Gretch In The City

Holiday Travel Trauma, aka Planes, Trains and Automobiles

2011-01-07T21:00:00.004Z

Plane (Attempt #1) – Friday 17 December
My flight to DC was due to depart Heathrow at 2:50. At 2:30 we’re told there is a 30-min delay for de-icing and that once we board we will have to be de-iced again. On board the captain reports the wait for de-icing is 1.5 – 2.5 hrs, probably more on the 2.5 side! At least our in-flight entertainment is started, during which I watch Eat, Pray, Love (book was much better). Capt comes back on and says it will now be Another hour! We have now been on plane for 3.5 hrs with just beverages, no food. Rumours start flying about how at this point they will probably cancel flight as flight crew can’t be on duty that many hours. Sure enough, at the 4-hr mark, captain comes on and says ‘The Company has advised us that the flight has been cancelled’. Cabin crew announce that they realise we must be hungry (no kidding) and will start to heat up dinners as there have been many cancelled flights and they don’t know when we’ll be able to disembark. Whoops, 10 mins later they come back on and say we’ve been given priority to disembark. There is then a mad dash for exit as people are furiously trying to re-book. Many, many, many thanks to Mom, Kait and Fiona who were all manning the phones and web to get me rebooked to flight on Monday. We then make it to baggage hall to try and get bags back. Key word there is try. After 3.5 hours of basically no information and no bags (and no food! – save for digestive biscuits I finally remembered were in my carry-on. Ann Y– your preference for these cookies saved the passengers of flight 265), T5 announces they are closing baggage hall and we will have to call/check online to find out about our bags. I then head back to my flat and basically play hermit all weekend.

Plane (Attempt #2) – Monday 20 December
After a snowy weekend with Heathrow completely shut, the airport re-opens Monday and at time I leave flat, my flight is still showing scheduled. I get to Terminal 5 and anyone using the term ‘madhouse’ would not be accused of crazy talk. I finally find a BA staff member to ask about how/where I can get my bags. He sends me to the bowels of the terminal to the Baggage Customer Service counter. While there on the queue I don’t have access to see departure boards. A few minutes later my sis in the States calls to report my flight has been cancelled!! By this point there is no room to be had on flights for Tues, Weds or Thur because of all the cancelled flights from weekend. We then decide to punt on flying before Xmas and get me re-booked for Sunday 26 Dec. My flatmate’s family had kindly invited me to join them for the holiday, so I look on the bright side of life and think hey, this way I get two Christmases – one in Yorkshire and one in Virginia.

I then head back again from Heathrow to my flat, but without my bags!! Turns out they are ‘in the system’ and will be sent to destination on next available flight. Do not get me started on how inane this is – a) what if I don’t go to destination after all, b) what about all those security rules, c) airport was closed all weekend, surely bags are still in airport?. But noo….bags got to Dulles a few days before I did so I then spend the next week with just my carry on and 'C-list' winter clothes still at flat.

Train (Attempt #1) – Tuesday 21 December
Stuart and I head to King’s Cross for an 11:30 train to York. We get to station about 10:30 and I am literally extracting my ticket from the kiosk when everyone’s mobile starts going off and the departure board starts blinking. Was like something out of a film. Turns out because of power line problems, all trains out of King’s Cross have been Cancelled!! OMG, are you kidding me? I’m Gretchen the Christmas jinx! Stu quickly calls his mom to find out other options, which are to go to Euston and get train to Manchester or Birmingham and then switch to a York train.

Train (Attempt #2) – Tuesday 21 December
We go running down Euston Rd (past the gi-normous Eurostar queue which by now is snaking way beyond British Library!) and get to station. Again, anyone using the term ‘madhouse’ would not be accused of crazy talk. Some trains there have also been cancelled but we finally get on an 11:45 train to Manchester, which about 30 minutes out stalls because of power issues!! Seriously! All is not lost though as we make our way to next station where the engineers fix the issue (now putting us back about 45 minutes late for Manchester arrival). Fortunately there’s a train to York leaving soon after we arrive and we finally get to Knaresborough around 6pm!

Weds 22 Dec – Sat 25 Dec: Have a great time with the Cunningham clan (roll on Wii Bowling and Cycling!) and enjoy my first English Christmas.

Automobile (Attempt #1) – Sunday 26 December
My flight is scheduled for 4:30pm, leaving plenty of time to get to airport from Yorkshire. Oh wait! It’s Boxing Day in the UK and turns out there are no trains/buses running! I then pull out the credit card to book the Harrogate Airport Transfer Car Service. At 10am I feel like a movie star as a black Mercedes pulls up with Andy the driver all done up in a suit. It’s a nice sunny day in Yorkshire and we are well on our way south to the airport. After about 3 hrs we hit some traffic, but Andy re-assures me we are only about 20 miles from airport so we should be fine.

Plane (Attempt #3) – Sunday 26 December
“Should be fine” is still out there in the ether of the S-class when my mobile rings. It’s mom with some bad news. Due the expected snowmaggeddon on the East Coast, all flights to DC have been, yeah, you guessed it..Cancelled! My sister, the BA-rebooking Queen, gets me on a flight into Baltimore the next afternoon. Time to head back to my flat from Heathrow…Again! But oh wait, the Heathrow Express trains are having track signal failures AND there is a tube strike! ARRGH! As I head away in disgust from tube platform, a woman approaches and asks if I am heading to Central London and would I like to share a cab. Yes, please!

Automobile (Attempt #2) – Sunday 26 December
Julie, a teacher from Australia, and I make our way to the lengthy taxi queue. We notice that as people get to head of queue, the cabbies approach them and then half the people walk away looking angry. It turns out that there is a 10 pound Boxing Day surcharge on top of the fare and also as there are no trains/tubes, traffic is quite hellish so ride could cost up to 100 pounds. Julie and I bit the bullet and get in. 45 pounds later I am back in my flat, consoling myself with pizza and the Dr Who Christmas episode.

Plane (Attempt #4) – Monday 27 December
I’m gettin’ good at gettin’ to Heathrow. And the news is also good, flight is scheduled and operating. We actually board the plane! And then, I have the LONGEST 15 minutes of my life when the Captain comes on and says “We have a slight delay with our departure as there is a technical issue with one of the wings. The engineers are on their way to look at it.” OMFG. Come on engineers! Captain comes back about 15 mins later and says “Let me put you in the bigger picture…” NOOO, I don’t want the big picture, this sounds bad! However, it’s not! It’s just an update that the engineers have fixed the problem and the crew is just filling out some paperwork and we’ll be on our way. Hurrah! I then, finally, proceed to have a great flight to Baltimore. Shockingly, after all the cancellations, the seat next to me is empty so I can spread out and relax. Our on-flight meal is a surprisingly tasty “Christmas Lunch” of Turkey, roast potatoes, Brussels sprouts, and mince pie, and there is a good selection of movies (and season 1 Glee episodes!) to keep me entertained.

So 10 days after originally planned, I finally arrive in the US and have a wonderful week with family (including my adorable new nephew) and friends!

For those who I missed (some of you for 2 years running now due to snow issues), I hope to see you at some point in 2011 – Happy New Year to all!

March/May/Mom/(Theatre)Madness

2010-07-04T10:43:00.003Z

Just like baseball fans flocking to Costner’s Field of Dreams, If there’s theatre – mom and I will go. Was just fantastic to have her over in March for my birthday week and in May for my gallbladder recuperation week. In March we caught the very moving and creative “Chronicles of Long Kesh” at my old employer, the Tricycle Theatre. Blending Motown hits with the protests and hunger strikes that took place in Long Kesh (now the Maze) prison in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, this show left mom and I breathless, amazed at how much just six actors and a basically bare set accomplished. Have a peak at their promo film for the show here. Mom also went with my friends Fiona and Nick to see the incredible Ian McKellen in Waiting for Godot. And of course we then played ‘Waiting for Sir Ian”, who was lovely and gracious at the stage door, after strutting and fretting his amazing couple hours on the stage and leaving the audience in tears. He told Mom he'd just been to Washington (small world)

Speaking of strutting and fretting, we also went with Stu and Sarah to an ‘interactive’ Henry V at the Southwark Playhouse – a cool venue located under London Bridge station. When we went in, the ushers gave us blue tickets that told us we’d be seated with the ‘French’ and that we had to help them in their cause. While the show was done on a big game board of a stage, it was far less interactive than we thought (we only stood up once as members of the French court), but they do get props for well, imaginative use of props actually..lol and some clever staging.

The biggest props, however, have to go to War Horse, which we saw in May. WOW! Go see this (and bring some Kleenex). Beautiful, stunning, so imaginative! Move over Lion King – the puppetry in this is Incredible. Five minutes in and you think you are looking at real horses. Spielberg is apparently turning it into a movie, and if he uses real horses, well..the man is dead to me! It ranks up there as one of my top 5 all-time theatre moments. I hear it’s heading to Broadway – book those tickets now. Here’s the trailer

Another show for which I had a trailer to share was the all-male production of Pirates of Penzance at Wilton’s Music Hall. This show has been near and dear to my heart since our Herndon High’s production of it back in the 1980s and the greatl film version w/Kevin Kline and Angela Lansbury. Was having dinner w/friends Barry and Rebecca and he mentioned seeing it and how it was so good he’d see it again, so off we all went. What a fun, joyous production in the perfect location at the world’s oldest grand music hall. Here’s a pretty much spot-on review

Speaking of reviews, not sure what the London critics were on when they heaped praises on Enron. I saw it last month and can completely understand why it closed so quickly on Broadway. Self-conscious staging and acting, set pieces too clever for their own good, over-the-top Texas accents – in a word: Annoying! I’ve loved earlier work by the director Rupert Goold, but this was just too, well, much. Phew, and I’ve probably gone on too much here, so will wrap up this post now!

E.T. = the extra talented and talkative Emma Thompson

2010-07-04T10:33:00.003Z

When I’ve gone to celebrity book signings in the past (Rupert Everett, Bill Clinton, etc) standard procedure is you put the name for the dedication on a post-it and that’s all they sign. ‘To Gretchen- Lots of Love, Bill’ (well, ok, maybe not love, but you know what I mean). Not so for the funny and friendly academy-award winner Emma Thompson! She was signing copies of the new Nanny McPhee book at Waterstone’s Piccadilly (aka the BEST book store EVER! – friendliest, most helpful staff, comfy chairs, great views, but I digress) and sure enough the staff passed out the post-its for names. However, when we got closer in the queue, I could hear her chatting with people, ‘What would you like me to write? Is it a special occasion?’ etc. So when I went up to the table, I told her one of my copies was for Lucy (Stu’s niece) who was having a birthday, so she wrote Happy Birthday, and then I said another was for my nephew Destin, whose birthday wasn’t until November. ‘And how old will Destin be?’ I told her and she wrote “To Destin, who I hear is 6 and Gorgeous!’ (which of course he is – see photos in post below...lol). She then asked if I was on holiday here and I said no that I was now living in London and she said ‘Oh, I do apologise for the weather!’ I then thanked her for taking time to sign my 3 allowed copies and she replied “No, Thank YOU for buying 3 of my books.” I LOVE Emma! More pics of her here

Christmas Catch-up

2010-07-04T10:20:00.012Z

Mother Nature really messed with my trip home at Xmas last year. I arrived at Dulles wearing a long wool coat (clueless as to the forecast ahead - it was just too big to pack) and the passport control officer looked at me and said ‘You’re well prepared for this weekend.’ Me: ‘Oh, is it going to be cold?’ Him: “Well we’re expecting about 3 feet of snow tomorrow (looking at passport), but I see you’re from Massachusetts, so you’ll be used to it.” It = snowpalooza, snowpocalypse, etc and led to lots of snow cancellations for visits and a 3-hour work out for the Pierce girls to dig out Kait's car! However, was still able to see many of you, including a lovely dinner at David and John’s (the night of the blizzard – many thanks again to Joan and Brent for getting me safely to Kaitlin’s!), a great Freddie Mac reunion lunch (pictured), a sleepover at Tania and Ned’s with the girls, and a final dinner in Shirlington. Then had a wonderful and White Christmas at mom and Peter’s with the whole family, including budding new football (aka soccer) star Destin, sporting his new Arsenal kit, courtesy of Aunt Gretchen, who will buying another kit this year as on March 29 we welcomed Eddie to the family! Big brother Destin clearly relishing his role in the pic here.

Norway! Yes way!

2009-10-25T11:57:00.005Z

Seriously, everyone needs to visit Norway at least once (I’m definitely going back for seconds). Oslo alone comprises beautiful buildings, lots of great parks, right on the water, fantastic food and museums and friendly people. Need I say more? Ok, well, their new Opera House alone is worth the trip. It just opened last year and is right on the water. The theme is a glacier and it’s Opera House cum jungle gym as you can climb all over it, even the roof, for amazing views. The inside is like a beautiful wooden Guggenheim with a lovely café in the lobby.

We were able to get such a good view of it because the theatre ship on which we stayed, the MS Innvik, was right across the water from it. While the Innvik gets Major props for location, as well as for fantastic breakfasts (make your own waffles!) and for price, not sure I’d return because the rooms are TINY and you hear a lot of noise from the theatre (which had reggae concerts when we were there). So you know this 6-foot gal with the bionic hearing was having a bit of a hard time. Ah well, time to go make another waffle..lol and enjoy the fact the room was only 75 pounds! Speaking of ships, on one of our walks we saw what had to be the most Gi-normous cruise ship I’ve ever seen. I couldn’t even fit it all in one pic. Speaking of pics, more Opera House, theatre ship and cruise ship (and waffle) ones are here.

I scream, you scream, we all scream for Oslo!

2009-10-25T11:53:00.004Z

Oslo’s National Gallery is home to the original ‘Scream’ by Munch. It’s also home to a lovely cemetery where we saw Munch’s and Ibsen’s graves, and it is home to a whole peninsula of museums on ships and sailing. You take a boat out there and explore Viking ships and see polar bears, wacky dolls, and an actual Oscar award. Seriously! Here are pics! From ships in museums to ones in the water, we had a fantastic 2-hour cruise on one of the world’s oldest sailing ships. Great commentary from captain, great beer and sandwiches, as well as great scenery (and I don’t just mean the captain!)

Back in the city centre there is also a theatre museum (make sure to ask ‘creepy theatre guy’ who manages the place to screen the bizarre video for you!), the mini bottle gallery, and a ‘House of Singles Outlet’ (alas, I did not find any ‘bargains’..lol). Oslo is also home to the best café – Engebrecht Café – the oldest in Oslo where you get the BEST mussels and cake, in fact, they’ve dubbed it ‘world’s best cake. I’ll let my traveling companion Sarah tell you about it here and then also read about their ingenious invention to help with cleanup. Pics of Oslo sights are here. Final shots are the flash mob dancing to ‘Hairspray’ we saw in the train station. Our trip wrapped up with an afternoon at the Amazing Vigeland Sculpture Park. One sculptor, 200+ granite and bronze sculptures in beautiful setting = a must-see.

The hills are alive!

2009-10-25T11:48:00.003Z

Other must-sees? The Yorkshire Dales and Lake District (which ok, is technically not North Yorkshire, but right next to it). Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous scenery! Stu and I traveled up to his home town of Knaresborough to celebrate his mom’s 60th and had a fun-filled four days traveling the countryside. We wound our way through Wensleydale and stopped for lunch at the Wensleydale Cheese factory/visitor centre/café. Alas, no sign of Wallace or Gromit, but we did have a great salad with chicken, mango and Wensleydale cheese w/ginger (best salad ever) and stocked up on the ‘fromage!’ It was then up into the hills and dales of the Dales to stop for coffee (and some retail therapy) in the cute town of Grassington. The next day brought the Lake District. INCREDIBLE! I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. There's one posted here. We had another good lunch stop in a café next to the Theatre by the Lake (hello!), which came complete with a player piano playing Barry Manilow songs (because nothing says Lake District like Copacabana..lol). Wonder if Theatre by the Lake is hiring....

Over the weekend, we explored Harrogate (home to spa water, the original Betty’s tea room, and consistently dubbed one of the best places to live in UK) and Knaresborough (a suburb of Harrogate, situated beautifully along the River Nid and home to Knaresborough Castle. Again, I’ll just let the pics do the talking and send out many thanks to Mr and Mrs C for being such great hosts and tour guides!

Take me to the river

2009-10-25T11:45:00.004Z

We are one month into our new digs south of the river on Cinnamon Wharf and loving it! Nothing beats having breakfast on the balcony, walking to work along the Thames, or finding great new places such as Teapod (great gingerbread latte) or the Kings Arms, our new ‘local’ and home to the best pub grub and pub quiz! It’s also nice to be so close to my favourite spot in London – the South Bank, home to British Film Institute, Tate Modern, National and Globe Theatres! We’ve got a sofa bed, so come visit! Here are some pics so you can see what it’s like. The one pictured here is a view from our balcony.

Here comes the bride

2009-09-10T19:23:00.012Z

And she is my beautiful stepsister Eva who married the wonderful Jea on Saturday July 25 at a cool arts venue in Richmond, VA – Plant Zero. In attendance in the wedding party? The cutest nephew ever – Destin – as ring bearer! Here he is with Derek, the ceremony officiant. The whole weekend was a wonderful celebration topped off with the most adorable wedding cake that was topped off with figures of Eva, Jea and Destin! Too cute. Congratulations again to the happy couple!! Can’t wait to see all of you at Christmas! More wedding pics can be found here

Hot fun in the Summertime

2009-09-10T19:11:00.003Z

After the wedding, had a great relaxing week of soaking up the rays from my mom’ & Peter's porch and pool in Staunton, Tania & Ned’s beach house in New Jersey and David & John’s beach house in Delaware. Many thanks to all for the great hospitality and fun times! There are Scrabble re-matches to be had with all come Christmas, plus catching up reading Harry Potter to Nadia.

Saw a great documentary, Food Inc, w/Mom and Peter and one of the main farms featured, Polyface Farms, turns out to be right outside Staunton! Small world! Bring on the local meat and eggs! Speaking of farms, there is nothing like New Jersey and Delaware produce in the summer. Had the most gorgeous cantaloupe and corn. Mmm good!

The weather gods were also smiling as it was gorgeous weather all week, save for the drive home from Dewey in a practically apocalyptic thunderstorm. OMG, like torrents of rain! Never fear though as my journey was safe and sound in, well a Journey. I got a free upgrade on my rental car and moved up from economy to nice big sturdy emerald green Dodge Journey. This came after getting a free upgrade on the flight over to World Traveller Plus. Thanks BA! Beach pics are here

Laying down the Law..or Get thee to NYC…

2009-09-10T18:20:00.008Z

… to see Jude Law in Hamlet! Three words: A-MAZ-ING! He should totally do more theatre. From the moment he started speaking he just drew me in and said those famous speeches in the most accessible way. So charismatic, great physicality (and gorgeous)! Loved how they did ‘to be or not to be’. Think he’s replaced Tom Hulce as my fave Hamlet! (Oh no I didn’t…oh yes I did!)
In the theatre I was 4 rows behind Law’s “Sherlock Holmes” co-star Rachel McAdams!! – gorgeous in skinny black trousers and a peachy pink silk kimono like type top). Alas, no pics of her. She came out of stage door briefly after show, but stage manager blocked the shot and she didn’t stay.
Not so Jude though, who was very gracious and took lots of time signing autographs. He’d kept us waiting for quite some time (think while he was visiting w/Rachel), so the crowd was a bit unruly by the time he came out w/lots of shouting going on.I calmly stood and waited my turn and when he took my programme to sign, I looked right at him and said ‘That was a fantastic performance, thank you very much’ and he looked right back at me w/those gorgeous blue eyes and said ‘My pleasure’…I died, and could have laid down the Law right there and then (if ya catch my drift) Special thanks to Lynne for having the forethought to buy tickets way ahead of time (like last year!). More pics of Jude are here

Let’s all go to the movies

2009-09-10T18:19:00.002Z

The Hangover is the funniest movie of the year, dare I say the decade. Seriously, from start to finish that movie is HI-LAR-I-OUS.
Ed Helms is my new hero, well, along with Joseph Gordon Levitt. (500) Days of Summer? AMAZING! Have you seen it yet? No? What are you waiting for? GO! Seriously, you must see it. So creative, such great writing, such sweet performances. LOVED it.

Earlier in the summer, we paid homage to a fallen film hero – John Hughes, when the Prince Charles Cinema held a memorial double feature of Ferris Bueller and Planes, Trains and Automobiles (which I had never seen before). Have to say, Ferris does not quite stand the test of time, seems a bit dated now, but I LOVED P,T & A. Martin and Candy were fantastic, such great chemistry and dialogue. That’s one I don’t think I’ll grow tired of.

West End Girl

2009-07-17T18:22:00.003Z

It’s been a very busy early summer in the entertainment department! In what I think is chronological order:
1) Company at Union Theatre. An evening of perfect serendipity was brought about by a simple text from my friend Neil: “Do you know the musical ‘Company’? Do you want to try and get tickets to see it tonight?” Um, yes and yes! It’s one of my favourite Sondheim shows and this production, in a great little black-box theatre near the South Bank, gave the recent Raul Esparza version a run for its money. ‘Joanne’ was one of the youngest I’ve seen, but her Ladies who Lunch may be one of the best versions ever!
2) Chicago w/Jerry Springer. Another one of my favourite musicals and this time with an actual lawyer playing Billy Flynn! While Jerry! Jerry! is not going to get a Tony for his singing anytime soon, Mr. Springer brought great panache and enthusiasm to the role and he and the rest of the cast just seemed to be having such a great rough and tumble, rambunctious time, it was infectious. Mr. Springer should win an award though as one of the most gracious celebs at the stage door. Took his time chatting w/us, posing for pics, etc. Final thought? Go see him in Chicago!
3) Avenue Q – Wow, I was on a roll of seeing some faves, wasn’t I? This was my third trip down the avenue and I continue to Love this hilarious and heartwarming musical. Had a great time seeing it w/Sarah, Stuart and Neil (both of the boys were first-timers to the show). My only quibble? In the final number, “For Now,” they haven’t changed the George Bush lyric, they just say he “Was” only for now. A bit of a cheat, n’est-ce pas?
4) Pet Shop Boys – Going out on a limb and putting this up there as one of the best concerts ever! Many thanks to Sarah for the ticket and to my colleague George for getting us in the groovy VIP lounge of the venue before and after the show. How much do I love their music! Go West, Suburbia and of course West End Girls to name a few. We were up dancing and stomping so much, I thought the O2 Arena would fall into the Thames. If you have a chance to see their Pandemonium tour, go! So theatrical, such great visuals, such great performers.
5) Speaking of great performers, I seem to have saved the best for last…we’re talkin’ Waiting for Godot w/Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart! Oh My God! My inner-geek was just about dying at seeing Gandalf/Magneto square off against Capt. Picard/Professor Xavier and they sure delivered! McKellen in particular gave me goosebumps and had me in tears. Such a moving performance. He and co-star Simon (Four Weddings and a Funeral) Callow also gets props for coming to the stage door (albeit a bit late – we were Waiting for Gandalf..ha!). Alas, my boss had to run for her train and was unable to stay to play photographer w/me. I then had to ask a stranger (a fellow American) at that, to take a pic of me w/Ian. Umm..yeah, it’s more like me and Eye-an. Who takes a picture this close-up? Never trust your camera to strangers kids! See the pics here

Let’s all go to the movies

2009-07-17T18:19:00.001Z

Gretch in the City gives two big thumbs-up to Star Trek (seen twice!) and Harry Potter (just saw last night). Also had two great evenings at the British Film Institute recently. The first was a double-feature of concert documentaries featuring Ella Fitzgerald and Oscar Peterson. The first was from the mid -1960s and the second was from mid-1980s and they both sounded flawless on each. Music heaven!

From music to Mexican, it was then off to see the premiere of “Rudo y Cursi” starring Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna, the two stars of “Y Tu Mama Tambien.” In Rudo they play battling brothers both trying to make it big in the world of football (aka soccer). The two stars have terrific chemistry and the film is very funny and heartwarming. Our hearts were warmed even more when the two stars and director Carlos Cuaron and his brother/producer Alfonso Cuaron took the stage for a very funny Q&A live and in person! after the film. OMG, Gale and Diego in person are muy caliente!

On the steps of the palace

2009-07-17T18:15:00.002Z

Another recent road trip was to volunteer at BHF’s Blenheim Palace Jog. Blenheim is the gorgeous and palatial family home of Winston Churchill and is in a beautiful little town Woodstock on the outskirts of Oxford! Woot! Back to one of my favourite places of all for me! Went up on Saturday and walked around my old summer stomping grounds of Christ Church and the other Oxford colleges and then winded my way to Woodstock where I stayed at a fantastic B&B, The Townhouse. Best breakfast perhaps Ever! Run by the friendliest couple Ever! If you’re in the area, you must stay here!

At the jog, my role was Sweeper – i.e. the last person to go along the route and tell the marshals and water stations to stand down. Along the way I was very fortunate to meet the Youngblood family. They comprise 3 generations of heart patients (Grandmother Mo, Son Lee and Grandson Rhys) and were struggling a bit along the route. I offered to get them some assistance or give them a lift, but they were adamant about finishing the whole route themselves and they did! Such an inspiration!

Also inspiring? The absolutely amazing gardens of Lambeth Palace in London. They are only open a few times a year, and I went on a gorgeous Saturday in June. If you have a green thumb, you will be in nirvana when you see them! Who knew such an oasis was right in the heart of London. Gorgeous weather also prevailed when my friend Sarah and I went to the Canalside Cavalcade in the ‘Little Venice’ area of London. Parades of long boats, puppet theatres on barges and the human fruit machine were just some of the highlights of the day! Pics of all of the above are here!

Have fun stormin’ the castle!

2009-07-17T18:08:00.007Z

Coming to England anytime soon? Then we’re goin’ to Windsor and Eton! I took advantage of yet another Bank Holiday weekend at the end of May to go explore the Queen's home and surrounding towns. So quick and easy to get to from London and so beautiful. Took a great open-top bus tour, boat tour, walking tour and wrapped it up at a lovely café along the river, named, appropriately enough, The Chocolate Theatre Café (my two favourite things!).

The castle is amazing and has a fantastic audio guide (and I’m not just saying that because it’s Stu’s company that does them). They also have a great deal in that you pay your 20 pound entry fee, but then anytime you go back w/in that calendar year, you get in free – unlimited. So let’s go storm that castle! The pics are here!

Murder, She Predicted

2009-05-22T18:30:00.005Z

Had a fantastic trip to the Big Apple back in March. Family, friends, fun and food were the order of the day as my flatmate Stuart, who had never been to NYC, and I, who hadn’t been in years, played tourist with our NY City Pass (fab offer btw if you are planning a trip). It got us into the Empire State Building and most of the major museums. The trip was a family reunion with Mom, Kait, Dad and Betty on hand to celebrate the Irish Twins’ birthdays. St. Patrick’s Day brought a bright sunny day for Kait, along with the Parade (of course!) and topped off by “Blithe Spirit” with Angela Lansbury, Christine Ebersole and Rupert Everett. Lansbury It was still early days for the production when we saw it, so it was a bit uneven, but ‘Jessica Fletcher’ stole every scene as the wacky medium Madame Arcati! She also wins the award for one of the most gracious stage door celebs. She patiently posed for pics, and even showed us her green wool cap she was wearing for St. Pat's.

Wednesday brought more theatre (of course!) in the form of the fantastic “Distracted” starring Cynthia Nixon and family friend Josh Stamberg (he of memorable roles in Sex and The City and Six Feet Under). I can’t rave enough about this play. Fantastic writing, super creative staging/set, and wonderful, natural performances by Nixon and Stamberg, along with the rest of the supporting cast who play multiple roles. Nixon was outstanding as she is on stage nearly the entire play and made us laugh and cry (often at the same time, b/c like Steel Magnolias says – laughter through tears is my favourite emotion!)

The day wrapped up with a wonderful birthday feast at Ruby Foo’s with good friends Ben, Mary, Joelle and Liz. Our final day in NYC? More food at the famous Stage Deli for a fun lunch with Oxford friends Joy and Howard! Trip Photos are here.

My Big Fat(tening) Chinese/Italian Wedding Trip

2009-05-22T18:25:00.003Z

Speaking of feasts – food was the focus of the following trip to Toronto for Stephanie and Rocco’s wedding. Our first day I played tour guide to Stu and fellow British friend Helen – both newcomers to T.O. The bitter winds off the lake blew us into the warm environs of the Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar where we saddled up to the chefs’ bar for an afternoon of wine and lots of tasty treats. You must go if you are in T.O.! We even got cute Jamie himself to sign a menu for the bride (who is even a bigger fan than me) and groom.

Major thanks to Steph and Rocco for putting us British travellers up (and putting up with us) at their fab new townhouse! The next night found us dining Creole style with fellow TO friend Joan at Southern Accent, another of my faves. Along with great Cajun cocktails and food, the restaurant comes complete with a psychic (Many of you may remember how freakily accurate she was for me a few years ago!). Stu and Helen had theirs told and sounds like both are in for some career changes!

The wedding day brought us to the Liberty Grand, a GORGEOUS lakefront venue. Steph and Rocco incorporated Chinese and Italian traditions into the event and started with a tea ceremony with Steph looking lovely in her traditional red dress. Moving into wedding white, movies were the order of the day as Stephanie came down the aisle (in probably I have to say the most beautiful wedding dress) to the theme from The Princess Bride. At the reception, members of the wedding party came in to various movie themes (Rocky, Star Wars, etc). But the BEST (at least for this pop culture fan) was their kissing game. Rather than bang cutlery on glasses, in order to get the bride and groom to smooch, you had to get your whole table to sing a song from a movie/t.v. show. Best idea ever! It wouldn’t be Italian if there wasn’t food – six courses of it! From antipasto to pasta to steak to seafood, topped off by the dessert buffet and candy bar! Yum! We worked off the calories the next day at the bride and groom's by partaking in Playstation’s Rock Band! (I clearly missed my calling as a drummer!) Photos are here

Splish, splash I am in love with Bath!

2009-05-22T18:23:00.001Z

Early April showers gave way to sunshine and a visit from the Scharpfs! Was soo great to see and play tour guide to Tania, Ned, Nadia and Sophia, who dubbed London fun, but ‘too crowded. I can’t wait to get out to the countryside!’ Pics of the weekend are here

Heeding Sophia’s advice, I took advantage of the UK’s 4(!)-day Easter weekend and discovered my new favourite place in the UK – Bath! Beautiful surroundings, gorgeous buildings, friendly people and a really good vibe around the place, I can’t wait to go back. Highlights included a boat tour down the Avon canal (complete w/hot chocolate & Baileys!), a wonderful walking tour of Jane Austen areas, Good Friday service at the Bath Abbey, the infamous Bizarre Bath tour, the most amazing seafood chowder at the Riverside Café and the super tasty Bath Bunn at Sally Lunn’s!

On Saturday my friend Alison came out for the day and we had quite the adventures. We climbed up Solsbury Hill (of the Peter Gabriel song fame) for fabulous views of the area, and then went canoeing! Or ‘Canadian canoe’ as they call it here. Clearly canoeing is a North American pastime as we were the only out on the canal and when I got back to London, I got the strangest responses when I told people. “Really! You went canoeing?! You did?!” I mean seriously, you would have thought I’d said “I went over Niagra Falls in a barrel” the way they reacted. Wacky!

The water theme continued the next day when I did the Twilight package at the AMAZING, FANTASTIC Thermae Bath Spa. Four levels of saunas and steam rooms topped off by a rooftop pool! Relaxing in this as the sun sets with hot air balloons floating by – it don’t get much better than that my friends! The package also includes a one-course tasty healthy dinner and a nice large glass of wine. Not a bad way to end an Easter weekend! Photos are here.

Owen y'all some blog updates

2009-03-13T18:26:00.005Z

I lost my blogging mojo for a few months, but am back on track. Was in a bit of a January funk after a fantastic trip home for the holidays (which seemed to be more packed and flew by faster than last year – apologies to those I didn’t get to see). Have then have just been slogging away at work, which also has me in a funk. Job search is back on again as I want to go back to my passion for the arts. Speaking of the arts, saw August: Osage County at the National in January. Best play ever! (or pretty darn close). Have you seen it? Seek it out and go – you won’t be sorry!

Know what else I recently saw? The movie The International, and who did I see introduce it? Clive Owen himself!! In a word – gorgeous! He is the patron of an old historic cinema out in Essex, near where my friend Neil has a place, so recently had a weekend away and spent Sunday night at the Harwich Electric Palace w/Clive. He is very warm and personable - clearly adores this cinema and he spent more than 45 minutes doing Q&As. Sigh…See Clive Owen/Harwich pics

Start spreadin’ the news...

2009-03-13T18:24:00.001Z

I’m leaving Sunday for the Big Apple and Toronto! My flatmate Stuart and I are flying over for birthdays (mine and my sister’s) and weddings (our friend Stephanie’s). We’ll meet up with my mom, dad, sis and other friends in NYC, during which we’re going to see Blithe Spirit w/Rupert Everett and Angela Lansbury. Mom and Kait and I will also be checking out Distracted w/Cynthia “Miranda” Nixon and Josh Stamberg (we’re friends w/his mom Sue and Josh has also been on Sex and the City and was Sarge from Six Feet Under). On Weds, we’ll be at Ruby Foo’s in Times Square for my b-day dinner. If anyone is around and in town, let me know. Then on Thursday we’re off to Canada for Stephanie and Rocco’s wedding, for which the menu sounds amazing (as Steph’s Chinese and Rocco’s Italian you KNOW there’ll be good eats!)

Got Milk?

2009-03-13T18:18:00.002Z

Perhaps some of the best Oscar acceptance speeches ever! Gracious, thoughtful, funny, not too over the top emotionally, I thought the awards went pretty well. LOVED having 5 past winners announce the acting categories. Hugh did an admirable job with his opening movie musical montage – but that mess with Beyonce and D-listers from High School Musical…not so much! Was so happy for Kate Winslet – she’s long been overdue. But I still think she was nominated for the wrong film. Revolutionary Road was fantastic (though definitely not the ‘feel good’ nor ‘date’ movie of the year). Tthe performances left me breathless. Kate and Leo both should have been nominated – ditto Sam Mendes. And Sean Penn’s win? In a word – Awesome! I did enjoy The Wrestler and Mickey Rourke was great, but I felt he was kind of playing himself whereas Penn Transformed himself into Harvey Milk.

There was much hootin’ and hollerin’ from the Rich Mix cinema in East London where Alison and I returned for a 2nd year for their Oscar Extravaganza. This year we were joined by Tina, Neil and Katie and made a fairly respectable showing in the Oscar Quiz! Even got my own version of a shampoo bottle! Speaking of winning and Oscars – major kudos to Mark L. Davis (a stalwart of my Oscar parties back in the States). He handily won his work’s Oscar pool! See Oscar party pics

Phoning it in? Not me!

2009-03-13T18:10:00.002Z

In early February, London had the biggest snowstorm in 18 years! There’s craziness and then there’s good ol’ LDN which closed down all train service and also all buses! Most tube lines were shut as well. Anyone using the phrase standstill would not have been accused of crazy talk. But the BHF was still open for business and my boss asked me to make it in (the penalty for living in central London). A 35 minute walk to a working tube ensued - which was actually quite pretty through the snow covered parks and watching young kids playing (they’d never seen this much snow before in their lives!) Finally made it to the office and was surprised to find many hearty (ha) souls had done the same. Our café staff had even built a snowman on the terrace!

But while I’d made it safely in, my Ecco hiking boots did not. Something about the UK snow, or chemicals they use to treat said snow, had eaten away the soles of the boots. I kept trailing little pieces of rubber throughout the office. The snowfall kept trailing too and so we closed the offices early. Not wanting me to make the return trek sans shoes, my facilities manager bundled me home via a car service. Sweet! See snow pics

Yes Virginia, you are a Blue state!

2008-11-16T12:41:00.003Z

Wahoo! VA Baracks along with rest of the US and a huge scream and sigh of relief goes up from across the UK as American ex-pats and Brits alike revel in the Democratic landslide! Spent election night staying up the wee hours of 4:30am watching the excellent BBC coverage. Their talking heads included Ted Koppel and UVA Prof Larry Sabato! After starting out the evening saying they weren’t going to call states early, the BBC quickly got on the Barack bandwagon and called many states such as PA way before any US outlets did, as I was furiously Skype messaging my mom in the US (“No one here has called PA – Really?” – Yup, really!).

My flatmate and I kept our strength up through a great feast of American treats, courtesy of Selfridge’s fabulous food hall. Hot dogs, chips, brownies and to top it off? Obama cupcakes! Tasty! I had to work the next day and thought I’d be dragging my butt in on 3 hours of sleep, but I was (and still am) so elated, that I really felt like I was walking on air and with a spring in my step. Lots of Brit colleagues popped in my office to offer congrats and share their excitement and the papers all went nuts w/coverage. Loved the juxtaposition of the front of the Londonpaper (pictured here) with Obama and then an ad for a new musical 'Imagine This"! See more pics online of our Obama Feast and UK headlines. I’m now trying to find a way to come back to DC for the Inauguration!

To 'B' or not to 'B'

2008-11-16T12:28:00.003Z

Along with Barack-mania, life across the pond has included visits to see the latest Bond film, the Coen Bros’ Burn After Reading and Kenneth Branagh in the Chekov play ‘Ivanov.’ I would give all of them solid ‘Bs’. I love Daniel Craig as Bond – he’s just fantastic (and can wear a tux like no one else!), but found Quantum a bit too short on plot and long dark/broody and also a bit. I was blown away by most of the performances in Burn (especially Brad Pitt – he stole every scene he was in), and it was also fun to spot all the DC locations, but also found it a bit short and a bit odd of an ending. My friend Lynne and I had 3rd row seats to see Branagh and he really brought the house down with an incredible performance – practically moving me to tears. Gina McKee (aka Hugh G’s wheelchair friend from Notting Hill) was also fantastic as his wife. Now looking forward to seeing Tony-winning play August: Osage County which hits the National Theatre this month with the original Chicago cast! And speaking of to be or not to be, on Dec. 10 I go to see the RSC’s Hamlet with David Tennant and Patrick Stewart! Sigh….

From Avenue Q to the Royal Mile

2008-11-16T12:25:00.002Z

My friend David made his very first trip to London a few weeks ago and we had a great weekend playing tourist, including climbing to the (almost) top of St. Paul’s Cathedral, checking out the Tate Modern and making a trip to Avenue Q. David had never seen it and I’d just seen it once in NYC years ago. We both loved it. I’d forgotten how funny, joyous and infectious the show is and the whole crowd roared at the lyric that George Bush ‘is only for now.’ From the far east side of New York to the Royal Mile of Edinburgh, work travel brought my first trip to Scotland. Alas, I was only there for 2 days (and mainly working), but my colleague Elaine and I were able to squeeze out about 3 hours exploring one morning. What a gorgeous city. It’s very European, but with a cool, funky, University-city vibe and extremely friendly and funny people. I will definitely be going back, hopefully for the Fringe Fest in August! See Scotland pics here.

Mamma Mia – Here I go again (and to Sweden!)

2008-11-16T12:23:00.000Z

Speaking of travel, tomorrow morning my friend Sarah and I leave at the crack of dawn to go to Gothenburg, Sweden for 3 days. One of the discount airlines was offering fares of 2 pence (yes, really!) for various destinations and we were able to land tix to head to the land of ABBA. And then fittingly enough, next Sunday I will be queueing up at the Prince Charles Cinema for a FREE Sing-along screening of the “Mamma Mia” film. Can’t wait! Also can’t wait to see many of you in just one month when I’m back in DC!

All that Jazz

2008-10-19T12:28:00.003Z

Late September brought milestone birthdays for two of my friends. Annette, a friend from BHF, turned 40 with a fun time at the Union Bar – our local watering hole at work. Great tunes from the 70s and 80s and great amounts of good wine were had by all and it was a fun way to let hair down and get to know some of my coworkers a bit better – all while dancing to Whitney, ABBA , etc.

Dancing of an entirely different sort was on the menu for my friend Barry’s 50th – Charleston baby! He rented out this amazing Art Deco ballroom and we partied (and dressed) up 1920s style! Delicious food, incluing foie gras, scallops and sausage and mash were on the menu, a live band provided swingin tunes and there was a dance instructor to teach us all the steps. I rented a fun fringey flapper dress and our gang from uni also went all out with their costumes. Just a wonderful evening all around - See pics online

A view to a thrill

2008-10-19T12:26:00.001Z

So I think I mentioned in my last post about the BHF Bond fundraiser? Well I got to volunteer on the evening and was able to see the show. Not only that? I ended up holding the door for Roger Moore (twice), Stephen Fry, Joely Richardson and Joanna Lumley (of Ab Fab fame), as well as some other British stage and tv stars. Turns out that where the volunteer storage area was, was right next to the entrance to the green room!

Unfortunately photos were strictly prohibited, only managed the one here of our team of volunteers. We sold programmes and collected donations at the end (and thus missed out on seeing Daniel Craig who came on last.arrgh!), but the rest of the night we got to take in some spectacular performances of Bond theme songs, clips of the Bond films, and watch a cool video clip from Duran Duran. Did you know that A View to a Kill was their first number 1 in US? At the end of their pre-taped segment, they introduced the next person to the stage who was none other than the head of BHF – Peter Hollins. I can’t say that I’ve ever had my CEO introduced by Simon LeBon at any of my other companies..lol. The evening also included readings of Ian Fleming’s work which were mainly read by Jeremy Irons!!! Sigh…I could listen to him speak all day long since my teenage crush on Brideshead Revisited (the tv series – NOT the horrible new film which I won’t be seeing!). Speaking of films…

Let’s all go to the movies

2008-10-19T12:24:00.001Z

Have an old and a new recommendation. I Finally saw In Bruges w/Colin Farrell and Ralph Fiennes. LOVED it. It has made me a Colin Farrell convert – his performance was fantastic and it was also nice to see one of my faves Zeljko Ivanek,in a funny cameo. You may know him from his work on the tv series Homicide or even more recently Damages, for which he just won a very richly deserved Emmy award! And just read he’ll now be a major player on next season of Heroes. Go Zeljko!

Speaking of Loved, there’s a French film out here that I’m not sure has made it to the States yet – “I’ve Loved You So Long.” OMG – run, don’t walk to see it. Kristin Scott Thomas better get an Oscar nomination, is all I’m sayin. I don’t think I’ve seen a more breathtaking performance on film. Literally, at the end I don’t think my friend Alison and I were breathing she was just so mesmerizing, as were the other wonderful performances, beautiful writing and gorgeous cinematography!

This afternoon I’m off to begin my London Film Festival Palooza –four films in six days! And then, October 31 will hopefully be more of a treat than a trick as we go see the opening night of the new James Bond film! Will have recaps of all in next blog.

You can’t stop his feet (or heat)

2008-10-19T12:22:00.002Z

If it’s fall in London, it’s time for my favourite British television obsession – Strictly Come Dancing. This is the original version of the U.S.’s Dancing w/the Stars (with two of the same judges – Len “Grand Old Man” Goodman and Bruno “My comments are as spicy as a jalapeno spaghetti bolognese” Tonioli). And of course every year, there’s the heartthrob I root for. From 2006 winner Cricketer Mark Ramprakash, last year’s third place TV Presenter Gethin Jones, to this year’s Rugby star Austin Healy – who may just be the best male celeb dancer yet. Talk about light on his feet and HOTT! His first two weeks he’s received amazing marks and you Must watch this clip of him doing the Jive to Hairspray song. I’ve even got my colleagues at work doing a sweepstakes for the show (shades of the old American Idol pool back home!). I think he could be in the driver’s seat to the championship.

On the road again

2008-10-19T12:20:00.000Z

Speaking of the driver’s seat – I will be getting to do some travel for work. Heading up to Scotland next week for some quick trips to Edinburgh and Falkirk and then to our East Region offices in some areas of Kent! November brings a 3-day holiday to Sweden and then it’s back to the U.S. for Christmas! Speaking of the U.S., I mailed in my absentee ballot last week and hope I can help turn Virginia from red to blue! Happy Baracktober everyone!

It’s fun to be a legal alien!

2008-09-17T18:41:00.004Z

Great news, I just got my passport back from the UK Border Agency and I’ve been approved for the ‘Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP)! This means I’m now legal to reside and work in UK until 11 September 2011 (freaky expiry date, non?). The programme is not tied to my current job at BHF, but rather it’s a points system based on your education level, past work/salary, etc.

Shaken, not stirred
Speaking of work the BHF is going well. We are in crazy preparations for our move to a great building in the Camden area of London (closer to home!) The V&A lists it as one of the best examples of art deco in UK. I’ve been putting together a fun guide to the area for employees and will soon put on my Annie Leibowitz hat. I’ve been tapped to take all the employee photos for our new ID badges. Even more potentially exciting is an Ian Fleming James Bond gala on Oct 5 that is in support of the BHF. Fleming died of a heart attack at age 56 and his family are huge champions of the Foundation and are planning a huge centenary celebration with lots of stars Read all about it here. Needless to say I am salivating over covering the event (fingers-crossed). For those in the London area, we’d love to see you there!

We Cam, We Saw…..
After suffering through the dampest, dreariest August in UK history (seriously!) the sun finally came out, conveniently for my day-trip to Cambridge! Talk about picture perfect weather! My UVA flatmate Lynne (now also in London) and I had a fantastic day doing a two-hour walking tour followed by a relaxing 45-minute boat ride on a put on the River Cam (pic above), topped off by the most tasty tea and scones! It doesn’t get much better than that! The city and colleges are just beautiful, with many of them backing up along the river. It’s a bit smaller, less ornate than Oxford, with a bit warmer feel (and shorter train journey from London!) But after having done three summers at Christ Church, I think my heart still belongs to the “Ox” of “Oxbridge.” Gorgeous Cambridge photos are online here.

Holding out for a Hero
Saw an interesting production of Romeo & Juliet a few weeks back. It was performed in Middle Temple Hall (think Harry Potter dining hall). Costumed all in white, the actors had full run of the place (one critic likened it to watching a tennis match as they ran back and forth!). I liked, didn’t love it. Juliet was played by Juliet Rylance (daughter of Mark – former artistic director of Shakespeare’s Globe and now Tony Winner for Boeing Boeing). She was a bit miscast to be honest, coming off very confident and assured and not a lot of passion. Romeo was played by Santiago Cabreras (the painter Isaac from TV’s Heroes!). He got some negative reviews, but I thought he was quite good and natural.

Also good ? Jonathan Demme’s documentary about Jimmy Carter – “Man from Plains” Think this was out in the US a few years ago, I caught it at the BFI. Give it a very strong thumbs up – one of the best documentaries I’ve seen. He follows Carter on a book tour and the schedule that the 83-year old former President goes through would run someone half his age ragged!

In Search Of....
Last week I saw one of the best productions I think I’ve seen in London – Pirandello’s “6 Characters in search of an author” with Ian McDiarmid (Emperor from Star Wars films) playing The Father. OMG, the writer and director of this production twist the show all around and do so many creative things in the second act, it literally took my breath away! As it also did the critics, who are raving about it. If you’re in London, run, don’t walk to see it! And who did we see at the theatre that night? None other than Oscar-winner Dustin Hoffman, with director Marc Foster (who directed Hoffman in Finding Neverland and Stranger than Fiction and who’s now putting the finishing touches on the new Bond film). My flatmate and I kept bumping into them before, during and after the show (including Stu seeing him in the ‘loo!) Hoffman is very short (and looking his 70+ years). Alas I did not have my camera with me!

We’ve also been in search of a pub quiz victory after coming in second the last two weeks in a row. I give us first for best quiz team name though. We play at our local, The Nobody Inn, and so we are now known as “Team Nobody Inn their right mind would vote for Sarah Palin!” Nuff said! Needless to say I'm now doubly glad my visa came through because if she and McCain pull off the election, well, I'm staying put across the pond!

I'm Just a Beijing Baby

2008-08-17T15:55:00.006Z

When one’s flatmate is an Olympics fanatic who did his thesis on Olympics host cities, well then you just sit back and get totally sucked into all the drama and excitement from Beijing! You also lose a lot of sleep due to the crazy time differences. I’ve been waking up at 3am each day this week to watch the Phelps Phenomenon! I’m like Batman’s Two-Face (but in a good way) as I cheer on both Team USA and Great Britain (GB). GB has had an amazing weekend and we’ve heard “God Save the Queen” many times. Speaking of Queen…

I Want to Ride My Bicycle
Seems like everyone on Team GB was riding their bicycle to a medal finish in these Olympics. GB’s first gold medal overall in Beijing went to the new “Princess of Wales” Nicole Cook for the women’s road race. That kicked off a gold rush of 4 more in cycling events as well as two silver medals and three bronze! GB now has 8 track cycling medals in Beijing – that’s more than all the other nations’ combined!

We Will, We Will Row You
Congrats to Teams USA and GB who both did very well in this weekend’s rowing regatta. USA got the full set for the mantle with a gold, silver & bronze! Team GB, well, they are coming back from Beijing with a boatload of medals, including gold in the men’s four which was probably the most thrilling race of the regatta. Those boys cranked it home! Also coming back are a bronze in women’s double sculls and men double sculls and silver in women’s quad and men’s eight.

But my favorites of all? Four words: Zac Purchase, Mark Hunter! Two more words: Gold Medal! This lightweight men’s double sculls team is on fire and are also smokin’ hot! Hunter in particular, who looks like a fitter Peter Petrelli from “Heroes.” Speaking of heroes….

Batmanian Rhapsody
Best movie of the summer, if not the year? The Dark Knight! Holy Sensational Cinema Batman! Heath Ledger – outstanding! He scared the bajeezus out of me. Rest of the cast? Also fantastic. Christopher Nolan should just be in charge of all superhero movies from now on..I’m just sayin…

Another Brick in the Wall-E
From superheroes to super animation, I fell in love with a “Mr. Roboto” named Wall-E this summer. Never have I found myself so enthralled and enchanted by a film that for the first 15 minutes has no dialogue, save for the Hello Dolly soundtrack, which works in so beautifully in the film. Oooh, I can see that as a pub quiz question - "What musical is featured in Wall-E?"...speaking of....

Crazy Little Quiz Called Pub
For two weeks in a row, our team could sing “We are the Champions” as we rolled to victory. The first time was with 6 players, including newcomer and fellow American Matt who helped immensely. The next winning week it was just me and Stuart! Categories such as “Name this sci-fi t.v. show or film,” “American Television” and “Authors” worked to our favour. Alas, this past week we were “Under Pressure” from one of our main rivals, who were up to their full strength of 6 players. It was close though, as Stu and I placed second by just 2 points.

I Want To Break Free
When not in the midst of Olympics-palooza or catching up on summer blockbusters, my flatmate and I just finished watching the first season of Prison Break. OMG, talk about addictive, appointment television!Every week a cliffhanger, with a fantastic ensemble cast. Who else is watching? (I know I'm a bit late to the party on this, but bring on Season 2 DVD!)

MC Hammershoi, a Night at the Opera, and Hamlet it be!
Ok, so I have not been a total couch potato all summer. I have done a few more cultural things. These included the beautiful “Poetry of Silence” exhibition of works by Danish artist Vilhelm Hammershoi. Cool, quiet, spartan paintings that are a bit like Wyeth or Hopper – I found them fascinating and often moving. From chilly Danish interiors to a hot night on Trafalgar Square as we took part in the Free Summer Nights from the Royal Opera House and watched a rousing production of The Marriage of Figaro! But the most exciting, thrilling cultural experience for me will take place on December 10. I have landed a ticket (courtesy of my new boss who is an RSC member) to see the much-hyped and raved about Hamlet! Patrick Stewart stars as both the Ghost and Claudius and Hamlet is David Tennant, aka the BBC’s “Doctor Who.” The Guardian calls him the Hamlet of this generation! Can’t wait!

Hit Me Beijing One More Time
This just in – Gymnast Louis Smith medals for GB in an individual apparatus for the first time in 100 years! He hit that pommel horse hard!

Total Eclipse of the Spitz!
Once upon a time Mike was following Mark, but now that record’s broken apart. Nothing more to say, a total eclipse of the Spitz!

See that girl, watch that scene

2008-07-13T20:22:00.004Z

That girl is Meryl Streep and the scene is the world premiere of “Mamma Mia” in London! Yup, yours truly took advantage of one of my last days of unemployment two weeks ago to go and check it out. Leicester Square rolled out the Mediterranean blue carpet and made up the park into a little Greek village.

The star power was quite high as it was the world premiere. Celebs in attendance included designer Tom Ford (HOT), West End wonder woman Elaine Page, whose date for the evening was "Dancing w/the Stars" judge Bruno Tonioli! Random! And then, and then... there were ABBA founding members Benny, Bjorn and Frida! Too cool! Frida looked fab (great highlights– bet they cost some “money, money, money”) and was very gracious! B&B were mobbed by the media so they didn't do a lot of pressing of the flesh of us fans, oh well. However, Meryl Streep was very kind and really worked the crowd, just as she was also working a Gorgeous red dress and Louboutin heels! Co-star Stellan Skaarsgard was also a super-trouper with the autograph seekers. Pierce Brosnan and Julie Walters, alas…not so much as the world’s press cried out “gimme, gimme, gimme another interview!” The queue got so backed up that by the time bearded and beautiful Colin Firth arrived, he had to do a mad dash into the theatre. Christine Baranski was pretty in pink, but pretty much ice cold in person I am sad to report. Photos are online here.

The film opened last week here in the UK and reports have been pretty scathing, but in a 'so bad it's entertaining' kind of way. Leading the pack of reviews of course, The Guardian never lets me down, starting out with a great song parody. I am taking advantage of the Barbican Cinema’s ‘Films for a Fiver’ tomorrow night, so I'm sure I’ll have my own song spoofs to share soon.

Mm, Mm, Good!

2008-07-13T20:20:00.001Z

Speaking of songs, let me sing the praises of a couple of shows I’ve seen. The first is Merry Wives of Windsor at the Globe. While I didn’t love the actor playing Falstaff, the two women playing Mistresses Ford and Page were fantastic! Talk about great rapport and comedic timing! A couple of times they even cracked each other up a la how Tim Conway and Harvey Korman used to do on “Carol Burnett” The rest of the cast is also in fine form. Shakespeare at the Globe is such quality work, they really put the language over so well and it’s a fun and zippy couple of hours. The other show, Moonlight and Magnolias, is now on stage at my old employer Tricycle Theatre. Run, don’t walk to Kilburn if you are in the London area and see this hilarious play about the making of the film of Gone with the Wind. Producer David O. Selznick locks himself up in his office with writer Ben Hecht and director Victor Fleming and the sparks and screwball comedy fly as they have 5 days to turn the mammoth book into a workable script. Did I mention that Hecht has never read the novel? It’s a bit like “Reduced Shakespeare Company” only “Reduced GWTW”. Haven’t laughed so hard in a while.

And now for the Sports...

2008-07-13T20:19:00.000Z

When not on a theatre seat, I was at the edge of my sofa seat glued to Wimbledon for nearly the whole tournament! Men’s final? Chris Evert Lloyd was that an amazing match or what?! Talk about two players at the top of their game. It’s been sportspalooza here in with the Euro 2008 Cup (despite England’s absence) and then, over 4th of July weekend, discovering the wonder that is Bodeans BBQ in SoHo which shows American baseball games! My friends Rachel and Todd and I landed there for a Red Sox/Yankees game, which, fittingly Boston won! Now it’s the Tour de France, for which a Brit has won two stages! Go Mark Cavendish! And of course, as my all-things-Olympics expert flatmate reminds me – summer games in Beijing in 26 days!

Workin' 9 to 5

2008-07-13T20:16:00.001Z

Yup, that’s me. I started as Internal Communications Manager at the British Heart Foundation on July 2 (for the first time ever, I worked on 4th of July!) and so far it’s going pretty well. The people are very nice and seems like there is lots of opportunity for creativity. My position sits literally and figuratively within HR, so I get all the scoop first. We have lots of events to cover during the coming months, including lots of fundraising bike rides, runs and swims. And the internal event I'm most looking forward to is the BHF Pub Quiz on July 23 (nope, not my idea - already an established tradition there!) My hours are literally 9 to 5, with an hour for lunch, during which I’ve been exploring the area. We are in the Bond St./Marylebone area – full of pretty little gardens and very nice shops, and the commute is less than an hour. It will get shorter in October when the office relocates to the Camden area. Taking advantage of the generous vacation time, I’ve already put in my request for the Christmas holiday. I’ll be DC-bound from Dec 16-30, so hope to see many of you then!

One Fiennes Day

2008-06-26T11:37:00.008Z

Add another Oscar-nominee notch to the belt of my celeb sightings and he is a Fiennes one - Ralph Fiennes, who we saw in a fantastic play, “God of Carnage,” by award-winning playwright Yasmina Reza (“Art”). A four-hander, the show also starred Oscar nominee Janet McTeer and RSC stalwarts Ken Stott and Tasmin Grieg. The story is of two couples in Paris who come together after their sons have been in a fight..and..well, let’s just say the meeting does not go well..lol. Sharp clever writing and perhaps the 4 best performances I’ve seen (aside from Spacey/Goldblum), this show definitely ranks as a favourite. However, I saw it more than a month ago, so my memory is a bit fuzzy. I’ll let the Guardian and Independent reviews tell you more. The reason I took so long to post about it was that when we saw it, Mr. Fiennes had a ‘previous engagement’ and did not do the ‘meet and greet’ at the stage door. Not to be deterred, my friend Lynne and I went back to the stage door before the show closed last week and were successful. Unfortunately “Mr. Fiennes” is tightly managed by theatre staff and he does not pose with people for photos. We could only take pics “of Mr. Fiennes.” More pics are online here. And Fiennes he is indeed in person, albeit much shorter! And also very, very shy! Not shy? The charming and funny (and taller than I) Janet McTeer who came right up to me first on the autograph queue: “Wow, how lovely! Another nice tall woman! There aren’t too many of us around, are there?”

Know what else is not around? “Gone with the Wind” the musical! It’s gone baby gone and OMG, I’m not surprised. You know that this is hands-down one of my favourite movies and I was not looking forward to seeing the musical, especially after it got eviscerated by the critics. However, when your good friend Sarah calls up and says she’s got FREE tickets to go see it, well then, as God as my witness, I’m a goin! Insert any and all manner of puns on ‘not giving a damn’ here..lol. The music was a mish-mash of styles and the acting, and more importantly, accents, were all over the map, not to mention horrible casting of Ashley (too old) and Melanie (too, um, plain and harpy, rather than meek and mild).

It started out strong with a spiritual song by the slaves and I thought if they’d maybe taken that perspective, it might have worked, but then it returned to the main characters who were given horrible lyrics such as this one from Gerald O’Hara: “From County Meath to Connemara, there is no land as fine as Tara.” Seriously! The writer (who is like a psychologist from California or something) sure don’t know nothin’ bout writin’ no showtunes! Bright spots were that the Rhett was terrific (good strong voice and looks, very charismatic), as was the nice white wine we had before show and at interval as well as Sarah and my similar sense of humour when it came to our take on the show, so we turned it into a ‘so bad it was actually entertaining’ evening!

West End Girls..And Boys

2008-06-26T11:16:00.014Z

Live, from Leicester Square! It’s Saturday Morning! Last weekend brought “West End Live,” a FREE showcase of many musicals performing on the boards here in Theatreland. My friend Liz and I got down there early and grabbed a good spot to catch the cornucopia of offerings – which again ranged from the sublime to the ridiculous. Kicking things off in great style was “Jersey Boys.” Wow! Great style indeed! I have to admit that this Tony award winning Best Musical had not been high on my radar screen, but after watching this set, I am a believer. Fantastic singing, fun choreography and 4 fine looking me – what more does one want. Let’s hear it for the Boys! Really good showing!

The Boys were followed by “Into the Hoods” - aka one of Gretchen’s favourite Sondheim musicals meets hip-hop and rap. Ummm…yeah….They don’t use Steve’s songs at all, and the story is VERY loosely based on the show (Spinderalla is a DJ, etc). However the dancing and choreography are terrific and there are some fun numbers of 80s nostalgia that were entertaining (MC Hammer, Prince, Whitney, Chaka Khan, etc). Overall, I’m not racing out to see this, but would maybe go if it was half-price or free just to see how it all shakes out.

After the ‘Hoods came the trio of lame, lamer and lamest shows. “Wicked” was represented by just one song – duet between Elphaba and Fiero and the Elphaba could not find the right key to save her life. Painful to hear. Lamer – “Lord of the Rings.” Bilbo Baggins! How is this show still running?! Again, one lame duet and I don’t even know if they were singing in English or Elvish! Lamest? “Dirty Dancing!” Nobody puts Baby in a corner and Nobody should have put this classic film on the stage. Limp dancing and lead actors that were far too old, short, and frankly ‘un-fit’ for their roles. We did not have the time of our life.

That is until we had a great run of 5 and a half shows. “We Will Rock You” and “Never Forget” are based on the music of Queen and UK boy band Take That and both were high-energy, hot dancing and just a heck of a fun time with good music. Never Forget in particular, mainly for the Rupert Everett/Robbie Williams actor. Sigh..hot! “Grease” and “Chicago” followed and well, what can I say, they are favourites and I loved them both, particularly Chicago whose Velma was outstanding! All that jazz I might have to go see this show again!

And then…and then…the moment I was waiting all morning for – “Joseph/Technicolor Dreamcoat” with Lee Mead (winner of BBC casting show). Dreamcoat? More like Dreamboat! He is Gorgeous and has the best voice and is just about the most perfect casting ever!....sigh….He was accompanied by the Joseph Children’s Choir and they just about brought the house down. Our day wrapped up with “Mamma Mia!” Now you know I loves me some Abba and I love this musical, but not when it’s Lip Synched! At a show called West End LIVE! Benny and Bjorn what the hell were they thinking! It was soo obvious. Oh well, we still got down to Dancing Queen and then got down to lunch and sitting after standing 5 hours for free theatre! Well worth it though! More photos from the day are now online.

Pomp and Circumstance

2008-06-15T18:57:00.004Z

I finished my thesis last September, got my final results in December, but it wasn’t until about 3 weeks ago that it all became official. City University (finally!) held its graduation ceremony on May 21 at Southwark Cathedral, along the South Bank (right down from Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre!). Speaking of Shakespeare, my department awarded an honorary doctorate of arts to Shakespearean actor Simon Russell Beale, who gave a great speech. It also felt very Harry Potter-like as we marched up the cathedral in our gowns and hoods. From Harry Potter to "Hail to the Redskins," I was tempted to burst into song as our hoods were in burgundy and gold!

Mom, Kait and our family friend Deb came over to help me celebrate and we had a wonderful time in London. Of course with this family, you know there must be theatre and indeed we took in two good, wildly different shows. The first was the Dylan Thomas piece “Under Milkwood” at my old employer the Tricycle Theatre. A sweet story of a small town in Wales, it had beautiful writing and wonderful performances. The second show also had a Tricycle connection – “The 39 Steps,” which started at Trike and moved to the West End, and then Broadway (where it’s up for some Tony Awards tonight!) A hilarious slapstick spoof of the early Hitchcock film, it was one of the most creative shows I’ve seen! A boat trip to Greenwich was also on the menu, as was a fun post-graduation dinner with my flatmate and his family at a great Dim Sum restaurant in the shadow of Tower Bridge. We topped off the night by watching a very exciting Champions League Football Final in which Manchester United squeaked by Chelsea! Hurray! (Well, I don't love Man U, I'm an Arsenal girl, so as such, I hate Chelsea!)

It was then off to the Emerald Isle, which began with a quick trip to Dublin where we stayed in the fabulous Shelbourne Hotel on St. Stephen's Green. While Kait and Deb partook of the festivities of Temple Bar, Mom and I headed to the Abbey Theatre to see "The Seafarer." Three words "A-ma-zing!" It too is now in NYC and up for some Tonys and I hope it wins them all. Beautiful writing, moving story and incredible performances - it was even more affecting to see its premiere in its hometown/country.

Speaking of the country - we then headed out to County Kilkenny, staying in the most beautiful B&B - Ballyogan House. Nestled along the Barrow river, in the foothills of the Wicklow mountains, I can't recommend this place highly enough. The owners, Fran and Robert Durie, could not be more friendly and helpful and the breakfasts were beyond delicious. As there's a quasi-working farm out back, our eggs were especially fresh! Pics of graduation and Ballyogan are online. More stories and pics of the trip are in the two posts below...

Ain't No Mountain High Enough

2008-06-15T18:54:00.001Z

...to keep us from getting to Johnnie Fox's pub - the highest pub in Ireland! We were women on a mission as we navigated our way around the Dublin mountains to find our way there. Thank god we splurged on our car rental and were comfortably seated in a nice big Santa Fe (which yours truly drove the whole trip without any incident, pheww!).

We were already on a high that day after exploring the GORGEOUS, BEAUTIFUL Powerscourt Gardens and Waterfall. OMG, some of the most amazing scenery ever! While you can't hike all the way up the Waterfall (Ireland's highest too!), you can climb all over the playground equipment at the bottom! Much fun was had by all! We'd worked up an appetite and after a trek that included a few false starts and a few cows in the road, we finally found Mr. Fox's and had a delicious late lunch.

From there we went down the east coastal route and stopped along the beach to take in the Irish Sea. From mountains to oceans to the Barrow River, we landed in Graiguenamanah in County Kilkenny, home to aforementioned Ballyogan House, the Duiske Abbey, and to my mother's family! Mom has an original piece of paper from the late 1800s confirming the christening of her grandmother at the Graigue Church, which, after some Nancy Drewin' at the town's library, we found is now the Abbey! The librarians, as well as everyone else we met in town, truly defined Irish hospitality and friendliness! Needless to say we'll be heading back at some point to track down more information and relations! Pics of all the above are now online.

Glendalough, Glen Wow!

2008-06-15T15:14:00.007Z

Perhaps the most beautiful spot we visited was Glendalough. As they say that a picture is worth a thousand words, I’ll just let these photos do the talking..lol. It’s a definite must-see if you’re in the Dublin area!

Other trip highlights included visiting Kilkenny’s Castle and Design Centre, the cute town of Inistioge, where “Circle of Friends” was filmed, and Avoca, where “Ballykissangel” was filmed, and which is also home to some great craft shops and outlets, as well as one of the weirdest websites I’ve ever seen!

Speaking of sights, we also managed to find the top one that mom and Deb were hoping to see – Sheep crossing! We’d seen LOTS of them along the fields and valleys along the road, but then, one morning coming out of Inistioge we saw them IN the road. They were guided by a tall, cute shepherd leading the way. Walking in the other lane of the road, he gave me the arm signal to slow down. I thought he was either a very conscientious citizen (or maybe he wanted my number!), but noo, he was just giving me the heads-up to something akin the running of the bulls at Pamplona! Who knew sheep could run so fast?!

We really did have the Luck o' the Irish the whole trip! Picture-perfect weather, warm hospitality, wonderful company and wow!-inducing scenery. We then made our own mad dash back to Dublin and back to the reality of the US and UK – sigh.

What a Scene, What a Joy, What a Lovely Sight

2008-05-14T12:55:00.011Z

This entry's title is a bit of a cheat, it's not a song title, but rather a lyric from from the opening number from “Chess” – one of my favourite shows (well, rather soundtracks). I'd never seen it on stage that is until earlier this week when a 25th anniversary concert production was put on at Royal Albert Hall. Singing the lead parts? Josh Groban, Idina Menzel and Adam Pascal!!! Are you dying? I was! Indeed it was quite a joy and lovely sight (and sound). I know I’ve said this about a lot of things in London, but hands-down This was one of the most memorable nights I’ve had. Beautiful orchestra, huge, fun chorus and Josh and Adam in particular just sent shivers down my spine. They filmed the show and a DVD will be released just in time for X-mas. Paging Santa!

Alas, we were not able to meet most of the stars at the stage door. The show ran two nights and we went the first, but were so overwhelmed by the Grobanites who had basically surrounded the building, that we gave up. Do you know of these people? Here's are a few hilarious definitions! They are Josh Groban fans who are mainly women ‘of a certain age’ (i.e mid-40s to mid-60s) who follow their boy everywhere sporting Josh Groban ‘flair’ (pins, buttons, photos and..wait for it… corsages!) Could you die? I know I wanted to when their American voices rang throughout the Hall. Obsessed does not even begin to cover it. My friend Liz and I then decided to return to the stage door the next night as we could get there early and stake out a good spot, which we did. Well, when the floodgates (I mean Hall doors) opened, we were surrounded this time by the ‘theatre teens’ who are huge Wicked/Idina fans. It was the most unruly stage door scene I’ve ever encountered. After waiting an hour and a half and meeting co-star Kerry Ellis, who took over for Idina in Wicked here and who will soon move to B'way production, we gave up, as we also learned there was an ‘after show’ party going on. We did see a couple other celebs heading to the party though – Robin (Bee Gees) Gibb and British actor/tv personality Christopher Biggins, who last fall beat out Janice Dickinson for the “I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here” crown (a UK show like Survivor).

En route to Chess on Monday, was hoping to get a glimpse of some other celebs as it was the UK Sex and the City film premiere. You KNOW it was killin’ me to pass this one up. By the time we hit Leicester Square, the closest we could come was taking pictures of the posters..lol. Earlier in the day, I had another Joy in meeting up with my Oxford Experience friends Joy and Howard Bauman for a lovely lunch in Islington. Turns out their cousins live near me and they were in town before heading over to Ireland (just like I will be in a week, more later!). They live in NY and it turns out their accountant is Idina Menzel’s uncle! Small world! Snaps from all of the above are now online (for some reason captions are not showing up when you 'play sideshow' so just need to hit 'next' after each pic).

Tony, Tony, Tony!

2008-05-14T12:54:00.001Z

Tony nominations announced yesterday and this year they might as well re-name them the Anthony (said with a British accent) Awards. A majority of the nominated shows/performers are from across the pond, including Sunday in the Park w/George, MacBeth, Boeing-Boeing, Eve Best in The Homecoming (for which Raul Esparza is also nominated – Not a Brit, but wanted to give him a shout-out!). Major kudos and best wishes to The 39 Steps, which got its start at my old employer the Tricycle Theatre! The Seafarer is also nominated and mom and I will be seeing a production of that in Dublin in just over a week! But of course you know that the Pierce/Pogany clan is most excited about this year’s lifetime achievement winner, Mr. Stephen Sondheim! I’ll never forget how I quoted his song lyrics and discussed him in my grad school application essay. And now, exactly a week from today (almost exactly to the hour) I will be in Southwark Cathedral for my Graduation! Mom, Kait and honorary Pierce sister Deb are coming over for the festivities and then we’re off to the Emerald Isle to explore our family roots along the southeast countryside!

Under Their Spell

2008-05-14T12:48:00.005Z

Other lovely sights I’ve taken in over the last month in London include the absolutely gorgeous Audley End Home and Gardens out in Essex, near Cambridge. The home is one of England’s grandest Jacobean houses and was given to Thomas Audley by Henry VIII! Neil and I had a wonderful Saturday road trip out there in picture-perfect weather (see pics). The home reminded me a bit of Castle Howard in York and the gardens were incredible. They do summer concerts there so I don’t think it’s the last I’ve seen of Audley End. Speaking of concerts, can we talk about Buffy/Torchwood’s James Marsters’ amazing show! OMG, I was definitely under his spell. The concert was right down the street from me in Union Chapel, a church by day, but fantastic concert venue by night. It’s almost circular in shape, beautiful old stonework and lit by candles. The acoustics are fantastic and there was just something so wild about seeing this former bad-boy vampire from Buffy singing on a church altar (see pics). He sang a lot of his own original songs, as well as Tom Waits and Nirvana covers. Heaven! (no pun intended)

I've also been under the spell of two very different movies - Persepolis and Iron Man. The first is the Oscar-nominated animated film about a young woman growing up in Iran in 70s/80s. Creative, touching, moving - it is a must-see. Judging by the box office totals, I'm guessing many of you might have already seen the second, aka the Best summer/superhero movie perhaps ever. Is Robert Downey Jr. just perfect in the role or what? If you haven't seen it, get thee to a multiplex asap! I think I might be becoming a Downeyite..lol (though I will not wear a corsage). I can't stop watching this trailer!

C'mon Baby Light My Fire

2008-04-10T12:39:00.003Z

Within a few days I saw two pop culture icons – the Olympic Torch and George Clooney! And another rarity – Snow!

Last Sunday, we woke to 2 inches of the white stuff! In April! It was actually pretty cool, because it made London look, well, pretty…lol. And no amount of snow showers could dampen the Olympic flame on its relay through the city (that was left to the Tibet protesters). My flatmate, a huge Olympics junkie, and I made our way to a great spot across from the British Museum (where, fittingly enough, China’s Terracotta Warriors were on display). Anyone using the phrase “Brrr….it’s cold out here” would not be accused of crazy talk. It was freezing!

However, we kept warm through the wonder that is Starbucks, conveniently located behind where we stood, and through the warm and friendly Chinese who made up the majority of onlookers on our street. They bore their Beijing banners and mascots and kept us entertained with songs. The procession was quite something to see with music, cheerleaders, a bus promoting Coke (of course) and then the torch itself, which was carried for our stretch by England’s former rugby coach. Was really a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that was incredible to see.

Also incredible to see? Gorgeous George Clooney!!! Yes, one of the benefits of being unemployed is that one can make their way down early to Leicester Sq to get a good spot along the red carpet. George and Renee Zellweger were in town to premiere “Leatherheads,” and let me tell you, they sure turned our heads. OMG, George is just gorgeous in person, charming, friendly, the whole nine yards! The cold snap was still hitting London, so he kept asking if we were doing ok, if we weren’t too cold, and continually thanked us for coming out. Sighh…Then, as they were leaving (they didn’t stay for the film), his car rolled right by us with the tinted window up, but he rolled it down and gave a big smile and wave and yelled “Bye!”

Renee was also quite friendly. When I said to her “Your dress is beautiful (which it was). Who are you wearing?” She gave me a big smile and said “Thanks, thank you so much for that. It’s Marchesa.” Interesting, as she is usually clad in Carolina Herrera. While it was amazing to see these two, we were a bit disappointed that their co-stars, John Krasinski and Jonathan Pryce did not put in appearance. Krasinski, best known as “Jim” from “The Office,” (LOVE HIM!) hails from Newton, Mass, so I’d brought my Boston Red Sox cap to wave and everything, but alas, he was stuck in L.A. taping the show. Really not sure why Pryce was not there as he lives right here in London in Highgate Village (I saw his home on a walking tour!) Oh well, did I mention I met GEORGE CLOONEY!...lol Photos of snow, torch and George, etc. are now online. Thanks to Liz B for some of these pics.

Rock of Ages

2008-04-10T12:32:00.002Z

Easter Weekend brought a trip with my friend Rachel out to Salisbury and Stonehenge. Salisbury is a lovely town with the piece de resistance of the beautiful and gi-normous Salisbury Cathedral. The cathedral is surrounded by some great period homes, many of which have been used in films and t.v. series. After a very tasty lunch in town, we then traveled out through the gorgeous Wiltshire countryside to see Stonehenge. As it was the Spring Equinox, the place was packed, which took a bit away from the whole ‘mystical’ experience, but it was still incredible to see it. The whole day we’d had pretty ‘mystical’ weather going on with sun one minute, hail the next and then snow showers. We literally had all three of those going on at Stonehenge, so maybe it does have some kind of power! The photo to the left shows the storm clouds rolling in (and an amazingly barren shot, I think everyone else must have run for cover..lol). More photos can be found here.

Weebles Wobble But They Don't Fall Down

2008-04-10T12:30:00.004Z

I’ve been feeling like a bit of a Weeble myself the last few weeks as I continue the job search rollercoaster. Since the Triycle Theatre job ended in early March, I’ve had some promising interviews, but nothing has come through yet, save for one offer, which, gasp, I ended up turning down. It was for QVC (yes, the home shopping channel), in a corporate writer type position, but many factors (mainly low pay), led me to say no. I continue to stay positive and know the right job is out there somewhere. In the meantime, have also kept myself busy by checking out the Amazing Vanity Fair photo exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery and seeing a sweet French film, “The Flight of The Red Balloon” at the BFI. Does anyone else (save my mom and sis..lol), remember that great children’s book/film “The Red Balloon?” Loved it as a child! This is kind of an updated take on that with Juliette Binoche playing a stressed single mom to a young boy, whose nanny is a documentary film maker filming red balloons. Not as good as the original, kind of meanders and doesn’t go anywhere, but beautiful scenes of Paris. Oh hey, in looking for a link about the film, just found an Entertainment Weekly review of it from Friday. Check it out. Not sure I agree with the “A-“grade, but I would recommend it.

What else do I recommend? Damages! OMG, who else is watching this incredible show with Glenn Close and Ted Danson?! We just had the season finale here on Monday. I am so glad to hear it’s coming back. More twists and turns per episode than even "Heroes"; it was must-see viewing the entire season. Danson is even darker and complex than when he played a child molester in “Something About Amelia” which also starred Close as his wife. Reunited 20 years later, here she is a ruthless lawyer who keeps you guessing whether she’s good or evil. Can’t wait for season 2!

'Head' Over Heels

2008-03-16T16:06:00.009Z

It’s been a week, but I’m still on a high from meeting Anthony Stewart Head in Manchester! “Giles” from “Buffy”, the Prime Minister on “Little Britain” and, back in the day, the guy from the Nescafe couple coffee ads, he was one of the nicest, chattiest celebrities I’ve met. Love him! At the Collectormania convention, he was always available for photos and autographs and hosted two Q&A sessions which revealed he’s got a lot of new shows/films in the works, but alas no Giles spin-off as yet. In a separate Q&A session, actress Emma Caulfield (Buffy, 90210) revealed that "Tony" (as he's known) also has the softest hair of anyone she knows. After copping a quick feel after our photo (so to speak), I think she may be right. I also informed "Tony" about James Marsters upcoming concert in London in May and he may come check it out!

The Collectormania convention itself, which also starred two "Heroes" cast members! (See next post), was really focused on, well collectors and collectibles (i.e. trading cards, photos, action figures, etc.) Let me tell you, those items ain’t cheap. It’s shocking what people will pay for a framed pic of Captain Picard! Also, each of the autographs of the celebs in attendance cost 20 pounds! Needless to say, I just stuck with the Buffy duo. Convention attendance was made up of a broad swath of the population and there were some interesting sights (such as the “Furby” crew and a number of Sweeney Todd look-alikes). They had a costume contest and the Demon Barber with the most dead ringer look for Depp took home the big prize (no, it was not meat pies). Photos are now online.

Along with the convention, my friend Sarah and I packed a lot in to our two-day trip. I really enjoyed Manchester – kind of has a bit of a Chicago look/feel to it, with cool architecture/buildings, and Lots of cultural opportunities. We saw a Salsa Dance Theatre piece at the very cool Contact Theatre. While the play didn’t knock our socks off, we were quite impressed by the venue and its amazing audience. We landed the very last two tix to the show and the auditorium was packed with the most diverse cross-section of theatre-goers I’ve seen. London theaters would kill for an audience like this. We then headed to The Comedy Store to see three hilarious comedians.

Sunday brought the “UK’s largest St. Patrick’s Day Parade.” Who knew?! Alas, we were at Mr. Head’s Q&A so missed the parade, but partook in some of the festival and also managed to go to a Fabulous museum – the Manchester Art Gallery. Cool exhibits, like this one by a Vietnamese artist, great education spaces and a gorgeous interior design put it in the running for one of my favorite galleries.

Holdin' Out For a Hero (or two)

2008-03-16T16:02:00.009Z

Speaking of favorites, along with "Buffy," one of my other favorite shows is "Heroes," and two of its cast members were also at the convention! Jimmy Jean-Louis (aka The Haitian) and Noah Gray-Cabey (aka Micah) manned the autograph and photo stands and did a Q&A double-act on Sunday. Noah was cute, if perhaps a bit too rehearsed/practiced in his answers. Came off a bit too precocious/mature for a tween-ager, but we found out he's was a music prodigy at 2 years old, so that might explain it. He was cast on the show after agents spotted him doing the talk show circuit about his super-powered piano playing!

Jimmy came to the show after modeling stints and some time playing professional football (soccer). He is, in a word, GORGEOUS! He is also very charming and gregarious and quite the showman. At the close of the Q&A the emcee asked to wrap things up with "Glad Hands." Well, at first I thought this was some kind of weird Manchester-speak for "applause," but it turns out it stood for "jazz hands" or "spirit fingers," as Jimmy led Noah in a soft-shoe routine off off the stage. Those Heroes sure are multi-talented!

Hey Jude!

2008-03-16T16:00:00.002Z

People always ask if I spot celebrities out and about in London, and up until last spring I hadn’t (stalking the stage door does not count). But on a pretty April day I saw Jude Law walking through Regent’s Park with his kids. Sigh.... Ok, so fast-forward nearly a year, with nary another ‘random’ celeb sighting to be had, I’m riding the bus home and look out the window and who’s walking by? Jude Law! Again! Still as gorgeous and golden as ever, walking over Waterloo Bridge in a great leather coat he caused quite the commotion on the #341 I can tell you! Was a ripple effect down the bus as folks looked out and spotted the luscious Law. Hey Jude indeed!

Go 'Speed' Racer!

2008-03-16T15:57:00.001Z

On Monday night I saw “Speed-the-Plow” at the Old Vic. OMG, is “speed” the key word! Kevin Spacey and Jeff Goldblum go about a mile a minute in the story of Hollywood film producers. Spacey, especially, is literally a human dynamo and gives one of the best performances I’ve seen on stage. Talk about being born to play a role, he IS Charlie Fox.. And as always, he is so gracious at the stage door, standing patiently to do autographs and photos.

Alas, the same cannot be said for Mr. Goldblum. He bailed on the autograph line after only about 5 people. I was bummed as I had been looking forward to letting him know I’d been a fan of his all the way back from Tenspeed and Brownshoe (anyone else remember this show?) to Speed-the-Plow. He is fantastic in the show, however, and Laura Michelle Kelly (aka The Beggar Woman from Sweeney Todd film) does the best she can in the underwritten, underdeveloped role of the secretary. The final act with Spacey and Goldblum’s clash of the titans is worth the price of admission alone! If you can, Go!

We Are the Champions

2008-03-07T16:03:00.000Z

Our Pub Quiz team returned to victory this week! A team of just 4 of us cleaned the clocks of many larger teams of 8-10 players, and we each won 15 pounds! I kind of knew it might be in the bag when the first round was a photo id round that was “Name the 2008 Oscar Nominees!” Needless to say we got 20 out of 20.

Speaking of the Oscars, I caught up with three Oscar-nominated films last weekend. I found “Enchanted” quite, well, enchanting. Amy Adams and Patrick Dempsey were very sweet and I found that those Oscar-nominated songs did indeed work a lot better within the context of the film. My only complaint/question is why they didn’t have Broadway stars Idina Menzel (Dempsey’s fiancé) and Tonya Pinkis (Dempsey’s client) sing any songs?! Also thought NYC looked beautiful in the film!

Speaking of NYC, we stayed with the Big Apple later that evening as we went to “American Gangster”. Ok, hello, what in the World was that Oscar nomination for Ruby Dee about? I think it must have been one of those “oh, she’s getting up there in age and we haven’t awarded her before, so we better get one in” nominations. She’s Barely in the film and when she is, well, I didn’t think she brought the roof down exactly. However, I thought Denzel was amazing! Then again, “who doesn’t like Denzel?” I think I prefer him when he’s playing bad characters like this one. Overall, I liked the film, didn’t love it. Thought Russell Crowe’s character was under-developed and the movie dragged on a bit.

Speaking of dragging, drag your butt to the cinema to see “The Diving Bell and The Butterfly!” A beautiful, moving biopic of the French editor of Elle, Jean-Dominique Bauby. I Loved this film. Thought the direction and performances were amazing! The film screened at my former employer Tricycle Theatre and we had a great Q&A after with the screenwriter Ronald Harwood (also of The Dresser and The Pianist fame). He explained that many of the nurses/therapists in the movie were the real ones who’d worked with Bauby. He also described how Johnny Depp was first considered for the leading role, but bowed out for other roles. Not sure I could have seen him in this, and thought Mathiew Almaric was fantastique! He’ll next be seen as the villain in the new James Bond film. That would be the film with possibly the lamest title ever, “The Quantum of Solace.”

The Worst Play in London

2008-03-07T15:56:00.004Z

From the lamest title to the Lamest show I have possibly ever seen, I'm channeling my inner Mrs. Lovett, but am singing about plays and not pies. “The Viewing Room” is a play that was done a while back at Steppenwolf in Chicago and is about a couple in the near-future who volunteer to guard a prisoner in their home. I myself felt like a prisoner in the theatre and just wonder how in the world this thing every got produced!

We got free tickets through Tricycle and well let’s just say that that was the Best thing about it, that it was Free. Well, that and seeing Leonard Roberts, of “Buffy” and “Heroes” fame live and in the flesh. He was very easy on the eyes and actually not so bad in the role of the prisoner.

But the Rest of it?! Ok, first of all, the actor & actress playing the couple had the Worst American Accents heard on either side of the pond! On top of that, the actor just got more and more 'camp' as the play went on. The writing, particularly in the 2nd act, was just so hackneyed and cliched that the friends I went with kept bursting into unintended laughter. As far as the story, there wasn't a really huge twist. The first act ended with the couple finding out that they'd been sent the wrong prisoner. Instead of guarding a drug dealer they'd been sent a first-degree murderer who they had to then 'terminate,' so the 2nd act I guess was meant to be a treatise on the death penalty but was let down by, well, just about everything in the production, including a bizarre scene where the woman does yoga and then they all dance around to jazz music. WTF? Perhaps the worst thing I've seen in London, though the 2nd act became one of those it was soo bad it was slightly entertaining.

It Had To Be Poo

2008-03-07T15:50:00.002Z

On the topic of crappy theatre (pardon my French), I realised that I have not shared the “poo bag” story yet. As the RSC no longer has a permanent home in London, it borrowed the Tricycle Theatre recently. The play was “I’ll Be the Devil,” a story of 18th century Ireland very “loosely” based on The Tempest. We were invited to the dress rehearsal with an email that also warned us that the play had scenes of very violent nature and adult content. Our friends in the tech office who had seen it then elaborated that these scenes included English soldiers shoving a crucifix up the bum of an Irish Catholic and then smearing him with feces. So, you know, the feel good hit of the season here at Easter time!

We trundle up to the theatre for the dress and a few of us take seats near the top (and near the door) so we can make a hasty exit if needed. Those plans were then shattered when the play’s director and designer decided to sit right in front of us. So then this older, very large, very drama queen type actor comes on to the stage and yells for the director “Roger? Roger darling? Are you around? Might I have a word?” So Roger walks over to the balcony and the actor calls up: “Am I to understand we are not going to have a poo bag in the dress?” (this being the item used to smear aforementioned feces). Well, turns out that the RSC can’t shell out for two costume shirts, and they needed the clean one for that night’s opening performance, so, no, no poo bag for you.

The actor then goes into quite the strop “What?! No poo bag! This is ridiculous! What are we going to do on matinee days? (just water apparently). This is the RSC? This is shoddy! Quite shoddy! No poo bag!” He repeats all this for about 2 more minutes and then storms off the stage. In the meantime we’ve all been trying to contain our laughter (and try not to pee from the hysterics..lol). The director returns up to his seat, kind of smiles at us and says “Well, something is shoddy and it’s more his attitude.” Ha!

The play itself? Well, it was not nearly as gruesome and violent as warned (that crucifix scene being the bulk of it). The bigger complaint was that it was just, well pretty darn dull. One of our colleagues who didn’t come to the dress but saw it that night came in later and said “Instead of warning me about how violent it was, you should have warned me how blooding boring it was instead!”

Not boring? My upcoming weekend traveling out of London. I’m journeying up north to Manchester (never been!) to go to Collectormania. Yes, I will be getting my geek on this weekend..lol. My friend Sarah and I are hopping on a bus at 8am tomorrow and heading up to stalk Anthony Stewart Head from "Buffy," not to mention a number of “Heroes” cast members! Woo hoo! Have never been to one of these sci-fi convention things before, so I am sure there will be good blog fodder (and pics) next week! Next week also brings a trip to Old Vic on Tuesday to see “Speed the Plow.” Jeff Goldlbum will be mine, oh yes..he will be mine..lol

Shaken, Not Stirred

2008-02-27T17:44:00.006Z

The UK has the largest earthquake in 25 years and yours truly slept right through it! My flatmate and many other friends felt it (including one who was up watching a spooky episode of “Supernatural”..talk about timing!), but nooo, I was dead to the world catching up on sleep from the Oscars. Check out the report on BBC (“Earthquake felt across much of UK” …well, except by me, damn!), and be sure to browse through the funny, snarky comments in this forum.

Never one to miss the Oscars(well, except for last year with school and all), I was up until 5:30am (gotta love that time difference!) The photo above was the flyer for the party I attended. Please note the unrealistic, or is that optimistic, ending time of 4am (GMT), aka 11pm (EST). When was the last time the Oscars ended at 11? Perhaps way back when it was the last time that there were no American winners in the 4 major acting categories. According to my flatmate, it was 1964 when Rex Harrison/Julie Andrews/Peter Ustinov/and “some Russian woman” took home the trophies. I have yet to confirm this on IMDB.

I was ecstatic about the 4 acting winners this year, and had correctly picked them all to win in the pool (though did not win the whole enchilada). Loved all of their speeches so much! Javier and his mom, Tilda taking the piss out of Clooney, Marion so emotional in her City of Angels, and of course my main man Daniel kneeling to The Queen. Have you seen him in “There Will Be Blood” yet? What are you waiting for? Get down to your Cineplex pronto and drink up the tasty milkshake that is Paul Thomas Anderson’s amazing film. (Sidebar – is it just me or is Anderson a dead ringer for Joshua “Pacey” Jackson?)

The crowd where we watched was very pro-Marion Cotillard and also very pro-“Once” for Best Song! Hurray! So glad that won. Those “Enchanted” songs kind of blew, but apparently they work better in the film itself, which I am finally seeing on Saturday as Tricycle’s showing it as their “family fare film.” The Oscar party I attended was at this cool venue, Rich Mix, in East London. It is part cinema, part gallery (kind of like Tricyle). They did a great job with their FREE! inaugural shin-dig (black tablecloths, gold accessories, gorgeous roses on the table). The tuxedoed emcee hosted an Oscar trivia quiz throughout the red-carpet arrivals (we placed third!) and of course there were ballots to fill out and lots of appetizers and dessert food (though no movie candy like my parties, alas!). The pic is of friends Alison and Caroline partaking in the free glass of champagne on arrival!

And I’d like to give a toast to Jon Stewart who I thought did a pretty damn good job and had us chuckling often. My favorite was when they came out of the award for film editing, “Film Editing! Dude, you know someone just moved into the lead of their Oscar pool based on a total guess!” Ha! Soo true (Go “Bourne Ultimatum!”). Also loved the intro monologue talking about all the dark best pic nominees. “Thank god there’s Juno and teen pregnancy!” Even better Jon Stewart can be found in his interview with Larry King a few days before the Oscars. His comments on writers’ strike, election, etc. are funny and/or so dead-on-the-money. I love him!! Who else do I love? Time magazines “Last Movie Star” George Clooney. Have you seen this video when he goes to their reporters’ home for dinner? Classic! (Sidebar – Clooney’s date’s Oscar dress was horrible! Looked like my old Florida-esque sofa, and/or a dress I wore in the 80s! Though worst dress of the night award Has to go to Daniel DL’s wife. Oh, the horror!)

On a nicer note, it was great to see Owen Wilson presenting, and Helen Mirren (despite the annoying doilies on her dress) did the best introduction of a category ever! The woman drips class! Also liked how they had the soldiers introduce the short documentary nominees. Overall thought it was an ok show in the short time they had to prepare. Main complaint was too many clips, not enough time for thank you speeches. Did they rush those people off quick or what? Heaven forbid you had more than 2 people on your winning team!

Lots of winning outfits too, not too many clunkers (though lots of bad messy hair – this means you Cameron Diaz and Jennifer Garner). Red and black seemed to be the colours of choice (Heidi Klum – Amazing) and call me crazy, but I kind of liked Tilda Swinton’s theatrical black number. I covet Laura Linney’s hair. She was interviewed on the red carpet by the UK’s Sky tv presenter and was really funny. Turns out she is here filming in the UK (must track her down to get hair tips), and nearly missed her flight to LA. She asked the presenter if she could send a thank-you out to “Phyllis at Virgin Atlantic who held the plane for me!” Bless!

Well, I see I’ve held you all up with an overlong blog post, so will wrap up now. Hope everyone is doing well!

Starry, Starry Night

2008-02-11T18:34:00.000Z

Bringing you all the glitz and glam from the British Academy Film and Television Awards (BAFTAs), I’ve got a first-hand report from the red carpet! Yes, I was just inches away last night from the likes of Keira Knightley, Kevin Spacey and my new crush (and BAFTA best actor winner) Daniel Day-Lewis!

My friend Nadia and I got up at the crack of dawn and made our way down to Covent Garden to queue for red carpet access wristbands. After lots of waiting, standing, and bonding by playing the celebrity name game and Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon with people (in which yours truly kicked some a**), the stars came out to shine and well, it was a chaotic celebrity-palooza I tell you! My head is still spinning (and throat is still hoarse) from trying to keep track of all the stars and from shouting to get their attention. Just call me paparazzi Pierce!

We’d landed a spot along the carpet smack-dab across from where all the television stations were interviewing the arrivals. Ryan Seacrest and E! were just a few yards away, along with the BBC, MTV, etc. At first we thought this would be a plum spot, but as the stars started piling up, they just stuck to that side of the carpet and made their way along the press gauntlet. The “Ones that got away” from our own cameras and autograph books included Sir Ian McKellen, the GORGEOUS Javier Bardem, the Stunning Emily Blunt, the Tiny (who knew?) Daniel (Harry Potter) Radcliffe , the balding (again, who knew?!) Hugh Laurie, and the best ‘couple’ of the night Jeff Goldblum and Kevin Spacey (who I’m seeing in Speed-the-Plow in March, so hopefully I’ll have another chance)

However, plenty of celebs Did make their way to us, including Keira Knightley (looking a bit naff with unkempt hair and an odd coat over her dress), Marion Cotillard looking like an angel in silver and white chiffon Chanel, the wild and wacky Tilda Swinton who was very fun and chatty with us, the equally funny and fan-friendly Ricky Gervais, LOTR hotties Viggo Mortensen and Orlando Bloom (who had this really cool group hug with Ian McKellen in the middle of the carpet…bless!) and last but not least, Daniel Day-Lewis. OMG, he was fantastic. He slowly and patiently took his time along the carpet signing autographs for everyone. When he got to us, I said “Good luck Daniel!" and he turned right to me and said “Thank you very much” Sigh…There will be crushes. My new friend made on line, Stephanie, is equally crushing.Orlando winked right at her after he read her cheeky autograph sign that said “I lost my number, can I have yours?” Ha!

Photos from the night are now online. Also, apparently E! is showing their coverage tonight, so tune in and keep your eyes open for me. I'm the one in the bright orange scarf and beige coat contstantly calling out for Jeff Goldblum...lol

Are The Stars Out Tonight?

2008-01-27T21:17:00.001Z

Well, as it turns out, they actually are this evening. We had a surprisingly sunny and clear weekend after about 314 days of rain. Also saw some stars of the stage and screen trod the boards this week, after camping out for Othello tickets at the Donmar Warehouse and being first in line (or rather on the queue). Ewan McGregor as Iago and Chiewetel Ejiofor as Othello sold out the show’s run within a few hours, but every day they give out 10 day-of seats for 15 pounds. We got to the theatre at about 3:30am and 7 hours later had the hottest ticket in London in our hot little hands (well, more like freezing cold hands), but it was worth it! BEST Show I have seen in London!!! The director Michael Grandage (also of Frost/Nixon fame) is a genius! I could rave on and on, but I’ll just let Christopher Isherwood from the New York Times do the talking, as he is spot-on. Unfortunately the stars did not come to the stage door, but we may try again. It’s that good! (That’s us w/posters and programmes – as close as we could get to the real thing!) More stars are to arrive on the West End in the coming months (my thesis rides again!..lol) with Jeff Goldblum and Kevin Spacey in “Speed the Plow,” Ralph Fiennes in a new play by the writer of “Art,” and Jeremy Irons at the National. Can’t wait!!

Had a random star spotting last Sunday when we saw The Office’s (and Extras’) Ricky Gervais at the London Art Fair! He just casually strolled right on by us as we gawked at pieces that ran up to the millions of pounds! Needless to say, no purchases were made (I’m waiting for the “affordable art fair” in April). However, I did really like the work of Jenny Pockley and Alison Mills, both of whose works can be seen on this site. (Roll over the small images to find out the artist names).

Speaking of stars, was so shocked and saddened to hear of Heath Ledger’s passing. True to form, the Guardian (aka the world’s best newspaper) had a wonderful article about him. Also good in the Guardian? (I’ve shared this with a few of you already), the article handicapping for liberals the 4 Republican candidates.

Along with stars and good Guardian articles, I also spotted some Tudor roof shingles and Victorian clay pipes on a Beachcombing walk along the Thames a few Sundays ago. Highly recommend it for anyone coming to visit! I myself seem to have been spotted by a number of recruiters during the last few weeks, so some potential jobs are in the works – keep your fingers crossed!

Was Sweeney Robbed? Juno It Was!

2008-01-27T21:14:00.000Z

Speaking of candidates and handicapping races, let’s talk Oscars! My main comment: Sweeney Todd was Robbed! I saw it again this weekend and am just shocked that Tim Burton did not get a directing nomination, nor that it’s up for Best Picture. While I liked Juno quite a lot, I think it got Sweeney’s slot in that category. Also thought Waitress was robbed of some nominations as well! Other than that, no real big surprises. Was thrilled to see Laura Linney get one for The Savages, and glad Keira Knightley did Not get one for Atonemnet. And go "Falling Slowly" from Once for Best Song! I now have a lot of catching up to do as I still have to see Away from Her, No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood.

Have seen some good non-Oscar season films recently, including “The Lady Vanishes” – an older Hitchcock film I’d never seen before that was lots of fun, and “4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days,” a film about abortion in Communist Romania. As one of the reviews here said “Yeah I know (re: depressing subject matter)..but it’s that good!” And it was! Beautifully acted and so moving!

Pretty Women

2008-01-05T13:58:00.000Z

After seeing the FANTASTIC film of Sweeney Todd (more in a bit), I had to title my blog post with this song as it also ties in nicely with photo (more on that in a bit too). But I digress...

Happy New Year to all! Hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday! I am now back in London after a fantastic trip to the States. Was so great to see family and friends, though it went all too quickly. Next time I will definitely allow for more than 2 weeks.

Got in lots of visits and shopping (god bless the USA for their bargains compared to UK!) and had some wonderful meals at old favorites and new, including the very tasty Agraria in the Georgetown Harbour. Snaps to Vicky for finding this place and landing us the cool private ‘wine’ room with the huge round table (that’s us in the photo above). My other favourite meal of course was mom’s home-cooked Christmas Dinner. The BEST turkey and stuffing ever. A close runner-up was her Irish Stew, which we shared with my stepsister Eva, her boyfriend Jea, and the best nephew ever - Destin. He is obsessed with all things Spiderman and can even do the wrist move to cast his web. This comic/superhero geek of an aunt is so proud! Photos of many of the festivities are now online.

Saw a couple of the Best movies of the year as well (something else that is soo much cheaper in the States!) Sweeney Todd and Juno – run, don’t walk, to your multiplex to see them! As most of you know, I am a HUGE Sondheim fan and wasn’t sure how I felt about a film version, but Johnny Depp and company bowled me over and Tim Burton is just a genius! Some genius writing can be found in Juno, which also has one of the best ensemble casts I've seen. Also saw P.S. I Love You, which was better than expected and when you’ve got a film that stars Gerard Butler, Harry Connick Jr, Jeffrey Dean Morgan (“Denny” from Grey’s) and James Marsters (“Spike” from Buffy), well the holidays don’t get any warmer than that!

When the holidays ended in DC, it was back to London to make my trek to Croydon (the Manassas of the London area) on Dec. 31 to get my visa extended for one year. Fortunately it all went swimmingly and I am now legal to stay and work here across the pond for one more year. Pheww! Main New Year’s Resolution – Find a job! Am looking at either part-time ones to complement my stint at Tricycle, or full-time positions. Any and all referrals or suggestions welcome!

My other resolution is to get back on a UK time/sleep schedule. I’ve been all out of whack for a week now. Took the redeye last Saturday night and it was the most restless/non-sleeping bunch of passengers ever, so couldn’t nod off. Ended up watching Hairspray, which I’d never seen, and found it pretty darn entertaining. Speaking of entertaining, when my flatmate and I returned home from a friend’s New Year’s Eve Party, we found that our upstairs neighbours were entertaining half of London in our building. The hall and staircases were teeming with people til 11am the next day! Grr Arrgh, as you know how I have my Bionic hearing. Figured I had then been up for more than 24 hours straight! Think a nap is in my future today!

Deck the Halls

2007-12-14T15:15:00.000Z

Ushered in the holiday season last Sunday with a tree-trimming/housewarming party. Lots of fun (and wine) was had by all. We had not one, not two, but three trees to decorate (well, ok, 2 are mini pink trees, but still…) My intrepid friend Alison even tracked down some Egg Nog (which is practically impossible to find here in the UK). Party pics are posted online. Now getting organized and packed up for my trip to States. I leave Sunday and come back on the 30th. Wishing everyone the happiest of holidays and a wonderful new year! See a lot of you in a few days!

Golden Globes Griping

2007-12-14T15:13:00.000Z

Atonement leads the pack of nominations?!? Seriously?! Seriously?! Saw this movie here in London a few months ago and found it extremely underwhelming. Keira just poses in pretty period costumes, smoking in beautiful rooms. I swear she has maybe 20 lines of dialogue. James McAvoy is a bit better, but the whole film is just this big long style over substance thing. And don’t get me started about all the snubs of other much more worthy pics. Where is the love for “Once” or “The Savages” (just one for Philip S Hoffman), or “Grace is Gone” (hello, Cusack’s best performance ever).

Glad the Marion Cotillard scored one for “La Vie en Rose” (girl better get an Oscar nod as well, it is hands-down the best performance on film I’ve seen all year), but why isn’t it also up for others, such as best foreign film? I was full-on weeping in the theatre at the end of it. LOVED! Here’s a taste of it. Oh, and hello, what about the wonderful “Waitress!” Wake up and smell the independent movies Hollywood Foreign Press! As far as tv, have they not ever heard of a little show called “Heroes!” No nominations? Seriously?!

Happiness

2007-12-03T15:21:00.000Z

I came home this afternoon to some fantastic news. I passed my thesis 'with merit’ and ended up passing the whole MA programme ‘with merit’ as well! Hurray, I have my MA! Will receive my actual degree in May at the graduation ceremony, but results are now official!

Comments on the thesis included “does a great deal to put the star system into perspective” and “very strong understanding of current debates and concepts.” I want to thank everyone so much for their support and encouragement throughout the year! Look forward to seeing many of you in just about 2 weeks!

Comedy Tonight or Send in the Clowns

2007-12-03T15:09:00.001Z

I saw two comedy shows during the last month, both of which were side-splittingly Hi-Larious! The first was Jason Byrne, an Irish comedian who was the hit at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He does a lot of situational comedy with tons of audience participation. Here’s a short clip of another joke he performed at our show regarding reincarnation and the Crocodile Hunter.

The second show was Pam Ann, an Australian who totally takes the piss out of all the different airlines, especially British Airways. OMG, if you have the chance to see her, run, don’t walk to the theatre. Here is an intro to some of her characters, and a different bit where she plays an attendant for Singapore Airlines. Fair warning, both of these have some salty language and are not in the least bit politically correct, but as they say, ‘Now that’s comedy!'

A Good Christian

2007-11-17T13:46:00.000Z

One of the perks of my new job (which I am loving btw!) is the occasional free ticket to a West End show! This week’s was 'Swimming with the Sharks,' starring my thesis case study Christian Slater! The play was just ok, but he was fantastic! Turns out there was another quasi-celeb in the cast - Helen Baxendale, best known for playing Ross’ British wife Emily on “Friends.” Alas her time in ‘New York’ did nothing to help her Horrible attempt at a New Yawk accent. Ouch! But when Slater was on stage, all eyes and ears were on him as the manipulative Hollywood agent. Backstage he could not have been more different – very nice and charming! Yes, we stalked to the stage door where I told him about how he had been a thesis case study. “Very cool man!” was his reply before 1) signing the front page of my thesis and 2) putting his arm around me for a photo…sigh! Val or Woody – I’m coming for you next!..lol

Culture week continued as the next evening I went to opening night for Net Curtains’ ‘One, Nineteen’ at the Arcola Theatre. This is the company where I’ve been a marketing intern/volunteer since February. Their new show is about the media’s coverage of disaster, environmental responsibility, and our obsession with the cult of personality and it is INCREDIBLE! I am so proud of everyone involved. Sharp, clever writing, acting and directing. Read more about it in this article (have to scroll down the page a bit) and if you’re in London, do come see it. I couldn’t be more pleased with how the production turned out! I hope this play gets picked up by other theatres – it could not be more topical!

The next day brought the opening of the renovated St. Pancras train station! In a word – Gorgeous! In a second word – Convenient! Eurostar has moved its terminal here from Waterloo (making it much closer to my flat) and the trains are now high-speed (making it much quicker to get to France, Belgium and other European destinations). I then headed next –door to the British Library to hear my friend Barry perform in a concert of Stockhausens’ work Stimmung, a very cool, new-agey, choral piece for 6 vocalists. Amazing voices and a hypnotic performance!

From Germany to Austria, my crazy cultural week continued to the Sing-along Sound of Music! I’d done this before here in London and at the Kennedy Center, but my American friend Liz had been dying to go and it’s always a fun evening. Sure enough, last night did not disappoint as there were lots of crazy costumes and LOTS of audience participation (perhaps sometimes a bit more than we wanted – seemed to be several very drunk groups there, ahh, central London on a Friday night..lol)

Photos for most of the above are now online. Tonight I’m off to see my first event at The Tricycle. An Irish comedian who was a hit at the Edinburgh Festival. Tomorrow…relax! One month from today – fly to U.S.! So see you all SOON!

Play Mistley for Me

2007-11-05T13:37:00.000Z

Wrapped up the London Film Festival with two great evenings. The first was the premiere of “The Savages” starring Laura Linney, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Philip Bosco. Run, don’t walk, to see this film. Three incredible performances that better bring in some Oscar nominations in the tale of an estranged brother and sister who come together to help their ailing father. I got to the theatre a bit early and ended up in the paparazzi section on the red carpet and was able to snap a few photos (though you clearly won’t find my blurry shots in US or People anytime soon). Then on Wednesday, my friend Lynne and I went to the TCM Classic Shorts event. Thought it would just be a screening of the top 6 short films selected for the competition, but it was the awards ceremony as well, so we got to see/hear the top 3 winning directors. A real good mix of UK and other European films, most of which were beautifully done and very moving or haunting. While Lynne and I were were pulling for 'Cocoon' (which has nothing at all to do with the 80s retirement village film), the winning entry ‘cleared the palate’ and was not as serious as the others. 'A Bout de Truffe 'was a funny French film (directed by a Brit) about a truffle hunter and his pig.

From the French countryside to the English coastal area of Essex, I spent this past weekend in Mistley, at my friends Neil and Ashley’s GORGEOUS flat, right on the water. Mistley is this adorable village that is something right out of a film set. We stepped off the train and it was indeed like stepping back in time. And their place is just steps from the train station, which has now been turned into a cool art gallery and paint-your-own-pottery place! (which we did!) Had a lot of fun with Neil’s family for a good old fashioned Guy Fawkes night bonfire and fireworks on Saturday and did lots of walking (and good eating) in Mistley and the neighbouring bigger village of Manningtree. They are both set along the River Stour and are home to about 5,000 swans and sailboats. Great scenic views now posted online (along with the Linney pics). Another highlight was the relaxing Sunday afternoon listening to Elaine Page’s Sunday Showtunes programme on BBC Radio 2. Her guest this week listed his essential musicals as “Sunday in the Park with George,” “Into the Woods” and “Chess” – a man after my own heart!

I may be returning at Thanksgiving as the Mistley Thorn Restaurant (started by a woman from California) is having a full-on American style dinner that sounds amazing!

Everybody's Got the Right to Some Sunshine

2007-10-29T14:44:00.000Z

Ok, now that I’ve put that song from Sondheim’s ‘Assasins’ in your head, I am reporting that it is a beautiful sunny fall day here!

Alas, the weekend was quite soggy for the first game of American football played outside the U.S. Giants and Dolphins fans got soaked at Wembley yesterday where a sold-out crowd (including my friend Liz) did the wave and watched as a streaker ran onto the field. Crazy! Speaking of sports, this Massachusetts-born girl is so happy about her Boston Red Sox! Woo hoo! Go World Series Champs!

Ok, I’ve really digressed ..Anyway, since it’s a sunny day, I’ve finally taken some photos in and around my flat. The shot above is out our living room window into the back garden.

I'm Just A Broadway Baby

2007-10-29T14:42:00.000Z

Broadway Market that is. OMG, HOW have I not known about this area of London?! It’s just a 15-minute bus ride East of here. It is this adorable street that leads right down to Regent’s Canal at the bottom, and up to a pretty little park called London Fields at the top. Have posted a few pics online, as well as some very belated photos from last month’s Thames Festival, which included a tour of City Hall!

But back to Broadway Market, which has tons of great independent shops, including the Broadway Bookshop, and many great cafes. My good friend Nineta was in town this weekend (she’s livin’ the dream working in the culture section of the EU and London) and her former flatmates recommended we hit this area for brunch. Will definitely return to La Vie en Rose for their “French Brunch” special again! Only 7 pounds and the most mouth-watering pain au chocolate I’ve ever had. Our French theme continued as we then went to the V&A for their “Golden Age of Couture – Paris & London” exhibition. Anyone visiting between now and January 6 – we are soo going back to this. Dior, LaCroix, Fath, Galliano Balenciaga – films, videos, dresses, dresses and more dresses. The VA& really ‘makes it work!”

Amazing 'Grace'

2007-10-29T14:39:00.000Z

Let the Oscar race begin and my nominee for Best Actor is John Cusack in ‘Grace is Gone.’ I caught the premier of this incredibly moving flick at the London Film Festival and believe me when I say it will take something phenomenal to knock it off the post of one of my top films of the year, not to mention best performances of the year. JC plays a father on a road trip with his two young daughters (amazing performances from two first-time actresses). Beautifully written and directed, you will need a box o’ Kleenex at the end. I agree with some early reviews that this is hands-down Cusack’s best performance.

He and the writer/director were on hand to introduce the film and then answer some Q&As after. Alas, I did not get to meet and greet him personally, but I was able to snap some photos while they were on stage. I do have to admit that John was not the friendliest of sorts as he exited the theatre. People at the ends of rows nearest to him were trying to shake his hand, snap a photo, say congrats, and Cusack seemed to have a bit of a ‘tude, unfortunately. One of my favorite celeb gossip sites, LaineyGossip, had this to say about Cusack in London. She might be a bit on the money here, much as I am loathe to admit.

What a Feeling

2007-10-16T11:14:00.000Z

At the age of 40 I took part in my first “Flash mob” type event. This is when people get texts/emails telling them to show up at a certain place at a certain time and then do something (pillow fight, lay down, water fight, etc). This one was called ‘mobile clubbing’ or as I’ve dubbed it “Flash Dance.”

My friend Neena decided to do this event for her birthday party last Friday. It was beyond cool. The event was in the main Turbine Hall of the Tate Modern museum. We were instructed to bring our iPods, headphones, what have you, and stake out a space by 7 p.m. on the floor. Then at 7:01 we turned our own personal music on and started dancing up a storm. There were a few hundred people there of all ages, races, etc and it was so fun to see everyone boogie-ing to their own beat. Even better was when you found someone who was dancing totally in rhythm to the music you were playing. I went with a compilations of dance tunes from Dance Mix USA and Dance Party 2000 (b/c I’m old school and that’s how I roll..lol) and all of a sudden I’d look over and see someone and think “Oh my god, are they listening to Black Box’s Strike it Up too?”

What made it even more bizarre was the new installation in the Turbine Hall – The Crack in the Floor. It runs the entire length of the hall and gets quite wide at times so you had to be careful dancing around it. And of course some who didn’t know about wore expressions of “Oh my god, did we do that?” when they looked down and spotted it. The staff at Tate was great as they let us stay for nearly 2 hours.

Our party then moved from the Tate to the tunnels under London Bridge where there is this amazing club, Shunt. When anyone comes to visit, we are so going back there! Tons of cavernous spaces, like something out of a film set, plus great music and cheap drinks.

In other culture news, I’m raving about the film “Once.” I think I’m a bit late to the party on this one as it was in the States last spring/summer after winning the audience award at Sundance. But for those who haven’t seen it, add it to your Netflix queue asap! The London Film Festival also pens this week and have snagged tix to a few screenings (but alas, did not get into the Q&A with Laura Linney, grr..arrgh). I am also hoping to see my thesis case study Christian Slater in the stage version of Swimming with Sharks. It’s been listed on the half-price TKTS board (which is a bonus when one is still unemployed)!

Speaking of...the job search goes slowly. I’m now pounding the pavement for any kind of editing/comms/web temporary job for the next two months before I head home for Christmas. Any and all suggestions welcome! I then head back to States for the first time in a year and a half and I can’t wait. I'll be in the DC area Dec 17-29, so hope to see many of you. In January I will then re-assess my visa/work situation and go from there.

Hope all are well!

My Boy Bill

2007-10-10T19:56:00.001Z

I'm back and blogging after a month off due to post-thesis relaxation and then moving into new flat and getting Internet access set up. Kicking off the latest post with some big news!

There are good days and then there are days that rankup there as some of the best days of your life. Yesterday was one of those days. I met and spoke briefly with BILL CLINTON! Alas, was not able to get any photos as security measures prevented us from bringing cameras or mobiles (but my friend Candacewill back this story up!..lol)

He came to London to do a book signing for his latest work, Giving – How Each of Us Can Change the World,and my friend Candace and I went. We got to Waterstone’s at Piccadilly Circus around 7:30 for his 11:30 signing and were about 30th or so in line (or rather in the queue). In yet another example of how small the world is, the two people behind us in the queue were American students to whom we had lots of connections! I was standing right in front of an ATM and so of course I had to field lots of questions from cash-withdrawers about what was going on. I joked with one nice older man who talked about having gone all the way to NYC to meet Margaret Thatcher and said that I’d had to come all the way from DC to meet Clinton.

When I said that, the girl behind me said “Oh my God, are you from DC, so am I!” Turns out she graduated from American University two years ago and then worked at EBRI and is now pursuing a Masters at UCL. She knew lots of my old haunts/favorite places such as Two Amys pizza, Amphora Diner, Potomac Yards Target, Channel 4 news, etc. Not only that, through her work she knew some people I worked with at AARP! Then the world got even smaller as the friend with her was from Philadelphia area, which is Candace’s hometown. Bizarre!

Talking with them made the three hours fly by and then we were let into the store where Waterstone’s had it very well organized and even handed out biscuits and sweets to us! Our last hour was spent surrendering our bags, coats, getting wristbanded, etc. and then waiting for Bill by the Biographies section (where I wore my marketing hatand looked for all the books by my friend Neil andmoved them to more prominent positions on theshelves).

Around 11:20 all the lift doors opened up and a slew of (hot!) Secret Service agents came out! Woo hoo! Bill is in the Building!) He first faced a slew of press paparazzi and then us regular people. Tere are no words for how amazing it was. He shook hands and chatted with each person going through the line, so when it was my turn, here’s how it played out:

GP: “Good morning Mr. President, it’s such an honour (or maybe I said pleasure) to meet you. I marched in your inaugural parades”

BC: (big genuine smile): “Why thank you, thank you so much. Who did you march with?”

GP: “With the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt”

BC: (moves in closer me, very serious, thoughtful expression on face, then PUTS HIS HAND OUT AND GRIPS MY SHOULDER!) “Thank you for that. Bless you.”

GP: “Thanks, hope there’s one for Hilary” (or “GoHilary” or something like that)

BC: (chuckles) “Thank you! Take care.”

I then basically floated out of the room and then did a little Laura Linney happy dance like she did in“Love Actually” when her cute coworker kissed her. Definitely one of the Best Days Ever!

And in a funny footnote, we had a Clinton-related question in our pub quiz last night. “Who was Clinton’s vice president during his tenure?” Umm, I wonder who that couldbe?...lol

Cheap Flights to London

2007-08-27T11:19:00.000Z

While Mrs. Lovett sang about the Worst Pies in London, I’m singing the praises of some Cheap Flights TO London! United is offering flights as low as $199 each way through March, but Act Now! Offer ends Tomorrow (Aug 28)!

And Now is a perfect time to come see me too as after Wednesday I will be thesis-free! Hurray! I’ve finished the writing, now working on the final editing and polishing. Phewwww…..So jump that pond and come on over and visit! I’m also job-free, so I have plenty of time to show folks around. If you come in September, we can go see the fantastic Impressionists by the Sea exhibition at the Royal Academy. That's me standing out front of it in my new blog photo. Went with a classmate last week and loved it. Also, check out the list of stars coming to the West End this fall (OMG, it's my thesis all over again..lol): Patrick Stewart in MacBeth, Jonathan Pryce in Glengarry Glen Ross, Stockard Channing in Awake and Sing, and Ewan McGregor and Chiewetel Ejiofor in Othello. You know I’ll be stalking those stage doors!

Starting later September the stalking for a new job begins in earnest, but taking a week or so to rest up and relax as the last 6-8 weeks have been eating, sleeping, breathing the casting of Hollywood film stars in the West End (and my thesis concludes that no, they will not cause the downfall of Theatreland, thank you very much!).

Speaking of thank yous, want to thank everyone for all their support this year. I could not have made it through without your ears to listen, shoulders to lean on and your eagle-eye editorial skills (this means you mom..lol). I can’t believe how fast the year went!! Seems like just a short time ago I was partying with many of you at Ron and Fred’s. Am definitely coming home for Christmas this year, so hope to see many of you then!

And now that thesis is done, will be a bit more frequent with blog updates. Will also let you all know my new contact details as soon as I have them. On Sept 12, I am moving into a new flat in the same neighbourhood where I am now, but don't have my whole new official address yet.

Take care!

A Weekend in the Country

2007-07-31T18:26:00.000Z

Took a well-needed study break over the weekend to travel up to the wedding of my friends Katie and David. It was held in the beautiful countryside of South Shropshire at Hopton Court and was all right out of a movie! Mother Nature even got in the act and gave us beautiful weather for the day (at last!)

It was my first English wedding so of course I had to buy a hat. Kudos to my friend Nineta, who, after hitting at least 4 other stores with me, spotted a perfect one just as we were about to leave yet another shop. Even more good news? The hat was originally 50 pounds but was on sale for 12! Perfect for the grad school budget!

Pictures of the wedding are now posted online. While I didn’t manage to get a shot of me in the hat, my new young friend Meghan was happy to oblige as she took to borrowing it often. During the speeches part of the reception everyone put on really wacky hats, including the bride who sported a Statue of Liberty crown! More hilarity came with the menu cards on the tables. These were printed inside “Despair.ink” greeting cards. Those are the hilarious spoofs of those cheesy, motivational posters you see in offices that talk about “Leadership” or “Success.” Instead, we had cards like “Defeat – There are only a few winners and many more losers. Odds are you’re one of them.” or the one at my place setting – “Compromise – Let’s agree to respect each other’s views, no matter how wrong yours might be.” Ha! Was just a lovely day which included Pimms Cup on the lawn, delicious duck and a DJ playing great 70s/80s dance music. You all know I loves me some ABBA!

Spent the night at The Crown, which was originally a 16th century coaching inn. Comfortable beds, but thin walls – and you know my Jamie Sommers hearing..lol! Sunday brought a nice leisurely trip back, during which I got to see a bit of Birmingham, a city which I’d written an essay about in the fall. Cultural regeneration is in full swing in Brum! It was then on to the train back to London, during which I, ironically enough, finished reading the latest Harry Potter. Won’t say a thing except Good Stuff! Great way to end the series! Am now working on ending my thesis. 9,500 words down, 6-7,000 to go (past the halfway mark, hurray!). Hope all are well!

I'm Still Here

2007-07-18T18:23:00.001Z

Just like Carlotta in “Follies,” I’m 'still here' in London, slogging away on thesis and job search. Had a good meeting today with my thesis supervisor who says I’m on the right track, so Pheww! 4,000 words down, 11,000 to go! It’s really been an interesting research process as I’ve talked to and/or met a number theatre directors and critics! I think I confused some folks by my last post when I talked about being at Andrew Lloyd Webber’s office. That was for at thesis interview, not for a job. My last thesis interview was being wined (a nice Pinot Grigio) and dined (tasty mushroom omelette) at lunch by playwright/director Terry Johnson. He directed Kathleen Turner in “The Graduate,” and Christian Slater in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” He’s also written a ton of plays, including “Dead Funny” which was at Woolly Mammoth some years back. He had a lot of good insight (and used the f word a lot! Needless to say I’ll be cleaning up his language for the thesis..lol)

Speaking of that f word, I ended up dropping it on Virgin Trains last week. I was trying to book a train to go to a friend’s wedding later this month. Virgin had cheapest/most convenient fares, but their website was continually down with a message saying try back in a few hours. I gave it two days and then numerous calls to customer service led nowhere (the irony being that while you’re on hold the message says “Do you know you can now book tickets on our website?”) Umm, yeah, not so much! When I finally got through, they quoted me a much higher fare, saying that the cheap ones were only available on their website. Again I say, umm, yeah, you mean the website that’s not working?! Literally must have called and complained to 4 people, each of whom was ruder than the next. Screw you Virgin Trains, I took my business to Chiltern Trains that was a bit more but had much friendlier staff!

Speaking of friendly staff, I had two very positive customer service experiences to make up for the bad Virgin one (ok, that sounds weird..lol). The first was getting my National Insurance Number (kind of like Soc. Security). I had an appt. at 12 and when I first walked in to the office, it looked like the Arlington DMV at 4 on a Friday on the 30th of the month! I thought “uh oh!” However, they called my name right at 12, then went to another waiting area and my rep Jacqueline came to fetch me at about 10 minutes after and was very apologetic that they were running late. How do I describe Jacqueline? Powder blue sparkly suit, bright auburn hair and about 4 feet tall. Anyone picturing that short woman in Poltergeist would not be too far off with that image. However, it was not scary at all. She was very helpful and efficient.

Also helpful? The staff at the Belle Epoque café (aka the best reason for living in Newington Green). I dashed over there for a sandwich and coffee, but then found I’d left my wallet back in my flat. No worries, they said, you’re such a great customer and in all the time, you can just pay us next time you’re in. J’aime Belle Epoque! What else do I aime? The film “Paris Je T’aime!” OMG, run, don’t walk to see it! Best movie I’ve seen this year!

Time To Say Good-bye (to classes that is)

2007-07-03T15:56:00.000Z

Bowling, Bocelli and Bombs, Oh My!

Woo hoo! I am free from classes! I had my last final exam yesterday so I am 66% done with Grad School (and so far averaging ‘with merit’ grades). I did well on my final essay, which looked at re-branding a theatre. The exam went ok - I will find out my grade in about a month. I even worked in the final quote from “Casablanca” into one of my answers (it was about Customer Relationship Management)! So now it’s just a 15,000-word thesis to go….Had a good interview today with the general manager of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Theatre Group. I even saw Sir ALW’s piano! Dan was really helpful and fun to chat with (and a bit of a dead-ringer for our friend Chris Lidy). It was all I could do not to shout out “Hire me, please hire me!”

This past weekend my classmates and I were shouting and celebrating with some of the aforementioned B’s. Friday was spent at Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes, where yours truly had the highest scores of the evening (might have been as I was the only American bowling and it’s in my blood..lol). Saturday a few of us scored tickets to see Andrea Bocelli at the new O2 Arena (the structure formerly known as the Millennium Dome in Greenwich). It was a fantastic concert of “Andrea and Friends” and those friends included Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and James Galway, who brought down the house with his solo of Danny Boy. When Andrea closed the show with all his friends singing “Time to Say Goodbye” there was not a dry eye in the arena (which is a fantastic, gi-normous new facility).

Of course all of this has been overshadowed by the bomb incidents here in London and in Glasgow, but Life Goes On and I’m adopting the British Stiff Upper Lip and going about business as usual.

Hope you all are doing well and wishing you all a Happy, Safe and Wonderful Fourth of July! Have a hot dog for me! And could someone please send some sunshine 'across the pond?' It's now day 314 of cold, rainy weather! So much for English summers and global warming!

Some Nice Monet, A Pinter Play, Perhaps a Piece of Opera

2007-06-20T11:23:00.000Z

Leave it to me to turn my life into a mangled lyric from Stephen Sondheim’s "Company"…lol. What can I say? I ushered for a production of it in my impressionable youth and can practically sing the whole show.

First, the Monet – My friends Nineta and Artemis are taking Arts Markets this semester and their professor got them (and a few of their lucky friends) into Sotheby’s Impressionist Auction last night! It was beyond cool. There I was in my little black dress hobnobbing with people who sere spending millions on Renoirs, Magrittes and Monet, whose “Nympheas” started out bidding at 8 million pounds and sold for a whopping 16.5!

A Pinter Play – Donmar Warehouse’s final show of the season was Pinter’s “Betrayal.” We liked it, we didn’t love it. Not sure I’m a fan of Pinter’s. Odd dialogue, awkward pauses, etc. However the acting was very strong and the two male leads were quite the hotties with quite the pedigrees. Toby Stephens (you may know him as the villain in James Bond’s “Die Another Day”) is the son of Dame Maggie Smith (I was so tempted to ask him in the Q&A why his mom is so mean, but I held my tongue). Samuel West (you may remember him from Howard’s End) is the son of another English actress, Prunella Scales (from Fawlty Towers). Can we say talented gene pools.

A Piece of Opera - Speaking of Britain having talent, my latest reality show addiction was “Britain’s Got Talent” and our main man Paul Potts just won it this weekend. Unassuming mobile phone salesman by day, amazing tenor bringing people to tears with Nessun Dorma by night! (Check out Simon Cowell's huge grin at the end of audition). Though I would have also been happy had Connie Talbot won. No one sells “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” like this 6-year old!

Reality Check

2007-06-10T17:42:00.000Z

Last Saturday – sitting on the edge of my seat in the beautiful Wyndham’s Theatre (think it’s the prettiest London venue I’ve seen) to see my Brideshead Revisited crush Anthony Andrews in Somerset Maugham’s “The Letter.” My friend Mary was over in London and we hit the half-price booth and scored great seats. Of course, me being me, we also stalked the stage door. True to London form, there was hardly anyone else there, save for a father and his son (who was all of about 12, a bit young if you ask me, for a play about murder and adultery, but I digress). Anthony came out in a crisp blue shirt and blazer, his blue eyes twinkling and was just the epitome of graciousness! Was very sweet chatting with the young boy and then we spoke briefly and he personalized my autograph: “To Gretchen, Bring Happiness” (or at least that’s what Mary I think it said, a bit hard to make out the handwriting)

This Saturday – sitting on the edge of my sofa watching the finales of reality shows “Any Dream Will Do” and “Grease Is the Word.” Yes, seriously. I’ve been watching “Dream” since catching it at the Winslows’ in Belgium way back when (remember the thwarted attempt to see Lloyd Weber’s castle in Ireland?). I came late to the party on “Grease” and only watched it sporadically. I’m now pleased to report that all of my favorites were the winners! Lee scored the role of Joseph (after an amazing showdown with runner-up Keith, who I also liked), and brought down the house in his final song. If anyone knows my type, they will know that Lee is right up there at the ‘top of the heap’ so to speak (even if he did flub some lyrics. Not sure how little town 'shoes' can melt away in NY, NY..lol). I think there will be more stage door stalking in the future. On Grease, I was really pulling for Susan and Danny (she from Ireland, he from South London). There’s no footage of their win yet, but here’s an early clip of them singing “Somewhere” from West Side Story. If anyone’s coming to London soon, you know what shows I’ll be recommending..lol.

Speaking of “Somewhere” – OMG, can we talk Ugly Betty finale which just aired here in London. Damn people, that was the mother of all season finales. Pass the Kleenex indeed! I loved all the show’s Broadway references, i.e. Angela Lansbury eating a pizza bagel before Sweeney Todd. Speaking of Broadway, I am so bummed I won’t be able to watch the Tony Awards tonight. Go Frank Langella, Go Raul Esparza and all other Frost/Nixon and Company-related nominees!

Ok, back to my essay.

It's A Small World After All!

2007-05-30T18:53:00.000Z

I recently found out about this cool site - Flickrvision.com. It’s connected to the photo-sharing site Flickr. Flickrvision shows you in real time photos that people are posting from all over the world, including the city/town from where the person is posting. I logged on and the first three photos were from 1) Leesburg, VA (woo hoo, my old neck of the woods!), 2) Kapellen, Belgium (a town near where I visit my friends the Winslows) and 3) Freiburg, Germany (the town where from where my classmate Christian hails). Wacky!

Speaking of all around the world, my beloved address book (Italian leather, gift from mom) containing the ‘411’ of all you far-flung friends and family has gone completely AWOL! A thorough search of my flat has come up empty! Soo annoying! Not only did it hold addresses, but also birthdays. Could folks please email me their info? Am going go get new one or at least in the meantime, start keeping them electronically. Thanks!

Culture update – Saw an AMAZING production of “Kiss of the Spider Woman” at Donmar Warehouse! That theatre can do no wrong. I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve seen there this year. I did not enjoy Andrew L. Weber sending home the ‘wrong’ Joseph yet again on “Any Dream Will Do.” Yes folks, my tastes range from the sublime to the ridiculous here in the UK. More cultural news, the Culture Vultures (the team formerly known as “The Alliance”) were back to their winning pub quiz ways last week! Woo hoo, that 10 pounds I won will come in handy (for about a carton of milk and cereal..lol).

In other news, I continue to plug along on thesis and coursework, but have to admit my mojo is fading (despite finding references to “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” in not one, but two academic journal articles for research)! Must be the ‘final semester blues,’ compounded by the fact that I am also starting the job/housing search. I’ve decided to try and stay here ‘across the pond’ if I can. Any and all recommendations/suggestions welcome. Can’t believe on Friday it will be June! A big happy birthday that day to my Mom and also Greg J.

The Wild, Wild West

2007-05-19T17:03:00.001Z

The final days of our Ireland adventure were spent exploring the GORGEOUS West coast of the country. We left Killarney, took a fun ferry ride across the river Shannon and then lost our way a bit heading to the Cliffs of Moher. Serendipity led us to Kilkee, an Adorable seaside town whose locals claimed that their own cliffs were just as nice, if not nicer than Moher's. After taking a great hour long hike along them, I think I'd have to agree with that. What Moher has in size, Kilkee makes up for with more variety and quantity.

It was at the Cliffs of Moher where we had another "small world of Ireland" encounter. Walking up the trail, I ran into a nice couple from New Zealand who sat across from us on our Ring of Kerry bus tour! They were then heading to Galway as we were, but first we had some other sidetrips to make. Our first stop was St. Bridget's Well, right at the foot of Moher. This is known as a healing well where people come and leave religious objects like images of the Virgin Mary or Rosary beads (not to mention gym shorts - I wish I was kidding!)

The Burren was next up. Talk about amazing views and landscape. Feels like your on the surface of the moon with all limestone. We were able to also see one of the more famous Dolmen portal tombs and then did some serious off-the-beaten-path trekking to find some other burial sites that the Dolmen docent told us about.

We then made it safely to Galway where we had an amazing seafood dinner followed by Frank's (my 2nd favorite B&B owner) wonderful breakfast the next morning. Definitely best breakfast of the trip! Two words: potato waffles! And now four more words: Con-ne-mar-a. OMG! Now that is some seriously gorgeous countryside we drove through on the way to Sligo. Stopped for lunch in the great town of Clifden and ate at the tasty Two Dog Cafe (also home to the Westernmost Internet Cafe in Europe - I bought the t-shirt!). En route to Sligo we stopped in at the Kylemore Abbey - home to the Benedictine nuns of Ireland, but also home to a very pricey admissions fee, so we just took exterior photos!

Our final day was spent in Sligo - aka Yeats country! We saw Yeats' grave as well as some beautiful coastlines and castles. Alas our journey then came to an end as we headed to Knock airport to fly back to London. Not to knock Knock, but well, you have to pay 10 GBP at their "redevelopment fund" counter before you can get on the plane!

Speaking of develop, the final set of photos has been developed on Snapfish. Some of the shots may look familiar to you if you're a fan of the "Today" show. Turns out that the week after our trip, Matt Lauer took his "Where in the World" series to Cliffs of Moher/Galway, etc. Can't believe we just missed him!

So now it's back to reality and back to school. Can't believe I'm already half-way through my final semester! This year is Flying by.

Kerry is So Very

2007-05-13T11:02:00.000Z

With apologies to Johnny Cash, but "We fell in love with the Ring of Kerry. We rode up, up, up, boy those roads they sure were scary. But oh those views...the Ring of Kerry, the Ring of Kerry!"

Before hitting the ring, though, we drove to the teeny, tiny town of Inchigeelagh in southwest Cork to see the town from where my Arlington priest Fr. Gerry Creedon hails. Alas, we weren't able to meet up with the family as they'd had to go into the larger town of Macroom for the day, though the nice maintenance man let us rest a bit in Creedon's Hotel (of which there turn out to be two!) We stopped at one earlier on the route and this woman came out and said "oh are you one of Fr.Gerald's parishoners? You need to keep driving." (Those 4 last words were becoming my least favorite words to hear as my knees were not loving the hell of the tiny Hyundai).

However we then made it safely to Killarney where my knees got a rest as we put ourselves in the able hands of Michael our Ring of Kerry tour bus driver. Spent the whole day touring the Ring which is, in a word, GORGEOUS (as was Michael, who looks like actor John Slattery, aka politician on Sex/City and Desperate Housewives).

We also ventured at dusk to Ross Castle, set along Ross Lake and it was just Breathtaking! We also were able to get in on the last tour of Muckross House, during which we met a friendly couple from Rhode Island who gave us a ride back to our hotel (we'd planned to walk, but turns out it was much farther than our concierge had said). While our fellow Americans were fine in the House, once we got in their (equally tiny car) they turned in to the Bickersons. OMG, hope they survived the rest of their journey!

The photos of this part of our journey are now up on Snapfish.

Coming up next: "The Cliffs of Kilkee are just as nice, if not nicer than Cliffs of Moher"

It's a Long Way to Tipperary

2007-05-08T21:14:00.000Z

We left Kilkenny and made our way to Tipperary to the fabulously situated Rock of Cashel. Talk about views! It was nice and empty so we could easily roam (and dance) around the grounds. The only disappointment was finding the much-hyped-by-Rick Steves "Granny's Kitchen" closed.

Our next destination was Cork, but Gretchen talked Steph into a little, well, umm, detour that became the LONG way around Tipperary as we went in search of Andrew Lloyd Weber's castle in the teeny, tiny town of Fethard. The castle was the site of early episodes of my new guilty pleasure, "Any Dream Will Do," aka the casting show for London's new production of "Joseph...Dreamcoat." (Go Keith, Lee or Daniel!). Anyhoo, having just a picture in my head from what it looked like on t.v., we went driving around til a friendly local pointed us in the right direction. We finally found it, but alas, it was pretty much blocked off. All we caught was a glimpse of the turrets! Oh well, at least we can say we, um, turned around in his driveway!

After a long day o' driving we were thrilled to hit Cork and stay at the BEST B&B of the trip! Tom/Tony (long story, but it's really Tony, sigh... loved him!) and his wife Avril, their nice daughters and cute dog were the friendliest of hosts, sending us to a fantastic restaurant for dinner, cooking us a wonderful breakfast and providing the nicest/biggest room of the trip. If you're heading to Cork, don't stay anywhere else but Fernroyd House. It's smack-dab next to Cork's lovely University and a 7-8 minute walk into the city.

Next up was Blarney Castle and kissing the Blarney stone! We scored on this as well as we were a 10 minute drive away so got there right when it opened. Steph passed on trekking to the top to kiss it, but I made it and now possess the gift of gab (or well, perhaps an even more intense gift of gab?) Guidebooks had said the castle was not much, but it's on GORGEOUS grounds, with a beautiful park and sets of druid stones throughout.

We wrapped up our Cork stay with an open-air bus tour of the city and a lunch stop in one of Europe's biggest markets - the Old English Market. Two words: Tas-ty!

The photos for this part of the trip are now on Snapfish.

Next up? Kerry is so very.....breathtaking!

As God Is My Witness...

2007-05-03T18:16:00.000Z

...I'll be heading back to Ireland, particularly the Hill of Tara, which was just beautiful. It was fitting that we left Dublin to explore this site and Newgrange on a foggy, misty morning. It just added to the mystical, mythical atmosphere surrounding the area.

The sun broke out later though as we headed south to explore Kilkenny, where my mother's family hails from. It is the prettiest city with two beautiful cathedrals and one gorgeous castle. Oh, and lots of cool pubs and restaurants too. We couldn't believe it when we stopped in at Kytetler's pub and ran into a family from the States who had been with us on the Dublin Literary Pub Crawl 2 nights earlier! It's a small world in Ireland.

Further road trips brought us more connections with fellow travelers, not to mention all the sheep and cows. Some of whom shared the road with us! They also share a lot, well, more of themselves, in the countryside. Needless to say it's a good thing I don't have a sense of smell!...lol

See all the latest pics online and keep stopping back for further stories from those wild Irish roads!

In Dublin's Fair City

2007-04-29T20:28:00.000Z

Back in London (and back in classes) after an amazing trip to Ireland. Not only was I "Wilde" about the country and its people (that's me with famous resident Oscar above), but I was wild about my new camera, so am still sorting through 500+ pics! I've culled through the first set and the Dublin batch are now posted.

We had a blast in the capital city. My friend Stephanie and I were joined by her friend Helen, who also lives here in the UK and who makes an excellent "wingman" or should I say "wingwoman." She introduced us to some nice Brit and Irish men who bought us Guinness all evening! On Saturday, Sanna, formerly of Canada now of Dublin, joined us for a fun day of sight-seeing, which included Trinity College and the Book of Kells, St. Stephen's Green, a number of churches and the highlight of the day, Kilmainham Gaol, where we went on a wonderful tour led by Kieran Murphy (ask for him by name if you go to visit!)

We wrapped up Dublin by doing a Literary Pub Crawl which was the best. It included a trivia quiz at the end, and you all know me and trivia questions! The quiz came down to a tie-breaker between me and a woman from Dublin, but when they announced the tie-breaker category was Academy Award-winning films, well, I don't want to say it was a slam-dunk, but I am now sporting the green t-shirt of pub crawl champions!

Will work on posting the next few posts and pics of Ireland soon. I can't wait to go back! Beautiful countryside, friendly people, and good music (well, save for one night in Galway where the man did
"traditional" Irish music karaoke style! Felt like we were on the Love Boat).

In other news, had my very first totally random celebrity sighting in London last week. All ones so far have been a result of stalking at the stage door. This one was just a 'stroll-by' in Regent's Park by JUDE LAW and his two children. He is GORGEOUS in person!

Also gorgeous? Matt Rawle, who plays Che in London's production of "Evita," which I saw on Tuesday. Had been thinking about seeing this and half-price tickets at the TKTS booth sealed the deal. OMG! It's FANTASTIC! My first Broadway show was seeing the original Evita w/Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin in NYC so this show holds a special place in my heart. But I have to say that this production gives NYC's a run for its money. It's beautifully staged, choreographed, and sung! If you're coming to London, you Must see it! Director Michael Grandage is definitely the UK's golden child as he also directed "Frost/Nixon" as well as the last two plays at Donmar Warehouse, both of which were excellent.

We're Leuven It!

2007-04-12T16:00:00.000Z

Now back from a fantastic Easter week trip to Belgium. Stayed with the wonderful Winslows again (they truly are the hosts with the most) and also caught up with Tania, Ned, Nadia and Sophia. Was so good to see everyone.

We had a lot of fun, including a gorgeous day trip to Leuven - Beligum's version of Oxford/Cambridge (about which we appropriated the McDonald's theme song), as well as jam-packed days exploring Brussels and Antwerp. Good friends, good beer, good waffles - who could ask for anything more. Wacky highlights included hearing "Auld Lang Syne" by roaming musicians, not once, but twice - which of course warmed the hearts of us UVA grads who broke in to the "Good Ol Song" in the middle of the Grand Place in Brussels, finding the Albert Einstein of Beer at the Kulminator pub in Antwerp, and trying a Condomus beer in Leuven (Ned suggests it should be followed by a Pilsner, ha!).

Tomorrow (Friday the 13th, yikes) I head off for my 8-day Ireland adventure. Wish me the luck o' the Irish in driving on the opposite side of the road.

Cheers!

April Foolishness

2007-04-01T13:37:00.000Z

If it's April 1, there must be a new website for St. Charles Borromeo. Check out this year's fool's fun and learn all about "The Lost Bulletin!"

More foolish things:

1) Speaking of church.... despite having a Nun on their side, the Georgetown Hoyas lost in the Final Four. Wish I could say April Fool's about this one, but alas no. Still, they had a fantastic season!

2) When work e-mails go really, really bad. This had all the markings of an April Fool's prank but it is stone-cold serious. All together now, a la Napoleon Dynamite, "Idiot!"

3) This too smacks of April Foolishness, but it's 100 percent true. One of my favorite web sites, Television Without Pity (i.e. where Gretchen should be working) has been bought out by the Bravo network!

4) Eurovision - Oh man, where do I start.... Eurovision, for those not in the know, is this HUGE song contest that takes place over a weekend (it's like American Idol super-sized and super-condensed) where countries field, well, what could only be considered the CHEESIEST of songs. ABBA won it with "Waterloo" back in the day. This year's UK entry is called "Flying the Flag," and let me tell you, you better get a jumbo sized box of crackers to go with this cheese. A great blog entry on the Guardian discusses why it will not win and the writer shares that he will be voting for Denmark's entry, the super-cheesy, super-fabulous "Drama Queen." Think that might get my vote too!

From Paris to Shanghai to Cuba

2007-03-29T13:41:00.000Z

First things first - finished my thesis research proposal, sent it in and already received feedback from my professor, who thought it was fine. I just need to tweak my research questions a bit. Am sticking with "Hurray for Hollywood? An Inquiry into the Impact of American film stars on the West End" Will be doing a case study of five actors (Kathleen Turner, Christian Slater, Woody Harrelson, Val Kilmer and Jessica Lange) who have trod the boards here across the pond.

Now taking a bit of a breather and pulling together more Paris pics. Round deux is now posted on Snapfish. The one above is the whole gang helping ring in my 40th at the fabulous Alcazar, which I've just learned on Google is a Sir Terence Conran restaurant, which at one point had been tennis courts and a transvestite bar. Who knew??

Speaking of restaurants, the next time anyone comes to visit, we are making tracks for Shanghai. It's the BEST chinese restaurant ever and walkable from Alliance House. Set in a former East End pie and mash shop going back to Victorian era, the food is super-fresh, super-tasty and super-affordable. Three words: Dim-Sum Happy Hour

Tonight's fare will be Cuban as we celebrate classmate Stuart's birthday at Cuba Libre. Oh, and next week? Belgium! A tres international spring break indeed!

I Love Paris in the Springtime

2007-03-21T13:24:00.000Z

Back from a fantastique weekend in Paris. I think it may be battling London for my favorite city. Highlights included a wonderful stroll in sunny, 60 degree weeather along the Seine to Louvre and then down along Champs-Elysees to Arc du Triomphe, a trip up the Eiffel Tower, a voyage to Versailles and a wonderful birthday dinner on Saturday with friends old and new. Oh, and if it's me, you know there has to be a pop culture moment. That came when we went to the super, ultra-cool Kong Bar on Pont Neuf. On the upper floor is Kong Restaurant, where one of the last scenes of "Sex and the City" was filmed (when Carrie meets the Russian's ex-wife). Check out some photos on Snapfish. Will post more soon.

The Lady from DuRude

2007-03-13T23:20:00.000Z

Just home from seeing Dame Maggie Smith in Edward Albee's "The Lady From Dubuque." I was so hoping I could title this blog entry "There is nothing like a Dame." Alas, no.

Ms. Smith wins the award for rudest celeb encounter at stage door! I was standing behind 6-7 young American drama students (which seems to be typical for UK stage doors. The Brits may love their celeb tabloids, but are not big for meeting stars in person). When Maggie came out, they asked if they could get their picture taken with her and she practically bit their head off. I then made my way up and was asking for an autograph and my friend had a camera at the ready, but she said "no more pictures." She then fussed about where to sign my flyer (I was not shelling out 4 pounds for the program) and then huffed off into her car.

Her performance in the play, however, was fantastic. The play itself very odd. We're still scratching our heads and asking "Who IS the Lady from Dubuque?"

In other news, my class is done! I passed my essay and think my final exam went ok. Day after tomorrow it's off to Paris!

Au revoir

6 months here

2007-03-09T19:11:00.000Z

As the sun sets over Alliance House (pic is view from my bedroom window!), I reflect on how it was 6 months ago today that I was moving in. The year is flying by! And just as it was a warm, sunny day when I moved in, today was also nice and bright. I have yet to experience London's horrible gray, rainy winter as promised. I can maybe count on under 2 hands the number of days the weather's been really bad. Apparently this winter's been the UK's warmest on record. Go global warming!...Well, no, not really. Everyone needs to see An Inconvenient Truth and start taking steps to reduce their carbon footprint!

Now looking forward to my Spring Break, which begins Tuesday and which comprises Gretchen Gone Wild with travel plans. 4 countries (France, Netherlands, Belgium and Ireland) in 5 weeks (oh and also working on my thesis).

Friday Night Lights and Saturday Blackout

2007-03-05T21:45:00.000Z

Two fairly opposite evenings added up to one of the best London weekends I've had so far.

Friday night I spent the evening at my friend Neil's. He's launching a new web site (to tout his work as an author of celeb biographies) so I was helping him with work on the set-up and design. His flat is on the South bank, near Tower Bridge, and out of all his windows we had gorgeous views of the river and Canary Wharf, so gorgeous all lit up at night. After working on the site, we had a tasty dinner and watched "Ugly Betty," such a cute show! Then I crashed in the guest room gazing out at the lights of London.

Saturday night was spent partying with about 10 classmates at our friend Nineta's flat, during which we all went up on the roof to watch the lunar eclipse (it helps that she is an R.A. in the building). Wow, talk about incredible views. It turned blood red and dark right in front of us. Festivities continued until 4 in the morning! The highlight of which was when I was deep in conversation with a Bosnian guy and a Greek guy debating comic book superheroes and their translations into film. Had Artemis not twisted my arm into doing some vodka shots, I might be able to remember a bit more. The one thing I do recall is that we were all in agreement that the 2nd X-Men film was the best of that series.

My First Blog!

2007-03-02T16:45:00.000Z

Welcome to my blog! Thanks for stopping by. Can't believe it's taken me 6 months to get this thing going, but my first semester was a killer. From October through December I was eating, sleeping and breathing Arts Management. The good news is I passed those classes, one "with merit" even! I'm now about to wrap up my second semester, for which I only had one class. Do not ask where that time went- Jan. and Feb. seemed fly by. Not really sure what happened, but I know I:

Wrote a 3,000 word essay on cultural regeneration in Birmingham
Saw some great theatre - "The Seagull" w/Kristin Scott Thomas, "Don Juan in Soho" w/Rhys Ifans, and "John Gabriel Boorkman" w/Ian McDiarmid (best known as the Emperor from Star Wars films)
Continued on quest to return to victory at our local pub (The Nobody Inn) quiz night. We won back in December, but The Alliance has been off its game ever since, placing 2nd or 3rd (always the bridesmaid, never the bride!)
Came up with thesis topic - "Hurray for Hollywood - The impact of American film stars in the West End" (so far that's about as far as I've gotten...need to 'get to steppin'' as they say)
Landed a marketing internship with a theatre company - Net Curtains
Started this blog, whose name is based on my second favorite television show (after "Buffy" of course)

Will update the blog at least weekly with various updates on life in London and feel free to post comments!