The Aliens at the Bush Theatre

Last night I trekked over to Shepherd's Bush to see Annie Baker's play The Aliens with Ralph Little and Mackenzie Crook. The theatre space was tiny and an outstretched arm, even from the third row, would definitely have chafed a real life actor if one had so desired. This was theatre in the round and we entered seemingly by the back of a building, passing corrugated iron shutters, wheelie bins, gravel paths with the odd stray weed. The beginning of the play was as quiet and unspectacular as the end. Mackenzie Crook's character Jasper sloping idly onto the stage with what seemed like the mother of all hangovers. Then on ambles Ralph Little as KJ who immediately sings us one of many songs about maths and philosophy whilst concocting magic mushroom tea. After musings about wind farms, poetry and a glimpse at the underlying tortures of woman trouble in Jasper's life, Evan, a young cafe worker
played by Olly Alexander, fumbles onto the stage and into (or intertwined in) the the lives of  these two unlikely allies.

The play presents us a small slice of the trio's lives and though there were points in the action where I expected sudden energetic bursts the narrative would then return to its naturally slow-paced musing. The performances were really strong and genuinely funny, the american accents faultless and the sweet-natured characters impossible not to fall for, but there was something about the play that seemed to lack. I couldn't quite put my finger on it and at first I thought it was bad pacing. However after reading other reviews I found a summary of my own feelings that I couldn't say better:

This is a surprisingly tricky play, which sometimes treads very near the edge of making a statement far larger than its characters are able to think of, but then steps back and contents itself with, well, being itself. Just like its characters. So while we sometimes expect an explosion of feeling, and have to endure an unnecessary interval, what we are left with is a gentle ache - and a sense of compassion for life’s losers, its incapables and its hurting souls.

Quote by Aleks Sierz 

The Aliens is at the Bush Theatre till October 16th.

End of Kodachrome

Steve McCurry is the photographer who shot on the last role of Kodachrome ever to be produced after Kodak stopped production of the slide film this year. "I want to take the last roll with me and somehow make every frame count just as a way to honor the memory and always be able to look back with fond memories at how it capped and ended my shooting Kodachrome" said McCurry.

See Steve's work on his website. Too many amazing images to pic favorites! 

www.stevemccurry.com

"Nothing is more hallowing than the union of kindred spirits in art. At the moment of meeting, the art lover transcends himself. At once he is and is not. He catches a glimpse of Infinity, but words cannot voice his delight, for the eye has no tongue. Freed from the fetters of matter, his spirit moves in the rhythm of things. It is thus that art becomes akin to religion and ennobles mankind. It is this which makes a masterpiece something sacred. "

Okakura Kakuzo, The Book of Tea

Holy Art

Holidaying in Tuscany means being immersed in religious art everywhere you go. It's not just the cathedrals and churches that are magnificent, the shrines dotted about the alleyways and streets are just as beautiful.

Yellow

I'd really like something bright yellow for my wardrobe this summer. I don't really suit the colour though but I think I could get away with a skirt or perhaps a shiny handbag. I like that Jameela (in the pic) has had the bottle to wear this dress with red boots. She's looks like a fruity lollipop. Ace!

Arty Farty Stanislavski

2010 is all about me finally trying out some of my old interests and seeing if they still give me the thrill and excitement my desk job just never will. I once was very active on the amateur stage ('darling!') but after many teenage years spent being told, on the chance occasions I met a professional in the field, 'not to put your daughter on the stage Mrs Worthington' that the joyous side of this activity waned and I went in a different creative direction. Recently a friend took an am dram course and I went to see him in a play as part of the Camden Fringe festival. It was really great and I was so jealous afterwards and a little bit gutted that I had stopped being all arty farty actorly and had become a nine to fiver with less and less confidence in my creative self.

So I've signed up and now find myself in strange warm up exercises, jiggling my shoulders and hips in a semi-circle of other 30 somethings of a Saturday morning whilst making high and low-pitched noises and feeling all silly. I can't say if I like it yet but I like the feeling that I'm exploring a different creative route that I enjoyed very much as a teenager. If I end up in the local church production of 'Joseph and is technicolour Jill Sander trench coat for Uniqlo' or I end up in Hollywood on a 500 a day calorie diet and looking all botoxed and tanned I don't mind. For now its just an adventure.

Pictures wise for the post I'm showing my most aspired to artists in the field, most in productions where I think they excelled. Julie Walters, Juliet Stevenson, Leonardo Dicaprio, James McAvoy and Anne-Marie Duff.

What I bought in the sales

Oooh naughty, I have spent all of my December paycheck and its January 6th. Hmm, looks like I'll be shopping in the basics food range until February. Ridiculously I started my sales shopping two days before Christmas whilst strolling through the very quiet shopping area near my mum's house in Teesside. A stress free, practically empty department store just doesn't happen in London so this was something of a novelty.

Anyhow I am now the proud owner of the cream/white leather dress from French Connection that I've had my eye on all year but couldn't buy thanks to the £250 price tag! I acquired it for £150 which is still massively too expensive for my wage but in my defense, I HAD TO HAVE IT. So what if I have to suck my stomach in for it to look good. It does fit, I swear.

Anyway I went mad buying lots of little tops etc... and have to say it was well worth it now I have something different to wear every day but I hate being very poor and so now think I should have showed a little more self-restraint.

PS. The Fiorelli bag is the same design but I got in light pink same as the t.shirt colour and the necklace wasn't even in the sale ha!

The man who said "I'd rather be lucky than good" saw deeply into life. People are afraid to face how great a part of life is dependent on luck. It's scary to think so much is out of one's control. There are moments in a match when the ball hits the top of the net, and for a split second, it can either go forward or fall back. With a little luck, it goes forward, and you win. Or maybe it doesn't, and you lose.

I watched Match Point for the second time last night. The first time was in a cinema in Dijon, France when I had nothing better to do. I really like it although it's not your usual Woody Allen film. It's not full of neurotic dialogue, things seem to be said a lot more by facial expressions. I really like Scarlett Johansson and Matthew Goode in this.

Went for Acupuncture last night. Recently I've had this overwhelming desire to go and have some but I couldn't really tell you why. There weren't as many needles involved as I thought and they weren't all on my back but in my stomach and legs. I wouldn't say it was relaxing but I could feel all the points tingling and sensations from the needles. The acupuncturist also took a much more thorough set of notes on my current health then any doctor would. Here's a blurb on it for the uninitiated.

Traditional acupuncture is an holistic healthcare system that regards pain and illness, whether physical or mental, to be a sign that the body is out of balance. Because traditional acupuncture considers every bodily function to be connected and interdependent, it recognises the role emotions play in illness and disease. The overall aim of treatment is to restore the body's equilibrium. By inserting ultra-fine, sterile needles into specific acupuncture points, a traditional acupuncturist seeks to re-establish the free flow of qi to restore balance and trigger the body's natural healing response.

Still haven't really created anything new yet to add to my site. I really hoped I would have created something fresh and inspired to put up here but no. I'm training to run a 10k race and so when I get a rush of energy I tend to stick my trainers on and go out jogging.
I often make plans in my mind to set a side some time for writing, drawing, baking an apple tart the "french way" perhaps, but it doesn't ever seem to happen.
My father is visiting soon and we intend to go to some exhibitions including the latest Picasso expo. Perhaps I will find inspiration then.
Off to make a cup of tea now. That's something I suppose. x

The Start

This is it. This is the end of worrying about whether these thoughts and works are interesting enough for people to see. The end of years spent thinking about showing this stuff and the beginning of thinking less and just going for it. It seems to have been a simple decision in the end so goodness knows what's taken me so long. Sometimes I feel like I get obsessed with trying to figure out the point of a thing or the need to know how a thing will turn out. This has created an inertia within me. So hopefully these sentences are the start of some movement in my creative life. I hope if you do follow this train of thought of mine, that it will bring you some pleasure or at the very least, interest you enough to waste a little time on ;-)

I'm not one for keeping a diary because I don't like routine. I'll not be writing about politics or the state of the economy because I'm not interested and don't really know what's going on. You can expect some insight into photography and art and literature maybe. I might review or present things that I like, that I think you might too. I'll also be brave and put my stuff up here and I'm hoping this little space of mine will motivate me to make new work. Be that a cup cake or a canvas, a doodle on a napkin or a list of nonsense words from my the recesses of my mind. Please drop by when you have the time.