So… I thought it was time for a quick life update!
As everyone and his wife probably now knows, we’ve moved back to my home city of Manchester!
We’ve got a gorgeous city centre flat, ten minutes walk away from my work, and opposite from where I used to live before I moved. Very very happy with it, and we’re already looking forward to having friends come to visit.
The past few weeks have been a pretty stressful slog, and it’s great to have come through it on the other side, and to finally be winding down and settling in.
It’s been great fun spending the GDP of a small African country at IKEA and John Lewis, getting all of the new stuff for the apartment, and I think we’ve ended up with it looking awesome! We even spent £80 as a ‘treat’ on an amazing/huge clock!
If you’re interested in seeing the new apartment, I shall be doing an updated ‘video walkthrough’ next week once I’ve got the internet at home to be able to upload the video.
Max really seems to be liking it up here, which is fab, and we’re both incredibly appreciative to anyone who has helped support us during this move, especially Andrew for driving us all over the country in just 24 hours.
I need to start off my CIMA studies again soon, so I’m currently looking at getting all of that scheduled in – again, dependant on the internet at home (I still can’t believe how long it takes to get connected up in this day and age!). Once I complete this first stage (equivalent to a degree), you’ll all totally have to address me as Mr. Gari Davies (CIMA CBA). I will INSIST upon the designatory letters being used! haha!
I’m off work on Monday coming, and I also have a whole week of from Monday 20th February – can’t wait, will be an awesome chance to crash out. If anyone’s about and fancies catching up (or wants to visit already), please drop me an email!
Speaking of work, it is insane just how little has changed since I was last working out of the Manchester office properly – bar a few people changing hair colour/style, it is all exactly the same! It is totally eerie! Very bizarre when you’re talking to someone and continuing conversations from 2007 ha!
Right, enough from me – I’m about on Facebook and Twitter a fair bit at the moment, as I’m forced to cane my 3G mobile internet (constantly with me!) until I get sorted at home and can go back to my iMac, so go on, hit me up folks
So, for all you curtain twitchers out there, here are some pictures of our brand new apartment in Manchester City Centre!
Should probably add that the apartment isn’t quite as ‘brown’ or ‘peachy’ as these pretty naff estate agent’s pictures make it look – it’s very light and airy too, and incredibly spacious! Hurrah!
Best yet, it’s just over the road from where I used to live, before I moved to London, and only 10 minutes walk to work each morning.
Now, here’s where Max and I desperately need some help, and though we’re not expecting anything to come of this, we’re desperately trying any avenue possible to try to sort out the actual move itself. Below is what we really need, and if you feel that you would be willing to help, you would have our eternal gratitude, as well as a bottle or two of something nice!
We are moving on Saturday 28 January 2012, and this date is fixed.
The cheapest way appears to be to hire a van from Europcar, and go from London to Bristol, from Bristol to Manchester, and then for the driver to go back from Manchester to London. (or any other variation of this twisty location map – starting in Bristol or Manchester actually makes it a lot cheaper for us).
Ideally, we’d need the person to check out the van at, say, 11am on the Saturday, and return it back to the same depot by 10am on the Sunday.
Annoyingly, it is the law in the UK that the person who books the van has to have a credit card, and has to be in the name of the driver. I would happily send an same-day bank payment to the person who agrees to do this prior to any payment being made on their credit card – for this reason, we’d prefer to find someone who we’ve chatted to or known for some time if possible…
I imagine that you will need to be able to drive a van / have the necessary bit on your license.
We will also cover the insurance costs, which prevents an excess charge, but the Europcar may ‘pre-auth’ the card for £250, which does not get taken from the card at all, and is ‘released’ as soon as the van is returned unharmed.
We’ll pay via same day payment for the petrol costs too, as they provide a full tank, we just need to ensure there is a full tank when it goes back. Any re-fulling on the way will be paid for by us directly at the pumps.
We calculate this as a round trip of 500 miles (let’s all sing The Proclaimers! heh) and appreciate that it could be a long day. We are more than willing to build in plenty of rest stops, and for the person who drives to crash at ours for a few hours on the Saturday evening before heading back on the Sunday morning.
I know that this seems a pretty awkward and unattractive deal, and it is rapidly becoming a HUGE headache for us. Simply, we cannot afford £900 to get a man and a van service to move both of us, and at around a third of the cost, this is really our only option, and is actually the very last hurdle between us and Manchester! It would absolutely kill me for the wheels to fall off (no pun intended) just as everything’s fallen into place so well!
Failing that, if anyone fancies letting us rent their van, or can put us in touch with any non-exorbitantly priced movers, we’d love you long-time too!
If anyone is feeling generous, please do feel free to contact me via email, Twitter or Facebook.
So, here’s the skinny-mocha-choca-cappucino – I am very pleased to say that Max and I are moving in together… and in doing so, will be relocating back to my hometown, Manchester!
Today, I handed in my notice with my employer, and officially kicked off arrangements for moving back home.
It’s a bit of a bold decision, as neither of us have yet secured new employment to go to in Manchester, though both of us have been casually applying for roles since around September, and so this is not something that we’re rushing in to – after a few near misses, we figure, why make things complicated for employers, simplify our situation and we’ll no doubt enjoy success with interviews and role placements etc.
As I am on a rather lengthy seven week notice period, we figured that too was probably working against me, so it’s great to now have a final date to be able to provide employers, again, simplifying the situation. After seven years, four months and fourteen days (yup, I started off there as a wee bairn on 13 Sept. 2004), my last day at Ticketmaster / Live Nation Entertainment will be Friday 27 January 2012.
Incidentally, if anyone reading this in Manchester is currently recruiting (especially in the live entertainments or accounting industries) – please contact me for a copy of my CV!!
Max and I will be renting a city centre apartment in due course, and we’re both MEGA-EXCITED about the relocation, which will hopefully happen on Saturday 28 January 2012.
We’re already in Manchester for a pre-Christmas visit between Monday 12th and Thursday 16th December, and then travelling back up to stay in the uber-classy 4* Mint Hotel over Christmas, enabling me to spend Christmas with my family for the first time in about 9/10 years!
If any pals from Manchester want to catch up during this period, or after the relocation, that would be fantastic, and if anyone is possibly able to help us out, in any way, big or small, during the move (likely Saturday 28 January), then we would love you FOREVER!!!
Leaving London will still, however, be sad for me; it was the first place where I really felt that I had a real friendship base behind me, and, with some folk, I have been through a lot with them. I don’t think I’ve ever made my love-hate relationship with London a secret, and so I’m sure to many this won’t really come as a surprise. Over time, I’ve beaten it down to next-to-nothing, however, why settle and endure tolerance when you can readily have love – which is how I feel about my hometown! Even better, there are FAR fewer Tories up north!! I will, of course, make sure that I see anyone who wants to meet up before the move, and of course, our as-of-yet-non-existant couch is always open to folk who fancy a visit up to us in Manchester! I sincerely mean it when I say that I would not want to lose touch with anyone!
I always said as I was going through College that when I was 30, I hoped to be in London, and with the beginnings of a successful career behind me. I am very proud that on June 30th 2007, at the age of 21, I made that happen, owing to my then boss (and now Financial Controller) spotting my talent at work, and that now, at 26 years old, I feel satisfied enough with my achievement to know that I’ve fulfilled my ambition, and can confidently walk away from it, back to the place I’ve always called home.
The thing that I am going to miss most of all, of course, are the West End shows! Although I will try to get down as much as I can to see shows, the fact that I’ll now undoubtedly be paying for them (in addition to hotel and train costs), means that I fear the number of occasions may, regrettably, be much diminished (though feel free to send me comps and offer me sofas to sleep on!! ). All that said, the West End no longer excites me as much as it once did, something which I recently covered in my editorial piece. I am FAR more excited about the touring circuit at the moment, as producers finally seem to have woken up to the notion that regional theatre can also be a big money earner, and thus the quality of productions has shot up immensely in my opinion. If anyone happens to work in theatre in Manchester and again wishes to get a blogger/reviewer on board, please do get in contact!!
In all of this, the most important person to thank is Max – it’s great that he wants to move in with me, and even greater that he’s prepared to uproot his life, and move 200 miles from Bristol all the way up to Manchester, pretty much just on the basis of a short 4 day trip in August, and on my assurances. I know that he’s happy to make the move, and not just doing it for me, but it really does mean a lot to me that he’s prepared to make this incredible leap of faith – leaving family, friends, his job and such, behind.
Oh, and by the way – if you think that you’re going to miss me THAT much (and let’s face it, you totally will! ), you could totally keep up with my adventures via my social media sites – feel free to Stalk Me!
This song seems an apt way to end the post – thank you very much for your interest in what is going on in my life, and I am very much looking forward to the slightly daunting adventure ahead!
Been a bit of a while since I last posted an update, and this was a totally unscheduled one, if I am honest, but I have just had a moment of absolute clarity; the kind that probably only comes around a few times in a lifetime…
Just said goodbye to Max, after spending pretty much all of our time together since Wednesday afternoon, we went to see Batman Live, and then I took him up to Manchester to meet the family and to show him around my hometown and to also take him to Pride.
I have realised just how much I like our relationship. Unlike relationships that I have had in the past, which have more often than not proved rather stormy in places, four months in, Max and I are still getting along amazingly well, there’s no drama, no arguments, no silly mind-games, no illusions – we’re just simply two chaps who love each other heaps, and enjoy snuggling up and doing geeky things! To say that it is ‘effortless’ would be a bad word, as of course we both put effort in to the relationship (arguably he more than I, as I, as I am sure many people already figure, am an absolute pain in the arse to try to keep reigned in; I get FAR too hyper and excitable hehe!!), but you get the drift!
Due to distance, we tend to spend a lot of time together in large blocks of time, such as long weekends, and the like – however, if you can find yourself missing someone not 30 seconds after they have left your space, having spent a continuous 100 hours together, then I really think that says something. I am very excited and chuft, and I am looking forward to seeing how this all pans out – but I have a very good feeling about this one, way more so than any other lad I’ve had a long-term relationship with in the past!
Spending time in Manchester has really helped me to focus on my longer term goals too. Long time friends, and online contacts, may remember that this time last year, I threw a huge wobbler and was pretty much ready to move my life back to Manchester, thwarted only by my inability to transfer my job back up North!
On reflection, after a fantastic few days back on my home turf, I have realised that I DO still, very much, want to end up back in Manchester, however, I have also now totally reconciled the fact that London is a means to an end, and that I may have to stick it out for the short-to-medium term future…. and hey, that’s totally manageable/do-able!
Going back home just as Manchester was in the grips of the I LOVE MCR campaign was absolutely THE best thing I could ever have done. Partly due to this outpouring of love across the city, and also as Max and I revisited a lot of places that used to be important to me, I totally fell in love with my city all over again, and the proud Mancunian surfaced so much, I cannot even begin to explain. It was like finding my identity again!
I am also really comfortable with my online presence at the moment too; I feel that I have a really good bunch of online friends at present, and some of the bad eggs have finally been weeded out. It’s hard to explain really, but I do inadvertently put so much of my life online, largely due to force of habit (I was social networking before most of you had even turned on an Acorn Computer, and I’m still only just 26 years old hehe!), and so, given I don’t seem to be the most popular person in real life (something I am trying to work on, and thanks to pals IRL who put up with me hehe!), it’s really amazing to have a whole mixed web of people online that I can relate to, and have fun with!
Hopefully, with this new-found clarity, direction and focus, I will take this and apply it to real life. Maybe set myself some goals and aims, and ensure that I am much more proactive in working toward these – as realistically, there is nothing that I cannot accomplish! (well, except teleport, but I’m totally working on this right now!! hehe).
Thank you for reading, and sorry if this sounded like some kind of ‘I want to convert you to my church’ thing – it’s not, but I would like to convert you to The Book Of Mormon-ism! hehe! (this musical remains swell, very much looking forward to a West End transfer heh).
… hmm… the title of this blog sounds a little too much like Debbie Does Dallas for my liking… but I’m gonna roll with it!
Anyone who follows me on twitter will know of the recent pinings that I had for my boyfriend, Karl, over the Christmas period, as he went home for two weeks for his graduation and then the holidays. Fortunately he’s back now (YAY!!), but I will admit to missing him an awful lot, and so ended up heading to Birmingham for the day on Saturday 18th December to have a bit of a random ‘catch up’ day.
Having not been to Brum in the past (I’d only skirted through it back when the West Coast mainline used to default that way), I was totally unsure of what to expect… though, well, I knew that it couldn’t be as awesome as my hometown of Manchester, naturally!! heh. To be fair though, it runs a very very close parallel!
That Saturday turned out to be one of the snowiest days that we had in the recent spell of cold weather, and whilst it made the journey home a little chaotic, it really helped us to have an awesome day in Birmingham, making everything just that extra bit more magical – Karl and I both loved it!!
Alas, the weather may have scuppered some of Karl’s sightseeing tour, however I get the sense that I managed to see all the main points and I do have to admit, Birmingham city centre is actually rather nice – I’d certainly have no problem upping sticks and moving there (how I tend to judge a place); from a first feeling, I definitely like it more than I like London
Karl took some pictures from the day, which can be viewed by clicking here.
We also went over to the Cineworld to see Megamind (I’d been to see it the night before with my housemate, but liked it enough to insist that Karl saw it too heh). If you’re stuck for a film to watch, we’d both heartily recommend it!
So yeah, there you have it – I confess to being something of a fan of Birmingham! (though perhaps not so much when it steals my boyfriend away heh!!).
Once again, it is that time of year when I get really really super hyper and get to do really silly things and be ‘creative’ – though, that said, this year I’ve decided against anything too ‘creative’ heh (one year, I got so excited on Christmas eve that I genuinely didn’t sleep until February!).
In fact, my super-gorgeous boyfriend Karl already beat me to doing what I was going to do today – here’s a marvelous disco JibJab of the two of us and some friends getting down and going all Gloria on our bad-selves! (I love twirly Gari and the bum-bump I get to do with Karl heh!).
Karl also did a video for the True and Proper Royal Household and House of Trouser (aka, my housemates and I) which I love too heh:
VERY excited for tomorrow, just been sorting out the last of Karl’s presents (I am fit to burst I am that excited for giving them to him, even if we do have to Skype) and my housemate, Danny, has very very VERY kindly offered to cook us a three course Christmas lunch tomorrow (and won’t let me help or even kick in some cash for the ingredients!!).
Here’s hoping that whatever you’re doing, and especially, if like me, your plans have changed constantly over the last few weeks, that you’re all set to have an amazing Christmas!
To be absolutely honest, the only thing that could make my Christmas even more perfect is if I were spending it with Karl, but then that’s just cos I’m a gooey mushy guy heh! Really can’t wait for him to get back to London on Monday, and can’t wait to see him on Skype in the morning when we open our presents together! \o/
I will be about on Skype tomorrow if any of my friends wanna wish me a Merry Christmas in person (ask for details if you need!), and if anyone would like to send me an e-card, I can happily give out my email address!
I must be getting old, as I’ve got a definite shortage of cards this year… I have one from my fab friends Tom and Tom, one from all the lovely ticketing people at the All England Lawn Tennis Club (Wimbledon) who I worked with over the summer, and one from Ed Milliband – I NEED MORE PLEASE!!!! heh).
The Queen made a visit to open the brand new KPMG building in Canary Wharf earlier on today, and, thanks to my getting rather lost in the vast and complex catacombs of underground shopping malls at the Wharf, I happened to stumble out right outside the KPMG building just as she was going in. Being a good citizen, I waited outside for her in the freezing winds for a whole 45 minutes until Her Maj came back out and gave us all a little smile and a wave
T’was all rather surreal if I am honest, but it was rather bolstering to see such a good display of patriotism (and it being for all the right reasons!) – was rather funny to watch as she looked quite grumpy whilst getting ready to go into the car, and then, as if someone had switched on a light switch, she suddenly became aware of the hundred or so people outside and did the whole wave/smile thing.
I posted the below to twitter, and the response from @ElphaBob made me chuckle something rotten, so I figured that I’d share heh!
I’m just home from seeing the 25th Anniversary touring production of the classic Boubil-Schonberg musical, Les Misérables.
Simply put, I cannot rave enough about this production – I’m at a loss as to where to even start with the review, there’s so much I would like to discuss! I had been chasing all across the UK for an invite to come and see this anniversary production (and had been doing so for over a year!) before I had a last-minute chance come up yesterday, and I am so so chuft to have finally seen it (and yes, I did get sniffly during bits of it heh!) – the wait was well worth it, and it was made even more special by getting to see it at the Barbican, where the magic all began on October 8th 1985 – exactly two months after I was born!
First off, I feel that I should put this review and production in context – considering it as is, i.e. a (just about Off) West End show, this production is totally awesome, however when taken as intended, as a piece of touring theatre, this is absolutely phenomenal. There are simply no other words for it!
Coming from Manchester originally, I’ve sat through more than my share of touring productions, and whilst they’re usually fair-to-good, they’re not even close to being comparable with the quality of this production. The money, care and attention that has been devoted to this production only serve to do the brand proud and this actually now excites me for the precedent and legacy that this hopefully establishes for other touring productions, who should see that if you get it right, you can charge those premium prices out in the regions, and really provide a top quality show to the masses!
Let’s move on to the casting for this 25th Anniversary production, and I have to hand it to casting director, James Orange, it was absolutely spot on! Flicking through the program, it transpires that nearly everyone in the cast was incredibly stage experienced, and there’s actually not one of the many principles who I’ve not already seen in at least one other show it would seem.
I’m very much inclined to agree with the New York Post who said that the casting of John Owen-Jones was second only to Colm Wilkinson, Owen-Jones was absolutely phenomenal in the role. West End stalwart Earl Carpenter’s portrayal of Javert gave me several of the vocal highlights of the night (check out his version of Stars below – I can’t rave about it enough, WOW!) and he was perfect in the role, and I’d also like to call out Rosalind James who played Eponine, as she really moved me with her hair-tingling rendition of ‘On My Own’).
I have to say, that I had a few early issues with Fantine, played by Madalena Alberto, and I somehow managed to sit through I Dreamed A Dream without feeling a shred of emotion… which was absolutely unforgivable in my opinion! Perhaps I was comparing it too much to Ruthie’s vocal, however I really didn’t get the feeling that Fantine was on the edge, had realised that she’d lost everything and had started to become so bitterly jaded. Acting wise, she was great, and in the following scene, I felt all those emotions, it’s just a pity that they didn’t seem to connect through the vocal. I should add that this isn’t any kind of criticism of the actress (after all, I am just a blogger!), however for such a high-profile song, I just think that it needs to be absolutely perfect and credible as I feel that a lot of values surrounding the whole production rest on it, and of course this may well influence the perception of others who are perhaps less-well-acquainted with the Les Mis story, and ultimately how they may judge it.
My friend, Brett, and I both agreed on the above point, and we also had a few other minor likeability issues with other characters in Act One (we’re looking at the Thénardiers here!), but these were all swiftly ironed out by Act Two and in the end, the other characters that we’d initially questioned, we found we ultimately loved a lot!
Of course, this production also has a certain (and yummy!) Gareth Gates in it! Whilst he’s vocally no Michael Ball, we found that in Act Two he really got into his stride with the acting and was actually rather good in the role. His portrayal did leave us with perhaps a more naive and ‘innocent’ Marius as opposed to the confident cocksure Michael Ball portrayal, however I think that this really worked with this production and helped make his character a little more likable!
Much has been made of the staging of this 25th Anniversary production, and rightly so, for it is a thing of magnificent beauty! The use of the video technology, props and all of the flats is simply remarkable and not something seen on the touring theatre circuit on this scale before. Certain moments of the production (e.g. Javert’s Soliloquy) really lend themselves to the use of this technology and the attention to detail was fantastic!
Hats off also go to Peter White and his orchestra, for it was absolutely divine to hear a full orchestra in the pit for this show (the decline of the use of which is my biggest bug-bear about the West End at the moment). I found it especially awesome when the horns kept coming in during the opening bars of At The End Of The Day, I actually got goosebumps and shivered – my favourite bit of the entire score.
Perhaps the only real ‘let-down’ for me (aside from I Dreamed A Dream) was how the end of Act One was staged – I felt that there could have been a more visually arresting display to close the act on, however this is only a very minor niggle, and certainly doesn’t impact on my over-all enjoyment of this production.
A quick note now about the Barbican itself, if I may indulge slightly, for I have never been to this venue before. I loved it! The swooshy doors at the wings of the auditorium were fantastic (I want some!), and the seating at the theatre was perfectly placed from what I could tell / experienced. We were sat in the centre at the back of the stalls, next to the tech desk, and we had a perfect view over everything. I liked that when I went to buy some water during the interval, the shopkeep asked if I would like it at room temperature or cold – I’ve never had a choice before! (FYI, cold!).
Speaking of the interval, those huge jaw like safety curtains are very scary. Also, when I went to use the bathroom during the interval, I came across something that I have *NEVER* seen happen before – all of the men that were in there using the facilities *ahem* (and there must have been about 30) were all whistling along in time to Master Of The House – heh!! Amazing! (and yes, of course I joined in, heh!).
The audience, incidentally, were the most well-behaved that I’ve ever seen an audience be – nobody got up to go to the loo halfway through the Act, there was little coughing, and no sweet paper rustling – everybody was sat captivated completely by the action on the stage, and the thunderous standing ovation that the cast received at the curtain call was, without doubt, the loudest and most enthusiastic that I have ever heard in any theatre that I’ve been in – wow!
The one production that I’d now really like to see would be the O2 25th Anniversary Gala performance on 3rd October (alas, I’ve been told there’s no way I’ll be able to get invited to see that, gah) – which looks to be absolutely epic! If you’ve got tickets to this, I am very jealous!
All in all, I will hands down say that seeing Les Misérables at the Barbican has been the theatrical highlight of 2010 – I cannot praise this production highly enough and would urge everyone to go and see it if presented with the opportunity!
The Les Misérables 25th Anniversary tour will end on October 2nd at the Barbican after a near-year long tour of the UK, so this really is your last chance to see it! GO!
haha!
