Rev Stan's other stuff

Vox Hunt: The Dinner Game

Show us the five people you'd invite to a dinner party.

Firstly I'd like a couple of my best friends, Jen and Nadia, just to keep things on a level and to act as a bit of sanity when I was completely star struck:

Then  I'd invite Kate Winslet because I'm a big admirer of her work and  when we'd exhausted that topic  I could quiz her about working with the likes of Leonardo Dicaprio and Ewan McGregor to name just two.

The wonderfully talented Kate Winslet

And to make a bonkers occasion even more mental it would have to be the brilliantly funny Ross Noble.

Ross Noble

Finally, someone who'd be worth a dinner party all on his own for the stuff I'd like to ask him, the deliciously talented Ben Whishaw.

The wonderful Ben Whishaw

Perhaps the next vox hunt should be show us what you'd cook for your fantasy dinner party...

Money shots

In my humble opinion, these are the pics from Greece I'm most proud of:

Man walking his goats

...because it's a man walking his goats!!!

From one fort to another (in Nafplio)

I'm 1,500 years old don't you know

For this one I had to stretch the zoom to max as I wasn't appropriately attired to enter the monastery...

Monastery life

Temple of Zeus, Olympia

Devil Pigeon and faticus kidicus

The difficult butterfly on flower shot

Modern Greece

It wasn't all old stuff on holiday, there is an abundance of graffiti and while most of it isn't going to get Banksy worried there were some interesting pieces...

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It's all Greek to me

Yiasus. So I have returned from blue skies, alfresco dining and cheap wine to cold, pissing rain and buggered up Sainsbury's online orders but, still, I have my photo's to keep me warm. The whole collection is at Flickr (there are loads but it was quite a photogenic holiday).
Think I'm going to pull together some themed-groups over the next few days but for starters here are the World Heritage Sites we visited which tallied a whopping eight in the end (really like that sightseeing).
First off was Delphi, home an oracle and like the Switzerland of Ancient Greece. It's built right up in the most beautiful mountains and you can see the sea in the distance.

Delphi

Next was Meteora which has the most strange but stunning rock formations and then, for extra tourist appeal, over the years monks and nuns set up monasteries on top of them as a safe haven. Originally rope ladders and pulleys would have been used to reach them. Some still use such a system for deliveries and decrepit religious visitors.
Unsurprisingly the area is also quite a draw for climbers and Bond film crews.

Meteora

The Greece 2008 tour then headed onto the Peloponnese. Ancient Olympia first, to peruse the place it all started and of course it was all done in the nuddy back then.
The site is far bigger than this picture shows with remains of temples, hotels and buildings for the officials but this is the competitors entrance to the stadium which still has its original starting line for the races - in marble, naturally. I like to think they had a sign in the tunnel that said: 'This is Olympia' that all the athletes touched just before running out into the stadium. Cheats were fined and the money used to make bronze statues of Zeus which lined the route into the stadium, the cheaters name and misdemeanor were carved into the base.

Entrance to the Olympic stadium

Driving high up into the moutains outside Olympia there is the Temple of Vasses which is in pretty good shape for its age. Its location would have given it the most commanding presence for miles around. Sadly it is now shrouded in a tent primarily to protect it from the harsh seasonal elements while it is restored but it could be permanent. There is still a massive wow-factor though as you walk through the gap in the canvas and first see it.

Shrouded Temple of Vasses

 
Moving away from classical Greece, Mystras, our next stop was a byzantine town built on a steep, knackering, mountain slope. A few buildings and a lot of the original streets and steps are intact but a lot is now in ruins. The only remaining inhabitants are some nuns but the whole place has a Tintagel-esque, mystery, magical feel. You could spend hours exploring and I loved it.

The fortress which crowns the town of Mystras

Our fifth Worth Heritage Site was Monemvasia. Think of Mont St Michel in France or St Michael's Mount in England and you get the idea: Rocky island with an ancient town built into it. Originally it was connected to the mainland but an earthquake separated it. There is now a causeway but once at the city wall no motor vehicles have access. (Something I should have planned for, I thought, when hauling my two-weeks worth of luggage over the cobbled streets to our hotel.)
The upper town is pretty much in ruins apart from a church but the lower town is very much inhabited. Its narrow cobble streets linked by steep steps create a maze like terrain but nonetheless everywhere seems to have the most amazing view of the sea and mainland.

Monemvasia

Two more to go. Epidavros which is the the world most well preserved ancient theatre and still hosts live performances. The acoustics are quite incredible, you can hear a coin being dropped on the marble slab in the centre of the stage from the back row, as demonstrated by the stream of tour guides. Unfortunately some tourists with far less talent than gall like to test the acoustics in their own way.

Epidavros

And finally for all those that have got this far, what has to be the most well known, the Acropolis in Athens. Breathtaking it is despite being rammed with tourists and in particular, apologies to my neighbours here as no offence is intended, drawly-accented Americans. (Do Greek-American's all inhabit the worst part of the US for nasally, whiny accents or something?).

Acropolis, Athens

 

Stan's seven wonders

Yep, our little tour of Greece is on its last stop in Athens and what a bonkers city it is, I love and hate it with equal measure.

We've racked up seven world heritage sites, staying the night in one, culminating in the Acropolis this morning which is a wonder to behold. Pics coming soon.

Some more observations about Greece though:

* There are a 1001 different ways of getting cheese into a meal and the Greeks have discovered each and every one of them

* Wine is v. v. cheap even with the crap Euro/Pound exchange rate and you can order it by the kilo in some restaurants (I kid you not and no I haven't tried)

* Mobile phone etiquette doesn't exist: any time, any place, anywhere, as loudly as possibly and with the most ridiculous ring tone

* All the young people live in the cities

* Greek waiters coined the phrase "looking but not seeing"

* Salads will always arrive first regardless of what you have ordered

And some observations about the roads:

* The rules of the road: there are no rules (unless there is a copper about which is extremely rare)

* There are two speeds of travelling: OAP-barely-see-over-steering-wheel and nutter

* There are bold over-taking manouevres and Greek over-taking manouevres

* Helmets are for decorations ie dangling off the arm otherwise don't waste your money

* Parking can be anywhere, preferably blocking someone in or creating a massive bottle-neck on a busy road

* Pedestrianised - schmestrianised, pavements are just another parking place if you are in a car or, part of the road if you are a scooter.

* Horns are to be used to greet friends and acquaintances or if being held up by a nano-second

* No one has a bloody clue how to use a round about

* Cycling: I wouldn't

London is going to seem sane but I am going to miss it terribly when we fly home on sunday.

Greece lightning

Well that's how quickly this holiday feels like it is going. I'm here in Ancient Olympia, well actually its a modern hotel near Ancient Olympia but it's close enough, and I've finally given in to the lure of the internet (it's free here!).
I'll keep this short because Mosh is bound to come tapping on my shoulder soon.  Initial observations: Greek people are very friendly and completely bonkers on the roads. Double white lines are merely a guidance to masculinity when driving rather than an indicator that it is unsafe to overtake.
There has been a bit of a petrol crisis - a strike meant that virtually all petrol stations ran dry which caused a bit of alarm for a couple of days when you are depending on the car to get around. It has been a real eye-opener as to what could realistically happen in years to come.
Greek Orthodox monostaries like to depict gory scenes of how saints earnt their sainthoods on the walls and put in words what they couldn't draw.
The toilets in nunneries are a lot cleaner than those in monasteries.
I swear I saw Scarlett Johansson with her mum looking around the Sanctuary of Apollo in Delphi.
And I'll leave it at that for now.
Will be pictures to come when I get back in just over a week (non of Scarlett unfortunately) - bought a 2 gagillabite memory card so I'm snap, snap, snapping away....

Hamlet who?

First time I've seen images of David Tennant as Hamlet. Did I mention how excited I am about seeing this at The Courtyard Theatre in Stratford in August?

First promotional image of DavidTennant as Hamlet

RSC's image of David Tennant as Hamlet

New camera

Been planning to upgrade my digital compact for a while. Mosh bought me the little Pentax Optio SV about four years ago and it's been brilliant but technology has moved on and, most importantly, so have shutter speeds.

Pentax_optioa40

My only real gripes about the SV were the terrible shutter lag which made taking shots of moving objects very tricky if nigh on impossible and the small viewing screen which made it difficult to see the picture, particularly in bright weather.
Anyway Mosh hinted that he might get me a new one for my birthday which would be just in time for our holiday. As I'm familiar with the Pentax and have all the batteries and memory cards that go with it, it made sense to get another, so now I have a shiny new Optio A40.
Haven't really had a chance to play with it much yet as it's only a few days old but I am already impressed with the improvement in the shutter speed and have discovered one or two new little functions that the old model didn't have for example the soft flash:

With full-on flash (left) and soft flash (right) which I think gives the subject a more natural look.

(Model: AKA Vasquez; cocktail: Camilla Parker Bowells at the Hard Days Night Hotel Liverpool; jacket: Model's own.)

The A40 also has a staggering 12 mega pixel capacity which is way more than I need but nice to have for those one off detailed shots. I remember when Mosh got me the older model which is 5 MP and he said then that was way more than I needed. Technology doesn't half move fast.
So we are off to Greece at the crack of sparrow tomorrow. All the guide books say how photogenic Greece is so I'm hoping to put my new toy through it's paces and you never know I may actually have learnt how to use one or two more functions on it by the end of the fortnight (or Mosh will have worked them out for me, hopefully)

Don't do it Hollywood

It's not often I agree with Empire magazine but in this I do. Donnie Darko is up there among my top 5 favourite films of all time and it is just wrong, wrong, wrong.

What I learnt today when I should have been working

The Greek for please is pronounced pa-ra-ka-lo, thank you is ef-kha-ri-sto and 'that was amazing' is i-tan ka-ta-plik-ti-ko

Anyone else learn something new today when they should have been working?

Stan's question of the Day

What does Chinese short-hand look like?

How rude of me

Apologies. It was my birthday and I got so wrapped up in me, me, me that I completely forgot that it was also my friend Alan's birthday (I did text him), Tony Blair's birthday (didn't text him) and George Clooney's (wanted to text him). And so as penance I've posted these pictures ;0)

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My birthday

In pictures, sort of:

It was a lovely day so I walked to work

(I had my lap top in a ruck sack which is why my shadow looks a bit like a Ninja Turtle

Views along my walk (I'm so lucky to live close enough to enjoy this walk to work)

Card from the office and Nadia's delicious chocolate refrigerator cake

It's refreshing to know that I have such an innocent reputation around the office. Several people asked Nadia if the card was a little too rude for me. In fact it made me snort with laughter, it was perfect. And I spent most of the day eating the cake, after all a chocolate high is a good state to  be working in...

Making the most of the beautiful weather with Alison and Nadia in Lincoln's Inn Fields

Decided to have a picnic at lunch time (Nadia actually got a tan mark).

A wee celebratory drink

Or two with Mosh and my friend Kate followed by delicious chinese at my favourite restaurant in China Town: Fung Shing (soft shell crab followed by honey roasted eel, delicious)
And back home to open my pressies which were particularly fab this year, most notable being a new digital camera which is a much better version of the one I've already got from Mosh and some headphones to replace the ones I lost in Cuba and a beautiful silver bangle from my friend Chris with a quote from my favourite Shakespearean play on it.
Also got a massive haul of my favourite brand of plain chocolate which should probably last me weeks but probably won't...

QotD: Personality Trait = Trouble

What personality trait has gotten you in the most trouble? 

Opening mouth before engaging brain.

Moscow mystery

Have a friend who is living and working in Moscow at the moment. Her birthday is at the end of November so I sent her a small present and card to her work address copying it from her email signature.
It never arrived.
Stolen I thought.
Then yesterday it turned up in my office, in London, card and gift opened but intact. The return address I'd put on it was my home address.
So where has it been for the last five months?
I know it's been bouncing around south London for a while because of the scrawls of different postcodes written on it. My return postcode was a little unclear and, as I'd reused a padded envelope, a postman with initiative had partially ripped off the Moscow address to reveal the original label which was to me at my work address.
But there are no clues as to whether it got to Russia and why it came back.
Once I received a postcard a friend had sent while on holiday in Italy a year after she got back.
Is it a case of it maybe falling down behind the sorting bench and being forgotten about until someone decides to do a thorough tidy up or do posties play postal roulette and if the bottle stops on your package it get lobbed in the corner for six months?

Bollocks

Boris got in.
And even more worrying, the BNP won a seat.

QotD: Happy Friday!

What are you most looking forward to this weekend?

The perfect combination of some time to myself to indulge in a few of my favourite pastimes followed by preparing and enjoying a boozy, long lunch on (bank holiday) monday with a group of good friends to kick-off my birthday celebrations.