Rachel Burden on Fishing
I like and respect Rachel Burden on BBC Radio 5 Live.
She went up even more in my estimation, when she described her fishing expedition in Devon recently.
Fishing really is one of the most boring pastimes. It’s almost as boring as watching soaps like East Enders or Coronation Street.
Funding the Arts
David Lister wrote this provocative article in today’s Independent.
He argues that cutting arts funding may be a good thing, especially as some institutions like the Royal Academy, Glyndebourne and the Lowry in Salford, seem to manage better without it.
He asks hat should the Royal Opera House gets as much subsidy as it does, when the companies based there never perform in the regions and does London really need four Symphony orchestras.
He also attacks the highly-paid time-servers on the boards of the various quangos that adminster taxpayers money an proposes more democracy in how money is allocated.
I agree with nearly everything he says.
The Gilded Balloon
The Gilded Balloon is one of the main venues of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
The GIlded Balloon, Edinburgh
I’m not sure, but I think it used to be the Student’s Union at Edinburgh University. It certainly has that feel and is a friendly place. I bought a coffee in the bar and the waitress offered to take it upstairs for me, as the stairs weren’t that easy. Only a small thing, but things like this can make your day when you have problems. I should say that since my return from the North, my arm is a lot better!
I saw two other shows at the Gilded Balloon in addition to Jarlath Regan; Stripped and Lockerbie:Unfinished Business.
As I have said in other posts Jarlath was funny and it cheered me to see someone, who I’d last seen at nine, perform.
Stripped was very much worth seeing and was a one-woman show describing the life of a stripper. It was sad, funny and touching!
Lockerbie was one of the most moving shows I’ve ever seen and it was about Dr. Jim Swire’s search for the truth about the death of his daughter in the Lockerbie Air Disaster. My heart goes out to people like Jim who’ve lost children to violence. I know that I’ve lost my wife and son to cancer, but in some way it’s not so bad for me, as both of them died bravely with the highest personal dignity.
I have always believed that the Pan Am Bombing was revenge for the shooting down by the USS Vincennes of the Iranian Airbus. But that is not to absolve Libya for any of the acts that they committed like the shooting of Yvonne Fletcher. In that case, we should never have lifted the siege on the embassy, without a full investigation into who fired the shot. It could also be argued that because we let diplomats and other foreign nationals act outside of the law, that others follow suit.
Whatever we do with rogue states like Iran and North Korea, we must never go outside of the law and behave such as to give them justification for what they did.
If you do get a chance go to see Lockerbie:Unfinished Business.
Jarlath Regan
He was definitely worth seeing and his act delved into areas that I’d not heard before. The two ladies, both widowed like me, enjoyed the show too!
He also dealt with a nine year old,who probably was too young for the show very well.
He even worked his parents, Tadey and Moira into the routine. I shall go and see him again, preferably in Dublin.
Two Shows Yesterday
I did two shows yesterday and also met Jarlath Regan outside the Gilded Balloon.
Jarlath Regan outside The Gilded Balloon
It was good to meet him after all those years since his father helped saddle Vague Shot in 1990. He’s grown a lot and I’ve got a lot more decrepit. But as his father, Tadey, always says, “The Struggle continues”
I shall be going to see Jarlath’s show tonight with three other widows.
Yesterday, I really enjoyed Paul Sinha, who calls himself the only gay Bengali GP turned stand-up comdian. If I had more time, I’d like to catch his full show, as I only saw him in a preview show at the Pleasance. But I’ll be watching out for him.
I also saw Stripped, which was a one-woman play about a girl who turned to stripping to pay the rent. It lived up to its good reviews.
An Extraordinary Theatrical Experience
There has been a lot of publicity in London about the Railway Children, which is playing until January at the old Waterloo International Station. It sounds as if it will be worth seeing, especially as one of the stars is a Stirling Single.
It is a superb example of how to reuse a redundant building.
You also wonder if the various railway museums and perhaps disused stations around the world will also stage the experience!
A Bad Move by the BBC?
It has now been confirmed that the BBC is moving its flagship BBC Breakfast program to Salford Quays in Manchester.
It has also been reported that some of the presenters and broadcasting staff are not that happy.
I don’t think I am either, as will some of the more interesting guests bother to go up to Manchester, when they can get as much publicity by sitting on the sofa at GMTV in London? I will still probably watch the BBC, as I’m allergic to adverts.
To illustrate this problem this morning, where the Pakistan floods are dominating the news, they called in a representative of the charity, World Vision, which is based in Milton Keynes, who talked with great knowledge about the problem. Would they get the same quality of expert in Manchester, especially as most charities seem to be south-east based? It is also the day when many of the major banks are reporting. This would have to be an outside broadcast no doubt.
It is a bad move, especially as the guy in charge of it won’t be moving.
I actually think that if the BBC Breakfast program suffers badly in quality because of the move North, then there would be a gap for a high-quality, serious news program based in London, probably paid for by some means like a subscription.
Will The Last Member To Leave Please Turn Out The Lights!
There is a touch of sadness about the closure of Trimdon Labour Club in Tony Blair’s old constituency of Sedgefield. But it is a pattern that is being followed all over the country, as clubs;political or otherwise fall on hard times.
So why do I say there is a touch of sadness? Some people, mainly of a certain generation, will mourn the loss of a quiet place for a drink, where theyt can talk about their leeks and whippets and moan about the government. Most will not as the club, and especially those that were run by and for men, have had a good run and their time is now past. And there are better and more exciting places to spend an evening.
My father used to go down the Conservative Club at the end of the road and always left my mother at home. To most couples these days that is just not how you behave, as there is so much more to do!
So in truth, as another club throws in the towel, it probably means that a whole group of people have already found a better life.
I’m very Marxist (Groucho tendency) on clubs, in that I wouldn’t join any that would accept me as a member!
Shirley Valentine
I have never seen Willy Russell‘s iconic play, Shirley Valentine about the Liverpool housewife, but I have seen the film starring Pauline Collins and Tom Conti. It is now being staged in London again, with Meera Syal as Shirley. It may seem stage that an actress of Indian origin should take this role, but this play has a history of good actresses of many races and nationalites having success with the part of Shirley.
I remember once many years ago, I drove from Chicago to Washington, leaving The Windy City just as it was getting dark. For the first two hours, I was listening to a chat show on the radio, where Ellen Burstyn spoke about her role as Shirley in the play, which was touring the United States and was at that time running in Chicago. Having heard that interview, I regretted that I had not known about the play, whilst in Chicago, as I would certainly gone and seen it. Ellen explained how she had been nervous to take on the play, as being set in Liverpool, she was worried about the accent. But then Willy Russell had reassured her and she decided to have a go. She said she couldn’t do the accent, but that she could do Irish, as she had that blood. Willy then explained that most Liverpudlians had Irish ancestry, so an Irish accent would do. In the end she made a great success of the part of Shirley.
So now that Meera Syal is taking over the part in London, all she is doing is following a great tradition of playing one of the best parts ever written for an actress.
Carravaggio
I ended up watching a program about who killed Caravaggio on BBC4. This is the sort of program I worry about, if the BBC decides to save money. Having been introduced to the works of Caravaggio by an artist friend, I feel that this is the program, I should watch, to make sure I am less of an ignorant Philistine.
According to Caravaggio‘s entry in Wikipedia, today is the four hundredth anniversary of his death.
The Anonymous Widower 