Church Burial records

1001 Things in 101 Days - No 61 Try Something New Every Month - May

I have been up to Peldon church in deepest, darkest Essex and looked through the burial records to see if I can find any ancestors in there, which I did, and the very helpful church warden then located graves for us, so I finally saw by Great-grandparents graves. Unfortunately other relatives either did not have a headstone or it was illegible so we were unable to find all the graves, but I was pleased to at least find my direct lineage. We also went onto the less loved Great Wigborough church. We already know the records from the period we were looking for had been sent to the archives, so we could only look around and the few legible graves, which unfortunately did not contain any ancestors. A local lady who came into the churchyard whilst we were there said that many graves had been razed over the years and just sunk into the ground. Plus, we suspect that our relatives may not have had headstones due to the expense as we had found the invoices from the undertakers for some relatives at both Great and Little Wigborough church and they do not quote for headstones (plus my mum was around when some of the Little Wigborough relatives were buried and can confirm that there no stones). Although it was not as successful a visit as we would have liked, I was happy to enjoy another quintessential English churchyard in the sunshine again.

Guys & Dolls

I recently went to see this Donmar Warehouse Production at the Piccadilly Theatre, having only seen the film before many years ago. The story is pretty straightforward set around gamblers Sky Masterson (ballet dancer Adam Cooper) and Nathan Detroit (Man Behaving Badly’s Neil Morrissey) in Manhattan and their ‘dolls’. Nathan’s long-time (and ling-suffering) fiancé Miss Adelaide (established West End performer Sally Ann Triplett) sings and dances in the Hot Box bar and has been lying to her mother about already being married to Nathan. Whilst trying to keep his promise to Miss Adelaide that he’ll stop gambling Nathan sets up one last dice game and gets Sky involved in funding the venture by betting him that he couldn’t get a dinner date with a woman of Nathan’s choice. Nathan chooses missionary Sarah Brown (played by relative newcomer Kelly Price) and thereby the show gets going.

Guys and Dolls does not have as many big show-stopping numbers as some of the other big West End/Broadway shows, the title song and ‘If I Were A Bell’ were the most memorable from the first half, and ‘Luck Be A Lady’ and ‘Sit Down You’re Rockin’ the Boat’ in the second half.

The performances were all very good. I expected Adam Cooper to be able to dance and he also had a good voice. Neil Morrissey’s strength lay not in his voice or slightly gangly dancing but in the comic timing he brought to the role. In fact all the cast members did an excellent job of the comedic and musical parts of their roles and I was also especially impressed with Kelly Price who graduated from stage school only two years ago. The supporting cast were also excellent and held some big numbers themselves. I was slightly disappointed by the ending as the last number was a bit of a damp squib following on from a show-stopping rendition of ‘Sit Down You’re Rockin’ The Boat’.

The current lead cast are due to change shortly with Morrissey and Triplett being replaced by Patrick Swayze and Claire Sweeney. Cooper and Price are staying on until August.

Key Cast members:

Sky Masterson – Adam Cooper

Nathan Detroit – Neil Morrissey

Sally Ann Triplett – Miss Adelaide

Sarah Brown – Kelly Price

Directed by Michael Grandage

Piccadilly Theatre, Denman Street, W1.

Box Office : 0870 060 0123

Performances commence at 7.30 pm Mon-Sat with matinees commencing at 2.30pm on Wednesday and Saturday.

Further info: http://www.theambassadors.com/piccadilly/

I bought my tickets through an offer on lastminute.com where Upper Circle tickets and a two-course meal at nearby Tiger Tiger on Haymarket cost £29.95 per person.

Trabant

Trabant
Originally uploaded by Essexgirl.

Another excellent piece of Berlin grafitti art. Feb 2006.

Top 25 iTunes

Top 25 tunes listened to via iTunes over the two years. Figures in brackets are positions from January when I last did a Top 25. RE refers to a track that was not in the Last Top 25 but has been in it before.

1. (1) Snow Patrol - Crazy in Love
2. (2) Paul Weller - You Do Something to Me
3. (New) Salt 'n' Pepa - Whatta Man
4. (3) Jody Watley - Looking for a New Love
5. (17) The Three Degrees - Givin' Up Givin' In
6. (7) Sugababes - Killer
7. (18) Lisa Scott Lee - Lately
8. (new) Donna Summer - MacArthur Park
9. (22) Robbie Williams & Tom Jones - Full Monty Medley
10. (new) The Neville Brothers - In the Still of the Night
11. (New) Erasure - Sometimes
12. (New) Rufus & Chaka Khan - Ain't Nobody
13. (16) Hot Butter - Popcorn
14. (Re) Annie Lennox - Waiting in Vain
15. (13) The Jam - Town Called Malice
16. (New) Shawn Mullins - Lullaby
17. (Re) The Lightning Seeds - You Showed me
18. (24) Wet Wet Wet - If I Never See You Again
19. (14) In Deep - Last Night a DJ Saved my Life
20. (4) Fleetwood Mac - Don't Stop
21. (5) Barenaked Ladies - One Week
22. (6) Justin Timberlake - Rock Your Body
23. (8) Supergrass - Moving
24. (9) The Lightening Seeds - Marvellous
25. (New) Go West - What You Won't Do For Love

Big Brother Update

The housemates were in trouble for talking about nominations again. Nikki, Lisa, Imogen, Glyn and Lea committed the heinous crime of talking about nominations. They had to stand up in front of everyone and nominate one person from the guilty pack for nomination so that the one with the most went up automatically, as well as whoever went up after the other housemates had done regular nominations. The group mainly were being strategic and nominating one each so all would be up together but Lisa nominated Nikki after Glyn already had done so, so she was automatically up for the third week and was rather upset, particularly as Lisa had been all reassuring to her earlier, saying she would be safe.

Once the other housemates had done their regular nominations it was Mikey, Imogen and Lisa who went up with Nikki.

After successfully completing a Majorettes task the rest of the week was spent gossiping about who fancied who. Mainly Lea, Nikki and Aisleyne were obsessed that the others all fancied Pete whilst denying that they did, but then later admitting to him that they did. Mikey and Imogen also got close less than a week after Grace left.

Come Friday night it was loud, moany, moody Lisa who left. I was pleased

Two Years On

Two years (and one week) and 735 posts since I made my first blog entry in June 2006 about Baby Showers

Fortunately I have never had to go to another one.

Corinne Bailey Rae

After having had a phenomenal start to the year with the fabulous 'Put Your Records On', Bailey Rae subsequently brought out this much in demand, self-titled debut album. The album starts with the track 'Like A Star', which is a slow, jazzy number. Her vocals are still distinctive but the song is not as catchy or as memorable as 'Put Your Records On'. 'Enchantment' is less jazzy, and also quite unmemorable, fortunately the CD then redeems itself with 'Put Your Records On'. This is followed by 'Til It Happens To You' which whilst being another slow number has a nice beat with a definite blues feel followed by another single 'Trouble Sleeping' which is a bit livelier again.

The haunting strings that play during the introduction of 'Call Me When You Get This' reminds me of a 1960s film soundtrack, although the rest of the track does not offer much more, I was also disappointed with 'Choux Pastry Heart', a very slow, and sombre track that is not to my taste at all.

'Breathless' is a lovely uplifting track and one that grabbed me instantly, as most of the other tracks (excluding the singles) I suspect are more growers. 'I’d Like To' is one of the more upbeat numbers with a strong brass section. It is then slowed back down again for Butterfly which reminds me a bit of Eva Cassidy. The album closes with the melodic 'Seasons Change'.

I have been burnt a few times by buying contemporary 'Easy Listening' type CDs and not enjoying them, as my tastes tend to be a bit rockier, but I was glad to be given as I had loved the two singles I had heard. However, I feel the general sameness of much of the music could inhibit further success. It is a great background CD to have on at a dinner party, or for sitting reading, but I can’t see me picking it off the rack to often to listen to all the way through very often , but I wouldn't be disappointed if most of these tracks came up on my iPod when set to shuffle

BB Update

Naughty BB. Golden Ticket winner Suzie was the only housemate allowed to nominate. She chose Grace and Nikki. Both took the news badly and ranted and slagged her off behind her back. Nikki subsequentlly calmed down and grew to like Suzie and understood why she may have been nominated. Grace never got over it, and knew she was going after the boos last week and continued her bitching completely obliviosly to what she was doing.

The week's task was the State of Susie and housemates had to (amongst other things) learn a pledge of alliegance and could only sing certain songs. This is the main things that they failed on a housemates kept singing other songs and had practically failed the task in the first hour. Only Aislyne could remember the pledge correctly, thus the task was failed 37 times or something.

Come Friday there was no doubt that Grace was going albeit with a low 87% of the vote.

She will not be missed.

Highgate Cemetery

Highgate Cemetery

Most people think it strange when I say that Highgate Cemetery is an afternoon out worth doing. After all it is just a graveyard isn't it?!

The cemetery was opened in 1839 and currently has over 150,000 people buried in over 50,000 graves. It is divided into two parts - the older West Cemetery and the newer East cemetery. In its Victorian heyday up to 29 gardeners were employed to keep the grounds neat. However, as it filled up and the money dried up the cemetery became overgrown and in disrepair. In the 1970s the Friends of Highgate Cemetery became involved and as volunteers, preserved the cemetery and opened it for visitors. Their policy is not one of restoration but of preservation and conservation or, as my guide told me, “managed neglect”!

Tours run during the week at 2pm and at weekends on the hour from 10-4pm in the summer and up to 3pm in the winter and cost £5.00. It is worth getting there up to 30 minutes in advance as they will only take 12-15 people per tour. Each tour lasts 55 minutes. Do not be put off by the rottweiler in the skirt and cardigan coming out of the gates. Although she may remind you of the rules often, she was instrumental in starting up the Friends of Highgate Cemetery started and is the reason you are able to visit it. Key rules to remember are no bare shoulders, no eating, drinking and smoking. The ground is uneven and there is a slight incline which should not bother most people, but could be difficult for the elderly.

Our guide was called Alex, a knowledgeable American chap who took us around the West cemetery and showed us some of the key graves and told us some interesting stories about some of the ‘residents’ of the cemetery. I am sure with 50,000 plus graves there are 50,000 stories but we have to be content with a dozen or so. You are not allowed to wander through the West side without a guide. There is a small book store which you come to at the end of the tour and I don’t believe it is accessible without doing the tour.

In the newer east side you may wander as you wish. Admission is £2, plus £1 if you wish to take photos and a further £1 for a map. If you don’t wish to buy the map the gate attendant will direct you to Karl Marx and George’ Elliot’s graves. If you carry on down from Marx’s grave to see quite a lot of older graves that are crumbling and buried in the bushes and you realise exactly how much work the Friends of Highgate Cemetery have done so far, and you no longer begrudge the admission charge.

Both cemeteries contain a range of simple graves to the opulent and I must say I find a certain Englishness in the simple wonky, stones overgrown with ivy, or where the roots of a tree and broken the stones, and probably prefer them to the angels, urns, lions and cats.

PC Bling

Love it! Apart from the price (which starts at US$100) these Swarovski crystal desk accessories are gorgeous. More info here

Inside Reichstag

Inside Reichstag
Originally uploaded by Essexgirl.

Inside the Reichstag, Berlin. Feb 2006.

Phone Booth

This thriller is unique in that it is filmed almost entirely at the same location – a Manhattan Phone booth. Arrogant and obnoxious PR man Stu (an excellent performance by Colin Farrell) uses the same phone booth everyday to call his would-be girlfriend (a thankfully underused Katie Holmes), but has attracted some attention that he does not want.

When the phone rings in the booth, he answers it and then finds his world turned upside down. The caller on the other end knows all about him, about his wife and girlfriend and wants him to pay for not being a nice person. He also has a rifle which he uses to cause trouble. You have to wonder why the sniper (voiced by a sinister Keifer Sutherland) would go to all that trouble and the reasons given were not as satisfactory as I would have liked but the speed of the film, the quality performances and the many twists kept me hooked.

Because most of the film is shot in the confined location of a phone booth with our anti-hero Stu, the film is strongly dialogue led but you do not tire of it as he uses all his wiles to get one over the sniper who seems to remain one step ahead all the time. Director Joel Schumacher must be credited for keeping the story tight and twisting at all times.

A mention must go to Forest Whitaker, whose good cop character, whilst not entirely original, gives you faith that one day all will be well.

Running Time: 81 mins.

DVD Extras included an audio commentary by Director Joel Schumacher, which I found a bit dull. There was also a short ‘Making Of’ documentary.

7.5/10

BB Update

Sam went. She cried and apologised.

The winner of the Kit Kat Golden Ticket contest was announced - 43 year old model Susie went in after her husband paid £4000 for her ticket.

The crowd chanted "Get Grace Out". She heard. Ha ha Ha

iTunes Top Ten - The Beatles

The Top Ten Beatles tracks I have listened to on iTunes since June 2004:

1. Come Together
2. Something
3. Lady Madonna
4. Help!
5. Don't Let Me Down
6. I Am The Walrus
7. From Me To You
8. Day Tripper
9. Ticket to Ride
10. Yellow Submarine

BB Update

Belated due to Blogger problems last week - George walked because he didn't want to be famous, tow new housemates (Sam and Aislyne) arrived ans Sezer was evicted with 91.9% of the vote over Lea and Richard. The nation cheered (or booed). Richard & Imogen had an argument.

This week Nikki and newcomer Sam are up for eviction.

Bewitched

This romantic comedy film is loosely based on the Sixties TV show stars Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell in the lead roles. Kidman plays Isabel, a real-life witch, who has given it up (almost) to have a normal life, but has discovered how dependant she is on her witchcraft. Ferrell plays Jack, and actor trying to make it big (again) with his role of Derrin in the re-make of the Bewitched TV series, he is desperate for an unknown to play wife Samantha (the lead character in the original TV series) so that he can steal the limelight. He discovers Isabel with a twitchy nose and offers her the job. This leads us into some uncomfortable romantic tangles and some supposedly funny happenings.

You can tell what director Nora Ephron was trying to do on this film in giving it an original slant. The film is nothing like the TV series, but is more about a the actors in a re-make of the TV series. I imagine there are some ‘in-jokes’ for those that remember it better than I, but there is no real re-cap as to who the characters are for those too young too remember the show first time round. Die-hards fans of the Tv series would undoubtedly be disappointed in how this has worked out. I think the idea was to make it appeal to a new, younger audience, but I think it has worked in only being unappealing. The sequence of events happening in the film all seems a bit random and disjointed, and there is absolutely no chemistry between the two leads.

As a side story they brought in Michael Caine to play Isabel’s father and Shirley MacLaine as the actress who plays Samantha’s mother in the show, to hint at some romance, but these veterans can’t save this film, and don’t seem that bothered. Like the rest of this film it was a complete waste of time.

The DVD extras include the director’s commentary and deleted scenes, but unfortunately I was far from inclined to watch them.

4/10

101 in 1001: No 6. Watch 52 Films in 52 Weeks.

Try Something New Every Month - May

Inspite of going to Florence twice, I never visited the Uffizi, so I did that this time, and queued up for 50 minutes to get in which was a lot better than up to four hours which is the official queue time. It is a lot cheaper than pre-booking.

No. 61 - Do Something New Every Month
No 67 - Go to 50 places (attractions/parks/towns/buildings) I have never been before

Buddy bears

Bears - Kissing
Originally uploaded by Essexgirl.

Part of the range of Buddy Bears all around the city of Berlin. Feb 2006