London Calling

NOTE:  The Section below was drafted on Wednesday, but not finished or posted due to poor Internet and sleep deprivation.

Just a quick note to let everyone know we've arrived safely.

It's a dreadfully dreary day, that changeable maritime climate we were just discussing yesterday.  Yes, I know that was Wales, but still....  After getting settled we headed over to the Tate Modern to see their Giacometti exhibit.  It was quite excellent, but we made the first of many tactical mistakes in not wearing our rain pants and hats.  In fact, Theresa told me that in the ladies room, a woman had removed her tennis shoes and was holding them under the hand-dryer...  The hope, of course, is that we'll get the rain behind us before venturing onto the links....

The purpose of transiting London is to honor Theresa's longtime friend Kevin Jones, who we lost far too soon last December.  One of Kevin's works is being staged at the Tete-a-Tete Festival, the world's largest opera festival.  Here's a bad screen shot from the festival's website.

Here's Kevin's bio:

Kevin Jones was a composer and writer whose music has been presented thoughout the U.S., Europe, Australia and Canada. His dramatic works for radio have been broadcast internationally and he wrote and directed dozens of music/theatre works. He was a published author of fiction and received multiple grants and commissions www.kevinjones-soundart.com

And a little program note in which a certain personage you might know is credited:

Special thanks to: Bill Bankes-Jones and the team at Tête-a-Tête for their kindness and support. And to Theresa Reeves-Simpson who without, on so many levels, this performance just wouldn’t have happened. Thank you to everyone who has donated to this project and come and supported us tonight. And thank you to Kevin, who was a great friend, family and a wonderful person with whom to make music.

And Kevin has made the journey with us....literally.  It's Employee No. 2's intention to leave a piece of him in his frequent haunts.   First on this list is his favorite eating establishment in London, but since he was also an art lover:

He looks comfortable, no?  Though perhaps he preferred Giacometti's work in bronze?  I know he's hard to see, but Kevin was that way.

Thursday the weather broke and we had a lovely time walking the city.

Later by the performance space, in a lovely outdoor bar and cafe where he used to sit and chain smoke:

But really, who doesn't like a glass of bubbly?

The performance came off beautifully, and Kevin was toasted with more bubbly at that favorite restaurant of his later that evening.

We are now safely in the burgeoning metropolis of Rock, in North Cornwall.  We'll be headed to play St. Enodoc in a bit, an historic James braid creation dating to 1907.  However, any meaningful blogging will have to await better WiFi.  Bear with me, it'll be worth the wait.