Big In Japan

Me and the band in Tokyo

Six thousand miles away in Japan, there’s a band that sell thousands of records and top the charts. They’re called Abingdon Boys School.

Abingdon is a town in Oxfordshire with a population of around 34,500 and there is a boys school called Abingdon School. The band have never played in the UK, let alone Abingdon, so why the name?

I was out on holiday in Japan and curious to meet this band that seemed to have a strange link with Oxfordshire.

Initial research showed me fan sites that claim the name links to Radiohead, as the band met and formed at Abingdon School.

However, the band claim this is not really the case.

Ra-ras, ruffles and unisex unitards – fashion gone bonkers

It was my day off work today so I decided to go to Reading for a day trip. “Ah-ha, mistake number one” I hear you cry. Well, I have friends there who I was meeting for dinner. Which was lovely. But my real mistake was deciding to do a little bit of shopping first.

I’d been to the Oracle Centre in Reading as a 15 year old when I was in the town for a regular swimming competition. In the sessions I wasn’t swimming I’d escape to the shopping centre and eat Millie’s Cookies and drink McDonald’s milkshakes (the diet of a true swimming champ). I remember the centre as a shopping mecca.

I think if I had returned as a 15 year old today I would have enjoyed myself more. The choice of shops wasn’t bad, but the clothes in them were.

Topshop was awash with horrid florid flowery skirts and dresses. Which even my purple-eyeshadow-clad German teacher wouldn’t have worn in 1983. If it wasn’t strewn with violent violets, dresses were covered in some kind of Pocahontas-themed tassles. All the clothes seemed to be constructed for pre-pubescents. They had no room for hips or breasts, and by the shape of them, I could have been in Topman. Don’t even get me started on playsuits.

H&M seemed to have had some kind of identity crisis, not knowing if it was young and trendy or savvy workwear. It just had drab trousers and lurid polyester tops.

Shoes were either vertiginously high, or had some some kind of Roman bondage theme going on. Office, Faith, Topshop and Zara all had identical pairs in.

I know I sound like an old fogey but I don’t get it. When I was 15, I could have worn these clothes – I would have looked a plonker but they would have fit. But I would never have had the money to buy a purple flowery lycra dress for £45. Now, I have a job, I could buy a dress that much. But I wouldn’t because it’s hideous. So who is buying this tat?

I know this sounds like the rant of an old biddy, but I feel seriously out of the fashion loop.

(PS – Whilst I’m in ranting mode… What the blazes has happened to Cinnamon Grahams?? Now called ‘Curiously Cinnamon’. WHAT?? Or sorry, to coin a Topshop-sporting, Skins-loving yoof, WTF??? According to ‘dontpanicpikey‘ “these people are cereal renamers and there should be a law against it”. Hear, hear Mr Pikey.)

Europe on film

 

I watched Before Sunrise last night, and apart from turning me slightly soppily romantic for a couple of hours, it served as an excellent piece of propaganda for the city of Vienna. If you’ve not seen it, the premise is that a French girl meets an American guy on the train from Budapest to Paris. They get on well and decide to get off the train in Vienna and explore until, well, the eponymous sunrise.

For the hour of the film that is in Vienna it serves as a cinematic tour of the city. Not the obviously touristy bits, but the more normal but special places. The funfare, walks along the river, grungy pubs and clubs, street corners and open air cafes. I’ve not yet been to Vienna, but I want to go now! It got me thinking what other films should have been sponsored by a European city’s tourism board…

 

France

Paris – Obviously it’s been in numerous films, but it’s at its most beautiful in Amelie. I can’t help but as soon as I start watching, wishing I was in Paris. A less fantastical, glossy version of Paris is seen in 2 Days in Paris, but still a great snapshot of Paris in all its cafe culture and artisan bars.

 

Germany

Berlin – Goodbye Lenin! It may be 1989 Berlin, but it still looks fabulous. Also in a Cold War chic kinda way, The Lives of Others also makes me long for one of my favourite cities on earth.

 

Belgium

Bruges – Slightly obvious, In Bruges. Brilliantly mocks the twee elements of this small Belgian city, whilst conversely showing how pretty and charming the place is.

 

Ukraine

Although it paints a bleak and rather agricultural picture, Everything is Illuminated shows a country which probably doesn’t have too many Western cinematic moments.

 

Italy

Venice – I suppose all Bond films do a great promotional job on all the exotic locations they film in, but for me, the scenes in Venice in Casino Royale really stuck out. The water and the city looked beautiful, crisp, clean and exciting. Whereas in reality, I think Venice is a little more overcrowded and pigeon infested.

 

Greece

Mamma Mia! certainly does a good job at promoting a holiday on a Greek island. It looks stunning – clear water, sandy beaches and friendly locals. In reality, there is usually a terrible sewage problem, the streets smell of vomit from the British binge-drinkers the night before and the locals aren’t so friendly.

 

I’ve tried to think of places that are representing themselves (rather than the cheapo method of film production where they film in the Czech Republic or Hungary and pretend it’s medieval France). I’ll add to the list as more films hit me…

A tour of Oxford (punctuated by pubs)

So technically, a pub crawl, although I don’t want to label it such.

I’ve been in Oxford for about 6 months and one of the city’s most endearing features is it’s abundance of good watering holes. In terms of nightlife after 11pm, it’s slightly lacking, but for an after work beer or a lazy afternoon’s drinking, it’s perfect.

A few weeks ago, together with my trusted drinking companion Martina, we decided to test out the latter.

The Jericho Tavern, Walton Street

Our first point of call, and we eased ourselves into the afternoon with a diet coke. Very rock and roll. I’d only been to the JT in the evening and thought it was quite a good place. Lively, nice (if a little overpriced) grub and some very attractive clientele. However in the mid-afternoon it was a little lacking. The clientele was still attractive (it was really only myself and Martina in there) but there was no atmosphere. To replace the lack of atmosphere they decided to blast us with music. It didn’t work, so we drank up our pop and left.

In its defence, it is a music venue by night, so maybe we just didn’t start in the best place.  (**)

Jude the Obscure, Walton Street

Much better. Comfy armchairs, a good table, the low hubbub of civilised conversation and our first beer of the voyage. I really like this pub and in future will completely bypass the JT in favour of its next door neighbour. I’m a big fan of the pop art and poster bills on the way to the toilet.

I’ve just realised that all sounded a bit pretentious. Sorry. But I think the pub is going for a bit of an arty vibe.  (****)

 

Doe, a deer, a female deer…

Ahhh the great British countryside. Here are some pics I took while strolling round Knole Park, in Sevenoaks, Kent.

Currently the car park and house is shut, but we still had a good walk about and took pretty pictures of deer. Who apparently get fed too many sandwiches by tourists. We of course knew better and just hoped it wasn’t rutting season.

Snowmageddon!!

Oh blog, how I have deserted thee!!

Well, this week sees a return to bolsoversion and hopefully a renewed vigour in updating this little beastie. Perhaps spurred on my esteemed friend and former collegue’s foray into this blogsphere, I have vowed to be better.

This week has been the week where news went mad, and anyone would have think one of the horsemen of the apocalypse was called ‘Snowy’. Working in regional news, we’ve gone into snow overdrive, with picture galleries, travel updates, school closures and snow features. It’s public service broadcasting at its finest.

That said, I have very much enjoyed spending my days looking at photos of giant snow rabbits and naked ladies from Faringdon jiggling about in the white stuff.

Holes + Walls + Celebrities = Genius

I could hardly contain my glee as I flicked through the Sky TV guide to find that tonight on TV was a programme called ‘Hole in the Wall’. On just before ‘Strictly’, I was intrigued and was informed by the guide that it was a new series where: “Dale Winton hosts this entertainment show in which celebrities, under team captains Darren Gough and Anton Du Beke, try to force themselves through holes of differing shapes and sizes to win £10,000 for the charity of their choice”.

Hang on. Celebrities force themselves through holes in a wall that moves towards them? It sounded truly terrible. I’m glad to report that it was just as terrible as the guide predicted. Yet I will be watching every week.

The first omen of the programme’s dire-ness was Dale himself. He looked embarrassed to be there. Then my fears were compounded as out bounded the team captains and their celebrity team-mates – clad from neck to foot in silver lycra jumpsuits. Noel Fielding in the Mighty Boosh may have made silver shiny jumpsuits look quite fetching… the sight of six celebs looking like futuristic condoms was less so. However the pretty one from Blue Peter, Zoe, did actually look quite sweet in hers. Until they made her simulate some kind of sex position with Anton du Beke and then it all felt a bit wrong.

The premise of the programme is that a contestant stands in the ‘play area’ which is a ledge in front of a pool of water. Advancing towards them is a red wall with a hole cut out – perhaps in a star shape or a leap frog position. The contestant then has to replicate this shape so they pass through the hole cleanly. If they do not, they fall in the pool. Hilarious.

I cringed from start to finish. Whether it was the sight of someone’s silver arse being shoved out of the pool by an over-enthusiastic and damp team-mate or the aura of desperation clinging to all involved I’m not sure. Cringing aside, it was one of the funniest things I’ve seen in ages. I think it brought me back to fond memories of kids’ gameshows like Get Your Own Back or Run The Risk. (In fact, I think Dave Benson Phillips would be a cracking celeb contestant).

As a friend of mine commented as I explained the programme to her, if Alan Partridge had suggested this to the BBC it would have been laughed off. (Actually, Bill Oddie would probably be up for being a HITW contestant too…) Yet it has been suggested, commissioned and broadcast. (Apparently it’s from a Japanese format) I can only congratulate all at the BBC Light Entertainment Department for finding such a gem.

You can watch Hole in the Wall on the BBC iplayer here.

Charlie Brooker commends HITW here.

Shakespeare and Me

 

I was lucky enough to get a couple of tickets for one of the most popular slots at this year’s Royal Shakespeare Company’s open day. The company’s current double bill is Hamlet and Love’s Labour’s Lost – with a pretty stellar cast. ‘Shakespeare and Me’ was a chat with the two cast members spearheading Hamlet – David Tennant and Patrick Stewart – and the play’s director Greg Doran.

As we arrived in Stratford-Upon-Avon, there was an obvious buzz about the town with a host of free events going on. We wandered past a stage fighting demonstration and could smell the hog roast starting to get going. However, ‘Shakespeare and Me’ seemed to be causing the most stir, with a few mums trying to get their hands on tickets – which were almost exclusively for those aged 16 to 25. The queue outside the Courtyard Theatre was very definitely a youthful one, and (not surprisingly considering Tennant’s pin-up status) quite a female one too. The three of us were most certainly Doctor Who fans, but the people around us certainly had a whiff of hysteria/obsessive mania about them. I began to worry what we had got ourselves into. I thought there might be a Q&A session with the actors and thought this could open one big can of crazy. (I do consider myself and my companions as likely to go crazy)

The whole RSC day was being compѐred by Hardeep Singh Kohli, who reminded the audience of the title of the talk, obviously sharing my fears that the audience questions might take a sci-fi slant. However, I think everyone was suitably restrained in the circumstances. Tennant was greeted with girlish whooping and flashes of cameras, but there was no predicted craziness.

The chat was held together by a nice chat from the Beeb who led the panel to chat about Hamlet and their theatre experience. Tennant was very similar to how he appears in interviews and chatshows – affable and relaxed, but not giving too much away. He made jokes and quips which tickled the adoring audience, but did not tell us much. The real star was Patrick Stewart, whose rumbling deep voice didn’t need the microphone to project around the Courtyard. His Shakespeare experience is impressive and his anecdotes were superb. In fact I could have listened to him all day.

The audience behaved themselves and there wasn’t one single Doctor Who or Star Trek question. Stewart revealed that he’s currently preparing for Waiting For Godot and Doran described casting David Tennant for Hamlet after seeing him discover his past on the BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are. It seemed the majority of the audience have already seen the play, and it made me even more excited to see it. The play’s stars have probably made it the success it is, however this chat proved to me that Hamlet isn’t about box office returns. The cast are obviously passionate about the play, and for both Tennant and Stewart it’s providing a challenge and a pleasure to play.

There’s a good picture on flicr here, here and another here. I’ll put one up when I can get my lazy ass sister to upload them from her camera.

Also the RSC’s ‘Stand Up For Shakespeare’ campaign is a good’un so sign the online petition here.

A perfectly English day out

 

Making the most of a few days off work, I joined my parents on a countryside outing to the West Sussex coast. The weather is typical of our summer so far – grey skies and a bit drizzley. The perfect day for enjoying the British seaside.

We drove to Littlehampton as my parents had been a few months before and found a restaurant they liked on the seafront. After parking by the sea (where an incredulous Dr Bolsover paid £1.05 for the parking: “No one uses five pence pieces, why should a car park?”) we ambled to the East Beach Cafe for some grub. Previously a grotty seaside kiosk, it’s now a rather yummy cafe with great views of the sea. It was designed by Thomas Heatherwick – also responsible for the rolling bridge in Paddington Basin and Manchester’s stunning, if not a bit dodgy, B of the Bang. From the outside it looks like a big brown turd, however my artistic mother tells me it actually is driftwood.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don’t want the Olympics to end!

I think it could be medically diagnosed as an addiction… I can’t get enough of the Olympics.

I’ve been watching it when I wake up, at work, on the internet, listening to headlines on my drive to and from work and then watching Games Today when I get home. I thought it was just a phase. I thought by the end of the swimming I’d be bored. But I just couldn’t get enough.

There have been weepy moments -and I don’t really cry. Becky Adlington’s golds got me going, as did Aaron Cook’s disappointment in the taekwondo. The men’s coxless four was dramatic and thrilling – definitely one of the highlights.

I’ve been confused – um, the cycling points race baffles me, as does the fact that in taekwondo it is legitimate TO KICK SOMEONE IN THE HEAD!