Andrew Lloyd Webber, Superstar

20 Sep 2008

Brilliant, so after a week I finally got YouTube to upload my video of last week’s concert in Hyde Park to celebrate Andrew Lloyd Webber’s birthday. To be fair, the fact that they were so far off on the date (even the man himself pointed out that we were all there about six months too late) had more to do with the fact that the massive stage from the BBC Proms in the Park the night before was going to be unused that Sunday and they had to fill it with something rather than the fact that BBC Radio2 and Andrew Lloyd Webber aren’t Facebook friends (honestly, how did we remember anyone’s birthday without Facebook?). In any case, I have to admit that I didn’t much mind who we were celebrating or what they’d be playing because I was going to see John Barrowman present.

Mr. John Barrowman is a television and stage actor who just happens to be one of the most fantastic characters in the Doctor Who universe and so I couldn’t pass up a chance to see him present the show, and sing. In my excitement to see the dashingly attractive (unfortunately gay) and talented John Barrowman, I had actually forgotten how much I do enjoy most of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s music.

Ann and I, along with her co-Girl Guiding leader Ellie, packed a delicious picnic dinner (more difficult than you might imagine when Ellie is gluten-free, Ann is vegetarian and I like meat and bread) a bottle of wine, and made our way to Hyde Park. The concert area was enormous and we were quite far back but thankfully they had set up giant screens. Effectively, I was just watching the event on TV, but it was a lovely night and being outside, with all the other people at the event, was quite fun.

I was also amazed at the other stars who were in attendance that night – of course I hadn’t looked much farther down the playbill than John Barrowman’s name when I was reading about the event, but Joss Stone (the blurry person in white in the video below), Idina Menzel (the less blurry person singing “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina”) and a bunch of people from the reality TVs shows here in Britain to find people to play the West End roles in Joseph and Oliver.

I had a great time, actually a lot more fun than I expected. The music was fun, everyone was having a good time, and I hope Andrew Lloyd Webber felt rather proud of himself when 3500 people all stood up and sang “Any Dream Will Do.” Happy birthday Mr. Webber. Thanks for some wonderful music.

You know, after the fact, I realised that I had recorded mostly the songs from Evita which is my favourite ALW music but were not the best performances of the night.  If you’re so inclined, there are so pretty bad quality (like mine!) videos of the performance of “Light at the End of the Tunnel” from Starlight Express which might have been my favourite song of the night.

Speaking of birthdays… I have a flatmate who’s got a birthday soon….

Friday Night Recap of the Week

19 Sep 2008

Just a quick recap of some of the things I mentioned over the last week but never followed up on:

  • The Colby in the City Alumni event was wonderful and, of course, I neednt’ have worried.  I was a bit nervous when I first got there as I met up with four other Colby grads who all worked in investment banking (one of them with Lehmans) and were understandably stressed about their jobs but I had no idea what they were talking about… but then we found out that the rest of the group, which included half a dozen more Colby students, a handful of people from Bowdoin, one girl from Bates and some other NESCAC alumns were on the other side of the room.  With no disrespect meant to bankers, I quickly left the doom and gloom of their conversation and met some incredibly interesting people with whom I hope to meet up again soon.
  • I don’t have any good foodie photos from this week as I haven’t made anything that special but I’ve been introduced to an amazing website which hopefully will lead to more food pictures and recipes.  It’s called Super Cook and allows you to insert the ingredients you have in your kitchen and it gives you recipes that match what you have.  Will probably be most useful for finding useful ways to get rid of my rapidly expiring perishables.
  • My friends Sarah and Steve will be returning from Sydney and their wedding on Monday and I’m so excited to have them back! Dancing just wasn’t the same while they were gone and I skipped more classes than was strictly necessary blaming lack of sleep but it definitely had something to do with the fact I disliked going alone.
  • Busy, busy week at work but lots of exciting things happening at Spoonfed including a series of university newsletters that give events, deals and freebies to students of the different London schools.  First one should be out the week after next.

Tomorrow I’m off to chessboxing which is a class where you are taught chess skills and boxing techniques, then matched up against and opponent to play 4 minutes of chess alternated with 3 minutes of boxing.  You win with a checkmate or a KO.  Don’t worry the whole thing is instructed and it’s more about mental and physical fitness then punching someone out.  I’ll give a brief recap here but I’m writing a full review for Spoonfed which should be live early next week.

Also coming soon, the recap of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s birthday in the park before I forget about it completely.  *Whew* what a week!

Martha Blogs?!

19 Sep 2008

Alright, first of all, how did I not know this? I’ve been telling everyone I wanted to be Martha Stewart when I grew up since I was 16 and doing event planning and decorating for Kiki’s Candy Bar in Palo Alto (I’m sure somehow that life goal translates to internet marketing).  But, even better than The Martha Blog itself is the fact that she’s hosting a blog contest to find other bloggers with interesting content and stories.  Of course, as an internet marketer I can see this quite clearly as a ploy to get backlinks and traffic and… damn it Martha, again you beat me with the elegant yet simple solution to a problem that plagues our every day lives (except now it’s not “what on *earth* do I do with all this potpourris I have lying around” it’s “how do I get traffic to my blog.” How times have changed).

In any case, thanks for the tip off from Aunt Wendy, and glad to hear that she is enjoying my blog and thinks it’s worth entering in to Martha’s competition.  If you have a blog of your own, you should check it out!

**Just a quick note, last weekend I did go to Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Birthday in Hyde Park (ignoring the fact his birthday was in March) and have been trying, without luck, to upload a video before I actually blog about the event.  Now that I’m pushing a week since it happen we might have to deal with a video-less recap.  We’ll see if YouTube cooperates today.

People and Clothes

18 Sep 2008

There are a lot of people in London. In fact, I was told today by a very official BBC source that there are more than three people in the United Kingdom and at least two of them must live in London (although what this means for Wales I have no idea). I really enjoy watching them as I go to work in the mornings. I especially like seeing what they have to wear. Now that’s it’s starting to get colder, we’re getting into my favourite fashion accessories: scarves, boots and gloves, and Londoners are making full use of them. While generally I just feel vaguely jealous at the women I see on the bus and the tube who can dress themselves properly, I’m also picking up a lot of ideas for my own wardrobe.

Because I have no money (but I can’t really complain about that anymore can I? Everyone’s in the same boat now…) I have to decide carefully which articles of clothing and accessories to buy. Someone’s jumper might catch my eye; or I’ll watch for nice sweaters as I’m in desperate need of them. As always, I find myself most conflicted about the footwear. Do I borrow the style from the woman with the tall, tight-fitting boots, the teen with the slouched boots, or just get something upsettingly boring and practical but will keep my feet warm and dry?

Possibly my favourite kind of outfits to study during my commute are children’s school uniforms. Honestly, these things are almost disturbing in their rigour and complexity. I’ve seen six year old boys and girls with their blue shorts or skirts and tights, black shoes, blue blazers, white button downs and matching book bags walking to school with their mums. The best part, however, are their little hats. What school thought it would be a good idea to make young children wear hats with uncomfortable straps under the chin every day? This is stolen from St. Mary’s Primary School website:

Girls (Y1 – Y6)

Plain navy blue coat or anorak.
Yellow and navy ties (to be worn with long sleeved blouse).
Plain white long-sleeved blouse (winter) or short-sleeved blouse (summer).
Plain navy blue cardigan/jumper or sweat shirt with school badge.
Plain navy, white or grey socks or tights.
In Winter, plain navy blue skirt or navy blue pinafore dress or long navy trousers (no leggings, jeans or corduroy trousers).
In Summer, any plain style dress in traditional blue and white check gingham with short sleeves and collar.
Plain navy, white or yellow hat (optional straw hat in Summer). In hot weather children should be encouraged to wear their hats during each break time.
Plain navy blue or navy blue and yellow scarf of regulation design.
For wet weather, a packable navy blue raincoat i.e. cagoule.

And, as if that weren’t enough….

Footwear

Black, brown or navy shoes (or sandals) with laces, straps, buckles or Velcro with flat heels.
Trainers, boots or open sandals are not to be worn in school.
Suitable strong winter shoes are advised after October half term. Wellingtons or long boots should be worn to school in the snow and indoor shoes brought to change into.

I’ve left out the sections on required hair style, jewelry (no digital watches allowed… these people must not be very happy), PE kit, and other items.  I would take a picture but that would be somewhat creepy.

In any case, as I go to work in the mornings I love seeing what people are wearing. I either get great ideas for my own wardrobe, or marvel at what people make their children wear.

I don’t really care what people wear on the way home because I’m too tired to pay attention.

Uh oh

17 Sep 2008

Just a quick note to prepare everyone for Impending Doom.  No, I’m not talking about the economic crisises, the fact that 5000 Londoners were left unemployed on Monday, global warming or the fact that, thanks to overnight inflation bread and eggs now cost about as much as petrol.  It’s something much more serious.

My camera seems to be dying.

I’ve replaced the battery three times in the last two weeks and the camera works for about two hours and then tells me the batteries are low (which is a bald-faced lie.  Or as bald-faced as a camera can be).  At least I can still get it to take pictures for now but I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that after four years and the amount of stress I’ve put it through it’s starting to get a little run down.

Sad, though, because now that I’m buying bread and eggs at atrocious prices and giving my change to former bankers in the streets I won’t be able to get a new one any time soon.  Here’s to hoping it holds out through my next trip.  I’m thinking Ireland at the end of the month….