Rev Stan's other stuff

Hurrah for the NHS

Peterborough hospital

My Mum has been in Peterborough hospital for barely a week and already they've forgotten her Parkinson's medication, twice, and allowed her to get into a situation where she could and did fall over, twice.
It is kind of ironic that after doing their utmost to keep her alive in the last few months (against both hers and her family's wishes) the NHS now seems bent on doing her in.
It feels like they are trying to tick a few boxes such as washing (check), walk to the loo (check) etc so they can get rid because she's bed blocking. 'Hello! You kept her alive when nature was trying desperately to end her suffering." 
It is a horrid hospital - grubby, shabby, rigid, oppressive and understaffed - it's surprising anyone gets well. The sooner we can get her out of there the better. She's only on the first floor I might take a rope next time I visit and break her out.

QotD: Everywhere Has Its Problems

What prevents your city/town from being the best place in the country to live?
Submitted by Cherney.

It is the best place to live - in the world. It's London for goodness sake. I mean just on my way to work everyday I get to see this unique and stunning piece of architecture

Houses of Parliament

And this

City skyline

It has the best theatre, cinema's, restaurants, pubs, architecture, comedy, music, museums great open spaces and a public transport system that kinda works. What more could you ask for?
But then I am biased because I can't imagine living anywhere else.

Michael Jackson tribute graffiti

Michael Jackson tribute graffiti on the National gallery

Saw this on my walk into town today.

Maybe it's my age.
Maybe it's the fact that I'm not particularly a Michael Jackson fan.
Maybe it's because no celebrities death would upset me to this extent.
But it made my blood boil.
I just can't fathom why these people felt it was OK to scrawl on the walls of the National Gallery.
And no I'm not anti-graffiti, quite the opposite, but this is just generally inane sometimes incomprehensible and badly written twoddle on THE NATIONAL GALLERY.
It's vandalism there I've said it and now I sound like my parents. And I'm hoping that the police tape and presence of police was to stop more being done.
I'm also assuming it will be cleaned off. I'm hoping it will be cleaned off.

Theatre: Waiting for Godot

Stewart a little in the shade as McKellan performance shines

As a 17-year-old I remember wanting to stab myself in the eye with my pen while reading Waiting for Godot which was an A-level English set text. I thought it flat, dull and incomprehensible, after all it is about two men waiting for someone who never turns up.
But then our teacher Miss Egan took us to see it performed at the National Theatre.
It completely changed my view of Samuel Beckett's play, and of theatre. Suddenly the words leapt off the page and it was funny and thought-provoking and sad and intriguing all at the same time. It is a prime example of why plays should never just be studied on the page.
But that was all 20-years-ago.
Late last year when I heard it was not only being staged at the Theatre Royal in London but that Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart were playing the leads Estragon and Vladimir and Simon Callow and Ronald Pickup were taking up Pozzo and Lucky I couldn't wait to get tickets. And on Thursday I fell in love with the play all over again.

'We always find something, eh Didi, to give us the impression we exist?'

The cast were magnificent. Lucky only has one speech but the audience broke into spontaneous applause at Pickup's delivery. The biggest applause has to go to McKellen. It's the first time I've seen him play a comic role and dare I say it, he slightly outshone Stewart.
There was more than just the one spontaneous applause during the evening and McKellan and Stewart sparked off each other even turning in a dance routine of sorts at the curtain call. 
If I could get another ticket I'd go again but it's sold out unless you queue for day tickets at the crack of sparrow.
Here are what some of the pro's thought. Particularly like the Whingers interpretation.
Independent
This is London
West End Whingers

Breakfast baking

Just made granola for the first time. Roll on breakfast.

Stan's granola

QotD: Thinking Outside the (Recyclable) Box

Think outside the (recyclable) box: What's an Act of Green someone might be surprised to learn about?
Sponsored by One Million Acts of Green brought to you by Cisco.

Rather than use those chemical shower sprays, I have one of those window cleaner things like the squeegee's at traffic lights use for car windscreens to quickly dry off the tiles after a shower and reduce watermarks. Does that count?

Mental but cool

The magic of medicine

Yay! Yesterday I was discharged from the hand therapy department at St Thomas's (hand therapy still makes me snigger). Have still got some exercises to do to build up the muscles along the side of my hand and a few mild aches as a result but that's it. End of saga after two and a half months. I'll always have my slightly sticky-out pinkie, my two vampire bite-esque scars (which don't really show up in the picture) and the pins which I kept as a memento of my first surgery but will be endeavouring not to trip over again anytime soon. I don't recommend it.
So from this two days after surgery...

...and back

..to this today.

Nearly back to normal

I

Gael Garcia Bernal

This picture was taken last night at the BFI on the South Bank by photographer Ted Williams whom I came across on Twitter just now. Bernal's new film Rudo y Cursi is on my list for this weekends viewing. Trailer is below.

QotD: One Question

If you could ask your boss or teacher ONE question without any repercussions, what would it be?

I don't have a boss as such at the moment because he retired and the replacement has started yet.

There are so many things I would have liked to have asked my old boss which can easily be summed up in one question 'why don't you retire?'

Feeding time behind the National Gallery

around the back of the National Gallery, originally uploaded by Rev Stan.

I don't particularly like pigeons but, as they normally congregate around food, it makes it easy to capture them in flight and I just love the sense of movement and energy that gives.
More pics at www.flickr.com/photos/revstan

Stockwell sunset

Stockwell sunset, originally uploaded by Rev Stan.

Who needs to travel to catch a beautiful sunset.

QotD: Who do you tell your secrets to?

Who do you tell your secrets to?

Depends what the secret is.

Edinburgh fashion

Edinburgh fashion, originally uploaded by Rev Stan.

Am also quite pleased how this picture turned out.

Edinburgh

Edinburgh, originally uploaded by Rev Stan.

Been quiet as I've been in Edinburgh for work for a couple of days and caught up with an old colleague last night rather than sitting in my hotel room on my own.
It is a beautiful city, especially in the sun. Unfortunately Princes Street is being dug up to prepare for the new tram line which will be operational in 2011.
It looks a mess but you can't make public transport without digging up a few roads and there are some interesting shots to be taken like this one through the hoardings around the site.
Took a load of non-tram work shots which can be found, as usual at flickr.

Theatre: All's Well That Ends Well

After a self-imposed virtual drought during May, June's theatre visits kicked off in fine form with a bit of Shakespeare at the National Theatre accompanied by adam, who likes a bit of the Bard.

George Rainsford as Bertram and Oliver Ford Davies as The King

Now I wasn't familiar with All's Well That Ends Well but have since done a bit of research and it is what is sometimes described as Shakespeare noir. It doesn't really fit into the standard comedy envelope that would easily accomodate say Twelfth Night or a Midsummers Night Dream; if you take the story literally it's about a female stalker.
As a result it is quite a strange story  but if you don't worry about that too much and view it more as a fairy tale then it's an entertaining romp with Shakespeare flexing his word play muscles.
The first half is the set up: girl falls for boy who's socially above her, she helps out the King who in return promises to let her marry whomever she chooses. Guess who she chooses? Boy, Bertram is his name, rejects her saying he'll only be her husband if she gets a ring on him he can't remove and has his baby.
He then buggers off to war in Italy. End of part one.
The second half is basically how she does the seemingly impossible. There is a Falstaff-type character thrown in for extra comedy value and hey presto there you have it.

Hasina Haque as Diana and Michelle Terry as Helena

And while the story didn't exactly float my boat, the production and acting more than made up for it. The set designers definitely went for fairy tale with castle turrets almost appearing like gnarly old trees and projections of spiders and bats on the back drop. Clever lighting picked out sparkles and sequins against quite a dark backdrop.
Notable performances came from the wonderful Oliver Ford Davies as the King (last seen doing a brilliantly comic Polonius in the RSC's Hamlet) and Conleth Hill as Parolles.
It's not going to be my favourite play of the year but it certainly dazzled and for £10 a ticket in the Travelex season you can't complain that it wasn't worth the money.
Here's what a few reviewers thought:
Independent
Time Out
Guardian

Is this the best opening to an album ever?

Probably not. But, having recently discovered a load of Placebo albums that I hadn't put on my iPod (my preferred listening device these days) I've rediscovered their very excellent Sleeping With the Enemy album. It has this superb instrumental as it's first track and they often use it as the opener when they play live.
I think it is a cracking way to kick things off.

Bulletproof Cupid

Placebo

Wanted 2: Why?

Saw this report about a possible sequel to the Angelina Jolie action flick Wanted. Well there is only one good reason to do a sequel and that has got to be this:

Wanted 2: More McAvoy please

However it's not yet a given that we'll get to see the fruits of McAvoy's gym sessions again:

It is still unclear if James McAvoy will return to reprise his role as Wesley Gibson, but words are, the producers are trying to get him back.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed though.

QotD: Model Behavior

Would you ever want to be a model? Why or why not?

The body and looks would be great (I'd love to know what it feels like to be well over a foot taller than I am now). But, I get the impression that it is a lot of hard work unless you are right at the top and you have to do a lot of sucking up to people and everything you are modelling you have to pretend is the best thing you've ever worn. I'm not very good at all that fake stuff and I think it would get a bit tedious after a while.

Royal Exchange, City of London

Royal Exchange, originally uploaded by Rev Stan.

Who needs to go to Italy? (Obviously I'd still love to go back to Italy but you don't have to travel far for amazing architecture living in London.)

The rest of my pics from today's wandering through the City are at www.flickr.com/photos/revstan

Sunday cinema: Anything For Her

The last couple of weeks have been one of those rare occasions during the year when nothing at the cinema has grabbed me. But spurred on by Mark Kermode's enthusiastic words while on Five Live about this French film I decided to return to my usual Sunday afternoon haunt: The cinema.
Now as a rule I don't listen or read reviews before seeing a film but I didn't really know much about this and it was talked about amidst reviews for a bunch of films I had no intention of seeing. And I'm glad I listened because it is a neat and entertaining film.
The story is of a young family ripped apart when the wife and mother, Lisa - played wonderfully by Diane Kruger proving she's not just a pretty face - is arrested and convicted of murder. Her husband, school teacher Julien, (Vincent Lindon) unable to bear watching her grow suicidal in prison and with no legal means left to free her decides to take matters into his own hands and break her out.
The more he investigates this undertaking, the more impossible it appears and having risked everything, by the end of the film you are on the edge of your seat willing him overcome the terrible odds and succeed.
It definitely stands alongside Tell No One as great French cinema of recent years.
Other reviews:
Guardian
Telegraph
Time Out



Ear worm as Sean Keavney calls them

Only recently got this song out of my head (drove everyone mad by singing the chorus under my breath repeatedly) but Iyare on BBC 6 has just played it so I'm loving it all over again.
*sings badly, 'I'd like to take you, I'd like to take you to a place I know my black hearted...'*

01 Black Hearted Love

PJ Harvey & John Parish

Time Traveler's Wife trailer

I'd forgotten this was being made into a film. It is one of my favourite books so I really hope they haven't screwed it up. (I'm always nervous about adaptations of books I love after the disaster that was Captain Corelli's Mandolin) The trailer makes me hopeful though, roll on August 14.

Hobbit hints

Despite being quite a Lord of the Rings fan [understatement] the prospect of Guillermo del Toro's Hobbit film has so far failed to raise much above a passing interest in the Stanley residence. However having read this article one eyebrow has been firmly raised in curiosity at the possibility of James McAvoy playing Bilbo.
I really liked him as Mr Tumnus in The Lion, the Witch and Wardrobe and think he'd do a pretty good job as the younger Bilbo

Two actors I'd least like to play Jeff Buckley

Apparently there is a film about the wonderful but tragic life of singer Jeff Buckley and James Franco and Robert Pattinson, if reports are to be believed, are vying for the role. I don't know who I'd want to play the part but it certainly isn't them. I'm thinking Joaquin Phoenix but his build is all wrong, he's too big. It needs to be someone who can sing for sure. I know Robert Pattinson can sing, well he mumbles very well and could learn a thing or two from Buckley singing softly but clearly. Haven't a clue whether James Franco can sing.
Here's one of my favourite songs

04 Lilac Wine

Jeff Buckley

Mum update or when medicine gets it wrong

This isn't an easy post to write but it's something I've wanted to record for a while. People ask for updates about Mum and there isn't an easy or succinct answer so forgive the long post.
She would've died several times during the last few weeks, well months really because she's been in hospital since the end of March, had it not been for medical intervention. And, on the surface, this seems like a good thing. While it has bought us some time with her, it is at a cost.
After numerous theories and tests we aren't much closer to really knowing what is causing all of her medical problems the most immediate danger being inconsistent breathing. The doctors change their minds constantly but the latest is that she has three potential problems or combinations of these three: Parkinson's syndrome, slow growing benign tumour in her brain and an as yet unidentified additional progressive neurological condition.
Not suprisingly the prognosis ain't great. The best we can hope for is that she gets well enough to leave hospital and go into a nursing home, although a doctor said this week she may never be well enough to even do that.
Which comes back to my comment about the medical intervention. Modern medical science is a wonderful thing but sometimes the balance is horribly wrong.
My Mum has essentially been kept alive so she can die slowly. Now that sounds melodramatic but it is true. We found out recently that when she was transferred to Papworth they were struggling to keep her alive, so why did they? Just a couple of weeks ago she was critically ill, had to be bagged and ended up back on the ventilator she needed when in ICU at Peterborough. So why do it when this is about the best she is going to get?
I firmly believe that an animal would have been treated with more dignity and compassion than Mum.
A good day for her is maybe sitting in the chair beside her bed for a bit - outside if its warm - a bit of suction ie a tube inserted into her lungs to get rid of the build up of mucus which is a pleasant for her as it sounds, maybe the occasional need to be bagged to help her rid her lungs of a build up of CO2 which she can't always get rid of herself and a mask or venitlator to help her breath when her O2 levels drop. She might even have a panic attack where she feels like she's suffocating. That is a GOOD day. And she is only going to get worse, slowly or get an infection.

Picture my Mum took last Saturday on my camera phone

Along the way the doctors have agreed to a DNR, we've even had palliative care nurses involved and Mum has planned her funeral only for the doctors to change their minds and intervene when there was a crisis.
They have now stabilised her enough on anti-seizure medication to finally remove the trachy tube but they don't know how long this medication will keep the symptoms at bay. They've talked about not ventilating again (ie sticking a tube down her throat or doing another trachy) if she needs it but then we've been there before.
She still needs an oxygen mask at times and not one of those flimsy plastic ones, this looks more like a second world war gas mask which she can't put on without assistance. She's still hooked up to lots of machines and taking copious amounts of medication.
It's horrible seeing her suffering, she is frail and down to skin and bone. It breaks my heart. And on top I am so angry with the doctors for putting her through this.
Every night I go to bed hoping that she has a major breathing episode, that the doctors can't stop, to put her out of her misery. Mother nature, after all, has been trying to do it for nearly three months now.
When all of this is finally over my sister and I have vowed to do whatever we can to change the system so that no one else has to endure this and no one else's family has to standby helplessly and watch.

Muse news or the stress of trying to buy tickets

Muse ticket day dawned.
At work 8.59am computer on, reloading the page until the magic 'buy tickets' appear. And there it was date and seats chosen click and the overwhelming demand message comes up so I was off refreshing like crazy. Three windows open, refreshing each in turn. Agonising over the bit that said wait 30 seconds to refresh.
Would my constant refreshing put me to the back of the cyber queue?
Swapping emails with a colleague about each others progress
You got anything yet?
No
Neither have I
Starting to despair thinking it a conspiracy, planning attack for general sale release tomorrow
Oh god we'll be in the pigeon seats
It was a tense 30 mins and then lo the magic payment screen appeared. Further tense seconds ticked away as I frantically punched in my details
What if the site crashes or something half way through and it's sold out before I get on again?
Then the second magic screen came up: 'You have bought seat tickest for Muse on blah blah' but wait, then my heart sank: 'this is not a confirmation'. That apparently was to be sent to my (home) email within the next 4 hours.
The next FOUR hours!!!
And subject to the funds being successfully transferred from my chosen credit card.
What if I put the credit card number in wrong???

Pic taken on my camera phone at Wembley in 2007

So now I was logged onto the webmail page of my home internet provider and refreshing that every ten minutes to check for new messages.
Finally the golden confirmation came through but still subject to payment being received.
I daren't check my email for the rest of the day just in case. But there have been no other messages since so now I'm allowing myself to get excited. I don't know what seats we've got but they are fan pre-sale tickets so I'm hopeful but above all
I'M GOING TO SEE MUSE!!!!
To celebrate here is the opening track (well after their classical intro music) from the the last live gig I saw of theirs which just puts the biggest grin on my face and never fails to make me jump around and do silly things like attempt to play air guitar

02 Knights Of Cydonia

Muse

I

QotD: Can't Stop Listening to...

Today is Repeat Day, so we want to know: what song do you have currently have on repeat? Bonus points if you share it with us!

It's not something you listen to over and over but every day so that why I've chosen it and it's this Yoga Nidra relaxation/meditation I've just bought off iTunes (It's part of a longer meditation that is in sections). It is just soooo caaalming and relaaaaxing and is just the first part. It's 11 minutes, enjoy.

02 Yoga Nidra Part 1_ Survey of Body

Swami Jnaneshvara Bharati

My inner teen is coming out...

...or something because I shamelessly love this clip

Days gone by

Days gone by, originally uploaded by Rev Stan.

Love finding these little signs of a different time around London. In some ways it makes me envious that there were simpler times, slower times... but not for long.

Fountain fun at the Festival Hall

Fountain fun #2, originally uploaded by Rev Stan.

The interactive fountain is back. It is basically a square divided into half then half again. The sides of each square are marked by sprays which appear and disappear in different configurations. You can run into the middle and then be surrounded by walls of spurting water and have to wait for the next change to 'escape' unless you want to get really wet.
You don't get long to move position and you never know quite what configuration the next series of sprays is going to be.
As you can imagine there is much fun to be had on a sunny day, of which there have been a few lately.

Muse news

Excitement levels have just hit the roof in the Stanley residence. Just got an email through from Muse's website and they've announced European tour dates for their 'The Resistance' tour.
*screams and jumps around the room for a bit*
No one else will know that Mosh and I both predicted they would play London's O2 Arena before Christmas but we did, so we both feel smug. They are playing two dates in November and I hope they play in the round like Metallica did although Mosh doesn't think they will.
Anyway that is by the by because all will soon be revealed as general tickets go on sale on Friday with fan pre-sale to be announced (so that'll be Weds or Thurs then).
*screams and jumps around a bit more*
As the first date on the tour is the 22 October I predict an album release date of earlier that month.