:: The Wendy House ::

The service,  food and experience as provided by the supper rooms was outstanding,  the customers sat near to me were not typical of the softly spoken guests at other nearby tables and I have to say they were perhaps a little below par for such a well tailored experience.

A selection of quotes from the most verbose fellow at the next table,  overheard inbetween the sombre aubergine ceiling, loud floral-print wallpaper, dizzying geometric pink diamond-design carpet,  and flamboyant floral chandeliers In Colleys supper rooms. 

the journey was crap… …Lynne can’t come because she has a hangover…

Tottenham have a brilliant mid-fielder from Barcelona…

tuck your nape in…

we don’t know what they are (to the waiter about the starter list)

You’ll be alright if you keep your mouth shut,  Lynne doesn’t think I’ll be able to keep my mouth shut…

I’d never go to Moscow again,  its crazy,  its not like Spain or Greece,  its crazy,  all the words are like squares the only things I understood was Macdonalds and even that was squares. (about a trip to watch a football match)

Loch Fyne is a chain of fish restaurants that has a premisis in downtown Reading on the banks of the river Kennet.  Loch Fyne restaurants serve only line-caught fish. 

Excellent.

Bangladeshi restaurant in Earley, Reading.

Dressed in white shirts and black neatly ironed trousers the Garden of Gulab staff welcomed me into their restaurant and were able to find a table for one in the crowded restaurant.  The customers looked and sounded pale skinned English,  the staff looked and sounded more Asian. 

My choice was a Balti.  I love Balti’s,  ever since I started eating them in the mid 1980s in a local Birmingham Sparkbrook restaurant on Ladypool Road.  The Ladypool road restaurant I used had no flatware and the staff would treat you as if you were an irritant if you had the afrontery to insult their food by asking for flatware.  I learned to eat my food properly,  with my fingers. 

It’s not easy. 

In the Garden of Gulab I ate my meal with my fingers leaving the impressive, superfluous, traditional English flatware untouched.  In Birmingham I was given a thick soft damp heated flanel to clean my hands after the meal.  In the Garden of Gulab I was given an individually plastic-wrapped disposable wet-paper-wipe.  Functionally sufficient yet lacking the touch of quality that I had learned to enjoy.  The food was excellent if disappointingly mild compared to my Birminghan experiences.  The balti arrived in an ordinary metal dish,  not the sizzling hot Balti bowl that it had been cooked in.  

Mumzie doesn’t like Indian food,  I think she’d thoroughly enjoy this place and the food. 

The waiter bought a complimentary small brandy to my table explaining it was because I had finished my main meal quickly.  

Excellent English-i-fied version of an Indian restaurant and charming staff. 

customer:  what is blue cheese souflee?

French Waiter: …..

Throughout the summer Reading town centre is bustling with shoppers and exotic performers.  Native American flute music filled the air around Broad street one cloudy summers day.

The Great Western Hotel in Reading has been re-branded to a Malmaison Hotel. This style appears to be referred to as ‘chic boutique’.  Judging by the internal decor boutique chic means purple velvet furnishings,  lashings of pink,  large-swirly-print dark-wallpaper and an angular-geometric floor covering all held together with elevator music and a hint of stale cigarette smoke. 

According to the Malmaison-branded paper-wrappers on the Napkins:  Malmaison. Eats. Drinks. Sleeps. 

This sounded uninspiringly basic 

I tried the eggs benedict,  or rather egg benedict,  just the one egg and half a muffin.  The ‘eats’ were not impressing me,  the ‘drinks’ didn’t include any real ales.  Apart from myself the only other customers in the bar on this Saturday afternoon were a couple of Hotel guests from the romantic together while speaking in Dutch.  After trying the ’sleeps’ while waiting about 15 minutes for any member of the Bar staff to actually come into the bar I  gave-up on the ambition of eating a pudding and walked into the boutique reception area to ask if they could arrange to bring me my bill (US = check). 

It was unisnpiringly basic

However,  all of that said, I do have it on good authority that they have a fabulous suite with an en-suite train-set that is mumzie-impressingly-good.  I may have to get a second, mumzie, opinion on this.  Certainly I can see how a train-set is in keeping with the original,  pre-boutique, Great Western Railway (GWR) branding…

Luckily,  the chic boutique rebranding hasn’t yet spread to the external original architecture that conveys something of the original standing of the GWR.

not just ordinary hockey.  hockey on ice,  in the NW US hockey on ice is ordinary hockey.

Audiences at hockey matches bear more resemblance to (real) football audiences throwing insults at players and referees,  there were some entertaining insults thrown around at the match between the Seattle Thunderbirds and the Tri-Cities Americans.  Mostly aimed at a Tri-Cities player with the family name ‘Yellow Horn’ on his shirt. 

Tri cities covers three cities,  Richland, Kennewick and Pasco.  Near Hanford,  Hanford was the nuclear power generator for the Manthatten project,  the first full-scale plutonium producing reactor in the world.

One Seattle Thunderbirds supporter called out:   Yellow Horn,  do you glow in the dark?

One of the highlights was when my companions explained that the orange rubber-pucks that you could purchase on the way into the ground are for throwing into the sunroof of the car that drives on the ice during the interval. 

Yeah,  you’re pulling my leg right? 

No?  You’re serious,  we buy rubber pucks and throw them into the sunroof of a car on the ice rink?  

And indeed we did just that….    

Thankyou to the cultfigurine and cultfigure for escourting me into the wierd and wonderful world of ice hockey.  Sadly,  Reading doesn’t have its own Ice Hockey team in the UK league,   When the season starts in the UK,  next September, I’ll have to catch a direct train then bus to the Basingstoke arena,  looks like they need a little support, hoorah!.

I’ve taken to treating myself to a full roast Sunday lunch in the Nags head with Yorkshire pudding and everything for a bargain £6 with a choice of 12 real ales on tap.  Luxury.  The music is normally very good,  um,  meaning classics from my teens,  last Sunday they played the whole of Dark Side of the Moon over lunch.  

For the full experience of Sunday beer, food, friendly people and music,  I really recommend the Nags Head just off Oxford Road on Russel Street.  The only down-side was the Broccoli but I’ve learned to live with this personal handicap.

An excellent evening with Barry Norman.

Ratings explained

Barry recently spoke at Reading Concert Hall supplying interesting trivia about four classic films,  Casablanca,  Gone with the Wind, The Adventures of Robin Hood and Dirty Harry.  Trivia included casting preferances for key roles,  why directors and screen writers were changed and cast members reflections.  The ending of Casablanca was written while it was being filmed, writer and cast did not know how the film would end.  The Atlanta burning scene in Gone with the wind was made by burning all the old sets on the studio lot.  The Adventures of Robin Hood was filmed in California,  the lush greeness of the grass in the film was a special effect, painting the film. 

After an interlude Barry answered questions from the crowded concert hall audience.  Two charming silver haired ladies mustered all their deft to pass microphones amongst the audience. 

Barry’s answers to questions of the form ‘name your favourite [e.g. actress, director, film...  ]‘ and ‘I know a lot about obscure film trivia[e.g. what the most expensive never-finished film]‘  produced a recognisable, normally unarticulated,  analysis of recent cinematic trends including:

• praising the decade of the 1970’s as the last decade that produced a substantial proportion of films aimed more at a thinking audience,  Easy Rider as an example, rahter than at the mass audience of cinema attendess,  18-25yrs, that seek light entertainment.  
• mentioning that the 6 main film distributers that supply the UK are US distributers that naturally prefer to promote their own, US, products.   The distributer for Cyrano De Bergerac called him to thank him for repeatedly mentioning the quality of this French language film because it helped get distribution in the UK.
• TV programs that review films are prone presenting available celebrity interviews, current film promotions, at the expense of balanced critical analysis.

Early on a chilly Friday evening afore Christmas Mr. Hegley and longtime associate Mr. Bailey jumped on a train from London Paddington to Reading Central.  Once in Reading they sought out the South Street arts centre and there joined the poets cafe.  The cafe was hosted by AFH who skillfully introduced us to the intricacies of the concept of first half,  second half and interval.  He cunningly avoided reference to the powerful football analogy that subsequently snuck its way into several of Mr. Hegley’s poems including his opener which described the emotional ebb and flow of Luton town beating Reading town.  Both almost cities missed gaining city status in the Millenium celebrations when the Queen granted 3 towns city status. John’s delivery was perfectly complimented by his companion, Andrew’s, acting skills.  Neither black bird, woman,  nor alien were beyond Andrews talented delivery.

At the poets cafe audience are also invited to be performers,  slips of paper, published and unpublished books proped newcomers and professionals alike while sharing their work about ghosts, parties, typewriters, family, and TV shows.   I slouched at the back with a pint of John Smith’s rapidly disappearing from my plastic glass wondering if I should bring a piece of paper and a little pluck to the second half…  …after the interval…  …of the next meeting.

The Seattle Federal court building is very impressive in both size and contemporary design.  The architects NBBJ provide a project description of the building on their website.  The Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce also provides some statistics and stories about the building. 

Unlike the Reading Crown court I was:

• - allowed to take my camera into the building but had to promise not to take photographs.
• - warned about the $100 for my cell-phone ringing in a court room. 
• - required to produce a photo ID. 
• - directed to a standalone touch-sensitive display system with terminals on every floor that provided information about the court cases and the building.

I asked if the Murals and Sculptures in the huge atrium were exceptions to the no-photography rule.  Alas, they weren’t.   Like the English Crown court the Federal court deals with criminal cases.

Its difficult to estimate the ‘interestingness’ of a case from its title on the touch sensitive display system: ”The USA vs (person or corporation’s name)”.  I chose a court where I discovered the judge was accepting guilty pleas and setting pre-sentencing requirements such as psychiatric and drugs assessments.   The two cases I watched were illegal drug possession (Valium, Zoloft) by a diabetic in pain because of a kidney disorder who had just lost her job in a pharmacy.  The second case was a violation of a parole requirement to avoid alcohol by an alcoholic.

A striking design feature of this courtroom was how similar it is to the court-rooms I’ve seen in US films.  There is a central isle through the public gallery to a low gate marking the entrance to the main court area.  The barrier is purely symbolic,  anyone could step over the low-wall,  gate dividing the court from the public gallery.  The public and the lawyers enter by walking down the isle.  In the UK the door to the public gallery appears to be separate none of the court officials have to walk through the public.  Depending on their status the accused enters through the public gallery (not yet proven guilty of anything) or wearing prison gear from a door in the main court area.   Just before the judge entered the room the court clerk banged a gavel three times and called out ‘all rise’.

The Seattle federal court building has the declaration of independence decorating a low wall and is reflected (backwards) on the the floor in front of the Court building.  This struck me as curious.  A supersticious person might think that the declaration of independence written backwards was an omen of loss of freedom.  Writing the document on the floor means that any one can walk on it,  placing it on a long low wall is just too tempting for many dogs whos natural inclination might well be considered disrespectful of National treasure. 

In the UK the crown court is a criminal court.  The security guards asked “are you coming in or not?”   to explain my loitering “I’m a tourist,  can I come in?  I have a camera” they helpfully direct me to check my camera into their lockers.  Without a camera I felt naked. 

Wendy:  can you recommend a court with an interesting case?

receptionist:  I have no idea what counts as interesting

bewigged-lady:  there’s a grumpy judge in court 1 and he’s probably going to shout at me

besuited lady: there are some ongoing cases in courts 5 and 6

The bewigged and besuited ladies started discussing the merits of the various court rooms.  I wandered off to court 1 to discover an appeal against the police-revocation of a gun licence.  The appellant had originally declared his previous criminal conviction for car theft when applying for,  and receiving,  the original gun licence.  The police admitted that they had not checked how the stolen car was subsequently used - in an armed robbery.  

The police had new information that they believed made giving the appelant a gun licence a very risky proposition.  The appellant’s right to natural justice required that their appeal could address the information that the Pollice used to make the revocation decision.  The police did not want the appellant to know the information they had used in this judgement.  This case was unique and the lawyers introduced lots of similar, yet different cases as they discussed how to proceed.

The character witnesses in the public gallery behind me,  looked like UK versions of the Soprano’s.  Posh suits,  short haircuts,  regional accents.  Phrases I overheard from the character witnesses included

“they’re talking about whether or not he’ll find out what the police have got on him”

“that will cost him another 20k”

“his ex-wife must have talked”

The judge appeared genuinely concerned about the appellants ability to exterminate vermine being curtailed by having his gun licence revoked.  The witnesses giggled.

In the courts people wore wigs,  held bibles above their hearts and swore poetic oaths,  bowed to the judge,  debated points of law.  All dressed ‘well’,  even the juries.  I was undoubtebly the scruffiest person in the building in my anachronistic mountain equipment jacket.

Lily Allen in concert  is Wendy-recommended for post-prubescent people who think swearing, mean-spirits and smoking on stage are cool, fans of ska music and fans of pretty white post-pubescent girls. 

Ratings explained

Lily Allen is very pretty and vivacious.  The music accompanying her songs is heavily ska influenced,  upbeat fun.  Musically the songs reminded me of early Morcheeba and the sound of Lilys voice at the time of the album Big Calm.  The London accent sounded fake in the light of her private school education.  The blatant bitchy malcontentness of the lyrical content was more reminiscent of The Sex Pistols.  Inbetween songs Lily puctuated each sentence with an engaging girly giggle and words littered with profanities.  This appeared to entertain the mainly male audience who shouted their ‘love’ for Lily.  For me her between song talk provided a tired, unentertaining story that lacked talent depth or insight.  Smoking cigarettes on stage while singing publically demonstrated a lack of respect for her singing voice.  The ‘controversies’ section of the wikipedia article on Lily sums up her presence quite well.

Bopping around to the music and enjoying the wit and passion of the lyrics and boyouncy of the music was good.  But I wont be buying her music until the girl matures a little assuming that age doesnt turn even more sour. 

I could have gone to see James Morrison instead,  I definitely made the wrong decision.

I spent Thursday night in Neumo’s with friends and the Mountain Goats.   Outstanding Lyrics.  Poignient stories, and the band were good too. Here’s my attempt to capture the atmosphere…..I think it escaped….leaving some trace evidence…

Unlike extreme ironing,  EXtreme crocket,  and extreme tiddly-winks, extreme grand piano playing is not YET a considered an extreme sport.  But,  Extreme piano playing is a sport though it doesn’t require risky locations like the aforementioned extremities. 

I was drawn to this stairwell by the sound of a slightly miss-tuned piano playing the flight of the Bumble Bee ”recognizable for its frantic pace “.  Normally piped music in Mall’s has a slow pace.  The speed with the off-tune piano made the music feel out of place,  a little cheeky.  Hoorah!  The positioning of the Piano half way up the stairs added to the miss placed experience. 

Could this be the dawning of extreme grand pianism?

Saturday night, the Seattle symphony plays at the Benaroya hall.  Freddy Kempf  played Grieg’s piano concerto.  Beautiful.  The fringe from Freddy’s traditional short back and sides danced with his body movements as he pumped the piano.  The piece is familair,  even to untrained ears such as mine, and thoroughly enjoyable. 

I am unable to comment on the following Bruckner symphony #9, I dreampt and dozed through it… 

Before the full orchestra took the stage I sneaked this photograph of the gap between the very grand Piano and the not so grand piano stool.  Between them over the heads of the audience we can see the lead Cellist preparing for the evening.

Recommended for an informal friendly bed and breakfast in Dungeness :-)

ratings explained

Glenda Clark (ne Chambers) explains that the farm is the oldest family run farm in Washington state.  She is thinking about trying to get it ‘registered’,  the UK equivalent of ‘listed’. It is no coincidence that Clark Chambers farm is the first building on ‘Clark road’.  Bob Clark is a never ending source of stories about farm life and the social history of the Dungeness region of the Olympic peninsular.  A chirpy cheerful couple,  they remind me of cockneys,  with a different accent.

All American accessories included a white picket fence, a porch that surrounded the whole house and warm friendly owners.  Spectacular accessories included a view of the Olympic mountains to the south and a huge bath en-suite.

The bedrooms are named after their original occupants,  mom and dad’s room,  Bob’s room, the guest room.  I stayed in mom and dad’s room with a big en-suite bath.  I miss the decent sized British baths made for lounging in.  Being a person of aquadexterous talents I could adjust the waterfolw with my tootsies.  I sloshed in the outstanding luxury of two baths per day. 

Yummy

performance appraisal:  2006,  age 42 & 43,  is recommended to pass with a Wendy rating of :-)

ratings explained

Things that caused outsized ego, multiple bounces, hand-clapping and chair-falling-off-ness:

Exploring the US:  crossing the US in a 1976 red Chevrolet truck, visiting Spokane, Columbia gorge on the Lewis and Clarke trail, Charlotte, NC.

Family & friends: parental pleasure at the Tacoma glass Museum, Elton John live and the Seattle Symphony; Concert highlights that warranted blog posts included:  Paul Simon, Jamie Callum, The Mountain Goats; Writing a ‘Will and Testament’; Being invited to comment on a draft of AF Harrold’s next Poetry book;

Technology: setting up, then maintaining this blog; Replacing cantakerous Tinkerbell with whizzy sleek pink Darling; buying and using a back-pocket camera;

Things that deepened wrinkle-lines,  temporarily increased the protusion-portion of my bottom-lip or disrupted my sleeping and eating habits:

Family and friends: Not visiting the UK, even after my Uncle died; 

Exploring the US:  Errr….  …..I lost my passport. TWICE!;  No sniff of greencard;  unacceptably low local-occcurence of like-minded vocal feminists (female or male);

Technology: Paying LooSea’s ransome to the bodyshop; Tinkerbell’s premortal pernickety-ness.

If the following thingys are not on the 2007 highlights list there will be a public inquiry, a hearing, with tables, chairs, microphones, pews, and silly wigs or hats:

Family and friends: UK March Tour;  

Exploring the US: Sequim farm on Olympic peninsula; Rhode Island May party;

Technology: blog refinement, less drivel, more focus with a dash of wit; Handbag skills mastered;

This message will not self-destruct in one year it will merely become more insignificant and highly forgettable.

Lakeside Collision:  Not recommended.  Extremely poor customer service strategy. :-(

Due to a slight disagreement with a concrete column LooSea was sent to reform school (Lakeside Collision) for a quoted 3 days of treatments.

I phoned Lakeside Collission after 3 days to confirm that I could pick-up my beloved Loosea.  No.  She’s not ready, should be ready tomorrow.  We’ll call you when she’s ready.   

Tomorrow came.  No-one phoned.  I called them.  No,  LooSea can’t come home, she’s not ready.  They only call people when their car is ready to be released,  has passed the quality assessements. They refused to give me an estimation of when she would be ready.  They are going to hold her without any courtesy check-ins with me to help me plan my life without her.  Apparantly replacing a Honda Civic wing and bumper will take at least 5 days….   maybe more… ..no-one dare say…

Their refusal, or inability, to estimate a work completion time and follow-up to let me know when, if, that time shifts has undermined my confidence in the company.  What strategies do they use for mechanical troubleshooting if their strategy for customer-service troubleshooting is cut the customer out of the information loop?

Paul Simon played at the Key Arena Sept 29th.  Backed by the Jerry Douglas band playing what sounded to me like a mix of Blue grass and country music.  Twangy diddly-dee music.

Mumzie has virtually all Paul Simon’s Albums,  I grew up listening to Simon and Garfunkel.  It was an opportunity I couldn’t miss.  I was unsure how much I would enjoy it,  if he focused the concert on post ‘Gracelands’ music it would be good,  but not as fundamentally enjoyable as pulling music from his whole career.

A wonderful evening :-) :-)

Ratings explained

I recognized all but 3 or 4 of the songs,  in the opening set he played ’slip sliding away’,  “Me and julio down by the school yard” and “50 ways to leave your lover”.  The musical arrangements were all clearly deliberate variations on the Album tracks.  This was fun.  Mrs Robinson was effectively rocked-up. A fabulous archipello introduction and finale to “Diamonds on the soles of her shoes“.  The band obviously enjoyed playing together and Paul would wave his arms and wrists around in a manner not dissimilar to Morrissey.  Bouncing around in his baseball cap and tight fitting t-shirt,  without prior knowledge, I would never have guessed that he was 65.  He looked more like a sprightly fit 40 year old.  My, but he’s short in real life, the other members of the band dwarfed him!  The wonderful mix of instruments (accordion,  saxophones, 2 drum kits, washboard, multiple guitars and voices) used variously gave each song a highly unique sound.  From Surprise (New Album) he played “Outrageous” and “How can you live in the Northeast“. The crowd was much more boisterously appreciative than many US audiences I’ve joined.  This was doubly surprising given the high proportion of the audience wearing blue rinses,  or no hair at all.  They closed the well constructed set with two tracks from Bridge over Troubled waters “the only living boy in New York” and “Cecilia“.  I used to dance around the front room singing these familiar songs as a pre-teen.  I feel like I’ve grown up with Paul Simon playing the accompanying track. 

The first encore was “still crazy after all these years“,  “just call me Al” and “the boxer“. 

Top that! 

They did with a second encore ….”wartime prayers” then “Bridge over troubled water” …..   

Teatro Zinzanni, a show called ‘dinner and dreams’.  After a poor start to the evening the performance was colourful and fun,  the food was interesting and tasty.  A very good evening. :-)

Ratings explained

Apparantly they were expecting us the week before we turned up.  They didn’t have our reservations.  I had a confrimation number and when I subsequently checked their confirmation email had not cited the day of the performance.  I was sure I’d stated the right night when booking,  they were sure I’d stated a week before my parents arrived.

Mum looked upset,  dad looked anxious, the tent looked dark and sumptuous.

I asked if they could fit us in.  They waited until all the expected guests had turned up and then found 3 places for us.  It took the shine off the beginning of the evening.  That they were able to let us see the performance despite this misunderstanding was very much appreciated.  That there was room for this misunderstanding was not good.  Mum and Dad laughed through the evening of bawdy jokes and Vaudevillian sketches. 

Mum really liked the original theatre tent with bevelled glass windows.  Both parents had trouble reading the menu in the very dim candle light or hearing the waiters above the general noise of the tent.  The wine supplied with the meal was outrageously expensive and the corkage fee (if you bring your own wine) was less, but still, outrageous ($30). 

Nonetheless, the whole experience of the evening is worth paying for,  once.

A thoroughly enjoyable evening. The musical evening was only marred by my feeling short changed on by the unexplained program change that effectively downgraded the promised experience  :-)

Ratings explained

Starting with Desert

Plum, apricot and ginger pie in Earth and Ocean.  The first 3 desert wines we requested from the menu were not in stock.  After these 3 attempts at ordering via the waitress the wine waiter came over.  I suggested that he take the trouble to inform the waitresses which of the menu items were unavailable.  Spot the spikiness.  I tried to smile while making this suggestion.  The wine waiter spontaneously offered several reasons for not having the listed wines in stock.  I wasn’t really interested in disruptions to his business processes,  he should tell the waitresses what is not available.  Sensing the depth of passion behind the Wendy Paddington Bear stare the wine waiter recovered ground by suggesting that he pick on our behalf and charge us the price of our original choice (the cheapest on the list). 

• Good deal. 
• We gladly accepted. 
• Excellent food. 
• Friendly staff. 
• Decently small portions.

Seattle symphony selection of Gershwin compositions

The conductor, Rudi Schlegel, provided a semi-formal verbal introduction for each piece to compensate for the lack of performance program notes.   He announced that ”I got rythm” had been replaced in the program and the audience simultaneously groaned.  We were never told why they pulled this obvious audience pleaser.  

We started with a plucky rumba, the Cuban overture, inspired by Gershwin’s stay in Havanna.  Good stuff.  The ‘Porgy and Bess’ symphonic picture appeared to be a patchwork of sections from different tunes within the Opera of that name.  I prefer being guided gently through a single composition than listening to compilation of musical highlights.  Not my taste.  

The highlight of the evening was undoubtedly Stewart Goodyear’s interpretation of a Rhapsody in Blue. Vibrant,  then gentle,  fast then slow,  Stewart’s face and whole body flowing with the music.  Captivating.  I didn’t want it to end.  After 3 applause-prompted curtain calls Stewart played an encore.  Twinkling notes of a soft Embracable you.  After the interval,  the replacement for ”I got rythm’ was a short,  sweet ‘promenade’ performed without Stewart Goodyear.  Urgh.  More like a weak apology than a replacement.

Benaroya Hall

The actual Orchestra on stage are not steeply tiered.  This makes it virtually impossible for the people in the first 8 rows of seating in the stalls to see the brass sections,  percussion,  reeds and Banjo.  Actually we could see the Banjo by twisting our necks to look underneath the Piano. The stalls seats after about row f are steeply staggered,  this enables attendees to see more of the orchestra.  For this reason I’d recommend seats towards the back of the stalls or in the gods.  This photograph is taken from row ‘f’ looking back towards the gods:

Top notch  :-) :-)

Ratings explained

Elton John played his little heart out for nearly 2 and a half hours in the Key Arena (Basket Ball stadium) on last Friday night.  Wow.  The little man produced a range of well introduced songs from classics (Your Song) through to those on his new album (Postcards from Richard Nixon) and all sorts inbetween (I guess that’s why they call it the Blues). Very professional.  Not as lively physically as David Bowie or as interesting a stage show as Peter Gabriel. Nonetheless,

Wow 

Mumzie wriggled to the rythm in the seat next to me,  singing along,  she seemed very happy.  The audience were more excited by “Bitch” than “Saturday night’s alright for fighting“. This is America, need I say more?

Issaquah village theatre’s production of Andrew Lloyd-Weber and Tim Rice’s Tony award winning Evita is excellent.  Well above the standards of a regional city production of a musical :-)

Ratings explained

Professional performances that my parents compared favouably with the London show.  The choreography was reminiscent of the original show, the set was robust and versataille. The set was simple and evidence of a well financed production.

A physically petite Evita (Jennifer Paz) morphed from slight ill fitting dress through tailored designerwear to huge ballgowns, filling all with a presence beyond her frame.  Che (Louis Hobson) strutted through the show with suitable attitude,  posture and untamed hair.  Juan Perón (Eric Jensen) had both physical and musical presence,  his affection for the petite Eva clearly and economically conveyed.

This is the only Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice production that I feel inclined to like,  mainly because of the special characteristics of the storyline.  The lead female character is successful within the confines of the patriarchy.  This is clearly detailed with the songs highlighting that she is a whore and should stay in the bedroom.  She is the underdog (bitch) made good through self knowledge and careful marketting of her strengths (capitalism).  In that sense she personifies the American dream.  The use of Che as a critical,  yet appreciative,  male, narrative tool provides a good balance to the story within the sadly realistic narrative of the patriarchy.  The story has wry wit,  pathos,  the heroine is somehow almost likeable yet at the same time detestable (totalitarianism, imbezzlement). 

Eva Peron good or bad thing? 

Fight it out amongst yourselves

On a warm weekday evening Chris Issak played a wonderful outdoors concert at Chateau St Michelle.  The shere volume of people attending the concert marred an otherwise exceptional evening. 

My companions arrived over an hour later than anticipated merely because of traffic congestion.  The Chateau provided sufficient parking and a shuttle bus service to carry customers to and from their cars.  

I have difficulty controlling my panic in crowds. Fear of Crowds. FOC  an appropriate acronym.  ”FOC! lots of people,  let me out of here!”

It was difficult to relax during the concert because of the powerful urge to skedaddle.  Normally I can ignore crowds by focussing on a conversation nearby, the main event, or some specific activity (e.g. watching a film). When this fails the Cinderalla Effect comes into play.  I leave.  Quickly.  Despite the excellent music,  good companions and cheerful nature of the crowd I left at 9.15pm before Chris Isaak had finished his main set. 

Mid-escape a girl stopped me “I love your outfit!” she beamed,   “I love your…. (pause while Wendy finds something to compliment) …facial piercings” I choked over my shoulder while dashing directly to the shuttle bus service.

Wendy FOC’d-off

the day started with Nike’s controversial double-page spread in UK main newspapers, on poster-boards, and broadcast into my home by a Canadian news reporter based in London.  It’s published online in this article by the Sun newspaper featuring young aggressive English Soccer star Wayne Rooney.  I want a copy.  

Why is it personal? 

• Mum is English
• Dad is a Swedish speaking Finn (feel the loyalty tensions)
• England have not beaten the Swedish soccer team since 1968 (England humiliation at lack of success in their national sport)
• English Soccer team manager is “Sven Goran Ericson”,  you guessed it,  a Swede.  He gets my prize for either ‘outstanding platitude’ or ‘driest wit’ for this comment on England’s chances: “Sooner or later we have to beat them“.
• match outcome determines who plays the home team, Germany. 

I wore my 2000 England soccer strip to work and watched the game in a works canteen with three huge overhead screens in the company of people from Sweden, Paraguy, Britian and some other countries judging by their complections and the languages I could partially over-hear. 

First half 

Within the first 2 minutes Michael Owen was taken off injured.  No foul play.  He’s a striking star only not due to strike during this match. 

England carried the half by persistently attacking.  They made multiple,  poorly executed, strikes.  They kept giving-away mutliple corner-kicks (set-plays) to Sweden.  I don’t know what planet Sweden were on at this time but they managed to fluff multiple goal opportunities provided by England.  Towards the end of the first half (34mins) Joe Cole scored an outstanding goal with a long,  curved shot that no-one was expecting.  Joe Cole’s footwork was consistently amazing throughout the match,  his feet seemed to hover over and around the ball whenever it was near them,  teasing the Swedish players who appeared unable to place a foot near it when in his possession.  Defintiely my man of the match.  That kind of teasing,  humerous,  footwork qualifies him as a playful cutie in my books.  The England fans spontaneously sang the national anthem.  It sounds low and melodic in the predominantly male voices.  I miss singing at live matches.  Wendy-soppiness was beginning to set-in at this point.

Score at half time: (England 1 Sweden 0)

Second half

Sweden came back clearly revived and on the attack, scoring an exceptional goal within five minutes play.  They continued to look the better side throughout the second half.  After 70mins Sven substituted Nike posterman Rooney with Garrison.  Rooney stomped off to the box, where, like a petulant child he pulled his boots off and threw them down.  He was not a happy bunny and wanted everyone watching to know.  A poor exhibition from someone representing their country.  Five minutes before the end of the game Garrison scored for England.  The cheering could have raised the canteen roof!  The England crowd starting singing the National anthem again.  I was nearly moved to tears.  In the 90th, last, minute Sweden scored a goal with a long shot that easily passed two poorly coordinated England defenders.  Ouch.  Sven’s ’sooner or later’ didn’t include today’s game.

final score:   England 2  Sweden 2

What,  no mention of Beckham?  Was he on pitch?  Yes.  He took a couple of corners that failed to set-up any goals.  He was almost invisible which doesn’t seem a good way to play during a competitive international match.  The USA ESPN sports commentator was more harsh in his comments on Beckham’s play.  It was painful, enlightening, listening to a less partisan commentator on an English game. I missed Gary Lineker’s commentary.  You can’t fault his insightful descriptive talent: 

“Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win.”

The referee’s performance was also notably different from the referee in the USA-Italy game.  Th referee of England-Sweden prioritised ‘play-on’ where the advantage was with the appropriate side over delivering yellow-cards.  Card’s weren’t even guarrantteed after fouls that stopped the game. To my suprise the Swede’s were much more proliffic in their production of fouls than the English.  I was impressed by, and proud of, the quality behaviour of the English team on pitch focussing on legitimate means to win the game. 

Now Sweden play Germany (Saturday) and England play Equador (Sunday). 

‘Big Ben’ pub on ProvidenceOriginally uploaded by :: Wendy ::.
A good match, the USA were the more aggressive team if demonstrating less strategic skill. Holding the Italians to a draw is defintely a substantial achievement, even if both goals were scored by the Italian side…..

A good match, the USA were the more aggressive team if demonstrating less strategic skill. Holding the Italians to a draw is defintely a substantial achievement, even if both goals were scored by the Italian side…..I stumbled upon a ‘British Pub’ just before the match started and sat outside under a blue umbrella wathcing the match. During the Italian National anthem the team stood with their arms draped over each others shoulders and sang. During the USA national anthem the American team stood with about a foot between them, hands on heart, many didn’t even bother to mouth the words to the anthem.

A good match, the USA were the more aggressive team if demonstrating less strategic skill. Holding the Italians to a draw is defintely a substantial achievement, even if both goals were scored by the Italian side…..I stumbled upon a ‘British Pub’ just before the match started and sat outside under a blue umbrella wathcing the match. During the Italian National anthem the team stood with their arms draped over each others shoulders and sang. During the USA national anthem the stood with about a foot between them, hands on heart, many didn’t even bother to mouth the words to the anthem.The game was generally well referreed with some seemingly harsh decisions. The worst foul was when Daniele De Rossi (Italy) flagrantly threw an elbow right into the face of McBride (USA) in the 28th minute. He was sent off with a red card while McBride, with blood running down his face, left the field to change his shirt and try to stem the blood flow.

America weren’t one man up for long, just before the end of the first half Mastroeni was sent off for a late foul on Pirlo. It really wasn’t clear that this was actually a deliberately late tackle, looked reasonable to me.

Both goals were scored mid way through the first half.

Pope (USA) is sent of for a second yellow-card at the beginning of the second half. The USA managed to maintain the 1:1 score with only 9 men on the pitch. Nice job.

The cheering and chanting from the crowded pub really added to the ambience.

Extremely good value       

3 chirpy performances in Nuemos for $9: 

A very pregnant black gal,  Kimya Dawsons,  sang difficult to hear lyrics in a ‘peepy’ cute sounding high pitched voice while deftly managing to play guitar around her pudding bump and commeting that her lungs were currently squished up a bit.  I caught a few worthy lyrics… “It’s like farting in the bath”.  When not performing Kwimi, unpretentiously,  sat at the merchandising Tressle table.  One of her Albums ($10) was called.  “Hidden Vagenda“.  I nearly bought it for the title alone. 

Skinny, white, German Barabara Morgenstern bounced around the stage while reaching to play her electronic keyboards.  The perky high energy gal provided a stark contrast to Kimya’s performance.  Her music reminded me of the 1970’s exploration of keyboard possibilities.  It felt like a ‘retro’ sound,  yet fresh and cheerful.  I couldn’t understand any of the German lyrics. 

The Mountain Goats,  2 boys 1 base guitar, one acoustic. The set was mainly from Sunset tree,  new songs and some from ‘Tape number 2″.  Quality delivery,  John Darnielle is witty and personable,  punctuated with short stories about Darnielle’s favourite Boxer ‘Pinkerton’ and details about song inspirations. Before seeing them perform I thought,  this guy is messed up,  if he ever gets sorted it will ruin his musical talent.  After seeing them it was clear that his talent stems more from astute observation that ‘messed-up-ness’.  Thoroughly enjoyable.

This is not a Wendy House:

It’s the gorgeous old (circa 1900) WILD WEST Lyle Hotel on the Columbia river gorge.  It was built as an hotel when its main clientelle arrived as traffic on the Columbia river, about 200 yards away.  Then nearby (100yards) train tracks bought more custom.  The building has been used for many things in its lifetime including a Doctors surgery.  Now it is an Hotel again.  More photographs of the hotel on flickr.  Very cute and wild west.  The modern slant provided by the hotel included a very impressive and reasonably priced wine list and restaurant menu.  The restaurant had white table-clothes and a live flamenco guitar player.  It felt very classy.  It even had vegetarian menu items!  The foyer felt like a lounge with a large leather sofa and multiple books to please wine connoisseurs seeking information about wines and local wineries. 

The staff were friendly, cheerful and totally unpretentious.  For example,  one server dripped red wine on the white table clother after pouring my glass.  I winced,  poor girl.  She continued,  easily, without making a fuss.  Another cautiously admitted it was her first day with a big winning smile.  She looked happy to be starting work there.  For me,  this made the place feel homely and friendly, a place I’d want to visit again.  People expecting the kind of souless highly professional presentation you find in city centre establishments with a similar high quality menu might be disappointed.

i’m planning to take my biddies there next time they visit the US.