Boanerges

BAFTA v Oscar

2010-02-26T15:09:00.002Z

I was delighted to see the BAFTAs reward "The Hurt Locker" as the superior film by awarding it as Best Film and giving Kathryn Bigelow the Best Director award and Mark Boal best original screen play and a hatful of technical awards as well.

I was sorry that Jeremy Renner did not win Best Actor award but was not surprised to see Colin Firth do so instead. After all these are the British awards. However I would hope to see the situation reversed at the Oscars with American Renner's perfformance being rightly aclaimed. I still think his greatest rival is Jeff Bridges, who won the Golden Globe.

I was pleased that Carey Mulligan won best actress as it ws well deserved but figure the American Oscar vote will go to Gabourey Sidibe in "Precious". I suspect Monique will again be the strong contender for best supporting actress but hope Vera farmiga will pip her at the post at the Oscars.

I love the Award season. Coming up next is a review of "Someone Who'll Watch Over Me" by the Bench Theatre.

The first 26 km

2010-02-11T08:25:00.002Z

The first day's walk in the Great France Walk starts at the Riva Bella Plage, with a symbolic paddle in the Channel. The beach was known as Sword Beach in the D-Day Landings in June 1944 and one of the first landmarks is an icon of those landings.

Leaving the beach I head directly south to find the way-markers at the start of GR36. The Grande Randonnee runs alongside the Caen canal to the Pegasus Bridge.It crosses the canal there and then crosses the River Orne to the east bank to continue south. It forms part of the Pays Tour du Bessin, while heading south west towards Caen.

In order to make its way through Caen, although clinging to the canal bank throughout, the GR36 recrosses to the west bank. Directly south of Caen as the city is left behind, the footpath follows the east bank of the River Orne to Fleury sur Orne. It ignores the bend to Louvigny but cuts across country to St Andre sur Orne. Finally a little further south it comes to the resting place of May sur Orne, which is the end of the first day's walk.

Hopefully as part of the walk I will be able to sketch, take photographs and on occasion film particular stretches in order to supplement my diary and blog postings as a record of the walk. It begins to take a definite shape and a plan is growing.

Great France Walk starts to take shape

2010-02-10T08:42:00.002Z

As the spring approaches so my attention turns to how to turn the Great France Walk into an actual event.

For a start I now have an actual map of the first day's walk. I ended up buying map 1612OT direct from the IGN of France. I will have to include a visit to the wonderful map shop near the Lamb and Flag on my infrequent visits to the capital. Anyway what this map clearly shows is that I have to be able to cover 26 kilometres in the day.

That is therefore my target for the Spring and Summer as I raise the distances I can travel in one day to the 25-30 km mark. I intend doing this by doing first one and then two circular walks of the required length in a day.

I will have to look carefully at my clothing and then at my equipment. I want to be able to be self sufficient on these journeys so will need a proper rucksack to carry my clothes and camping equipment on my back. This again will necessitate practice carrying.

The second day's walk ends at Thury Harcourt, which possesses a camping site, where we have been before and which is in our Michelin guide. The first day's walk ends at May sur Orne, which doesn't have a campsite. I am not planning to sleep rough so as part of our June in France holiday we shall visit this village and see what accommodation is available. At the moment it looks like the first instalment of the Great France Walk could be this autumn.

Those who know me will not be surprised to find I have discovered a gadget which may or may not prove to be useful. It is a GPS IGN Evadeo X55. This is a device similar to the SATnav which can be used with walking, cycling and driving if you use the appropriate maps. I can hear you say but what is wrong with the maps. Nothing is the answer and of course each walk will be planned using the maps. However the GPS device gets you out of those tricky moments of decision when following waymarked signs when the wrong choice can add many km to the walk and delay your arrival at the day's destination. Let's just say I am tempted.

I have also started to think about the security arrangements needed to travel cross country this way. Where does one store the GPS, the cash and the credit card needed to use in an ATM for more cash, and the mobile phone?

I am about to enter a brief period of theatrical endeavour in which I resurrect three productions from last year and start to learn a new one. The resurrection of productions is a new one to me as normally I learn lines for a production, maintain them until the final performance and then erase them from my memory. I have found difficulty in the past remembering even memorable lines from plays that I have been in so my new task is daunting. I have to relearn the lines rapidly as I haven't the luxury of spending weeks in rehearsal. The first of these productions has a rehearsal tonight and then two performances on Friday and Saturday. I start a second revival next week with a rehearsal on Monday. My grey brain cells are in for a hard time!

The Hurt Locker

2010-02-06T11:05:00.002Z

The Oscar Nominations are out. As usual it is slightly frustrating that the UK distribution of films is slightly out of step with that of the USA. Some of the films nominated and sometimes the winners themselves appear in our cinemas just before the award ceremony or even just after. There are nine films nominated for Best Film: I have reviewed "Avatar", "Up in the Air" and "An Education". I have seen "Inglorious Basterds", and "Up" (which I trust will win the animated feature Oscar),leaving "The Hurt Locker" which I review below and three others (http://oscar.go.com/nominations/nominees)

Alice hates me reviewing films she hasn't yet seen because she is worried I will give away too much of the plot as I have on occasion in the past. However I try to review in abstract terms rather than involve plot spoilers. The film is set in Iraq where an elite Army bomb disposal squad is seen at work in a city where everyone is a potential enemy and every object could be a potential bomb. The chaos of war is magnificently created and there is a true cat and mouse element to the film and the plot. I finished my viewing of the film with a tension headache. I was that immersed with the activities of the bomb squad and with their characters, I was there as they work their way through their tour of duty. The three men of the bomb squad became real to me and I deeply cared about all three of them. They are wonderfully contrasted people, deeply complex and all trying to survive in an insane world. Anthony Mackie (Sergeant Sanborn) and Brian Geraghty (Specialist Owen Eldridge) are as different from each other and as different again from the third member of the squad, Sergeant First Class William James. If the tensions out on the streets of Baghdad are not enough, the tensions within the unit are as palpable and as dangerous. I believed in both Mackie and Geraghty as characters and as people. I cannot believe neither of them has been nominated for Best Supporting Actor. Nominated for Best actor is Jeremy Renner as Will James. He is up against George Clooney (whose performance I rated highly in my review of "Up in the Air" - see below) and Jeff Bridges in "Crazy Heart, for which he won the Golden Globe.

Jeremy Renner wasn't acting. He was Will James. I totally believed in this not exactly likeable character. His complexes and his complexity made him feel as dangerous as the explosive objects he was working with.

The screenplay by Mark Boal is brilliant and the cinematography by Barry Ackroyd matched to the editing by Bob Murawski and Chris Innis all add to the incredible achievement that is this film and to our knowledge of the insanity of war.

The major credit must go to Kathryn Bigelow as director. I liked what Jason Reitman did with "Up in the Air", James Cameron with "Avatar" and Tarantino with "Inglourious Basterds" direct with the panache and flair expected of such well renowned film-makers. I hope the Oscar goes to Kathryn for what I felt was a moving experience in the cinema.

An Education

2010-01-28T15:13:00.002Z

Met up with the Best Beloved after her stint as invigilator at the University and went to see "An Education", the film starring Carey Mulligan. The Best Beloved has been keen to see this film as it is set in the time when she was also a grammar school girl. It was one of the films that I had earmarked as seeing later on DVD. Some films just have to be seen in the cinema, for example, "Avatar" in 3D. Smaller scale more intimate films can be seen on the TV screen or on the projector without losing too much. However having said all that I am glad I went to see "An Education". Everyone who has seen it or reviewed it has raved about the central performance of Carey Mulligan, as the bright teenager with a glowing education future, and her encounters in the "university of life". The Danish director, Lone Scherfig, specialises in films dealing with characterisation and is concerned with the lives of ordinary rather eccentric people. She is married to a psychologist, which could be a result of her work or a contributory factor to it. The screenplay is written by Nick Hornby and is a wonderful piece of work. All the character work is exceptionally well done. As the playboy nearly twice her age who changes Jenny's life, Peter Sarsgaard, creates a man with whom we could be morally outraged but with whom we always maintain a touch of sympathy. Peter appeared in the Sam Mendes' film, "Jarhead",as a die hard member of the Marine elite unit, and he played the air marshal, Carson, in "Flight Plan" with Jodie Foster. Peter certainly has range and form and his performance in "An Education" as David must rate a Best Supporting Actor nomination. Alfred Molina as Jenny's father also gives a performance of note although I am a sucker for father roles. He has set great store by his bright girl going to university and adds to the pressures on her. Olivia Williams gives a good performance full of subtleties and nuances as Miss Stubbs, the grammar school teacher and role model, who is challenged almost as much as is Jenny by the latter's experiences. Rosamund Pike, though would also gain my nomination as Best Supporting Actress, as Helen, the blonde air brained girlfriend of Danny (Dominic Cooper). When Jenny says she is going to read English at university, Helen's look of incomprehension is wonderful to behold as she struggles to understand that Jenny is going to read English "books" and why would anyone need to go to university to do that! I would highly recommend "An Education" but you will have to hurry if you want to see it in a cinema as screenings are becoming few and far between. If you don't make it, do catch it on DVD!

Doing it for and by myself!

2010-01-21T12:05:00.003Z

Do you know how you don't write anything for ages and then one post seems to uncork your brain and ideas that must have been lurking there half-formed for ages suddenly push themselves to the forefront and demand to be written about?

Neither the Best Beloved and I had any dreams about round the world cruises when we retired. At the time I was happy with that decision and we did spend a great deal of money on an extension to our house, feeling we hoped to spend a lot longer in it. We could also justify our decision in terms of reducing our carbon footprint and other worthy explanations, but the truth is more mundane and less worthy.

The Best Beloved's responsibility for an aged mother meant she could not contemplate too many or very long holiday breaks.Even that last phrase arouses in both of us the PWE or Protestant Work Ethic abhorrence of possibly going away on something as frivolous as a holiday! We're not Methodists for nothing! Although only one till five years old, I still seem to carry around a lot of Catholic guilt with me. I am unsure though whether our desire to stay within our comfort zones and not be too risky was also a major factor.

However now the responsibility for aged mother is no longer 24/7 we can contemplate more breaks, for longer durations and for greater distances. We have looked at winter sun holidays and heard on Tuesday of someone who had flown off that very day to Tenerife on a 7 day break of £500 pp having booked it on Sunday on lastminute.com.
We have not yet been bold enough to do that. We are planning to go on a month's camping trip to France in June. We shall have a pop up tent for overnight stops and the proper tent for when we find somewhere we want to stop for a while. We shall wander south by route national rather than autoroute, probably to the South West corner as our visits there have been less frequent than other parts of France. We are planning another canal boat trip in France with friends this year. I have gone off my train journey across the USA idea. However I have discovered the Western Discovery tours and want to do them this year or next. The Best Beloved and I also want to visit New York and New England.

For me though the biggest discovery is that one of the joys of walking is being alone and telling the tales afterwards. This is an important realisation. I have been trying to fit my practice walks involving the Wayfarers Way and the Solent Way around other people and commitments, rather than relying solely upon myself and fitting the other commitments around me. I must be able to equip myself for the cold and wet as well as the fine and dry weather.

I was actually better at this when I was teaching but probably because it was like snatched time from terms or preparation time. I might just sneak under the radar with my 2:2 degree in order to join David Cameron's elite teachers. The sentiment is worthy but ill thought through. In my time as deputy head I had to monitor and assess a number of prospective teachers. My opinion was sought at the end of their time doing "school practice". In some cases I would and did fail candidates. Some of these were the cleverest of the crop but my bottom line criterion was always would I want my Zoe and my Alice to spend all day in the classroom with this person. Mind you, I applied the same criterion to mini bus drivers I used to assess - would I want my two kids riding in the back of a bus driven by this person? I realise this was subjective but it meant I wouldn't wish any less for other people's children and would look back over the other more objective summaries and judgements I had to make.

I am trying to recapture some of that sense of urgency about my walking. This is the year and now is the time to make a start! I need to clear my head and some of the commitments that I keep using as an excuse to cover my lack of effort and drive.

Sitting and thinking

2010-01-20T09:54:00.004Z

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately and some of the thoughts are beginning to form a coherent whole.

I didn't audition for the Bench production of "The Crucible" in April as I had first intended at the play selection. Vaguely it was part of getting outside of my comfort zone and taking more risks, which is one of my new year resolutions. However on closer analysis I found it was more to do with a possible rehearsal schedule of 30 rehearsals and 8 performances over a pretty solid fortnight. I know it wouldn't be me committed to 30 rehearsals but at three rehearsals on average per week and one of those usually Sunday afternoon this can mean a commitment of 10 weeks and/or 10 Sundays. That is one heck of a time commitment and one I have done regularly now for decades. The number of projects I have deferred because I was in a Bench production is phenomenal. It is probably because I can't multi task, and am lazy/indolent and need an excuse to blame for my lack of application (or am possibly just an old "tart" who needs his time upon the stage topping up at frequent intervals). I have satisfied some of that parenthesised demand (old "tart") by accepting three parts working for Cloak and Dagger, murder mystery dinners. These total 7 rehearsals and 8 performances in the same time scale as I would have been working on "The Crucible". Admittedly the type of work is very different but I am beginning to enjoy more and more the working directly with an audience and staying in character while being questioned at a dinner table. I am also enjoying exercising the old comedy skills, which I enjoyed knocking the rust off in "What the Butler Saw".

I will probably feel the need to exercise my dramatic side at some stage during the year but will look out for those opportunities.

What is the purpose of all this time clearance you may ask? The Great France Walk calls! My health fright on "Butler" shows I cannot blissfully assume that I can do it in my own good time. I need to start putting flesh on the idea. If I am to achieve the dream, I need to develop the ability to walk an "x" number of miles carrying my equipment upon my back in a day. I need to define and refine that word "equipment" down to its basic essentials so that overnight and for the agreed duration of the 'hike' I am self sufficient and self reliant. I need to do some planning and map work, improve my basic French and acquire clothing and gear. But above all I need to do some real walking!

Last Minute Revision Pays off!

2010-01-20T09:47:00.002Z

I was delighted to see "The Hangover" win the Best Film Comedy or Musical at the Golden Globes. I was also pleased to see "Avatar" win Best Film Drama and James Cameron win Best Director. My last minute revision certainly paid off. I was sorry that Ricky Gervais resorted to penis jokes so early in his introduction. What was so impressive about the "Avatar" win was that it is no longer the second highest grosser in cinema history after "Titanic" but has now overtaken the latter and takes first place. Such films are usually overlooked for less commercially successful. I expect that the Oscars might still go for "Up in the Air" and perhaps Kathryn Bigelow for "The Hurt Locker".

Golden Globes

2010-01-17T20:31:00.002Z

Tonight the film awards, The Golden Globes, get awarded at a glittering ceremony. I shall record the programme and watch during the day tomorrow trying to avoid any references to it in the daily paper.

In order to be up to scratch for the Golden Globes I watched 4 films on Thursday and Friday of last week.
"The Hangover" which is a Las Vegas-set comedy centred around three grooms-men who lose their about-to-be-wed buddy during their drunken misadventures, then must retrace their steps in order to find him. It is genuinely funny and beautifully directed by Tod Phillips, who keeps the lot rolling along. However the stand out performance for me was Zach Galifiankis as Alan. He is the oddball added to the quartet almost as a last minute thought and lacks all social skills both as a man and as a mate. On Several occasions he made me roar out loud. Zach also appears as one of the employees in "Up in the Air" and I spotted him immediately so how cool is that!

I then watched "Paul Blart: Mall Cop", written by and starring Kevin James as an overweight mall cop or security guard caught up in a raid in the mall. Kevin James is a very funny actor and with great sensitivity (and I loved his performance in "Hitch"). However I watched it for Jayma Mays, the feminine lead and love interest. She plays Emma, the OCD teacher in "Glee", one of my favourite TV series.

Friday I saw "Avatar" in 3D, the second highest grossing film in the history of cinema since the "Titanic". The effects and events are mid bogglingly good and no doubt James Cameron has pushed some of the technical boundaries of film making. The film itself is immersive and I happily wallowed in it for the 161 minutes of its duration. in my younger days, in sci-fi films Earth was invaded by aliens from dead planets intent on taking over ours. In "Avatar" the humans are the aliens trying to take over Pandora as they have killed off Earth. I was intrigued by the characters and the cultural references but not entirely won over by them. The idea of a disabled marine being able to inhabit the body of an avatar is magnificently evoked. The film also evoked my acrophobia on a number of occasions as mountains are suspended in the sky and the indigenous people fly dragons.

Flying was the subject of the last film, "Up in The Air". If this film doesn't win an award then there is no justice. The performances are marvellous and the direction (by Jason Reitman, responsible for "Juno")is subtle and masterful. George Clooney plays Ryan Bingham, who flies ten million air miles criss crossing America laying off the workforce on behalf of cowardly bosses. Clooney is magnificent - he uses to tics or techniques - he just delivers a character who you understand every moment he is on the screen. I am amazed Vera Farmiga, who plays Ales, "Just think of me as you, but with a vagina", is not nominated as she gives a performance that is as great and as subtle as that of Clooney. The other female is Anne Kendrick as Natalie, a green horn to whom he shows the ropes and his system. She just adds to the magic of a great film!

Annual Service

2010-01-12T18:53:00.002Z

The Best Beloved got her drive and path cleared. We did in fact test drive both cars today despite the pretty poor condition of the hill in our Grove. It appears I am booked in for the annual service of our Focus tomorrow morning at 0830 in Chichester. It was a simple and telling answer to my simple query about why we had to clear the drive!

I also walked up to the nearest Homebase and bought a few bird feeders for the garden. Instantly we were visited by our robin and a tit, so making my expedition worthwhile almost immediately. I would like to do my bit for the local wildlife and was prompted by a snippet on television last night. I think our robin lives in the large fir tree at the bottom of our garden - in fact I think you could do an entire wildlife programme based just on that tree. Apparently robins will forego their territoriality in these dreadful winter circumstances, which shows other species are prompted to acts of goodwill to others when there is snow on the ground.

Pompey are play away at Coventry tonight and I wish them well but don't mind if they lose as they can then concentrate on Premier League survival. I shall be supporting them at the home game against Birmingham on Saturday. I am in support of the protests as they seem to have rattled the ownership and top management.

I am now researching short stories to find material for the adult Tale Tellers at the Southdowns Literary Festival. We each plan to do a 20 minute story in a 45 minute session. It will be interesting to work out the technique for starting (and finishing) a storytelling session with adults - we are quite expert now when working with children.

Quote from Albert Camus I like: "Don't walk in front of me as I may not follow; Don't walk behind me as I may not lead: Walk beside me and be my friend."

Path clearing and roadworks

2010-01-11T10:42:00.003Z

The Best Beloved wants to clear our drive or at least a path from front door to pavement and around the two immobilised cars. My question was simple:"Why?"

Was she expecting a sudden influx of visitors? Was she intending to use the cars? We have been visited by the kids and had a lovely meal and lots of fun playing charades (The Best Beloved's rendition of "Transformers 2; Revenge of the Fallen" was incredibly funny as revenge is not a concept she deals in and her sub-textual delivery was beautiful and wondrously naive. I, on the other hand, could do 'revenge' and 'petty spite' easily). However they walked and so found no hardship crossing our small drive. We have a sign on the front door dissuading cold callers (a particularly apt expression in this seasonal weather). The Best Beloved has almost recovered fully from her hamstring problem, exacerbated by a fall in the drive early in the Christmas holiday. Therefore, we are able to walk everywhere we want to go. If necessary and are using the shopping trolley we will catch bus into Havant and back. In order to visit her mother, the Best Beloved will use two buses. The cars are redundant at the moment and the hill that is our Grove is ungritted and looks treacherous for the rare vehicle on the move. The milkman still arrives , bless his warm woollen socks, and leaves our order.

The other point I made was that once you clear the path and drive you then have to keep it clear as it can become a liability. Perhaps it was all those decades living in Bradford that has made me a bit of a curmudgeon and resistant to the charms of snow? I know Lord Adonis has spoken up in defence of common sense and community spirit to encourage people to clear their frontages despite council warnings of liability. My worry is that you can create skating rinks rather than welcoming paths. You do need to put something down on the cleared surfaces. I am starting to worry about all this salt we have sprayed on the roads - where will it all go when the thaw comes? Won't it eventually get washed somewhere? I read that in Sweden they use wetted sand. Admittedly it will still have to go somewhere when it thaws but we have a supply of sand in Britain we don't need to import expensive salt. Just a thought!

On Mondays I get the Daily Telegraph for the Sports Supplement as I was once advised it was one of the best. Useless today as sport has been so adversely affected by the weather except in South Africa where the England cricket team seems particularly adept at rearguard actions. Anyway I was forced as a result to read the paper more than is my usual wont. I was delighted to see the Donmar "Hamlet" has made £6 million on Broadway. I was also reminded that I was born in the winter of 1947 although my memories are very vague! I read the column by Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London. His topic was the roadworks constantly disrupting London life and costing Londoners about £1 billion per year. In the Thatcher era the utilities were given quite amazing powers to dig up the road; this was an attempt to help the new privatised utility companies. Unfortunately the number of companies and services able to use these powers now number 100. London is apparently pioneering a time limited permit system in order to speed up the 300,000 holes dug annually in London streets. Johnson's suggestion is lane rental so the companies are charged for the time spent digging up roads. Naturally the utility companies say this will add to their costs which will be passed on to the consumer. However Johnson goes on to say it might encourage new technology, the equivalent of keyhole surgery and angioplasties in road-excavation. He also suggests the round the clock working of Singapore and the plating over the holes as used in New York.

I was much heartened by hearing that my old school went back to work today. What is the point of being retired if everyone is staying at home? I am much uplifted by the tales of young people making every effort to get into work. I once was much driven by the protestant work ethic instilled into me by my grandmother in particular - I wonder what happened to it? Do I need a shovel or a spade?

Some sort of resolution

2010-01-07T17:12:00.002Z

I am often impressed by the other blogs I read and of course feel I have to follow suit. I still use Pie Corbett as my educational muse: "imitate, imitate,imitate,imitate,imitate; innovate,innovate,innovate; invent."

So. in full imitation mode, I have decided to eschew the usual form of resolutions and also to limit myself to three, although the second is an extended one.

(1) Take more risks and try to avoid staying so comfortably within my comfort zone.Idle and indolent are perfect adjectives for me and only very rarely am I seized by the need to burst into action. I don't think at this stage in my life I am suddenly going to become a thrusting, dynamic sort of person. However if offered options I will try to take the one that is outside my comfort zone and requires more effort on my part. I love taking part in Bench productions but do tend to end up putting a couple of months aside to do one and putting the rest of my life on hold while I do it. I have worked out that if I do small scale Bench productions rather than the major ones I can do more rather than less. It also means I have created more space to respond to other offers and indeed to come up with ideas and projects of my own. We are continuing with our Tale Tellers series of stories for children at the Arts Centre in the spring months. We are also going to use the Southdowns Literary Festival as a guinea pig venue for taking our storytelling to adults. This has already involved starting to look at short stories with a view to turning them into stories to be told rather than read. There is a possibility of a monologue that would certainly stretch this old actor. I will also take part in Totton if asked and in the Supernova event planned for September, perhaps even writing and directing if I can stir my stumps in plenty of time.

(2)See more cinema (weekly), read a book per week and see more theatre (monthly). These are things I enjoy thoroughly and are therefore no hardship upon which to base a resolution. However they still count as guilty pleasures and I can be easily deferred by pointing out what I should be doing instead. I think I am going to have to allocate a sort of Orange Wednesday approach. The Best Beloved is forever saying I must be more flexible but that does mean I usually end up not doing anything. She also sometimes sidetracks me by saying something like "Oh I want to see that film as well!" but we then spend the rest of the week trying to work out how to fit it in and the film has dropped out of the cinema schedules. This is my fault really, not hers, I must say "I am going to see it on Wednesday at 1240. Are you able to come?" Please note the lovely daytime viewing, which I love. Theatre is more difficult because it is more expensive and is usually at a distance, i.e. London. However, I want to see Mark Haddon's "Polar Bears" at the Donmar. Book reading I think I can fit in if I get started at the beginning of a week and don't spend too much time on the computer!

(3) More walking is needed.

Catching up on Cinema

2009-12-22T08:40:00.006Z

Now the bad weather has officially arrived I have attempted to catch up on my cinema viewing. Indeed one Thursday I attempted to see all three of the films on my list in one go but couldn't get the timing right. I had to settle for two that day and the third the following day. I could have fitted them all in the one day if I had been willing to go into the evening but that would have meant gaps outside the theatre trying to get fed and what have you. I saw "Me and Orson Welles" and "Harry Brown" together and "2012" the next day. If I were going to rate the films in order of quality that would probably be the same order, although all three were very entertaining.

"Me and Orson Welles" stars Zac Efron of "High School Musical" fame as a young student who gets himself into the 1930 Mercury Theatre production of "Julius Caesar" by the then 22 year old Orson, already an acclaimed genius. This was the first film my agent offered me an extra part in but it was before I retired officially so I couldn't take the opportunity offered. The film was filmed here in the UK and particularly in the Isle of Man, although the result on the screen looks authentically American. Richard Linklater as director obviously loved the material and obviously admires Orson Welles. In Christian McKay he finds a performance that totally convinces in looks, voice and mannerisms. The young Orson Welles is a genius but a really exasperating one and a lot of time is spent awaiting his arrival. The backstage view of the Mercury Theatre production are wonderful for an old theatrical ham like me. There is a reference to the bad luck that is bound to strike every production and the hope that it strikes before the dress rehearsals and opening night. Personal experience makes me accept that this concept of bad luck may exist as I am more superstitious than logical when involved in theatre. There are lovely performances from Ben Chaplin as the English actor playing Mark Anthony and from Eddie Marsan as the now legendary John Houseman. I was especially taken by Claire Danes (no surprise there, I can hear my regular readers comment) as Sonja Jones, a sort of production assistant. Sonja is certainly quirky and a little other worldly while being more worldly than our hero, young Richard played by Zac Efron. The latter actor of course is making the painful transition from teenage heart throb to dramatic lead.I thought he made the transition successfully. He is cursed with extravagant good looks, dark floppy hair and piercing light eyes (such as a younger George Clooney) but works against this to provide a believable performance as the young man given the opportunity to play Lucius to the Brutus of Orson Welles on a whim of the great man. I loved the theatrical rehearsal sequences and loved the fact that a production acclaimed now as a masterpiece was so nearly a disaster. Orson Welles is given to worrying that the inevitable "bad luck" of a production strikes before dress rehearsal and opening night. Recent personal experiences mean I now share this concern.

Harry Brown has been described as the English "Gran Torino", which I think I reviewed in an earlier post. There are similarities in plot as elderly ex-servicemen and widowers aim to avenge a friend's death by doling out their own form of justice. Both films are blessed with leading performances by great cinematic actors in Caine and Eastwood. I think the American film has the slight edge in being directed by Eastwood himself, who qualifies as one of the very best directors outdoing the Europeans at subtlety. The English film is directed by a young débutante, Daniel Barber. He does a very good job and certainly his film is very English and very contemporary. Both leads convince as ex-servicemen leading lonely lives, although Eastwood is slightly more convincing as ex-Korean war veteran. Both sets of experience impinge on the situation they find themselves in their respective films. Strangely enough the English film is far more violent and in-yer-face than the American one. I also felt the scale was more television than cinema. The American film offered a more universal angle and a solution to the same set of problems than did the English film. I would like to see both films again and back to back.

2012 stars John Cusack. It is described as an epic adventure about a global cataclysm bringing an end to the world and the heroic struggle of the survivors. Directed by Roland Emmerich of "Independence Day" and "Day After Tomorrow", the film is packed with great cinematic set pieces of vast destruction. It is also laden with a pathetic script and some gaping flaws in logic! Cusack does try to hold the film together as does Chiwetel Ejiofor but both are outdone by Woody Harrelson as Charlie Frost. The scale of the events leaves little room for the humans. It certainly is a treat for the eyes and the ears although the brain feels a little neglected after a running time of 158 minutes. I think it's better than "10,000 B.C." but spectacular action cannot compensate for poor scripts and poor understanding of human psychology. Emmerich should spend more time looking at "Harry Brown" and "Gran Torino" to learn we are interested in how other human beings react in unusual situations - somewhere there is a quote about nothing is more illuminating in cinema than a close up of the human face!

Brilliant NHS Staff

2009-11-27T10:06:00.002Z

I had a cyst and was taking antibiotics but it decided to become something more unpleasant so I visited my GP. I belong to a brilliant medical practice run by the charismatic Dr Mc, but rarely see him. This particular morning I had an appointment with Dr. K., who had seen the original cyst and prescribed the antibiotics. Dr. K has two expressions, impassive and even more impassive. It was the second one that crossed his face as he examined what had now become an abscess in my right groin. He decided to write a letter to the Surgical Assessment Unit at QA hospital there and then to get me antibiotics given IV. As I had a final dress rehearsal that night and an opening night the following I was trying to calculate whether I could postpone the hospital visit until the Monday break in performances or indeed until after the performances finished. However Dr K said I must go straight to SAU and only to pick up my overnight bag on the way through.

At the SAU my details were taken by Staff Nurse W, who had been one of my pupils at Trosnant Primary School. She described me as being a "lovely teacher" and such an unsolicited testimonial made me swell with pride. While we waited long hours in the Treatment Room - not designed for long stays hence my Left Buttock complaint of previous posts - I was visited by another nurse whose son DB I had taught at Waite End School ( I believe her son had done some work on the construction of the new super hospital in which we sat).

More importantly we were visited by a very good looking doctor who was doing the assessment in the SAU. He looked like a taller version of Dominic Cooper (said teh best Beloved). It was he who answered my problem about dress rehearsals and first nights by saying "send in the understudy" and that I would be lucky to be back performing after the weekend if all went to plan. Fortunately for the Bench Theatre and "What the Butler Saw" we had the remarkable and very talented Mark Wakeman as director. It was he who stepped in as understudy with a script on stage and earned a brilliant performance accolade in the press reviews. Having seen the play all the way through he knew the moves and situations and was familiar with the lines - he needed the script though because even he was defeated by Orton's ornate language (see previous posts). That was one burden off my shoulders and all I had to concentrate on was my abscess.

After Dr. Dominic Cooper look alike came the surgery team dressed in scrubs led by a female registrar, female surgeon and male assistant. By now abscess was throbbing but if left alone didn't cause too much pain but he didn't like the attention and probing and prodding. The surgical team agreed with Dominic's assessment and i was added to the CPOD list for that day. This is the emergency list to fit in amongst the already scheduled theatre appointments and you can get shuffled up and down the list depending on priorities.

Eventually in the evening I was moved to a small one bed room in preparation for my procedure whenever a theatre became available. Best Beloved departed after a very long day thinking my procedure would take place at 2100. However I was moved down the list because another patient took priority. I was visited by an anaesthetist. This was the moment I dreaded as at my bypass they had had to do a tracheotomy in order to get air into my lungs during general anaesthetic. If they had to do that again I knew my voice would be ruined as the tracheotomy took longer to heal than did the bypass operation scars. The anaesthetist suggested another method whereby a tube was introduced up my nose and then down the back of my throat. This sounded horrible as well and I knew that if my throat was damaged or made sore it would take a long time to heal (If I am about to catch a cold or such like, it is the back of my throat which goes first).

Anyway I am dozing off having watched "Spooks" on the bedside TV when at midnight a porter and a nurse arrive for me. They trundle me down lengthy empty corridors to the theatre, where I am greeted my surgical nurses and the star of the day, the anaesthetist in charge of my operation. He was bonhomie personified and I am ashamed to say I didn't catch his name. Mainly this was because he had come up with an alternative approach for the operation. Instead of putting me under a general anaesthetic, he suggested the use of an epidural, an injection in the spine which would immobilise the body below the belly button. I agreed to the procedure and was injected in the back doing a Rodin pose under my own steam. Then followed the weirdest sensation - I could feel if my lower limbs were touched or moved but had no sensation of pain and was unable to move them myself. He introduced me to the "Oh yer Bugger" moment. This was achieved with a cold spray which had no real impact on the deadened areas but achieved the OYB moment if it sprayed on to the upper torso. The point was to monitor that the epidural worked in the area required and not higher up, which on reflection was a good thing. A NHS screen was rigged up of a blanket between two drip feed stands as I requested not to be able to see the surgeons at work. I am a physical coward and didn't want to see scalpels near my crown jewels.

The surgeon popped her head round the screen at one point to explain what they were doing and to apologise that they hadn't given me a bikini shave. The anaesthetist kept me entertained throughout with anecdotes, summary of the procedure and health advice. he did warn me that my bladder needed to work by 0800 next morning otherwise the epidural might be having too extended an effect and I would need help urinating.

I am delighted to say that my bladder worked as normal the next morning!

Finally I am indebted to the beautiful blonde District Nurse from Leeds with obvious Norwegian ancestry named Ingrid! Two Ingrids in one room was a total delight. The District Nurse ripped off the elastoplast on my dressing, came up with a less painful solution for covering the wound that will become a scar. I am now midway through a fortnight of seeing a nurse each day for changing my dressing. The usual comment on seeing the wound that will become a scar is "Oh, how impressive!"

I think that must be my summation of the brilliant NHS staff I have met during my latest medical procedure is "How Impressive!"

MLB 2

2009-11-21T17:22:00.002Z

MLB is an inbuilt device for measuring how long I have been sitting and waiting. Wednesday was one of those days when my ability for sitting several hours staring blankly into space was severely tested although I seem to have had a lot of practice since retiring. MLB became so pained at my lack of movement that it threatened to part company with the rest of me and no amount of shifting, rubbing or raising it off the seat would placate it.

I had been carrying a slightly aggravated cyst in my right groin for some time but it chose Sunday of the get in and technical rehearsals of my current production with the Bench Theatre, "What the Butler Saw", to begin to flare up and to start causing problems and pain. I had already seen my GP on a previous occasion and had antibiotics standing by for such an eventuality. However on the Monday I found myself confined to bed (TG I don't work these days) - this is something my body seems to do if I am sick - and I realised that I was exhausted as well as having problems with a cyst. Dress rehearsal on Monday night was done with gritted teeth and on masses of adrenalin. I always quote "Doctor Theatre" at my girls and do believe that as long as you can get on the stage adrenalin will carry you through. Unfortunately this production of adrenalin does have a payback as you tend to exhaust even further your natural resources so Tuesday was also spent in bed in considerable discomfort. The dress rehearsal that night was marked by an increase in the pain level but I took that as a sign of improvement (on what grounds I am now unsure). However a look at the site when I got home was sufficient to convince me that I should see the GP in the morning. The cyst wore a perpetual darkened frown and the surrounding area was infected and sore.

Suffice it to say that I found myself in the G.P.'s surgery next morning. He took a close look at My Problem and then promptly sat down to write out instructions for the hospital while carefully explaining the situation to me. I would need antibiotics intravenously and some surgery so I was being sent to the Surgical Assessment Unit. There was a surreal moment when I tried to work out if the appointment would arrive after the production or whether it would fall on the Monday break in production before the Tuesday performance which starts the run of last five performances. The GP looked at me bemused when I asked the timing of all of the treatment he was suggesting. He said I had sufficient time to go home for an overnight bag before taking the document and file to the SAU at the hospital. An hour later the Best Beloved and I sat in the Treatment Room of the SAU awaiting assessment.

My Left Buttock

2009-11-20T18:16:00.002Z

I have just had a surprise minor operation this week which threw my plans and those of my friends into a tailspin. Thanks to excellent treatment by NHS staff and good drugs, superlative caring by the Best Beloved, and the support of friends and family, I am making a remarkably speedy recovery back at home with the Wound which will become a Scar. I am slightly shuffling in motion as I accustom myself to actions which are unwise to execute at this stage but which I used to be able to do before the operation. I am hoping however to be able to announce myself recovered enough to take up playing the part of Dr. Prentice in the Bench Theatre production of "What the Butler Saw" for the five performances of the run from next Tuesday. The part has been played brilliantly in my absence by the director, Mark Wakeman. Some may say too well as he and the production received a glowing review in the Portsmouth News. He may not want to give up the roar of the make up and the smell of the crowd.
All of this in the course of three days and the main casualty is not my Wound which will become a Scar but my Left Buttock!

Missed Chance

2009-11-04T08:12:00.002Z

I had the chance of a part with another company that I have tried to join on a number of previous occasions. They offered me an actual part because the original actor had gone down sick. I was gutted to find that it clashed with the performance dates of "What the Butler Saw" so I was unable to accept the chance. However perhaps now they have thought of me once I might get another offer.

My agent texted me about the possibility of taking part in a Lurpak commercial but the casting director didn't firm up the offer so I missed out on a day's filming on Tuesday.

I am spending hours daily cramming my head full of the lines for "What the Butler Saw". I don't know how I found time to do it when I was working. Perhaps my technique was different then or my memory cells were better organised or just younger! It is hard work and not helped by Joe Orton writing in such ornate language that wouldn't go amiss in a Restoration Comedy. You feel you have to get every word and syllable in the right place or order otherwise it just doesn't sound right and the rhythm of the lines is lost. I have just about reached that stage where the lines are finally in my head and coming out of my mouth on cue and in the right order. However there is an awful lot of tricky stage business, which then threatens the memory cells and the links between sections. The worst effect of a "dry" is that you end up not remembering which play let alone scene you are doing. The stage business needs to become automatic and reliant upon muscle memory rather than conscious thought. This means rehearsing the stage business endlessly so it becomes an automatic part of you. The trouble with that is you need the actual props you are going to use and they will need replenishing constantly. It may only need a dozen roses for each performance but you have to multiply that by the number of performances and then by the number of rehearsals. One piece of business is so complex it has 33 different actions and at the moment I am miming each action so by the time I get to action 12 or 13 even I can't remember what the mime represents let alone the actress awaiting her cue. Another of the problems is that you can't get to handling the props unless you know the lines and don't have the book in your hand any more. Learning the 33 actions for that one sequence of stage business is harder than learning lines. We have taped the dialogue and it would be a good idea to use the tape for those sort of sequences.

I am amazed to find that time has flown so rapidly and we are already approaching Get in and technical rehearsals while I am still in the process of over learning the lines. This is the process where you hope to learn the lines sufficiently that they don't entirely rely upon conscious thought and free up part of your brain to use in performance and rehearsal over and beyond the mechanics. I was taught that there are four stages of learning a skill: you are unconscious that the skill even exists; you become conscious of the skill and the fact that you don't have it; you consciously use the skill and it takes all your concentration to use it; you unconsciously use the skill. The best analogy is learning to drive a car. Well I think it can also apply to developing a performance in a play.

At the moment Best Beloved is helping me to develop one of the pieces of stage business needed for the play which involves female underwear, shoes, roses and a vase. We think we have solved the problem with the roses but need the vase and under/foot wear in order to work it all out before we start rehearsing the muscle memory! Tell me again how many years I have had this theatrical hobby.......46?....is that possible? or desirable?

Speaking in Tongues

2009-10-25T21:54:00.004Z

This was one of the reasons why we wanted to organise a London Theatre Week in the first place. I had read about and was interested in the young Australian playwright, Andrew Bovell. I bought a copy of his play "When the Rain Stops Falling" but haven't read it yet. Our friends the Penroses are in Australia now and on their schedule they are going to see a performance of "When the Rain Stops Falling". It is also going into production at the Lincoln Center in New York in 2010. This is a young playwright busily making a name and reputation for himself internationally. Bovell also adapted this play "Speaking in Tongues" into a film, "Lantana", which I didn't see but heard recommended strongly. The cast includes John Simm and Ian Hart, two actors I admire greatly. For all these reasons we booked seats to see a matinee of the show.

"Speaking in Tongues" is publicised as a 'comic chiller'. It begins really well with two different men chatting up two different men in hotel bedrooms simultaneously. The intercutting of dialogue is expertly done to show the similarities and the differences in the two scenes. This is incredibly good ensemble work by all four actors. It continues in the same style into the second scene where each man has returned to his own home and is now in conversation with his wife. The audience is shown both these interactions happening at the same time. It sounds confusing to read it but in the expert hands of this quality of cast it was just well executed. There is some humour in subsequent scenes when the two men meet and when the two wives meet. Ian Hart during the course of the play take son three characters and the other three actors take on two roles each. All the other roles are clearly demarcated and we really are safe in the hands of this cast. My problem was that though I never lost interest in the play, I was never emotionally engaged by any character to a sufficient degree that I cared what happened to him or her. This is a quality cast doing quality work in a clever play well directed by Toby Frow and well designed by Ben Stones. I applauded appreciatively enough at the end but the play appealed more to my head than to my heart.

Annie Get Your Gun

2009-10-24T21:57:00.003+01:00

This was my first visit to the Young Vic and its unreserved bench seats. I liked the community feel of the place and was intrigued to see four upright pianos installed in the front of a long narrow stage rather than an orchestra pit of any kind. "Annie Get Your Gun" was the only musical chosen on this trip, which is quite unusual for me as I am a real lover of the musical form. I don't know this particular musical and had never seen a production of it before. It does contain some great standards I did know and of course the actress, Jane Horrocks. The leading man was Julian Ovenden, who I believe we last saw in the Sondheim, "Merrily We Roll Along", at the Donmar a couple of years ago.

The original story of Annie Oakley was in the late 19th century but Richard Jones, the director, had set his version in the 1940's. This meant that he could show Annie's triumphal tour of Europe, where she was presented with medals by Winston Churchill, De Gaulle, Mussolini and Hitler, as a silent film version. The set was a long and rather shallow rectangular space and the first scene was decorated with chrome furniture as per an American diner in Cincinnati. We meet Charlie, the drummer for the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show (John Marquez) who is trying to set up a contest between a local contestant and Frank Butler (Julian Ovenden), champion sharpshooter of the world. The director seemed to have decided on a low key approach relying on ensemble singing supported by the four upright pianos. The director may be trying to capture Irving Berlin's stated aim that he wanted to make his songs sound like "conversation set to music". Ovenden doesn't have a big voice but what he brings is excellent articulation and phrasing of a song. "I'm a Bad, Bad Man" is a typical Berlin conversational verse and allows Ovenden to establish the style of the show. Jane Horrocks is tiny and once again the emphasis is on clarity and characterisation rather than a big voice. What Jane Horrocks brings to the role is vulnerability and, though she is a sharpshooter not only the equal of Frank but indeed his better, we are won over by her and are rooting for her to the end. We were impressed by the staging and the choreography and this is a show packed full of great songs, The Girl That I Marry", "You Can't Get a Man with a gun", "There's No business like show business", "They Say It's Wonderful", "I Got Sun in the Morning" and "Anything You Can Do". I was disappointed in Niall Ashdown as Sitting Bull and in Chucky Venn as Buffalo Bill. The former was too low key and brought little of the exotic to the show. Chucky Venn has the looks and a good singing voice but I wanted a deeper timbre or range from Buffalo Bill. Both actors and characters fitted in with and supplemented the ensemble singing and numbers too well and I wanted something a little more individual from them. Jane Horrocks was the reason for seeing the show and she did justice to the Berlin lyrics. She is small but beautifully formed. I liked her Annie Oakley and wanted to protect and cheer her on.

Stories By Heart

2009-10-24T17:41:00.004+01:00

After interposing a post about storytelling for children, it seems appropriate to return to our London Theatre Week reviews and the event, "Stories by Heart", at the Lyttleton by John Lithgow.

We had had the privilege of seeing the stage set as part of our backstage tour. It was also humbling to see the size of the auditorium into which John Lithgow was going to be performing that evening. He is apparently repeating the event this coming Monday, October 26th.

The set was a small coffee table DSL, a series of rugs forming a star like pattern on the floor, CS was a standard lamp, a comfortable wing chair and a small table with a glass and jug of water. Oh and a hat stand USR! All stage directions are given as from the performer's or actor's viewpoint (D is downstage towards the audience and U is upstage away from the audience in case there are any readers of this blog who are not luvvies).

John Lithgow bounded on to stage to warm applause and he announced that it was his birthday that very day, the 19th of October. He told us he was 64 and began to hum. It took me a while to pick up the tune as I was still stunned at how good he looked for 64! Then the audience began to sing the Beatles song, "When I am 64", with and to John Lithgow. We were good too. At the end he thanked us and said he would be quite happy to go offstage now and expire in the wings as that had been one of the happiest moments in his life. He also wished that we all could experience such a moment. He had won us all round and we waited in anticipation to see what came next.

We learned about his father and mother and the importance they had given to stories in the life of the Lithgow family. We learned about a precious book from which John's father had read and recounted stories many many times as the children grew up. We were going to hear two of the stories that very evening.

The first story was "our" man, P.G. Wodehouse, and "Uncle Fred Flits By". At first it appeared we were going to be read the story but of course this was stories by heart and soon John Lithgow was telling and acting the story out. His characterisations were fabulous and his grasp of narration very impressive. He has a great voice and he used it to the utmost in telling the story of irascible Uncle Fred and his much put upon nephew, Pongo. We roared with laughter at the escapades and at the joy of delivery. We were safe in the hands of a consummate storyteller.

After the interval, the second tale was "Haircut", by Ring Lardner. This was a very different tale of a small Midwestern town as seen through the eyes of the narrator, the town's barber. The telling of the story required a very elaborate, detailed and sustained mime by Lithgow giving a shave and haircut to an unseen customer in the barber's chair. The barber as narrator conjures up the other characters in the town and in the story. It was very American and I wasn't personally as held as I was in the first half. It could be that the first half had set an impossible standard to follow. John Lithgow admitted that the second half was an addition as the first story had been the event all by itself until audiences began asking for more. I wasn't sure that the story itself by Ring Lardner was strong enough or whether it was swamped a little by the mime. I did enjoy it and did find it revealing of the depths to be found in a small town anywhere. However I just didn't find it as involving as the Wodehouse. I did find myself impressed at the end by Mr Lithgow and his ability to work an audience and above all to tell stories by heart.

Red Shoes

2009-10-24T17:18:00.002+01:00

Today we returned to a session of storytelling as the Tale Tellers at the Spring Arts and Heritage Centre. This was our last session under the "Shoes" theme. We had accepted "Red Shoes" as one of our titles from a list offered by the Arts centre staff when we were drawing up the entry in the brochure back at the beginning of the year. I don't know whether you know the Hans Christian Anderson story but it makes the Grimm Brothers look like Sesame Street! There is this pair of cursed red shoes which won't stop dancing once you have put them on. The reason the shoes are cursed and the way to break the curse are religious in the original story - and did I mention the amputation and the wooden limb replacements!! Upon hindsight we decided we would take the basic premise of enchanted red dancing shoes but would write our own version instead of using that of Hans Christian Anderson. As I have written our own versions of "The Elves and the Shoemaker", "Puss in Boots" and "Cinderella", it fell to the authoress of our version of the "Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe", i.e. the Best beloved, to come up with our version of the "Red Shoes".

She completed it last night and she performed it to the children this morning. It was a success and although our numbers were down a little from our last session (we have gone monthly now and it was raining?) it was a pleasure to see their enraptured faces as the Best Beloved wove her magic as Ingy-Thingy the Storyteller. As usual she had got the session going with nursery rhymes and shoe songs in rounds and in unison, before I told the short story of the "troll and the Three Billy Goats Gruff". During our London visit we had refound the Piccadilly Market and the little stall with convertible dolls made apparently by nuns (says the Cockney stall holder). We bought three dolls upon which to base short stories and used the first one today which has the troll and underneath the three billy goats.

Ingy-Thingy then told the headline story while I watched the audience - a fully privileged position to be in! I once learned of a director who did that deliberately in his productions. He knew the play intimately and didn't need to watch it. Instead we watched the reaction of the audience and gave his notes to his cast on their performances by what he had observed of the audience.

As Guppy I reprised our very first headline story, "The Elves and the shoemaker", but in a shortened version and in the form of a game I had found online. It was quite ambitious but it seemed to work and one Dad afterwards commented that he would adapt the idea for future children's parties. We perform our stories alongside the giant boot in the foyer of the Spring so we have the children seated on the ground in front of us and usually interspersed with Mums - Dads and grandparents tend to sit at the adjacent coffee tables and chairs. I am not sure the game would have gone so well without the interspersed Mums!

We finished off with our version of "Old MacDonald had a band", which the children like and to which they can contribute.

The next session is the end of November when we are doing "Aladdin" before "The Night Before Christmas" on December 19th as our last session this year. we are already talking about a 2010 season with the Spring.

Life is a Dream

2009-10-23T14:54:00.002+01:00

"Life is A Dream" was written in 1635 by Pedro Calderon de la Barca and is acknowledged as one of the masterpieces of Spain's Golden Century, the creative 17th. Amongst other masterpieces of this period is my own personal classical favourite, Cervantes' 1605 masterpiece, Don Quixote . Calderon followed Lope de Vega as Philip IV's court dramatist and based his work upon the turbulent history of Spain in the 16th century. In 1568 Philip II of Armada infamy imprisoned his crazed son,Charles, in a tower.

This new version of "Life is a Dream" is by Helen Edmundson, who has done a lot of work with Shared Experience, and is currently working on a new play for the RSC. The language is poetic but sinewy. The psychology is deep and understanding. The premise that we can never be sure whether we are in a dream or in life is one that has occupied us all at one time or other. The storytelling is superb and totally satisfying.

The production directed by Jonathan Munby is based upon magnificent performances and a stagecraft that transforms the Donmar and transcends the space of one of the smallest but beloved theatres I know. Nothing is wasted and everything is used in the service of the story. The music by Dominic Haslam and Ansuman Biswas is stunning and underpins the whole production. The stage is stripped bare right down to the famous black back wall except for an enormous circular gold ringed chandelier with a central lantern in the form of a huge incense holder or inverted thurible.

It is difficult to single out one performance above the others as this is a stellar acting cast rather than an ensemble. However I must admit I had gone to see Dominic West on stage. I have been smitten by this English actor's work in The Wire, as a Baltimore policeman. After his performance as Segismundo, I am even more impressed by his performance as McNulty. We learn that Segismundo has been imprisoned by his father, King Basilio, a learned scholar and scientist, who believes his son is a harbinger of doom for the world and his kingdom. Powerful and muscular in stature and in voice,Dominic West engages the sympathy of the audience by the strength of his conviction and the wretchedness of his character's plight. In the smallness of the Donmar, we look right into his eyes and we share his sense of injustice and outrage.

The greatness of the piece though is that we do not have black and white characters with villains and heroes. In great soliloquies we learn about the motives of the king and the gaoler, Clotaldo. In the hands of Malcolm Storry and David Horovitch, these parts are rich, complex and beautifully rounded. Malcolm Storry is a beautifully rational actor with a beautiful voice and an expressive face. He also has the stage presence and charisma to not only match Dominic West but to impose himself above the other. David Horovitch manages to create a character who remains honourable in difficult circumstances and who earns our grudging respect.

Going as we do to matinees in term time, we encounter many audiences composed of young students (see "War Horse" review and the autograph hunters) and certainly the character of Clarion as played by Lloyd Hutchinson won the majority of them over. He was able to maintain the humour and the throwaway lines even in the poetic form dictated by the script (although it must be said that all the cast were good at doing that). The common man seeking to put some sense on what is happening in the world around him and somehow ending up right in the middle was safely in the hands of this warm and comic actor.

Calderon has also created two wonderful female characters in Esterella (Sharon Small) and Rosaura. When Segismundo encounters them and indeed womanhood for the first time he is mightily impressed and extols their virtues in almost "Brave New World" fashion. Both actresses are more than up to the task and once again we are given beautifully modulated and realised characters with no hint of stereotype. Having seen Kate Fleetwood recently as Lady M in the Scottish play to Patrick Stewart's murderous thane, I was impressed by the nuances she brought to Rosaura.

Rupert Evans as Astolfo played him as a three dimensional character rather than as a villain and thereby uses skilfully his own matinee idol looks in the service of the character. The company is made up by David Smith and Dylan Turner but the cast thoroughly convinces us of the collapse of Poland as thoroughly as we saw the Great War in "War Horse". We want to know the fate of a man and of a nation, because we recognise our common humanity amid the uncertainty of life and death.

War Horse

2009-10-23T14:05:00.002+01:00

I am a great admirer of Michael Morpurgo's work and he was a worthy Children's Laureate from 2003 to 2005. It was during this time that the Best Beloved and I attended a talk he gave to an English Teacher's conference in Hampshire. Afterwards we enjoyed a conversation with him about retiring as it was a pertinent subject for him and us at the time. I love "Kensuke's Kingdom", "War Horse" and "Private Peaceful". These are his three war stories with the last two based in the First World War. In fact Michael was reading "Private Peaceful" on Monday night in the Olivier at the same time as we chose to see John Lithgow in the Lyttleton. We got to see both stages from backstage as part of our National Theatre tour on the late Monday afternoon. The set for "Habit of Art", the new Alan Bennett play, is a recreation of Rehearsal Room 1 at the National Theatre. It wasn't a surprise therefore to see him in the auditorium for the Tuesday performance at the New London theatre. From our backstage tour we learned that the transfer of "War Horse" from the Olivier to the New London was based on some similarities between the two theatres. One of these is the revolve and the spread of seats in the auditorium. We learned that the span of seats in the Olivier is 118 degrees because that is what can be encompassed within the actor's range of sight without moving the head.

We had missed "War Horse" at the National before it transferred to the New London and this was our chance to catch it before the planned Lee Hall film goes into production (oh to be a film extra on that film!). We met the puppet of the war horse's mother backstage in the National Theatre scenic dock. I don't think I am giving anything away in saying that the horses in the show are magnificent creations by the Handspring puppet Theatre working is association with the National. Well, the model for the mother of Joey is to be found still at the National as she was cut from the final production. She was manned by three puppeteers as is Joey and it was fascinating to appreciate the skill and care with which she was constructed. It may have stolen a bit of the thunder seeing her backstage rather than getting a first glimpse of the horse onstage. However Joey's mother was cut because she lengthened the storyline unnecessarily it was decided. There had been a discussion as to what she was called and a bit of theatre spookiness overtook us here. At first they were going to call her Zoey but thought that was too much like Joey, so they changed her name to Alice! To those who know this blogger will realise those are the names we chose for the treasures of our lives, our two daughters!

"War Horse" was a magnificent piece of theatrical storytelling at its very best. The undoubted star is Joey and the three puppeteers who operate head, heart and hind. We feel his joy of life, his love towards humans and his anguish during the warfare. The humans are also given characters with whom we can identify - although almost but not quite upstaged in the comic stakes by a puppet goose. Robert Emms as Albert Narracot gives an outstanding performance as the youngster who grows into a man in the cauldron of the trenches. I loved the songs and the music by John Tams, once described by the Times as the best songwriter you may never have heard of. John joined the National Theatre in 1977 and was responsible for the music of "The Mysteries" and much beside. The recreation of the Dorset country life before the Great War was as beautiful and as idyllic as the recreation of the horror of war itself. Apparently the Queen herself slipped unannounced and without ceremony into a performance of this play (instigated and led by Prince Charles). I admired her for so doing and hoped she also felt the pangs as men were encouraged to leave the rural life to go and fight for king and country. The show is English through and through full of humour, grumbling, sibling rivalry, regimental pride, stupidity of war especially cavalry versus machine guns and tanks and the bravery of ordinary men to survive in the most appalling conditions and against the most dreadful odds. It is a compliment therefore that one of the best characters created and performed by Patrick O'Kane is Hauptmann Muller, a German cavalry officer. The character and the performance defeats all our inbuilt prejudices and he is seen as almost an every man. The adaptation of Morpurgo's book by Nick Stafford is stunning for reinforcing our belief in the basic humanity and goodness of man. We cared about Joey and we cared about the humans too. This was an uplifting and moving production and a piece of theatre I was delighted we made an effort to see. Its images and evoked emotions will live with me for a long time.

Review of the London Theatre Week 2009

2009-10-23T13:32:00.002+01:00

The week went splendidly as the hotel was perfectly located and our choice of theatre going proved to be better than we had even anticipated. We even fitted in one or two cultural visits that reminded us how much the capital has to offer.

We stayed at the Bedford in Southampton Row. This was described as am intimate little hotel although staying on the sixth floor defied the description of little if even height wise. However our east facing window overlooked the roof of the British Museum. The location was perfect as we could walk to theatre land from the hotel. If we wished to go further afield or return after a theatre visit we found London buses, helpful and friendly drivers and our senior bus passes invaluable. One trip involved a visit by bus to the V&A museum. We weren't sure of the route as we changed from the planned 14 to another one as the direction board seemed to indicate it was going in the right direction. The driver told us we needed to get off at Exhibition Road. As we neared we panicked and actually got off the bus a couple of stops early. The bus remained stationary and we realised that the driver was beckoning to us stood outside the rear exit door. We re-entered through the front doors and he said he had told us to get off at Exhibition Road. Humbled we remained on the bus until we reached the correct bus stop and our driver even indicated where we had to go next to find the V&A, which is opposite the Science and Natural History Museums. We were impressed that the driver remembered us and our simple request after the distance the bus had travelled and through some of the worst traffic conditions. We were equally impressed on Thursday night on the return bus up Southampton Row after seeing "Annie Get Your Gun" at the Young Vic, we found ourselves sat in the seats directly behind Janine Duvitski and a friend. Janine was the neighbour Angela in Abigail's Party and has starred in Michael Frayn's play "Alphabetical Order" and much television and stage work.
Another casual piece of star spotting (and the Best Beloved and I are always on the look out when in London) was seeing Nigel Planer eating in the plate glass window of a cafe opposite the Shaftesbury Theatre where he is appearing in "Hairspray". We were on the way to another performance elsewhere. He was sitting at one of those counters with stools facing the outside world through the window. He seemed to be "surprised to be recognised" but did reward us with a smile (I last saw him perform in "Wicked" at the Apollo Victoria - a musical I had wanted to see - but failed to be moved by in the huge auditorium there).

We were also sat two rows behind Eileen Atkins in the John Lithgow event, "Stories by Heart", at the Lyttleton and four rows behind Michael Morpurgo at "War Horse" at the New London Theatre. I recognised Michael easily because the Best Beloved and I had met him at talked to him for quite a long while at an English Teachers' conference run by Hampshire. I repaid the favour by identifying him to some GCSE students in front of us who hunted him down for his autograph during the interval.

My next blog or two will try to identify the five productions we saw in some sort of order and review them. The nicest thing about the London Theatre Week is that we are thinking of repeating it in subsequent years as it proved so successful this time. We might have to postpone it until 2011 as we hope to go on another canal boat holiday in September in 2010 (although I will try my best to persuade the Best Beloved we can do both! Although she will read this blog and she will now be aware thus making my task more difficult... Drats! SQUIRREL!!!)

London Theatre Week

2009-10-18T10:13:00.002+01:00

The Best Beloved and I have been trying to work towards a three holidays per year pattern since retirement. It mainly means avoiding school holidays so the summer is spent here at home. We will try to maintain the pattern until the government punishes us baby boomers for the collapse of world finance. How does that work, by the way, we taxpayers lend the banking bastards millions if not billions and yet we have to pay for the privilege while they still continue exactly where they left off? All the political parties leap on the same bandwagon of swingeing cuts. Not one of them talks about demanding our money back or that big word "investment", which is different from sinking our money down a rotting mine shaft called world banking.

In the Autumn Best Beloved and I have to get through the Literary Festival Season and then we can consider an autumn break before the half term at the end of October. This year we have organised a London Theatre Week.

We go up by train on Monday afternoon (www.megatrain.com) and arrive at a hotel near Covent Garden. We then make our way (using our bus passes on London Transport) to the National Theatre for a backstage tour at about teatime. We stay on at the National Theatre to hear John Lithgow talk give a one man performance about storytelling, in which he performs two short stories.

On Tuesday we walk to Smithfield's for breakfast and spend most of the morning at the British Museum. The Best Beloved has never been and it has been some time since I have been there. The afternoon is available for undecided activities but possibly Imax cinema or more museum visits such as the War Museum in preparation for our evening entertainment. In the evening we are going to see "War Horse". I love the book and the author, who we were both met at an English teachers' conference.

On Wednesday probably the V&A museum, which neither have been to but we heard a great deal about recently on Radio 4 (our daytime companion). In the afternoon we are going to a matinee of "Speaking in Tongues" by the Australian playwright, Andrew Bovell. It stars John Simms and Ian Harte, two of my favourite actors. In the evening we are off to the Young Vic (where we have never been) to see and hear Jane Horrocks in "Annie Get Your Gun". I love musicals! This one has some great standards in it!

Our last day we are seeing a matinee of "Life's a Dream" at the Donmar starring Malcolm Storry, with whom the best Beloved went to College. The show also stars Dominic West (McNulty in "The Wire"), who is vying with Hugh Laurie as my favourite TV actor of the moment. Apparently Lucy has heard him speak and he is a typical RSC sounding actor which makes his performance as the Baltimore policeman all the more remarkable. In the evening we will wend our weary way home via the Corrigan restaurant in Upper Grosvenor Street.

Theatrically and gastronomically replete, we will return to a storytelling session by the Tale Tellers on the Saturday morning. The Best Beloved is telling the story of "Red Shoes". We put this one in the programme with insufficient research. Boy is it Hans Christian Anderson outdoing the Grimm Brothers! We have found that Ingy-Thingy (her Tale Teller name) is better than Guppy (my Tale Teller name) at getting the kids settled and happy to hear stories, which is why I usually tell the headline story. However this coming Saturday roles are reversed.

We are also then into the "Books Down" stage of "What the Butler Saw". This is always a frustrating stage as you build a good head of steam with books in hand. Lines going in isn't the difficulty but lines coming out on demand and in response to the correct cue is. The movement and pace gradually built up over previous rehearsals goes into hibernation but hopefully returns as lines become more secure. Stage management is fully employed during rehearsals providing the actors with the lines which are on the tips of tongues but never quite emerging from between the lips. ASMs become quite skilled at seeing the light of recognition and memory fade in an actor's eyes and know a prompt is probably overdue. Love and dependency grows between cast and crew.

The Guide Award Night clashes with a dress rehearsal for "What the Butler Saw" which is a pain but we only get four rehearsals on the set before first night and so that Monday night is too precious to be squandered on ego massage (pleasant though the latter is!)

I will use my blog to review the London Theatre Week over the next few weeks while planning our Winter Sun holiday in February 2010.

Adieu, Party Guest

2009-10-08T11:46:00.002+01:00

We gave our final performance of this year's Bench Theatre touring production of Jacquie Penrose's "Party Guest" yesterday. This has been the realisation of one of my retirement dreams - a small scale touring production during the daytime. The production still has life in it and we are looking forward to a revival in the Spring. The revival may still have a touring element. What has been lovely has been performing with friends who I admire and to young people. I have been really impressed by the students we have met, by their questions and their observations. I love theatre and learn something new every time I embark upon a new enterprise. David was quoting Stanislavsky at one workshop session: "The audience comes to the theatre to see the sub-text. They could stay at home to read the text." I love that thought and it is certainly light years away from my "learn the lines and don't bump into the furniture."

I did have a project in mind to put forward at the recent play selection pitches for the Bench Theatre July 2010. I have been toying with the idea for some considerable time. I could claim that the timing of the pitches was particularly poor for me. On the night itself was the first night of the Ghost Walks, we were into the second week of the literary festival, Party Guest was in full swing, we had started our Tale Tellers sessions at the spring, I was still recovering from a new Cloak and Dagger script and was cramming lines for my appearance as William Cobbett at the end of the festival. My head was certainly crammed with lines from five or six projects. I could claim that any one of these activities as a reason for my lack of push on the new production for the Bench.

It would be untrue if I claimed it to be so, though. I have read today the wonderful blogs by Alice in Wonderland and the Natty Chap, and must confess myself mightily impressed by them (and indirectly by my Firstborn, see Natty Chap's blog). I have thirty years on either of them but can relate keenly to what they are expressing. I can't offer them any help or insight. However I have to thank them for helping me to face up to what motivates me.

I have only directed 12 times over the last 30 years: two pantomimes - one repeated twice- and a full scale musical. The last time was the repeated pantomime in February 2000. I have to point out that I have done on average 2 or 3 school productions per year over that time so that must be in the nineties - many of which I wrote or devised myself. I like directing as I love visual images and have a feeling for sub text. I am a little too much of the school master in approach but hey I was a teacher for forty years!

I like directing but I love acting. After my episode two years ago I am enjoying my health and new lease of life. I would rather spend the time performing and acting than directing. I am constantly on the lookout for new experiences, new productions and new companies with which to work. While I am still feeling fit and active that is what I will continue to do. I don't want the responsibility of or commitment to a production as a director. I also don't want to parcel out my time. I don't want to wait until July 2010. I don't want to feel inhibited. Maybe when I am in my seventies and my physical strength and activity is gradually reducing (although the grey matter is still fully functioning) I can turn my attention to directing. Those who can, do - those who can't teach.

The Best Beloved also says we are going camping for a month in June 2010. Hurrah!!

Peter Corrigan as Scullery in "Road" 2009

2009-10-01T19:15:00.000+01:00

Wayfarers Walk

2009-10-01T08:59:00.002+01:00

I have done the section from my house to Emsworth, the start of the Wayfarers Walk, and I have done the section from my house north to Purbrook. Weather permitting I will do the Purbrook to Hambledon next. I don't mind cold and dry weather as I can build up quite a cosy fug walking but don't yet feel I am equipped sufficiently well for walking in the rain. I do have waterproof top and waterproof trousers but feel somewhat claustrophobic and restrained when wearing them. I am looking at a lightweight poncho or cape, which gives all over protection without stifling. It lets a current of air under the material without letting the rain through. There is also a product by Rohan, which is a calf length lightweight coat called the Hilltop Walker I think, which does a similar job. You only need to add waterproof trousers if wading through a flood.

The walking is on the back burner because of all my theatrical endeavours and I am certainly missing it on the health and vitality front. Also we are about to embark upon our Autumn Project for the garden. We have an overgrown patch in the south west corner of our garden which we have rather surrendered previously but which we intend to reclaim this autumn. The Best Beloved has some very firm ideas what she wants to do with the patch and, although no gardener, so do I. Once we get back from our London Theatre Week in October the daytime will once again be ours with the occasional rehearsal for "What the Butler Saw" thrown in until performances in November.

I see that other bloggers can add photos so perhaps I should do the same of before and after shots of our Garden Autumn Project and the Wayfarers Walk. Any advice on either will always be gratefully received.

The Portsmouth News Guide Awards 2009

2009-10-01T08:55:00.001+01:00

Bench Theatre The News Guide Award nominations are in & Bench has a good showing.Three Best Amateur Drama nominations: Road, Home, The Wind in The Willows. Two Best Amateur Actor nominations: Peter Corrigan & David Penrose. Two Best Amateur... Actress nominations: Alice Corrigan & Melanie Cole.
Get suited and booted for the Guide Awards - Portsmouth Today
Source: www.portsmouth.co.uk
Get suited and booted for the Guide Awards - Dig out your glad rags – because the most glamorous and glitzy event in Portsmouth's calendar is getting close.

You can see that you can vote no matter where you are in the country or in the world if you vote online. I hope you will consider voting.

Rebuked

2009-09-29T09:50:00.002+01:00

My young friend, Robin,(see Adventures of Archimedes in links) rebuked me that I hadn't been keeping my blog up to date and that she was surprised to see the Best Beloved and I as the "Tale Tellers" at the Spring Arts and Heritage Centre last Saturday. This is another joint adventure that we have taken on in our retirement and comes in the middle of an insane period. I must learn to use that word which begins with n and ends in o.

Amanda, the beautiful director, talked us into doing a series of children's stories as storytellers on Saturday mornings through the Autumn. The Spring Arts and Heritage Centre officially opens this coming weekend and we are part of the opening activities. This means storytelling on Saturday and Sunday morning this weekend. All our stories are linked to the Spring's opening main exhibition, which is Shoes. Our first session last Saturday (billed as part of the Havant Literary Festival) was based on the Shoemaker and the Elves story. The Best Beloved softened up the audience of young children with several interactive rhymes and songs before I narrated the main story. I did it in the first person and wasn't entirely satisfied with it. Over the years I have told children in the classroom to write their own stories in the third person because it gives them greater flexibility - then I go and tell my first story in a very long time in the first person! No fool like an old fool!

The reaction from the children was very encouraging and their accompanying adults were equally supportive of our efforts. One Mum asked if we did children's parties. I blanched somewhat at the prospect but did think this could be another string to our bow if we wanted. We would need to develop a repertoire of three or four stonkingly good stories stonkingly well told. We couldn't build up our clientele from the party attended because they would already know our stories. If we could build up to a repertoire of 8 - 12 stories there might be a possibility.

Next week's stories are "Puss in Boots" on Saturday as told by me and "The Old Woman in the Shoe" as told by the Best Beloved. Her story is aided by the wonderful Shoe being built in the foyer of the Arts Centre, which will be big enough for individual children to enter.

Last week we got into the second week of the Bench Theatre production touring sixth form colleges. This is a 45 minute piece mainly consisting of monologues joined by some dialogue and action. It is a clever piece written by Jacquie Penrose. David Penrose plays Jack, Best Beloved plays Lulu and I play Alan. All three characters took part in a professional production of "The Cherry Orchard" three decades ago and now meet in their sixties. Jacquie wrote the play for the three of us. We were planning on doing Brian Friel's "Faith Healer" but the rights weren't available. I love doing the play and it is really illuminating to take part in the discussions and workshops with the young 17-18 year old students. The consensus appears to be that they weren't expecting to like the play or us when they saw our age but were pleasantly surprised. I was gratified by the kind and generous way this point was expressed. In fact the grumpy old man in me has been very impressed by the attentiveness and thoughtfulness of the students. They also seem to be bright and insightful in their comments and knowledge.

This week the Party Guest is on the back burner until Saturday evening when we do a public performance as part of the Literary Festival. So storytelling a.m. and Party Guest p.m. Last Friday and Saturday was horrendous with Party Guest on Friday afternoon, a new Cloak and Dagger ("Spirit is Willing") on Friday night and the Storytelling on Saturday morning. Lines galore swilling around in my head but most of them seemed to emerge from my mouth in the right order in the right play and at the right time! Hurrah!

This week I am involved with the Bench Theatre Ghost Walks of Old Havant. The performances are late night on Thursday and Friday. However before then we have a couple of runthroughs. I have written one story, Alice and Best Beloved have written one each and Mark Wakeman has written three. I am now learning my story and Alice's as one of three storytellers (Mark and David being the other two). I have to prepare the Nineveh as a ghostly location. The techniques of storytelling are the same but the material and audiences are somewhat different. My story is told in the first person so I wonder whether I am repeating my errors or whether it will work this time? (Puss in Boots is definitely told in the third person - I couldn't get into the boots!)

Finally this week I am playing William Cobbett in Old Bedhampton on Sunday. This requires learning an "interview" and a "Q&A" session by heart and then reading extracts from his "Rural Rides". This all has to be done in a Hampshire burr and appropriate costume. This will be my final contribution to this year's Havant Literary Festival before I get fully immersed in the accounts as Treasurer.

Next week the pace slackens with four performances of Party Guest, a second performance of the murder mystery and the start of "What the Butler Saw" rehearsals (the Bench Theatre November production). People have wondered if I would be pitching for a Bench production in July 2010, to which I have answered "No!"

The Autumn Schedule

2009-09-10T09:50:00.002+01:00

I was gently but firmly reminded by my friend, Peter, that I had become silent on my planned walking, especially the Great France Walk from Caen on the Channel coast to Cassis on the Mediterranean coast.

Peter won't be able to do any walking in France this autumn as his own schedule is rather full. I agreed that the Best Beloved and Herself would certainly concur on that point, although I am pleased to say that the Best Beloved is also involved in many of our theatrical activities:

"The Party Guest", a touring production buy the Bench Theatre, goes into performance next week and the first full week in October, carefully side stepping the Havant Literary Festival.

In the Festival Best Beloved and I are doing the Bench Theatre Ghost Walks of Old Havant and I am also playing William Cobbett on the Sunday doing readings from his Rural Rides.

We are also starting our series of stories for young children under the title of "The Tale Tellers" at the Arts Centre, which takes us up to December 19th and the "Night Before Christmas".

I start rehearsals next week for a new Cloak and Dagger murder mystery, "Spirit is Willing", in which, for once, I survive to the end and am not killed off sooner. This is a mixed blessing as it means there are more lines to learn. In November I have "Life's Lottery" on a Friday and "Spirit is Willing" on a Saturday so the old grey memory cells are going to be well and truly stretched.

Especially as by about that time it will be books down for "What the Butler Saw", the Bench production fro 17th to 28th November so I will have a third set of lines running around in my head. I have to work hard putting the lines into my head but seem to have a part of my brain trained to that effect. However it is making the words come out in the right order and in the right play that takes the real effort these days.

After that I am resting and preparing for my baby girl's 30th birthday!

Anyway I had to agree that the Walking France project was on the back burner this Autumn.

My short term aim is the Wayfarers Walk in sections.
The Walk stretches from Emsworth just along the coast from us up north to
the Inkpen beacon in Berkshire. I intend walking the first section from
Emsworth to our house before the end of September as that should be very
easy. I have got the maps for every section of the walk going north except
the last bit in Berkshire. I am using the walk to follow maps and use the
compass. It is also good practice in working out the logistics of getting
to the start of each section and getting back at the end. Hopefully I will
walk it in one direction but that depends on logistics and I may need to
be flexible. I am also hoping that in the later stages I will also be able
to cope with a lightweight load of rucksack, tent and sleeping bag so I
can be more self sufficient and independent when over in France.
As you can see the Walking in France endeavour hasn't disappeared but simply been postponed and I am still hoping to make my first attempt at the first stretch in 2010.

Peter did wonder whether my concern over Pompey's struggles have contributed to the Walking in France project being put on the back burner and I have attempted to answer that concern on my Pompey Corrigan47 blog.

Seamus

2009-08-10T17:21:00.002+01:00

My Da was never referred to as Patrick because all the men in the family could claim that name as their own as well. Patrick was the family saint and the Corrigans were Irish Catholics. His brothers, sisters and sisters in law called him Seamus. Aunt Lucy, the Mrs Corrigan, being married to the eldest brother, called him James, which sounded like an admonishment. Everyone else called him Jim or Jimmy, even the Bradford police. He was Big Jim or Big Jimmy, although in stature he was not much bigger than my brother or I are now. However he was a man who talked with both fists to make his points. Big Jim was a mark of respect from those who had felt those points being made on them. Jimmy was the epithet of those who wanted the fists behind them or who had reason to call Da a friend.

This was first published in March 2008 but goes some way to starting a series of posts about my Dad.

Quandary

2009-08-10T16:42:00.002+01:00

My last post was bragging that I had three blog pages, one for Pompey, one for Theatre and one for me.

I was in the car returning home from Bradford yesterday and Kat said she thought I should concentrate on writing just one blog as I wasn't actually writing any posts regularly enough on any of my three pages. She does have a point and the Firstborn concurred.

However I am writing quite consistently on Pompey elsewhere on the Pompey Gossip website at http://www.pompeygossip.co.uk where I have written 83 blogs in the 17 hours 24 minutes I have spent on there. I love the Pompey Gossip forum so my Pompey Corrigan 47 might be superfluous and unnecessary.

Also on that same fateful car journey we learned about the death of Robert Millington at the age of 58. I wish I had words of wisdom to share with his son but all I can say is that I lost my father when I was 30. I still regret his loss to this day and know he would have loved to meet our two girls.

In my brother's house there are my photos of my father's family and my mother's family. My brother is our family historian. The photo we talked about this holiday was in the backyard of a house with my mother stood next to my father who is holding a small child aloft on his shoulder. There is some debate as to who the child is but I think I agree with my brother that it is our elder brother Michael. My father looks for all the world like Humphrey Bogart.

My daughters like the stories we recount of my father. These stories don't always show him in a good light but he was certainly a character. We decided that perhaps this blog was a good place to recount and store some of those stories.

Today's story however is about Big Annie. This lady was a relative of my Granny and features in a family photo showing my diminutive maternal grandmother sat on a chair nursing her elder daughter and first child, little Annie. The photo is taken in the street outside a terrace house and there are several well scrubbed menfolk but the dominant figure is a huge woman in black. This was Big Annie. The legend goes that she was married and one day her husband was at home ill. Typically he was a miner as was most of my maternal family. It was atypical of any one of them to take the day off. He was visited by two men. The story is unclear whether they were colleagues or sent by the mine. However an argument ensued inside the house and one of the men was despatched through the window by Big Annie. We believe the other man took to his heels before Big Annie could get hold of him otherwise he might have shared the same fate.

Occasionally I am brought to task by my wife for behaving in an over aggressive manner and such stories as those of my father and relatives such as Big Annie show that old family habits die hard. (I met Colin at my brother's birthday party. Colin was the son of my cousins, Eddie and Lynne. We hadn't met since 1973. He said he remembered my brother and me, from that time, as giants. Thus is the way that I remember still my father.)

A quote from Kathy Reichs ("Cross Bones" page 41) that caught my eye and to which I can relate closely: "When annoyed, I grow churlish, snap, counter with sarcasm. When angry, truly white hot livid rage, I go deadly calm. The ice response is also my response to fear."

If my brother reads this blog, I hope he will scan and send me copies of the photos to accompany my blog posts.

A new blog page is born!

2009-07-02T11:52:00.002+01:00

Hopefully at the side on this page you will see that my blog pages have increased to three: Boanerges (this one and the original), Bench Hamlet 2008 and PompeyCorrigan47.

The last one is the result of my two daughters complaining that they preferred this blog page not to get clogged up with Pompey Gossip, I didn't want to give up my Pompey Gossip so have assigned it to the new page. The new page is named after my Pompey shirt and I hope to get my profile picture on that page to reflect that fact.

The Bench Hamlet 2008 page will still be used for drafts of my Benchpress articles, my Bench and Cloak&Dagger activities, my storytelling, reviews of films and plays and generally reflect my interest in the theatrical world.

This page will be devoted to my general ramblings on the world at large and my political thoughts on Localism. I will probably cover the film extra work on Bench Hamlet 2008 but will inform you here if anything juicy turns up.

For reasons of our own, despite living only 10 minutes from the Portsmouth ferryport, we decided to travel down to Plymouth to cross overnight to Roscoff as we were camping in Brittany. We had started when I got the following message from my agent: RU free for a shoot this afternoon approx 5 hrs. in London (Barbican) to play a Beefeater. I received the message at 10.16 and needed to reply before 1045. I would have loved to play a Beefeater but I also like the fact that on any other day I could easily have made the job as I am available and flexible. I am about to enter a short period of approximately 14 days as "Road" goes into performance when I will not be available but otherwise I can respond to most calls most of the time.

Oversight

2009-06-12T09:27:00.001+01:00

Blow me down! All that thinking and planning and note taking and drafting and I still managed to miss Younes Kaboul out of my Pompey defence wish list. I would certainly want to retain him and Sylvain Distin as my two main centre halves. All the other suggestions would be reinforcements for these two.

I am not sure how it works but the reserve team would be all the players in the squad who are not actually in the first team. They might be on the substitute bench for the first team but someone else is pencilled in for their position. By playing exactly the same system and style in the reserves as in the first team (a style of play consist throughout the club, including the Academy), the reserve matches would allow the reserve team players to maintain their match sharpness. They would then be able to substitute or replace easily when called upon to so do.

If my dream of a Croatian and an Argentine midfield trio happened, imagine the impact on the reserve team! Although I suppose there might be star feelings and egos to massage or to consider.

Midfield Wish List

2009-06-10T16:34:00.003+01:00

This is the area of the team which I believe was grossly under manned last season after the departure of Muntari, Mendes and Diarra.

The present midfield of Davis, Mullins, Hughes, Diop (back from injury in pre-season?) and Bassinas are all defensive midfielders or stoppers. That is a bit unfair on Bassinas, who I believe is correctly termed a central midfield and is after all the Greek national captain. He wasn't ever used correctly and his rare appearances (was it 2 or 3?) showed he was a ball passer. Davis and Diop would be my main stoppers (if the latter can recover and return to his status as the Wardrobe). The former is a worker and wants to get in amongst the action but he isn't what I call a ball carrier or a creative midfield player. In Kranjcar we have got a ball carrier and a creative player but he lacks the killer pace to keep up with the strikers or even on occasion to get into the box ahead of them. However he is the sort of player we should be thinking of building a team around and possibly with the arrival of Bilic (Croatia manager) as prospective Pompey boss this could happen.

We do need a handful of ball carrying, creative midfield players who can carry the game to the opposition. If you count the defence and the two stoppers, we have a defensive unit of six plus goalkeeper. We need an offensive unit willing and able to take the attack to the opposition as I believe offence is the best form of defence. I also believe that when you have got the ball you need players who can keep it and who can use it accurately and with deadly effect. These players don't have to be huge like the Wardrobe they can be nippy small players like the Barca trio (I was so impressed by them as you might tell from this and previous posts). I would like to play a trio in midfield with a single striker, knowing that these four players can interchange at will. This would maintain the nominal formation of 4 - 5 - 1 as used by Hart and Kidd last season but would be a much more potent force in attack as well as defence. The defence and stoppers would know that their job once the ball was won would be to get it to one of the ball carriers. Once the offensive unit had it, the idea would be to keep the ball and yet anyone of the quartet would be able to inflict damage on the opposition goal. In order to have tactical variation, it might be necessary to have a second striker on the bench to replace one of the trio of midfield carriers in order to press home an advantage and go 4-4-2. In my wish list for the strike force I have also included wide players as right and/or left wingers so that the team can be 4-3-3 and that this formation can also be more offensive minded by replacing a stopper with either a ball carrier or a wide player or a second striker.

Enough of tactics for the moment, who are the players we could be thinking about purchasing? There are four from Spurs who could do a job for us. Huddlestone (wanted by half a dozen teams and priced at £7 million), Bentley (wanted by Villa and priced at £10 million),Jenas and Modric. The last two are doubtful because I think the Spurs manager will probably want to build his revamped team around them whereas the former two seem to have lost his favour. However Modric is a Croatian and with Bilic as a possible Pompey boss might be persuaded to team up with his countryman, Kranjcar. Modric is the ideal ball carrying player I envisaged in the previous paragraph.

Lawrence (Stoke) and Nolan (Newcastle) are not in the same mould as described above for Modric but both are very experienced PL players and could do a worthwhile job for the squad. Two Everton players, Cahill and Arteta, would fit the mould but I cannot see them being allowed to leave a very successful and resourceful Everton team. Young and Sidwell of Villa would both be very useful additions, and the former almost falls into the wide player role as well. Johnson and Gelson Fernandes of Manchester City also fall into this category. Except for Nolan most of these are in their early or mid twenties and so could be the backbone of the team for some time.

These would be the players I would be looking at this summer. I am sorry but I wouldn't be able to offer a return berth to Gary O'Neil or Matt Taylor. I loved what these players did for the club but we need to look forward not back. If I failed in my purchases elsewhere I might be tempted but they are not the way of the future.

In the longer term I would be looking at Argentinians either playing now in Europe or in South America. I believe Argentinians are better suited to the demands and rigours of the PL without losing the technique or silky skills or the ability to hold on to the ball. My prize buy this summer would be Tevez of Manchester United and I would be tempted to add his compatriot, Mascheranas, from Liverpool. I love Brazilian players but for me they lack the steel of the Argentine. In the future I would also hope to see Pompey working with other feeder clubs in Europe to provide experience and acclimatisation for South American players before joining us in the PL.

The two stoppers (Davis and Diop - leaving Hughes as a squad player and probably selling Mullins at a knock-down price), the Greek skipper (Bassinas), the two Croatians (Kranjcar and Modric - this is probably what the Spurs manager has in mind but we've got more money now so yah boo!) and the two Argentinians (Tevez and Mascheranas) would certainly provide a mouth watering midfield for the new Pompey Squad of 2009/2010.

If we could match them up with sufficient strikers (see my upcoming wish list) of power and pace plus right and left wingers, Pompey would truly be a force to be reckoned with and that would be without the Kaka, Ronaldo, Robinho, Messi and other superstars. We would have a team and squad to get us into the top 10 easily and to lay down the foundations for a footballing style of the future.

Left Back

2009-06-10T16:30:00.002+01:00

Add Paul Robinson of West Bromwich Albion to the list of wanted left backs in the previous post but one about my wish list for the Pompey defence. His fee would be £1.5 million and he certainly could do a job for us, if only as a squad player. Bolton are also interested in him, which is a good sign, and of course WBA were relegated this season.

Post code lottery or choice?

2009-06-09T10:05:00.004+01:00

We have often heard the expression "post code lottery" - as if any variation in a public service was not democracy working but a sin against the constitution. If you change the word "lottery" to "choice", there is a less pejorative sound about it. It also implies that the post code area has decided where its priorities lie and acted accordingly. One would hope that this decision making process and the necessary consultation would be predicated upon a strong electoral basis on a small intimate and geographically small neighbourhood. "Central government had denied the electors the freedom to choose better local services by taxing themselves as in every other country in Europe" (Simon Jenkins Thatcher and Sons) In an earlier post I suggested that most inhabitants of an English borough would be unable to name their mayor. I know some people will find my following suggestion a total anathema because it over-rides an English tradition of Mayoral selection and offers a Gallic alternative.

The English tradition is to pick a committee or council and then for the elected body to decide who should be its leader or chairman or mayor. Often of course the leader is actually someone else and the mayor is an office used as reward for service to the elected body and as a figurehead. This works pretty well as a ceremonial post but it does mean the English public do not know who is in charge of their local affairs. We still get bogged down in party politics and the poor old elector has no idea who is the person in charge. This always smells too much of cigar smoke filled committee rooms and "City Hall". It heightens the class divisions and seems determined to cast an opaque smog over what is happening at the seat of power. The mayor of London is an elected one and although there is still a strong reek of party politics, everyone knows who the mayor of London is even if they are not Londoners. I believe central government had plans for other cities or unitary authorities to follow suit and perhaps that should warn me off the idea as part of my thesis is that anything that suits central government doesn't necessarily prove beneficial to the local elector.

What is my alternative? You've guessed it. I want elected mayors. A named person who stands for the post with a manifesto and at the end of four years is judged by the electorate on their record. I don't expect this will do away with party politics but it might lessen their hold slightly. The mayor of course will need to build an elected body of officers around him or her and will probably in the first instance rely upon a party machine to help provide those people. However as the elected mayoral system progresses mayors might find it best for their chances of re-election to appoint the best people for the job, whatever their political allegiance, as this may ensure the mayor is returned at the next election. The mayor will be a controversial figure rather than someone carrying out a civic timetable of ceremonial duties. Only the English equate controversy with bad - it can stimulate, it can innovate and it is rarely dull. Yes the mayor will have to be seen to do things that are vote catching and especially no doubt in an election year. But where is that any different from what happens now and it would be a lot more obvious under my new system than under the present one. The present Hampshire County Council is Tory run and decides where the road improvements take place. The County Council is applauded for the excellence of its road improvement and that only a minority of roads fall below the standards set overall. Being of a paranoid frame of mind, I wonder how many of the councillors who are not Tory find their wards fall in that minority. The subliminal message is clear but only if you can see beyond the party political hedge.

I suggested above that we look at the Gallic alternative knowing full well that this will send a number of people into apoplexy. The idea that we should learn from and copy the Europeans is appalling enough (as why else would UKIP exist) but to suggest that the French would have anything to offer us is doubly aggravating. However I am not suggesting the French commune system (and commune is a word also designed to raise English blood pressure)is perfect but it does offer a model worth looking at. Also after decades of visiting France (and I know that is different from living there and I hope my friends in the Lot valley are reading this and will send me their comments) I am impressed by the community pride and sense of belonging expressed in these communes and have been impressed by the many mayors I have met.

There are 37000 communes in France. Some are as large as Paris but 80% have fewer than 1000 inhabitants. Mayors are powerful and perhaps the British have a problem with power residing officially in the hands of one person. However Simon Jenkins (see above) says " Mayoral elections are often bitterly fought and the turnouts are high" He goes on: "The result is a civic pride visible in every French municipality". The idea of a high turnout is what attracts me having attended a recent local election where the turnout was 28%. I believe that having a named mayor will bring people out. It would be good to have feelings about elections that can be expressed at the ballot box or in the street. There will be no apathy about withholding one's vote because if one did that then the mayor you hate will get in again. We go on constantly about our lack of civic pride. Well the French example shows that this can be rekindled and an elected mayor is one step in the right direction.

We would need to look at the powers and responsibilities of the elected mayor and see how this could be dovetailed into a system of local government with which every citizen can feel involved.

One of the tricks that central government has achieved is the community tax being collected by the local borough council. In my local area only 13% of this tax goes to the borough, who have to pass on 70% to the county and 10% to the Police Authority. However the electors at public forums are always haranguing the borough council for roads (responsibility of County) and crime (responsibility of Police Authority). This is an anomaly that needs to be clarified if we are ever to have elected mayors otherwise the latter are going to be lynched for matters beyond their control.

I also feel a need to review how local taxation is determined. Patrick Jenkins, the new environment secretary in 1983, declared, in his White Paper that "rates were well understood, cheap to collect and very difficult to evade." Subsequent environment secretaries, and the turnover in that post is quite incredible, pushed for reform but don't seem to have improved the situation one bit and seem to be determined to muddy the waters of local finance in order to maintain control from the centre. "Thatcher seemed determined to punish local government, Tory as well as Labour, if only for being right" (page 139,(Simon Jenkins Thatcher and Sons) The New Labour governments that have followed have continued to punish local government rather than redress the situation.

Pompey Defence

2009-06-09T08:40:00.002+01:00

I will return to my political thesis in my next posting but want to put in two or three posts about the possible Pompey team after the summer spending. This is in the realm of fanciful and wishful thinking but it is entirely due to the arrival of Dr, Sulaiman Al Fahim (if he completes signing the papers this month).

At right back I would try to keep hold of Glen Johnson despite the reputed bid of £17 million by Chelsea and the interest shown by Liverpool. Glen himself must be flattered by the attention but the England full back should be made to feel that he could be in at the ground floor of a great footballing revolution here at Pompey. He is definitely the sort of player on which we want to build a team and a team ethos. I don't want quick fire success as my previous post showed. I want to build up a team and a system or style of playing that will carry us forward into the future. Glen Johnson is young enough and good enough to help us lay down the foundations to do that. I would want to back him up with another right back and for the moment I would be tempted to go with Angel Rangel (Swansea) and Mendy (Hull).

At left back I would let Hreidarrson go to Gers and thank him hugely for helping keep us in the Premier League. He will always be a Pompey hero. I am unsure about Belhadj as a left back but would probably want to keep him as a squad player - his unpredictability sometimes unsettles his own team but can have the same effect on the opposition. I would go for established PL players such as Shorey (Villa), Clichy (Arsenal)and Garrido (Manchester City).

At centre back I would make every effort to retain Sylvain Distin as a player and as club captain. Certainly he would not be allowed to leave for the £4 million that have been suggested. I would be tempted to keep Sol as a totem of intent but would probably let him go to Basle or a European club, but not another PL club. So my search would be for a player to work alongside Distin in the centre of defence and probably one or two other centre backs as squad players. I know Lescott (Everton) has attracted a great deal of attention from other clubs, especially after the Cup Final. I am not sure why Everton and David Moyes would want to let him go but he would certainly be one of my targets. Hangeland (Fulham),Taylor (Newcastle), Branislav Ivanovic (Chelsea),Cuellar (Villa), Bassong (Newcastle) and Johnson (Cardiff) would be the players I would be chasing this July and probably in the order stated.

I would also make sure that my reserve team was one of the strongest around and that the players there were confident that the style or system they were using would enable them to step straight up into the first team as and when needed. I would also ensure that the Academy were playing the style that ultimately would inform the whole club approach as at Barcelona and the great Dutch clubs. Also the Academy youngsters would be "bloodied" and used at reserve and first team levels as and when thought appropriate to encourage the individual and deepen the squad ethos.

I will break off and look back at localism in politics for the next post or two before returning to my dream midfield and strike force for the bright Pompey of the near future. I hasten to add that all this speculation is for the short and medium term. The new manager should be empowered and entrusted to develop a club that will be renowned as much for its style of play as for its success. I would hope this would be with training facilities and a new stadium the equal of any other in this country if not Europe. I would hope that those promised links with South America (and in my opinion with Argentina) are part of the new manager's remit.

The previous manager but two

2009-06-09T08:39:00.001+01:00

I think the previous manager but two did embellish the history of Pompey football club and for that we are rightly grateful. However I don't see him as a great manager. He is not the man to build up a great team, an ethos and style of playing that will bring us respect as well as success. He will doubtless bring us short term success but surely we should be looking for someone to lay down the infrastructure for a great club for the future not just for now. We want someone who will not bring in old established players at exorbitant salaries. We want someone who will encourage the Academy to seek out the best talent and to develop a style of playing similar to that seen at Barca. We want someone with more than a knowledge of what is here and now but who can develop the links with South America and Argentina in particular. We want someone who doesn't think Spuds are "a bigger club with better fans" but who realises Pompey are a great club with the best fans anywhere. Thanks to the Doctor, we can look beyond the recent past and create a marvellous future.

Pompey Gossip

2009-06-03T08:52:00.002+01:00

http://www.pompeygossip.co.uk/

I have recently joined this website as one of my Facebook groups. I am thoroughly enjoying being a member and especially at this auspicious time when we are so nearly in the hands of a new owner, Dr Sulaiman al Fahim. The new owner has promised to build up the infrastructure of the club rather than go for short term splashing of cash on star players. I hope this means we get the new training grounds and facilities completed this autumn as they have been long in the planning and perhaps might even be upgraded. As this is where the team spend most of their working lives, the training facilities are incredibly important for their morale, keeping them injury free and encouraging new players to join us.

I also believe the training grounds are the home of the Academy and this must also get more substantial support from the new owner. I hope that Paul Hart will be asked to resume his post as director of the Academy to continue to develop the Pompey youngsters. I hope the new owner's wealth will be used to compete with other clubs to bring in the brightest young footballers and to find the best local talent. I hope the promised links with South America will show first in the Academy and that we develop a steady stream of South American youngsters especially Argentinians coming to us. I would also hope that the Academy concentrates on midfield play and players. Like everyone else, I was mightily impressed by the Barcelona midfield trio and the fact that the ball seemed tied to their boot laces. It also was stated that the Barcelona academy and training concentrated all the time on this approach to passing and football skills. That is what I would like to see become of the Pompey Academy.

In the medium term I believe the new owner is intent on continuing the development of Fratton Park as suggested by the previous owner and administration. This might be able to go ahead this coming season as the new owner does not need the backing of a supermarket to make the project happen (the supermarket was also that made planning permission more unlikely). But while Fratton Park is being developed next season I hope the new owner does not take his eye off the design and planning of a new stadium. I still think Horsea Island would make a spectacular location with Portchester Castle across the harbour and the chalk of Portsdown Hill behind. The development of an infrastructure of roads, bridges and transport links would be necessary first hence the redevelopment of Fratton Park in the medium term and the new stadium to be ready in the longer term. However it would be good if the new stadium could be part of the 2018 English bid to host the World Cup. It would be good if the new owner could dispense with the need to build shops as these would compete with other areas of the city. I would love to see an entertainment arena built alongside the new stadium to compete with the likes of the O2 dome to make Pompey an outstanding venue for other popular art forms.

I would like to see the gradual development of a club and a team ethos that intends to play football as it should be played with players who love the club and area and who love to play with the ball. I don't want the sudden influx of mercenary star players who are here to see how much they can earn from the new owner and the club before they move on to earn more money elsewhere. I don't want a quick fix to get us into the top 4 and to grab armfuls of silverware next season or the season after. I would like us to build a team and a club slowly gathering momentum - perhaps a top 10 finish next year with another crack at the Carling or FA Cup. I would like to see those links with South America plainly reflected in the team make up and style of playing - I am more of an Argentinian fan than the silky skills of Brazil as I think the former adapt better to European football than the latter. In succeeding years we will take our place among the clubs playing for European competition and then perhaps join the top 4 or 5 clubs as a right.

These are wonderful pipe dreams inspired by the arrival of the new owner. However there are also early indications that things have to happen in the short term. There is the matter of a new manager rather than the retention of the current one (see Paul Hart and the Academy above). There is the small matter of keeping our star players that we already have and producing a squad of sufficient depth and quality to take us into that top 10 next season.

For the die hard fan, this is the part of the season where we love speculating and I being no exception to that rule and with the help of the website posted at the top of this posting I intend devoting some postings to who these players could be as if I had an influence with the club. I am also still working on my political thesis by reading "Bring Home the Revolution:The Case for a British Republic" by Jonathan Friedland.

Other aspects of my interests such as film extra work, plays and productions, and storytelling I will cover in my sister blog "Bench Hamlet 2008". Thanks for indulging me!

A friend replies and adds to my knowledge

2009-05-27T18:15:00.002+01:00

A friend writes:I agree with you wholeheartedly. The political apathy in this country distresses me immensely,particularly when people were prepared to die because they believed in democracy so strongly.

However, I would like to make 2 points: The American system of government was borne out of a tension between the smaller and larger states, when the constitution was being codified. The smaller states felt that if all federal government bodies were elected by size or population of state, their interests would be completely ignored or overruled - hence the two-chamber system, whereby one house, (the Senate) sees each state elect the same number of Senators, regardless of size, population, etc. The other house - the House of Representatives sees each state return a different number of representatives dependent upon, (if I remember correctly) their population. (When this was being debated in the late 18th Century, states which had large populations of slaves were also worried they would lose out as they had fewer
'voting' members of the population, which led to the despicable '2/3rds' idea.)

Voting, and the civic activity that surrounds this, is something that is embedded in Americans - they vote for many, many local civic positions - I think some towns even vote for their dog-catcher. This is not something we do in this country.

Local politics in the UK also has something of an image problem - people do not know what powers their local or county councils hold, and do not know where to find out. It's also perceived as an area that only 'local busybodies' get on their high horse about - or care enough to stand. People are not aware of the day-to-day impact of local councils etc, so are often unwilling to vote. These are not my feels, but issues we discussed at great length during my degree studies. Admittedly, this is going back 7 or 8 years, so may be out of date. However, I fear the apathy has just got worse.

A parting shot: perhaps it is the 'winner takes all' nature of our 'first past the post' electoral system that puts people off: If you live in an area that is dominated by one particular party, which you don't want to represent you, does your vote for a candidate who stands so little chance of winner, actually count or make any kind of difference? Should we change our electoral system?
This was written as a comment by a young friend but sent to me elsewhere. I reproduce it here because it adds to my argument re Civic activity, which I intend expanding in the next few postings.

Localism

2009-05-26T08:31:00.003+01:00

A friend commented on my previous posting about reducing the number of MPs to 430 by saying that the USA number is underpinned by a whole system of federalism and therefore my suggestion might not be workable in our situation.
My reply is slow in coming as it has been bubbling away in my head for some considerable time. It is still at the incomplete fermenting stage but it is supported by reading "Thatcher & Sons: A Revolution in Three Acts" (winner, Channel 4 political book of the year 2007) by Simon Jenkins (published by Penguin).Simon Jenkins writes twice weekly for the Guardian and weekly for the Sunday Times. He has been editor of both The Times and the Evening Standard. In 1995 he chaired the Commission on Local Democracy and published "Accountable to None:The Tory Nationalisation of Britain".

In "Thatcher & Sons: A Revolution in Three Acts" he looks at the political legacy of Margaret Thatcher and her "true heirs", John Major, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. He argues that they have utterly transformed Britain in the process to leave us where we are now "prosperous but perplexed, spoilt for 'Choice' but less and less equal, infantilized by targets, drowning in bureaucracy and bombarded by spin."

In the book he states my principal mantra and creed, "Localism is the stuff of politics" (page 306). I am against centralism and the view that Britain is a "unitary welfare state, politically monolithic and administratively homogeneous" (page 307). I believe centralism has brought about the collapse of British public life and is one of the prime reasons for the British apathy at the polling booth. I cringe when I read in the newspaper of voters threatening to withhold their vote at the coming elections because of the MP expenses scandal. It seems to me that this puts the protester with the majority who don't vote anyway and therefore negates their protest completely. I believe less than 40% actually vote and that figure might even be optimistic.

My call for the reduction in the number of MPs has therefore to be reconciled with my belief that the whole business of government needs decentralising and we need to return to "localism" to re-empower the voter. We need to look at other societies for some ideas of how to recapture local government from the grasp of central government. "A citizen of a typical American suburb or small town might expect to devote a night a week to some civic activity" and "80% of Germans can name their local mayor." (Jenkins, page 308). Both these ideas, "Civic activity" and "name the mayor", would stump the local voter here in my own area. I will return to both ideas in later postings as both are key planks in my own small but persistent political awakening.

Victory for the Gurkhas

2009-05-21T18:56:00.002+01:00

At midday today, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith made the announcement to the House of Commons that all ex-Gurkhas who have served more than 4 years in the British Army will have the right to settle in the UK if they wish.This is what the Gurkha Justice Campaign have been fighting for for years.

After such a long fight, with huge ups and downs, this is a superb announcement.

We simply would not have won this fight without the massive, overwhelming support of all those who have supported our campaign. To the hundreds of thousands of people who have signed Gurkha Justice petitions, lobbied their MP, campaigned, attended rallies and marches - thank you so much to you all. This is your victory. It would not have happened without you.

The Government has now responded to that campaign after court cases, votes in Parliament, a huge media campaign and, most importantly, massive public support. I am delighted, and humbled, at what has been achieved by our remarkable team.

The whole campaign has been based on the belief that those who have fought and been prepared to die for our country should have the the right to live in our country. We owe them a debt of honour - a debt that will now be paid.

I received this from Joanna Lumley today.

FA Cup Reorganised

2009-05-12T09:18:00.003+01:00

Again this isn't an original idea of mine but rather one that I would like to throw what little petulant force I have behind it.

The FA Cup is a great British tradition of allowing the minnows to take on the giants. I followed with pride and great emotion the progress of the Havant and Waterlooville Hawks in last year's campaign and especially that wonderful match at Anfield. In many ways that summed up the magic of the FA Cup. Indeed Portsmouth, not exactly a minnow but not exactly a giant, went on to win the cup!

However this year the FA Cup has been tarnished by some of the big clubs fielding reserve sides in the competition as their priorities are winning the Premiership or the European Championship or one of the other minor Cup tournaments. This devalues the FA Cup and the following proposal is an attempt to redress that situation. It is also an idea that might boost the chances of English footballers and ultimately the England team.

The proposal is that the FA Cup is seen as a British or English competition. I am not being insular here as I realise that lots of foreign players come here for the opportunity to play in the FA Cup, however I think they are well recompensed by the size of their fees and salaries. The Football Association must insist that all teams entered in the competition must field teams that consist of at least seven or eight English or British players. I realise that will create some fun as to who will qualify as what (see recent international qualification arguments for individual players and countries) but that wouldn't be a major concern. It would also leave a little leeway for those foreign players mentioned above. It would also give the FA a more hands on approach to their own major competition.

Most of the minnows already would qualify for the above proportion of English players to foreign (although sadly even here this situation is in decline - foreign players are cheaper!). Most of the giants could do it using the size of their squads and including their reserves and academies. This is the sort of approach they take now if they want to throw the match in the later stages of the contest when reassessing their priorities.However they wouldn't be doing it for their own purposes but because the rules of the competition require them to so do. It would also put all the giants in the same position rather than one choosing to lose to another. It would also level the playing field a little more for the minnows.

I can imagine the cries of horror that will go up from the giants as they will claim that the public will be horrified that such and such a star will not be able to appear. However all they have to do is carefully choose which of their stars will appear and will be cup=tied. I believe that after a general bit of upheaval and kerfuffle the public will like the more level playing field provided by the new rules, will like the breaking of the monopoly held by the top half dozen clubs, and will like the rise of new and upcoming English or British stars.

These English or British players will also experience the spotlight thrown upon them by such a prestigious competition and will be able to make a bid for places in the international squads. After all the European Cup and the World Cup are more akin to the FA Cup than they are to attrition of a over long Premiership campaign. I also believe national sponsors will be more than willing to support such a competition and of course the voracious monster that is television will equally devour the new aspects of the competition.

The FA Cup for the British!

Pay Them More!

2009-05-12T08:22:00.002+01:00

This isn't entirely original but one way of avoiding the MPs' expenses farce or debacle is to pay them more so they don't need to put in expenses' claims. By so doing we accept that the role they play in our parliamentary democracy is of great importance and that we downplay it at our peril. Newspapers love to dig up dirt about our representatives and then to cluck in disapproval. The parliamentary expenses system seems to offer them easy targets. I don't like the idea that the system is being misused but I don't like the ammunition it provides for newspaper proprietors and editors to lay into our admittedly imperfect system, and its too human participants, to make us doubt our own democracy. What would they propose we replace our democracy with?

Don't get me wrong here. I am pissed off with my parliamentary representatives as much as the next man as I think they are in danger of devaluing our system by providing such easy targets for the newspapers and media. I do think part of the problem is the ability of prime ministers to hang on to power until they judge the moment is propitious for a general election. I believe we should insist on exact terms or periods of office - so if a government is elected on the 7th May one year, we all know that the next general election is the 7th May five years hence. This would prevent or at least limit the media attacks on a "dying duck" government in an attempt to bring pressure on a prime minister to call an election. It seems to me that the pressure must have the reverse effect.

I am also pissed off with the "presidential" nature of our government. I don't think our prime minister should be the all powerful "president" of our government but rather the head of a coherent cabinet of like minded and strong individuals. The government should not stand or fall by the likes of Gordon Brown or David Cameron. There is too much trying to make them the equal of Obama for goodness sake, but the Americans run a different democratic system to us. Their system was built upon the hopes and dreams of disenfranchised Englishmen ( and I do believe there is a case to be argued to bring the American revolution back home but that is a different issue from the one being argued here). We mustn't boost the role of the prime minister so he can go and talk on equal status with the USA President. Rather he goes as the representative of a strong and independent nation of some 60 million plus. This brings me back to the status of our other parliamentary representatives and the raising of their salaries to end any reliance upon expense claims or daily attendance allowances or whatever other rot is proposed instead.

Now I know I am going to be asked how can this be paid for? I do have an answer but I would first like to remind readers we are a strong, independent and incredibly wealthy nation. Even in a recession, when those three adjectives come under attack, we still qualify as all three.

I am pissed off (today's expression I fear) about our treatment of the Gurkhas and feel we as a nation have a debt of honour. To hear Phil Woolas trying to mealy-mouth (is that a verb?) his way out of any agreements by saying we must look at the financial costs and implications annoys me. A government that can find billions and billions of funding when they need it can spare a few millions of our money in a matter of national honour and pride.

How will I pay for the increase in salary to our MPs? At the moment we have 646 MPs or one MP for every 92000 people or 68000 electors: 529 for the English (population 50 million), and 117 for the Britons (population 9.75 million). One also needs to add in the fact that the Britons all have their devolved assemblies of their own. I admit the powers to those assemblies are restricted by Westminster but still those assemblies do exist.These numbers will change slightly in 2010, when 4 more English MPs will come into existence while the Britons stay the same, but all that does is increase the total number to 650.

My proposal would be to reduce the number of parliamentary representatives not to increase them as seems the current trend. My suggestion would be reduce the number to 430, thereby cutting 220. This cut would go some way to financing the raise in salary for the new number. The 430 would consist of 360 English MPs and 70 Britons. This would slightly increase the English representation from 81.8% to 83.7%.

In order to do this each MP would have to represent 138967 people or approx 102715 electors. This would mean the end to some historical constituencies and I do love tradition. It would also reduce the Labour strongholds in Briton and possibly enhance the Conservative ones. There are drawbacks to my proposal and I haven't been able to think through them all but doggone it I think it's worth a thought or two!

Paternal Pride!

2009-04-24T13:22:00.003+01:00

Below is the link to the News review of "Closer", in which the reviewer refers in glowing terms to the performance of Alice Corrigan as Anna:

"http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/entertainment/Review-Closer.5202520.jp"

Please forgive a father's pride in his younger daughter but the review says everything about the performance that I and her mother saw last night and were unable to express. Comic timing allied with purity of characterisation and emotional depth contributes to a stunning performance! Well done, Kitten!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7174256@N03/sets/72157617196543832/
link to some stunning rehearsal photos by Finchy!

Welcome to Pompey, Theofanis Gekas

2009-04-22T10:38:00.002+01:00

Gekas had a very quiet game, in last night's reserve game (only Primus known name) against West Ham, at West Leigh, as he got very poor service. The wingers (Nlundulu and Alors) weren't up to the task and didn't get enough decent crosses in. He isn't a big bloke but got to some headers he shouldn't have. The midfield (Hurst and Mahoto) seemed to prefer to shoot wildly, rather than pass into the box. He really had very few chances until the 93rd minute when he took a long punt out of defence (Wilkinson continues to impress), swivelled, took it through three defenders to the edge of the box and hit a rasping volley diagonally into the top far corner of the net past a desperately diving goalkeeper. It was a clean and impeccable goal. It was a chance he made personally and took really well. In my opinion he should be played up alongside Crouch and drop Nugent. He won't put in the work of Nugent but he is no slacker and given the sniff of a chance is likely to bury the ball. With some of the chances Nugent as had recently this bloke wouldn't have missed.He looks balanced and difficult to knock off the ball - he is more Maradonna than Henry!
Without Kranjcar and Kaboul, Pompey will have to revert to Johnson and Pennant on right and Herminator and Belhadj on left. With Davis and Basinas in middle, Gekas could be the man supporting Crouch or Kanu to snatch the all important single goal. It doesn't look like he will be playing at Old Trafford, unless last night was to shake off the cobwebs, but against Newcastle and other rivals in relegation battle, he could be the deciding factor and well worth the trial!

We Won!

2009-04-21T10:28:00.002+01:00

No not a cry of joy that Pompey sneaked a one goal victory over close rivals Bolton but that the Bench theatre won the quarter finals of the Southern Division of the All England Theatre Festival. Further details can be found on my sister page, Bench Hamlet 2008 (See link to the Right).

The distance in metres?

2009-04-10T11:17:00.002+01:00

The Firstborn finally got me on the first of our monthly walks around Hampshire as part of my training for the Great France walk. Trying to fit them in on Sundays around the plethora of family events and rehearsals for a huge range of different productions is no mean feat!
However we settled on a circular walk from Hambledon to the Bat and Ball pub, the cradle of cricket. This is officially a walk of six miles, which distance both the Firstborn and I can do easily enough. The terrain is easy going and the weather was lovely, indeed perfect for walking. We had the Hampshire version of a topo-guide with a description of the walk and points of interest. We also had a Pathfinder map, which I had used on previous occasions to mark in other circular walks recommended by the News columnist, John Price. We set off confidently and well, but had one hiccup finding the footpath across a field to a stile just before Hermitage Farm. We managed to find the stile and the farm, but, having passed the farm, we made our major bloomer. This doesn't presage well for the 1800 kilometres of the Great France Walk but I have no idea mentally or physically what 800 metres feels or looks like!

i am about to digress here for a moment, before returning to the problem we encountered on the walk. I visit B& Q on Wednesdays quite frequently these days, as I have a senior discount card, which gives me 10% off. It also seems the entire elderly or retired population of most of Hampshire do the same. This particular Wednesday I went to buy fence panels. I have already replaced the easily accessible ones to the east of my property, but have decided that the west could do with replacement as well, and hopefully in time for the 60th birthday celebrations of the Best Beloved in the first May weekend. Despite her reservations I went for the whole number in one go with a delivery date giving me two weeks to put the fence panels up. I measured up the task carefully: I needed them all to have the same width but three different heights of 1.2 metres, 1.5 metres and 1.8 metres. This took some mental arithmetic and careful measuring I can tell you but armed with my piece of paper I arrived at B&Q ready for the task. There were insufficient numbers of fence panels on display but I had needed to waylay a young assistant anyway to put my order in. He talked about the number of 6 x 4 I needed, and one 6 x 5, and one 6 x 6. You, intelligent reader, are probably already ahead of me on this one, but I really had difficulty equating what he was saying with my piece of paper. In the end, as we were finalising the order and delivery date, I asked him what measurements was he using. He replied, of course, that he was using imperial - 6ft by 4ft, etc, and instantly I could see the fence panel dimensions in my head and see how the three different sizes correlated. I asked him why he was using imperial when I had spent a lifetime and several tough minutes calculating this particular order in metric. His reply was simple - this was senior Wednesday and most of the clients felt easier with imperial. The moral of my tale is that I could visualise six feet so much easier than its metric equivalent.
Back to the walk. The Firstborn and I were looking for a path to the north, or on our left, at approximately 800 metres after Hermitage Farm. We had travelled 200 metres when we saw a couple of walkers coming down a path to our left and decided quite erroneously that this was the path we sought. We then discovered ourselves at odds with the topo-guide, which promised us a whole series of stiles, which of course we couldn't find, because we were some 600 metres to the west of them. Others might have turned back and retraced their steps, but there is a stubborn Corrigan streak, that at times can be a virtue, but at other times is less so. We eventually found tracks and paths northwards, even though they bore no comforting footpath signposts. My suggestion to cut across fields eastwards, in what I knew was the direction of the pub, were quite correctly turned down by the Firstborn ( she seems to have inherited her mother's quality of common sense and the ability to ignore my inarticulate grumblings). However our sojourn north finally brought us to HMS Mercury, which is some considerable distance north west of the Bat and Ball pub! When we finally arrived at the pub, I calculated the distance we had covered so far on our walk, by using the Pathfinder map. We had intended to do a six mile walk in total, but had already covered seven and a half miles, and had another four miles to get us back to the car at Hambledon! The lunch at the Bat and Ball, and the meeting with Peter Brown and his lovely wife (also having lunch at the pub after a stroll up from Horndean), did not really recompense for the doubling of the walk.
At this rate of misguided navigation, I am more likely to hit the Adriatic than the Mediterranean on the Great France walk.

The Grand France Walk

2009-03-30T19:39:00.002+01:00

I am delighted to say I have already had the offer of one walking companion - cheers. Pedthered! The offers may increase as my plans are made clearer in this blog. I don't seem to have posted for ages and can only really blame the sunshine. Weak and pale it might be and the wind can be freezing at times but oh how pleased I am to see the sun. So much pleased to see the sun that I have been working in the garden!
Besides working in the garden I have been sitting in the garden sheltered from the wind and reading "And Did Those Feet" by Charley Connelly. This is a wonderfully satisfying and witty book about Charley doing several long distance walks in the UK along trails taken by famous historical characters, Boadicea, Saxon Harald, Mary Queen of Scots, to name but three. This is a marvellous intertwining of history and walking.
In the light of my planned Grand France Walk (see previous postings - 1100 miles from the Channel coast to the Mediterranean cote)I am fascinated by the whole book but particularly by his early chapters on walking itself. This quote is from page 8:

There can surely be no better way to ease your way to a healthier mind and body than by walking. It's leisurely. it's good for you, it's easy. You don't need any special equipment*; you don't meed any particular skills or training. Walking is a scandalously under-rated and ill-appreciated human trait. (C) Charley Connelly.

The asterisk * is my addition to the quaote because by page 15 Charley does adjust that statement to: you do need "the right equipment" and he cites "chafing" as been one of the main reasons. My own personal painful experience backs up this comment.

Charley quotes other great minds who equate walking with thinking. Many was the time I was trapped in meetings with colleagues or with the head teacher and I had to excuse myself to get up and start pacing up and down. My brain felt waterlogged with ideas, concepts and decisions. The only way I could get my brain to function more effectively was to be up on my feet. I also found that I taught better if up on my feet and prowling the classroom. The subject matter and the delivery may have been boring but the pupils never knew where I was going to end up next.

Charley also relates that his early walks exhausted him (page 15) and now I have started walking everywhere in the local vicinity - I even walk to my exercise classes at Langstone and at Hilsea - I know what he means. I also know what he means by moisture wicking clothing. Being a large man incline to perspire freely, I have found the need for moisture wicking underwear and T shirts an imperative acquisition. He also recommends light cotton walking trousers of which I have already a few pairs as I have found them invaluable in the past for camping and walking. I have waterproof over-trousers but need to find a much lighter weight pair. I have no need yet of fleeces, socks of different thicknesses and base layers but figure I may have to invest carefully when I begin the Grand France Walk for real.

I have a pair of good quality walking boots which I have had for a number of years now. I suspect that they may need replacing more than once on the 1100 mile trek across France. I am using Google Earth at the moment to way mark the journey across France and have so far reached Chinon. I am interested in seeing the topography of the walk as I know that the challenge of mountain walking will be presented to me several times and I have expressed my fear of heights many times in previous posts. I am also working on the logistics of how to achieve the walk and the problems of overnight accommodation. I do have a number of viable options already and may take a leaf out of the best beloved's flexibility manual and try a variety on the journey. I would remind regular readers that the journey will be in small sections in spring and autumn over about four years - 150 miles per section or 300 miles per year should see the enterprise achieved.

The Firstborn has already got me to agree to monthly Sunday walks with her. We will probably begin at the five mile length and build up. I hope to do the Wayfarers Walk and parts of the South Downs Walk as preparation or rehearsal for the Grand France Walk. However I am hoping I will be able to persuade the Best Beloved that we can begin in autumn 2009 and walk the first section from Ouistreham to Saint Denis sur Sarthon or 128 miles on the Grande Randonnee (GR)36. This is eight days' worth of walking but could be spread over two weeks of camping in late September and/or early October with rest days interspersed amongst the walking.

Pompey - further thoughts on a theme

2009-02-26T09:12:00.002Z

George Egglestone was complaining about the turgidity of the first half against Stoke. I must admit Pompey first halves are normally chronic affairs but the gaining of points is all that matters at this moment in time. George sits in the south stand and I sit in the north stand. We exchange thoughts, ideas and feelings on Pompey more regularly now we have joined the ranks of grumpy old men.
Pompey are excused duty this weekend because hopefully Manchester United are screwing the chances of the previous manager but one to win the Carling Cup. However I have no real objections to him winning this trophy as long as he ends up below us in the league table and perhaps drops down to the Championship even.
Next Tuesday Pompey play Chelsea at home and the Scolari Chelsea might have been in our sights but the rejuvenated Chelsea should be too strong for us on paper but perhaps a surprise draw might still be on the cards. That is an awfully long sentence but I was holding my breath and disbelief while I wrote it!
However we need twelve points to reach the magic number of 40. We must beat Middlesbrough away, WBA, Sunderland and Bolton at home. If we can force draws with Everton here at home, Hull and Newcastle away we will give ourselves a buffer zone of three extra points. These 15 points will also help to keep other teams below us and in the relegation zone.
We are playing better defensively and we were robbed by a rotten referee decision for a penalty at Stoke. However if I see Distin or Campbell with their hand up and an opposing forward looping a header into our net yet again (Beattie at Stoke and Torres at Fratton) rather than getting between the player and goal I shall do myself a mischief! Hreidarrson should have continued off the field after chasing the winger but didn't and so kept Beattie onside so what game was Distin watching to claim offside?
I don't think Crouch is our best striker when it comes to speedy counter attacking. He works really hard at winning the ball coming out of defence and he works really hard as the first line of defence. I don't think Kranjcar is strong enough to be the main playmaker in the hole behind the striker(s). Basinas played a really tight passing game for his first two games but looked a bit bewildered by what was expected of him at Stoke - too many lofted balls. He is a neat passer along the ground and needs better outlets provided.
I am seriously tempted by the double ranks of four in defence and four in midfield, especially in away games, with a variation in home games. I have problems with the attack in either version.
Four in defence are Johnson, Campbell, Distin and Hreidarrson. I would use Kaboul if the opposing attackers are more mobile and Pamarot would be my defensive substitute.
Four in midfield are Little, Davis, Basinas and Hughes. I think the middle two are forming a partnership worth cultivating. I know the latter two have been out of the picture with injuries but I would stick them both in front of the full backs with instructions to hold their ground. I wouldn't expect either to come marauding forward.
The variation at home would be to replace either Little with Pennant or Hughes with Belhadj. Traore would be my substitute. Kranjcar could also be used as the player in the hole if I wanted a further tactical change.
Up front is a real problem. I would like to see the Greek Gekas given a run out but he is a complete unknown quantity to the fans. He is a shoulder of the last defender sort of guy who does his best work in the 12 yard box. He is not a lone striker and therefore needs to be working in a partnership but with whom? I have expressed my reservations about Crouch but he can be used in the looser formation at home when Pennant or Belhadj are playing but needs to be encouraged to go for goal himself rather than laying off for non-existent support. He needs to get into the box more.
Nugent is a willing war horse but lacks the cutting edge and skills needed to worry Premiership defences. Utaka has the pace but lacks the cutting edge and skills needed to worry Premiership defences. Kanu is a slower version of Crouch. Both these players need pacy support men.
Up front away from home I would use a pace merchant like Utaka in the centre prompted and supported by another trickier striker or midfield player. Both these players would be expected to be knackered by the second half or the hour mark and therefore to be substituted by a similar pairing or a pair offering something slightly different. Perhaps away from home Pennant, Traore or Belhadj could be that trickier player playing in the hole behind or beside the lone striker. Perhaps young Pele might also find a role here or at least as one of the substituting pair. Nugent could form one of the substituting pair as well. As you can see I have real problems with the attacking options using the players we have got. I still think we needed a powerful playmaker in that hole and a stronger forward. I am glad we didn't buy Jimmy Bullard in the end (turned out too expensive by far) but he and Nolan were the sort of players I had in mind. Someone in the shape of an Emile Heskey, Darren Bent, Marlon Harewood or even Carlton Cole was the sort of forward I had thought about. Play Up Pompey! I am not depressed and think we are in with a real chance of escaping relegation with Hart and Kidd in charge but the view from the South and North Stands is going to be of pretty dire football at times. However Pompey goals scored and Pompey points gained are all the game is about for the rest of this season. Then we can build for next season in the summer.
I wish the owner would sell the club and let us all move forward on the new stadium. I saw a new Fratton Park of 40000 capacity as part of a dream scenario for the World Cup bid. I also see that an entertainment arena as part of the new stadium would add real benefit to the scene on the South Coast. I appreciate what the owner has done but he has now become something of a block and needs to make way for a new investment of money, energy or ideas.

How to eat an elephant?

2009-02-22T15:32:00.002Z

The idea is to walk 1800 kilometres or 1100 miles from Caen on the Channel to Marseilles on the Mediterranean. The idea is not mine but is taken from the website, France on Foot.
My own suggestion would be to bring the walk down into bite size chunks, a week here or a fortnight there, rather than attempting to do the whole walk in one. How do you eat an elephant? One mouthful at a time is the answer.

The fact that someone has done the trip before me and written extensively about the experience deters me not a jot. I feel that attempting the task and the effort/determination to complete it will be beneficial to me as a person. I am not a trailblazer or put off by walking in others’ footsteps. I am not trying to claim credit for the idea but am rather setting myself a challenge that perhaps would have been impossible at any other stage of my life. I will need to plan and prepare to a degree that I have rarely needed to do. I will also need the assistance of the best beloved in the matter of helping with the logistics. On occasion I hope to welcome her as a walking companion but don’t intend insisting on her walking all the way with me. I hope others will join me on occasions and in sections of the walk. I could also see if people were willing to sponsor me for some or the entire walk and give the money raised to charity. But the aim is the walk itself!

I am writing about it in my blog to publish my intentions and to stiffen my resolve. I don’t want the idea to remain a pipe dream. This is something I have thought about and dreamed of during the last few years of my teaching career. When asked what I was going to do on my retirement, I would often say that my ambition was to walk one of the grand randonnees in France without giving too much thought to how or when.

I believe my physical health and well being is now good enough to sustain the endeavour if done over sufficient time. Thanks to the lovely Debbie Hobbs (Cardiac Rehab IV), I am fitter now than I have been for some years. I am overweight. If, however, I wait until I have lost weight I won’t start. Instead by setting myself the goal and getting into training for the event I will actually motivate myself to lose weight, thus achieving both aims. I will also check with my doctor and cardiologist to make sure I am doing nothing untoward. The sufficient time though depends on whether I do one or two sessions per year. I would want to walk in spring or autumn rather than in the summer. I could therefore in theory do both a spring and autumn expedition in one year if I chose or was able.

In the walk described at France on Foot, the account is only of the first 494 miles or just under half of the trip. This half takes 32 days in 4 instalments of about 127 miles each. If I did one instalment a year, it would take me four years but if I could manage two instalments a year I could do the whole walk in four years, which would see me to 2013 or my 66th year.

In the walk described at France on Foot, the first section is 128 miles long over 8 days. This is approximately 11.5 miles per day. (There are 1.6 kilometres in a mile.) I had expected to do days of walking interspersed with rest days and may have to revert to this plan after I have reviewed my training. I need to build up my walking gradually in terms of energy levels and distance covered. There is the local Wayfarers Walk and, of course, the South Downs Walk on which to practise. In the past I have mainly done circular walks, which are still valid exercise, but are not extending enough in their own right.

I already have the maps on which to plan the route. I have thought about this plan before but it has returned to me with a new determination. I need to think about equipment especially boots and clothing. I will also need to think about the logistics as my initial plan is to move from camp-site to camp-site along the randonnee. Rather than carrying my tent, though, I have a different plan, which involves the best beloved closely. She is not adverse to the plan I have sketched for her but is interested in the detail almost as much as I am. This post is obviously one I shall return to frequently as the idea takes more concrete shape in my head. For now it is back to the funding applications I am putting in for the Havant Literary Festival.

Thoughts prompted by a folding bicycle

2009-02-22T15:12:00.003Z

I read "What are you doing in there?", the blog of a fellow traveller in the foothills of life and experience. We have a great deal in common and it is quite sustaining to read others' thoughts and to realise how much we are prompted by the same needs. My friend, Peter, has just had a pop at the Abu Qatada case, half term holidays and bankers. He is more reasonable than I am as I can get quite apoplectic when asked to give my opinion. I call myself a liberal but some of my views come across as illiberal. However the remarkable thing about Peter's recent postings is he has reminded me of something I had once said I was going to do in my retirement.

Peter is going to ride a Brompton bicycle in the round of the Brompton World Championships at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire in September. Part of the reason for this ambition was when his son James cycled to Paris over a period of three days last year. I also was mightily impressed by James' feat but not enough to want to take to the saddle of a bicycle.

No my ambition is to walk 1100 miles in France from the Channel coast to the Mediterranean cote.

We won!

2009-02-15T12:11:00.003Z

I feel obliged to help out Pompey with my presence at the moment as yesterday I helped them secure their first win since November last year.
Manchester City were a fairly dire set of visitors who didn't impress a great deal. However they were also the visitors a couple of years back when Pompey embarked on the Great Escape, by which they escaped threatened relegation. Hopefully yesterday's victory will mark a similar change in this season's fortunes.
Both sides contributed nothing very much to a drab first half. However in the second half Pompey were playing towards the Fratton End and my seat in the North Stand is level with the penalty spot at the Fratton End. The noise we made was deafening at times and truly arousing.
Both Pompey full backs scored. Glen Johnson dribbled into the box, hit one shot which rebounded back to him, persisted and moved parallel to the goal before hitting a stunning volley with his left foot into the roof of the net. The Fratton End erupted and I found myself dancing an insane jig of jubilation with hundreds of total strangers.
The Herminator's goal was a typical header from a cross from approximately the penalty spot. The celebration was almost as loud and as ecstatic except for the sudden realisation that we had at least ten minutes of the match left.
Now this season Pompey have failed to maintain a lead for any length of time and indeed have given the opposition so many goals in the fading minutes or even seconds of a match. You could feel the tension throughout the ground as the Pompey fans expected the worst. However it was not to be and we chalked up a historic victory.
I was also impressed by the number of times I saw Brian Kidd in the technical area calling over midfield players to give them instructions to relay back to their team mates. He looked like he wasn't just exhorting them but rather giving them pointers as to what structure and tasks they needed to do. In other words they were receiving directions rather than reactions.
I thought Basinas made another steady contribution in the middle of the park in front of the two centre backs before he was substituted by Mullins. The latter made an okay contribution but there were a couple of passes that went astray and made the crowd groan in frustration. Pennant went off to be replaced by Belhadj in the centre of the park, which heightened the alarm as the Algerian is a bit reckless and a hot head. I would like to have seen Geras and the youngster Pele but perhaps this wasn't the match.
Robinho was substituted after a very nondescript performance for a £30 million player. Bellamy was booked for truculence after finally getting on the referee's wick - long after he had got up the noses of the crowd, who would have booked him just for being Bellamy. Otherwise the Manchester City missed Wright-Phillips and didn't seem to have much of a cutting edge (remember, they beat us 6-0 at Eastlands earlier in the season!)
Paul Hart wasn't in evidence compared with Mark Hughes who seemed to get quite animated in his technical area on occasions. It is a shame his team weren't as animated as their manager. I thought Brian Kidd looked like a very good acquisition for Pompey and hope he is with us for a time. I hope he is a portent that his previous boss, Sven Goran Ericsson, is on his way as the new Pompey boss. In previous posts I expressed the opinion that Avram Grant would join us soon and that I wasn't particularly adverse to his arrival - he did a good job as stand in Chelsea manager last season. However SGE would be something else again and would show the football world and the Premier League that Pompey still have ambitions. We also no longer need to look fondly back on the feats of the previous manager but one. "The Blue Army", the Pompey tribal chant that still raises the hairs on the back of my neck, doesn't need a name attached to it - it still has a power of its own. The team earned back some of its pride yesterday and the crowd saluted them.

I have another blog page

2009-02-12T19:52:00.002Z

This is for the attention of my cousin, Denise, who has just joined the ranks of my regular readers.

I also write a theatrical blog as well called "Bench Hamlet 2008", which can be found in the links on the right of this page. In this sister blog I cover my adventures as a member of the Bench Theatre, which I have been since 1972 or 37 years! I try to include on this sister blog the articles I write for the Benchpress, the newsletter for the Bench Theatre. I also do reviews of theatre I have seen or taken part in. I occasionally wander into the back alleys of theatrical lore and superstition plus some of the old ideas of the theatre that might be dying out but are worth the preserving. I am suggesting that the "Bench Hamlet 2008" is worth the occasional read as well as this my home blog.

It is happy birthday to Elodie, my grand niece, and Denise's grand daughter this Saturday - Joyeux anniversaire, cher Elodie! Elodie's father, Vincent, est francais and Amy, Elodie's mother, is fluent in French. As regular readers of this blog will know, I am a Francophile and this French addition to the family fills me with enormous pride!

Chinese New Year

2009-02-09T15:04:00.002Z

"http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A4185380"

The Chinese New Year of the Ox was celebrated last week. The Best beloved said she was also born in the Year of the OX, so naturally I looked it up at the link above. The characteristics of someone born in the year of the Ox are:
"Those born in the year of the Ox are said to be easy-going, though they can sometimes be bigoted and stubborn, with furious tempers. They hate failure and don't like to be challenged. At their best they are quiet and patient, with a tendency to inspire confidence in others."
The Best Beloved does appear easy-going and can be stubborn, but "bigoted" and "with a furious temper" don't fit her character at all. I think the first part of the second sentence about hating to fail is fairly accurate as anyone will tell you if you have played cards or games with her. The bit about doesn't like to be challenged is off beam. However the last sentence sums her up beautifully!
"Oxen are said to be compatible with those born in the year of the Rat, Snake and Rooster." Unfortunately I was born in the year of the Boar or Pig.
"Those born in the year of the Boar (also known as the Pig) are said not to say much, though they have a thirst for knowledge. They don't have many friends, but those friends they do have are friends for life and they are exceptionally loyal to them. They tend to be chivalrous and gallant and they loathe arguments, despite their quick tempers. They face the problems of life head-on, and solve them with fortitude and honesty. Boars are said to be compatible with those born in the year of the Goat and Rabbit." I quite like these characteristics and to a certain extent agree with them. I am shy on first acquaintance despite appearing over-confident - elements of being an actor perhaps? I can say a lot but not all of it of much value. I would like to believe the three middle sentences apply to me, especially about friends and loyalty.

The Year of the Rabbit
1951 1963 1975 1987 1999
The Year of the Goat
1943 1955 1967 1979 1991 2003

If you find the year of your birth is in either the Year of the Rabbit/Hare or the Year of the Goat/Ram/Sheep, then look up your characteristics at the link above and see if you recognise yourself in the description. The former are said to be financially lucky and the latter talented artists who enjoy the simple pleasures of life. You see, the former would make me money and the latter wouldn't spend too much. Does that what they mean by being compatible?

Goodbye Tony

2009-02-09T13:09:00.004Z

It is with sadness that I say farewell to Tony Adams as manager of Pompey. I think he has been let down by the players and by the club. He wasn't the greatest man manager and he was too quirky in a very conformist world. I was pleased he played my selection on Saturday against Liverpool. He did bring on Kranjcar as suggested in the second half but in the 46th minute rather than the 60th. He should have shut up shop before the end but I am not sure that he had the players with which to do that. This was always a problem for Tony is that the midfield pool to choose from is too restricted. He took off Mullins to bring on Kranjcar. If Tony had been able to stick with me I feel sure we would have weathered the rest of the season. I do feel Crouch, Campbell and Distin in particular need a good kick up the a***! I felt Nugent and the Herminator played well for the team. I thought Basinas had a quietly effective debut once he moved into the centre of the park - trying to get him to fill that right hand berth of the midfield was a mistake. Basinas needs to sit in front of the two centre backs with Mullins and Davis as his two willing assistants. If you put on Kranjcar he needs to sit at the pointy end of a little diamond formed by those four players. Belhadj and Pennant provide the two wide players of the midfield moving up to make two wingers. Crouch should be dropped for a while or at least kept as an impact player on the 60th minute. Play Nugent up front by himself or send on Geras to do that job. The only way to bolster the team if defending a lead is to reinforce with another central defender, i.e. Pamarot or Kaboul. In other words we play with three centre backs and two full backs. In order to do this we would have to sacrifice one of the wide players and Belhadj would have to be my first choice. If this was felt to be defending too deep, we could send on Traore to work alongside Kranjcar in the hole behind the lone striker rather than using the youngster to replace Belhadj wide on the left. I haven't heard of anything of Glen Little recently but he could certainly do a job on the wide right of midfield to plug the gap in front of Johnson and possibly behind Pennant. It would restrict even further the England full back's forays down the right.
My team versus Manchester City:
James
Johnson Campbell Distin Herminator
Basinas
Davis Mullins
Pennant Belhadj
Nugent
(4-5-1)
Substitutes: Begovic, Pamarot, Kaboul, Kranjcar, Traore, Little, Crouch and Geras.
If I felt that a more attacking formation was appropriate i.e. 4-4-2, I would drop Belhadj and bring on Kranjcar in the hole behind Nugent.
James
Johnson Campbell Distin Herminator
Basinas
Davis Mullins
Kranjcar
Pennant Nugent

I am expecting Avram Grant to be announced as the new Pompey manager as from today or at least this week. I suspect Basinas and Geras were his signings. I think Grant did a good job with Chelsea but was made to make way for a starrier name in Scolari. I think and hope that Grant can stave off relegation and keep Pompey safe. I also hope he can get the players to accept their responsibility for our present precarious state and perhaps cut out some of the silly mistakes. At the moment every mistake is being punished by a goal given away. Perhaps we also need a manager who can bring a modicum of luck with him. Poor old Tony had no luck whatsoever!

In this bad weather

2009-02-05T09:59:00.002Z

The following is a text message received this morning from my little brother:
"Weatherman said the temperature is going to drop really low tonight and every one should check on elderly friends, you ok?"

It did make me laugh but he is only two years my junior and he does live in the frozen north. I have told everyone down here the story of Bradford being built on seven hills like Rome. In snowy weather a snow plough starts off on top of each hill and works its way down into the centre freeing the roads for the morning rush hour into work. During the day they work their way out of the town centre back up to their depots at the top of each hill, thus clearing the way for the evening rush hour. Now I don't know whether this is true about the snow ploughs (the seven hills resemblance to Rome is) but I always like to make the point that you would be hard pressed to find seven snow ploughs in the whole of Hampshire. Bradford is (was?) geared up for bad weather and snow ( I must have told you the story as a college student home for Christmas and doing the Royal Mail and getting lost in a snow blizzard up Manningham?) whereas Hampshire isn't. How the tide has turned this winter. Mind you here in Havant we, as usual, are protected by the Solent and the isle of Wight even from a north easterly from Siberia and our mini climate saw off the snow quickly.

Anyway I replied to little brother: "So far so good, youngster!" but you cannot get the right amount of irony in a text message.

I welcome my cousin, Denise (known to everyone else as Kath - but therein lies another story)as a reader of my blog. She was most put out that I hadn't told her about my appearance on "Ladies of Letters" (see below) before it was broadcast. I tell so many people through my Facebook and through this blog that I thought I must have covered everyone.

"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on." Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Pompey changes for Saturday

2009-02-04T12:49:00.002Z

I have discovered that I can't include Pennant in my team for Saturday's game against Liverpool as his loan agreement means he is no allowed to play against his own club. I have also learned that Kaboul is doubtful but that Kranjcar and Campbell might be available.

This would change my team formation:
James
Johnson Distin Campbell Hreidarson
Davis Basinas Mullins Belhadj
Crouch Nugent

Belhadj would become the main outlet down the left rather than Pennant down the right. This might cramp Nugent's style a bit but he has earned the right to start the game. Davis would not play wide right but central defensive as in my previous post. This should enable Johnson to break down the right as in previous games before Pennant's arrival. Campbell would replace Pamarot as club captain. Pamarot and Wilson would be my defensive substitutes if and when needed.

My 60 minute plan would have to change. Geras would definitely replace Nugent and Kranjcar would replace Crouch. This would change the format to 4-5-1 but with Kranjcar in the hole behind Geras. I could retain Crouch instead of Kranjcar if I felt there was profit still left in doing so. I could also do a change between Belhadj and Traore if I needed to freshen up the left wing attack.

My 75 minute plan, decided by whether we are winning or losing at that stage, is to have the option to send on Traore or Pele to join Kranjcar as attacking midfield players in place on one of Davis/Basinas/Mullins - probably the Greek as he might find the pace of the Premier League difficult to sustain in his first match.

This still leaves me two days to practise these changes with the squad. I believe the basic squad knows its job and perhaps only needs to run through set pieces with Basinas taking corners and free kicks. I would work on getting the ball behind the opposing right back to supply Belhadj. I would also practise the changes proposed for the 60 minute plan and possibly the 75 minute plan. The latter could almost be as much of a surprise to your own team as to the opposition and therefore only needs sketching in on the training field.

Play Up Pompey!

Ladies of Letters - first episode

2009-02-04T11:23:00.002Z

I watched the first episode of the "Ladies of Letters" starring Maureen Lipman as Irene and Anne Reid as Vera. I recognised the house used as Vera's as being the set in which I filmed my very short scene. I sat on the armchair visible in the lounge while at that time the sofa was occupied by technical crew, who were monitoring video screens perched on the coffee table of the filming going on elsewhere in the house. I climbed the stairs, which Vera is seen to fall down in the first episode, to meet the first assistant director and the director to have my part explained to me. The whole house was crammed with technical crew filling every nook and cranny so it is very interesting to see it looking so pristine and empty on screen.

I was very pleased to see one of my photos being used as Gerald when Vera is in the kitchen preparing a recipe that she is going to send to Irene. My photo is then given a close up full screen and a dollop of the mixture Vera is making lands on the bottom right of the photo.

I am hoping that other photos of me are used in further episodes leading up to my brief physical appearance. In order to justify my appearance, I need to be clearly identifiable as Gerald, Vera's dead husband. I didn't really meet Anne Reid as she was leaving the base as I was arriving, so we simply exchanged a polite hallo. Ingrid and I did spend an enjoyable day at Chichester watching the two halves of "Nicholas Nickleby" presented as matinee and evening performances on the one day. Ingrid sat next to Ann Reid and they chatted away amicably in the breaks - the best beloved as a real talent for doing that - old curmudgeon here prefers emailing to actually speaking. We were sat behind the late but lovely Anita Roddick of the Body Shop and somehow we seemed to get her involved in our conversations as well. Mind you, it was that kind of show that elicited oral responses picked up by those around you.

"To err is human, but to really foul things up you need a computer" Paul Ehrlich.

Pompey v Liverpool

2009-02-03T16:43:00.002Z

In this post I allow myself free rein to suggest what team I would put out against Liverpool on Saturday at Fratton Park.
I am assuming that Kranjcar and Hughes are still injured and not available for selection. The former would certainly feature in any squad and probably any team I selected. The latter would be used more tactically as a squad member. I am also assuming that the new signings are available.

I would first of all play 4-4-2 at home and for this Saturday play the team that finished strongly against Fulham last week.
James
Johnson Distin Pamarot Hreidarrson
Pennant Davis Basinas Mullins
Crouch Nugent

The only change that I have made is to take Traore off the left wing and bring on Basinas in the middle of the park. Traore was very quiet in the Fulham game and if I was going to use a wide left player I'd bring Belhadj back after his suspension. However I would use Pennant as my main outlet wide right and let Nugent play in the left channel as in his Preston days. Pamarot came on for Kaboul in the 78th minute and was a steadier influence. Basinas and Mullins would be encouraged to bring ball forward from defence.Nugent would be encouraged to give it everything he has got for the first hour.

I would keep Asmir Begovic as goalkeeper substitute. Kaboul and Wilson would be available as defensive substitutes as and if needed to replace any of back four. My midfield substitutes would be Belhadj, (Traore) and (Pele). My forward substitutes would be Geras and Utaka.

My 60 minute plan would be to replace one of the midfield trio with Belhadj and Geras to replace a tiring Nugent to make an attacking 4-4-2 if we needed to win the game. I think this would give the Liverpool a new set of problems to solve. If we needed to defend a lead I would bring on Belhadj to replace Nugent and play 4-5-1. The two wide players would provide the main outlets to turn defence into offence. Crouch would be left to work up front alone.

My 75 - 80 minute plan would depend on the state of play but I would have the option to replace Crouch up front with Geras in the 4-5-1 formation. If we had gone for the 4-4-2 formation I could freshen up the attack by bringing off the tired Crouch and sending on either Traore or the young Pele in the hole behind Geras as lone striker. This would again give the Liverpool defence some fresh problems to solve and hopefully not weaken our team.

I am not expecting too much from the game as I believe that Torres and Liverpool are hitting a bit of form at the moment. I would like to see Pompey continue in the form they showed against Villa and against Fulham in the second half. If we can hold Liverpool in the first half and score a goal on the break, we should be grateful for a point from this game.

I would have my eyes set on three victories and a draw out of the remaining eight home games, or 10 points. We have seven remaining away games and one win and three draws would give us another 6 points. This would make the total for the season 40 and hopefully this would keep us safe from relegation. A draw against any of the top four would be a real bonus home or away and there are one or two teams away that might be feeling the strain of the season even more than us and might be turned over if we can keep clean sheets and get our scoring boots on.

Play Up Pompey!

Pompey Transfer Window

2009-02-02T14:36:00.002Z

This post is dedicated to my thoughts on the Pompey plight (1 point from being in the bottom three of the Premiership) and the transfers made during this transfer window in January 2009.
We lost Diarra at the beginning of January so the entire midfield trio that won us the FA Cup - Diarra, Muntari and Mendes- has gone. The replacements have been slow coming but we have got in Mullins and Pele. The former has proved to be a good thing and alongside Davis should prove capable of providing the defensive bulwark in midfield to protect the defence. Neither Mullins or Davis are what I would call playmakers, creative and attacking midfielders, who link the defence and the attack, supply the ball forward into the danger areas or are in the box alongside the strikers when required. Mullins I hope will be the right material for team captain once he has got his feet under the table more. We need a leader on the field - Sol Campbell makes a good club captain - but is not vociferous enough on the pitch and doesn't scare his own players enough (General Wellington: "I don't know about the enemy but they frighten me!").
Pele is very young and inexperienced. Tony Adams describes him as one for the future but we need one for the next 15 games, otherwise Pompey's Premiership future looks pretty grim. I have seen a YouTube video of one of the goals scored by the young Portuguese (burdened with an impossible name) and he certainly can strike a ball beautifully. He might be able to be used in that last half hour of a game when the game can be turned or we are desperate. I will write in a moment about that last half hour of games because I have a bit of advice for Tony Adams from a lifetime as an armchair critic and supporter.
As I write I understand that we have signed Greece captain Angelos Basinas on an 18 month deal. The 33 year old will add some "defensive steel" to Pompey's midfield. You notice that he isn't a playmaker and we are still talking a defensive midfielder.

The Daily Mail rumoured that we were trying to sign Austrian captain, Andreas Ivanschitz. The 24 year old is one of Austria's chief playmakers and is the sort of player we should be looking for - although there is always the doubt that he can get up to speed fast enough in our present circumstances particularly and the premiership generally. He would provide an alternative to Kranjcar in that hole behind the strikers, where I don't feel the Croatian has been used enough in his Pompey career to date. Kranjcar possesses technical skills enough but lacks a little pace and certainly doesn't qualify as a fierce tackler. He should be sued as a tactical option. He certainly could supply the telling pass through the centre, feed the wide midfielders and shoot at the edge of the box. Perhaps Ivanschitz can do this as well and add a bit of steel in winning the ball first in the opposing half of the field.

We have also signed Theofanis Gekas on loan from Bayer Leverkusen. Tony Adams says (on Sky Sports): "He's always on the shoulder of the last defender, he looks to get in behind the defence and he's got a great eye for goal. Hopefully that will continue with Pompey." My reaction is that such a player needs to have the ball supplied behind the defence or through the defence - which once again calls out for a playmaker.

Adams needs to sort out the back four. Kaboul is very naive as witness the Nevland goal for Fulham's second on Saturday. He tried to play the Fulham player offside in his own half. I think a lot of time was spent on the training field last week cramming heads and unfortunately the lessons are only half learned. I think Kaboul and Distin can become a good unit together with work as both have pace and ability. That is why Kaboul gets the job over Sol Campbell for me but the latter could be used to replace injured players and when the opposition are relying on one striker. Johnson and Hreidarson are the full backs for now and certainly Johnson is the star player for Pompey at the moment. He now needs to adjust to having Pennant in front of him. Hreidarson is a more reliable left back than Belhadj and the latter can be sued as the wide left midfield player - temperamental as hell but would also be helped by balls behind the opposing full back rather than being expected to run past or through them every time. Traore, on loan from Arsenal, could be used when Belhadj unavailable or could even replace him on the magic hour point if Belhadj has run himself ragged. Imagine that prospect if you're the opposing right back.

At the moment I am still going with TA's 4-5-1 system as I suspect that might be why he has brought in the reinforcements he has. The back four I have listed above could at the moment have three defensive midfielders (Davis, Mullins and Basinas) in front of them defending the middle of the park and with two wide midfielders (Pennant and Belhadj) providing the main attacking outlet. All three defensive central midfield players need to defend higher up the pitch and to be able to deliver the ball to the wide midfield players and especially behind the opposing full backs. We then come to the tricky problem of who plays as the lone striker. I suspect Crouch's contract says he has to play every game unless injured or suspended. Otherwise I cannot understand his use every game whether tactically valid or not. He needs help in close support if he is going to make the attacking impact we want. I believe tactically there may be a case for another player, a Nugent, a Geras or even a Utaka playing upfront alone for the first half if we feel that tactically we want to defend. I don't believe that Tony Adams has a Tactical plan for that magical 60 minutes point, to change the game in the last half hour. (You can almost set your clock by Benitez at Liverpool) I believe you can hammer away at an opposing defence for 60 minutes with your original choice and then substitute them with fresher determined strikers to give the tiring opposing centre backs a new set of problems to sort out. If you feel the game is going your way you can send out a new pair as strikers and withdraw one of the trio of defensive midfield players. Alternatively you could compromise with an attacking midfielder in the hole behind a new lone striker instead of the defensive midfielder. If one or both of your wide midfielders is having an unprofitable day, you can go strictly 4-4-2 by reinforcing across the midfield. Without Geras I would have settled for Crouch and Nugent as my first choice strike force with Utaka as the fresh pair of legs and injection of pace on the hour. Coupled with an attacking midfield player in the hole behind him, I think Utaka could grasp the simplicity of the role required of him. He or Nugent simply cannot be used as wide right players. In the Championship from whence we bought Nugent I think you will find his records showed he worked on the left of the strike force and that was where he did most of his damage.I think I would now only use Kanu as a very last resort and mainly to keep the opposing side thinking.
We have a squad which should be capable of lifting us clear of the relegation zone if some of the players learn to play together and a bit out of their skins but not desperately so. I think Davis has proved himself as a defensive midfielder and Mullins could work as a link between defensive midfield and central midfield. Basinas is an unknown quantity as yet. Pennant promises to be an exciting addition and the Belhadj/Traore combo on the left negates the necessity of using Kranjcar there. I just feel that Tony Adams needs to free himself and his squad of the siege mentality prevalent at the moment. It is the feeling that they have worked all week and the 11 players sent out should be man enough to do the job. I believe that this is only partly the answer. The team sent out in the first half is the team considered best to keep a clean sheet and hit the opposition swiftly on the break. All the team should be prepared on the hour for a change in tactics depending on how the game is going. This will change the formation to defend a lead gained or to score goals. I can see the sense of 4-5-1 but the old 4-4-2 is that much more flexible and can be both defensive and offensive. We have reinforcements in midfield and upfront. We have sufficient numbers already in defence. We just need to gel more closely as a team and squad, We need the manager to be more proactive on the touchline and a leader on the field to remind everyone of their responsibilities in no uncertain terms. With those requisites in place, Play Up Pompey and this season may not yet be the disaster it seems.
I don't hold out too much hope against Liverpool on Saturday especially if Torres is back in goal scoring form. However we should learn from their team organisation (a back four protected permanently by two defensive midfielders freeing their attacking midfielders and strikers to roam) and their tactical use of time and substitutes. I am also hoping that Nugent maintains his goal hunger and that Geras proves the goalscorer that Tony Adams believes him to be. It is however in the game against Stoke that I expect Pompey to bully their way to victory, to show that our place in the Premiership is not in doubt.

Snapshots

2009-02-02T14:30:00.002Z

I did forget to say that even if my scene is cut from the broadcast series of "Ladies of Letters" on ITV3, my photographs should appear on set as Vera's husband, Gerald. I originally sent my airbrushed photographic model ones but they wanted rougher more everyday snapshots. The snapshots are an essential set up for the scene in which I appeared so hopefully if we get a close-up of my snapshot in one of the episodes my scene should appear shortly thereafter.
Ever hopeful!

Candlemas 2009

2009-02-02T10:19:00.002Z

Today is Candlemas Day, midway between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. This is the day of the ritual purification of Mary and the blessing of candles in the church. As usual it is based on a pagan festival of light. We have a light covering of snow outside so what weather that forecasts for the rest of the winter I am not too sure. Apparently this date is also Groundhog Day!

It is also the second anniversary of my triple heart bypass so has become a very important date in my own personal calendar. I was reminiscing with the Best Beloved about it this morning and realised it was a complete blank to me. At first I thought it was my selective memory at work but then I realised that I spent most of this day and the next couple unconscious in 2007. I remember being prepared for the operation in the ward by two lovely nurses and then wheeled to the surgery suite. After that I remember coming round in the high dependency ward after spending two days in intensive care. Listening to the best beloved though I did get an inkling of how tough it had been for my girls and little brother. I am sorry for any pain I caused to anyone but am mighty glad to be alive, even with a covering of snow outside. Spring is on its way!

"There are two ways to spread happiness; either be the light who shines it or be the mirror who reflects it" Edith Wharton

Ladies of Letters

2009-02-01T19:38:00.002Z

The new series of "Ladies of Letters" starts broadcasting on Tuesday on ITV3. I am quite excited as one of my previous posts will reveal that I actually appeared in a scene as Gerald for this series. I have set my machine to record to see if I can actually see myself on TV in a dramatic role. I am half expecting to have had the scene I recorded cut as it was just a couple of hours shooting and my bit lasted all of two minutes, which will translate into very small screen time, so don't blink or you will definitely miss me. I had also half expected to have seen the films in the order that I recorded them, which is equally naive. So I still await my big screen début in "Shanghai". I have started sitting nearer the screen in anticipation. I used to sit on the back row under the projection booth but have gradually edged forward. If the scenes have been kept for the film, you should see me descending the steps of the German embassy in Shanghai in the second world war or crossing the dance floor behind Gong Li and John Cusack. I am accompanied on the steps by a tall white haired man, who looks distinctly Gestapo.
I have applied for a photographic shoot in March/April as a model, and for a TV programme pilot, in which I have to be myself and take part in unusual group activities. I will keep you informed, loyal reader, if these events do come to pass.
I have decided to keep my Pompey thoughts in separate postings so that you can skip them if you have no interest in football. I chatted on-line this morning with an ex-pupil from Trosnant, where I taught for 11 years as a young teacher and football manager. He blames me for his interest in football and for the fact that he has spent some years coaching football in the USA and elsewhere. The best beloved and daughters tolerate football rather than understand the passion that seizes their husband and father on occasion.

Grande Randonnee

2009-01-28T16:26:00.002Z

Over on my Facebook page, I decided that I would revise my ambition to walk one of France's Grande Randonnees. These are state maintained long distance footpaths, which can run most of the length of France in any direction, north/ south/east/west. They are all clearly signposted and marked by a dedicated ministry.
When asked in the days prior to my retirement what I intended doing with my time, I would repeat the idea of walking one of these long distance paths which stretch for hundreds of miles across la belle France. I have done several sections of several GRs when camping in the vicinity and over the years we have been going to France. The events of 2007 rather muddied the picture for a while but I feel as fit as I have ever done and am stubbornly planning to undertake this marathon walk. Half the pleasure is in the planning and preparation of such a project and so I will be spending some time just doing that - probably via these pages. The GR5, I think, runs from the Channel coast to the Mediterranean cote and would be a marvellous one to tackle. I think it is possible to do the whole think in 32 days if you were able to tackle it continuously. However the logistics and physical wear and tear probably make that impracticable in my case. If it was broken down into sections of 8, each section taking 4 days with rest days interspersed then the feat becomes much more accessible. I wouldn't walk in the summer months as being too hot but could either walk in the spring and/or autumn, thereby completing in either 8 years or 4 years! You can see that this would be a long term project! (Also want to fit in a Great Rail Journey of the USA coast to coast - not walking but going by train!)

"She had lost the art of conversation, but, unfortunately, not the power of speech" (George Bernard Shaw).

My 200th Blog Posting

2009-01-10T13:56:00.004Z

I am just congratulating myself on reaching the 200 milestone in egocentric blog writing.

Strangely enough I came across a quote in Russell Brand's column at the back of the Saturday Sports Guardian. I have never got on with Russell Brand, not through any moral outrage at his Andrew Sachs stunt on radio with Jonathan Ross, but rather I don't find his brand of humour tickles my funny bone. It could be an age or generation gap thing but I find him too fey for my liking. However I did find this excellent quote and it did remind me that my own personal mindset that the world revolves around me is a fairly general one and not just reserved for my own private psychosis.

Brand is talking about ex-players and ex-girlfriends and says: "Only saints can continue to adore once spurned: when I hear of former girlfriends marrying or having children I am confronted with a world beyond my control - life goes on without me." He suggests they should not be allowed to impinge on the consciousness so that we "can remain blithely fixated on the illusion of self". ([C] Russell Brand, Saturday Guardian, 10/01/2009).

At the moment I am preparing the annual accounts for the Havant Literary Festival Society AGM and reading playscripts for the Bench Theatre Play writing Competition 2009. Neither task is arduous but we are still thinking of taking three days in Boulogne-sur-Mer next week. I had hoped for winter sun but will settle for moules frites and good company.

As I seem to be in the quotation frame of mind, I'll use the following from Oscar Wilde:" To recapture my youth I'd do anything except take exercise or get up early or be respectable."

I do cheat on the exercise as I work out twice weekly with the gorgeous Debbie Hobbs but the last two are beyond the pale. I love lying in with a book and a cup of tea. I am not sure what you have to do to be respectable but if by chance I am it is purely accidental.

2009-01-06T10:26:00.002Z

I read this morning that Defoe is virtually on his way to Spurs for "£15 million". He should be there by tomorrow (Tuesday). This sorts out the discussion in yesterday's blog, and, though not as good as £20 million, or the £15 million exchange with Jenas, or the exchange with Manchester city and Benjani, it is good business for Pompey as it almost doubles the amount paid for him last January. I think Adams is hoping to complete the contract details with Glen Johnson to keep him at Pompey, rather than be tempted away by Liverpool. After that, he should be turning his attention away to a new striker for Pompey: Aruna Dindane (note correct spelling this time) of Lens or Sidney Govou of Lyons. It looks like Jermaine Pennant is Italy bound as AC Milan have shown an interest in him as have several other Italian clubs. Hopefully Adams has enough money in his war chest to get three midfielders, which his squad needs to carry the fight to the opposition. I think if Pompey adopt the Liverpool approach of two defending midfielders in front of the back four making the main defensive unit 6 players, he will achieve his aim of a solid base but also freeing an attacking unit of 4 players. It seems to me that Hughes and Davis, who have just signed new contracts, are ideal players for these two defending midfield roles, with Diop and Wilson their instant shoo-ins if injured or banned. The back four still needs sorting and especially at left back as Belhadj can be too attack minded. I would also replace Campbell with Kaboul, using the former as the ready-made substitute for the latter, and especially when the defence needs stiffening. The attacking unit could be (a) two attacking midfielders and two strikers, (b) or three attacking midfielders and one striker, or (c) two attacking midfielders, a striker and a second striker/winger. Other than Kranjcar I don't think any other player qualifies as an attacking midfielder and obviously these are the gaps that Adams must fill. I would prefer to see two aggressive attacking midfielders. who win the ball, attack the opposition, can play those devastating passes, which split defences, and can get in the box to score goals. For me, Kranjcar would be the third attacking midfielder or second striker when Adams feels option (c) is best suited to the opposition. Crouch would always be my first choice striker, either in a solo role or with a support striker alongside him. Kanu, for as long as he lasts, would be my substitute if Crouch can't play for any reason. I would use Nugent as my second striker in option (a) but not in option (c). I think he is a direct player who could learn to feed off Crouch either alongside him or slightly ahead in the box, but he shouldn't be played wide. I would still like to see an attacking wide midfielder especially on the right, for the moment Traore on the left and Little on the right could be used for that purpose. I am not sure how these ideas fit into the usual formations but option (a) is 4-4-2, option (b) is 4-5-1 and option (c) is 4 - 4/5 - 2/1, and therefore very flexible.

There was a quote on page 131 of Kathy Reich's book, "Break No Bones": "Indecision is the key to flexibility". I would like to enter this quote into the ongoing tussle between the Best Beloved and I over my desire for system and hers for flexibility. We have had a wonderful Christmas and New year, thanks mainly to the sterling efforts of the Best Beloved, helped by the two girls and hindered by yours truly. We have one or two very small tasks to complete and then the new extension itself will be complete. I have been impressed as always by the ability of the Best Beloved to turn a house into a home. I have literally hugged myself on a couple of occasions when we have been preparing to welcome guests in our large new kitchen/dining room and staying overnight in our freed up spare bedroom and bathroom. I think Best Beloved's home making ability is also one of the reasons we both enjoy camping so much. For her it is the opportunity to make a temporary new home wherever we travel and for me to enjoy those comforts wherever we travel.

"The supreme happiness in life is the conviction that we are loved" - Victor Hugo.

This week I am meeting with the auditor to discuss the Havant Literary Festival Society books. I am sorting out what to do with my Ford Focus. I have also been cast in a Murder Mystery dinner at the end of February with a local professional company. I only need my agent to phone with some bookings and I would be very happy as I approach my 62nd birthday at the end of this month.

Pompey Midfield (and strikers?)

2009-01-05T12:01:00.002Z

This is a continuation of my previous blog re. the January transfer window and, as previously, is based entirely on gossip, idle speculation and probably not the slightest grain of truth or fact.
In this blog I attempt to express an interest in possible midfield players to stiffen the Pompey team and go some way to replace the 2008 FA Cup winning trio of Mendes, Muntari and Diarra.
If I hit by chance upon any of the players that Pompey do end up buying, no-one will be more surprised than me!
I believe from elements of the press that Gary O'Neil is already on the way back to us from Middlesbrough. Everybody wants Jimmy Bullard of Fulham and probably his contractual and salary demands will make it hard to fit him into the Pompey structure but I think the cost and expense would be worth it. Marvin Elliott of Bristol City, aged 24, would be a good addition to the squad. We are always connected with Stephen Appiah, but as a central midfielder and a free agent, he must be worth another look.
We now have two loan positions left, having bought Belhadj (hoorah!) and sent Sahar back. What about two more teenagers in midfield from Arsenal in Randall and Gibbs to work with Traore? There is also a 20-year-old playmaker from Standard Liege in Steven Defour.
Pompey also need strikers and especially a right winger. Szaboics Huszti (25) is a left winger from Hannover 96 and a Hungarian international. Laryea Kingston (28) is a winger from Hearts tipped by Sulley Muntari. Benni McCarthy (31) from Blackburn could still guarantee goals and represent a shrewd purchase. I like Valencia from Wigan, Daniel Sturridge (19) from Manchester City and Jermaine Pennant from Liverpool.
Just in case there is anyone from Pompey reading this blog and impressed by my insightful analysis of the transfer scene, can you tell me when we will get a new stadium? We may end up in a relegation battle this season but only if everyone keeps expecting one. I am still an optimist and believe Pompey are now a settled Premier team and we need a new stadium.

January Window

2009-01-05T11:23:00.002Z

One of my passions as regular readers will know is Pompey football club. I love the gossip of the January transfer window. I love gossip per se, which is probably why I enjoy reading and writing blogs.
The January transfer window is when there is rife speculation as to who may be leaving or coming to a football club. The sums of money talked about are scandalous, if not criminal, in a time of recession. This must be the reason why there is always more speculation than actual hard bargains struck. It is part of the devoted fan's dreamworld to fantasise who may be added to the team supported. It is also a measure of the health of that team - if star players are being brought in - the club must be OK, surely? There is a good case for arguing that the January transfer window is a waste of money as the players bought have rarely the time or luxury to be properly assimilated in the second half of the season. However in January 2008 Pompey bought Jermaine Defoe at the very last gasp for a reputed "£7 million". The amounts mentioned are always in quotation marks because clubs don't like their financial details too closely inspected by the public and one suspects that money on purchases made in January 2008 are still outstanding in part or in whole. This is sometimes a reason strange deals are made that don't make sense to the casual onlooker but are more to do with the financial complexities than a player's talent or how much he is revered (or otherwise) by the fans of the club.
I realise most of my readers are now probably back at work after the Christmas and New Year break and I would like to reassure them I am thinking of them, as I lounge in my dressing gown, writing my blog, as it approaches elevenses!
I am now going to indulge myself further by speculating on players Pompey could be thinking about this January - so that if they do buy any of the players mentioned I can say told you so. All my information is based on media gossip rather than any hard facts or insights (But as I always say, why spoil a good story for the sake of truth!)
Jermaine Defoe wants to leave Pompey. He has publicly stated so and boy does his demeanour on the football pitch reveal a great deal about his mental state. Why do players never think if I am smacking in van loads of goals for my present club that will bring scouts and other clubs buzzing around me like flies around a big pile of s***e. Defoe at the moment looks unhappy to be with us, he isn't scoring the goals we need and even missed a penalty at a recent game. I would be tempted to let him go but agree with Pompey preferably at a profit! £7 million last January could be £15 million or £20 million this January. We would recoup money spent (if we did actually hand over that amount) and gain enough to buy a couple more players in his stead. I would settle for the £15 million, and Jermain Jenas in part exchange, to sell Defoe back to Spurs, now managed by he who shall not be named by me. I like Natty Chap's idea of selling Defoe to Manchester City and getting beloved Benjani back in part exchange. I also approve of the rumoured pursuit of Aruna Dinane and Sidney Govou, both of whom could work as a short-term fix for the rest of the season as powerful replacements for the despondent Defoe. Govou recently scored two goals for France in a match against Sweden, whereas Defoe is still only a squad player for England. The latter has complained that some Pompey fans have sent him death threats - what idiots! - selling him at a profit gives someone else the problem of motivating him (although why these players need motivating is beyond me?) and we get one or more players who want to play for us!
I have some suggestions for the midfield and other strikers but will leave them for my next blog.
I will finish with a quote from Marina Hyde in Saturday's Guardian (page 32). She is berating the idea of rating GP's. She makes a comment about the NHS, which completely meets with my agreement and which I endorse wholeheartedly: "And, it's always worth pointing out, people don't want "power" in the NHS. They want a uniformly decent NHS. They don't want choice, they want provision." As a retired teacher, can I also suggest that if you exchange NHS for education system, you might get another true statement. Apparently Gordon Brown has expressed a desire for "an X Factor Britain" - Gawd help us!

That time of year again

2008-12-23T09:46:00.002Z

Today is the birthday of James Patrick Corrigan, born in the year 1909. He would have been 99 today and his two sons pay their respects. Kitten was quite taken by some of the stories we could tell about Big Jimmy and suggested his life was worthy of some recording. I hope, therefore, to use this blog as a way of achieving that. Anyone reading this blog who has any anecdotes or information about Big Jimmy please let me know. I know some of the stories don't always show my Dad in a good light but do show what a complex and interesting character he was. One story I was told by a serving police officer (now retired) in Bradford is the following. My parents were divorced when I was about 4 or 5. I remember starting school at St. Joseph's with nuns, biscuits and morning milk as I was a Catholic boy and St Joseph's was our parish church. Then I was transferred to Ryan Street (opposite where my Protestant Auntie Doris and Uncle Walter lived). I remember this as being quite traumatic. Anyway, my father was reluctantly divorced as I believe I recounted in last December's blog. This may have been as a Catholic but also I believe because he loved my mother. However he did seem to have an aversion to paying the allowance and did spend a number of times in prison because of non-payment. My Dad was not a stranger to prison. The point of this story though is that the Bradford police would have to arrest my Dad frequently because a warrant had been issued for him by the courts. At first the police would simply action the warrant but it once took a sergeant and five constables to subdue my father and arrest him. After that, I was informed, the police began to be more wary and followed the advice of several local pub landlords. For a start, the police would inform my Dad that a warrant was due to be issued and give him advance notice, asking when they could serve the warrant. The ex-policeman, who told me the story, recounts meeting my Dad on a pedestrian crossing in Bradford Town Centre (the police station is now a separate building but was once part of the grand Town Hall; and my father's main drinking haunts - and that of the indigenous Irish population - was Ivegate, just a few hundred yards away). He knew a warrant was due so mentioned it to my Dad. The latter thought, rubbing his many times broken nose, and replied that he was going away for a few days to visit relatives on the east coast but would be back on Friday and would report himself to the police station. I believe on this occasion he did. However the police would dispatch officers to arrest my Dad on other occasions when he was not so obliging. If they found him to be in a pub at the time, they learned to ask the publican if Big Jimmy had any money left to spend. The publican would report back to the police whether Big Jimmy was still with money in pocket. If he had, the police knew to come back later when he was spent up. They knew that if they tried to arrest him while he still had money in his pocket, he wasn't going without a fight! However if they timed it correctly he would be a model prisoner. He bore no malice but no one was going to make him move if he didn't want to go. This story complements what I know of my father and also compliments good old fashioned policing - know your villain and use whatever works.

I recorded the four ghost stories for the News competition last Friday. The first story appeared in the newspaper last Saturday and the second one yesterday. The final two stories appear today and tomorrow. I am very proud to be part of the competition, reading the stories on the website: www.portsmouth.co.uk/storytime. I am also quite proud of the phrase "actor Peter Corrigan", with which the News subtitle the stories. I think I earned the title because of the speed at which I recorded the stories. No elaborate set up or recording studio , no extensive rehearsals, required here. There are one or two fluffs, usually breathing errors or slight misreading of a word. However all four stories were read and recorded in one take, lasting about 8 - 10 minutes each. I did need to break between each reading but I thought to do the task within the hour was quite creditable. I have always had the facility to sight read well and the Best Beloved is similarly gifted. You give either of us a script or a story and we can give you a worthwhile rendition in moments. Sometimes a little hook is required; I remember someone asking if I had rehearsed a reading from "Laughter on the 24th Floor" because I read it so fluently; but no I hadn't seen the script beforehand but someone had simply said the part I was reading had been originally read by Mel Brooks. That piece of information allowed me to find that slightly hysterical New York yiddish approach and to know that the piece had to delivered at a pace, which only just allowed the audience to laugh (Pace and Space, as Damon Wakelin revered director, says).

I am working with Damon on a two-hander project in January and am really looking forward to it. Damon is a superb actor and as the other actor involved is Martin McBride, who is wonderful to work with, I shall have a lovely time as director. Casting is all important on a project and with a cast as good as this an important rule for the director is to stay out of their way as much as possible and only help when required.

The Havant Ghost Walk, which we inaugurated for the Literary Festival in September 2008, is to be resurrected (good word I think) in 2009. I am working on effects to be used in the revised version and have a technical director lined up to help produce the effects. The Ghost Walk idea seems to have got involved in prolonged negotiations between organisations and I think it is time to wrest back creative control. I did write a business plan for the whole venture but will have to rethink it.

The books of the Havant Literary Festival Society, of which I am Treasurer, have to be audited in readiness for the AGM in January. The Society did rather well in its inaugural year and I just hope the accountant approves of my rusty but earnest book keeping skills.

Headline in Portsmouth News

2008-12-15T18:34:00.002Z

Getting involved in ghostly goings on

2008-12-15T18:32:00.002Z

Living the dream

2008-12-14T11:50:00.002Z

I am amazed and disappointed in myself to discover that my last posting was October 19th.

This week I have been living the dream that I had before I retired and have tried to recreate ever since I retired in January 2007. During the day I have been working on the set of "Wind in the Willows" at the Havant Arts Centre painting flats, caravan and train. Then in the evenings either rehearsing or performing in the play alongside all three of my girls. This is the ideal life for me. I love working with David Penrose at the best of times and as he is the set designer for "Willows" he has spent a lot of time, talent and effort in creating a marvellous theatrical experience for cast and audiences. I am playing the part of Badger with "lovable gruffness" as the preview goes (we are still awaiting the review as I write) and as he only appears in the second half of each Act I am not unduly stressed or taxed. This ideal state of affairs only lasts to December 21st, which is the get out day. As you may know actors wish other actors to "break a leg" at the start of a performance ( I explain this custom on my sister page, "Bench Hamlet 2008"), well David came up with "break a grenouille" for Mark Wakeman, who is playing Toad!

However I have got involved with the Portsmouth News and its ghost writing story competition. This came about purely by chance as I was having a break in the theatre between shifts of painting the set and the phone went inviting me to take part in reading the winning and runner up entries in both the age categories of the competition. Being an old theatrical tart of the first order, I agreed with alacrity. I was then photographed, was taped reading "The Last of the Spirits" from "A Christmas Carol" and told to expect the former in the paper last Saturday and the latter to be broadcast on the newspaper's website.

Imagine my surprise when on Saturday there appeared this huge photograph of me and article covering a good half a page! I hadn't realised the scale of the venture or that because the project was being led by the features editor it would be given so much prominence. The first-born has the copy at the moment but as soon as i get it back I will scan it and publish it on this blog with the URL for hearing my reading. I now await the winners and runners up of each age category been chosen and then I get the chance to read them aloud again for publication on the News website. There was even early talk of videotaping the stories as well - so you can see why I said I was "living the dream".

I couldn't take up the opportunity of working on "Sherlock Holmes", which came from my agent, as it would have interfered with "Wind in the Willows", for which I have grown a set of whiskers anyway and casting directors prefer clean shaven extras where possible. I would have loved to have worked on "Nine", the new Rob Marshall directed musical (we saw the Donmar production with Larry Lamb and Sara Kestelman, and loved it!). I will just have to wait until it reaches the cinema.

There is obviously a need for more self discipline if I am to keep up with this blog and once more I thank all of you who take the time and trouble to read this egocentric view of my very small world.

Kicking Ass

2008-10-19T11:41:00.003+01:00

I did attend casting for "Kick Ass" by KA Productions at Bloomsbury Baptist Church on Tuesday 7th October. According to the Internet Movie database (IMDb), the film stars Nic Cage and is being filmed in America. It is about a comic strip hero and is also being filmed mid October to mid December in and around London. I am not sure that I look American enough and it is nearly two weeks now so I am doubtful about getting cast. However I have discovered in my very occasional work as a background support artiste / film extra that time doesn't seem to have the same meaning in the film industry as elsewhere. I suspect that this is because everything can seem to be sewn up but something crops up and you have to replace somebody quickly.
It was a very relaxing day going up to the casting. I caught the 1000 train out of Waterloo and was at the Baptist Church by 12 noon - how laid back a day is that! I recognised the very pretty, very young and blonde assistant director on the desk as having worked on "Shanghai" back in June. The very flattering thing was that she recognised me. I am learning that social networking is a vital part of working in the film industry. You always hope that when the casting director is uncertain, someone who knows you in the production team might just be able to swing it your way with a good word on your behalf.
I would like to build up a reputation for being punctual and dependable. I was a hour early arriving at the base for "Ladies of Letters" last Wednesday. I spent 90 minutes in costume at the base before 2 minutes on the set with Maureen Lipman. The nice aspect was that I was playing a named part and had provided photos to be used on set and in the production. I was therefore greeted on arrival by Scott, the second assistant director, by the name of the character, which was definitely a first for me. I love the custom on film sets of the assistant directors addressing you as "Sir" - it reminds me of my days as a teacher. The term of address then changes when you reach the first assistant director as you are then referred to by your Christian name just like the real actors and stars. The director of course, if you are lucky enough to meet him, will also refer to you by name. It is great to hear "Peter, on set please" over the intercom.
I always refer to myself as a "belt and braces" man, hence the desire to be thought punctual and dependable. However the Best Beloved says I am just a worrier! She says that if there is any blame going I am too quick to assign it to myself.
Anyway, I had finished casting for "Kick Ass" by lunchtime and wondered what I should do for the rest of the day. In the afternoon I saw the matinee of "The Walworth Farce" at the Cottesloe and in the evening I saw Vanessa Redgrave in "The Year of Magical Thinking" at the Lyttleton. I ate at the Archduke in between times. I have reviewed both plays on my sister page, "Bench Hamlet 2008". We rounded off the week by going to see Kenneth Branagh in "Ivanov", a Donmar production at the Wyndham, on Saturday.
Thus my little working chums I give you an insight into the life of a retired man, doing very occasional work as a film extra and able to go to the London theatre during the week. I may not be appearing in the film of that title but do feel I am having a 'kick ass' of a time. Hurrah!

Vanity

2008-09-14T11:47:00.002+01:00

Following the advice of my film extra chums, I have been working on extending the network of agencies to which I belong and to which I look for work opportunities. It is difficult to be pro-active in this business. I can revise some of my skills that I can offer, such as horse riding and dancing, but it is very difficult to go after the jobs themselves. The advice I was given was to enlist with more agencies and thereby widen the net of opportunities.
I have joined the Bath office of my main agent as well as their London office. I worked out it is 90 minutes to London and about 2 hours to Bath, so almost equidistant. The only problem is that you have to add these times on to the journey times given to reach the locations.
I have joined an agent who publishes job vacancies on my profile page and to which I am expected to apply by sending my digital CV. At the moment I am surprised by the sheer number of small film production jobs offered for minimal money or none. I am not in the business for money but simply because I enjoy the buzz of being involved. I will probably join some of these projects but feel the need to get more actual paid jobs on the CV first - although the CV might look better with some of these productions showing on there as well - a quandary, a veritable quandary?
My fourth agency invited me up to London for a video session and photo shoot on Thursday. On Wednesday as preparation I learned a speech from "Breezeblock Park" (Willy Russell) and another speech from "The Seafarer" (Conor McPherson). I also learned the song, "Wild Rover". The latter may come as a shock to those people who know my singing voice but the Best Beloved said it was passable. I was also to record a piece to video saying who I was, why I was offering myself for work,who had impressed me in theatre and film, and what friends might say about me as a person. With hindsight I should have spent more time refining what I was going to say in this piece rather than learning pieces and devising a multi-national version of "Riverdance" (the latter came to me as I awoke on Thursday morning). I also learned a joke to recite to camera.
Anyway I spent 40 minutes in a white box working with Anna producing a video for my web page, which the agency maintains on my behalf. This hopefully gives casting directors a 3D version of me to help in their assessment of my suitability. The video should be online once I return from Joe's wedding in Italy and after I have finished the Literary Festival here in Havant ( I am covering the Literary Festival on my sister blog, "Bench Hamlet 2008"). I am not awaiting its arrival with bated breath. My joke, two speeches and dance were recorded and may be used in a TV project forthcoming in 2009. I suspect they will be used to make fun of the participants but here is where the vanity slipped in. I did think I hope it doesn't make me a star because then I would be useless as a background support artiste. Not a drop of humility in there you will notice and just reinforces my view that the world revolves around me. However the session also produced a portfolio of photos to accompany me when I visit casting directors. I was even told I could try modelling as another work possibility. Not you understand as one of America's next top models but as the everyday grandfather figure. As you can see I don't have to manufacture fuel to stoke my bonfire of vanities, other people do it for me.
Finally I have applied to two more agencies, whose books open in September/October. These are the creme de la creme and if I can get on to their books, my film extra chums assure me, I would have opportunities in TV as well as film. The entertainment world could be my oyster!

2008-08-31T10:41:00.002+01:00

I managed to persuade Jacquie to let me publish her account of our Nivernais holiday on my blog. She wrote it with particular criteria in mind, thereby avoiding my usual rambling style.

On the Nivernais Canal, June 2008

There were four of us on this trip, all recently retired teachers, revelling in the prospect, for the first time in our adult lives, of a summer holiday in late June, at a time when our ex-colleagues and their charges would still be sweltering in under-ventilated classrooms. Our plan: two weeks on a canal in Burgundy. The solution: a boat called Sophie, rented from France Afloat, travelling the Canal du Nivernais from Vermenton to Châtillons-en-Bazois, and back.
Sophie, being both home and transport for two weeks, inevitably became a kind of fifth member of the party. She met all our essential requirements – affordable, a loo and shower per couple, and a large deck with parasol – but pretty she was not. A four-square barge, she had the elegance and manoeuvrability of a bathtub. By the end of the fortnight we were patting her big red rump affectionately, but for the first day or so she was a challenge. She was difficult to steer (and stop); the slightest breeze or a passing fish would send her heading apparently unstoppably for the nearest bank/bridge/lock/moored boat. But we learnt her ways fairly quickly, and soon we were negotiating locks and bridges with hardly a scratch. We were able to relax and enjoy. And there was so much to enjoy: profound country silence at a quiet evening mooring, broken only by the plop of a rising fish or a pulled cork; lingering glowing sunsets at the end of these longest summer days amid fields and woods at their most lush and full-blown; lock houses tended with eccentric and loving care in a riot of flowers, gnomes, dogs and art-work; the extraordinary sequence of sixteen locks, three tunnels and a deeply-wooded, shadowy, winding cut that leads to the top of the canal at the Étang de Baye. And, of course, food. We did most of our own cooking on board, partly for the fun of it and partly for economy, but also because restaurants are relatively rare on this stretch of the canal. Those we did find were usually very small, simple, and often very good. Having reached the lake at Baye on a blazing afternoon, we went in search of rewarding refreshment. A twenty minute walk to La Coloncelle took us to a tiny bar/shop/restaurant called le Martin Pecheur, whose owner was happy to come and collect us for an evening meal. The crudité, steak and frites were excellent. Even smaller – with only four tables, and a disconcerting line in anti-immigrant cartoons on the walls, but with a surprisingly varied menu, was the Bar Sur Soleuse, at the Chavance locks, accessible only from the tow-path. And the very friendly owner of Le Snack at Chitry-les-Mines threw in a free bottle of wine.
The Nivernais canal is one of the smaller, perhaps less well-known of the French canals; quiet, beautiful and well-maintained, it must be one of the most delightful. And the four of us are still good friends.
(Copyright 2008, Jacquie Penrose)

Jacquie has also written a couple of ghost stories for the Havant Ghost Walk (see havant literary festival website). I am commissioning other writers as well. If you're reading this blog with a ghost story already written or the potential to write one let me know before september 10th as I have a deadline to meet. I will worry about how to make it fit but just need good stories.)

Endurance

2008-08-19T09:29:00.002+01:00

We have stripped the old kitchen out and taken down an internal wall that used to separate the dining room and kitchen. It was all done very quickly in about a day but we did produce enough dust to re-enact the smothering of Pompeii. We had some friends arriving that very day to stay for a couple of days - either they and we are hardy or just plain foolhardy. At first I was so glum as to be despondent - not a natural state of affairs with me - but a couple of hours with Norman and Allyson I was back to normal. Allyson has known the Best Beloved for 37 years, which pre-dates even me. You see, this Saturday marks our 33rd wedding anniversary. I still find that an amazing milestone to have reached. I read somewhere that a sign of a man's toughness is not speed, stamina, strength or power but endurance! I may be sending out the wrong vibes there, in so far as I find it no hardship being with the Best Beloved - she still fascinates me! As I have often said, I can understand why I married her and why I have stuck it out so long, but why she married me???

At a recent social event the Best Beloved was asked if she ever wanted to go on holiday with just the girls and leave the old man behind. To her great credit and my enormous satisfaction, she said, "I really like going away with my fella, and that can't be bad after thirty three years, eh?"

Anyway, back to the house alterations, as I am forcibly reminded by the sound of the electrician's drill carving out new conduits for the cabling in the kitchen. What with new appliances and plinth heaters and possibly underfloor heating, there is lots to employ the electrician before the new kitchen units arrive next week. He did make me smile as he solemnly informed me that there was a fault somewhere in the system. Before he discovered it, I had guessed where it might be. On the day of my heart attack, back in January 2007, I was installing a rack on the kitchen wall from which to dangle saucepans and frying pans (this was at the height of my domestic revolution). I realise now that I shouldn't have been doing so as I was more than a little out of it. Anyway I did manage to twice hit a cable with my drill before I realised I really wasn't in the mood for DIY. I remember distinctly thinking I would return to it afresh the next day and turned my attention instead to the stew I was slowly cooking in preparation for the Best Beloved's return from her school day. I am pleased to say that after I was installed in the Assessment Ward at QA, my family did return home to find a stew to eat for their supper prepared by their absent father. Well, suffice it to say, the new kitchen and its wiring will be in perfect condition from now on. I can say that also applies to my heart and its new wiring as well.

A new season begins

2008-08-11T10:17:00.002+01:00

I love name dropping so here goes: I had quite a long chat with Shaun Gale, the manager of the Hawks (Havant and Waterlooville FC) on Thursday. The Hawks were the team in the FA Cup who put Havant on the map. During the season if you flew to other countries and people asked you where you came from and you said "Havant", they knew where you meant. The exploits of the Hawks culminated in the match at Anfield where the Hawks led mighty Liverpool in the first half of the game and a Cup shock like no other was definitely on the cards.
Anyway I was attending a sustainability conference at Havant College on Thursday and Mr Gale was the guest speaker. We arrived in the car park and I engaged him in conversation on the way in. He was then grabbed by the organisers to go over the arrangements but he came back over to me at the refreshment table before the conference started so we could resume our conversation. Note that, please, he came back over to me not me hanging wailing on to his tracksuit until he gave me some attention. (I am not beyond using such tactics in my search for celebrity attachment but it was unnecessary on this occasion).
My credentials for talking to the Hawks' manager was that I had been at the Hawks v Pompey game on Tuesday of last week. I try to attend the Hawks' home games at West Leigh as they tend to coincide with Pompey away games. I don't know whether my non-attendance of Pompey away games makes me a poor supporter but at least I support both home teams to some degree. I must also confess to looking at Bradford City's results with hope in my heart. Little Brother's early season assessment is "possible promotion strong squad this year" (You heard it here first, folks)
I know Pompey won the Tuesday game 4 - 0 on Tuesday but Hawks were certainly not taken apart by the premier side. I think defence and midfield of the Blue Square side looks strong and capable of doing well in their league, which is why they are tipped as promotion favourites before the season begins. Ben Sahar was the difference in class as he took his two goals with aplomb. The Mvuemba 30 yarder was a scorcher delivered with hardly any backlift and through a crowd of players - the Hawks' goalie had no chance. The fourth goal scored by glen Johnson after a neat reverse pass by Richard Hughes would have been conceded by most teams at any level. I am hoping to cheer Hawks on at the Monday league game tonight. Shaun (or Mr Gale) says it is quite usual to play an away game on Saturday and a home game on the Monday - although it sounds quite knackering to me (and can you imagine the fuss with a Premier league side were required to do that?). He also said attendance is better on a Monday than on the usual Tuesday or Wednesday.
Watched Pompey play in the Community Shield yesterday and have to concede they were poor. Man U played without a forward whereas we had Crouch and Defoe. The difference is in midfield. Last season I thought we were without a cutting edge because of poor strike force. We now have a strike force bar none but poor service limits their effectiveness. Crouch only touched the ball six times in the entire match. Man u passed the ball 307 times compared to Pompey's 177. Fletcher, a midfielder, had the best chance of the entire game. Pompey midfield is incapable of switching from defence to attack swiftly enough. For me, Diarra is an attacking midfielder who should play in the space behind the striker(s) and therefore should share that role with Kranjcar. The latter has had a £12 million offer made for him and is being courted by clubs like Arsenal. On yesterday's showing I would grab the money. I would pay good money for someone like Shaun Wright Phillips who has the ability and the pace to turn defence into attack admittedly down one flank only - although he could do some damage over on the left wing too occasionally. He would provide a reliable outlet to relieve pressure on the defence. He would also provide some service for Crouch and Defoe. I cannot understand why Diop is preferred to Sean Davis. The wardrobe is hardly the most mobile attacking force and isn't that great as a stopping midfielder either. Sean Davis can and will do both. Pedro Mendes is a neat tidy passer and player and would play in my midfield but I am not sure I would use him as a defensive midfielder or enforcer. The great Sol was caught out a couple of times and it is mainly to do with pace. The pace of the attacking midfield is the problem and is our main lack.
I am hoping that we are still in the transfer market and that Pompey will make me eat my words. PUP!

More research needed

2008-08-11T09:39:00.004+01:00

On my sister page, "Bench Hamlet 2008", part of my musings concern a personally remembered history of the Bench Theatre. I have based the articles so far on my own remembering rather than referring to any archive materials or memoribilia. This means that some of the anecdotes are factually unsound but , as I often tell the Best Beloved ( my editor in these sort of endeavours), I am not going to ruin a good story for the sake of the truth.

This opening is by way of an apology for a recent posting about Wrong Way Corrigan. The family historian and archivist, my little Brother, has written to me to point out a large error in my retelling of the story. Apparently Douglas was a contemporary of Charles Lindbergh and an American (Irish-American, though), who flew from America to Ireland and not the other way round. I think the essence of the story is correct but the "begorrahs, oi must have flown the wrong way" in a stage Oirish voice doesn't bear close inspection. My little brother has researched the said Wrong Way Corrigan, hence the title of this posting. This is the long but accurate link for those seekers after truth and enlightenment: http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.100megspop3.com/bark/Corrigan1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.100megspop3.com/bark/DouglasWrongWayCorrigan.html&h=378&w=500&sz=33&hl=en&start=17&um=1&tbnid=lgQGLnvseHCStM:&tbnh=98&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3DCorrigan%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4GGLH_enGB273GB273%26sa%3DG

On Friday got a text message from my agent asking about my availability on September 9th and 10th: "Playing 1920's aristocracy in TV programme for Japan." Naturally I threw my hat into the ring replying well before the deadline of 1430 (I always worry whether the message gets through because you have no real way of knowing, do you? Simple non-technical answers appreciated) so am now awaiting the result of the casting director looking over hundreds of CV and photos and hopefully picking me. I am now locked into that state of suspension so well described in the Natty Chap's blog recently (see link to right of The World of Nathan Chapman). What makes me smile though is the description of the job. If given the chance of "Playing 1920's aristocracy" , I would be in danger of typecasting as I played 1930 German diplomat in my last assignment, with short back and sides and all. Anyone who has ever met me will testify and a glimpse of a photo of me (here I will attempt to insert a headshot of moi) will show that I am of a particular stock that could get away with 'noveau riche' (please let me win the lottery) rather than ancient landed aristocracy. I am hoping that the casting director sees the bluff Englishman that could be lurking within- you know - the Dr Watson, the Colonel Pickering, the Agatha Christie squire, the ex pat absentee lord of the manor. The trouble is it all depends on the photo.

I wouldn't mind playing any of those parts by the way, if there are casting directors out there reading this or directors looking for a Colonel Pickering or Dr Watson. I could just about manage the song from My Fair Lady.

I did miss out on playing a taxi driver in a Rimmel commercial. Now you must admit I could get away with playing a London cabbie with those looks, yeh? With pretty girls around though, my concentration would be sorely stretched. Finally on this subject, I love the idea of making a TV programme for Japan. Surely, this means I would never really have the chance to see it. ("Stop calling me Shirley" - quote from an iconic movie)

A Plan

2008-08-03T10:03:00.002+01:00

Sometimes you need a plan and I love the quote from Die Hard 4.0 when, John McLaine is asked whether he had a semblance of a plan, he replies, "Find Lucy. Kill everyone else!"
Notice the simplicity of the plan and the whole plan contained in five words. I can see the drawbacks if you applied that plan generally but I do like its brevity.
When I make a plan it tends to go on for pages and by the time I get to the end of the plan I have certainly forgotten how the plan starts and indeed what the plan is for.
Nowadays I rely upon "to do"lists as if I plan I become rigid ( I am a belt and braces man at heart) and inflexible. If I have spent the time drawing up a plan then the plan will come to fruition at the allotted time or there will be tantrums. The Best Beloved has tried to make me more flexible but the result is I usually end up floppy and indecisive. That last bit doesn't sound good but is accurate I believe.
I am not very good thinking quickly on my feet. I prefer to muse on a problem for a while before coming to a conclusion - the trouble is, once I have made my mind up, I am as stubborn as can be (see Wrong Way Corrigan in previous posting). I invariably regret snap decisions made on the hoof. Yesterday I was expecting to read a short scene with David P at the Havant Arts Centre 30th birthday bash but the ambience wasn't right and we ended up doing theatre games. I am not sure these were the right thing in the circumstances either but on the spur of the moment could not come up with anything better. The Bench needs a street theatre arm or training in order to do these sort of events justice. Our sedate theatrical approach is not conducive to the mobile disinterested crowd situation.

This has been a weekend of celebrations. Friday was Yorkshire Day (official) so I was nearly a month out with my celebration (see previous posting). It was also the 30th birthday of our Firstborn. We spent the day helping Kat move into her new flat and then had an evening meal with the Firstborn at the Sussex Brewery. I wasn't great company as I was very tired after my day as a removal man. although I left most of the lifting to ToyBoy and Natty Chap. Saturday saw the 30th birthday celebrations of the Havant arts Centre as above and I think I can claim to have directed the first ever theatrical production at the Havant Arts Centre back in 1978 (see Bench Hamlet 2008 in links to the right). Today (Sunday) Firstborn is holding a joint Birthday garden party in South Street, Havant, with Vicky Wakelin (whose birthday is August 8th). The weather could be better but the spirits are cheerful. Tomorrow sees the 6th wedding anniversary of the Firstborn and Natty Chap to round off this weekend of familial fun.

I have a couple of meetings this week otherwise my attention is on writing ghostly tales for the Ghost Walk I am doing as part of the Literary Festival at the end of September and planning a Storytelling session I am doing at the Arts Centre as part of the same event. People keep asking for decisions on the two activities and until I have committed them to paper they simply don't exist for me except in the most abstract sense.

Other than that it is hoping we can push on with the foundations for the extension, weather permitting, and that England can restore some cricketing pride by beating the South Africans just once, and that Pompey buy Shaun Wright-Phillips in time for the Community Shield next Sunday.

I am still working on my holiday films and I am obliged to Ian Wegg for his idea of putting "Les Madamoiselles des ecluses de Nivernais" on the cardiac rehab website but I think if I ever finish editing it will appear here or on my Facebook page. I also have a plan for another Debbie Hobbs' cardiac rehab film for her website, www.cardiacrehabphaseiv.com.

You see I have plans: "Find Lucy. Kill everyone else."

An extension

2008-07-22T11:18:00.003+01:00

I had meant to follow up our super holiday on the Nivernais canal with a couple of postings but I have been slowed down by the technicalities of getting a couple of films edited and up and running. One is of Debbie, the Cradiac Rehab IV tutor, demonstrating useful exercises to do at home for her website. The other two are based on the holiday. "Baguettes....I've Had a Few" is a record of our time on the boats and if you say the title correctly you can hear the associated tune. The title was suggested by the impeccable David P. The second holiday film, "Les Madamoiselles des ecluses de Nivernais", is my salute to the beautiful and very fit young women operating the lock gates on the Nivernais this summer. There were young men and older men doing the job as well but the camera just wasn't attracted to them - they weren't as photogenic. I think, Kitten, that's why I prefer Next Top Model to Supermodel.

Kitten moves out of the family home at the end of July and I am going to miss the education in films and TV series I have overlooked. I am particularly enjoying "Bones" at the moment.

Anyways, this posting is entitled "An extension" because this week we are beginning to build a new extension on our house. My family have always claimed allegiance with Wrong Way Corrigan, who was refused permission in the early days of aviation to fly from Ireland to New York. One day he took off from a fog bound Ireland and, lo and behold, begorrah, and would you believe it, landed in New York! When taken to task for this unauthorised flight, his ingenious reply was "I must have flown the wrong way!" - hence his new name, Wrong Way Corrigan.

What has Wrong Way Corrigan to do with building an extension? Well, when everyone else is complaining about credit crunches and falling house prices, we are spending good money on building works. I feel my children at least might deserve an explanation as it is their inheritance I am spending!

I am also of that persuasion that if someone tells me there is something I shouldn't do, stubbornness kicks in and, even if it kills me, I will do whatever it is I shouldn't.

When we had both retired, we debated whether or not to downsize, but decided we hadn't really had the opportunity to enjoy this lovely house as much as we wanted. We discussed what was needed to help us enjoy it more. The first thing we decided was that a new kitchen was top priority. Ours has seen good service, and is familiar and comfortable, but showing signs of age. (I re-read that last sentence to myself and felt it would work as a self-description too.) We therefore decided we would need a new kitchen. Now at present a wall divides our kitchen from the dining room and the only connection is a small serving hatch between the two. This has been quite sufficient for me to bellow through at meal times but the Best Beloved has always hated the sense of detachment when we are entertaining. She wanted that wall down and the kitchen to become an integral part of the dining room. We explored the idea with an architect and suddenly the idea grew that we could extend the new kitchen/dining room out into the garden where our old patio is. Once we hit upon this ground floor extension it occurred to us that we could then add an en-suite to the master bedroom.

We have had Kitten as a house guest for a year now and believe me an en-suite would have been useful during that time. We also have a four bedroom house so our dreams of inviting people over for a Saturday meal and then offering accommodation afterwards could be realised. We also have a far flung family and circle of friends to whom we could offer a weekend retreat.

We also decided that unless circumstances drastically change we shall get a good ten years out of our extended house so here we go! Wish us luck!

Free personality analysis

2008-07-10T20:49:00.002+01:00

Thanks to Pedthered, I took a personality analysis test today using a colour selection technique. Pedthered and the hyperlink can be found by clicking on the link to the right to "Adventures of Archimedes". When you get there click on "What are you doing in there?" and you should arrive at Pedthered!

Pedthered also lists his report and his stress sources are remarkably similar to mine. Also like him, I find the report below sums me up rather well.

Your existing situation
Feels obstructed in his desires and prevented from obtaining the things he regards as essential.

Your stress sources
Has an unsatisfied need to ally himself with others whose standards are as high as his own, and to stand out from the herd. This desire for pre-eminence isolates him and inhibits his readiness to give himself freely. While he wants to surrender and let himself go, he regards this as a weakness which must be resisted. This self-restraint, he feels, will lift him above the rank and file and ensure recognition as a unique and distinctive personality.

Your restrained characteristics
Willing top participate and to allow himself to become involved, but tries to fend off conflict and disturbance in order to reduce tension.
Believes that he is not receiving his share - that he is neither properly understood nor adequately appreciated. Feels that he is being compelled to conform, and close relationships leave him without any sense of emotional involvement.
Egocentric and therefore quick to take offence. Sensitive and sentimental, but conceals this from all except those very close to him.

Your desired objective
Needs a change in his circumstances or in his relationships which will permit relief from stress. Seeking a solution which will open up new and better possibilities and allow hopes to be fulfilled.

Your Actual Problem
Feels insufficiently valued in his existing situation, and is seeking different conditions in which he will have greater opportunity of demonstrating his worth.

Over on my sister page, Bench Hamlet 2008, I have written a review of "Music Man" at the Chichester Festival Theatre, which the Best Beloved and I saw last night. Please read, if you can.

Wishes

2008-07-05T14:19:00.001+01:00

Married couple in their 60's are visited by a fairy who grants them both a wish.

"I want to travel the world with my darling husband," says the wife. Two tickets for a luxury cruise magically appear in her hand.

Husband says: "Sorry, love, but my wish is to have a wife 30 years younger than me!" So the fairy waves her wand and the husband becomes 92.

Moral of the story:
men are ungrateful bastards who should remember that fairies are female!

Independence Day

2008-07-04T06:27:00.002+01:00

Independence Day 2008.

The ogre waved goodbye and said." Sweet rose, have no fear! In your life, I will never re-appear!". With that he was gone and was never seen by the rose again.

At work

2008-06-13T09:49:00.002+01:00

In the previous posting I used the expression "too coy" for describing my actions, but on reconsideration I don't think "coy" is the word at all (although I am actually a very shy person)> I think a better word in the circumstance would be "twee". It would be too precious, too twee, even for me to use the expression "filming" rather than the much butcher "working".

I was green as green on the first day of filming in London and am eternally grateful to David da Silva for the time and effort he put into coaching me through the day. David had come straight from the set of "Wolfman" and his hair style was appropriate to that film, so Fran, the film hairdresser, soon sorted him out with a short back and sides. David and Roger from Wales helped me enormously by sharing their hard won expertise, which other less generous souls may have kept to themselves, as after all I was a possible source of competition for future roles.

I took books to read and puzzles to do but all were abandoned in the excitement of learning new routines and meeting some fascinating people with wonderful anecdotes. I am a real sucker for theatrical and film stories: the one about Brendan Gleeson arriving on set as a large than life, hulking, jovial Irishman turning into a smaller Churchill with the Churchillian tones once the cameras started rolling.

I did rub shoulders literally with the star of the film, John Cusack. On the first day of shooting in London, he was part of a scene and we extras were ordered to return to our starting positions. One hundred and fifty people in swirling motion and one of them, yours truly, a little ungainly collided with the stationary star. He wisely had remained completely still during the changeover and I, in avoiding other extras on the move, bumped into him. This is a faux pas extraordinaire and visions of execution or summary dismissal sprang into my mind in those frozen micro seconds as I realised who I bumped into. He, to his great credit, simply looked slightly startled at this seventeen stone extra at his side and never uttered a sound. Luckily, my native wit came to my rescue and I mumbled the immortal "Pardon" and hurried away. As I was several feet away at the top of a very large staircase I thought I was going to be safe unless pursued by a hue and cry. I have learned that this is a no brain job and that one must do exactly what the Assistant Directors (ADs) tell you. When they say "Jump", the only allowable response is "How high?".

The ADs on this production were fantastic and their professionalism and kindness seemed to stem from the approach of Mikael Hafstrom the director. Michel Cheyko, or Mishka, is the first assistant director and he did most of the large scale organisation with the help of Andy, Sonny, Glen and Laura. The most important ADs for the background crowd were Michael and Clare. Michael, I believe, won a Bafta for his work in the film industry and on this experience I would say it was well deserved. No longer a young man, he was always full of energy and coached, cajoled and commended the large crowd with good humour. He handled us skilfully, giving praise when needed and geeing us up when tiredness crept in. David Whiting, in charge of costumes, spent most of the days in American uniform although was not appearing on screen, and was a main source of much amusement and good humour. Clare was the AD in charge of organising the crowd and spent a lot of time off set doing the paperwork, including the white chits, and phoning agents. One of the things I did notice was the production company preferred to inform the agents rather than us directly, so on the long drive home as described in the previous posting I would be texted with the details of the next day's filming. I also had a phone call from my team manager asking where a chit of mine was while I was in the portakabin loo putting in my contact lenses. Extras are not allowed to have their mobiles on the set and ADs develop a kind of antenna which detects mobiles in costumes. Julie Weiss , the designer, was particularly adept at spotting a concealed mobile. The reason the mobiles are clutched so avidly by the extras is that news of further work or further details of the production they are currently working on is constantly being relayed by your agent. My mobile has never been as busy as it was in that week.

I am not at liberty to divulge too much of what went on on set but the plot summary reads like this: A '40s period piece which revolves around an American expat who returns to Shanghai in the months before Pearl Harbor due to the death of his friend. Details can be found on www.imdb.com (The Internet Movie Database) for which I am indebted to Kat for putting my way. You have to search for Shanghai 2008. I was privileged to watch John Cusack, Li Gong, Chow Yun Fat, Franke Potente (from Bourne Identity) and Wulf Kahler. Wulf was by far the most approachable of the cast and I remember having a conversation about his work with Stanley Kubrick on Barry Lyndon (1975). I had asked about close ups and acting. The Barry Lyndon had been Wulf's debut close up and had been made difficult by the use of candlelight. However in the hands of "a good man" like Stanley Kubrick it was made easy. Oh, you can imagine, gentle reader, I was in seventh heaven during this conversation.

I also had to learn the art of miming conversation. The camera has you probably knows will be moved countless times in order to capture a scene from every angle. Once the soundtrack is laid down or another conversation is being filmed which will be superimposed on the original, the conversation in the background is mimed. This is much more difficult than it looks as whispering is not allowed as sound will pick it up. Movement has to be carefully done so there is no sound of footfalls. Barry aka Brad Pitt was brilliant at mimed conversation and despite all my theatrical experience I was hard pressed to learn how to do it. I fear I was OTT (but people will say that applies to my acting too so no surprise there). It is made even harder by the Ad requiring more energy in our performances!

I am off on a fortnight canal boat holiday on the Nivernais canal with the Penroses and the best beloved. No waiting for the summer holidays for us. I am taking a movie camera with me to hopefully record some of the fun and to keep my hand in with the film world. I hope to return to further work from my agent and to your esteemed and much appreciated company, dear reader.

Bonne vacance et bon voyage!

Getting to work

2008-06-11T10:22:00.003+01:00

I had thought to string together a beautifully written account of last week's filming but in the end have had to settle for bits and pieces picked out of my logbook. I hope this is of some interest to my intrepid reader but it is also intended as an aide-memoire to me.

Firstly, I am going to refer to future work opportunities as "working" as "filming" is too precious, too coy, even for me. It is also a realisation that being a background or support artiste is bloody hard work. I was warned by everyone I know, especially by Kate, but you don't realise the truth of it until you are into your third 14 hour day on the trot. Parts of me ached that had never ached before. Fourteen hour days I can hear people scoff already! But if you add on the couple of hours at least to get there and the couple of hours needed to get back home and the nature of the work itself, it begins to take its toll. Mind you, I wouldn't swap it for supply teaching.

I had thought it would be 0700 to 1900 with the main problem getting there for the 0700 call time. I solved the Sunday filming in central London by staying overnight in Ealing with NIL (Nephew in Law) and his family before catching a night bus into Trafalgar Square (the square is a real hub for bus transport into and out of the centre at all hours) and then walking to the hotel. Andrew and Helen have offered me a permanent house guest status for London based work for which I am very grateful. It means arriving at 1730 for tea with Carys and Morgan, and then dinner at 2000 with the adults - how civilised is that?

However I should have been warned when the Sunday filming ended at 2100, changing out of costume and getting my chit signed by the assistant directors (AD's) and I arrived home at midnight. The location on the Tuesday was in deepest Buckinghamshire and multimap said the journey would take two hours. Luckily I allowed three hours - although more experienced hands say allow for double the journey time as it is best to arrive before call time and wait than run the risk of being late. I was lucky because the call was for 1045 but there were hold ups at Hindhead, Guildford and the M25, all exaggerated by the rain and the rush hour. I thought the ADs were being kind but realised that the crew need a 12 hour turn around before shooting can begin again. I realised this when we finished the last wrap at 0100 on Wednesday morning and I got home just after 0300! That last bit of the A3(M) was when I began to feel tired on the drive home - up until I had been driving on adrenalin and very loud music.

Filming - yayyyyy!

2008-06-02T12:43:00.002+01:00

Had a wonderful day yesterday filming from 0700 till 2100 in central London. Details will follow in a later posting as today I am recovering and planning how to get to the next location in Bucks on Tuesday and Wednesday. The latter shoot is a night shoot starting at 1500 and finishing at 0300 the next day. I now understand why Wednesday and Thursday had to be pencilled in for availability. There is also Sunday 8th in heavy pencil as well. Yesterday of course was daily pay rate plus broken lunch allowance, plus holiday allowance (for a Sunday) plus travel allowance and, of course, overtime! My first day on set was not only exciting, interesting, absorbing, etc., it was also quite lucrative.
My location postings will probably be Friday and/ or Saturday of this week. I had thought I would spend most of the time reading but I met such an interesting crowd with such lovely anecdotes, literally rubbed shoulders with stars (one of those might be classed a newcomer's faux pas!) and great frocks! Keep tuning in for the next exciting episode.....

Hiding in plain sight

2008-05-31T11:07:00.002+01:00

As a father I like to pretend that I am the one with the wisdom to be dispensed to daughters in particular and to youngsters in general.

However I have just read a profound post about "Acting" from Kat on her blog listed in the column to the right (Alice's Adventures in Blogland) or http://bloglandadventures.blogspot.com/. In it she describes her thoughts and feeling and experiences about the possibility of entering the acting profession.

It was her comments in the final paragraph that caught me particularly. She describes herself as being "shy and awkward". This is an appearance that I have tried to cover up in myself since for ever. Only my chum, David Penrose, realises, because he is the same, that I am an introvert moving around in an extrovert world. I am an ugly, ungainly sort of chap, who finds it difficult to communicate with others directly, which is probably why I like emails and blogs. I enjoy acting because it is an assumption of another character whose life, decisions and speech are curtailed by the playing time on the stage. I don't have to think what to say or how to react, I just have to remember the lines and the emotions rehearsed many times before the performance.

I love Kat's honesty and directness. Sometimes this can be quite disconcerting at close quarters but as my Gran would say, "You can't make a pearl without a bit of grit." I think my Gran would approve of Kat almost as much as I do. I know my mother would have adored her and understood her.

Today I am in a bit of a panic as I am trying to organise myself for location filming in London tomorrow morning at 7.00 a.m. There ain't no trains to London and there ain't no Tube till 0630. My nephew in law, Nil, has come up trumps but it means staying up in London overnight and then returning home Sunday night.

I am looking forward to the filming as I think I will find the whole process fascinating but will also have a good book as well. However I think it will be interesting rather than glamorous and if the fitting session at Elstree was anything to go by will find myself surrounded by beautiful, young Russian girls, slim, and clad in gorgeous 1940's evening wear. This may sound great but it will probably be like being in an open boat on the sea surrounded by ocean with not a drop of water to drink. There is a useful analogy in there if you are willing to work for it. Anyway, must go now, want to write a review of "Brassed Off" for my sister blog, "Bench Hamlet 2008".

Will update you on adventures in filmland on Monday.

Late Bank Holiday Monday

2008-05-27T11:53:00.002+01:00

The Best Beloved spent most of yesterday making bread by hand. We were introduced to the idea of making our own bread last year when we were in France with our friends, the Cattermoles. Terry has his own bread making machine and apparently they are all the rage over here as well now. However the independent and headstrong Best Beloved is determined to make her bread without the initial outlay of money for an electric breadmaker (£50 in Comet). Her effort yesterday wasn't as successful as she hoped and she has gone back to the recipe books to find out why. I am sure she will succeed because she is a determined lady.

There was a letter in the Times about someone describing joining the officer's mess of a regiment. There he was asked to behave like an officer and gentleman by his commanding officer. He asked the latter to define what was meant by an officer and a gentleman. The reply was, "A gentleman is never seen to be carrying a parcel. A gentleman never dances backwards in a waltz. Every woman in his presence feels like a lady." I am not sure about the first two but feel I could make a go of the last one.

I had my annual health check and everything seems to be in working order. My blood sugar level came back at 5.3, which I think is normal. My weight seems to have only dropped 1 kg since I was measured the same time last year. This is not very accurate as when I was measured last year I had just come out of hospital and had lost two stone as a result of my experience. I then gained weight up until Christmas but have been losing it ever since. I was nearly 18 stone at Christmas and am now hovering around the 17 stone mark. I was 16 stone 13lb last week. I am confident of achieving the 16 stone mark by December this year ( or 2lbs per month). Debbie has promised me a party if I make 16 stone. It will give me an incentive to drop to 15 stone by this time next year. Onwards and downwards as far as weight goes!

I read back over my own postings and re-read the one about PE and Games. I realised this week is half term week. I used to hate the half term week in Summer as it was the one I inevitably spent writing up the children's annual reports. I have always been a deadliner and always promised I would construct the things piecemeal but inevitably it would come to this week and the only way I could get them finished was to put my head down and do them. So my condolences to all my teacher friends out there who are writing reports! Mind you, our school used to write a half way report in Spring too so the Spring half term week was also spent writing reports.
I understand from somewhere that one of the ideas afoot is that teacher comments on pupils will be published online so that parents can access them via a secure intranet. It seems like a jolly good idea for parents - they can avoid the termly parents' evenings - but would mean extra strain for the teacher in making time during the week to update records online. From my experience, children learn in a similar fashion to the way in which they grow. Growth spurts take place after a plateau when nothing seems to be happening on the surface. Underneath though all the nutrients and chemical needed to promote growth are being accumulated by the body and then whoosh inches are added seemingly overnight. Learning is a bit like that. The child seems to have made no progress and seems to be on a plateau of achievement. But underneath the concepts are being gathered and assessed until one day the light goes on and the plateau becomes a steep curve before levelling out again. The weekly access to pupil records seem to be an equivalent of pulling the new plant out of its pot to make sure the roots are growing. We will have parents asking why their child hasn't made progress since the previous week. If all the subjects are okay, they will find the one subject that isn't, e.g. "Why isn't my child's progress in speaking Outer Mongolian as good as his other subjects?"

Ah well I have used up all my Tuesday writing time updating this blog so must go off and see the beautiful Debbie now. She was talking of filming this afternoon's session for use on the website. Oh what it is to be surrounded by cameras!

Cuckoo in the Nest

2008-05-27T11:41:00.001+01:00

I have just finished reading “Cuckoo in the Nest” by Michelle Magorian. Both Kat and Best Beloved had read it previously and both wanted me to read it to see my reaction. It took me two days but I have guffawed and wept in equal measure as I read through the story of the Hollis family in the winter of 1946 and early spring of 1947. This was exactly the period in which I was born (January 1947) and the book recounts vividly one of the worst winters in recorded history.

It concerns a working class lad who has been to grammar school and gained his School Certificate. This puts him at odds with his family, especially his father, and his background. I know we all claim to come from the working class but I really did. I also went to Carlton Grammar School when I was 11 and gained my GCSEs. I recognise the syndrome of being a Cuckoo in the nest.

The empathy is doubled as one reads about the Palace theatre, Winford and Ralph (‘Rayfe’ as the actors pronounce it) tries to embark on an actor’s life. I loved the descriptions and accounts of the life backstage and eventually onstage. Magorian lovingly reconstructs the theatrical company. I loved the way Ralph falls for the beautiful stage manager, Isla. “He had been aware that he found Isla attractive, but he did not realise how deep his feelings for her were. It was as though someone had taken his heart out, smashed it into pieces and shoved it back in again without putting it back together again, so that everything hurt and jangled inside him.” (page 92).

There is something intoxicating about the theatre that invites deep passions. “…..Ralph felt such a mixture of tenderness and desire to get right inside the very skin of her that it overwhelmed him. Yet he felt fiercely protective of her too.” (page 342). I just think Magorian captures feelings so clearly and well; and feelings that I know and recognise keenly.

The standing in the wings, the rehearsals and the camaraderie of it all is poignantly caught. Watching an actor’s performance transform onstage into a thing of truth and beauty is described and caught so well. Finally the characterisations of Mrs. Egerton- Smythe and John Hollis, the father, are so well drawn I felt I knew them both as people I would want in my own life rather than simply as an author’s creations in a book. I must admit I sobbed at the end. Thank you, Michelle Magorian!

I finished the book in two days and now have given myself a quandary. I am achieving my target of one novel per week without any difficulty and thoroughly enjoying the experience. However this is the second week running that I have finished the book by Monday night and so have four more days left in the week. Admittedly the books are not the great classics and therefore capable of being read thoroughly but quickly. I suppose I could up my target to perhaps two novels per week. However I also have a great backlog of modern plays I have bought and not yet read. Therefore I could spend the time profitably working my way through some of those. I have transferred the rest of this internal debate about reading plays with a list of my current play library to my sister page, “Bench Hamlet 2008”, which I consider a more suitable venue for the rest of my ramblings on this subject.

In low gear

2008-05-24T12:18:00.002+01:00

At exercise class yesterday, Kate reminded me that I hadn't blogged for a while. There is an article in today's Guardian magazine that says something to the effect that retired people think themselves so busy because they are operating at such a low gear it takes them half a day to buy a newspaper. This morning has been such a morning.

What was even more interesting yesterday was that Kate recounted some of her stories as a company runner at Pinewood Studios working on the James Bond films. I enjoyed these stories thoroughly as you can imagine. I also appreciated the warning that if you start at 0700 you won't finish before 1900 if working on a film. I was fitted out on Wednesday in tails, white shirt and tie, 1930's style. I enjoyed being dressed but found some of the measurements I gave last year have expanded. My 44 chest was now 47 and my slim 42 waist more like 44. The strangest was that my 29 inside leg was actually 31. It was drummed into me that measurements have to be accurate and so I was relieved to find that the dresser was patience personified. I also made the mistake of bringing my white chit home when I should have left it with Lucy of the production company. But an exchange of texts and phone calls sorted out that little touch of inexperience on my part. I am now awaiting a call on the 29th from my agent to tell me the details of the shooting planned for Sunday June 1st. I need to work out how to get to the location in time for a 0645 start.

I was saddened to be informed of the death of one of the parents I knew in my time as deputy head at school. He was only 47 and suffered a massive heart attack last Friday. After my own experience of last year, I can now relate more closely to the experience than ever. But 47 is far too young surely! He was a great bloke who I got on well with over the many years he put three sons through the school. He treated me like a human being rather than a teacher and a deputy head, which is a rare thing, let me tell you, and I have met hundreds if not thousands of Dads in my thirty odd years of teaching. I wrote some words of condolences to his widow to that effect and she has invited me to give a brief eulogy at his funeral this coming Friday. I am now feeling nervous about doing so and I don't usually feel nervous performing these days. It must mean the event means something special to me.

I have spent some blogging time doing reviews on my sister page, "Bench Hamlet 2008", and will review both "Cherry Orchard" at Chichester and "Brassed Off" at Theatre Royal this week. At least I am keeping my theatre going at respectable levels.

I was delighted that Pompey won the Cup even if the manner of victory wasn't as conclusive as I had hoped. I was worried that when Kanu missed his first opportunity that that was going to be it. When he finally scored, I spent the next hour or so up to the final whistle with every muscle clenched in mental and emotional defence of the Pompey goal. I was physically exhausted by the end of the game. I didn't think we ever looked like scoring a second goal but there again I didn't think Cardiff looked like scoring either. The consolation is that it is all now history. The final itself will soon be forgotten and it is Pompey's name on the Cup. Europe next season!

I am thinking I will continue this season's idea of attending Pompey home games but when they are playing away (although what to do about European ties?) to support the Hawks here in Havant. I am still toying with the season ticket idea but want them to get a move on now with new training facilities and above all a new stadium.

2008-05-15T16:38:00.003+01:00

On my sister page, "Bench Hamlet 2008", I have just reviewed "Funny Girl" at the Minerva in Chichester. All I will say here is read the review but go and see the show!

This week I was sitting in the garden on Monday and Tuesday enjoying the warm sunshine and reading a book. I have read two novels in a fortnight so am on course for my new regime of reading a novel a week. This is one of the things I promised myself I would do once i retired and it has taken me 18 months to get myself organised enough to do so.

Anyway, there I was sitting in the garden in the sun and I thought of school. I promised my colleagues I would never cross the threshold under any circumstances when I left there in December 2006. I have been as good as my word except for the farewell assembly to my retiring ex head teacher.

As I sat there sipping my cold drink and pausing before the next exciting chapter, I allowed my thoughts to wonder what it was like back at school. The summer was always too hot for me indoors. I prefer being out of doors when it is hot and appreciate a nice cooling zephyr of a breeze. I am not an avid sun worshipper or sun bather, although I do like watching others doing it! I love summer clothing, or lack of it, but I digress...

What crossed my mind was a touch of regret for, of all things, PE and Games. I just to enjoy teaching gymnastics, folk dancing and the skills required for football, hockey and cricket. I especially enjoyed cricket in the summer and football in early autumn. I wouldn't want to teach in school and have never been tempted by supply teaching, even if the money is good.

I paused long enough to sharpen up some of my thinking as follows.

All this would require working closely with a particular teacher or team of teachers at an understanding school. I would come into school ready to do PE. I would get the equipment ready while the teacher and Learning Support Assistant got the class ready.
I would run the session according to a lesson plan, which I would supply the teacher and she would have agreed. The teacher, Learning Support Assistant and I would be involved in the lesson. The lesson would comprise of a warm up and cool down, skill circuits and small group experiences (this covers gymnastics, folk dance and outside games). The lesson plans would be numbered 1 to 6 and would be sequential, following any syllabus required by the school. During the session, the teacher would be invited to make comments or notes. At the end of the session, the teacher and Learning Support Assistant would take children back to class to change and to get on with next lesson.

Meanwhile I would clear away equipment and make my way to the staff room for refreshment. I would begin work there and then on the next session’s planning based on the experience of that day's session before going to the classroom. Quietly in a corner I would update records on class and individuals (this covers gymnastics, folk dance and outside games) probably by hand, but it could be done on computer or laptop. This would be left with teacher for data protection. The reason for doing it in class is to identify children correctly by asking teacher or Learning Support Assistant.
I would then leave and not return until the second session to repeat the same process.
I would arrive 15 minutes before time of session to set out equipment. Session would take 30, 45 or 60 minutes, depending on the timetable of the school and class. Refreshment and planning would take 15 minutes and recording 15 minutes. The whole experience would be 45 minutes either side of the session, so total time spent could be, depending on session planned, 75 minutes, 90 minutes or 105 minutes. This could be once or twice a week.

It sounded quite idyllic and I quite enjoyed thinking the ideas through. I especially enjoyed folk dancing because of the discipline and team work. It also lent itself to performances at assemblies and other school events. I wouldn't anticipate being paid for this work but would consider it as my voluntary contribution to the work of the school and the community. I am not sure I would do it for any school but might consider it as a Waitender.

I turned my attention back to my book, sipped once more on my chilled drink, sighed deeply and took up reading where I had left off.

Literary Festival Event

2008-04-21T17:04:00.003+01:00

This is an event being organised by the Havant Literary Festival Society, of which I am the treasurer. I have tickets and can be contacted directly or the tickets can be bought on the door. The event clashes with the third performance of "Bronte" at the Arts Centre so this is one way of reconciling the fact that I personally haven't sold sufficient tickets. Watch this space for news of other events designed to raise the profile of the Havant literary Festival in September 2008.

Me in my Pompey shirt

2008-04-19T19:07:00.003+01:00

Me and this shirt went up to the semi final at Wembley in April 2008. We are both hoping to be able to go to the final on May 17th.

London Visit

2008-04-15T12:20:00.004+01:00

The trip to London went well. Best Beloved and I realised this was one of very few occasions we had been up together alone. I have made solo trips in the past or we have made lots of trips with other people. However, this was the first time in a long time, we had travelled up to London together as a pair and by train. It was a good feeling and a good experience.

I bought a ticket for the Wednesday matinee of "Gods of Carnage" and am now looking forward to a return visit to the capital this week. The Best Beloved wants to get on with props making for her "Bronte" production so is allowing me to go up unaccompanied. I hope to write a 250 word (or thereabouts) review on my sister page, Bench Hamlet 2008, before the end of the week.

We visited the National Portrait Gallery to gaze at the portrait of the three Bronte sisters painted by their brother, Branwell. He eventually painted himself out and then the painting was lost. It was found about 80 years later in 1914 by the second wife of Rev Bell Nicholls folded up on top of a wardrobe. The painting has an almost medieval look and shows the limitation of Branwell's artistic technique, especially in a gallery surrounded by wonderful examples of contemporary Victorian portraiture. We spent some time in the Victorian galleries as this was the period of history I studied long ago. The great Whig and Tory statesmen beam down from the walls. sprinkled with the occasional radical or Liberal reformer.

We went downstairs to the contemporary portraits and the Camera Press Gallery. Camera Press is 61 years old, having started in 1947. Part of the exhibition is contemporaries who were born in 1947. I must admit that year was a particularly good vintage. I may no longer be fit for purpose and the old virility is not what it was, but I can be good company. Or at least I have often found myself to be so on my solo excursions or rambles - is that eccentricity or mental instability, I hear you ask?

The exhibition that really caught my eye was Underexposed, photographs of black actors by Franklyn Rodgers. This is several triptychs, which rotate through a sequence. Each photograph is beautifully and remarkably lit. Each photograph is accompanied by a comment from the actor or actress about their craft or art. The beauty of the photographs and the depth contained in the simple statements about acting contained everything I need in art and I could have watched the sequence through again and again. You can see what I mean if you visit http://www.4therecord.org.uk/index.aspx?pageid=41.

We found the Cockpit Theatre and a nearby little Italian restaurant. I have a little collection now of Italian restaurants in London; Da Mario's, Carluccio's, Da Paolo's. The Zonzo is not quite in the same class but it does sit exactly opposite the Paddington Green Police station, the most secure police station in the UK. Therefore the Zonzo is a quiet little establishment up near the Edgeware Road tube station on the Bakerloo line (north from the station) which I can recommend.

And so to the Showcase. We spotted the agents in the audience immediately. They were the ones with all the CVs gathered together in neat sheaves and organised in order of the pieces we were about to see. Fourteen duologues and one monologue were lined up taking in a couple of Pinters, a Marber, an Austen and a couple of film scenes, whose titles I recognised, such as "A Life Less Ordinary" and John Fowles' "The Collector". I have just realised that the two film scenes quoted contain a kidnapping and a young woman chained to a radiator. Am I revealing further examples of eccentricity or mental instability or peccadilloes? I love that last word but I had to look up its definition: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/peccadilloes.

Anyway the evening began and I realised that the choice of material revealed a theme of sex anyway. It isn't just me, you know? There was a parade of very pretty and attractive young women either interacting with men, such as the scene from Marber's "Closer" , or with other young women ,such as the scene from "Sense and Sensibility". Now don't get me wrong here - in most circumstances, I welcome an array of pretty women (see me yesterday at the Mad Dog registration day talking to 5' 4" air hostesses, young but head turningly good looking) - but after a while the appeal wears off. As an audience I need more and the scenes were brief and a lot of the acting didn't start until the scene was well underway and sometimes hadn't started when the scene had finished. I felt a bit of a Simon Cowell coming on and 45 years of non-professional theatre was weighing heavily upon my shoulders. Kat was appearing top of the bill in an excerpt from "Birthday Party". My parental nerves were being stretched and it was with almost a sense of relief that we arrived at her duologue. I know I am highly prejudiced but it was the best performance of the night. The performance and characterisation started offstage and it was Meg who appeared as the scene started. She wrung laughter and pathos from the part. The scene got audience reaction, which had been lacking earlier, and both Kat and Andrew also added the Pinter menace for good measure. I am proud of my girl, not just because she is my girl, but because she is an awesome actress. I watched her later in the week rehearsing the part of Charlotte Bronte with enormous integrity and emotion. The difference in roles was marked but she carries both off with real style and verve. Kat has the makings of a good professional actress, she is talented and has lots of technical ability, and I hope she is motivated enough to make a go of it in a very tough world.

It was certainly heartening to see one of the agents make a beeline for Kat in the bar afterwards and engage her in a very long conversation.

Over on my 'Bench Hamlet 2008' blog I review "Speed-the-Plow" and "God of Carnage" as mentioned above.

I am also a fully signed up member of the Mad Dog Casting Agency and met several interesting people (beside the 5' 4" air hostess) while we were all being filmed by a BBC3 camera crew. Hopefully job opportunities will now start to come my way - yyyyyayyyyy!

Showcase

2008-04-14T09:11:00.002+01:00

I was going to dazzle you with a photo of me in my new Pompey shirt but I couldn't find it when I wanted it. Mind you, after Pompey v Newcastle on Saturday, when we played like the away team and missed out on the chance of closing the gap on Everton, it may have been a psychological omission rather than a technical one.

I have finally succeeded in adding 2GB of memory chips to my computer rather than the measly 256MB it arrived with. Thank you, Trevor, for the advice, and thank you ,Crucial, for the chips and installation guide.

We are off to the Cockpit Theatre in NW8 today to see Kat perform in a showcase after her work with the London Actors' Workshop over the last three momnths or so. You can read snippets of her activities on her blog, Adventures in Blogland (see links to right). She has to be there from 1.00 p.m. so the Best Beloved thought we would make a day of it ourselves. We intend booking a matinee seat for "Gods of Carnage" this Wednesday. We are visiting the National Portrait Gallery to look at the Bronte family portrait, which has dominated our lives for the last few months (see Bench Hamlet 2008 in links for up to date news of the production). I had hoped to pick up Robert Holman's play, "Jonah and Otto", from the National Theatre Bookshop but may have to postpone that until Wednesday as the Best Beloved doesn't think we will have time to do it today. I suppose we will have to find somewhere to eat in NW8 so she could be right! She usually is but it doesn't make it any easier to take!

I was a bit glum on my last posting especially about the old school. Since then I have been able to have a conversation with an ex colleague and that has cheered me up enormously. She reassured me that I was still a "honorary Waitender" and that felt good to hear. You do get a feeling of dislocation at times in retirement, which is maybe why I have become a more fervent supporter (I am not sure that is possible but it helps my argument) of Pompey this season. I had expected to throw myself with greater fervour and effort into the Bench Theatre, but that hasn't materialised as I expected. I am working hard on trying to get John Sawtell elected as a LibDem councillor here in Bedhampton but feel a little ignorant as to the rules of engagement. I have lived in Bedhampton for an awful long time but it is only now that I could tell you which streets comprise Bedhampton and what issues beset the place. Being a Waitender for 21 years was time consuming and I knew more about the school and its catchment area than I did about the place where I live. It is a danger that all my ex colleagues should be wary of and that a private life (the desired work/life balance) is of the utmost importance as a person and as a professional. I am now looking forward to the evening meal being planned for the retiring headteacher and will probably behave disgracefully!

Advance, Australia

2008-04-10T14:23:00.002+01:00

Australia has increased the pressure on the UK to grant asylum to Iraqi interpreters who have worked with our forces by offering resettlement to those who have worked with Australian forces in Iraq.

The Australian government will grant permanent humanitarian visas to Iraqi citizens whose lives are in danger because of their work with Australian forces.

Why, oh why, can't we do the same? We owe these people a debt of honour and I would still like to believe that the English respect a debt of honour. I know we can be one of the most cynical nations on the planet but fair's fair.

Martina Hyde, in a recent Guardian article, was writing about Englishness, and our concept of nationhood. She quoted from a Second World War poster and I admit it caught my attention and interest. "Keep calm, and carry on."

It appeals to me because I have always believed in the sentiments of the "If" poem and have used them throughout my life as a sort of moral bearing.

"If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same:"

"If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build' em up with worn-out tools:"

"If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

"If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!"

Thank you, Rudyard Kipling.

Dubya

2008-04-10T14:14:00.002+01:00

President George W. Bush was told that chlamydia, which is a sexually transmitted disease, was on the rise.
He replied: "Sounds like a good investment"