I (re)discovered last night, courtesy of the intriguing book Debs at War, that during World War 2 it was common for the daughters of the British upper classes to join the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry. Commonly known by its acronym, FANY.

I think play needs to be made of this fact.

Among the many good features of terpsichore1980's New Year party was the first full read-through of (the current draft of) the Forties play, which I think I'm going to call Birdshot! for now. Some interesting things were discovered, and some good ideas were suggested.

• At least some of the jokes are actually funny - this was something of a relief to me.
• Someone ( ( Read more... )

There haven't been any updates on the Forties play for far too long. I have been working on it, but various computer problems have prevented me uploading any more recent drafts. Anyway, here's what I've got so far. It's about twice as long as the last posted draft, has more characters, and incorporates some of your excellent suggestions.

Script ( Read more... )

I flashed five balls today, which is to say that I threw five balls up in the air, one after the other, and caught them all before they hit the floor.

It's a lot harder than it sounds ( Read more... )

OK, tickets booked. I'll be arriving in Cambridge at 1608 on Saturday, and leaving at 1700 on Sunday. Do you think there's any chance that we could have the Varsity Match before I have to leave? Cos, y'know, I do live in Glasgow and all, and I will be getting back at midnight as it is...

Friday: homological algebra lecture. Think I might be starting to get it now. To QM, to help out with the People and Planet shaving-heads-for-Children-in-Need thing. My role was money-collector and clipper-use consultant. Despite the promised 9pm start, we actually started nearer 11, and finished way way late. Home, sleep ( Read more... )

Right, that's my train booked for Cambridge. I'll be arriving at some time after 4pm on the Saturday, and leaving shortly after 9 on the Monday. I'd love to stay for longer, but I have Stuff To Do in the Weej which makes those times about the best I can do. Well, I suppose I could technically have got an overnight train down on the Friday night, ( Read more... )

So, the Edinburgh Fringe is over for another year. Yesterday, wormwood_pearl and I returned to the Weej, to discover a fridge full of curdled milk, a dead chilli plant, and a big stack of unpaid bills. It's good to be home ( Read more... )

Well, I survived the inspection, with only minor criticisms being levelled. In spite of the stress of the cleaning (which did take an entire week, though I didn't get much done on Wednesday or Thursday), it was nice to see my parents again. We went out for several nice meals, went for a walk by Loch Lomond (not as long as the ones I've been doing ( Read more... )

For the fourth year running, I will be appearing in Two Shades of Blue's Edinburgh Fringe Show. This year we're doing a serious piece about Man's fundamental loneliness and the emptiness of an uncaring Universe called Paradox: Set Phasers to Pun. The character is apparently 'your typical Manly "oh look it's an alien, I shall have to remove my shirt ( Read more... )