Giants in Liverpool

[PaulB]

No it's just an observation i've made over those "wonderful humorous Liverpudlians"over the years.

It isn't an 'observation'. It is an insult masquerading as a joke of the type made by deeply ignorant lazy people. You have no facts to 'back you up', you are merely going off a bone-idle stereotype that shows you up for what you are. As Mark Twain famously said, 'it's easier to fool people than to convince them they've been fooled' so you won't be alone to hold on to your completely discredited 'opinion'.

 

[Accy cyclist]

It isn't an 'observation'. It is an insult masquerading as a joke of the type made by deeply ignorant lazy people. You have no facts to 'back you up', you are merely going off a bone-idle stereotype that shows you up for what you are. As Mark Twain famously said, 'it's easier to fool people than to convince them they've been fooled' so you won't be alone to hold on to your completely discredited 'opinion'.

Scousers always the victims aren't they!

 

[laurence]

It's a magical thing. Took a call from my two nephews last night and they were beside themselves with excitement! The older one just about remembers the last time the giants visited the city and can't believe they're back.
Like laurence I saw the Sultan's Elephant in London and apart from making me feel like an excited kid the scope, artistry and engineering wizardy was breathtaking.

glad you enjoyed it, Red. just watched some footage from earlier and i wished i'd stayed up overnight, but i just didn't have the money.

for someone who doesn't like dogs, i was bowled over by Xolo, even if he did pee a lot! he got rather close at one point...

 

[RedRider]

glad you enjoyed it, Red. just watched some footage from earlier and i wished i'd stayed up overnight, but i just didn't have the money.

for someone who doesn't like dogs, i was bowled over by Xolo, even if he did pee a lot! he got rather close at one point...

I love the attention to detail in these puppets. Sadly (for me) I'm stuck down here at work for this one but looking forward to an update from my sister's kids. The place must be buzzing.

 

[PaulB]

Scousers always the victims aren't they!

No. But we're witnessing a desperate woolyback who IS a knobhead.

 

[laurence]

I love the attention to detail in these puppets. Sadly (for me) I'm stuck down here at work for this one but looking forward to an update from my sister's kids. The place must be buzzing.

buzzing isn't the word. similar feel to yorkshire for le Tour, everyone enjoying it.

being a soft southerner i was trying not to talk to anyone yesterday and give away my origins - however, a tall, shaven-headed man bounded up to me as i walked near the docks. i was a bit worried as he looked a tad rough and ready: "aye mate, where's Grandma?".

 

[RedRider]

buzzing isn't the word. similar feel to yorkshire for le Tour, everyone enjoying it.

being a soft southerner i was trying not to talk to anyone yesterday and give away my origins - however, a tall, shaven-headed man bounded up to me as i walked near the docks. i was a bit worried as he looked a tad rough and ready: "aye mate, where's Grandma?".

Sounds good. Generally speaking Liverpool folk are sound as you like and only too pleased to welcome people to the city. (Apart from anything else it helps dispel myths perpetuated by nobbers and that's all I'm saying on that particular subject.)

 

[Accy cyclist]

No. But we're witnessing a desperate woolyback who IS a ********.

Colne is the capital of the woolybacks! Careful how you tread!

 

[welsh dragon]

Ive never seen them in real life. I'd love to though. They look amazing on the tv. In real life it must be brilliant

 

[Crackle]

I must admit they didn't appeal. Very easy for me to go and see them, so I feel slightly guilty that I didn't but they're just puppets right, what's so interesting.

 

[lejogger]

I must admit they didn't appeal. Very easy for me to go and see them, so I feel slightly guilty that I didn't but they're just puppets right, what's so interesting.

I felt very similar but was compelled to take the boy across yesterday. He lives in Lytham St Annes so it's nice for his summer holiday diary to have something a bit different to his mates when he goes back in September, with some nice snaps to go along with it.

To be honest the best part of the occasion was the atmosphere in the city... certainly before they woke up and got on the move, there was genuine anticipation of a spectacle, lots of enthusiasm, and sporadic outbreaks of applause and emotion. Not that the giants themselves got me very excited. They passed a little too quickly, and the cranes are a little too obvious for me to find what's attached to them particularly inspiring, but I like the way that the performers (Lilliputians?) were included as part of the act rather than being clad in black spandex (I mean who would dress like that), and the live band belting out funky rhythms in a truck following Grandma was a nice touch.

Unfortunately we weren't positioned where we could see anything apart from them just moving, so it was much like a TDF transition day where the peleton merely fly past and you're left with a certain anti-climax. We didn't even get splashed by one of the exhibits taking a comfort break, seemingly a hazard at either event.

The actual highlight was treating the boy to a lemonade in the newly refurbished 'Fly in the Loaf', whilst catching up with a work colleague and waiting for the crowds to disperse. A fine array of other refreshments are also available.

 

[AndyRM]

Were you ever tempted by the stage production of War Horse? People who saw it found they very quickly lost all awareness of the puppeteers and came to see the puppet horses as real. It's a combination of imagination, suspension of disbelief, choreography, mechanical skill, and human ingenuity, and it draws out most people's innate sense of wonder and corny stuff like joie de vivre. Or so I'm told.

You were told correctly.

 

[Crackle]

Were you ever tempted by the stage production of War Horse? People who saw it found they very quickly lost all awareness of the puppeteers and came to see the puppet horses as real. It's a combination of imagination, suspension of disbelief, choreography, mechanical skill, and human ingenuity, and it draws out most people's innate sense of wonder and corny stuff like joie de vivre. Or so I'm told.

I guess I teeter on the edge of suspending disbelief. Maybe another time I'd have gone. Never been tempted by Worhorse as a book, film or production. I still remember reading Blacky Beauty when a boy though.

 

[RedRider]

They are beautiful, but whoever made the dog has not seen a dog's eye! Or do you think they gave him human eyes on purpose?


Before the first show in London, having not heard of this puppet company before, I was on a train passing a goods yard in Battersea (I don't live in London). I glanced out of the window and saw a gigantic figure of a girl suspended from a crane, alongside the elephant - I couldn't believe my eyes, it was a breathtaking moment. I'd love to catch their performances one day.

The elephant was beautifully realised from the way its leather ears flapped to its realistic eyelashes. I think the dog is more 'cartoon-ish' which maybe explains the big, baby eyes?
Perhaps my favourite thing about this company's work is how familiar streets/blocks are woven into the story and transformed by the presence of the puppets, sounds corny, but into a strange, fairytale land. The effect was greatest when so unexpected. Like yourself, I'd missed the fanfare leading upto the Sultan's Elephant and just cycled upon it along Horseguards.

I guess I teeter on the edge of suspending disbelief. Maybe another time I'd have gone. Never been tempted by Worhorse as a book, film or production. I still remember reading Blacky Beauty when a boy though.

The Geordie version?

 

[Crackle]

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