wrong kind of snow

London has received its first snowfall of the season and, yes, the trains didn't work properly. For London commuters, this is not a surprise and the two cliches for travel disruptions are, in Autumn, "leaves on the line" and in Winter, "wrong kind of snow".

So today's light dusting caused Network Rail to admit that if there had been more, the electric point heaters would have switched on. And they would have used more anti-freeze on the switchy bits. So the 'loose wet snow' pressed between the points caused them to jam and not switch the tracks.

"When you get extreme weather conditions there will be disruption," the spokesman said, referring to the overnight sprinkling. Good to see the senior executives have just been paid bonuses for the improvement in reliability.

OTA Wordless Wednesday

lost in the casino
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Juke Box Brits

One of the best specimens of a mammoth with its huge tusks was found in 1860 in the area now known as Ilford, Essex.

Popular urban myth is that Queen Elizabeth I crossed the river at Ilford and named it an 'ill ford', although Ilefort existed from Saxon times and in the Domesday book, known as Hile-ford - a ford in the River Hile (now the River Roding).

Fast forward to pop music times and Ilford became the centre for the Britannia Music mail order business, eventually leading to a series of annual awards, known as the Brittania Music Awards, subsequently shortened to 'The Brits'.

Nowadays, Ilford and Britannia Music (now of Jersey) have nothing to do with the mammoth music industry and Mastercard sponsored event which is a precursor to the American Grammys.

So here's the Brit Juke Box of nominations; check out any of the 40 plus tracks.

tags technorati : rashbre brits grammys jukebox

awash

My fence panels destroyed by the wind are nothing compared with the stricken container ship "MSC Napoli" off the coast of Devon at the moment. Apart from the 3,500 tonnes of oil, there are 2300 containers on the ship, which could take a month to remove individually.

Some 200 have already fallen into the sea, creating some interesting flotsam and jetsam being washed up on Branscombe beach, including a consignment of 50 BMW motorcycles, which seem to have been assisted from the beach by various members of the public.

In scenes reminiscent of Moonfleet, there were people on the beach looking for interesting items which are supposed to be described on a special form for the Receiver of Wreck. Barrels of wine were amongst the items washed up, although the L'Oreal beauty products were probably easier to carry.

tags technorati : rashbre ship msc napoli wreck

last Sunday's stroll

Paris, France - on the Strip

Venice, Italy - at the Venetian Hotel, with its indoor canal and gondolas

Beijing, China - in the Bellagio Hotel

Hotel Corridor, looking like something from da Vinci

Indoor shopping, with the Mall's control over day and night-time

The Strip meets Flamingo Road, Nevada - showing a more American perspective

wind

October and March are supposed to be windy months in the UK, but now we are getting an unseasonally mild but very blowy January.

I retrieved two blown out fence panels before I'd even unpacked from my USA visit yesterday and neatly stashed their remains behind a wall for shelter.

By this morning, because of last night's further high winds, one panel had scattered itself around the nearby grass again. It looks as if I will be doing some involuntary gardening today.

z

So I'm back in the UK now, having spent around ten hours on the plane, which left Las Vegas during Friday afternoon and arrived at London Gatwick around 11.00 on Saturday.

By the time I'd collected baggage and car and driven home, it was around 13:00.

I am a tad tired now.

Tao

I've been nightclubbing tonight at Tao, which looks Buddhist inspired and should be somewhere in the Pacific Rim.

It is multi level, draped in lush velvets and silks, with waterfalls and a hand carved 20 foot high Buddha that floats peacefully above an infinity pool. There's a huge main room and a separate chill-out area.

There was a sushi and sashimi service and a separate chef assisted buffet. The DJs were spinning hot music and upstairs in the sanctuary area of the club there were living visual effects, candles and views to the strip.

75 napkin night pictures from tonight's Tao, here

The way.

voodoo lounge

Tonight included a visit to the Voodoo Lounge which was on the 51st floor looking out to the Strip. The venue was rammed with people inside, though the roof balcony had plenty of space as well as a brilliant view of the entire area. I guess the low temperatures were keeping people inside.

OTA Wordless Wednesday

only in Las Vegas
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jet

Jet Nightclub this evening.

A multi floor ultra-lounge, with three dance floors and three separate sound systems.

Amazing cocktail bars and buffet food. TT was my beverage of choice.

Lucy's perfume

This evening I visited Cirque du Soleil's show called 'Love', featuring tunes from the Beatles. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I consider Cirque du Soleil to be more performance arts rather than circus, and have seen other shows by them including 'la Nouba' and 'Quidam'. The fusion of Beatles music and a Beatles theme worked well for me combining some signature Cirque moments with a fair treatment of the Beatle's songs.

This was no Beatles tribute or attempt to run chronologically through the catalogue. I liked it for this, because it avoided the trap of somehow preserving the Beatles in a pure 1960-1970 time-warp. By treating it as music to be performed to, I'm sure it is a more realistic extension of the thinking of the music in its time. Before Sergeant Pepper, no one knew what to expect from that album, and I think the same can apply to the modern Cirque du Soleil treatment. There was a very slight Beatles chronology to the events (post World War 2, Beatles form, Beatles in Germany, Beatles get big, Beatles go psychedelic etc.), but this was a very lightly applied motif compared with the general spectacle of great staging to accompany Beatles songs.

For a Brit, it was interesting to see an American lens applied to this visioning, with quirky portrayals of Britain. At one point I nearly gasped when blazing Klu Klux Klan crucifixes depicted the time when the Beatles fell out of favour with middle America after Lennon's famous 'Christ' statement.

By great fortune my seat number was A9, which happened to be right in the middle of the front row, so my view was completely immersive for the show. Count 5 from the right in the front row to see my seat. The 2000 seat setting is 'in the round', with a square-ish stage which was divided into four areas before the show started. There were gentle back projections of clouds as we all walked in and instrumental Beatles numbers playing before the show kicked in.

And kick in it did. Loud, fast paced and breathtaking acrobatics along with Beatle's characters (Mr Kite, Sergeant Pepper, The Eggman etc.) driving the tacit storyline. When I saw La Nouba, or other Cirque du Soleil shows, there has been a general reference to the circus aspect as the show runs, with different acts such as high-wire and dancers appearing in turn.

This show was extremely seamless with just couple of slower moments when presumably some machinery or costume change was under way. It is difficult to describe the vaulting lofty approach used, with truly 3D staging, high into the air being used for many of the numbers. Psychedlic bubbles, rooftops appearing from under the floor and then flying into the roof, silk parachutes enveloping the entire audience from a flying bed, spiraling, floating, elevated dancers all made appearances. Signature elements of Cirque du Soleil were there too, such as appearance of characters ahead of their main activities and quirky little trains of strange objects running across the stage.

Sound was clear and sounded like my own personal surround stereo. I subsequently discovered it was! I had three speakers built around my seat; 2 in front and one behind my head.

And we had songs from every era of the Beatles, all of them familiar, yet often remixed in mainly gentle ways.

And being so close to everything, I could breathe Lucy's perfume from the sky as she swooped past, trailing glittering diamond lights.