We have three entries in this year’s County Drama Festival, so our house is a deluge of Theatrical ephemera and suchlike. The photos uploaded earlier show what our weekend has done to our Dining room, which is the technical area. Luke and ourselves have spent many hours going through and plotting the shows already. The office is now a set design area J We start later today with a technical rehearsal at the venue, and then we open up the festival with two performances on Tuesday and then the last one of Friday before prize giving on Saturday night. It’s a great week usually, and with 17 entries this year, competition will be high, but as long as our lot all get some experience, then things will be fine J
Sunday, 25 April 2010
Friday, 23 April 2010
Busy times
I have spent the first part of the last week suffering with the toothache and slowly turning into John Merrick. As of this morning, I am one tooth (Well...three roots) down on the deal, and sucking tea through a straw feeling rather special. The second part of the week has been dominated by the old Arts project that never stops delivering stress and bad tidings. Perhaps that the people in question have not a jot of art in their souls makes the project even more difficult? However, I knew this from that start, and it will always be the case. It all appears to be coming to a head, which really leaves me feeling a little cold. I spoke to a dear lady who is involved in the project, if only on the periphery last night. We spoke till quite late on all the events and nonsense surrounding the whole thing, and it was heartening to hear that she could appreciate quite what we had to put up with throughout the whole sorry project. However, what hit home was quite how it had affected me, and how upset and let down I was feeling. I think maybe the fact that I have three productions happening next week, and I am on a course of two lots of very strong antibiotics has not helped my frame of mind. I had resolved by this morning to ensure that I will not be in this position by Christmas. I have so much to look forward to, and I will not let it be affected by the mischief makings of people whose charm is matched only by their own good looks and intelligence.
On a more positive note, I have received my reading list for the next year's studies. Between now and next May, I shall spend my time reading this list, and hopefully managing one or two of the books on there. Flippant though this may seem, it would appear that much of the casual, fun reading that I might have been looking forward to will be delayed in favour of Shakespeare and Naturalism, in particular Russian Theatre. Doesn't sound very exciting does it? Well I am quite excited by it. The reading list is quite wide and varied, and one of my favourite aspects is the hunting down second hand bargains on the list through Amazon and Abe Books and Ebay et al. I have managed to get all of the titles from the essential reading list for about £60, which gives me a sense of immense satisfaction. Mrs Plug on the other hand will not be so delighted when she sees how many more books we are going to have to accommodate in our new mansion. There is something peculiarly exciting about receiving books through the post...I think it might be a minor fetish. As some of them are play scripts, it also means that I can sit and read them in one sitting in most cases. Today, a play called "Strife" by John Galsworthy has hit the doormat...I know very little about it, and shall spend a hopefully pleasant few hours later in its company.
Tuesday, 20 April 2010
Bloody Teeth
I have, for many years, suffered with all sorts of problems with my teeth. It dates back to a butcher who used to pass himself off as a Dentist who cared for me as a child. He advised that I had a fluoride deficiency, when I was actually suffering from awful tooth decay. As a result, from about the age of 18 onwards, my teeth have been crumbling and breaking like a coastal footpath. I have been blighted with abscesses and nagging toothache for all that time. About three weeks ago, I started to get an even more painful one. Now the last time I went to the Dentist I was quoted about £4000 to get them sorted, which was quite out of the question. Apparently this has changed now, and the combination of this and the total agony I was in led me to getting an emergency appointment yesterday. My face had started to swell up quite badly. I now have two courses of antibiotics and an extraction planned for Friday. However I have this morning woken up to even worse swelling. There is more than a hint of Mr Merrick about me (More than usual before any smart ass mentions it). It really is SO tiresome, and painful, and has made me unutterably miserable. I am supposed to be running sound for the amdram group rehearsal this evening, but not sure I can cope with the pain, and the humiliation.
Miserable from Flitwick
~
Monday, 19 April 2010
Back to life, back to reality....
Well good morning readers. No, not sure why I started like that either. Life over the last month or two has been a bit of a blur, what with moving, and all that. However, I think this is the week where we get back to a little bit of reality and start getting a routine together. I still have eldest for today, and youngest for today and tomorrow, but Mrs Plug has returned to work today. Today, I will be printing scripts and burning CDs in readiness for our first session back after Easter, and I am quite looking forward to seeing everyone. I also need to make a few formatting changes to my script before the final draft is accepted and put out in readiness for the world to ignore completely. The last week has been so much fun. Finally making myself sit down and finish the play and then getting a publisher's agreement within a week. It's all been a really big confidence boost.
I now have to focus on the three festival entries we have this year. One of the cast have just pulled out with only a fortnight to go, and this means that I will have to step in and replace her. It's really very frustrating, but one of the perils of working with younger people. Once all that is done, I will hopefully have an hour or so for myself later :-)
Saturday, 17 April 2010
Friday, 16 April 2010
The first feedback on the play
Well I have received much feedback already for the play. One or two select friends have expressed nice things, which is great, as I really value their opinions. I also paid for a professional written assessment which arrived yesterday, and I was absolutely delighted with the results of this. Basically, for the style of play, he said he was not expecting to enjoy it as much as he did, and on accasions laughed out loud. There were some really good suggestions, and corrections, but the report was really very positive overall, to the extent that I have made the corrections and amanedments and submitted it for consideration for publishing....I sit hovering over the inbox....
Tuesday, 13 April 2010
The Play's the thing
Yesterday was a special day in that I finally finished writing my first play. It is called "Urban Hymns", and I have submitted it to the Bush Theatre for consideration. I have no real high hopes for it, but I am very pleased with it nonetheless. Fortunately I have been able to use one of my groups as a bunch of Guinea Pigs for the play, and to a certain extent, they have helped me to edit it. The play is available from www.bushgreen.org in it's first draft format. I will be getting covers designed and trying to get it published in the near future, though at the very least it will be available through the business on a self publishing basis. On to the next one now!
Sunday, 11 April 2010
Pain, Easter, and all that Jazz
Well the move has all calmed down, and we are, just about, settled. Of course, as this is the Easter Holidays, there is no such thing as a routine yet, but we are at least feeling like we have a home. I have been plagued with toothache again for the first time in ages, and I am on the brink of visiting a dentist to be told that I need dentures etc, but I persevere. We have been furniture shopping, and found a wonderful place called Emmaus, which is a charity that takes furniture etc and reconditions it for sale, and is staffed by homeless people...so many bargains to be had, and a sense of wellbeing as well :-) We have also visited the Antiques emporium, ans generally had fun hunting out the odd bargain.
Spurs got knocked out of the Cup semi final today by Portsmouth, so I am livid.
Monday, 5 April 2010
Bank Holiday Musings
A Bank Holiday Monday can sometimes be a miserable experience, what with work approaching the next day, but as these are a couple of workshops, then we can rely on them to be fairly stress free. The girls have hopped off shopping for the afternoon on the train, which is a massive plus point on the new location. Mrs Plug is currently in the Cellar, and I shall consider letting her out for good behaviour later. I am preparing for workshops, and readying myself for the first roast dinner of Badham Towers.
I cannot blog today without mentioning Dr Who, which was excellent in virtually all areas. I loved the humour, I loved the reverence to tradition, I loved the new Doctor and Assistant, and the writing was a marked improvement. It feels like everything is right again. I genuinely get a little tingle when I think of next week’s episode.
We are currently toying with the idea of renting office/Studio space. This is not so much because Badham Towers has anything other than ample space, but more that we are thinking it might work even better for us in the long run. If we are to hire someone to work for us, then we will need somewhere better than the house to be honest, so we will be looking into it. I may well have to start a new session to be able to afford it, but that is fine, we have the capacity and the people.
Saturday, 3 April 2010
Easter fun
Well we reach another bank holiday weekend, and the house is beginning to look more like a home. Mrs Plug has been craving a day or two without work so that she can contribute, and the box emptying is nearly complete as a result. I am starting to settle into life in my new office space, and I rather like it. It’s a bit of a cold house, but that is to be expected in a house of this age, and with the aid of a little draught exclusion I think it will be fine. The creative juices are starting to flow a little, and I am looking forward to getting a serious bit of writing done in the next few weeks. We are off work for the Easter break, but there are a few workshops to do first for the old Parish Council. I never know quite what to expect with these workshops as you never know what kids you are going to get, but we will be hoping for a few new recruits whilst we do them.
I sit here today as an expectant excited child. Today is the first of the new episodes of Dr Who with Matt Smith as the new Doctor. There is something so special about this programme to me, and it is the one thing above all others that transports me back to the feelings I used to have as a child. Is there anything to get the blood up quite as much as that opening theme music...? I think not. All the reports are that he is going to be a fantastic Doctor, with a little bit of insanity thrown in. A cross between David Tennant and Tom Baker if you like. I am genuinely ridiculously excited about it, which is probably quite pathetic, but I really care not a jot.
I am very much looking forward to Thursday as we are being reconnected to the real world, and will no longer have to rely on iPhone tethering or small portable ariels. I will be able to revel in the joys of Sky again, and generally feel like a grown up. Downloads will be easier again, and I will not have to wait for half an hour to download an album. I how it has taken me back. I remember downloading my first MP3 file, it took about 20 minutes. It was Windowlicker by Aphex Twin....Quite what made me choose that I will never know, but it has always stuck in my memory . Any Road up...I shall be off for a coffee, some sunshine and some Adrian Sherwood to perk up my spirits.
Thursday, 1 April 2010
Halifax Bank
So we needed to send a large sum of money (£4000) from our account to someone elses. We logged on to the account, and tried to do this. We were advised that this would take four or five days. We wanted to ensure payment was quicker than that, so we phoned them. At this point we were asked for a password for the account. We never set up a password, so we advised them of this, and said that we would happily go through any other security. We were transferred to the security department, who then took us through a further set of questions, were we were more than capable of answering all sorts of questions about the account activity etc. The final question was “What is your password”. Again, we advised that we never had one, and that this was the reason for the call. The gentleman then said that he couldn’t help without the password. Mrs Plug mentioned the amount of money in the account, at which point the gentleman at the bank advised us not to give him any more details. The call was terminated when he advised us to go to a branch with id. We then decided to log back on to the account online, at which point we realised that he had suspended the account for 24 hours. During this 24 hours, the bank will phone us. However, they have our old phone number which is now dead, we do not have a new landline yet, and they will not accept a mobile, and even if they did, we need the password that doesn’t exist. In order to get this set up we need to wait for a letter, which will need to be sent to our old address and redirected to our new address. On doing that, we will then need to phone up and rearrange things. Mrs Plug will, this afternoon, be paying a visit to the branch with ID, and I assume a stern manner. I dislike the Halifax bank, and once this is sorted out, I shall be closing all of our accounts with them, assuming of course that I do not need a password to do this.
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