, Limahl, being fired by his bandmates.

1984: Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Relax

Another iconic hit, notorious for being banned by the BBC at the time, and also for the scandalous original video, which only surfaced recently (the above is not it).

1984: Nena: 99 Red Balloons

In another amusing juxtaposition of styles and cultures, Frankie's raunchy number was followed immediately by Nena and her 99 red balloons.

1985: Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson - I Know Him So Well

Tim Rice, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus teamed up to write the musical Chess and in the process wrote this mammoth hit for Elaine Paige and Barabara Dickson, which was number one for a whole month.

1985: Dead Or Alive: You Spin Me Round

After that, the country demanded something more energetic! - and got it with Dead Or Alive's classic. Apart from launching Pete Burns into the spotlight, the song was the first of many collaborations by Stock Aitken and Waterman.

1986: Billy Ocean - When The Going Gets Tough

Another song from the movies - this was the theme to The Jewel of the Nile starring Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas.

1987: Ben E King - Stand By Me

History works in mysterious ways. This was originally released in 1961 - the year of my birth - and reached no. 27 in the UK charts. However, it recharted after the release of the movie Stand By Me in 1986 and went to no.1 in the UK following its use in a Levi's Jeans ad.

1988: Kylie Minogue - I Should Be So Lucky

I always think this was Kylie's debut but in fact it was her second hit. She flew to the UK to record with the by now ubiquitous Stock Aitken and Waterman. Apparently they forgot she was due to arrive and wrote this in 40 minutes while she waited in reception. She then recorded it in an hour. The rest is pop history.

1989: Simple Minds - Belfast Child

This beautiful song was written in the aftermath of the Enniskillen bombings.

1990: Sinead OConnor - Nothing Compares 2 U

Sinead's beautiful cover of the Prince song took it to worldwide prominence and launched her mainstream career.

1991: The Simpsons - Do The Bartman

Michael Jackson is another iconic figure who does not appear in my birthday charts. However. Michael wrote this (uncredited) because he loved the tv show. It went to number 1 in the UK but was never released in the USA.

And thus concludes my third decade - fourth coming up tomorrow.

My Birthday Number Ones (1972 - 1981)

So moviing on to my second decade of birthday week No.1 hits.

1972: Chicory Tip - Song of My Father


Chicory Tip probably hasn't remained in contemporary consciousness. But this, my friends, is real musical history. The song was co-written by Giorgio Moroder, no less, and is the first pop song to prominently feature a Moog Synthesizer.

1973: The Sweet - Blockbuster


Right - now we are in the era of Glam Rock. Sequins! Shiny! This was a massive hit for The Sweet.

1974: Suzi Quatro - Devil Gate Drive

Not I think one of Suzi's most memorable hits, but makes me think. By the end of Glam, Rock was clearly mature enough to allow for a consciously retro, nostalgic approach like this to work (with Suzi's gender being the contemporary twist). Also I wonder how much her look and attitude here fed into Punk a few years later? Fairly sure the Punks themselves would deny all influence!

1975: Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel - Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)

Good grief, just how sexy does Mr Harley think he is here? This is a lovely song though, and is probably still very familiar from its frequent use in tv ads, most recently for Marks & Spencer. It has also featured in two movie soundtracks: The Full Monty and Velvet Goldmine.

Steve Harley's birthday is the 27th February, so this was No.1 for him on his birthday in 1975.

1975 - Telly Savalas - If

Make me Smile was followed by Telly Savalas's If as No.1 - Telly making it as an add-on to his hugely succesful career as tv detective Kojak.

1976: Four Seasons: December 63 (Oh What A Night)

I loved this then, and it has stood up well to the passing of time. A remix charted in 1994.


1977: Leo Sayer - When I Need You

Leo Sayer, like Petula Clark, features twice in my Birthday No.1s! This was a huge hit for him at the time, reaching number 1 in both the UK and the USA. It was the first UK No.1 for its writer, Carole Bayer Sager. However, I feel it's all a trifle tedious and whiny now.

1978: Abba - Take A Chance On Me

But, hey! Abba! Woo!

If Armageddon swept away all late 20th-century popular music and left somehow only these blog posts, we would lose all the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Elton John and Rod Stewart - all massive artists who clearly neglected to have hits in late February. However, Abba saves the day. I was a total fan - this had to be kept somewhat under wraps from cool kid friends, who followed virtually every music critic at the time and dissed them. But ha! Time has vindicated the Swedish super group.

1978 - Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights

Abba was followed at No.1 in February 1978 but this extraordinary debut single by the legendary Kate Bush. Definitely a song one remembers.

1979: Blondie: Heart Of Glass

Was 1979 the greatest ever year in the history of the popular musuc charts? Judge for yourself.This is the amazing Blondie's debut smash.

1979 - The Bee Gees - Tragedy

Followed on immediately by the Beegees! The melodrama of this one has always thrilled me.

1979 - Gloria Gaynor - I Will Survive

And the Beegees were followed by this all-time classic by Gloria Gaynor! Honestly, from the Village People to Pink Floyd, 1979 has got it all!

1980 - 1980: Kenny Rogers - Coward Of The County

Down to earth with a thump. Yuck. The obvious sentimentality took this one to No.1, it can't disguise the nastiness now. It deserves oblivion.

1980 - Blondie - Atomic

However, Kenny Rogers was followed quickly by another terrific Blondie effort.

1981: Joe Dolce Music Theatre - Shaddap You Face

Another very efficient novelty number, in grand pop fashion being followed by the sublime:

1981 - Roxy Music - Jealous Guy

Was this the greatest cover ever made? I always think that Bryan is singing about Jerry, but in fact she had left him for Mick three years previously. Anyhow, he sings it with total conviction.

And another ex-Beatle, John Lennon, makes it into my Birthday charts (albeit as the writer) - posthumously, sadly.

Well, that concludes my second decade on an extremely high artistic note: what does decade three have in store? Find out tomorrow!