Yesterday afternoon Joe and I went for a flying visit to the cricket. This was after he has hit a mesmerising 6 runs in his under 10s game and bowled a tidy 2 overs of left arm spin. The boy deserved his crunchy and his trip out.
If only the West Indies could play as well as the Onslow Shastris. We were a bit late to see the dolly catch dropped at mid off which should have accounted for Fleming, but instead watched him and Fulton hit the bowling around with ease. Penetrating bowling it was not.
I enjoyed the viewing, and Joe got the autograph of Jimmy Franklin-who000?
Author: telboy2
International Arts Festival- Episode Five
So the final outing of the luvvies of Khandallah.
Saturday night out to the Opera House to see “DJ Spooky” perform.
He is a mixer, multimedia artist.
The show was “Rebirth of a Nation”, his working of a 1913 film “Birth of a Nation”, a KKK propaganda film, with music mixing overlay. Sounded interesting so we went along with the other Wellingtonian hip dudes.
It was different, with flim playing on 2-3 screens with his added effects and titles and written commentary, with him standing of stage mixing the music. I was a bit diappointed because the use of the film was not different enough. Music was fine but not overwhelming to me, though the better half was on the the wavelength more.
Anyway, not something I have done before so worth the effort to see something new. A better review form my accomplice, so theoverallscore for the fesival is
3/5
Happy Cultural Times
International Arts Festival- Episode Four
Last night the opera buffs were out. It was time for a Wagnerian experience with Parsifal. We booked this without knowing anything about the particular piece, as we are not in the knowledge on all things opera.
Anyway, the bottom line is the wheels came of the bus.
It was an early start, 5pm as it is a long peice and due for finish about 10pm, a worry in itself.
it was not a good venue, as the orchestra partially blocked our view, not too pleasing for $110 tickets, and by no means the most expensive. The production seemed uninspired in terms of garb with an incongrous mix of modern and traditional. The music was skillfully played and in parts grabbed the attention but singing in German does not do it for us. It came over as song that would be better spoken. With this level of frustration it not surprisingly felt too long!
Anyway the plebs left before the beginning of the third act.
To cap it all the review in the Dominion Post today raved about it. So we really did not get it. I have my suspicions the positive review was partly bigging up NZ as all singers were Kiwis and it was “important’ for wellington to put on such a production.
Learning points for future; do research before buying tickets and next opera to be seen will be mainstream. But then we are all really Italiophiles anyway aren’t we?
And a final note. When we got home I enjoyed the Bulldogs beating the West Tigers very much more. Rugby League for the ignorant.
International Arts Festival- Episode Three
So we went off again this time Dad and the ballet dancer in the family to see Aterballetto, an Italian company. No trouble getting to the venue on time, right place first time and lemonades all round.
Did not have any cash so did not buy a programme, but was in three parts
One; Omaggio a Bach “ This starkly beautiful interpretation of Bach’s musical universe explores the geometric and structural perfection of his compositions.”
This opened the show with the use of light to outline individual parts of the dancers, and seemed to present light as life with rising of sun at the beginning and setting at the end. We were up close and saw the brilliant control, strrength and flexibility of the dancers. Unusually, as many male dancers as female, all with scultured bodies and a “six pack” Some amazing movements and great choreographed interactions between the dancers. Loved it as did everyone else.
Two: Songs, “a sensual and refined pas-de-trois”,
two male and one female dancers, with almost competition between them for her. A more classical dance with its movements, timing and power.
Three; Cantata, “Set to a live performance of Neapolitan songs, ….evokes the passions, colours and wild beauty of the Mediterranean South. Alternately feisty and fatalistic, raucous and heart wrenching, you’ll not only hear and see the seething southern Italian street life, you’ll almost smell it.”
I did not really know what to make of this, with its singing on stage from almost street performers, as well as the dancing. The efforts of humour did not come off so well, being in a foreign language. At the time seemed like “West Side Story” meets “Carmen”, with a bit of “lingus” and similar going on. Great dancing though and certainly different music.
Overall a great night, an exhilirating performance of grace, power, flexibilty, control and innovation. A variety of dances kept the imagination stimulated.
Eleanor loved it, and Dad was a pretty cool date.
So definitely a winner, so the score is 2 1/2 out of 3.
New Cap Listening to National Anthem at Eden Park
Well he is playing rugby this winter and has already been to two pre-season training sessions to work on his skills and fitness.
A few nuggets have been passed on in the garden about the finer points of catch and pass, with addition of hip movements in the next lesson.
Eastbourne Delights
After brunch at the seaside, playing on the wharf.
40 days plus the Sundays
The left footers out there know it is another important season currently. To some it is a time of abstinence and self control, hence the “lemon, lime and bitters” previously mentioned.
So far copy book unblotted.
Control timed to end on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the equinox.
International Arts Festival- Episode Two
So the cultural train continues in the windy city, though with a little hiccup on the tracks. It was Friday night with a trip to the city lights, husband and wife, hand in hand to see “Eva”. We planned well and left early, arived early, and had plenty of time to have a drink. The “lemon, lime and bitters” was of low quality however. We had so much time we went to our seats early and seemed to be enjoying some sort of advertising feature on stage for something other than the Spanish dance performance we had come to see. Then three people turn up with tickets to sit in our seats. Discussion ensued, and was quickly curtailed when the man in the row behind us pointed out that “Eva” was actually performing in the Opera House and as we were in The St. James theatre, it was time to move quickly. Tails were carried between legs as we made a mad dash down the street. we arrived late, and then had to be escorted into our seats during a gap in the fun.
So we were in and running for the Spanish dancing. Two men, three women and the star dancer taking star turns to dance and entertain. The skill was great and in parts beautiful, but this was a good thing to see rather than great. There was not enough variety for me. I saw the Spanish National Ballet two years ago give a more varied, energetic and beautiful production of modern and traditional Spanish dance, and “Eva’ did not match it.
So, the running score then is 1 +1/2 out of 2.
Maybe we should have tried to stay for
“The Holy Sinner” after all!
In Dad’s Foot Steps?
Isaac joins Keas, or is it Beavers up north. So, he has his new bit of attire and gets the chance to do good things and apparently shout alot. Section of scouting is named after the NZ bird.
International Arts Festival- Episode One
So, this is the section where we tell the world that we are luvvies.
The arts festival comes biennially, and I suppose is like the Edinburgh Festival, (though I have never been!), with its associated fringe .
http://www.nzfestival.telecom.co.nz
Anyway, this year we have rolled out the dollars and are attending a number of events.
The first up was last night, Sunday. So the the big weekend goes on….
We went to see The History Boys an Alan Bennett number with rave reviews from around the world.
“It is a long time since Alan Bennett has had a new stage play produced. Those who see The History Boys will pray that its successor is close behind. Director Nicholas Hytner has been a great success in his year or so as director of the National and directed one of the hits of last year, Henry V.
Now, this dream combination has come up with what must surely win awards for Best New Play of 2004. Its combination of comedy and pathos is extraordinary and it is saying something that after three hours in a theatre at the end of a heavy week, an extra hour would have been desirable.
The History Boys are eight pupils, with varying accents, at a minor public school in the North. They form an Oxbridge Scholarship class of the 1980s and the play follows their education as well as their sexual and mental awakenings as they are groomed by two very different teachers.
This is more than a simple coming of age drama. It is also an allegory on Thatcherite values, as culture and knowledge for its own sake give way to the spin and results-driven society that we see today.
The mountainous Richard Griffiths as Hector, in outmoded Prince of Wales check and spotted bow tie, gives a moving performance as a man steeped in literature who wants to share it. There are shades here of Dead Poets Society, as Bennett puts his great love of words and aphorisms into the mouth of a quirky schoolmaster who is never short of a quote.
Hector is a wonderful Bennett creation, one of life’s losers but still able to enjoy himself until a fatal flaw is revealed. Griffiths fills the role perfectly.
Clive Merrison’s grim headmaster cares for little but league tables and a quiet life. He believes that fresh graduate Tom Irwin played by Hugh Grant lookalike, Stephen Campbell Moore will end the school’s Oxbridge drought.
The play opens twenty years later with the wheelchair-bound Irwin as a populist TV historian. His trip from arrival as fresh-faced supply teacher runs in parallel with the decline of his predecessor.
Irwin is a sound bite man with a motto “the wrong end of the stick is the right one”. He will embellish history in order to achieve his end of exam success for the pupils. Like his almost-namesake, David Irving he will even deny or rewrite the Holocaust for effect.
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The always perceptive Bennett has a knack for making people laugh. He is at his very best in The History Boys, in particular in a scene straight out of French farce.
The History Boys is a great play that explores male foibles at the same time as it looks at how today’s society became as it is. Alan Bennett is a rare playwright and this shows him on top form.”
The Guardian 2004
We gave it the thumbs up as well. Stimulating story line with good acting innovative set and staging.
Richard Griffiths was a recognisable face, and body, and missus Q was appeciatative of the actor who plays Jamie in Fat Friends.
Disadvantage was that we were up in the gods, so smallish figures and low volume at times. Even so, great night out. Only problem going to bed late before work and school the next day! Too old!
So far so good, 1/1 on the scoreboard.