Art & Literature
- Travel blogs
- Sing with a band
- Build a 500 book library
- Attend a ballet
- Concert - Catfish and the Bottlemen
- Concert - Stereophonics
- Concert - Fontaines DC
- Concert - The Sherlocks
- Festival - Mad Cool
Travel Blogs
I love to travel and I like to write. When I was at school, I expressed a desire to be a travel writer to my careers officer who poured a lot of cold water on that aspiration and convinced me to follow a more traditional path.
Since I have been on my own, I have begun to travel a lot more and I have already started to write about those. Each of the locations in the travel section will have their own blog within that section.
For now, here's a couple of tasters:
Sing With a Band
This aspiration came straight out of the blue. I have always loved singing - in the house, in the car or karaoke on a night out. I have sung with a band previously but only whilst they were rehearsing and I cheekily asked to join them for one song - Jailhouse Rock. I was asked to join a band many years ago but my family situation at the time made this unfeasible.
So, how pleased was I that, a random conversation with friends in Scotland established that this may become a reality in August / September. There are still unknowns and other reasons why this may yet not happen but as details become more solid, I will reveal at that time.
Build a 500 Book Library
How I would love to have a library like this but, unfortunately, space and budget won't allow it. Certain bibliographical institutions state that you can have 500 books and call it a library. This is the minimum amount I have seen that qualifies so that suits me fine.
It will be a challenge as I currently own around 150. Visits to car boot sales will help boost the numbers but, whether I can make it to 500 in 12 months remains to be seen.
Wouldn't be a challenge if it was easy!!
Attend a Ballet
I have been to a number of operas in my time often enjoying the overall experience provided by musicianship and staging. This was demonstrated at the highest end of the scale by a performance of Aida in the Verona Arena, an absolute must visit for anyone remotely interested in the arts.
Anyway, I have never seen a ballet so it makes it onto the list. Most likely will be Royal Ballet performance of Romeo and Juliet in the early part of the year. I know the story and am familiar with a lot of the music so seems like a good intro.
Update 08 Jan: Ticket now booked for the above performance on 24 May.
Concerts
My 15 year old daughter and I share a similar taste in music so this has opened up the opportunity to attend more concerts and bond in this way. Planned for this year are:
- The Sherlocks, 25th May
- Catfish and the Bottlemen, 13th June
- Stereophonics, 14th June
- Fontaines DC, 30th July
Write ups to follow on all.
Mad Cool Festival
Mad Cool staged to the South of Madrid is an absolute must for any festival goer.
I discovered the event quite by chance and, with the line up presented, I didn't need much convincing to snap up a very good value ticket (just over £200 for 4 days). The festival is not campsite based and opens the gates at 17:30 each day. This means the day is free to explore Madrid, which is a beautiful city.
The festival itself is very well organised, there is very little queuing for anything, sounds from each stage don't clash with each other and, best of all, the whole site is covered in astroturf meaning it is very clean. You can relax on the grass with a reasonably priced draft beer in the evening sunshine and let the sounds of singers like Arlo Parks or Michael Kiwanuka wash over you.
20 DEC UPDATE. Mad Cool has been withdrawn from the list as the line up does not warrant the time and expense this time. See Travel section for replacement.
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