Entertainment of the violent Sort

Our entertainment for this week has been of the violent sort.
First we went to the Michael Fowler Centre to see the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra celebrate the Chinese New Year performing Tan Dun's Martial Arts Trilogy supported by scenes from three classic Martial Arts Films. It was awe inspiring, and a bit gory in places. The little Chinese boy in front of me at times hid his eyes and his mother hid his eyes at times as well.
For me it was very dramatic but as I had never seen any of these films, it was also a bit confusing as warriors dashed about the place, fighting in trees, across deserts and over water with passionate love affairs interspersed with violent deaths.
The orchestra itself was also passionate and quite wonderful to watch especially the percussion who were heavily into their part to play. The Chinese violin has a sound of its own and Tan Dun himself was brilliant to watch as he conducted.

This afternoon we went to watch violence of a different sort. The Medieval Festival at Harcourts Park in Upper Hutt is always worth attending.
As we approached the park we could see an array of tents and pennants and hear music of  medieval persuasion. Among the usual hot dog stands were mead stalls and lots of tents selling swords, armour, and other clothing of the period. I liked the soft leather pointy shoes.
We watched a melee with with two groups in an assortment of armour attacking each other with swords, axes and pikes. After a rapid clashing and bashing most participants ended up on the ground and the one group with a few still standing was the winner... I think. It was extremely hot so it must have been stifling in those metal helms.
Many people in the audience were dressed for the occasion in clothes of the period and it made for a colourful if slightly weird affair.
Next we were entertained by a display of archery using the long bow the type of which helped the English win at Agincourt, the Battle of Crecy etc. They mentioned that 2015 will be the centenary of World War 1,  600 years since Agincourt and and 200 years since Waterloo and that there will be a lot of celebrating in England that year and consequently lots of mock battles.
Next was the most exciting event - jousting. The participants were from New Zealand, Australia and Germany and they looked wonderful on their destriers. Their armour glinted in the sun and one had a giant plume of blue and yellow feathers resembling an exotic type of palm tree on the top of his helm.
Armed with long jousting sticks they rushed at each other and clashed as they passed. A direct hit on their shields gave three points. They had three runs at each other then the points were tallied and the winner would meet the next opponent. Managing a fired up horse plus a jousting stick while loaded down with heavy armour is an art in itself and very exciting to watch. We had managed to get in front so had a good view of hooves as the horses thundered by.
The Austalians were up against each other in the final bout and went at it quite hard, bits of broken jousting stick flying everywhere, horses snorting and pawing, anxious to run again and becoming hard to control. The points were tallied and the winner saluted the crowd before seeking shade under the trees.
The last event was another melee which was a battle between Australians and New Zealanders. This melee seemed to involve a lot of shoulder charging more than bopping each other with swords and axes. They had three attacks at each other before New Zealand was declared the winner and everyone left most satisfied.

The last act of violence in Wellington this weekend was the 20/20 cricket match between the New Zealand Black Caps and England. It was a massacre. New Zealand smeared all over the grass yet again. We did not go to the game so were spared the worst of it, but even listening to it on the radio was not fun. No knights in shining armour here. Our castles were knocked over, our men run out. We were unable to defend our total, our catches did not stick.
What a shambles!