The Urban Legend of Minnie M. Skues

Despite taking some classes at the school below I never actually heard the Urban Legend of Minnie M. Skues. I did actually hear her referred to in jest by some people but never bothered to ask - today, seventeen or so years after last being at the school I stumbled upon the name on Wikipedia and dug deeper to find more.

The actual piece had vanished from Wikipedia because none of it is grounded in fact (that we know!) but Wikivisual seemed to have a ghost trace of the story. The real interesting aspect about this whole thing is that the "legend" obviously still exists and has passed down through countless generations of school children and the fact that Minnie M. Skues actually existed. If anyone has any other information I would love to know more!

Askean's young and old know about the mysteries of the belltower on the Lower Site. A certain Victorian girl, Minnie M Skues was supposedly raped by the old caretaker and upon discovering that she was to bear a bastard child to the grotesque and evil man, she hung herself to escape further tormentation.

It is said that the red walls are such because, while hanging, Minnie hit the wall and the blood that poured from her womb could not be scrubbed from the walls. Thus, the walls were painted their blood red colour to disguise the horrors of the past. The name, Minnie M Skues appears 7 times on the honours boards in the Jerningham site main hall, her earliest honour gained in 1896 and her last in 1907.

Surely if she had died, this would not be possible, and even if she had been alive, achieving seven honours as a nineteenth centuary woman would be incredibly difficult. It is said that, in an ettempt to wash away any memory of her sinfull and shocking death, that they invented a false life for her and part of this conspiracy was to put her name all over the school.

Entry to the belltower is strictly forbidden. You can see the bell tower for yourself from Jernigham Road. I'm sure that if you were to see it, you'd agree that it seems incredibly eerie. Is it an urban myth or are the sounds that are heard at the school when all is dark the sounds of her everlasting torment. Who knows? The caretakers dog seems to know. He will not enter the tower but only stare endlessly through the door, up at the chains that hang from the roof, the chains from which, over one hundred years ago, Minnie once hung.

Being a student of Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham College - I feel it my informed duty to tweak the story above slightly. The rumour of Minnie M Skues being raped by the caretaker was an unfortunate manipulation of the traditional story. The caretaker version was invented in 2003 to make it more scandalous. The older version which has existed for many years longer (and the version which I believe to be the truth) is much less exhilarating: Minnie M Skues hung herself because of stress of exams.

Public Enemy

Don't Look Back Concerts are a great concept - take an artist or group and get them to perform a classic album the in it's entirety. When I found out that Public Enemy were to perform It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back I had to go. It's probably my favourite album by an American Hip-Hop group ever and came at a time when my interest in the genre was at it's most passionate. Outside of Hijack's Horns Of Jericho it's probably my most played LP/CD/MP3 etc etc. Despite being released two decades ago it still stands head and shoulders above anything released today and represents a time when Hip-Hop had drive and purpose. There is no point even discussing the performance of Public Enemy because I have never been to one of their shows that was anything less than superb. They have perfected their performances and style over many years - it's just not possible to be anything less than blown away.

The only support act I managed to see was Kool Keith which was a frustrating experience. Despite being a member of the Ultramagnetic MCs, Keith opted to focus more on his solo material which generally leaves me cold. A skilled performer I'll grant you but his Dr Octagon and other solo projects just don't translate to the live stage for me. By the time he got around to performing Ultra's Poppa Large it was time for him to finish the set and I was left standing there hungry for more classic material.

A great night though and even the travel was easy - the last time I drove to a gig at the Academy many years ago I had my car broken into on Somerleyton Road but this time I parked just off Gresham Road which seemed to have a police car or van driving along it every fifth minute.

Tosca - Royal Albert Hall

I last saw Tosca many years ago at the Royal Albert Hall and have kept a watchful eye out for a repeat performance since. A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to get my hands on tickets for a box for the Raymond Gubbay production last night for a very good price.

I hesitated at first because I found out it was to be sung in English. My reaction wasn't because I'm a boring Opera snob but simply because I am used to hearing it sung in Italian and the flow does change in translation but luckily I ignored those fears and snapped up my seat. Sat at Gate 6 - Box 16 I was nearly facing the action directly. What a treat.

The set was superb. I've just laughed out loud at one comment on a review which describes it as "bare bones" - this is obviously from a person who hasn't stopped to think of the physical limitations of putting on a performance "in the round" - the minimalist settings are ideal if you want your whole audience to have a three hundred and sixty degree view of everything. What was lacking in props was more than compensated for with beautiful floor art and superb lighting. The stage became organic with the frequent movement of supporting cast and actors - choreography that climaxed in Act One with Scarpia's Te Deum "Tre sbirri, una carrozza" raising the roof as well as being visually spectacular.

The Guardian were unfairly harsh with their rating but managed to sum up some positives in the first paragraph.

"From a visual point of view, there are two or three spectacular moments in David Freeman's staging of Puccini's popular thriller. The act one Te Deum, with the lustful police chief Scarpia singing in counterpoint to the Roman choir and congregation, floods the arena with people and light. When Cavaradossi is executed in act three, blood spurts from his shirt in a far more realistic way than in most productions, while the final image, as Tosca hurls herself from the battlements of Castel Sant'Angelo, is a true coup de théâtre."

Performances were outstanding from all involved and the final moments with Cavaradossi prompted gasps from the audience. The new twist on the closing scene for me was the death plunge of our heroine. My previous experience has been to see Tosca step into shadows or fall into the background... not last night oh no! A final run to the peak of the set and a quick and effective change to a stunt double saw her jump from the highest point TOWARD us and fall twenty feet through the air and into the void of shadows - the second gasp of the night and cheers from some seats for a high octane finish to a great performance.

More pictures from between scene changes.

Fields of Kent

Being born and raised in South East London for thirty years means I've still a little bit amazed by simple country things like... fields. Pretty feeble I know but it's something I filed under "Country" in my head and never really took any notice of. Now I'm lurking around fields like some sort of oddball.