June 28, 2004

Picnic in the Park



Henning arranged a company picnic in Regents Park. The weather cooperated. The good people attended. After a few sandwiches from Marks and Sparks, it was on to the action. Some of the guys started out with beers in hand but soon realized they were gonna have to run in this game of footy.

The Somali Sizzle (Sucad) shocked us all with her fancy footwork. Claudia scored on me, maybe more than once, during my time as goalie. Mario turned up at half time and immediately scored a few for our side. Brian was the amazing "wheels on the field," challenging any opponent with the ball, no matter what position they were playing. Position?! What am I talking about. We were like a clump of bees buzzing around the ball, except when we were too puffed out to run and decided to drop back on D.

I really suck at soccer, both defense and offense, but it's so much fun to play!

June 26, 2004

NATO in Turkey

Police at anti-NATO demonstration in Istanbul, photo by Stacy Munn

My last day in Istanbul, I was walking around the University and noticed dozens of police arriving in the square dressed in riot gear. Curious as to what was going to take place but not wanting to be in a place where I shouldn't, I strolled around the area, checking back in on the square every 15 minutes.


Anti-NATO demonstration in Istanbul University, photo by Stacy Munn

I was making my third check, and as I came closer to the square I heard chanting students. A group of students protesting against NATO were carrying banners, marching and shouting in unison. There were more journalists around than there were protestors, but luck was with me on this shot. A second group of students arrived in the square and I found myself in the middle of the two groups as they marched toward each other.

My friend, Amir, was kind enough to translate the writing on the banners. They say,
"NATO don't come to Turkey" and "We don't want NATO here".

Wish I were in Istanbul with my cameras to witness the crowds during tomorrow's NATO conference.

Saturday Morning


Saturday morning, the sun is shining, Starbucks in hand, laptop in front of me, Brian next to me...life is good.

June 23, 2004

The Donnas

Listened to (and loved) the Donnas today. Reminded me of Joan Jett. One song even sounded like Cheap Trick. and of course there's the Generation X (Billy Idol) cover of Dancing With Myself.

Thanks for the hip tip, Michelle.

Homework

On Monday, I met Junko at Queen of Sheba. Junko is a TV presenter; very bright and quite independent.

Today I worked from home (lucky me!) because the electricity meter needed to be replaced. It was a windy, rainy day; perfect for staying indoors.

I'm still eating tomatoes, olives and feta cheese. And two days ago I
actually bought some Turkish delight. Ate the last of it today.

Sedona

Kristin Munn in Sedona, Arizona
When my younger sister moved from Seattle to Florida, I drove with her as far as Santa Fe. We drove down I-5 and turned left at Pasadena. I loved the drive through the desert. We stopped in Sedona. It was New Year's Eve when we arrived, just before midnight. I remember driving down and down and down for what seemed like miles.

It was pitch black out and we couldn't see the surroundings. I didn't know a thing about Sedona, I don't think I had even heard of it before. We were handed the keys to our hotel room just as horns were being blasted and pans were being banged. We quickly pulled out our bottle of Champagne and toasted in 1997, happy to stretch our legs and be out in the fresh air after a very long car journey.

When we got into the hotel room, Kristin switched on the TV. I was in the bathroom and Kristin excitedly yelled out, "Stace, come look at this!
This is where we are!"

On the tourist channel were scenes of beautiful Sedona amongst miles of red rock. We could hardly wait until the sun came up and we could see this stunning place first hand. The next day, we decided we'd spend another night there so we could wander around the gorgeous landscape.

June 20, 2004

Russian Gala Night

Brian and I met Captain Taliotoudas near in front of his Paddington hotel for a spot of dinner then set off for the Royal Albert Hall. It was Russian Gala Night. On the program was:

Glinka: Ruslan and Ludmilla Overture
Prokofiev: Montagues and Capulets - from Romeo and Juliet
Mussorgsky: Great Gate of Kiev - from Pictures at an Exhibition
Borodin: Polovtsian Dances
Rimsky-Korsakov: Capriccio Espagnole
Khachaturian: Masquerade Waltz
Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1
Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture

The 1812 Overture came complete with canon blasts and pyrotechnics that jump-started anyone who was nodding off in their seat.

June 19, 2004

New York Dolls


Last night, Leo, Brian and I saw the New York Dolls in concert at the Royal Festival Hall. The band is from the 1970s, but those guys can still rock hard! The crowd loved them, including the three of us. The lead singer looked a lot like Mick Jagger and Steve Tyler. Bet he hates being compared to them all the time.

Today Abigail and I went for a run on Hampstead Heath. We had a peek in at the Lido. Neither of us had actually ever seen it before. It is gorgeous! 60 meters long and hardly anyone in it. Ice cold though.

In the evening, Brian and I went to a 30-year wedding aniversary party for one of our co-workers, John. John's 82-year-old mother was there and I got to dance with her. And this was rock and roll dancing! Very cute. She was still there and going strong when Brian and I had to run for the last train at 11:30pm.

Tomorrow morning Claudia and I will do 5 laps around the outside of Regents park on our bikes. Triathlon training. In the evening it's Russian Gala evening at the Royal Albert Hall with Brian and Vagelis.

June 18, 2004

It's my birthday already

Shaun sent me an early b-day book...David Sedaris' newest. Can hardly wait to dig in! I should finish Getting Things Done first though. (Insert pic of Brian yawning widely)

June 16, 2004

Peter Gabriel

Brian and I took the Bakerloo Line to Wembley Arena where Peter Gabriel put on a theatrical music performance. The trip out there seemed to take about 5 hours from central London. We took a different line back home.

Walking to the venue we noticed that it was mainly a middle-aged couples crowd. This was going to be a mellow audience. Our timing was perfect. We arrived with just enough time to use the loo and get a bad cup of Carling beer.

Gabriel and Co. played enough old stuff to keep me happy. Peter's daughter Melanie sang back-up for him. The lavish stage show made up for the fact that it was an arena concert.

Peter Gabriel on a Segway
During Solisbury Hill Peter and his daughter rode bicylcles on stage, and during Games Without Frontiers they drove around on Segways making precise, robotic-like movements with the machines and their arms.

Peter Gabriel singing Downside-Up
On the song Downside-Up, they both walked upside down on the ceiling.

Peter Gabriel in transparent Habitrail ball
The best stage prop was a gigantic transparent rubber ball which Gabriel climbed into and rolled around stage, rather like a runaway Habitrail, while singing Growing Up. On the chorus, he bounced in place to the beat.

Shock the Monkey was, dissapointingly, not on the set list and the versions of Red Rain and Digging in the Dirt weren't as good as I had hoped. Although it's not my favorite song of his, Sledgehammer was the best of the evening. Gabriel came on stage wearing his brilliant jacket of electric lights and the energy from the crowd made the musicians all the more dynamic.

June 14, 2004

Munn-Day

Carolyn Munn is honored with official Munn-Day


My mom retires in two weeks! After 48 years of employment. Her school officially declared it Munn-day and all the staff and students took an hour break to read a book in honor of Mom.

I just ordered flower delivery to her school for every Mon Wed and Friday that remains. Wow, they're gonna miss her at Wilder Elementary. I can hear the garden at 8917 issuing three cheers.

June 10, 2004

B's B-day

Today was Brian's 40th birthday. Breakfast is how he wanted to celebrate, so we had a morning feast at work, complete with bagels, muffins, juice, strawberries, cherries, papaya and some injera from Somalia. Add chocolate, peanut butter and jelly bellies for good measure. It was a nice,relaxing start to the day.

After that, we had a rather intense day at work with lots of meetings and decision making. I felt exhausted by the end of the day. We headed to Leicester Square to watch Shaun of the Dead, a spoof on a horror film. It was a good way to wind down.

June 05, 2004

Hitched in the 'Stow





Leo and Claire got married at the Walthamstow registry office yesterday in front of about 40 friends. After the official part, we all went to a local restaurant for lunch and celebration. They asked me to be the photographer so I jumped at the chance.

In the evening, we went to an all-ages dance club in Camden called Whirlygig. We stayed until 4:30am. I haven't stayed out that late in many years. It was bizarre to come out of the club as the sun was coming up.


June 03, 2004

Pixies Rule!

Last night Brian, Leo, Claire and I went to hear the Pixies. I missed them somehow when they were current back in the late 80s. It was a fabulous show. They rock! and have a strong following (even though they are now defunct.) I wore sandals with a high platform so I could see over all the heads. Bad move. Lots of pogoing. My toes hurt. Glad that slam dancing isn't popular any longer.