Cal

What I did in November...

Sun, 04 Dec 2005 23:42:46 GMT

...Apart from Novacon and getting stranded in Plymouth while attempting to vist my parents in Cornwall:

NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. The challenge is to produce a 50,000 word novel between midnight on 1st November, and midnight on 30th November. I made it - with almost three quarters of an hour to spare.

Things I have learned from the experience:

I can produce about 1600 words (of dubious quality) in an hour
Being nine days behind schedule by the 15th is definitely a mistake
Fact checking is a luxury
Consistency (about things like where the characters are at any given point, or even who they are) can be fixed later if I ever feel brave enough to go back and read it
The CD changer is my friend

It was quite difficult to hit the deadline with so many busy weekends, but it was great fun. With a bit of luck, I'll see if I can do it again next year.

Not again!

Sun, 22 Aug 2004 11:28:22 GMT

According to the BBC News website, a gang of armed robbers have stolen "The Scream" from the Munch Museum in Norway.

Story here

It was stolen a few years ago and not found for several months. It must be one of the most famous modern paintings in the world, not to mention one of the most recognisable paintings EVER. Hardly something you could keep for a couple of years then dispose of quietly.

Unless there is a real-life Ernst Stavro Blofeld out there with a taste for disturbing paintings, then I suppose they must intend to hold it to ransom.

This weekend has mostly been...

Sun, 15 Aug 2004 22:37:43 GMT

...purple.

Courtesy of the blackcurrant bush and bramble hedge in the back garden.
About five years ago a colleague gave me a twig from a blackcurrant bush, that I took home and stuck in the ground, as per her instructions. Yesterday I picked 3lb of currants off it. The brambles just appeared, as brambles do on any boundary that isn't supervised to within an inch of its life.

I have a simple style of gardening called "mostly I don't have time, and plants are supposed to grow anyway". I occasionally plant things, then leave them to struggle and either win, or get smothered. When we walk by the flowerbeds (i.e. the bits that aren't paved and that Gav doesn't mow), I proudly point out the surviving shrubs and flowers. For some reason other, more pessimistic, people mostly see the weeds.

Most of the blackcurrants have now been stewed and are cooling before being frozen. I've used a few already for a blackberry and blackcurrant crumble - pure nostalgia. My parents have a big garden and when I was a child it was full of fruit bushes and trees. It's rather nice that after 14 years living in Manchester I've finally got to taste the fruits from my own back garden.

Busy weekend

Tue, 13 Jul 2004 23:03:11 GMT

Back in January I was prompting for a play at an amateur theatre near work. I had just finished a run in their pantomime - hard work, but fun, and very glittery. One night I spotted a notice asking for volunteers for a "Playathon" in July. Older members explained that this was a show to be staged and rehearsed in 48 hours. In a burst of enthusiasm I put my name down...

Friday, 7.30 pm

After hanging around in the bar for about 20 minutes with about 40 other members, the moment of truth arrived. The organiser of the Playathon, one of only three people who knew the identity of the production we would be performing, made his announcement:

"Half a Sixpence"

I had been hoping for something I knew. I was sure that it would be a musical, as they tend to be a very flexible format - as long as you have enough people for the main characters, you can bung as many others into the chorus as turn up and stay the course. The two things I knew about Half a Sixpence were that Tommy Steele had starred in a film version and that the most famous song was "Flash Bang Wallop" (for those who've never heard it a highly entertaining and very fast song about the joys of photography).

We adjourned to the rehearsal space in a nearby hut for a read-cum-sing through. I only had a couple of lines of dialog, but the songs, while lovely, had intimidatingly complicated tunes. Panic!

At 9.30ish we finished the reading and got down to serious business - blocking out scenes and working on the dances. Three choreographers and three directors divided the scenes and musical numbers amongst themselves. "Flash Bang Wallop" got started straight away - I couldn't even sing the lyrics fast enough, let alone co-ordinate them with the steps. Dancing has never been one of my strong suits (to put it mildly).

Saturday 1 am

Let out for good behaviour, with instructions to be back by 8 am. Finally get home and go to bed at 2.30 am (the theatre is convenient for work, not home). Set alarm for 6.45.

Saturday 8 am

Legs ached, felt absolutely knackered. Had serious doubts about my sanity in signing up for this. Rehearsed all day until we were released at 11 pm. I started out with a script, but had to donate it to a choreographer because we were short of copies. Tried to memorise lyrics, scenes and cues by pouncing on scripts temporarily abandoned by other players. Gradually began to master "Flash Bang Wallop" and the other fast numbers, by sheer repetition - a reliable method, but very hard physically. Compared notes with the piano player, an amazing lady who could keep up with any number of cuts, key changes etc. She complained that hours of sitting on a hard piano stool were proving hard on her backside.

Just when I thought we were getting the hang of things, we moved from the various rehearsal spaces (anywhere with enough room, including the foyer and the bar) to the stage. I expected this to feel like a total shambles - the first time on the actual stage always seems to be - but the fact that the performance was only a day away made it seem much worse.

Got home about half past midnight, with instructions to be back by 9am at the latest.

Sunday 9am

Legs now felt as though they were about to fall off. My fitness levels aren't that bad, but I'm not really up to that level of activity without serious pain. The Wardrobe Department found me a fabulous dark blue Edwardian-style dress. Costume for the chorus and minor characters was allocated on a "first to fit, gets it" basis. I was extremely lucky the dress was quite glamorous - the lady who ended up in a dress worn by one of the Aunts in "Arsenic and Old Lace" was less fortunate. Had great fun finding a jacket to wear over the dress to make it look like a business suit, a feather boa for the pub scene and a great big hat for "best".

Lots more scrappy rehearsals of scenes/dances, one quick read through to help the principals with their dialog and then a dress rehearsal. Mike, the head of the Wardrobe Department, put up my hair in a proper 19th century "cottage loaf" hairstyle. I will always regret not having a camera so I could take a photo to show Mum!

By this point, felt in awe of the people playing big roles, especially John who is playing Kipps (the lead). Cannot imagine how they managed to cram so many cues, lines, lyrics and dance routines in so quickly.

Sunday 6 pm

"Nursery tea" - cakes and biscuits - provided in the bar. Crammed as many sugary things in as possible. I didn't have time for a full meal all weekend, so I hadn't had anything more substantial to eat than a sandwich since Thursday. Adrenaline arrived right on schedule though, so felt quite lively.

Sunday 7.30 pm

Show time!

Theatre was about 1/4 - 1/3 of capacity. Not bad for a Sunday night, with no advertising and no notice of what the show would be. From start to finish, we went down a storm (honest). Prevailing comment afterward was that it looked as though it had had a full set of normal rehearsals. Left post-show drink at about 11pm. Got home at about 12.30 (lack of taxis).

Monday - all day

Shambled around like a zombie all day. Left the office as early as possible, before I had the chance to do any damage. Co-workers kept asking what I'd done to myself as I shuffled around - every time I sat down for a while all my muscles stiffened.

I would do it all again if I got the chance. BUT I would:

1. Book the day afterwards off and spend at least 12 hours asleep

2. Avoid stairs or anything else challenging to legs / feet for a couple of days afterwards.

3. Make a serious effort to be a bit fitter when I started.

Drat!

Wed, 02 Jun 2004 21:01:02 GMT

We had a small power cut yesterday. I only know this because the microwave has no backup battery for its clock. Sadly, the outage was enough to kill our elderly freezer. It has done pretty well - over ten years of faithful service. I think the compressor has died - it sat and made sad buzzing noises, but is now full of semi-defrosted food that we will never get to eat.
I was looking forward to that sea bass, the next time Gav went away (he doesn't like fish very much).
Have just cooked about 5lb of various types of sausage, all from the farmers' market. Now we have to eat as much as we can over the next couple of days before they go off... so maybe there is a bright side.
Job for tomorrow: go out after work and find somewhere that can deliver a nice new freezer at the weekend.

How Dare They!

Sun, 23 May 2004 10:51:31 GMT

I suppose over the last three and a half years I should have had ample opportunity to get accustomed to the boundless arrogance and insensitivity of the Bush regime, but this still struck me as extraordinary:

US demands war crimes immunity

The UN Security Council is expected to vote tomorrow on whether US Peacekeepers should have immunity from prosecution when on UN missions.

In the last few weeks the world has been treated to a whole stack of news stories showing exactly why NOBODY should have a "free pass" in international law. Strangely enough lots of those stories (but by no means all of them) involved the US.

Since the current occupying force in Iraq doesn't have a UN mandate, I assume the resolution wouldn't affect troops there anyway. But, just to make sure, apparently the US and UK are seeking legal immunity for their boys in Iraq when sovereignty is handed over:

Coalition seeks Iraqi immunity

It's like some sort of return to feudalism: apparently it's fine to lock people away without trial, subject them to torture and then photograph yourself gloating over the battered corpses. Provided you're a citizen of a nation at the top of the hierarchy and they're from somewhere down at the bottom. Well, until there's a huge public outcry anyway. Does anyone out there believe that any of those "bad apples" would have been seriously punished if the press hadn't got hold of the story?

They never had this when I was a kid...

Thu, 20 May 2004 23:40:23 GMT

...Well not that I ever saw.

I was flicking through the review section of the Independent when an article on toys caught my attention. Feeling nostalgic, I read happily about Lego, Sticklebricks, nice wooden toy farms etc. Then I got to the paragraph about Playmobil. I remember these as standard plastic figures, taller than the Lego ones but not significantly more exciting. There were probably a few knights, maybe even an astronaut or two, but I thought that was about it.

I've read loads of articles over the years about anxious parents banning little boys from playing with guns, lest it should encourage violent tendencies. In my experience, this just means that the little boy in question points his hand (or a suitably shaped prop) and shouts "Bang". Or if he wants, he can apparently save up for a Playmobil limited edition Arms Dealer (of the old Wild West variety). It comes with 5 pistols, 4 rifles and a locking weapons box (very safety concious).

Equally fascinating is the safecracker playset, complete with a locking mechnanism on the safe and an oxy-acetylene torch.

I finally gave in...

Sat, 08 May 2004 20:27:11 GMT

Blufive has been saying I should get one of these for ages. So I finally decided to take the plunge.
I'm really not sure how I'll get on with it though. I'm quite fond of reading his Friends list to find out what everyone has been up to, but I've a feeling I may turn into one of those people who has one or two lonely entries after about 3 years.
We shall see...

P.S. On the first attempt, for some reason this ended up in Blufive's journal. Dratted browser!