Quantum of Solace - Warning: Possible Spoiler Alert!

First of all, I'm not sure if I'll give anything away, but my parents have been known to comment that I may have said more than necessary ... so read on at your own risk!

We have just arrived back from an enjoyable evening out at the O2. To begin with, we had a tasty and satisfying meal at Gaucho. We started with a rectangular glass plate of scallops. This time, the scallops arrived as a heap of white, tender and cold baby scallops, mixed with sweet little orange segments, chilli, coriander and thin circlets of roasted purple carrot. Very different from our warm, seared scallops at Cafe Des Amis, and perhaps not quite as delicious, but succulent and tasty nonetheless. The chilli in particular meant that although the dish was cold, my mouth was quite hot by the end of it. However, Gaucho is not best known for its fish dishes; its speciality is Argentinian beef, which is brought to the customer on a wooden board, so the waiter can explain the cuts and show the amount of beef you get for each weight. I decided to have a Bife de Ancho (ribeye steak), while H had sirloin (Bife de Chorizo). Both medium on the rare side. I had a Bearnaise sauce; H had peppercorn. We shared chips and spinach. Absolutely delicious. My steak melted at the slightest touch of my knife, with the barest of blood oozing from the barely pink insides. Succulent, tasty, mmmmm. I think I had the best deal, although H made short work of his, too. We finished by sharing a pancake with vanilla ice cream and a caramel sauce. Highly recommended.

Anyway, you are probably not reading this for my food review. (Well, maybe some of you are!) But my main reason for writing is the latest James Bond film, Quantum of Solace.

First of all, the theme tune. I saw the premiere on TV, and was disappointed then. I've grown a bit used to it since then, but I still think it sounds vaguely out of tune, although I'm sure it's supposed to sound that way. H says it's supposed to sound like that, and the reason I don't like it is because it's not the sort of music I listen to, and it's more R&B. Now, we listen, I think, to quite a bit of R'n'B, and I think I like most music we listen to. And I'm sure there are other Alicia Keys songs that I like, it's just that this is a bit, well, out of tune sounding. The credits were okay, though. Quite traditional, lots of women and sand and guns.

Next, the plot. Ahem. I wish I'd rewatched Casino Royale before going to see Quantum of Solace! I was able to remember bits and pieces, and occasionally I would think, aha, that is related to Casino Royale, but I was a bit at sea in places. For example, I can't quite remember the details about why and how Vesper Lynd died (I mean, I can remember how she died, but not the events surrounding it). However, that didn't really matter, the main plot was fairly straightforward to follow, and where it was a bit incomprehensible or bizarre, it was still followable. (I don't think that sounds quite as clear as it should be!)

Thirdly, the girl. The main weakness with Casino Royale, for me, was Vesper Lynd. I just couldn't believe the relationship. That the whole plot for this film rides on Bond's love for Vesper seems a bit unbelievable when taken in context with the lack of chemistry in Casino Royale. However, since we never see Vesper this time, that's okay. Instead, Bond has a good, strong relationship with ... excuse me while I go and find out what she was called ... Camille. I don't think it's too much of a flaw that I did not really take any notice of her name, since she is a strong enough character without one. The other "Bond girl", Fields, was very familiar (I have just looked her up and discovered that she is Gemma Arterton, who was recently in St Trinian's, which I haven't seen, but that has made me realise she reminded me of Tess in the BBC's Tess of the D'Urbervilles ... yes, that's who she was). Although not a big part, I thought she was very good. And in many ways, she was also a more typical Bond girl ...

Product placement was one of my main grips with Casino Royale. Omega this, Virgin that, Ford the other ... He kept on using his mobile phone in very conspicuous ways, and as for using a laptop on a boat in the middle of the sea with your girlfriend to check into work ... well. I was a bit worried when I heard Mark Kermode mention product placement on his radio podcast, so I wondered if there was going to be a lot of it, and if it would annoy me. However, this time round, I didn't really notice it as much, even though I was looking out for it (which I wasn't first time round). The first - and only - time I really noticed it was when Bond was drinking in a bar in an aeroplane. Someone asked what he was drinking - the opportunity, in Bond's of old, to say, "a martini, shaken not stirred" - but here he didn't really care so he asked the bartender, who replied precisely, "Two shots of Gordon's, a shot of vodka ... (or whatever the ingredients are) ... and a thin twist of lemon peel", or something like that. I think he said it was shaken, and I think he said it wasn't a vermouth or something. Anyway, Gordon's got their placement. Then when Bond moved out of the way, you could see he was in a Virgin Atlantic plane. So another Virgin placement. Other than that, the product placement was not obvious. In the car chase we were aware that there was an Aston Martin being chased by a ... oh well, I noticed at the time, but I'm afraid I've forgotten. Someone else will need to watch out for it and remind me! Later there was a Range Rover, and a Ford was driven at some point, but those were the main things I noticed. Bond did use his phone a lot, it's true, and I can just imagine that Orange executive saying, "Let's have him taking pictures of the villains with his mobile phone camera!", but when he used it, it made sense - we all use our phones for taking pictures these days, don't we?! - and I did not notice what make of phone it was, because it wasn't important. I have to say, it does seem like there may have been quite a few placements there, but that's only because I deliberately wanted to mention them, and they did not seem out of place, so it wasn't a problem.

Daniel Craig. Still great as Bond. Still either the best or number 2 after Sean Connery ... still tough to place them! Craig's Bond is tough, gritty, violent at times, focussed. He also has a tender side, seen in a couple of unexpected places, which makes him human and likeable. This film continues the theme of trust, started in Casino Royale. He is still working out who to trust. As is M. And possibly the British government ...

The chase scenes are great, real edge of the seat stuff, holding your breath for ages, finally able to breath out and then something else exciting happens. Lots of chasing, lots of fighting. Mostly this all seems very real. My only gripe would be that many of these scenes are so quick, with so much cutting, editing, on the move shots, that it is often difficult to work out exactly what is going on, who is doing what, where things are happening etc. This makes the film dynamic, but it would be interesting to compare it to a slightly slower, clearer cut.

Right. I've been back for an hour or two now, and it's definitely time for bed. So, my final, overall view? A very enjoyable and exciting film, one that made me feel happy, with just enough of a social conscience to raise issues in someone's mind without being at all preachy, Daniel Craig is excellent, and all is right with the world. Roll on 2010.

Busy, busy week!

Wow, what a busy week! And with so many late nights! I have had a wee sleep, which was much needed, and I hope to have a lazy day tomorrow to catch up on my rest - but also on the tidying up, washing etc! So, what have I been up to this week?

Monday 28 July - Celebrated our anniversary by staying in for once! H was very busy getting ready for some shows, so I did some shopping for him and went to Ikea to buy a new bed, since we were having lots of guests this week.

Tuesday 29 July - My cousin arrived to look at flats in London. It was really nice to see her. She and another friend will be starting work in September. H continued to work on his preparation and I was able to help him. Think we were getting a bit high on the glue he had to use!

Wednesday 30 July - I dropped my cousin and her friend off at an estate agent. At least, that was the plan. Turns out the road she was on was so long, the numbers repeated themselves in different parts, so she was dropped off about a mile or two from her destination! Later, Mum and Dad arrived with my sister and her husband. I went to meet them, then later they met my cousin (who had found a flat - sounds nice!) who then left. After a short rest, we drove to their hotel and had dinner there.

Thursday 31 July - The highlight of the week! Really enjoyed the evening event, which was a great success. Loads of people there, friends, old, new and just met. During the day we had to prepare - it was SO hot, and I stupidly didn't get dressed up in the morning, choosing to come home, get changed, then go back. Silly idea! Anyway, an old school friend of mine had come down in the morning, and he was able to stay and help H get set up. I think everyone seemed to enjoy it. We stayed until we were eventually kicked out, drove home via the Orange Tree for some delicious Lebanese cooking, then stayed up chatting until about 3am, H, F and I.

Friday 1 August - Arranged to meet M&D at Camden Market. Wandered around for a bit, had some lunch, then took the tube to Waterloo, where we had a coffee. It was a cooler and wetter day, although the rain tended to be a drizzle, so it made a nice change. Then we took the Thames Cruiser - wonderful! - from Waterloo to the O2, where we met up with S&B. Kylie was playing, so there were loads of crowds, and the queues were long, but we got a good round table at Nandos, where we had lovely lot of food. It was funny when we got there; S, B, F and I followed the waitress up a flight of stairs to the table, then turned round to discover that H, M and D had continued up the staircase - which turned out to end up with the toilets! Fortunately they eventually found us! We had a really lovely evening, lots of chat and laughter, and all too soon it was time to go home. We took the tube, although H, F and I went to the supermarket before going home, had a nice walk, then stayed up talking again until about 3am once again.

Saturday 2 August - This is the day everyone had to leave and go home. So it was an early start in order to catch the lunchtime train. However, everyone managed to get there with plenty of time to spare. H and I had a wedding to go to in the evening, so after waving off the train we went to Oxford Street to get a present. They do excellent gift wrapping in John Lewis! Also got a new SIM card, and H got a new phone, which I have been playing with since. Quite jealous! We both had an afternoon nap once we got home, then had to rush to get ready to head across London. We decided to drive, and H managed to get through the lights as they changed to amber on Tower Bridge - just before the bridge went up! So that was lucky, or we would have been even later in arriving. It was a nice evening; H met up with some old school friends and I was able to chat to an old friend as well. Then we drove back with a couple of friends which was a good laugh, reminiscing. Another late night for H and I again, as we chatted about the wedding reception.

Sunday 3 August - So tired getting up for church, but made it. Hope my closed eyes looked like I was being particularly prayerful rather than sleeping! Came back and tried to sleep for a bit, but the noise of the Red Bull planes outside alerted us to the fact that the Air Race was on, so we decided to try to get a closer view and went to the O2. When we got there, we learnt that the tickets for the seats were £50 a go, so we decided to forego that and just stand and look up for a few minutes, before taking the tube to meet up with yet another friend at the Serpentine Gallery. Took a while to meet up, since the rain meant we changed our plans and first of all met her at her borrowed apartment, but we got there eventually and saw Richard Prince's work before heading home. For a much needed (and hopefully deserved!) afternoon nap. And then I got up, made some dinner, and here I am catching up with my blog. Hopefully this coming week will be a bit quieter! (Although, somehow I doubt it!)

See you next Sunday - if not before!

Busy Day!

Woke up around 8am. Got up and ready, out by about 8.40 am. Headed into the city for my conference. Spent around seven hours finding out what has to be done by 14 June ... quite a lot, it seems! But fortunately I might be on my way there - although I'll have to use my week off wisely! Lots to do!

Left around 3.30pm or so and came back home. We had already decided to go and see Indiana Jones and the whatever, so I sat and read half of my recently purchased book, before heading out towards the O2.

When we got there, H thought it would be a good idea to see if there were any tickets left for the Chris Rock gig. He had tried to get them on the internet, but to no avail. There were! And they were in the third row. So off we went into the Arena.

Chicken nuggets, cheeseburger and chips all went down well, and the people on either side of us in the arena were friendly. Since the last time we were in the arena was on the back row of the gods for the Prince concert, this was a little different! Front row seats for the record breaking comic. We were there until around 10.15pm or so. Rock was funny, funnier in some places than others. His observations on the difference between jobs and careers were, for me, the high point of his act. The relationship bit is funny if a bit on the crude side, but his observations on language and politically correctness weren't so hot. So a bit up and down, although we all laughed a lot.

We had paid for our Indy ticket on the internet, so H thought it would be worthwhile to see if we could exchange it. I didn't hold out much hope, but thought it wouldn't hurt to try. So we went and asked, and there was a show on at 11.30pm. So we had an ice cream and waited until we could get in.

Well. The music is still great, and it's nice to see Harrison Ford as Indy. However, it was all quite daft! I mean, aliens and flying saucers. The supernatural is one thing, but this was something else entirely! And a couple of the subplots were a bit silly too. Anyway, it was all fun - and it was nice to see the glow of the ark of the covenant in an early warehouse scene - but not as great as I had hoped.

On the way out, the square outside the O2 had been filled up with barriers. We wondered what sort of queue would necessitate that type of organised system, so we asked - the X Factor auditions. Some people were already there, waiting in the rain! Madness. On the way home we had to wait in another queue, this time of traffic, to go through the Blackwall Tunnel, which was closed in one direction. Glad to be finally home; very tired!

Prince - the Aftershow Party

H decided to get tickets for the Prince Aftershow Party. Although there was no guarantee that Prince would show up, we were also keen to see the inside of IndigO2, the nightclub at the O2, and thought it could be fun. Doors opened at 11:30pm, and there was still quite a queue around midnight, when we arrived. It didn't take long to get in, though, so we dropped off our coats and made our way to the bar. Everything is on one level, and very open, which is handy, but I overheard some guys talking about the decor and not being impressed, and I suppose it's not great, but it wasn't that bad either. There is actually an upstairs with tables and seats, but I'm not sure how you get there, and it didn't look as much fun anyway.

There was some fairly utilitarian music coming out over the system, but quite a crowd of people had gathered around the front of the dancefloor, where there was an empty stage with a purple curtain and lit up by purple lights. We decided to make our way to the dancefloor, wondering if anything would happen. Occasionally some smoke would come out of the machines, and there were occasional movements behind the curtain. There was a security guard at the front of the stage to stop people from getting up there, so we decided that at least there must be a band going to play, and we were still hopefully that Prince might make an appearance.

A man with a ponytail came out and played a few riffs on the guitar, presumably trying it out for sound, then disappeared again behind the curtain. The piped music was still coming out of the speakers ... and then came the sound of live music, the curtains opened, and a band were on stage! The first person I recognised was Prince's female drummer, so I realised that it was his band, which was great - but that still didn't mean that Prince would be there. However, the band are great so we knew it would be a good night, and the atmosphere had immediately become more electric.

A guy in a dark t-shirt and trousers with a flat cap walked on stage and started singing and rapping. H told me that it was Common, which was exciting, because he is the most played artist on our iTunes! He was great, and was around for a while during the evening. Then ... in the corner of the stage at first ... a more diminuitive artist, with a three quarters length jacket, slicked back black hair in a black bandana, the artist known as - Prince!

What an amazing night. For two hours, Prince, his band, his backing singers (sometimes fronting singers), his dancers, The Twinz, and Common entertained us, jamming, singing, dancing, as if this was the gig they had planned to play that night. You would never have guessed that they had just all performed for over two hours in the Arena, entertaining 20,000 people, some of whom would have been miles away - and here, we were standing about 6 yards away, watching the faces that Prince pulled as he played his guitar solos, watching him dance without inhibition as Common sang or his band played jazzy solos, watching him sit down, strumming his guitar as one or other of his singers took the lead, watching him on the electric piano synthesiser, standing quietly in the background, accompanying the others, watched him working the crowd, as we all whooped and roared and clapped and sang and danced ... A great evening.

Some other funny observations ... the way the security guards performed a three way pincer movement on anyone with mobiles out - the security guard at the front shone a bright torch at anyone illegally recording the gig, a guard upstairs shone a green laser at their head, picking them out, and a guard with a blue laser walked behind them, then assertively, quietly, without fuss or argument, escorted the offender off the dancefloor.

Some of the bizarre dance moves of a few people - well, one anyway who was standing right in front of us and who threatened to knock me over with almost every move - who were obviously enjoying themselves and giving it everything without much consideration of those around, but provided entertainment value!

The black sparkly floor with little silver and gold stars set in them that was around the dancefloor.

The palm tree at the back of the stage.

Eventually, some time after 2am, Prince and his band eventually finished, and, after one encore, officially left the building. Scores of people headed straight for the doors, keen to make a quick getaway after what may have been, for them, a long but wonderful night. That left a few of us who were still keen to dance (despite heels), who were finally able to get some space on the dancefloor to freak out, and dance the night away. There seemed to be only about twenty of us dancing, which was great - there was so much room, although we had to watch out for plastic pint glasses, straws, bits of lemon, and slippy patches where drink had been spilled. But we didn't mind, and H and I danced until the music stopped and the lights came up.

I think that was about 3:15am or so. We just managed to catch the bus home, and, only pausing to make the bed, were asleep by 5am. So I'm just up, sharing this with you at what should be lunch time! But what a night!

Space Centre

For some (slightly worrying) reason, we're still on-line ... so I'm still waiting to be cut off ...

Anyway, in the meantime, yesterday I had a lovely day out in Leicester with a former colleague of mine and her little brother and sister at the Space Centre. We all really enjoyed it: the cinema experience ('Astronaut', narrated by Ewan McGregor) was excellent, lying back and feeling as if you were zooming through space and time, and the simulator was also great fun, where we felt as if we were landing on Europa - the 3D effects were good, and we were bumping all over the place!

Got home, where I discovered that my phone was still on silent, so I had missed the message from H saying he had gone to the cinema, and maybe I could join him - it started at 8:30pm. Well, it was at least 8:40pm by then, but the bus only takes about 10 minutes to get there, so if I was lucky I might not miss too much - so I ran downstairs, and waited for a but. I must have just missed one, because there was no sign for ages, and the next one was running late, so it didn't arrive until about 9:15pm. Anyway, I ran to the cinema and was only about an hour late in arriving. I sat at the front until the screen lit up a bit more, when I looked for H. He loves sitting right in the middle of the audience, normally not too near the back, so I looked around there - and found him! I thought there was a seat beside him, so began walking along the row, only to discover too late that there were people on either side of him. So I sat a couple of seats along. I think he was pleasantly surprised to see me! I hadn't missed too much (well, about 40 minutes of chases and fights, apparently) so managed to work out what was going on pretty quickly and quite enjoyed the relentless pace of the rest of the film.

Tonight we're going to watch England v Germany at Wembley, tomorrow I'll go in to school to collect the GCSE results (which hopefully will be miles better than the A Level ones), and on Friday H has booked us tickets for the Prince aftershow party at the O2. So a busy few days lined up!

Tour of London

Yes, you read that correctly ... tour of London, not tower of London. Specifically, a tour of University College, London. We started in Bloomsbury, learnt a bit about the Bloomsbury Group, saw where TS Eliot worked for Faber and Faber (and heard about how he turned down George Orwell's Animal Farm, apparently with the comment that no one was really interesting in animal stories these days. (However, I've just done a search, and have found the following quote on The Antigonish Review:

With relevance, controversy and exceptional artistic merit, was it incomprehensible then that Animal Farm barely made it into print? Numerous British and American publishing houses rejected it. One, Dial Press, New York, returned the manuscript and, according to Orwell, told him that it was '...impossible to sell animal stories in the U.S.A."6

Faber and Faber, London, rejected the book despite it being termed a '...distinguished piece of writing', according to T.S. Eliot, one of the firm's directors and managing partners. 'The fable is very skilfully handled ... the narrative keeps one's interest on its own plane - and that is something very few authors have achieved since Gulliver.'

Eliot added: 'It is certainly the duty of any publishing firm which pretends to other interests and motives than mere commercial prosperity, to publish books which go against the current of the moment; but in each instance that demands that at least one member of the firm should have the conviction that this is the thing that needs saying at the moment. I can't see any reason of prudence or caution to prevent anybody from publishing this book - if he believed in what it stands for."

Another publisher to turn it down was Jonathan Cape ...

We then wandered through the streets and learnt a little more about the University of London, and saw SOAS then Birkbeck College, the evening school started by a professor from Edinburgh University.

One of the most interesting parts of the tour was when we visited one of UCL's collections, the Grant Museum of Zoology, a collection of skeletons arranged in taxonomical order. Highlights of the collection for me included the glass models of creatures such as slugs and anenome that cannot necessarily leave a skeleton. They are anatomically correct and are very beautiful (strange when you consider they are slugs and stuff! I was also impressed by the huge skull of an ancient ancestor of the giraffe, and the skeleton of an anaconda, wrapped around a branch.

We then went into the main UCL building, where I was delighted to finally see the stuffed body of Jeremy Bentham, the founder of Utilitarianism. (I think the UCL Bentham Project website is a very interesting and informative one, so have linked to it here.) There is also an interesting exhibition, Collecting the Dead, curated by the final year UCL Museum Curating students. It was a shame not to have longer to look at this exhibition, but perhaps we could visit it again later ...

After that, we visited the Petrie Museum of Egyptology, another fascinating place. I particularly liked (although "liked" is perhaps a strange word to use) the person buried in a pot, since it was quite unusual; I'm sure I haven't seen anything quite like it before. This tunic, possibly belonging to a 10 year old girl, was also very interesting - apparently it had been taken off inside out, and was found in a crumpled heap. As the tour guide (a friendly and professional teacher named Alison) said, some things don't change ... the archaeologists had to study the crease patterns at the elbow to figure out which way round the tunic would be worn, then they carefully used some sort of gauze in order to be able to display it. Quite a fashionable tunic - I'm sure I've got tops in a similar style!

Overall, it was a very interesting day. H said that if I'd told him we were visiting UCL he wouldn't have wanted to go - but he also really enjoyed it. A very interesting day!

In the evening we went to see Rush Hour 3 at the O2. A good laugh. So all in all, a busy day with lots packed in (including a lovely lunch near Russell Square tube station, which I would highly recommend but can't remember the name of - H said the Madras Chicken was the best Indian food he's had in London so far! I had a ham and mozzarella panini, which looked quite plain, but was delicious, and we both had milkshakes. All for £11. Which for London, seemed a particularly good deal! Must go back when we visit the Museum some time ...)

Nothing Compares 2U ...

Wow! I have been truly blown away. From the opening chords of 1999 as the Sign flashed up in reds and golds, to the final Nothing Compares 2U which we all sang to Prince as he came back for about his third encore, and the sitting in the stadium as it slowly, ever so slowly, eventually, finally, wistfully, regretfully emptied, until the security staff had to come to those of us remaining and sorrowfully tell us that, yes, Prince really had left the building (or at least the arena, since some lucky people would be enjoying his presence at the afterparty at Indigo2), we were amazed, entertained, Partying, Crazy, in the Purple Rain of His Purpleness's throne room.

The doors opened at 6pm - we left the house about fifteen minutes before this, not sure when the concert would actually begin. Took about less than 15 minutes to get there - the O2 is my local!!! Then queued for 15 mins for the toilets. Tip - ignore the first toilet - there are plenty more in the arena! Arrived, to a real sense of occasion, then was a bit disappointed not to be able to go straight in to our seat - the actual arena doors did not open until about 7.15pm. But lots of nice places to eat and drink. We got pepperoni pizza and cod and chips. Not bad. Wine, beer, water, and other things to choose from, including healthier options.

Our seat was right up at the very top, in the very back row. It's a lot steeper than Wembley, and there's not as much leg room. But since we were dancing most of the night, that didn't matter much, and the great thing about Row U is that you can stand behind the row and dance. Fantastic!

H informed me that our support act was Beverley Knight. She was very good, very energetic; it was a shame the arena was still mostly empty and people were wandering around rather than giving her their full attention. She kept on saying Thank You and exclaiming how great it was that we were there to see Prince. After she left, we had fun sending Mexican Waves around the arena. Everyone joined in, and I think we went all the way around about three times.

There was another short break, and around 8.45pm ish, the lights dimmed, the roars started, the music began - and we watched a ten minute or so long video of people talking about how great Prince is. All eyes fixed on the dark stage ... steam billowing ... strum roar ... then all lights blazing, everyone immediately on their feet, a huge grin plastered across my face, which lasted the whole night, and we were partying like it was 1999!

It was a great evening. Prince is a consummate performer. Listening to his guitar solos was awesome. The roar reverberated through the seats and floor so my whole body was shaking with the noise. Mesmerising. The drummer (in a black and white striped dress). saxophinist, trombonist, pianist - all were excellent. The singers and dancers gave it everything. (The dancers in particular had the most amazing energy, throwing themselves around the place in good rhythm and time. When Prince disappeared, in a cloud of smoke, through a trapdoor in the middle of the stage (which was shaped like his Sign), we all clapped, cheered, whistled, as the band continued to play, until he came back. Crazy. Then he went away - but we wouldn't. The lights came up but still we cheered, no one daring to leave. And eventually he came back.

Overall, a fantastic night. Great performance, a party that made us dance and sing the whole night through. The visual light effects were excellent. The sound was great. I could hardly take my eyes off Prince, tiny on stage so far away from me.

A wonderful night. Nothing Compares 2U ...