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The Lady Boys of Bangkok

My Yearly Review – 2014

By Friends & Family, Happiness & Joy, Life, Nature, PaganismNo Comments

This year I did very little in the Spring, a lot in the Summer, bits in the Autumn and Winter. Here’s what I’ve been up to this year, click on any photo for full size image:

March

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Sye & Me at Barry Humphries Show

Sye and I went to see Barry Humphries: The Eat, Pray and Laugh Farewell Tour. We had a great time. Here are some photos:

dame-edna-march-2014 dame-edna-march-2014 dame-edna-march-2014

May

Penrhos Cottage near Corris Adam and Andy's cottage

Simon popping his head out of The Lovely Cottage

Simon and I went to Mid-Wales to The Lovely Penrhos Cottage for the weekend. While there we took the time to relax. The Saturday it was gloriously sunny and hot, so we went to Aberdovey Beach. On the Sunday we went to King Arthur’s Labyrinth.

I published my short story The Good Teen. The Good Teen is a modern-day telling of The Good Samaritan parable, with a hint of magic. I wrote it after I saw a call for submissions from the BBC Radio 4 ‘Opening Lines’ programme. Unfortunately it wasn’t accepted, but it’s still a good story – even if I do say so myself.

June

Rivington-June14

Rivington: A Gorgeous View

I spent several days walking around Rivington. I feel fortunate to have such a beautiful and gorgeous natural place close by.

My at-the-time boyfriend and I went to Blackpool to the Sealife Centre and Madame Tussauds. We saw various fish and waxworks respectively.

Steve and I went watching The Lady Boys of Bangkok in Manchester. We were both slightly disappointed with the Lady Boys to be honest, but it was still good to get out and we even managed a few alcofrolic drinks afterwards.

July

Manchester Museum Gorgosaurus Skeleton

Gorgosaurus Skeleton

I watched After The Dark (The Philosophers), which became my favourite film of 2014.

My at-the-time boyfriend and I went to Lancashire Science Festival 2014 which was both educational and intriguing. Plus it had free parking!

My at-the-time boyfriend, his housemates and I visited Manchester Museum. I loved the dinosaur exhibit.

August

light-michael-grant-book-cover I had my blog Theme Redesigned by TRH Development. I started Being Creative Everyday and sharing some of the results on the blog.

I felt saddened at the unexpected death of Robin Williams and began thinking about the importance of good mental & emotional health.

I read and reviewed Light by Michael Grant, which was the last book in The Gone Series. I thoroughly enjoyed The Gone Series which was about kids being trapped in a Dome without adults and developing powers.

September

Wales animalarium lemur

Animalarium: Lemur

I got some Amazing Illustrations from the Talented Sye Watts for my blog. I am so lucky to have such a talented friend.

A friend and I went to stay for a weekend at Penrhos Cottage and visited the Animalarium, which is Borth’s Zoo on the way home. There where some lovely animals there that looked well cared for.

October

pagan-stone-circle-large Chrys, Simon, others and I celebrated Samhain!

November

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Various Magical Creatures.

My at-the-time boyfriend and I broke up.

I made small Charitable Donations to JDRF, The Human Rights Campaign (US), The Brain Tumour Charity (UK) and to make a film about the sell-off of the NHS.

Mum and I went on a Trip to London where we shopped and visited The Making of Harry Potter Studio Tour.

December

wrapped-christmas-presents-2014

Some Presents I’ve Wrapped for Christmas

Christmas has been relaxed, enjoyable and fun. I have celebrated it with family and friends. People have kindly bought presents for me:

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Presents Kindly Bought For Me.

But the best thing was the opportunity to spend time with people that I love.

Next year I’ll be spreading out activities, experiences and goals throughout the year. So keep an eye out for my Goals & New Experiences for 2015 blog post.

Blog soon,

Antony

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The Lady Boys of Bangkok ‘Lack their Sparkle’ in Manchester

By Friends & Family, Gigs & Shows, Happiness & Joy, Reviews, ThinkingNo Comments
lady-boys-bangkok-june-14-manchester

The Lady Boys of Bangkok Stage. They strictly prohibited photos throughout the show.

Steve and I recently went to see The Lady Boys of Bangkok in Manchester. I had seen them four or five times over the last few years and couldn’t wait. Unfortunately, for the first time, I was to be disappointed.

It started with an embarrassing experience with a rude Door Supervisor. He checked my bag and said that I couldn’t take in a bottle of Lucozade. I explained that I had diabetes. To which he wanted to see a medical card. I showed him one and then he wanted to see tablets (I had to explain that I was on injectable insulin and showed him this). He still looked unsure about whether to let me in or not. So I said, ‘Look if I have a hypo I need sugar quick. I wont be able to make it to the bar. I’ll be on the floor having a seizure and foaming at the mouth.’ What made it embarrassing was his lack of knowledge about diabetes, his attitude and the growing queue of people behind us.

I wasn’t going to judge the production based on the experience I’d had with the Door Supervisor. However the shows atmosphere wasn’t as fabulous as it has been in the past. The Lady Boys cast seemed unhappy. They smiled throughout the show, but the smiles never seemed to meet their eyes. Their costumes were less glamorous, looking cheap at times and there weren’t many opportunities to see the Lady Boys in showoff their wonderful selves.

The audio quality was poor on some tracks, there were some odd choices of songs and some great songs that they only played clips of.

The set was satisfactory. The choreography was fun. Not all performers had perfected their choreography, but this didn’t matter to the audience. The choreography did become repetitive in the second half and had too much use of jazz hands.

The lip syncing has improved year on year, and this year all of the Lady Boys had it spot on. The comedy elements of the show remain as funny as ever, however I was unsure about the humour derived through use of the dwarf.

I desperately wanted the show to be as magical, glorious and brilliant as it had been in the past. But it simply wasn’t. It lacked its special sparkle that makes The Lady Boys of Bangkok production unique. Overall Steve and I had a good time, but I don’t intend on seeing future shows until I’ve got over the disappointment. This is likely to take at least the next few years.

Blog soon,

Antony



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