expressions 2005

It's that time of year again, Expressions is nearly upon us.

If anybody is at a loose end (or even if you aren't) on Thursday evening at 7.45 pm, then Regent Hall Band and Songsters, together with soloists Philip Cobb and Nick Hanover, will be live in concert at the Rink.

Tickets are a measly £6 and will be available on the door.

Text or email me if you want more information!

Timmy "express yourself" Magic

cultural london

Last weekend I decided I was going to embark on a weekend of culture in London, to see if it can be done by someone who is not a tourist and generally takes the opportunities for granted.

After a fairly lazy Saturday morning, I made the toss up between the Tate Britain at Millbank and the Tate Modern at Bankside (which oddly enough is on the opposite side of the river to the Bank of England.) The fates decided in the coin throw that I would journey to the Tate Modern. This however turned out not to be quite the experience I was hoping for.
I was looking forward to seeing the Frida Kahlo exhibition, but decided not to spend £10 of my hard earned money on it and the queue was massive.
Apart from a couple of pieces and a few artists I had heard of, it was generally rubbish by people who could be anybody as far as I am concerned. There was a pretty cool Jackson Pollock,



a passable Damien Hirst



and a nice video project of rotting fruit by someone I can't remember.

After Army on Sunday, I went with some other people from the corps to the Royal Albert Hall, where Wynton Marsalis was playing his newest commission, All Rise, with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and the London Adventist Chorale, all conducted by Kurt Masur. Principally I was disappointed because I was expecting Blue to be performing.

The other reason that I was a bit disappointed was because it was weird. The fusion between jazz and classical music is one that Wynton Marsalis himself has mastered, having a successful career in both markets, but didn't quite work in this piece.

The programme notes state that the work is in 12 movements, mirroring the 12 bar blues. I found that to be a few to many, and could have coped better with 8 movements. While the orchestral parts were excellently written, they didn't quite mix with the jazz sections. While the classical influences were noticeable, such as Stravinsky in faster sections and Gustav Mahler in the slower sections, it seemed to me that Marsalis, like the rest of his family, suits the jazz scene better.

Thankfully the jazz sections werephenomenall, taking in music from across the spectrum, encompassing New Orleans jazz, ragtime, salsa and samba. This, along with the encore of Embraceable You in Marsalis' inimitable style proved to be the saving grace of what would otherwise be an uninspiring evening.

Timmy "Glad I only paid £4 for the ticket" Magic

feeling (royal) flush? - the poker sensation

Poker. It conjures up some images doesn't it? Smoky bar back-rooms in 1920's Chicago? Sending the Mafia boys round to collect unpaid debts? Today's images of poker are different.

Aged around 8, I joined a new class at school. Thoroughly by chance I came to sit next to a boy named Leyton. Over the next few weeks, I became friends with Leyton.

Then one rainy day, Leyton showed me a new game his parents were playing. It was called 'Poker'.

Flash forward to early 2004, a communal kitchen in Camden, around 2300.

Sitting at the kitchen table are 5 young men and 2 young ladies. Standing behind them is myself, wondering why I was familiar with the basic concept of poker.

The stakes are not particularly high, with a buy in of £1. Still, this situation is one that was repeated numerous times over the following months. In fact, post-band and songsters, the residents of the ground floor of Dennis Holland Lodge would gather to share drinks and a quick few hands of 5 card stud.

So what has caused this resurgencee in gambling?

How has it come about that a 32 year old IT consultant from Surrey can be the new poker legend? Everywhere you look nowadays poker is in your face. On tube trains, billboards, in newspapers and on TV there are adverts aplenty for online casinos, offering higher and better rates of return than the others. One company, vcpoker.com, uses average run of the mill people to advertise.

Poker high roller Nick "The Greek" Dandalos claims that the next best thing to playing and winning is playing and losing. Then again, he is successful. So are people in it to get rich or for the fun of the game? I suspect the former.

Modern day poker, much like the rest of the internet, allows people to fool others perceptions. If a 57 year old builder from Stoke wants to be a rich and successful property developer from the Docklands, he can be. Online poker makes players faceless and nameless. You can be anyone you want to be.

So is poker the new Pokemon? Or will it fade to relative insignificance like so many fads before it?

Timmy "Three of a kind" Magic

giants fall to padres

It is with great sadness that I report the loss of the San Francisco Giants' chance of winning the National League West Division after a 9-1 defeat to the San Diego Padres. The Giants trail the Padres by 5 games with only 4 games left.

After a good start to the series, with a 3-2 win, the Giants lost 9-6 on Tuesday, despite Barry Bonds hitting career home run no. 708.

A final game against the Padres this evening ends the 4 game series, before a 3 game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks ties up the season.

Roll on the post-season and the World Series, where hopefully the other California teams, the LA Angels and the Padres will prosper!

Timmy "No career homers" Magic

tim's hosting

Due to an exceedingly rude bit of hacking, my hosting service has gone down indefinitely. The result of this is that there are now no pictures on the site at all. Thankfully I have everything backed up, and it will hopefully return soon.

Tim

i'm alive!

Contrary to what some of you may believe, I am still alive. I have had a really busy few weeks with mucho banter going on.

For those who haven't heard, my profile is currently wrong, as I am no longer a lazy, tax dodging student. I have entered the world of not-quite-so-lazy, tax dodging employment. Having dropped out of UCL I am looking for a job (offers glady received, preferably lots of money for minimal effort), so am in the midst of applications aplenty.

Hopefully I'll be back in action on Thursday afternoon to impart some of my famed wisdom (?) to you all!

TTFN

Timbob

maynard ferguson - living legend

Last Wednesday night/Thursday morning, I was able to do something I had been looking forward to for months. I went to Ronnie Scott's to see the legendary Maynard Ferguson.

In my humble opinion, words cannot sum up what an experience it was! (Not sure why I am bloggin about it then!) To experince the man and his work is the only way to get the true representation of his skills.

Before the warm up act, we were enjoying drinks when there was a kick to my chair, and on the end of the foot kicking the chair was the man himself, Maynard! Exciting, eh?

After drinks and the warm up act, The Christian Brewer Quartet, Maynard and his Big Bop Nouveau came on stage to rapturous applause and cheering, and started with the same tune he has been using since the 60's (or so I've heard!)

He obviously hit lots of screamy notes but the highlight of the set was the baritone sax player/flautist/scat singer Denis DiBlasio, who has been with the band since the early days, and write arrangements for the band. He can do things to a flute you would never think possible.

Having heard the MF Hit Medley live I can die happy!

Ask me for a listen next time you see me with my iPod!

Timmy "I could play notes like that but I don't want to" Magic

i am tim jones

As the more observant people may have noticed, I am Tim Jones.



See!

But so is this man



Tim Jones the Professor and Head of Theoretical Physics

and this man



Tim Jones the writer, editor, Web administrator, husband, father, political activist, and lover of cricket, music, and many other fine things

and this man too...



Tim Jones 'Stunt Astronomer'

and this one



Tim Jones the Songwriter

and this man here



Tim Jones the Software Developer

and another professor



Tim Jones the STS/Sumitomo Professor of Electronic Materials

and a former Pittsburgh Pirates player, Tim Jones.

Or the visual effects artist from Alien vs. Predator Tim Jones

This one is a comedian



Tim Jones the Funny Man

or how about



Tim Jones the 2000 Builder of the Year

or



Tim Jones the Senior Veterinary Investigation Officer at the Veterinary Laboratory Agency Langford which is now part of DEFRA



or research assistant Tim Jones.

Here is another Baseball player



oddly enough, named Tim Jones.

Here comes another one,



Tim Jones the Music lecturer at Exeter University

And yet another baseball player, who made his debut on my 3rd birthday in 1988, Tim Jones

So there we have it, I have a pretty common name!

Tim Jones

© all images are copyright of their respective owners

london terror

Here I am, safe and well at home, blogging in the midst of the 2nd London terror attacks in as many weeks. Seven days ago the country was remebering theose lost fourteen days ago. Fourteen days ago the country was reacting to the news that our country was under attack.

The solidarity shown throughout the world has been unbelievable, with Prime Minister Blair stating that the siuation is lamentable, and that terrorism will not stop daily life in the city.

Despite the competition currently taking place between Australia and England in St John's Wood, Australia and their PM, John Howard, have pledged their unfailing support in the war on terror.

i left my hat in san francisco!

Yo! If you have noticed the lack of activity on los blog on the past couple of weeks, I have a good reason. I have been in, among other places, San Francisco.

On Tuesday 28th, I flew with my parents to San Francisco for a few days work and a few more days holiday. Mum and Dad received an invitation from a fellow ICO colleague of Mum's, now DC in the Golden State division, to go and do the Divisional Family Camp.

After the 10 hour flight, we arrived to beautiful sunshine and a short drive to the house we would be staying at. After a quick rest, we met up with some of the other officers in the division and had a nice Italian meal.

Wednesday was our first proper day in SF and we took a quick tour of the city, seeing Fisherman's Wharf, Lombard St ("the crookedest street in the city"), Ghiradelli Square (home of a fab ice cream and chocolate shop) and various other landmarks. We did go for a quick walk on the Golden Gate Bridge, but it was so foggy that we couldn't see it. We continued not to see it throughout our stay and are thus convinced that it doesn't actually exist.

Thursday was the day that we set off to Camp Redwood Glen to prepare for the weekend. We stayed at the DC's other house, which is assigned specifically as the DC's. It was on this Thursday that I encountered two firsts. It was the first time I had ever eaten Mexican food. Mexican is nice, and I thoroughly recommend it. It was also the first time I had ever seen a black widow spider. In case you weren't sure, the black widow is one of the most venomous spiders in America, and although not enough venom is injected to kill a grown human, it will certainly hospitalize you for a few days.

I will hopefully return on Tuesday to recount the rest of the week's tales.

Tim