Lesley in Hong Kong

Hamlet - National Theatre - The One, TST, Hong Kong

http://ntlive.nationaltheatre.org.uk/productions/ntlout10-hamlet

 

                                                                      Set at The Barbican 

People of Hong Kong!

 

I implore you to check the schedules of our movie theatres and look out for the National Theatre, London, productions which are now being screened regularly.

https://www.britishcouncil.hk/en/programmes/arts/national-theatre-live

 

There's a bar

They really are very like an actual theatre experience and a most enjoyable evening out.  There is usually a 20 minute interval, just like an actual performance, where everyone can make use of the bar, have a leg stretch and a toilet break.

Costumes

The most recent one I attended was last weekend at The One, 100 Nathan Road, when I saw the marvellous Benedict Cumberbatch as Hamlet.  It was spectacular.  He was spectacular.   The staging was spectacular.  I was particularly taken with the costumes which were, for the most part, 1940s style apart from Hamlet, Horacio and Ophelia who wore modern casual clothes, hoodies and jeans.  After the 'play with-in the play' scene Cumberbatch wore a long military tail coat with the words 'KING' crudely painted across his back which was quite amusing and under the coat a Ziggy Stardust t-shirt.   I doubt it had any significance to the recent and shocking death of David Bowie as it would have been recorded months ago in London, but it did make me think  - why Ziggy? 

 

Sweet and Sour Productions Ltd - Macbeth

The Fringe Club is an excellent and intimate venue for a production of Shakespeare's most intriguing tragedy.  Affording the audience a closeness to the emotion with selected key scenes to move the plot swiftly on, Sweet and Sour Productions, directed by Candice Moore from Edinburgh, opened with those Weird Sisters (Jacqueline Gourlay Grant, Hamish Campbell and Vicki Rummun).   They cast their manipulative spell over our hero, Macbeth (Nicholas Atkinson), and then dominated the play with their constant presence and the notion that it is their magic, their bubbling concoctions and their will that infects Macbeth with his ambition to become King of Scotland and subsequent downfall.   That's why it's called a tragedy, he dies!  It's not a plot spoiler, I don't feel I have to avoid giving away the ending.  We don't go to see Macbeth to find out what happens, we already know (don't we?) we go to see how it's done.  In this production there is a focus on the three witches who lurk in every corner seen and unseen and play Macbeth like a puppet.  It's wonderful. 

I loved the costumes which had an Alexander MacQueen/Vivienne Westwood tartan vibe going on and, unless a Scottish person disagrees with me, I couldn't fault the Scottish accents.

Lady Macbeth (Muriel Hoffman) was hateful, as she must be, and I was particularly impressed with the fight scene between Macbeth and Macduff (Henry Coombs) which was expertly choreographed and executed (pun intended).

Sweet and Sour Productions Ltd are an adaptable and talented lot who are not to be missed.  I shall certainly be looking out for their next production.  

 

A Clockwork Orange - by Action to the World Theatre Company, London - Hong Kong tour

A Clockwork Orange directed by Alexandra Spencer-Jones

by Anthony Burgess

November 6-10 2013

Lyric Theatre, Wan Chai, Hong Kong

 

‘An outstanding all-male ensemble. The pure physicality and energy is astonishing. This is a show that everyone should experience.’★★★★★ WhatsOnStage

My ticket purchase was made months ago in order to secure a seat and experience this production.  A mixture of anxious anticipation with the possibility of having my senses battered and overwhelmed confused me.  My own experience of watching Stanley Kubrick's version had  left me disturbed and horrified but in no doubt that it is an excellent movie.

Extreme Cinema - Mark Kermode speaks  I highly recommend you take 4 minutes to listen to the good Doctor introducing A Clockwork Orange on Channel 4 who explains the background and why it was banned in 1971.

The simplistic black set with only a black table and chairs meant the actors used minimal props to symbolize and move the plot on.  The ensemble of nine males played every role, including the female character.  Dressed in black trousers and either a white vest or a black vest with contrasting black or white braces was occassionally supplemented with a sneeky pop of something orange. 

Action to the World is a physical theatre company and their depiction throughout is balletic  and beautiful.  The implied violence through skilled choreography was enough to be explicit in the mind.  The Shakespearean delivery of the dialogue using Alex and his Droogs own language evoked a terrifying and enthralling experience, luring us in to the seedy violent world of disenchanted adolescence and gang boredom. 

It was utterly brilliant and without a doubt one of the best stage performances I have seen in Hong Kong.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On The Road the movie of the novel by Jack Kerouac

On The Road is an autobiographical novel by Jack Kerouac, published in 1957, depicting his own journey across America in the 1950s and in particular describing the relationship with his friend Neal Cassidy. The names are changed presumably to protect the innocent however there is absolutely nothing innocent about any of the characters. There is more than a smattering of staying up late and upsetting the wife/girlfriend/mother/grandmother to drug taking, stealing (hearts as well as tangible items), reckless driving and sex with a creative mixture of gender combinations.

The main character is Sal - really Kerouac, his friend is Dean, really Cassidy - both are writers, both young and completely and utterly concerned with their own self exploration in an effort to be inspired to write.

The movie, directed by Walter Salles, is beautifully filmed so we are treated to vast and varying landscapes, intoxicating jazz and dance scenes in Harlem and plenty of male nakedness, namely Garrett Hedlund, which always brightens up a movie in my opinion.

The love interests, I stress on the plural here, are played by Kristen Stewart and Kirsten Dunst who are both captivating on screen.

My overall experience was a positive but spoilt by the two young women and one man sat next to me who continually text on their bloody mobile phones throughout the movie causing distraction in a completely selfish way. I tried my best not to turn into my scary school teacher role, I shielded my eyes from them in an attempt to block out their annoying little lights but it didn't work. The longer it went on the more my cinematic experience was spoilt and the more I began to think that if I didn't say anything I would kick myself tomorrow. And so I told them off! "Will you please stop it with the mobile phones now". I guess if I had been any where else in the world this could have turned into a nasty uncomfortable incident that I could have seriously regretted, instead the two women were mortified, apologized sincerely and left!

I recommend this film and I recommend telling people in movie theatres to behave themselves and abide by the rules.

Skyfall Daniel Craig is the best James Bond (and a bit like Harry Potter)

I have not been a real James Bond fan until the beautiful Daniel Craig stepped into the role for Casino Royale.  Those Christmas Day moments, meant to be so special because a Bond movie was on, were not that special for me.  But now it's a whole new world, a new exciting place to be - 007 is Daniel Craig.

He is a beautiful man.  His chest, his eyes, his chin, his stance, his slim fitting suit all make me gasp in delight as I wallow in the sheer enjoyment of just being able to look at him on screen. 

Some of the cinematography in Skyfall was breath-taking, particularly the Macau and Shanghai scenes when I was thrilled to see those locations featured, although frankly it wasn't as exciting as that when I was there.  I wonder if it's something to do with not having the sound track in life?

I loved the inclusion of the classic Aston Martin with every old-school feature still in place, ejector seat button, machine guns under the head lamps and bullet proof glass.  Excellent.

Every boy had one.

 

The opening scene has everything a Bond fan could possibly want.  A British made Land Rover speeds through the street markets of Istanbul upturning baskets of fruit and spices, crashing through streets of locals who all move out of the way spectacularly.  All that is missing are two men carrying a large plate glass window.  Then we move quickly onto a motor bike chase over tiled rooftops culminating in a fight scene on the top of a moving train.  We are hooked and ready to be immersed in the full-on new and improved gritty Bond experience.

There are sad bits and obviously the most beautiful female character doesn't make it through for a happy ending but I don't want to include plot spoilers here.

It is the uncanny links to the Harry Potter story that interested me and I did wonder if J.K. Rowling's name would be in the credits.  We see Bond returning to his childhood home where it is revealed that both his parents were killed in a strange and other worldly incident when he was a boy, the same as Harry.  We even see their grave stones showing their names and we are given to understand that because of their death James' childhood was not a happy one, the same as Harry.   In fact, it involved a cupboard under the stairs albeit a little more gothic than Harry's, in fact a priest hole,  but they both spent time in a cupboard.  Significantly the vibe of Skyfall itself has definite links to Hogwarts and was I the only one who made the connection with Ralph Feinnes who played the one who shall not be named in Harry Potter and his role in this movie?  Was that just coincidence?

Is Harry 007 in the making?

 Is it just me?

 

 

 

 

Simon Armitage at Hong Kong International Literary Festival 2012

Some background about his background.

I had an audience with Simon Armitage this week as part of the annual literary festival.  I was extremely keen to listen to him and find out about how he works, how he puts pen to paper and how he feels when confronted with a blank sheet of paper.  He was down to earth and interesting and gave us all an insight into what its like being a writer who actually writes for a living.

From a personal perspective I wanted to listen to him because he comes from Huddersfield, Marsden to be precise.  He had a bit of a google time on stage finding images to enhance his words and I felt a pang of homesickness when he had an image of stone built old mills with the Pennines in the distance.  His accent enthralled me.

For me, the best bit, was being able to relate to his experiences. He's about my age and has had similar experiences.  I particularly enjoyed his The Clown Punk which is a poem about a tattooed faced punk in Huddersfield who I have also spotted and was also disturbed by his permanent choices of skin decoration.

The Clown Punk

I had with me 45 students who I took along to broaden their literary experience and expose them to world class authors. 

I elbowed my way through their slow shuffle out of the auditorium to be the first to shake his hand and express my gratitude at his presence in Hong Kong.

Then I think I became star struck and the babbling started.  Some how I failed to ask him about his writing,  the conversation launched into 'I used to live in Holmfirth'  and the exact details of where his house is in Honley, just up by the station and "Oh I used to live their, Hall Ing Lane"  "Yes I know it very well" and then I told him my house was for sale and did he want to buy it or have any friends in the market...and then a student quite rudely, I thought, came along and asked him a question about poetry and my turn was up and I was gone.

Now I still have questions in my mind, the ones I failed to ask him and probably always will.

 

I saw Luka Lesson too, he was a great performer, a slam poet.

 

Please Resist Me

Stuff White People Like by Christian Lander

 

 

I saw this and thought "It must mean me?"

Hooked by this title I read on...  to a point it is very true and full of witertaining observations from a white, western point of view although it is based on the assumption that all white people live in America and have an affinity to Canada so that part fell on stony ground for me, and to some extent also assumes a maleness and even possibly an under 40sness.  I'm just saying!

He has a website also full of wise words about 'stuff' Stuff White People Like and if you like that you might also like a quick surf at White Whine.com A Collection of First-World Problems  which puts 'stuff' into perspective for those rich spoilt brats out there.

Here is a snippet from SWPL

Outdoor Performance Clothes

As white people get older, they like to have clear boundaries between their professional and personal lives.   They don't mind talking about their personal life at work, but they hate talking about their work life when they are enjoying a weekend or vacation.  But with BlackBerry's and laptops, white people could be working anywhere, at any time.  So how do you know when they are off the clock?  It's easy;  just check their clothes.

When white people aren't working, they generally like to wear outdoor performance clothes.  The top suppliers of these garments and accessories include North Face, REI, Mountain Equipment Co-Op, Columbia Sportswear and Patagonia.  When you see white people wearing these brands, it is important that you do not discuss business matters.  Instead you should say things like 'Where did you get that fleece?" and "What's that thing holding your keys to your shorts?" White people will be more than happy to talk to you about their sustainably produced possessions.

The main reason white people like these clothes is that they allow them to believe that at any moment they could find themselves with a Thule rack on top of their car headed to a national park.  It could be 4:00pm on a Saturday when they might get the call. "Hey, man, you know what we need to do?  Kayak then camping, right now.  I'm on my way to get you.  There is no time to change clothes."

Though this is unlikely that they will ever receive this call, white people hate the idea of missing an opportunity to enjoy outdoor activities just because they weren't wearing the right clothes.

If you plan on spending part of your weekend with a white person, it is strongly recommended that you purchase a jacket or some sort of 'high-performance' T-shirt, which is like a regular shirt, just a lot more expensive.

How to be a Woman by Caitlin Moran

I feel it has become acceptable to criticize men much more so than it is to criticize women.  Having a pair of tits is not the funniest joke in the world any more but making generalizations about maleness (can't multi task, can't ask for direction, useless at remembering anniversaries blah blah blah) is more than acceptable and I don't like it.  Men - the truth I don't believe it is good enough to pass off horrible behaviour in the classroom as 'its because he is a boy'.  Horrible behaviour is horrible regardless of gender.

A feminist book

So it was with trepidation that I picked up a feminist book called 'How to be a Woman' because I thought it might be another opportunity of cheap man knocking.  I was wrong.  It turns out that me and Caitlin Moran think almost the same about a long list of issues.

Investment Handbags  are just wrong

There are a whole load of vacuous so called symbols of femininity that I don't get. Gel nails with sparkles, long hair, OK Magazine and shopping or even worse shopping with friends, having more than one handbag, having a handbag that costs the same as a car!  Moran is of the opinion that having an 'investment' handbag is total nonsense.  I totally agree.  A bag is meant to carry things around (not small dogs) and with luck matches your outfit, so don't be sucked in by the global marketing techniques that matches a stick insect woman with an ugly handbag.  Expensive equals good does it?   NO!  And if you think otherwise then you'll have to be satisfied with the fact that I am right and you are wrong!

The modern wedding

The average cost of a wedding is 25,000 pounds.  That is a shocking amount of money and I blame the conveyor belt mentality on advertising and reality tv. Conveyor belt meaning that the couple get whisked along on a spending spree of what they think is expected of them and the belt keeps on moving them along until they wave good bye to all the guests to boogie the night away at the reception.  After that is when the shock of managing their budget month to month, paying a mortgage and bringing up children they wish they'd used that money on something more practical. Moran feels the same and she talks so much sense on the subject. Set up surprise proposals and having a wedding planner, matching table centre pieces and bridesmaids is not real.

Superfluous Hair

The removal of hair from various parts of the body for very confusing socially acceptable or unacceptable reasons has become the norm and Moran's theory is this new fashion is fuelled by the easy access of porn via the internet where hair has been eliminated for the sake of a good shot (if you pardon the expression).  I too have expressed my opinion about hair in a previous blog Superfluous Hair so you can see that I should have written this book and become as rich and famous as Ms Moran.

Caitlin has become my hero, she loves her husband and her children, loves femine clothes and particularly underwear, but not high heels.  I think her description of  the birth of her first child sounds like a horror story although she got it all right the second time.  I felt rather smug at this point in the book because I got it right on the first go - I have no horror story about child birth.  I had two text book, natural births with no drama invovled and didn't feel the need to utter expletives throughout the experience.

It is so funny

I encourage you all, male or female, to read How to be a Woman because it made me laugh an incredible amount (there is a sad, controvertial bit, be warned).   She does say towards the end that she still doesn't know how to be a woman because she hasn't yet reached the menopause, had teenage children or experienced the death of a parent so I guess I must be ahead of her about learning how to do it.

Mountain Bike Adventure - Lhasa to Kathmandu August 2011

 

 

Lhasa to Kathmandu by Fred Croft

Through Tibet on a bike - a journey not a destination by Fred Croft

 Last August HB embarked upon a most challenging cycle ride starting in Lhasa in Tibet and ending in Kathmandu in Nepal taking in some of the highest mountain passes in the world and also Everest Base Camp.  He covered a distance of 1100km in 18 days and came back 'lighter'.

 

Click on the link which will take you to www.blurb.com a self publishing website where you can preview the book and then place an order.  Its a beautiful coffee table hard back edition containing many breath-taking photographs capturing the experience.

 

Tom Wood Painter

Tom posing next to his portrait of Prince Charles in the National Portrail Gallery in London

 

Here is a link to Tom Wood's new book show casing some beautiful paintings of recent times.

It's produced on a site called Blurb, you can have a look through the virtual pages and then place an order if you so wish.

 

Tom Wood's new book

 

Tom Wood Artist

Click on the link above to read Tom's blog.

 

 

 

 

The Help by Katheryn Stockett

 

Enter a vanished world: Jackson, Mississippi, 1962.  Where black maids raise children but aren't trusted not to steal the silver...

That is the tag line for The Help by Katheryn Stockett

A story about coloured maids who are brave enough to trust one white women who wants them to tell her what its really like to work for a white family and look after their children while living in a racially discriminated society.  The stories are collated into a book that the authors cannot openly put their name to because they fear for their security and their lives.  

The backdrop is the civil rights movement where radical new ideas of integration and equality were being forced into the consciousness of the USA by Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks and President Kennedy. 

That was in 1962.

Meanwhile here in 2011 in Hong Kong philipina maids are essential to the economy of the country but they experience discrimination.  They cannot drive, they cannot do any other type of job, they can ONLY be domestic helpers.  Other nationalities can apply for permanent residency after being in Hong Kong for seven years, but not if you are a philipina maid.

The following is from a website called Legal News, Hong Kong Lawyer 

Filipino maid challenges HK legal system over residency laws

January 2011

'A Filipino maid is challenging Hong Kong’s immigration laws in a bid to gain Hong Kong citizenship. Evangeline Banao Vallejos has filed a writ in the Court of First Instance seeking a review of the decision by authorities not to grant her permanent residency status. Vallejos has lived and worked in Hong Kong as a domestic helper for
24 years. Under Hong Kong law, non-Chinese people are entitled to permanent residency if they have ‘ordinarily resided’ in Hong Kong for a continuous period of seven years. However, the Immigration Ordinance (Cap 115) specifically excludes foreign domestic helpers from being treated as being ‘ordinarily’ resident. A human rights law firm, which is acting for Vallejos, argued that this section of the law is discriminatory and contrary to Art 24 of the Basic Law. If the challenge – on the grounds that the policy is unconstitutional under the Basic Law – is successful, 250,000 domestic helpers could apply for permanent residency once they have been in the city for seven years continuously'

 

Philippines Hails Landmark Maids Treaty

 

UPDATE  2nd October, 2011

 

Hong Kong Maid wins right to apply for permanent resident status.

The Internet and me, a work in progress.

Dumber

Does the internet make us stupid?

It seems quite hypocritical of me to write a blog which is anti Google.  To write anything and publish it on the internet for all to share and read while at the same time be full of doubt and worry and concern about whether it makes us stupid could make me stupid too?

 But I am genuinely worried.

 
Click Here

Is the capability of finding information at the click of a button  really the best way to run ones life?

 Who is Accountable?

The number one question has to be about trust.  Do you trust the information you are taken to?  Is it up to date?  Is it ethical?  Is it accountable?  Newspapers can be taken to Court for slander or liable if they do not report the truth.  They are accountable whatever you think of them, even the News of the World  or even South China Morning Post (actually I need to check that!).   But any old slapper can write an article and whack it up on a  website and pass it off as being true.  People can pretend to be someone else and actively try to hide their identity.  (My name IS Lesley Croft btw).

Close Your Lid

As a teacher of students who all have their own MacBook on their desk and have the capability of googling anything.  I suspect that they have all become completely addicted to their computers and are a bunch of slovenly layabouts who can't even do any thinking for themselves. The recent best seller by Nicholas Carr called The Shallows  suggests that the use of the internet is altering the way we think and we have become less able to digest large and complex amounts of information such as...books.  Are we now a world of 'slacktivists'.  More about Nicholas Carr

"Should we reintroduce the death penalty?" I ask my class in an attempt to spark a discussion where opinions will be flying around the room like electricity. (not meant to be a pun)

Then I find a student who has typed the question into google and sets about opening up the squillion results to find the right answer.  FGS (I'm not sure if that is a cool and hip acronym to write, like LOL, but For God's Sake comes natural to me so I feel it is worthy of a FGS).  Use your own brain I yell!  Close your lid!

Shirley Turkle has expressed much the same concerns in her book, Alone Together Why we Expect more from Technology and Less from Each Other.  Because when it boils down to it using the powerful tool that is the internet via your lap top or your blackberry or your iphone is just you, in a room alone.  You/we/me enjoy the contact and communication and sense of sharing we can get through the power of the internet.  As humans we want to share and we get immense enjoyment out of sharing.  This must be true otherwise why would Facebook or Twitter or the capability to comment on any random YouTube video be so popular?   But would we enjoy it more or less if we had that face to face communication as easily. In this world of social networking just how sociable are we really?

Hello FB Friends!  Come to my party

So if I was in a real live room with all my real live friends on Facebook would I be so keen to like them or comment on their new hat or latest holiday snaps?  I predict there would be lots of moments of awkwardness, perhaps a few stifled yawns where the latest photos of their latest meal would get the better of me.  Would I really be able to show the same enthusiasm towards their beautiful wife on her birthday.  In the past those sentiments would only be shared in a personal birthday card which would stand on the sideboard.  Now everyone gets to read it!   I would struggle to remember names.  And there would be at least one full-on-punches-and-everything-thrown fight, quite a few slanging matches not to mention one or two intimate, yet flirtatious, conversations in a few dark corners.  And because all of these people are my friends I would be responsible for such an event and be the one who is blamed for the disaster that would be a party.

Those Where The Days

In my day when there was no internet or mobile phone or even a phone in the house.   What did I do?  I watched the three available channels on the telly, once they came on in the evening.  Before that I read as many Enid Blyton books as I could get my hands on.  I knocked on the doors of my friends to see if they wanted to come out to play.  All friends lived no more than 100 yards away.  When the local paper came I read that and found out what was happening in the area approximately of a 50 mile radius of where I lived.  For a change we would walk to the chip shop, sometimes we would have money to buy chips.  When I got older and could venture to Stockton to buy music I brought home 45rpm singles and played them on repeat with the arm back on the record player so I would learn them by heart (ask me to sing Puppy Love by Donny Osmond).

You know what, it was boring compared to the information sharing, movies, music and breaking news we have available to us now so perhaps this 'real world' that many hark back to is an illusion and just never really existed?  Being in a room alone with a computer seems much more attractive to being in a room alone with a Danset record player and a Donny Osmond 45.

 

Memories of King Kowloon - Exhibition TaiKoo Place

 


  Exhibition - 20th April - 31st May 2011  10am - 8pm

  Venue - ArtisTree  1/F Cornwall House, TaiKoo Place    FREE ADMISSION

  Nearest MTR  Quarry Bay

This History behind the man

This exhibition is a well thought out informative history of one of Hong Kong's most loved graffiti artists. Long before Banksy had even cut his first stencil Tsang Tsou-choi was using traditional Chinese calligraphy, with ink and a paint brush, to write his message on public spaces for the world to read.   Of course being unable to read Chinese the message, up until now, has been lost on me. 

Royal Blood

Now that the exhibition has enlightened me I know that he thought himself the rightful royal ruler of the Kowloon peninsula and his messages demanded he should be given total rule of all of Kowloon.  He objected to Elizabeth 1 being the colonial ruler so his first messages were addressed to her.  After the handover things didn't go quite as he expected and so he had to continue painting his messages for all to see.  After 1997 they were aimed at the Chinese government and he continued to claim that he was in fact the King of Kowloon.  He was still waiting for tax to be paid to him from Donald Tsang upon his death.  Tsang never replied to his tax demand which was painted on a wall in Kowloon!

It is estimated that over 51 years of scribbling in 80 locations over Hong Kong he generated 55,845 pieces of work and used 1,170 litres of ink. 

The Exhibition

The rooms are darkened with well lit exhibits not only of his work, of which there is miles, but of various artifacts from his life that have been preserved for posterity.  Some quite mundane memorabilia such as old felt tip pens and empty ink bottles claimed to belong to the King.  G.O.D. now uses some of his ideas and sells them as trendy items in their shops.  They have an alarm clock and a t-shirt adorned with the Kings calligraphy, now hot fashion items.  Buy now while stocks last!

Space Invader

During his lifetime his fame spread around the world and he was visited by Space Invader - graffiti artist , a famous American graffiti artist who placed one of his tile designs on the wall of the old folks home where he lived.  This has now been removed and is carefully displayed.  I am reliably informed this is worth thousands these days.

Local Talent

Students from local schools have used King Kowloon as inspiration for their own work and this is also on display and well worth a look.  Who says Hong Kong students cannot be creative? 

 

 

William and Kate - Royal Wedding - 29th April, 2011

God Save the Queen.

The Official Site of The Royal Wedding

The wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton is on Friday.  Did you know?

It's at 11am british time so that makes it 6pm Hong Kong time.  How civilized.

I feel I am missing out on the celebrations and street parties because I am not in jolly old blighty.  I know I can watch wall to wall telly about 'how they met' 'who designed the dress' 'who is on the invitation list' 'how his parents met' (who were they?) etc etc but what I am missing out on is the cheap tat that will be inevitably be on sale in...I was going to say Woolworths, but that's long gone, so whatever the equivalent to Woolies is these days?  Probably ASDA or TESCO.

I am still mourning the breakage of the Charles and Diana mug that I bought 31 years ago although that drop may have been a freaky premonition.  Or just a smashed mug?

Here are some excellent examples of the William & Kate memoribilia - my personal favourite is the the William and Kate Fridge!

 

The Food for the reception

Is this the price of a stamp these days?

This beer has been created to celebrate the day.

Kiss me Kate

 Weird masks, balloons and plastic cups - everything you'll need for your street party

I am surprised I haven't seen for sale in Sai Kung.

bunting and flags

Condoms by appointment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Well, if it was Prince Andrew it would be different.

 

Kate Middleton doll (could be full size with open mouth, not too sure)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My favourite - the fridge - a splendid addition to any modern kitchen

Knit your own Royal Wedding kit, corgis included - start now to be ready for the 29th!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is she really the girl next door?

  Love Hearts for those with a sweet tooth.

 

 

Totally chavvy nails.  A must for all slappers!

                                              Royal tea bags               Royal jigsaw puzzle

 

Top Shop Bunting Socks - a must for your big day William...

 

                                                              Isn't it K for Katherine?

This is just to remind me of the mug I smashed.

 

Weekend in Shanghai

Chen Yi, the first communist mayor of Shanghai

I have to admit to being not very well travelled when it comes to China.  I have lived in SAR for nearly ten years now but have been some how magnetically repelled from the mainland because of the horror stories I hear on a daily basis about:-

• dirty toilets
• dirty air
• dirty streets
• dirty trains

Then there is the danger angle people like to thrap on about:-

• risk of earthquake
• risk of flood

Not to mention the general physical risks of:-

• being robbed
• being in a car accident
• being swindled

Taking my life in my hands I visited Shanghai, China's most populous city to find it was none of those things and whats more I had a great time and came back all in one piece.  I enjoyed it, I felt safe and I would go back.

ART

There is lots of art to see and the first stop was Shanghai Museum of Art situated next to the People's Park.  At the moment there is an exhibition of American Print Makers and we saw famous pieces by Jasper John's and Jim Dine.  After that we headed for 50 Moganshan Road which is a higgledy piggledy complex of converted warehouses filled with a vast variety of contemporary art.  Hundreds of visitors are attracted to this area every day and as well as the art there are trendy cafes and coffee to be had.  There is also the Museum of Modern Art, a state of the art glass building inside the People's Park but at the moment it just has a cafe inside - no art.

Pervert taking photograph of young girl's legs

 

THE PEOPLE'S PARK

The People's Park itself is a myriad of life.  A well looked after garden plus a few small theme park rides, it attracts a variety of people.  Sit on the grass and enjoy your picnic.  Practise tai chi to your hearts content.  Dress up in a panda outfit and thrill the children.  Advertise your unmarried grown up children being available for marriage (there was loads of that).  Play chess.  Beg.  Stop bewildered tourists and ask them questions to practise your English then offer to take them to a tea ceremony (we had that lots of times). All very friendly and non threatening.  I was even protected from a particularly annoying beggar in the park by some Shanghai people who felt the need to keep me safe and send her on her way.  They then translated what they had said for me which was basically 'get a job and stop bothering the tourist's!

Weeeee!

WANTED - GROOM FOR MY DAUGHTER

 

NANJING ROAD

Upon arrival on Nanjing Road pedestrian street the hawkers selling copy everythingyoucanthinkof pounced but being used to it on Nathan Road the usual technique of eyes front and ignore was implemented.  Although I wasn't quite ready for the wheelie shoe sellers who zipped about on a type of roller skate wheel that can be attached to any shoe.  They obviously felt that I was in the market for wheelie shoes but I politely declined, at first, after the 8th person zipping up to me on their trendy wheels I had had enough.  That's when Fairy Land Foot Massage lit its beacon and led me up their wonderful staircase to wonderfulness.  See previous blog.

Fairyland Foot Massage, Shanghai

THE BUND

In the evening, after one of the most delicious and interesting meals of my life at Lost Heaven.  See previous blog. 

Lost Heaven

We did The Bund.  The most famous area by the river lined with magnificent historic stone built structures dating back to a time when the west had a strong influence on the city.  On The Bund side of the river are the neo classical and art deco style buildings while across the river are the futuristic modern buildings all lit up and pretty.  Having said that it was Earth Hour when we arrived which meant that most of the lights had been switched off for an hour so the impact of them all coming on again at 9.30pm was thrilling, albeit not environmentally that friendly!

JAZZ IN SHANGHAI

On The Bund is the Peace Hotel which contains a very cool jazz club.  We look our positions on high stools at the bar and enjoyed the band.  Wow!  Excellent live music.  I didn't enjoy the cigarette smoke quite so much and it was a surprise to be in a bar full of smoke these days.  There is talk that China will ban smoking in public places very soon.  Let's wait to see how it goes?  A bit more jazz after the Peace Hotel involved a taxi ride to JZ Jazz Bar, 46 Fuxing Road, near Yongfu Road which was, again filled with smoke, and a zillion more people.  It is Shanghai's hippest jazz club.  After a difficult attempt at trying to get close to the stage and being told we had to pay 500 RMB for the privilege, we moved back to the free seating and let the jazz wash over us.  Yeh daddio!

OLD SHANGHAI AND YU GARDENS

Next morning more exploring was on the itineray and a visit to Yu Gardens and Old Shanghai.  It was crowed.  Very crowded.  But very exciting and filled with atmosphere and tourists being lead around by ladies in red caps and the dreaded electric megaphone.  Oh dear!  The buildings and temples were stunning and food stalls overwhelming.  We made our way out of the more crowded tourist shuffle area down some back streets where the real people lived and enjoyed a lunch which was cooked for us as we watched.  There were ceramic dishes already prepared with the ingredients, vegetables, fish or meat or just a veggie options with noodles or rice.  Once you choose your dish it was placed over a gas flame until it bubbled and cooked everything.  I think it was the original Pot Noodle.

So I wasn't in any danger as far as I know and I now know the horror stories are just that - stories.  There was even a Marks & Spencers with a sale on with a great coat just wating for me!

 

MORE PHOTOS WILL BE POSTED SHORTLY

 

Another Year directed by Mike Leigh

THE MIKE LEIGH TECHNIQUE

I love the fact that Mike Leigh doesn't let the actors of his films have a script and the fact that he makes them develop the character themselves.  He sits them down and asks them a zillion questions about the character they will be, from what sort of breakfast did you eat as a child and how did you go to school to how you feel about your boss and how did you sleep last night.  Until the actor becomes the font of all knowledge for their character and will 'live' their character throughout their stint playing them.  Abigail's Party and Nuts in May are my favourites probably because Alison Steadman is in both of them.

BRITISH FILM IN HONG KONG

I look out for new work from Leigh and have been looking forward to seeing Another Year.  Eventually it came to Hong Kong after being released in the UK last year.  I am always keen to watch British films and adore the ordinariness of their portrayal of real life in all its mundane ways much more than the Hollywood razzmatazz. 

ANOTHER YEAR - REVIEW

World Exclusive Trailer - The Guardian

Another Year shows us the lives of Gerri and Tom, a middle-aged couple nearing retirement, and their year as the seasons change on their allotment.  Tom is a geologist and Gerri is a counsellor.  They are middle class and very comfortable in their cozy modern house and I want to tell you they have an Aga but I am not 100% sure, for arguments sake let's believe they do.  But the story is not really about them, its about their long  term friends Mary, a desperately sad and lonely woman who Gerri works with and Ken, Tom's old friend who is overweight and unhealthy with a potential drink problem.  The other character who is also taken into the kitchen (with Aga)  is Tom's brother who comes to stay after the death of his wife.

MARY

These three people are featured around the table of Gerri and Tom at various times during the year and their unhappiness is palpable. They are all in need of love and care at a time in their lives when none of them have a partner for various reasons.  Mary, in particular, is appealing to the couple for support and a slice of security in her shambolic life.  There is no doubt that Lesley Manville was utterly brilliant working in the Mike Leigh style and the audience can feel nothing but sympathy for her.

SUCH A REVOLTING COUPLE

I found the main characters of Tom and Gerri to be the most revolting  people.  They didn't entertain their friends, they merely  tolerated them.  They did not help them in any way apart  from feeding them and offering copious glasses of wine which was probably the last thing they needed.  Looking down their noses at their sad and lonely friends and just allowing them to get deeper into a  mire of self pity and mental health problems.   Gerri is the worst counsellor in the world and Tom has probably given up caring about his profession a long time ago given that retirement and more time on his allotment is looming. His sensitivity is actually cold and fake.

ORDINARILY BRITISH

It is a beautifully shot film and is British in its ordinariness, in a good way.  But I was so depressed at their lack of real care for their friends and I became more and more irritated by their superior stance of 'we are happy and you are not' attitude I wanted to take Mary and Ken and genuinely help them.  Really listen to their problems and really be supportive instead of a half arsed invitation for dinner during which nothing is really said and nothing is really changed.

 

 

Strawberry Picking - Hong Kong

Here I am snipping the strawberries

 

http://yl.com.hk/sbg/index.html

 

STRAWBERRY PICKING - SHA TAU KOK ROAD

Today I picked about 5lbs of strawberries on a pick-your-own-farm up towards Fanling in the New Territories.  In fact it's almost in China and there is the border with a policeman and a big sign saying Permit Holders Only'.  There is a big Buddhist temple on the right of Sha Tau Kok Road with many people burning paper offerings to their ancestors, some quite nice gardens with some carp swimming about although it could do with a clean and general prune.  One Buddhist temple is much like any other round these parts but this one has stalls with dried and fresh produce for sale.  The added bonus is the strawberry picking field.

My punnet (see below) cost $140 and right now I am making jam!

I would never have believed it possible but its really true.  It is strawberry picking for softies in that the plants are grown on plastic sheeting so no need to get any dirty soil on your Guccis plus they provide a handy pair of kiddie scissors for snipping the stalks.

 

A basket full of strawberries    $140 please

 As well as that I have now made organic carrot and corriander soup.  It's all good.

BREAKING NEWS - JAM IN JARS

Extra bonus addition to this blog - it is now Tuesday 5th April and the jam is now in jars.

The first attempt resulted in 4 jars of jam but it didn't set.  So I put two jars back in the pan, added apple skin and boiled for longer.  This resulted in set jam but it reduced down to only one jar.  It is yummy but in no way economical. 

The Hong Kong Literary Festival 2011 Benjamin Zephaniah

 

Benjamin Zephaniah

AN AUDIENCE WITH BEN PLUS HUNDREDS OF CHILDREN

In previous years I have seen authors talk about how they write and what they do to produce a book worthy of publication.  I am always interested in such a process having got to chapter seven of my own masterpiece but, so far, cannot find the wherewithal to continue to the end.  Authors sit in rooms with computers and write.  They usually work alone and so for the majority being in front of a large audience is not a natural environment.  Some can talk and be interesting, some can tell a story as well as write it, the opposite is sometimes, unfortunately true.  Some are not interesting and can't tell a story apart from when they are in their own room silently producing the written word.

A MAN OF MANY TALENTS

Benjamin Zephaniah is not soley a writer.  He is a performer.  Having an audience with him (and a few hundred school children) at this years literary festival was a wonderful experience.  His poetry is funny and accessable with a serious message.

I used to think nurses were women

I used to think police were all men

I used to think poets were boring

until I became one of them

 

You see what I mean?  Four lines, quite simple and straight forward but worthy of an analytical essay about the deeper meaning relating to feminism, class and stereotypical judgements in a post colonial voice.

A FUNNY MAN WITH A SERIOUS MESSAGE

Zephaniah is funny.  He doesn't take himself seriously but he does take the world seriously.  His work carries a message about equality and justice for all, including turkeys.  He talks of racism and sexism and even vegatarinism.  The children were more than satisfied by his answers to their questions about what kind of car he drives to his twin sister's name and he deflected any questions about his dreadlocks, obviously he gets that a lot!

At 53 he is looking good.  I wonder if its being a rasta, being a vegan or being a kung fu expert?

BENJAMIN ZEPHANIAH  OBE?

He was awarded an OBE but declined to accept it.  Here is the poem about that time.

 

Smart big awards and prize money
Is killing off black poetry
It's not censors or dictators that are cutting up our art.
The lure of meeting royalty
And touching high society
Is damping creativity and eating at our heart.

The ancestors would turn in graves
Those poor black folk that once were slaves would wonder
How our souls were sold
And check our strategies,
The empire strikes back and waves
Tamed warriors bow on parades
When they have done what they've been told
They get their OBE's.

Don't take my word, go check the verse
Cause every laureate gets worse
A family that you cannot fault as muse will mess your mind,
And yeah, you may fatten your purse
And surely they will check you first when subjects need to be amused
With paid for prose and rhymes.

Take your prize, now write more,
Faster,
Fuck the truth
Now you're an actor do not fault your benefactor
Write, publish and review,
You look like a dreadlocks Rasta,
You look like a ghetto blaster,
But you can't diss your paymaster
And bite the hand that feeds you.

What happened to the verse of fire
Cursing cool the empire
What happened to the soul rebel that Marley had in mind,
This bloodstained, stolen empire rewards you and you conspire,
(Yes Marley said that time will tell)
Now look they've gone and joined.

We keep getting this beating
It's bad history repeating
It reminds me of those capitalists that say
'Look you have a choice,'
It's sick and self-defeating if our dispossessed keep weeping
And we give these awards meaning
But we end up with no voice.

 

 

 

Putting it Together The Fringe Club, Hong Kong

Golden Voice Entertainment...

The cast of Putting it Together

GOLDEN VOICE

Sounds smooth doesn't it?  It just rolls off the tongue.  Say it with me "Golden Voice Entertainment" . Try again and this time think Barbara Streisand. All together - One, two, three "Golden Voice Entertainment"  Lovely isn't it?

DIRECTOR - FRINGE CLUB, HONG KONG

Michael Sharmon is the artistic director of Golden Voice Entertainment and it is actually true.  He does have a golden voice and so do the cast of Putting it Together, a Stephen Sondheim review performed at The Fringe Club in February. Once home and tucked up in bed I did a bit of googling (sounds a bit personal doesn't it?) to find that the story was creatively linked together based on previously existing songs from a number of different Sondheim musicals.  Stone me!  They all fitted together seamlessly to form a new story in its own right.  How clever. 

MUSIC

The Fringe Club is a very suitable venue for intimate shows like this with just 4 main characters up close and personal allowing us to see and feel their emotions but not allowing us to think about the uncomfortable seats.  The music was provided by two extremely experienced and talented musicians, Peter Lally on piano and Peter Scherr on double bass - terrific!  They were positioned at the back of the stage so were on view throughout.

JACQUELINE GOURLAY GRANT

The star was undoubtedly Jacqueline Gourlay Grant who played "The Wife" as well as being Musical Director.  What a woman!  I am sure that she has had a hand in many shows in Hong Kong and is a magical force on stage.  And by the way Jacqueline, great jacket.

WHAT'S NEXT?

Looking forward to the next one and thanks again to Michael Sharmon and the whole cast who take time to provide the community with such a tremendously high standard of local entertainment.  Beats that huge atmosphereless hall at the airport.

 

 

 

Educating Rita (Lesley)

Julie Walters and Michael Caine 

Educating Rita

McAulay Studio,

Wan Chai

Hong Kong

26th February, 2011

Rita - Kim Haslam

Frank - Adam Harris

THE HONG KONG CAST

Educating Rita was performed at the McAulay Studio in Wan Chai with Adam Harris as Frank, the consistently inebriated professor who is charged with Rita, a working class girl with big ideas.  Rita, played by Kim Haslam, is a hairdresser who has signed up with The Open University to get herself an education.  Frank sets about teaching literary criticism to someone with no previous knowledge and we witness the change in Rita as education starts to work.

CONVINCING DRUNKENESS

The performance of both actors, the only people on the stage during the two acts, was truly excellent from the very convincing drunkenness to the Liverpudlian accent to the dusty books on the shelves and the illusion of the window to outside.

HAIR CUT SIR?

Adam's usual hairstyle fitted the part of geriatric hippie exactly and not wanting to be rude I won't mention the beard. But I'll take a risk just in case it was grown for this part, I'm sure he won't mind if I suggest that clean shaven, shorter hair would indeed take ten years off him!

AM I RITA?

I can really relate to Rita.  I think I am her.  You see I am an Open University product but was much older than 26 before it dawned on me that getting a degree would open some doors.  No one ever burnt my books or told me to stop though, everyone was extremely supportive and I couldn't have done it without the help of my family.

OPEN UNIVERSITY

But I wonder if an education is really the way forward these days, perhaps it's not? A degree is common place and in the UK equals a debt with no guarantee of a job.  My own children are heading that way and as much as I want them to have the experience of being there and experiencing 'life' as opposed to an Open University course where you study at home being extremely self disciplined and swotty (well I was!) the chance of a job at the end seems remote in the present economic climate.

MASTERS DEGREE - IS IT WISE?

So with this in mind I have quite rashly signed up to do a Masters Degree with, you've guessed it, The Open University.  I am into my third assignment and so far have found it excruciatingly boring mind numbingly dull and sleep inducing.  My scores are only just acceptable and there are periods of time when I am forced to say no to invitations out because I have to do my reading or essay writing.

Why? Why? Why?

IF SHE CAN DO IT WHY CAN'T I?

Right now I am doubting my ability to get through this Open University course.  Last night while watching Educating Rita I found myself wondering why it is so difficult for me, after all I have no alcoholic tutor or any pressure to have a baby, no one has ever burnt my assignments and I don't have a suicidal flatmate.  Get a grip Lesley!