belgium

We wanted the Baltics, but then Eurostar came up with some nice deals, so Belgium it is - this time. Talinn, I'm watching you...

Conversations concerning this went something like:
-contemplating going to belgium
--for the beer?
-no, why would you say that?
--i know you.
-it's more my bucket list of seeing the european parliament
--uhuh
-and my passionate engagement with Herman van Rompuy's haiku's.
--well yes, ok, they are very moving.

I should be in sales.

Interesting BBC video blogs

Parisian abandoned suburban railway

Royal Mail tube system to be opened up

Medieval Paintings found in Welsh church

See, it's not just food n booze here kiddies.

Quick roundup of exhibitions

I've made it to a fair number of exhibitions this year, in fact looking at the Guardians top10 for the year, I'd hit 7 or 8 of them. go me. I'm all about kulture. The only one we missed that we wanted to get to was the daVinci, tho we did consider turning up and queuing one morning in the vague hope of getting tix. But didn't.

John Martin 'Apocalypse' 
I caught this in Sheffield after the bikeride, having decided to wander along to an art gallery. Martin was a favourite of the people and disliked by the art snobs. And this was the first major retrospective in over 30 years (yes I am stealing from the blurb there). It's had rave reviews from a number of papers since it's turned up at the Tate. I didn't like it.
I think Martin sums up, to me, everything I don't like about the Victorian style of painting. It's overtly romanticised, it's hyper-nature, and especially in Martin's work, there's a 'don't fuck with god' theme rocking it's way through everything. The paintings are big, bold, and thematically huge. But left me cold. I could see how his imagery influenced fantasy art, although given his limited popularity after his lifetime, whether it actually did or not is another question.

That's from the Tate, one of the prints you can buy - click here.

L.S.Lowry - Nottingham Uni

I like Lowry, and it was certainly one goal while over here to see more of his paintings in the flesh. We caught a fair number in Manchester while we there, but then an exhibition just up the road kinda fell in our lap. We came across it thanks to the local BBC news. Generally a waste of time, it redeemed itself. Once.

Nottingham Uni have an art gallery (news to me too!) which had a major exhibition of Lowry's work.  Go see it.

Brief review that one. Um yeah, had everything I wanted and more. His delicate portrayal of northern life kinda sucks you in, and makes me wonder how much influence he had on the eastern european animated cartoonists.  There's a lot more to Lowry than his working class painting, there's collections of caricatures.  I particularly enjoyed the increasing sense of isolation and separation in his later works - after his mother died - helped no end as I was playing Kate Bush's 50 words for snow, which fitted perfectly the desolate landscapes dotted through the exhibition - something I didn't realise he did, no people at all in these. 

A large number of cartoons I thought emphasised the affection Lowry seems to have had for his subjects, and they demonstrate the weirdness he does with perspective occurred in the drafts for the paintings. Cool.

More importantly, I got to see one of my favourite Lowry's, not one of his industrials, rather it's of a graveyard. I dunno why I like it, possibly the influence on Tim Burton? Who knows, anyway here it is:

That's from the Abacus Gallery who do prints of it.

This reminds me, I was going to go back again. Hmmm must sort that out (yeah, that's how much I liked the exhibition, oh and it's free. WTF?)

Gerhard Richter - Tate

I like him. And since we were down in London before I went to a Marillion gig, and then to Belgium, hell why  not take in an exhibition. And it's a rather major exhibition. There seemed to be something for everyone in this, history (confronting the nazi heritage, 9/11, baader meinhof), isolation, comedy, landscapes to lose yourself in. Some of it's confrontational, some comforting. Pretty much everything you want in an exhibtion. And even better, it wasn't packed. Something to be said for early Weds afternoon viewings... I liked that he wasnt stuck in one medium, he seemed to dabble in everything. There's links to many prominent 20th C painters (Rothko, Twombly etc), which probably explains why I like Richter. Hard to pick favourites, but I did enjoy the grey series. 

Rather than picking one picture, here's a link to pretty much everything.

Ford Maddox Brown - Manchester Art Gallery

We enjoyed our trip to Manchester - we decided to make a long weekend of it with Tori Amos being the Friday night, then wandering around pubs and art galleries on the Sat/Sun. Oh and music shops. Yeah, Manc seems to tick the boxes for us, good food, beer, music and art. 

Ford Maddox Brown was a pre-Raph painter. I prefer slightly more obscure or later stuff, but I enjoyed this exhibition. He'd come up recently on Antiques Roadshow as they showed the murals in the Manc Town Hall, which is probably what prompted us to head in. 

There's other exhibitions I've pottered along to, but those ones I wanted to comment on.

Next up, possibly gigs, or food.

me.

Of cuts, scrapes and gigs

I see winter has decided to arrive. This time last year the UK was dying in a unexpected arrival of snow. In winter. Yes, surprise all around. The rest of Europe seemed to cope OK, a situation reflected in recent Eurozone discussions. Britain on the outer, everyone else banding together to sort stuff out. Maybe.

Managed to slice my thumb while washing dishes. For I am that talented. While rinsing dishes, a plate broke and sliced through to the bone. Brilliant. Sacrificing a tea towel for blood soaking, we contacted NHS direct, ending up at the walkin center to collect some sutures.
What I learnt from this experience:
* I'm a crap patient, preferring to ignore everything (this came as a surprise to no-one)
* use disposable plates
* Tues evening is a great time to injure yourself in Lboro, the cemetary would have exhibited more life than the NHS walk-in.

It seems reasonable now (following infection, woohoo), just waiting for the numbness to clear. Stupid nerves.

Went down to Birmingham this weekend, loved the art gallery, hated the crowds. But yes, definitely recommend the gallery/museum. the Xmas markets were nice, but too crowded - didn't seem that bad last year, but then I realised I went during the week. and it was much much colder. But I had some mulled wine, so things were improved.

There's a small monthly classical gig scene at the University here in Lboro, which for the last few months I've missed - due to other gigs. But finally made it for the December gig. This was a duet between Maxim Rysanov (viola) and Ashley Wass (piano). Thoroughly enjoyed this, neither performer had huge stage presence, but the music was superb. Dominated by Faure and Debussy, the programme could have been quite boring. It started with Bach (Suite #2) as a solo performance by Maxim, brilliant. To the point where I picked up a CD of him playing three Bach cello suites after the gig. Two Faure pieces (Romance and Pavane); Debussy (claire de lune); and Faure (Elegie). So yes, lots of stuff you'd recognise. But sounded good, and some very good performances.

The second half kicked off Dubugnon (Incantatio for viola and piano). I'd never heard of the composer, but this was superb. Reminded me of Can, which may have something to do with listening to Tago Mago before hand. But it was great. Definitely recommend those of you who like more interesting music (classical or rock) to give him a spin.
Here's part 1 (part 2 is also availble on youtube)

Then back to Faure (Apres un reve); Dubugnon (lied); Debussy (Prelude: la fille aux cheveux de lin); Ravel (Pavane).

So yes, civilised evening. Following by a ball numbing bike ride home. See, it's early Dec and no snow, so still biking.

Gig next week is Marillion on Wednesday. So we're heading down to the Gerhard Richter Exhibition at the Tate before hand, check in at hotel, gig, then head to Namur for Belgium beer for a few days. Mmm beer. Ironic really, it was easier to get Belgium beer in Wellington than it is in the UK. FFS. And yes, I know I could use beers of europe website, but it doesn't seem to have a consistent selection.

Annoyingly I seem to have lost all my notes from my bikeride holiday, so it's just going to be distances and photos. Bollox.

me.

bike ride !

Finally got around to going down one of the canals in Loughborough. They both meet (?start?) down at the Basin restaurant (think poor mans Wagamama, and for Wagamama, think poor mans KC or KK cafe). The canal is, after some googling, the River Soar which takes over from the Grand Central at Leicester.

So I headed down Butthole Lane, as I can't resist it. Although there are far more walkers and other bikes than at my usual time, so I even used brakes. Madness. Took a more meandering way to get to the canal start point to see a bit more of the city, then headed off. Gorgeous day, although I was saddened to see a concrete path to bike along. Since it had been raining I'd been hoping for more excitement on the ride.
No worries! Concrete changed to gravel (wheeee!) then a dirt track (more wheee!!), so lots of fun trying to stay on that and not fall into the canal. Which at speed, with tree roots, was a distinct possibility. Lots of people on the river, and a fair few fishing on the sides.
What caught me out a couple of times were the bridges, quite low where the track was (the bridge in the photo is a lot lower than it looks). Leading to emergency braking in a very muddy section, and much excitement as to whether I'd end up very wet, headless, or a bit of both. As I'm writing this, obviously my head is still attached (my touch typing isn't that good), and I avoided the drink too.
Quite a few pubs too, which I avoided. This time. And after a very fun ride, ended up in Quorn reasonably close to the railway (hence the link below). Pottered around there until I decided to head home, taking a slightly different route than normal. This had the win that I found a cycle track to Leicester, which is apparently only 12 miles (figure that's 16 from my place), so might do that next weekend. That ties in to me finding, online, what looks to be an excellent offie in Leicester. Came back through Nanpantan,which also involved more dirt tracks, woohoo!
Here's some pics, to prove it was a lovely day...

The map isn't the route I took (no canals marked) but gives an idea of where these bits are.


View Larger Map

me

Tom Waits gig

Tom Waits

And in the final, very belated, blog of the trip to see Andrew and Alex's wedding, a review of the Tom Waits gig in Dublin.
We left Krakow and flew the deluxe flights of RyanAir to Dublin via Stansted (my God, what a horrendous airport). Bus to hostel which was reasonably close to the main street of Dublin, which for the moment, escapes me. And yeah I know I should know it. A shower then wandering to the gig at Phoenix Park. Phoenix Park, we had been informed, was a 25-30 min walk past such scenic highs as the Guinness factory. More on that later. And yes, it was a 25-30 min walk.
Unfortunately the gig was at the other end, and the Park is bloody massive.
We arrived at the gig around 8pm, picked up the tix, which I discovered back in NZ that having asked for them to be pickups at the gig, they'd posted. Idiots. The venue was a circus tent with a number of stalls around the sides. Exactly what you'd imagine a Tom gig to be. Our seats? Middle of the stage, 4 rows back, I love andrew.

The stage was set up as an old barn, odd instruments strewn everywhere, old speakers hung at the back, and small stage in the center - again strewn with oddities and detritus.
The band wandered on; sax, drums (tom's son), keys, guitar and bass. And then Tom arrived. A decrepid hobo, vaudeville in appearance, basking in applause, playing the crowd.
Kicking into the setlist, a shambling rambling old man, totally captivating the crowd. Not one word , this was an audience who wanted to be there, this was no London crowd.
In my view, a perfect setlist find one? with music from every 'era' of Tom's. The setlist may have been planned, but Tom's approach to gigging keeps the band on their toes - as Tom said after kicking of a song 'well, that could be any of them...'. Tom's better song banter, was excellent, although having heard the NPR gig (link here), it may not vary !!
Excellent section with Tom on piano and a bass player, including piano has been drinking.
What can I say? Atmospheric, dusty (placed on his stage, so stamping during songs produced a dust cloud), shuffling, oddly rhythmical with strange claps, whistles and stamping from the man, and possibly the best gig I've been too. Certainly in the top three. A spell-binding performance by a singularly unique performer, cult hero for over 30 years...

Yeah I liked it.

The weather turned to crap during the gig, it drizzled from Dublin airport to the city and on the wander to the gig. It was torrential rain on the walk down from the Park back into the city. We were soaked. Very soaked. To the point where we didn't have a beer, or indeed any drink. I would have popped into a pub if there'd been a nice one open - another 'minor' issue. And so, waking at 7 in order to catch the ferry across to Wales (as I was training back into London) I can say that:
I have spent 18 hours in Dublin, it was either drizzling or raining the entire time, and I didn't have a beer.

Yup.


Love and not so much travel this December, me xxx

Krakow

Well yeah I know it was some time ago now, but I did make some notes with the intention of typing them in at some point. And, if I'm organised, I might add pictures.


I flew back to London for Andrew's stag do, a rather fun event. We even managed a few pints of cider at the Southwark Tavern, one of my favourite pubs - as its next door to the Borough Market. The cider day at the pub was complete with a grass floor and apple bobbing. And the potent cider? mmm yummy.

I flew into a very hot Krakow and made my way to the hostel, a lovely art deco building. We wandered into the square for a folk music gig. Enjoyed this, although the Hungarian group, who were apparently quite famous, had a brass section of the 'rip shit n bust' variety. No finesse at all, which ruined the performance somewhat for me.

Krakow is quite lovely, undamaged historic buildings, friendly (mostly) people, and flat. And cheap. I got the feel the place, although welcoming to visitors, and having a huge number of info kiosks, hasn't quite worked out how to market themselves.


Rather than the cheery comedic relief of Auchwitz I chose to explore the Art Deco display and the National Museum. I'md sure my soiled soul could have benefited from Auchwitz, but I'm less concerned with it, preferring to focus on the edification of my now. The Deco display turned out to be a modern artist working in the style of Deco. So that was crap. The National Museum was far better. Top floor had an extensive display of 20th c. Polish art, which was exactly why I wanted to do there. I loved this. There was, from my perspective, a unifying theme of darkness, frequently dispression, torment and pain. A pictorial equivalent of Sam Neill's 'Cinema of unease'? Having seen some Polish movies, I'd suggest NZs are pretty upbeat...suggesting the continual struggles, invasions, occupations etc have really damaged the Polish. But it was a wonderful exhibition, hard to single out highlights, but the comics/drawings were fascinating. The darkness of the subject matter, with the black and white drawing emphasising the starkness.


A recent donation of a major collection of 20th C art including Warhol and others provided a stark contrast with the insular Polish collection. No matter how perverse the subject matter, the pictures were all more upbeat than the Polish. I enjoyed the exhibition, but preferred the Polish.


Other floors of the museum explored the history of the Roman Catholic church in Poland. A history of Poland does, by necessity, revolve around the Church. As such many relics, finery, jewellery, stained glass windows etc were present.

For the military nutjob, a collection of Polish uniforms from the middle ages to the present day filled a sizeable area of one floor. Sadly not much musical history with only a msall corner of 'old' instruments, and none labelled very well. On the plus side they did have a hurdy-gurdy which was uber-cool.

why yes, I do want one. A hurdy-gurdy harmonium duet could be like soooo awesome dude!

the remainder of the floor consisted of jewellery, fashion, coins, furniture through the ages. Interesting, but aside from the 20th C glasswork, nothing really grabbed me.

A separate section presented and explained a number of Jewish artifacts. Not very interesting and personally I felt it lacked any context. Just seemed to be dumped there, cos they had to.

Beer in Poland wasn't very good. Which was surprising as I've had some excellent Polish beer. Sadly not on tap at any of the bars we went to. Food was, as expected, based around potatoes and cabbage. Not all that great. But in it's defence, it was cheap.

Krakow seems to like and value tourists, but isn't entirely sure how to deal with them - outside of the main square anyway. This seemed to lend the city an unspoilt effect, with traditional vibes rocking along nicely a block or two off the main area. Not too many loud Americans and not too busy. all in all, not great but I'd go back there.

Pictures to come.

B.

Berlin

Germany - Berlin
It's a good day when brekkie is in London, morning tea in France (somewhere on the Eurostar), brunch in Brussels and dinner Berlin. And it's not even a Kontiki tour. Things began eventfully with some mental pateint being arrested behind us while we waited for a bus, but he seemed pretty relaxed about it all. Customs and train travel are a relaxed breeze compared to the nightmare of stupid airports, stupid airport Customs, and stupid stupids working there.

But any problems were balanced by knowing that leaving the UK meant I was closer to the first decent cup of coffee for some time - aside from Monmouth and Flat White anyway.  

While brunching in Brussels, was very very tempted by the lambics, but resisted, in retrospect I don't know why as everyone else was drinking at 10am. Boarded the Thalys and headed to Cologne, the place with the Cathedral that everyone knows (hello Leonard!). It's next to the train station and hard to miss. Very hard to miss.The Cologne to Berlin, sure the whole trip took significantly longer than a plane, but with Easyjets usual delay policy, it probably doesn't work out much different. And it's more comfortable, and I'll try not to rant too much about airports.   I was reading Stephen Fry's Hippopotamus, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Kinda twisted version of Evelyn Waugh and Fry's own deprecating style of humour. Excellent stuff. 

Taxi to the hostel (the circus) which is a really nice place, stuck in the middle of what turned out to be a good cafe/pub district. Somehow we coped with that.  Had a tour the next morning of Berlin's sights. The initial impression, which didn't change, was of the schizo architecture. Aside from the leftover from communism (which being from Wellington, didn't seem too bad), there isn't an overarching style. This has left a city lacking architectual character, instead they seem to focus on green spaces. which are many and large, with wide open footpaths and cyclepaths. So it feels really open, differing from other major cities I've been to.

What has happened in the last 20 years is signficant rebuilding (in same cases recreation) of classic buildings destroyed in the war, in an attempt to bring back character. I dunno if it's worked, but they look pretty. Which is, after all, what I'm all about. 
We stopped off at a memorial to the Jews killed in WW2 by Peter Eisenman. Although somber in its resemblance to tombstones, the place is also quite fun with the variations in height lending a playful vibe. The kids running around shooting each added something to it all.  Meandering around the Reichstag, impressive building with the brandenburg gate next door, we boarded the bus thing and headed to the remnants of the wall. My Lord Thy Rog!!

Located in the remnents of the SS building there was an interesting display concerning the Jews. I found it all a bit tedious by the end, with at least 1/3 of the display concerning personal tales of anguish/pain/death/heroism which became quite monotonous. 

Next day we headed to museums via the Dom, which is rather impressive with stunning decorations. I even managed to go up to the bell tower, until vertigo hit. I hate heights, but got a fair way up - only the last section stopped me which was on rickety (my choice of word) tight steps when that tingly feet and sweating broke out. At some point I might post photos.

I wanted to see the German National museum, as I'd read a fair amount of history from 1850 onwards, but knew very little pre-1850. This museum is massive. An absolutely incredibly detailed exploration of Germanic history, lots of original manuscripts, early church artifacts, roman remains, etc. Interesting examination of Martin Luther and the divide he created, including copies of his 'pamphlets'. Nice collection of Old Masters scattered around too. Definitely a standard visit, although I skipped most of the post-1850 stuff. The one complaint I had was an absence of music references, figure they are somewhere else - which I'll get to next time. Had an ice coffee while people watching, including spotting people who looked just like Rudi. Spooky.

Heading home we unfortunately we came out at the wrong underground exit (right station tho), and came out opposite a specialist vinyl shop. I found a lot I wanted, and didnt buy anything!

At Ss suggestion we went on a pub crawl. After a visit to the hospital to reset my twisted wrist. We were in a cafe/pub mecca. I drank beer, enjoyed beer, and drank more beer. German beer is very very nice! Threw some Weissbier at S which she enjoyed, so it didnt appear like I was drinking on my own. Not that it really bothered me. In retrospect, my alcholism saved our lives. If we had been doing typical tourist thing we would have been coming out of the underground about the time a taxi ploughed into a cyclist, two pedestrians, and a lamppost. But since id said I needed to write the best-man speech and drink (not in that order), we were safe. Just like Jesus, leading his chosen to safety. Bruce's diaspora if you will. 

Next day saw a visit to the New Gallery. Not what we were expecting, not a collection of pictures, rather two exhibitions. One by some guy which didnt grab me, appearing as brightly fluorescent sheets. Downstairs was a different story. A retrospective of Japanese/American photo-artist Hiroshi Sugiomoto.(Website) Absolutely spellbinding. His use of perspective to bring to life diaoramas to life, both macabre and flora/fauna, reduced the artifical 3D to 2D, ironically enlivening the scene. A series of movie theatres throughout the world came to life by shooting one shot for the length of the movie. Really liked this guy, and intend to track down some images.



I've always liked the Bauhaus movement, and it's impact on early Deco, so took the opportunity to see the museum. Seems there was a lot more to the Bauhaus movement that Id come across. Its not a big museum, but definitely worth a look. I enjoyed the slow meandering around this one, lots of art, pictures, design and a look at the influences of the movement. Excellent stuff. Klee, Kandinsky et al., happy B.


Food: Mmm I like this place. Wonderfully diverse food selection, good coffee, good beer, good food, including superb gnocchi and russian dumplings (gnocchi is often badly cooked, and dumplings are hard to make tasty!). We found an excellent French cafe just up from the hostel, so brekkie was sorted.

People: Its so relaxed. Very Wellington cafe vibe, but possibly even more relaxed. Huge pavements mean lots of seats outside, excellent service, and everyone was friendly. The Berliners could certainly teach the Brits a few things...

CD Purchases: none. But I eventually weakened and bought some vinyl (Tom Waits - Rain Dogs, and James Dean Bradfield - The Great Western), the owner offered a cheaper version of the Tom but it wasnt on 180gm vinyl - seemed a no-brainer. The owner laughed when I looked confused and asked why Id want the cheaper one. I didnt really want to lug vinyl back with me, but it was cheap...and its sexy...and oh bugger off. i like vinyl.

At some point I'll dump some pictures up, but I need to recover my harddrive before I can do that.

The speech

Ok, my notes were vague, I extrapolated a lot, but I think this covers most of what I touched on in the speech. Obviously the pauses and asides I can't remember, although I was sober at the time (mostly).

I apologise in advance for the absence of offensive comments, but I'm scared of Alex. In much the same way she was scared of my hair. Except she hits harder than the hair did.

Andrew and I have known each other for far too long, initially as 'the teetotaller' in a friends flat, and later as long term flatmates. As such I believe this is the ideal time to offer advice and support to Alex. I'd like to think I've had some positive civilising effects on the boy from Pram. Pram's similar to Essex. He can, when pressed, critique coffee - which isn't hard in this country - and has been known to do dishes. Sometimes.

Alex, techniques I've used in the past include, when the dishes have stacked up, cooking a fantastic meal - for one. Works well, but block your ears if bad words ain't your thing.
Andrew and I met at Uni, which many of you will be aware with his catch-cry of "when I was a criminology major". An academic claim that needs some explaining. Many years, many courses, many papers, many essays - some for Andrew, some for other people, all resulting in an 'almost' degree. A life experience would probably be the kindest description of academic Andrew.

It hasn't been all one-sided with him grasshopper, me master. I have learnt much at Salmon-san's feet, including three topics I'd like to explore; textile analysis, fiscal management, and task-orientated efficiency. the looks on most of your faces suggests some explanation may be needed.

Textile analysis: Andrew is less than keen on clothes washing, which frequently led to days without clean t-shirts and a sad Andrew. Thankfully as manager of a comics shops (crickey, what career moves hes made!) a ready supply of t-shirts were on hand.
I'd love to say that after the test-drive that they were all purchased, but a more common outcome was an eventual wash and resale to other solidly built comic geeks.

This 'shop will provide' ethos brings me to fiscal management. I suggest to Andrew's Gosh workmates they block their ears, banking was done on Monday morning and the IOUs to the till kicked in Monday afternoon. Just in time for the matinee movies...

Lastly, task-orientated learning. Our microwave was in the living room due to space issues in the kitchen, and Andy's favourite chair was next to the microwave.
Andrew likes pies. Andrew liked microwaving pies, but sadly for our hero the pie sometimes stopped on the far side of the microwave. The flat learnt, via Swarmi-Salmond, that three seconds brought it around to the front. Saving energy better used for consuming PIE.

Andrew flatted with France and I for years, his collection of comics, plastic toys, computer games and inept cooking (how did that casserole dish crack...) led to a christening of 'Man-Child'. Man-Child did so enjoy his role, watching the neighbour top-less sunbathing from our 3rd floor flat, dropping hideous engagement pressies out the window. great times.

Having met the lovely Alex, and see her approach to Man-Child is like a caring Os Du Rant, I'm confident she'll be able to manage. Although in Andrew's defence, he was always the sweetest most caring and sensitive of my mates, always there to help people, or drink with them.

Drink. Now there's something we've done a bit of. Homebrew in the flat, 20L for 7 quid, good quality ale. And thanks to my biochem skills, we got our gingerbeer to 15%. 1L of that and we were anyones, although in deference to Alex and the audience, it *always* led to Nintendo64, Playstation, Manic St Preachers, bad 80s hair metal vids, or the Bangles (his choice).

I've obviously cut a lot from this. To stop me looking like a drunk pervert, to protect Andrew, to protect me from Alex, and because his transgenderism is no longer an issue.
I would also like to say thanks for the Tom Waits tickets, given his love for Tom - and he got me into Tom, it must have hurt to say no to the gig. It wouldn't have helped that he bought tix for me, as I was drunk at a Scotch tasting...I forgot to mention that at the time tho.

So to my best mate, whose been there during some traumatic times in both our lives, I'd like to thank you for asking me to be here for you. And to wish you both the best, I can't think of a better match for you than Alex. I know she'll be looking shocked at me being nice, but sadly, I even mean it!! so I call on all of you to raise your glasses to the lovely A-team of Alex and Andrew.

Quick updates

Hello dear readers, a quick update on my wanderings. Visited the Tate Britain and enjoyed the Turners, which Neil had been pushing me to see. Turner is rather good at lighting and stuff :D and there is more to his pics than the early boring scenic ones. Enjoyed the Cannaletto as well, but largely prefer the Tate Modern.
Wandered through the Transport Museum which was good, but didn't seem as good as I remember it. It had a major makeover, and reopened the day I left last year. It's nicely laid out, but I think I preferred the more 'cluttered' approach to the organised layout they have now.
Had a fitting for the wedding suit. My god, what a bloody nightmare. The group has places all over the UK to hire suits from, it isn't computerised, and the concept of hiring from one store and returning to another doesn't seem to have occurred to them. As it's all paper based the stores just dont have records of the other store bookings - ya just wanted to smack them into the 20th (let alone 21st) century.
Brunch with Andrew and some friends of his y'day then had a boozy night with Fran last night. Quite day today methinks.

me

Hey a picture

I like photos, but hardly ever put anything up. But the lighting and subject matter from my wandering around the other day suggested this one did need to be seen. The clouds are for Psychochicken :)
Oh and I haven't retouched it, yet.

Me.

Art, Tate, Beer, Cheese, Coffee

7-8 July

Got back from Glasgow and chilled with Andrew, played Nintendo64 as a tribute to the way we wasted hours of our youth.

It has been raining all day here, but that didn't stop me ambling down (well bus-ing) to the Monmouth Coffee Company to get some beans and a good espress, and then turning the corner and picking up some cheese from Neal's Cheese Yard. Yeah at times I'm predictable. In a continuing re-enactment of most other times I've been here, I then wandered to the Tate Modern.

I like my modern art. I like looking at Kandinsky, Miro,Rothko, Picasso, Mondrian, Metzinger (I particuarly liked the Woman with a Coffee Pot), Klee (who I like a lot), Braque (the darkness, ooohhh nice). I'm not sure why, probably as I don't like art that reflects an image. If I want an image, I'll look at a photo. I've thought about this, and wonder if my interest reflects two linked issues.
Firstly, one of the albums that got me into jazz, and that I found interesting was Brubeck's Time Further Out, with cover art by Miro. The original Time Out album had art by Fujita, which in it's decomposed nature is also typical of the style I like.

Secondly, as demonstrated by witness statements, no two people see the same event identically. So why try to capture the entirety of a subject, why not try and break it up into the aspects that you identify with? That seems to me to be an ideal way of turning complexity into art. Nature is complex, not irreducibly so, as idiots in the amusingly titled Intelligent Design crew believe, but it is complex. The current climate of horror-story-mongering about melting ice caps and general global warming, is beginning to reveal to the average person how inter-related everything is.

Those two interests of mine are by no means unrelated. The syncopated rewriting of musical rules that jazz introduced leapt out at me. It was different. There wasn't a solid beat with musicians coming in at set times. It sounded spontaneous, they couldn't be layering complexity, it had to be immediate. Hmm that's just reminded me jazz might be the music form that reflects GenNow better than anything else - ironic that jazz is one art form that is danger of dying out then.

Well that went somewhere other than I thought it would. Woohoo for just sitting here and writing and seeing what comes out. I'd like to thank some cheese and some blackberries for sustenance during that.

Beer Review: Glencoe Wild Oat Stout (organic). This from the Bridge of Allan brewery we visited. Big chocolate toasted oatmeal flavour. Small head (low carbonation), The taste was sooo smooth, so rich, even down to the bottom of the glass. I'll keep an eye out for this one back home. Very recommended.

Tomorrow: i think the Tate Britain as Neil mentioned their Turner collection which probably needs a looksee after my realisation Turner didn't just do boring landscapes (thanks for that Neil and Antiques Roadshow - now there's a pairing I wouldn't have imaged...). Possibly some clothes shopping too.

B x.

Whisky. No really.

7 July Whisky Hunting!

We arrived in Edinburgh after particularly vicious ticket inspectors, who eventually won making me write down a day on my travel pass. Well yeah OK they were in the right, but still!!!

Meandering to the Royal Mile we had a look in a couple of whisky shops for the Ardbeg Still Young, since I've had it twice, loved it, and have been unable to find it since it's apparently run out. Pah.
Neither of the stores we visited had it, but thanks to some superb friends of Neil's there is a bottle left in London (cue sound of pattering feet...).

Neither shop showed any inclination to let us try stuff either. I guess that's a reflection of being on the main tourist drag (feckin' pipers every block too). The new Ardbeg is out, it's called Renaissance, and is the culmination of the very young, still young and almost there lineage. The guy in the shop had described the almost there as creamy (I can't remember it being creamy) and said the Renaissance seems to have lost that. Probably worth a taste, will see if I can track down someone who will give me some.

I asked after the PC7, and no news of a release date for that.
One of the shops had a 150-200UKP of Brora. And yes I did look more than twice. My love for the Dun Bheagan 24yo Brora is well known, and indeed every Brora I've had I've enjoyed (see later for more). One also had a bottle of the 42yo Black Bowmore with POA on it. Seeing as the bottle at Regional is going for NZ4500-6000 I could appear knowledgeable, although not keen enough to buy it.

And then we decided it was time to head out to the tasting rooms, located in the backblocks of Leith. There was sun out, so I got to make a reference to the Proclaimers. Never been able to make that before, since it's been raining every other time.

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society was set up by a group who bought casks from the distillery and eventually bottled them. It expanded, and now they buy casks that don't fit with the distilleries main focus, so everyone wins. Cos let's face it, only whisky nutcases are going to want to try the strange stuff. The place itself is all wood and leather, with fireplaces, but doesn't suffer from stuffiness - which I guess is a risk for places described as a club. Very knowledgable staff - well except for one newbie - and the best, Louise, was hot and loved whisky. *swoon*
The club doesn't identify the distillery, or rather describes the distillery without naming it. Although useful websites are available.

We started off with one called Sea Salt and Pork Crackling. We learned later this was a Springbank, a distillery which this week has announced a shutdown for two years while they expand. This whisky was just mad. The nose promised one thing, the palate did another, and the finish rocked along to an entirely different place. There were hints of burnt orange, phenol (not too high), smoke, grass (maybe) and tasted nothing at all like the Springbank I've had previously. Which is entirely the point of this place. We were both smitten. If that's a word you can use to describe a drink.

Meandering to the bar we got chatting to Louise. I explained what I liked, and said I just wanted random weird stuff, so she let me taste a Japanese whisky. Not something I tend to do by choice. I can't remember what it was called (but don't think it was a Suntory), taste was salty burnt, it was ok, but nothing special. I asked if they had any Brora, which they did. Sadly no bottles left to buy, so I tasted it instead. Quite similar to mine, so didn't bother with a dram (Neil did), so complex, so rich, so good.
Ended up trying something, which I can't remember the distillery, that was very smokey and tangy, but also strangely light. Enjoyed this. Whatever it was.

The first whisky I had that spoke to me with levels of complexity and interest was one I picked up at the whisky shop in Heathrow, following our first visit to the UK many years ago. i'd been tasting a 14yo Mortlach and was about to buy it, when the guy who I'd been chatting to suggested I fork out the extra 10 quid for the 21 yo. Good plan. that was an interesting tasting, I said I hadn't had much whisky, but had liked what I had (which wasn't much at that stage), and what would he recommend for a beginner. Knowing his stuff he suggested highland malt - which if I were in his position now, I'd do the same. So as nod to my whisky beginnings, I had a Mortlach. And it didn't disappoint, lovely nose, complex caramel taste with a hint of pepper (not much tho'), and a nice long finish. It appears my introduction to the real dram was a good one.
I checked and there were no more bottles of the Arran I'd tried on Saturday, which was sad, but the nature of their supplies.

We had something to eat about this point, as we're responsible drinkers. And being interested in the whisky tastes, we'd been cleansing palates with a reasonable amount of water - see how good we are!!

Next up was the Caramac and gooseberries. This was apparently from Aultmore, which I've never heard of. A 15yo malt, oaky wood taste, subtle fruity (guess thats their 'gooseberries') taste, but with some kick. This was annoying as I'd also be happy having a bottle of this one. But I can't be greedy.

I finished the night with a lowland malt. Now if there's one thing I've learnt over the last year or two it's not worth having preconceptions about regions or ages of whiskies. I've had tasteless $500 bottles (Glenfarclas), I've had complexity that beggars belief from young whiskies (PC6), and I've had Islay malts that appear to be missing salt. I hadn't had a lowland malt that had much going on tho', until then. This was an 18yo from the recently closed Little Mill distillery. You'd swear it was about 25yo and from the highlands. A huge nose of caramel, sherry and leather, was followed by a massive sticky toffee, molasses, cream, sultanas palate with a finish that was still going hours later. It was probably a 10 on my usual ranking scale. Think a bigger, heavier version of a stunning highland malt and you'd be on the right track.

So what did I get? Well the Little Mill bowled me over, but it was similar to other whiskies I've had, which isn't the point of the society. So i went with the Springbank. It was doing things whisky, and in particular Springbank's shouldn't be doing. Or rather it was doing them in such a schizophrenic way you wouldn't expect them all in one whisky.

This was one of the most enjoyable experiences I've had with whisky. Neil's jealous of the Regional tastings as I get the opportunity to try whiskies from all over the place, which is rare (if not absent) in Scotland. But he does have the Society, so I think we both come out ok.
Great whisky, company, food and such a relaxed environment.
Slainte!

Prog it, Prog it real good

5,6,7 July

Seeing as I saw more trainspotters in the next town things became clearer, apparently a steam excursion was taking place.

Arrived in Glasgow and met up with the PsychoChicken Prog Tours (sign revealed later) who came with HippyDave in tow. A quick car ride later, to the sounds of prog, and we were back at ProgCentral. After a hello to the lovely Zantic, a quality beer appeared in our hands and the journey to prog-vana began.

The Chicken is going to try and remember what we played, but it involved everything from SoSo Modern, Phoenix Foundation, King Crimson, Marilion, Pallas (or Iron Maiden as they are now known), Arena, Pink Floyd, The Pineapple Thief and many other stalwarts of the prog scene, both cheese and talent. A wonderful group of people welcomed us 'foreigners' (for the HD is from the lower country) and helped us consume much stunning quality Scottish ale. The Chicken and Zantic certainly know their ales. It would be churlish to single out highlights, as the concept of many hours of prog, beer and whisky with like-minded people is something I struggle to find at home! Two out of those three is easy...
It was great to finally talk to HippyDave, we first met back in 2002 (?) at a Marillion warm-up gig where, from memory, I was a bit drunk as I'd caught up with a friend I'd been to the Oswestry gig some years before. So actually having a conversation with him face-to-face rather than IRC or mailing list was a nice change. It appears HDs assertion that each country has a prog/beer/whisky person may have been proven correct this weekend.
Beers tasted: err many of them.
Whisky's tasted: a Scotch society Arran. This was a fascinating dram, not at all typical - which is the societies aim (see next blog). No tasting notes sorry kids, but it was very complex, and I'd made sure I had it early in the evening.
Also tasted the Glengoyne 17yo which is one of PCs drams of choice. It's nice and good, but not anything different to stuff I've already got. So not a 'must-buy'. A quiet early night (130am), I blame jet-lag !

Prog(Sun)Day dawned and we started with a very nice breakfast and more than adequate coffee from the cafe down the road. And yes, I succumbed and had some black pudding with my vege breakfast - I do have a love of good black pudding which isn't an issue at home, but having PC and Zantic say it was good here almost broke my arm, such was the twisting, and they were right. Had a score update from Fran which made my morning - thankfully having two Scots at the table meant no-one looked at me oddly for wanting to hear 'the real footy' score.
Having decided we wouldn't stop in at Glengoyne, although we did drive past it, we headed up to the small brewer in Bridge of Allan. Tried the pints there, very very nice 80/- which is what I settled on for a pint. The cider, which they've just bottled, was also quite a revelation. One thing that always pisses me off about NZ cider, which you'd think would be good, is it's overly sanitised nature, it's filtered to buggery and far too highly carbonated. This one wasn't. In fact it's one of the better ciders I've had.
Needless to say, beers were purchased. I've grabbed a cider, a stout and a ginger beer. Reviews to follow.
Supplies for the next mornings brekkie were purchased from the deli were purchased and we headed back to Glasgow.

At this point it's worth mentioning there were four of us in a mini. Bear in mind that's three male prog fans, and all that entails. I now know HD better. Civil union to follow.
The journey up was very scenic, reminding me, again, how similar NZ and Scotland are. More mist in Scotland, but the same fatalistic 'well it's sunny now, better pack a jacket' approach to weather. Return was via the motorway which was less scenic.
Music provided by XTC (way up) and Marilion (way up and back).

This was about the time we were to head for an early dinner before the gig. HD is known (and yes, I may be going for understatement there) for his love of curry, and so Indian was cuisine de jour. The Shish Mahal is apparently a firm favourite of our hosts, and given the number of people there at 530-6pm on a Sunday, of Glaswegians in general. Understandable really, dinner was great. I had a med-hot vege curry (whose actual name escapes me now) that was exactly how I wanted it. Superb. HD gamely struggled through his to avoid offending anyone too. Trooper!

The wander to the venue was interrupted by a pint in a pub with a nice whisky collection. The pint was adequate (McEwan's 80/- from memory) without being great. After arriving at the venue (The Arches) and meeting the rest of our party, most of whom had attended the previous Evening of Prog, we managed to secure second row viewing for the evenings entertainment. We also, and this is worth mentioning for the sheer unbelievability, had no beer during this gig.
Note for other visitors: when UK gigs say starts at 730, this does apparently mean 730, not 930-10pm as say I'm used to !!

First up were Frost. A veritable supergroup with the rhythm section of IQ, John Mitchell and Jem Godfrey. Their debut album, Milliontown, was a bit of a surprise hit the other year. As such I was really looking forward to hearing the live. They certainly delivered, opening with Milliontown. Yup that's right, a 45 minute set and they open with a 25 min epic. Well I guess it makes selecting the other songs pretty easy! Sure the set wasn't perfect, but it rocked, and more importantly - the band were really enjoying themselves. In fact I'd go so far as to say in the same league of fun as a Phoenix Foundation gig with the amount of by-play within the band and interaction with the audience. By god can John Mitchell play guitar. Looking like he was idly swinging a golf club the solo-ing was superb. The new track they played seemed a bit rockier than the last album. All good and a we all had the feeling that if the support were that good that the main act could be a bit of a let down (yeah, that's how good Frost were, absolutely blinder of a set).

So thirty minutes later the Mighty Beard arrived. I'll try and dig up a set-list. But from start to finish this was a complete, fun and stunning performance. On CD the band sound superb, but I had my doubts if they'd be able to deliver live. Misplaced doubts it turned up. Nick is a great frontman and his singing is eerily similar to the departed Neal during the early stuff. Speaking of the early stuff, there were a few tracks I didn't know (or didn't know well) so they were playing stuff off the first three albums. That's unfortunate as it'll cost me money. Ryo is nutjob on the keys, normally you'd say four keyboards would be overkill. Four seemed to be limiting him. Described by Alan as 'Ryo and his invisible 12 hands', his solo was impressive and showy without being self-indulgent. Something of an achievement for a prog band! The Nick and Jimmy drum duet was something to hear. Nick's an excellent drummer, but the touring drummer Jimmy was certainly up the task. What really stood out was that it wasn't an annoying drum solo, as many prog ones can be.
Highlights? jeez too many to mention. But the vibe on stage was superb. Five guys pissing around on stage thoroughly enjoying themselves. If Frost looked relaxed and having fun, then SB made them seem uptight prog-twats. Sure there were a few wrong notes, but the over-whelming sense of 'fun' more than made up for those. This was one of those rare, thoroughly enjoyable, gigs where the audience and bands were all there for a good time. Special mention has to be made of Alan Morse. The man is nuts. Insane. Looking like, as HD described him, a college professor wearing a sparkly jacket, his solo-ing was mindblowing. And even more relaxed than Frost's. This was some of the best guitar work I've seen, and he seemed to be doing anything but playing. Leaping around, guitar behind the head/back, legs, hunting Ryo with it, throwing devil horns everywhere, you'd think he didn't have enough to do. We stood there agape at his sheer talent, and then stunned as near the end he decided to try climbing the barrier to the crowd much to the consternation of the roadies. Although from the looks on their faces they were SB roadies and weren't as surprised by these antics as others could have been...
The balance of the setlist was nice, broken up well between long fun epics and shorter more punchy pieces. Audience interjections were good including cries for Snow (the SB album) which was countered by the band with 'but it's July', countered by the audience with 'but it's scotland'.

The band all popped out after the gig for a signing session, so I felt compelled to pick up the new live album. Nice.

I think what stood out about this gig making it something special, was the attitude of the bands. they understood they were prog, and that above all prog is fun. The level of cheese in prog is high, and bands who fail to get that often come across as self-indulgent boring idiots. These two bands were up there for the sheer joy of playing together, and the audience got that.
All of this made for a wonderful day of Prog and limited beer consumption and we fell asleep on a high from a gig we classed as one of the best we'd been to.

Monday arrived and the absence of beer from the night before meant a fighting fit Prog Trio. Just like Rush, only other parts of Commonwealth :) So after a healthy brekkie of haggis on bun. I know. Don't even bother to say it. But PC had said this was great haggis, and when in Rome... And then we hit the town!!
Actually we chilled out on the couches listening to the rather superb stereo. This time we had Spock's Beard, Rush, Camel and Roger Waters - a rather scary experience on this stereo when those torpedoes hit. There may have been more. It's a bit of a Blur. A cake had been made by the prog-widow, a very nice cake as we found out. Devil horns to prog-widows with bitchin' cake baking skillz.

It quickly turned into time to say goodbye to HD as we dropped him off to the airport. Great meeting him! We should do this more often !

After many long rambling discussions between PC and myself about whisky (regular readers will remember our journey to Edradour - our favourite distillery - last year) we decided to head to the Whisky Society tasting rooms in Edinburgh for a dram or two. PC is a member and I'm enthusiastic.

And that's the subject of the next blog.

I'd like to say thanks to all of PCs friends, for keeping it Prog. I'd threaten to be back, but Minister of Prog probably doesn't want that kinda threat!

me

TT 3-4 July (and early 5th July)

Synchronicity is a funny thing. Call it a Fellini moment if you're so piscine inclined, but sitting in Auckland airport opening up Neil Gaiman's "American Gods" and reading the forward dated 3 July 2005 suggested, to me at least, that this was a good reading choice.

So thank to the lovely Patricia for the loan of this. I'm thoroughly enjoying it.
This section of the missive comes to you from Hong Kong. That came as a surprise to me, for some reason I thought the flight went through Singapore. Oh well. 

I'm currently stuck in traveller's purgatory, transit. Further investigation revealed, although signs were notably absent, one had to pass through Departures in order to get to the duty free shopping. So I did. Only had 40 minutes to fill in, it was a very brief stopover after-all, so didn't really do any shopping, just sat around and read my book.

Flight from HK to London was fine, for some reason even tho' the flight time is less than to Auck to HK it always seems longer. I guess that's because I sleep form Auckland. Food was good and I managed to get a bit pissed over lunch while heading in to London. Either the steward was really nice guy, or he was hitting on me. I expressed interest in the pinot noirs (good NZ selection) so after the third one, he wandered off to Business class and found the ones they had there and brought them to me. Woohoo.

Landed in the UK and fought my way through UK customs which has become more of a nightmare than ever. On the plus side I was one of the first off the plane so only had a 40 minutes wait. Then tube to Kings Cross to find Andrew, who didn't recognise me with the hair. Result!
Dropped stuff off at his place, had a shower (oh god, better than sex, well some sex, oh ok, it was a nice shower), and headed to the pub. Oh go on, pretend to be surprised!! Drank a bit, met up with Alex - who also looked shocked. Heh. Good plan that one.

Went home, watched some Braniac while we ate dinner then I fell asleep just after 9pm. Rock n roll bruvva.
Writing this from the train to Edinburgh on the way to Glasgow, there are bugger all directs to Glasgow on Saturday and this one was quicker than those anyway. Yeah go figure. But again with the 1st class, they bring me coffee (which is, to be very charitable, adequate), free wifi on the train which is awesome, but the power socket doesn't work so I only have about 40mins of battery time left. Dammit. And I can't charge my phone, which is also dying. Oh well I've texted Neil that so hopefully he'll still turn up to find me...
We just went past a bunch of anglers sitting on a river, masses of them, all looking intently at the river. Quaint. Oh yay, trainspotters, quite a sizeable bunch of them in Doncaster. Right, mental note to avoid this place :)

Right well I'm going to blog this one, and will catch up with you lot in a day or two.

me x

Useful travel tips

It's a quiet day at work here, so while nibbling strawberries I thought I'd put up all those links I meant to while away...

Travel:
Train travel is so much more convenient than plane. turning up with 5 minutes to go is fine, there's no baggage checking in. It's quiet, fast and you can see bits of the scenery. Tip for young players, buy a rail pass before you leave NZ. It's cheap and the great thing is they never bother marking things off. For example the one I bought was for 8 days, and the nice BritRail people only marked off 3 days - so Mr (and future Mrs) S have a travel pass. Go here.
UK travel planning here. which has nice things like being able to select if you want to walk, bus, train etc.


Museums/Galleries:
Nice thing about the UK is that they are all free (excepting various special exhibits).
Brit Museum (drop into Gosh comics across the road, buy stuff)
Tate Modern
Science Museum Check out their shop too, and its very close to the V and A
Transport Museum
Cardiff Museum


Food/Booze:
Obviously it's going to be hard to find good food, but I'll try to help.
Monmouth Coffee Company, by far the best source of beans and coffee I've found in London and the UK. Next door to Neal's Dairy too and the Borough Market. Woot!!
Neals Yard Dairy
a wet dream for cheese/dairy lovers. Oh God Yes.
London Borough Market Want real food? Like veges with dirt on them? decent ale? Go here. And get your cheese/coffee sorted as well.
Moulin Ales and Food not that Neil and I went there for food and beer. No of course not. But if we had, great food and even better beer. Just down the road from Edradour. Apparently you can hire a cottage thingy there. Lovely. And by god was that beer good. I want more.
Campaign for Real Ale they suffer a bit from an image problem - think Social Creditors in NZ - but worth a visit to find good beer. Mmm beer.
Wychwood brewery you can find some/most of these in NZ and I like them. MrS and I may have imbibed some while in Oxford. Worth checking out their posters with classics like "Whats the matter Lagerboy, afraid you might taste something"
Edradour yeah I know I've already linked to them, but it's my blog and they are that good

Music/gigs:
PorcupineTree
Anathema and yeah apologies for it being a myspace
Dream Theater
SymphonyX Like DT? You'll probably like SymphonyX too, great prog-metal
Christopher Rees Welsh singer-songwriter who deserves far more exposure than he currently has
Muse
Justin Timberlake

I think that largely covers the things I visited, drank and ate which were good while away. There are, obviously, others I could put up, but decided to stick to places/things I actually used.

Love, B (I now have no strawberries but have filled in some time)

From Heathrow and a reference to Conchord(s)

This comes to you from the terminally boring Terminal4. Decided to leave quite early in the morning to avoid traffic in London. T4 however lacks any charm, style and I remember T1-2-3 having more places to spend money. Oh well. I guess my VISA bill will like me for it.
The Scotch shop owner was impressed with what I was looking for (Brora), sadly he didn't have any.

But for those of you outside NZ, Brett and Jermaine (Flight of the Conchords) have won Wellingtonian of the Year.

That seems fair.

Love, terminal B.

TT 14-15

Weds: most of the day on the train, Glasgow to London. Caught up with Craig for a couple, then Andrew and I had a quiet couple. Not the most exciting :)

Thurs: Quiet day, washed some clothes as the jeans were getting aromatic. Went to Windsor to lunch with Patrick, heading out to dinner tonight. All of which has given me time to think which, I think, has produced the first kinda thoughtful TT.

One thing I have noticed this time is a greater emphasis on security. CCTVs are everywhere, I think I read there are 4 million of them scattered throughout the british isles. That's a helluva lot. And it doesn't stop there. There are constant reminders on public transport, stations, posters - everywhere really - to be vigilant. To report left luggage, anything suspicious, odd behaviour, indeed people are told 'if in doubt, report it'.
There has also been a big furore, with just cause, concerning the length of time a terrorist suspect can be held. Apparently the UK has the longest period (24 days - sorry this is all from memory and I don't have web access at the moment) that police can hold a suspect without charging them. To put that in comparison, NZ is 2 days (but generally 1), the US is 1 day, Germany is 1-2. Some small tinpot country not known for it's human welfare record was 7 days. The leftie complaint is that Tony B wanted to increase this to 40ish days before charging. Gordon B has said that he's keeping a genuinely open mind.

So why am I blogging about this? Well in all honesty it feels like a police state here. And with recent statements about increasing anti-terrorism laws there are about to be a massive increase in police and other forms of watching. Apparently a training branch for anti-terrorism is going to be established whereby everyone in a position of interacting with the public will get training, examples of these include cinemas, theatres, museums etc etc.
In addition to the ad nauseum 'be vigiliant' comments, it also transpires that the British people, already some of the most watched people in the world on CCTV, are also frequently wiretapped or subject to surveillance.

One of the central tenets of the British legal system is habeas corpus which translates, in essence, as a safeguard to individual freedom against state intervention. This basic right of the individual appears to have been gradually eroded by a succession of anti-terrorism laws. The British implementation of these appears to have been more insidious than the US, where Patriot I and II swept away rights in the aftermath of 9/11. It is for that reason that conspiracy theorists have suggested 9/11 was a means to an end for the US government. Given Rudi G's presidential campaign has more use of "9/11" than I do of a certain four letter word starting with F and ending with K, one might be forgiven for reaching a conclusion ...

It is also much easier to spy on people with recent advances in technology. Your cellphone can be tracked to within a small region, internet access is monitored, wifi links, your bank withdrawls and eftpos/visa purchases can be used to track you, CCTV can identify you. It's not hard for a someone to know everything about you. In addition the British have the worlds largest DNA bank, with approximately 1 in 14 people represented. Scared yet?

So why do the British people put up with this? Firstly I think because they have freedom so deeply ingrained in their psyche (to reach into pop psychology for a minute) that they are genuinely not bothered by the changes. The slow implementation of the changes also means the public appears to have accepted them not realising how deep the changes have become. Secondly the surveillance is not obvious. Sure some of the cameras are quite visible, but they've been there for years. Surveillance of phones and people is again subtle, and internet tracking is invisible, meaning even if you were being 'spied' on the chances of realising it are slim.

What has really gotten to me is the constant be vigilant calls. These amount to a request to spy on everyone else and, I suspect, add dramatically to a populations racial stereotypes/profiling, 'he looks muslim, gotta be a terrorist'. I don't see that as helping to develop tolerance. The calls are also portrayed as a good thing, essentially if we don't spy on everyone the terrorists win (to paraphrase GWBush). So whats the patriotic Britain to do?

All of this reminds me of two movies (books too, but let's stick to pop culture), Children of Men and Brazil, and a police state (WWII Germany). Sure the German reference is a bit extreme and I'm certainly not suggesting the British police force is arresting people and hiding them for 24 days. But the similarities are there. Interestingly the German people have some of the lowest surveillance in the world. Given the lessons they've learnt, I can understand why.

Now I'm not saying there aren't terrorists out there. I'm sure there are. But surely giving up individual freedoms on the possibility they might strike isn't the way to deal with it - or at least it doesn't seem to be to me. Surely if any of the surveillance was more obvious, or if people knew about it, there would be more of an outcry. So in that respect have the terrorists gained a victory? Paranoia roams where the shadows play, to quote a favourite lyricist.

At the moment I can't come up with a solution to this, but I am thinking about it.

B (a bit disturbed by the sudden change in blog style)

TT 11a More Holes and Revelations

Nov 11 Pt II

Arrived in Preston LANCS. First impressions didn't change so lets run with the stereotype - there were no middling people, they were all either thickset or scrawny. Hair on the blokes was either short (caesar cut style) probably cos 'it's sensible like', or long and flowing in the traditional bogun style. There were more than a few mullets too. I don't want to describe the women's hair, suffice to say the blokes may have looked better.
Everyone smoked. Babies, children, teens, the dog - everyone. And more gratuitous use of the word fuck than either Andrew or I manage. Go The North.
Escaped the railway smoke fest that was Preston and headed to Blackburn by coach as work was being done on the railway. Reminding me how much I don't like coach travel. Urghh, but only 30 minutes and the scenery is nice up here. Blackburn was more attractive than I thought it would be. Found the venue by seeing a guy on the bus with a DT t-shirt on holding a map, ahhh Zen navigation, sometimes it comes through well. Wandered around a bit trying to find a B and B or a hotel, but nada in the town centre (how screwed up is that!). So got a taxi to take me to some. Sorted.

Wandered back into town to grab some dinner and go to the gig. SymphonyX were opening - who if you are a prog-metal fan are well worth checking out. I've got three of the albums and all get spun reasonably frequently. The singer has one of the best voices in metal (next to LaBrie), and it was a very good hour long set. It's been quite a good few days for support bands really !
DT came on around 9 with their version of Thus Spake Zarathustra before launching into Constant Motion. All I can say is wow. This is one band who know how to play a crowd. Portnoy's kit has, if anything, increased from the XX tour and he's a showman. I get the feeling that Gavin Harrison (PT) might outplay him, but MP is by far the better viewing. LaBrie isn't on stage that much, which is probably one reason why DT can do such long tours - again (like the SymphonyX guy) you can tell he's been trained properly. Excellent posture when he's singing and that voice... I was standing on the John Petrucci side of the stage, and he was excellent. John Myung and Jordan Rudess were great, and it's always funny to seeJR wander out to the front of the stage with his portable keyboard for a solo.
All in all, last gig of the tour, relaxed atmosphere, and a great show. The band are highly professional - and it's nice to see a back projection and lighting show. I don't seem to go to enough big bands for that! There's also a fair degree of humour in the shower with the SymphonyX guys kcking MP off the drums and him doing a 'i'm not worthy salute' to them. MP throwing drum sticks to JP who flicks it back to MP backwards. Thoroughly enjoyable concert.

The audience, heh heh, 90-95% male. A lot wearing denim jackets. I realise this area is kinda the birthplace of Brit Heavy Metal, but still, it's fun to laugh at the cliches!
Merchandise stand had been stripped during the tour so no t-shirts (in my size, a 'S' didn't seem a good investment). And at 22 UKP they did seem a bit steep.

Headed back to the B and B and had a nice long sleep - missing brekkie, but that didn't bother me too much.

Tomorrow it's off to Glasglow to see Neil and some scotch.

Of Holes In Blackburn

11 Nov

Waking up at the dreadfully uncivilised hour of 8am on a Sunday for some breakfast before heading to the train station was made bearable by the confused look on the chef's, no let's be honest, cooks face. Having been scarred by the coffee on Saturday, to the point where P pointed at a Starbucks and said "hey, they'll have better coffee than we had", and I was forced to admit that he was right, I went with OJ only.
His cackle seemed a bit hurtful.

So after brekkie we headed to the station as I was catching an early train in order to get to Blackburn in time for Dream Theatre. If I get time I'll put some maps up for that. A mocha later and we said our adieu's. Once again I'm struck with how much I like first-class. Truely money well spent on that flexi-pass. It's comfortable, quiet, has legroom, food, water and power sockets.

Blackburn is the place immortalised by the FabFour as "4000 holes in Blackburn Lancashire", suggesting some form of rodent control maybe in order. since I have many hours to fill in here's some musings on various things that have changed or not changed since I was last here.

Beer:
A topic close to my heart. English Ale has always put me in a profoundly good place, the slight bitterness, the varying degrees of solidity, the surprisingly low alcohol content (3.5-4.5%) and the complexity and uniqueness of each form. On this trip I've found the rumoured demise of the local ale pub in favour of the ghastly 'gastro-pub' to be much in evidence. Therefore the odds of finding a Carling, Guinness, Fosters (!), Stella and Heineken are much better than a good regional ale on tap. That's sad as it's one of the traditional food stuffs the British do well. The stuff is out there if you know where to look, we found a great local ale pub in Cardiff, but it's getting harder to find. I haven't heard much from the CAMRA group recently, and they do have an image problem (those of you in NZ - Campaign for Real Ale- look like smelly greenies, bushy beards and say 'arrr' a lot, Worzel Gummidge like). I'd suggest one of the current batch of Celeb Chefs could do a bit for it, but Gordon is everywhere (even promoting Gordin's Gin), Jamie is a twat, Ainslie needs a bullet, which leaves us with Nigella. Perhaps Nigella frolicking in a barrel of real ale sold under an amusing moniker "Nigella's Tasty Ale" is what the industry needs?

Food:
Good news on this front. The level of quality food seems better than any other time I've been here. You can buy food that looks like food (ie not prepackaged) at most/all supermarkets, and there has been a massive resurgence in farmers markets (like the Borough Market). These are also ideal places for buying ale and cheese so tend to attract me. We wandered past one this morning in Cardiff, that had we known and had more time... The levels of takeaway food are also much improved. Sure there's still the crap overfried or boiled to buggery out there, but the recent influx of Europeans to London is reflected in the variety and quality of food available. The recent awakening to food has also seen an increase in Organic certification and Organic outlet stores. Even cafe's are now advertising themselves as 'organic'. All of which makes it more bearable should I get a job over here.

Coffee:
Oh god no. Yeah things still suck here. We are spoilt rotten in Wellington, but even so a city this close to traditional coffee power houses such as France and Italy should be able to get a good cup somewhere. I am not jesting when I say my stovetop espresso using Monmouth Coffee Company beans seriously kicks ass over anything I've had in London. Outside Monmouth CC that is. I just don't get the ambivalence of Londoners to good coffee, they all seem to be drinking the stuff. But it's crap. Really crap. Even MCC offer a filter option for those who don't want espresso. WTF?!?! Aside from crusty ol buggers who remember the 'good old days' of Kirk's Coffee House and complain cos the new cafe's 'don't serve just a normal nice cup of coffee' who wants filter in a cafe? Freaks.
Bitter? well yes, but not in a good late extracted way.
heeheehee.

If anything else comes to mind I'll mention it later. These TT are getting longer and longer, you poor buggers reading them!

love, B