cowboys ‘n christmas

the new killers song takes its lyrics from a nineteenth century balled and ensuing ball tradition – i find that very intriguing and it makes me like the song even better

by the way, cowboys nowadays always reminde me …

500 miles

and also, this happened and i watch it at least once a day and sing along all the time – i am amazed how coll this is and, if possible, adore david tennant even more that ever

life is god!

i’ve finally handed in my first chapter and now i am ready for some fun – or rather a day of work, a library date and some rehearsal time – a girl’s got to do, what a girl’s got to do!

happy birthday, eleven!

i still cannot believe the 900-something year old timelord, otherwise known as matt smith, is actually as old (or should we say young) as i am – that somehow makes me feel really good – have a happy birthday

beautiful photos …

… of beautiful people

 

the days are getting shorter …

… and my time is spent more and more indoors, with lovely cups of tea, cookies and knitting hats, armwarmers and scarves for everyone and sundry

rory, put hitler in the cupboard!

keep calm and …

doctor who experience

with all the excitement of the last two weeks – seeing david tennant and catherine tate in much ado and then coming back home to work a lot for my new job, i have yet to write a detailed description of the doctor who experience in london, which was amazing – if you are a fan, go – it’s expensieve, but it’s totally worth the money, if only for the little flutter of excitement, once you realize, you have stepped into the real life tardis and it really is bigger on the inside – but i am getting ahead of myself

getting to the experience was an adventure in itself, as it is located in a part of london, i had never been to before – and once we’d found our way there, we were informed, that on this particular day, the experience wouldn’t open for another hour or so, but we’d most definitely be able to go in right away then – so, we trundled back the way we came, up kensington high street and down a little side street, which was familiar to me indeed – and had breakfast at the muffin man, a lovely little tea shop my friend lily hat shown me to on my last trip to london in february

then, with a couple of walking miles up and down kensington high street already under foot, we made it to the experience, bought tickets and in we were – first there is an interactive part, where you are taken on a little adventure, freeing the doctor from the pandorica, where he has been stupid enough to be trapped again! – matt smith as the eleventh doctor guided us through that bit, constantly calling us shoppers and urging us on – we got attacked by daleks, had a chance to prove our skills at flying the tardis, came through the forest of the weeping angels and finally, after a cool bit of 3d-effects, rescued the doctor and were admitted to the actual exhibition floor

and now, perhaps, some photos are more effective to show and tell

doctor who - eleventh incarnation

costumes incarnations 6 - 10

costumes incarnations 1 - 5

tenth doctor's tardis "i don't want to go" - and yes, that is the real tardis used for filming ten's episodes

eleventh doctor

daleks!

face of boe

don't blink!

all in all a great adventure and in the end, there even was a little shop – love the little shop – and i finally got my favourite doctor who button, which i have been wearing pretty much every day ever since

space girl

i want to be a space girl – very much indeed – see here, i didn’t only travel into time and space with the tenth doctor, but get along quite nicely with eleven as well

you’ve got mail!

apart from some bills, i did have nice mail today – a letter from one of the long forgotten guys in a california prison, with whom i used to exchange letters for my master’s thesis and a postcard from a friend on vacation to a sunny town, about which he couldn’t but brag, since he left me at home in the rain last week – ah well, the rain is past and the sun is back, so all is well

indeed, all would really be well, if i could have a letter with this stamp on it, please

incidentally, that is tschaikowsky’s skull in the picture – no, not that tschaikovsky: the nutcracker one, but this one: also a composer and pianist, albeit not as famous as the other one, but still quite nice – especially when playing chopin – anyways, andre tschaikowsky somehow got the idea of wanting his skull to be used on stage in a hamlet production – no actor or director was brave enough until 2008 when david tennant came along and took matters into his own hands and tschaikowsky’s skull on stage – being a time lord does seem to help with strange encounters of the spiritual kind or maybe that’s got something to do with being a great shakespearean actor – anyways, this sroty makes me love david tennant and shakespeare even more, if that is possible

much ado about nothing

after six long months of happy anticipation, last week was the week – and last wednesday the day i have been waiting for – i went to see david tennant and catherine tate, the most gorgeous man and the funniest woman, in shakespeare’s much ado about nothing at the wyndham’s theatre in london

it was an adventure indeed – the night before, on tuesday, we took our tickets and went to the stage door to try and get an autograph already – the result was a lot of giggling and a very happy me, being a melted puddle of carola on the floor, after i had not only gotten a couple of perfect photos and autographs, but also heard their voices – really, i am no groupie and screaming fan girl, but i’ll make an exception for scottish and ginger people

now the happy anticipation for wednesday night was almost too much to bear – after some excitement, when my travel companion had lost her ticket (incidentally with david tennants autograph on it) and we had to get a new one and after the guy at the door wanted to rip my ticket, so i had to get a new one as well, so he wouldn’t rip of david tennant’s autograph – seriously! – we were safe and sound in our seats, in row 5 with a perfect view of the stage and not many more moments to go before the play started

initially having been introduced to both david tennant and catherine tate through doctor who, i have learnt to appreciate them for the great actors they are, even apart from doctor who – don’t get me wrong, i am still a huge fan of the doctor, but david tennant and catherine tate are so much more than just doctor and donna – i would miss them on tv, but seriously, stage acting is their true calling – they were amazing, the chemistry between them just perfect – i could watch them on stage every night

the play itself was a wonderful modern twist on shakespeare’s greatest romantic comedy – reluctant lovers is one of my all-time favourite classical themes – benedick and beatrice are the epitome of reluctant lovers, there’s so much going on between the two of them, not just on stage, but in between the lines as well, they have a history and not a boring one

being set in the 80s this version took an interesting new turn – the stage, the costumes, the music, it all made sense and was very 80s indeed – some people might not like it, but i loved it – a revolving stage created constant surprising moments and great set changes – the cast showed a variety of perfect costumes, dressing up for the various occasions throughout the play – i’ll never forget david tennant’s benedick in lace tights, mini-skirt, wig, over-sized sunglasses and pig snout for the costume party or the memorable moment, when he overhears don pedro, leonato and claudio talking of beatrice’s love for him – the stage was turning, the actors going back and forth between four big columns and benedick ended up being smeared from head to toe in white paint – it sounds confusing, but was actually just amazing, funny without being silly or overdoing it

they sing as well, not live, but for the soundtrack – yes, that’s right, the play has it’s very own soundtrack – here’s a bit of a teaser for you – the play’s version of an 80s summery feel good hit – real shakesperean lyrics of course

being set a mediterranean island, it’s great to see, how director josie rourke managed to add small details to create an overall feeling for the setting, the characters and the story – favourite moments include benedick making quite a first entrance on a golf cart – beatrice and benedick sitting by the pool and the light effects actually creating pool reflections on the walls without there even being a pool – benedick trying to rhyme a sonnet for beatrice and failing miserably, that actually made me cry – claudio singing of his love and being the perfect picture of a sunny boy, while a hangoverish, cynical benedick in a superman shirt makes fun of him, creating a lovely sense of parody – bachelor parties, including strippers and a great deal of crazyness, for hero and claudio – and a dogberry to die for, talking of comic relief, he’s your perfect example and john ramm was fantastic

but the complete cast were brilliant – jonathan coy was a wonderful leonato – tom batemen a claudio to die for, showing off his hot body and being so genuinely in love you couldn’t help but fall in love with him a little bit yourself – sarah macrae a deserving hero to this loverboy – adam james a don pedro with a wonderful sense of humour and genuine attachment to his men – and finally elliot levey as the villainous don john, who is not completely dislikable, as his bitterness in this version has little to do with jealousy and quite a lot with him being a gay man in the navy

ths far, the play was a total success for me and the money well spent – it could only be topped of by steve, the greatest door guard in the world, dropping by our seats in the intermission and bringing back the lost ticket, which had been found outside – needless to say, we were amazed someone actually gave that back, what with it having david tennant’s signature on it!

on to the second half – darker scenes and sober moods – hero’s desertion at the altar is tragic and there’s nothing comic about it, the audience feels with her, but nevertheless cannot help but enjoy the confessions of love from beatrice and benedick

Benedick: “I do love nothing in the world so well as you- is not that strange?”  Beatrice: “As strange as the thing I know not. It were as possible for me to say I loved nothing so well as you: but believe me not; and yet I lie not; I confess nothing, nor I deny nothing.”

and of course it all ends in happiness and bliss as the cast dances along to “sigh no more” and the audience goes wild – the night ended in happiness for me as well – another visit to the stage door and i now own a signed copy of the script book and a few more memories of having seen david tennant and catherine tate close up and live – the only thing i now long for is to some day meet them in person and have a chat without there being crazy fans around and people pushing to get autographs, photographs and offers of marriage and children

all in all an amazing experience – i could go and see the play every night, but i’ll have to make do with listening to yet another classic comedy feature from the soundtrack – perfection!

adorable

and i’ll see them live just about right now

like, like, like

❤soon❤

full of happy anticipation

much ado about … pretty much, actually

david tennant, catherine tate and shakespeare – three good reasons to spend a lot of money on a prime seat ticket to go see much ado about nothing at london’s wyndhams theatre in july – i am very excited indeed and can hardly wait – plus we’ll be sitting very close to the stage – sometimes i find myself thinking, i’ll wake up and have dreamt having bought tickets already – it seems somehow unreal and a little bit crazy – but july is only five months away and it is great to have something to look forward to

blast from the past

i wish, i’d would be true

i want one

i leave if up to your imagination, what exactly it is that i want …

sorry england

but you’re still brilliant at other stuff – looky here now – that’s the doctor and see, what he’s doing, playing football, that’s right – put him on the team and i’ll cheer for you next time and then … maybe … you might have a chance to win

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eiy0xDdJBs&feature=related]

christian goes doctor

a little update from christian, my online super-pet – he’s all doctor who this week