Yes folks... last night saw the reinvention of GLAM at the 50th Eurovision Song Contest, hosted this year by the Ukraine.
Norway... led by the son of Thor, blasted the stage with more glam rock than Tiffanys. These guys had to be the faves for me.... as well as the femme rock group from Switzerland. Go Grrls...
When it came to the voting...well... yay! I could actually vote this year! woohoo! Good to see the UK didn't get zero votes again, although it was rather dismal. Only it was 1/2 way through voting and the second bottle of the Spanish red that we realised that we should have, in fact, cast our vote for Latvia. The reason being, we are planning to go to next year's EV.... Latvia would be much cheaper to travel to. Ah well... looks like I'll be wearing my white satin gown in Athens. On the plus side, I've always wanted to travel to Greece and it will be warmer than Latvia. As Terry Wogan pointed out, the women contesting in EV must have severely damaged kidneys from the cold...perhaps they just ran out of money for the rest of the outfit....
A couple of points that need to be mentioned here:
a) why is Israel in EV????... I know it's a mandatory drink to ask the question, but no-one has an answer
b) where is Moldova?....oh yeah... somewhere between Romania and Ukraine...good to see they did so well in the voting, and thanks to Tim and Naabi for the world atlas. Came in very handy last night.
c) who allowed drums into the competition? I thought this was a song contest, not a Big Bang. Not that any of those guys could possibly have been playing them given the acrobatics... but yes, the granny from Moldova was probably the most authentic.
ok, let's go Greece! Gotta say that they put on a very slick performance.... looking forward to the 51st EV in Athens 2006. Opa!
...other news from the Squidfiles: haven't been able to keep this up to date as much as I'd like. It's been quite hectic over here. Friends dropping in and out and in and out and in again.... and relos of friends and their friends... partytime at the postage stamp patch...
Been sick with gastro bug and flu. New job which is taking a bit of getting used to and study study study... had the exam last week. Phew! I am sooooooo tired now....
However, I have been getting out a little with my boy, discovering some great pubs and bars. A Polish bar and a couple of great English pubs in Angel and Bloomsbury, Italian cafes in Soho.
Friday, 13th May, was my first ever visit to the opera. Berg's "Lulu" at the Coliseum. It was such a fantastic evening. Loved the music. Lisa Schaffer was simply amazing as Lulu. What a voice! And if the opera didn't grab you then the beauty of the theatre did. It's gorgeous inside. Restored beautifully.
Today involved a trundle around Camden Town Markets again. Shoe shopping. Enjoying all the sights. A pint at the Lock Tavern and seafood with noodles, Asian style for tea. Brilliant. But we are definitely going to be dropping in at the Lock Tavern a bit more often. You should see the fare. The roasts look superb. Actually, it was kinda like walking into a pub somewhere in Fitzroy in Melbourne. Lounges set up around the place, a couple of geeky (but way cool) DJ's doing their 'old' loungy vinyl sets. A great lineup of upcoming gigs posted on the wall. Young(ish) alternative crowd... definitely my kinda thang.
But speaking of cities... next weekend is a bank holiday so we're going to head out of London to visit down south in Plymouth. Can't wait. Hope to get out and about around Cornwall a little too. Perhaps a bus trip to Looe and see if there's any smuggling to be had.... or maybe a Cornish Pasty or a Devonshire Tea...
No photos at the moment. But promise promise promise... that there will be a new batch up very soon.
ciao! fb
