DAY 40 SATURDAY 31ST OCTOBER, HOME…
After 40 days, what a relief to be home. Now, what to do with that three-foot high pile in my in-tray… You know, I think it can wait a day or two..
END.
Monday 2 November 2009
DAY 39 FRIDAY 30th OCTOBER, HONG KONG
Feeling very achy – I hope my body is not going to rebel now the 40 days is up. Spent the day packing, tying up loose ends and buying my son a camera for his birthday. It might just have been the shops in Kowloon but I didn’t notice it being any cheaper than the UK. Good camera though – ideal for him. You can take a picture and then electronically draw over it or add patterns, symbols, etc…extraordinary what our kids have access to. And then to the airport…one last wait for the plane (taken up, as so often, by writing this blog…). Here, then, are some summary reviews from the past few weeks:
‘IN SEARCH OF BEETHOVEN’ A Phil Grabsky film
“Superb…The film will give those who already know about Beethoven enormous pleasure,
and provide any receptive 12-year-old with an ideal introduction to the man and his music”
The Telegraph (UK)
‘beautifully lensed and intelligently crafted’
Variety (USA)
“TEN OUT OF TEN! The best film I’ve seen about a composer!” The Sun Herald, (Australia)
“A hit...so terrific I wept”
Mail on Sunday (UK)
“Gripping”
Wall Street Journal (Europe)
“Expertise and passion combined......high-class”
New York Times (USA)
‘Sensitive & meticulous’
THE AUSTRALIAN
“One of the finest movies about a great musician I've ever seen”
The Observer (UK)
‘splendid ..a revelation to the uninitiated and a joy to music lovers’
The LA Times (USA)
‘an extraordinary collection of musicians, conductors and musicologists”
Time Out London
“impressive”
Village Voice, New York (USA)
“An endearingly human biography….every bit as wonderful as In Search of Mozart.”
Chicago Tribune (USA)
“Captivating”
Minnesota Public Radio (USA)
“The musical examples are exemplary – including a brilliant 9th Symphony”
Herald Sun (Australia)
“One of the best films I’ve seen about a musician – it gets close to the mystery that is creativity”
Financial Review (Australia)
Let’s hope it gets ‘bums on seats’ otherwise it remains just as hard as ever, maybe even harder, to make another one – and I really do want to make IN SEARCH OF HAYDN now.
Feeling very achy – I hope my body is not going to rebel now the 40 days is up. Spent the day packing, tying up loose ends and buying my son a camera for his birthday. It might just have been the shops in Kowloon but I didn’t notice it being any cheaper than the UK. Good camera though – ideal for him. You can take a picture and then electronically draw over it or add patterns, symbols, etc…extraordinary what our kids have access to. And then to the airport…one last wait for the plane (taken up, as so often, by writing this blog…). Here, then, are some summary reviews from the past few weeks:
‘IN SEARCH OF BEETHOVEN’ A Phil Grabsky film
“Superb…The film will give those who already know about Beethoven enormous pleasure,
and provide any receptive 12-year-old with an ideal introduction to the man and his music”
The Telegraph (UK)
‘beautifully lensed and intelligently crafted’
Variety (USA)
“TEN OUT OF TEN! The best film I’ve seen about a composer!” The Sun Herald, (Australia)
“A hit...so terrific I wept”
Mail on Sunday (UK)
“Gripping”
Wall Street Journal (Europe)
“Expertise and passion combined......high-class”
New York Times (USA)
‘Sensitive & meticulous’
THE AUSTRALIAN
“One of the finest movies about a great musician I've ever seen”
The Observer (UK)
‘splendid ..a revelation to the uninitiated and a joy to music lovers’
The LA Times (USA)
‘an extraordinary collection of musicians, conductors and musicologists”
Time Out London
“impressive”
Village Voice, New York (USA)
“An endearingly human biography….every bit as wonderful as In Search of Mozart.”
Chicago Tribune (USA)
“Captivating”
Minnesota Public Radio (USA)
“The musical examples are exemplary – including a brilliant 9th Symphony”
Herald Sun (Australia)
“One of the best films I’ve seen about a musician – it gets close to the mystery that is creativity”
Financial Review (Australia)
Let’s hope it gets ‘bums on seats’ otherwise it remains just as hard as ever, maybe even harder, to make another one – and I really do want to make IN SEARCH OF HAYDN now.
DAY 38 THURSDAY 29th OCTOBER, HONG KONG
I can’t sleep in these rooms – with the air con on it’s too noisy and off it’s too hot… So up early and a quick visit to the gym. Emails till 11 when I do an hour-long phone interview. I then head off to meet lovely man Ben Cruft at the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts. Fantastic facilities…and a very interesting man. Bit of an Haydn expert too – which may well come in handy..
More reviews coming in from Australia and rumours are it’s doing extremely well in the cinemas in which it’s playing. Not going to be any kind of smash hit but may do respectably well. After Ben, I hopped in a cab to the Hong Kong University… 260 people turned up and they thoroughly enjoyed the film – I really will redouble efforts to get more screenings here.
I can’t sleep in these rooms – with the air con on it’s too noisy and off it’s too hot… So up early and a quick visit to the gym. Emails till 11 when I do an hour-long phone interview. I then head off to meet lovely man Ben Cruft at the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts. Fantastic facilities…and a very interesting man. Bit of an Haydn expert too – which may well come in handy..
More reviews coming in from Australia and rumours are it’s doing extremely well in the cinemas in which it’s playing. Not going to be any kind of smash hit but may do respectably well. After Ben, I hopped in a cab to the Hong Kong University… 260 people turned up and they thoroughly enjoyed the film – I really will redouble efforts to get more screenings here.
DAY 37 WEDNESDAY 28th OCTOBER, HONG KONG
Woke up feeling a bit rough. Really need to go outside for some fresh as opposed to recycled air. Had a little walk about but spent most of the day on the computer and starting to read up about Haydn. Caught the ferry from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island just as the sun was going down as I had appointment with the host of tomorrow’s screening. Walking through the overpasses, tunnels and shopping malls is a bewildering experience – you really do feel like a white blood cell coursing through the veins of some mighty beast. At random, I dropped into a clothes shop – picked up a suit and asked the price. £5000! Yes, that’s right…£5000. Apparently their target market is rich Chinese businessmen who come to HK with suitcases full of money…only they can afford this stuff. I laughed and left. Everyone has earphones for music or their telephones – so strange: I mean virtually everyone has these little black wires coming out of their ears…Like one big security company… Had stunning dinner and thoroughly nice time with Professor Daniel Chua who is something of a Beethoven expert himself but is also hosting the screening at the Hong Kong University. I really am finding people here are tremendously nice. Glad to return to the relative quiet and solitude of my hotel room though – you could get lost in the bowels of these huge department stores and never emerge..
DAY 36 TUESDAY 27th OCTOBER, HONG KONG
Ventured out…went for a run down by the ferries… What a truly wild, weird and wonderful place.. Where to start? Even though it was only about 7am, there was a sea of people out rushing to get to work. Red cabs everywhere..building work…hawkers…dim sum bars…joggers…great views across to Hong Kong island.. After a radio interview to promote Thursday’s preview screening, I’d set up three appointments which simultaneously would give me a good look around. I really don’t know if I can describe the city – it is so easy to get lost in the bowels of buildings – pavements, streets, walkways all pass through the ground floors of buildings and you are endlessly walking past fancy, well-lit shops (expensive too – where do people get their money?!). But the people are extremely polite and friendly, everything is spotless, the public transport puts the London tube to absolute shame and, I discover at the one meeting a bit out of the centre, this crammed, crushed state of affairs is the middle but, thanks to legislation preventing endless building, the countryside is close by and from the little I saw it looks stunning.
Ventured out…went for a run down by the ferries… What a truly wild, weird and wonderful place.. Where to start? Even though it was only about 7am, there was a sea of people out rushing to get to work. Red cabs everywhere..building work…hawkers…dim sum bars…joggers…great views across to Hong Kong island.. After a radio interview to promote Thursday’s preview screening, I’d set up three appointments which simultaneously would give me a good look around. I really don’t know if I can describe the city – it is so easy to get lost in the bowels of buildings – pavements, streets, walkways all pass through the ground floors of buildings and you are endlessly walking past fancy, well-lit shops (expensive too – where do people get their money?!). But the people are extremely polite and friendly, everything is spotless, the public transport puts the London tube to absolute shame and, I discover at the one meeting a bit out of the centre, this crammed, crushed state of affairs is the middle but, thanks to legislation preventing endless building, the countryside is close by and from the little I saw it looks stunning.
DAY 35 MONDAY 26th OCTOBER, FLYING TO HONG KONG
Well, it’s farewell Australia… I am glad to be one stage nearer home but I will certainly be eager to get back to Australia – it’s a wonderful place with wonderful people. And another excellent flight on Qantas (no they are not sponsors, sadly..)took me to the next and final stop…Hong Kong. I arrived in the dark but nevertheless it’s an impressive sight. It’s always one thing to see a place with your own eyes. Certainly I had not realised how many skyscrapers there were..talk about cramming millions of people into a small space! First of all, though, I have to say that it should be compulsory for all employees of British and American airports to visit Hong Kong and see how it should be done. Now that is what I call efficient! Arrival, passport, bags, free buses to hotels – all as smooth and quick as you could hope for. Mind you, the area I am staying in – Kowloon – is an absolute jungle – a chaotic symphony if you will – of neon, wires, underpasses, overpasses, tunnels, junctions, and lord knows what. I have arrived in the world of the film Blade Runner… I actually felt too overwhelmed to wander the streets which is what I usually do in new places. I used the excuse of dozens of emails to stay safely indoors – in another (comfortable) prison cell where you cant open a window and cant see the sky… And the normal hour or two wasted getting the right room, the internet to work, correcting the mistakes in the billing, etc, etc…
Well, it’s farewell Australia… I am glad to be one stage nearer home but I will certainly be eager to get back to Australia – it’s a wonderful place with wonderful people. And another excellent flight on Qantas (no they are not sponsors, sadly..)took me to the next and final stop…Hong Kong. I arrived in the dark but nevertheless it’s an impressive sight. It’s always one thing to see a place with your own eyes. Certainly I had not realised how many skyscrapers there were..talk about cramming millions of people into a small space! First of all, though, I have to say that it should be compulsory for all employees of British and American airports to visit Hong Kong and see how it should be done. Now that is what I call efficient! Arrival, passport, bags, free buses to hotels – all as smooth and quick as you could hope for. Mind you, the area I am staying in – Kowloon – is an absolute jungle – a chaotic symphony if you will – of neon, wires, underpasses, overpasses, tunnels, junctions, and lord knows what. I have arrived in the world of the film Blade Runner… I actually felt too overwhelmed to wander the streets which is what I usually do in new places. I used the excuse of dozens of emails to stay safely indoors – in another (comfortable) prison cell where you cant open a window and cant see the sky… And the normal hour or two wasted getting the right room, the internet to work, correcting the mistakes in the billing, etc, etc…
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