Christmas in Vancouver

Happy Holidays everyone! As we say in the local, all-inclusive, non-discriminatorial, vernacular in Vancouver. I love "the holidays" but I think in a kind of conflicted way. After all, this time of year has its origins in the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Being a non-practicing Irish-Catholic Canadian Agnostic such as myself there are some issues. Meaning that I was raised going to Catholic church services with my Dear Ole Dad (my Mom never attended and I am still not sure exactly why) and later decided on my own that I would not continue in that Walsh family tradition. It was not that I was opposed to the idea of a god, in fact I quite liked the idea, but I was altogether unenthused by what I saw at church (the hypocrasy in the messages, the lack of observation of the most simple of the tenants of the Bible like "judge not lest yeh be judged," etc.). Nor was I jumping in the aisles about the definitions of god that Catholocism proposes. At the time, my adolescence, I was becoming aware that my intuition was on the level of something more mystical and less dogmatic... some kind of flakey "mother nature knows best" or "the cosmos is all around us all the time," or "I am but a speck of sand in the hour glass of time" sort of thing, as opposed to a formalised set of rules written down by a bunch of dudes with no connection to my world and vested interests of their own at the time of writing. I remember very fondly some of the aspects of the church services I attended at this time of the year, but entirely on the level of sight and sound and not at all in terms of religious significance. And emphatically more the familial house born celebrations and happy traditions of a most resoundingly positive experience. My mom's incredible contributions to the season from the kitchen and her quirky ways of recognising those around her for their gifts, my Dad making eggnog and playing some gorgeous LP on his stereo and amping up his usual penchant sentimentality, my sister getting up hours before anyone else in giddy excitement at what Santa Claus may have brought her, stupid gifts for the cats, Christmas Ice Hockey tournaments, and Lego, always more Lego, etc. So nowadays, I look forward to the season of gift giving in a very secular way. I see it as THE important break in everyone's schedule. A pause in everyone's year that puts family and friends in the focus. The time to take time so to speak. I guess I do tend to reflect a lot more at this time of year, and I wish in a secular kind of way that I could do something more tangible to "help people" and think less of myself which is all good, but I don't ever get a chance to act on it, so around we go again. This is something I sincerely hope to change in the future. To quote a great trubabdor of our age "so this is Christmas, and what have you done? Another year over, and a new one just begun." I guess I just think that there will be a another stage of life for that. Like how Meg's Mom and Dad now spend a lot of time voluteering now that her Dad has retired. Something like that. I guess I am saying is that Christmas to me is all a bit warm and cozy, secular and ambiguous, fuzzy and family, and I love it. So, Merry Christmas All!

The Famous People

This year, largely as a result of living and working in central London, I have seen a lot of famous people. Just the other day, Meg and I literally ran into Kenneth Brannaugh, for example. As always when you run into a leading man, he was shorter, and not as good looking as you'd expect. Earlier in the year, I ate pizza at Spiga on Wardour Street sitting next to Emma Thompson and some pastey English chap. She was I would say, as she is - quite stunning, but very comfortable looking as she does. I was so hungry that I didn't even notice it was her until she got up to leave. I had noodles sitting next to Jason Statham, best known as Turkish from the movie Snatch, and he looked like he'd been run over by a five gallon vodka martini. But it could have been for effect, who knows. A little while later Ralph Fiennes jumped into a cab on Wardour Street, looking suspiciously like someone "trying not to be noticed" in a big Woody Allen style "hide me" hat. Michael Palin popped into Patisserie Valerie on Old Compton Street for a croissant on the go looking smart and healthy and like he'd stop to give anyone directions if they had the guts to ask. There was the rumour of Madonna at the Dog and Duck that I was not able to corroborate. The capper to all these sightings however was the other night when Meg and I were walking home along Drury Lane having jumped off a bus near Aldwych. We were passing by the theatre where "The Producers" is playing when we heard a little commotion. Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles were exiting the theatre to their car. Meg and I were no more than 5 or 6 meters from them. I couldn't believe how polite and respectful everyone suddenly got in their presence. People actually backed up and gave them room. There was one paparozzi guy who spent a roll of film, and I thought to myself how odd that seemed given that in my experience, most Londoners are quite comfortable being "amongst the famous."

Working for a Knight on a film about Knights

As you may or may not know I have been doing some "digital cinematography" work (fancy stuff, huh?) on a little film called Kingdom of Heaven (formerly called The Crusades). I have had the chance to run into Sir Ridley Scott (he was knighted), the film's director, a couple of times. Not to say that we've had a pint down the pub and chatted about the good old days, but you know I have seen him in the studio when he arrives with his entourage to look at the work and so forth. He gave me a "hey wassup?" nod and wink the other day. Famous people like him have a hilarious effect on people. Sir Scott is definately one of those people with gigantic character who "fills the room" when he comes in. He is very comfortable in the studio though, and doesn't seem put off at all by all the geeks and computers. In fact, he just seems a little grumpy and bored most of the time! He'd probably rarther be down the pub. Anyway, pretty fun to be around when he is in the studio. Quite a thrill to be working on a film by the man who made "Blade Runner." I can remember thinking when I first saw that film... "Man, if I could do that..."

Click here for an early seak review of a test screening. It is probably malarky, but there it is!

Typical Posh Londeners We Are

Today Meg and I had what I think comes pretty close to a typical posh Londoner day. We began the day by a simple little gourmet breakfast at home cooked by yours truly. Just a nice little omlette with some great cheese from Neal's Yard, some crusty baguette and coffee and tea, but when done well it is all you need to start the day right! Then straight away we walked from the flat all the way to The Borough Market where we picked up some lovely fixings for the coming week. This is my favourite thing to do in London on a saturday morning. To be out in the city, taking in the Thames Waterway and all the various things you can see along the way, and ending up at this great market full of such great food, is a real sophisticated pleasure that is free to all. I love things like this. Things of quality, available to all. Unfortunately we had to scarf our Organic Wild Boar Sandwiches and hot-foot it back to the flat beacuse as luck would have it, Meg was able to pick up some cancellation tickets for The Producers at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane during the week. So we poshed ourselves up and headed off to see the matinee show. We have not had the chance to get to see a show all year, so this was our one opportunity. We figured that if you're gonna see one show all year, you should bust the bank and see a very well reviewed one. In fact, our reviewers were none other than Claus and Michelle who saw the show during the fall and said it was basically the best show they had seen in London in 3 years. Afterwards we just walked up Drury Lane to the Lowerlander Grande Cafe for dinner. At this cafe they have some spectacular Belgian beers on draft and some of the best reasonably priced pub fare I have had in London. It was so nice to just chill at the pub, and chat about the show. I had Moules Frites and Meg had an organic Scottish beef burger. The chips (French Fries) were amazing as usual. We floated home arm in arm, and as if the stars were alligning for us to create the perfect end to the typical posh London day we sat down to find Notting Hill on television. So if you're ever looking for a schedule to put together your own typical posh London day just follow this theme: market, show, pub, and film. I guess you should try and stuff a museum in there somewhere. Oh well, we'll have to give it another go!