getting a summer groove

So, last week I mentioned that I was questioning how much I wanted to dedicate to this blog. I think that's a natural question to ask as school lets out, and I remind myself that while the individual days may seem long, my children will only be this little for a few more precious years. I don't plan to throw in the towel (if you were worried). A new friend reminded me today that this is the best of all worlds-- I get a creative outlet, I can share my expertise, and I can do it on my own time. And while I definitely am not in my summer groove yet, tomorrow is the start of a new month. A chance (at least in my own happy little head) to (re)prioritize and relish these next two months of summer. I'm not sure what my posting schedule will be. Some of that is up to free times (and weather) any given week. But, you can always subscribe via email in the upper right hand corner if you're not a fan of checking the blog only to realize I have been remiss about posting!

p.s. A few of you have asked me about the screen test. No news, which I am going to assume (since I am so darn smart) is not good news. It bums me out that I focused on that instead of my kids the last week of school...and of course my ego takes a blow not knowing if it was me or them? (Did they really have their heart set on a totally different look or background than me?) But then another friend reminds me that it took guts to put myself out there. I have to think that maybe it's one of those karma things, where everything happens for a reason. It means that I do truly get to enjoy this summer and not worry about who gets my kids ready for camp/school, and know that heading into the fall, I'll still get to be the one getting them off the school bus and whipping up their homemade meals. And while I could have made a case for seizing that opportunity, deep down, accepting and enjoying the "ordinary" feels right.

London Jazz Meetup reaches 400 events

Organizer Rob Mallows has just emailed the 822 members of the London Jazz Meetup Group:

Hi.



We've just hit 400 meetups at the London Jazz Meetup, of which you're a member!!

Thank you, very much:

To all the 822 members.

To all the event hosts.

To all the assistant organisers.

To all the great bands we've seen.

To all the great artists we're going to see.

To all the smashing venues we've checked out, and those we haven't yet.

To London, for being London...

Here's to the next 400!

Review: Liza Minnelli

Liza Minnelli. Image reproduced under
Creative Comons Licence

Liza Minnelli
(Royal Albert Hall, 29th June 2011, part of Bluesfest London. Review by Kai Hoffman)

With a professional career spanning nearly 50 years, Liza Minnelli still has more charisma in her little finger than nearly all of the manufactured pop stars of today. The Royal Albert Hall was jam-packed – and the audience so enthusiastic, I gave up counting the standing ovations.

Instantly assuming the individual character of each song, Liza’s vast stage presence was absolutely magnetic. Chatting with the audience as though she had knew all of us personally, Liza chose songs spanning the length of her career, from Ebb and Kander tunes like ‘Liza with a Z’ and ‘My Own Best Friend’ (from Chicago), to Charles Aznavour’s ‘What Makes a Man a Man’ and Peggy Lee’s ‘He’s a Tramp.’ I have to admit, seeing THE Liza Minnelli perform her Cabaret showstoppers was a (personal) dream come true – and she was utterly in her element with Maybe This Time and Cabaret.

Admitting that ‘But the World Goes ‘Round’ was her favourite song of all time, Liza was half-way through,
coming up to a climax when, to everyone’s surprise, she stopped, saying she wanted to do it better for everybody, and – to a huge standing ovation – belted it out with twice the power of moments before.

With anecdotes ranging from the very personal – confessing that, battling with shyness as a child, she had collected song lyrics and expressed herself indirectly through them – to the star-studded – how Frank Sinatra had rung her up to ask if he could sing her tune ‘New York, New York’- she created an incomparable rapport with the audience.

Having battled with numerous health issues and addictions, it wouldn’t be fair to expect her to be the same as she was forty years ago. However, you come along to see the legend – and with her unmatchable energy, commanding – and endearing – presence, it was a night which will not be forgotten!

Bluesfest London website

Summer Holiday, Simon and Stephanie

Simon Purcell has just, thoughtfully, put up a round-up piece on Jazz Summer Schools.

And while we're on the subject French "rues" and "roues" (above)....., best wishes on the road back to France to Stephanie Knibbe, who has been a highly effective organizing wheel on the London Jazz scene for the past five years and will be sorely missed. Bonne Route!

Book review: 'The Power of Jazz: Photography by John Watson'

Henry Grimes. Photo (c) John Watson/jazzcamera.co.uk

'The Power of Jazz: Photography by John Watson'
(Blurb, 2011, 110 pages, 20 x 24cm, Bookeview by Geoff Winston)

John Watson captures his musician subjects with an alert and sensitive eye. A practicing musician himself, his early journalist's career became increasingly focused on his jazz photography which, because of his passion for the music, has taken him to leading venues in New York, London, Birmingham, and way beyond, to photograph many of its leading exponents.

In the second edition of his book, 'The Power of Jazz', Watson takes the reader through images loosely arranged by the instruments played - a section on keyboards has Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock, on one double page spread, in relaxed and concentrated modes, respectively - and ends with sections on big bands and the filming of live concerts.

Watson gets remarkably close to his subjects without any evidence of being intrusive, and skilfully - and deceptively effortlessly - captures something of the essence of each of their personalities, stage personas and technical approaches.

Carla Bley: Photo (c) John Watson/jazzcamera.co.uk

There are many excellent shots which stand up on their own as portraits, as well as records of an event. It is worth noting, too, that Watson, in his pursuit of the honestly envisioned image, resolutely eschews computer manipulation of his photographs, so this portfolio is all ‘live and direct’ from the camera. These include: a trio of stunningly stark, elegant photos of Carla Bley (above); a sequence showing the octogenarian Sonny Rollins in full flow at the London Jazz Festival; a moment of laughter with Carol Sudhalter at the canalside; a thoughtful, pensive Arve Henriksen; an enigmatic monochrome portrait of Tomasz Stanko; a razor sharp Pat Martino; and Stan Tracey beautifully captured with a half glance at Watson. There is a lovely spread, in black-and-white with Stanley Clarke on upright bass, looking a touch like Mingus, complemented by a haunting image of Henry Grimes (top image), head tucked behind the fretboard, caught with a look that is half-way between an assertive twinkle and deep poignancy, a window to the soul, perhaps.
Watson ends with a summary of his career and philosophy, but it is disappointing, however, that there is no index of the specific dates and venues for each photo, nor reference to the musicians featured in the more abstract images early in the book, and, like the recent Penguin Jazz Guide, without a general index, selective navigation is not possible.

That aside, the images themselves are the main protagonists of this book, and they reward repeated viewing. Watson has received recognition at New York's prestigious JJA Jazz Awards: he was nominated this year for Jazz Photo of the Year for his photo of Carla Bley (above) and last year for one of Sonny Rollins. As a body of work, Watson's portfolio is a valuable and personal record of some key figures in recent jazz which the London jazz community will surely appreciate.

Cover Illustration of Charles Lloyd
Photo (c) John Watson/jazzcamera.co.uk

John Watson's website.

Copies of the book are available from www.blurb.com/bookstore

How Is He?

"In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him." -- 1 John 4:17

If we are like HIM, then we should be asking the question: "How is He?"

Since we are partakers of the divine nature of God, and bear resemblance to God, even in this present state of things; we are to be holy in all manner of conversation, as He is holy, and to be merciful to all men, as He is merciful, and to love the saints as He does, and to be kind, tenderhearted, and forgive one another, as He for Christ's sake has forgiven them; for as God is love, we should be all love likewise; or of Christ.

Disney Character Dim Sum

Staying in Disneyland was so awesome!



I love the feeling of waking up in a theme park!! Nothing beats living in fantasy, except living in fantasy!



A week ago I checked into Disney’s Hollywood Hotel in Hong Kong Disneyland. It’s my first time staying in a Disneyland hotel, was super excited.









One of the best parts of living in Disneyland was to have your meals shaped like Disney characters!!



Mickey Dim Sum! Exclusive lunch only in Cyrstal Lotus.









The food was so precious it took every will in my body to take a bite!



Of course I couldn’t resist snapping like a million photos with the dim sums in Crystal Lotus.





Little piggy ‘pao’ and the Alien from Toy Story!

Or as stated in the menu: Little Pig Barbecue Pork Bun & Little Green Men Pork and Vegetable Bun







Nom nom on little piggy







Playing with little piggy’s pink ears







Green alien is a vegetable ‘pao’ – didn’t like the taste. But so cute!

Did you notice I pluck out the middle eye? Now it’s a normal two-eye alien.







Now it’s a Cyclops alien!





I literally have to dissect the paos in order to really take a bite into them. It felt a bit carnivorous to eat them straight like that.





Ears and eyes, and one antenna.





Near the end of the menu I was served a bear bear pao as dessert. It’s red bean paste inside.





With Mickey jellies!

Menu: “Duffy” Steamed Lotus Red Bean Puree Bun & Chilled “Mickey’s” Red Bean Honey Pudding







Bear bear pao FTW!





This bear was so cute I felt like a mad killer eating it.



So I did a shoot imitating a mad killer, complete with crazy eyes.











Mad killer: “Muahahaha!”

Bear bear pao: “Help~!”





More photos of other food served and restaurant:





Double-boiled Chicken and Conpoy Soup in Petite Coconut







Red-braised Pork Loin stuffed in Whole Chinese Pear







Fried-rice with Tasmanian Crabmeat stuffed in Whole Crab Shell













Chilled “Mickey’s” Red Bean Honey Pudding

























More on my stay at Hong Kong Disneyland next!

Read the previous post here if you haven't. :)

Generations

Lord, through all the generations you have been our home! Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world, from beginning to end, you are God. -- Psalm 90:1-2

Praise to the Father of our four generations; for you have been our home! So grateful to have taken a beach vacation with my mom, daughter (& son-in-law), and my two grandsons -- four generations traveling together, sharing and bonding, while enjoying one of God's amazing creations -- the ocean!

Review: Keith Rowe

Keith Rowe: Drawing by Geoff Winston (*)

Keith Rowe
(London Review Bookshop on Wednesday 18 June 2011; review and drawing* by Geoff Winston)

The London Review Bookshop, by the British Museum, was an inspired choice as a venue for free improviser/ tabletop guitarist Keith Rowe's solo concert. The shop's lower floor, with its full width staircase forming a raked seating area behind the 'stalls,' held an audience of about fifty people, who heard two concentrated sets of around 20 minutes each.

Rowe got into jazz from art school, playing with Mike Westbrook, but ultimately found the genre too restricting, and co-founded the exploratory and fluid music collective, AMM, in 1965. He now works independently, and is based in France. Rowe prefaced the proceedings by explaining that Cornelius Cardew, the pioneering composer, who was another early associate would have been 75 this spring, so the "point of departure" of the first piece would be a page of Cardew's 'Treatise' - page 68 of its 193 graphic scores which impose the discipline to interpret the score firmly with the performer - followed by Christan Wolff's 'Edges', also a graphic score, written in London for an augmented AMM in 1968.

Rowe had surrounded his 6-fret table-top guitar with small electronic devices, a cheap transistor radio, various objets trouvé and the two scores. The dense and intense sounds which ensued had both a spatial and a mineral-like quality - something of the compressed, coloured layers of certain rock formations. Surrounded by books on all sides, nearest to 'Cultural Studies' and 'Religion', Rowe created a flow which included unearthly background hissing and glass-like radio signals, crackles, creaks and drilling sounds, scutterings, scrapings, screeches like unwinding packing tape and the thudding beats of helicopter blades - even an odd guitar strum. Working directly on the fretboard with a metal scouring pad he extracted sharp, angular stutters and applied light brushings, reminiscent of Cage's 'Fontana Mix', and blended in the amplified whirrings of a toothbrush and fan, both battery-operated.

Live Wimbledon commentary was picked up to form another strand, later echoed with a brief excerpt from a chamber piano quintet, either broadcast or sampled. Rowe said in a 2007 interview that "I've always considered what I do on the guitar as an act of painting", an apposite metaphor for the magical soundscapes that he had created in this small central London oasis.

* Image copyright Geoffrey Winston. All Rights Reserved.

The dark side of swearing - it may deter emotional support from others

Each culture has its agreed-upon list of taboo words and it doesn't matter how many times these words are repeated, they still seem to retain their power to shock. Scan a human brain, swear at it, and you'll see its emotional centres jangle away.

Recent research has shown that this emotional impact can have an analgesic effect, and there's other evidence that strategically deployed swear words can make a speech more memorable. But it's not all positive. A new study suggests that swear words have a dark side. Megan Robbins and her team recorded snippets of speech from middle-aged women with rheumatoid arthritis, and others with breast cancer, and found those who swore more in the company of other people also experienced increased depression and a perceived loss of social support.

The sample sizes were small (13 women with rheumatoid arthritis and 21 women with breast cancer), but the technology was neat. The women wore "an electronically activated recorder" that periodically sampled ambient sounds, including speech. A lapel microphone recorded 50s every 18 minutes over two weekends for the arthritis sample and 50s every 9 minutes over one weekend for the breast cancer patients. Two months or four months after baseline the women repeated measures of their depression and perceived social support - the latter measured by agreement with statements like "I get sympathy and understanding from someone". The key finding is that higher rates of swearing in someone else's company, but not solitary swearing, were associated with an increase in depression symptoms and a drop in perceived social support. Moreover, statistical analysis suggested the effect of swearing on depression was mediated by the lost social support.

"This is one of the first studies to provide evidence of how swearing is implicated in the coping process," the researchers concluded. "It highlights a potential cost of swearing - that it can undermine psychological adjustment, possibly via repelling emotional support."

The study has its limitations, as the researchers acknowledged. For example, the methodology doesn't allow an alternative causal direction to be ruled out. Perhaps diminishing support or increasing depression provoked some of the women into swearing more. In that sense it was a shame the researchers weren't able to look for changes in rates of swearing. Another important limitation is the sample - perhaps swearing by middle-aged women has an adverse effect on their social support because of society norms, which dictate that women, especially of a certain age, shouldn't swear. The same study performed with young men may have produced a different result. "Swearing may even serve a bonding function among men, or younger people, and in different contexts," the researchers said.
_________________________________

Robbins, M., Focella, E., Kasle, S., López, A., Weihs, K., and Mehl, M. (2011). Naturalistically observed swearing, emotional support, and depressive symptoms in women coping with illness. Health Psychology DOI: 10.1037/a0023431

This post was written by Christian Jarrett for the BPS Research Digest.

Celebrating Forty Years of Jazz in London

Here's an anniversary worth celebrating. The indispensable listings guide,  Jazz in London, is forty years old this summer. We first asked the driving force behind the publication, MARY GREIG, to tell us her story. We then invited a few people to show Mary their appreciation for her irreplaceable contribution to the capital's musical life.

Mary Greig writes:

The story of Jazz In London started in 1971, forty years ago . . . at a time when contemporary Jazz was even more of a minority music than it is today. At that time, there were only two major clubs ( Ronnie Scott’s and the 100 Club ) although, interestingly, the jazz audience could support three specialist Jazz record shops within walking distance of each other (Dobell’s, Asman’s and Collet’s). It was a very intimate, small sub-culture in Soho in those days, and it would be no surprise to find yourself drinking alongside the great American musicians who were performing at Ronnie Scott’s at the time, or alongside luminaries of the art world like Francis Bacon.


Jazz in London was started by John Jack, a record producer and champion of the contemporary end of Jazz music. He lived, as he does now, in Charing Cross Road, and ranthe jazz sessions at Ronnie’s Old Place in Gerrard Street, which provided a showcase for many of the young players who have since gained international recognition:- John Surman, Mike Osborne, Mike Westbrook and many others.

This was pre Time Out London, and information on where to hear Jazz was mainly word of mouth and posters, so John started to produce a folded A4 sheet called Jazz in London, with a strapline of “Mainly The Newer Trends In The Music”. The early editions listed around a dozen venues, two of which were weekly venues run by Jazz Centre Society, the forerunner to Jazz Services.

In 1973 John took on the full-time commitment of Cadillac Records, so Jazz In London was passed over to me. I was very involved in the jazz scene and was active in running clubs for Jazz Centre Society, and working in Collet’s Jazz Record Shop. I knew a lot about the Jazz scene, but nothing about how to produce a publication. In this pre-technology era, I learned to use cut-and-paste typed text and Letraset to compose the layout, pasting it all out on boards and taking the boards to the printer. Some of the early issues look extremely clunky now, but nobody seemed to mind at the time.

I’ve continued to produce Jazz In London single-handedly since then, and over that time it hasgrown from a single A4 sheet to the multi-page publication that it is today. Although a bit of a technophobe, I’ve managed to get to grips with the fundamentals of desk-top publishing, so these days it gets sent to the printer down the phone line, rather than on bits of card! In recent years I’ve been immensely aided by Mick Sexton, who since 2003 has been the person who puts the publication online, (LINK) and also helps me with the distribution.

I think the extraordinary longevity of Jazz in London is essentially down to it having been a one-person operation, and being very pro-active about getting information. Also, I’ve always kept to the simple format of providing information, rather than branching into editorial content. And by keeping it simple, costs are contained and therefore advertising is very affordable to small promoters. It reflects a genuine network of promoters, performers, punters etc. who all contribute in their separate ways to a healthy scene. So that now, something that started as a labour of love seems to have become an important underpinning of the London Jazz community, and I suppose I’m rather proud of that.

The Jazz scene has, of course, now changed beyond recognition, with the huge expansion ofwonderful young talent and the recognition of the music conservatoires that jazz is a music worthy of their curriculum. These days I find myself typing the names of many musicians that I’ve never even heard, whereas 35 years ago, they were all my mates!


Steve Rubie, 606 Club:

Jazz In London has been an essential part of the London jazz scene for as long as I can remember. Tirelessly put together every month, without a break for the last 40 years or so, by the indefatigable and immensely knowledgeable Mary Greig it is a major resource on the UK jazz scene. Although now available on-line Mary still produces this unique free guide in it's original printed version and it says something about how important it is that here at the Club we regularly distribute quite literally hundreds of them every month. As a leading UK venue we consider being in JiL a core part of our promotional strategy and greatly value its effectiveness in getting knowledge of our gigs to the listening public. Long may it continue...

Simon Carter, Boaters Jazz:

I don't know where we'd all be without Mary! I've known her for almost 20 years, and yet we've never met! However, we talk regularly on the phone and she has always shown a great interest in the gig at Boaters and been incredibly supportive over the years. The London jazz scene owes Mary a huge debt of gratitutde as without her tireless efforts to produce accurate and informative listings there would be no platform for the small jazz gig to survive and thrive. She deserves a medal for her incredible work.

　
Paul Pace, Ronnie Scotts , Spicejazz at the Spice of Life:

Mary, you have been steadfast and totally reliable in providing the best unbiased, accurate and most comprehensive listings publication of the contemporary jazz scene in London. It also rivals the jazz listings of other major world cities including New York, and to have single-handedly produced a publication at this level over an impressive 40 years deserves the utmost respect of the jazz community, from both punters and performers alike. You and JiL have been an integral part of the scene for as long as I can remember and you have been very much a friend of the music and its practitioners, a consistent supporter of ‘grassroots’ venues, Ronnie’s and for a while, a welcoming sight behind the counter at Ray’s Jazz Shop during your earlier years in London. I raise a glass or two in your honour, and look forward to seeing you soon – A big thanks Mary, and I am sure, from many others too!

Simon Cooke, Ronnie Scott’s:

We at Ronnie’s are grateful and fully appreciate the not inconsiderable effort that goes into compiling the best jazz listings publication that London has to offer. Thanks for your unflagging support through the years. May we congratulate you on your anniversary and the singularly high quality of ‘Jazz in London’!

Norma Winstone:

Like many other musicians, I know how much Mary’s painstaking work over four decades has contributed to bring audiences to gigs in London, week in week out. Thank you for keeping all of us in touch!

Great Singapore Sales Haul and Odbo

Oh nothing much, just a little something something I picked up during an extremely short trip I made to Singapore recently.

And sadder the fact that I bought these items at their full retail price because they were newly arrived items.

*Ha ha. Why bother with GSS*

So my target shopping outlet was Cotton On. Why? Seeing the fact that we have our own Cotton On in Malaysia. Well I walked past the shop and saw something I liked so I decided to spend some time the next day to try out that dress.

I ended up buying three other pieces that was NOT that dress. -.-

I got a playsuit, or romper, which you've seen me wear before in my previous post.




The other two were sundresses, one of floral print and the other of leopard *rawr*.

Different print for different mood. ^^




Particularly loved the Country Rose print. It looked so feminine on me. Not a look I carry often, but I'm exploring.




Then also while in Singapore I met up with a friend, Jeremy, whose wife Joyce helped me buy three boxes of Odbo Wrinkletox from Korea!!




Thank you Joyce! and Jeremy! (smaller in font coz role less significant, lol. jk)

Anyway I heard a lot about these Odbo Wrinkletox purchasable only from Korea, and only from certain branches of Faceshop. It's like botox, but external application directly onto your wrinkle.

And your wrinkles would significantly diminish for like a couple of years.

Some blogshops in Singapore are selling them for $120 (SGD) which I personally think isn't too bad if you aren't travelling to Korea anytime soon.

I sold one box off cause the treatment required was two boxes, according to most people's feedback online (though sales lady told Joyce that three boxes were optimal, ai ya anything to make extra sales, or so I strongly believe because I can't afford three boxes all for myself).





I haven't started using them. Mainly because I've been lazy.

And I've also been shopping.

*must stop shopping*

The two sundresses are still in their Cotton On paper bag on the table, together with another fresh bag of Gap cardigans. All side by side with my expensive Wrinkletox - the all time solution to wrinkle-free life. Hahaha! At least I hope. :p




Anyway, will let you know how it turns out when I finally make the effort to unwrap them and start my treatment.

Sand

How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.  They cannot be numbered! I can't even count them;  they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up,  you are still with me! -- Psalm 139:17-18

I cannot even begin to count the grains of sand in one child-size sand bucket! And yet when I looked at the sand to my left and to my right, as far as my natural eye could see, the sand just went on and on. God says his thoughts about me outnumber the grains of sand. That's a lot of thoughts!

Review: Afrocubism

The world music supergroup Afrocubism, consisting of musicians from Cuba and Mali, perform music which people will eventually, inevitably want to get up and sway to. The question with a London audience is how long it will take before they do.

“Sway” – as Alison Hoblyn pointed out in her review of Afrocubism seven months ago at last November’s London Jazz Festival, is a better word than “dance” to describe the way in which an audience moves to the loping grooves of Afrocubism.

It’s also worth making the distinction because a genuine dancer was onstage last night: there was the briefest of appearances by the supreme Cuban ballet dancer Carlos Acosta at the end of Afrocubism’s Royal Albert Hall concert, to present Afrocubism with their Songlines Award for Cross-Cultural Collaboration. The band is about to head off on a North American tour.

For the record , Alison’s review and Robin Denselow's for the Guardian have a fascinating insight into the origins of the band.

So, on the hottest day for five years in London, it was interesting to see how long it would take a not-quite full Royal Albert Hall to respond to the music, and to get up on its feet. Indeed, the Malians kept on asking the audience in an intrigued rather than a concerned tone of voice : "are you enjoying yourselves?" The answer came back that we were. But , for all that, it still takes a surprisingly long time for British reserve to be overcome other than by a few brave souls, about an hour and a quarter into the set, more or less at he point when people start to get the idea that the set might be coming to an end. We are a curious race.

Visually it was the imposing presence of the resplendently tall Bassekou Kouyaté in his flowing gown which caught the eye. Musically, the stand-out moments are the dialogues between kora and ngoni, and between African and Cuban percussion. But what stays in the mind are the contrasting but deeply emotional qualities of the two main vocalists, the Cuban Eliades Ochoa and the Malian Kasse Mady Diabaté. Their magic made the Royal Albert Hall feel, even with its (understatement) uniquely challenging acoustic, feel like an intimate space.

Review: Jools Holland Rhythm and Blues Orchestra at Boisdale Canary Wharf

Jools Holland Rhythm and Blues Orchestra with Sandie Shaw and Ruby Turner
(Boisdale Canary Wharf, June 21st 2011, Review by Kai Hoffman)

The designers of the new Canary Wharf-based Boisdale have managed to very successfully transfer the comfortable old- school decadence of the original Boisdale (a character-filled 17th century building) to
this brand-new location- complete with candelabra and the world's largest whisky collection.

With a stage easily four times the size of the original Boisdale, it was still quite a spectacle to see the entirety of Jools Holland's Rhythm and Blues Orchestra –easily twenty performers in five or six rows!- filling the space. It is very rare thing to be within a few feet of a world-class big band, rarer still to see all of them on such an intimate stage.

Packing out venues like the Royal Albert Hall, Boisdale Canary Wharf’s new patron included a huge range of styles in the program, from good old rhythm & blues to reggae, jive, pop and rockin’ boogie woogie.
Blinding solos by sax player Derek Nash – in fact the entire brass section - kept the energy level as high as it gets. With a members roster including some of the biggest names in the business- and some of the world's finest musicians- it was an absolute pleasure to be in the audience at Boisdale!

Guest singers included superstar pop legend Sandie Shaw, who appeared in all of her barefooted-glory in a glamourous black sequined dress, singing tunes including her 1960s UK-number-one chart topper “(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me”- immediately getting the audience out of their chairs.

Following Sandie’s set, powerhouse soul singer Ruby Turner took to the stage, with tunes including ‘He Gives Me Love, Crazy Love’ – keeping the audience going right through to ‘Enjoy Yourself, It’s Later Than You Think’ where she was joined by ska-trombone master, 76-year old Rico Rodriguez.

Jools Holland’s Rhythm and Blues Orchestra are without doubt one of the hottest big bands in the world today – their nearly two-hour set at Boisdale Canary Wharf was perfectly paced, immaculately
orchestrated,  immensely enjoyable Five stars! .

Fun as a Playsuit

Shopping season is here and this week alone I'm going to be spending my days at two separate Clearance Sale.

Gotta love mid-year sale.

La Senza will be having their 50% off clearance items this 30th June; whereas on the same day, Valiram Group is throwing a luxury shoe sale at Starhill (I'm thinking Jimmy Choo).

How do I split myself? God protect my credit card. Amen.


While we're all on a shop and tell craze, here's my look of the day.




Having fun with a little black playsuit. The first time I laid eyes on one was in a fashion mag of H&M and instantly I swore solemnly to get one.

Playsuit is a really fun piece. You can wear it at home like you would a romper, pair with a cardigan for tea with your gfs, or blinged it up for a night of partay! Or better, bring it along on your beach holiday!

I snagged this piece up at Cotton On in Singapore, at retail full price (despite being the Great Singapore Sale period) since it's new item.


Theme of this look: accessory accessory accessory.







Black Playsuit: Contton On
Belt: H&M (Dubai)
Necklaces: (short) a present, (long) from Bangkok
Bangle: Sunway Pyramid
Ring: Bangkok
Earrings: can't remember
Booties: Aldo (Taiwan)

Boundaries

He assigned the sea its boundaries and locked the oceans in vast reservoirs. -- Psalm 33:7

I love to watch the ocean waves hit the shore. Each wave knows its boundary and only comes that far. Only God holds the answer as to why some are permitted to come farther than the others. 

As I watched the waves at the beach this week I began to think about God's plan for us and why it seems some people's boundaries are set farther out than others. I have to believe that a God who numbers our hairs (Matthew 10:30) must surely work out the details of those boundaries for each child. Surely He knows just how far to let us wander before we crash. For me I prefer that He keep a tight rein on my boundaries for therein I find my safety. 

Today's Prayer: "Hem me in Lord, behind and before." (Psalm 139:5).

Awards for Jamie Cullum's BBC R2 Radio Show

Jamie Cullum's weekly Tuesday evening show on BBC Radio 2, which has been running since April 2010, and is produced by Folded Wing, picked up two bronze awards at last Monday's New York Festivals Radio Awards

- Best Regularly Scheduled Music Program

- Best Jazz Format

Round-up review of INNtoene Jazz Festival

LondonJazz on its travels: my round-up review of the three-day INNtoene Jazz Festival, held earlier this month at Diersbach in Upper Austria, in an 800-seater barn on a working pig farm...is published by allaboutjazz.com HERE

Website: www.inntoene.at

Is male libido the ultimate cause of war?

"The face that launched a thousand ships ..." Dr Faustus retelling the legend of Helen and the Trojan War that was fought over her.

From the mighty clash of two stags rutting, to the dawn raid of a chimpanzee, much violence in nature is perpetrated by males fighting each other in competition for female mates. A new study claims it's a similar story with humans. Cultural differences, limited resources and technological developments all play a role, but a team of psychologists based in China and Hong Kong believe the ultimate cause of human war rests with the male libido. Historically, they argue that the lure of an attractive female primed the male brain for conflict with other males, an effect that persists in modern man even though its usefulness is largely outdated.

Across four experiments Lei Chang and his team showed that pictures of attractive women or women's legs had a raft of war-relevant effects on heterosexual male participants, including: biasing their judgments to be more bellicose towards hostile countries; speeding their ability to locate an armed soldier on a computer screen; and speeding their ability to recognise and locate war-related words on a computer screen. Equivalent effects after looking at pictures of attractive men were not found for female participants.

The effects on the male participants of looking at attractive women were specific to war. For example, their ability to locate pictures of farmers, as opposed to soldiers, was not enhanced. Moreover, the war-priming effects of attractive women were greater than with other potentially provocative stimuli, such as the national flag. Finally, the men's faster performance after looking at women's legs versus flags was specific to war-related words, as opposed to merely aggressive words.

"The mating-warring association, as shown in these experiments ... presumably unconsciously propels warring behaviour because of the behaviour's past, but not necessarily current, link to reproductive success," the researchers said. They conceded their study had several limitations, not least that war is a collaborative endeavour whilst they had studied individual responses. However, the new results chime with past lab research, showing for example that men, but not women, respond to intergroup threat by increasing their within-group cooperation. And they chime with anthropological research, which has found male warriors in traditional tribal societies have more sexual partners than other men, as do male members of modern street gangs.

"... This is among the first empirical studies to examine the potential mating-warring association," the researchers concluded. "As such this study adds to the diversities of evidence on the effects of mating motives in human males as well as motivating further discussions of the origins of human warfare."
_________________________________

L Chang, H Lu, H Li, and T Li (2011). The Face That Launched a Thousand Ships: The Mating-Warring Association in Men. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin DOI: 10.1177/0146167211402216

This post was written by Christian Jarrett for the BPS Research Digest.