... life would be a mistake

Friedrich Nietzsche once said:

"Without music, life would be a mistake"

He was right. Music makes life worth living. I am not talking about short-time music. Not about the commercial music. Not the music we listen again and again in most of the radio stations. I am talking about long-term music, music that is being played throughout the years. And still makes a difference. Music that makes us fly, dream, get excited, cry... Definitely, music that reaches our hearts.

I just came from Colston Hall. A friend and I went to listen to the Polish National Radio Orchestra and we very much enjoyed it.

Opening Bernstein's Candide Overture was a playful piece probably all the audience delighted.

VIDEO: Bernstein himself conducting London Symphony Orchestra

Performed Penderecki's Chaconne, which I personally did not enjoy much, followed by the 2nd Piano Concerto by Shostakovich. Pianist Noriko Ogawa left all the audience open-mouthed with her brilliant performance, specially in the emotive Andante.

VIDEO: Dmitri Shostakovich's son and grandson, Maxim and Dmitri Jr., conducting and performing Andante.

However, the top of the bill was Mahler's 5th Symphony. Speachless. There are no words to describe how Mahler makes you feel. Instead, I post a video and you make up your own mind. 

VIDEO: Daniel Baremboim conducting Chicago Symphony Orchestra

So, here is my first post for the so-called "Classical Music", which for this case would be totally wrong because Mahler was a post-romantic composer.

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NOTE: If you are young, you have the opportunity to enjoy good music for a couple of pounds. Colston Hall offers 31£ tickets for just £8 (if you are under 18, you could have it for £1) and St. George Bristol also has special prices for students and jobseekers. Check the calendars in their websites and enjoy!

Colston Hall                    St. George's Bristol

Fake Moon

The other night, I received a picture on my phone from one of my friends who was walking through College Green: 

"See! There is sun in Bristol sometimes!"

It was not the sun, though. Neither the real moon. The Fake Moon in College Green, work of the artist Simon Faithfull, was a giant air balloon with bright light, one of the performances in the IBT13. Watch VIDEO

The biannual Festival of Performance called IBT13 (http://ibt13.co.uk/) was held in Bristol this year. Between 14-17th February venues, streets and dockside became the scenario for more than 90 artists and performers, not to mention the Fake Moon performance in College Green every evening between 6-7.30pm.

Individual tickets for the IBT13 events were between £3-£12 and althought they were sold out very fast, there were also festival passes for £75. However, there were also free events around the city for citizens to enjoy the festival on their way to work or home.

USEFUL LINKS
Simon Faithfull: http://www.simonfaithfull.org/
IBT13: http://ibt13.co.uk/

More for less

I have always considered myself very thrifty person. I try to spend the least money I possible and try to save as much as I can. Most of the times what I do is get as many online offers and discounts as I can, to enjoy the same for less, which makes the event even more attractive, if possible.

On the one hand, there are two main webpages I suggest to sign. They are called Groupon and KGBDeals. Both have very interesting offers, changing every now and then. Goods, events, getaways, restaurants... Make sure you select BRISTOL as your city when you register to receive customised offers and remember to check the website very often for new offers.

• Groupon (www.groupon.co.uk): Groupon sends you emails once a week (maybe twice) with the newest offers, so you don't need to check their website.  Personally, I have just used Groupon once so far, for the Winter Cider Festival, and the process was fast and easy. 
• KGBDeals (www.kgbdeals.co.uk) sends emails very often, more than twice a week, and in my opinion, after a while it gets annoying. However, I used KGBDeals twice and the process was easy althought the process took longer than with Groupon. I believe the reason was that I bought  goods instead of tickets for an event. However, I am very saatisfied with the result; I got the goods at my place straight away.

Warning! What often happens with this kind of websites is that we find ourselves buying stuff we don't actually want, so always keep in mind if you really need or want it.

On the other hand, you can also find loads of vouchers for free items or great discounts to spend in shops and restaurants in Bristol.
Some restaurant chains have vouchers on their own websites for you to print them...

• Café Rouge (www.caferougeoffers.co.uk)
• Burger King (www.burgerking.co.uk/files/documents/voucher/KOTD_Vouchers.pdf)
• Pizza Express (www.pizzaexpress.com/offers/get/368/)

... whilst other vouchers can be found via "voucher search websites". See the list below:

• Voucher Codes (www.vouchercodes.co.uk/local/bristol/)
• Voucher Cloud (www.vouchercloud.com/at-bristol-vouchers)

Bristol Airport has also a website with several vouchers. See here. 


If you have already planned to go to any of this establishments, just check if there is any offer available and luckily, you will be able to save some pounds.
I hope it gets to be useful for someone!

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NOTE: This post might be updated in the future as I come across with new information about discounts and offers.

Vandalism

Van·dal·ism : Willful or malicious destruction of public or private property.

Some people call it vandalism, some others art. But it is indisputable that Bristol has become cradle of the street arts throughout the years. 

Bristol's street art scenery is extremely diverse and has many talented street artist at its forefront, both well known and anonymous.

It would be impossible to post all graffities in the same post, so I will start with one of my favourites. Anonymous. First, I thought it could be Banksy's art. I wanted to make sure so I emailed him, who denied. After a little googleing activities, I found out the author is Nick Walker. (http://www.bristol-street-art.co.uk/gallery/photo/love-vandalism-stmichaels-hill). Apparently I was luck yand took the picture before it had paint thrown over it, as you can see in the link.

NOTE: You can find this graffiti on 164 Saint Michael's Hill, on the side wall of the Highbury Vaults pub. (BS2 8DE)