Some of the tea additions made yesterday. China perlas de Jasmin, Secretos de India, Coco Verde and India Chai are a few of what will keep us calm and comfortable in dark nights under the stars on the vast oceans. That and the supreme movie collection we're downloading in this very moment. What do you say about the full collection of Woody Allen's masterpieces, everything interesting from the era of the Nouvelle Vague, all of the favorites - and the ones not yet seen - by Wes Andersson, Martin Scorsese, Tarantino, Luc Besson, Todd Solondz, Fellini and other interesting filmmakers that we find necessary for a long journey like this. I'm sure there will be enough time to, with discussions, turn the world inside out a couple of times, and movies are a great base for conversations, for sure.
Can't wait to find out what new mental and spiritual insights and which new reflections and analyzes of the outside world this journey will give us. Can we leave already?/T
"Il vivace e variegato panorama di iniziative a carattere culturale del territorio vigontino si arricchisce a partire da quest'anno di un importante tassello: la Stagione Teatrale al restaurato teatro comunale Quirino De Giorgio. La circostanza è assai rilevante e degna di menzione poiché con la Stagione Teatrale si è imboccata una strada del tutto nuova a Vigonza, aderente ai più prestigiosi e rinomati teatri italiani. Una svolta che sono certo sarà apprezzata dai cittadini di tutte le età, poiché consente di fruire di un cartellone completo, vario e di qualità. Un particolare ringraziamento a Teatrotergola per l'ottimo lavoro svolto nell'allestimento del cartellone in sinergia con l'Amministrazione Comunale. Sta per iniziare lo spettacolo: buon teatro a tutti" L'Assessore alla Cultura - Innocente Stefano Marangon.
There's still quite a long list of things to purchase for this tour and we're slowly checking off things on this as well. We took some hours off from the polishing today and went out shopping. Besides of finding more delicate bottles to the wine selection, and more to the collection of tea's, I finally found this sweet, little (length only 14 cm!) friend that I've been looking for, for quite some time now. I know that some of you might sigh now and wonder what the hell will she do with ironed clothes on the sea, but this I find a must have for those few days when arriving in beautiful harbors and in need to get dressed up. The same answer goes to the wonderings about why I would bring so much (not much, only ten pairs) high heels on the boat. Simply because a life afloat, doesn't limit us from getting off in land in beautiful locations and indulge in excellent restaurants or hotels, when there's time and space for it. And a women still needs to be a woman, even though she might live on a boat.
This is by the way one of the best Spanish winesI've ever came across and what we're stocking up the boat with. Or mostly me, I must say, cause even though Alex is a frenchman, he rarely drinks wine. He prefers the rum. Either way, we'd definitely need a couple of those delicious bottles of Mas La Plana's onboard. Try it, if you're anything like me and you enjoy a rich, elegant, well balanced and intensively characteristic red wine.
The new, beautiful Ocean hatches from Lewmar are up. Next on the schedule: Mounting of new portholes and exchanging the toe rails. Caos is hauled up for the rest of this week so we'll have plenty of time to fulfill the exterior work on her. The Katadyn watermaker will be here after the weekend, inshallah, so we will also take care of the installation of the new seacocks, later this week. Also, Alex came home with a gift for me last night, it was not roses, lingerie nor champagne, but a Fein angle polisher. Ha! So very thoughtful. So now you know where to find me for the rest of this week. On the yard, polishing the hull of the boat. /T
The year 2010 has been a massive year for Groove Armada. They released their sixth studio album Black Light to great acclaim and followed up with an explosive string of concerts and festival appearances across Europe, America and Australia. Groove Armada have finally come into their own and what do they do? They announce that they are retiring and that the current tour will be their last as a live band. It is no surprise then that we made our way to the O2 Brixton Academy in London to see their penultimate performance with mixed feelings of sadness and excitement.
We took our seats upstairs in the circle balcony and it was all really nice as we listened to a DJ duo churn out a set of pleasant but down-tempo house tunes. It all sounded rather ‘cocktail hour’ and I wondered for a moment if I was in the right place. Any doubts I may have had were erased when support act Retro/Grade hit the stage. They launched straight into a manic hour of banging techno tracks that soon had the audience whooping and cheering and definitely set the tone for the evening to come. Retro/Grade describe their sound as falling into that space between disco and house music and they have done a great job of modernising the early Italo disco sound.
After reaching such a frenzied state with Retro/Grade, the wait for Groove Armada to come on to stage was almost excruciating but eventually Tom Findlay, Andy Cato and SaintSaviour bounded onto the stage and launched straight into “Look Me in the Eye Sister” and “I Won’t Kneel”. The effect was incredible. SaintSaviour’s vocals are more impressive and powerful live than I could ever have imagined and it was thrilling to hear them start the evening with two of my favourite songs from the new album.
SaintSaviour steals all of the attention on stage with her energetic dancing, crazy outfits and amazing voice but she was not the only star vocalist of the evening. Up next was MC M.A.D. who entered the stage to massive applause from the audience. MC M.A.D. is the distinctive ragga voice behind some of Groove Armada’s biggest hits and he has fantastic charisma and stage presence.
Seeing Groove Armada live with this line up at this point in their career was an absolute treat. It was an incredible show and with the help of SaintSaviour and MC M.A.D., Groove Armada delivered some of their biggest hits including “My Friend”, “Paper Romance”, “Cards To Your Heart”, “Fogma” and “Madder”.
All too soon the band left the stage, returning only for a short encore. It was a bittersweet moment as I realised that this was it, the moment where the live stage career of Groove Armada finally came to a close. (I must confess to being in denial though and I somewhat hope that they’ll be back in a year or two). That feeling of melancholy did not last for long though as they gave the most incredible send off when they finally broke into the opening chords of “Superstylin’” to manic cheers from the audience. A fountain of silver and white balloons fell from the air as MC M.A.D. belted out this most favourite of Groove Armada songs and the crowd went crazy. As the band left the stage, all you could hear was the popping of the balloons and the effect was not unlike hearing a fireworks display. It was a thrilling, life-affirming moment and an absolutely fitting send of to a brilliant band.
We haven't been out on the sea for almost two months! Can you tell we're dying to get out there? Today was a brilliant, sunny day for sailing with perfect winds and a calm sea - and it was with envy we today had to observe the boats from a distance. But like we said before, we're leaving no later than next week.. Feels like a lifetime to reach that final day though, if you ask me. /T
Finally we're able to say: "Next week" - when people ask us when's our departure. Now when the sails are ordered, the windpilot up in place and all other missing things ordered and on their way - it feels much lighter and easier, mentally, for us both. There's still plenty of tasks to fulfill, but in the case we do not make them on time, we're still able to leave on the appointed date and get the rest done on the way. I can't even begin to tell you how much we are and have been longing for Sunday the 31st of October, and now when it is oh so close, it somehow feels surreal that we're almost there. But we're taking it easy as it is now, working methodically, getting things in order, organizing ourselves and our home and trying to enjoy the days as they pass. No need to rush or feel stressed, when we can't make time passing neither slower or faster, anyway.
And thank god for the sweet forecast that is promised for the rest of the week. Warm sunshine and a calm breeze is a good help for us to get all of the outdoor work properly done. /T
The new, beautiful Ocean hatches from Lewmar are up. Next on the schedule: Mounting of new portholes and exchanging the toe rails. Caos is hauled up for the rest of this week so we'll have plenty of time to fulfill the exterior work on her. The Katadyn watermaker will be here after the weekend, inshallah, so we will also take care of the installation of the new seacocks, later this week. Also, Alex came home with a gift for me last night, it was not roses, lingerie nor champagne, but a Fein angle polisher. Ha! So very thoughtful. So now you know where to find me for the rest of this week. On the yard, polishing the hull of the boat. /T
