Click here to read another lovely review of the Bristol show.
We're off to Milton Keynes tonight, and Ryan and I are planning to get the spoons out for the first performance of "Space Rabbits of Brocklevoons" this trip ... will anyone bounce? Hope so!!
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Bristol update
Here's a smashing review of the Bristol concert -- it's by Les Gillam from the Bristol Evening Post. Click here to read the review!
Bristol -- St Georges
The UK Spooky Tour is well underway, and it's going fantastically well. I'm writing this from a bedroom in our new friends George and Rosemary's beautiful house with green hills out the window, dotted with black and white cows. Last night we played at Sedbergh in the very beautiful Sedbergh Parish Church. I played Sparky the Giant Squid during my set last night, so a big thanks to the Sedbergh folks for waving their tentacles around! :-)
I have some pictures of our Monday night concert at St Georges in Bristol (thanks Alex Gill-Chambers for the pics!). It was a huge night, with a 550-strong very enthusiastic, friendly audience-- I've never played to so many people before, and it was an absolute blast. The whole audience joined in with the chorus of Family Outing (the pirate song) in two-part harmonies, bless them, it sounded gorgeous. Also, because of the acoustic beauty of the space, we all performed with no amplification -- a bit scary for me, but it was so worth it! I got to move around the stage while I sang, and even did a little tap dance.
The Spooky Men's Chorale set was filled with huge amounts of fun and laughter (and I mean massive!): here is an extra special moment for those of you who know the Spooky Men ... the Sharing Caring Spooky Circle of Loving Feeling goes vertical!! That's Ryan on the top, supported by Stirling.
For a more detailed account of Spooky goings-on, click here to check out their awesome daily blog!
I have some pictures of our Monday night concert at St Georges in Bristol (thanks Alex Gill-Chambers for the pics!). It was a huge night, with a 550-strong very enthusiastic, friendly audience-- I've never played to so many people before, and it was an absolute blast. The whole audience joined in with the chorus of Family Outing (the pirate song) in two-part harmonies, bless them, it sounded gorgeous. Also, because of the acoustic beauty of the space, we all performed with no amplification -- a bit scary for me, but it was so worth it! I got to move around the stage while I sang, and even did a little tap dance.
The Spooky Men's Chorale set was filled with huge amounts of fun and laughter (and I mean massive!): here is an extra special moment for those of you who know the Spooky Men ... the Sharing Caring Spooky Circle of Loving Feeling goes vertical!! That's Ryan on the top, supported by Stirling.
For a more detailed account of Spooky goings-on, click here to check out their awesome daily blog!
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Packing with "Three Men In A Boat"
I'm going touring in the UK in a week, as the support act for The Spooky Men's Chorale. This time I'm determined to travel light. So I've been inspired by some classic packing advice: George's, in Jerome K. Jerome's most excellent book Three Men In A Boat: "We must not think of the things we could do with, but only of the things that we can't do without."
The author comments: "I call that downright wisdom, not merely as regards the present case, but with reference to our trip up the river of life in general. [...] Throw the lumber over, man! Let your boat of life be light, packed with only what you need — a homely home and simple pleasures, one or two friends, worth the name, someone to love and someone to love you, a cat, a dog, and a pipe or two, enough to eat and enough to wear, and a little more than enough to drink; for thirst is a dangerous thing."
Three Men in a Boat is one of my favourite books ever. First published in England in 1889, it tells the story of three friends who go on a holiday up the Thames River. It's so funny, and still rings so true, over 120 years later. It's testament to the writer's talent, I think, that the humour in it is still accessible to us even though the English language has changed — the writing style is a lot more formal than you'd find today, but so beautiful. I love it when J fancies he is ill because of the symptoms he has read in an ad for liver pills, Harris and George's disastrous attempt to pack the hampers, the account of Harris singing a comic song, the time he gets lost in Hampton Court Maze, and their terrible experiences trying to open a tin of pineapple. Humans have changed so much over the last hundred years, but not at heart; if this book is any guide, our warmth, curiosity, inventiveness, and general "larrikiness" are inherent in our very DNA. And thank goodness for that.
Anyway, I recommend the book to you, whether you're travelling or not. It's really good company in the same way that Robert Frost poems are, and is also a curious window into a past reality.
The author comments: "I call that downright wisdom, not merely as regards the present case, but with reference to our trip up the river of life in general. [...] Throw the lumber over, man! Let your boat of life be light, packed with only what you need — a homely home and simple pleasures, one or two friends, worth the name, someone to love and someone to love you, a cat, a dog, and a pipe or two, enough to eat and enough to wear, and a little more than enough to drink; for thirst is a dangerous thing."
Three Men in a Boat is one of my favourite books ever. First published in England in 1889, it tells the story of three friends who go on a holiday up the Thames River. It's so funny, and still rings so true, over 120 years later. It's testament to the writer's talent, I think, that the humour in it is still accessible to us even though the English language has changed — the writing style is a lot more formal than you'd find today, but so beautiful. I love it when J fancies he is ill because of the symptoms he has read in an ad for liver pills, Harris and George's disastrous attempt to pack the hampers, the account of Harris singing a comic song, the time he gets lost in Hampton Court Maze, and their terrible experiences trying to open a tin of pineapple. Humans have changed so much over the last hundred years, but not at heart; if this book is any guide, our warmth, curiosity, inventiveness, and general "larrikiness" are inherent in our very DNA. And thank goodness for that.
Anyway, I recommend the book to you, whether you're travelling or not. It's really good company in the same way that Robert Frost poems are, and is also a curious window into a past reality.
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