Windy City

 Sunday. 7.40 a.m. The wind seems to have dropped, and it is bright and sunny. I just hope it remains that way, so the church picnic can take place outside.

Monday. 5.45 a.m. Yesterday the wind dropped considerably, but the arrangements for the church picnic had to be modified. A tent arrangement was set up in the courtyard area, and the musicians set up within this and played a range of music during the time after the service, which started at 11 o'clock and was for an hour. 

There was supposed to be a bouncy castle for the children, but, because of the wind, the rental company that was going to supply it, didn't bring it, basically because of safety concerns.

Plenty of cake (probably too much!) which I had and there was a quiz, both of which raised money for the church building fund.

I have a subscription to National Theatre At Home, which has 'live' recordings of first and foremost National Theatre productions, but there are also productions from theatres and companies which aren't actually National Theatre productions. Some come from the Bridge Theatre and Donmar Warehouse. Over the weekend I watched 'The Wife of Willesden', an adaptation of the 'Wife of Bath Prologue and Tale' by Zadie Smith, from 'The Canterbury Tales' by Geoffrey Chaucer. A bawdy, loud and thoroughly engaging show, staged at The Kiln Theatre, formerly Tricycle Theatre. I have had an interest in 'The Canterbury Tales', from the time I had to study the General Prologue for A-Level English Literature in the late 1960s. I was somewhat frustrated that we didn't study the rest, or even a part, of the main body of this work of fiction, although I did read a modern translation of it more recently and in the late 1960s, well after I had left college (not having completed my A Levels.) I went with my mother to see the musical version in the West End, done in collaboration with Nevill Coghill, who had done a modern translation of the text. I have to say, the teaching of this work (and the other texts we had to study.) was so BORING, I'm not really surprised I wasn't that interested at the time and would have rather been elsewhere than stuck in a classroom. The same could be said of A Level History, which covered most of 19th-century history, and I have more or less forgotten what I was supposed to have learnt. It just goes to show that, if you have poor teaching, how it will affect your relationship with the subject taught, which might explain why, for example, the works of William Shakespeare can be a total turn-off for some people, because his plays are really supposed to be performed, not analysed in minute detail in a classroom.

Goodness Gracious Me!

 Friday. 5.25 a.m. It's bright and early, and I've already taken Alfie out. 

Yesterday, after going to The Oaktree Centre for Bible study and help with packing up Acorns, playgroup (I don't go earlier because it opens earlier than it used to. There are two sessions, and the second one finishes at 12.15.) I drove home and immediately went into the shopping centre to have a browse and go into Costa which is opposite Marks and Spencer. I had a cold drink, caramel (not sure what it's called), cheese and ham toastie and banana and pecan cake.  Very tasty. Then into Waterstone's. Bought two books, one from Anthony Horowitz, 'The Magpie Murders'. It's currently being shown on BBC1 and on 'Britbox', although I haven't watched it. I may once I've read the novel. The other, 'This Sweet Sickness', by Patricia Highsmith. I've read a couple of her novels, 'The Talented Mr Ripley' and 'Strangers on A Train' which was made into a film by Alfred Hitchcock. I think her novels are best described as psychological thrillers.

Saturday. 5.05 a.m. Alfie and I were out well before 5 o'clock this morning. He was doing his usual barking when he saw me getting ready to go out. The buildings in the city centre, which are normally seen from Oldbrook Green, were obscured by fog. Completely hidden by grey and gloom, but it was reasonably mild out.

12.20 p.m. My Sky mobile SIM contract will expire in June. I wasn't aware of this. I was under the impression that it was paid for with my iPhone payments, which are paid in instalments. I had an email informing me that this was about to happen and that I could end my contract or continue. I don't want to change to a different provider, so I telephoned the call centre (I was wondering if it should be open this morning, as it's a Saturday. Fortunately, it was. The young man who answered was extremely helpful. He informed me that I hardly use my data allowance, and he advised me to go for a lower allowance, which would reduce my costs considerably. So, I now have 6 GB of data and cost £7 per month. I also learned that my contract, which pays for the iPhone 12 I currently have, expires in June next year, meaning that I can upgrade to a newer model iPhone when the contract ends and the phone is paid off.

Sunday. 7.00 a.m. I have been up since well before 4 o'clock this morning. The reason was that there was a noise somewhere within Dexter House. I have a feeling an ambulance was called because someone fell over in the corridor, but I'm not sure, and I didn't investigate. Because I couldn't sleep, I read a chapter of my current book, 'Les Misérables.'  I did some clearing up in the kitchen and even cleaned the bath! I know, rather odd, but it's cleaner than it's ever been since I moved into the flat.

I took out Alfie at around 5.15, with him barking outside the bathroom door, where I get dressed. As I write this, the sun is shining and it's relatively mild.

2.45 p.m. I have been watching the National Theatre production of 'Much Ado About Nothing' on the National Theatre At Home app (and shown on my Hitachi HD television.) This production, which was originally in repertoire in the Lyttleton Theatre at the National Theatre's South Bank Home, is set in a 1930s hotel and has Katherine Parkinson as Beatrice and John Heffernan as Benedict. There was an element of a 1930s film musical about it, mixed with that of a Marx Brothers film, with mistaken identity and plenty of visual gags. I have also seen the David Tennant/Catherine Tate production of the same play, and, of the two plays, I think they had a far sense of chemistry than in the more recent National Theatre production.

Time and Tide

 Friday. 6.15 a.m. I can't believe Alfie and I were out well before 6 o'clock this morning. The weather seems very settled as I write this.

Saturday. 6.40 a.m. What's going on? Is that all I wrote for yesterday? I usually write far more.

Alfie and I were out at 6 o'clock, and it's been raining overnight. Quite chilly.

3.20 p.m. I have been to meet up with my friend Nick, who I knew from my time living in Bedford (hi Nick, if you're reading this.) He lives in Northampton and comes to Milton Keynes on the bus. I was due to meet him at midday. I drove in and parked in Secklow Gate car park, where I normally park, which is next door to the somewhat dilapidated Point. It's not always easy to find space later on a Saturday. I then walked in and through the shopping centre. It was surprisingly busy. We met outside Starbucks. I ordered an ice-cold cold drink made with oats. Surprisingly good. Also, a cheese and ham toastie. From Starbucks, we walked to John Lewis and went up to the electrical department. We spent time browsing the television sets, some with huge screen sizes, some over 60 inches and costing in the region of £4,000. That size would be far too big for my flat, in fact, such a size screen would probably not fit in. The quality of the picture on these sets is amazing. We looked at Samsung mobiles and then Apple products.

From John Lewis we went to browse in T.K. Maax and then we walked through the shopping centre and eventually went into Costa opposite M and S. I had a rather tasty chocolate drink which was made with bits of Kit Kat and cream on top. Then, into Marks and Spencer's to look at clothes in the menswear department. Nick doesn't like escalators, which take you to the various levels of the store, so went up via the lift. A few quite decent items I may come back and purchase, as I have a voucher coming from doing some online surveys. This should come in the post in the next few days. Then Nick came to the car park as I was leaving and we said our goodbyes and I drove off.

12.45 p.m. If you know me and if you read these blog posts, you will know I am a lover of theatre, I have worked in professional stage management, amongst other things. I have a subscription to National Theatre At Home, which is a streaming service which streams 'live' recordings of plays. I have seen several shows at the South Bank home of the National Theatre and it's probably the leading subsidised theatre company in this country. Amongst the plays I've seen was the 1980's production of Guys and Dolls as well as On The Razzle, which was a play written by Tom Stoppard and based on the play which eventually became the Thornton Wilder play 'The Matchmaker' which then formed the basis for the musical 'Hello Dolly.' (I did 'The Book' for  a production of 'The Matchmaker' when I was D.S.M. at Ipswich Theatre in the mid-1970's. ) But I digress. . .

There are quite a few fantastic shows to stream on NT At Home. 'Treasure Island', a reimagining of the Restoration comedy, 'The Rivals', retitled 'Jack Absolute Flies Again' and set the play in the Second World War. Last night I watched 'All About Eve', which is based on the 1950's film which starred Bette Davis and Anne Baxter. This stage version isn't actually a National Theatre production. It was produced by Sonia Friedman Productions and Fox Stage Productions. I haven't seen the film, but I know about it. I believe it was made into a musical called 'Applause.' This stage version uses 'live' video, so you can see two scenes simultaneously and could see the camera operators. I don't know whether this added anything to the action or whether it was just a gimmick. Just because you can do something, doesn't necessarily mean you have to use it. Like, in films, where they use C.G.I. It doesn't always add anything. In fact, if used too often, it just becomes a distraction. You shouldn't actually be able to notice any special effects.

5.50 p.m. I have now managed to complete the piece of writing which will connect two sections of my writing project, which means I can introduce a new character.

Time and Tide

 Saturday. 7.40 a.m. It's another rather pleasant morning. Alfie and I did our usual walk around Oldbrook Green. There are daffodils blooming and blossom coming out all around Milton Keynes and suggesting quite clearly that spring is in the air.

1.00 p.m. We had our monthly men's breakfast at the Oaktree Centre this morning. I had to get some cash out of a cash point and needed help figuring out where to go. There are a number of these machines, also known as A.T. Ms (Automated Teller Machines) to be found around Milton Keynes and I wanted to have the cash with me to pay for the food we would get. In the end, I chose the ATM outside the Tesco Express in Oldbrook Boulevard.

Sunday. 7.20 a.m. Alfie and I went out at around 5.50 this morning. It was light, so I didn't see the point of hanging about in bed. 

3.50 p.m. I have resubscribed to two streaming services which I had been subscribed to but had cancelled a few months ago, basically because I had problems when they didn't work properly. I think the problems have been resolved sufficiently. The first was Britbox, the app on which it is viewed on my Amazon  Firestick, which now doesn't seem to crash like it did before. I watched several episodes of the original 'Doctor Who', 'Planet of Giants,' which was shown in October 1964, and was the ninth story from the very first incarnation of this BBC science fiction series. I remember the very early days of 'Doctor Who' and must have seen it when it was originally shown. I suppose I would have been about 14 when it was shown and probably the right age to be the audience it was aimed at. I was intrigued by the whole concept, the idea of time travel and the fact that every few weeks, when the Doctor and his companions arrived at a new planet at the beginning of each story, to discover where they were and what they would meet. I think it was what made 'Doctor Who' such a clever format, changing so often and keeping it fresh. The show was made on a shoestring, but it didn't make a lot of difference to the quality of the storytelling. A bit ropey in the special effects department, but the novelty of the whole show was what made it so watchable. This particular story had a slight 'eco' element to it (which I won't give away here.) which makes it relevant to a modern audience. I am surprised by how good it is, and I'm so glad to be able to see it after almost 60 years.

The other subscription is to 'National Theatre At Home', which streams recordings of National Theatre productions, which have been captured at 'live' performances, and some were shown 'live' in cinemas. The production I have just watched was 'Jack Absolute Flies Again' which is a reworking of the Richard Brinsley Sheridan 1775 play 'The Rivals'  by Oliver Chris and Richard Bean, who wrote 'One Man, Two Guvnors', which was a reworking of the Goldoni play 'The Servant of Two Masters and has Caroline Quentin in the role of Mrs Malaprop. A rip-roaring production and hilarious. Some of Mrs Malaprop's malapropisms don't always work and are somewhat over-egged, but I think you can forgive that some are somewhat rude, especially for a family audience, but that doesn't detract from the sheer energy of the production.

Monday. 6.45 a.m. Out earlier than yesterday with Alfie. We again did the circuit of Oldbrook Green, but not a lot to report.