Thursday, 24 January 2008

#576 - Get lost for words at the International Mime Festival


Timeout says:
Mimefest was founded 30 years ago and is now one of the world's most important visual theatre festivals. The event incorporates shows for children and adults, wit performances by rising stars as well as a multitude of established names in the fields of circus acts, puppetry, physical theatre and live art.

Dave did:
Searching up on the shows on offer this year, I was at a loss as to which one to choose as they all looked extremely fascinating...one was based solely around the use of big bubbles and imagery!

I eventually decided upon the 'Sadari Movement Laboratory's' interpretation of Woyzeck - A German stage play written by Georg Büchner in the early 1800's.

Of course I say I decided, the fact that it was the last show to have any tickets left DID influence that decision slightly!

Anyway, the play is based on a true story of a poor german soldier driven by inhuman military discipline to madness and the murder of his mistress. It remains "one of the most enigmatic, shocking and influential works of modern theatre" (Southbank Centre).

This interpretation was a stripped-down version from Korea using only 10 wooden chairs, 10 bodies, movement, space and light to create a dynamic physical and visual language, revealing the charaters' emotional states.

The mime company itself - Sadari - was founded in 1999 and is one of Korea's best known young theatre companies which won a Herald Angel and Total Theatre Award during the 2007 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

So....in case you haven't already guess all that colourful blurb was just copied out of my programme guide!

I have to say I entered the theatre slightly apprehensive as I wasn't sure what to expect, the seats were uncomfortable and all I saw in the centre of the stage was a solitary chair:



However, over the course of the next 80 minutes I was mesmorised by how 10 people dressed in black, armed with one plain wooden chair each and some clever lighting, could create completely different scenes and make you really feel what was going on in the main characters minds.

Mime is usually associated with silent street actors dressed in black and white striped shirts. But in this case there was no silence, as the entire show was given an almost celtic backing track (Piazolla's tango music apparently) and the actors spoke constantly in korean with a few english phrases thrown in for good measure. It was also partly like a silent movie with two sentances being projected on the back wall between each scene describing what was going on.

As I already mentioned, the use of the chairs was particularly interesting and the choreography was very intricate. Over 12 scenes the Sadari group created a cemetary, a military parade, a fairground, a circus, a surgery, a mirror room, a nightmare (with lots of talking heads), a pub, a church, and a forest!

The love scene should also be noted...when I first read there was going to be some sex involved I have to admit an eyebrow was raised (well both really as I cant really do one effectively without concentrating really hard!). You may have heard of having sex on a chair....but how about two wooden chairs....back to back? It was incredibly inventive and I must say very moving (oh god, terrible, terrible use of words there!), the female was also making the most of her ability to do the splits too!!

At the end the team were even able to create their own credits, whereby they re-presented key scenes from the show within the space of 2 minutes...and these were drastic changes in scenes both for character changes and settings with the chairs.


All in all (summating here as I am rambling on a bit!) a terrific show, and just the right length in time to make for a pleasant school night past-time!



97 down...903 Things to go!

#740 - Skateboard: South Bank


Timeout says:
London's many skaters are blessed with an increasing number of designated skateparks in which to practice their tricks. The gradditied stretch of the South Bank beneath the Royal Festival Hall remains the beating heart of the London skate scene.

Dave did:
I had a skateboard as a kid, but I never really got what it was all about...you stand on a board with wheels and you keep pushing yourself along with one foot. Maybe the problem was me viewing it as a mode of transport like a bike, cause I found it very inefficient and resulted in a very very dead leg! Only the Back to the Future movies kept my interest up in them, but even then I remember sticking on my walkman with the BTTF Soundtrack, lining myself up at the top of my driveway and skated down onto the road...only for a family friend to drive up behind me and beep the horn to make a point that I shouldn't be listening to music whilst skateboarding...and there finished that dream (although I will always be the first in line for a hoverboard!)

So getting back to this Thing. I'm no longer an owner of a skateboard, and my astute upbringing probably means showing up with a board won't exactly help me to blend in anymore than showing up in a hoodie would!

I therefore decided to sit back and just enjoy the scene as other kids tried, tried and tried again to complete their tricks...I promise to play an hour of Tony Hawk when I get home to make up for my obvious loss...

96 down...104 Things to go!

#961 - Much a macaroon at Laduree

Timeout says:
Bringing Parisian cafe culture bang up to date, the London branch of Laduree inside Harrods boasts a wealth of delicate dainties for shoppers with sweetly indulgent tastes.

Dave did:
I didn't hang around, but I did pick up some nice chocolates...one even had the Harrods logo on it!!



95 down...905 Things to go!

Monday, 21 January 2008

#646 - Drool over the food halls in Harrods


Timeout says:
You could admire the Mohammad Al Fayed waxwork in menswear or worship at the Dodi and Diana shrine in the basement. You could check out the ten-foot-tall gold pharoah in the Egyptian Room or try to eat and drink your way round all of the 28 in-store restaurants and bars. But when we're at Harrods and feeling the need for full-bore, over the top opulence, there's only one destination: the legendary food halls.

Dave did:
Never been to Harrods before, and if I'm honest I don't really respect Mohammad Al Fayed as a person. I won't turn this into a political discussion but the way he handles himself around the whole Dodi-Diana issue has not done him any favours if you ask me.

But anyway, Harrods is more than one man - in size and notoriety! This was to be my first visit to the department store and my expectations were much akin to how I imagine Vegas to be - Blackpool drugged up on steroids and acid!

On approach this idea was not dimmed (literally!)...it didn't take me long to spot which store was Harrods:



Upon approach my minds eye was still not disappointed as I came across a display window outside:



Upon entry, however, I was proven to be quite mistaken in my pre-judgement! Ok there were some cheesey bits and bobs around the place, but on the whole it was quite within itself, and with the sale that was on while I was there the prices seemed on the wrong side of reasonable but still alright as London goes!

Of course as Timeout mentioned, Mr. Al Fayed was there to welcome me into his store:





Yup, and he stays standing on that pillar all day! Amazing!!

I got to ride in the amazing 'Egyptian Escalator'!!



(and in case you were wondering it was indeed like any other!)

There was the big green teddy bear armchair (strictly no sitting allowed!)



And then there was the Dodi-Diana memorial...now this I had my apprehensions about. I had heard it was a bit OTT and self-glorifying, but in actual fact it wasn't that bad. Yes maybe its a bit crude being based in a department store (the Diana memorial in Hyde Park is something far more suitable - no matter how many casualties it holds to its name!) but it was still relatively understated and I guess created with good intention:



Unfortunately my initial fears were realised elsewhere in the store where I found this cringe-worthy statue:



The plaque underneath simply stated "Innocent Victims", its the dove I take issue towards!


But finally, I made my way to the Food Hall...and managed to sneak in a few freebie bites :o)



94 down...906 Things to go!

Sunday, 20 January 2008

#568 - Get Stuffed (and enjoy London Taxidermy)


Timeout says:
As well as its famous collection of dinosaur bones, the Natural History Museum has a number of stuffed animals, including an enormous polar bear.

Dave did:
Ok first point to note, if you ever, EVER, need to get an idea on how mad your life would be with children in it...just pop down to the Natural History Museum on a weekend afternoon! Madness is not the word for it!!

On entry into the museum I was welcomed by a large dinosaur skeleton (or skellington as I overheard one mother explain to her 2 year old...*sigh*). Obviously this wasn't a personal greeting on the extinct mammals behalf, but nonetheless it was a very different opening scene to most museums I have visited of late.

That said, however, I couldn't help but immediately compare it to the History Museum in Chicago which I visited just over a year ago. Both museums are very peculiar in that they seem to be identical in terms of layout, design and build structure/architecture. Part of me started to wonder if this was more than a coincidence...and who was the first to think up this mixture of history and modern exhibition.

By the looks of things London may have been the imaginative one, and bonafide original as both London and Chicago made use of the dinosaur greeting. However, where London opted for this skeleton...




A plant-eating Diplodocus, Chicago clearly wanted to go one better and came up with this...



Oh yeah, that's right! A full blown meat-eating (human-eating if you believe Spielberg!) T-Rex!! Now which one is gonna catch your eye and make an immediate impression huh? London has to do some homework I think!

Anyway! Back to the purpose of this visit, and what I have now termed "The Hunt for the Stuffed Polar Bear!"....like the Red October. But. Not. (!)

The National History Museum is a maze...and just when you think you've rediscovered the reception area, you find yourself in another tourist shop! But in getting lost in this maze I did make a number of discoveries in the taxidermy department...

I present to you - the Two-toed sloth!

But may I take the liberty to point via magnification one thing:

...I rest my case...




Next up was the tiger devouring a deer or Onyx of some sort, special mention was made by the child beside me at the time of the 'realism' in the tigers tongue...



Round the corner, and I found two rabbits adopting the traditional Waltz position...



And then it was time for the stampede of all living mammals! Who would have thought the Rhino and the Blue Whale would unite as one (not literally of course) and fight for the greater good...



But alas...after wandering around for a good hour...I found my polar bear and all was well in the world!



93 down...907 Things to go!

#224 - Skate outdoors...The Natural History Museum


Timeout says:
Temporary ice rinks spring up all over town as Christmas approaches, with new ones popping up every year.

Dave did: There are a few ice skate parks I was meant to visit this winter, but thanks to work commitments, Christmas parties and the like, I never got a chance to actually go and try out on one!

Low and behold I find out that the last rink to still be open in mid January was placed right next door to the Natural History Museum.

So I got myself down there, and found a mile long queue for the 'Ice Rink Box Office' and the following sign up on display:



This was at 3 in the afternoon!!!?! And so I was reduced to just watching everyone else enjoying themselves out on the ice!



92 down...908 Things to go!

#719 - Explore London's Telly Locations: Cathy Come Home

Timeout says:
Ken Loach's epochal Wednesday Play 'Cathy Come Home' was one of the first TV dramas to be largely shot on location, documentary style. The easiest location to find it Liverpool Street station, where Cathy's children are snatched by social services.

Dave did:
I'll admit I haven't seen this TV programme, but I have passed through Liverpool Street station many a time, and I can see why children could easily get lost!



91 down...909 Things to go!

#839 - Spitalfields Market

Celebrity Favourite Thing - Julie Myerson (Author)

Timeout/Julie says:
I love visiting Spitalfields Market on a Saturday afternoon with my teenagers.

Dave did:
Having exhausted my opportunities for Things to do on Bricklane, I headed back towards Liverpool Street station with the intention of passing through Spitalfields Market. This didn't prove too difficult to find:



What proved slightly more challenging was getting in...



I did however explore the other shops on the outer rim of the marketplace, and then around the back I found a lot of restaurants and one market stall still opn.

90 down...910 Things to go!

#288 - Grab a 3am bagel at the Brick Lane Beigel Bake

Timeout says:
Famously open 24 hours a day, the Beigel Bake provides safe harbour for clubbers on the hoof, bleary-eyed nightshift workers and peckish insomniacs.

Dave did:
Well seeing as I live in the North-east of London, and I was in the area, I went and bought a bagel and made a promise not to eat it until 3am...which I duly did, and Salami beigels are not very nice after some beers at 3am in the morning!!





89 down...911 Things to go!

#451 - Upgrade your lifestyle on Cheshire Street: Story

Timeout says:
Around the corner in lovely period Wilkes Street, captivating Story looks more like an art studio than a shop, with exquisite vintage and reclaimed clothing, furniture and other objects strewn about the bare white space

Dave did:
Erm...don't get me wrong here, I appreciate all standards of shops, but this one looked rather down-trodden and closed! It was definitely No.4 Wilkes Street though!



Instead, I would like to nominate this fine establishment as #451 of Things to do in London. The electric pink and funky 80's clothing inside was great to look at!



88 down...912 Things to go!

#450 - Upgrade your lifestyle on Cheshire Street: Luna & Curious

Timeout says:
Make a detour for a couple of highly original shops. Luna & Curious is a divine boutique where a clutch of designers showcases and eclectic assembly of goods, including newly embroidered vintage clothes, mixed-media jewellery, surreal costume pieces, printed bed linen and boudoir attire and simple white ceramics

Dave did:
Boudoir attire? Whats wrong with some shorts and a t-shirt?



87 down...913 Things to go!

#449 - Upgrade your lifestyle on Cheshire Street: Beyond Retro

Timeout says:
The biggest baddest retro shop in London. Beyond Retro is a huge space holding over 10,000 garments and is particularly good for bags, trainers and cowboy boots

Dave did:
I was genuinely interested in this shop, and was hoping to come across something I had always wanted but had long ago forgotten I wanted. Unfortunately a quick stroll around (and trying to look inconspicuous next to guys wearing bright green spandex with Sesame Street tight t-shirts) most of the clothing was for girls or guys who still happen to own a body the size of a 10 year old! Very disappointed!



86 down...914 Things to go!

#448 - Upgrade your lifestyle on Cheshire Street: Hauser & Wirth Coppermill Gallery

Timeout says:
Pass a bit more tat and a tattoo parlour and you'll come to Hauser & Wirth Coppermill gallery, whose inaugural exhibition displayed works by martin Kippenberger and Dieter Roth. (Though note that by 2008, the gallery may have moved on from this address.)

Dave did:
Yes it has moved on...to Picadilly Circus.

Fear not for in the true spirit of 1000 Things I will go and explore the exhibition in its new home.

85 down...915 Things (still) to go!

#447 - Upgrade your lifestyle on Cheshire Street: Ella Doran

Timeout says:
Alongside Ella Doran's trademark photographic tablemats you'll find cushions, espresso cups, fabrics, make-up bags - even plant pots and picnicwares.

Dave did:
Tablemats - check, cusions - check, cups - check, bedsheets - check, make-up - I don't think so!, plant pots - dead but check, picnicwares - in London?



85 down...915 Things to go!

#446 - Upgrade your lifestyle on Cheshire Street: Mimi

Timeout says:
Mimi houses an unusual collection of jewellery sits among well-priced handmade-to-order leather bags and belts in girly colours

Dave did:
...Bags and belt's in girly colours doesn't really suit me...



84 down...916 Things to go!

#445 - Upgrade your lifestyle on Cheshire Street: Shelf

Timeout says:
Shelf is an arty 'purveyor of gifts and fineries' and a great place to find individual items such as Katy Hackney's delicate silver jewellery and E Loveless's cloth-bound book Gelati in Venice. Also sold are delightful regularly changing limited edition prints

Dave did:
They had shelves, and I already got 'em. Nice red frontage though



83 down...917 Things to go!

#444 - Upgrade your lifestyle on Cheshire Street: Dragana Perisic

Timeout says:
Yugoslavian designer Dragana Perisic creates distinctive and deceptively simple garments in silk, cashmere and organza, as well as delicate fabric jewellery, belts and scaves

Dave did:
Got me St. Andrews Uni scarf and my fake rolex watch. Quite happy with my lifestyle in those departments :o)



82 down...918 Things to go!

#443 - Upgrade your lifestyle on Cheshire Street: F-Art

Timeout says:
Funky gallery f-Art holds regular art exhibitions

Dave did:
OK cynicism put on hold for this one. I do appreciate good art and there was one particularly nice piece of comic book collage art that I did appreciate. Then I saw the £250 price tag and decided it was time to move on...



81 down...919 Things to go!

#442 - Upgrade your lifestyle on Cheshire Street: Comfort Station

Timeout says:
No.22 Comfort Station displays unusual, highly covetable fashion accessories such as silk cuffs and belts with silver buckles.

Dave did:
I've got a belt thanks (with a Thundercats buckle that is waaaay better than a silver one!), as for silk cuffs...my shirts come with them already attached!



80 down...920 Things to go!

#441 - Upgrade your lifestyle on Cheshire Street: Labour & Wait

Timeout says:
Old-fashioned Labour and Wait combines cool with homespun selling high quality household items such as brooms, twine and aprons

Dave did:
Household cleaning? Pah! That's what hired help is for...



79 down...921 Things to go!

#440 - Upgrade your lifestyle on Cheshire Street: Mar Mar Co.

Timeout says:
Mar Mar Co. adds some quality Scandanavian homewares to the mix, more Skandium than IKEA.

Dave did:



78 down...922 Things to go!

#439 - Upgrade your lifestyle on Cheshire Street: Taylor Taylor

Timeout says:
Get a clip at hip hairdresser's Taylor Taylor!

Dave did:
Due a haircut, but not today thanks!



77 down...923 Things to go!

#438 - Upgrade your lifestyle on Cheshire Street: The Shop

Timeout says:
The Shop sells a host of vintage clothing and china - you can even purchase an early Sindy wardrobe complete with contents

Dave did:



76 down...924 Things to go!

#437 - Upgrade your lifestyle on Cheshire Street: City 16

Timeout says:
Vinyl junkies can pick up Hawkwind's Doremi Fasol Latido or perhaps some early Jacques Brel.

Dave did:
OK, first thing to note here...I'm a guy, and although that may not come as a surprise to many of you (I bl**dy well hope not anyway!) it does mean that I am not such an avid shopper, or a window shopper at that...so the following few Things did not contribute to my lifestyle being upgraded (mainly as I don't have a spare £1k to spend!). However I did my utmost to peruse the shops offerings...I apologise for any cynicism shown in advance!

So, No. 1 Cheshire street, and the shop so called 'City 16'. Well when I got there I could find a 'City 16' but I did find No. 1 Cheshire Street:



It was still an off-beat arty type bric-a-brac type of shop. Best item for sale was a Risk type board game called "War on Terror"...was so tempted to buy it!



75 down...925 Things to go!

Sunday, 13 January 2008

#470 - London novels in their settings: Harry Potter


Timeout says:
Bowing to the inevitable a few years ago, Kings Cross station installed a small tribute to the mythical platform that takes Harry Potter and his fellow child-wizards to Hogwarts: a plaque and a luggage cart, which is half-disappeared into the wall of the station annex that houses platforms 10 and 11.

Dave did:
Absolute genius if you ask me! I have read all the Harry Potter books (Goblet of Fire is by far the best!). Unfortunately no one was near by to take a photo of my pushing the trolley...

74 down...926 Things to go!

#588 - Read in the shadow of the King George collection


Timeout says:
This towering black storage facility in the British Library houses its priciest tomes.

Dave did:
One thing I did find in the British Library was this collection of old books. It looked very impressive although I was slightly confused as to how someone accesses the books. There was a door marked "staff only" but opening it would just put you face to face with a wall of books, how you navigate around all the books in the glass cage I have no idea!

73 down...927 Things to go!

#994 - The British Library


Celebrity Favourite Thing - Christian O'Connell (Radio DJ)

Timeout/Christian says:
On a Saturday I love going to the library with my dad. The British Library has such a unique aura: there's something very special about the atmosphere. You can feel the knowledge surrounding you. One of the few places in London that's calm and peaceful. This is a noisy city and the British Library is a haven from it.

Dave did:
I've passed the British Library on several occassions, but I've never had the opportunity to properly check it out.

This weekend I was invited to be interviewed for a position on the committee of a London society. The interview was being carried out directly opposite the the British Library - two birds with one stone!

So after the interview (the first time I've ever been offered a dram of whisky mid-interview by the way!) I popped over to the library to cool off.

Its a very confusing place, I'll give it that much! I can see how it could be very soothing and a very comfortable place to study in, but as someone coming in for a quick visit the place has the wierdest and most confusing floor plan! In the 30 minutes I spent there I felt I only found about 2% of what the building had to offer as I kept finding myself back where I started!!

Unfortunately I was working to a schedule, so will have to make a return trip with a good book!




72 down...928 Things to go!