Monthly Archives: March 2010

Rib night!

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Sandra and I thought that we haven’t been out for a set of ribs in a while so we dragged Jules and Pat out to Blubeckers in Ruislip. If you recall Blubeckers is a chain of restaurants/pubs which Sandra has claimed has the best BBQ Ribs ever.

Blubeckers is a very popular venue – even booking a week in advance we were lucky to get a booking for tonight and we had to give the table back within two hours. Still, Jules and Sandra at least are pretty efficient eaters so we still managed to fit in three courses tonight!

As I found last time I came to a Blubeckers the menu is actually pretty good and the food that is delivered is equally up to the task. Tonight I started with an absolutely gorgeous creamy seafood chowder that came with light fluffy warmed baguette. I actually would have been quite happy to have a main meal version of the chowder it was so good. Pat also went for a liquid starter with his French onion soup. He cleaned it up pretty quickly. Jules and Sandra had some battered prawns which looked pretty scrumptions.

At Blubeckers ribs come in sizes of Light, Classic and Legendary. We all very wisely chose to go for the Classic ribs which are about the size of a normal set of ribs. It was more than enough especially when accompanied by a big bowl of chips (which I didn’t even get anywhere near finishing) and coleslaw. The ribs were as tender and delicious as I remember though now thinking about it they are less BBQ ribs than stewed ribs though the BBQ sauce it comes with is pretty damn good.

Somehow we all found room for dessert though I don’t know how. I’m thinking I won’t be eating for at least 24 hours after tonight!

alice in wonderland not so wonderful

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I’d been looking forward to seeing the new Tim Burton directed Alice in Wonderland for ages constantly checking the Imax website for the release of tickets to the opening day. I shouldn’t have bothered. The movie was a great disappointment and even being shot in 3D didn’t save it any from an entertainment value.

Ironically I’ve read that Tim Burton said he felt that the original Wonderland story was like a series of events that all happened to centre around a girl wandering around from one weird character. He said he never felt a connection emotionally and therefore in his version he wanted it to flow more like a story. Unfortunately I didn’t feel that he’d succeeded in his goal.

From the beginning I didn’t feel that the story flowed. It felt terribly disjointed and I didn’t feel any kind of emotional connection with any of the characters, except perhaps for Helena Bonham Carter’s Red Queen – and she’s supposed to be the evil one! Alice returns to Wonderland as a 19 year old, 13 years after she first visited, and it is told that she’s the only one that can save the white kingdom from the red queen’s clutches by killing her Jabberwocky. Alice doesn’t remember any of her previous visit and stumbles from one character to another trying to do what I don’t know. She just seems to be led around by whoever she meets and therefore I cannot understand how suddenly toward the back end of the movie she has formed strong relationships with those on the white side such as the Hatter, Absolem the Caterpillar, and Chessur.

Even taking the characters individually I didn’t find any of them appealing, except perhaps the Bandersnatch, who is supposed to be this scary horrible creature but actually turns out to be rather sweet: Alice was impolite and imperious, the White Queen was affected, Dormouse was irritating, and the Hatter, though admittedly supposedly mad, was way odd.

From a stellar cast and director I was definitely expecting more. Ho hum.

dance3

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Quite possibly one of the strangest dance performances I’ve seen in a while dance3 tonight is part of a series of performances showcasing up and coming choreographers. Just imagine letting your, well imagination, running crazy without censure and that is pretty much what we got tonight. Sometimes dance is just as baffling as art! and if I’m honest I didn’t always get what was going on tonight at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden.

dance3 featured three performances. First up on the bill was Tom Dale’s Cabin Fever. A single man writhed and wiggled about on stage. Expressing the state of mind he was both elegant and plain odd. For some reason I could think only of a zombie though he didn’t move with the gracelessness you normally associate with the living dead. Perhaps my impression was influenced by the Surviving a Zombie Attack book I’ve been reading lately.

Second up was Passing Strange and Wonderful. Interestingly there was no accompanying music or soundtrack to this performance. It was like watching a conversation between two friends or lovers as represented by the physical as the couple on stage moved and eased they way around and away from each other. The lighting in this was particularly smart which I think was important in the absence of the engagement of other senses like our hearing.

The finale was left up to Claire Cunningham and José Agudo’s 4M2. How to describe this piece – they used the LCD screen, the spoken word both on a soundtrack and from the performers themselves, and a number of pauses, including one for around about 5 minutes where both the audience and the performers simply stared at the screen. Of the three performances this was definitely the most energetic and engaging, despite the long pauses. Like Passing Strange and Wonderful this involved two performers dancing along and with each other.

You’ve probably realised that despite the three paragraphs above I haven’t really described what went on stage. That’s because I found it quite inexplicable – this is the kind of show that needs to be experienced in person. Its a great example of contemporary dance.

You have to admire how the performers left themselves totally vulnerable to the judgment of the audience and for that at least they deserve our respect, even if I didn’t always understand what was going on!

Anglesea Arms

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For ease of simplicity 1 March has always been heralded as the first day of spring though technically I don’t think its Spring until the middle of March. Still, there were signs that London is starting to thaw out a little. We had a lovely lunch in the beer garden at Anglesea Arms. It was even warm enough, under the sun at least, to sit in just a short sleeved top though I note none of my fellow diners, all English, felt quite brave enough to follow me. Heh heh.

The Anglsea Arms is not a typical pub. Priding itself on daily revolving menu it features such interesting offerings such as a Pint of Prawns; Pigeon, Foie Gras Salad, Pomegranate, Greens; and Pink Veal. I was feeling the Broccoli, Feta and Almond Tart:

Yummo! And what a lovely way to spend a glorious day!