Neil Oliver's The History of the British Isles in 100 Places

I went to see Neil Oliver at his presentation of The History of the British Isles in 100 Places, and I throughly enjoyed it.

Neil Oliver was a funny man during his presentation, appearing from the opposite of the stage from where a stage light shone (asking "Is the coast clear?"), and while he giving the introduction, he showed a photo of a boy at Culloden Battlefield when there was trees on the site and said "That girl is me" (Neil Oliver always has long hair).

The talk started from the earliest known activity of people on the British Isles right up the present day (with a joke of Brexit).  It wasn't all about the biggest moments of history, some of them were about smaller moments in history.  One story was about two childhood friends who fought on the opposite of the English Civil War, one writing a letter that hinted how much they wanted to avoid fighting each other.  Instead of listing the 1940 Battle of Britain, Oliver listed the German occupation of the Channel Islands.  One sad story was the enslavement of Irish people from an entire town by pirates from the Barbary States.

Being from Northumberland, I felt happy that he listed Bamburgh Castle and Lindisfarne amount the 100 places.  At the book signing after the show (I bought my book during the interval), I said to him that he missed Vindolanda, a Roman fort south of Hadrian's Wall where wooden tablets with writing from Roman times were found preserved, giving a glimpse into Roman life on the frontier of its empire, and has become a national treasure, but Oliver and I smiled where he said that was so much to put in.  I forgive him, having an interest in history I can understand, there's so much in the British Isles, it mustn't have been easy choosing the 100 places.

I hope for more presentations like Neil Oliver's.  Who knows? He might come back to do another presentation.

I hope that you will come, see and enjoy at Eden Court.

105th Blog Post - New Website for Eden Court

I have important news.

I have heard that Eden Court's website will be getting a redesign, but I haven't heard when the new website will begin.  Hopefully, I'll let you know when the website is due to appear.  Meanwhile the booklet with the classes at Eden Court will no longer be handed out for everyone who wishes to visit the classes, instead they'll have to find them on the website.

I hope that you will come, see and enjoy at Eden Court.

Review of Bohemian Rhapsody

I have seen the film Bohemian Rhapsody, and I enjoyed every moment of it.

The film follows the story of Freddie Mercury and follows how the band Queen began to one of it finest moment, the LiveAid concert of 1985.  Being born the year after Freddie Mercury died of AIDs, I grew up listening to Queen, and the film allowed me to see how Freddie managed around his sexuality, how the band created some of their greatest hits and how Freddie manages to get Queen on the Wembley stage at LiveAid.

Rami Malek, who portrays Freddie Mercury, did a good performance, so good that when he performed the songs, I couldn't tell if it was him, or a voice-over recording of Freddie.  Gwilym Lee and Joseph Mazzello as Brian May and John Deacon respectfully certainly had the looks.

I find it sad that Freddie Mercury was lost to the terrible illness at the age of 45.  If only he could only knew the influence he would give to singers like Robbie Williams, Adele and Kate Perry.

I look forward to the release on DVD, then I'll be able to watch it all again, let the music Rock the house, and know that Freddie Mercury, and Queen, are the Champions of the World.

Here's a link to Queen's YouTube website for their songs and insights of Bohemian Rhapsody.

I hope that you will come, see and enjoy at Eden Court.