OK, this is becoming scary. I was standing in the queue to see 'Mikelangelo: The Nightingale of the Adriatic' (review when I have time - tonight I hope) and heard people talking about Little Red Things - reviewed earlier - being the 'best show of the festival'.
Am sitting here in Starbucks attempting to work, and I start hearing a synopsis of - guess what - Little Red Things - it really is the talk of the festival!
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Greetings from the Fringe!
Well, it's been a busy festival so far; and I've only been here a day and a half.
Hazel and I arrived in the car at about 0030 on Saturday morning; which wasn't bad given the stupid number of roadworks, etc on the A1. (cue 'What's your favourite motorway' discussion) I was very grateful that Hazel was there as firstly she's a very good manuscript holder when I have to lead conference calls whilst driving, and secondly, she took a few hours driving, which meant I didn't fall asleep at the wheel - useful! (The company was v good to have as well!).
Yesterday I didn't do much work; just kept up with the active issues and sending them off to the relevant people, which unfortunately at the moment is an occupational hazard.
Saw some amazing shows though - Gomito productions' Little Red Things: The Boy Who Wouldn't Listen was an amazing show - Their use of physical theatre, simple but effective props, and a beautifully vibrant script had me hanging on their every movement and word; never before have I seen a children's show that moved me that much. Hazel and Carl, who'd both seen the show last year (to which this is a sequel) were a little disappointed by the lack of new material, but that didn't matter to me as I hadn't seen them before!
The next show we saw was another Gomito related one - 'The Quest for the Divine Bottle' - I personally couldn't relate to this at all. Again the physical elements were brilliant; very polished movements and well timed dialog, but the script did nothing for me - at times crude, and only sometimes funny, it lacked cohesion so I was left wondering what the point of it was. Sorry Hazel - I have to disagree with you there!
Then, I (only just made it!) saw the absolutely amazing ASKA Japanese Drum Troupe show - I saw them (or a similar drum troupe - can't remember) last year, and was a little disappointed with it. This show however blew me away; I've rarely seen such energy put into music; and left the venue feeling physically tired! Their timing was impeccable, the number had something for everyone, and the show was so slickly produced that everyone was on the edge of their seats throughout. I managed to sneak a few pictures (well, they specified no flash photography!)
Next came a break, before seeing Sweeney Todd in Ctoo - Wow! The cast (quite a few of whom I know personally, but I'm not being biased here!) pulled off an absolutely brilliant, energetic and moving production which visually was superb. The choreography and costumes fitted brilliantly with this darkly funny show (which somehow I'd never previously managed to see or be involved in!). My criticisms were few; but a couple of the cast were clearly struggling a little with their voices at the end of a reasonably long hard run, and the lighting sufferred the fairly usual (for Cambridge theatre) lack of facelight in parts - moody shadows are all very well, but somehow were either overused or unintentional. That said, the simple set proved to be incredibly versatile; and the show went seamlessly from place to place without any need for scene changes - well done guys!
The last show of the evening was 'Jesus: The Guantanamo Years' which I never got around to seeing last year. What can I say? Superb! A very enlightened, take-no-prisoners view of the world told from a brilliantly satirical (and not at all offensive) viewpoint - that of Jesus returned to the modern day. His views articulate a number of mine with the main takehome message being live and let live - Religion is not there to create conflict, but to provide a seldom found reassurance to people about their lives and how to live them. He's clearly not a performer, but rather than subtract from the show, this led the audience to really empathising with his views; and the power of his deeply entrenched beliefs. Unfortunately it's over for this year at the fringe, but I believe that he's touring at present; do go and see it if you can!
All in all a great selection of shows for the first day - thanks to Hazel for the suggestions of all but ASKA! I'm not seeing anything today, except possibly The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe (another ADC show who's cast flat I'm staying in!) Need to catch up on a bit of work before starting 9-5s on Monday (that's the theory anyway; really ought to stop writing this!).
Hazel and I arrived in the car at about 0030 on Saturday morning; which wasn't bad given the stupid number of roadworks, etc on the A1. (cue 'What's your favourite motorway' discussion) I was very grateful that Hazel was there as firstly she's a very good manuscript holder when I have to lead conference calls whilst driving, and secondly, she took a few hours driving, which meant I didn't fall asleep at the wheel - useful! (The company was v good to have as well!).
Yesterday I didn't do much work; just kept up with the active issues and sending them off to the relevant people, which unfortunately at the moment is an occupational hazard.
Saw some amazing shows though - Gomito productions' Little Red Things: The Boy Who Wouldn't Listen was an amazing show - Their use of physical theatre, simple but effective props, and a beautifully vibrant script had me hanging on their every movement and word; never before have I seen a children's show that moved me that much. Hazel and Carl, who'd both seen the show last year (to which this is a sequel) were a little disappointed by the lack of new material, but that didn't matter to me as I hadn't seen them before!
The next show we saw was another Gomito related one - 'The Quest for the Divine Bottle' - I personally couldn't relate to this at all. Again the physical elements were brilliant; very polished movements and well timed dialog, but the script did nothing for me - at times crude, and only sometimes funny, it lacked cohesion so I was left wondering what the point of it was. Sorry Hazel - I have to disagree with you there!
Then, I (only just made it!) saw the absolutely amazing ASKA Japanese Drum Troupe show - I saw them (or a similar drum troupe - can't remember) last year, and was a little disappointed with it. This show however blew me away; I've rarely seen such energy put into music; and left the venue feeling physically tired! Their timing was impeccable, the number had something for everyone, and the show was so slickly produced that everyone was on the edge of their seats throughout. I managed to sneak a few pictures (well, they specified no flash photography!)Next came a break, before seeing Sweeney Todd in Ctoo - Wow! The cast (quite a few of whom I know personally, but I'm not being biased here!) pulled off an absolutely brilliant, energetic and moving production which visually was superb. The choreography and costumes fitted brilliantly with this darkly funny show (which somehow I'd never previously managed to see or be involved in!). My criticisms were few; but a couple of the cast were clearly struggling a little with their voices at the end of a reasonably long hard run, and the lighting sufferred the fairly usual (for Cambridge theatre) lack of facelight in parts - moody shadows are all very well, but somehow were either overused or unintentional. That said, the simple set proved to be incredibly versatile; and the show went seamlessly from place to place without any need for scene changes - well done guys!
The last show of the evening was 'Jesus: The Guantanamo Years' which I never got around to seeing last year. What can I say? Superb! A very enlightened, take-no-prisoners view of the world told from a brilliantly satirical (and not at all offensive) viewpoint - that of Jesus returned to the modern day. His views articulate a number of mine with the main takehome message being live and let live - Religion is not there to create conflict, but to provide a seldom found reassurance to people about their lives and how to live them. He's clearly not a performer, but rather than subtract from the show, this led the audience to really empathising with his views; and the power of his deeply entrenched beliefs. Unfortunately it's over for this year at the fringe, but I believe that he's touring at present; do go and see it if you can!
All in all a great selection of shows for the first day - thanks to Hazel for the suggestions of all but ASKA! I'm not seeing anything today, except possibly The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe (another ADC show who's cast flat I'm staying in!) Need to catch up on a bit of work before starting 9-5s on Monday (that's the theory anyway; really ought to stop writing this!).
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Week of madness
Well, it's been quite a week. Work has been an utter mare; what we had hoped (were assured) would be delivered by our external development team frankly wasn't good enough, and we had to start again – two weeks work had to be delivered in two days. Adam – our new employee – definately had a baptism of fire – he and Matt have been brilliant and through working a number of 20hr or so days got the thing out. I had to do a couple of those as well for the admin functionality I've been working with. Anyway, the upshot of this madness is that (finally) the client are reasonably happy with us. There's still a lot to do, but that's work deadlines for you!
Work is generally a bit difficult at the moment; I think we need to see a lot of changes if I'm going to remain with the company for much longer – I'm very keen to get a resource here in Cambridge so I can be more productive as an account / project manager rather than getting bogged down in coding. That said, I think now we have a more expert team in CA this will be easier, but I spend so much time on support calls / simple development stuff that I'm not able to spend the time that I should do micromanaging (or at least properly managing) projects. Management are making the right noises in this direction, so with luck things will be looking up soon. Am going to stick it out for the time being (despite what I may have been ranting about at the weekend...) – I said I'd give it a year before making any rash decisions, and I will.
Anyway, real life – I'm off to Edinburgh for the fringe tommorrow evening – fortunately Hazel's hitching a lift and/or helping with the driving so I can be prodded if I fall asleep too much. Can't wait to be up there again; I really miss both the city (although I like the city life in Cambridge as well, so that's kinda OK) and more importantly, the countryside – will definately jump in the river at Roslin glen over a weekend, and I hope to spend a day or so walking the other weekend – work permitting (I have 8hrs or so to do – sob). However, I'm mainly there for the shows, and having bumped into Sam today have a few more on my list that I want to go see (although I've forgotten them already – need to get him to tell me again by email!).
I am actually meant to be working when I'm up there, and Alex tells me that there's a wifi hotspot within ether distance of the flat, so that's easy. Black Medicine and/or the Bedlam bar will probably be a favourite spot when I'm bored of the flat / need coffee though.
Had an amazing weekend walking with Anna up in the Lakes; really needed the break (and physical exertion) preceeding the week I had! We didn't get there 'till late - very late – too late for the hostel to be open - Doh! We called about 15 different hotels and eventually found this one which not only had rooms available, but was actually lovely, and at a reasonable price (we nearly considered staying there another night, but thought the better of it!). We started the weekend by climbing Lough Rigg fell, which is a good starter walk, and followed it up with dinner in the fabulous Glass House restaurant in Ambleside – thoroughly recommended (unfortunately we couldn't afford the £500 bottle of wine...).
Sunday was going to be climbing Helvellyn, but due to the conditions we decided against it. Striding edge is lovely in good weather, but really not fun if visibility is reduced. Instead, we climbed the Old Man of Coniston from Coniston village and a lovely day it was too. The weather wasn't too great; the peak and ridge down was in cloud, rain and heavy wind for a significant part of the walk, but we had reasonable kit with us, so didn't get too miserable. Photos are online here!
I'd better get back to the grindstone. Expect lots of reviews soon from the fringe!
Work is generally a bit difficult at the moment; I think we need to see a lot of changes if I'm going to remain with the company for much longer – I'm very keen to get a resource here in Cambridge so I can be more productive as an account / project manager rather than getting bogged down in coding. That said, I think now we have a more expert team in CA this will be easier, but I spend so much time on support calls / simple development stuff that I'm not able to spend the time that I should do micromanaging (or at least properly managing) projects. Management are making the right noises in this direction, so with luck things will be looking up soon. Am going to stick it out for the time being (despite what I may have been ranting about at the weekend...) – I said I'd give it a year before making any rash decisions, and I will.
Anyway, real life – I'm off to Edinburgh for the fringe tommorrow evening – fortunately Hazel's hitching a lift and/or helping with the driving so I can be prodded if I fall asleep too much. Can't wait to be up there again; I really miss both the city (although I like the city life in Cambridge as well, so that's kinda OK) and more importantly, the countryside – will definately jump in the river at Roslin glen over a weekend, and I hope to spend a day or so walking the other weekend – work permitting (I have 8hrs or so to do – sob). However, I'm mainly there for the shows, and having bumped into Sam today have a few more on my list that I want to go see (although I've forgotten them already – need to get him to tell me again by email!).
I am actually meant to be working when I'm up there, and Alex tells me that there's a wifi hotspot within ether distance of the flat, so that's easy. Black Medicine and/or the Bedlam bar will probably be a favourite spot when I'm bored of the flat / need coffee though.
Had an amazing weekend walking with Anna up in the Lakes; really needed the break (and physical exertion) preceeding the week I had! We didn't get there 'till late - very late – too late for the hostel to be open - Doh! We called about 15 different hotels and eventually found this one which not only had rooms available, but was actually lovely, and at a reasonable price (we nearly considered staying there another night, but thought the better of it!). We started the weekend by climbing Lough Rigg fell, which is a good starter walk, and followed it up with dinner in the fabulous Glass House restaurant in Ambleside – thoroughly recommended (unfortunately we couldn't afford the £500 bottle of wine...).
Sunday was going to be climbing Helvellyn, but due to the conditions we decided against it. Striding edge is lovely in good weather, but really not fun if visibility is reduced. Instead, we climbed the Old Man of Coniston from Coniston village and a lovely day it was too. The weather wasn't too great; the peak and ridge down was in cloud, rain and heavy wind for a significant part of the walk, but we had reasonable kit with us, so didn't get too miserable. Photos are online here!
I'd better get back to the grindstone. Expect lots of reviews soon from the fringe!
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Fringe anyone?
I'm going to the Fringe next weekend, and am interested in seeing the following shows (so far - there will be more!):
18th: Lion Spirit ASKA Japanese Drum Troupe 1530-1630
Assembly @ St George's West
18th: Eurobeat 2145-2315
Pleasance Courtyard
21st: Adam Hills: Joymonger 1930-2030
Assembly @ St George's West
24th: Fuerzabruta 2200-2305
The Black Tent
Of course I'll definately be going to see the CUADC and other Cambridge shows, but will most likely wangle a C venues pass to see those :)
18th: Lion Spirit ASKA Japanese Drum Troupe 1530-1630
Assembly @ St George's West
18th: Eurobeat 2145-2315
Pleasance Courtyard
21st: Adam Hills: Joymonger 1930-2030
Assembly @ St George's West
24th: Fuerzabruta 2200-2305
The Black Tent
Of course I'll definately be going to see the CUADC and other Cambridge shows, but will most likely wangle a C venues pass to see those :)
Monday, August 06, 2007
Friendship day
So, about an hour after my previous post an ex-colleague from India pointed out that it was their Friendship day festival on Sunday, which I think is a really nice concept - friendship is something I feel that until only recently I may have taken for granted - it's very easy not to appreciate the people around you, and how much they mean to you.
There are a couple of lovely quotes on the site, some of my favourites are:
There are a couple of lovely quotes on the site, some of my favourites are:
"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born."
Friendship Day Quotes by: Anais Nin
"Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up."
Friendship Day Quotes by: Bible: Ecclesiastes
"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather is one of those things that give value to survival."
Friendship Day Quotes by: C. S. Lewis
Long time no blog
Well, it's been a very long time since I last posted on this, but as most of you know what's happened in the last year I'll save you the details. Suffice it to say that Laura and I are no longer together, nor am I living in Edinburgh. I've gone back to my (in spirit anyway) roots here in Cambridge, and am living in a lovely big house in Girton with Ebony and John Linford (and others this summer). Bhoy had to go back to the Dogs Trust; they were great about finding him another home; neither Laura nor I could look after him properly independantly for obvious reasons.
I now have an office here in Cambridge as well; working from home eventually got too much for me, and I'm very grateful to have it - I still work from home occasionally but having the option makes so much difference. In other work news we've really started working hard on the third year implementation with our biggest client, which not only is keeping me busy, it's enabling Spiralinks to really push forward with the new software release and sales. I only hope that we have enough need for a resource here - having someone to work with will really help my moral and productivity! Having Adam, who newly joined us in California has already made a difference, so things are really looking up!
Had a lovely weekend - finally finished sorting the house, installing the dishwasher, etc. - tiring but necessary and very satisfying. Yesterday went up to Norfolk to the beach with Joy - via California (look it up!) - we ended up on Winterton beach, which despite being very near the nasty Great Yarmouth, was surpisingly devoid of irritating English beach-goers (elitist, me? Nah!). The last couple of weeks have made me realise what friendships are about; I've got some wonderful people around me and life is really very good at the moment.
I'd better get on with work - hierarchies, managers, locations and products are tedious and screw with my head, but at least it's challenging!
I now have an office here in Cambridge as well; working from home eventually got too much for me, and I'm very grateful to have it - I still work from home occasionally but having the option makes so much difference. In other work news we've really started working hard on the third year implementation with our biggest client, which not only is keeping me busy, it's enabling Spiralinks to really push forward with the new software release and sales. I only hope that we have enough need for a resource here - having someone to work with will really help my moral and productivity! Having Adam, who newly joined us in California has already made a difference, so things are really looking up!
Had a lovely weekend - finally finished sorting the house, installing the dishwasher, etc. - tiring but necessary and very satisfying. Yesterday went up to Norfolk to the beach with Joy - via California (look it up!) - we ended up on Winterton beach, which despite being very near the nasty Great Yarmouth, was surpisingly devoid of irritating English beach-goers (elitist, me? Nah!). The last couple of weeks have made me realise what friendships are about; I've got some wonderful people around me and life is really very good at the moment.
I'd better get on with work - hierarchies, managers, locations and products are tedious and screw with my head, but at least it's challenging!
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