Granada - Unexpected Dream Destination

View of the Alhambra, Granada from El Albaicin (Old Arab Quarter) - the only photo not taken by me

An ancient Ibero-Celtic settlement, Granada has been successively occupied by the Greeks (in the 5th century BCE), and then the Romans, the Visigoths, the Byzantines, and finally the Moors in the 8th century ACE. With the Arabs being overcome by Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492.

And then we formed part of the tourist invasion of 2003.

There are two totally and seductively attractive parts of the city - the Arab garrison fort of the Alhambra and El Albaicin, the old Arab quarter.

The latter sits on the razor back of a ridge of hills opposite over a ravine from the former ...






I loved the small scale of everything - after living in Madrid for a couple of months.

And the folksiness. Like the stall markets set up for each morning in the streets. With their hand-written signs ...



I don't know about where you live in the world, but here in Australia the counter culture and its denizens are now pretty much extinct - or have been transmuted into New Age counterparts (pun, sorry).

So there was that incredibly desirable pang of nostalgic seeing it all still alive and well in this Spanish city ...



One of the best things to do in Granada (I think) is simply hanging out in the Moorish salóns de té ...



It's surprising how long you can happily do this and just how many coffees you can drink. Let it just be said we were usually vibrating when we finally made our way back into the street!

But of course the big deal here is the Moorish fort of the Alhambra. Which is visible from just about everywhere.


You make your way up along a rather grand leafy pathway ...


... dotted with ancient and ruined buildings, seemingly put there to set the right mood ...


And then there's the imposing entrance - and beyond.







Apart from the Moorish buildings themselves and the later Spanish additions ...




... what was particularly seductive about the Alhambra was the gardens, bursting with the new fragrant life in late spring ...



... and the various views out - over internal courtyards ...


... and the city ...


... and the Sierra Nevada mountains ...


The best finish to an Alhambra day is walking back down to the city at dusk.


I was so over-whelmed by the sensuous beauty of the place that I think I took the worst photographs of the four month trip (or of my life) - a paradox if ever there were!

But I'm still enjoying the nostalgia they excite - maybe, and so sadly, at your expense.

A Post-Cho Dose of Levity

Alan in Florida sent me some mostly more than decent one-liners - so I thought I'd spread the word(s) - well, the best ones - and give them a gay spin:

1. When I was born I was given a choice - a big dick or a big brain. I don't remember which I chose.

2. Impotence is Nature's way of saying 'No hard feelings'.

3. There are two words your boyfriend/partner doesn't want to hear - 'Don't' and 'Stop'. Unless you put them together.

4. There are generally three stages in a gay guy's sex life:

• Tri-weekly
• Try Weekly
• Try weakly
  

5. Virginity has a cure.

6. Having sex is like playing bridge - if you don't have a good partner you better have a good hand.

7. An Australian kiss is like a French one - but down under. (TRUE! Is there another kind?!)

8. Why do gay guys find it hard to make eye contact? Cos crotches don't have eyes.

The totally unrelated header photo of Chris Russell was obviously just an attempt to get your attention!

In case you were in any doubt, it is not an image of Alan or I - though you might want to disagree?

Gotta Be One of the Funniest People on the Planet!

What I love about Margaret Cho is that she's really in my world - it's the issues she takes on , the quirky very-on-the-edge sense of humour, the lack of any fained prudery ... .

And that FACE ...


... that would have me paralytic even if she were only reading the phone book ... in a quiet voice ... to herself ... in an elevator!

And that TIMING ... she can do the long long pause that's needed to get the audience quite quiet ... and desperately ready for more. No nasty rushing on and loosing the comic tempo.

Absolutely nothing more needs be said - just 'Heeeeeere's Margaret!'

And don't you just love the feeling of no compromise what-so-ever for a wider and more popular success!

Le Train Bleu - One of My Really Magical Early Experiences

Le Train Bleu Restaurant at Gare de Lyon

Le Train Bleu Restaurant in Paris for me represents one of the most exciting times of living in Europe for the first time as an adolescent.

It's name derives from the Blue Train that, between 1922 and 1938, transported the rich and famous in great style to the French Riviera - traveling between Calais through Paris to La Cote d'Azure. To the new freedoms 'la plage' (the beach) had to offer.

In Paris waiting to catch the train, I climbed stairs to Le Train Bleu restaurent ...


... and entered the still fin de siecle Baroque revival splendor of the restaurant ...




Seated, I watched the platform of the station below and saw the train being prepared for our journey ...



During the meal, I remember tasting the most beautiful looking drink I'd ever seen - an all cloudy and rosy pink standard from the original menu called an 'Eugenie', named after the French Empress and consisting of gin and pineapple and I guess other ingredients my inexperience didn't let me identify.

Today, I looked over the current menu of the restaurant online ...






Seriously yum! And I love the period ring of the names of the last two courses: The Indulgences and The Indiscretions!

After we finished our dinner, I remember the people who took me traveling paying the bill - and I asked to have it as a memento - and amazingly I still do ...


Finally, we were in the train and overnight headed south - to stay with French cousins at Cap d'Antibes ...

My cousin Jean-Louis and his mother Jacqueline


My cousin Jean-Louis and his wife Marie-Claire

Jacqueline at her Riviera home in Cap d'Antibes

The magic of the Riviera experience in the 1920s captured the imagination of so many people.

In 1924, Serge de Diaghilev commissioned a ballet for the Ballet Russe based on this new beach scene. It was called 'Le Train Bleu' ...

Original Ballet Russe Production of 'Le Train Bleu (1924)

... with a stage curtain by Picasso ...


... a libretto by Jean Cocteau, choreography by Bronislava Nijinska (Vaslav Nijinsky's sister), music by Darius Milhaud and costumes by Coco Chanel.

It's an athletic romp - not ballet in any way that's usually thought of. The beginning segment from the Paris Opera Ballet's workshop version is full of hot hot guys in bathing costumes doing cartwheels and other pretty watchable stuff.

Others were also interested in Le Train Bleu experience, such as Agatha Christie ...


As you can see from the menu, the prices are not mind-boggling - so if you're ever in Paris ... see you there!

Susan Boyle - The Inspiration!

Maybe I'm the last person in the known universe not to have heard about the gratifyingly quirky and true-to-herself Susan Boyle ...


... who at nearly 48 and unemployed auditioned this year for 'Britain's Got Talent' in Glasgow.

So if, like me, you missed it, here's the pre-performance interviewing stuff ...

... and the performance itself ...

Susan's joy in singing and her sweetness and optimism is the inspiration!

If this didn't move you - even a little bit - check for a pulse!

By the way, one of the You Tube postings on Susan's audition has (to date) registered over 47 million hits!!!

A Question of Isadora

Isadora Duncan c1914

Not sure whether to tempt fate with one more post on dance ... but then I remembered that Spanish saying 'Vivir con miedo, es como vivir a medias' ('a life lived in fear is a life only half lived')!

So why not!

And I'm after the answer to a niggling question.

So here goes.

From dancer friends, I thought the only footage of Isadora Duncan (1878-1927) dancing was a tiny fragment of her at an outdoor party in the 1920s, doing a few (abandoned) steps and taking the applause of those present.

... with one section, slightly clearer, repeated here ...

But then I found, on a French site, what was described as Isadora dancing at the Acropolis in Athens in the 1920s. Now, she'd been there at that time ...



... and she was free-spirited enough to dress 'scantily' (with respect to the time) ...


But when I looked at this new footage, I was just not sure if it's really her ...

Anyone know anything about this little film?

By the way, there is some footage of Isadora with her Russian husband Serguei Yesenin, traveling on board ship somewhere - which gives the tiniest glimpse of her personality ...

PS My fav photo of Isadora is one taken by Raymond Duncan in 1903 on the Lido in Venice ...

Isadora Duncan on the Lido in Venice in 1903

... where she seems so easy and natural and care-free!

Denis Matvienko - Ballerino at the Bolshoi

After posting on Angel Corella and getting various suggestions about other good dancers around at the moment, of course I did some of my own googling ... and came across Denis Matvienko, a ballerino at the Bolshoi Theatre. Funny - I hadn't noticed the term 'ballerino' sneak into usage - bit it seems to have.

As well as being able to create the right degree of Arabian exoticism for the role, Denis has a great jump and a lovely high floating 'ballon' ...


... quite amazing extensions ...



... a terrific sense of line and sculptural placement of the body in the space of the stage ...


... and - well, you know what this shot is all about ...


Being cute and blond and wearing nothing but pink silk harem pants and a feather is all good.

In the last sequence of the video I've put together, perhaps the menage around the stage needs a bit more 'ornamentation' - a double 'tour en l'air' would be good!

Picky picky picky!