Men In Motion

I got to go along to a dance show at the London Coliseum, where the ENO is based.  This time there were no mistakes made by opera singers, instead it was just an evening of great dance.  I never thought I would actually go see something like this, because not only was it just dance, but it was only men dancing.  It was supposedly a retrospective of male dance throughout the ages, and I gotta say it was really good.

It started off pretty slow, with this weird faun dance.  Some guy was dressed up like a satyr and then there wasn't really any dancing, just really slow, controlled movements, which I suppose is a skill in itself.  It didn't really grab me though, and I was a bit worried that the whole evening would be like that.  Luckily each dance after that was better than the one before, so perhaps it's best that they started off on a real low point, otherwise there would have been no where to go.

Not only was the dancing really good but they had a live orchestra, which I always like.  It has been on tour a little bit, so seriously if it comes through your town I would go see it.  The dances don't go for that long, so if there is one that isn't so appealing you know it will be over soon.  Or you can just close your eyes and listen to the music.  But they were so good at capturing the feel of the music in their dance, I never really appreciated that before, probably never having seen such good dancers/choreographers before.

British Museum - Gold Exhibition

Somewhere in South America there must be a major museum closed for renovations, since suddenly museums around the world are having a gold bonanza (there is also one on in Canberra at the moment).  We went to see the British Museum one on the weekend.  They had a lot of stuff, but that's always true of the British Museum, you just wish they added a bit of history to what they have as well.  You would think being the curator of the British Museum would be one of the most sought after jobs in that space, so you would think they would have someone who could put a little more effort in.

Don't get me wrong the audio guide was quite good and there were definitely descriptions around what you were seeing.  It could have just done with a bit more broader historical context, what was happening in the areas around these people, a bit of a timeline as to what happened to them, how the different groups interacted, perhaps a bit more on their culture.  It would also have been great to see some reconstructions.  These people must have looked unbelievable to the Spanish invaders, they would have been covered in gold, with gold headresses, massive gold earrings and gold jewellery hanging from their noses.  They also bound parts of their bodies and practised scarification, so to the invaders they must have looked amazing.

It would have been nice if we could have got a better sense of what a typical village would have looked like.  To try and get a sense of what it would have been like to come across this completely alien culture, that has now been lost to us.

At the moment you see this exhibit and you come away wishing for a bit more meat, that you had learnt something rather than just seeing a lot of pretty gold objects.

Nielsen's Wind Quintet

There is a new development near King's Cross station, called Kings Place.  It's a combination of offices, restaurants, art galleries and music halls.  It feels quite different to the busy station next door, and you reach it by walking a long way down a deserted street.  Then suddenly you appear in this flash new building.  It's where the guardian has moved, so on the way in you can pop up to the guardian's reception, see a room where a bunch of journalists may work (it was the weekend, so there wasn't anyone to see).  I have to say they look after their workers, their office chairs were an awful lot better than mine.  We were there to see (listen?) to Nielsen's wind quintet.  There was some vote on people's favourite chamber music pieces and then throughout the year they will perform the top 50 at Kings Place.  This was number 50.

The slight problem is that the ensemble chosen to play the piece also gets to choose the whole program for the evening (you don't just get the piece you have paid to see).  I really don't understand the passion for contemporary classical music (is there such a thing?).  Though to be fair I think the contemporary pieces they played that night were possibly the more melodic of contemporary music, but that's not saying much really.  The issue seems to be that the composers are trying to be too clever, I guess there is a large body of work to live up to.  So rather than just having a nice theme that they repeat throughout the work, they try and cram as much technically difficult stuff in at one go.  You hear a fragment that you quite like and would like to hear again, but that's it, you only get one go and then it's on to the next bit.  I just don't quite understand it.  They also pulled the same trick as they did at Mozart's Requiem concert, playing the piece everyone was there to hear last.  I get why they do it, sure save it for the second half, but could we have it before we all get so tired we can't enjoy it as much?

Sitting in front of us was a family of 4, they were in the middle in the front row, so everyone in the hall could see them.  In fact the players on stage could probably see them.  And it looked like only the father was into the music.  You could see that the 2 kids and the mother were dying, the kids were shuffling all over the place, trying to get comfortable enough to sleep, and the mother was getting lower and lower down in her seat throughout the performance.  And yet the father was in raptures after each piece.  It was pretty funny, I mean it's nice to try and interest your family in things you like doing, but perhaps you should take them to see one of the classics first.  I think there are a lot of performances containing a lot more melodic pieces than that one.  You don't want to turn it into some sort of torture for your children, surely you want them to enjoy it as much as you do?

They have a restaurant and bar on the premises as well, I didn't quite appreciate that it was literally above the concert hall.  But it was actually a really nice meal.  The service was super efficient, but still charming, the food was really good, triple-cooked chips are a wonder to behold and the wine was delicious.  I will definitely be back for another meal + performance combo, it's a really pleasant way to spend an evening.  Good work Kings Place! And lucky for me there are another 49 for me to choose from this year.

PictureHouse

I was worried we wouldn't find a cinema on par with the Everyman we had in Hampstead, but I think we may have found a match with the Greenwich PictureHouse.  Apparently the picturehouse brand used to be an independent one, but it's recently been bought by Cineworld. I'm hoping that doesn't destroy what they have in Greenwich.  It has a good feel to it, reclining seats, a little bar, small screens, and less mainstream movies than say a Vue.  It's not as premium as Everyman, that was like gold class, at seat service by waiters and sofas.  But then this is Greenwich, not Hampstead, so I think it's as good as it gets.  And after visiting the Vue in Stratford I was a little worried that we wouldn't be able to go to the movies again.  Seriously those people are like animals.  It's like they are in their living rooms, not in public, when they go to the movies.  That's cool if some people like that sort of atmosphere, it's just not for me.  So yah for picturehouse!

Highgate Cemetery

Karl Marx's memorial

One of the last things we did whilst we were still living in Hampstead was pay a visit to the Highgate Cemetery.  There's two parts to the cemetery, the East and West, imaginative names I know.  The East can be visited at anytime, and has more famous people buried there.  Whilst the West is more wild, and more architecturally interesting.  You can only visit the West with a tour though, and they do get booked out.  So be prepared to wait.

Once we had our tour time organised we headed over to the East cemetery to check it out first.  The cemetery was first opened in 1839 and was a profit making business.  It was meant to ease some of the pressure on the inner London cemeteries which were full, and a bit gross at the time.  It was pretty popular when it first opened, but as the plots filled up it became less economical.

Patrick Caulfield's grave, pop artist

It started to struggle in the 1930's before finally the company went bankrupt and the gates were shut.  There was then a period where the cemeteries were forgotten, and became overgrown and vandalised, before the Friends of Highgate Cemetery was formed.  This group acquired the freehold to both the east and west cemeteries.  They then spent a lot of time and effort restoring the memorials and gardens.  It really is a great place to visit, especially the west, with the overgrown grounds, and the fantastic monuments.

The most famous burial would have to be Karl Marx, but then there is also Douglas Adams, and George Eliot. As well as some other, slightly weirder people, like the first head of the masonic order.

Because most of the burials occurred during Victorian times, it's full of all this great symbolism.  A lot of angels, pillars cut in half (symbolising a life cut short), urns, and everything is covered in vines.  Really atmospheric.  But they are still used for burials, so the guy who was poisoned by Russian spies, Alexander Litvinenko, is buried there, he's one with a shortened pillar.

Typical of Highgate cemetery

In the west cemetery they also have catacombs, still with bodies interred, as well as the Egyptian Avenue, back when Egyptian things were all the rage in the UK, and the Cedar of Lebanon, a massive cedar tree growing above the Egyptian Avenue.

They also were surprisingly non-judgemental.  There are two chapels on the grounds, one for Anglicans and one for everyone else.  And some of the land has been set aside, so it's unconsecrated, available for those who aren't Church of England.

Egyptian Avenue

Windsor Castle

Inner courtyard

We paid a visit to Windsor Castle, whilst the Queen wasn't there.  We did a tour of the kitchens at the same time, which was definitely worth the cost of admission.

If you are going, I would highly recommend buying your tickets online beforehand.  The line to get in was completely insane, it stretched all the way down the street.  Not how I want to be spending my weekend.  But having bought ours beforehand, it was straight in, nice.

We also discovered that Windsor is the place to go if you want to visit Legoland, which is an amusement park, I'm guessing where everything is made out of lego?  Anyway, it seemed really popular with the kids on the train.

St George's chapel

It's a nice day out, visiting Windsor, there is a whole town around the castle, and it's also where Eton is, which I didn't appreciate.  I guess it makes it easy for the grandkids to visit their grandparents, having the school in the same town as the castle.

There is quite a lot to see, even without doing the tour.  There is one main entrance, into the State Apartments, you can either go in via Queen Mary's dollhouse, and then onto the apartments, or just start straight with the apartments.  I would recommend the second option, you can always go back in and see the doll house later in the afternoon, when there isn't a massive crowd.  It took us maybe 40 minutes to be let in.  And then the only thing extra you get to see is this dollhouse.  Granted it is massive and very elaborate, but it's not really what you come to Windsor Castle for.  So go in the door with no line, and come back around later.

Unfortunately there were no photos allowed inside, I hate it when they make those rules.  So you aren't going to be able to see what anything looked like.  The state apartments were very grand, as you would expect.  There was a painting exhibition on whilst we were there.  The only thing that made it a bit special was that all the paintings had been done by members of the royal family.  They were surprisingly good, there were some nice ones of the Scottish mountains.  You don't necessarily pick the royals as being artistic, but I suppose they have to do something with their time.