Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake

I've returned home tonight on a high from seeing Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake at Sadlers Wells (what a culture-hound I am). It was excellent. I've never seen the 'normal' version of Swan Lake and I don't particularly want to - this is the standard against which all other versions must be judged.

It's the story of a prince who grows up in his mother's shadow, pulled close to her but pushed away from all affection at the same time. The royal routine and his mother's aloofness becomes too much for him and he finds himself in a park about to commit suicide in the lake. But then the swans appear, glorious swans, beautiful swans scattering happiness and joy around them and he is entranced, particularly by the lead swan who, in Matthew Bourne's version, is played by a man, as are all the swans.

Later at a royal ball, the swan re-appears in human form and seduces all the women in sight and the prince, who is distraught, tries to kill his mother, who also has been seduced. The ballet ends in his bedroom where he's been taken after a cruel medical exaination to cure him of his mania and the swans come to visit. No longer full of joy they turn wild and attack him. The lead swan tries to protect him but the swan is killed by his own band of swans and the prince too dies, of injuries or heartache, I don't know. His mother enters to find him dead on his bed while in the window above we see his swan carrying him off to paradise.

A precis will never describe the story properly, with dances of joy, seduction, madness and despair meaning different things to different people. I loved it. I loved the swan-trews the dancers wore, the stylised set and costumes, the extreme lighting and the precision of the dancers. I know nothing about ballet so for all I know the thing could have been full of mistakes, but I loved it all the same. I loved the joyful, daft swans of the first act, the movements all bird-like, jerky and elegant. The vicious creatures of the second act left me scared and broken. Wild passions can do that.

You can see a clip of the show here. Watch it and then buy tickets if you can.

Moratorium

I was in the bread aisle at Sainsbury's this evening and I heard Buffy singing in my ear. She was singing 'Moratorium', a song with lots of words in which she accompanies herself on piano. I stopped for a moment to listen properly.

The song tells us about Captain Collier (who returns home and doesn't know what he's been fighting for), PFC Mannie Stein (who took the draft when his friends didn't and they're in prison), Corporal Thomas McCann (who joined the marines to become a man) and a girl in dungarees who carries a sign with the words, "Fuck the war and bring our brothers home." She tells Thomas that he'd been a man all along.

It's a powerful song from Buffy Sainte-Marie's 1971 album, 'She Used To Wanna Be A Ballerina'. It's an anti-war song, a plea to bring the soldiers back from Vietnam. It ends with the refrain, 'Hey, bring our brothers home'. 35 years on and it's quite apt.

Buffy's work is just as relevant today as it was way back then.

10 Most iPey

The ten most played tracks on my iPod (so far) are:

Sing - The Dresden Dolls
Remember Me - Beverley Knight
Backstabber - The Dresden Dolls
Party - X-Ray Spex
Tea & Sympathy - Beverley Knight
My Alcoholic Friends - The Dresden Dolls
The Look Of Love - ABC
Belleville Rendezvous (Version Anglaise) - Benoit Charest
Seed Song - Cerys Matthews
Going Missing - Maximo Park

Not a bad selection, but it reflects seeing both the Dresdens and Beverley in November and, obviously, listening to their albums on rotation. I suspect it will be very different in a few months time.

This Life +10

I was a great fan of 'This Life' in the '90s so I had to watch the reunion episode tonight, 'This Life +10'. Ten years later and what's happened to the characters?

Part of me was dreading it - returning to old franchises rarely works and, since the original series, we've seen the actors play different parts so we're more familiar with them (Jack Davenport is even in the glorious 'Pirates of the Caribbean' series). But this worked, once it got going, or at least it worked for me. And it took me back to the mid '90s. Of course, I'm 10 years too old really - the series was about people in London in their mid-20s and I was in my mid-30s at the time but that's hardly the point.

The character I liked most was Anna. I'm not entirely sure why, maybe it was never being without a fag in her lips (I was a heavy smoker at the time) or glass in her hand, her endless failed two-minute 'relationships' and temptation of drugs. As the website says,

"Television's most toasted crumpet has the gravitational pull of a medium-sized planet. A Soave-swigging, chain-smoking, drug-taking, long-legged sexual adventuress, she storms through life, scattering empty bottles, full ashtrays and crumpled conquests in her wake. She is a very tough cookie. But she is also a dope cookie. Anna's worst enemy is Anna. Her high intelligence is matched only by her low common sense. Every time she takes two stilettoed-steps forward she takes another one back - towards the sign saying 'completely off the rails.' "

In some ways, perhaps, she lived the life I wanted. She worked hard and played harder. I worked hard.

The series was innovative for it's time and unlike anything else on telly. The imagery, the music, the shakey camera-work, the script littered with swearing and open talk of drugs and sex, all pooled to make it something special. All the characters had something about them that was recogniseable and warming, well, except for Miles. I never really liked Miles. Egg was naive with a simple outlook at odds with the end of Thatcherism and the ending of the Tory years; Milly was the career girl with everything; Warren was confused and coming to terms with himself and his sexuality; Miles was the career man wanting everything.

I enjoyed the programme and I'm pleased I saw it. It brought back memories and makes me wonder where the years have gone. It wasn't perfect and if I was ungenerous I could comment on things like the script repeating several time that Egg was now a famous author - um, I got the message the first time. At one point Miles and Egg mused on being old - 'old?' I thought, they're just the age I was when the series was first shown! But that's not the point.

'This Life' ten years on was well worth seeing and I loved the ending, with Miles heading off to Timbuktu, Anna planning a baby with Warren ("a business relationship" of course) and Egg and Milly back together where they belong. Thanks for the memories, guys!

New Toy

My last blog mentioned my new toy but, teasingly, didn't say what it was... it's a Numark USB turntable! It's on a timeshare basis with Christopher and I've got it at the moment. I think the reason I've got it first is so that I can find out all the problems and bugs with it first. He's so kind.

The first problem was setting it up, balancing the arm with the stylus properly and all that stuff (in the olden days we simply put a penny on top of the stylus arm if needed). Then comes the time to plug it in... and the realisation that it had an American two-pronged plug. So off I trudge to Argos on the High Road to get a travel plug.

Then we experiment with Poly Styrene's 'Gods and Godesses' 12" EP. And it records fabulously! It's easy when you know how (and follow the written instructions carefully!). I'm delighted with it and am sorting through my records that have never been issued on CD.

I've only recorded Poly Styrene's 'Gods and Godesses' EP, my Akron LP (with two Rachel Sweet and Jane Aires songs each) and Buffy Sainte-Marie's 'Until It's Time For You To Go' French-sounding single from 1965 with 'The Flower And The Apple Tree' on the 'B' side. I'm currently recording Richard and Linda Thompson's 'First Light' album. Most of their stuff has been released on CD but not this CD and I've got no idea why not - it's my favourite.

I really must hunt out my 45s from my Dad's attic, I have stuff up there (I hope) that only a couple of hundred other people ever had, especially when one thinks of the late 70's singles market. Irrespective of any potential financial gain, I'd love to hear Steve Treatment again, and lots of those late 70s bands. They're unlikely to turn up on CD but i live in hope.

Welcome in the New Year, Farewell to the Old Year

I meant to do a nice long blog yesterday saying farewell to 2006 but I had to play with my new toy instead and now here we are in 2007. Other than a nice blue sky outside, it seems remarkably similar to 2006. That midnight magic hasn't changed anything at all.

Anway, in the traditional way, here's a look back over 2006 with some highs and lows...

January 2006: the Moving Young Minds event for international education ministers was a great success but incredibly tiring. In work terms, it scores as a hit. Also went to see Kid Creole and the Coconuts for an evening of great music at the Camden Jazz Cafe.

February 2006: not a great deal happened, but saw Kim Weston at the Jazz Cafe and did my first ever DJ set at the Retro Bar with 1972 as the theme.

March 2006: nothing much jumps out of March, although that's when I moved out of my office and into open plan - so long ago and I still haven't finished sorting through all my stuff.

April 2006: the main event in April was Mexico! That was a great holiday and, shockingly, my only holiday of the year. Wor cabana in the middle of it's jungle garden, the sea lazily swimming over the beach, 'ammocks on the verandah, walking on the Caribbean floor, ancient monuments and, of course, the glorious Hola Parrot. I would go back there today if chance offered.

May 2006: The Dresden Dolls! Need I say more?

June 2006: the start of the long spiral of poor health, with my back going and the ongoing discovery of things wrong with my body. I'm still dealing with the repercussions and will for a long time yet.

July 2006: more doctors telling me what to do and leaving more samples at St George's in Tooting. And seeing Gladys Knight at the Royal Albert Hall and Sandi Thom in the sweatbox that is Bush Hall.

August 2006: the high was seeing Madonna at Wembley and the low was my worst day ever with my back on SLADE Day, a day not to be forgotten. Started my twice-weekly visits to my personal trainer at the gym.

September 2006: I defied gravity in September.

October 2006: 'The SLADE Box' was issued. Launch of 'Computers for Pupils'. Maximo Park and The New York Dolls. Boy George. Cabaret.

November 2006: two sightings of The Dresden Dolls at the Roundhouse and the promise of a live DVD. And the previously unknown but excellent 'Conscious Consumer' CD by X-Ray Spex! And more medical trips to St Georges.

December 2006: Christmas! The discovery of Sufjan Stevens. Christmas! My back going (again) on Christmas Eve. Realising I've lost over 2 stones in weight since the summer. Christmas! Emma Thompson and 'Stranger Than Fiction'. And Christmas!

I obviously did a lot than this over the year, saw a lot more, bought a lot more and all that stuff. But these are some of the things I'll probably remember from 2006. The year my health went to pot and I had to change my lifestyle. O well. At least it'll be memorable for something.

Osteophytes suck monkey bum

O yes they do.

And so do lipids.

I Suspect Distress

I suspect distress is waiting in the wings for me - my poota is exhibiting signs of needing a good, long rest. I switch on, the little lights flash and the drive whirs but the screen stays dark. It's happened a few times over the last few months but is happening more frequently now and the ritual of switching off, removing the battery, starting again and again is getting tiresome.

It started fine when I signed in for this session but who knows whether it will next time? I vaguely looked at new laptops over Christmas but I suppose I ought to look a bit more seriously, just in case. I've had this one for over three years so I'd also better start copying things to disc, but how do I copy programmes I've paid for and downloaded? And make a list of all the sites and login details for things like paying bills and stuff. That's going to be quite a chore.

I *like* my laptop.

A Grey Christmas

That’s what it’s been all right, a grey Christmas, with grey skies and weather, damp and cold, but not cold enough for snow or frost. And I realised that I’d got Christmas pressies for everyone except me – what a shocker. So I got a new mobile phone and new camera for meself (the camera has a mere three million more pixels than my current one). Well, I deserve it.

Train to Newcastle on Friday to be met by me Dad at the Central Station near the big Christmas tree and then drive to the Metro Centre and shopping at Asda to get food and goodies, including the green-covered ‘Merry Xmas Everybody’ by SLADE with Christmas songs on the ‘B’ side (in cohoots with ASDA and Nobby’s Nuts). Then more shopping in Newcastle on Saturday, viewing Fenwick’s Christmas window display (a Geordie tradition) which was of ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ this year. It was nice wandering round town, seeing the old shops and the new places, the kids all dressed as pseudo-goths and me thinking, ‘is this really still the ‘80s?’ and people being really nice despite the crush. But the crowds weren’t really that bad this year.

Christmas Eve saw me receive my special pressie – my back playing up. I don’t know what I did to it, but I woke up that morning and felt ‘ouch’. Perfect timing, not just for Christmas but for the New Year too. I went out for a walk around Greenside to try to ‘open’ it up, and took photos with my new camera. Here's a photo of me with the legendary Cricket Club in the background showing how close it is in staggering terms to me Dad's house. It didn’t really help, but that’s not the point. Derek came over in the afternoon to bring presents and take back presents and have a gossip. We gossiped.

Christmas Day dawned and my back was still a problem, not as bad as it was over the summer. No matter. Drove over to Derek and Tracy’s and then walked round to 'The Jingling Gate' for Christmas dinner (that's the back of my Li'l Bro's head in the photo). Lots of lovely food and, since it was Christmas, I allowed myself some Guinness. The food was lovely even though the service was slow. Then wandered back to the house for a game of ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionnaire’, with us and Tracy’s family split into three teams. Naturally, the McConnell team won, and I won a ‘spot prize’ of a pen radio (which really is a pen and really is a radio). I’m most pleased with my pen radio. Numerous pints of Guinness helped my back.

Boxing Day was a lazy day spent in front of the telly, another grey day. The day after was the trip back to London and home. Luckily I was the only one in a pair of seats until Peterborough so I could wiggle round as much as I needed. Then a train from Kings Cross down to Streatham – home again. It’s so much easier being home with a bad back than being anywhere else – at least I have everything I need within easy staggering distance.

What a Christmas.

A Christmas Card