Olympic Rowing, Eton Dorney

From Olympic Rowing

Today was my first day as a volunteer Gamesmaker working in the technology team at the Eton Dorney rowing centre.  The term technology is somewhat inappropriate when applied to what we are doing, which is distributing printed results (PRD) to various parties around the event site, unless you consider pressing a button on a photocopier a high tech activity. But although the job itself is totally trivial, the atmosphere working as part of the Gamesmaker team at the Eton venue is actually fantastic.  There must be over 500 of us on the site doing everything from race timing to hand holding the athletes, with only a relatively few professionals backing us up, so the smooth running of the even is totally dependent on the Gamesmaker input.
Our office is in the boathouse which is at the hub of the venue, so we can get a great view of the action just be sticking our head out of the door.  An added bonus of the PRD role is that our pass gives us access to all areas of the site so we are free to wander around the athletes and press areas and in the public viewing areas.  So when there is not much happening in terms of new results to process, we can soak up in the atmosphere and watch the race from the finish line.

Malta

From Malta

A short notice customer visit to Malta for a couple of days.  All went well so hopefully I could be back here doing an implementation within the next two months.  No chance to really see much of Malta on this trip. Maybe next time?  Now need to get back home to see the Olympic Opening Ceremony, again!

Olympic Opening Ceremony

What a show! You're in for a treat on Friday evening.
Sorry, no photos yet as that would spoil it for you, but check back on Saturday for an updated link.
We had a look around the parts of the Olympic Park that were actually open on the preview day, but many of the venues such as the velodrome, were still out of bounds. Anyway, good to have the opportunity for an advance view.  We will be back for another visit in a few weeks time for the Paralympic athletics.

From Olympic Opening Ceremony

Update, 22:20, Friday:
So, by now you will have had your minds blown by Danny Boyle's fantastic Isles of Wonder. (Surely it will be Sir Danny in six month's time?).  Here are a few reminders.

BT River Of Music - Somerset House

From BT River of Music

Another series of musical events as part of the Cultural Olympiad.  Of the six available venues, we went for the European Stage at Somerset House, partly because I wanted the chance to see the Penguin Cafe Orchestra perform, and partly because Somerset House seemed as if it should be an interesting music venue.
The evening did not start well for me as I was refused entry because I was carrying illegal substances - in this case a Pret club sandwich and a packet of cheese and chive crisps.  I was forced to sit outside listening to the first act whilst eating my sandwiches, in the company of a sizeable crowd of fellow potential spectators who had been similarly caught out by the previously unannounced food policy.
I'm not sure that I missed too much. The first act was a Finnish punk accordion player accompanied by a beat-box, dressed like a character out of Mad Max. Very weird!
Next up was Mariza, a fado singer from Portugal, who put on a good performance with loads of audience interaction.  It would have been helpful to have karaoke captions though, so that we could have seen what we were meant to be singing along to.  She handed over to an Afro-Spanish singer called Buika, who launched into a series of very self-indulgent numbers, which mainly consisted of her wailing and screeching like a demented version of Bjork, and went on far too long.
Which was a shame, as it encroached on the time available for the headlining act, the Penguin Cafe Orchestra.  Under the direction of Arthur Jeffes (son of the original leader, the late Simon Jeffes) they sped though a selection of their greatest hits.  I say hits, but of course none of the Penguin's tunes were actually hits back in the day. But they were the sound track to countless TV programmes, films, and adverts, and as a result they are firmly etched in the conciousness of anyone who was around at the time.  A fitting way to end the evening, in what turned out to be a perfect musical entertainment venue.  Well done to BT and Somerset House (apart from the sandwiches).

Ealing Blues Festival

From Ealing Blues Festival

Not part of the Cultural Olympiad, the Ealing Blues Festival is an annual favourite, this year celebrating not only its 25th anniversary but also the 50th anniversary of blues in Ealing.  Possibly a little known fact that Ealing was the birthplace of the UK rhythm 'n' blues scene, with the opening of the Ealing Club by Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies in March 1962.  The club's artistes included such notables as the Rolling Stones, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, The Yardbirds, et. al, not to mention the launchpad for the world renowned amp prowess of Jim Marshall.
I only had time to take in the first few acts as the evening's entertainment was to be the BT River of Music festival at Somerset House (see next blog entry), but I managed to see three sets on the main stage and a couple on stage three.  The highlight for me was a storming set from Bad Influence, who were on particularly good form that afternoon. They were obviously crowd favourites too as the main tent was packed by the end of their performance.

The Owl and the Pussycat, Brentford Lock

From Owl and Pussycat

Finally, culture comes to Brentford.  This was the premier of a performance by artistes from the Royal Opera House of a specially commissioned opera, as yet another part of the 2012 Cultural Olympiad.  The librettist is Terry Jones (of Monty Python fame) with a score by Anne Dudley (of Art of Noise fame). The event was staged on a specially modified barge on the Grand Union Canal, right outside our apartment block, so no excuse for not seeing it then.  Except that all the tickets had sold out by the time I was in a position to make a booking.  No problem, the residents' garden at The Island fronts onto the canal so we watched it from there. That's why the performers often have their back to the camera.
The story broadly followed the version in Lear's poem, with an additional prequel explaining how Owl got to meet Pussycat in the first place.  Enjoyable performances from the principals and the supporting characters, particularly the 'ladies' from the cat protection league, although the music was nothing to go home humming about.  If you look closely at the audience in the background you can just make out the rather glum looking faces of Dudley and Jones (9th and 10th from right respectively), who were clearly not too impressed about some aspect of the performance.
Anyway, the performance has continued its tour around London on the Grand Union Canal, to largely positive reviews.  But a first for Brilliant Brentford!

Latitude 2012, day three/four

From Latitude 2012

The rain started to come down quite heavily in the early hours of Saturday morning, and continued all through the night.  By the time we woke up then next day, the campsite was looking distinctly Glastonburyish.
There were not really any musical acts that I wanted to see in the first part of the day's programme, so we spent much of the afternoon in the comedy and literary arenas.
As the evening approached, we waded over to the  iArena to catch a lively performance from the up-and-coming Django Django.  I had to cut this short to get back to the Obelisk Arena to see Laura Marling, who just seems to get better each year.  For the day's finale we took up our positions close to the front to get a good view of the festival's headliners, Elbow.  These guys really know how to do festivals, and Guy Garvey has the ability to get the audience eating out of his hand.  It doesn't do any harm that they have one of the most audience friendly sing-along songs since hey Jude, with their hit One Day Like This.  A classic way to finish off the day on a musical high.  

From Latitude 2012

We awoke on the Sunday to glorious sunshine. Hooray!  The day's entertainment kicked off with a recital by the world renowned Chinese pianist, Lang Lang, who treated us to a virtuoso performance of various piano classics from Chopin, Liszt and Brahms. Next up, in the coveted Sunday Midday slot (actually 1pm) was Rufus Wainwright and his band.  Great to listen to while lying in the sun, sipping the first pint of cider of the day. I was feeling too lazy to get up and we ended up listening to the next act, Alabama Shakes,who delivered some impressive blues/gospel songs, particularly considering the relative youthfulness of their lead singer.

Then:

 Thomas Dolby, St Vincent, Simple Minds, Bat For Lashes,

Buena Vista Social Club, Paul Weller

Latitude 2012, day one/two

This year we decided to abandon the premium camping field after our boggy experience of last year, and slum it with the masses. As a consequence, I needed to arrive on site at the start of the festival, on Thursday afternoon, in order to bag a decent camping spot, rather than rocking up mid Friday afternoon as we have done in previous years. We also planned to up the luxury factor another notch by bringing a massive self-inflating air bed, which meant that I had to do two round trips just to lug all our gear to the site.

From Latitude 2012

Entertainment was fairly sparse on the first day, but I enjoyed an energetic performance by the Aldborough Young Musicians Ensemble. By Friday, the weather took a turn for the worse as I went to pick up Alison from Diss station. By the time we got to the arena, we had missed a few of the earlier acts, but I was able to catch an act going by the rather unlikely name of War on Drugs, which was hard to classify, but certainly provided a pleasant ambient atmosphere. The headlining act was Bon Iver, who put on a much more heavyweight stage show than I would have imagined possible, based on their more ethereal studio albums.

Posted with Blogsy

Paradise Gardens Festival

From Paradise Gardens Festival

This was the first event (for me) in what promises to be a veritable cultural feast that will be offered to Londoners and visitors to the capital over the next few weeks as part of the 2012 Cultural Olympiad.
Paradise Gardens is rather a misnomer for the site on which this festival was held.  It looks more like a disused gravel pit, which perhaps it was.  The best bit IMHO was the jugs of cocktails served up be the overworked bar staff.  The musical line-up was not that inspiring, possibly being aimed at a somewhat younger and more urban crowd than us oldies.   We watched a rather formulaic performance by Dreadzone, who I had liked previously in the context of a chilled out Rhythm Festival. Here they really only seemed to be going though the motions, with most of their sound coming from a backing track.  The band I would really have liked to see, Alabama Three, was on the Sunday line-up, so I never got to see them.
Our main reason for coming on the Saturday was to see the Silo D firework display.  This was a mixed media show to commemorate the death of 73 workers that resulted from an explosion of a government TNT factory in nearby Silvertown in 1917.  The show itself was delivered in a rather worthy, if uninspiring manner.  The fireworks were certainly the highlight.
Our exit from the park was somewhat challenging and disconcerting, with security people apparently blocking every possible exit.  Somehow we managed to escape and get onto a DLR train heading back home.