TinaD
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Cruelty to asparagus - call "Chefs aginst vegetable abuse" now.
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Group 7-day waking average?
- Thread starter Northerner
- Start date
gll
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Hey all. 10.0
Couldn't sleep last night so was about 7am by the time I did. Assuming I woke up mid "dawn visit" as my waking has been fairly decent of late.
Anyway dragged myself out of bed and hopefully not getting enough sleep will offset the time I did sleep at and ill sleep properly tonight 😉
Couldn't sleep last night so was about 7am by the time I did. Assuming I woke up mid "dawn visit" as my waking has been fairly decent of late.
Anyway dragged myself out of bed and hopefully not getting enough sleep will offset the time I did sleep at and ill sleep properly tonight 😉
ColinUK
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Colin’s Cultural Corner
Blue
Tesori and Thompson
ENO - London Coliseum
Where to start with this one?
Other than at the beginning I don’t really know. Then again that is a very good place to start so to the beginning it is.
Jeanine Tesori, a name I wasn’t familiar with I must admit, is one of the most prolific and successful American composers and arrangers alive today. She’s the most honoured female theatrical composer ever with five Tony nominations and in 1999 she won the Drama Desk Award of Outstanding Music in a Play - Nicholas Hytner’s production of Twelfth Night, in 2004 the Drama Desk for Outstanding Music for Caroline, or Change. Amongst other awards she’s also a twice Pulitzer Prize finalist. It’s safe to say she knows what she’s doing with the notes therefore.
So let’s put the whole ‘who wrote it’ thing to one side and get to the piece itself. Well first of all we have to get to my seat.
I booked this a while ago and had a ticket for the very centre of the front row of the Upper Circle. That’s not the Gods in this venue as there’s a level above it, the Balcony. When I’ve been in the Balcony I don’t need oxygen so much as crampons and a roped climbing partner. It’s steep up there.
So I digress, I’ve got my ticket and off I trot to the row A of the Upper Circle. I arrive and wonder how I’m meant to get my legs in the row. I did try sitting down and I’m not an untypical height for a man at a whisker above or below 6 foot depending on the thickness of my socks and the direction of the prevailing wind when I was measured.
To sit in my seat my knees would have to be tucked up under my chin. Making matters worse is that the entire row of seats is pitched forward slightly. It reminded me of being held at the top of Oblivion at Alton Towers. The rollercoaster teetering over the edge to hint at what comes next but holding you firmly in place. Here of course the only thing holding you in place is your own knees rammed up against the wall.
Ever prepared to suffer for Art I thought I’d see how long the run time was and if there were intervals. Act 1 65 minutes, 20 minute interval, act 2 another 60 minutes. I’ll give it a go I decided and squeezed myself into the seat and wondered if I was descended from a long line of contortionists. After a couple of moments it was clear that I wasn’t and I needed to move seats.
Credit to the staff at the ENO they took one look at me in my oh so advanced age, called me Dear and asked if a seat in the Dress Circle would be better. They have so much more legroom than the Upper Circle so I gratefully accepted the switch. Offering to help me walk down the stairs might have been a tad unnecessary though! I suppose age is entirely subjective and the staff member looked about seventeen so to them I am a fossil.
OK so now bum is in seat. Orchestra, a lovely full orchestra, starts and the curtain rises to reveal a simple set. One step running the whole width of the stage, on the higher level a rotating circular set with a rectangular void in the middle. The set rotates and changes the orientation of the rectangle from landscape to portrait at various points and most of the action takes place within the rectangle.
Blue is a story about race. About hopes, fears, love, family and death of course as this is opera no matter how modern and how grounded in Broadway musical theatre the composer is.
As the lights go up we see an apartment in Harlem depicted in the rectangle. An African American mother-to-be is gathered with three friends to celebrate the impending birth. They’re not too happy that the mum and dad got married without telling them, less happy when it’s revealed that he’s police officer and become downright portents of doom when they learn the baby is a boy.
Personally I’d have thought the mum would have told them to shut up and that this is why she didn’t invite them to the wedding and couldn’t they just be happy for her, dad and baby. Clearly they can’t be as they sing, beautifully I might add, that it’s an unwritten rule for African American’s to not give birth to sons. They sing that he’s going to die and that she ought to swaddle him and leave him in a cave to be raised by wolfs but to take him far, far away from America.
She doesn’t do that otherwise this would be a story about a child being raised in the wild by a pack of wolves and that’s something Kipling did exceedingly well between baking cakes.
She gives birth, there’s an achingly beautiful song when the father cradles his newborn son in his arms for the first time.
We jump forward a number of years. The child is now a young man. He’s arguing with his dad who is singing all those things dads say.
The arguing goes back and forth and the music that’s used ranges from almost hip-hop to songs that sound like they’ve come straight out of the plantation via a bit of jazz with a touch of sweeping Broadway melody thrown in for seasoning. It’s quite, quite remarkable.
Anyway, son goes off to participate in a silent protest about police killing unarmed black men. Dad pleads with him not to go but go he does. That he goes whilst singing “Nothing’s going to happen. It’s a peaceful protest. Nothing’s going to happen” does suggest that something is going to happen and happen it does.
Top of the second act and we see a family grieving. The son has been shot and killed by a white police officer who will likely escape being charged. The father is distraught and battles with his own demons as he decides whether or not to shoot the police officer who killed his son. The mother is catatonic.
We shift to the inside of a church and the funeral for the son. The preacher sings thanks for God taking Jesus his only son back to him but wonders when he’ll have had enough sons, when he will stop taking sons of African American families.
It’s a really powerful piece and it raises some important issues. That it does so with touches of humour and music that we’re naturally attuned to makes it incredibly accessible. Compare this with Innocence at the Royal Opera House, also about families grieving loss, it’s a much more entertaining piece. Nothing is lost by it being so either.
Innocence was a difficult watch. The music was tough, the emotional punches started immediately and didn’t let up for the entire duration. It got the message across and left me feeling battered and bruised. Blue is incredibly emotional, I had a tear or two running down my cheek in the funeral scene, but it is undeniably ‘entertaining’.
It’s not a musical but I could see it being slightly tweaked and having a successful run on the commercial West End or Broadway stages. At the moment it is opera, and it’s a mighty fine opera, and the audience it reaches will largely be white and middle class and that’s no bad thing as it’s this demographic which has the task to sit and look in the mirror it holds up and wonder what they would do if it was their sons being shot by those who were meant to uphold the law.
Blue
Tesori and Thompson
ENO - London Coliseum
Where to start with this one?
Other than at the beginning I don’t really know. Then again that is a very good place to start so to the beginning it is.
Jeanine Tesori, a name I wasn’t familiar with I must admit, is one of the most prolific and successful American composers and arrangers alive today. She’s the most honoured female theatrical composer ever with five Tony nominations and in 1999 she won the Drama Desk Award of Outstanding Music in a Play - Nicholas Hytner’s production of Twelfth Night, in 2004 the Drama Desk for Outstanding Music for Caroline, or Change. Amongst other awards she’s also a twice Pulitzer Prize finalist. It’s safe to say she knows what she’s doing with the notes therefore.
So let’s put the whole ‘who wrote it’ thing to one side and get to the piece itself. Well first of all we have to get to my seat.
I booked this a while ago and had a ticket for the very centre of the front row of the Upper Circle. That’s not the Gods in this venue as there’s a level above it, the Balcony. When I’ve been in the Balcony I don’t need oxygen so much as crampons and a roped climbing partner. It’s steep up there.
So I digress, I’ve got my ticket and off I trot to the row A of the Upper Circle. I arrive and wonder how I’m meant to get my legs in the row. I did try sitting down and I’m not an untypical height for a man at a whisker above or below 6 foot depending on the thickness of my socks and the direction of the prevailing wind when I was measured.
To sit in my seat my knees would have to be tucked up under my chin. Making matters worse is that the entire row of seats is pitched forward slightly. It reminded me of being held at the top of Oblivion at Alton Towers. The rollercoaster teetering over the edge to hint at what comes next but holding you firmly in place. Here of course the only thing holding you in place is your own knees rammed up against the wall.
Ever prepared to suffer for Art I thought I’d see how long the run time was and if there were intervals. Act 1 65 minutes, 20 minute interval, act 2 another 60 minutes. I’ll give it a go I decided and squeezed myself into the seat and wondered if I was descended from a long line of contortionists. After a couple of moments it was clear that I wasn’t and I needed to move seats.
Credit to the staff at the ENO they took one look at me in my oh so advanced age, called me Dear and asked if a seat in the Dress Circle would be better. They have so much more legroom than the Upper Circle so I gratefully accepted the switch. Offering to help me walk down the stairs might have been a tad unnecessary though! I suppose age is entirely subjective and the staff member looked about seventeen so to them I am a fossil.
OK so now bum is in seat. Orchestra, a lovely full orchestra, starts and the curtain rises to reveal a simple set. One step running the whole width of the stage, on the higher level a rotating circular set with a rectangular void in the middle. The set rotates and changes the orientation of the rectangle from landscape to portrait at various points and most of the action takes place within the rectangle.
Blue is a story about race. About hopes, fears, love, family and death of course as this is opera no matter how modern and how grounded in Broadway musical theatre the composer is.
As the lights go up we see an apartment in Harlem depicted in the rectangle. An African American mother-to-be is gathered with three friends to celebrate the impending birth. They’re not too happy that the mum and dad got married without telling them, less happy when it’s revealed that he’s police officer and become downright portents of doom when they learn the baby is a boy.
Personally I’d have thought the mum would have told them to shut up and that this is why she didn’t invite them to the wedding and couldn’t they just be happy for her, dad and baby. Clearly they can’t be as they sing, beautifully I might add, that it’s an unwritten rule for African American’s to not give birth to sons. They sing that he’s going to die and that she ought to swaddle him and leave him in a cave to be raised by wolfs but to take him far, far away from America.
She doesn’t do that otherwise this would be a story about a child being raised in the wild by a pack of wolves and that’s something Kipling did exceedingly well between baking cakes.
She gives birth, there’s an achingly beautiful song when the father cradles his newborn son in his arms for the first time.
We jump forward a number of years. The child is now a young man. He’s arguing with his dad who is singing all those things dads say.
The arguing goes back and forth and the music that’s used ranges from almost hip-hop to songs that sound like they’ve come straight out of the plantation via a bit of jazz with a touch of sweeping Broadway melody thrown in for seasoning. It’s quite, quite remarkable.
Anyway, son goes off to participate in a silent protest about police killing unarmed black men. Dad pleads with him not to go but go he does. That he goes whilst singing “Nothing’s going to happen. It’s a peaceful protest. Nothing’s going to happen” does suggest that something is going to happen and happen it does.
Top of the second act and we see a family grieving. The son has been shot and killed by a white police officer who will likely escape being charged. The father is distraught and battles with his own demons as he decides whether or not to shoot the police officer who killed his son. The mother is catatonic.
We shift to the inside of a church and the funeral for the son. The preacher sings thanks for God taking Jesus his only son back to him but wonders when he’ll have had enough sons, when he will stop taking sons of African American families.
It’s a really powerful piece and it raises some important issues. That it does so with touches of humour and music that we’re naturally attuned to makes it incredibly accessible. Compare this with Innocence at the Royal Opera House, also about families grieving loss, it’s a much more entertaining piece. Nothing is lost by it being so either.
Innocence was a difficult watch. The music was tough, the emotional punches started immediately and didn’t let up for the entire duration. It got the message across and left me feeling battered and bruised. Blue is incredibly emotional, I had a tear or two running down my cheek in the funeral scene, but it is undeniably ‘entertaining’.
It’s not a musical but I could see it being slightly tweaked and having a successful run on the commercial West End or Broadway stages. At the moment it is opera, and it’s a mighty fine opera, and the audience it reaches will largely be white and middle class and that’s no bad thing as it’s this demographic which has the task to sit and look in the mirror it holds up and wonder what they would do if it was their sons being shot by those who were meant to uphold the law.
Bloden
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Am ddiwrnod prysur! What a busy day!
pawprint91
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- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Evening all, I was 6.1 on waking.
Had a mild battle today with the sugars as started the day with no breakfast due to meeting a friend mid morning at a pub for "unlimited buffet breakfast"(crockery wasn't clean, had to complain twice so can't say I'll be rushing back ) - however foot to floor hit hard as walked the dog first and went up to 9.0 without eating! However dropped back down naturally, and is often the case, cooked breakfast seemed to have sat okay initially, only for a slow rise to start about an hour or so later, probably as it's quite fat and protein heavy.
The pub is near a local shopping complex and I needed to get a few bits for work, partners bday, wedding in the summer etc and collect some parcels I'd ordered to Next. I thought it would be busy but was lured into a false sense of security when I arrived as it was just normal weekend level of busy. Give it an hour and how wrong I was, carpark was gridlocked and Primark was like hell on earth (did get some bargains though!). I considered going back tomorrow as not in work, but seemed silly to given I was right there. Crowded places do give me anxiety though since COVID (health anxiety kicks in about catching something, made worse when I worry about diabetes now etc) - anyway this was reflected in my sugars - stayed steadily above 10 when out (usually a food related rise would go down if I'm walking/moving about even if it's a while after eating) and my heart rate when I was in the (very long!) queue was 120
Had a knock on effect with the sugars as took a few corrections to bring them down too. I did get all my shopping though so that's something!!
Hope everyone has enjoyed their day, most sound less chaotic than mine!
Had a mild battle today with the sugars as started the day with no breakfast due to meeting a friend mid morning at a pub for "unlimited buffet breakfast"(crockery wasn't clean, had to complain twice so can't say I'll be rushing back
) - however foot to floor hit hard as walked the dog first and went up to 9.0 without eating! However dropped back down naturally, and is often the case, cooked breakfast seemed to have sat okay initially, only for a slow rise to start about an hour or so later, probably as it's quite fat and protein heavy.The pub is near a local shopping complex and I needed to get a few bits for work, partners bday, wedding in the summer etc and collect some parcels I'd ordered to Next. I thought it would be busy but was lured into a false sense of security when I arrived as it was just normal weekend level of busy. Give it an hour and how wrong I was, carpark was gridlocked and Primark was like hell on earth
(did get some bargains though!). I considered going back tomorrow as not in work, but seemed silly to given I was right there. Crowded places do give me anxiety though since COVID (health anxiety kicks in about catching something, made worse when I worry about diabetes now etc) - anyway this was reflected in my sugars - stayed steadily above 10 when out (usually a food related rise would go down if I'm walking/moving about even if it's a while after eating) and my heart rate when I was in the (very long!) queue was 120 Had a knock on effect with the sugars as took a few corrections to bring them down too. I did get all my shopping though so that's something!!
Hope everyone has enjoyed their day, most sound less chaotic than mine!
Last edited:
Northerner
Admin (Retired)
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Good morning 🙂 7.7 for me today 🙂
Up v early yesterday to go and photograph Morris Dancers dancing up the sun and then onto Hastings for the annual Jack in the Green event. A full on day with plenty of walking. Anyway at 3:30 am a 5.2 and this morning another 5.2. Must be the exercise and the sound sleep I had...
ColinUK
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
- Pronouns
- He/Him
5.3 - Another unicorn day.
I will spin off the findings and thoughts about the CGM into another thread when I’ve got time but look at this for yesterday:
Yoghurt with some berries and sprinkle of paleo co almond and pecan granola for breakfast. No lunch. Made a chicken salad baguette for supper as I wanted to test the response to the bread.
Pre: 5.2
1hr: 7.3
2hr: 6.1
The post 9pm spike was the handful of almonds I had whilst watching telly.
I will spin off the findings and thoughts about the CGM into another thread when I’ve got time but look at this for yesterday:
Yoghurt with some berries and sprinkle of paleo co almond and pecan granola for breakfast. No lunch. Made a chicken salad baguette for supper as I wanted to test the response to the bread.
Pre: 5.2
1hr: 7.3
2hr: 6.1
The post 9pm spike was the handful of almonds I had whilst watching telly.
MikeyBikey
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Good morning! And it's a 7.6 from me after a fairly flat overnight run. Can't understand why the night before it spiked (chunky chips) and came down all night but didn't spike and was level last night (spag bol).
Maybe there is a secret ingredient in the Spring Booster I had yesterday. My super arm really aches this morning and it goes round the back to the top of my shoulder! :
(
Maybe there is a secret ingredient in the Spring Booster I had yesterday. My super arm really aches this morning and it goes round the back to the top of my shoulder! :
(
pawprint91
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- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- She/Her
5.6 for me today, sun is out here and hoping it stays that way! Have a good day everyone 🙂
eggyg
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 3c
Morning all. 6,1 and a unicorn. Two in a week, get in! Still awaiting the elusive HS though.
First thing, I need to get onto pharmacy, these multiple bank holidays are messing up my med ordering routine, got my email reminder last week but they’ve removed the online ordering for some unknown reason and I didn’t have a signal to call them. Then I’ll be doing the dreaded holiday ironing! That’s my excitement for the day.
Congrats @MrPixels on your two House Specials and @ColinUK congrats on another unicorn. Is there room for them as well as the mice?
Have a good day.
First thing, I need to get onto pharmacy, these multiple bank holidays are messing up my med ordering routine, got my email reminder last week but they’ve removed the online ordering for some unknown reason and I didn’t have a signal to call them. Then I’ll be doing the dreaded holiday ironing! That’s my excitement for the day.
Congrats @MrPixels on your two House Specials and @ColinUK congrats on another unicorn. Is there room for them as well as the mice?
Have a good day.