Thursday 17th Jan
Whoa, what a day!! I ran around like a headless chicken, a blue-arsed fly and a dog chasing its tail. However, the evening was rather pleasant, as Trevor and I arrived at the Warwick Arts Centre in Coventry to the filming of BBC Question Time. Neither of us was selected to ask our questions to the panel. See Trevor’s blog for more info. I thought my question about Britain’s responsibility to the children in the Czech Republic who are still living in caged beds, worthy of a response. However, it wasn’t deemed a popular enough topic and the BBC decided that Cabinet Minister Peter Hain’s undeclared donations scandal far more important. Tut.
Sunday 20th Jan
Trevor and I attended a service at the Holy Trinity Brompton church on the Brompton Road in London (near Harrods). Nicky Gumbel, one of the founders of the Alpha courses (exploring the meaning of life), is the vicar of the HTB and we find him so inspirational. Even if you’re not a Christian it’s worth downloading his heart-warming, intelligent, thought-provoking and witty sermons, available from the HTB website.
My son lives in West London and we called to see him after the service. He’s a university student and he lives with 6 other male university students and an assortment of ‘guests’. Judging by the state of the house, the guests include the tiny, itchy variety, found in beds, sofas and carpets. The bacterial type was also present in the toilets and I didn’t dare look in the fridge. I realised that probably the best place for the lads to hide any valuables was under the soap.
We had planned to attend a poetry performance in Leamington Spa this evening but we were reeled in by the TV which called out, “Watch ME instead!” We caught up on the past week’s programmes such as Torchwood (a tad disappointing) Moving Wallpaper & Echo Beach (Ben Miller is brilliant), Jam & Jerusalem (Dawn French is a hoot), Kingdom (love it) and Lark Rise to Candleford (just fab). I also worked out how to copy programmes from Sky+ on to DVD and whooped with joy. It doesn’t take much to please me.
Monday 21st Jan
Today has been billed as the ‘most depressing day of the year’ but going back to bed with the person you love brightens the darkest of days :-)
5 comments:
Wow! We were both at Warwick University on the same day but alas not at the same time... I was there to pick up some reading for my next seminar... poems by Hugo Williams... very funny and poignant at the same time!
The poems that is... not our being at the same place at different times!
I know what you meant. Well fancy that!
I don't know Hugo Williams' work - I've just had a quick look through my poetry books and found 'Siren Song' in 'The Nation's Favourite Poems of Desire' and 'Waiting to Go On" in an Andrew Motion anthology. I'm always looking for good performance poetry. Do you have a favourite?
Hmm... not sure about Performance Poetry. John Hegley is always very entertaining but I find his poems rather flat and inconsequential on their own.
My perennials are Ted Hughes, Carol Ann Duffy, Paul Muldoon, Sylvia Plath and Philip Larkin. all very trad I'm afraid!
Ah John Hegley... I saw him once in an acting role as a time and motion man in 'The Pajama Game' at the Birmingham Rep - he wasn't bad at all!
I know of the poets you mentioned (except Paul Muldoon) but have always dismissed them for performance. Mmm, I'm going to take a closer look.
Cheers Steve - I appreciate your reply.
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