Lesley in Hong Kong

Dialogue in the Dark

http://www.dialogue-experience.com.hk/web/subpage.php?mid=6

 

Address: Shop 215, 2/F, Nob Hill Square, 8 King Lai Path, Mei Foo, Kowloon
Telephone: 2310 0833 (General) / 2891 0438 (Group Booking) / 2310 8610 (Birthday in the Dark / Special event)

 

Mei Foo MTR Exit C - 5 -7 minutes walk

 

Online Booking

I pre booked an experiential tour in the dark for 22 people.  Their website booking system was a little too restricting for my dates and times but after some very helpful email exchanges I managed to book what I really wanted.

 

This is a very unique experience for adults and children alike.  You'll be outside of your comfort zone and that is something we should all do from time to time.   The basic point of the tour is to experience what it's like to navigate yourself around a busy city (Hong Kong) and all the challenges that involves as a visually impaired person using a white stick.

 

90 Minutes in the Dark

After some instruction about how to hold a white stick, in small groups of eight, we were lead by our visually impaired guide for 90 minutes in complete darkness.  When I say dark, I mean complete and utter blackness for the whole time.  There was no time that my eyes made an adjustment to the environment.  There was no time that I had any idea what the environment looked like or where my guide was.  Although I knew I was with seven other people, there was no time I knew how many where in front or behind me. However, our guide used his voice in the most comforting way.  He gave clear instructions about which direction to walk and when.  

 

The Route

The route took us through various places which we had to feel with our feet, hands and stick as we walked slowly, with trepidation, through the space.    Within the dark dark space a recreation of a wooded area with leaves to feel and a gravel floor to a street scene and even boarding a ferry has been constructed to give sighted people the disarming experience of beginning to know what it's like to be without the sense of sight.   I say beginning to know, because I feel sure that living without sight has many more restrictions than the 90 minutes can ever tell us, but at the same time gave our group an appreciation of the skills required.   It also gave us an idea that our guide was much much more perceptive in the dark than any of us.  He was so aware of us and where we were, remembering our names and guiding, directing and giving us confidence to know where to go, we began to think he was actually wearing night vision goggles.   HE WASN'T.  

 

Back in the Light

Once we were back out into the light and our white sticks returned is when we could see our guide for the first time.   He has been visually impaired since birth.  It was most humbling to meet him and have the opportunity of having a Q&A session with him.  We also had a go at writing braille and using a special plastic device to work out which bank note is which.   There are many gadgets and techniques to help visually impaired people to cope in many different areas of life.

 

Dialogue in the Dark offers many options where, if you are brave enough, you can celebrate your  birthday with  a party in the dark and musical concerts in the dark.   Instruction can be in English or Cantonese. 

 

 

 

 

Jekyll & Hyde - Jonathan Holloway's

Chung Ying Theatre Company

1 - 10 May 2015

The Hong Kong Jockey Club Amphitheatre,  HKAPA

Wan Chai

Hong Kong

 

We are all aware of Robert Louis Stevenson's story, Dr Jekyll experiments with a substance and turns into a hideous monster at night.  In Jonathan Holloway's version Dr. Jekyll is a woman.  

The setting is still Victorian London with a magnificent stage set reflecting the fact that it is being performed in Hong Kong.  Stunning red silk lanterns were hung above the gothic room. The cast, a mixture of Chinese and English actors, and if I say everyone had a hint of Helena Bonham Carter and Tim Burton on Halloween I'm sure you'll understand the general vibe.

Performed in English with Chinese and English subtitles, I always find that slightly distracting but I understand their reasons, with dialogue packed with euphemisms  about sex.  Are all euphemisms about sex?  "Would you like to open the petals of my purple orchid?" "Will your stamen enter my flower while still lubricated by another?"  I may not have those quotes completely accurate but that was the gist of the lines.   There were rather a lot of references to sex in the whole production, while not explicit, we couldn't have that in conservative Hong Kong now could we (we were in Wan Chai!).

In this version we see Dr. Jekyll as a woman, yet a scientist, the ONLY woman doctor in London at that time struggling to break the stereotype placed upon her gender, rebelling against conformity of marriage and family life, choosing to experiment alone in her explorations of substances and what-do-you-know she is quite the temptress.  We see shadowy scenes through the opaque bathroom door of two bodies together, items of clothes being removed and illicit pleasure being had.

And so when 'she' becomes Hyde she becomes a man.  In this persona, which isn't revealed until much later in the play, she is a lout, a violent rapist and we have to presume a transexual because of the comments about his/her ability to rape.  Olivia Winteringham who plays Jekyll and Hyde is a slight woman and when she appears as the man, Hyde, she has blood stained bandages around her chest area eluding to her having sliced off her breasts?  Well this is what you get with gothic literature.

I do question the power of this play to shock though, we already know the story and to put a woman as Jekyll as a tool to twist the plot seemed not enough of a shock in our 21st Century transgender sexual equality world.  Perhaps a man dressed as a woman playing a woman as a man and then turning into a man played by a woman as a man would have made us think more.  Oh hang on, Shakespeare has already done that!

 

 

 

 

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.  

 

Dunsinane - Auditorium, Kwai Tsing Theatre

 

A production by the National Theatre of Scotland and the Royal Shakespeare Company.

2nd - 4th May this prestigious production was performed in Kwai Tsing Theatre.  The nearest MTR station, Kwai Fong, exit B to be precise.  

 The Venue

I really cannot stress enough just how smart this theatre is.  I assumed that because I was going to Kwai Fong in the New Territories on a Saturday night it would be something of a sub standard forgotten building.   How wrong I was.  Kwai Tsing Theatre is beautiful, modern, clean with an excellent sound system.  The toilets were great, plenty of them and all well stocked, and most importantly the temperature was just right.  There was no freezing arctic moments to contend with.  What more could one want from a night out at the theatre?  Oh yes, now I remember.  A bar. 

Everyone expects a glass of wine at the intermission, don’t they?

 

Dunsinane is set in 1054 Scotland, written by David Greig in 2010. It is a dramatic sequel to MacBeth.  Just exactly what does happen to Scotland after the death of brave MacBeth?  Is MacDuff king?  Do Malcom's sons return to claim their right to the thrown?  These and more questions will be answered in Dunsinane.  

 Cheeky Sequel

Is it cheeky to write a sequel to a great Shakespeare work?  

It certainly is, and that's why it is so wonderful.  As we all know sequels can be bad.  Part 2’s can be awful,  with the exception of Toy Story 3 obviously.  Perhaps because hundreds of years have passed since the original work, it can be described as cheeky to take liberties; such as keeping Lady MacBeth alive and kicking, not particularly as bonkers as she was the last time we heard her scream and then go silent as she jumped from a balcony.  I suppose if Bobby Ewing can wake up and it all be a dream and Jean Rhys can rename Bertha, the mad woman in the attic in Jane Eyre, Antoinette, then Lady MacBeth, henceforth known as Gruach, can be alive. 

It is an excellent play and I suspect even more well received in Scotland prior to the coming referendum.  Keep those English out! 

 

Shakespeare in the Port - Taming of the Shrew

Festival of Shakespeare,

The Podium,

Cyberport,

Hong Kong

 

http://www.cyberport.hk/campaign/cyberlink/vol024/detail_page_4.html

 

20^th April 2014   Easter Sunday.

 

http://www.ticketflap.com/en/events/174/

 

 

I don’t go and see Shakespeare for the plot. I go and see how it is done.  The stage direction is truly up to the director and any form of creativity can be used.  This is the interesting aspect.  So going to an outdoor stage on a Sunday afternoon was intriguing.  Staging this play in an outside open arena, which relied on the voice projection of the cast with no microphones, back drop, curtains or lighting was a major challenge for most of the actors.  The Podium at Cyberport is an area suitable for 2,000 people and with some more creative seating ideas the few who were watching this play could have had a much better experience instead of the scattered and informal arrangement on Sunday.

 

I do really commend the organizers for this event and the very fact that it will continue until 4^th May is wonderful.  Bringing Shakespeare to the masses in an informal manner is an attempt to make it accessible to all. Encouraging the presence of young children is also good.  It was unfortunate that on Easter Sunday not many people came along.  The organizers attempts at having a family fun day in the open, sterile atmosphere of The Podium left us feeling lost in a shadeless space on a very hot day.  There was definitely not enough to keep us there for more than one play.   There seemed to be lots of staff but no one really knew what to do.  Perhaps on the days when the tickets are $150 and not $300 would equal more people?

 

I counted 50 people towards the closing act of Taming of the Shrew on Sunday.  This number drifted in and out throughout and was not consistent.  During the performance children played or became restless and had to be distracted in other ways towards the building at the back.  That resulted in more distracting noise, as well as the helicopter flying overhead and the ships in the port.   The slightly sloping arena with a low step and grass area was uncomfortable and undefined. The usual reverence offered to a drama was missing and, therefore, the hushed silence as the ‘curtain’ is drawn and the lights come on was lost. 

 

The actors valiantly played on.  Kate and Petruchio were outstanding.  I admired their energy tremendously and as it should be I did laugh at the comedic moments.  This is what Shakespeare wanted his audience to do and it did not pass me by that the original production would have been to a rowdy sweaty crowd in the day time with no electrics to enhance the sound.  And it could have rained, but it didn’t, so that was positive!

 

 

Abigail's Party - Hong Kong Players

Hong Kong Players Limited

Abigail's Party

by Mike Leigh

Directied by Jodi Gilchrist

McAulay Studio, Hong Kong Arts Centre, February 26th - March 1st, 2014

 1977 BBC Play for Today  

 

It did exactly what it said on the tin.  It was indeed a painful 100 minutes of British comedy.  I squirmed and cringed my way through the crass awkwardness feeling like an intruder, furtively peeking in through the net curtains at a party I wasn't invited to, but a party I desperately wanted to be part of.  

The scene is a chink of 1970s suburban life played out to the soundtrack of Donna Summer's Love to Love you Baby and Jose Feliciano's Come on Baby Light my Fire with a back drop of Novamura wallpaper.   

I wanted to look away, but at the same time I was compelled to see it out so I could be privy to the details of Beverly's party.  Beverly, hatefully portrayed by Moe Moss, with her lid to brow shock of eye make-up, matching her maxi dress,  flirted and schmoozed her way through the evening attending to her guests every need, poisoning them with her hospitality and exposing herself as the ignoramus Laurence knows she really is.  

Ange, played by Kath O'Connor, is so glibly unaware that the rest of the guests, including monosyllabic husband Tony, Jim Lewis, about-to-burst-a-blood-vessel Laurence, Chris Guiness, and of course Sue, Gail Southward,  are just as much irritated by her childish naivety as they are by Bev's superfluous hostess skills.  

As if is is not enough that we are subjected to witnessing the consumption of  pineapple and cheese on sticks, the persistent and irritating offering of cigarettes from a decorative cigarette box on the coffee table and the constant bickering between the hosts, we also have to watch, horrified, while Sue is slowly discharged of all dignity and Laurence becomes so incessantly stressed by Beverly's persona of kitchness he keels over and *dies.

If I had been a little more prepared I could have brought a cushion to hide behind during the closing scene so I could have shielded my delicate eyes from the unceremonious scrabble on the Berber rug and gone to bed thinking everyone went home and lived happily ever after...

I absolutely loved every moment of this production.  I had high expectations before taking my seat but I was not disappointed in any way.  

*I thought about this as a spoiler alert but frankly this play has been around since 1977 and if you don't know how it ends it's your fault. 

 

 

Enough Said Directed by Nicole Holofcener - is there hope?

Enough Said

Staring  James Gandolfini off of The Sopranos as Albert

and

Julia Louis-Dreyfus off of Seinfeld as Eva

Enough Said is essentially a love story to make the hoards of baby boomers, now finding themselves divorced, alone and single, but still with the responsibility of having dependent children, feel like there is  hope.  In their new dating world Albert and Eva go through the crushing discomfort of their first date that progresses to plain awkwardness and then, happily, to the thrill of new intimacy.   The dramatic irony we are then party to causes us to beg Eva to behave like the grown-up she actually is instead of the fool she appears to be and just be honest with Albert. 

I will not be a plot spoiler.  I do recommend you go and watch it.

What I particularly liked about this film is the way Gandolfini, a larger man, was cast in a romantic role as opposed to the typically handsome Brad Pitt, Hugh Grant or Colin Firth type.  Hollywood rarely makes the fat man the one who gets the girl.  

I know that there are a zillion perfect 10 actresses out there but we also have our fair share of curvaceous women who have rallied the cause for girls bigger than a size 10.  Miranda Hart, Oprah Whitney, Queen Latifah and Dawn French to name a few.  We see such women being happy and successful and loved.  They have the 'Love me for who I am" vibe going on loud and strong and we love them for it.

In Hollywood land we don't see very many men who are not conventionally handsome and I found it really refreshing to see a larger man in a role that involved romance, sex and genuine care for the women in his life.  In an experiment, in my own head, I changed the body types around to make the female role the 'larger' lady and the male role the trim, six pack firm bicep one and played out some scenes from that point of view.  I doubt if the crack about the calorie counter book or the digs about how much dip was consumed would have been received with anything but aggression and plate smashing.

As I said both characters have children who get on airplanes and fly to distant colleges, to be educated and make their own way in the world.  I REALLY cried at that part.   

 

 

Le Crazy Horse Paris - Lyric Theatre, Hong Kong

Sexy Army   You Tube clip (take a peek!)

 

It was with immense anticipation that I took my seat in the Lyric Theatre, Wan Chai, Hong Kong on the evening of 19th September.  I bought the tickets feeling quite flushed with excitement at the very thought of watching a burlesque show.  Or was it that the high ticket price made my heart race?  I mean, what would my mother think?  It was billed as being an erotic performance for over 18s only.  

 

Please take some time to watch the You Tube clip which is the opening act of the show - Sexy Army.

 

Did you watch it?  What did you think?  My first thought was "Small tits"  then after a minute and a half of nothing much happening I thought "Yeh so, when does the erotic dancing start?"

The female form is a wonderful thing.  I appreciate the curves and their beauty.  Crazy Horse has been running for 60 years in a darkened intimate club where the audience is at close proximity to the nakedness and wine, possibly, is being consumed.  I can see that the term erotic is appropriate in such a context.  But in the soulless space of the A.P.A. and the comatosed audience that is the norm rather than the exception in Hong Kong on a Thursday night - frankly it was dull dull dull.

Oh yeh - apart from the bit when the super bendy flexible hip hop male dancer, fully dressed, wowed us with his moves.  That was great.

After the first couple of routines I looked at my friend and she looked back.  We shrugged with puzzled expressions.  We were still hopeful that it would get better, that it would actually become exciting.  The two elderly ladies with their tight grey curly perms in front of us were certainly well equipped with their binoculars - but I suspect they were as disappointed as we were.  It didn't get any better.  

We - meaning us - meaning the 21st Century - are used to sexy dancing.  We see it on MTV every day.  Beyonce and Britney have been doing it for years and doing it to a much higher standard.  Plus they can sing. A few girls with their tits and arses out - moving quite slowly, lacking excitement or originality just didn't cut it.  

 

TEDx Hong Kong ED - School's Out

TEDx HongKong - ED

Saturday 15th June 2013 10am - 4pm

633 Kings Road, Quarry Bay, Hong Kong

 

Website for more information  click here

Ideas Worth Spreading

'The fact is that given the challenges we face, education doesn’t need to be reformed — it needs to be transformed'

-Sir Ken Robinson

I discovered TED Talks on You Tube a few years ago and I use it from time to time in my classes.  Sometimes I come across one that really hits the spot of a particular concept I want to explain and sometimes they are just so damn interesting I bring them into my classroom to inspire my students. The point is that speakers on TED Talks can present an idea so much better than I can.

For instance I grew weary of listening and watching my students do presentations locked in the the restricting mind numbing Microsoft world that is PowerPoint.  I decided to have a power point free year.  I showed them all the TED Talk - A Modest Proposal,  David Bohannon explaining a scientific concept through dance and although didn't expect them to bring that exactly into the small space in front of the whiteboard, I did expect some imagination and creativity so they would at least think about presenting their ideas differently.  I got it.  I had Y7s playing music, rapping, singing, role playing and making art in stead of reading their dry power points.

Click here for more inspiration

When I start teaching the IB English A Language & Literature course (International Baccalaureate site) and all that it involves, the following TED Talk - Jay Walker on the World's English Mania is a marvellous introduction and discussion point for my students to start thinking about the way English is used around the world.  

When I became aware that TEDx was coming to Hong Kong to talk about education I quickly registered and bought my early bird ticket in order to secure my place.  

The event in Quarry Bay was from 10am - 4pm and we were encouraged to register by 9am to ensure a seat.  I felt it would be quite a test of our dwindling concentration spans as I read the itinerary.  As any teacher knows keeping the attention of an audience involves short bursts of information with a variety of ever changing strategies to hold their interest.   Overall this was achieved and the clever addition of the most coordinated man on the planet, Chris Brien and his percussion group 'Tribe' was inspired.  Of course he didn't just perform, he explained his notion that rhythm can bring out creativity, improve IQ levels and boost the immune system  Mozambique Drum Lesson 40 .

I obeyed the instructions and  got there early to take my seat on the 1/F.  It was announced that there were 1000 people attending the event which was actually in the space of the Island Evangelical Community Church and on two floors.  1/F where the stage was with the real live speakers, and 2/F where it was streamed onto to screens.  The rooms were very nicely appointed but surely there are bigger spaces in Hong Kong where everyone could be seated on the same floor?  

When it came to a break and my entitlement to a free drink, I felt that in the short time and given the amount of people, would mean there was no chance to join that queue as well as the queue for the ladies toilets!  Good job I'd brought my own.

I have a feeling that God had kind of sneaked into this event through the back door.   But we were sat in a church so may be he did use the same entrance as everyone else?  Brett Hillard the Senior Pastor of Island ECC spoke with ease, was engaging and certainly made this atheist think.   I was particularly impressed with his creative marketing and brochure ideas and am still allowing the phrase "If you are not failing you are not trying" run through my mind.  

I had my eyes opened by Julian Zhu, excuse the pun, to an organisation called Dialogue in the Dark

Activities to book which is, according to Trip Advisor, Hong Kong's most popular attraction.  DiD is an experiential venue to help understand what it is like to be visual impaired.  With a white cane in hand and eyes bound shut you are guided around a variety of every day places for 175 minutes. There are options for Eating in the Dark and Birthdays in the Dark.The summer holiday is coming up and I certainly intend to visit.

Merijn Everaarts was compelling regarding the epidemic of one use plastic containers used in Hong Kong and his illustrations and statistics really did bring home the message that we will soon drown in waste.  He has developed a sustainable plastic bottle called The Dopper and The Dopper Water & Waste Academy aims to empower citizens to take personal responsibility for reducing waste.  Note to self - tap water in Hong Kong is safe so why do I buy it in bottles?  

From a personal point of view I have been teaching in Hong Kong for 10 years now.  I did my PGCE at The University of Hong Kong and have worked in local schools.  The message I left HKU with was that I should be a 'change agent' and bring about change in the syllabus by incorporating new ways of teaching into the schools in Hong Kong where students are under a vast amount of pressure to pass exams and constant testing evades every waking hour.  Unfortunately the waking hours seem to be once the students are home and in the middle of the night.  Sleeping in class is so common it is acceptable behaviour.  Sleeping in the staff room is also acceptable.   I am not in the local system at the moment but I know that educational reform in Hong Kong is an up hill battle.  I cannot comprehend why any reform is resisted but find it a complete paradox that research regarding new ways of teaching in Hong Kong is blinkered.  The so called 'new ways' of teaching are not in any way new, they go on in the rest of the world as common good practice but in Hong Kong if they are not sitting in rows and passing or failing tests, are not under stress to complete after school tuition or are not carrying spine crushing bags they are not good students.   It was, therefore, with great interest and expectation  that when Sophie Leung took the stage with her tag line 'Instilling Hope to Students in a Skewed Education System' I thought I would hear something new.  She fell well short of the mark and was yet another Hong Kong voice of empty cliches with no actual concrete idea.  

Dr Yvonne Chiu was a very interesting speaker with an array of extremely complex ideas, notions and theories.  Since I returned from TEDx I have read more about her ideas, she made me curious and wanting more.  She had an impact on me.

Peter Kenny, who was last, and I guess was 'top of the bill' was extremely engaging and obviously used to the stage.  He spoke of inclusion, international schools and local schools building links to address the situation we currently have in Hong Kong of having huge waiting lists for international schools yet local primary schools closing down in the local system with not enough students to attend them.  My only complaint was that I wanted him to speak for longer.

CEO Reach Education Organization 

There were 13 speakers expressing their ideas about education in Hong Kong and asking us to question whether we are doing the right thing for children, the  city itself and the future.  Each segment will be available to the public via the recordings made on the day so everyone has the opportunity to listen. 

 

 

 

 

One Man, Two Guvnors 41st Hong Kong Arts Festival 2013

If you didn't get your act together and booked your ticket for this wonderful event, which is part of the 2013 Arts Festival, way back in October, then you've probably missed your window of opportunity to see it in Hong Kong.  So you're going to be feeling totally frustrated and generally pissed off once you read my blog telling you how bloody marvelous it is.

It is bloody marvelous!

One Man, Two Guvnors is a brilliant play encompassing the basic elements of a British farce with very satisfying door swinging, mistaken identity and trousers down moments linked with Commedia dell'Arte  and based on Goldoni's The Servant of Two Masters.  So if you don't know (I didn't) have a quick read on Wikipedia and learn.

Set in Brighton (which is interesting) 1963 our protagonist, Francis Henshall, a most cheeky chappy who is on stage for 99% of the time and holds the whole play together, while interacting with the audience as well as making us all believe and care about his character, even when he appears to go out of character - keep your wits about you - which was all part of the suspension of disbelief and I was suspended and believed hook line and sinker.

I loved the baddie, the cad the cavalier Stanley Stubbers, even though I wasn't supposed to,  but his line 'Smells worse than a doctor's finger' was, for me, one of the funniest of the night. 

I particularly loved the set which was large painted sections of movable walls with a nod to the era using 1960's colour and design (which means clashing, bordering on bad taste kitsch)  while at the same time tricked the eye resulting in a feel of the whole stage being much taller and deeper than it really is. 

I have to mention the band.  So refreshing in Hong Kong to have musicians on view and also looking cool.  As a special treat the boys in the band, think Buddy Holly/Beatles lookalike and soundalike, come up on stage at the beginning and during set changes to entertain.  Dressed in matching suits and skinny black ties, thier slicked backed quiffs and large horn rimmed glasses add to the 60's mood and I loved the metal vintage microphones.

I had a wonderful evening of entertainment in Wan Chai's Lyric Theatre and it was very convenient to partake in a little beverage or two in one of the many fine establishments after the play was over.  Hey hey!

You can get all sorts in Wan Chai

And Marks and Spencer's Food provides a very useful service.

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.

Mad Men

The American Man

I've come late to this series but in a way I like that.  It means that I am never left wanting.  There is no end-of-episode tension or end-of-season bereft feeling when I am waiting for the next installment.  There are a whole six seasons just sitting there waiting for me to enjoy as and when it suits me.  The whole series is at my beck and call.  I can view them at any time or any place.  Mad Men is a whore for me.

Over the past few weeks I have become intensely interested in those New York accents.  I just love those dastardly characters with their side partened brylcreamed hair and suits.  I am strangely attracted to the smoking and drinking funk that must emanate through their clothes, their breath and every piece of paper they handle.

The Playtex Pitch

The silhouettes of the secretaries are so carefully and skillfully shot so as to frame the outline of each playtex clad breast and most likely 24 hour pantie girdle Playtext 60's ad keeping everything just so pert and firm.  Christina Hendricks is a siren in red and I think I want to be her.

Joan on the sofa

Joan at her best. She is a present.  You Tube clip - Christmas Party

I am fascinated by the sets.  The attention to detail is tremendous.  Every item is so well placed from the desks in the office to the fridge in the Draper's home to the art on the walls and the style of glass used to neck back yet another whiskey before lunch.

Drinking at lunch time, drinking at any time you care to mention, followed by a fag (a cigarette for our American friends) and then the whole routine repeats.  It's an unsustainable work ethic that I crave to be part of if only for the dresses.  I would be a secretary as I'm a girl and that's what girls do - happy, actually grateful, just to sit outside Don Draper's (who is unfeasibly handsome) office waiting for a task "Yes Mr Draper" I'd say- whereupon I would spring into action ordering flowers for his latest woman, lying over the phone to his latest woman or actually lying on the sofa in his office being his latest woman.  Oh yes I would!  And then I'd be promoted to be Roger Stirling's secretary

Yes Mr Stirling?

Its the Americaness of the whole concept that really appeals to me.  More specifically the New Yorkness of it.  Its a place I've never been but its calling me.  In the last year I have read the poetry and discovered Langston Hughes, I've experienced Jack Kerouac's journey into New York, I've researched the documentation of graffiti art on New York subway trains by New York photographers and I've even watched Metropolis which is based on a futuristic New York. 

Poster for Metropolis

 I need to go there.

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?

 

 

 

 

Street Food Beijing Wangfujing Street

Scorpion on a stick!

                                                                                                  Chili Sparrows

 

More scorpions, star fish and sea horses - on a stick.  Are you getting the culinary theme now?

 

 

 

 

 

I had a trip to Beijing.  The food was terrific and so, as is the way in Asia I took photographs of the food and have posted them for your delight.  Some are on Facebook, obviously, because that is the sole reason for its existence.  ie  Go out to eat, take photos of your plate of food (even if it looks like dog vomit) and then post the image on Facebook to show everyone just what a good time you had.

The street market at Wangfujing Street had some delicious snacks (I could have put snakes there for a hilarious typo but it would have been true not a joke) which reminded me of the scene from Monty Python's Life of Brian "Rat on a stick" - I know you understand my inter-textual reference because you are clever.  The People's Front

I have to tell that I couldn't actually eat anything that looked like a bug or a small bird especially when some of them were still wriggling their poor little legs.  They were not dead just speared on a stick and waiting to be grilled. 

 

I did try the toffee coated strawberries though and can highly recommend them.

Advice to Women/Advice to Men - Magazine Problem Page

It's mandatory you know?

Reading women's magazines that is. 

Thrilling Work

My theory is based on the female gender but I suspect that men read them too.   Since my teens I have been flicking through their glossy pages, be it a Marie Claire or a Cosmopolitan, Woman & Home or Good Housekeeping,  or even an OK (which I never buy, but always look at when someone else does).  Such publications have been on the newspaper stands for decades and I imagine, like Ugly Betty, that their offices are crammed full of people who are busily involved in putting them together every month.  It must be thrilling to get a story together, arrange the photograph shoot, make appointments with tall moody models and sintilatingly exciting celebrities for interview? 

Or is it...

After extensive research into the subject I find that they are a series of repeated material because month after month they base their substantial pages on:-

a) extensive advertising, but that goes without saying

b) pages of fatuously useles advice about hair products thinly veiled as advertising for hair products

c)  losing weight, thinly veiled messages to all readers that they are too fat

d) photographs of thin models to make all readers feel depressed see point c).

As we all clearly understand the only single reason for purchasing a magazine is the problem page.  As a Jackie reading teenager me and friend Debbie would read the letters to Aunty Agony and laugh out loud (note how I wrote that in full) but never ever would we even consider reading the answer.  They were all totally obvious problems about complextion (spots) or boyfriends (has he noticed me yet) or girlfriends (he has noticed her not me).

Stuff you Can't Afford

As I grew I progressed to Cosmopolitan or even Marie Claire, the situation remained the same, as in the articles are the same every month, hair, diet, and pictures of stuff you can't afford.  Don't get me started on articles about the perfect bra...

The problem page has always remained the most interesting and I have to admit to still never reading the answers.  Cosmopolitan

Recently in Cosmo we have this question:-

 

Have We Drifted Apart?

I have a best friend of four years.  She was there for me in a bad time when nobody else was.  Now I am at college miles away and I have a job with some really great people.  When I ask if she wants to visit and come out with us she never does.  I feel like I've moved on but she hasn't.  What do I do?

Obviously I'm not going to tell you what Irma said in reply because its up to you to fill in that part yourself given your vast life experience and intelligence.  And also because it is a vacuous letter that doesn't warrant an answer.

However, I have now discovered MEN's magazines and in particular Esquire where I find that A.A.Gill is the Agony Aunt under the pen name of Uncle Dysfunctional and find his responses to be most satisfying and I hope you do too?  Uncle Dysfunctional

Dear Uncle,
It’s spring-ish. Please, what’s the definitive rule on shorts?

Edgar, Soho

I’m so pleased you asked me, Ed. It’s never after 12. Years, not o’clock.

No 13-year-old or over should ever be seen in trousers that finish above the ankle. It doesn’t matter how good your legs are, or if you’re on a beach in Bermuda where they invented the things.

This isn’t about tan or temperature. This is about dignity. It is impossible to be taken seriously in shorts. No one has ever cared about anything said by a man in shorts.

You can propose marriage naked or in handcuffs, but no one is going to agree to forsake all others for a man in shorts. You can’t declare war in shorts or deliver a eulogy in shorts.

Shorts are silly. Men in shorts are silly men. And silly is the very worst thing a man can be.

So my research I recommend Men's Magazines over Women's Magazines given that this advice is so much more practical, honest and worth reading.

Private Lives, McAulay Studio Theatre, Wanchai, Hong Kong

The comic masterpiece by Noel Coward The man

Private Lives

February 22nd-25th, 2012

McAulay Studio Theatre, Wanchai, Hong Kong  Website

Adam Harris, Director and Elyot Chase and much much more

Noel Coward (1899-1971) wrote Private Lives What Wikipedia says over the course of just four days while recovering from illness at the Peace Hotel in Shanghai. 

(Tenuous Hong Kong link)  He typed up his final manuscript while staying at the Peninsula Hotel in Kowloon. 

After a provincial tour the play had its London opening at the Phoenix Theatre on 24th September, 1930 with Coward himself as Elyot and Gertrude Lawrence as Amanda.  Victor was played by a very young Laurence Olivier.

In this satire the affectations and polite manners of the upper crust in the 1930s are exposed, and ultimately shattered, by giving the audience an intimate glimpse of life behind closed doors.  It shows that the human condition has no class boundaries so the horrors of domestic violence, drug and alcohol abuse and the inevitable breakdown of a relationship is just as pathetic for the upper classes as it is for the participants of a Jeremy Kyle talk show.  I am quite sure that the twists and turns of Elyot and Amanda's relationship have been used in every soap opera from Coronation Street to Dallas.

The farcical sequence of events the four main characters are subjected to are comedic, but just like a member of a Jeremy Kyle audience, squirmingly uncomfortable to witness.  Snorting cocaine, face slapping, drink slinging and bottle breaking are there to shock and seduce. 

The close proximity of the audience to the cast in the McAuley Studio creates an intimate feel.  To witness a drama performance  in this way makes the experience highly engaging.  Watching Elyot and Amanda being intimate on their sofa, as if at home, almost made me want to avert my eyes.  Were we eves-dropping, spying on them?  Were we supposed to be there so involved in the sexual tension?  Seeing them relaxing, guard down in night wear, a smidgen away from nakedness?

It was particularly enjoyable to see Adam Harris in his pyjamas and especially thrilling to see him with such a dapper, slicked-back,  hair cut.  He is captivating to watch and, when dressed,  his costume was elegant and stylish.   Surely the driving force in this production.

Who on earth dressed Amanda?  The opening scene featured a very flimsy black full length petticoat which was badly made and ill-fitting.  She left the scene to 'slip on a dress' and entered with an even worse cream shiny number, again flimsy, badly made and ill-fitting but this time the zip had broken.  I know it is easy to get things made in Hong Kong - so why not get something substantial that fits?  The awful dresses would probably not have been so noticeable if it hadn't been for the dreadful nylon wig which had a greeny, yellow tinge and in no way could have been mistaken for real hair - forget the wig go with your real hair!

The character of Sibyl was truly annoying. She was meant to be irritating, spoilt, immature and asian.  She succeeded.

Private Lives produced and directed by the irrepressible and dapper Adam Harris, the George Clooney of Hong Kong, was an excellent and brave production.  I highly recommend going to see future performances or productions where Adam is involved.

 

Coming soon Vincent, a one-man show about the artist Vincent van Gogh in May

 

 

 

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.

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.

 

 

 

 

DV8 Physical Theatre Can We Talk About This?

DV8 Physical Theatre

Can We Talk About This?

 

This production is currently on in London DV8 Physical Theatre National Theatre, South Bank

 

"It is very, very easy not to be offended by a book.
You just have to shut it."
Salman Rushdie

 

 

I watched in awe as DV8, the physical theatre company from England, delivered a very powerful message about free speech, Islam and multiculturalism in the west.  Whilst contorting themselves around doorways, upside down - in fact many different positions and speeds, I felt totally refreshed after listening to their message which was utterly correct.  I almost I forgot I was in conservative Hong Kong. The performance was 1hr 20m with no intermission and I had no concept of the time, it held my attention throughout.

I am now contemplating changing my teaching technique to incorporate physical movements such as drinking tea while sat on the back of a large male colleague who manipulates me around his body or standing on my head to put on a pair of trousers - all movements and positions will be designed to keep my audience enthralled and I will not miss a cue or even trip slightly as my lesson is delivered and, essentially, my students will remember it once they leave the room.

My only criticism is that it is so rare to have the opportunity to see such a high standard of contemporary physical theatre in Hong Kong and I want more. (stamping of foot)