Adam’s Neighborhood

• 22:06 Blubbed all the way through Bright Star. Walked past Edgar Wright on way to Leicester Square. #
• 22:10 @adders Hope you got to Guildford OK and had a nice dinner. #
• 22:43 Off to bed. Exhausted by all the excitement #
• 08:44 Right, Bright Star blog post written, pancakes for breakfast I think. #
• 17:30 Good Bye Lenin! is on BBC 4 tonight. It's a fab film, you should watch it. #

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Woke up this morning to bright blue skies so I just had to make the most of it. I've been meaning to try and take some nice Autumnal shots so I walked up to Green Park to see what there was by way of subject matter.
Just a few of my favourites the rest are on Flickr

Autumn leaves in Green Park

Curious squirrel

The squirrel's are quite tame as they are used to being fed by the tourists. This little chap was looking to see if I had anything for him. I didn't but he and his Green Park buddies don't really look malnourished, far from it.

A tourist annoying one of the Green Park pelicans

Green Park has had pelican's since the reign of Charles II. I wonder whether visitors to the park back then were as annoying. I did get some non-tourist shots of the pelican after I pushed this man in (joke).

I've been swamped this week so I wasn't able to blog everything I wanted to blog about straightaway.  Well not on VOX anyway.  I was microblogging over on Twitter.  So, if you follow me there (and you know you should) you'll have seen me posting live from the big bash for the BB1.

I was asked along to the launch party of Peugeot's new baby, the BB1.  It was a rather glamourous affair held at The Hospital Club in London's Covent Garden on Wednesday night.  Yours truly was by far the most dressed down - although I did have brand new shoes on!  Attending the event were a varied bunch of celebrities including Christopher Biggins, the Cheeky Girls and Jodie Kidd (who, by the way, is unbelievably tall!)

Giant Jodie on the left, in front of Jazzie

Being completely out of touch with modern pop culture I had no idea who all the other famous people were - only that they had to be famous as the photographers were taking lots of pictures of them.

One person I did recognise was Soul II Soul's legendary Jazzie B, who was DJing.  Two of my all time favourite tunes were Back to Life and Keep on Movin'.  I can't even begin to say how awesome it was to meet him in person.

Me and Jazzie B

Just a quick rough 'n' ready summary for those that didn't see my earlier VOX post or my tweets...

The BB1 is an all electric concept vehicle that Peugeot have designed.  Although it's very small it's big enough to fit four.  It's very comfy - at least the front seats are (there's a video of me in the driving seat on its way - once I've finished editing it!)  As for the rear seats, I didn't manage to sit in the back, my own motor skills (excuse the pun) aren't all that great after a few drinks!  To be honest it looked like a tight squeeze but then again, it's not really meant to fit four adults in on daily basis.

From now on I'll be the eye candy at all international motor shows!

Now, as many of you will know, I'm not a motorist.  I can drive but for various reasons I don't have a car (no, I didn't lose my license!)  On top of that I'm not a motoring enthusiast - so you won't ever catch me watching Top Gear.  But I do love fun and quirky designs and, well, anything that challenge's convention.  I'm saying this so that you know where I'm coming from.  If you're after detailed analysis and comparisons between other electric vehicles you'll need to go elsewhere.

The great thing about such events as these is the chance to talk to top bods at the companies.  This, IMHO, is more fun (for want of a better word) than talking to the celebs.  Why?  Because it's great being able to ask questions about the product, the design and how it came about.  There's a real passion there, they're talking about their 'baby' after all.  Speaking of which, that's apparently why Peugeot named this mini marvel of theirs the BB1.  Cute, huh?

What really amazed me about the car, and I think I may have an 'exclusive' on this (I don't recall seeing it elsewhere!) is that it only takes six hours to fully charge from a normal household electrical supply.  As it has a range of 75 miles, that's none too shabby (especially when you think how long those electric ride-on kid's cars take to charge!)  Remember this the BB1, and similar cars, are meant as a city run-around vehicle - they're not designed for a long motorway commute.  And, if you're still not convinced that 6 hours is too long - well it will charge even quicker from a suitably equipped garage supply.

And finally (for this post, at least) the obligatory preview/launch/press event bag of swag.  This one included 'foot relief' lotion (incidentally the BB1 doesn't have foot pedals), hand and body wash, a USB memory stick, a little note pad and, in that box, a mini digital picture frame...

The goods

By the way, if you're in and around London this weekend, the car is on display in Covent Garden between 10am and 7pm.  I know, I know, that's a bit late notice for today - but there's still a whole day Sunday.  Full deets here.

Ben Whishaw and Abbie Cornish as John Keats and Fanny Brawne

OK so Bright Star was in a win-win situation:
 
John Keats: check
Jane Campion: check
Ben Whishaw: check

The trailers were promising. Campion was going to have to do something pretty stupid for me not to like this film, for me not to love this film.

For those who don't know the story, it is told through the eyes of Fanny Brawne, the neighbour and object of romantic poet John Keats' affection and some would say muse. The two were unable to marry because Keats didn't have any money as his poetry was yet to gain mass market appeal and then his life was cut short by TB.

Keats wrote beautiful poetry and this is a beautiful film. The setting, showcasing the simple beauty of English nature is like a third character next to Brawne and Keats.

The script is kept simple almost with the attitude that less says more leaving Abbie Cornish who plays Brawne and Whishaw who plays Keats to showcase a more subtle side to their acting abilities.

There is one particular scene which cements Cornish as such a talent, I find it hard to believe that she could have produced such overwhelming emotion for more than one take. It is when Brawne finds out from Keats' friend Charles Brown that he has died in Rome, where he had traveled to for the good of his health to avoid the British winter.

The performance touches on such grief and heartbreak that it brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it. And it is up there with Juliet Stephenson in Truly Madly Deeply.

If I was to judge this film on tears alone, my tears that is, not the actors, it would get a very damp 10 out of 10 as blubbed the whole way through. And I wasn't the only one in the cinema.

Not that I particularly care but here are what some of the professionals thought:

Daily Telegraph "It’s by some measure the best film she’s ever made. It feels special without being at all precious. Eloquent, too, but not self-consciously lyrical or florid."

Time Out "A combination of unstuffy dialogue, wise casting, unselfconscious performances and sensuous but never pretty photography makes Campion’s version of the nineteenth century feel current but not anachronistic."

• 17:29 At curzon sitting on comfy sofa with a glass of red waiting for my bright star #

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Hot drinks

I'm still trying to minimize our posessions. Even my email box was horribly clogged. I had 124 emails on my private account. Most of them were from nonprofits. During grad school I did a newsletter signup frenzy. I must have been lonely or something!

I unsubscribed to almost all of them. Wow! What a difference. Our house is also filled with things we can't seem to say no to. Gifts from family, my mom sends me boxes of junk.

Last night I made a list of things I want vs things I need.

Need: Clothing, food, shelter. Medicine and cleaning products. Safety items (phone, flashlight)

That doesn't sound like a lot until you remember that clothing alone is shoes, shirts, fall coats, winter coats, boots, gloves, jogging clothes, agh!

Want: Art and supplies, amenities, furniture, books, cat toys, modest decor, some electronics. Girly things.

That is still a lot of stuff, and it doesn't even include sentimental things. Very hard to choose. On a somewhat unrelated note, I love this clothing site called Prana. They make great yoga clothes and they are partnered with Conservation Alliance, a wonderful nonprofit.

And they don't brag about stuff. I love that.

NewLooks_womens_fall_r8_c3

I just had a wrong number. For Elric.

What is the first thought that goes through your head?

Cos mine was Elric? Fuck! Will he have Stormbringer and call on the Dukes of Hell?

Not good on a Friday evening.