Oh, What A Beautiful Morning!

Sunday. 5.25 p.m. Did you notice that many of the titles for my posts are taken from those of songs in musicals? This one comes from the opening number of the Rodgers and Hammerstein show, 'Oklahoma!' 

I bought The Sunday Times this morning. I went to Tesco Metro in Oldbrook Boulevard. I haven't had any Sunday papers for I don't know how long, well, at least in the traditional, print form. I have a digital subscription to The Daily Telegraph, so I can read it on their website and on the app on my iPad. I was shocked that The Sunday Times now costs £3.50, which shows how long ago I had it when it was probably less than £1, but maybe £2. 

There's an article which interested me, about the boom in television and filmmaking in the United Kingdom, and how there is a desperate need for more studio space because most of what's available, at, say Pinewood or Shepperton, is already booked solid by the likes of Disney and Netflix. The Hollywood studios seem to prefer to make their blockbusters, such as 'Star Wars' and 'Mission Impossible' in this country because we have some of the best facilities as well as the personnel to make them and also companies based here who create the special effects, provide the costumes, set-building, makeup and a whole host of associated creative material.

The Edinburgh Festival has just started. I am totally amazed that theatre companies, who appear there, now have to give a warning about anything that might offend audiences. How crazy is that? Are people so pathetic that they have to be warned if there's any mention of anything sexual, outrageous political matters, anything about gender, Britain's past, such as our empire, slavery, nationality or whatever? It seems people can become 'outrage about more or less anything. Also, there's an article in the 'Culture' section of The Sunday Times about Terry Gilliam, who happens to be one of my favourite film directors. He was the animator, as part of the 'Monty Python' comedy group.  I love the films he has directed, such as 'The Time Bandits', 'Brazil' and 'Baron Munchausen.' He was scheduled to direct a production of Stephen Sondheim's musical 'Into The Woods' at the Old Vic, but, due to his views on transgender and the     #met oo campaign, staff didn't want to work with him, so he has been 'cancelled.' It seems you can't have an opinion about anything unless it's someone else's opinion. He has taken the entire production to a theatre in Bath, where it is about to open. I am so hoping that this production might go on tour and come close to Milton Keynes, probably not to Milton Keynes Theatre, but possibly to the Royal Theatre in Northampton or the Oxford Playhouse.

Monday. 2.10 p.m. I have been experimenting with the animation app I bought from the Apple app store. I have spent around an hour this morning playing around with the set-up, using the piece of card I got in Hobbycraft the other morning and using the Rode device to clamp my iPhone to because you need to have your camera or phone steady before you can even think of any form of animation. I have now done a very short piece which runs for a mere 19 seconds, of a group of bits of Plasticine, and I'm rather pleased with the result. Now I will have to devise something a bit more imaginative and give that a go.

Disappointments and Frustrations

Sunday. 5.55 p.m. Yesterday the men's breakfast group met at the  Harvester  Fountain inn in Loughton. It's just off Watling Street and just along the road from where Carol and I lived when we were first married, in Crownhill. 

Just a matter of interest. It intrigues me that Loughton is pronounced as it sounds (Low-ton) while Woughton-On-The-Green, the next village going out of Milton Keynes (both being villages now swallowed up by the new town of Milton Keynes), is pronounced Woof-ton. Just makes things difficult for anyone new to the area. Probably one of the quirks of the English language. Try explaining that to an American, or any other foreign visitor!

Thursday. 7.25 p.m. I haven't been keeping up with things in these blog posts. On Thursday I drove to Camphill with the hope of meeting the drama workshop guys and the new drama team. I went to the office and was told that I could do my Disclosure online. But then when I got home I had an email from Camphill to say that there had been another change of plan. Due to the disruption of the pantomime which is being performed in the Chrysalis Theatre over the Christmas period, I would not be able to meet the team, so I will have to arrange another day to visit and do a taster day (which is what I did originally when I first went to Camphill as a volunteer in around April 2019.) After that, I can do the disclosure and hopefully get back to working in the drama workshop.

I had an email on Wednesday morning saying that I had been 'put forward' for walk-on work at Pinewood Studios on a Disney production. No name or anything much. I needed to upload several photos to the Pop website, the casting site. I got Barbara to take these shots on my iPhone and then managed to upload them successfully. I would have to go to Pinewood on Friday for a costume fitting and the filming day would be on Monday. As usual, a wait to get a response, and then today I got another email telling me I had been released (i.e.; not selected.) Ho Hum! It was what I expected, but one always hopes one will eventually get selected. Just one day on something or other would be great. Such is life!

Saturday. 11.35 p.m. I have been interested in something called 'Portal,' which has been created by Facebook. It's a technology that allows you to video chat with people, your family, friends, and others by using a screen with a camera attached. OK, you can do all this on your PC or laptop and I have used Zoom during the various lockdowns we've had during the past eighteen months or more, especially for church meetings and bits of market research I have done.  It is connected to Facebook live video. Except I wouldn't want to have another gadget as I already have enough gadgets. I had imagined it would be great to be able to video chat through my television set if I was able to have a camera attached to my set so that I could use Zoom or other similar video conferencing software on my MacBook and that connected somehow to my television set.  The only problem with Zoom on a laptop is that staring at a small screen and then the tiny postage stamp-sized images of the other people in the meeting can be quite a strain. So, what amazement was it to find that Facebook had released such a piece of technology and called Portal TV? Zoom will work on it and as it's on a large television screen it would be far more comfortable to use looking at a larger image. Not only that, but you can video call family and friends using this technology. Then I found that this gadget was going to be available at half price for Black Friday. (Why does Black Friday last for several weeks? Not just one particular Friday? And could someone explain why it's Black? No, please, don't. I don't want to get into such a discussion on here. . . ) I could buy one at this low price via BT. Which is what I did. Paid for, and it would be delivered by Mailforce, part of Royal Mail. Simple. Or so I imagined. It wasn't the ordering that was difficult. Just the delivering. The thing was ordered on Wednesday, and it was scheduled to be delivered on Friday, between around 12.30-1.30 p.m. Which I learned via email and text message.

I waited in expectation of the delivery of the parcel. At around 12.30 I got a buzz on the intercom from the front door of Dexter House to say the aforementioned parcel had been delivered but to the wrong address.     Not my flat number, but the house opposite. This is constantly being a problem. The gentleman from the house opposite had a card with my address on it, and it said I could collect my parcel after 24 hours! Looking at the card it had my correct address, so why didn't the delivery driver merely turn round and see that Dexter House was opposite? Well, it was merely a matter of reading the address correctly. No real excuse. So, I was annoyed that I would have to wait a full 24 hours before I could collect the parcel.

The next day I drove into the Centre MK to meet up with my friend Nick who came to Milton Keynes on a bus from Northampton. I intended to park in the Secklow car park next to The Point and normally have no issues using the RingGo app on my phone. But for some reason, it would not work because you have to put in more identity before you pay. So it was fortunate I had sufficient coins in my jacket pocket to put in one of the ticket machines. Yet another of life's frustrations. When technology works, it's fine, but when it doesn't or is changed for whatever reason, it can be annoying.

Having met up with Nick I then drove to the mail delivery office in Brinklow. I have had to collect several parcels from here, so I was hoping that I could pick up the parcel and then return to my flat to set up the Portal TV on my television set. But no. Having taken the card which was left when the drive was going to deliver the parcel to the wrong house, I then learnt that I would need to collect the parcel fro the Parcelforce unit in Tongwell. So I got back in the car and drove across Milton Keynes to Tongwell, to just opposite Willen village. But, lo and behold! I was told by the rather disinterested girl on the reception desk that my parcel was at the Post Office in the centre of Milton Keynes! This was beginning to get somewhat repetitive. Why on earth wasn't I given this information in the first place?  I could easily have collected it when I was with Nick earlier in the day. Another car journey into the centre. But where to park? I had no change on me, thanks to having to use the payment machine in the Secklow car park when the RingGo app didn't work as it should, so I drove around aimlessly hoping there might be a free spot to park whilst I went into the Post Office to collect the parcel. No luck! Then I found myself driving into the newly-opened multi-storey car park next to John Lewis. There was no alternative but to drive in and park. I first had to negotiate the barrier, having to put my debit card into the machine. I later found that I should have taken a ticket from the machine and once I'd collected the parcel I then realized I had to put this ticket (which I didn't have.) in one of the payment machines to then pay with my card. Oh, what an adventure the entire afternoon had been. But I did manage to get out eventually, managing to get a ticket from the exit and then putting it into another machine to lift the barrier, so I could get out!

On arriving back at Dexter House I then found that some kind person had parked their car across the entrance to my parking space, which was so nice of them, but later in the evening, I went down to move my car onto my space once the car had driven away. Just a wonderful end to a long, and difficult afternoon.

A Tropical Heatwave

Wednesday. 6.55 a.m. Bright and sunny again. Apparently, the weather is going to get hotter as the week progresses.

Students at Magdalen College in Oxford have voted to have portraits of H.M. Queen from various facilities removed within their college because they are considered colonial and racist. Do those students not realize that their college was probably established on the proceeds of slavery? We're back on 'cancel culture', which is attempting to remove all mention of colonial or slavery within society, whether it's statues of those who had a connection in some way or other, the first removal of a statue of some historic figure was Edward Colston in the city of Bristol.

Andrew Lloyd-Webber has said that he is quite prepared to go to prison if he can't reopen his West End theatres from 21st June, and to do so without social distancing being in place if the government doesn't restore further restrictions. He says he has scientific proof that the coronavirus isn't spread within a theatre setting. Mind you, I wouldn't fancy going to a theatre and being in the audience if I need to wear a mask. There is no evidence that they make a great deal of difference to being either infectious or spreading it to other people. You would have to wear a clean face mask and also one which is of a certain standard to be of any use to you. It is unlikely that people have clean masks and use them when there of this standard. As it is, when I wear one for any length of time, breathing in my hot breath can be really unpleasant and cause me to cough and it steams up my glasses. I reckon some people only wear them because they give them a sort of feeling of safety, even though it might be misguided. It seems odd that you can fly off on holiday in an aeroplane and be crammed in with other passengers (presumably full social distancing etc etc.), yet you can't go and sit in a well ventilated theatre and enjoy seeing a live performance (this includes other forms of performance, such as ballet, opera, rock music etc etc.) It does seem contradictory to my way of thinking and it doesn't show much sympathy for the performing arts by this government who just don't take it seriously, considering how much they earn for the economy. It's not just the actors and performers who have been put out of work due to lockdown, it's the ancillary jobs that have been effected, such as the wardrobe staff, hire companies who provide costumes and props, scenic builders, make-up, lighting and not forgetting stage management and front of house The there's the whole host of businesses which rely on people going to the theatre who go to restaurants, pubs and bars, or spend money in shops and tourist sites.  The same could be said of our thriving television and film production which is going on at the moment, and only just coming out of lockdown throughout the country. We seem to be very good when it comes to attracting big blockbuster films into Britain and using our facilities, such as Pinewood, Shepperton and Elstree Studios and all the ancillary jobs that go with the making of films, special effects, set building, lighting etc etc. So, if they are  restricted too heavily by lockdown, then that area of the economy is effected, not just financially, but their personnel are effected by mental as well as physical health problems.

Thursday. 4.45 a.m. I'm up out of bed. Alfie is in his bed near the window. I'm not sure if he's asleep, but he's happy curled up there. I have all the windows open in the flat. I have the kitchen door wedged open and with the windows open there is a through draught and as a result the kitchen is cooler by quite a considerable amount of degrees, so much so that I can go in there without it being like a sauna. I will leave the windows open as long as this heatwave goes on. I also have the tower fan on in the lounge.

Yesterday I did another market research session on Zoom for an agency I am signed up for, a focus group discussing ideas for a new television commercial. I won't mention any more as I have to be careful what I discuss away from the focus group. It's interesting being able to influence how something like a commercial before it goes into production. In the middle of all this my MacBook decided to turn itself off. For no good reason I can think of, and this has never happened before. It may have been to upgrade itself, although this usually happens after I have had a warning. I could not get it to start up immediately, so I had to transfer the Zoom session onto my iPad. I don't want to loose out on this sort of work as it pays well enough and the earnings are going into my savings account. I have decided to close the Metro account and transfer to one with the Nationwide, as my main bank is there. In fact, I have been with them for over 20 years. It means I can transfer money between accounts. The interest is virtually non-existent , but the money is really only there to separate it from the main current account. I managed to set up  this new account via the internet and I will go into the Metro and close that account and move the remaining cash in that account to the Nationwide savings account.

Hospital and (possible) Film Work!

(Thursday) I had an appointment in the scanning department at Milton Keynes University Hospital at 1.30p.m. I had a letter around a month ago informing me of the appointment, and then yesterday someone rang me to find out whether I was attending. I knew I was due a second appointment, as I had one back in around September and was told that I should have a second scan in early 2021. My first consideration was the ability to park. I left in plenty of time and fortunately there was more than enough space to park, probably due to the fact that, due to the pandemic, there are limitations on numbers of visitors. Then I had the long walk along the infamous corridor, with memories of visiting Carol. I got to the scanning department (somewhere Carol had to visit to have several M.R.I. scans.) and I had to report to the receptionist. Everything where there is some sort of contact with staff you come across grass screens and when I was asked my name the lady on the reception desk could barely hear me, due to having a face covering on and having the glass screen. Anything to make life easier of course. Every other seat had a huge 'X' on it, to make sure people didn't forget about social distancing. It made me think of when they marked houses with similar marks during the Middle Ages, where a house where someone with the Black Death had either got the plague or else had died. The receptionist suggested I leave and come back later (trust me to arrive to early, but what with parking the car and then having to walk to the scanning department I was only making sure I was on time.) But, as I could see one vacant seat, I decided to sit there and wait for my name to be called. The actual scan took no more than five minutes, so I was out of the department and walking back to the car a good deal quicker than I expected.

(Good Friday- Morning) Yet another bright and mild morning.

4.30p.m. I have had several 'bites,' if that's the right word, to do television/film walk-on work, but none have actually yielded any real work, unfortunately. There was no point mentioning unless they came off anything. You get 'put forward' for things, but then the agency just responds later with 'sorry, you weren't selected.' So I have hopes that a text I got this afternoon might turn the tide. It's for a television series being shot in this area, between Pinewood Studios, Aylesbury and Oxford, so not too far to drive (if it comes off.) But if I get selected I will have to go for a costume fitting and have a haircut (it's supposed to be set during World War 2, so it's likely to be extremely short cut to fit the period.) I also have to have two covid-19 tests , (for which I get paid, incidentally.) and the filming is done with all social distancing protocols in place. Just have to wait what happens next. I really hope it does, because I really enjoy being on a set, the excitement and comradary you find with being with like-minded people and then seeing how it all comes together. And on top of that, the food you get, which is usually excellent. You can say that it's something of a bonus, having a meal which you don't have to pay for!

A Change In The Weather

The weather has changed considerably over the last few days. This morning (Saturday) it was quite chilly when I took Alfie out around 6.20. I have started wearing my chinos, having spent more or less the entire summer in shorts. A big difference felt.

(Wednesday) Well, excitement at the moment as I've had news from one of my film/television agencies that I might have work as a double on a film being made at Pinewood Studios. Can't reveal any more at the moment, but will probably have to go for a costume fitting if all goes according to plan.

(Friday) Well, I've been off this blog as you may have realised if you're a regular reader. I decided that my posts were becoming more and more repetitive as there simply wasn't much to report. Well, I'm back. Not exactly with a bang, but nevertheless, back.

The weather is currently warm and relatively sunny. Early mornings a chilly, not frosty (as yet) but I'm not in my shorts that early, but wear them occasionally. I don't think I have ever spent a summer almost entirely wearing shorts. 

Google has seen fit to mess around with Blogger. I don't like it. The same with Facebook. They fiddle with these sites at their peril. Too much change all at once. Why don't they consult the users of their software/sites and then get feedback? Surely not asking much.

(Sunday) Bright and sunny at the moment (8.53a.m) but it's chilly at 6.15 when I take Alfie out. He has a doggy friend, called Toto (I know you're going to say 'Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore!' the line from 'The Wizard of Oz.') I keep on meeting him and his owner whenever we go out for a walk across Oldbrook Green. Yesterday they were on the opposite side when we arrived mid-morning and I could see them on the path. We approached and Toto, who was off his lead, ran to meet Alfie and was excited when they greeted each other. He is a shitsu, which was part of what Poppy was (crossed with a West Highland Terrier. I think she was more shitsu than Westie. I think Toto has many of Poppy's characteristics, such as being stubborn when called. He is a lighter colour than Poppy, with a beautiful fluffy pom-pom-like tail.

(Monday) A really unseasonably warm day. I went for a walk with my friend Mike from church. We walk from his flat in Downhead Park to the rather nice cafe in Willen and walk along the canal path. There is a family of swans on the canal. The parents and no less than seven signets. I wanted to photograph them and last week took my Canon digital camera with me, but there was absolutely no sign of the swans. But this week- of course- they showed up! I did attempt to take some shots with my iPhone, but they weren't very good and certainly not as good as I might have got if I'd had the digital camera with it's telephoto lens. Just they way things turn out, but I might probably have another go at a later date.

(Thursday) Yesterday there were council workmen trimming the hedges near the children's playground on Oldbrook Green. It now looks considerably tidier, except it appears they have not done all of the hedges as there's a lot more to trim going towards Fishermead. Perhaps they will return at a later date to finish the job.

Wednesday) I know I haven't posted anything for a while, but thought I'd add something to this post which has been waiting to be completed for quite a while. It's getting very autumnal and early mornings are darker when I go out with Alfie. The past few days there has been a mist over Oldbrook Green as I walk with him along Strudwick Drive. Quite a few leaves have fallen and the weather is definitely changing.