The past month has been incredibly busy at work (sorry to those I owe emails to - I will reply very soon!), but while it has been intense, there have also been some pleasant treats as well on the work front.
First up, I had a breakfast meeting at the Royal Academy on Tuesday - while it is always nice to be fed well with Eggs Benedict, Eggs Florentine et al., the real attraction was the private viewing of the Van Gogh exhibition after the meeting. It was obviously an incentive to get people to make it in for 7.45am.
Now, I can count on one hand the number of art exhibitions I have been to - ummm, I think its only been 4? With 2 of them coming within the past 6 months? But this one was really cool. Firstly, there was something surreal about being in a hallway full of paintings worth millions and millions of dollars, surrounded by only about 6 other people. A large part of me was very tempted to start poking some of the paintings to test the sturdiness of the canvas....just because I could, I suppose...
But really, the works were beautiful. Im really no art expert, but I much preferred his early stuff where he used just pen and ink to create his works. From what I saw, it was a case of him learning the artist's craft and starting at the basic skill of drawing. From my simple mind, I simply thought that it was far more impressive to create the stuff that he did using a hard pen instead of a softer and more malleable brush. Take a look at Pollard Birches. Apparently, he struggled at first to master perspective in his drawings, claiming that it was a case of luck how the pieces turned out. I wouldnt have thunk it looking at these drawings.
Even the sketches that he did from time to time in his letters to his brother were impressive. Take a look at Pollard Willow sketched into this letter, with a bit more colour than his black/white/grey sketches.
I wasnt a huge fan of his coloured works - but then again, who cares what I think? I guess Ive just always been a more understated person myself. Take a look at Yellow House, which I think was painted when he became more obsessed with colours and colour theory.
Wheat Fields After the Rain was a sad one because it was completed just before he took his life in July 1890. I actually liked this one, though I found it tragic that he wasn't able to overcome his mental difficulties, even while in the peace of the French countryside. Apparently, he painted over 70 canvasses in the last 70 days of his life, all of which share the same soft colours and tones of Wheat Fields. To me, the painting shows me a man at peace, rather than a person in turmoil. What a shame...
The other treat came on a Thursday afternoon, when I got a call asking if I would like 2 tickets to watch Arsenal play Burnley at the Emirates. Hmmm, free tickets to watch the most entertaining team in the Premiership and a buffet lunch on offer - it really was very hard deciding whether to take up the tickets. So I dropped Agate an email and asked him whether he wanted to come along - sort of a pre-wedding present for him. It was my first time at the Emirates, so just going there on a sunny Saturday afternoon was a treat in itself.
But gosh, the corporate hospitality was fantastic. Ive been to Chelsea's Stamford Bridge before on corporate tickets, but the hospitality at the Emirates far outstripped Chelsea's. The restaurant was massive, with dedicated waiters and waitresses for each table. You got champagne or orange juice as you entered. And the buffet spread was massive - almost reminding me of the buffets that you get in Singapore. There was roast turkey, roast salmon, smoked salmon, prawns, different types of potatoes, and a massive dessert selection with bread and butter pudding, and many other different types of cake to finish everything off. We even had drinks laid on for us at our reserved table during half-time. I really could get used to living like this.
The game itself didnt disappoint. Arsenal, after all, ARE the most entertaining team to watch in England. The game kicked off with the crowd cheering for Aaron Ramsey, who suffered a horrific broken ankle last weekend (it was practically hanging off his leg). Cesc Fabregas (whom Lizzie claims she wanted to marry before she met Alex) was awarded the Premiership Player of the Month award for the 5th consecutive month! Yikes! He was up to his usual tricks and all of Arsenal's best moves were initiated by him. It really is quite incredible to see how calm and composed he is on the ball. He isnt the fastest player on the planet, but he always seems to know what he is going to do with the ball before he even receives it, whether it is a fancy flick or a simple pass pack to a teammate. Its a shame he injured his hamstring though because Arsenal suddenly were lacking imagination without him.
Of course, it didnt help that Nic Bendtner missed about 10 chances - many of which were when he had an open goal to shoot for, and all he had to do was push the ball in the right direction. It was hilarious when he came off, because the fans gave him a standing ovation as if he had scored a hattrick - heh, sometimes you really cant beat British humour. Aggers and I were joking with some of the fans that the Burnley goalkeeper looked like he had eaten too many pies - he was massive and not terribly fast or mobile. I remarked that they should schedule a halftime sideshow to see who would win a race from one end of the pitch to the other - Bendtner (who is really big and slow himself) or the Burnley goalie. Aggers remarked that the half-time break wasnt long enough for the both of them to finish the race - fair point.
Luckily though, even without Cesc, Arsenal had Theo Walcott on form, who was probably reeling from a less than inspired performance for England earlier in the week. And lets face it, this was Burnley after all, who came into the game just looking to waste time and finish with a draw. The Arsenal fans started singing "Who are you? Who are you?" everytime Burnley messed up or Arsenal scored - very funny. And there were other classics sung like "Stand up if you hate Tottenham". Arshavin came on towards the end (in his yellow boots) to add a bit of spark in the last 20 minutes. This was a bonus for me I reckon he is one of best players to watch - He did score the final goal to finish the game off. He was another one who looked so incredibly composed whenever he had the ball. Classic!
So in the end, it was another day in the office for Arsenal, and a trudge back to the tube station for us along with 65,000 other fans. Faced with the massive crowd, we gave up and walked in the other direction and found an Osteria / Coffee Bar (I dont drink and Aggers was still recovering from his messy stag-do last weekend), where we waited for the crowds to clear. We ended up spending a couple of hours gossiping and discussing why the USD and GBP are screwed, inflation will be rampant, why everyone should buy Astrazeneca, gold production profiles in African gold mines, and how we will both get rich from owning Canadian Junior Gold Mining Stocks. Anyone overhearing us would probably think that capitalism as we knew it was going to end, and that everyone should quit their jobs, buy agricultural land, become farmers and keep physical gold underneath their beds because fiat money is dying.
Heh, and on that note, I now need to get back to studying for CFA. ESPN is on TV, and Bayern Munich is drawing with Cologne. Would love to finish watching it but Analysis of Intercorporate Investments beckons. Joy.....
