Bringing Rio to the Runners

Last Sunday, 17th April 2011, a bright shining light sat high above London embracing it in a warm glow. This fireball of heat provided the backdrop for an energetic display of human endurance; The London Marathon.

Some 35,000+ passionate and dedicated individuals from all walks of life descended upon London to cover the 26 miles and 385 yards, running their socks off to raise millions of pounds for charity. I hold each runner in an extremely high regard and their commitment should be an inspiration to us all.

Lining the route, amongst the thousands of cheering supporters were numerous music bands, churning out the notes of many disparate styles of music. One of these bands, and one I was playing in, was the London School of Samba.



Setting myself up along with around forty other drumming amigos from the LSS in Cabot Square, Canary Wharf, lots and lots of fast and funky samba music was played for some five hours -- often finding ourselves getting carried away and literally jumping for joy!...



Taking many of the breaks (different rhythms/bits of trickery) from the practice sessions (see this YouTube video), there was somewhat of a personal mini battle of endurance going on in myself and my fellow drummers to play both quality and quantity for this duration of time -- but nothing that compared to the monstrous battles being endured by all the runners.



However, any aching of arms soon disappeared once the electric atmosphere ignited the event. An astoundment at both the physical and mental strength of all the athletes filling my vista drove up my own energy levels, spurring on the desire to give the motivation to the runners who needed all the support they could get! Playing a part in this was a real honour.



For the last hour, another samba group, Rhythms of the City joined in. At this point, there were around eighty of us thrashing out a rapid, vibrant sound for the growing numbers of spectators and exhausted runners.


(video taken by Mestre Fred, director of music for the London School of Samba and all round jolly nice chap!)
So, all in all, a wonderful, music-filled sambtastic (don't worry, it's a word!) day with a lovely bunch of drummers and some truly inspirational members of the public engaged in efforts for the greater good!

All of this got you tempted to come along and play some samba? Good! I thought it would! Your informational needs will be met here.

The Awkwardness of Dates

With some adult content (nothing dodgy though), this short film, "Blind Date" starring Sophie Anderson; latest hit at the British Film Institute, shows the awkwardness of a first (in this case a blind) date. How people misinterpret meanings, appear too keen, appear too weird and when the mind decides to have a bit of fun with its owner are all explored through this short snippet of comedic motion picture.

I encourage you to give up 10 minutes of your time to watch this. I'm sure there will be something in this that will take you back to an experience you have had.



Want to help encourage young British acting talent? Follow @sophieanderson_ on twitter!