I’m glad to see Kid Robot is still kicking on after visiting their flagship store in San Francisco almost 7 years ago now. Now, the store that made toys popular (and almost acceptable) for adults has come to London.
See their display in the corner of Selfridges on Oxford Street while they last.
Great weather in London. Mild temperatures, blazing blue skies. Huzzah!
On Sunday I ended up at Shepherd’s Bush Empire to participate in one of the Secret Cinema events, a themed evening out where the movie is secret right to the very end and the location disclosed just a few days earlier. When I signed up for the ticket, all I knew was that there were going to be “Rock Gods” and “Shady Promoters”. Later I find out the theme of the evening is 80s rock, so I end up buying a vintage leather jacket on the weekend to accommodate. I found a decent bargain at Rokit in Covent Garden too, so pretty stoked about that.
To be honest, I don’t remember that much about the 80s other than lots of curly hair and bright coloured slacks. After all, I hadn’t even hit my teens at the end of it. I had a much better understanding of 80s rock when I saw everyone else. Ripped shirts, brightly coloured, tight fitting trousers and tights, and lots and lots of messy hair apparently was the idea. The extras hired by (or from) Secret Cinema also came in complete theme and entertained us as we lined up in all of our different lines. We had bikes come through, rock papparazi, a skirmish between two rocked out blokes that made the line up in Fabric on a Friday night look super tame.
When we entered the empire we took to our second floor seats, complete with a bottle of Vitamin Water and a packet of crisps. Other attendents stood around in the aisles, handing out small buckets of popcorn as everyone else eventually made it to their seats. Complete with band kit, it wasn’t long before we witnessed a rock weding, watched a small film about a Heavy Metal Drummer in the middle east and began the session with Toronto based band, Cauldron.
It wasn’t long before the real movie was announced, apparently the premiere of Anvil! The Story of Anvil, though my sister had recently been to yet another “premiere” of it earlier in the week. It’s a great movie though be warned it’s a documentary and probably not for everyone. I’d seen it advertised and I can’t say it was one that I’d go to the cinemas for. It follows the tragic tale of a Canadian band who had a profound influence on the heavy metal music scene, yet never found the fame that they deserved. Throughtout it, we see them and their, almost, unwavering belief and passion for their music. What was surprising at the end of the movie was that Anvil the movie was suddently displaced by Anvil the band in real life. They played three songs before calling it a night, and what a night it was!
Last weekend, my sister asked me along to see a new circus/art stage show at the Peacock Theatre called Traces presented by a French-Canadian based troupe of four guys and a girl. The performance is best described as a fusion of different performance styles encompassing everything from dance, various circus skills, some acting and comedic styles. Everything had clever touches including the welcome note at the start and the intermission joking about the things that you could do that most other theatres would prohibit.
I was particularly impressed by their use of less conventional circus objects including basketballs and skateboards to create some visually stunning tricks. Considering that the stage wasn’t that big, and there were five constantly moving bodies, it’s obvious they’d rehearsed a great deal to put on a show that truly impressed. Not everything worked out well including their mock simulation of a “big brother”-like vote off, but for a couple of hours it was still worth the money we paid for it.
Okay, so I’m a little late with the photos from the snow from last Monday, however I thought I’d still post some for you guys to see. Miraculously, even though most of London shut down, I still managed to do my normal long commute including the tube, train and a taxi to get to Marlow.
So I didn’t get to spend the day building a snowman, or sledging but how weird it was to see the likes of my tube station covered in snow, and still managing to operate (even being above ground). The photo above is the snow falling on the benches. Below is a street I stopped in on the way to work, just to demonstrate how thick it had been falling. It’s one of the ones between Baker Street and Marylebone station.
Finally we have Marylebone Station covered in snow. Already one of the better stations both in terms of commuter-friendliness minus the crazy antics of Waterloo, Victoria or Paddington in the morning, it looked even more spectacular covered in snow.
Somehow Chiltern Rail still managed to provide a full service although some of the trains were about half an hour behind schedule. Still a cool day overall. It’s just a shame I couldn’t hang out with everyone else who got to play in the snow.
It’s been a while since I’d been out to the movies, and this time I went to Islington to see Frost/Nixon. Someone told me it was based on a stage play, and even though I was a bit sceptical about watching it, thought I’d give it a go. Focusing around the even that propelled David Frost into being taken seriously as an interviewer, and the trial that Nixon never had, the movie kept me on the edge of my seat for quite some time. It helps that it also starred, easy on the eyes, Rebecca Hall, and had moments of laughter, seriousness and tension without many potentially boring bits. The ending is a little bit sad, and didn’t finish quite the same way they started, but it’s a great movie worth watching.
TheKua.com Rating 7 out of 10
And snowing heaps in London! Yay!
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