Volume 3. New Years

Welcome back to Global Around Town. I'm hoping that your Holidays have been filled with joy and plenty of tasty treats. As we look toward the New Year, I'm sure there are many of you out there who will be examining what happened in 2008 before making your resolutions for 2009. This week, and to that end, those of you who are able, must run (do not walk!) to catch this superior exhibit that is perfectly conducive to that sort of introspection. For my third edition of Global Around Town we're heading to the UK for a rare and comprehensive exhibit of the works of an artist who has been associated with just that kind of spirituality and transcendence. We're off to London, and to The Tate Modern for their Rothko: The Late Series exhibit.

"Rothko's iconic paintings, composed of luminous, soft-edged rectangles saturated with colour, are among the most enduring and mysterious created by an artist in modern times," the Tate Modern said in a statement. "In the exhibition his paintings glow meditatively from the walls in deep dark reds, oranges, maroons, browns, blacks, and greys." This "must-see exhibition of the year" includes works from Rothko's: Four Darks in Red series, The Seagram Murals, Black Form Paintings, Brown and Gray works for paper, and his last series of Black on Gray paintings.

Everyone I know who has seen this brilliant exhibit has walked away from it in something of a trance. A very moving experience that forces you to consider the important things in life. Rothko once said "Pictures must be miraculous." His truly are.

Now if after all this contemplation you're feeling a bit weary, perhaps some sustenance is in order. While the choices in London are endless, after an exhibit like the Rothko, a similarly transcendent experience is in order don't you think? I'm thinking special. I'm thinking French. I'm thinking something classic from Michel Roux Jr. I say head on over to his Le Gavroche where you might have something like this:

Langoustines and Snails Glazed in a Light Hollandaise Sauce

Flavoured with Basque Pepper and Parsley

Hot Foie Gras and Crispy Pancake of Duck Flavoured with Cinnamon

Lambs Lettuce Salad with Mature Mimolette Cheese and Walnut Oil

Roast Suckling Pig with Crackling,

Peppered Sauce with Golden Raisins and Shallot Confit

Roasted Pineapple with Vanilla and Rum,

White Pepper Ice Cream

Cafe et Petit Fours

Having viewed all this amazing Art and enjoyed this spectacular Cuisine, I imagine some of you are ready for a stent and beddie bye. And then some of you may just be getting going. So for those of you with a little something left in your tank, I recommend a trip over to The Hippodrome. Built around a hundred years ago as a water circus with elephants, polar bears and sea lions, it has also over the years hosted Houdini, boxing matches and Judy Garland. Tonight you're in for a treat with a performance by La Clique "promising a raunchy mix of cabaret, burlesque, circus sideshow and contemporary variety."" On any evening you might see:

Norway's Captain Frodo, whose eye-watering flexibility enables him to squeeze through tennis racquets;

Spain's Ursula Martinez whose show-stopping routines strip cabaret to its bare essentials;

Germany's David O’Mer, who has re-invented the pleasures of a nice soak in the tub;

Ukraine's Yulia Pikhtina, who claims to be one of the finest exponents of the ancient art of hula hooping;

The English Gents, performing their amazing feats of strength and skill;

London's own Miss Behave – a PVC-clad caricature with a fetish for swallowing pointy objects

The amazing puppets of Montreal's Cabaret Decadanse;

Mario, Queen of the Circus, a veteran of the New York alternative comedy scene who appears as a leatherbound reincarnation of Freddie Mercury."

Does anyone wonder why La Clique is an International sensation?! I don't think soooooo!

What a hilarious way to end our New Years outing in the great city of London. Happy New Years to you all!