This is Alexa

Happy belated birthday Alvin

2007-01-19T00:28:56Z

A case of Sixteen Candles... it was the_vin's birthday on (16/1) - oops! xxx

Let me project manager your life for you!

2006-12-22T12:47:55Z

Got my Prince2 Practitioner certificate in the post today! My mommy will be proud!

Plainsong

2006-09-28T22:41:33Z

I love it when the rain's like this and I never want it to stop...

The Fat Duck restaurant

2006-08-10T09:41:28Z

I say, for anyone who has been there or is familiar with it... you know it's the crazy gastro science place, is Bray, Berkshire considered countryside? I have an article here that describes it and I need to know if it's considered countryside... thanks!

Downsized

2006-07-17T15:19:03Z

I've downsized this journal a bit. A few removals due to non-postings. No animosity. See you irl instead. Cheers.

Avenue Q (review)

2006-06-27T10:34:16Z

Saw Avenue Q last night. It's the funniest thing I've seen all year! Basically, it's about middle-class, college-grad down-and outs-living in Brooklyn. Avenue Q is shared by humans, monsters and puppets. Through the song score they address 21st century everyday niggles.

Songs include stuff like "Everyone's A Little Bit Racist", "The Internet Is For Porn " and "I Wish I Could Go Back to College". They illustrate the characters' anxieties while they have you in stitches. If you liked Jerry Springer the Musical, you'll like this. It's less complicated than Jerry Springer so it's easier to laugh at. It really is like Sesame Street gone bad. The cast got a standing ovation last night and I can happily say they deserved it.

So, I recommend this for the summer!

First chav, now this!

2006-05-24T13:17:39Z

Last year on my LJ I asked what "chav" meant as I'd never heard the term before, let alone imagined the excitement of Burberry.

I was introduced today to the term "metrosexual" after one of my male colleagues was talking about how there was no way he was into grooming products - "just a bit of aftershave". I am familiar with the term "new man", which was a 90s buzz word for a guy that got in touch with his feelings. "Metrosexual" was apparently one of the buzz words of 2003.

I find the definitions interesting:

This is the original one from a book written by British journalist Mark Simpson in 2003

"...a young man with money to spend, living in or within easy reach of a metropolis — because that's where all the best shops, clubs, gyms and hairdressers are. He might be officially gay, straight or bisexual, but this is utterly immaterial because he has clearly taken himself as his own love object and pleasure as his sexual preference. Particular professions, such as modeling, waiting tables, media, pop music and, nowadays, sport, seem to attract them but, truth be told, like male vanity products and herpes, they're pretty much everywhere."

(this appears on Wikipedia along with pictures of David Beckham and Brad Pitt.

Here's the American abbreviation of it: "a guy who is definitely straight, but has embraced the worlds of grooming, facials, shopping with women and ... their feminine side"

So it would seem that the metrosexual has replaced the new man. In this new century, it's not enough for a guy to get in touch with his sensitive or "feminine" side, he also has to smell good.

Ah my, are there any self-admitting metrosexuals out there reading this?

On a similar vein, this is quite funny. It fulfills the looking-good requirements (the equivalent of a padded bra ; ) )

http://www.buttforyou.com/

Geekiness

2006-03-28T10:32:59Z

Further to my post a while ago about buying a wireless router for my flat, I did. I bought a Belkin which I could connect to but then it would continually throw me off after 5 minutes connected to the Net. My flatmate and I called the helpline in India. They didn't really understand what we were saying so instead asked for my shipping address.

They have just sent me a brand new router. So, I have learned here that instead of addressing a problem, Belkin would just rather throw new hardware at it.

Ah well, I may have a spare router that needs a home soon.

JB Priestley's The Linden Tree

2006-03-10T12:41:25Z

The Linden Tree by JB Priestley, currently on in Richmond at the Orange Tree theatre, has received 5-star reviews from a couple of the dailies. I thought it looked good anyway. They have standing tickets left for £6, for most nights, until it closes on 25 March. I would be interested in seeing it from Mon-Thurs.

If you're interested in a trip to Richmond to see it, fill in the poll. I want to book a ticket, probably today.

View Poll: JB Priestley's - The Linden Tree

All problems in life can be solved with...

2006-03-03T09:04:21Z

1. Duct tape
2. WD40
3. Silicone
4. ~~Swiss Army knife~~ Gerber multi-tool
5. Isopropyl alcohol
6. Negotiation
7. A nice cup of tea

If you think something should be added to this list, state your justification below.

Free to good home: Kingsize duvet

2006-01-14T14:57:16Z

I have a new kingsize duvet that someone can have if they need a really heavy one - 13.5 tog. I didn't realise how heavy it was when I bought it and my house is way too hot for it and I don't have room to store it. If you want it, leave a note and come and get it.

Here is London

2006-01-13T15:00:03Z

A test for those in London, look out of your window now...

View Poll: London...

Public transport on NYE

2005-12-28T10:53:02Z

Does anyone have a guess on how many tube trains/buses will be running on 31 December and 1 January? Do you reckon there will be none, very few, some or enough to get one around?

I want to have a good NYE and would rely on public transport if it's running, but don't know if I should rent a car instead (I don't drink) so that I'm not standing out in the freezing cold for hours on end. The car, in the end, would be the same rate as taking taxis.

Be glad we're not in NYC (an editorial)

2005-12-22T12:21:47Z

Frankly, I think we should be grateful that we're not in New York right now for this transportation shut down! It's been three days without the subway or buses.

Yes, transit workers go on strike more often over here, but the outcome is less severe. Usually there will be a skeleton tube service available that you can cram yourself onto or there are the buses.

Whereas London can't handle heavy snowfalls, NYC can't handle strikes. There is actually a law that prohibits public transportation workers going on strike. So, being Americans, what do they do? They do the opposite and completely go on strike. Total walk-out, fuck you defiance. And then in response the authorities threaten the workers with jail time. Of course over here, things are negotiated more civilly, there is tea, Metro articles and long speeches in Parliament on the subject and things actually get resolved - although it takes longer than in America where the melodramatics bring about a swift and merciless justice.

Like any big Western - or, by proxy, Japanese - city, New York is full of capitalists, so it keeps functioning. Money is to be made and people want to make their money so maintain the machine.

"Rain, sleet, snow or strike, we'll get to work," Paul Jensen, the office manager at the Weber Shandwick public relations firm in midtown, told the AP.

Yet, it's funny that there are thick traffic jams in Manhattan. The cars are bumper to bumper from 96th Street, gradually trailing each other down the island at the crack of dawn. Vehicles with less than four people in them are not allowed to enter the city.

A blizzard of human disobedience has hit the heart of the world - or so some think. What will its entrepreneurial sovereign (in the guise of a mayor) do to rectify the situation now?

So the motivation for this here treatise? Although the UK has been America's footservant for over a decade now, I am glad to be here rather than there and I'm proud of the way this country settles its internal disputes. They are resolved rather than the the use of an intellectual-shotgun process where might makes right.

FAO Ice skating connoisseurs

2005-12-15T17:05:57Z

If you want sample a new rink (literally) There is an ice skating rink (small but cute) on the Cardinal Place shopping centre in Victoria Street now. It is open till 19 Feb. If you want to come ice skating with us here. Drop me a line. I would be up for it.

Free items to good home!

2005-12-11T23:12:26Z

Free to good home:

1 sparkly shower curtain never used and unopned - it has glitter in the curtain. Very kitsch.
2. Batter recharger - double A
3. A long handled stapler - good for stapling things like zines. Staples to go with it.

Leave a comment if you want any of these items.

A change

2005-12-07T22:19:01Z

I have taken a few names off this journal because I haven't communicated with you in a long time and as a result I don't read your journal very much anymore, vice versa or we don't reply to each other's very much. It's not that I don't like you - because I do or I wouldn't have put you on my journal in the first place. So, don't take it personally. I still want to talk to you when/if we see each other! We just don't seem to do it in this medium.

A poll to start the day...

2005-11-30T09:25:40Z

View Poll: Nice smells

Help wanted: unpacking

2005-11-28T11:09:06Z

Hello, if anyone knows anyone who wants to earn some spare cash helping me unpack my stuff at the new flat could you please leave a comment or get in touch. I'm thinking of doing this tonight (Monday) and Tuesday and Wednesday if necessary.

Thanks!

ps I now live next to Chalk Farm station!

All's well that ends well

2005-11-21T11:27:09Z

Well, the show is now over. Thanks to all that came to see it. Glad you enjoyed it.

Next project: Superman, the musical - written by myself and the_vin ; )

And for the record, a few reviews...

From the Camden New Journal, 10 November 2005

Trio of plays peak at zoo

ZOO STORY/WAITING FOR GOLDMAN SACHS/MERCUTIO RISING
Etcetera By Rebecca Omonira-Oyekanmi

PRIMROSE Hill Players present an interesting trio of theatrical performances. Collectively, the two plays and the monologue resonate with the inanity of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. Connected only by a comic irrelevance, individually the plays are pointlessly puzzling.

Adam Dahrouge plays Mercutio in Mercutio Rising, which sees Romeo’s bawdry cousin relate the story of his life in a monologue. Dahrouge gives a credible performance, attempting to engage the audience with quick movement and charm. However, it has no real story, at the end of his monologue the character is no more developed than where we left him in Shakespeare’s play. Indeed he has become slightly less attractive.

Slightly more engaging, Waiting for Goldman Sachs is satirical look at the 1980s. It is full of gimmicky paraphernalia, the brick-like mobile phones, the soulless city jobs, Rob Lowe…but like the age it describes, it lacks a certain soul. So the first sigh of relief when Skreedleejung (Maya Lubinsky) shoots Luccachinni (Kate Hemmingway), is followed by another when Skreedleejung shoots himself.

The highlight of the evening was undoubtedly The Zoo Story. Mysterious and seemingly sane Jerry (Warren Bradley) creates an intricate web into which he lures the innocent and hapless Peter (David Sayers). Peter sits on a park bench reading when Jerry approaches him. Jerry proceeds to tell Peter about his trip to the zoo, leading to a tragic and unexpected end. Bradley and Sayers weave their own web of magic in which they enthral the audience for the entire play. The Zoo Story is the diamond of the production.

****

More reviews:

From penguin_worship: "The guy playing Mercutio captured all of the arogance but none of the depth of flannelcat's play, Waiting for Goldman Sach's made me giggle at lots of the 80's reference (though did leave me feeling a little ignorant - guess it's been over 20 years since I read "Waiting for Godot" so i'm not sure if i "got it"), and The Zoo Story was fantastic, raw, animalistic, observant, comic, tragic and superbly acted."

From blackberryqueen: "I loved her production of The Zoo Story, a beautiful drama of the absurd, that catapults into the limelight issues of human isolation, conformity and class differences. The actors were great and you kind of leave the theatre associating their characters respectively with a dog and a cat. Aren't we all animals in cages?"

From squiddity: "It was very good! The first play was written and directed by her, a very funny absurdist play about 1980's consumerism and materialism. The writing was excellent, lots of very good individual lines and good stage direction. Although it was quite absurd, it still got its message across very clearly. I'd recommend anyone going to see it for this alone.

However, the second play was also very good. An Edward Albee play called 'The Zoo Story'. Excellent acting and direction."

We made it through opening night!

2005-11-08T23:20:37Z

Wow, I'm so pleased we made it through opening night!

Thanks to everyone who came and the backstage staff!

The Zoo Story cast got double encores! Crazy.

As for the review, well that comes out on Thursday.

Good to see djpsyche, Oscar, drreagan, mouseboks, jhaelan, luciousa, hotel_noir and blackberryqueen, flavius_m and the other goth's that came on the_vin's side!

The show opens - Tues 8 November!

2005-11-07T13:11:20Z

How to book and where it is:
When: Tue-Sun, 8-20 Nov. 7pm Tue-Sat and 6.30pm on
Sun.
Where: Etcetera Theatre (above the Oxford Arms pub),
265 Camden High Street, NW1 7BU.
http://www.etceteratheatre.com/
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/streetmap.dll?G2M?X=528814&Y=183993&A=Y&Z=1

Price: £10/£8 concs

Booking tickets: You can book tickets by calling the
Etcetera box office 0207 482 4857 and reserving them,
then you pay them cash on the night.

Or, you can book them through Ticketweb, but I think
they charge a small handling fee.

Here is the link: http://www.ticketweb.co.uk/user/?region=uk&query=schedule&promoter=etcetera&interface=etcetera

The bill detail:
Primrose Hill Players presents:

From the bench - two one-act plays and a monologue

Waiting for Goldman Sachs by me
A theatre of the absurd style satire of the Eighties,
American-style

The Zoo Story by Edward Albee
His first and one of his most famous plays, also
theatre of the absurd. The goings-on of what happens
one Sunday afternoon in Central Park, NYC

Mercutio Rising by Dominic Carroll
A monologue about the rogue from Romeo and Juliet

You can find more info at
www.primrosehillplayers.co.uk

View Poll: When are you coming to the production?

Free dress rehearsal - Saturday 29 October at 7pm

2005-10-17T11:01:18Z

Well, it's nearly show time! The formal run of the From the Bench Series will be from 8-20 November at the Etcetera Theatre with tickets at £10/£8 concs.

But, if this is too expensive for you... come along to the FREE DRESS REHEARSAL at the

Maiden Lane Community Centre
156 St Paul's Crescent
London NW1 9XZ

on Saturday 29 October at 7pm! This is right off of Agar Grove and you can take the 274 Bus to get there or it's about a 10-15 minute walk from Camden Town tube.

The bill is:
Waiting for Goldman Sachs by me
The Zoo Story by Edward Albee
Mercutio Rising by flannelcat

Leave a note if you're going to come. Whee!

NB: we won't have the multimedia running for this or the weird lighting but the plays will be there!

For the musically minded...

2005-09-21T13:45:33Z

For the inexperienced player, is it easier to get sound out of a penny whistle or piccolo for the inexperienced player?

Update: Thanks for the info on the pennywhistle I have put a bid on one Ebay.

Help wanted: 2 packers required for Sat 8 October

2005-09-19T18:36:53Z

Hi, am moving on the weekend of Oct 8. If anyone wants to make some money on Saturday 8 October and they are a fast packer, then let me know. I was thinking £40 per person for 6 hours. I live near Chalk Farm tube. Cheers!