Trying to catch up......
........after the last couple of very busy weeks I was hoping to catch up with everything, particularly as I "home alone" on account of london1967 being away in Italy visiting family. LJ was one of the main things on my list, but guess what, it's still "to do", I don't know where the time has gone, and I never seemed to have stopped ! I've also got a bit of a hey-fever/chill thing going on that seems to have mainly been a throat thing, barking and clogging up have caused some very disturbed night's sleep, so I've been up quite early (for me!) each morning to start on stuff, apart from today.
Friday evening I caught up with a very old friend who, it seems, I haven't met up with for at least 18 months ! ....at least FB keeps us in touch but I'm amazed it's that long.... he only lives in north London ! Then Saturday, after food shopping, as it was the only day forecast to be dry, I spent all afternoon tidying the front and side gardens, planting out some summer-bedding plants and generally trying to deal with mess left by cats, snails, slugs and aphids..... and laundry was happening too. Yesterday was very dull weather-wise and I caught up with, at least some, of my outstanding chores for the residents' association etc, but not nearly enough. The rain arrived and was very heavy, I don't think it stopped at all in the night and is pretty much non-stop today....at least we've escaped flooding so far.....there's plenty of it around the country, particularly Wales.
I "gave up" on Desperate Housewives quite a while ago, at least a season and a half I think, though Franco has been watching it, but succumbed to watching the very last episode last night....it was sweet, and really quite touching and very different from the weirdly fascinating programme I ended watching the hour before. Reviewed today in the Guardian:-
TV review: Nina Conti - A Ventriloquist's Story
‘Putting a new hand into a dead artform’ … Nina Conti and her puppets.
"That's an awkward title, isn't it? Nina Conti - A Ventriloquist's Story: Her Master's Voice (BBC4, Sunday). Too long, too many parts to it, very hard to include in any sentence. In some ways it's an awkward film, too. And self-indulgent, luvvie-duvvie, rambling, a bit weird. It's also - also weirdly - touching, brave, honest, imaginative, self-aware, hilarious.
Conti became a ventriloquist after her mentor and lover, Ken Campbell, the maverick theatre person and "truffle pig for other people's talents", snorted out this old-fashioned and unfashionable stagecraft for her. It could have been worse, I suppose; she could have got juggling. When Campbell died, he left Conti his collection of dolls (including one of him). She's been doing it for 10 years, and is now having doubts about whether to continue or not.
Thing is, even though it may be unfashionable (she's right, you do groan when you find out someone is a ventriloquist), she is brilliant at it. Not technically, perhaps - most of her characters seem to have the same voice, the voice of a person with a rictus grin. But she pours herself into them, especially her monkey, and lays herself bare. She messes about with roles - she's the monkey, we're the monkey; she's talking to him, to us, to Campbell, to (mainly) herself. The books and the teach-yourself-ventriloquism kit Campbell gave Conti to get her started have been torn up. She's put a new hand into a dead artform, given it a new voice, made it much less groansome, and much funnier.
But now she's going on a journey, possibly a final one, with her odd little collection of friends in her suitcase, ready to have a hand - and an alter ego - stuffed up them. Except Campbell, who remains silent. They're off to the World Ventriloquism Convention in Kentucky, at an eerie place called Vent Haven, where puppets are laid to rest.
It's a pilgrimage of sorts. And a requiem - to Campbell, to the other puppets perhaps, to an aborted child (oh yes, it's dark, too). It's an adventure, a journey of discovery. The discovery of a bunch of weirdos who say things to and through their dolls that they probably wouldn't say otherwise (ventriloquism really seems to be a kind of therapy). It's a journey of self-discovery too, of course, for Conti. And it's lovely, easily the TV highlight of the weekend."
---o0o---
And just to finish off this post, a couple of Victoria sponge cakes that I made very recently, one lemon, the other raspberry and vanilla, and a couple of roses in the garden.....I'm not sure why I keep feeling compelled to photograph them all the time......... I should get out more !! LOL
Guns Cakes & Roses !
Friday evening I caught up with a very old friend who, it seems, I haven't met up with for at least 18 months ! ....at least FB keeps us in touch but I'm amazed it's that long.... he only lives in north London ! Then Saturday, after food shopping, as it was the only day forecast to be dry, I spent all afternoon tidying the front and side gardens, planting out some summer-bedding plants and generally trying to deal with mess left by cats, snails, slugs and aphids..... and laundry was happening too. Yesterday was very dull weather-wise and I caught up with, at least some, of my outstanding chores for the residents' association etc, but not nearly enough. The rain arrived and was very heavy, I don't think it stopped at all in the night and is pretty much non-stop today....at least we've escaped flooding so far.....there's plenty of it around the country, particularly Wales.
I "gave up" on Desperate Housewives quite a while ago, at least a season and a half I think, though Franco has been watching it, but succumbed to watching the very last episode last night....it was sweet, and really quite touching and very different from the weirdly fascinating programme I ended watching the hour before. Reviewed today in the Guardian:-
TV review: Nina Conti - A Ventriloquist's Story
‘Putting a new hand into a dead artform’ … Nina Conti and her puppets.
"That's an awkward title, isn't it? Nina Conti - A Ventriloquist's Story: Her Master's Voice (BBC4, Sunday). Too long, too many parts to it, very hard to include in any sentence. In some ways it's an awkward film, too. And self-indulgent, luvvie-duvvie, rambling, a bit weird. It's also - also weirdly - touching, brave, honest, imaginative, self-aware, hilarious.
Conti became a ventriloquist after her mentor and lover, Ken Campbell, the maverick theatre person and "truffle pig for other people's talents", snorted out this old-fashioned and unfashionable stagecraft for her. It could have been worse, I suppose; she could have got juggling. When Campbell died, he left Conti his collection of dolls (including one of him). She's been doing it for 10 years, and is now having doubts about whether to continue or not.
Thing is, even though it may be unfashionable (she's right, you do groan when you find out someone is a ventriloquist), she is brilliant at it. Not technically, perhaps - most of her characters seem to have the same voice, the voice of a person with a rictus grin. But she pours herself into them, especially her monkey, and lays herself bare. She messes about with roles - she's the monkey, we're the monkey; she's talking to him, to us, to Campbell, to (mainly) herself. The books and the teach-yourself-ventriloquism kit Campbell gave Conti to get her started have been torn up. She's put a new hand into a dead artform, given it a new voice, made it much less groansome, and much funnier.
But now she's going on a journey, possibly a final one, with her odd little collection of friends in her suitcase, ready to have a hand - and an alter ego - stuffed up them. Except Campbell, who remains silent. They're off to the World Ventriloquism Convention in Kentucky, at an eerie place called Vent Haven, where puppets are laid to rest.
It's a pilgrimage of sorts. And a requiem - to Campbell, to the other puppets perhaps, to an aborted child (oh yes, it's dark, too). It's an adventure, a journey of discovery. The discovery of a bunch of weirdos who say things to and through their dolls that they probably wouldn't say otherwise (ventriloquism really seems to be a kind of therapy). It's a journey of self-discovery too, of course, for Conti. And it's lovely, easily the TV highlight of the weekend."
---o0o---
And just to finish off this post, a couple of Victoria sponge cakes that I made very recently, one lemon, the other raspberry and vanilla, and a couple of roses in the garden.....I'm not sure why I keep feeling compelled to photograph them all the time......... I should get out more !! LOL
Guns Cakes & Roses !