So my last day of being......erm....45 that's it. I decided to go out with a bang, by spending a mundane day doing very little at all....Well...not quite. Firstly, we saw the return of Bobby Dazzler, with perhaps the rowdiest crowd yet. It is noticeable that of all the gigs we have done so far, the shabbier schools tend to have the rowdier crowds. I wonder why that is? Perhaps behaviour really is dictated largely by your surroundings? We do a lot of work on this with the kids at sessions, getting them to visualise their surroundings more. I think it works a treat. I am waiting to hear back from the copyright people to see if a project I am planning is possible. I want to do a stage version of a classic old story, but I think the copyright on the name might prevent me. I shall then have to write a slightly modified version in it's place, which will be a shame. It will be an affectionate tribute rather than a rip off. I will keep the blog updated with news. Tomorrow sees another performance of my play, and whilst the idea of tripping down the motorway to see it was quite appealling, there was a danger that is could spoil the birthday a little if we either missed it, or we didn't care for the performance. I shall be sending virtual break a leg messages westward at 2.30 though. The afternoon was spent receiving apologies from the Friday night group with regards their attendance tonight, and eldest has also been in bed all day with a lurgy bug of some sort. I approached the session with a hint of dread, but I needen't have worried as the people who did arrive were really focused and up for it. One of the better sessions. We are seriously looking at taking on an official government backed apprentice in the shape of the young lady who already works for us. The funding is pretty appalling, but I still think it will give us an opportunity. She also seems keen, so we will start setting that in motion. A bottle of wine to end the day. and a pretty early night all things considered.
Monday, 27 February 2012
Friday, 24 February 2012
Thursday 23rd February
A sleepy start to the day after last night, and the disappointment of receiving a rejection letter from RADA for eldest. She seems to have taken it very well, and we knew that it was a next to impossible school to get into, but all the same, I feel for her. It has struck me today that I am a year younger than I thought I was. This is very worrying, as I think I may have been telling people that I am 46, when in fact, that doesn't happen until this weekend. I had to double check, seriously. The joy of finding that I had a year in hand, was tempered very slightly by the fact that clearly my brain is not what it once was. I even looked it all up on an online birthdate calculator to double check...I have lived for nearly 17000 days....that is quite some achievement for me....no wonder I am knackered. In the evening, we did an after school club, a session, and I watched Question time. I felt like screaming at the idiots telling us that bankers bonuses could be justified, but young people on the workfare scheme should be happy to receive no pay from the likes of Tescos, as it was at least giving them some experience. The worrying thing is how few people seem to feel that this is unjustifiable nonsense.
Wednesday 22nd February
A frantic day today, with a start at the School. We got back into the groove, and managed to get some worthwhile stuff done, but i was in the classroom again for an hour which made everything a little difficult. Lots of work on this project next week! I got home and had time to do a little work before I had to dash off to After School club. Finished there, an then a quick dash to the shops to grab some tea, before we had to speed down the motorway to Stevenage to see eldest perform in Rock Challenge. This is a worldwide competition, in which schools get together and create choreographed routines. Most of the schools were Teacher led, but I was very proud to see my daughter's school being pupil led, with her at the helm. I'm a little biased, but I thought theres was excellent, and this was borne out with the five awards they received, and the overall third place, The whole event lasted for four hours, and we didn't get home much before midnight. I think she will hit the ground after the amount of work she has put in, but I hope she feels it was all worth it.
Thursday, 23 February 2012
Tuesday 21st February
Today I had a meeting with someone about the possibility of taking on an apprentice. It all seems to be rather exciting, but as is usual with any government initiative, it is rarely as good in the flesh. Financially though, we need to take this step to try to expand and to give me the opportunity to really go for it. I am a little scared by it all, but that is no bad thing. Whilst I doubt we will ever be rich, I suspect that the security of a slightly more successful business will help us all. The pressure of having a young person relying on us for work will help focus the mind even more I think. Exciting times. Youngest is off sick again, and so that provides a little distraction, but she seems to be ok.
Monday 20th February
Back to work and School and other such chores. I dashed off to the school only to find that there had been a date mix up, and that I wasn't required. This was a bonus for me, and I felt like sleeping! Eldest and Mrs Plug went to London as it was her first audition today at RADA. It all seemed to go really well, and now it is a case of keeping our fingers crossed. I think the whole weekend experience caught up with me in the end, and I felt a little lacklustre at work this evening. I must avoid this happening. I am, as happens quite regularly, quite concerned at my nocturnal nature again. I have yet to hear how my play was received in Bristol last week, and the internet is sadly lacking in information. It is a frustrating feeling.
Sunday 19th February
Awoken quite early by the sound of the little people, I accompanied Scott and his dog on a long country walk. The kids and the ladies were all off to the Swimming pool, and then we would all be back in time for Eldest's predicted late morning call for collection. Imagine my surprise when I received a call from her at nine ish, asking to come home now. Much rushing was done, and we secreted Scott and Bonny in the kitchen, whilst myself and eldest and Mrs Plug chatted in the lounge. Mrs Plug is rubbish at these events, and just acted weirdly in an event to throw eldest off the scent. The littles all arrived home, and tried (And failed) to sneak in around the back. As surprises go, I think we failed, but it was good for everyone to be there to celebrate nonetheless. The Thomases arrived a wee bit later, and a lovely day was had by all. Off to bed pretty early for me.
Saturday 18th February
A happy day at Plug Towers, with eldest reaching the age of 18. We spent the start of the day being pathetic and emotional, went off to work, then did lunch and then it was time to say goodbye and have a nice evening as she popped off to her friends to get ready for her party. It felt a bit odd, but I suppose that is how birthdays will work from now on. I really must stop getting maudlin over such things, it serves no purpose other than to make me sulk a little. We were then descended upon by the Curtis clan, who are over for eldest's surprise homecoming tomorrow. We spent the evening drinking an awful lot of wine, which was nice. It feels strange having an adult daughter now. I think I have begun to feel the passing of time again, which bearing in mind my impending birthday is really not unusual. I am so very proud of her, and she makes me happy. Spending much of your life feeling inadequate can mean that when you have a small hand in creating someone special, you at least feel like you have done something worthwhile with your life. As she leaves the nest over the next few months, I hope she soars as she deserves to do.
Friday 17th February
The girls all packed up and went to Stoke for the day to visit Granny and Gramps and to pick up some clay. I was left to my own devices, which mainly involved housework again. I got a visit from a friend, which knocked a large hole in the day, but that's fine...these things happen. Also got a call from Mr Pops who is coming to visit in a few weeks with Mrs Pops, which is fab (Though I suspect we may not be the main reason for the visit) :-) I leapt athletically into a cab and we had a pretty good rehearsal for the Screw Your Courage. We got home, drank wine, and prepared to welcome a new adult into our house tomorrow
Thursday 16th February
We approach the weekend with anticipation, and all the plans for the big 18th seem to be coming together. I know that eldest does not like being centre of attention, so it will be a little taxing for her. I hope she enjoys it. I managed to get my head around tonight's session, realising that we still have some way to go. The problem with any session in half term is that it gives us a problem with attendance, and therefore rehearsals are difficult. We ended up doing none of the play again, but the session was fun anyway, and after all, that is why we do it. We then hung around for the grown ups rehearsals int eh evening, and watched a little of that. I think they will all be fine, though I suspect there will be a little heartache along the way....you can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs as they say.
Wednesday 15th February
I spent most of today clearing up paperwork, and trying to get my head around the plans for the next few months. This involved FAR too much coffee again, and I fear that my general insomnia has now returned with a vengeance. After School club was not on today as it's half term, meaning that I could actually take a little bit of a deep breath, and try to get some planning done. The news is full of such desperate reports from Syria, and you simply have to despair at the lack of action to try to stop it from happening. I realise that we have spent billions on unjust wars recently, but the lack of action simply leads me to believe that it really IS all about oil.
Wednesday, 15 February 2012
Tuesday 14th February
Today was cut in half again due to the luxurious lie-in afforded to us by half term. However, mine was not as restful as it could have been what with the afternoon approaching. We did a free taster workshop at a new venue in North London....Borehamwood. The place of my childhood, and, a source for quite a few sad, melancholic memories. I had a session plan sorted out, but on the way there, felt quite emotional. In many ways, I want to go there and create something positive as a way of exorcising some of the ghosts of the past. Perhaps that all sounds like a load of psycho-babble, but it affects me quite deeply, and so I am determined to make this work. I must not. of course, let that get in the way of the financial side of the the business, and whilst I am not expecting to run a multi national corporation, the bills still need paying! The session was excellent, and we have the makings of a great group there. I just hope that we can make a go of it. I suspect it might be quite important for the future of the business, and as a means of wiping clean a very dirty slate.
Monday 13th February
Valentines day has come a day early for Mrs Plug. We never really celebrate it, because it is nonsense, but it worked within this context today. I received a message from Young Miss Pops to tell me that her and Mr Pops would be visiting that there London today, and so, we arranged to meet up for lunch. Neither Mrs Plug nor Mr Pops were aware of this meeting. I bought tickets for us to go and see the Grayson Perry exhibition at the British Museum, which I loved. I just wanted to hug him for his humanity, fragility and humour, and it was an hour that I will treasure. Mrs Plug had wanted to see it for ages, and I think she was pleased. We then took a walk to the Courtald Gallery in Somerset House, and looked at lots of Manet, Gaugin and Van Gough, all for nothing. The building was stunning, as were many of the paintings. We then headed to Covent Garden, found a pub near our lunchtime destination, and waited. It was a lovely surprise, for all concerned. We then headed to Belgo for a cheap but enjoyable lunch, and then took a wander, stopping off for a drink and then a coffee. All too soon the meeting was over and we said our goodbyes. It was lovely to see them both, I miss them. We then took the decision to extend our day, and went and bought tickets to see Graham Linehan's adaptation of The LadyKillers. It was excellent, with an incredible set. In fact at times I found myself looking at the set more than the action. However, it was a light, non challenging way to end a wonderful day. We had painful feet and calf muscles from all the walking we did, but we got home tired and happy
Sunday 12th February
We stayed in bed until lunchtime today. I have subscribed to Netflix for their trial period, and I have been quite impressed with how it all works. I will see how much use I get of it over the next month before I part with the regular £6.00 per month. I think there is a limit to how much of it I might enjoy, but we shall see. I particularly hate the social media sharing option. If I wanted to bore the pants off of my friends on facebook, I would write a tiresome and repetitive blog about my every day occurrences. Spotify does this as well. If we must have these options, can they not simply default to off, so that those of us important enough to warrant such cultural reconnaissance can turn the option to share on when we see fit. I do not want the world to watch my every move, and whilst there is an element of that on Twitter and Facebook, I wish this to remain under my control. I will see how tiresome it all gets as I continue. I watched Pulp Fiction using Netflix today, and whilst I have seen it several times, the novelty rarely fades. I adore the dialogue in this film, and the delivery of it is sublime.
Late afternoon saw me preparing a large roast dinner, and in the evening we watched the first Die Hard film together as a family....absolute rubbish, but it kind of works. Up early tomorrow for my mystery valentines day surprise.
Saturday 11th February
My latest play...well adaptation....is finished ready for my Saturday and Monday Groups after a late night of tweaking. All printed and ready to go, we handed it out today and the usual sense of relief that the words "The End" were typed was there for all to see. It was a good session this morning, and not a bad turn out considering it was half term. There is a real sense of half term about the place, and everyone is relaxed a bit, so you cannot help but be dragged into that state of mind. As a result, I did next to nothing for the rest of the day. I watched Spurs win 5-0 in the evening, and then.....horror of horrors, I had an early night....Yes...On a Saturday! This is very unusual. I just felt unhealthily tired and so I gave in.
Friday 10th February
My latest play...well adaptation....is finished ready for my Saturday and Monday Groups after a late night of tweaking. All printed and ready to go, we handed it out today and the usual sense of relief that the words "The End" were typed was there for all to see. It was a good session this morning, and not a bad turn out considering it was half term. There is a real sense of half term about the place, and everyone is relaxed a bit, so you cannot help but be dragged into that state of mind. As a result, I did next to nothing for the rest of the day. I watched Spurs win 5-0 in the evening, and then.....horror of horrors, I had an early night....Yes...On a Saturday! This is very unusual. I just felt unhealthily tired and so I gave in.
Thursday 9th February
Half term is nearly upon us and I am very much looking forward to Monday, in which I will surprise Mrs Plug with a day out. Well...She knows about the day out, but not what she is doing. I hope that I manage to keep it all secret for her. Today was pretty busy as usual, with after school club and then the evening session. but it all went pretty smoothly all things considered. I am beginning to wonder whether I will keep up the pace of the year, and have decided that delegation might be a useful tool to me this year. We look like we have a new team member who will be working on the periphary to a certain degree, but I think will be an asset to us in the long run. A new after school club will start next half term, and I will be having pretty much nothing to do with it, which is exciting, and slightly nerve wracking. I hope to have a day or two off next week to relax and recharge....lets see how that all works out for me.
Friday, 10 February 2012
Wednesday 8th February
Up early and off to Luton in a suit....it's almost like I have a real job. We were playing at two Schools today, one that was quite run down and shabby, and one that had received millions of pounds of refurbishment. The thing that I was perhaps most relived about was the manners and attitude of all of the pupils. We performed to hundreds of them today, and they were enthusiastic and polite and appreciative. Luton may have a reputation, but meeting that many young people has left me with a real sense of optimism. I'm hoping to do some work with some of them at a workshop in April. I had a couple of hours at home during lunchtime, in which invoicing and planning were done, and then when I got back, time for a quick cup of tea before I had to dash out to After School club. It was a great day actually, and my sense of tiredness was more than compensated for by the sense of a job well done today. I have started Hard Times by Dickens again....this will be my third attempt. I am still behind on the reading front this year, but I have high hopes that I might catch up.
Wednesday, 8 February 2012
Tuesday 7th February
Today was the first appearance of Bobby Dazzler this week, and it went very well indeed. I think I am getting used to it, and rather looking forward to performing twice tomorrow. It is a lot of fun, and I am able to ride the gentle teasing of the 200+ audiences as we go. I doubt I will ever get a more stern audience than that of a bunch of 16 year olds. We have had some sign ups for the project tough, which is why we are doing this, and I hope the whole thing is a success. Tomorrow should be fun. Some Amdram related phone calls this afternoon, followed by a committee meeting in the evening really finished off the day for me, and temperature seems to have dropped again. I shall be glad when Spring is here
Monday 6th February
I was supposed to be at the school project today, but had to phone in sick, which really pained me. I was in this instance completely drained though, and I think had I attempted to work I would have lasted about half an hour maximum. I spent the morning in bed, and then the afternoon on light paperwork duties, organising my new session in Borehamwood which starts next month. I am hoping that it is a success, as we could do with it, and there is scope for more sessions. I have also been asked to run another After School club, and will need to employ someone else to do it if we do go for it! This is all great. I managed to get fit enough to run the evening session, which went ok considering how I felt, but we had one or two missing. In the evening I watched Spurs drawing 0-0 at Anfield, and then nodded off. I am not very Rock and Roll right now.
Sunday 5th February
It snowed quite heavily last night, and so the world of social media will be full of snow references. I was tempted to be a grumpy old git, and post a generic picture of snow in order to attempt to prevent the rest of the world doing so, but decided against it, as I would get moaned at. If I'm quite honest, I hate snow, but like looking at pictures of it in a beautiful rural setting, so Facebook is quite good for that to see other peoples views of it. Personally, I wish nothing but warmth and an early melting. It does make you feel more alive when you are out in it though. We had a large roast dinner this afternoon, and I ate too much amd spent the evening feeling a little ill again. I had also had a few drinks. After going to bed, I found myself then spending the might being ill again, which wiped me out completely.
Saturday, 4 February 2012
Friday 3rd February
Up early this morning for the first gig of the 19 that I have coming up playing the game show host. We decided that my name was going to be Bobby Dazzler. I am so proud. I performed to well over 200 year 11's, which I might suggest is a much tougher audience than most you could expect. It was fun, and flew by. I hope the project is successful, as the team have worked really hard to bring it all together. At one point we had a slight technical failure, and the electronic voting system failed, so I just improvised my way through it, and got them to do a show of hands...What a pro! I spent the afternoon having a short break, and then off to work in the evening, for the first Screw Your Courage rehearsal without scripts. It went pretty well, and despite a few problems, I am rather looking forward to it. I have received no news from the States about performances of Stop the Clocks that are taking place, so I hope they are going well. It's an odd feeling. I spent the evening writing more of the younger groups script, and Act One of Two is now done and dusted. I will hopefully get it all finished in time for next week. A glass of wine, and a bit of Telly, and off to bed.
Thursday 2nd February
The winter freeze has kicked in, and whilst I am already sick of hearing about it on the news, the weather really is very cold. I think, as I have a sedentary job, this is the coldest I can remember it without snow. This is all set to change this weekend with the white stuff on the way. I have dug out my lycra gear, though I am aware that I must exercise caution whilst doing this should anyone catch a glimpse of me in it. This degree of attractiveness can be a dangerous thing. This is why it is restricted to undergarment use only. I even have to switch the heating on during the day as I cannot feel my fingers. After School club went well, as did the evening session, in which we did a trial run of my Game Show host performance before the job starts in earnest tomorrow. It all went well, and I think everyone was pleased. Myself and eldest then sped off to Harpenden to see Richard Herring. We saw him at this venue last year, and it was only about half full, but this time around, it was near to full. I am delighted for him, as he deserves a good audience, and he certainly got that tonight. It was an excellent, deeply funny and rather touching show, and I would recommend him to anyone. We stayed at the end, and got the Fist of Fun DVD set, and got it signed, and went home, cold, but very happy.
Thursday, 2 February 2012
Wednesday 1st February
So I have managed another month of blogging without even really thinking about it, a fact borne out by the rambling and random nature of it I suspect. I try to avoid political rants on here these days, and will continue to do so, but the latest Welfare cuts have made me cross. I of course, understand that there are people out there who fiddle the system....play the system...lie and cheat. This is not exactly in stark contrast to the people at the top of the tree though, and I cannot help but think that this is continual proof of ideological politics rather than an attempt to make the system fair. If the £26000 benefits cap is supposed to cover a family of four, then I want to know why an MP can claim around £20000 in living expenses for one person? Anyway....rant over....The iRig arrived, and I am pleased with it. I have used it to record vocals already, with a low end microphone and the quality id pretty good all things considered. It is compatible with Garageband as well, which means I don't even have to pay for their software if I do not want to. I might do anyway, as it looks pretty good, but I will wait for that. The quality is more than good enough to produce the backing tracks required for the musical projects I have in mind, which means that it is money well spent. We got another workshop or two lined up, this time for adults. Not sure how that will pan out, but all good for the future! We sat down in the evening and I put on the first episode of The Walking Dead, an HBO series about Zombies. I was rather enjoying it, but Mrs Plug had to ask for it to be turned off as she couldn't cope with it anymore. Her whole body had gone tense! I think the idea of having a dangerous shambling half dead person wandering the place was too close to home for her. I now have iTunes and I went to bed, leaving the laptop chugging through my collection. When I come down in the morning I should have a large and lovely online music library. That's the theory. This IS iTunes though, so we shall see.
Wednesday, 1 February 2012
Tuesday 31st January
It was good to have a day with no appointments or meetings, and I made sure that the whole day was not entirely wasted. I got some more music recording done, but realised that I need to have a small upgrade in my equipment. I have purchased something called an iRig, which gives me the ability to use an external mic or Guitar or Bass straight into the iPad or iPhone and then run effects over these inputs. Whilst it is not quite studio quality, I am hoping that it is sufficient to be able to record stuff for shows that are being written. I still harbour desires to write musicals, and this will help me. Couple with my digital four track recorder, I am really pleased with the set up I will now have. That's if it all works of course. I can also then release my long awaited debut solo album for all of my dedicated fans to listen to. I continued with a little housekeeping today, and have started to get all my contacts and filing in order. It is a long job, but one which will pay dividends in the long run.
Monday 30th January
Back to School today, and felt a little more organised today. The play is coming along really well, and the music that they have done is rather lovely. I played on Garageband yesterday and managed to produce a version of it that I want the kids to speak over. We are going to get them to record their voices reading out some war poems over the top of it. It's really exciting actually. I have my first acting performance this Friday, and we are still making last minute changes to the script. I'm sure it will all work out fine, but I am still a little apprehensive, which I think is natural. I am investigating the idea of getting iTunes match, though my major problem with it is the fact that I have to use iTunes. Basically for £22 a year, you can gain access to your whole music collection (up to 25000) files from the cloud on up to 10 devices. It will match your collection and upgrade the quality if needed. These can then be streamed over the web, or downloaded for when you have no web access. All sounds rather excellent, so I am rather tempted. Evening session was pretty good considering we were both feeling rough, and I think we were buoyed by the attendance of a new parent, who seemed very impressed. Fingers crossed we have another new customer. We have also been approached to do some more workshops in Easter, so the calendar is looking scarily full.
Sunday 29th January
I am still feeling a little under the weather, and this was reflected in the fact that I managed to do pretty much nothing all day other than cook too much food for everyone. I cooked chinese today, and I have realised why I overcook when making Chinese food. When we buy a takeaway we tend to go for variety on small amounts, and have a little bit of everything. Well I try to cook the same, but I cook large portions of everything. Anyway, it went down as well as can be expected for a family all suffering from lurgy. I managed to spend some time watching the football and reading the papers, and generally feeling a little morose. When I was younger I used to enjoy the winter, but for all sorts of reasons, I could really do without it now. For once in my life, the idea of living in hotter climes appeals.
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