|
Concert Announcements, Barbecue Season
by Paul Miazga
A few big concert announcements beg mention at the beginning of this week’s column; one in particular should easily raise a few eyebrows and get people excited as the summer draws nearer.
The July concert dates for George Michael and the Rolling Stones will surely gather a considerable amount of media and popular attention in the coming months for various reasons.
George Michael continues to remain popular and get radio and TV air time with such hits as his latest release, “Special”, but his “25 Live Tour” happens to be his first in 15 years. The tour “25 Live” will also promote the pop star’s recently released greatest hits album of the same name and should be a great mix of classic songs from his days fronting 80s pop band Wham! and his many solo efforts since. For added interest, the singer is also auctioning off personal memorabilia on eBay currently in order to raise money for numerous charities which he sponsors.
The George Michael concert date has been tentatively set for July 9 at Olympic Stadium in Kyiv.
The other major concert for this summer will be by none other than Mick, Keith and the rest of the Rolling Stones. While they may be old and for all intents and purposes over the hill, it’s hard not to want to see the Stones perform live and play all of their classic material, such as “Satisfaction”, “Angie”, “Brown Sugar” and “Start Me Up”. The European leg of their new “A Bigger Bang” 2007 world tour will include more than 20 dates, including Kyiv, Budapest, Bucharest, Belgrade and St. Petersburg.
The Rolling Stones concert date in Kyiv has been set for July 25, also at Olympic Stadium. There is currently no word yet on ticket sales for either concert.
BBQ season already in full swing
It was nice to get away with friends this past weekend to a forest outside of the city for a nice picnic. The afternoon naturally included copious amounts of shashlik and other classic roasted foods (it gets me hungry right now just thinking of it!).
One thing Ukrainians have in common with people such as the Turks, Australians or Georgians is their love of a good barbecue. Ukrainians have a knack for finding a great spot out in the woods and setting up camp from the trunk of someone’s car. A bit of charcoal, marinated meat and a few skewers are about all that’s needed to make such a barbecue as we did and the combination of hot grilled food and the open air knows few equals in my books.
This trip took on a particularly tasty flavor thanks to some 1.5kg buckets of super chunky marinated pork that a friend and I found at MegaMarket. While Ukrainians have marinades down to a science, having incorporated various ingredients including mayonnaise into the mix, this stuff from MegaMarket beats all hands down. The re-usable plastic bucket will come in handy when marinating meat for the next such barbecue, too.
About the only problem that really stands in the way of enjoying the summer barbecue season even more stems from the utter laziness of some people to pick up after themselves following a barbecue. Find a nice camping spot almost anywhere in Ukraine and if someone’s been there before you, chances are they’ve left all their garbage behind. It’s utterly unconscionable. I spent 15 minutes collecting garbage around our site on the weekend – and it was still by no means clean, but it looked less like a landfill than when we arrived. Foreigners living in or visiting Ukraine will certainly do well to remind their local hosts to clean up after themselves and pitch in to clean up not only their own garbage, but that of others, too. In this day and age the idea that someone else’s problem is not their own is seriously outdated. It doesn’t take but a minute to help make rather sullen-looking park areas that much brighter. I enjoy the outdoors with the motto, “Leave no trace behind.” I hope my readers adopt this motto as their own (in Ukraine or anywhere else), too.
“The Rolling Stones will play Olympic Stadium when they visit Kyiv on July 25.” (www.100xr.com)
|
