Red tulips and blue forget-me-nots

 

In the photo above the red tulips are in the distance just to the left of the conservatory. The next pictures bring them closer.

Romeo and Juliet - Filmed at the National Theatre

 

Filmed on the National Theatre's Lyttleton stage in a pandemic ("a plague on both your houses), the absence of an audience meant the cameras were able to follow the actors close up and personal. This is a Romeo and Juliet as you have never seen before. The editing of the film includes flashbacks and all the gizmos possible for such a presentation. Director Simon Godwin has given us an ultra modern and ingenious production  that runs for a pacy hour and a half, a pared down version from Emily Burns.

I wondered at the beginning if the whole action was going to take place back stage, a rehearsal room full of theatrical paraphernalia. As our Chorus introduces the scene with those well known words, the actors are lined up in their houses opposite each other. Are we still in rehearsal as Romeo and Juliet smile at each other? Whatever the case, that is such a brilliant try out for the picture above. I found it truly awesome. 

However, I did find the first half a little chaotic and rushed. We are soon into a black backdrop for the ball, Awful thumping techno bass says we might be at a rave with masks, but the star crossed lovers are still able to see each other for the first time. I had to turn off the sound. My son would have turned it up. I thought Jessie Buckley's Juliet was disappointing at first, seeming to lose her delivery in that Irish accent. But she was saved, first by her amazing expressions and then by just getting better and better. Her final soliloquy as she contemplates taking the drug is one of the best things I have ever seen.

I have to say I was surprisingly impressed by Josh O'Connor's Romeo. He spoke the verse with such unexpected authority and gave us a very modern Romeo. Tamsin Grieg is frightening as the selfishly fierce bully of a mother to poor Juliet. Deborah Findlay is also very good as the Nurse. 

The second half of the play did seem far better than the first, the drama of the plot shone through. But as well as those cinematic devices, I was also a little disturbed by the later alternating sets which indicated the filming took place over days on the same stage. So ultimately the experimental fusion of theatre and film was chaotic but interesting.  I would love to see that tried again.

Penstemon and Astrantia Cuttings

 

I have always been successful in taking pieces out of healthy Penstemons and transplanting in the borders. This year a Penstemon Plum Jerkum has gone from the wildflower bed into the main border as above.

Two bits of Penstemon Firebird (above and below) have made their way down the garden in much poorer soil. We shall see how they do.

And now a piece of the Astrantia Snow Star has left the long border and gone into the main border for the first time.

The Astrantia Roma in the main border has also been joined by three roots of Astrantia Venice from J Parkers, but I'm waiting to see if those purple tips will develop into a proper flower.

Emerald Fennell

 

1st April 2021

We first knew Emerald Fennell as Patsy Mount from Call the Midwife. I made a note on my post of 20th January 2014 that Patsy appeared in Series 3 Episode 5 when I needed help to find the songs playing at the time. However, Emerald was also a writer and by 2018 she was brought in by her friend Phoebe Waller-Bridge to be head writer for Series 2 of Killing Eve, another of our favourite TV shows.

But I was very surprised to find that it was Emerald who was the writer, director and producer of the five time Oscar nominated film Promising Young Woman starring Carey Mulligan. I'm hoping it gets to be shown when cinemas re-open later this year.

UPDATE   12th April 2021

On Sunday at the BAFTA's, Promising Young Woman won the awards for Best Original Screenplay (in my opinion always the top award of the night) and for Outstanding British Film. 

ANOTHER UPDATE   26th April 2021

Winner of the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Hurrah!

Crossroads by Mark Radcliffe

 

There are twenty five chapters in this book, each one telling us about a crossroads in popular music. Some are, some are not. Here are snippets from each.

I Went Down to the Crossroads

It all starts with a road trip to Clarksville, Memphis and finding a crossroads, the inspiration for a piece on Robert Johnson, the pioneer and his recordings of 1936/7.

The Gates of Hell Opening

This is something about Black Sabbath (although I'm not interested in heavy metal) but a familiar piece on Tony Iommi. I didn't know they started as a blues band. 

Disco Sucks!

I agree, it does.

I Hear a New World

Some more boring stuff on the first use of synthesisers. But interesting to hear about Joe Meek and his iconic number one "Telstar". One interesting fact: Of all the session musicians used for this record, the drummer Clem Cattini has the record for playing on the most UK hits with at least 44 number ones.

The Writing on the Wall

There are things I'm learning about, like three piece rock bands which includse Kurt Cobain and Nivarna.

An Original Soundtrack

This is about Multitracking as described with 10cc's album "The Original Soundtrack" that includes "I'm Not In Love".

Talking Real Fast

I wasn't sure you could compare folk music with rap. Was Blondie's "Rapture" an early rap recording? Another story about the recording of "Rapper's Delight". When Nile Rogers heard the drum and bass riff he knew they had ripped off his Chic sound. Legal action led to them being credited on a rap record.

Against Your Better Judgement

I didn't really get the part about "sonic exploration", but it does start with the words "A single note goes "clung". A four second whining sound follows". And I knew immediately what it was. The author tells us: "So were The Beatles ....... the instigators of experimental rock? Well, yes".

House Party

A chapter about house music that I skipped.

To the Manor Born

A piece about indie labels exemplified by Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells".

The Single Life

Does everybody remember the first single they bought? I enjoyed this bit about those 45rpm bits of vinyl, and through gritted teeth Radcliffe mentions that Bing Crosby's "White Christmas"is still the biggest seller in this format.

The Time of Your Life

Another nice chapter, this time about Fairport Convention and the wonderful Alexandra Elene MacLean Denny, Sandy to us all. And her wonderful "Who Knows where the Time Goes", many people's favourite folk track. 

Culture Clash

Foreign influences on British popular music through regee and ska are followed by Bob Marley described here as "the greatest world music star the world has ever known". ??? But I preferred being reminded of Millie's 1964 "My Boy Lollipop" and Desmond Decker's "Israelites".

Ride that Train

I was really pleased when I read the chapter on skiffle where the amalgamation of American and British influences was called "a truly significant crossroads". A number of songs were named, all of which I could remember the words. The story of Lonnie Donegan's breakthrough with "Rock Island Line" ( more on my blog) seems to omit the fact that Lonnie and a couple of others played in the break when the rest of Chris Barber's Jazz band went for a drink. Of course The Quarrymen get a mention.

From the Laboratory to the Sance Floor

Electronic disco  and Donna Summer was not for me. Not sure why it includes 1064's  "Together in Electric Dreams" by Georgio Morroder and Philip Oakey

Trouble in Motor City

The origins of punk seem to include Velvet Underground and MC5?

The Voice of Protest

But a chapter on protest songs was interesting, from Woody Guthrie to FGTH and Two Tribes.

It's Got to be Perfect

Why are we then told about the perfect line up for a band (why does it have to be guitar, bass, drums and vocal?) and why pick The Ramones? Must be the author's favourite.

The Concept

Obviously there had to be a section on the concept album, Pink Floyd etc. And double albums, remember them? 

Lady of the Canyon

And I was glad Carole King had a whole chapter. Her divorce from Goffin, moving to Hollywood (Laurel Canyon) and writing and recording "The Writer" and the genius that is "Tapestry". Definitely a crossroads for women in popular music.

Hail! Hail! Rock and Roll

Then a visit to Sun Studios and all those hits.

The Open Road

Guess who is labelled "the electronic Beatles had been created". Kraftwerk????

Background Music

The invention of "ambient music" ??? Brian Eno and Roxy Music???

The Red, White and Blue

And finally Radcliffe would have saved Jimmy Hendrix for the end. He calls him "The best player of lead guitar that has ever lived". Discuss. Then "the greatest instrumentalist in the history of rock music" according to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Lots of interesting stuff about his early career as a guitar for hire for so many artists. Then his performance at Woodstock and controversially playing "The Star Spangled Banner". 

The Beginning is the End

That goes to Thomas Edison who started it all in 1877. 

To summarise, I felt this trawl through the different genres of popular music was a very mixed bag. I guess it all depends on your taste. But my main criticism was there was so much deviation. Radcliffe would often go off on a very different tangent which spoilt his undoubted talent for all the interesting stuff.

I would have liked an index and it's omission seems a little lazy.

The Art of Architecture on Sky Arts - Series 2

 Episode 1     Bee'ah Headquarters, Sharja, UAE

From the photo on the Sky Arts website, it looks like something alien has landed in the desert. Actually I guess the form does replicate the waves of the desert. This is an extraordinary expensive building, only a rich Arab state would commission a Zaha Hadid design. There are complex geometric patterns, a nightmare for the structural engineers. Typical Hadid curves and modernly impressive. There were said to be "so many layers". It was completed in 2020.

Unfortunately we see little of it's concept, drawings or construction. In fact the programme features more on the legacy of Zaha Hadid (she died in 2016) than on this particular building. Here were 30 of her designs that were incomplete at her death. So we were very soon onto many of Hadid's other projects that I will not bother to list. All we really found out was that extremely high tech design is pushing the boundaries of architecture, if this is what you want. You need plenty of money to do that. All this is way beyond my understanding. I just wish we learnt more about the building in Sharja.

Episode 2     Cambridge Central Mosque

Architect Julia Barfield, a partner of the renowned practice Marks Barfield, takes us through the research they carried out to win the competition to design the £23 Million new mosque in Cambridge. We learnt that the congregation had grown hugely over the years and the building had to have space for 1000 at prayer. She tells us that mosques are so different all over the world, so this time she wanted to find what a British mosque should be in the 21st Century. She found fan vaulting in Kings College Chapel in Cambridge, an English conception of a glade of trees. 

The whole building is a timber structure with lots of light. The structure and complex geometrical repeating  pattern of the timber trees was eloquently described, and shown in detail. The Glulam tree pillars bend into an octagonal canopy that hold up the roof. (see woodawards.com about Glulam). The wood is sustainable German spruce.

It was described as "a new architectural language for contemporary mosque architecture". Surrounding the space are structural timber walls in cross-laminated timber (CLT) clad in masonry tiles, again inspired by Cambridge buildings. We were told about the inclusion of Islamic art, about the layout of the building, and the gardens. 

Unfortunately, again there was hardly anything about the construction. All we had was a time lapse section over in a minute. Instead we were told about other buildings by this practice, the conception and development of the Millennial Wheel (The London Eye), the Brighton i360 viewing pod that rises into the sky, walkways in Kew Gardens and lots of other buildings, all very different. So much too much about the practice, Julia's husband who died in 2017 and her partner in the practice David Marks. 

They have good ecological credentials, this is "the very first eco friendly mosque in Europe" (solar panels on the roof and lots more). Lots of natural light, natural ventilation and natural materials. It is a critically acclaimed building by "one of the most remarkable architectural  double acts of modern times". We are then left at the end with a tear jerking bit of  co-incidental family history from Julia. 

Episode 3         Lambeth Palace Library and Archives

See separate post of 25th February 2021.

Episode 4     New Music School, King's College School, Wimbledon

This episode started with a look at the office of Hopkins Architects, who have been in practice for 45 years. Sir Michael Hopkins and his wife Lady Patricia Hopkins have been the subject of numerous documentaries and have won the Royal Gold Medal for Architecture. We were taken to familiar Hopkins designed buildings such as Portcullis House, the Mound Stand at Lords Cricket Ground, the Velodrome for the 2012 Olympics, the Opera House at Glyndbourne and the Eveline Children's Hospital that actually stands opposite Lambeth Palace Library (see above). So not only high tech modern architecture but traditional too. 

I was glad when the programme actually looked at the building of the title. It was Principal Mike Taylor (just look at his CV on the net! ) that described everything to do with design of the building. The combination of brickwork, traditional clay roof tiles and oak is absolutely splendid. I loved how Mike took us through the early hand drawn sketches and the different early layouts. I would have been an architect if only I could draw and have been good at art, rather than being atrocious. We were then shown the development of the design through 3D computer modelling. 

More about the materials. The English cross bond brickwork was gorgeous. The contractor was Lee Marley Brickwork (no mention on the programme). 

Mike described the pattern of the roof tiles for that huge roof above the concert hall. Like the brickwork, the workmanship is supreme. Everything was done to make the roof look smaller.

We saw the mock-up of the pattern in the studio, along side the interior timber panels so that the exterior reflected the interior as below.

The 200 seat auditorium has this advanced acoustic design, working with acoustic engineers  that was superbly explained by Mike.

There are also rehearsal rooms, classrooms etc.

The exterior materials of brick and oak then continue into the fabulous interiors as the two  photos below.

It was such a shame that, yet again there was nothing about the construction. Which was disappointing as the workmanship was so good.  I had to go on the net to even find this photo.

So we ended with more about the practice when we could really instead have watched the components of the building being put together. What a shame.

Episode 5         Concert Hall, Andermatt, Switzerland

It seemed to me this programme was more about architect Christiana Seilern than this wonderful building. It was built within the structure of an underground conference centre, so this was all about transforming a box into a world class concert hall. We were told that the brief was faced with the following challenges:  (1) the space existed (2) there are very strict planning laws in Switzerland (3) how far could the building go up to suit the acoustic requirements (4) it needed natural light and be visually attractive (5) there was to be space for a full symphony orchestra and the 600 seat audience.

Because the foundations to the original box could not be improved, there was apparently a necessity to hang things on the existing structure. It was a great shame, like many other aspects of the programme, that THIS WAS NOT SHOWN HOW. We were also told about the the complicated finishes, and that nothing is straight, but everything was at an angle. BUT ONLY IN GENERAL TERMS. A flashing image of the triple glazing to prevent outside sound coming in and anything amplified within from getting out. The woodwork is extraordinary, but hardly gets a mention. We hear about the eliptical panels for the acoustics, but little else.

Unfortunatly, like the other episodes in this series, we have far too much about the history of Christina Seilern, who is the only contributor. I wrote down a huge amount about some of her previous buildings, her influences and her work in other countries, but I'm not going to bother here. She is obviously hugely talented, but maybe not a team player. The programme should have been called "this is Christina Seilern".

One of the most visually amazing aspects was the view from the full height windows onto the slopes of the surrounding mountains. Now that was brilliant. But there was nothing about the choice of materials, how they were put together and absolute zero about the construction, not a single photograph. I couldn't even find one on the web. How disappointing. 

Episode 6          Island Rest, Hampshire

An episode to advertise the Swedish architect Magnus Strom who specialises in modern houses for the rich in fabulous settings. Who cares? I laughed when the narrator explained they were a "typical Swedish scene". Not in the Scandi series I watch. So we had an extended interview with the man, something about his mid-century influences and and expensive 3D computer modelling to show his, yes, very rich clients. I just hope his flat roofs don't leak in our variable climate. I would only even go for a pitched roof!

Episode 7        Holy Trinity Church, Paris

A Russian Orthodox Cathedral in the middle of Paris next to The Seine and close to the Eifel Tower. A Russian symbol plonked down in the middle of the city, a church, a school and a cultural centre all for 100 million euros. To me, this is brutalist architecture at it's worst, described usually as "massive, monolithic and blocky" according to the internet. This building seems overpowering with it's great slabs of stone, the programme called it "confident". The finish to the domes was at first rejected as they were too shiny, but they still look shiny to me. 

Of course we heard a lot about the work of architect Jean Michael-Wilmotte, but no shots of his team, perhaps he works alone! There were only tiny shots of the construction whilst there were long hovering shots of the finished  interior. Sky Arts even put the wrong photo on their website.

Episode 8    Southern Cross Station, Melbourne

I should have skipped this episode and instead watched the five minute Grimshaw review "Southern Cross Station" on YouTube. At least here we see some of the construction, when there is none here, again. These programmes should be titled  with name of the architect, not just one of the buildings that are featured. However, immediately you know this is a Nicholas Grimshaw (he of those trademark spectacles) industrial art. Actually this episode should come under the banner The Art of Engineering. 

The station was completed in 2007 (so not at all recent) and took ten years in the making. It was Andrew Whalley (Chairman of Grimshaw Global) who told us about the reasons for the extraordinary roof. The wave formation is all to do with the natural ventilation for the fumes from the diesel engines instead of huge extractors. 

They look even more amazing from above. At least credit was given to architect Mark Middleton who came up with the idea.

And then, of course, we are off to look at many of Grimshaw's earlier projects. London Bridge Station was a kind of template for Southern Cross and it did win an RIBA prize. Also Waterloo Station was a precursor for Southern Cross and which Grimshaw said was his "most important project". We were shown the Eden Project and the enclosure for the Cutty Sark among many other triumphs. Too many.

Episode 9    Paris Law Courts

This series becomes more and more tiresome. Just three or four minutes on the Palais de Justice and the rest on the architect Renzo Piano. Why not just give the episode his name? There was ten times as much on the Genoa St George Bridge, the replacement for the Ponte Morandi that collapsed in 2018.

But this is a wonderful feat of engineering art rather than architecture so couldn't be the title. There is even some great video and photos of the construction that I watched twice. So rare in this series. Called a "graceful" design and a lamp for all the 43 who died in the collapse.

I was just not interested in a catalogue of his iconic buildings from the Pompidou Centre to The Shard. 

Episode 10      Expo 2020

A programme about the 192 national pavilions at Expo 2020 in Dubai was of absolutely no interest whatsoever. The producers will have to do better to get me to watch another series.  

Not parkrun Part 2

 

The flooded paths at Meadowcroft had dried by Saturday so it was time to try another 3.11 miles on the Aylesbury parkrun course. It was a beautiful sunny morning but not too many people about. The last time I ran here was in August last year, a few months into the first lockdown.  Then I manged it in 28 minutes and twenty nine seconds and an age grade of 65.81%. On Saturday it was 28 minutes and fifty four seconds. And although I was twenty five seconds slower, my age grade came out at 66.02%. 

So I thought it might be interesting to compare times and age grade going back in time. For example, six years ago in 2015, I ran two minutes faster at twenty six minutes and fifty eight seconds, but my age grade was lower at 64.67%. To find an equivalent age grade it was two and a half minutes faster when I was 70. So although I have slowed down quite a bit, so has everyone at my age.

Back to the now bone dry course at Meadowcroft, here is a reminder of those floods in the winter.

Restoring Theatre Royal Drury Lane

 

Sometimes I wonder why I still buy a newspaper at the weekends. And then on Saturday, The Times had a two page spread in their Review supplement on the refurbishment of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. The banner headline read Andrew Lloyd Webber: "I don't run theatres for profit, never have. 

Although there is a video on YouTube (right click below) where Andrew presents a short clip called "Restoring Theatre Royal Drury Lane", it has nowhere near the detail in the newspaper article. Here we learn that it cost "roughly £60 Million". As Andrew says, Sheridan (the playwright who ran the Lane in the 19th century) went bankrupt and "I'm not convinced I won't". 

I liked how we were told about what has been restored especially the public spaces. The bit about they acquired mahogany for the kiosks is amazing. The stage has been transformed for incredible adaptability. Three hundred seats have been eliminated to give better width and legroom for the seats for whose decoration we hear an in joke. And although the theatre opens with Frozen The Musical, Lloyd Webber wants to put on a Shakespeare season once Frozen closes. But that could be years? A statue of Shakespeare is in pole position at the entrance, and eight enormous canvasses on different Shakespeare plays are hung on the grand staircases. 

So, yes, it would be amazing to see a Shakespeare play in this theatre. The actors, though, may need mikes. But until that time, I was able to book a tour of the theatre. I shall be there on the very first day the tours open on the 15th September. We need to help Andrew stay solvent.

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwialsTm0f3vAhU0hv0HHWxdBcIQwqsBMAJ6BAgbEAM&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D2VQbrNUU7I4&usg=AOvVaw3qJ1HJTQkkn-x_4QtIlgUj