Regular readers of the blog will by now know that I am a big fan of Matt Alber, I love his gingeriness (redheadedness) (see Matt Alber: All My Ginger Fantasies In One Man), I love his music and I love his personality (see Matt Alber In Birmingham not Alabama!). Below is a previously unpublished, rather grainy, image of mine of Matt from his visit to Birmingham LGBT Centre last year with a sample of the wares he was vending - every purchase with a gratis handshake or hug.
The good news is that Matt is once again returning to Europe and specifically the UK.
The England tour dates are as follows:
Thursday 31st July at Latest Music Bar in Brighton;
Friday 1st August at POP in Manchester;
Saturday 9th August at Birdcage in Bristol;
Friday 15th August at Royal Vauxhall Tavern in London.
For more information, check out Matt Alber's official website, mattalber.com.
In the meantime take a look at the following snapshots from the making of Matt's latest video for the song "Handsome Man" - ginger heaven!!!
If I could have all the types I like in one man, he would be hirsute, muscular, slightly taller than myself, strong and red-headed, whether strawberry blond, ginger or all the way through the red palette to auburn. In short I like bears - and cubs too.
Recently I have posted a fair few photos on my facebook page as potential hubby (husband) material. I have collated them here and tried to group images of the same guy together. Where the copyright is known I have stated it.
I know gingers are not everyone's cup of tea. However, they really do it for me. If you fit the criteria and want a date, please do not hesitate to contact me - I can clear my diary (schedule) instantly! ;)
I can go to sleep happy now, knowing I am going to have some very pleasant dreams. Who knows: perhaps Paul Scholes will pop up next to me in my bed and give me some good advice! ;)
At the end of January, I had the pleasure of seeing re-interpretations of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker in Torremolinos with my friend Ana. We promised ourselves a treat after the programme at Mister Noodles on the high street in Arroyo de la Miel, the commercial centre of Benalmádena.
At busy times, one has to wait for free spaces at tables - it is that popular. Other than a noodle-bar being a novelty, it is hard to understand such popularity. Whilst the food is tasty, it is pricey for what it is and the service was below par - lackadaisical and a stubborn "can't-do" attitude.
Per the menu:
"Todo servido con salsa a su gusto
de soja, ostra, agridulce o chilli.
All served with your choice of sauce: soya, oyster, sweet & sour or chilli" (sic)
In actual fact we were given a choice of spicy or not spicy: despite my requests for alternatives (extra ginger), the Asian waitress insisted these were the sole choices.
Spring-rolls, two noodle dishes and two drinks came to €25, roughly what one might expect to pay for a three-course menu del día plus a drink each.
Given this is fast food and requires very little in the way of cooking - everything is simply tossed in a wok for a couple of minutes, it is difficult to see how such high prices can be justified.
Nonetheless, comments and photos on Mister Noodles' facebook page demonstrate that it most certainly is going down a storm.
[Image descriptions: the front façade and terrace of said restaurant]
If you are used to the Thai, Japanese or noodle-bar restaurants back in the UK, it is likely Mister Noodles will be slightly disappointing; but if noodles are a novelty to you, then this is probably a fair primer to the cuisine.
Over the past few years when hosting a party I have invariably ordered in sushi from Waitrose Entertaining, excepting one occasion when a guest promised and indeed brought along a tray from Costco which was just as delicious.
Initially I was surprised at Brits chowing down on Nipponese cuisine, but every single occasion the sushi platter has been wiped clean. There has been in England's cities an inexorable rise in Japanese eateries, be it sushi restaurants or noodle bars. (Whilst I am a big fan of Italian pasta, I adore all kinds of Japanese-style noodles - easy to cook and served with a quick broth or just soy sauce.)
The English do not generally like their food raw - it is only in the past few years I discovered I may have my steak bleu or blue which is rarer than rare and absolutely delicious! So what has turned residents of a fishing nation to raw fish and seafood? Perhaps the multitude of cookery programmes (programs) on the television has alerted and educated folk to be more adventurous. Perhaps as British cuisine has ameliorated the more we travel and discover that foodstuffs can be cooked differently and taste so much better, and so our collective palate has altered.
What I do know is that sushi is a perfect finger-food. It can be eaten unadorned in one gulp or garnished with ginger or dipped in sauce or sprinkled with wasabi. Quite simply it can be adapted to a plethora of tastes and thus folk. Of the host, it requires little more than opening and placing on the table. Thus the need to constantly return to the oven to check on those adorable little canapés that burn the instant one turns one's back, interrupting conversations with one's guests, is completely avoided. It reduces stress for the host - a good thing at any party!
Having just given a party large enough to require more than three kilos of sushi (I estimate approximately 100g per guest - some pick, some gorge), I thought I would try to determine which of my regular orders is most popular.
I thought for ease of reference I should place them in the order in which they were devoured - well except the veggie one, the remnants of which were taken away by a couple of guests for their brunch! I consider the second platter the most impressive visually, but oddly enough folk left the edamame beans. However, once a Hong Kong guest demonstrated, I was more than happy to nosh on them. I also got to sample the Arctic [surf] clam (Hokkigai) Nigiri for the first time ever: a tad chewy but delicious! To my mind - and only sampled on my guests of course - the Taiko Traditional Sushi Platter offered the best value for money, especially given it was the most popular. The veggie option proved to be less popular… But don't take my word, try them out for yourselves! %PPP
We selected the Chinese restaurant, Red Diner, from a plethora in Newcastle-upon-Tyne's Chinatown on the basis of it looking clean & presentable. We felt justified in our choice when a party of more than a dozen Chinamen arrived and settled down to dine.
I chose a starter of dumpling soup (comically misspelled "Dumping Soup") followed by monkfish & bean-curd with boiled rice. Additionally, I partook of duck pancakes. The duck was not at all greasy as it can be in some restaurants, but contrariwise it was a tad on the dry side. Our ten-year-old guest was quite correct when he suggested it needed "more sauce"! Everyone loved the pork-meat dumplings though and they were quickly demolished. The soup was little more than a weak broth, inoffensive but unremarkable. My main on the other hand was tasty with rhomboid slices of ginger and an unobtrusive chilli spiciness.
At the end of the meal we were all quite sated with not one of us having space to pack in a dessert.
All in all: soup for four; pancakes for four; five mains; three beers; and, five soft drinks. The bill was £85. At £17 per head for two courses plus drinks, this did not work out too badly.
Never trusting anything recommended to me by Facebook, I have found the exception that proves the rule! To be honest, the recommendation sounds nothing like the other singer-songwriters I have been following via social media. The only common factor is that Matt Alber is openly out as gay. Actually, there is another similarity: he is also very easy on the eye.
Steely blue eyes coruscate from a mien constantly illuminated by the warmest of slightly asymmetric smiles; formed by a full bottom-lip, a set of teeth (that thankfully have not been bleached blindingly white) and a ginger 'tache, from whence tongues of flame mingle with the silver highlights in his short-trimmed full beard. This latter accentuates the strong dimple-chin that is echoed in a jolly Father Christmas nose. A surprisingly unwrinkled broad forehead is topped by sandy hair with a kiss-curl flick to the left. In short, Matt has the handsome features of a Swede, Dane or German; perhaps hinting at the Frankish roots of his surname.
Well, I clicked on the image icon and discovered that I had 'liked' Matt Alber before I had even been directed to his page. Feeling it a tad rude to just 'unlike' without at least giving his page the once-over, I read a little and listened to some of his music. Hooked instantly! His songs and sounds (sic - note the plural is deliberate) bring to mind: Paul Simon; John Denver; Michael Card; Antony & the Johnsons; even the showmanship of Harry Connick Jnr.
I have not tracked down an official bio of Matt. He seems to have been born in Kentucky but spent time in Missouri or vice versa. He has lived in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and currently resides near Seattle on Vashon Island. I say resides: as the chap appears to be constantly on tour or participating in musical events, Matt seems to be away more than he is at home. He grew up singing in school choirs and learning to skip (jump-rope) with the coolest lasses at his school. He was raised an evangelical Christian but has moved on to learn more about his own spiritual search for meaning. References to the landscapes around him as much as his immediate environment slip effortlessly into his lyrics. His deep empathy for folk and joie de vivre permeate both melody and poetry. Spirituality will out.
Matt's big break came with either an eight-year or eight-record singing contract as part of Chanticleer. The man has the voice of an angel - often an overused statement - but listen to this piece from Handel's Messiah, "But Who May Abide" (2008) and dare to disagree! I have only ever heard this work performed by contralto voices never by an alto; so Matt's clear-pure-water strains sent me Heaven-bound. My flesh horripilated for five minutes...
The can't-possibly-be thirty-eight year old also has the sirenic vox of a fallen angel - enticing, lulling, pulling one into his embrace... Oh, sorry: went off into my own rêverie there!
How I managed to listen to and watch "End of the World" (2009) without swooning at the end I shall never know, but my heart was melted. However, before readers purchase one-way tickets to Seattle to start stalking the poor guy, I have variously read and seen that he has a beau. Although, a throw-away comment on Matt's f/b profile does state, "if you're single like me" (May 2013); so one might want to try one's chances or maybe he's trying his!
Matt has the body of a cub and has a good sense of humour. Do not watch this video if bare flesh offends thee. Ink fans will spot the odd tattoo too.
So why, when this blog covers matters European in nature, is Matt Alber being featured. Of course, his earlier career centred on works created by Europeans; however, it transpires that when in Chanticleer he did regular tours of Europe. Now he makes annual visits to the UK as himself and next will be here for a few gigs (London, Birmingham & Bristol) in June (2013). For more details go to mattalber.com or check out the updates on his f/b fan page.
I could post link after link to great tunes: his own; covers (his tribute to Whitney Houston "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" is worth searching for); and traditional. But that would take away the joy of the reader/listener from exploring on their own. Nonetheless, I shall end with a live recording (2013) with The Cello String Quartet in which they give a stunning performance of Alber's "Velvet Goldmine"(2012). From baroque, modern classical, oratorio, to country, folk, ballads and pop: there is bound to be something by this superb songsmith that takes your fancy. ;)
