marjorie73 | Entries tagged with neil gaiman

It was back in December, I think, that I saw that World Book Night was inviting people to sign up as 'givers', to distribute free books on World Book Night - 23rd April - chosen as it is UNESCO's 'International Day of the Book', Shakespeare's birthday, and death-day, and the day Cervantes died (although I learned today that Cervantes and Shakespeare in fact died on the same date, in the same year, but on different days, as Spain had adopted the Gregorian Calendar and England hadn't)

Anyway, I liked the idea of joining in, to share my love of books and reading, and to get the chance to give away books to people who might not otherwise be reading, so I sent in my application, and forwarded the links to friends I thought might be interested in doing the same, and then I waited. And in February, I got an e-mail to say my application had been accepted, and I would get to play.

I'd had a hard time picking which of the books to ask for, but decided upon 'Good Omens', partly because it's a great book, one which I go back and re-read on a regular basis, and partly because I felt it was more approachable than some of the other books on the list, and that a book which makes people laugh might encourage them to read more in the future.

This is, after all, supposed to be something you do for pleasure! (Don't get me wrong, I love Pride and Prejudice, for instance, which is another of the books on this year's list, but for people who have been put off reading at school, I suspect Austen may just feel like more of the same...)

Last week I got an e-mail to say I could pick my books up, and so on Friday night I went to the Library to collect them - 24 beautiful new books!

Opening up the box and unwrapping the books, I felt like a child on Christmas morning. And, since I had to take the books out of the box anyway, in order to write their unique ID numbers in the front, it seemed only right to play with them a little, and make an interesting heap out of them...

Then, today, it was time to start giving the books out. When I applied, I explained that I would aim to give some of the books out via work - in particular to clients involved with Social Services. I hoped to give some to neighbours, too, as it's long been clear to me that books and reading are not a big part of the lives of most of my neighbours.

It turned out that I had to be in court today, so I packed half the books into a bag and took them with me. The court was less busy than I'd expected, but I was able to give a copy to one of the security officers at the door, one to a server at the coffee shop outside, and one to lady waiting for hearing.

Later on, after getting home, I was able to give one to a neighbour (she told me she wasn't really much of a reader, I explained that meant she was exactly who the book was supposed to be for, and she smiled, and accepted it) and then walked down to my local chip-shop and gave several more to people waiting for their food. My favourite was the young man in a hoodie, slouched in the corner of the shop. He watched as I gave a book to the woman ahead of him in the queue, and then when I offered him one, he replied "really? No-one ever gave me a book before!" he seemed so surprised, not only to be given a book, but also, I think, that he was offered one, just the same as the other people waiting. I do hope he reads it. I do hope he enjoys it.

I still have quite a few copies, and I shall be trying to give away more tomorrow, when I shall be at my local Social Services offices. And then to the supported house for teenage mums, and the half-way house for those overcoming addiction. I'm sorry I couldn't make it to both of those this evening, but I believe that giving the books away 'on or near' World Book Night counts, and this way I should have time to explain a little why there is a strange woman showing up on the doorstep and pressing books on the residents!

Happy World Book Night, everyone!

Current Mood: cheerful

Late last year, Neil Gaiman tweeted about a production of ‘Neverwhere’, due to be staged at Reading’s Progress Theatre, and as soon as I could, I booked a ticket for myself.

The production runs from 19^th-28^th January , and my ticket was for last night’s performance. Reading is about 75 miles from here, so it was quite a trek. I had an uneventful drive down except for the bit in Reading where Tim, the disembodied voice who lives in my SatNav, got very upset with me for refusing to go down a bus-lane, and then refused to speak to me for a bit after that, (“lost satellite signal” indeed!), but happily he relented in time to tell me how to find the side-street which the theatre is in.

Having done so, I had about an hour to spare, so I wandered down to the nearest pub where I was delighted to find not only the expected beer, but also a remarkably good burger (although either I mis-read the menu, or one lettuce leaf, wilted to a sad remnant of its real self, constitutes a salad these days). But the beer was good, and the pub was warm, and there was no piped music, no TV, and a shelf of books available.

The Progress Theatre is very small – it seats just under 100 people, and it appeared to be very nearly sold out. (I've no idea whether there are any tickets left for other performances - the theatre's own website is down for maintenace at present but the box office number is 0118 960 6060.

The production was, I thought, excellent. It was very faithful to the novel. (I think also to the TV show, especially with some of the visuals, but I have not watched that for a long time, so I may have missed some) There were some places where scenes were cut – (the Marquis de Carabas’s meeting with Lear, the ‘Angels over London’ exhibition and, to my regret, the Nice Cup of Tea element of the Black Friar’s Ordeal)

I enjoyed the various visual grace notes – in the Floating Market scenes the set included various coats of arms, relating to different characters or fiefdoms, some of which were immediately obvious (Hammersmith, Serpentine/Seven Sisters) others (Shepherds Bush, Earl’s Court) took me a little longer to work out. There was also very imaginative use of lighting and projections to help augment the sets – very effective, especially regarding Door’s ability to open doors, and the moves from London Above to London Below.

Mr Croup and Mr Vandemar. (Photo from progresstheatre.co.uk)

I was particularly impressed with Mr Croup (Alex McCubbin) and Mr Vandemar (Craig Daniels), although I was a little thrown when they first appeared, as Mr Vandemar looked very much how I’d always imagined Mr Croup looking, and Mr Croup looked more how I’d seen Mr Vandemar in my head, (there was a definite nod to Cain and Abel in 'Sandman', too, in their appearance) but both of them projected a real sense of menace.

I also greatly enjoyed the way that the black humour of the original were retained. Well worth seeing, both for fans of Neil’s work, and for newcomers. I’m very glad I went.

Current Mood: happy
Current Location: Progree Theatre, Reading

I booked for Neil Gaiman's 'Worlds of Wonder' event at the British Library as soon as I became aware it was happening (thank you, Maggie!) and was very much looking forward to it.

However, it wasn't due to start until 2.30, so I needed to find something to do to entertain myself on Sunday morning.

I decided to visit The Wellcome Collection - it's small, but interesting.They have one of Antony Gormley's casts (from 'Another Place') hanging from the ceiling in the lobby, which is always good.

The part of the museum which I enjoyed the most was the 'Medicine Man' exhibition, about Henry Wellcome himself. He appears to have been an avid, if somewhat indiscriminate, collector - amongst other things, he had Napoleon's toothbrush, Lord Nelson's razor, a lock of George III's hair and two of Charles Darwin's walking sticks.

He also had shrunken heads, a peruvian mummy, some Japanese sex toys, and some very gruesome momentos mori...

There are also other, (slightly) more medical displays - one large glass case, filled on one side with amupation saws of all shapes and sizes, and on the other with gynocological forceps, and another case full of artificial limbs, including one dating to 1580! (and another, which appeared to be made of wrought iron, with decorative little twiddles, from the 1850s)

Very interesting stuff!

After visiting the museum, I fortified myself with a sandwich before heading across to the British library. I was fortunate enough tio reach the shelter of the Library just before the heavens opened and it poured with rain!

At the Library, I met up with my friend Cheryl, and a girl called Lucy, who was drawing a gorgeous picture of Neil, and Robin (@Raliel), and Mike (who bought my spare tocket from me), and Maggie, who I know from twitter but haven't met in person before, so I was more than happy to be wiating around for the doors to open.

Then we got to wait around inside, which was warmer, and less rainy.

And there were books for sale. Neil arrived looking rather windswept and rained upon. Cheryl lent him a hairbrush, and he brushed his hair,which instantly reverted to looking wild and windswept. I always suspected that Crazy Hair was, in truth, a factual record, and now I know it for sure.

Farah Mendelsohn, Neil Gaiman,
Rachel Armstrong, Peter F Hamilton, Kari Sperring

I was lucky enough to get seat in the front row of the auditorium, and settled down to enjoy the discussion.

As well as Neil, the panal consisted of Farah Mendelsohn (moderating), Rachel Armstrong (TED fellow), Peter F. Hamilton and Kari Sperring. Farah did a sterling job of moderating, and the discussions raned far and wide - from the fact that Science Fiction is (almost) always about now, not the future, how Chinese and Indian Science Fiction is optimistic, and how you don't really need to write science fiction dpecifically for children because they read what's written for adults..

There was also the discussion about whether things are getting better or worse (and WHO they are getting better or worse for .

I don't, now, recall exactly what it was which led to Neil describing to us the "Shit Machine" he had seen in the Museum of Old and New Art, in Tasmania.. I think super villians came into it somewhere.

Rachel Amstrong provided an interesting perspective, and argued passionately that science needs writers to fire the imagination about science, and Neil and Peter both talked about being inspired by science as much as by fiction.

The discussion also ranged over politics and gender, (and how far we still have to go) - Neil talked about how 'Coraline' was initially considered to be unpublishable, because the protagonist was a girl. Which is pretty depressing..

There was comment about the effect on spam-mail of 3D printers (xkcd have, of course, already given it some thought)

The discussion ended with a short Q&A, then Neil & Peter signed - I've never seen a shorter signing line for Neil!

I allowed sense to overcome ambition and, on the basis I had to carry all my baggage for the weekend had brought my copy of Shoggath's Old Peculiar (now adorned with R'ylehian inscription) rather than my Absolute Sandman - I think it was a wise decision, even if it means I do not qualify as a True Fan!

More conversation, and introductions to interesting people, and then, once the signing was over, and Cheryl and I had had a chance
to chat briefly to Neil, we left the library. Cheryl and I joined what appeared to be about 1/2 the audience from the library in the pub over the road, for a quick drink, then we had a rather nice curry.

I don't know anout anyone else, but I had an early night, after a truly enjoyable day.

A weekend well spent, I think :-)

Current Mood: content
Current Location: london

Amanda Fucking Palmer’s gig was at ‘Heaven’, a club in Charing Cross – doors opened at 6, and I got there at about ¼ to 7, which was handy, as it turned out that that was more-or-less when the music was due to start.

Amanda came on, in her underwear, to announce the first of the two supporting bands, The Jane Austen Argument, and to acquire various shiny things for her crowd-sourced costume.

I haven’t seen the JAA before, and only knew of them from hearing ‘Bad Wine and Lemon Cake’on Amanda’s ‘Down Under’ album, but I would be very happy to see them again…

Sadly they only had time for a few songs, then Amanda was back to introduce the second supporting band, Bitter Ruin, who of course I have seen before, several times. They performed ‘Trust’, and ‘Chewing Gum’ and ‘The Vice’ , and it was all good.

And did I mention that I bumped into Roz Kaveney, and @Raliel (both of whom I’m met before, but neither of whom I’d arranged to meet up with).

I loved both the opening bands, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t more excited about seeing AFP herself…

It would be fair to say I was not, in any way, disappointed (well, except maybe in that I was quite a long way back, and a lot of much taller people suddenly appeared on front of me, so I did not have as good a view as I’d have liked, but that’s life J)

Amanda started her set dressed in a slinky sparkly blue frock, a feather boa, elbow gloves and a hat, none of which lasted long! Soon she was in corset and pink lame shorts

She opened with ‘Astronaut’ and continued with songs both old and new – Missed Me, for instance, Guitar Hero, and several new songs, which she asked people not to upload just yet. There was a great rendition of Delilah, with Georgia of Bitter Ruin, and Neil Gaiman was lured up onto the stage to sing ‘The Problem with Saints.

Tonight’s (or maybe this tour’s) band is called ‘Grand Theft Orchestra’ and included the awesome Una Palliser on violin, (she normally, it seems, plays with Shakira) Super Kate, (who belly danced) a 3–man horn section (stolen from Eric Clapton) and of course a number of other special guests..

Another of the guests was Tim Minchin, who I have seen on TV, but never live – he played a delightful love song; ‘You Grew On Me (like a Tumour)’ And then the final guest was Tom Robinson who quickly had the entire singing along with huge enthusiasm to Glad to be Gay.

The encores included ‘Map of Tasmania’ and ‘Oasis’ and the gig ended with a mass rendition of ‘Leeds United’ – it would be hard to say who was enjoying it more – the gang on stage (including all the guests) or the paying customers, certainly everyone was singing, dancing, and generally having a fantastic time.

This gig has to have been the biggest high you can imagine – bottle the atmosphere and you’d make a fortune!

After coming out of the venue, I was happy to see the wonderful cycling piano moving away, having earlier entertained the queues, no doubt (it was parked, by the time I arrived)

I am so very glad I was at this gig. And even on the tube going back to my hotel I kept getting little bouncy feelings of happiness, as I saw other gig-goers, with beautiful tattoos, or butterflies in their hair, or multi-coloured hair, wending their happy ways home.

And did I mention that there were at least 3 people dressed as the 11th Doctor at the gig, and nary a raised eyebrow?

I didn’t get to sleep for hours, as I was still buzzing; I’m not sure I’ve ever been with so many people having all such a great time at once, before.

Current Mood: bouncy
Current Location: the arches, villiers street, london
Current Music: Amanda Palmer - Leeds United [Feat. The Born Again Horny Men Of Edinburgh] | Powered by Last.fm

It's been another very long week, but hopefully things will be more fun, and much less hard work for the next few weeks, as I have lots of things to look forward to, and several short weeks:

Way back in January, we saw that the wonderful Mr David Tennant was going to be appearing in 'Much Ado About Nothing' with the equally wonderful Catherine Tate, this year, so a group of us (Me, my sister, 2 friends, and 2 friends-of-friends) agreed to go - we booked tickets, way back then (Stalls, baby!) and on Tuesday evening, we are going! I'm so excited. I love going to the theatre, and I love David Tennant as an actor - I saw his 'Hamlet' in Stratford on Avon in2008 (about 2 weeks before I started this blog, as it happens!), which was anamazing experience, so I am SO looking forward to seeing him in Shakespeareagain, and also to see him with Catherine Tate, who I have never seen live before.

I'm also really looking forward to spending time with my sister & friends - we haven't yet decided what to do with the afternoon before the show - we may all be splitting up to check out different exhibitions & such, but we've then booked what should be a very nice restaurant for a pre-theatre meal, and as my sister apparently has zillions of points due to hotel stays (for her job) she and I get a nice hotel room for no money at all, too. It should be alovely couple of days, and of course having Tuesday & Wednesday off work makes for a nice, short, working week, too :-)

On Wednesday evening I am going to see Jason Webley play, in Bristol, which should be fantastic - I gather this may be hos last European tour for a while, so I'm glad I can see one of the shows.

After that, we have a bank holiday weekend, and I'm planning to go down to Devon to spend the weekend with my parents, and I belive that my other sister and her fiance will be there.

Then the weekend after that, I am back in London once again, to see Amanda Palmer, and then to see Neil Gaiman at the British Library, which also gives me a free day in london, so I shall have the opportunity to go see another exhibition or two, and maybe even a show, if I can get a last minute ticket for something on the Saturday night.

So all in all, I have a lot to look forward to. And that's before I even have my summer holiday! (This year, I am actually leaving home!)

Current Mood: optimistic
Current Location: United Kingdom, Trowbridge
Current Music: Jason Webley - Raise Them Higher | Powered by Last.fm

So, after my mini-blog ~~this morning~~ on Saturday morning, I thought, as one does, that I had plenty of time to run an errand or two, and so of course I almost missed the train I'd planned to catch.

However, I did catch it, and managed to do a couple of other errands in Bristol before heading to the Ramada to register and then to look around..

The Con is spread over two hotels - the Comics Expo in the Ramada, and the Small Press Expo at the Mercure, which is just around the corner; they have a symbiotic relationship but are not, I believe run by the same people. The first things I saw in Reception at the Ramada were a pair of Imperial Stormtroopers, and guy dressed as Batman, and three slightly bewildered hotel guests checking out.

always a reassuring sight!

After looking around, and managing to not buy any comics, I headed over to the Mercure. They keep all their conference rooms on the 5th floor, but there was a familiar looking blue box in the reception area, which gave me confidence that I was in the right place!

There were lots of comics (unsurprising, at a ComicCon, really, I suppose), lots of writers and artists, and a small number of panels.

I only went to one panel - 'Women, Politics and cartooning' - this was moderated by Jasper Bark, and featured Blue Lou, Kate Evans and a third artist (unfortunately I didn't make a note of her name, and it's not written in the programme). It was very interesting, with discussions about activism, motherhood, guilt, politics and politicians, viciousness, and breastfeeding. Later in the day, in the bar, I had the opportunity to chat further with Lou and Jasper, and to look at more of her artwork. I recommend it. Go look at her site.

then met up with Cheryl and we went out for lunch in a dodgy pub, where we had some not-very-good beer, and some decent fish & chips, and where we were accosted by a random drunk enquiring as to whether we were east German Stasi. (No, we couldn't quite work that one out either...)

I had thought I might go to one of the 2 o'clock panels but ~~Cheryl led me astray~~ we wandered into the bar, first, where Cheryl introduced me to Paul Cornell and later we wandered around the Expo, and I bought a copy of Alice In Sunderland, in which Bryan Talbot drew me a beautiful Mad Hatter.

Later again I found myself back in the bar, (perfectly sober, but in need of a comfy chair and a cup of coffee) and had lots of interesting conversations - this was when I had the opportunity to chat with BlueLou and Jaspre, and with a writer/reviewer named Mark, and Paul Cornell again, and various others whose names I failed to note.

Conversations wandered from subject to subject - some SciFi / Comics related - Which Doctor Who Episodes deserve to win Hugos, whether Superman and Clark Kent were either or both ever American Cctizens in the first place, how quickly trade paperbacks of comics should become available, and what the chances are of fielding a cricket team entirely made of Doctor Who writers are; Some not - babycare and breastfeeding, government cuts, the tendencies of large organisations to become reactionary, and the excessive cost of coffee in the hotel bar.

I enjoyed the afternoon.

I stayed on to watch Neil GAiman's Doctor Who episode, 'The doctor's Wife' in the bar - wasn't the optimum viewing experience - the TV was in ne corner of the hotel bar, but there were a lot of people in the bar who were not watching Doctor Who, and so there was a lot of noise - it took a while before we were able to get subtitles up, and of course subtitles are not as good as being able actually to hear the dialogue, but even with those disadvantages it was a great episode (and good company!)

Phot stolen from Mr Tony Lee (@MrTonyLee)

Once Who was over, I headed back home (where I watched the episode again, with sound, this time, and also watched the 'Confidential' - both very good. A nice end, to an interesting day.

I had bought a ticket for the full weekend but having a lie-in on Sunday morning meant I left it too late to get to Bristol in time to see the 'Just a Minute' game, which was the main attraction, to my mind, so I didn't go back. Maybe next year.

EDITED TO ADD: The 3rd Cartoonist was Vicky Stonebridge, she has a site at www.balnacra.com/

Current Mood: content

Today should be interesting. I will shortly be heading off to Bristol, to the Bristol Comics Expo - I had vaguely thought of going last year, but left it too late, and all the tickets were sold out, so this year I booked early, and then (as no updates are sent) forgot all about it until people in my timeline started tweeting about it...

I know that a few people I have heard of / seen before such as Paul Cornell , Tony Lee and Bryan Talbot are all going to be there, as is my friend Cheryl, but other than that I am not sure what to expect.

I suspect that around 6.30 this evening there might be a sudden exodus to the bar, or wherever else a large TV can be found... I don't suppose that the BBC deliberately scheduled Neil Gaiman's episode of Doctor Who to coincide with the Con, but you have to admit, it's good timing...

Current Mood: curious

So, the blog has been very heavy on music and theatre recently, so I've decided to do a post about some of the books I've been reading recently, and what I thought of them. All titles are links to the relevent amazon page, in case you get a sudden urge to go shopping!

'Stories' Neil Gaiman & Al Sarrantonio

I was fairly confident I'd find stories I'd like here - partly because I knew Neil Gaiman and Diana Wynne Jones are two of the contributors, and they are 2 of my favourite

writers, but also because I trusted Neil in picking writers and stories (Not to say I couldn't also trust Al Sarrantonio, but I am not familiar with his work)

Inevitably there were some stories which I liked better than others, but there weren't any which I disliked, or felt I had wasted my time by reading, although I am sure that there are some I will re-read less frequently than others.

The stories in the collection are not limited to a single genre or theme, which adds a sense of adventure when dipping into the book - you never know what you are going to get!

I was not expecting to find Joanne Harris writing about fading gods hunting one another through modern New York, or Roddy Doyle a darkly funny story about vampires, for instance, whereas Michael Marshall Smith's dark assassination tale is perhaps more what I might have expected from him. Both were very good, and are stores I will undoubtable re-read in the future. Neil Gaiman's own 'The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains' is a very bleak tale of Jacobites, treasure and revenge, and Laurence Block's 'Catch and release' and Richard Adams' 'The Knife' are both chilling. Bycontrast, Diana Wynne Jones' Samantha's Diary is very funny, and will definitely be re-read at the appropriate time of year. The collection is heavy on the darker side, and has certainly made me interested in exploring further the works of some of the contributers.

'Troubadour' Mary Hoffman

Mary Hoffman is primarily known as a writer for young adults, I particularly enjoy her 'Stravaganza' series. This book was also only the YA shelves at my

local library; It is a historical novel, with the protagonist being a young noblewoman, Elinor, living in the Langue D'Oc region of Medieval France, and living through the Cathar pogroms and crusade in the early 13th Century.

I found the book interesting - I knew next to nothing about the Cathars or the way they were treated, and the story provides that information, and whetted my appetite to learn more, but I was less gripped by it as a story - I never really felt I got to a point where I cared deeply about the characters, and did have several 'yes, but ' moments - would a group of troubadours really be willing to help their patron's daughter to run away from home? And would such a girl have been quite so shocked by the thought of being married off to a man chosen by her father?

All that said, I did enjoy the book, but I don't think I shall be rushing out to buy my own copy.

Perhaps unfairly, I think I would probably have rated the book more highly had it been written by someone else, so I wasn't comparing it to other books Mary Hoffman has written, but I have very high expectations of her which this book didn't quite meet.

'Between the Woods and the Water' Patrick Leigh Fermor

This is the second part of Leigh Fermor's autobiography charting his travels, as a young man, from England to

Constantinople (the first part being 'A Time of Gifts', which is well worth reading, and which you should probably read first, in order to follow the journey in order) In 1933, having left school and finding himself at something of a loose end, Leigh Fermor set out to travel, on foot, to Constantinople. Between the Woods and the Water covers the section of the journey from the Danube to the Iron Gates (Ada Kalah, in Romania)

It is absolutely fascinating, as travel writing but also as anthropology. Leigh Fermor made most of the journey on foot and mixed with peasants, gypsies and down-and-outs, but also, through a series of friends-of-friends and introductions with various members of the nobility and gentry - so he found himself sleeping with gypsies one day, then playing bicycle polo with archdukes the next. The writing is beautiful, and the books give a fascinating insight into the period, as well. Leigh Fermor is clearly very erudite and well read, which means when reading I spent a lot of time making notes of various reference to go & look up later. He rather endearingly assumes that his readers are just as familir with classical allusions, and just as able to read Greek or Latin, so (in the edition I was reading, at least) there are no footnotes, and no translations of classical quotations. Don't, however, let this put you off. If stopping to look up quotations part way through a book isn't your thing, you can skip the Greek and just enjoy the writing!

Highly recommended!

Bluestockings Jane Robinson

I picked this up

on impulse, and found it very interesting - it is a study of women's education, primarily focusing on women's access to, and involvment in university education in England, at the end of the 19th and start of the 20th Century, bilding largely on diaries, college records and personal memories. This makes for an interesting read, but does mean that it is difficult at times to determine which experiences are unique to one person, and which are examples of a more general experience.

Similarly, although very readable, it is occasionally unclear when the author has skipped from 1870 to 1920 or 1930! It's certainly an interesting, and very readable introduction to this area of social history, and also a salutory reminder of how far we've come

Originally,

back when the tickets for EvelynEvelyn first went on sale, and long before I knew Cheryl would be staying with me, the idea was to travel up to London on Saturday morning, see the gig, sleep, and head home early(ish) on Sunday, and I had prebooked cheap rail tickets with that in mind.
However, on Friday afternoon, my friend Cheryl mentioned that there might be an extra ninja gig on Sunday afternoon, that she was thinking of travelling up to London for the day to go, and would my train tickets let me stay too. . . Well, they wouldn't, but after checking out prices for new and more flexible tickets I decided it was doable, so we bought tickets for the gig, and arranged to meet up in Camden on Sunday once Cheryl's train arrived.

This meant that I had Sunday morning in London and

I occupied myself with a soothing hour or so in the British Library.

Sadly, the new Maps exhibition doesn't open until 30th April, so I wasn't able to see that, but I did spend some time in the 'Treasures of the British Library' gallery, inspecting Magna Carta, Shakespear's handwriting, various illuminated manuscripts and the original, handwritten 'Alice in Wonderland' with Lewis Carroll's own illustrations.

This made me happy.

I then headed over to Camden, where I was able to grab some lunch, and enjoy the atmosphere of Camden Market, before meeting up with Cheryl and heading to the home of her friends the Clutes, who are lovely, warm and welcoming people, who live in a gorgeous flat filled with art and books and, as it turned out, rockstars and writers...

As we arrived, Amanda Fucking Palmer was just on her way out, to check out the venue - we were quickly introduced, and also met Amber & (a different) Jason, who I *think* are friends of Neil's..

Cheryl then took the opportunity to grab a quick interview with Neil, (Which has possibly the best opening question of any interview EVER), and which explained the chickens from last night.

Incidently, Neil did comment that he isn't really Neil Fucking Gaiman yet, as he isn't taking Amanda's name until they are actually married!

Then, when Amanda got back, Cheryl interviewed Amanda, about twitter, and gigs in space, after which Amanda & Neil left to do important pre-gig stuff.

Shortly afterwards, Cheryl & I went out to join Roz and @Cillygrrl14 in the queue, which was getting long, and quite full of ukuleles by that time.

The venue, Underworld is in the celler of the World's End pub, and so is dark, and there are various places where you get good acoustics, but not a very good view of the stage, so for much of the gig I could not see much, although could hear perfectly! Unforunately it did mean that I failed in my attempt to meet up with another TwitterFriend, @MotleyHippie.

The gig itself?

Bitter Ruin, who opened for EvelynEvelyn on Saturday played, as did Robots in Disguise, who I think opened for them at the KoKo show - both had quite short sets,as of course time was limited, with another EvelynEvelyn show due to start, over in Shepherds Bush, at 7, but both were very good - well worth keeping an eye out for!

Jason & Amanda then both played - Amada started with 'Fake Plastic Trees', then they moved on to some covers of EvelynEvelyn songs, and some of their individual works - Icarus, Ways to Love, ElephantElephant, the Electric Blanket song,(including a bonus 'punk version) Also Jacksons 'BillieJean' and NWA's 'Fuck tha Police'..

We also got to hear 'Do You Swear To Tell The Truth The Whole Truth And Nothing But The Truth So Help Your Black Ass'

Evelyn & Evelyn wereresting, but their little cloth avatars were on stage (except for when they went crowdsurfing...) and a little later, Amanda follwed their example, crowdsurfing as Jason played 'Anarchy in the UK' - Amanda managed to surf across to Neil for a kiss mid-surf (met with huge cheers from the crowd!)

I think this one is my favourite picture from the show - incidently, I am 99% sure that that is the back of Neil's head obscuring the bottom of the photo...

Amanda was also persauded to to sing 'Gaga, Palmer, Madonna'

Watch on YouTube

(This video isn't mine - it's mjdanby's . I don't know who he is, but he shoots good youtube!))

The atmosphere was amazing, and Amanda & Jason both gave the impression that they were really enjoying being there!

After the gig, we spent a little more time with the Clutes before heading home.

All in all, a wonderful weekend
(Originally posted at http://margomusing.blogspot.com/2010/04/rockstars-and-writers-and-friends-oh-my.html comment there or here)

Current Mood: Exhilarated
Current Music: Evelyn Evelyn

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September 2023

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World Book Night
Neverwhere
An Exciting Weekend - Part 4 - In which Are Writers
An Exciting Weekend - Part 2. In Which There Is ROCK
Things To Look Forward Too
Bristol Comics and Small Press Expo
What I'm doing Today
Some Book Reviews
Rockstars and Writers and Friends (Oh My)!

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Entries tagged with neil gaiman

World Book Night

Neverwhere

An Exciting Weekend - Part 4 - In which Are Writers

An Exciting Weekend - Part 2. In Which There Is ROCK

Things To Look Forward Too

Bristol Comics and Small Press Expo

What I'm doing Today

Some Book Reviews

Rockstars and Writers and Friends (Oh My)!