30.1.11
Into the future, and the past
I went to Bayswater today to meet a friend. We walked through Kensington Gardens to the Victoria and Albert Museum to see some Chinese robes.
In the park we saw a flock of feral parakeets, rumoured to have been released during the filming of the African Queen , directed by John Huston and starring Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart, at Isleworth Studios in 1951.
We also saw sculptures by Anish Kapoor placed throughout the park as part of an exhibit at the Serpentine.
The parakeets and Kappoor's reflective sculpture gave the park a futuristic flavour.
The exhibition of chinese robes at the V&A is in the same display space as were the Supremes. which was in 2008, and the Grace Kelly, which was in 2009, exhibits. Like those shows, which attempted to show the fashions of the times, there was not much context.
There were no graphs showing the historical trajectory of the emperors, empresses and concubines who wore them. No explanation as to how or who wore them, nothing about why these particular robes were on display.
Afterwards we took the 70 bus back to Bayswater and had red wine and dinner at the King's Head pub on the Moscow Road in Bayswater. It's my old childhood neighbourhood.
As I walked through the bit of park behind the Tate Modern towards home, I heard a bird I've encountered before singing away in the dark. This time I saw it up in the trees. A black bird with a glorious song. It seems bigger and blacker than the nightingale, which I saw in my book of Garden birds.
Coincidentally, after I got home, my friend texted me to say it is the anniversary of the beheading of King Charles I on Jan 30, 1649.
He was born on the 9 November 1600, tried, convicted, and executed for high treason after the second of two civil wars that occurred during his reign from 1625 to his death.
Afterwards, during the Cromwellian Interregnum, England became a commonwealth and the monarchy was not reinstated until 1660 when Charles 1's son Charles II took up the post.
Into the future, and the past.
In the park we saw a flock of feral parakeets, rumoured to have been released during the filming of the African Queen , directed by John Huston and starring Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart, at Isleworth Studios in 1951.
We also saw sculptures by Anish Kapoor placed throughout the park as part of an exhibit at the Serpentine.
The parakeets and Kappoor's reflective sculpture gave the park a futuristic flavour.
The exhibition of chinese robes at the V&A is in the same display space as were the Supremes. which was in 2008, and the Grace Kelly, which was in 2009, exhibits. Like those shows, which attempted to show the fashions of the times, there was not much context.
There were no graphs showing the historical trajectory of the emperors, empresses and concubines who wore them. No explanation as to how or who wore them, nothing about why these particular robes were on display.
Afterwards we took the 70 bus back to Bayswater and had red wine and dinner at the King's Head pub on the Moscow Road in Bayswater. It's my old childhood neighbourhood.
As I walked through the bit of park behind the Tate Modern towards home, I heard a bird I've encountered before singing away in the dark. This time I saw it up in the trees. A black bird with a glorious song. It seems bigger and blacker than the nightingale, which I saw in my book of Garden birds.
Coincidentally, after I got home, my friend texted me to say it is the anniversary of the beheading of King Charles I on Jan 30, 1649.
He was born on the 9 November 1600, tried, convicted, and executed for high treason after the second of two civil wars that occurred during his reign from 1625 to his death.
Afterwards, during the Cromwellian Interregnum, England became a commonwealth and the monarchy was not reinstated until 1660 when Charles 1's son Charles II took up the post.
Into the future, and the past.
27.1.11
24.1.11
22.1.11
Mysterious Stay Puft goes missing
My day seems to be ending as it started, on a fairly low note.
The film Ghostbusters has always held a special place in my heart. I can't really explain why except that it is so dramatic, so funny, with a majestic mise en scene, to use an old film studies term -- which simply means everything in the film is majestic.
This might make me a little corny, I guess, but when I spotted a toy Stay Puft in a window as I walked along Shaftesbury Avenue almost exactly two months ago on Nov 20, I immediately took a picture of him for myself and to share with other fans of Stay Puft.
I didn't want to take him home, but remained somewhat haunted by him, and thought from time to time I must return.
So, today after seeing the old Howard Hawks film Ball of Fire starring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck at the British Film Institute, a random walk into the West End led me to seek him out.
It was windy after I got out of the cinema, so I didn't want to spend time on the river.
The film Ghostbusters has always held a special place in my heart. I can't really explain why except that it is so dramatic, so funny, with a majestic mise en scene, to use an old film studies term -- which simply means everything in the film is majestic.
This might make me a little corny, I guess, but when I spotted a toy Stay Puft in a window as I walked along Shaftesbury Avenue almost exactly two months ago on Nov 20, I immediately took a picture of him for myself and to share with other fans of Stay Puft.
I didn't want to take him home, but remained somewhat haunted by him, and thought from time to time I must return.
So, today after seeing the old Howard Hawks film Ball of Fire starring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck at the British Film Institute, a random walk into the West End led me to seek him out.
It was windy after I got out of the cinema, so I didn't want to spend time on the river.
I walked from the south bank across Hungerford Foot Bridge, through Charing Cross station, behind St Martin-in-the-Fields and up Charing Cross Road to Shaftesbury Avenue.
Once there, I decided to check for Stay Puft again. I wanted to go into the shop this time, but I walked all the way up Shaftesbury to Piccaddilly Circus, took a look at Eros, and then back down beyond where I started at Charing Cross Road with no luck.
I tried again. Dug out the picture on my BlackBerry by trolling all the way back to November 20 through a gazillion pictures. The pictures there, of a night-time post-robbery scene on Shaftesbury and some pretty iced cakes in a window, gave no clue as to where exactly the shop was or what it was called.
I walked back up almost to Piccadilly circus again.
I don't even think the shop, which I think was a film shop, is there anymore.
Once there, I decided to check for Stay Puft again. I wanted to go into the shop this time, but I walked all the way up Shaftesbury to Piccaddilly Circus, took a look at Eros, and then back down beyond where I started at Charing Cross Road with no luck.
I tried again. Dug out the picture on my BlackBerry by trolling all the way back to November 20 through a gazillion pictures. The pictures there, of a night-time post-robbery scene on Shaftesbury and some pretty iced cakes in a window, gave no clue as to where exactly the shop was or what it was called.
I walked back up almost to Piccadilly circus again.
I don't even think the shop, which I think was a film shop, is there anymore.
Somewhat dejected, I unusually retraced my steps back to the strand.
Most often, I try to vary the route I take to and from a place for variety.
When I noticed the Savoy Hotel, which reopened a few months ago after being under renovation for at least two years, since before I moved to London in September 2008, I decided to take a detour through it to the Embankment.
It is very grand and i looked in some of the dining rooms and what must be a ballroom. I didn't feel like going into the bar to see what it was like.
I walked up the steps and across Waterloo Bridge and into Lambeth and over to Southwark and home.
Now recovering from the trauma of missing Stay Puft with a glass of red wine.
It is very grand and i looked in some of the dining rooms and what must be a ballroom. I didn't feel like going into the bar to see what it was like.
I walked up the steps and across Waterloo Bridge and into Lambeth and over to Southwark and home.
Now recovering from the trauma of missing Stay Puft with a glass of red wine.
11.1.11
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