Post no. 700!!!

I must admit I had forgotten all about my annual Favourite Things of the Year That Went thing until this morning, so here it is, after just mentioning that, reading through a few of my old posts, I actually remarked upon my planned move to England 15 months before it happened (see post of 15 Feb 2004), but of course no one noticed, haha!

I am also going through a short-lived Greg Proops phase. I know it's short-lived so I am not going to give him his own label (unless "The Proopster" could possibly be a label...hmm...). Anyway, to the list!

This year's list's categories are blatantly ripped off from all the three lists before it, and rightly so! Some may have been added, some may have been lost in the post (I am using Royal Mail, after all).

My Top Favourites of 2007

Coolest Villain of the year
Ralph Fiennes for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (see also the list from 2005)

Best Steve Carell Film of the year
Evan Almighty, and that wasn't very good, even.

Best Hank Azaria Film of the year
Run, Fat Boy, Run

Indie Album of the year
The Go! Team: Proof of Youth

Musical Album of the year
Original Soundtrack: Hairspray

Most Surprisingly Good Album of the year
Melanie C: This Time

Album of the year
Erasure: Light at the End of the World

Funniest New Series
The Armstrong & Miller Show, BBC (UK)

Strangest Series Cancellation of the year
The Class, Warner Bros. (US)

Most Disappointing Comedy Series of the year
The Omid Djalili Show, BBC (UK)

Favourite Comedy Series Characters of the year
The WWII RAF pilots from The Armstrong & Miller Show, BBC (UK)

Favourite Comedy Series Sketch of the year
See above.

Best End to a Series
The Vicar of Dibley, BBC (UK)

Most Anticipated Film of the year
Pirates of the Caribbean: At the World's End

British Film of the year
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Most Anticipated Game of the year
Crysis

Most Disappointing Game of the year
Assassin's Creed

Most Surprisingly Good Game of the year
Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords

Best PC Game of the year
Two Worlds

Best Console Game of the year
Final Fantasy XII (PS2)

Best Handheld Game of the year
Final Fantasy IV (GBA) (I only have my trusty PDA and GBA, ok?)

Best Game of the year
Two Worlds

Best World Premiere of the year
The stage version of Breaking the Waves, Oslo Nye Teater (Centraltheatret)

Best Stage Revival of the year
Arsenic and Old Lace, Oslo Nye Teater (Hovedscenen)

Best Norwegian Stage Production of the year
Fiddler on the Roof, Oslo Nye Teater (Hovedscenen)

Best Play or Musical of the year
La cage aux folles, Menier Chocolate Factory (surprised?)

Would Have Most Wanted to See
Evita just once more

Most Anticipated Book of the year/decade/century
J.K. Rowling: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Most Annoying Yet Strangely Catchy Song of the year
Timbaland: Apologize

Worst Idea of the year
My trying to get a job in sales

Best Moment of the year
29 November, when I first saw my two favourites suddenly combined: La cage aux folles and Philip Quast

Labels: anders hatlo, comedy, dennis storhøi, erasure, evita, film, gaming, geoffrey rush, greg proops, lists, Lloyd-Webber, musicals, Norway, personal, philip quast, ralph fiennes, theatre, TV, work

Well, now I'm cross. Not only did my "Les Misérables" version with Gerard Depardieu and John Malkovich turn out to be the stunningly BAD English version of the brilliant series and not the French one, but today I am told that the Oslo Nye theatre has an amazing line-up in store for this autumn (Arsenic and Old Lace with Anders Hatlo and Johannes Joner and then Dennis Storhøi will turn up in Breaking the Waves) and I will be stuck here because it is way too expensive to travel to Norway. The price of the hotel room in itself would ruin the whole experience for me. Grrrr. Staying with my parents would be a cheaper option, but then the train company takes its unfair share and I have a feeling just sleeping at their place and spending the rest of my time in a different city would be a bit rude even for me. ;-)

I am going to sulk the rest of the day.

Of course...now that Evita is not showing anymore and I have heard no news about any upcoming projects with Philip Quast at the helm (or backstage or FOH, for that matter), I might possibly be able to perhaps spend my bonus (touch wood, btw, haven't had that one confirmed just yet) on a trip to Norway this autumn. Hmmmmmmmmmm...

Labels: anders hatlo, dennis storhøi, evita, film, philip quast, theatre

OK, so to be honest, I actually have another three days off after today, but that means three quarters of my holiday have already gone.

However, I have been doing many things lately.

First of all, I did survive the Eurovision, not too shell-shocked, either. I just have to comment upon something. Let's not be sore losers, people! We (as in "the Western European countries") have dominated the competition for almost fifty years. Now that the up-and-coming Eastern European countries take a hold, stop talking about "political voting". The reason for neighbouring countries voting for each other is more likely because we tend to have the same tastes in music. And the UK, of all countries, should not even mention political voting. The only reason they didn't end up in last place, was that Malta gave them their 12 points...and that was apparently a deliberate protest against "political voting". Some changes should be put in place, though, now that we have doubled the number of countries in such a short time. For instance, even though this will unfortunately leave Norway as the country with the most "nil points" forever, we should give points to every country. This will probably give a more nuanced picture. We should also have the EBU physically control every aspect of the phone vote. Thirdly, we could bring back professional juries. Do what they do in a lot of talent shows these days; 50% of each country's vote comes from phone voting, the rest from a jury.

Just my opinion, of course, which no one usually listens to.

What else have I been doing with my time lately? Well, we did celebrate Norway's constitutional day on the 17th of May. I took the whole day (week) off to celebrate this year. I really, really wanted to go to the Steven Pimlott celebration at the National, but made sure that would not be an option on the day by making plans with friends all day. So we went to Southwark Park, where we were quite surprised by the large number of people having turned up.
There were speeches, food (why they hadn't taken into account the sheer need for lomper I will never know, but they were completely sold out before we got there, which meant I couldn't care less about the hot dogs), music (Sondre Lerche was there, in extremely good spirits), "walking corpses" (or "a marching band" as the more linguistically aligned among us would say), lots of children and lots of flags. And then we took part in the (almost compulsory) parade. Which was kind of fun.

When we had stayed for about two hours and they announced the games for the children, we decided it was high time for us to get something to eat. Well, leave the park, at least. So we did just that, and went to a pub a colleague of mine had suggested because of their nice garden and beer.
So we got a small sheep. I bet the beer was nice, only I don't like beer, so I didn't drink more than about one fifth of it. The food was good, though, and not too expensive.

Then we went back to the neighbourhood of the park, to the Norwegian church there, in order to take part in the rest of the celebration there...which started with us throwing ourselves at the local (week-old) Norwegian newspapers they had there and buying their shop. Well, almost. I bought four chocolates and the others just about the same. The point was that these were Norwegian chocolates and food which you can't get anywhere else.

The entertainment for the evening was much better than last year's; varied and quite impressive, some of it. Unfortunately, we were sitting next to The Parents From Hell(TM), whose kids were running all over the place and causing a lot of noise. When people asked very politely, after about 90 minutes of this, if they would be so kind as to try to keep the noise down, they were ignored completely. These people even turned out to be members of the congregation! So much for your Christian goodwill and compassion.

We spent the rest of the evening at our local pub and the next day we sort of relaxed at home before going to a local Indian restaurant. I had what I thought would be a different dish to what I had on my previous visit, but it turned out to be the same "mystery sauce" with just slightly different ingredients. My dessert was an Irish Coffee. Perhaps I'm turning into an alcoholic.

For some very strange reason, I watched the FA Cup Final between Chelsea and Manchester United. It was extremely boring, even though it did become marginally more interesting during the second half, only I think that could have been because I had put a bet on the outcome. I lost, as they just couldn't be arsed to score until way into extra time, at which point we were much more interested in the fire which had started nearby (it was quenched just about the same time the match ended).

Speaking of fires, who's the moron who set the Cutty Sark on fire? Spookily enough, the suggestion of DNA testing all new-borns for illnesses and criminal tendencies suddenly seems very attractive.

Oh, and last Monday we went to see Spider-Man 3 (which was nice) and 28 Weeks Later... (which was nicer and yet darker).

This week sees the end of the wonderful Evita run, which is sad, but also makes my wallet a little happier. And speaking of Lord Lloyd-Webber (indirectly, at least); what happened last Saturday when he let Daniel go instead of Lewis in the Joseph compo? I was sure Daniel would stay until the final, when Lee naturally wins the whole thing. Lee has a very annoying speech impediment, though, which has led me to not voting for him these past few weeks, but last time he was back on my list as he simply is at least one level above everyone else in that competition. Due to his drama education? Quite possibly, just like with Connie Fisher and the Maria bunch last year.

Labels: current affairs, evita, film, Lloyd-Webber, music, musicals, Norway, personal, philip quast, sport, theatre, TV

I am currently very much looking forward to the following:

Spider-Man 3 - dubbed "Speidermann" by me by mistake yesterday; funny only to Norwegians, I suppose.
Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End - well, Geoffrey Rush is back, so what's not to look forward to?
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - the fifth film had BETTER have a lot of Snape in it!
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - the last book will be released in exactly three months from today and I should probably start thinking about taking a few days off at around that time! After all, I will be going through serious withdrawal and pain after having read it.
The final performance of Evita - it'll be my eighth visit and I am sick and tired of spending so much money on that show. If only I could actually afford it, it would not have been such a problem (duh), but as my debts seem to be growing and not decreasing with every down payment, I really should stop spending my money on...anything, really.

See why I need to have something to look forward to? Jeez, now I've depressed myself. Off to read Freakonomics.

Labels: Alan Rickman, evita, film, geoffrey rush, literature, musicals, personal, philip quast, theatre

Thank god anyone can get a gun in America, so that they can start shooting people arbitrarily. At least 30 people killed at Virginia Tech and who knows how many wounded. Who would like to do such a thing?

Today we went to the cinema to see Wild Hogs, which was actually better than expected and quite funny. I laughed out loud many times. Also, no biker movie without Peter Fonda.

Finally got to see the Any Dream Will Do programme from yesterday; much like last year's How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria we are once again slagging off the contestants. We have a couple of favourites so far and a couple we really don't like at all. Next week, however, I will hopefully be able to vote as well. Last Saturday I was busy watching Evita, which, after all, is more important than anything else (except for, perhaps, eating and sleeping).

Labels: current affairs, evita, film, Lloyd-Webber, musicals, theatre, TV

More than a week, in fact.

I have been reading through all of my blog posts (593 in total, counting this one) in order to add tags to them all. Also, I did not correct any spelling mistakes etc., as I believe in the First Draft Theory.

It was great fun reading through my blog, as there were a lot of things I had completely forgotten about. Even the most mundane everyday stuff was interesting to read about, so that should be a great incentive for updating more often.

Btw, the previous post, with the World Leader test thingie? Turns out I had already done that one years ago, and that time I got Che Guevara.

Since last I updated this thing, I have been working, watching a few films, playing a few games, and shopped A LOT on eBay. In fact, I have upgraded my wardrobe quite a bit. It was time to get back to the real me, because that bit of me has been dormant for six years.

Last night I went to see Evita for the sixth time (I thought it was my seventh, but my blog says otherwise) and it was as fabulous as ever, although I must admit I had a hard time keeping a straight face because even in the most emotional scenes I kept picturing Mark Heenehan as Tinky-Winky (which he played at some point in his career). I should never have been told that little fact.

Then I stood by the stage door for the first time in about four years, which was nice, especially since we actually got something out of it. The few others who had stood there to begin with, disappeared within the first 30 minutes (oh ye of little hope), so then just the three of us (the brilliant minds behind The Philip Quast Guide and myself) were left. I was actually going to leave straight after the show, seeing as I was getting up early to go to work this morning, but luckily (in this case) I am easily persuaded (in other words, Captain Wentworth would not have liked me) (bad Jane Austen reference, sorry) and stayed despite my growing headache. I always get a headache when I go to the theatre. Maybe it's the air, maybe it's the tension, who knows.

Anyway, that's when Philip Quast turned up with his bicycle and had a chat, which was nice.

Uhmm...

Yes, you're right.

I was much more ecstatic, of course. I am just trying to stay focused on the important things. Like not exploding. Or dying of a nervous laughing fit.

At least this time I remember what was being said. I don't remember a thing from my short chat with Rickers in NYC, and I honestly forgot everything but the embarrassment only hours after I met him. I must have learnt something since then. Or I wasn't as embarrassed. Or what was being said was actually interesting (Meeting Rickman, I did the talking, yesterday Quast did the talking. Huge difference.)

I am leaving work in 30 minutes and you will not believe how much I have been looking forward to these next few days off. Especially since yesterday's Grand National event; we were so busy I almost fell asleep during Evita due to being knackered! Eeek!

Labels: Alan Rickman, evita, musicals, personal, philip quast, sport, tests, theatre

I have a very strange and rather bad feeling about this.

Labels: evita, Lloyd-Webber, musicals, philip quast, theatre

I must apologise for updating this thing so infrequently. I think about my dear blog every day, but seldom actually go to the extent as to writing anything in it.

So what am I doing these days? The usual. Working, watching telly, reading a bit, playing computer games, going to the occasional performance.

And this week was a very nice one when it comes to stage performances. The long awaited Follies in Concert charity gala took place at the London Palladium. I had nightmares about my inferior clothing the night before, but as people seemed to go in whatever outfit they had lying around five minutes before leaving home (I am generalising heavily here; actually most people looked quite nice), this proved to be an unfounded worry. The people on stage looked more glamourous than most of the audience. Of course, it could also be the fact that many of the lookers-on were there for the same reason I was (well, that is doubtful, but still...) and couldn't actually afford more than the ticket and thus no new clothes.

OR it could be that people just don't give a toss anymore. People wearing jeans to the theatre annoy me. I am indeed turning into an old bag.

The audience's clothing aside, we were all having a good time and we enjoyed showing our appreciation to the cast and crew, even though not all of us gave any extra money to the charities of the night, the Starlight Children's Foundation and the Kingston Hospital Cancer Unit Appeal.

I must admit (I have a lot to learn, but please bear in mind that I only fully discovered theatre in 2001) that I didn't quite realise how great a cast it would be, what kind of a treat I was going to get. I had been focused on a few select names I recognised, the rest did not mean anything to me. However, when the show started, I began to see the light. There were the immense voices of Kim Criswell and Dame Josephine Barstow, the well-known faces of Imelda Staunton, Meg Johnson and Angela Rippon, the perfect casting of Liz Robertson and Tim Flavin and of course the reason for why I was there (three guesses, everyone, no prize to be won), Philip Quast and Maria Friedman.

There were a few others there, too. Like Sir Trevor McDonald, the reason for why everyone named Trevor now automatically becomes Trevor Mc... in our home. Thus, the much talked about Trevor Eve of course becomes Trevor McEve. Go figure. And speaking of Mr. Eve, I am glad Waking the Dead is back, but I have a peculiar feeling that the next episode, in two weeks' time, will be the last.

Back to the Follies, it had a lot of typical Sondheim numbers, but for me the pinnacle was when Maria Friedman performed Losing My Mind. Not because of the song itself, but the fact that at the end of every chorus I had this thought of the Pet Shop Boys in my mind. And when I got back home I discovered why I thought the song should have had a quicker tempo; I am of course used to hearing the song in synth-pop form and performed by the previously mentioned PSB.

As London Underground did their usual weekend "engineering works", the non-stop route from the theatre to my own place was non-existent and I had to take the train back home. On the upside, the train took me all the way to my door (nearly), so that I wouldn't have to go through the local slums the slightly fishy neighbourhood in the late evening.

Then, yesterday, I went to see Evita for the last time. As I had officially forgotten how many times I have seen it (five or six), I told myself "enough is enough". Plus, Philip Q is leaving soon and I cannot stand Mark "Houlihan" Heenehan in that part (I even sneered at him involuntarily yesterday, the poor chap), so what is the point? And so, naturally, midway through the second act I had to admit to myself that I needed to see it once more.

I would like to apologise to anyone sitting next to or behind me at any musical I know, as I cannot sit still and just watch the thing--I have to drum the beat (and sometimes the chords) with my fingers. Preferably somewhere on my face. People on the tube are probably getting used to it, but it's different at the theatre (even though people wear jeans).

Ooh, by the way, there was a new Che yesterday. At first I thought he was rather good, but he didn't last the course and halfway through the first act I found myself missing Matt Rawle.

And yesterday's audience was the worst I have been part of for a long time. They were ok, but somehow I just felt very uninspired. I couldn't feel the love. Sort of. Luckily, the cast were very professional and either 1) didn't bother, 2) didn't pick up on it, or 3) weren't as paranoid as I was. As opposed to certain other casts I have been unfortunate enough to experience. I did spot one of them starting to laugh during one of the more sombre scenes, though, which was fun (I am so cruel I enjoy it when people fuck up on stage...or rather, I find it very funny and rather laugh with them than at them). Besides, I really doubt no one else noticed. When you have seen the show a few times, you may take the liberty to start watching the other actors, not just the ones currently singing.

Before signing off, I would like to recommend the brand new album by MIKA - Life in Cartoon Motion. It's a really poppety-pop album and very uplifting.

Labels: dreams, evita, music, musicals, personal, philip quast, theatre, tim morgan, trevor eve, TV

Using last year's template and then adding and removing as I see fit:

Coolest Villain of the year
Bill Nighy for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Funniest Sex Swap Film of the year
She's the Man

Best Hasselhoff Moment of the year
His being slapped around in Click

Most Embarrassing Yet Funny Film Moment of the year
Jean Reno doing interpretive dance in The Pink Panther. Worth the whole film!

Best Steve Carell Film of the year
Dead heat between Over the Hedge and Little Miss Sunshine

Indie Album of the year
The Killers: Sam's Town

Musical Album of the year
The 2006 London Revival Cast: Evita

Album of the year
Pet Shop Boys: Fundamental

Funniest New Series
The Class, Warner Bros. (US)

Strangest Series Cancellation of the year
Day Break, Touchstone/ABC (US)

Most Disappointing Comedy Series of the year
Twenty Good Years, Warner Bros. (US)

Favourite Comedy Series Character of the year
(Much like the previous two years:) Anne from Little Britain, BBC (UK)

Favourite Comedy Series Sketch of the year
Numberwang from That Mitchell and Webb Look

Best Cliffhanger of the year
The series finale of Green Wing

Most Anticipated Film of the year
X-Men: The Last Stand

Most Anticipated Film for everyone else, it seemed
The Da Vinci Code

Most Anticipated Game of the year
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

Best Game of the year
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

British Film of the year
Snow Cake (UK/Canadian)

Best Play or Musical of the year
Evita, Adelphi Theatre (surprised?)

Would Have Most Wanted to See
Idina Menzel in Wicked, Apollo Victoria Theatre

Most Anticipated Book of the year
Per Egil Hegge: Harald V

Funniest Book of the year
Julian Clary: A Young Man's Passage

Most Annoying Yet Strangely Catchy Song of the year
Lily Allen: Smile

Worst Idea of the year
Having yet another round of Big Brother. Enough, already.

Best Moment of the year
16 August, finally getting Philip Quast's autograph

Labels: Alan Rickman, bill nighy, comedy, computers, evita, film, gaming, julian clary, lists, literature, music, musicals, philip quast, tamsin greig, theatre, TV

I am currently enjoying three weeks off from work. I mean thoroughly enjoying them. I'm spending the days writing (it's National Novel Writing Month after all) and so far, even though I'm three chapters into the book, I haven't killed off any characters yet. This is a miracle to anyone who's read all my previous work. Still, that could change with subsequent rewrites...yes, another miracle to those who've read my previous work. I am going to rewrite sections of my book? But isn't that sacrilegious? Well, one has to conform to some degree--and also realise that perhaps one isn't such a big genius one can just churn out one perfect first draft after another.

Who am I kidding--of course I am that genius, just pulling your leg. ;-)

So The Sound of Music has opened to raving reviews (and they're raving in a very positive way), which is very nice. I saw one excerpt on last Friday's Children in Need and it looked like they may get it together soon. There was also an excerpt from Evita; luckily my favourite sequence from the show, because absolutely none of my favourites were present (they were probably at home, sleeping, because they're all so bloody old), so watching the excruciatingly ridiculous show for six hours paid off to a certain degree. Luckily my flatmate decided to join me this year as well, otherwise I wouldn't have bothered. So we were sitting there, or rather lying there, commenting upon everything that happened on the screen. I don't know how they do it, honestly. I mean, they've been doing the charity show for 26 years (I think it is) and still haven't put together a good routine for the live transmission. And of course what they call "celebrities" are usually wannabe-celebs from so far down the wish list the hosts could as well have done all the stunts themselves. That would have been more entertaining. Or perhaps the programme is meant only for those who read the tabloids and watch the soaps? Still, some good music (the usual six bands who turn up for every UK charity event) and I finally got to see bits of both Avenue Q and Wicked, two of my favourite Broadway shows from recent years, based solely on their original recording albums.

Speaking of musicals...for a change...it has occured to me that I may have a thing for Javert (seriously, if you don't know who Javert is, there really is no point in your reading my blog). I discovered two of my favourites* when they performed as Javert, and then three of my other favourites** turn out to have played Javert at some point. So basically I should stay away from any performance or film of Les Misérables in the future, otherwise I'm sure the list will grow. :-)

We discovered a lovely Indian restaurant down the road from us last week. Very nice. Low prices. Good food. Fine atmosphere. And my flatmate was delighted to see it was possible to smoke at the table. We will most probably go back soon.

But right now I've had enough procrastination for one day, I think. I have a few characters to kill off before lunch, after all, so I'd better start writing. Need to be a good girl today, or I won't be allowed (by myself) to go to the cinema or play the newly released Neverwinter Nights 2 (woo-hoo, a whole new world for my beloved Timon Siger to play in).

*) (drum roll) Philip Quast and Michael McCarthy (shock)
**) Geoffrey Rush, Roger Allam, Tim Morgan

Labels: evita, food, gaming, geoffrey rush, holiday, Javert, Michael McCarthy, musicals, philip quast, roger allam, theatre, tim morgan, TV, writing

I honestly don't know. That's how much I care about him, I don't even remember his name. Jeez. It should of course be Mark Heenehan, who still has a terrific voice but whom I would rather see somewhere else than in the role of Perón at the Adelphi.

Now, about Tim Morgan...

Labels: evita, musicals, theatre, tim morgan

Been looking forward to the tenth of October for a long time.

The day started with "a local grocery store" delivering groceries (duh) to us, so now I won't have to go shopping for a long time. ;-)

Then I did some housewifey things I seldom do, i.e. I ironed some clothes. Don't think I've done that in years.

At half four we left for the tube, by which we finally ended up at the Strand, where we had supper at a local Italian restaurant (with no Italian waiters, even though there were a lot of waiters--we had at least four during the 90 minutes we were there). I thought the food was nice. I even had dessert. Couldn't finish it, but that's not the point.

After supper we crossed the street and went to see...drum roll, please...yep, that musical again. I had been touching wood for six weeks every time I was afraid of Philip Quast not turning up, and I grinned broadly when I could see his name on the board in the foyer.

Still didn't believe it until I saw his understudy (the increasingly unpopular (in my circles) Mark Houlihan - but that's because he tried to out-sing Quast, a feat which will be neither forgotten nor forgiven) perform in one of the earlier ensemble scenes. I could breathe easily for the first time in weeks.

The point is, we had paid through our noses for these seats and up till tonight I have been unfortunate enough to miss Quast in 33% of the performances I went to specifically to hear him sing, so it was crucial he was there. Since I went with my flatmate I wouldn't have left if he weren't, but I would definitely not have sat through yet another performance with his understudy.

I know, I'm bad.

Well, the show was bloody brilliant again (my fourth performance so far), and even though we sat close to someone who stank from hell and back (think old gym clothes), that did not ruin the experience.

Just one thing--maybe I'm being picky here...or just creepy--unmarried men are usually supposed to not wear wedding rings, right? So, basically, for authenticity, actors should also leave their own rings behind when entering the stage to portray single people? ;-)

And now for something completely different. From one idol to the next, actually. I watched the Michael Palin special on BBC 2 during the weekend and as soon as it ended dragged my flatmate with me into the sitting room, where we watched his first (and, in my opinion, second best) travel series, Around the World in 80 Days (hmm, interesting to see that three of my biggest favourites have appeared in different "versions" of that story...and no, the 1989 film with Brosnan and Idle is not among those). I must have seen the series at least five times, but it is still a great watch and also brings back a lot of memories. It is, after all, the programme which made me a fan of Palin's. I actually know exactly where I became a fan...which is either sad, obsessive, creepy or all of the above.

Never mind that, I am going to bed. Been a long day and I have just one day left of my holiday. I need to land first.

It took me at least four times of hearing it before I realised that Madonna tried to say "Ik ben trouwig" in the intro to her song "Sorry". Duh.

And if any Norwegians out there wonder why haven't mentioned the death of Jan Werner Danielsen it is simply because I still cannot believe it. I read about it a few hours after they found him and I was in shock. I'm very fortunate that I saw him performing live at least twice. It is such a loss.

Labels: comedy, evita, film, food, linguistics, michael palin, music, musicals, online shopping, personal, philip quast, theatre, TV

Mmm...Apoptygma Berzerk. But I digress.

I suppose I should have written sooner. I just didn't. I thought I had, though. So, let's see...this edition will comment upon:

Mad people killing Amish schoolgirls. That's just despicable.

Little Miss Sunshine - a really good film. A must-see!

Do not read the message boards on IMDb. Sometimes they're well informed. Like about Spooks series 5. I am angry, but at least my number one reason for staying with the series still remains. :-)

If you can, you should get hold of Scum, the 1977 version (good luck, it's banned), as it is frighteningly good. And very young Ray(mond) Winstone, David Threlfall and Phil Daniels make appearances in it.

I have spent the last few days writing. The boring bit is that I have large parts of the story in my head, but I actually have to write them before being able to share. Shucks. Still, this makes the story change as I go along, which in turn makes it interesting. I feel I get to know this person from scratch. I bet they will surprise even me at some point. And that's when I know I've succeeded. Or should be admitted somewhere.

At the same time I am trying to cut down on the insane number of TV series I am watching. Too bad they keep coming up with new shows that I simply have to see.

And one last thing; I had this weird dream last night where I kept bumping into a Colosseum-style theatre wherever I went. They performed Evita and Christmas carols and arranged birthday parties and sing-alongs there 24 hours a day. I just couldn't get away from there, so I finally got a job. What I had to do? Sit on a chair or just walk around, while they were performing Evita. Aww, what rotten luck. ;-) Must stop being hooked.

Labels: current affairs, dreams, evita, film, music, musicals, nicola walker, peter firth, Spooks, theatre, TV, writing

I had been hoping to see Mark Heenehan as Peron, but unfortunately this would mean that Philip Quast would not be performing. Must stop wishing for these things to happen, because as long as they're on the negative side of the scale they usually come true. Luckily my ticket was cheap (and for a great seat, actually). And I realised I actually love the show in itself, and not just because I am so highly biased towards Quast. Which is a very good thing. I was very disappointed with Heenehan, though. Shh, don't tell anyone, but I would definitely have preferred hearing/seeing Tim Morgan as Peron's understudy. I mean, wow, I have a feeling his voice talents are wasted in this production.

On the other hand, we have been very busy lately watching all the episodes of series 3 and 4 of Spooks. After all, the fifth series begins soon, my flatmate had not seen the third and fourth series and I had only seen them once, which is below par.

Remembering "9/11" today. Mostly by steering away from any documentaries and observing one minute's silence in a few moments.

Labels: current affairs, evita, musicals, nicola walker, peter firth, philip quast, Spooks, theatre, tim morgan, TV

I'm spending the whole day at work, before going to see Evita again. My plan is to have a late lunch, because then I can have a cheeseburger with chips and that will keep me from feeling hungry as I experience the musical. Yes, I am not going to watch it, I am going to experience it. Ooh, that reminds me - I promised I would give a standing ovation on my next visit. Luckily I am further back this time, so it won't be too embarrassing if I am the only one, LOL!

Having been searching arbitrarily for blogs of interest this past hour, I have come across a lot of Japanese ones, a few Belgian, lots of Spanish and Portuguese and quite a few American ones. None of them were particularliy interesting, though. Probably the same thing they would have thought if they visited my blog. And why would they find it interesting? I mean, these are just ramblings about my own life and my own little world in which I am God (blasphemer!) (err...no, because if I'm God, I must be following a different religion to yours) (blasphemer nevertheless!) (yeah, whatever, speak to the hand or just go away; you tire me) and where you are merely here to be amused and/or enraged. Hopefully.

Must start writing that play.

Also, I won't be able to see the Maria programme live tonight, so I will have to vote from the theatre. Before the thingie starts, of course, I am not completely bereft of any decency. The fact that I will vote without having seen or heard tonight's performance, of course, is going to be considered fair just this once.

Meanwhile, I am gambling my way to another ticket to see that musical. Have to grab the opportunity while Mr. Quast is still performing. He may soon go off to Australia again, who knows!

Labels: evita, musicals, personal, philip quast, theatre, TV, writing

Why do they change their blog addresses without telling me, just because I haven't visited their webspace these last...six months? I have been busy, ok?

That's just it, though. I am the selfish one. But hey, at least I can watch Norwegian telly while at work.

I bought another ticket for Evita yesterday. Crappy seat, but it's cheap, and it's Evita. I swear to you, I have woken up every morning for the past week with some song off the cast recording in my head. Of course, these last two days I have also woken up to a very cold and very quick shower. Our blasted Economy 7 system has gone haywire again. It probably turns itself on during the day, which is totally opposite of what it's supposed to do. Bastard.

Hmm, another unknown person popping up on my screen. I use one of those instant messaging programs (I am deliberately avoiding its name, I haven't turned into a 75-year-old technophobe all of a sudden) while at work (for work purposes, honest!), and even though my contact list is very small, I have still accumulated a few of those "who the hell is that?" on there during the six months I have been working here. Oh God, has it been that long already? Anyway, that contact list reminds me of my mobile phone's address book. I transferred the SIM card between phones every time I got a new one since I bought my first mobile in '97, and the address book was integrated into the SIM card, so naturally all my contacts were transferred too. I decided when I got my UK SIM card that I would only add those people whom I had actually been in touch with during the last year or so, because there are quite a lot of names on there which I don't recognise. People I have met and swapped numbers with while being drunk together (common mistake), even though I knew I wouldn't contact them. Some of my tutors at uni, even though I never needed to ring them. I even have the number for my ex's local pizza takeaway. WHY??? I certainly didn't pick up the phone to order anything from them! And why is that? Because I am terrified of phoning people. It is highly irrational, and particularly strange since I have worked within telesales, telemarketing and in call centres in three of my four last "real" jobs. For f's sake.

I will take up Heather's vow to stop censoring herself and make it mine as well. Will start swearing more. And stop worrying about those 2 out of 400 who visit my blog and pretend to be proper Christians. Worrying about offending them, I mean, I usually worry about people who make it a point to tell everyone they're proper Christians.

And "2 out of 400" is indeed the same as "1 out of 200", or 0.5%. See? My studying Mathematics paid off after all. I am so happy.

Labels: evita, musicals, personal, technology, theatre

How brilliant it must be to hear, several times, from the show's producer, that you have to promise him to audition for Evita. Lucky, lucky girl.

Labels: evita, Lloyd-Webber, musicals, theatre, TV

I have these TV programmes I look forward to every week. At the moment one of the most anticipated ones is How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?, the previously mentioned Pop Idol-y show where The Phantom (Lord Lloyd-Webber) and his Minions (Zoë "The Vocal Coach" Whatsherface, David "The Co-Producer" WhatshisfaceitsoundslikeIan and of course John "I still cannot believe he was voted out of Dancing on Ice" Barrowman) (yes, I know, I should know their names, but I'm not too embarrassed to admit I don't) try to find the next West End Diva, AKA who will play Maria in The Sound of Music at least six days a week starting...uhmm...when the rehearsals are finished, I suppose!

The programme is great fun and also shows the bitchiness in the participants (not just Graham Norton) and also in myself. I keep slagging a few of the contestants and come up with rather rude remarks if they're off-key. Let me tell you I played Singstar for hours last weekend and I'm not that good myself.

But then, I never thought I were, and I am definitely not aiming for a career on a West End stage. Not physically, anyway.

Another favourite at the moment is Prison Break. OK, so it's been a favourite pretty much from the start of the first season (at first much thanks to the bloody marvelous Peter Stormare), but I'm very happy it's back. I have also grown quite fond of Eureka, so I expect they will cancel that one soon. They usually do. Take Arrested Development, for instance. Finally some intelligent comedy, so of course they have to cancel it. And the Americans wonder why we think they're so thick.

I'm considering winning some money and go see Evita again. As you can probably see (*points at the list of most played artists in the right-hand menu*) it took me just about two minutes from posting "I cannot listen to Evita anymore, because it makes me sad" until it was once again top of my Zen's playlist.

It sort of annoys me that my Zen only has a 20GB hard drive, as I will now have to delete tracks if I want to add more. For instance, most of my cast recordings are left on my computer, whereas I at one point decided on moving ALL of my several gigs of Erasure and Beatles tracks to the Zen. Hence, no space for three of my favourite musical recordings; The Fix (there's John Barrowman again), Martin Guerre and South Pacific - which I discovered to my horror the other day as I embarked on yet another dreary ride on the tube.

The good thing about spending one and a half hours one way to and from work every day, is that I get to listen to a lot of music. Too bad I cannot read while on a moving train, otherwise I would be able to finally read all those books I have bought over the years and which are now merely collecting dust as I tend to choose "quick fixes" like telly and video games over books.

Unless we're talking Harry Potter. Funny it should grab my attention to such a degree.

It's very sad that I hardly read books anymore. I used to read loads upon loads of them. And an aspiring writer probably should read a lot. There's something called a "vocabulary" which has to be expanded in order to write professionally.

I sometimes wish I was Stephen Fry. But then I remember I'd have to host the BAFTAs, and that would probably not be such a good idea. However, I would be in his shoes, so perhaps I wouldn't mind after all.

Try not to think on an empty stomach. Speaking of which, it's about time I went to the closest corner shop and spent some money on lunch. Then I'll saunter back to the office and try to stay awake until I can finally go home and watch the Maria programme. I hope you are well.

Labels: comedy, evita, gaming, literature, Lloyd-Webber, music, musicals, peter stormare, theatre, TV

Right, this is going to be a blatant act of begging from me, but do I really ask you for much these days? (Close friends may disregard that question, haha)

I don't really care if you know of musicals at all or if you absolutely love them, I am going to be completely selfish and ask you all to sign the petition for a complete recording of the revival of Evita. If only to shut me up about the production (for a bit). Or I'm afraid I will have to use the late John Peel's immortal words: "I will break wind in your kitchens."

Don't say I didn't warn you.

Labels: evita, musicals, theatre

Another three days have gone by without my doing much of anything. OK, so I have been "grown-up" enough to do the laundry, dishes and grocery shopping, but I haven't written a single word and I never got around to playing any computer games.

I have, however, watched a few episodes of Brotherhood (I really like that series, and not just because of Jason Isaacs) as well as a couple of films. Thank You for Smoking was very good, I laughed out loud quite a lot. Especially liked Adam Brody and Rob Lowe, and Bill Macy was brilliant, as per usual. I also watched The Sentinel, which was surprisingly good! I almost remembered why I used to like Michael Douglas. Almost.

So it's back to work tomorrow (it's plain wrong to start the working week on a Saturday, but there you go) - I just hope I'll have more to do than what has been the normal situation lately, as it has been extremely boring just sitting there. Even the Internet has its limitations (well, at least without being able to plug in one's headphones). Speaking of which, I have succumbed to the mainstream agenda and been sucked into YouTube. I have found a few favourites. If you can't be bothered to check out my favourites, I would at least urge you to check out this commercial (sound required), which I first saw in one of those "funniest commercial" programmes, and which I was able to find again on YouTube. I love this one! It is at its funniest the first time around, though.

I have stopped listening to the Evita album. It is making me sad. Really wish music wouldn't go straight for my emotions. Last night I found a lot of old favourites on my Zen (because I do not have an iPod; I try to avoid Apple as much as possible), from around when I was (overly) active in Oslo's underworld (well, actually it was just the gay scene) and used to go out "clubbing" (drinking and dancing feverishly, more like) more or less every day of the week. Lots of great music, lots of embarrassing memories, LOL! But hey, there you go. That's what music does.

Ooh, and I finally got my National Insurance Number! Yay me! I will be taking over this country in no time! ;)

Labels: evita, film, jason isaacs, music, musicals, personal, theatre, TV, writing