The Primark Party

Primark is store in the UK which is the manifestation of 'fast fashion'. Clothing sold at prices that are too cheap for you to care if a garment is ruined. Just go and buy a new one! A terrible, terrible attitude to endorse, especially with their questionable labour sources.....Something that the head honchos are working on. Still I'm not complaining about the several £1 stockings I own. *guilty face* It is easy to follow the latest trends (no matter how ugly) and get your basics (though they sometimes don't survive the first wash) all in the one store. There are often a few gem pieces which get several wears and even compliments from those unknowing of the origins.

A Primark party was planned as a hoot. We were all assigned a fellow member to dress for a budget of £20. Easily do-able! You can look quite decent in a full outfit from Primmy but everyone seemed to take this as an opportunity to dress their victim in the worst way possible. Luckily for Kahoons I did my shopping early and decided that he should look normal. I did not fare as well and I was given a playsuit that I would not be caught dead in otherwise.

All the boys in their outfits were scared they would get bashed and refused to get on the tube to get to the pub we were bravely stepping in. While individually we did look ridiculous, as a group it was pretty obvious that we were all dressed like that as a joke. Other people in the pub complimented our idea!

The party ended in a less than charming manner - the men ripping the clothes off each other. No photos will be posted. It deserves to not be documented.

Mary J Blige Concert

I was the least deserving person but I scored two free tickets to see Mary J Blige in concert. I mean, I'm aware she's a talented vocalist but hmmmm I think I only know about 6 or so songs by her. Also, I was never a fan of her rendition of U2's 'One'. But still, a free concert is a free concert.

Mona was the first to pipe up his interest and accompanied me to the 02. I thought he would know her songs but only knew as much as I did! Our seats were as bad as they can get and definitely not for those who are scared of heights. Mary was just a little ant on the stage and our view of the screens was obscured by sound and lighting fixtures.

Here is Mary J Blige - The Ant

Now, lessy Anty!

Good for me she sang all the songs that I knew, including the classic 'Real Love', 'Not Gonna Cry', 'Family Affair', 'Be Without You' and the likable 'Just Fine'. I would post a video but the recordings I have are so bad. So here's a clip of the likable and catchy 'Just Fine'.

Into the Hoods: An Urban Fairytale

This was something different. A West End musical featuring hip-hop dancing. Cool! I can see what they're doing here - bringing a new type of audience to the theatre. The crowd at tonight's performance was distinctly different to usual crowd and the average age lowered to about 25 years. We were encouraged to treat the show like a concert - cheering, whistle, general noise would be appreciated.

Into the Hoods was a hiphop dance extravaganza with a light storyline to tie it altogether. The plot centres around two children after they skip school and venture 'into the hoods' and the people they encounter are hip-hop reincarnations of classic fairytale characters. My fave dancer was Lil Red (Riding Hood) cos her cute afro bounced so lightly whenever she danced. Spinderella had the most disturbing set of abs I've ever seen on a woman. Jaxx was just excellent at one handed handstands.

It was a fun show to watch and would definitely be enjoyed by those who appreciate the music genre. No, there isn't any singing, just a dj mix of popular club/hip-hop songs. I do wonder about the show's place within the West End. It surely can't be a production with infinite booking dates. Also , it doesn't seem like the dancers have any understudies - they must get tired! Although, if they didn't have the show in a theatre, where would the next appropriate venue be? A scout hall in the suburbs? Hmmmm... maybe not. Our £10 preview tickets in the stalls were hard to beat.

Go see the show if you can, but if you are already doubting your enjoyment, best to stick to your judgement.

Race for Life & Sex and the City Movie

Well this is first of several runs I've signed up to as a way of forcing myself to get out and exercise. A group of 10 of us decided to run this year and I must say, it's not easy to get matching outfits for us. Every other person has the same idea and the whole of female London buy up all the pink merchandise out there! Well at least we managed five matching singlets and five matching tshirts.

All the chickies participating. Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

The start/finish line.

The boys and handbag carriers, Kahoons and Mona spot us in the crowd.

I spot them right back and say 'Hai!!!!'

Hang on, is that a pink power ranger running alongside us? Yes it is! There was actually a group of 5 or so. I dunno how they managed in run in all that gear. Sweaty as.

I was pretty happy with my finishing time, somewhere around 38 minutes. Give or take the delay at the start, probably less than this. Yay! The actual run in London city was kinda ick. I mean, starting/ending near the Smithfield Meat Market? And then bottle-necking us at times by making us run through smaller alleys. There are sooooooo many streets they could have picked from and this definitely wasn't the nicest track.

Keeping in with the women's day theme, off we went to the cinema to watch the much anticipated Sex and the City movie. I must admit, while I do like the TV show very much and have the box set within my grasp, I still have not watched the series in it's entirety. I didn't even know that the reason why Aidan and Carrie broke up was because she cheated on him with Big! Hahaha... worst fan ever.

Anyway, despite demonstrating poor fan-ship, waiting for this movie felt like I was waiting to see old friends again. Excitement! I couldn't help but grin when the movie started. :D There were reviews complaining that this just felt like four back to back episodes. That suited me just fine and to be honest, I just wanted to movie to keep on going.

Our adventure to the cinema began earlier in the week when we pre-booked our tickets. I would never usually do this in anywhere but London, but unfortunately that's how it goes here. Annoyingly, allocated seating does not exist, which meant that we had to unearth our asian ways and queue 45 minutes early to order to guarantee prime position. It was a pretty catty wait with the 99.9% female crowd evilling each other if anyone dared to queue jump. Once the barrier was removed there was a mad stampede into the cinema, akin to scenes of a designer handbag sale.

I sat next to Kt who admittedly cries every single time she sees the finale of series. This movie evoked no less of her. She began crying... oh I dunno but quite early in the film. Her crying was contagious, so it made it more acceptable that I became a blubbering mess. Wtf. I cried when Miranda yelled at Steve, when Carrie realised she got jilted, when Charlotte found out she was pregnant, when Charlotte yelled at Big, when Miranda and Steve got back together and maybe some other scenes. Who knows. It was getting a bit stupid with Kt and I sitting together crying. Oh I didn't cry at Carrie's moping in Mexico. Or at any of Samantha's scenes haha.

I think the clothes were a bit hit and miss. Carrie's huge wedding dress was just the pits and what on earth was she thinking putting that horrible bird in her hair? And I don't care what anyone else thinks, SJP is not pretty. Make-up does improve but ..... no, get over it, she is not pretty. Conspicuous attire aside, if she was not famous, I doubt that most people would give SJP a second glance. Just watch a few of her movies before SATC and you'll see what I mean - unremarkable. I did think that the hairstylists were pretty good at getting variation out of Miranda's short hairdo though.

I enjoyed the movie so much, I can't wait to watch it again! Next time without having to prebook tickets. The gripes that other reviews have about the movie bothers me none. It's a movie that would be best enjoyed by those who are familar with the series. Why would anyone who hasn't watched the series bother otherwise? Unless you're a guy wanting to impress your first date.

Cambridge

Having nerdy friends certainly helps at times. Having a nerdy friend who teaches at Cambridge is especially helpful when you need cheap tourist options. Helloooo college accommodation. Wow, it's been a while since I've been in a university dorm, but it seems as though it doesn't matter where you are in the world, all dorms have that same, musty feel. Ahh who cares when you're only staying for one night and it's free!

Typically English, drenched in history, grand architecture, picturesque countryside - here are a few snaps of the town:

Nah, I didn't go punting. Though if anyone does, it's recommended that you have one of the many uni students give you a tour.

Newton's mathematical bridge. Cool! I was disappointed to find out that Newton had nothing to do with it and that it does have bolts. But I'll still call it Newton's bridge anyway.

The famous Kings College. Famous for.. I don't know what. All I know is that there is some sort of hierarchy and only certain people are allowed to walk on the grass!

Some bridge. I thought it was purdy.

I supposed I should visit Oxford too. Maybe.. one day. They have Harry Potter's dinner hall!

Marguerite

It was a girls' night out at theatre tonight with some preview tickets to the new musical Marguerite. We paid for the cheap seats and so we got the cheap seats in the Upper Circle and my, was it a shite view. I'm of the opinion that if you're gonna go the theatre, avoid the upper most tier where possible. Vertigo aside, it may sound snobby and I realise that some theatres are more tolerable than others but I can't enjoy what's on stage when I'm busy massaging my sore neck, while peering through binoculars. Maybe I should just do neck strengthening exercises.

Regardless, once seated we observed that the theatre was barely half full and that there were plenty of seats in the dress circle below. Lil Miss J and I decided to try our luck for new seats and so we ran all the way down the maze of stairs to the box office, charm intact.

Me & Lil Miss J: Haaaai, we and some friends are seated on the upper tier and we can see that the theatre is not full. Are we able to get better seats?

Dude in office box: Hmmm maybe. Let me see what I can do. There are few seats in the dress circle.

Me & Lil Miss J: Cool, thanks!

Dude: Do you girls have your tickets with you?

Me & Lil Miss J: Umm, no we left them upstairs *winces* I guess, one of us can run upstairs and get them?

Dude: *tap tap on the keyboard* Nah, don't worry, here are some new tickets for you.

Me & Lil Miss J: Thank you very much!

Hmmm it seems as though my wit (not utilised here) and Lil Miss J's charm can get us girls anything. This dude didn't even bother to check if we really did have tickets! I mean I could have walked off the street and gotten into the theatre for free! Might keep this trick up my sleeve for next time. Hehehehe....

Anyway about the musical. It tells the story of an older, fallen woman who is clinging onto the her younger glory days. She embarks on an affair with a younger man. It is basically a modern (relatively speaking, it's set in the 1940s) version of the opera La Traviata. Actually, that is not true because La Traviata was based on the novel The Lady of the Camellias which is the direct inspiration for Marguerite. It's all the same stuffs.

The selling point of Marguerite was that it brought to the stage by the same team responsible for Les Miserables. The mood, stage set and score were definitely comparable, though the actual musical composer had nothing to do with Les Mis. Of course this is not a criticism and I'm the last person who is licenced to make such judgements. My personal opinion is that the songs were good but nothing ground-breaking. I'm certainly not rushing out to buy the CD. There is a sense that it is trying to capture the same audience as Les Mis but falls short and ends up a poor man's substitute. The tragic, fallen woman plot does absolutely nothing for me and it's probably because I lack empathy for such self-pitying lead characters. That being said I can see how these kinds of musical will appeal to a certain audience type. It's pretty obvious I'm not that 'type'.

One thing I will applaud is leading lady Ruthie Henshall. Again, I'm not musically qualified but her voice was just one of the most purest I've heard on stage and is deserving of her West End/Broadway superstar status. I kept thinking of my year 8 music teacher description of 'honey' and thought 'Yes! That's how her voice sounds!'.

So yeah, I will emphasise that I'm not the most qualified person on the planet to give a critique about musicial score etc but Marguerite isn't a bad musical, it just didn't leave me much of an impression. I'm happy to watch anything once, but I wouldn't be running back to see it. That being said, if Ruthie Henshall is in any other production, I'd probably give it whirl.