My mini festival...

Headed off to Hyde Park to see Arcade Fire + guests. I like the Hyde Park gigs - they are like mini-festivals but in central London - finish nice and early so its easy enough to get home, and you don't have to take a day off work.

The full line up (well who I saw anyhow...) was The Vaccines, Beirut, Mumford & Sons and Arcade Fire. It was good weather (I missed the rain), I hung out with Sue and her friends and drank some cider (I NEVER normally drink cider!), and generally had a very good afternoon. Highlight for me were definitely Mumford & Sons - just felt more 'personal'. Arcade Fire were great, but it was uber rammed by then so I felt quite removed from them. Still good - but they are better in a smaller venue I think.

But I'm now having a full on crush on Mumford & Sons - cute band and great music!

Shed load of the letter 'S'

This letter took me a while to get through... I had to make notes on my phone as I finished an album as I knew I wouldn't remember by the time I came to type it up!!

Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers - The National
Safety - Richmond Fontaine
Salty - The Mutton Birds
Sam's Town - The Killers
Saturnalia - The Gutter Twins
Sawdust - The Killers
Scissor Sisters - Scissor Sisters
The Second Gleam - The Avett Brothers
The Secret Migration - Mercury Rev
See The Light - The Hours
The Seldom Seen Kid - Elbow
Send Away the Tigers - Manic Street Preachers
Separated by the Sea - Findlay Brown
Separation Sunday - The Hold Steady
Set Yourself on Fire - The Stars
Seven Swans - Sufjan Stevens
The Shaky Hands - The Shaky Hands
Shaun of the Dead - Soundtrack
Shocking Pinks - Shocking Pinks
Showbiz - Muse
Siberia - Echo & the Bunnymen
Sign No More - Mumford & Sons
Silence is Easy - Starsailor
Silent Alarm - Bloc Party
Since I Left You - The Avalanches
Singles - Suede
Sirens of the Ditch - Jason Isbell
Sky Blue Sky - Wilco
Sky Motel - Kristin Hersh
Sleep Mountain - The Kissaway Trail
The Sleeper - The Leisure Society
Slideling - Ian McCulloch
Snowflake Midnight - Mercury Rev
So Much for the City - The Thrills
The Soft Bulletin - The Flaming Lips
Sojourner Box Set: Nashville Moon - Magnolia Electric Co
Sojourner Box Set: Shohola - Magnolia Electric Co
Sojourner Box Set: Sun Session - Magnolia Electric Co
Sojourner Box Set: The Black Ram - Magnolia Electric Co
Some Cities - Doves
Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle - Bill Callahan
Songbook: The Singles: Vol One - Super Furry Animals
Songs for Polar Bears - Snow Patrol
Songs for Silverman - Ben Folds
Songs for Northern Britain - Teenage Fanclub
Songs from the Front Lawn - The Front Lawn
Songs from the Victorious City - Anne Dudley / Jaz Coleman
Songs in A&E - Spiritualized
Songs of Strength and Heartbreak - The Mighty Wah!
The Sound Inside - Breaks Co-Op
Sound of Silver - LCD Soundsystem
Souvenirs - The Duke Spirit
The Specials Singles - The Specials
Speed of the Whippoorwill - Chatham County Line
Stadium Arcadium: Jupiter - Red Hot Chilli Peppers
Stadium Arcadium: Mars - Red Hot Chilli Peppers
The Stage Names - Okkervil River
Star Time (Disc 1-4) - James Brown
Stars of CCTV - Hard-Fi
Stay Positive - The Hold Steady
The Stereo Bus - The Stereo Bus
The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses
Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea - PJ Harvey
The Story - Brandi Carlile
Straitjacket Fits - Straitjacket Fits
Strange Angels - Kristin Hersh
Strangelet - Grant Lee Phillips
Streets of our Time - Danny & The Champions of the World
Strings - Kristin Hersh
Strip-Mine - James
Stutter - James
Subiza - Delorean
Substance - New Order
The Suburbs - Arcade Fire
Summer Teeth - Wilco
The Sun Came Out - 7 Worlds Collide
Sunny Border Blue - Kristin Hersh
Superabundance - The Young Knives
Surfer Rosa/Come on Pilgrim - The Pixies
Surviving the Quiet - Seafood
Sweatbees - My Morning Jacket
The Swell Season - Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova

So from my notes... Delorean - Good - atmospheric, a bit dancy. Didn't think Brandi Carlile was anything special. Liked Duke Spirit - rough girl singer! Really like Spiritualized - thought it would be more dancy than it was, Leisure Society - very good. Melodic and soft - a bit folky. Kissaway Trail I also really liked - sort of country-ish. Really liked Avalanches as well - bit dancey with a bit of rap sound too, Shocking Pinks I liked - sort of NZish. Stars reminded me of NZ music as well. Gutter Twins I described as being a bit 'Nick Cave-ish'.

Also didn't realise how many albums there were by Kristin Hersh that started with S!

Rushing through the 'R's

Yep - another section of my ipod completed... Definitely on the homeward stretch now!

Rabbit Fur Coat - Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins
Rabbit Songs - Hem
Raising Sand - Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
Rattle & Hum - U2
Razorlight - Razorlight
Reckoning - R.E.M.
Recurring Dream: The Very Best of Crowded House - Crowded House
Remedy - Basement Jaxx
The Reminder - Feist
Remixes and Radio Cuts - Salmonella Dub
The Remote Part - Idlewild
Republic - New Order
Reservoir Dogs - Original Soundtrack
Return of Fly My Pretties - Fly My Pretties
Reveal - R.E.M
Revelations - Gene
Revival - Katchafire
Revolver - The Beatles
Riceboy Sleeps - Jonsi & Alex
Rip It Up - Razorlight
Robbers & Cowards - Cold War Kids
Rock Art & The X-Ray Style - Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros
The Rockingbirds - The Rockingbirds
Room on Fire - The Strokes
Roots & Echoes - The Coral
Rooty - Basement Jaxx
Route 23 - Chatham County Line
Rubber Soul - The Beatles
Rufus Wainwright - Rufus Wainwright
A Rush of Blood to the Head - Coldplay

Not a bad letter this one! A few old faves there - Gene, Coldplay and a great start with Jenny Lewis and Hem - two I like very much. I found Rice Boys a bit dull (sacrilege possibly??) but really enjoyed Cold War Kids - sounded a bit like Jack White. Good to listen to Razorlight again as well as I don't often think to play them.

Spring walking

Spring has finally sprung here in the UK and we took advantage of it to walk the Godalming Circular walk.

This one took a bit to get out of town, but once we were it was lovely - felt really remote and quiet which is unusual for a walk in Surrey - that tends to often still feel very urban.

And the daffs were out! So lovely :-)

Daffs!

Daffs!
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Winkworth Arboretum

Winkworth Arboretum
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Julia turns 40...

Julia hit the big 40 on Friday 18th, so on Saturday 19th she had organised a dinner at River Cottage - home of the Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall food machine. Most people headed down on Friday night but as it was Jackie's birthday on Saturday, Simon and I drove down on Saturday. Well technically he drove...

After a bit of confusion we met up with them all in Seatown (note: Seaton is not the same as Seatown...). But getting there, and then finding them took us through a good few counties - Surrey, Wiltshire, (saw Stonehenge from the car!), Dorset, Somerset, Devon...

The meal was just lovely - we were in the farmhouse, so it was a bit like a private dining room. Gorgeous food, and great company. I think perhaps staying up really late and drinking whisky once we were back in our house was perhaps not the best idea. Def felt the worse for wear on Sunday! I don't think I was much company for Simon on the trip back...

I'm sure most of you will have seen the photos on fb, so won't repost any.

Norman Rockwell

Saturday was a lovely spring day (as opposed to Scotland where it is still snowing!) and Jackie, Nicola and me headed off to Dulwich to visit the Dulwich Picture Gallery to check out the Norman Rockwell exhibition. We lunched first at the Crown & Greyhound - very nice 'fush & chups' with tasty minted peas :-).

The exhibition really very good - great history of America in lots of ways, and interesting to see some of the real paintings next to all of the covers as well. Lots of Dulwich is rather nice, so we had a nice time strolling around the streets admiring some of the beautiful houses. When I win the lottery I might move to Dulwich... :-)

Books what I have read...

How exciting! Another new feature on my blog... I'm sure all my readers will be thrilled...

So books I have read... Decided to keep a list for this year, so have started it off below. Will be interesting (well to me anyhow) to see what and how many I read, and what I think of them at the end of the year. This is partly inspired by a friend from work who does a fantastic blog on her book reading (and anything book related really). This won't reach the standards of hers, but what the heck - this blog is all about me after all!

Good but disturbing...

Just back from seeing 'Never Let Me Go' - very good, but quite disturbing. Without giving away the story (although it isn't really a 'twist' as such), what is still sort of hanging around for me is the complete and utter acceptance of the situation the characters are in. It really is what it is - and that for me was very unsettling.

I haven't read the book, and I know that people who have are disappointed with the film, but if you've not read it, I think it is definitely worth seeing.

Oh - and my Oscar pick was way off :-( . But I did love 'The King's Speech' so its not too disappointing!

A difficult choice...

So having been to see True Grit today -

I think the Oscar for the best film should be True Grit or Inception...

I've seen 9/10 so lets see how my choice goes.

Mind your Ps and Qs...

Another two letters completed - although to be fair 'Q' didn't take very long as there was only one album!

Parachutes - Coldplay
Partie Traumatic - Black Kids
Penny Century - Clouds
Peoria - Future Clouds & Radar
Perfect from Now On - Built to Spill
Performance & Cocktails - Stereophonics
Pet - Fur Patrol
Phantom Phorce - Super Furry Animals
Phantom Power - Super Furry Animals
Picaresque - The Decemberists
Pieces in a Modern Style - William Orbit
Pink Moon - Nick Drake
The Place We Ran From - Tired Pony
Play - Moby
Playing with a Different Sex - The Au Pairs
Please Describe Yourself - Dogs Die in Hot Cars
Political Manifest - The Creekdippers
The Ponsonby DCs - The Ponsonby DCs
Porcupine - Echo & the Bunnymen
Portishead - Portishead
Poses - Rufus Wainwright
Positively George Street - Sneaky Feelings
Post to Wire - Richmond Fontaine
Postcards from a Young Man - Manic Street Preachers
Power, Corruption & Lies - New Order
A Product of the Ego Drain - The Leisure Society
Puzzle - Biffy Clyro

Queen of Denmark - John Grant

What did I think of these ones? Didn't like The Au Pairs - seemed dated and not my cup of tea at all. Sneaky Feelings are always good :-). Enjoyed more of Future Clouds & Radar and Built to Spill. Moby was tedious (goes on way too long - a couple of songs are good, but the whole album is just too much), and Richmond Fontaine was great as well.

Athough I'm realising I need to take notes as I'm listening as with some of these I can't really remember what I thought - and it wasn't that long ago!

Another birthday and a few orchids...

Twas another weekend with a birthday theme as on Friday night I was out with Divya to celebrate her birthday - we went to the Salt Yard which I've been to a few times and really like. We were half an hour late for our table but fortunately they had kept it for us! It was another lovely meal, but not a late night for us - we were both exhausted!

Saturday I met up with David, Dominic, Chris and James at Kew for the 'Tropical Extravaganza' - the (annual I guess) display of the flowering orchids. Absolutely gorgeous flowers - really stunning. And both Chris and David were full of stories of having had orchids in the past and killing them. Reminded me of Leigh! Apparently James has the knack...

It was well worth the trip. Very cool. We also checked out the Marianne North Gallery as well - again just stunning. She had the most amazing life - travelled all over the world (including NZ) and painted the plants, landscapes etc. Didn't start until she was 40 and spent the next 14 years globe trotting. Really quite inspirational - and the newly revamped gallery was beautifully done, and really quite incredible.

Yet again, Kew has not failed to disappoint. Check out the orchid piccies on Flickr if you haven't already seen them on fb.

Orchids

Orchids
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

White orchids

White orchids
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Birthday bashes and Paris...

So February started with a weekend of two birthday events. First up was Sarah's at the Alphabet Bar in Soho - I rarely go out in town on Saturday nights so it was both fun, and also a reminder of why I don't do it very often - loads of drunken young things and drunken tourists staggering around. Not always my idea of a good time!

Second up was lunch for Nicola's birthday at The White Hart - service left a little bit to be desired, but it was a lovely afternoon. Much red wine was drunk by all which is always fun I think!

And I'm just back from a quick visit to Paris for work - my second ever trip for work. The work stuff was so-so, but it was fun to go on the Eurostar again and I did have a lovely 'traditional' French dinner last night of steak with bearnaise sauce and an exquisite creme brulee!

Oscar season

This year for the first time in ages I've almost seen all of the films nominated for the Best Film Oscar - unheard of for me!

Latest one I saw was 'Black Swan' which I went to last night. What a full on film - I came out of it still not sure what I thought, and I'm still a bit like that. Will definitely be watching it again on DVD. Natalie Portman was superb and I can see why its got the Oscar nominations it has.

Still to open here are True Grit and The Fighter - both of which I'm really looking forward to seeing. And Winters Bone (the only other nomination I've not seen) is on my DVD list! I really wanted to see that at the cinema when it came out and missed it - doubly cross about that now.

Having seen most of them I'm not sure which one I'd pick at the mo, as I have loved most of them. Probably Inception for its sheer brilliance and incredibly twisty turn plot and filming - but then again I did love The King's Speech and Toy Story 3...

Ode to the O

Trotted through another letter on my ipod as well - racing along now!

O - Damien Rice
Ocean Rain - Echo & The Bunnymen
Oceans Apart - The Go-Betweens
Oh My God, Charlie Darwin - The Low Anthem
Okonokos (Live - Disk 1 & 2) - My Morning Jacket
Olympian - Gene
On and On - Jack Johnson
On The Outside - Starsailor
On The Sun - The Black Seeds
On Your Sleeve - Jessie Malin
Once - Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova
Once Around - The Autumn Defense
One by One - Foo Fighters
One Drop East - Salmonella Dub
One Life Stand - Hot Chip
One Plus One is One - Badly Drawn Boy
Only By The Night - Kings of Leon
Open Season - British Sea Power
Oracular Spectacular - MGMT
Origin of Symmetry - Muse
Original Pirate Material - The Streets
Other Peoples Problems - Upper Room
Out of Nothing - Embrace
Out of Time - R.E.M.
Outside the Dubplates - Salmonella Dub
Overnight Success - Dave Dobbyn

Some old faves in this lot - Embrace, Starsailor, R.E.M... And two Salmonella Dub albums - bit like buses really. None for ages then two at once... Enjoyed Muse, The Streets, British Sea Power and Kings of Leon. And of course Hot Chip... Not many duds in this lot actually - except maybe Jack Johnson. He is definitely music for a time and a place - and I'm not sure its the UK in the middle of winter!

Tragedy...

King Lear that is - which I went to see the Royal Shakespeare Company performing at The Roundhouse.

Absolutely loved it - its one of my favourite Shakespeare plays anyhow (somehow I'm more into the tragedies than the comedies...) and I thought this production was fantastic. I could pretty much remember what happened up to Lear going crazy, but couldn't remember how it finished (although I knew it wasn't a happy ending!) and I'd completely forgotten the sub-plot of Edmund and Edgar.

Seems to have been a few contentious reviews about this particular production - but I'll go with The Guardian's review :-). Although this is reviewing it at The Courtyard Theatre it was the same production we saw with the same cast etc. I'd probably give it 5/5 stars tho...

Quality 'culcha'

Nice day spent seeing two very good cultural things...

First up was The Glasgow Boys at the Royal Academy with Nicola - very good and some great paintings. Very busy tho - but that does come of going the weekend before the exhibition ends...

Next up was The King's Speech with Jackie. Brilliant film - it has to be a shoe-in for an Oscar for Colin Firth, and Geoffrey Rush is also very good. Would absolutely recommend it - a fascinating story. I remember Mum talking about the abdication and how upset Nana was - that period has featured a lot in things I've seen recently so I might read a bit more about it.

Don't miss it!