Word of the Festival: Mud
Sound of the festival: A kind of squishy squelch follewed by a short sucking noise then a pop as wellingtons (aka gumboots) steps it out in the mud.
Band of the festival: The Who
Let Down: Fat Boy Slim
Best kept secret: DJ Yoda (though his Glasto Performance was way better than this!)
Price of dry feet: 9.99 quid
Luck in buying gumboots at the last minute: immense!
Would I go again? Yes for sure!
Glastonbury was amazing. I saw many different musicians, my favourite of course being The Who on sunday night, who totally rocked it out in the rain. From memory I also saw... Kate Nash, Lilley Allen, Fat Freddys Drop, Fat Boy Slim, Corb Lund, The Killers, Manic Street Preachers, Kaiser Chiefs, The Cat Empire, and many more that I can't remember.
We were lucky in so many ways... In finding the last few pairs of welingtons availible in london, in our bus leaving just 20 minutes late compare to some who had a six hour wait, in arriving in the dry, and being able to walk and find a spot and set up our tents in the dry and on grass not mud. We were lucky it only rained a little each day and mostly rained at night when we were fast asleep in our tent. We were lucky to by two foldup chairs for just 10 quid. We were lucky to have a good spot on high ground and lucky to have architects for neighbours who needed help in putting up their tent. We were lucky to be up close for the Who and the Kaiser Chiefs, and we were lucky to have such good company. I was lucky to decide to take my camera, I would have regretted it otherwise! And we were lucky to come up with the brilliant plan of moving camp to one close to the bus station before the final concert, so we didn't have to trek for hours in the rain, mud and crowds with our gear. We were lucky to rock on up and get on a bus almost immediately, and then sleep for 95% of the trip back to London. And we were lucky to get back just intime for the first few tubes. We were lucky to see Michael Eavis, the owner of Worthy Farm, and the organiser of Glastonbury. He got a standing ovation just for driving past. There is a man who has by one generous act given more joy to the world than most could even dream of. And we were lucky in buying tickets to this event, though chances were 1 in 3.
All in All, I had a great time in Glastonbury. The mud and rain were all a part of the experience and not much of a problem at all. The Who were the cherry on the top, whose performance made the festival go from simply to totally awesome. (I think it was the best concert I have seen, better than the recent concerts I have seen - The Rolling Stones, Green Day or Guns n Roses.)
This weekend promises another interesting day - Wimbledon. It will be an early start on Saturday, but it should be a good one.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
hobnobbing it with the stars
So whats this all about then, these stars signing autographs right in front of me? Well it goes back many many months early one sunday morning hen i was sitting around at 11am and miraculously got through online to buy tickets for the Glastonbury festival. If it hadn't been for that stroke of luck, (brought on by a determined perseverance), I wouldn't have had the honour of standing amongst a crowd of professional autograph hunters while they bayed for the ink of Dames, Sirs, and Mr's.
But it wasn't only that - the fact the weather forecast fo the next five days varies widely between light rain and heavy rain, and that for 3 of those 5 days I will be living in a tent, prompted me to hike to my favourite outdoor shop mountain warehouse and buy a big tarp so we can sit on our chairs and use it to fend off the elements whilst wurrounded by glorious mud and music.
So I found myself fed up with the heat and the crowds at Holborn, so I walked out of the station and went down the road, not really sure which way to go but knowing I had to turn right. As chance would have it, I stumbled across the premier to The Lord of the Rings Musical, complete with celebrities, stalkers, police, doormen, red carpet and randoms like me.
Somehow I got right in the middle of half a dozen people who seemed to know each other and whos conversation consisted of who autograph they had and what celebrities they had seen at other recent premiers. Not that I am complaining too much - I have of course stalked many an All Black, Black Cap and even the odd Primeminister back in the day, except I was probably only ten then and not in my mid twenties! Each to their own though!
It was however a brilliant spot - these guys had all the balls and no sense of shame and every celebrity got a freindly persistent calling of thier name (as if they were personally known to the crowd/autograph hunters), until they came over and duly signed some autographs. As luck would have it, every celebrity that did come across started with the person right in front of me, so I was able to reel off a few photographs for each of them as they signed various peoples pads and autographs books. All this while guarding one of the few pairs of wellingtons left in London as stocks sell out in preperation for the Glastonbury mudfest.
There were a couple of other stars I didn't post from my phone - Brian May of Queen, and Terry O'Quinn (aka John Locke) from Lost. (Who is pushing the buttons in the bunker!?!?! Ok yes I am a bit behind...)
So what were the stars like? Very Freindly - Dame Judy Dench seemed to really enjoy herself and was relaxed and having fun. Brian May just ignored everyone. Terry O'Quinn Enjoyed it but seemed to be doing it as a chore. Kevin Spacey was lapping it up, and Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber was enjoying it too.
Finally
Andrew Lloyd Webber, the master theatre composers. Finally saw some stars in london and all by an unforseen random chance that saw me walk instead me taking the tube to a place i wouldn't normally be going. THIS is London.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Glasto!
The lineup for Glastonbury was announced a few weeks back and it is looking wicked!
Not that any of my personal headliner choices are playing - no Pearl Jam, Aerosmith or Bon Jovi - three big bands I want to see who are all playing in London the week before - but there are plenty of options to choose from... I have tried to find a list of bands but it seems the list is so long no one has bothered to count them!
But among some of the bands I would like to see - The Who, Manic Street Preachers and Corb "Hurtin' Albertan" Lund.
But to be honest I don't know where to start - not being a music geek (in fact a recent geek test shows me to be only a paltry 15% geek), I have heard of many of the bands and surely heard their actual songs, but can make no connection between the songs and who actually sings them. I'm sure I will be learning though!
In other news Louise and I stumbled across a protest charging up a road between Covent Garden and Leicester Square on the weekend. A few hundred naked cyclists protesting against oil dependency (though admittedly, I had to look that up, since the message was rather lost among the brightly white flying, jiggling, waving and wobbling appendages). Fortunately I don't yet own a bike, as my cousin John and I were contemplating joining the protest just so you could say you did it. (Where or when else could you bike naked, let alone through the prime spots of one of the greatest cities in the world). And I wouldn't normally bike those streets anyway, let alone naked... But to my point.. Fortunately common sense prevailed (along with not having a bike), and fear of being left behind for being too unfit to keep up prevented my participation. There's always next year though I suppose!
And I had much more to comment about, like how Alistair Cookes book on America at war is your average verbosist writer ODing on Steroids. And how when I was at school I was told you couldn't start sentances with "And" (and surely lost marks for it), and how I got my Highly Skilled Visa and bar an incomprehensible decline of my leave to remain application I will be staying here for another year at least.
Bring on Glastonbury, and the sun!!
Not that any of my personal headliner choices are playing - no Pearl Jam, Aerosmith or Bon Jovi - three big bands I want to see who are all playing in London the week before - but there are plenty of options to choose from... I have tried to find a list of bands but it seems the list is so long no one has bothered to count them!
But among some of the bands I would like to see - The Who, Manic Street Preachers and Corb "Hurtin' Albertan" Lund.
But to be honest I don't know where to start - not being a music geek (in fact a recent geek test shows me to be only a paltry 15% geek), I have heard of many of the bands and surely heard their actual songs, but can make no connection between the songs and who actually sings them. I'm sure I will be learning though!
In other news Louise and I stumbled across a protest charging up a road between Covent Garden and Leicester Square on the weekend. A few hundred naked cyclists protesting against oil dependency (though admittedly, I had to look that up, since the message was rather lost among the brightly white flying, jiggling, waving and wobbling appendages). Fortunately I don't yet own a bike, as my cousin John and I were contemplating joining the protest just so you could say you did it. (Where or when else could you bike naked, let alone through the prime spots of one of the greatest cities in the world). And I wouldn't normally bike those streets anyway, let alone naked... But to my point.. Fortunately common sense prevailed (along with not having a bike), and fear of being left behind for being too unfit to keep up prevented my participation. There's always next year though I suppose!
And I had much more to comment about, like how Alistair Cookes book on America at war is your average verbosist writer ODing on Steroids. And how when I was at school I was told you couldn't start sentances with "And" (and surely lost marks for it), and how I got my Highly Skilled Visa and bar an incomprehensible decline of my leave to remain application I will be staying here for another year at least.
Bring on Glastonbury, and the sun!!
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
What a week!!
Where do I begin?? I am not sure because I am not sure where my week should begin! But lets start with the Biggin Hill Air Fair. This is a large air show south of London that I went to on Saturday with Shaun. As we arrived we were treated to a Spitfighter and a Eurofighter Typhoon taking off. They then flew a couple of circuits of the airfield together before the Typhoon eased right off into this incredibly slow turn while the Spitfire raced away. They tried to play catchup and did a few tricks, the Typhoon going as close to the speed of sound as possible without letting off a sonic boom. You can see a cheesy video of the eurofighter here.
There were a few highlights for me...
Here is some Youtube footage of some of the planes at Biggin Hill.
Also this week has been a documentary on Diana, showing some B&W, grainy photos of the accident. Whatever people think there were only 3 things that killed her that night, and everyone knows them. Speed, Alcohol, and no wearing a seatbelt. Pretty simple really.
And then there was President Putin (of Russia, a lot of people don't seem to know this!), who has decided to target his missile's at Europe, for something America is doing!!! Albeit the US is doing it in Europe, so maybe his motives are for Europe to push back on the US. But anyway, its all irrelevant. Like Nuclear missile's can't be re targeted in seconds anyway. Hell I think they can be re targeted while in flight!!
And GO TEAM NEW ZEALAND for getting into the Americas Cup final in Spain!! We'll beat those dastardly Swiss yet!! Since when could the Swiss sail anyway??!
There were a few highlights for me...
- The propeller stunt planes.
- The Red Arrows (RAF acrobatics team).
- The RAF display of "capturing" the airfield.
- Helicopter backflips!
Here is some Youtube footage of some of the planes at Biggin Hill.
Also this week has been a documentary on Diana, showing some B&W, grainy photos of the accident. Whatever people think there were only 3 things that killed her that night, and everyone knows them. Speed, Alcohol, and no wearing a seatbelt. Pretty simple really.
And then there was President Putin (of Russia, a lot of people don't seem to know this!), who has decided to target his missile's at Europe, for something America is doing!!! Albeit the US is doing it in Europe, so maybe his motives are for Europe to push back on the US. But anyway, its all irrelevant. Like Nuclear missile's can't be re targeted in seconds anyway. Hell I think they can be re targeted while in flight!!
And GO TEAM NEW ZEALAND for getting into the Americas Cup final in Spain!! We'll beat those dastardly Swiss yet!! Since when could the Swiss sail anyway??!
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