Blue, red and pink

[london1967]

Yesterday it was the launch of the Transport for London/Barclays Bicycle Hire scheme; the bikes appeared overnight all around the city.


I only saw a couple of people using the bikes although apparently over 12,000 have signed up and paid the £45 annual registration fee.
From September occasional users will also be able to ride the bikes for a 24hr registration fee of £1 (the bikes are free to use for the first 30 minutes).


In the evening I met Adrian at the Barbican to see 'Pink Martini'.


But the first colour of the evening was red, courtesy of my husband.
Lately my lovely, sweet-natured and mild-mannered husband has become more Mediterranean than I have ever been (after all, I only had my first glimpse of the sea when I was 15! lol) and he's prone to 'red mist' moments!

Last night the red mist was caused by two of the restaurants being closed for refurbishment, one being fully booked and the only one open - the 'pop-up' - being run very badly. Adrian waited for ages at the counter to get a glass of white wine while his food was getting cold and he was being ignored by staff on the phone. 

But the food wasn't bad at all.

And here they are: 'Pink Martini', all the way from Portland, OR, USA!





The first song of the night was "Let's never stop falling in love" which was also one that we picked for our ceremony at the registry office!
So it was quite a romantic evening for us after all!



It was a marvellous concert and we both really enjoyed it.

 
No, it's not an airport body search... one of the songs on their last CD is a cover of Raffaella Carra' s 'Tuca tuca' and a little dance routine was compulsory!

Of course, once we got home I couldn't get 'Tuca tuca' out of my head and had to look up the original.

Here are two videos, one from 1971 ("Canzonissima", with actor/comedian Alberto Sordi)

and a hilarious one filmed in London's Covent Garden in 1981, where all the men touched by Raffaella look gay! (and look at what she's wearing!)

 

Comments

[pectopah.livejournal.com]

The Transport for London bikes are from the company that created Montreal's Bixi, which folks here are totally gaga over. Down to a group of public bike enthusiasts who rap: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGzBOmOD_Tw

And, Pink Martini...I love them! I still haven't been to a concert. I'm glad it was good.

[london1967.livejournal.com]

I heard that the bikes were build abroad but didn't know that they came from Canada.
And thanks for the link: it was fun!

[pectopah.livejournal.com]

Here is a piece from the Guardian that has links to Bixi. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/green-living-blog/2010/mar/17/bixi-bike-hire-montreal

[london1967.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the article.
I see that the schemes are very similar.

[pectopah.livejournal.com]

The cities buy them from Bixi as a package deal. But it looks like London's has advertising on the bikes. In Montreal, the advertising is only at the Bixi station. I think London's is more expensive, too. I did the math and if I was commuting by bike from my house to the gallery, I could do it on Bixi and only have to pay the annual fee, since I could get from my house (Bixi station one block away) to the gallery (Bixi station at building) in less than 30 minutes (which is free). However, the system doesn't run October-April, so I haven't bothered.

[london1967.livejournal.com]

Yes Barclays are sponsoring the scheme as it was deemed to expensive to run.

[gorkabear.livejournal.com]

I adore Raffaella Carrà. She was HUGE in Spain as well (and she's still respected here with her funny Italian accent). "Tuca Tuca", however, was never released in Spain.

I have to say that the gag with Sordi is very nice... I had heard from my Italian friends that her outfit at the time was considered scandalous. A woman showing her belly button!

The second one is a gem... Because it's outdated all itself! The guys are so ghey too... OMG... I hope they did that on purpose.

Just remember she could also sing in English!

[gorkabear.livejournal.com]

I just inspired myself. She sang this song in far too many languages!!!!!!!

[london1967.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, the Vatican wasn't happy with her belly button on display! The video in London is just fantastic: it hasn't aged well at all! Thanks for the video... her only UK hit. There's a video of her performing at Hyde Park and it's quite funny because of the expression on people's faces!

[gorkabear.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's what I tried to mean... They couldn't have made it better on purpose

[omero-hassan.livejournal.com]

I love Pink Martini. I keep meaning make a pilgrimage to see them, but it never quite works out.

And thanks for the add!

[london1967.livejournal.com]

Darina recommended you! Thanks for adding me back!

I'm really glad we went to see Pink Martini last night: it was such a lovely concert.

[ubermunkey.livejournal.com]

I love that dance I hunk I'm going to practice up! I wish I could understand the lyrics.

[london1967.livejournal.com]

Here's a literal translation, so now no excuse not to practice! LOL!

Mi piaci, ah-ah!,
  I like you
Mi piaci, ah-ah-ah!,
  I like you
Mi piaci, tanto, tanto, ah!,
  I like you, a lot, a lot
Sembra incredibile ma sono cotta di te.
  It seems incredible but I am smitten with you.

Mi piaci, ah-ah!,
  I like you
Mi piaci, ah-ah-ah!,
  I like you
Mi piace, tanto, tanto, ah!,
  I like it, a lot, a lot
Questo stranissimo ballo che faccio con te.
  This very strange dance I'm doing with you

Si chiama: Tuca Tuca, Tuca,
  It is called: Tuca, Tuca, Tuca,
L'ho inventato io,
  I have invented it
Per poterti dire:
  To able to tell you
"Mi piaci, mi piaci, mi piaci, mi piaci, mi pia!"
  "I like you, I like you, I like you, I like you, I like"

Ti voglio, mh-ah!,
 I want you
Ti voglio, ah-ah-ah!,
  I want you
È tanto bello star con te,
  It is so lovely to be with you
E quando ti guardo, lo sai cosa voglio da te, ah-ah!,
  And when I look at you, you know what I want from you

Tuca Tuca… Tuca Tuca… Tuca Tuca…

Si chiama: Tuca Tuca, Tuca,
  It is called: Tuca, Tuca, Tuca,
L'ho inventato io,
  I have invented it
Per poterti dire:
  To able to tell you
"Mi piaci, mi piaci, mi piaci, mi piaci, mi pia!"
  "I like you, I like you, I like you, I like you, I like"

Mi piaci, ah-ah!,
  I like you
Mi piaci, ah-ah-ah!,
  I like you
Mi piace, tanto, tanto, ah!,
  I like it, a lot, a lot
Questo stranissimo ballo che faccio con te.
  This very strange dance I'm doing with you

Ti voglio, mh-ah!,
 I want you
Ti voglio, ah-ah-ah!,
  I want you
È tanto bello star con te,
  It is so lovely to be with you
E quando ti guardo, lo sai cosa voglio da te, ah-ah!,
  And when I look at you, you know what I want from you
E quando ti guardo, lo sai cosa voglio da te, ah-ah!,
  And when I look at you, you know what I want from you
E quando mi guardi, lo so cosa tu vuoi da me
  And when you look at me, I know what you want from me

[ubermunkey.livejournal.com]

Nice thanks for the ear worm! Lol n

[london1967.livejournal.com]

My pleasure... entirely! LOL!

[joebehrsandiego.livejournal.com]

You enjoy *my* photos?

I'm honored. The first bicycle one here is stunning.

And Pink Martini, live ... I know how fabulous that is. :)

[london1967.livejournal.com]

I certainly do!

And thank you, Joe! You are very kind.

[le-lapin.livejournal.com]

Way to go for the city bikes. They come so handy whenever one feels going rapidly across town. Now London is not exactly a town but you got my point ^_^

[london1967.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, it's a lovely idea!

City biking

[ursine1.livejournal.com]

Here it's called "Bicing" and there are stations at Metro stops all around town. It was introduced a couple years ago and gradually grown. gorkabear has blogged about it a couple of times.

Chuck

Re: City biking

[london1967.livejournal.com]

I think that the 'concept' here is slightly different as there are no bike racks near the main stations for commuters to use.

COVET!

[badgerpdx.livejournal.com]

Portland needs to have something like that with the Barclay bicycles. (We're #1 in bike friendly cities in the US, I believe). We did have a "free bike" community: They were all painted bright yellow, and were free to who-ever needed to use them, but they got vandalized and stolen (many of Portland's homeless community have bikes, no co-incidence, I'm sure). But something like this, where you could just park it when you reach your destination, and pay a nominal fee, would be great. They bikes look very cool.

Re: COVET!

[london1967.livejournal.com]

That's really bad that they got stolen!
Mind you, it'd happen here too if they were not linked to the riders' credit card details!