(no, not the Integrated Woz Machine of Apple fame, but: ) the Imperial War Museum. Which I visited with Paul, and is a grand collection of tanks, guns, mines, chunks of aircraft and the like, from 1914 onwards. It’s not as interesting (for me) as Duxford, where they keep the big aircraft, but it’s free [...]
Tagged london, warBeltane was pretty damn good.
Tagged beltaneHaving now seen all of series one (years after everyone else, but never mind), I’m in full agreement that it’s awesome, despite the historical liberties taken. I don’t understand why the BBC haven’t promoted it more heavily, since their name is prominent in the credits, and presumably they stumped up a fair chunk of cash. [...]
Tagged bbc, hboFinally watched Topsy-Turvy, the film about the infamous duo’s creation of the Mikado, and the events leading up to it. While watching the film I was nervous about how many liberties had been taken with accuracy, but apparently a fair amount of research went into it. The film is jam-packed with excellent performances from all [...]
Tagged eusogHad a minor role in this year’s Samhuinn performance by Beltane, as a torchie again. In a departure from previous years, we spent some time making new costumes, including fibreglass breast-plates which were a considerable amount of work (and mess, and nasty fumes). We also made new cloaks, which meant a large amount of (machine-)stitching. [...]
Tagged beltane, bfs, edinburgh, samhuinnFinally watched One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and am left wondering if I missed something fundamental, or if time has simply diluted the original strength of the concept. Most people seem to agree it’s an absolutely classic piece of cinema – it’s ranked number seven on the IMDB, won five academy awards and is [...]
Dithering in a (well-stocked) foreign-language bookshop in Moscow, I felt compelled to pick up something (for the trains) at least vaguely related to either Russia or China. Apparently 1421 is not that great, and I really didn’t want to lug around War & Peace, so settled on 1812, a factual review of Napoleon’s march on [...]
Tagged russiaApparently central Beijing was a place be avoided in summer, even before the smog. So the later emperors would escape to a pleasant country retreat a few miles to the north west. It’s a sprawling collection of buildings dotted around a lake and hill, now filled with locals and tourists. None of the structures are [...]
Tagged beijing, china, trans-siberianOn a Monday morning, after three hours on a bus escaping Beijing and climbing into the hills, spent a few hours at Simatai walking on the Great Wall. I was delighted that the wall really does live up to expectations, and was almost deserted, even with a cable-car providing access to the top. Walking [...]
Tagged china, trans-siberianYonghe Gong, aka the Lama Temple, is the largest Tibetan Buddhist temple in China – it’s an impressive, if predictable, site (tiled roofs, red columns, gates, halls) which somehow survived the Cultural Revolution without being bulldozed. The exact details of how this occurred seem to be slightly mysterious and not dwelt upon by the literature. [...]
Tagged architecture, beijing, china, religion, trans-siberian