Michael Jackson has died, apparently of a heart attack in LA (Internet rumours a couple of hours ago were saying overdose, but that rumour has changed). BBC News
Now let's see how long it takes for the first sick jokes to arrive...
Friday 26 June 2009
Wednesday 24 June 2009
Family Camping
Over the last couple of months we started with the purchase of a 6 man tent.
This was followed by 4 sleeping bags, 2 double self inflating mats, a tent carpet, 2 camping chairs (we were given another two for the boys, plus a small windbreak), a camping stove, gas bottle, gas regulator and gas pipe, pan set, kettle, folding table and 4 stools, tupperware boxes and containers, mallet, set of hard ground tent pegs - with luminous hooks, tent peg extractor, lantern, 2 collapsible buckets and a collapsible water container.
So with the addition of a cooler box (which we already had), and a couple of shopping bags of food, plus washkits and a change of clothes we were all set for our first family camping trip.
Decided to leave 12 iron spikes, 30 feet of rope and 6 torches behind :)
We stayed at Bryn Bach Caravan and Campsite, near Abersoch in North Wales. Set off straight after work/school last Friday, and arrived on a sunny evening at 8pm. Took about an hour to pitch the tent and set the stove up, whilst the boys explored the campsite playground.
Found that the 20 LED lantern gives a cold, rather weak light, so not too impressed with that particular purchase. It does have a remote control, so in theory you don't have to get out of your sleeping bag to turn it off.
The self inflating mats were certainly more comfortable than the ground, but are a little slippy, so the slight slope that we were on meant that everybody gravitated down the slope in the night.
It rained during the night. We discovered in the morning that we hadn't sealed the door of the tent properly (we know how to do it now), so water had got into the front corner. and had dampened a few things.
Fired up the stove - managed to brew up a cuppa, and produce bacon, eggs and toast for breakfat.
We walked over a field and down a steep hill to the beach. Samwise saw a rabbit dart across the road in front of him. We spent a damp misty morning mooching along the beach collecting shells and rocks, and looking at jellyfish.
The weather had much improved in the afternoon, which we spent loafing in the sun on the campsite whilst the kids played with some other children of a similar age on the campsite. Had a couple of beers, and a visit to the campsite by an ice-cream van meant ice-cream/lollies all round too.
One of the pastimes of camping is that once your tent is up and your camping area established, is to sit and watch newer arrivals struggling to set up theirs.
Cooked up a large pot of pasta for tea (made a bit too much), and the kids played out until the sunset.
Light rain during the night, and in the morning. Packed up all of the kit and took the tent down between showers. All done by 11:30 am, and headed home.
So a successful enjoyable weekend for all of us. Relatively cheap - if you don't count the initial 600 quid to buy all of the equipment. Should be doing it again soon.
Tuesday 16 June 2009
Ullah!
We went to see Jeff Waynes Musical Version of War of the Worlds at the Echo arena on Sunday Night.
It's the 30th Anniversary Tour i.e. 30 years since the album was released - as it's only been performed live for about 3 years.
On the whole the performance was great. The orchestra was divided into a keyboards / percussion / electric stringed instruments and a 48 strong string section. Jeff Wayne conducting, of course. The music from the album was performed from start to finish, with an interval at the point where the second disc has to be played. No staged encores, or replays of favourite bits, the show finished at the second epilogue, as it does on the album.
To complement the music there was background screen displaying CGI animation portraying the story, live singers/actors who interacted with a hologram head of Richard Burton and a 35 ft Martian Fighting machine.
On the downside the sound technicians seemed to be having trouble getting the balance right between the spoken words, the singing and the music. The Richard Burton hologram and the actors were drowned out a couple of times by the music/singing, when they should have been speaking over the top of it.
The sound improved a lot by the second half, so it could have been a symptom of this being the only performance at this venue.
The CGI wasn't the greatest I've seen, but this isn't a cinema performance, and the heat ray scenes interacted well with pyros and flash bombs going off on the stage. It was a warm night, so you really felt like you were getting blasted and scorched.
At the start of the gig a new scene was displayed, showing the Martians plotting their invasion of earth. Personally I thought that this preview of the Martians lessened the impact of the later classic scene, as described by H.G Wells and narrated so well by Richard Burton when the cylinder lid unscrews, and a Martian is seen for the first time.
The fighting machine was quite impressive at first, when it descended from the lighting rig - although most of us had seen a much better mechanoid just outside on the steps last September :) This tripod was animated by chain motors, rather than the hydraulics and was a lot more cumbersome in it's movements. It reminded me a little of the old Motorhead Bomber lighting rig which was "flown" in a similar manner.
The Richard Burton hologram head is a bit weird at first. It's projected onto a clear plastic backdrop stage right and carries out the narration, as heard on the album. The weird thing is that the hologram is of a much younger Richard Burton than you might have expected him to look (the voice sounds older than the image).
The singers/actors all performed their parts well. We were amused at the start by the performers being introduced on the screen, which reminded us of an American mini-series intro - particularly "The voice of humanity" who was punching the air with his fist. They reacted to the hologram well, which in turn reacted to them.
Justin Hayward played the journalist - getting on a bit, but singing well - the right voice for "The Eve of the War" and "Forever Autumn". I didn't think that the other performers would top the original voices from the album, and I was mostly right, but surprisingly, for me, Jennifer Ellison as the preacher Nathaniel's wife did. I've only really seen her on the cover of FHM, and other magazines of that ilk, so I'd assumed that she was only famous for her other assets.
So a great musical piece, well performed, but not perfect. The complementary special effects are not for the CGI/Video games generation, but make a good piece of theatre all the same.
It's the 30th Anniversary Tour i.e. 30 years since the album was released - as it's only been performed live for about 3 years.
On the whole the performance was great. The orchestra was divided into a keyboards / percussion / electric stringed instruments and a 48 strong string section. Jeff Wayne conducting, of course. The music from the album was performed from start to finish, with an interval at the point where the second disc has to be played. No staged encores, or replays of favourite bits, the show finished at the second epilogue, as it does on the album.
To complement the music there was background screen displaying CGI animation portraying the story, live singers/actors who interacted with a hologram head of Richard Burton and a 35 ft Martian Fighting machine.
On the downside the sound technicians seemed to be having trouble getting the balance right between the spoken words, the singing and the music. The Richard Burton hologram and the actors were drowned out a couple of times by the music/singing, when they should have been speaking over the top of it.
The sound improved a lot by the second half, so it could have been a symptom of this being the only performance at this venue.
The CGI wasn't the greatest I've seen, but this isn't a cinema performance, and the heat ray scenes interacted well with pyros and flash bombs going off on the stage. It was a warm night, so you really felt like you were getting blasted and scorched.
At the start of the gig a new scene was displayed, showing the Martians plotting their invasion of earth. Personally I thought that this preview of the Martians lessened the impact of the later classic scene, as described by H.G Wells and narrated so well by Richard Burton when the cylinder lid unscrews, and a Martian is seen for the first time.
The fighting machine was quite impressive at first, when it descended from the lighting rig - although most of us had seen a much better mechanoid just outside on the steps last September :) This tripod was animated by chain motors, rather than the hydraulics and was a lot more cumbersome in it's movements. It reminded me a little of the old Motorhead Bomber lighting rig which was "flown" in a similar manner.
The Richard Burton hologram head is a bit weird at first. It's projected onto a clear plastic backdrop stage right and carries out the narration, as heard on the album. The weird thing is that the hologram is of a much younger Richard Burton than you might have expected him to look (the voice sounds older than the image).
The singers/actors all performed their parts well. We were amused at the start by the performers being introduced on the screen, which reminded us of an American mini-series intro - particularly "The voice of humanity" who was punching the air with his fist. They reacted to the hologram well, which in turn reacted to them.
Justin Hayward played the journalist - getting on a bit, but singing well - the right voice for "The Eve of the War" and "Forever Autumn". I didn't think that the other performers would top the original voices from the album, and I was mostly right, but surprisingly, for me, Jennifer Ellison as the preacher Nathaniel's wife did. I've only really seen her on the cover of FHM, and other magazines of that ilk, so I'd assumed that she was only famous for her other assets.
So a great musical piece, well performed, but not perfect. The complementary special effects are not for the CGI/Video games generation, but make a good piece of theatre all the same.
Saturday 13 June 2009
This week I have been mostly...
Decorating!
Took a week off to decorate the hall. Spent most of the week stripping paint off the bannisters and sanding them down. Some philistine had painted the solid oak hand rails and posts black - probably to hide the flaws - I've revealed them all again for that 'distressed' look. This is a job that I started about 5 years ago. Onto the last stages now, so hopefully I'll crack on next week, rather than leaving it for a few more years.
Novelist Supermum has done a good of stripping the woodchip from the landing walls, then painting the plaster underneath, plus the doors and doorframes.
I've stripped all the woodchip from around the stairwell walls - ready for painting next week.
Our well earned lunchbreaks have been keeping the local Cafes and Delis in business, not to mention the take-aways for easy and tasty evening meals.
We got to wave Frodo goodbye on Friday, as he headed off for his first weekend away from home. 2 nights with his schoolfriends at a local centre making shelters in the woods, and other outdoor activities - should be good fun for him. Samwise is at Grandma's tonights - we've moved an old set of 'bunk' beds round there, so he's bagsied the top one.
Took a week off to decorate the hall. Spent most of the week stripping paint off the bannisters and sanding them down. Some philistine had painted the solid oak hand rails and posts black - probably to hide the flaws - I've revealed them all again for that 'distressed' look. This is a job that I started about 5 years ago. Onto the last stages now, so hopefully I'll crack on next week, rather than leaving it for a few more years.
Novelist Supermum has done a good of stripping the woodchip from the landing walls, then painting the plaster underneath, plus the doors and doorframes.
I've stripped all the woodchip from around the stairwell walls - ready for painting next week.
Our well earned lunchbreaks have been keeping the local Cafes and Delis in business, not to mention the take-aways for easy and tasty evening meals.
We got to wave Frodo goodbye on Friday, as he headed off for his first weekend away from home. 2 nights with his schoolfriends at a local centre making shelters in the woods, and other outdoor activities - should be good fun for him. Samwise is at Grandma's tonights - we've moved an old set of 'bunk' beds round there, so he's bagsied the top one.
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