Friday, March 30, 2007

Milan


Milan is an amazing city, though perhaps not the prettiest. The old part is beautiful and full of baroque and gothic buildings, but the majority of the city is fairly industrial looking. I went absolutely art-mad while I was there. I was positively saturated in art, you might say.
I pre-booked to see The Last Supper, which is necessary. I booked two weeks in advance and I still only just got in, as I got an 8:45am slot. The Last Supper is actually in what was the eating hall of a monastery attached to the Santa Maria Della Grazia. Really, it’s not until you actually see The Last Supper in person that you can truly appreciate the genius of Da Vinci, as it was painted to be viewed from the back of that room. The room is lit by two windows to the side of the painting, and he has painted it, to look as though the scene is lit by these windows - if you look closely at it, you will see that the left side is darker than the right side. He has also painted it to look as if Jesus and the Apostles are seated in a continuation of the room, like a trompe l’oeil.
From there I went to the Sforcezco Castle, the Duomo, the Basilica di Ambrogio shopping centre (home to Versace, Prada etc) which is possibly the loveliest shopping centre I have ever seen (and I have been to a lot in my lifetime, being a dedicated shopper). It was very posh and of course, priced way out of my league. I popped into La Scala, Milan's famous theatre, which is utterly gorgeous and glamorous. There was something rather dull on though (can't remember what though...) so I didn't go to a performance.
From there I went to the Pinoteca di Brera and saw more scenes of the annunciation than are perhaps strictly necessary, and the same amount of Madonna holding baby Jesus statues. The Brera is home to many great masterpieces though, by Raphael and Carravagio and is well worth the visit. Even the building itself is a work of art, a really lovely old Piazza.
The best bits of Milan are to be found off the beaten track, like most cities. You'll be walking down some scody little street and come across some store for a famous designer standing out amongst the other shops like a peacock amongst the pigeons, or some shop selling bits of glass for a mere few thousand euros. This is also where you will find other delights like the best gelato. I know cause I ate some. My lips are sealed as to it's exact location. Such things must be kept a secret.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Noel Gallagher Concert

Last night I went with Yvonne to the Noel Gallagher concert at the Royal Albert Hall. It was a fundraiser for Teenage Cancer Trust. What an awesome night!


Yvonne works for an accounting firm that handle the accounts for pretty much anyone who is big in the music industry. She does the accounts for Oasis, which is how she got us tickets - and we got to go backstage for the afterparty!!! Am I lucky or what!


We saw Shack, The View and Noel. Shack were pretty cool - they are on Noel's record label, which is why they are head-lining for him. They're quite mellow and kept busting out Zorro-esque spanish melodies in the middle of their songs. The View were great, and have earned themselves a new fan. They sing the song "Same Jeans" for those of you who don't know them. I don't know if they've hit NZ charts yet. They are really young, and their songs are very upbeat. They did this great song called Claudia, written by the lead singer, about how he felt at one with her, and she understood his feelings etc. It's really good love song. Only the song happens to be about his sister's dog!


Noel was amazing. It was all acoustic, and he did the Robert Palmer thing and had a line-up of beautiful women behind him playing violins and cellos. I've been a long-time fan of Oasis since their Supersonic days, and despite the often arrogant posturings of the Gallagher brothers, there's no denying the man has talent. He's not as good a vocalist as Liam, but he still has a strong voice, and knows how to command an audience. And he is a legend on the guitar.


I was also transfixed by his eyebrows. They really do look like Bert's from Sesame St...
Paul Weller was a surprise guest, and he and Noel did a rocking version of The Beatles "All You Need is Love". It really doesn't get much better than sitting in a packed out Royal Albert Hall singing along with Noel Gallagher and Paul Weller!


Noel played a lot of his new stuff, and also the good Oasis hits like Wonderwall and Don't Look Back In Anger. He had the crowd on their feet, and did two encores. We got to venture backstage into the labyrinth of the concert hall for the after party, so that was exciting too. Paul Weller even brushed past me in the corridor! I may never wash that jacket again :- ) Big thanks to Yvonne are in order, for letting me tag along.

Monday, March 26, 2007

Animals At War


I went to the Animals at War exhibit at the Imperial War Museum. It was excellent. Of course, being completely potty about animals, I went around the exhibit in tears! It looked at all the animals that have been used in warfare – like horses, dogs, pigeons, and even rats, pigs, camels, elephants and dolphins.

It was actually really fascinating – giant rats are used to sniff for mines. They have a much more acute sense of smell than dogs and cost a third of what it costs to train a dog. The cutest bit was a letter to Lord Kitchener from 3 children begging him to spare their pony from war service. He even wrote back to them, assuring them that he would!

They had lots of ‘decorated’ pigeons that carried messages in the world wars. My favourite dog was the one that some how followed his master to a French battlefield after he was shipped out from England. No one knows how that dog crossed the channel, but the story is verified as true by the RSPCA. Also, very moving are the accounts of people who gave up their dogs for service. Bob was lent to the US Army by his family, and received loads of medals. He was used to parachute out of planes – because he could parachute silently – and would round up the men on night jumps. Even ship cats were decorated – they were vital to stopping rats and mice from contaminating food supplies.

They also had stuff on the effect that war has on domestic animals. During the blitz, thousands of animals were injured and lost. The British govt had registers and issued posters for people to put up on their properties in case they were bombed, to alert the rescue teams about the number of people who were living there – on it there was also room to put whether you had a cat or a dog, and where their bed was located.

Mostly, I think what I liked the best was the accounts of how the animals just boosted the morale of the soldiers. A dog, Jennie, kept up the spirits of men in a Japanese POW camp, and there was a great picture of a ship’s mascot – a tiny kitten – reclining in a specially made hammock, with a big smirk on his face.

Monday, March 19, 2007

B-I-N-G-O!



On Saturday night Fiona, Neil, Mindy, Roy, Nikki, Jackie and I had a quintessentially British experience - we went to MeccaBingo down Kilburn High St. I've always wanted to go as it's such a British obssession and rather naff, a bit like Butlins Holiday camps.


It was great fun, and we all got really into it. I can see why people get addicted! We had a great laugh, but it was also rather sad and tragic, as there were loads of 'regulars' and people there by themselves. We all shared books so it was only about 6 quid each. Most of the people there looked to be on the poor side of the wealth scale and I hate to think of them gambling away pensions and savings. Gambling is insidious like that, it gives people an escape and hope. On the bright side, the building is absolutely gorgeous - it's an old vaudeville thatre and it's a crime that it is now a Bingo Hall.

Leanne: The Squirrel Whisperer



Lee and I went squirrel-seeking the other day. She has a hidden talent as a squirrel whisperer as you can see by these photos...

Friday, March 02, 2007

Richmond



Here's a couple of snaps of the Thames riverbank at Richmond. Richmond is a terribly posh suburb on the outskirts of London. It's great for shopping, and has a good farmer's market.
Well, I haven't updated this for ages so I'd better get up to speed with all the stuff I've done lately. This year started off well with a small soiree at NZ House, where we had prime seats for the fireworks display.
One of the best nights out I've had lately was for Fiona's birthday in January. We went to the 'singalong' Sound of Music. I've never seen so many dodgy-looking nuns in all my life!(Except maybe the time Ariane, Sophie and co dressed up as nuns...I myself was Marie Antoinette) There were people dressed in curtains, brown-paper packages tied up with string, bees (when the bee stings..), Captain Von Trapps, and of course, Marias. It was hosted by a drag queen, who went through our bag of props and gave us instructions as to what to do at the appropriate moment in the film. I never realised that the opening sequence of the Austrian alps was 4 mins long, but the time whizzed by as we made lots of barnyard noises!

Around my workplace

I went walkies the other day and took a few pictures of the Pall Mall/Whitehall area around NZ House. I am not tired of this place yet! There are so many gorgeous buildings, it's quite uplifting going for walks at lunchtime, althoughI'm looking forward to summer so we can have lunches in St James Park again.


The lovely Canadian Embassy















The Ugly New Zealand High Commission



Left: Navigation Below: The Admiralty Arch