Itsu and Snog are the biggest contenders in the Frozen Yoghurt battle currently raging over London, but which one takes the trophy?
We like the warm chocolate sauce available at Itsu (not pictured as I was on a healthy day) and we also like their selection of fresh fruits:
But texture-wise, Snog's fro-yo is unbeatably smooth and soft. Bonuses for me are "mochi" toppings (here pictured as a side portion) and a choice of 3 flavors (natural, chocolate, green tea) which you can mix & match to your palate's delight:
Quite a while back, I wrote about the topic of book abundance: so many books out there, so little time. How do we choose our next great read? In "I Feel Bad About My Neck" (a brilliant quick read by the way!) Nora Ephron talks about the rapturous-yet-sad sensation experienced when one finishes reading a truly great book. For Ephron this is quite like "emerging from deep under the sea", she needs time to decompress and adjust back to reality and the fact that her next read will probably not come anywhere close in brilliance. Finding truly inspirational books takes time and dedication.
I haven't read anything that required such a period of decompression since Middlemarch a couple of years ago (and I have read piles of books since then!). It is a lengthy novel and I had to persevere to reach the final chapters, but somewhere along its witty and elaborate narrative I got sucked into it. I fell in love with the flaws and the realistic portrayals of its main characters and by the end I was completely sympathetic towards this George Eliot masterpiece which is largely about "our human need to sympathise".
With sympathy appropriately in mind, I signed up to attend a "Bibliotherapy Evening" at The School of Life. It's a social event where we discuss and trade book recommendations, the sort of literary equivalent to "speed-dating". We begin by recollecting in small groups books we read as children and in our adolescence, the "foundation books which shaped us up". What I found amazing was that, despite the fact that we had all grown up in different countries, the women in my group had read and enjoyed more or less the same kind of teenage reads: mystery, romance and lots of Jane Austen (boys' books were entirely different though, lots of sci-fi and Tolkien, ugh!). Girls will be girls anywhere in the world. Or it might just be that girls who attend these events have exactly the same cultural baggage (although I counted at least one girl who was more into self help "spiritual" stuff, who quickly extracted herself from our group).
From then we are sifted into various sub-groups, depending on our current literary interests. What becomes apparent is that after the teenage classics we branch into narrower and narrower reading paths which we seldom stray from, becoming a bit stuck in our "comfort bookshelves". All change then, when we are made to swap reading recommendations, tailor made (as closely as possible) to each other's personal circumstances. This I thought was the best part. I got prescribed "Microserfs" by Douglas Coupland because I am currently on a career break trying to find out "what next", just like the book's main character, an ex-Microsoft programmer who is on a quest to find purpose in life. I shall definitely give it a try. Someone posted a recommendation for Joyce's Ulysses as a "great book in a time of crisis" (we were all encouraged to post reading suggestions onto a big tree mural), phew! I would have shifted this one to the "books we intend to read one day" category. I recommended Amelie Nothomb's "Fear and Trembling" to someone with a keen interest in Japan and the absurdities of work life. Oh, and "Middlemarch" too, of course. How I envy those who shall be reading it for the first time!
With lots of thanks to João for our girly-grunge header!!!
Those of you who know about my ever increasing symptoms of balletomania will not be surprised to hear that I have joined forces with my blogging pal Linda to start an all-things-ballet site (click on picture above to be taken on a tour).
Linda and I became friends because of our mutual appreciation for miraculous dancer Alina Cojocaru, so it's only fitting that one of our first posts in The Ballet Bag should celebrate Alina's return to the stage in her trademark role, Giselle. We were both at Covent Garden to witness the event and it was, by all accounts, one unforgettable evening, with a special run of flowery curtain calls, as DaveM's online album shows - here's one of my favorites:
Alina and her flowers - Photo by DaveM
So what happens here next? Well I have a ton other obsessions to cover and besides, I might still post a few things related to ballet here. There are no rules, just one more site for you to discover! But please bear with us while we fill up our bags with ballet, we have only just started over there...
Dear Monomania Diaries, Now that I have finally learned how to post via email (I know... I am really slow at catching up with new technological trends) I might as well try a different format and communicate as if you were indeed a friend I email regularly. Which you already are in a way... But after 2 years of bi-monthly-ish postings (which are becoming more elusive by the week, mea culpa!) we might need to shake things up a bit. So what's up over these blooming shores? Not much, current obsession is still ballet and now expanding to a bit of opera (since catching Wagner's Der Fliegende Hollander at the ROH a few weeks ago... I now think I need more Wagner in my bloodstream) so it's official: I am becoming BOTH my parents rolled into one! Have mercy! On that note, my edition of "About the House" - the ROH Friends magazine - arrived this morning heralding the new 2009/10 season. It looks like there will be plenty of treats for us fans. My top picks are: Opera: Der Rosenkavalier with Lucy Crowe (she was really impressive as Belinda in Dido & Aeneas earlier this month), Sophie Koch and Thomas Allen A new production of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, which should hopefully spark up some romantic flares around the audience A new production of Handel's Tamerlano, never before seen in the ROH stage, with a leading role for Placido Domingo Massenet's Manon with Netrebko & Villazon, conducted by Tony Pappano. Guaranteed to be a scorcher! Ballet: Golden ballet couple Alina & Johan to open the autumn season in MacMillan's Mayerling, a ballet I have been dying to see live since reading the reviews of the last revival (http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2007/apr/19/dance). The other must-see couple for me is, of course, Ed Watson & Mara Galeazzi. I may also have to make extra room for Rupert Pennefather, who will be debuting as Crown Prince Rudolf with the very promising Mellissa Hamilton as his Mary Vetsera. Rupert impressed me greatly a few days ago in his debut as Giselle's count Albrecht and he just seems to get better and better, but can he break it big in this challenging tour de force ballet? Can’t wait to find out... A new choreography by Wayne McGregor and revivals of his kinetic masterpieces: Chroma and Infra A triple MacMillan bill consisting of Concerto, The Judas Tree and Elite Syncopations, lots of opportunities for MacMillanites like Ed Watson, Leanne Benjamin and Mara Galeazzi to shine. Ashton's Cinderella, which I have never seen beyond youtube bits, is a welcome change from Swan Queens and Princesses Aurora (though the Sleeping Beauty will be back in October for a mammoth run). And what else? Well, I plan to see pretty much everything with Alina & Johan in the cast, plus everything featuring Alina and Steven McRae (which includes Glen Tetley's Sphinx). She has been away for too long so I must catch up, at least that’s my excuse! A+, LNH
It's a fact: the 2008/2009 ballet season has brought so many Swan Lakes as to have made me seasick. It all started last summer with The National Ballet of China's visit, soon followed by their compatriots, the Guangdong Acrobatic Troupe who staged a mutant, half ballet, half circus version (the horror... the horror...). Having spared myself the trouble of sitting through both of these versions I could not avoid crossing paths with swans forever, as the Royal Ballet chose not only to open their autumn season in the comfort zone of the lake but also to revive it last month. The reason? Ballets don't come more "credit crunch proof" than Swan Lake. It sells out. Every time.
Seven months on and five Swan Lake performances later, I have concluded there is an inverse correlation between frequency and proficiency in staging this ballet. This is because the double role of Odette (the Swan Queen)/Odile (evil sorceress), which requires a perfect balance between razor sharp technique and artistry, is possibly the hardest and most fiendish of all dance roles and yet, as you read this, at least one ballerina somewhere in the world is attempting the feat, such is the bankability of this classic.
But few of them succeed. It is hard even for the world's top female dancers. For instance, none of the five starry Odettes/Odiles I saw between October 2008 and March 2009 were bad. Some of them (most notably Royal Ballet's Zenaida Yanowsky) were very good and very moving but none delivered a 100% complete dramatic and technical performance. For that, I have to assemble in my mind's eye bits from one performance to another, puzzle style. For example, where Yanowsky succeeded the least - as Odile, the "Black Swan" (I fully agree with what the Teenage Theatre Critic said of her characterization) - was exactly where Marianela Nunez attained something close to perfection (so malevolent in her expression, so dazzling to watch!). And while ABT's Paloma Herrera was technically astonishing (what a turner she is, great fouettées!) she sketched the most basic of swans, especially when compared to Yanowsky's exotic but very feminine creature. In fact, Zenaida's shimmery steps, rippling arms and wild gaze will linger for long in memory. It is a shame not to have her on video.
Speaking of video, here's a short one where RB's Tamara Rojo - another notable Swan Queen - explains some of the choreographic challenges in Swan Lake:
"Q: While praising the National Ballet [of Canada]'s commission of three new ballets, you've been critical of the Royal Ballet's scheduling 18 Swan Lake performances.
A: It's a scandal. How can you put on Swan Lake 18 times? That presupposes you've got the four or five ballerinas who can dance it. Send me a postcard with their names sometime."
He's right of course. And the more Swan Lakes we experience, the fewer ballerinas will correspond to our aesthetic ideals of the role. Yes, the same goes for any other ballet out there, but here it is exacerbated by the sheer frequency of performance. And on that note, two further Swan Lakes (one of which from the Mariinsky) are expected to flood London this summer... I shall have to take dramamine!
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