Swan Lake (4.5/5)

Swan Lake (4.5/5)
English National Ballet
London Coliseum
7th August 2012

Choreography: Derek Deane
Music: Pyotr llyichTchaikovsky
Odette/Odile: Begoña Cao
Prince Siegfried: Esteban Berlanga

The corp are stunning, their beautifully fluttering wings and precise formation changes a magnificent portrayal of swans in flight. Cao's interpretation of beauty, sadness, darkness and joy is sublime. After a slow start at Siegfried's party Deane's ballet hits it's stride with the swan hunt and never looks back. The men are somewhat peripheral, but then this is a ballet for ballerinas in tutus and it certainly deliveries.

Running Cold

Running Cold
Monday 6th August 2012

The stadium scoreboard forecasts an evening of "British 'summer' " weather (their quote marks). It's overcast, there's rain in the air, the wind's gusting, allegedly 19C, feels more like 15. Seems like the British summer has arrived on this "Ladies Night" of Olympic athletics. Five of seven events will feature women, given the fashion for short shorts and crop tops the British summer may be keenly felt.

In front of us the 200m runners take their marks, just beyond them the pole vaulters are leaping and on the far side of the field the finalists in the shot put do their stuff. Everyone of them rugged-up against the cold. The stadium itself is cauldron like. Tall, steep stands enclose the field of play. At the far end the Olympic Flame burns brightly if modestly. The cauldron so splendidly assembled during the opening ceremony looks almost small and insignificant against the backdrop of two vast TV screens. No towering mast to hold the Olympic flame aloft for all to see, it's a little disappointing.

Pole vaulting is the first event to begin and last to finish; which is nice for us sat only a running track's width from the landing pit. It's soon clear that eight of the twelve competitors are really only making the numbers up. They come in at 4.30m and are out by 4.55m as the best in the world are just getting started - blustery conditions cannot be helping these girls. First and second clear 4.75m, which looks rather high. USA's Jennifer Suhr takes gold ahead of Cuba's Yarisley Silva on count-back. Across the field Nadzeya Ostapchuk of Belarus puts the shot 21.36m to wipe out the field by two feet in the old money.

Meanwhile on the track a procession of women come out to race for a place in the 200m semis. Flying out of their blocks the girls disappear around the bend in a collage of colourful national strips. Next, the ground staff make a show of putting out the 400m hurdles with synchronised precision, not being Beijing it's a little ragged. The women's semis are first, then the men are allowed out to play in their final. Brit Danny Greene is cheered from start to fourth, though the crowd is won over by Dominican Republic's Felix Sanchez floods of tears on the winner's podium. The women take over the track for the 3,000m steeplechase before the men return for the last race of the day: 400m flat. There's an Aussie in this one and our American neighbours sportingly offer us their support as for a change there are no US athletes in a final. It doesn't help though as the Caribbean cleans-up and the Australian comes last.

So we head out into Olympic Park. It's pretty dead, the megastore has been stripped bare, it's cold, it's dark, the British summer has won.

(Footnote: whatever we said to Michael Diamond on Sunday didn't help. Leading with 75/75 he finished fourth with a final round of 20/25).

Photo: the Olympic flame is too far away to offer much heat on a chilly night.

An intense day of Olympic shooting

An intense day of Olympic shooting
5th August 2012

The atmosphere at the Royal Artillery Barracks came as a complete surprise. A respectful silence whilst the marksmen competed was to be expected, but not the knife-cuttable tension. Arriving late and in the midst of a deluge a deflating "it's all off" experience seemed likely. In fact, the rain delayed the trap shooting so we got to see both that and the Men's 50m Pistol Final.

The pistol takes place in the Finals Hall, a vast white box of a structure. The MC encourages everyone to cheer any score over 10. In practice we're all too fearful of putting someone off so save the applause for the end of each round. (I always thought 10 for a bulls eye was top score. Apparently it's scored in 0.1's nowadays, so 10 is a bull, 10.9 is dead centre and it's all assessed electronically).

It was all over in twenty minutes in which you hardly dared to breath, the tension could have been cut with a knife. Eight shooters, seventy-five seconds for each one of ten shots. The Range Officer calls each round in turn "3, 2, 1, Start". The competitors slowly raise their pistols and pause ...... Holding position, waiting, waiting, until perfectly composed before squeezing the trigger. One by one the athletes waiver and fall out of contention, shooting an eight rather than a high nine or even a ten. In the last round consistency is rewarded. Jin Jongoh of Korea scores 10.2 to overtake his team mate, who can only manage 8.4, and wins by 0.5. The knowledgeable applaud with added enthusiasm for Jin Jongh has just become the most successful Olympic pistol shooter of all time. Jin has successfully defended his 2008 50m title and won the 10m pistol a few days ago - no wonder the Korean looks slightly overwhelmed by it all.

Back outside the rain has stopped and the trap shooting resumed. It's not so tense, this is "only" qualification. Not that you'd know it from the intense look on Michael Diamond's face - Australia's champion from the Sydney Olympics. Diamond's one hundred percent accuracy puts him in the lead and we go down to wish him well for the final. (Note to people behind the the consistently uninformative results app - Diamond is not American).

Shooting has turned out to be a much more exhausting and intriguing day than expected. Without the shouting and cheering associated with most competition there's no outlet for the slow burning tension that builds round after round. Keeping it in is so much harder than letting it all out in one big yell.

Pictures:
50m Pistol Final underway in The Finals Hall
Australian Adam Valla bags a clay in The Trap
Carole chatting with Michael Diamond after his perfect qualification round

England's Green and Pleasant Land

England's Green and Pleasant Land
Rowing at Eton
2nd August 2012

In keeping with the British "make do" spirit of these Olympic games the rowing competition is being held at an existing facility: Eton Dorney . An appropriate venue for a sport traditionally associated with private schools and top tier universities - this is the Eton of posh nobs school fame.

British traditions were to the fore throughout. A crowded, though cheerful, train ride from London to Windsor & Eton. The choice of a double-decker bus or a stroll alongside the Thames to Eton Dorney. Either-way the journey to lakeside is completed by a mandatory country stroll around Windsor race course. We choose the all-walk option and enjoy an hour or so meandering amongst England's green and pleasant land of hedgerows, green grass fresh from overnight rain and carefully laid out gardens. Even the weather plays its part, variously glorious sunshine, overcast grey and a few spots of rain.

The rowing comes in intense bursts of enthusiasm. From our seats near the finish line the first 1500m are best viewed on the big screen as in the distance scurrying ants slowly resolve into well-muscled crews of men and women pulling hard in single and double sculls, fours and eights. With British interest in almost every race there's plenty for the locals to shout about. In the occasional race without a Team GB presence the vocal stands split their support between defending champions, old allies and game losers. Pick of the day has to be the Men's Lightweight Four, after six minutes and 2000m an infinitesimal 0.32 seconds separates the medalists (South Africa, Great Britain, Denmark) with Australia a gallant fourth by 0.9 seconds. Everyone goes ballistic cheering their favourites home, the stands a sea of coloured flags.

After the racing we retire to the back-lot for tea and cake accompanied by stirring tunes from the Royal Marines band. A fitting end to a typically British day.

Photographs
Neck and Neck the Men's Lightweight Fours
Royal Marine Band

Boom Boom, Prosperos' Tavern (2.0/5)

Boom Boom, Prospero's Tavern (2.0/5)
Spiegeltent, Wonderground,
Southbank, London
31 July 2012

Usual Spiegeltent menu of cabaret and burlesque let down by poor hosting and thoughtless staging. The vaudverville acts were good to great, special mention for Up and Overs hand-drumming, tap dancing routine and a brilliant mime to Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now". Jonny Woo's camp cross-dressing MC, Prospero, became a drag on the show after the first two gags. It was annoying being asked to move from a booth to the GA stalls only for each act to work mainly at the front of the thrust, backs to most of us.

First impressions of London

Arriving in London yesterday afternoon (Monday) - it was disappointing the venerable old city did not feel very Olympic. On reflection, London has overwhelmed the Olympics through the shear scale of what passes as "everyday". A city that has countless museums, galleries, theatres, parks and architectural masterpieces hardly needs an injection of Olympic razzmatazz. In typically British fashion the Olympics seem somewhat understated, much like Team GB that as I write on Tuesday evening seems to be making a habit of being the battling runner-up.

Could Danny Boyle's Opening Ceremony have set the scene for Team GB? It looked like "only" a £30M show, but drawing on the British talent for making a lot out of little was worth a lot more. On this basis we should expect some pluck British losers and a few extraordinary golden performances.

This being the first "Olympic" blog a few words on the Opening Ceremony would seem appropriate if not essential. In a word: a jolly good show, and very British. Good on Danny Boyle and LOGOC for making some bold decisions and breaking with tradition: the pause to remember was so sadly poignant, the flag party of international peacemakers so noble and the choice of young athletes to light the flame so full of hope. By all accounts if you weren't British all the nuances were largely lost on you - never mind, no one understands the British, especially the eccentric English, anyway.

25th Wedding Anniversary

A delightful day with family and friends. We were honoured that so many people came to lunch at Wolfson College to celebrate our 25th Wedding Anniversary. A particular highlight was Rev Canon Stephen Purvis saying Grace, Stephen married us all those years ago. We had such a good time that we took very few photos - here's a small collection, totally unrepresentative of all the happiness we enjoyed.

Only in Cambridge

Urban Democracy by Design?
Christ's College, Cambridge
26th July 2012

This is why I love and miss Cambridge so much...

You arrive in town and pick-up a few flyers, one is for the plenary session of a symposium on one of my favourite subjects: urban environments (http://poiesisfellowship.org/2012/07/12/poiesis-interdisciplinary-interventions-on-urban-transformation/). So, you go along to Christ's College and are elevated to another plane of intellectualism by the depth and power behind the experiences of each presenter. Afterwards you enjoy champagne in the Fellow's Garden under a beautiful blue sky.

The symposium is the culmination of a three year research project into the making and remaking of cities, reading the city from its physical and cultural infrastructures, the potential of urban democracy ‘by design’, and the implications of comprehensive urbanism for social thought and political practice.

Professor Richard Burdett speaks of his experience as Chief Adviser on Architecture and Urbanism for the London 2012 Olympics and advisor to the Olympic Park Legacy Company on the future development of London’s Olympic site. Burnett reflects on the importance of permeability to the post-Olympic success of the site as its development continues for the next 20-years. Over drinks afterwards Richard gives Sydney a moderate score for Homebush's post-Olympic urban renewal.

On a more intimate scale Michael Arad describes his work in the realising the 9/11 Memorial at the World Trade Center site. Titled “Reflecting Absence", what began as a private project through which Arad dealt with his response to 9/11, became the winning entry in the memorial competition. Arad's journey to create the memorial became an exercise in discourse, democracy and decision making, three facets of urban design that do not sit easily together across a myriad of stakeholders. Importantly, sufficient time was given over to engagement before the final design was resolved.

Only in Cambridge...

Feerie Moulin Rouge (3.0/5)

Féérie (3.0/5)
Moulin Rouge, Paris
24th July 2012

Glitzy, kitsch though what it's really all about is the girls. The show is cruise-boat standard musical numbers, the audience jammed in like sardines, the champagne does not do justice to France, though the girls do. Despite all, the atmosphere is jovial, the audience appreciative, its really all about being there, and the girls. Expensive, yes; worth doing, yes; the show scrapes a 3.0/5, whilst it's a 6.0/5 for the girls.

Musique Sacrée à Notre-Dame de Paris (4.0/5)

Musique Sacrée à Notre-Dame de Paris
Summer Concert: Bach and Monteverdi (4.0/5)
Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris
23rd July 2012

Maîtrise Notre Dame de Paris
Ensemble de Solisters
Orgue de chœur: Yves Castagnet

Pleasantly restrained concert of organ and song spanning C16 to C18. This beautiful cathedral's acoustics are surprisingly soft, the absence of deep vibration allowed the concert to wrap-around the audience whilst remaining focused on the ensemble. The eight pieces revealed the development of organ and choral music (more extensive program notes would have added value). The program concluded with a nicely balanced rendering of Bach's "Jesus bleibet meine freude", five voices and main organ blending perfectly.

Tour de France

Tour de France
Paris
Sunday 22nd July 2012

"Le Caravan" hits town two hours ahead of the peloton. A convoy of elaborately dressed sponsor's vehicles parades for ninety minutes. Elsewhere this jamboree of corporate endorsement passes in half the time. Being the Champs Élysées for the twentieth and final stage of the 2012 Tour de France it's double value for the Parisian crowd as the carnival of floats parades up one side of the famous avenue and down the other. From jersey sponsors (yellow, green and polka dot) to a fleet of lorries that have hauled Tour paraphernalia some 2000km around France, it's a noisy cavalcade of colour and honking horns.

Under clear blue skies, protected from the fierce sun by overhanging trees the excitement of the Caravan puts us in good voice for the impeding arrival of Wiggins, Evans and co. We're sat one hundred metres from the finish line amongst the Phil Anderson-led Australian contingent. To our left the recently arrived Brits practice a chant of "Wiggo, Wiggo" to welcome the man of the hour.

Taken at a celebratory pace most of the stage to Paris would barely past muster as a training ride. With eight laps of the Champs Élysées to go the race gets serious as a breakaway escapes the peloton to receive our first acclimation of these magnificent cyclists. Seconds later the peloton sweeps in led, as it has been for most of the past three weeks, by Team Sky guiding the yellow clad Wiggins, the Manx Express on his back wheel.

Sky play with the breakaway like a man with a dog on a long lead. Holding them at twenty seconds, cutting them some slack with another four seconds then casually calling them back to eighteen - just to remind them who's in-charge. With one lap to go the would be escapees suddenly fall-out amongst themselves. No one wants to do the pace setting and within seconds they're swallowed by the peloton.

Now it's down to who can sprint the fastest. The knowledgeable and sentimental money is on Mark Cavendish who has loyally supported his team leader to the yellow jersey and been rewarded with the most effective lead-out team of the Tour. Wiggins leads the flying Sky train into the last turn and right before our eyes Cavendish rises from his saddle, turns on the gas and leaves the field in his wake.

Is their a collective noun for a succession of prize giving ceremonies? Such a word is desperately needed to describe the Tour aftermath of jerseys giving, trophy awarding, a flowering of flowers, kisses galore and laps of honour. No doubt this mystery word will be needed many times more over the coming weeks.

And so the first sporting spectacular of our trip comes to a satisfying conclusion.

Diary: London Olympics introduction

Our three week trip begins in Paris. Why Paris? A romantic few days to mark our 25th wedding anniversary and the Tour de France.