Paul in London

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Showing posts from March, 2007

The art of Feedburning...

Adding Feedburner to my site has unearthed some interesting things about who reads my blog. For instance if you search Google using the following terms my blog is (apparently) of assistance: Nearest IKEA store to Finsbury Park (but I prefer John Lewis !) Catherine Naglestad Tosca Covent Garden 2006 (fair enough I did write about that) Paul Lange Australia address (who the fuck is that?) BFI Southbank (fair enough I have been there a bit in the past week) THE RISING BALLAD OF MANGAL PANDEY (there's no need to shout!) Testicle torture Daniel Craig (what?) Hampstead Heath gay exact location (what am I George Michael's personal assistant?) And alas if you type "Paul in London" and "motherfucker" in Google I somehow top the list...

Scenes from BFI Southbank Bar Wednesday 23:22

Scenes from BFI Southbank Bar Wednesday 23:22 , originally uploaded by Paul-in-London . Perhaps one has stayed too long at the bar when they start putting up the chairs around you...

Movies: Only Connect / Bermondsey

How many cheap jumpers can one take in an evening? Well I guess it was the 1970s... And it was Bermondsey... Wednesday evening I caught a double bill of 1970s television movies at the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival. I was dreading the experience thinking that it would feature a lot of cheap woolen knits and moaning about socialism. It did of course, but the treat of the evening was catching the 30 minute play Bermondsey which was described in the programme as Brokeback Mountain in a south east London Pub. It was a bit more sophisticated than that, and told the story about a love triangle and how the wife and gay lover conspire to keep a man from running off with his mistress. Written by Sir John Mortimer and filmed in 1972 it was definitely a cut above the usual fare that is served up at these festivals. There was plenty to talk about over post cinema drinks at the smart new bar at the BFI Southbank (not that an excuse was really needed for that anyway)...

News: Tube skis

In a slow news day like today, police are warning people not to attempt to recreate the stunt of skiing down the Angel Tube escalator, which is the longest escalator on the tube network. The video below was recorded over a year ago which means that it is too late to prosecute under railway by-laws. Filmed with just a helmet camera, it captures the 1992 station refurb quite nicely I thought...

Scenes from the Southbank Monday 18:03

DSC04660 , originally uploaded by Paul-in-London . The evenings are getting longer... A series of plantings of pansies along the Southbank is commemorating the murder of David Morley in 2004 .

Movies: Le Long Weekend

Scene from "Eating Out 2". That is Adrian in the centre... Guy from American Idol and Rebekah Kochan are either side... All has been quiet over the past few days as I have been taking a few days off work and just enjoying springtime in London. I have also caught a couple of screenings at the London Lesbian and Gay Film Fest at the newly refurbished BFI Southbank On Sunday it was a collection of shorts filmed in Britain, but it really should have been called Made in London. Most interesting of the films was one called Le Weekend which featured an irritating and sexually ambivalent Frenchman (is that a tautology?) who also is a film maker. The premise is that he comes to London to do a film school assignment and ends up wandering around central London with the help of a friendly (and rather fit) local. It all ends in tears (sort of) but in the meantime there are some great locations of Soho and surrounding areas. On Monday it was a charming film called Eating Out 2: Sloppy S

News: Abercrombie and Fitch

Abercrombie & Fitch , originally uploaded by 8lettersuk . The new Abercrombie and Fitch store has opened as of Thursday and the signature features of a flagship store are there: low level lighting and two male store greeters with washboard stomachs (if you look hard they are in this photo from a Flickr user 8lettersuk ). A&F has been big here for a number of years (particularly amongst gay men) thanks to e-bay and online orders. Will be interesting to see if classic American tailoring with a twist now explodes across London... Particularly on Savile Row which is not known for its casual wear... Mental note: must get Fierce . Have run out...

Early week bar conversations...

Man in a bar: You have great teeth... Paul: Are you a dentist? Man in a bar: Uh... No...

Overheard on Old Compton Street Sunday

Man #1: Nooo, noo. I've had pills I don't want to eat anything! Man #2: Aw come on... Man #1: Nooo I've had pills...

Music: Thomas no Bryn and Susan no Sarah

You know you might be in for an interesting evening when the director for the Barbican addresses the audience before the start of the concert apologising for the every-changing line-up. Originally it was Thomas Hampson and Susan Graham who were appearing in this concert with the BBC Symphony. In February it was announced Hampson was withdrawing for personal reasons (a curious euphemism up there with gardening leave ) and Bryn Terfel was stepping in as his replacement. Curiously the Barbican expected loads of people to get rid of their tickets at this point and offered replacement. I held on to mine. Then on Friday came the announcement that Sarah Connolly was stepping in to replace Susan Graham. By this point I had lost all interest in the concert, but since I hadn't seen Terfel sing live I figured it was probably worth still going to see. Terfel is a great performer and even in the circle row seat which had some unusual acoustics (you could hear the orchestra like it was bes

Scenes from Waterloo Bridge Saturday 16:19

Scenes from Waterloo Bridge Saturday 16:19 , originally uploaded by Pauly_ . One fine day in March... Bare arms have now been spotted in London...

Good housekeeping

Tonight while I have had a quiet night in, in between playing "Rear Window" with the neighbours in the properties opposite my bedroom window, I have made some minor changes to the blog layout including setting up being able to Subscribe to Paul in London by Email ... So Mum and that other guy from Wichita who reads the blog can know when I update...

Scenes from a rehearsal at Haywood Gallery Thursday 18:29

Scenes from Haywood Rehearsal Thursday 18:29 , originally uploaded by Pauly_ . Good quality mineral water and loads of fresh towels... Who could want anything else?

Rehearsal 101

Wednesday evening I took part in rehearsal for a concert the London Gay Mens Chorus is performing at the Hayward Gallery as part of An Evening of Radical Singing . I am not sure how radical it is to sing "Come Fly with Me" and "The Rose" (although I do tend to get the lyrics about the Rose mixed up and get my seeds and bleeds confused so that could sound a bit radical). We will also be doing something interesting involving a bit of movement and free singing with "Wade in the Water" a classic spiritual song. It should put the variety back into Thursday evening anyway...

Theatre: The Glass Menagerie

Tuesday evening I caught the excellent production of The Glass Menagerie starring Jessica Lange. I thought it was a superbly staged, acted and directed show. For over two hours I was kept alert (no falling asleep in the stalls tonight). Lange was great to see on stage. A simple stare seemed to convey so much. And when in the second act she puts on her best outfit for a gentleman caller you can't help but feel horrified and pity for her as well. The rest of the cast were just as good. There was Ed Stoppard as Tom - the son who always seems to be going to the movies and coming home late (one time with a red handkerchief in his back pocket ... Say no more). And Amanda Hale as the Laura the crippled daughter too nervous to face life and its disappointments... It may not be Tennessee William's best play (some of the flashbacks and the narration is jarring and unnecessary) but there is so much in this story to ponder over (at interval and at the bar after, on the tube home) that it

Scenes from a South Bank subway Saturday 16:46

Scenes from a South Bank subway Saturday 16:46 , originally uploaded by Pauly_ .

Art: Gilbert and George and poop

As a tribute to the Tate Modern's excellent Gilbert and George exhibition I thought I would include some imagery of their less confrontational shitty art. An entire floor has been devoted to their work and it isn't hard to do this since as they progressed through the years, they really went for large scale stuff. Some of it is quite impressive, but the period where they were fascinated in bodily functions seems a little quaint these days. Going through the exhibition, a highlight was watching one father point out to his two young sons the bright green and pink buttocks and testicles of the artists in a piece titled. the City Fairies. Judging by the looks of other punters in the gallery they seemed to think this was a bit inappropriate. I guess with parental guidance anything goes these days... All told, it is nice to see that their latest works have moved away from bodily fluids and to the big issues of the day such as terrorism, intolerance and extremism. Besides, turds on a

Film: The Good German

The Good German poster , originally uploaded by Daryl Van Horne . At one point during The Good German I turned to Ad and said to him, "Forget it Jake it's Potsdam". There was a hint of Chinatown about this movie. The only difference was it wasn't as well acted, directed or with an intelligible story. But there was plenty of confusion as Clooney plays a character called Jake who spends most of the film chasing Lena (Cate Blanchett) all over the American and Russian sectors of 1945 Berlin. Why he pursues a woman with such a badly fitting wig is anyone's guess. She spends most of the movie pouting and talking in slow, low and deliberate voice. Her line "Yuu shud naht huv cum bahk to Berlin" evoked memories of Meryl Streep as Karen Blixen in Out of Africa "Yuu have mede me barrhen"... Tobey Maguire also has a role. He gets to say very non film noir words such as "fuck" and "cunt" in an unusually high pitched voice. Fortun

Idle dinner chatter...

Vegetarian: You don't mind eating vegetarian? Paul: No not at all. I eat vegetables so what's wrong with eating a few more? Vegetarian: Oh... Paul: Besides, any place called Mildred's is my kind of restaurant...

Word for the day

Furphy . To divert attention away from main issue. Until I checked I didn't realise it was more slang from my peoples.

The week that was...

In a packed week I only found out on the weekend that I was quoted in this month's GT . Alas it isn't the Gin and Tonic but the Gay Times - a glossy magazine that for the most part is pretty unreadable advertorial and filler. Fortunately my quote is tucked well into the magazine so I don't expect anybody to be quoting me back anytime soon. I didn't even say something funny (or try to at least)... Such a waste...

Film: Belle Du Jour

Rather than catch a university revue while I was in Cambridge, there was a new print of Belle Du Jour playing at the local cinema, so I had to see that. Last time I saw the film I didn't quite appreciate the boredom of Deneuve's character with her perfect life. With the new print it (along with those cable-knit jumpers) all seemed to be much clearer...

Scenes from Cambridge Saturday 14:01

DSC04511 , originally uploaded by Pauly_ . Ok I spent most of the weekend out of London in Cambridge where there were rowers and loads of bi-cyclists... It's that sort of town really. And only 45 minutes from London (assuming you don't get the train from Kings Cross that goes via Stevenage)...

Film: The Science of Sleep

Thursday evening while trying to get over some weird head cold I picked up this week I caught The Science of Sleep went with Mandy, who also had a cold. It was a bit of a trippy film that we both wondered whether we should have been under the influence of something stronger than pseudoephedrine hydrochloride to enjoy it. At various points we looked at each other in the film and asked whether the characters were on drugs. Still it was quite an enjoyable and fun tale, with some very imaginative set pieces with the two leads. There was also full frontal nudity of Gael García Bernal which is always good for the punters... I also appreciated his bad haircut and quirky beanies, even if I wasn't convinced that he was supposed to be this timid dreamer (he is too charismatic for that)...