With Manchester, there were only half as many seats, but as it wasn’t an Olympic test event, they were much easier to get (annoyingly, though I’m a member of British Cycling, I didn’t notice they had an advance booking period until 30 minutes after it closed – so I could only get tickets for Thursday). The ‘Olympic fever’ has attracted a lot of folks who don’t usually follow the sport – this has both it’s good and bad side.

Arriving at Stratford tube, I had expected the route to the Olympic park to be clear, it really wasn’t. There were no big obvious signs, or clearly marked walkway – instead we had some guys with foam fingers. Being human, from time to time they forgot to point the foam fingers in the appropriate direction. Arriving at the park, we had to cross a big road. Admittedly, there was not much traffic on it, but it did strike me as bad planning for it not to be pedestrianised.

The queue was huge – though reasonably fast moving – though this was for one venue, I dread to think what the queue will be like when it’s all running. The marshalls were all very polite, but a little bit jobsworthy (‘keep walking’ was a constant refrain, even when we already were walking – or unable to walk as they were checking tickets).

Once in, transfers were by bus, which seemed to take the most long winded way around the park. I hope that the buses will be optional when the Olympics themselves are on. Honestly, we could have walked that journey twice in less time by taking a more direct route.

The velodrome as a whole is impressive. It looks wider than Manchester – and there are good views all around. (There is something about the geometry of Manchester that I prefer, though – but London has the better building).

There are two big screens (they should put small screens on the back of the big screens, so that those queuing for refreshments can still see what is happening). The refreshments are pretty good actually, I had feared that as a sponsor, MacDonalds would be the only option. The food wasn’t *great*, but it could have been a lot worse. They’re not as cheap as they could be, but they’re not massively overpriced by London standards either. There were good sandwiches, porridge(!), wine, beer etc. That said, the food isn’t ‘cheap’, nor is it diverse – the beer wasn’t a particularly good one, and it was of the brand ‘take it or leave it’.

The velodrome is kept warm as it makes the air thinner (hence the track faster) – it is supposed to be cooler for the spectators. That’s as may be, but it was still like being in a swimming pool (without the chlorine smell). If visiting, I strongly recommend that you are able to remove layers. I do hope that the upper levels were not hotter.

We were watching the Team Pursuit heats. It’s not my favourite discipline – I prefer the Sprint, Keirin and Points races – but I like the spectacle of the close riding. Individual pursuit and time trials don’t, as a rule, do it for me – though I do like Australian pursuit. When Team GB rode, the atmosphere was electric, especially when the men’s team saw the lap times tumble. Some of my favourites, are sadly not Olympic disciplines any more, e.g. the Madison – that doesn’t work well on TV for me, though – much easier to follow live.

Both the men and the women are in the team pursuit finals for a gold/silver medal.

Coming out of the velodrome, we had to queue for buses again – this was mostly orderly, though it took ages. At one point they asked people to come forward and we had three queues side by side, so the orderly queue turned into a bit of a scrum when the bus arrived. This was entirely created by the marshalls, and it all would have been more orderly if they’d have left it as a queue!

Simply getting from the velodrome onto the tube took over an hour, again, I dread to think what the congestion will be like in the summer. Hopefully, if it’s walkable, then it shouldn’t be a problem. I also hope that the finish times for different events are staggered so that the demand on the transport links can be spread out.

Though it was my top priority, there was no way to express that on the Olympic ticket application (nor was there priority for members of the relevant organisations) – and so I’ll be watching the track cycling at home in the summer. I’ll be relying on auntie Beeb. Dear BBC, don’t cut the shots so that the viewer can’t keep an overview – especially on points races – you need to get a sense of the whole track!

Adding to my summary of events:

• Track Cycling.
  <Positives>: Great Atmosphere from the crowd. Guy on PA was excellent.
  <Negatives>: A bit too warm for punters (I don’t see a fix for this, but they organisers should forewarn people). If sent for a drink, can’t see action, so put small screens on back of big screen. Loos were non obvious, and inadequate (even for men!). The ergonomics of them were poor as you had to walk across the entrance to dry hands (and it’s a small space). The flooring in the loos shows up every drip when people shake their hands, which doesn’t look good. Access times – it took far to long to get to and from the tube station.

Please do visit the original post to comment. | Original : London Prepares: Track World Cup -London – Day 1 | © Murky, 2012. |
Post tags: Cycling, London, London Olympics, London Prepares, london2012, Olympics, Track Cycling

Yes, the plot is thin – but as it’s a silent film, what do you really expect, Shakespeare?

The film is about the emergence of the ‘talkie’ and the often career-ending effect this had upon the silent stars. Essentially it’s ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ without the Singin’.

The style of the film, as you’ll know by now, is that it, itself, is a silent movie. Yes, that’s a conceit and one which has caused some people to shun the film unseen. A mistake. ‘Black and White’ and ‘Silent’ may not be common these days, but they’re not synonymous with ‘Bad’. If you deny yourself films with either of these tags, then you deny yourself some true greats. I’ve been talking this film up to anyone who’d listen, but have mostly got back "silent film?" – it’s great to be able to point to some awards!

Due to the lack of dialogue, the audience has to concentrate on the screen, and just watch – this is engrossing – when I saw the film, a pin could have been heard to drop, it was quite eery.

The introduction to the film is very clever, it introduces people into the world of the film very quickly – and soon one forgets the style of the film and becomes immersed, to the extent that the sequence where Jean DuJardin sits in front of his mirror and drinks a whiskey is absolutely shocking in its simplicity.

When I came out, I had a great big grin on my face, and I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen a comparable film at the cinema. I’ve seen many great films, but nothing quite like this.

It’s fantastic that it’s got lots of awards, and this’ll prompt more people to see it at the Cinema. This really is a film which I don’t think would translate well to the small screen – so do try to make the best of the extension of screenings that the awards have earned it, and get along.

… and yes, the dog is as good as you’ve heard.

Please do visit the original post to comment. | Original : The Artist | © Murky, 2012. |
Post tags: Cinema, Film, The Artist

This post is purely to alert folks who know me that I’ll be involved in a gig to an audience in the very near future. I’ve posted details on facebook – so if you know me, you know where to look. (Timestamp, Sunday 15th, about 2pm)

Eep.

Please do visit the original post to comment. | Original : Ukulele | © Murky, 2012. |
Post tags: Music, Ukulele

I pity the poor shop workers, I’m amazed they don’t go postal. With that in mind, here is a mini-suggestion for 2012. Some big chain, any big chain, could become a ‘Christmas Free Zone’ until, say Dec 7th. In the meantime they could run ads saying: ‘You want Christmas presents? We’ve got Christmas presents. You want Tinsel? We’ve got Tinsel. We like Christmas – but we want to keep it special. We won’t be playing Christmas music in our stores until Christmas is nearly upon us. Every little helps’. This could be done in a really tongue in cheek way.

Yes, this can be polished, but the store in question wins as it can still advertise its Christmas stuff, but it does so in a more subtle way, and without driving its punters and workers insane. It might attract shoppers wanting to shop without being hounded by festive music as soon as Halloween is done.

More than once in the past few months, I’ve left places due to the music grating on me, on one day I heard the same track in three stores in a row – and I couldn’t take it any more.

At the end of october, or mid november, given a choice between a store playing Noddy Holder and a similar store NOT playing that, I know which I’d choose.

Please do visit the original post to comment. | Original : A Mini Christmas Marketing Suggestion | © Murky, 2011. |
Post tags: Christmas, marketing, shops

Whilst I understand the serious point they’re trying to get across, the stupidity of this claimed precision is mindboggling – it assumes both a known and agreed definition of ‘first human’ (and that ain’t Adam), and accurate census data going back into pre-history. We don’t have accurate census data going back five minutes.

To claim something that precise is misleading and distracting from the underlying message about population growth (which ultimately drives climate change, food shortage, resource shortages etc).

I can only enter data accurate to the nearest day, and yet it feels able to tell me that

When you were born, you were the:
3,881,935,677th
person alive on Earth
78,133,984,133rd
person to have lived since history began

If I make the smallest possible increase to my birth data, I am told:

When you were born, you were the:
3,882,143,819th
person alive on Earth
78,134,317,296th
person to have lived since history began

So, it appears that there is no way to be 79,133,984,134 or 79,133,984,135 or any of the other 333,163 options.

Thus, would it not have been better to say ‘you are roughly the 78,134,000,000th person ever to have lived’ and roughly the 3,882,000,000th person alive on earth?

I sent the following to the BBC (admittedly before I’d actually looked at the appropriate level of precision to claim, but the point remains.

This is a slick presentation of statistical woolly thinking. Whilst I understand the broader points about population growth, it is very bad for the public understanding of science to give such a precise figure for what ‘number am I’ based on a birthday (upon which there will have been many births).

Much better to round it off to an appropriate degree of precision and add (to the nearest X), e.g. 3,589,120,000 (to the nearest 10000)

There is also a ‘fuzzy’ start for the ‘number of humans ever lived’ – at what point do you start counting in a continuous chain of evolution? This is a systematic error, and I would guess an error of relatively small size given the current population, but still.

For the sake of the better engagement between science and the public, reduce the claimed precision, and explain why this has been done.

Indeed, to anyone with a science background, such a claimed precision undermines the veracity of the data (when, I suspect, it’s the product of an over-zealous app programmer).

I wonder if they’ll take it on board.

Please do visit the original post to comment. | Original : 7 billion and counting | © Murky, 2011. |
Post tags: errors, population, Science, statistics

I’m really enjoying it though I am a very rare male figure in our choir of, I would estimate 200 women (there were three in week one and four in week two – all new). Males are sorely needed – when I joined, women earnestly shook my hand and said ‘Please, stay’. It’s very welcoming – but as a rare man, everyone knows who you are. I’ve managed to get about three names learned (Julia, Vick and Marcella). This may be a bit off-putting for some blokes, but it really shouldn’t be, it is perfectly possible to be one of the crowd, and I honestly wish we’d joined years ago.

One of the warm-ups already feels like ‘my song’ though. We sing ‘Many Men’ to the tune of the ‘William Tell Overture’. At the end the women shout ‘Where?’ and then Men shout ‘Here’ or ‘Woof’ depending upon mood. Both weeks I’ve had a round of applause at this point…. and I think that I did the ‘woof’ so enthusiastically loudly that last week I startled the woman in front of me! I also like another warm up which is a very simple thing ending with a ‘Grr’ from the Roy Orbison number, ‘Pretty Woman’ – it’s just a bit silly. Also, that’s also a song I’d like to perform in the future – I’ve always enjoyed that ‘growl’ when listening to Roy.

We’ve had two sessions so far, and have been practising ‘Take on me’ by A-ha. I’m singing lower bass and the other half is in the Alto. The lower bass is a small section of bass – so we’re very much a small band – but I like that, it at least gives a chance to learn some names! It’s all a bit tricky as the tunes for each part differ from the well known tune (it comes together in the harmony). Last session, we started to coordinate movement – it was so tricky at first we both forgot to sing! I’d like to practice in the week, but the tune (as it differs) can sometimes elude me. It’d be useful to have the downloads after the second week on a new song. Downloads will be available for each part next week – I understand why they’re not available before the first sessions, but I can’t understand why they’re not up after week one or two.

The choir is structured into soprano, alto and bass, you can move ‘up’ or ‘down’ at any time. Each section is subdivided, and this can give six different ‘voices’ working together.

The choir master (Tom) is really good – I really like his sense of humour. How it works is that the choir is done in ‘terms’ – and each term we learn three songs. This term it’s ELO: ‘All Over the World’, A-ha: ‘Take on Me’ and … oh, I forget.

Rock Choir does Motown, Pop and gospel. As a very non-religious type, I’m not looking forward to the gospel stuff, but I’ll try and ignore the religion and just go with the tune.

Though nothing is official yet, we’ve already got an idea of some performances ahead and I intend to try get up to date with the back catalogue so that I can play a full part. The sooner the dates can be firmed up, the better – it’s useful to have things in the diary as early as possible, even if tentative! Every choir across the country mounts performances, though members are encouraged to take part, this isn’t compulsory.

Next week the ‘post practice pub trip’ will start, and if I get the chance I’ll have to remember to ask Tom about the best way to get ‘up to speed’ on existing songs. I know there’ll be extra pre-performance rehearsals, but it’d be good to sing the parts in the car (though I don’t see any downloads available to me from previous terms). Of course, it may well be that the winter performance is more limited in scope – and it’ll only be summer where there is a full batch of songs. Unfortunately, the pub chosen is not on the way to the train station, which limits the time I can spend there – ah well, it’s a week-night, so that’s probably a good thing.

I am really enjoying Rock Choir, and can highly recommend it (whatever your singing ability) – I enjoy my singing, but if soloing, can only do a song with a limited vocal range (I tend to start too high and then get into trouble) – singing chorally is more ‘grounding’. It’s still near term start, so if you’re interested, sign up for a ‘taster’ and go along. I’ve only been going a short time, but I really enjoy it – and the sound we made the other day was something special – and it was only week two. I’ve already put my deposit down for next term. The one downside, is that I want more Rock Choir in my week!

I don’t know if this happens: but I’m keeping my eyes peeled for ‘Rock Choir on Tour’ – as long as it was in the school holidays, (and didn’t clash with things already booked, like Olympics), I’d be signing up for that like a shot – it’d be fantastic! Speaking of the Olympics….. I wonder if they need singers for an opening ceremony….?

Is this a little too effusive? I’m conscious that it could be the zeal of a new convert (much as the most passionate anti-smokers are ex-smokers). Nah, I don’t care, it is good.

One song I’d love to do in Rock Choir is ‘The Lion Sleeps tonight’ – I can imagine it as being perfect for ‘Rock Choir’ style – unfortunately I don’t have the musical know-how to work out all the parts, or even communicate that well.

Rock Choir tweaks the songs slightly, so I imagine something like:

(All, hushed, continuing) A Wim Ba We, A Wim Ba We (Etc….)
(lowers) In the jungle, the mighty jungle,
the lion sleeps tonight
(all) In the jungle, the mighty jungle,
the lion sleeps tonight
(sopranos, loud) OOOeeeee Oooeeoooo
(rest) Um Bum Ba We….
(sopranos) OOOeeeee Oooeeoooo
(rest) Um Bum Ba We….
(lowers) A Wim Ba We, A Wim Ba We… (and so on, on to the second verse)

Of course, it could just as easily start with the famous opening as a solo…. and if it’s good enough for the wonderful Muppets, it’s good for all!

Caroline, if you ever read this… please, pretty please… can we? Please?

Please do visit the original post to comment. | Original : Rock Choir | © Murky, 2011. |
Post tags: Choir, Rock Choir, Sing

I knew the show pretty well, or so I thought – but, especially at the start, there were whole segments that seemed new to me. Of the bits I knew, there were some small changes in the odd note here or there, perhaps unsurprising with so many personnel changes over the years.

I’d not been into the Queen’s theatre before, but we were quite impressed by it. We were in the Dress circle, and the theatre bar’s setting is very good indeed – with a great view out onto Shaftesbury Avenue. The one thing I would say about the experience surrounding the show is that the interval is too short. We were first out to the bar, we got our drinks and nibbles (which were pre-ordered). We demolished the nibbles, but seemed to have only had a few sips before the ‘show is starting in 3 minutes’ bell started to ring. Obviously, the bar itself is too expensive – but then, that is hardly a surprise.

We saw Alfie Boe in the role of Jean Val Jean, my mum had been raving about Alfie Boe for ages, but we knew not of his work. Crikey, that man has a pair of lungs on him… he was very, very good.

In the role of Thénardier was Matt Lucas (Katy Secombe is the missus). Matt Lucas was astonishingly good (and, if I’m honest, surprisingly), and the Thénardiers worked well together. They seem to have tweaked the comic timing to suit Lucas, and it works very well indeed.

The actor playing Javert (Hadley Fraser?) was simply wonderful, achieving malevolent righteousness throughout.

There was one cast member who, we both thought, was a little too ‘stage school’. They were still very good on the whole, but stood out against the excellence around them.

The child performers did very well, and in particular, the boy who played Gavroche deserves a special mention.

I’ve used a lot of superlatives, and the show deserved them. It’s a piece which has deservedly stood the test of time. It has some complex numbers going on with counterpoints as the characters sing against each other, but it stops short of becoming a jumble of singing as can be so often the case – which contrasts with the vast majority of musicals out there.

This is a show which is worth seeing. Of shows I’ve seen, and are still available, the ranking now:

1. Les Misérables
2. Jersey Boys (Something special – Foottappingly good music, and a great story)
3. Stomp (It’s percussion, with style)
4. The Phantom of the Opera (Perhaps a bit cheesy, but still enjoyable)
5. Priscilla: Queen of the Desert (Australian camp!)

Whilst I’m listing, let’s do a few more. This isn’t an exhaustive list, for instance, I’ve consciously not included Ballet/Opera as these are productions which tend to have short runs with many different companies.

Shows that aren’t on any more, but I’d love to see again:

1. Pedal Pusher (About the Tour de france – a really good show)
2. Fiddler on the Roof (Diddle iddle iddle, diddle iddle iddle iddle dum)
3. The Blue Man Group (Weird and wonderful, available across most of the planet – but not London anymore?)
4. The Three Musketeers (Okay, a ballet, but a particular bit of choreography that blew us away)
5. The Rat Pack (Not PC – but then, it’s a mid 20th century show revisited)

Shows that were great to see, and I’d recommend – though it’s out of my system:

1. Slava’s Snow Show (Clowns, but in a good way – saw it twice. Spectacular.)
2. The Producers (Comedy about the theatre and bad taste)
3. The Car Man (Updated Carmen)

Shows I’ve seen, and don’t want to revisit:

1. Footloose (A couple of good numbers, but the show itself was underwhelming)
2. The Play What I wrote (actually the second half is good)
3. Cats (spectacular, but a one time deal)
4. Lord of the Rings: The Musical (spectacular, very well done, but in some places it veered into ‘so bad, it’s good’)
5. Evita (Meh)

Shows I’d like to see:

• Wicked (I keep hearing good things)
• The Wizard of Oz (and why not?)
• South Pacific (I’ve bought tickets today)
• Blood Brothers (I still know little about this – except that people seem to like it)
• Yes, Prime Minister (witty wordplay)
• The 39 Steps (mystery/comedy)
• The Ladykillers (comedy)
• Cool Hand Luke (closing in Jan) (US chain gangs)
• The Mousetrap (long running)
• Monkey: Journey to the West (if they ever run it for any length of time) (In the worlds before Monkey, primal chaos reigned. Heaven sought order…..)
• Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Not sure why, it just appeals somehow)

Please do visit the original post to comment. | Original : Les Misérables | © Murky, 2011. |
Post tags: Les Miserables, LesMis, London, Theatre, West End

Move further up and the ‘tip’ of the umbrella comes alongside. This is ‘Demons Run’. We see the start of Melody Pond along with an older River.

This graphic tries to show the Timeline of Melody Pond/River Song

Move further up along the handle of the umbrella and we have ‘Let’s kill Hitler’.

This opens the intriguing possibility that we don’t know if we’re on the shaft of the brolly, or the handle on a given occasion in a future episode when River appears. Will we see the newly born River, who only knows Mel and ‘Let’s Kill Hitler’? — who has been researching the doctor in Luna U – and who possibly is still shaking off her programming …. or will it be the older, more experienced, River – who has yet to visit the Doctor at the end of Demon’s Run?

Could we see both at once?

What will happen as we reach the ‘inversion point’ at the top of the umbrella?

Caveat: This picture is somewhat simplified as we know that the doctor revisits ‘The Impossible Astronaut’.

Please do visit the original post to comment. | Original : River Song | © Murky, 2011. |
Post tags: Doctor Who, Eleventh Doctor, Television

The Proms goes to the movies with John Wilson and his Orchestra in a celebration of the Golden Age of Hollywood film musicals.

This was a pure joy, from the medley at the beginning to the ‘Hooray for Hollywood’ and ‘There’s no business like Show Business’ encore – there really could have been further encores for this one (I was hoping for ‘The Trolley Song’!)

In the room, there was a bit of a problem with the levels from the microphone for the singer on the early number – the singer was drowned out by the orchestra, but I hope that they’ll be able to boost that for the recording.

There are some nice moments with the choir, and for me, ‘Sit Down you’re rocking the Boat’ was a highlight – though it did jar that in ‘Top Hat’ (I’m… putting on my Top Hat… doing up my white tie… polishing my tails…) that the singer had black tie. Silly things sometimes.

The programme was live on BBC Radio 3 (and will be on iplayer for 7 days). It will be on TV, BBC2, on the 3rd September

Please do visit the original post to comment. | Original : BBC Proms – Prom 59: Hooray for Hollywood | © Murky, 2011. |
Post tags: BBC, Hollywood, Music, proms

Please do visit the original post to comment. | Original : Evolution and Creationism | © Murky, 2011. |
Post tags: Biology, Creationism, Evolution