Wednesday, September 17, 2014

London England September 10, 2014


Perhaps you live in a cave or under a rock. Otherwise, most likely you know that I was in London, England last week. It was a quick in n' out. Fly out of Boston Monday night, arrive at Heathrow Tuesday morning, then fly back Thursday evening. Yes, I am crazy.

It's not often that you get the opportunity to do something that will occur only once in your lifetime and you know it. This was one. My friend for 48 years, Robert Spileos is an avid Kate Bush fan. So much so that he joined the fan club many years ago. He must be clairvoyant. It turns out that fan club members received a code to use when tickets for a 22 night stand at the Evertim Hammersmith Apollo went on sale. Tickets sold out in 15 minutes. Robert planned to buy 1 ticket and go by himself. I told him if he was able to procure a ticket, to get one for me as well. I would join him.

He got the tickets. We went. It was one of the most memorable concerts of my lifetime. I've been to a few. There are no photos from the concert here. Ms Bush made a special request to those lucky enough to be attending the shows, please no iphones, cameras, ipads etc. She didn't want anything to detract from what happened on stage. 

I now understand why. Our eyes barely strayed from the stage, making sure we wouldn't miss the spectacular visual event unfolding. We strained to hear every note, every word sung or spoken so that we would miss nothing on the auditory side. Kate's voice sounded like honey. And her vocals were augmented by 5 back-up singers. Add sound effects that went from prerecorded voices to sounds of birds singing and helicopters. It was not an ordinary concert. It was a spectacular, an extravaganza. It wasn't ordinary, it was Kate Bush.

I can't put it all into words. This review in The Guardian last week is spot on; kate bush "before the dawn"

Overall, London was very, very good to us. The entire trip was not ordinary. It was magic. Did I dream it?

Here's what happened in condensed form;

heathrow, express to paddington. tube to queensway. thistle kensington gardens, bayswater rd. that tub is trying to kill us. the victoria 10A Strathearn Pl W2 2NH. Kalamaras, Inverness Mews. Highgate Hill, Muswell Hill Road, the cabbie who took 15 pounds even though the meter read 16.80. salt caramel fudge, clotted cream fudge. Kensington Palace, Barclay Bikes, Buckingham Palace. Maharajah, Queensway St., Eventim Hammersmith Apollo, Before The Dawn, free earplugs, Ms. Bush, Gent wearing the English Settlement t-shirt, the 4 beautiful people who gave us the papers shot from the confetti blaster. Del Casa, Queensway St. (Thanks Yusef. sorry we didn't make it for lunch). Chrissie Hynde on the Beeb. David Cameron says "effin" to a group of Scottish railroad engineers widows on the Beeb. Trafalgar Square, Lord Nelson, the blue cock, Royal Guards Museum, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, House of Commons/Lords, The Eye, The Thames, Denisa at Thistle, Huxley's Heathrow (thanks Marta. I hope you got the weekend off). met folks from Germany, Albuquerque, Dallas, Ireland, Poland, Greenland, Morroco, Afghanistan, Rafak from Nigeria, Surrey and more. The Circle, District, Central, Bakerloo, Piccadilly lines. home again

I managed to take a few snaps in the short time we were in London. I hope you like them.

Some of our fine feathered friends relaxing in Kensington Gardens.



The Queen is dead. God Save The Queen


 Even in West London, Red Sox Nation


 Down in the Tube Station at (nearly) Midnight


Lovers of Today


 Man in Black in repose


That's it for now.

Sunday, September 7, 2014

photos on exhibit

I didn't realize how long it's been. I haven't blogged since November.

Anyone that's ever had an interaction with me has been bombarded by my obsession with New Orleans. Give me 10 minutes and you'll know all about Mardi Gras and the African-American sub-cultures that grew out of segregation. 15 minutes and you'll know of my passion for the Mardi Gras Indian sub-culture in particular.

I managed to get some of my photos of Mardi Gras Indians displayed at the local Starbucks earlier this year (or was that last year?). But because of the location in the store, no one noticed.

Now I have 16 of my photos hanging at Nancy's Airfield Cafe in Stow MA. If you haven't been to Nancy's, it's worth the trip from anywhere. Killer breakfasts and wonderful dinners. Locally sourced ingredients and an ever changing menu.

Nancy, in addition to her culinary artistry is also a sculptor. She really enjoys the opportunity to let artists show their work in her Cafe.

She also likes to support the artists by staging a reception for them and their work. To that end, on September 14th from 3:30 - 5:00 pm, I'll be having a reception/viewing at Nancy's. Refreshments will be served,. Please come by and view my phtoss, some of which have never been seen before.

The address is 302 Boxboro Rd. in Stow.

Hope to see you there.