Dancing to the sound of silence

Being 256 years old, I sometimes struggle to keep up with the latest trends. Steam locomotives were quite go-ahead, shooting rockets in to space seemed rather a novel idea but it happens all the time now, and I hoped that flared trousers could stay forever.

Something I simply don't understand is the idea of a discotheque, not any old discotheque, but one where one listens to popular music whilst wearing headphones. I thought a discotheque was to enjoy dancing with other people? Look at these swingers having a gay time.

This new fangled headphone discotheque is called a Silent Disco (I am getting more confused), it is real and happening in neighbouring Greenwich. Thank the Lord God not in The Shire. It is happening on Friday 2nd October 2015 at The Cutty Sark. I don't think you'll need to bring your own wax cylinders, but do contact the organisers if you should so need.

Click here to buy your tickets.

Live entertainment

There's something really special happening this weekend (14th, 15th & 16th December). If you want to have an amazing time and just want to stay local to The Shire, you must go to the Greenwich Circus Festival down by the Thames Barrier.

If you do anything this weekend, go to this festival. It's a must-see event, in fact it's a must-do event as there are circus skills to try out too. On Saturday evening, there's a cabaret show called Midnight Circus which sounds intriguing followed by live music, drink, food, drink.... Man alive, I'm booking up now.

Click here to book online

Hangar Arts Trust
Unit 7a, Mellish House
Harrington Way
SE18 5NR

It's an exciting Summer full of culture and it's started.

The excellent Greenwich & Docklands International Festival starts today and runs until 30th June. There's far too much to list here, but Prometheus Awakes looks like a very exciting free theatrical event. Check your diaries quick because it's happening tomorrow night by the Queen's House in Greenwich Park. It doesn't start until 10pm so too late for young children which is a shame as it looks pretty stunning.

This weekend, continue to bombard yourself with culture and entertainment and more Greenwichness as it's the Greenwich Fair. Every nook and cranny of the town centre will be taken over by street theatre and quirky performances. Should be great whether it rains or shines. Not sure which shows I'd pick out, but The Pig looks intriguing and worrying at the same time.

As if that's not enough, the Laban Dance Centre in Deptfordshire is hosting The Big Dance Picnic on 23rd June from 12pm. It's more about dance, circus arts and performance than picnic, but there should be enough movement for everyone's appetite. There will alos be a multi-sensory tent which sounds like a must-do.

Les Girafes

There's a spectacular show,
which you all must know,
that is coming our way to Woolwich.
No you didn't hear wrong,
There'll be dances and songs,
and all sorts of theatrical carryings-on.

It ends the festival of performance arts,
in Greenwich and Docklands and nearby parts.
The shows (which are free), have already started,
so just click right here and you'll soon see,
that the shows are accessible,
yes, they're for you and for me.

Greenwich Market redevelopment

So it seems our beloved Greenwich Market has been given the green light to be knocked down and built back up again.

Due to my lack of knowledge on this development, I'm reserving judgement at the moment, but on the whole, I'm in favour of letting go of the past and moving forwards with architecture. Having said that, I do love Greenwich Market. I love it for its' faults too. It's ridiculously cramped in peak season but oddly it doesn't bother me. I guess it's like a cranky old car that you know will need care and attention, but you just can't imagine taking to the scrap yard.

The development includes a 104 room hotel, which does cause me some concern as that would be a substantial building, but what does it look like? Having said this, Hopkins Architects are handling this development and they seem to have a sturdy track record in heritage projects. Judging by the computer aided rendition of the future market (see below), there looks to be new timber à la rustique facades around the perimeter, which I really like, but UTTERLY HIDEOUS stretched canopies which look like off-cuts from the Millennium Dome, or the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. I don't mind the tensile structures in the Dome or the QEH, but it really cheapens our World Heritage Site and makes it look like Penge High Street. Hopkins, back to the drawing board on this carbuncular detail please.

In terms of protecting heritage sites, I just don't understand what it means to be a part of a Conservation Area. Also, I think the market has listed building status and more to the point, what it means to be a part of a World Heritage Site.

Pirates

It's not every day you can say you saw Johnny Depp, but "I saw Johnny Depp today".

We were on our weekly trip to Greenwich. Over the past couple of weeks, we've seen construction of a film location at the Old Naval College, nothing extraordinary about that, but this encampment is pretty big. There is an enormous marquee just for the costume department and the biggest blue bed sheets I've ever seen; these bed sheets are stretched in the back of shots and will inevitably be painted out in favour of CGI cityscapes. This is all for the new Pirates Of The Caribbean film.
Mr Depp was on set and I was surprised how close I got. Having said that, the Naval College is a pretty busy place and students need to get to their lectures - film crew or no film crew.