Ch-ch-changes

Things are changing. It is scary, but also exciting. Ifs, perhaps, definites, and having a go. It could be the best bits and some extra new ones. I have a new camera that films and records audio. Things I have thought about for a long time are back, uncensored by another. No more rolling over and taking it. Just follow your instinct. Blimey!

This thing. This long term thing...

This is easy. Spend all week thinking about it. Then the day of dedicated action begins. Feel worried. "It's easy". Just sit down. Just write. Get up make tea. Sit down and write again.

Result: have some done. Only a little. A good little. But it is some. Not none. A start. Now do it all again. And again.

Excitations? No not really.

So I am trying to listen to 3 new songs a day on my ipod and then rating them. This is to break my habit of listening to the same old songs by the same old bands. My ipod is full of stuff I have never heard as it was mostly filled by my brother, my Dad and the music catalogue of where I used to work.

I looked at my ipod stats as to "most played" and my top 5 included 3 songs from the Arcade Fire, a Belle and Sebastian track, and weirdly my number one most played song was "Good Vibrations" by the Beach Boys. It has been played a full 96 times! I have no idea how this happened. I don't really like it. I would probably skip it if it came up on shuffle. Number 2 "Black Mirror" by the Arcade Fire had only had 15 playings.

Something is awry here. Who has done all this listening? My Dad likes the Beach boys, but not obsessively. My brother likes them an average amount - you know nice to have on on a sunny afternoon , and we never tried to book the Beach Boys (the ones left alive) where I used to work. Therefore I am sleep ipod listening.

8 days

This wasn't even my new year's resolution. And yet, I have managed to get a week into the new year without any involuntary optical salinisation. Woot!

I also discovered that according to Wikipedia (home of truth), I get FIVE for free per month, as this is normal for women apparently. Seems a lot - that's at least once a week. Given my 8 snivel free days, I can average every four days for the rest of the month and still be in the range "normal".

If it's good enough for Graham Linehan....

I wish to note that Fume Cupboards are quite funny things.

Putting it out there...

There are 5 working weeks until Christmas.
That is 5 fridays to write.
Can I create 7 sketches by January 1st therefore?

5 Fridays to be self disciplined.
5 Fridays to treat as working days.
5 Fridays to keep the wolf of self doubt from the door.

And wolves are nasty things....

Alba album

I was in Ed for 31 days. The fringe didn't start for 3 days. I then saw 28 shows, so averaged 1.079 shows a day, as well as participating in 7 others and having 2 days off. There was literally nothing I saw that was a waste of time or terrible, but then I am not a critic (PTL) and camaraderie means you see good in other people's shows. Also I didn't see any student shows and a limited amount of plays, (just 2 in fact), so that cuts down on the potential under-rehearsed and/or boring nonsense.

Top 3 (of which there are 5) in no particular order:

• Alex Horne's Wordwatching - 3 years of prep for an utterly delightful show. Would pay my own hard earned honk to see this again.
• John Hegley - the man is deadpan genius.
• "Nick Mohammed is a character comedian" - and a blumin good one he is too.
• Ben Moore's Not Everything is Significant - bare footed charm.
• Josie Long - enthusiasm and joy on the very last night, when weariness had overcome us.

Honourable mentions:

• The Wisecrackin,.....Behemoth
• Pegabovine Polite Club
• The Penny Dreadful's Aeneas Faversham Forever
• The Bird and the Bee: The Bee by Al Smith
• Mark Watson
• The Cheese and Pineapple club - these girls are a delight.
• Joanna Neary's Magic Hole
• Terry Saunders - Figure 8 - saw it twice, due to circumstances of blag and friend wanting to see
• Simply Fancy by Pig Island - australian Boosh-alikes
• Freeze! - Tim Key and Tom Basden tomfoolery
• Mould and Arrowsmith's a Sketch Show in Powerpoint
• The Boom Jennies - continue to be jealous of their french penpal sketch.
• Idiots of Ants
• Ginger and Black
• Tommy and the Weeks
• 2 rounds of We need Answers - Josie Long vs Paul Sinha; Kristen Schall vs. Alun Cochrune.
• The Search for Sunshine - devised play about death with delightful shuffling God obsessed with Bond.
• How to play the Ukelele in under an hour - useful for chord learnage.
• Wil Hodgson - had forgotten how delightful his storytelling is.
• La Clique - man climbing through tennis racket, striptease magic, homo-erotic chinese pole, you know, the usual.
• Barbershopera
• Tom Wrigglesworth
• Elizabeth and Raleigh
  
• Kristen Schaal and Kurt Wotsit.