Today I'm continuing my posts about our Olympic experience and if you've missed the other two posts, they are here and here. So on we go! On the next day, Saturday, we had a day off from Olympic things. We went to have lunch, walked around Covent Garden, and then we visited the National Portrait Gallery. We've been to Covent Garden several times and it's one of my favorite places because it's so varied. There are all kinds of places to shop, eat, and people watch. This was our first trip to the National Portrait Gallery and it was very interesting to have an artsy buffer in the middle of all of the sporty things. Brit Boy and I have visited a lot of the other museums in London, but this is one we have always missed. So it was fun to finally visit. Loved it!
Then on Sunday, we went to see the women's basketball and it was fabulous! As I mentioned in my previous post, the basketball arena is a temporary structure, but inside you would never know. I used to be a big basketball fan back in the day, but I don't follow it nearly as much nowadays. However, watching the ladies play has rekindled my interest in basketball again :-)
We saw two games on this day: Australia vs Canada and USA vs China. Both games were great! It was so great to see women doing their very best and being great on all of the teams. This Olympic Games was historic because for the first time there were women participating for every Olympic team and another interesting fact is that the USA team had more women in it than men for the first time. Progess indeed! :-) The second game between USA and China was very fast-paced and it seemed to be over before we knew it. Those ladies can really play! And as I'm finishing this post, the USA have just won the gold medal. Well done ladies! I feel privileged to have seen the eventual gold medalists and bronze medalists play. Here are some photos below of some of the basketball action.
Above: Canada and Australia during their warm-up
Above and below: China and the USA warming up
Above: China and USA playing
Above: USA and China at the end of the game
I really enjoyed the basketball! All of these ladies on all four teams are great athletes and I was so pleased to get to see my home team do so well! They were awesome!
In my post yesterday, I mentioned that we also saw some familiar faces from back home. For anyone from elsewhere who isn't familiar with the Today Show, it's one of the morning television shows in the USA. They have a studio set up in the Olympic Park and we were able to stand there and watch them broadcast live to the folks back home. We were there on Friday a week ago and this past Monday. It was really interesting to see how they go about making the show. They move from one set up to another and in between the cast comes over and talks with everyone along the barrier. They also take the time to have photos taken with the people. They were very accessible.
Above: The production in full swing and in the center of the photo, in the navy jacket and the light colored pants is one of the hosts, Matt Lauer
Above: This was from the day after Gabby Douglas on the far left won her all-around gold medal. They had the gymnasts on and they were joined by the gold medal Olympic gymnast from the 1984 games, Mary Lou Retton, far right.
Above: The US Women's Eights Olympic Rowing Team with their gold medals. They came over and let us all have a close up look at their medals.
Above: This is the closest I'll ever be to a gold medal in my life. LOL.
Above: from left to right - Al Roker, Savannah Guthrie, and Matt Lauer - hosts of The Today Show
I loved every minute of the basketball and watching the filming of The Today Show. What a time we had! :-)
Tomorrow I'll share my final post about the Olympics. I'll be covering what we saw at the Olympic Stadium. It was amazing!
Today I'd like to pay tribute to a lady that I’ve admired for a great portion of my life…Ms. Lena Horne. She passed away yesterday in New York at the age of 92.
When I was a little girl, I loved spending my Sundays watching the classic movies on television, especially musicals, from the golden age of Hollywood. I would watch and be transported to another world of beauty, make-believe, and elegance. I imagined myself dancing around with Fred Astaire or making an entrance like the great Bette Davis. I was absorbed into that world and it was part of my 'play' when I was growing up. It fueled my imagination.
Then one day, I saw her…Lena Horne, and I was a fan from that moment on (smile). There she was…elegant and beautiful and talented. She could do something that I wanted to do so much…she could sing! And she got to wear beautiful clothes while doing it…hey, I was a baby fashionista back then (smile).
When I saw Ms. Horne, I was pleasantly surprised to see a lady that looked like she could be a relative. I had always watched all of the MGM musicals and various movies and loved them no matter who was starring in them. But it was a revelation in my young life then to see this beautiful, talented lady on film who looked like me. She was rare then, as the first black performer to be signed to a long-term contract with a major Hollywood studio. So she was not only talented…she was a trailblazer too. Sadly though, she was held back in the 1940s, because of the color of her skin. She would perform one or two songs in various MGM movies that could be easily edited out of the film in order for it to be played in certain areas. What garbage I say! I should use the other word I thought of. LOL.
Anyway, she had two movies where she was given the spotlight that she deserved, in 1943, with all-black casts.
She made “Cabin in the Sky” for MGM and was loaned to 20th Century Fox for my favorite, “Stormy Weather”. And one of her signature songs was the beautiful “Stormy Weather” that she sang in the film. Please take a look at her performance here. So no matter what she had to deal with, she is still going to be remembered always, and she triumphed despite the odds. I love that! I feel like watching “Stormy Weather” right now. I’m going to have to buy a copy somewhere (smile).
Besides her movie career, she was a very popular singer in elegant clubs, onstage, and on many recordings. In 1981, she was the toast of Broadway with her one woman show, “Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music” , for which she won a Tony Award.
I wanted to go to see her onstage back then, but I was a young teen who couldn’t be out on a school night (smile) and I didn’t have the money to go to New York. This was the time in my life when I couldn’t wait to be grown, so I could just go where I wanted, when I wanted. Of course I learned later, like we all do, that we shouldn’t rush growing up. But it was still fun to fantasize (smile).
I grew up as a typical child and teen of the 70s and 80s, with lots of love for my faves of those days…like Michael Jackson, Prince, and Madonna…just like a lot of kids my age. However, I also had lots of love for the ladies and gents who paved the way in those early days, not just as entertainers, but also as important threads in the tapestry of the American culture. They made change in their own way.
Photo credit: Garth Vaughan/AP
Lena Horne was a great performer, a trailblazer, and a civil rights activist also. I honor her memory today. Rest in peace…Ms. Horne. Thank you for shining your light in this world!
We had a good weekend around the Yellow House. We went into town on Saturday and picked up a few things and the rest of the time we just hung out around home. We got a connection upgrade for our television upstairs, so we were enamored with our new equipment. Brit Boy is the techie in our house, so he will blog about it later with photos. I’m so glad that now I can watch my Rosemary & Thyme upstairs while he watches his football/soccer downstairs. Yippee!! :-) I love this show. It's no longer being made, but I really enjoy the repeats.
In other news, over the weekend one of my favorite hair bands snapped. I have two but this one was my favorite. I know it sounds silly, but when you’re like me and love to just sweep your hair back and up so you don’t have to deal with it, a hair band is your best friend. LOL. I was fully into my sweeping back and banding when it all went **POP***… It really did make that sound ;-)
Here’s a photo of the other hair band on my head. I don’t know why I took a photo of it in the past, but I guess it was true love when I first bought them. LOL. Anyway, here’s the one that still survives.
And here’s the one that bit the dust ;-)
Anyway, no biggie, I guess it’s time to go get another one as a backup. Should be fun :-)
Today I’m in a much better state of mind since my last post. Calling out my frustration in my previous post was therapeutic. I had a good weekend and put all of that holiday drama behind me ;-) Thanks everyone for your comments and support. It meant so much to me :-)
Anyway…on with the show as they say….and it’s apt here because this post is about our trip to the theatre on December 23rd. It was truly wonderful! :-)
I love going to see plays and musicals and Brit Boy likes going along with me too. We both love an outing somewhere :-) I found out quite a few months ago about the Debbie Allen directed production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof coming to the West End after a highly successful run on Broadway. I did a happy dance when I found out. You should’ve seen me…lol. I told Brit Boy about it and we got tickets and then held onto them for a few months. Finally December 23rd arrived and off to London we went!
We took the train into Paddington Station and then took the tube to Covent Garden. We had left ourselves a bit of a cushion with the time, so there was an opportunity to get a bite to eat. We were starved. We dropped into a small shop and got drinks and sandwiches. Then we stood along The Strand right outside the tiny store and ate as we people watched. Everyone was bustling around on the eve of Christmas Eve with an air of expectation.
After we ate, we walked to the Novello Theatre. The theatre is beautiful and the perfect size…not too big, not too small. We got really lucky and had seats at the center of the seventh row. Just close enough, but not too close :-) We saw a matinee performance and it was truly thrilling.
As I mentioned earlier, this was a production directed by Debbie Allen. Many of you will probably remember her as the dance teacher Lydia Grant in the television show Fame. I used to really want to go to that high school when I was a teenager :-)
Anyway, Debbie Allen is an Emmy and Golden Globe Award winning director and her expertise definitely shows onstage. Her skill is ever so evident in this sumptuous production. She has taken this true American classic by Tennessee Williams that was made legend in the movie versionstarring Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor, and shown how universal the themes of family are as she presents this new cast. It was a beautifully true revelation.
Photo Credit: Jeff Fasano ; left to right, Rashad, Lester, Lathan, Jones
This production stars the truly legendary James Earl Jones as Big Daddy and the elegant Phylicia Rashad as Big Mama. It was indeed such a treat to see two Tony Award winners on stage together in Mr. Jones and Ms. Rashad.
James Earl Jones’ voice is amazing to hear in person and his rich baritone is just thrilling to the ear as he beautifully enunciates every word. I wanted to pinch myself. I couldn’t believe that I was seeing this truly great actor right before my eyes. Mr. Jones totally inhabits the role of Big Daddy. He is exquisite. We seem to throw around that word legend a lot these days, but on December 23rd, I saw one before my eyes :-)
Phylicia Rashad is wonderful as Big Mama too. She is Debbie Allen’s sister and is affectionately remembered for her role as Clair Huxtable in the classic sitcom The Cosby Show. I was so excited to see her too. She was the epitome of elegance and class as Clair Huxtable and the way she carried herself made such an impression upon me when I was in my formative years. I loved watching her on my TV screen each week back then. The Cosby Show was a truly landmark show.
Her depiction of Big Mama in the play reminded me so much of the elder women in my family. Her portrayal reminded me a lot of my mother and aunts. They were women who dressed up as we got together for traditional Sunday dinners back in Georgia and then they would sit on the front porch and fan themselves and talk :-) They’ve all passed on now, but their imprint is still in my mind and will never leave. Those are some of my best memories of growing up. So I thank Ms. Rashad for giving me a great gift. She is a wonderful actress.
One of the other leads is portrayed by Adrian Lester, who plays Brick, the son. Lester does a fine job in this role. I applaud his agility because he spends the whole play hobbling around with a cast on his leg. He is a fine actor.
The final lead is played by Sanaa Lathan. She plays Maggie, ‘The Cat’, Brick's wife, and gives a beautifully sultry performance in this role made famous by Elizabeth Taylor in the movie version. She earned my respect early on because most of the entire first act is her talking to Brick and he says very little. And I’m thinking to myself, how in the world does she remember all of that dialogue and it is said at such a quick pace???? She’s fabulous in this role and truly luminous.
So I guess that I don’t need to tell you all that I was on cloud nine the whole time. LOL. It was a fabulous way to spend an afternoon into evening with my Brit Boy. We both walked out of there with a smile on our faces as we walked out into the night.
After the show, we walked over a couple of blocks in search of food. The angels were on our side because we found a wonderful restaurant called Sophie’s. The food was delicious and the service was quick. The ambience was perfect. It was lit by candle light and the electric lights were soft and not overly harsh and yet you could still see where you were walking.
Brit Boy had soup for his appetizer and I had a house salad. Then for dinner we both had steak and fries. Very yummy!!! :-) It hit the spot. We don’t eat red meat a whole lot, so it was a great treat. I told Brit Boy that that was Christmas to me…just chilling and enjoying each other’s company. Brit Boy’s a fun date ;-)
So after our dinner, we wrapped back up and headed for the tube. We got to Paddington Station and waited for our train. Then we were carried off across the snowy landscape…back to Wiltshire… :-) I hope you enjoyed coming along for the ride!
One night last week, Brit Boy and I were channel surfing and stopped to watch Christiane Amanpour’s new show on CNN International called Amanpour. I've loved her reporting from all over the world over the years, and now she has this where she does work from the studio. Anyway, the discussion on this episode was about the Charter for Compassion that was unveiled this past Thursday. The discussion was very intriguing. Here’s a video to explain what the charter is about.
We have a lot of problems in our world today and some days I just shake my head at how things are. We are continually told how dark things are and they are in some ways, but there is also light still in our world. I’ve had to remind myself of this a lot lately :-) So when I heard about this, I took a look at their site and I have to say, it has lifted my spirits.
When you go to the site, you can read about the acts of compassion that others have committed, like this one and many others. Then it gets you to think about what we all can do. Some may ask, why do I need a website or charter to make me do something that I already do or something that we should do anyway? Well the answer is, we don’t need this site or a charter…compassion is free and available to all of us every day :-) But I’ll tell ya, personally, I’ve been a bit down lately and seeing this space where you can go and find people showing their true hearts and then sharing it is powerful for me. We get fed such nonsense and negativity every day, so it’s nice to read something that lets us see the true beauty of human beings. I think sometimes we forget :-)
This is what has me smiling today. I hope you enjoy checking it out. Have a great rest of the weekend!
I want to say Happy Birthday to Sesame Streettoday!!!! :-) Today marks the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street premiering on our television screens.
Photo credit: Richard Termine/Sesame Workshop
I, like many others who grew up in the 70s, have fond memories of Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, Cookie Monster, Ernie & Bert, Grover, The Count, and all of the other great characters who live on that wonderful street. I used to want to live there so much when I was in elementary school :-) But getting to visit them each day in TV land was great too. That show opened up a great deal of my imagination and taught me so much. I remember songs from that show to this day, and when I hear them and hum along, I get the same happiness that I had as a kid. What would I and so many others have done without Sesame Street? :)
The beauty of this show is that I enjoyed it when I was a kid and then my nieces and nephews enjoyed it and then it just goes on and on over the years. It has stood the test of time for my family and countless other families and I’m so glad that it’s still around. It is a part of the cultural DNA now :-)
So here’s to Sesame Street and what it has brought to all of us kids and kids-at-heart! May it go on and on :-)
We had a nice quiet weekend around the Yellow House and sometimes that’s just what you need :-) Brit Boy did his Saturday cooking and I just loved that ;-) On Saturday evening we worked on a little project that we’ve been working on…more about that in the future :-) And then on Sunday we just took it easy on the couch. We also enjoyed a beautiful scene like this as the sun went down.
We usually have our DVD time on Sundays. We will sometimes watch a movie, but usually we watch a couple of TV shows we like on DVD. This started out as our West Wing DVD Sundays, but now they are The Waltons and West Wing Sundays :-)
Brit Boy is a full-on West Wing fan and has all the seasons on DVD. We’ve had the final season for a while, but have only recently started to watch it. Brit Boy wanted to savor it so we’ve delayed it a bit and watched the previous season again. This was good because in the past I was an in and out West Wing fan before, but now I’m all in :-) So this way I can catch up and follow the stories better.
I mentioned The Waltons. Well, Brit Boy bought me the first season DVD set of this a couple of Christmases ago. I’ve always been a fan of this show since I saw it as a little kid. Some people make jokes about this show, but I don’t mind. I love it. I love it because it reminds me in many ways of my own growing up and I loved that John Boy was a writer. The Walton family had seven kids and I was one of seven kids and their gently simple rural life reflected parts of my own. So whenever I watch this show it instantly takes me back to a time and place that is long gone now, but through this show I hear echoes of my life as a child with my parents :-) This way, how I grew up is never far away. I grew up decades after the times that this show is set in, but the story of family goes on forever.
Interestingly enough, Brit Boy likes watching too and I was a bit surprised by that in the beginning. However, I realized that even though he grew up across the ocean from me, the ties of family and tradition and nostalgia are universal. It’s like they say, we are often more alike than we are different.
So we watched an episode of The Waltons and then we watched an episode of The West Wing and it was great. We had a snack and I kept wishing that we still had a couple of slices of that cake that I made last week :-)
We had every kind of weather yesterday...we had rain, wind, and then a glorious blue sky in the afternoon. And that gave way to some amazing clouds that were lit up orange by the setting sun. Brit Boy and I just stood at the window and watched the show :-) We were mesmerized.
I haven’t posted in a few days. I’ve been working on my homework assignments for my course in feature and freelance writing. I’ve completed my latest assignment, so I just wanted to take a moment to check in and let you all know that I’m not abandoning my blog (smile) I’m just having to learn how to schedule it all together better. I think I’ve hit upon a plan so that I can post more.
As for what I’ve been up to, well I’m sort of chilling today and enjoying the nice weather. This is the first sunny day we’ve had in a while, so I’m lapping it up. (smile) Today is Brit Boy’s day to cook, so I really love that. (bigger smile)
Earlier we watched this movie called, “They Came From Beyond Space”. It was originally released in 1967. It was about alien goings-on in rural England, so when I saw that in the description, I figured I had to see it. (smile) It turned out to be a wonderfully quirky film and Brit Boy and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s so good to have a husband that understands my love of quirky movies and things like this. But here’s the thing….he understands because he is very much like that too. We love a bit of the surreal. (smile)
Right now we’re watching this show called “Creature Comforts”. It’s a cute clay animation type show. There are these talking animals that make you laugh because they say things that humans would. I love stuff like this.
So I guess you can tell what our Saturday is about this week…kicking back. (smile) I love weekends like this when you can just do what you want, even if that’s doing nothing at all. Ain’t life grand!
As I mentioned earlier, I’m learning about balance in getting my homework done and getting my blogging done and then living the rest of my life. So today’s activities are the ones that I put into that living my life box. I think I’m gonna do okay. Have a great weekend! :-)
I have been humming this song in the shower for the last couple of days. It’s the winning song at the Eurovision Song Contest for this year. The song is by this fellow Alexander Rybakfrom Norway and it’s called “Fairytale”. He won with a record breaking 387 points.
The UK came in fifth with Jade Ewen singing “It’s My Time”. She has a great voice!
Brit Boy and I weren’t planning on watching it last Saturday night, but we got pulled in. I’ve watched it before since I’ve been here in England, but never all the way through like I did this year. What always intrigues me is seeing all of the entries from the various countries. Some of them are quite “interesting” I’ll just say and some are quite good :-) You never know…an international star may be born. ABBA won the contest back in 1974 and they were a big deal back in the day.
On our television system there is something called the red button and you can go interactive with what you’re watching. So they had a setting where you could sing along with the contestants and being the ham that I am, you know I had to sing along. LOL. Brit Boy joined in sometimes too. I swear we had no alcohol. LOL. We had never heard any of these songs, but singing along was so fun. It took me back to being a kid who loved to sing into a hairbrush at the mirror. LOL. My inner diva comes out!
Anyway, we had a good time and watched the whole thing. Alexander Rybak who won for Norway, wrote this song. I don’t know if it will be a worldwide hit, but I’ll say this for it, it’s really catchy in a surreal sort of way. And no matter what, he was doing his thang and I love it when people go all out doing what they love. Darn, there I go again humming it to myself, and then singing out loud. LOL. What can I say, I’m a wacky wannabee singer girl! :-)
Brit Boy and I had a nice Easter. We relaxed around home and enjoyed the mild weather later in the day. We had breakfast and then turned on the TV to watch Pope Benedict XVI deliver his “Urbi et Orbi” message at St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City. I did some research and found out that this phrase is Latin for “to the city and the world”. How fitting. (smile) It was a nice way to start the day. I’m not Catholic and neither is Brit Boy, but I always like watching this message…it’s like no matter who you are, if you care to listen, it’s accessible. I always feel connected to the world when I watch this,since all those people from around the world are there. I think it would be a great experience to go there one day and experience it live and soak up the atmosphere. We shall see. (smile)
After watching the Pope’s message, we started to work on dinner for later. As I mentioned the other day, I said I was going to share a meatloaf story. Brit Boy and I decided to have meatloaf for Easter lunch/dinner instead of a ham or lamb which is kind of customary. I made an extra nice meatloaf so it held its own for a holiday meal.
Sometimes when we’re watching television and someone mentions having meatloaf, Brit Boy will mention that he’s never tasted it. He says he remembers watching a lot of American shows when he was growing up and they would often be having meatloaf, so he was intrigued. So I decided that I’d make meatloaf and give him his first taste.
When I decided to make a meatloaf I instantly thought of one of my favorite movies of all time, “A Christmas Story”. Some of you may remember it. The lead character is Ralphie and he has a little brother named Randy who hates to eat dinner and plays with his food a lot. So one night, they are having meatloaf for dinner and Randy won’t eat and he says, “Meat-losse, meatloaf, double beatloaf, I hate meatloaf!!!” Check out this clip. I love that movie and being the cuckoo that I am sometimes, I will say stuff like this out of the blue and Brit Boy will laugh. What can I say, we find a lot of stuff funny around here. (smile)
So the meatloaf turned out really good and we had mashed potatoes with a bit of cream cheese and garlic mixed in and some broccoli on the side. It was really tasty.
For dessert we had blackberry pie. This is my favorite kind of pie. It turned out okay. I’m gonna have to play around with the recipe a bit to get it just right though. We ate it anyway and it rounded things off nicely. So it was a happy Easter around here and we still have Easter eggs to eat…oh joy! (smile)
In my last entry, I mentioned that I would post next about meatloaf at the yellow house. Well, I’m still planning on writing about that, but Brit Boy wanted to contribute a post about a show that we both love and one that we’d love to see saved. The show is called “Eli Stone”. It’s one of our favorite shows and it has been cancelled back home, but the fans are trying to persuade ABC to bring it back. The show stars Jonny Lee Miller, a British actor, who I think does a great American accent (we love talking about accents in our house :-)). This is a great show and has a great cast. His feisty assistant is played by Loretta Divine, who some of you may know from many roles, including one of the leads in “Waiting to Exhale”. And his former girlfriend, and fellow lawyer is played by Natasha Henstridge. The cast is impressive and the show is just so fresh. This is my preamble to Brit Boy’s post, so I’ll leave it here and let him do his thing (smile). By the way, we just realized today that this post comes exactly one year to the day since he posted here last and we didn’t even plan it that way. It must be destiny. So without further ado, here’s Brit Boy……
Monday night saw the airing of the last episode of the wonderful “Eli Stone” here in the UK. The series, which was shown on ABC in the US and on the Sci-Fi channel here in the UK has apparently now been cancelled. I understand that the final four episodes have yet to be shown back in the States, so I won’t reveal any storylines!
I felt compelled to invade Dori’s blog to write about this series and its undue cancellation, because the show was such an oasis in the desert of today’s TV programming. How exceptional it is nowadays to find a show that is original, risk-taking, thoughtful, well paced and extremely funny. The premise of the show was that Eli Stone, a lawyer portrayed by British actor Jonny Lee Miller, suffers with a brain aneurysm which leads him to experience prophetic visions. Through this simple idea, some very profound themes were investigated but the writers never lost sight of the fact that their primary goal was to entertain the audience.
For Dori and me this was one of the very few “must-see” shows on our weekly viewing schedule, and we were both extremely disappointed to learn that the powers that be at ABC have decided not to make any further episodes of the show. The schedules are currently crammed full with reality TV shows, be that talent competitions, fly-on-the-wall docu-soaps, make-over shows, elimination game shows or whatever. To find any quality drama is getting rarer by the day, let alone one that can amuse, sadden and challenge you all at the same time. Some very intelligent writing and a wonderful soundtrack gave us a plethora of memorable stories and moments, in particular the vivid, often musical visions that the protagonist suffered. Large scale song and dance scenes are not a regular occurrence on mainstream TV in this day and age, and yet they worked perfectly and were such a breath of fresh air.
But sadly the show is no more. After just two seasons, it has been decided to pull the plug on this sharp and imaginative programme. As is often the way in these circumstances there is a fandom attempt to get the decision reversed, including an online petition and a mailing campaign. I have signed the petition myself and hope that maybe the decision makers at ABC will have a rethink and give us some more of this jewel of original programming.
This Stone truly was a Diamond!
If you'd like to help or want to know more, please check out these sites.
I had a nice weekend. It was rather spring-like and it was so good to see the sun. (smile) The hubby and I hung out around home mostly. We went into town on Saturday to pick up a few things. We hadn’t been to town in a while. It was good to see what was going on locally. Then we came back home and hung out some more.
On Sunday, we continued our hang out fest. The weather just kept getting better and we both couldn’t believe how it lifts the spirits. In the afternoon we decided to watch a movie, a retro movie that I’ve always wanted to see, but never got around to. It was “The Eyes of Laura Mars” with Faye Dunaway and Tommy Lee Jones from 1978. It was just one of those movies that I would see listed over the years on TV, and wondered about. I remember seeing it advertised when I was a kid. So I was intrigued. (smile) Anyway, we enjoyed it quite a lot. It was very 70’s and very hip for the times. It was good in a campy, wonderful way. If you haven’t seen it, it was about a photographer who sees crimes committed in visions, as if she is seeing through the killer’s eyes. What really intrigued me though was the soundtrack. I remember my older sister playing many of those songs on the stereo when I was growing up. So it was a cool blast from the past. (smile) Brit Boy and I danced along when every song came up. LOL.
Later, on Sunday evening, we watched something really great on the BBC called “The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency”. It is a BBC and HBO co-production and will be shown here and back home in the US. It is brilliant and stars the radiant Jill Scott in the lead as detective Mma Precious Ramotswe. She brings such true warmth and spirit to this role and I just love this series. Jill Scott is already one of my favorite singers and now she is proving herself as a wonderful actress. Her singing voice reminds me of warm honey…so full and divine.
The series is based on the novels by Alexander McCall Smith, about the lady detective and her assistant, played by Tony award-winning actress Anika Noni Rose. It is set in Botswana and gives a fresh view of the continent of Africa. It has a wonderful vibe and both Hubby and I just love it. The series continues over five more episodes. A previous one-off episode was shown around Easter here last year and it was a great success. So I was so glad to hear that they were making more of these stories.
As I mentioned, it is being shown here on the BBC and back home on HBO, so if you get the chance, please check it out.
All in all, the weekend was a great preview of spring and we got to see some good TV :-)
I’ve been a bit absent from my blog the last few days. Brit Boy and I have been wallowing a bit more in the afterglow of the holidays before we go along with everyone else into the first full week of the new year :-) So we chilled out this weekend and didn’t go anywhere and it was just great. Saturday we slept in and we relished just sitting around watching movies and just letting the day happen.
Then on Sunday we woke up at about 8am and turned on the TV and started watching this show about people going into the second act of their lives and doing something they always wanted to do. It was great. We ended up watching about three hour-long episodes from bed with one trip downstairs to get green tea and we so enjoyed both…the tea and the show.
They were showing episodes all day. We were so enthralled that we couldn’t tear ourselves away. So while we were getting dressed, we recorded what we were missing. We were hooked :-) But it was good to be hooked on this.
When we were dressed and were sitting down to have lunch, we picked up with watching again. I guess that we were both so into it because we were open to what it was saying…that it’s never too late to do something different with your life.
Brit Boy and I are at a point in our lives where we have been out of school a couple of decades, so we have experienced life a bit. But the way we look at it, there is more experience, life, happiness and fulfillment out there to be had. So I think that we both were very receptive to this show and ready to receive the message. Most of the people on the programs were a decade or two decades older than us, but age was irrelevant in the end. You don’t lose your passions in life just because you have counted more birthdays. What struck me was the underlying theme in all of the episodes, which was to do what you want with your life now, while you have your life to live. Most of the people profiled on the show had long held dreams of pursuing something else, but had to make a living at something else in order to raise their families. Then their kids grew up and they decided it was time for them to take on the second acts in their lives. You could see the twinkle in their eyes along with a bit of anxiety, but it was the greatest thing to see people rediscover a part of themselves.
Seeing this show was so timely for me personally. I wrote in my end of year post that getting separated from Brit Boy twice while we were in London was a good thing for me. Well I feel like the London experiences and how I have been feeling lately and even this show have all converged at this moment to pull me out of this sleep I’ve been in somewhat for quite a while. Sometimes clarity comes in roundabout ways :-)
In a couple of months, I will have been in England for three years and it’s only now that I am really starting to take a real look around. To be truthful, it has been scary. When I moved here, I was doing a whole lot of things at one time. I’ve read since that there are certain life experiences that knock us for a loop even when they are good things. This article said that death of course shakes you up, but the list also included: leaving a job/changing careers, getting married, and moving to name a few. Well, when I came over here in March of 2006, I had done all of them at the same time. I left my job right before Christmas in 2005; eight days later my mom passed away; then I was still trying to be optimistic about getting married (I loved Brit Boy and wanted to marry him, but I was so sad about my mom. I just wanted to go to bed); and then I moved away from the familiarity of home across the Atlantic and I was not myself. Like I said, there were happy things in there, except for my mom’s passing. The good things were things that I wanted, but grief turned everything so upside down.
So I arrived here seriously diluted, but it was sink or swim, so I tried to swim. That didn’t work out so good. I had been here before many times, but visiting is nothing like living somewhere and the culture shock that is normal, just hit me full on as it mixed with everything else. It was too much to take, so I shut down a lot of who I was before. I got married and then I became a lady in waiting…waiting for what I didn’t know.
As I’ve written previously, it’s taken some time, but now I’m finding my groove again. A LOT has challenged me in the last few years and day by day, the Dori I knew before has reappeared, and a lot of that started with beginning to write this blog. And I’m so grateful to all of you that come here to read what I write. It has been so therapeutic to just show up here. I’m more of who I used to be, but there is also change in me…one of the beautiful by-products of living life. We grow :-)
Now that I am getting more connected with myself again, I’m asking myself lately…”So what do you want to do now Dori?” Well, I have a few ideas, but they aren’t in full focus yet. However, that show yesterday showed me that you should just go for it in life. So I think I will :-) It's so true what they say...life is short. My favorite line out of “The Shawshank Redemption” is, we should…”get busy livin’ or get busy dying”.
So I’m back on my journey again and I hope to explore life more here on my blog in this brand new year.
Our countdown to Christmas continues… We ended up not going to Salisbury Cathedral for the carol service this year. We had planned on going, but in the past few days we have been having plumbing problems and we were waiting around for the plumber to let us know when he was coming. It was kind of up in the air. Also, Brit Boy was finishing up his studying, and that was most important for him to finish, so it was a nice weekend around home.
Our shower has been working and then not working. We get scalded one moment and then we freeze the next and it is just all messed up. Sometimes it decides to be merely a trickle, so it's time they finally authorized a repair. We have had a leak also. It’s been really fun ;-) Thankfully the plumber is going to pay us a visit today. Woo Hoo!!!!! That’s our Christmas present for sure :-)
Since we couldn’t venture too far away, we ended up just chilling out around home. Periodically, Brit Boy took breaks from his studying and we watched Christmas movies or watched music videos on television while we danced around. We enjoyed those study breaks! We love to do our freestyle dancing and then we dance together all elegant…it’s funny. Then I do my Beyonce dance :-)
Later in the afternoon on Monday, Brit Boy finished his final paper and turned it in. And as a bonus, we got our call from the plumber soon after so the day turned out good in the end. We were free to head out. We went into town to pick up some ingredients for my baking and for our Christmas Eve nibbles. We fully expected the crowd that met us, but it was wild in there!!!! :-) We bought my baking ingredients, and some cheese and dips and veggies for our Christmas Eve hanging out. Then I saw them and I was in love ……
These cute little journals/notebooks are my new favorite thing. Usually I always take a detour to the stationery aisles wherever I am. I love pens and journals and notebooks…gotta do the writing thing :-) But I haven’t hit pay dirt like this in a long time. These lovely little books are made of recycled materials, so that’s very good. I just love that the outside and inside are very organic-looking with a bit of flower power on the outside :-) The lady at the checkout was oohing and ahhing over them too, so I wasn’t alone in my love. The best part is that they were on sale. I got two of these mid-size books for £1.75!!!! So a deal on top of everything . Yay!!!! Okay, enough of this notebook swooning! :)
When we got home, I figured that I should go ahead and do the baking so I wouldn’t be rushed. But mostly though, we were just greedy and ready to eat. LOL. I decided to bake us a batch of red velvet cupcakes like I did back in the spring, but with these I sprinkled them a bit to add a festive flair.
We stuffed our faces with a couple after they cooled off and I iced them :-) And then today, we have had one…they seem to get better, like most things after they get a chance to sit. So we are happy people right now with cake in the house :-)
Oh, an update on our shower problems. The plumbers arrived as I was writing this. They just left and they said that we need a new shower. They patched up the leak, so that’s good. I guess that after Christmas when they get the order in, we will get fixed up. So it’s very dodgy showers for a bit longer :-) It's all good though. No sense in sweating it. Hopefully Santa will bring us a new shower for after Christmas.
Anyway, we plan to enjoy a quiet Christmas Eve tomorrow with a few drinks, some finger foods, and cake…what could be better! :-) Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Brit Boy and I had another trip into London on Wednesday for our only true addiction….going to concerts. LOL. We went to see Simply Red. They are going to disband sometime next year, after 25 years by that point, so we just had to go and see them do their thing. The lead singer Mick Hucknall, will still record as a solo artist.
We got home Thursday at about 2:30am, so I spent yesterday chilling and we got some rest and relived it in our heads. Now I can share what happened. It’s always thrilling to get a chance to go into London and going to a concert makes it even more fun.
On Wednesday, Brit Boy worked a half day and then he came home around noon. We had a bit of lunch, watched a bit of TV, and then we got all suited up to go out into the cold on the way to a hot time in the city :-) It has been very cold here lately, but then it’s winter isn’t it. Anyway, we took our faithful old coach/bus ride into London. There’s a company that runs trips to London and mostly everywhere around Britain that we usually take. You can either buy your own tickets and then just catch a ride to and from the concert with them or you can get a package deal and they get the tickets and give you the ride. We have done both things, but this time, we took the second option and got our tickets from the coach company. The perk with this is that they usually get you pretty good seats to the concerts. It’s a win win situation.
So we headed into town and parked our car and headed to our pickup point for the coach. When you get to the coach and check in, they give you an envelope with your tickets inside and you hop aboard. This time we got a seat right at the front, so we had full view of where we were headed. This was both thrilling and a bit terrifying. It was really cool to be able to see everything and to feel almost like we were being hurled through the air. The big window was all that was in front of us so it felt almost like flying and this was fun. But it also got a bit hairy at times because our coach driver had a lead foot and tailgated and switch lanes a bit wildly :-) Brit Boy and I both thought a couple of times that we might just be thrown right out of that big, lovely window in front of us and onto the motorway/freeway as the coach driver slammed on the brakes many times. Eeeek!!! Let’s just say, our hearts were in our mouths for about 60% of the trip :-) We survived and felt like kissing the ground when we stepped off the coach. LOL.
On a calmer note, when I peeled my eyes away from what was happening ahead of us, I would glance out the side window and the view was wonderful. You can see so much from that high up. I’ve traveled that road many times to London, but from this vantage point, it was like seeing parts of it for the first time. I saw streams that were hidden in the woods and beautiful country houses that I didn’t know were there.
When we were almost there, the coach stopped for a bathroom and refreshment break at a rest stop. We were given about thirty minutes. Brit Boy and I went and had a cup of coffee. I had a coffee that was chocolate cookie flavored. It was really tasty. Brit Boy had a regular cappuccino. We stopped at this same rest stop on a trip before, and had fun playing with the various carnival-esque machines there. This time we didn’t bother. The machines are right near the entrance and the freezing air was whooshing in each time the doors opened. The time before, it was summer so it was lots of fun, and there were no icicles hanging off of us :-) The time passed quickly and we were all back onto the coach to finish the journey.
About thirty minutes later, we arrived at the O2. As I’ve mentioned before, it’s a cool venue. It is on the Greenwich Peninsula and sits right on the edge of the River Thames. It was formerly known as the Millenium Dome. It sits there beautifully with the lights of Canary Wharf in the background. London is a fun spot at night. It has a groovy vibe.
Brit Boy and I walked along with a spring in our step…we were heading to our favorite thing…music!!!! :-) As we walked along the walkway to the complex, we noticed that they had a small Christmas market. Here’s a photo of the little castle they had set up.
On from that, they had a few stalls set up. We didn’t really linger for very long because it was an icy cold night and the breeze off the river was positively bone chilling. I knew that it was cold because Brit Boy, who is usually always hot, was running towards the building to get away from the cold (smile). Now that’s cold!!! So we scampered on inside.
The O2 was decked out for Christmas. One of my favorite things is the huge light fixture that hangs in the entry area. It is usually white or blue, but this time it had a colorful strobe going on. We walked around the outer ring of the arena, where all of the restaurants and clubs are…great people watching. Everything was even more sparkly than usual with all of the holiday cheer being spread around. They had a snowboarding/sledding area set up and kids from 8 to 80 were having a go at it. I would have loved to, but the line was long. Here’s a photo though with the little chalet to the side. The photo is kinda blurry, but you can get the idea. Brit Boy and I took the photos on his cell phone and it was kind of chilly still, so our hands were shaking a bit. LOL.
They also had special ornamental lights hung around the place. Here’s a pretty sparkly one.
And they were projecting snowflakes onto the roof and it created a great wintry atmosphere. Here’s a look.
Soon it was time to go in for the concert. It was AMAZING!!! I have always liked their music and I always thought that Mick Hucknall had a lovely set of pipes, but I was simply blown away…Brit Boy was too. Wow! You can definitely tell that this group has a powerful connection and a history because they know just how to put out the best performances and take you along for the ride. The musicians are true pros and the backup singers are amazing! They are all so good that it makes the performance seem effortless. But then I guess that that is what truly talented people do :-) And Mick Hucknall….he has a soulful voice that can just send absolute chills down your spine because he is so good, as many of you already know. Dang…he can REALLY SING!!! :-) The song they opened with was “It’s Only Love”…great song! I tell you, I always loved their sound and I always loved Mick’s voice, but seeing them live and hearing his truly divine voice in person is just an experience that I won’t ever forget. The recordings don’t do his voice justice. And I think that he might have had a slight cold, because he coughed once between the songs, but that was that. I guess with a voice like that, not much can shut you down :-)
They performed all of their hits and we loved it, including our favorite, “Holding Back the Years”. It brought tears to my eyes because his voice just soared to the heavens and as I’ve gone through my life, the words of that song just hit me deep. The part of the lyrics where he sings “I’ve wasted all my tears…wasted all those years”, it just means more to me as I go through my life. It makes me think that time waits for no one and sometimes you just have to let go and make room in your heart and you don’t want to look back at the end and see that all you did was mourn and regret your life away. This song helped me a lot when my mom passed away. In the beginning it made me cry of course, but as time went on, it became a salve of sorts and it made me see the greater picture of my life and the broad span of my mom’s life too and her legacy. The great restorative power of music has always been a comfort to me.
Near the middle of the show, Mick sang “You Make Me Feel Brand New” which was originally done by The Stylistics. Mick hit this one out of the park! The range of his voice is amazing and the raw emotion and passion that he puts into each note just sends you soaring with him. Here’s a video I found of him singing this song in concert. This is great, but I think he sang it even better when we saw him at the O2 :-)
The concert was great. Simply Red will be on tour into 2009, so if they come to your town or nearby, I hope you can catch this group before they disband. It’s all just true talent from top to bottom. You will find yourself singing along with every song. There was a great celebratory vibe and they are amazing! :-)
After the concert, we headed back to the coach and strapped ourselves in for the “adventurous” ride home ;-) Let’s just say, thankfully it was dark, so we couldn’t see enough to be scared. LOL. But we survived the trip thankfully and it was worth it in the end because we had a great night! The coach driver took the scenic route through Central London so we got a nice ride through the city, all decked out in its Christmas finery. What a cool night in more ways than one!
I just wanted to drop in and say hello. I've been taking it easy and enjoying the weekend. On Thursday, we had our Thanksgiving dinner and it turned out really great. I surprised myself...everything turned out really great, like someone else had cooked it. LOL. I will share a bit more about this later in the week. On Friday, even though it isn't called Black Friday over here, we did go out and finished all of our Christmas shopping. We missed most of the crowds since most people were not off work. Brit Boy took the day off. There were lots of sales going on, so we got some good deals on some modest gifts. A sign of the times, but it was really nice and simple...the way I like it :-)
Today, Brit Boy is downstairs watching his sports and I'm upstairs watching one of my favorite films.... "Tootsie". I love it because it is definitely of a certain time period and it once again takes me down nostalgia alley just like "last weekend". I guess it's a phase. The end of the year always gets me nostalgic. When I was growing up, one of my favorite things to do on Sunday was to watch movies...the more retro the better :)
Brit Boy and I have already had leftovers from Thanksgiving to eat for early dinner. So I'm free of cooking today. Woo Hoo! LOL. After I finish watching "Tootsie", I may watch a DVD or something. I really love Sundays. Have a great rest of the weekend! :)
I have been tagged by my bloggy buddy Jewelry Rockstar to tell 7 things about me. This is my first tagging like this, so I’m excited. :-) Here it goes.
#1 – When I was in middle school, I was tapped into the Junior Beta Club. This is as, the name implies, the junior version of the National Beta Club. It’s an academic achievement society. I mentioned being "tapped in" when I was in middle school. Well in my school, they had us in an assembly and had us to put our heads down on the table and then they came around and tapped you if you were being taken into the club. Well, they didn’t really tell us what we were doing or perhaps I was talking to my friend at the time. So it was all a surprise to me. :-) And as a kid, who knows about these things? LOL. Anyway, I got tapped and for a moment I was kind of puzzled and thought that I was on the way to the principal’s office or something. LOL. I still remember my momentary panic. But I was cool on the outside though and followed the girl up to the front of the room. So I used to be a brainy kid…now, I’m just beautifully average. LOL. ;-) My pin and certificate are somewhere in storage.
#2 – I played the flute when I was a teenager and I won a few ribbons in competitions. I just took to it like a duck to water. However, I haven’t played in a long while now. I have to pick this up again. Might be fun. :-)
#3 – This week I have been getting back on track with my fitness. I worked out today and even though it is hard to start, I felt better after I finished. I am even cutting back on drinking the sodas. That is tough…eek! :-) I'm am such a soda fiend. I just had some green tea, so I am on my way to doing better.
#4 – I have been growing my hair out over the past year or so. I've been wearing my hair closely cropped for about ten years, so for a change of pace, I am now sporting longer, wavy curls.
#5 – I love watching TV shows and movies about ghosts and haunted places. I just don’t want to see a ghost though…I would probably break my neck trying to run away. LOL.
#6 – I am about nine months older than my husband, Brit Boy, so I love to call him, “My Younger Man” ;-)
#7 – I love to read and I love to write… I love my books. So one day I hope to walk into a store and see my book on the shelf.
There you have it. I scratched my head a lot, but I finally came up with seven. Now I’m going to pass this on and tag some others out there. They are:
I forgot to mention that the new season of "Heroes" is premiering here in England tonight. Brit Boy and I are so excited!!! This time, they are showing it over here right after they show it in the US so we are able to keep up. Yay!!! Before, they were delayed in showing it here a bit.
So now I am signing off to go and watch. Talk to you later. :-)
I was saddened to hear yesterday, when we returned from town, that Paul Newman had passed away. Although I knew he had cancer, it still made me pause when I heard it on the news. A wonderful man.
When I was a kid, I used to spend a portion of Sunday afternoons watching movies from decades past which just fed my imagination. I was probably the only kid in my fourth grade class who could rattle off the names of movie idols of the 40s, 50s, and 60s like I was talking about the latest teen idol. :-) I adored the musicals especially. I just loved it all.
I watched many Paul Newman movies over the years. He was one of my favorites. He was at his beautiful best, I think, in “Cat On A Hot Tin Roof” in 1958. He played so many great roles in his lifetime. However, I think that my favorite is a film that he did with my other childhood crush, Sidney Poitier, called “Paris Blues” in 1961. I saw this movie for the first time when I was a young girl and still to this day, it is one of my favorites. Newman and Poitier play expat jazz musicians living in Paris. The movie also stars Newman’s real life wife, Joanne Woodward as his love interest, and Diahann Carroll as Poitier’s love interest. The movie just has a great swanky feel to it.
Paul Newman will be remembered forever, by those who love his work, whenever we see “The Sting” or “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” or the many other films he starred in.
Besides his acting, I will also fondly remember him for his "Newman’s Own" food products. He gave all of the proceeds from his products to charity. I heard him say in a quote that he had been so lucky in his life, and some others didn’t have that luck, so he felt that it was up to those who have been lucky to help out those who weren’t so lucky. What a great legacy he leaves behind.
I wrote the other day about Brit Boy and me mowing the lawn and doing the gardening on Sunday. Well it was in preparation for our inspection yesterday. The letting agents (real estate agents) come by to inspect our place twice a year to make sure we haven’t wrecked the place or something. (smile) Far from it...they will miss us when we are gone. Anyway, so even though we always keep on top of how things look around here, we always do an extra sprucing up of our place when we know that they will be coming.
For the last few times they have sent the same guy. I told Brit Boy that I hope that he stays for all of the while that we are here. He is so easy and is done quite quickly. The first time that he came, he spent most of the time talking to me about Disney World. He heard my American accent and was absolutely sure that I must live next door to Disney World...he really did. (smile) As we say back home, bless his heart. I told him kindly that actually I come from Georgia and that Florida is the next state south of there. I laughed and told him that I was the only person probably in my family that has never gone to Disney World, even though I have been all over the rest of Florida to the major cities. But it is on my list of things to do. Funnily enough, Brit Boy has even gone there too. (laugh) I really have to catch up. But anyway, with all of this talk about theme parks with the inspector guy, he just did a quick walk through and left. We had a good talk and I even told him of other spots he should visit whenever he got to Florida again. So it was all good. Transatlantic understanding...I love it. He was a good guy.
So thankfully in the times since, he has still been our inspector. They never tell you what time to expect them, so I usually just halfway do stuff all day in a state of apprehension about him coming and getting it over with. The bit of apprehension is that I hope it is the same guy. Also, I hate waiting. I've got to work on that.(smile)
Anyway, he arrived at a bit after 3pm. I greeted him and he went around the house to do his thing and check off his boxes on his form. So I went back to watching my show. I was watching an old episode of “The Young and the Restless”, an American soap opera. A few months ago, they started to show the show over here. It is episodes from 2003 at this point, but back when I was much more homesick, this show comforted me. It was like having a bit of home that I remember even though I didn’t watch it a lot back home. It is funny what you find yourself clinging to when you are living in another country and you will go to mostly anything to find the familiar in the life that you had in your home country. Sometimes it is just good to hear other people who speak like you. (smile) I embrace the differences here and I love having this totally new experience and I think that I have done a good job, but sometimes after a challenging day, it helps to hear my accent reflected back at me. It is an expat thing I guess. (smile) Also, the soap operas make me think of my mom. She watched most of the soaps for years and so when I hear the theme songs when the shows start, I instantly have this sensory memory of her. (smile) In the beginning, I would even tear up when I would hear the opening theme songs...memory is a powerful, powerful thing.
So when the inspector came back downstairs to speak with me, of course at that very moment they were showing a scene with two characters “in the afterglow” of lovemaking. And the inspector looked at the screen just then. (laugh) It was so funny. I told Brit Boy that the guy probably thought that I was watching porn or something. (laugh) Thankfully, right before he left, they switched to another scene so I hope that he figured it out. He was pleasant as always and I said a little prayer after he left, so that hopefully he will continue to be our inspector. And then I went back and got knee-deep into being both “youngish” and only vaguely “restless” because I hadn’t eaten all day.
