Rev Stan's other stuff

Mosh seeing in the New Year

Mosh seeing in the New Year, originally uploaded by Rev Stan.

Lady chapel, Metropolitan Cathedral, Liverpool

Lady chapel, Metropolitan Cathedral, originally uploaded by Rev Stan.

I'm fascinated by the depiction of Mary and Jesus as a child and I've never seen anything quite like this before. Yes his arms are in a position that starkly remind you of his fate but there is also a playfulness too that makes it more human.

Mosh finally gets banged up for crimes against musical taste

Mosh finally gets banged up for crimes again musical taste, originally uploaded by Rev Stan.

Liverpool last day

Anglican and Metropolitan Cathedrals today. Am ashamed to say I visited neither while I was a student and after today I'm doubley ashamed because they are both stunning pieces of art, architecture and culture in their own right. Both built in the last century and completed within a decade or so of each other but completely different in style. The Metropolitan is known locally as the shuttlecock for reasons you can't really fathom from the picture below but if you saw it from a distance you'd understand.

Liverpool's modern homage to medieval gothic:: Anglican Cathedral

Metropolitan Cathedral

Sad to be leaving tomorrow morning as it's been a fantastic few days despite the bitter cold. Have walk past some old haunts but much has changed in the city and it's heartening to see it on the way up again.
All my Liverpool pics are on flickr

Mosh thought it was funny...

Mosh thought it was funny..., originally uploaded by Rev Stan.

Liverpool again

Yep first full day and can I just say it's friggin' freezing, almost too cold to stop and take pictures. Almost, although I admit I'm not spending anyway near as long I would normally trying to compose the shot and pissing around with different settings. So not surprisingly we spent quite a bit of time inside.
First it was the Merseyside Maritime museum which also houses the International Slavery Museum. If you want to find out a bit about the city's 800 year history this is the place to go, particularly in the winter when there aren't any walking tours. Of course the only bits I can now remember are things like the Liver Birds being as high as a double decker bus. It also meant a bit of a trip down memory lane with a wander around the Albert Dock. It all seems marginally more upmarket than I remember and Fred's weather map has gone - boo.

Albert Dock looking towards the Three Graces

Then a brisk stroll around the Three Graces which always impress me. Good to see they've tidied up the Mersey side of the buildings to give them a proper setting.
The Picton Reading Room was closed so we went straight to the Walker Art Gallery. One of the few cultural things I did as a student was visit here often with my friend Chris who was studying art and then with one of my boyfriends who passed on his love of the Pre-Raphaelite painters to me. It's been over 16 years since I last saw them and I fell in love all over again.
And if anyone is heading to Liverpool and wants a good restaurant recommendation then they could do worse that go to Zorba's Greek restaurant on Leece Street. I don't think I will need to eat for a week.

Because it's what you do when you are a tourist

Liverpool, first night

St George's Hall, Liverpool, originally uploaded by Rev Stan.

There is something not quite right about Mosh a) devising the route of a pub crawl in my old University town and b) choosing pubs of architectural interest rather than the price of the beer.
And so our first night in Liverpool started with a trip to The Vines on Lime Street with it's interior (and exterior) pretty much intact after just over 100 years of serving up booze.
Then on for a curry. Well an Indian restaurant called Mayur on Duke Street. It is definitely not a curry house but does proper Indian food rather than the usual greasy slops. They even did me a gluten-free naan.
So strip out the fact that there was technically only one pub in the 'crawl' and it wasn't serving doubles for a £1, and the curry house didn't have red carpet and flock wallpaper and you've essentially got a classic night out from my student days.
Oh and the piccie is the beautiful St George's Hall, decked out in festive lights and the name of the city, just in case you weren't sure. This building was boarded up and virtually derelict when I was student, so glad to see it's looking a bit more loved. I'm hoping it is going to be open to the public so we can see the inside.

Horse Guards on The Mall on Christmas Day (psst Queen's in Sandringham guys)

Horse Guards on The Mall on Christmas Day (psst Queen's in Sandringham guys), originally uploaded by Rev Stan.

Forgot I took this while I was out for my cycle ride around London. Was surprised by how many tourists there were around. Hope they could all afford to eat in their hotels because I can't imagine any restaurants being open on Christmas Day, even in London.

Liverpool trip

Some people laughed when I said Mosh and I were going to spend a few days in Liverpool. They couldn't quite understand why.
I've loved Liverpool since I spent three years hear at Uni and would have stayed after graduation if I could have got the job I wanted.
Work takes me back and from the glimpses I get of the city in between meetings it is obvious that it has changed dramatically in the last 16 years as chunks have been regenerated. It is for this reason that I've wanted to go back but also because there is so much history and culture that I either never explored as a student or want to rediscover. It is European capital of culture this year after all.
We've hired a small, smart one-bed serviced apartment in the city centre and have two full days to explore. And I can't wait. We've got broadband so hopefully will get the chance to post as I go along.

Daniel Radcliffe as James Bond?

Some bloke has placed a bet that Daniel Radcliffe will play James Bond by the time he is 40. William Hill has given him odds of 1000/1.
I bet Daniel Radcliffe won't play James Bond. He's way too short for starters... 

Boxing Day cinema: Australia

Elegant Nicole and smoldering Hugh

Beautifully and imaginatively shot as you would expect from a Baz Luhrman film but a little bit indulgent and could easily have had it's 2 hour 45 min running time trimmed. A thoroughly charming story if a little bit predictable. Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, who play the leads spark beautifully off each other and head a cast of some of Australia's finest talent. Overall entertaining but not Luhrman's best.

Entertainment QotD: TV - Best & Worst of 2008

What was the best TV show of 2008? The worst?

Well there have been some corkers this year. From the trashy and complete ogle-fest that was Make Me a Supermodel on Living TV to the sublime and actor-tastic Little Dorrit and supersexy and tense Spooks, both from the BBC. But the one program that stands out head and shoulders above the others, not least because it was one that was talked about a lot with colleagues, was Criminal Justice, also on the BBC.

It had a great cast with the likes of Lindsay Duncan and Pete Postlethwaite but it was Ben Whishaw who completely blew me away. It had me on the edge of my seat, feeling nervous, uncomfortable and I shouted at the telly. As most TV is deemed good in the Stanley residence if it makes me look up from my laptop I think that is high praise indeed.

Ben Whishaw as Ben Coulter in Criminal Justice

And as to the worst. I don't watch bad telly. I switch over or put the radio on.

Christmas Eve

This is me and Sanna on Christmas Eve last year

Sanna and Stan swimming on Christmas Eve in Cuba

This year I'm at home in gloomy London rather than in Cuba and although I had a lovely, lovely time and would dearly love to be somewhere warm and sunny, I'm making the most and enjoying London to the full. It's not a bad place to be.

All the fun of the festive fair in Leicester Square

Wherever you are, have a fun and relaxing time!

People doing stupid stuff

There are zillions of these types of clips around but they never fail to make me laugh.

Idiot with kite

Reason's not to tidy up

I've just had to email my nutritionist and ask her to send me this months supplement and dietary instructions because I've 'tidied' up all my notes for every session I've had with her since September.  AAAAARGH.
And you just know that the moment she emails them through the notes will turn up in the most obvious place.

You know its the silly season when...

BBC News 24 does a piece on the fact that more than two million people have watched the following clip:

Gratuitous ogle: Rupert Penry-Jones

Or sexy spy no 2 as I like to call him. Enjoy.

QotD: Best Christmas Present Ever

From childhood 'til now... What's the best Christmas present you've ever received?

When I was a young teen, I had a crush on teen singer and my parents got me tickets to see him live. I was so happy I burst into tears which set both my Mum and Dad off.

The performance was fantastic too, I went with my older sister and she somehow managed to talk security into letting us back stage and I met my idol. Naturally I was dumbstruck and my sister was frantically trying to keep him talking while digging me in the ribs to get me to say something.

And no I'm not going to say who it was. It was an unfathomable teen crush and I'm still embarrassed. You'll have to get me drunk.

News & Politics QotD: Shoe You!

An angry Iraqi journalist threw his shoes at President Bush (but missed) during a news conference in Baghdad. What do you think his punishment, if any, should be?

Teach him the throw better so he doesn't miss next time.

Spit and sawdust

The last two days have been notable for many reasons but not least because of spittle-spray.
First there was Tim Booth, lead singer of James and then, last night, thespian and the only man credited with putting a twinkle in the eye of my spinster A-level English teacher, Derek Jacobi.
The Tim Booth incident or claim to fame as I’m now calling it occurred at the Brixton Academy. Decided to go down the front not expecting it to get too raucous and it wasn’t for the main part, a bit of space to dance about and some jumping up and down.
I was about three people away from front when Booth decided to stand on the barrier to get closer to the fans while singing. A surge forward inevitably resulted positioning me right under Mr B and thus in the line of fire. Was still marvellous though.
Booth is turning into the spit (if you’ll excuse the pun) of Michael Stipes – no hair, wiry frame with a suit that looks like it was the closest fit in the charity shop and a propensity to just lose himself completely in the music and dance like no one is watching. Entertaining from the start which saw him walk through the audience with one guitarist singing the first song to the impromptu second encore that confused the hell out of the lighting technicians.

Gig overall was fantastic, there is a part of me that wanted just a few more of the greatest hits but it certainly whet my appetite for exploring outside the albums I already have in my collection.
And then there was Mr Jacobi, Mr I Claudius, Cadfael and the object of Miss Egan’s affection.

Derek Jacobi

He too was on stage, this time playing Malvolio in Twelfth Night and doing it with such skill and superb comic timing he drew spontaneous applause from the audience. But there is always a danger when you are sat on the front row at the theatre of coming in the line of fire. Now I’m not sure if I definitely got spat on by Jacobi but if not it was certainly close.
Jacobi headed a marvellous cast with particular note going to Zubin Varla (last seen in Little Dorrit) who played Feste the fool and whom sang and played beautifully.
The only teeny fly in the ointment was the casting of Victoria Hamilton as Viola. She is a superb actress and did a sterling job but, and this is going to make me sound ageist, she is too old to play that part, a fact that was all the more obvious when she is finally reunited with her twin brother at the end of the play who was played by a far younger actor, Alex Waldmann.

Alex Waldmann

 

Victoria Hamilton

Maybe it was just the lighting and the fact that I was looking up at her rather than across or down like the majority of the audience but she certainly didn’t have the looks of a young woman.
Didn’t spoilt the enjoyment though.

 

X Factor - the final

Well it's over for another year and this year I actually cared about the outcome. Thank goodness good sense prevailed and Alexandra won. Moment of the series was her duet with Beyonce. Gob-smacking.



Lost in Translation?

I've been meaning to write about this for a while. It is something that irks me every time I see it and it has to do with American English and English.
OK so there are spelling differences and things are pronounced differently on either side of the Atlantic, fare enough, language is constantly evolving but please, please American journalists don't put Americanisms into the mouths of the British.
Here's a recent example, it is a quote from an interview Daniel Radcliffe gave to the New York Post:
"We'll have a massive party. We haven't had any wrap parties, which I think is sinful. We haven't gotten around to organizing. We'll probably go out on holiday and do all the stuff the insurance hasn't covered like rock climbing and hand gliding."
My problem is the word "gotten". The British don't say "gotten" we say "got". It's isn't a word we use and I am 99.9% sure that Daniel Radcliffe didn't say it.
It pops up frequently in interviews of the British by American's and I think the main reason it hits a nerve it because it makes the person being interviewed sound American. Now there is nothing wrong with sounding American per se but to imply that it came out of the mouth of someone who is English, and generally speaks good English, just rankles.
Interestingly it appears that the journalist has taken the decision to quote Radcliffe verbatim in every other respect as the quote has a very conversational style with the obvious missing words not inserted in square parentheses, so why then 'translate' "got" to "gotten"?
It also implies that American readers are too stupid to realise that if an English person says "got" it means "gotten" and I really don't believe that to be the case.

Monday fun

This made me laugh today.

Success

Finally got LoudTwitter to aggregate my Tweets to Vox. Not quite sure what I did though so don't ask.

Hamlet Who? (again)

Went to see Hamlet with David Tennant and Patrick Stewart for the second time last night. It has transferred to London from Stratford for a couple of months.
It was just as good as I remember it despite being disturbed by latecomers for the first 15 minutes. (They should be made to stand at the back until the interval if they can't be arsed to arrive on time. Or quietly shot)
However there was one other incident that irked me and ruffled anglo-american relations. In the traditional queue for the loos during the interval an American lady who was next to me struck up conversation by asking what I thought of the play so far. I told her I thought it was very good, to which she replied:

"I find the language a bit fluffy."

Quite agree David

So then I pointed out politely that she had just insulted our best and most loved playwright but that I wouldn't hold it against her. She thanked me for this obviously not quite understanding what I actually meant was:
"I'm taking you outside now and throwing you to all the people who couldn't get tickets."
 

Houses of Parliament and seagull

Houses of Parliament and seagull, originally uploaded by Rev Stan.

Went for a walk with Nick and Soph who were down for the weekend. It was a lovely cold, crisp winter's day.

Remembering Jean Charles at Stockwell

Remembering Jean Charles at Stockwell, originally uploaded by Rev Stan.

This is by the entrance to Stockwell tube so I pass it quite a bit. It appeared in the days shortly after the shooting and has been growing ever since. I often see people reading the messages that have been left.

The case of Shannon Matthews

Must admit I've been obsessively following this story in a sort of car-crash rubber-necking sort of way. Now the trial is over all the details are coming out about the family and what went on.
A quick recap for those who haven't the foggiest:
9-year old Shannon Matthews went missing, made national news, mother pleading for her return etc. Everyone thought the worst then 24 days later she was found in her step-uncles flat. Her mother and uncle had concocted the plan to claim the £50,000 reward money.
Shannon is one of 7 children whom have 5 different fathers. Her current step father was found to have kiddie porn on his computer during the investigation.
Anyway there is loads of detail about it in the UK press but this particular article reveals the particular horror of the crime.

Entertainment QotD: Holiday Flick

Which holiday blockbuster are you most looking forward to seeing?

Well there is a big Harry Potter-size hole to fill so it's this:

Twilight_bigteaserposter