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Well it's almost the end of 2004 already and has been quite an
interesting one again.....This time last year I was living temporarily in Tweed
Heads with Matty and Katy looking for a new place to live
.
Found a place in Currumbin and moved in on December 23rd. Great views over Palm
Beach and Surfers Paradise and the hinterland. Didn't even have to move from my
bed to check out the surf. Shared with Helen an Aussie and Luke from Botswana.
Did my usual for Xmas day, a six pack and bum tan on the beach
at Byron Bay.
Can't
think of a better way to spend Xmas to avoid all the hype etc.
Invited to Don and Mike's for New Year and to watch the fireworks over Sydney harbour from his Apartment in Dover Heights. Theme of the Night was Greek as 2004 was the year of the Olympics in Athens. Found a suitable costume and partied me arse off all night, finishing up as an ancient Greek Athlete !!!!! Stayed with Judy in Middle Cove as it was also her farewell to there as she was moving to Parkes in Western NSW. Flew back on New Year's day to Coolangatta to recover.
As Judy moved to Parkes in late January decided not to go to
Sydney for my usual birthday jaunt. Instead booked a B&B in Nimbin for the
weekend of 5-7th March.
It
was eventful in the fact that a cyclone hit SE Queensland that weekend just
after I got to Nimbin. The creeks flooded and I was nearly stuck there for
longer, which would not have been upsetting! Finally Sunday the Tweed diminished
enough to get across so could drive back to Currumbin.
12 March, went to see "The Blue Room" in Brisbane starring Marcus Graham and Sigrid Thornton. The Blue Room caused a sensation when it opened to great critical acclaim at the Donmar (London) in 1998, where it starred Nicole Kidman and was directed by Sam Mendes. (Arthur Schnitzler’s La Ronde, from which this play was adapted, premiered in Vienna in 1921). Marcus Graham almost got the Pommy accents right !!!
March - Decided that call centre chickie was not for me so moved to Provisioning/Help Desk still at GOTalk. http://www.gotalk.com.au/
Once again Manchester reached the FA Cup Final (having disposed of the Woolwich in the semi final). This time we met...... Millwall! and dispatched them easily as well, 3-0 Will ignore who won the Championship this Year, suffice it to say it wasn't ManU.
By now I was getting a bit fed up with working for a pittance, so started looking for new work. Searched similar jobs in Sydney first that paid at elast $36K, $10k more than Queensland. However got an offer from Sarah to go back to London, so thought why not. Resigned from GOTalk (again) and left on June 9th. Packed up and shipped my gear back to the UK and flew off on 11th Jun to Parkes via Sydney to stay with Judy.
Parkes is known for the "Dish" maybe you have seen the Film starring Sam Neill (2000) "Bloody fantastic, here's to Parkes" "and it's still in the middle of a sheep paddock" (In the days before the July 19, 1969 space mission that marked humankind's first steps on the moon, NASA was working with a group of Australian technicians who had agreed to rig up a satellite interface. That the Aussies placed the satellite dish smack dab in the middle of an Australian sheep farm in the boondocks town of Parkes was just one of the reasons that NASA was concerned. Based on a true story, The Dish takes a smart, witty, comical look at the differing cultural attitudes between Australia and the U.S. while revisiting one of the greatest events in history. Trivia: Much mention is made of the fact Parkes was the first to receive the images of the moon landing. Ironically it was in fact the second - another tracking station located near Canberra was the first to receive the moon images, beating the dish at Parkes by a handful of seconds. However this tracking station has since been torn down and was situated in a remote location which is probably why it has been ignored in the film).
June saw the Football Euro Finals in Portugal -13.06.2004 England v France1-2 - Merde ! http://www.euro2004.com/index.html
17th June - Flew from Parkes to Sydney to link up with Korean Air Flight to London via Seoul. It also coincided with England's match against Switzerland - 17.06.2004 v Switzerland 3-0 Bravo. - Got the result on landing in Seoul. Onward to London, settle in High Holborn and straight to the "Lamb and Flag" until the jet lag got me (not to say several pints of ale).
21.06.2004 England v Croatia 4-2 Zivjeli , 24.06.2004 England v Portugal 2-2 (quarter final)* Match decided after extra time and penalty shoot-out England lost - Porra !!!!!!
Meantime I had started at High Holborn Residence as Rooms Manager. The students were in the process of leaving for the summer term and we were gearing up for the Summer School program for 6 weeks and then into Summer Visitor mode until the new Term. We sort of had a summer this year but nothing to write home about. Tended to spend most of my time working anyway.
Luckily Don and Mike arrived from Sydney to
brighten up the summer. Had a great time with them for the 8-10 days they were
here , good to see them after the New Year's Eve Party at their gaff.
Another highlight of the summer was to be Judy and Alex's trip to Europe in September.
Unfortunately Jude buggered her foot up and that put paid to a long air flight,
plus the fact that her Job moved her back to Sydney!!!! Anyway, decided not to
drop me air ticket and went anyway on September 27th to Nice. Stayed the night
in Cannes, as arrived on the late late before taking the train next day to
Draguignan les Arcs to stay with Flo.
Took the bus to St Tropez the next day to stay with Phil in his Apartment.
haven't been there for so long, very relaxing as the season was virtually
finished, but it is an expensive area of France. Stayed two nights with Phil
which was very enjoyable, good food, good wine (and ricard!) and a lovely lunch
in the garden with Phil's Mum, before moving on again. Then Bus via the Coast to
Toulon and train to Marseille to meet up with Isabelle and Philippe. Great
to meet up with my oldest friends, though too short. Spent a beautiful day in
"Les Calanques", and the sea was still so warm. Flight back to blighty on
October 2nd.
Had a great weekend 22nd October with Fizz in
Stoke visiting Jan and Mike. First visit to the new House and the new home of
Mike's Bottle Collection.
Better use of a double garage definitely. Much supping of good ales and eating
good foods and the beaut Staffordshire Oatcakes
Started at a new University Residence as the
assistant Accountant just after this weekend, but as is my usual style , upped
and flew off to Athens on October 27. Found a good Youth Hostel central in the
Omonia District, so easy walking to all the sights, Parthenon, and its
surrounds are so impressive. The weather was 25 Celsius so great sightseeing
weather, but the Acropolis is so touristy , waited for the Tour buses to take
their hordes off to lunch and everything was far quieter
for
entering the museum. So I was in Sydney for Olympic Year 2000 and Athens for
2004. Didn't quite make the actual Games in either City, but hell eh ! After
three days had seen enough statues and Doric bits and pieces, so Ferry off to
Mykonos in the Cyclades for a little R & R. The island was definitely in winter
mode as the season finished the day I arrived, so beautifully quiet, which is
the best time to visit the Island or anywhere in the Med in fact. Super Paradise
had 6 people on and Paradise Beach had two others there! Survived the island
mopeds, no grazes but did get burnt from the sun (good old Pommy skin).
After three nights ferry back to Piraeus and stay a night with my old Club Med
mate Armand. There was the bloody election on in the States but Dubya was no
contest for Panathinaikos v Arsenal , better result as well, as the good team
didn't lose. Let's just not get in to American politics, or I could be here for
ever. Suffice it to say that the Democratic Eastern and other States should
secede to Canada and leave the rump of Godland to their own devices and gunlaws.
Still Kerry wasn't much of a choice either. bad enough Howard getting back in
...............
Back to winter and the Kiwi (Pullover) and Cow (leather Jacket are regular companions). Pretty dry (in fact November seems to have been one of the driest on record). Not really the classic month of "Mists and mellow fruitfulness" . Fizz has been working on two productions, Cinderella at the Royal Opera House, and Grand Hotel at the Donmar Warehouse. Suffice it to say, when I got invited to the Press Night of "Grand Hotel", jumped at it. Free Entry and plenty of free Champagne afterwards at the Opening Party. Very good production, with excellent choreography, thoroughly enjoyed it befoer the free flowing champagne. "Come, spend a night or two in the world’s most opulent, extravagant hotel. Perhaps you will find your fortune there, perhaps you will find true love, perhaps all of your dreams will come true... perhaps...
1928. Berlin. At Grand Hotel the guests and staff are suffering from an excess of hope and optimism as the stock market booms. The city's decadent high life is in full swing. The Donmar's new production brings to life this glorious, Tony Award-winning musical.
So at the end of 2004 I am now living in Southwark. So to all my readers Have a Great New Year's Eve Party and here's to an even better 2005. Hope to meet up this Next Year, somewhere sometime.....
 Tower
Bridge and the new Greater London Council Building |
Borough Market amongst the Railway Arches |
The George Inn , Borough High Street One of the few Gallery Coaching
Inns still left in London
|
Tate Modern in the old Bankside Power
House |
 Millenium
Bridge towards St.Paul's |
 |
 High
Holborn Residence |
Bankside Residence |
Bit of Culture for those who have read enough of my drivel.....Hogarth's Painting of Southwark Fair
London's first theatres, the Globe, the Hope and the Rose were all built there in the sixteenth century and Shakespeare's plays first performed there. The rebuilt Globe theatre is now one of the best theatres in London, while the neighbouring Tate Modern, housed in the stupendous Bankside Power Station, is among the world's most popular art galleries. London's new City Hall and the magnificent, gothic Southwark Cathedral, complete a remarkable set of buildings, that show five centuries of London's architectural achievements. Next to Bankside, the Borough takes in the up-and-coming areas of Bermondsey, Camberwell and Peckham, where Only Fools and Horse was set. This part of London is currently popular with young professionals and artists due to its proximity to the centre of town and low property prices. Nearby Borough Market is the best place in the capital for food and drink shopping. In the south of the borough lies leafy, suburban Dulwich which forms a welcome contrast to the bustling energy that defines the rest of one of London's oldest areas.
Hogarth's "Southwark Fair" 1735
The Southwark Fair, also known as Our Lady's Fair or as St. Margaret's Fair, was made official in 1462 by Edward IV. This Fair was of considerable antiquity, its activities often continuing for up to fourteen days in September, beyond the three days allowed by Royal Charter. Along with the St. Bartholomew and Sturbridge Fairs, the Southwark Fair, which took place in London near the Church of St. George the Martyr, "was one of the three great fairs of importance described in a Proclamation of Charles I as 'unto which there is extraordinary resort out of all parts of the kingdom'". However, when "Hogarth painted his picture ... the Fair was nearing its end, for in 1762 it was suppressed." (Wheatley, p.424-25)
It is possible that Hogarth did not originally intend for this work to be a true depiction of the Southwark Fair. "The topography is not very clear - in fact, some critics have expressed doubts as to the locality" (Wheatley, p.426). Indeed, this work was originally called The Humours of the Fair, a more general title. Only two features distinguish the scene. First, the bell tower of the Church of St. George the Martyr, which was demolished at approximately the time of the Southwark Fair in 1733, looms in the background. Second, Hogarth included a "time stamp" in the work. One of the stage cloths supposedly advertising the Fall of Bajazet is a copy of The Stage Mutiny, etched by John Laguerre, dealing with a dispute between the managers and some of the actors of Drury Lane Theatre of that year (Stephens/Hawkins, p.794).
The actual geography of the fair is secondary to its
description of the urbanization of Britain. The work, in many ways, is a
reflection of the migration of the rural population to the cities. This
transition was influenced, on the one hand, by the expanding Agricultural
Revolution and, on the other hand, by early manifestations of the
Industrial Revolution. In the late seventeenth century and early
eighteenth century, innovations in farming techniques greatly increased food
production in Britain. Among these were the increased use of fertilizers;
the use of 'drill seeders' and 'horse hoe'; the introduction of new crops
such as turnips; a more scientific system of crop rotation; and improved
breeding of larger sheep and fatter cattle. The consequences of these
innovations progressively required fewer people to work on the land. At the
same time, these changes significantly increased production and speeded up
the process of the consolidation of land ownership (Palmer/Colton, p.428).
Consequently, as labour requirements for farms decreased, an increasing
number of rural farmers began to work for wages, while others became
dependent on primitive cottage production of yarn and woven goods. These
changes motivated many of these people to migrate to places where the demand
for their labour was greater, and the wages were higher. Soon, as the
Industrial Revolution created this need, especially after the Newcomen steam
engine was invented in 1712 (Western and Central Europe Chronology,
p.1), this mobile rural population flocked to urban areas to fill this new
demand for labour, as well as the needs of the growing urban populations.
A major social issue of the time was the effect of the urbanization process
on the new Londoners living in the crowded environment of the emerging
industrial suburbs like Southwark. Hogarth addresses this issue in his
painting of Southwark Fair in several ways. One significant
element of the work is the country landscape in the background. Green fields
and country scenes had not been a part of Southwark's environment for some
time, as Southwark was already an inner industrial area of London. However,
they were included by Hogarth to serve, to some extent, as a counterpoint to
an urban setting. The fields highlight the separation of the notion of an
idyllic countryside from the grime of urban living. While the background
fields are distinct from the Fair, they are not too distant. Indeed, they
are a strong reminder of the fact that the "countryside" was still a part of
the psyche of the new urbanized population of London.
In Hogarth's picture, "rustics," a more immediate sign of the countryside,
appear in the crowd. On the
left side of the print, a sitting woman runs a dice game at a low table.
One of these rustics stands in front of the table gambling, unaware of the
hazards of the city and unaware that he is being taken advantage of by the
city "sharpie." His son, tugging at his sleave, is trying to get him to stop
his losing game. More obvious, however, are the two rustics that gawk at the
pretty
drummer woman in the center of the print. "One of them, awe-struck by
her figure, has pulled off his hat, in reverence of her charms. The other,
'wonders with a foolish face of praise'" (Ireland, I, p.75).
The Fair, and its attractions, also demonstrate cultural tastes of the new
urban lower classes. In Southwark Fair, there are essentially two kinds of amusements:
the vulgar, applying to the street amusements; and the more cultured,
applying to the theater. The street amusements consist of many different
acts and attractions. "Southwark Fair presents, in a proliferating
contiguity, the thousand pleasures of the fair, and perhaps the primary
pleasure of being there" (Ogée, p.89). In the upper right of the engraving,
a
"flying man" is shown, with the rope connected to the bell tower. A
"rope dancer" is on a rope on the left. There is an advertisement for
the forthcoming appearance of Maximilian Müller, a German giant, standing
eight feet tall (Uglow, p.242).
On the right is a wax collection of the entire court of France, with the
owner-magician,
Isaac Fawkes, performing tricks, and a drumming monkey drawing attention
to the exhibition in the window above. A famed prize-fighter, the boxer,
quarterstaffing champion, and fencer,
James Figg, "Master of the Noble Science of Self-Defense" (Wheatley,
p.432), sits astride his horse, wielding his sword and awaiting a
challenger. At the bottom left are
puppets, opposite a
peepshow where two men are enjoying themselves (Ogée, p.87). A juggler,
on the right, has produced a small dove from a dice box, while a quack
doctor breathes fire in order to draw attention to his "medicine of
infallibility" (Ireland, I, p.76; Stephens/Hawkins, p.836). The lower left
shows a
dancing dog, with a "little fellow with long hair," playing the bagpipes
to the left of it (Ireland, I, p.77). Also, opposite the little bagpiper, is
a dwarf drummer. A picture of a contortionist shows promise of more
excitement (Ogée, p.88).
The dominant entertainment in Southwark Fair, however, is the
theater, as above the heads of the crowd are shown various aspects of
popular theatrical happenings. For the performance of plays, called
"stage-plays" (Ireland, I, p.72), there were many devices used for
attracting crowds. First, on the outside of the theater buildings hung "show
cloths", with written descriptions of the plays along the bottom. The
pictures were for the illiterate, while the writing was an addition for
those who could read. Second, large flags were flown from the tops of
buildings, as is shown at the center of the work. Third, outside the
buildings were little stages, known as scaffolding, where some actors would
appear in costume, in what was known as a parade (Rosenfeld, p.153). Last,
actors in costume would mingle with the crowd to attract people. One of the
most visually prominent figures in Southwark Fair, the
drummer girl, is attracting people to her stage production. The left
side has the booth of Cibber and Bullock, an acting company which performs
The Fall of Bazajet. The center booth has a show cloth representing
the play, The Siege of Troy with an inscription saying "The Siege
of Troy is here" (Wheatley, p.428).
Although the theater was a more cultured pastime, the playwrights knew their
audiences, and tailored their work appropriately to accommodate the tastes
of the lower classes:
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