Equus

One of the advantages of working in a theatre is that I get sent to preview shows. Last Thursday was spent up north in Newcastle, previewing the stage production Equus at Newcastle's Theatre Royal before the show comes to the local theatre where I work. This is the same production where Daniel Radcliffe, the actor who plays Harry Potter in the movies, appeared nude in when it was playing in the West End in London. I did not know much about this show before the preview, but have heard that it involves sex and horses. Now, that may sound perverse, but having seen the show, I must say that I found it to be an intelligent who-done-it (or in this case, why-did-he-do-it), as well as a dark exploration of a teenager’s psyche. The nudity and sexual aspects of the show were definately not what some have made it out to be. The theme of the show is quite dark though, and deals with serious issues such as religion, oppression of freedom, psychological abuse and teenage angst.

Easter snow

In the entire year and a half I've been in England, I have never seen snow as thick as the layer of snow outside my window this morning. (Someone who lives in... say... Finland, would probably find this blog entry amusing).

The glass-is-half-full response:
It was beautiful! The snow was so fine that I kicked up puffs of it while walking to work, almost like smoke being blown around my feet as I walked. And since it was still early morning on a holiday weekend, people were still asleep, so the snow was clean and sparkling in the morning sun.

The glass-is-half-empty response:
IT WAS FREEZING!! It's the end of March! Why is it still snowing?

And finally, bird-prints in the snow. Isn't it great? :)

Seachd - The Inaccessible Pinnacle

I watched this movie when it was released at a local cinema here last month. This is a movie that caused quite a bit of stir at the end of 2007, not because of any objectionable content but because it is a highly praised movie from Scotland (shot almost entirely in Gaelic) that the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) refused to nominate for the Academy Award’s Best Foreign Language Film category. Many critics thought this film stood a good chance of winning so BAFTA’s decision not to enter the film came as a shock. As a result, Scottish producer Chris Young quit the BAFTA in protest, stating “not only are they not supporting a British film and a British film producer, but they are actively putting obstacles in our path”. Even the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in the US demanded an explanation from BAFTA. BAFTA refused to explain why they are not submitting the film. The official website for the film can be found here: http://www.seachd.com/

Snow

I woke up yesterday morning to go to work and when I looked outside my window, I saw a blanket of snow covering the ground. It hasn’t snowed much this year so I was kind of happy to see the snow. I guess since I grew up in the tropics, snow holds a certain fascination for me but after so many months of cold weather, I think I’d still prefer winter to end and have some warm, sunny days.

Me? Addicted to Digestives?

Ok, maybe I do like to eat a couple of Digestive biscuits every now and then. But it’s not, like, an addiction. It’s more like an experiment to see what all the different flavours taste like. So far, I’ve tried the 8 different kinds you see above, plus a limited edition White Chocolate Digestive. There’s no photo of that here because I... er... ate that before I remembered to take a photo. And since it was a limited edition, I can’t buy it anymore.

Chinese New Year in London

Thursday the 7th February was the first day of the Chinese New Year and I went down that weekend to London once again to see my friends Vinod, Annalise and Christine. It was nice to see what the Chinese New Year is like in London but Chinatown was waaaaay too crowded (no big surprise there). At one point, Christine and I literally couldn’t move as we were squashed in from all sides by the crowd.

In the evening, there was a traditional Chinese fireworks display – which basically meant it was really, REALLY loud! So loud, in fact, that a warning had to be given before the show. Chinese music was also heard playing on loudspeakers; songs that used to be played during the Chinese New Year when I was a kid. It was interesting to hear these same songs again, many years later in a country far away from where I spent my childhood.

James Bond stamps

Ok, this blog entry is officially a geeky one but I don't care. I recently saw some stamps that I couldn't resist buying. This year marks the 100th anniversary of Ian Fleming's birth and the British Royal Mail released 6 James Bond stamps, with 24 different book cover designs of 6 Bond novels. (If you didn't get that, feel free to... er... read it again). I didn't buy it in London but the postcode on the stamps show SE1, which is a nice touch as SE1 is the location of the British Secret Service headquarters in London. And starting from April this year till March 2009, there will also be an Ian Fleming and James Bond exhibition at the London Imperial War Museum where there will be... and I kid you not... Halle Berry's bikini from Die Another Day on display. And of course, the next Bond movie will be out before the end of this year. Now, if only Matt Damon is not too old to do another Bourne movie!