Named in honour of one the hosts of a most agreeable garden party held last Saturday (25th July 2009), the hour was late, the choice of mixers as diminished as the available liquors and this particular amateur mixologist was certainly 3 sheets to the wind and yet my friends wanted yet another jug of cocktail.
Having been given access to the bar earlier in the evening, I’d spent the rest of the evening make June Bugs for most of the table. Initially this was by the shaker, but it became clear it was going to be easier to make them by the jug full.
At some time after 3am we ran out of pineapple juice and Midori. After much deliberation on my part as to what would go together from the selection in front of me, I started with Ice followed by a large measure of Malibu. To this I added Crème de Cassis and Grenadine, topped up with Orange Juice. Although not bad, I felt this to be a tad to sweet, so looking around I spied a bottle of Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum and added this to spice things up a bit.
The resultant drink was met by great enjoyment and yet more merriment. As such I felt it worthy of a name related to the party itself and picking up on both the Sailor Jerry rum and cheeky Navy connotations related to our hosts James and Hans’ sexuality I settled with a play on words with Hans on Deck.
The recipe has since been refined by actually making it with an understanding of exactly how much of each ingredient goes into it and is as follows:
Half fill the Cocktail Shaker with Ice and add the Malibu, Crème de Cassis, Grenadine and Orange Juice. Shake well until a layer of ice forms on the cocktail shaker.
Half fill the Highball Glass with fresh Ice and strain the shaken mix into the glass. Float the Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum on top and garnish with an Orange Slice and straw before serving.
Despite the temperamental and inclement weather, last night’s picnic concert at the beautiful Westonbirt Arboretum was far from being a total wash-out…
Along with the singing group All Angels and Anthony Inglis conducting the National Symphony Orchestra, Vanessa Mae and her band brought an adventure of violin music from around the world as well as a number of tunes she is more famous for playing, including the electric Hocus Pocus, Vangelis’ Roxanne’s Veil from the film Alexander, Toccata And Fugue In D Minor and finishing with Vivaldi’s Summer Part 3 from the Four Seasons, which was accompanied by a fireworks display that would rival even that of Disney’s Wishes Fireworks Spectacular at the Magic Kingdom.
Even a broken foot pedal didn’t stop Vanessa from entertaining the wet and cold crowd who had put up with intermittent rain from 7.30pm until just before 10pm. It is worth noting that Anthony Inglis and the National Symphony Orchestra had a big part to play in keeping the crowd’s spirits up when they invited audience participation with sing-a-long performances to both Rule Britannia and Land of Hope and Glory and a hand clapping rendition of the Sailor’s Hornpipe.
It’s been a while since Vanessa Mae’s played in the UK, but last night proved that she still has a strong fan base here as well as the obvious talent to headline such events… Hopefully it won’t be too long until we see a new album, nor will it be so long until she’s on stage again where she clearly belongs…
To all those involved in bringing the concert together, especially Vanessa Mae and her band – thank you…
After an evening of some incredible performances, I’m pleased to be able to say that the scepticism shown in my last post was proved incorrect. One of the most talented acts on the night not only went out on stage and gave a “flawless” performance, they improved so much from their semi final routine that they leap-frogged their main rivals and won the final of Britain’s Got Talent 2009.
Diversity won over the hearts and phone bills of the nation in what I can only describe as a major victory for talent as opposed to popularity. Summing up tonight’s acts:
Flawless – very good but had been better in the semi final. Shaheen Jafargholi – his best performance so far, a joy to listen to. Aidan Davis – while impressive had to agree with Simon Cowell that his semi final performance was better. 2 Grand – with John missing his cue and Sally singing her best performance, it was a sweet performance but not show winning. Hollie Steel – Everyone wondered whether she’d crack up under the pressure and thankfully she didn’t – enjoyable but there were better singers on the night. Stavros Flatley – Absolutely fantastic – totally should have been in the top 3. Shaun Smith – Singing Ain’t no Sunshine and to say the least he nailed it – Wouldn’t be surprised to see an album on the shelves. Susan Boyle – Her best performance so far. Not my favourite person but it looked like the image consultants had convinced her to say as little as possible after her singing, so less annoying than usual – especially as she came a gracious second. Diversity – Absolute perfection and totally deserving of their win Julian Smith – You couldn’t have asked for a better closing act. Totally deserving of his top 3 finish. I would have been as happy if he’d won.
So my heartfelt congratulations to my fellow Londoner’s – Diversity, to Julian for his wonderful performances, to Stavros Flatley’s Dimitrios and Lagi for making me laugh for all the right reasons and to Shaun for reminding that sometimes the classic songs are still the best.
Also my thanks to the YouTube user BritainsSoTalented, who not only allowed me catch up with the acts that I’d missed along the way, but also has given me the ability to jazz up this post with his YouTube uploads.
