… that’s how long that I will have been in London for come 17:15 this evening.
Just thought I’d post a quick note to my blog to recognise this fact. It’s certainly been a fun year – one which has not only gone rather quickly, but one which has also overseen a lot of largely positive change for me.
Nothing too flowery to finish with, however, Let’s All Go Down The Strand!
Join the clip around the 3 minute mark – singing along to this in Leicester Square at West End Live has to be the campest and most London-y thing that I’ve done in my whole year down here hehe!!
Have a banana! x
NB – Apologies for the awful clip… it was the only musical version of Let’s All Go Down The Strand that I could find! Gah!
OK, so I really cannot get this song off my media centre!
Michael Ball’s version of “A Boy From Nowhere” (originally from the 1991 musical Matador) is absolutely amazing!! I currently have the volume cranked up as high as it will go, and the song on repeat whilst singing along wildly hehe!
This YouTube video doesn’t really do the performance justice really – the .mp3 is much cleaner , and the sweeping song bridges sound awesome. The song can be found on Ball’s album A Song For You.
And if you’re especially interested, Tom Jones recorded a version of the song for the musical’s concept album prior to it’s staging on the West End stage. I must say, although the song also suits Jones’ voice, Ball’s version has that real kick in the bollocks factor which throws you to the back of the room and makes you shout “wow!” in my opinion hehe.
Just a quick post to say a few words about a film that I recently watched and found that I really really enjoyed.
The Conrad Boys is an independant film from 2005 by a young chap called Justin Lo who bravely undertook the responsiblities for writing, producing, editing and starring as the lead character within the film. Several reviews online seem to think that he did the first two really well, and fell slightly short on the final aspect. I would agree with this and would say that some parts were a little wooden, however it was nothing that would serve to spoil your enjoyment of the film, and a trivial niggle I should think. The music that was composed for this film by Chelsea Lo (I am presuming a relative) was also rather pleasant and currently has me humming along to it everywhere I go.
Captivating newcomer Justin Lo stars as Charlie Conrad, a 19-year-old history buff with the world on his shoulders. Following the death of his mother, Charlie sets aside his college plans to raise his highly imaginative 9-year-old brother Ben (Boo Boo Stewart). Isolated from his peers, Charlie accepts his responsibility yet secretly yearns for the freedom and romance associated with youth.
Charlie suddenly gets his chance when he meets Jordan Rivers (Nick Bartzen), a charismatic drifter and fellow lost soul. The two of them hit it off immediately, and they soon embark on a tumultuous romance that gives Charlie a taste of the freedom he’s been craving. Just as their relationship intensifies, however, Charlie’s long-absent father, Doug (Barry Shay), returns to town with his own plans to take care of Ben.
Caught in a struggle for Ben and eager to hold on to Jordan, Charlie must finally search his soul and make momentous decisions regarding the future of his family. Written and directed by first-time filmmaker Justin Lo, THE CONRAD BOYS is a deeply personal and heartfelt story that will stay with you for a long time to come.
Normally I am not a big fan of so-called ’gay’ films as I don’t think we do them too well (the obvious exceptions to this which is springing to mind are the amazing Beautiful Thing, Eating Out and Latter Days) - normally such films border on pornographic and are of terrible cinematographic quality. However I found The Conrad Boys to be a fresh film that I really found myself falling in love with. Cute is probably the best way to describe it.
Should you ever find yourself looking at your DVD collection in despair for something to watch, then order The Conrad Boys from here (or any other good DVD stockist – be warned, the link I have provided is for REGION 1 players only!) and your woes should all disappear as soon as the postie comes a-knocking :oD
Interesting (if not repetitive/’nothing new’) article on the front page of the Metro newspaper today.
It’s good that we have stories like this regularly making the news, however the article doesn’t really appear to rally the troops all that much – I don’t see much new positive action coming out of it really.
I also note that the article used the term ‘gays and lesbians’ – firstly, bad grammar/use of plurals, and secondly don’t we structure it as ‘lesbian and gay’ as it’s deemed more ‘correct’ (despite gay and lesbian sounding much better for many reasons)?
Doing the math, if the old ‘1 in 10′ adage is taken to be correct, then that would mean that there are 6 million lesbian/gay folk in the UK… and one fifth of that figure would suggest that 1.2 million people in the UK being falling victim to hate crime or ‘incident’ (whatever that is) over the last three years… that equates to 400,000 people per year!
It would also have been interesting to see the demograph and trending on the report to see if there were more incidents in 2006 than 2007 and 2008 to date, and also to see which areas were worst for it (as that can help to solve some of the problem by letting us gays know where we’re best to try and avoid living should we be fortunate enough to be able to make the choice etc).
Yes, of course we shouldn’t have to change our lives to combat this thuggery, however with a bit of our own common sense and nouce, we too can do our bit to help to reduce these shocking figures!
One in five gays and lesbians has been the victim of a hate crime or incident in the past three years, according to a damning new report.
However, three-quarters of victims do not bother to report crimes – a third because they do not think police can, or will, do anything about it.
Of those that did go to the authorities, just one in 25 saw it result in a conviction, the survey by gay charity Stonewall found.
Chief executive Ben Summerskill told Metro: ‘It’s entirely unacceptable in 2008 that anyone should live in fear of attack and abuse simply because of who they are.
This evidence is a scar on the face of a modern nation.’
The charity is billing its research as the first statistically significant national survey of its kind into homophobic crime.
It was carried out, with Home Office support, following the conviction of two men for the homophobic murder of Jody Dobrowski on Clapham Common in June 2006.
The report recommends encouraging police to improve the recording of homophobic incidents and tackling bullying in schools and offices.
Last night, home secretary Jacqui Smith said she would ask a ministerial action group to tackle the issue.
She added: ‘In the 21st century, no one should ever feel under threat of verbal or physical violence just because of their sexual orientation.’
Mike Cunningham, of the Assoc¬iation of Chief Police Officers, said: ‘It cannot be acceptable that a third of victims do not report incidents because they do not think the police would, or could, do anything about it.’
Mr Dobrowski’s mother, Sheri, said: ‘Homophobia is endemic in society. We cannot accept this. No intelligent, healthy or reasonable society could.’
I was in Maplin the other day to purchase my new external HDD so as to take some of the pressure off my internal SATA and, whilst perusing their quality merchandise, I couldn’t help but notice that it seems that they have (perhaps innocently! hehe) decided to forray/stumble into the world of ‘adult’ products…. LOL!
Looks like somebody wasn’t too happy with the mass deletion of accounts that Faceparty did (see my earlier post)
I’ve taken these screen shots of what comes up should you currently visit their homepage; www.faceparty.com
Hacking/Cracking isn’t really all that ethical… but sometimes, in circumstances like this, it can be condoned P
I should also add that this is nothing whatsoever to do with me, I am meerly a spectator observing and reporting on what I’ve seen online.
** NB – It now would seem that this message has come from the website owners themselves… if this is the case, then frankly I would find it to be pathetic and childish – but then again, what do I care for the future of their site, I’m not even a member any more – hurrah D **
I just received this message via Facebook – it would seem that tkts are opening up yet another half price booking office.
Brent Cross initially seems a bit of an odd choice, as the area around the centre isn’t particularly affluent, nor will it benefit from footfall of the bankers of Canary Wharf or the tourists of Leicester Square. That said, with Brent Cross getting approx 16 million shoppers a year… it’s hard not to see the reasoning behind the new opening! The problem, I think, comes with the fact that tkts primary market is in selling tickets for performances THAT DAY. The addition of an advance booking facility is relatively new to tkts (only available at Brent Cross) and not really what they are specifically known for. As Brent Cross is in Zone 3 (and clearly, if you’re there then you’re probably already busy whilst being out doing your shopping etc) I just don’t think that a same-day ticket service will work in that area…
In addition to this, the ‘booth’ is more of a small desk situated next to the main information desk on the upper level. Despite lots of people handing out flyers and there being big posters around the centre, the desk remained deserted for the two hours on the packed Saturday afternoon that I recently spent shopping at the centre.
That said, who knows what plans tkts have in the future – perhaps this new location will enable them to make a success of their current, any new, venture that they decide to launch.
The ‘grand opening’ does sound like a lot of fun however!
Hi there!
tkts the famous half price theatre ticket booth in Leicester Square has now come to Brent Cross Shopping Centre! This means you can now get hold of all the great half price theatre ticket offers in Brent Cross as well as Leicester Square!
The new Brent Cross tkts ticket desk also offers full price, advance tickets for theatre, music and sport.
The official launch of Brent Cross tkts is taking place this Sunday the 29 June – so come along and join in the fun between 12am and 6pm! There will be performances of music from many West End musicals as well as workshops for Avenue Q and Les Miserables. You will also have the chance to win fantastic prizes throughout the day – including a VIP trip to see The Phantom of The Opera courtesy of Superbreak and Cameron Mackintosh!
For more information about Brent Cross tkts visit our website
Pan’s Labyrinth has been called “a real triumph” by Jonathan Ross and, having just watched it, I really can see why.
Pan’s Labyrinth (Spanish: El laberinto del fauno, literally The Labyrinth of the Faun) is a 2006 Spanish language fantasy film written and directed by Mexican film-maker Guillermo del Toro. It was produced and distributed by the Mexican film company Esperanto Films.
Pan’s Labyrinth takes place in a dual setting: Spain in May and June, 1944, during the turbulent period shortly after the Spanish Civil War, and a fantasy world experienced by a Spanish girl, Ofelia, who is given three tasks by a mysterious faun. In the “real world,” Ofelia’s stepfather, the Falangist Captain Vidal, viciously hunts the Spanish Maquis, guerrillas who continue fighting the Franco regime in the region, while her pregnant mother grows increasingly ill. The “fantasy world” is one that Ofelia enters through an overgrown labyrinth garden, where she meets all manner of strange and magical creatures who become central to her story. The film employs make-up, puppetry, and CGI effects to create its creatures.
The original Spanish title refers to the mythological fauns of Greek mythology, while the English title refers specifically to the faun-like Greek god Pan (intended to help English-speakers differentiate the title from the term fawn). However, Del Toro has stated that the faun in the film is not Pan.
So, you have the synopsis of the storyline courtesy of the Wikipedia page for Pan’s Labyrinth, how about the trailer? D
The trailer for this movie is absolutely awesome I think; although to me it gave the impression of a whole different film to the one that I’ve just watched. As a viewer, I found my attention being drawn more to the themes of war, death and oppression than to the fantasy element of this story. In fact, it’s only when I look back at the trailer that I realise the volume of fantasy that is actually contained within the tale – I personally don’t think that the trailer portrays the actual story of the film all that well. That said, as I’ve already mentioned, I think that the trailer for this movie is amazing and really makes me want to re-watch the film again!
This really is a twisted fairy tale for grown ups, and at several points I was cringing and looking away from the screen. The Pale Man (below) has got to be one of the scariest of evil beings that I’ve seen in years… I currently have all the lights on in the house whilst I get settled back down again *blush* hehe.
I can’t even re-watch the clip at the moment, I’m that on edge! Hehe. Believe it or not, the actor Doug Jones is actually inside the creature operating it, whilst complex CGI and puppetry takes care of the rest of the creature (the same is true of The Faun).
I wasn’t overly keen on the characterisation of The Faun – whom I thought had an accent like a badly dubbed porn star (though in fairness, they actually did have to dub the actor behind The Faun, Doug Jones). Alas, I didn’t find myself bonding with his character at all, despite him holding the main ‘fantasy’ role.
Despite being a Spanish film, with English subtitles, it is really easy to get into the film and to keep up with the plot and the goings on on-screen. The lullaby in this film is simply enchanting and also forms the central core around which most of the film’s soundtrack is formed.
In terms of genre, I was very surprised to find the themes of war and fantasy, death and magic all thrown in together in this film. I would have to say that the way that del Toro has gone about this is rather innovative. For a film whose major genre is classed as ‘fantasy’ there is an awful lot of violence and death in this film; albeit on the ‘human’ side. I would say this is fairly new-thinking for such a film, as normally the sword fights, pirate battles and intergalactic shoot-outs that make such tales what they are tend to happen on the fantasy side of a dual-world film, and not on the ‘human’ side. The fantasy element was respectful of the ‘human’ element and there were no ‘cheesy’ cross-over moments between the two, which was a refreshing change to see. The last few scenes were beautifully shot, and it was interesting to see the Underworld portrayed as an almost heavenly place as opposed to the usual connotations surrounding it.
I think this quote sums the film up perfectly and much more elloquently than I have been able to;
Mark Kermode, in The Observer, labeled Pan’s Labyrinth as the best film of 2006, describing it as “an epic, poetic vision in which the grim realities of war are matched and mirrored by a descent into an underworld populated by fearsomely beautiful monsters.”
If you have yet to see this film, then I really cannot recommend it highly enough. Fresh-thinking, highly imaginative, well produced and definitely a modern day classic for our time.
Following on from my previous post of 5 minutes ago, my PC’s Media Centre is completely in the mood for Trance music – HURRAH! D
Planet Perfecto’s “Bullet In The Gun” is the next song that it has chosen to play;
Another excellent song! Woo!
You can certainly hear Paul Oakenfold’s influences on this track (incidentally, his prolific theme tune to Big Brother is the only thing about that terrible show that I like anymore!).
I may do a proper trance music post later on in the week however for now I’m off to hunt out my glow sticks and Cyberdog stuff! hehe!
I just came across this fab trance tune from 1997 by Red 5called ‘I Love You… Stop!‘ and have been dancing around my room to it non-stop since getting home from work. Must have had it on my hard-drive for years without it being selected to be played by media player as I’ve not heard it in yonks!
P
