Mad Quite Mad

savoynet Pinafore

2007-02-07T14:03:00.000+01:00

Yes Chris and I will both be in the chorus for Savoynet's Pinafore in Buxton this year and we can't wait!!

It will be my last Buxton as Sarah-Jane Read which will be kinda weird but also pretty great!!!

Roll on Summer! :)

THE WEDDING DATE

2007-01-15T11:23:00.000+01:00

To anyone who reads this and wants to know.....

The date of my wedding to Mr Chris Hall will be Saturday 12th April 2008 and the venue will be BRMC Church Ipswich.

Times and reception venue t.b.a

SAVE THE DATE!!!

Torqwert 3 Highlights...

2006-11-15T17:28:00.000+01:00

I am now back from Bob and Jackie's 3rd torqwert and I had a brilliant time!! There really are just too many highlights to choose from but I will put the main few here, in no particular order....

Seeing loads of my friends again and also getting to know a few new people.
Bob, Jackie and Polly's marvelous food and hospitalitly.
Being at the qwert with my Chris and getting to sing Cassilda to his Luiz and Phylis to his Strephon, even if we did sicken a few people with our kissing!!!
Also getting to sing Yum-Yum and act 1 Josepine
The gender reversal game, (a list of which is in the post below this one), particularly Chris and Sandra Wains almost X rated 'Were I thy Bride' and getting to sing 'I am a maiden' with Sarah and Meriel. (hmm maybe we should reprise that for my wedding!)
Ian, Ian and Tony's wonderful comic moments, of which there were many!
Little Tillie entertaining us on sunday night with a few nursery rhymes and some of her own songs ...... That little girl has talent and natural stage presense and is only 5!

Of course there were many, many more highlights but it would take me all day to type all of them!

Roll on the next one!!

p.s. If anyone is interested from tonight until Saturday (15-18 November) I am in Ipswich G&S' production of Trial By Jury and HMS Pinafore at the Ipswich Corn Exchange (details at http://www.ipswichgands.org.uk ) Trial is set in the 1970's in a chatshow type setting and Pinafore is set more traditionally, all be it with a few silly cuts and word changes but I won't get started on them.......Both productions are really good, even if I am biased! :)

Torqwert 3 gender reversal game.....

2006-11-15T17:16:00.000+01:00

Here is a list of who did what in the gender reversal game at the recent Torqwert......

Ian Henderson - Sorry Her Lot - Pinafore

Mary - Oh Is There Not One Maiden Brest - Pirates

Sam - To A Garden Full Of Posies - Ruddigore

Romy - When I Went To The Bar - Iolanthe

Peter C - Tis Done I Am A Bride - Yeomen

Ceri - A Wandring Minstrel - Mikado

Tony - Oh Foolish Fay - Iolanthe

Jane - When I Was A lad - Pinafore

Adam - I Built Upon A Rock - Ida

Claire - A Magnet hung In A Hardware Shop - Patience

Chris (and Sandra) Wain - Were I Thy Bride - Yeomen

Meriel - When Britain Really Ruled The Waves - Iolanthe

Ian Hollamby - Braid The Raven Hair - Mikado

Sarah V - I've Got A Little List - Mikado

Chris H - The Sun Who's rays - Mikado

Me - Am I Alone And Unobserved - Patience

Mike - Alone And Yet Alive - Mikado

Sandra V (with Sarah V and Meriel) - We Are Warriors Three - Ida

Richard - When Our Gallant Norman Foes - Yeomen

Denise - When The Night Wind Howls - Ruddigore

Stuart - Poor Wandring One - Pirates

Jackie - Fair Moon To Thee I Sing - Pinafore

Bob - When Fredric Was A Little Lad - Pirates

Celia - A Ship D'ya See - Ruddigore

John - I Cannot Tell What This Love May Be - Patience

Angie - When I First Put This Uniform On - Patience

Phillip - Love Is A Plaintive Song - Patience

Rachel - Would You know The Kind Of Maid - Ida

Ian Henderson and Sam - Sing Hoity Toity - Ida

Tony - Come Bumpers - Grand Duke

Me, Meriel and Sarah V - I Am A Maiden - Ida

A few Buxton Pics!!

2006-09-06T01:26:00.000+02:00

Just a few pics from my holiday at the G&S festival

Me and Chris in our Ruddygore costumes!! (I only have his Act 1 costume for some reason!)

Me and Chris in our Yeomen costumes!

Chris Reidy and Andrea at the savoynet meal!

Me and Lauren being scary!!! (or something like that) at the meal

Rachel and Rik at the cabaret.

And a bonus pic of Chris sewing!! he he

If anyone wants any of these pics or wants to see any more, let me know!! :)

One ring to rule them all!!

2006-06-25T16:44:00.000+02:00

Ok so as promised, here is a piccy of my beautiful engagement ring! Enjoy!!!

The engagement photos

2006-05-31T20:24:00.000+02:00

Here are the photos of Chris and I that were taken at the Morewellham victorian village. At the moment I am using these as our 'official' engagement photos! ENJOY!!

I'M ENGAGED!!!!

2006-05-30T18:41:00.000+02:00

Just a quick post to say that I am engaged to be married to Mr Christopher Hall!!!

It happened about a month ago but I've only just told my parents so am only now able to post about it. surfice to say that I am extreamly happy!!

The wedding won't be for a while yet as I want to graduate from uni first but I'll keep everyone posted.

'Official' engagement photos to follow in the next few days when I remember to bring the disk to the college library and also a photo of the ring to follow when I get it!! :D:D:D:D

Ruddy Heck it's Ruddygore!!!! (On stilts!?!)

2006-03-24T16:02:00.000+01:00

...........or at least that's what my mate Gez kept saying last time I was in it!!!

Yes this years Savoynet production is Ruddygore, given it's original spelling as we will be going back to the original version putting back some cut songs, music and dialogue!!
The main cast seems very strong and is about half and half with people I know well and people I haven't met before which is great. Both Chris and I will be in the chorus which is fantastic!! Chris and I also hope to be in the festival production of Yeomen but will not find out that until we get to the festival!

The 'On stilts' bit doesn't relate to Ruddygore but was put in as we have just started to make and learn stilt walking at uni ....... I have my first lesson on my tutor's stilts in about and hour and I'm very nervous but also very excited as it's sure to be great fun though a bit nerve wracking!!!

Johari and Nohari windows

2006-02-23T14:38:00.000+01:00

Ok so I couldn't resist....
.http://kevan.org/johari?name=SazaJ
and cos no-one that I know of has done one of these ones yet......
.http://kevan.org/nohari?name=SazaJ
Go on critisize me.......I dare ya!!!!

RIP you old git!!

2006-01-21T17:09:00.000+01:00

Yesterday was my Grandad Read's funeral. he died a couple of weeks ago after a long time in hospital following a stroke. It was a very sad loss but at least he is no longer suffering. I travelled back from uni to be there.
I don't know how I managed it, but at the funeral I gave a short speech about how he used to terrorise me as a kid and also played one of his favourite pieces 'Danny boy' on my alto flute....I didn't cry untill after I had done these things and then I sure did cry!!
After the service some family and friends came to our house for the 'wake' so I was kept pretty busy helping mum in the kitchen!!
All in all the day went well and it was great to know that so many of my friends at church and at uni were thinking of me. It also meant so much to know that Chris (I Love you babe) was thinking about me and to be able to phone him in the evening and have a chat about how the day had gone.

I will end this post as I ended my speech at the funeral, by saying about Grandad..........WELL YER DEAD YER BUGGER.....but I'm sure gonna miss you!!!

Happy new year!?!???????

2006-01-04T19:29:00.000+01:00

Well it's the new year and what a new year it has been so far!!

2006 started off really well as Chris, my new boyfriend, was round and so I got a lovely big kiss on the stroke of midnight, even before my parents could get round with the champagne!!
On new years afternoon (my parents went to church in the morning) we all went to Southwold as we had heard about the 'under the pier show' (http://underthepier.com) from my Uncle John and Auntie Val and thought it sounded fun! It certainly was and we had a go and watched people on the various machines including 'The mobility masterclass' which we all had a go on and gained our 'diplomas', Mum and I at age 80, Dad at 90 and 'show off Chris' (love ya really) at age 100!! It was hilarious!!

When we got Back from there however there was a message on our answerphone from my Auntie Wendy saying that my Grandad Read who was in hospital after a stroke needed a blood transfusion and was very ill!! I cried my eyes out but Chris gave me a big cuddle and stayed with me while my Mum and Dad went to the hospital. They returned later with Wendy to say that Grandad was stable and Wendy stayed the night at ours so she could get a good nights sleep.

3rd Jan was my 21st Birthday and was great fun as I went, with 16 friends and family (though not Chris as he had to go home on 2nd as he had work! :( ) to see 'The Day The Earth Wobbled A Bit' an alternative panto by Eastern Angles theatre company!! The theatre (The Sir John Mills Theatre Ipswich) is set out so that the stage area is in the middle with rows of seats either side and we had booked the two front rows which was great as we had "Older adults" one side and "Younger adults + Kids" (and my auntie Wendy) on the other side and had a joke competition to see who did the audience participation the best!! My mate Ross (who really fancied the lead female) had his lap sat on by one of the older men in the cast, my friend Marie got flirted with by the same man, we all had to be rats and sing a 'gobble gobble, cluck cluck' song with actions and I got flirted with and had my cheek caressed by the leading male!!!!! It was an utterly hilarious show and I wish I could see it again but all the performances before I go back to uni are fully booked!! ahh well. After the show everyone left apart from Deanna and Nat who stayed round for a sleepover and left this afternoon.

So Happy new year??? Well on the whole yes but it won't be if anything happens to my Grandad but we will just have to hope and pray that it doesn't!!!

Happy new year to y'all reading this though........have a great one!! x

More qwert photos!!!

2005-11-27T14:59:00.000+01:00

Ok so only a few more photos today as the computor is playing up but anyway.......

Faint heart never won fair lady!!
(Tony B, Ian Henderson and Peter C, With David D in the background.)

Tony, Bob, Stuart and Jackie. The magic teapot.

And the photo many have been waiting for.....

Peter C sings 'Oh Foolish Fay' compleate with tiarra.

Ohhh Suits you Sir!! ;)

Qwerty Pictures

2005-11-24T14:14:00.000+01:00

Yes I've finally managed to get onto a half decent computor so I can post some photos of the qwert. I am only adding a few at a time as they take ages to load and other students tend to get impatient if you are not 'doing work' and they want the computor!!!

Our Host's Bob and Jackie Richards.

Stuart, Jane and Vikki

Chris and Chris

Bob, David and Stuart

Chris Wain is affected by the magic philtre

Group Shot.

I am hopeing to update the photos every few days so keep looking!!!

To Qwert is Capital!!!

2005-11-23T14:30:00.000+01:00

Well I'm back from Bob and Jackie's Torqwert/Qwerty towers and It was soo much fun!!!
There are just too many highlights to list them all but I will list just a few of them.......

Seeing everybody again and meeting Tony and Ceri for the first time.
Getting to sing the role of Mad Margaret in Ruddigore, a role that I have wanted to sing since I was about 8! Also singing the Margaret/Despard duet with Tony and trying to add in some 'blocking' was great fun!!
Ian Henderson as Wilfred in Yeomen. His acting during 'Were I thy Bride' was hilarious, especially when he sudddenly came out with "Now where are my bloody keys?" and "I'm just going to check on Fairfax!" ........ I have it on video and it cracks me up everytime!!
The 'Role/gender reversal game where names and songs were picked out of a bowl. Rachel also used all the 'funny noises on the 'piano' to great effect!! Who sang what? 'I've got a little list!!!!' (highlights of the game in red.)
Richard P - The Usher's song - Trial
Me - Time was when Love and I were well aquainted- Sorcerer
Ceri - The ghost's high noon - Ruddigore
Bob - I cannot tell what this love may be - Patience (hightlight because of his dancing)
Stuart B - The sun who's rays - Mikado
Ian Henderson - Come mighty must - Ida
Ian Hollamby - If somebody there chance to be - Ruddigore (highlight because of the 'reverb'.... you really had to have been there as I can't describe it but it was HILARIOUS!!!)
Chris Wain - Minerva - Ida
Denise - A maiden fair to see - Pinafore
Vikki - Am I alone and unobserved - Patience
Peter C - Oh foolish fay - Iolanthe (hightlight because of the tiarra)
Jackie - The Judge's song - Trial
Chris Hall - Love is a plaintive song - Patience
Phillip B - Silvered is the raven hair - Patience
Tony - Tis done I am a bride - Yeomen
Carole R - A dissagreable man - Ida
John P - when maiden loves - yeomen
Angie - My name is John Wellington Wells - Sorcerer

Bob Richard's as Dr Dayly 'The only gay in the village!!"
Getting to sing 'Three little maids' with Vikki and Rachel again.
David C's sudden inspiration that the maids were 'Size 18 and under!!"
Hearing Andi's 'Auditions' little list.
Seeing Sandra Wain looking so well.
Having a whole weekend eating propper yummy food and having cooked breakfasts!!

There are many many more highlights but those are just a few of them, and I'm sure that there's a really great highlight that I have missed out of this list, i wonder what it could be!! ;) ;)

Photo's will follow shortly, either tonight or if not sometime this week when i manage to get onto one of the half decent computers and not one of the slow ones!!!

For ah my faithful heart is breaking!!!

2005-11-12T02:23:00.000+01:00

Just broken up with Trev!! :'( It was a mutal thing, we both still really have feelings for eachother but the distance between Hadleigh where he lives and Dartington where I am at uni (about 300 miles) was putting a strain on our relationship as we hardly get to see eachother and we thought it best just to remain mates! I really gutted as from my point of view the distance and not seeing him so often was not so much of a problem as I could still phone and email him but for various reasons (which I don't really need to discuss here but involved an ex-fiance and pressure from mates) it was really hard for Trev and I just could not put him through the strain and pain of it all again! We let eachother go because we loved eachother which is twisted logic but...........there goes!!
I gutted but at the end of the day if it's meant to be after I graduate then it still might be but if not I still have a great friend who I know cares for me!

I have Bob and Jackie's Qwert to look forward to next week though which will be great and so I won't be able to stay sad for long with all my savoynet mates around me! :)

Why I can't be bothered!!!

2005-10-18T18:04:00.000+02:00

Well, I've been back at uni for a while now and am really enjoying it, but for some reason I just can't get back into the swing of things. Practical devising lessons are really fun and I do enjoy them and work really hard in the lesson but cannot seem to let that enthusiasm extend into my written work/'homework assignments' and in the lectures I just seem to switch off!!
I had an excuse today as I had had a very emotionally draining phone conversation last night and was not really at the college in spirit at all - I think I should have stayed in bed!! As for the rest of the time though there's no excuse - I just want to work hard but can't....................HELP!!

A Senior Resident's lot....

2005-09-26T11:58:00.000+02:00

Is so far a very happy one! I arrived back at uni on Saturday, (after spending the night at the Torcroft), to start my second year and my duties as Senior Resident of Blue House Foxhole. I spent the day moving in and sorting out my room, and then went with the other House Res Gabriel, to the SR's meeting and dinner before heading off to bed ready to wake up bright and early the next morning to meet the new first years!
The students started arriving at about 10am and there was a steady, if somewhat slow trickle of new students all day. It was great to meet them all and they all seem really nice, although it was a bit boring for Gabriel and I as we had to stay in the house to meet them all and had nothing much to do all day until our 'house meeting' was over at about 7pm where we took all the new students to the bar and had a great time as they kept buying us drinks!! We all staggered home at about midnight and partied a bit before going to bed. The alarm for the fire drill woke us up at 9am but it went very well and everybody from our house got out and sorted really quickly, but we still had to wait outside for ages as another house wasn't quite so efficient!!
All in all my first couple of days back have been great although I miss my new Bloke Trev loads, especially as we only started going out on Tuesday!!! Apart from missing Trev though, it seems like this year is going to be really really great!!! :)

Anonymous cretins are just that!

2005-08-25T00:36:00.000+02:00

I was dismayed to find when I read Jonathan's Buxton Diary blog, that some stupid Idiot had decided to post some very rude and insulting comments about, not only the reviews and posts on the blog but about Jonathan himself, and others who have left notes of support for Jonathan!! Not only are these attacks Childish, Cowardly, Rude, and a number of other things, they are also pointless as said person by all accounts, going by other comments on the blog, seems to be achieving the complete opposite of what they intend to do! If you are reading this Mr anonymous (yes I *Know* you are Mr!!!!) Give up, Shut up and most importantly of all.....................GROW-UP!!!!!!!

Back From Buxton

2005-08-16T01:24:00.000+02:00

Yes I'm back from the G&S festival and I had a wonderful time! :)
I wont use this blog to do any reviews etc as Jonathan has done a wonderful job of that on his Buxton Diary blog http://buxtondiary.blogspot.com/ and as I agree with *most* of his comments I recommend reading his blog if you want that sort of thing!
All I will say here is that the production was a great success and I had loads of fun. I really enjoyed seeing all my old savoynet friends again and meeting those who I hadn't met before............to any of the cast or crew reading this *I miss you all already*!
Anyways..........now to a few photos, again if anyone reading this would like to see more pics I can easily send them on! :)

A Picture of all the SavoyNetters outside the Opera house.

Sarah Vamplew and Chris Reidy at the SavoyNet meal.

Debbie and Amy as dainty little fairies.

Sarah V and I as dainty little fairies. (We were so happy to have lilac costumes and not pink!)

The Chorus of peers.

More dainty little fairies

And last but not least a photo of Rebecca Hains and Phillip Potter that was taken at the festival club after Iolanthe. It is not *the* photo of Rebecca and Phillip but I'm not sure if Becca or Karen-Anne would kill me if I posted *that one*. he he (mind you I am happy to email copies on request! ;) )

Dans La Jardin - the site performance!!

2005-07-14T20:21:00.000+02:00

At last I can post some pics of my group's site performance that I mentioned in earlier posts. :)
If you're interested, here they are..........

Bone Dog in his lair.
Operated by Chris. Reciting to the audience the list of the enchanted Goblin fruit and setting the scene.

The Goblin fruit.
The enchanted fruit of the goblin men. We used both fresh and rotting fruit to create the eerie effect we wanted.

The stairway sequence.
The stairway in the tiltyard became one of the main focuses for movement in our piece and looked beautiful with all the tea lights illuminating it.

(apologies for the blurriness of this and the next photo....Blame Daniel!!!)

The maids and the goblin fruit.
We had so much fun eating this fruit as quickly and as messily as possible although we had to be careful not to eat the rotting stuff, which I know we all did at least once in either the performance or the rehearsal...................It was horrible!!!!

The post performance party!
This is a picture of the whole group (Becci, Me, Nikki, Chris, Ali.) celebrating at the student bar after it was all over. We had a big pineapple eating ceremony shortly after the photo and all agreed that we had never tasted a better pineapple. (I just hope TJ isn't reading this as we would get in deep trouble if he knew about the candles!! He he)

A blast from the past!!

2005-07-14T19:44:00.000+02:00

Looking at some old files on my computor I found some photos of a sixth form production of Anything Goes that I was in at Stowmarket High School in March 2002! I though I would put one of them on here to give everyone a laugh. (I'm the one in the 'lovely' purple dress!)

Back home for summer!!!

2005-07-02T23:56:00.000+02:00

Yep I'm back home again. Can't believe my first year at uni has gone so quickly!!!
Its kinda weird not having my Rabbit here and I'm missing my uni mates already (I've only been back a few hours!) But it's good to be home.
Its been an eventful year to say the least, both in good and bad ways but its been fun, and I passed which is good.
Can't wait till next term though!! :)

Rocky Horror Photos!!!!!!!

2005-06-29T13:17:00.000+02:00

The Time warp. (I'm not in this pic)

Hot Patootie. (I'm in the background playing the sax)

The meal. (I know it's a bit blurred, but at least it shows most of the main cast!)

I have some more pics, but obviously they would take up too much room on my blog, but if anyone wants too see any more, just let me know!

Lets do the time warp again!!!!

2005-06-27T19:19:00.000+02:00

After my last very sad post, this one is happy!!! Yesterday I was a transylvanian and the saxophone player in our college production of Rocky Horror!
In the run up to the show we had lots of problems including trouble with getting staging and lighting and budget problems, but the biggest problem was that we didn't have a band until about five days before the performance! That's how I ended up playing sax in it as well as being in the chorus! I was sitting talking to one of the girls who organized the show and she was talking about the lack of band and asked me if I knew anyone who played sax as they needed one for Eddie's song 'Hot patootie!' I said that I played sax and she asked if I would mind playing sax for that piece as she was really stuck! So I did, and for a few of the other pieces too. It was hard work, and because I was in the band and onstage I had almost double the rehearsals to do and did three 12 hour days, although this did include one morning of relaxing banner painting! :) (Mind you the fact that I played the sax for Hot Patootie did mean that I got out of the most complicated dance routine so...........he he. )
On the night of the show we were all nervous and didn't know how well we would be supported but................The studio was packed!!!!! We had people on all the seats, on mats at the front, sitting on a raised platform at the back and standing at the back. We couldn't have got more people in if we tried! Loads of people came in costume, including our accommodations officer TJ, he looked brilliant.
The show went really well and the audience were fantastic, I was really sad when it was all over and wished I could do it all again but I still have the Rocky Horror cast bbq to look forward to on Tuesday! :)
When I get home from uni next week I will post some photos of the show on here that my mate took, unfortunately (or not!) there are none of me in my act 2 fishnets and hotpants as they all came out blurred! what a shame! ;)

R.I.P. Fluffy

2005-06-23T13:13:00.000+02:00

Yes the unthinkable has happened, I got a phoncall last night just before our first dress rehearsal of Rocky Horror to say that Fluffy, my rabbit had passed away. I was and am devestated as he was my baby and my best friend and was always the first 'person' I went to whenever I was upset or worried and now he's gone. My parents have burried him under the birdbath in our back garden along with a picture of me (!), his favourite tennis ball, his rattle carrot toy and some of his favourite chocolate treats.
I'll miss him so much but at least he didn't suffer too much as it was not the fly strike that killed him but a suspected stroke. I still love him though and will miss him more than anything. :'(

Back from the dead!!!

2005-06-08T18:45:00.000+02:00

weird title? Yes but wait till you hear the story!
On Tuesday morning I was at uni and was woken up by a call from my dad saying that Fluffy (my Rabbit) had caught fly strike (an infestation where flies lay eggs on the rabbit that hatch out to maggots and start eating away at it) and was at the vets and was very ill and would have to be put to sleep immediately, they were just waiting for my dad to get there to be with him. I was devastated and cried so loud it woke up half my housemates and it was all my mate Daniel could do to calm me down.
Imagine my surprise then when about 1 hour later I got another phonecall from my dad saying that about the same time as he had phoned me to tell me the bad news, which was about half hour before he was going to be put to sleep, the vet had noticed Fluffy perk up and start eating again and so was giving him another 24 hours notice before giving him the injection!
Well I grabbed a few things and took the first available train home so i could be there for him I was in such a state.
Well this morning the vet phoned to say that fluffy looked fine and could come home so we went and collected him! I'm so happy, though we will have to keep a very close eye on him from now on just incase!
It just so spooky that when the vet told my dad the time that Fluffy had perked up that it was almost exactly the same time that he had phoned me to tell me the bad news! It probably a coincidence but.....Who knows!
Needless to say we have now nicknamed Fluffy Laseurus after the biblical man who was raised from the dead. I love him so much!

Never trust your tutor with the video camera!

2005-06-01T13:27:00.000+02:00

Further on from my last post about my piece, I have now finished my journal and have no more work to do! yey!!! Anyway........ I saw the video of our performance the other day and well............ Sue did get most of the good stuff but she missed the one bit that I really wanted on the video, My Jack Point style fall! :'( Basically at the end of the piece I am at the top of the stairs and am watching and wanting the enchanted fruit, when I fall down dead. When I heard this I immediatly thought of the last bit in Yeomen where Jack falls down at Elsie's feet, probably because there has been a lot of discussion about that topic on Savoynet and Jonathan's blog recently. Well, I did my fall in the way I thought it might go in Yeomen, except I was falling down not up the stairs and although I couldn't see it I thought it was pretty good and my group did too. I stared at the fruit longingly, fell quickly to the floor and made one last hopeless attempt to reach the fruit and then fell insensible on the stairs!
Sue did manage to get the reaching bit but missed the actual fall, ahh well, never never mind! The rest of the video was not too bad, and to be fair Sue did get most of the important bits and it was nice of her to video it as she didn't have to.
I'm off to choir now, Hopefully I'll get the solo soprano line in 'the bluebird!' woo!

Finished at last finished! (well nearly!)

2005-05-23T18:41:00.000+02:00

Well our Lessons at uni are officially over, although I still have a 15 page performance journal to write for Friday, and another month on campus to watch performances and rehearse for Rocky Horror!
Our groups main performance 'Dans La Jardin' went really well, although our original idea of a 'creating a dream' was rather taken over by the use of the poem, 'Goblin Market' by Christina Rossetti.
I am posting this on my blog as a way of publicly thanking all those who helped with our piece both inside and outside 'the Dartington bubble'. So...............
Group SP3, Me (Sarah-Jane 'recluse' Read',) Nikki 'Sorry I'm late' Butland, Ginger Chris, Ali Ali, Barmy Becci and of course the famous 'Bone Dog' would like to say A BIG THANKYOU to..............

DARTINGTONITES,
Sue 'Ping-pong balls' Palmer (Tutor extrodinaire) - for being a great tutor even if she did contradict herself sometimes!
Becky Rolls (Oooh she does!) - For lots of great ideas for our piece and for some Jars!
'Dangerous done that' Dave - For doing all the mixing for our CD
Brummy Tom - For speaking on the CD
Jay Jay - For speaking on the CD
Gris - For speaking on the CD
Hyper Daniel - For being official photographer (even if they didn't come out as he had the camera on 2 second exposure!)
The Gardeners - For letting us run riot in the beautiful garden and 'illegally' climb the banks!
Auden 'the voice' - For being the first poor sod we made watch the performance and not being too harsh!
Students in foxhole and Perry Halls of Residence - For Jars
Uta - for Jars!

NON-DARTINGTONITES
Safeway, and Happy Apple stores - For providing us with lots of fresh and rotting fruit to use in the performance.
Jonathan Ichikawa (American Philosophy student extraordinaire!) - For helping us in our initial research by suggesting sources of dream philosophy books and links to his own papers on the subject.
Random Lady - Who turned up at our dress rehearsal, wathed the piece and gave us some very encouraging feedback!
Mad aunty Marge - For references to bible stories about temptation and greed!
Random people walking through the gardens - For letting us record their conversations and copy their movements!

That's all I think, sorry if I've missed anybody out!!!

Oh Joy Oh Rapture indeed!!!!!!!!!!

2005-05-20T16:05:00.000+02:00

At last I have a copy of Ian Bradley's new G&S book 'Oh Joy Oh rapture' and I can finally officially share the news which I have been bursting to tell everybody for the last year and a half! THE LAST PAGE AND A BIT IN THE BOOK IS ABOUT ME!!! Yes that's right about me!!!!!
Ian emailed me a while back after getting my email address from some emails that had been sent to him by Jeff Clarke from ODL (loves ya Jeff) and asked if I would like to send him some information about my interest in G&S to help him with the book. I was very happy to do this and imagine my excitement when he sent me a rough copy of the last page of the book which featured a lot of what I had said in the email and asked if it would be ok for him to publish it! Of course it was!
Now the book has been published and I finally have the real thing which I picked up today, I feel really excited, I have already phoned most of my family and am smiling and jumping up and down in such a state of scatty excitedness that one of my housemates has compared my behavior to a five year old on E numbers! Thanks! LOL.
Ahh well, I'd better stop typing now as I will probably start to babble as it still hasn't quite sunk in yet and I don't want to sound big headed or show-offy.............I'm just so ...... wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwoooooooooooooooooooooo :):):):):):):):):):):):):)

Keep Performance live, - But thank god for videos!

2005-05-02T14:33:00.000+02:00

Great title, even though I say so myself! So what is it about? Well........
Recently I have been having G&S withdrawal symptoms as there is no G&S in this area and I have not been to see a live G&S show since March, ok so it wasn't that long ago, but I had not seen one since November before that, and for me it is a long time! Also Opera Della Luna, my favorite opera company in the whole world (a big 'hello' to any of you wonderful ODL guys who are reading this,) are not performing anywhere near me at the moment, not even in London! (Ok so its about £35 return to London from Totnes, plus ticket price but it would be worth it!) This means I will not see them until Buxton, and not even then if my rents don't hurry up and order the tickets as I can only see them on the Friday! How can I survive?
Well by watching my videos of course! I have videos of my Ipswich G&S productions which I watch when I am missing them, Savoynet productions from when I am missing Savoynetters, ODL videos from when I need a bit of pure Zanyness, and general G&S videos for general withdrawal symptoms.
I know it's sad but, when you are used to seeing an average of at least 1 G&S performance a month, (not including Buxton) its hard to get used to not doing that. Long live live performances, as videos will never have the same atmosphere or intimacy but keep those videos coming! Yes that applies to professional companies as well cos yes I have ODL videos, but I would still go and see those same shows at the theatre cos, well live performance is better and I get to see all those zany, nutters who are the company and my friends!! :)

Heart Foam

2005-04-27T19:49:00.000+02:00

This post has nothing to do with Patience and yet........................... Well I'm posting this to see if anyone can help me or offer me any advice as I am driving my mate Nat round the bend!!
Why is love so confusing? Let me explain my situation................
About five and a bit months ago I broke up with Daniel, a drop dead gorgeous Brazilian guy who is 6 years my elder and on my course at uni. We had been together for about two months and the break up was amicable and kinda mutual, and very complicated. We are still best mates and do everything together, indeed not much has really changed between us.
He says he still loves me, but is not 'in love' with me, he says he sees me as more than a best mate but not as a girlfriend. I am still madly in love with him, at least.....I was and think I still am, but a couple of weeks ago, out of the blue a guy who was in one of my music groups who I used to really fancy, and kinda still do, got in touch with me. My heart leapt when he did and I now can't stop thinking about that guy. I never (well hardly ever) see this guy anymore as he lives a long way away from me and I'm just so confused about how I feel!
I still feel like I'm in love with Daniel, but I also feel guilty cos I also have strong feelings for this other guy (though I don't know if they are returned).
What is wrong with me? What should I do?
Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated as it is eating me up inside and kinda depressing me.
Thanks .
I'm enjoying life apart from that though!! :)

What an easter!!

2005-04-12T18:34:00.000+02:00

Well I'm back at uni after the easter hols and what an easter it was!!!

I suppose the first thing would be to note that my grandad was and is very ill. I won't go into detail here but surfice to say that he may not be able to go to Buxton with us in the summer which will be a great shame. :(

Anyway to happy stuff........... I went along to the Ipswich G & S society concert rehersals when I was at home and ended up singing in their first concert of the season, after only 3 rehersals!!! :) It has also been agreed that when I am home during the summer I will act as 'Lord High Substitute' once again at the rehersals for the anual show which this year is The Mikado. It's gonna be such fun!!! :)

I also went to see Beyond The Breakers, by Eastern Angles theatre company - twice!!!! It was a really great show and very cleverly done, I have the songs in my head even now though it is slightly annoying as I can't remember all of te words!! Don't you hate it when that happens!!! There was also a gentleman in the cast who used to go to Dartington college where i am now, in the 1970's and I had a really good chat with him afterwards!!

It was a great easter, although tinged with sadness. I am now back at uni annoying my housemates because I am starting to brush up on my Iolanthe music ready for Buxton!!! he he he

Performances- Cars and Chorus

2005-03-11T17:34:00.000+01:00

Wow, I love thinking of funny titles!! I will write about the second bit first I think..........
I AM DEFINATLY IN THE CHORUS FOR SAVOYNET'S IOLANTHE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am so happy about it and now can't wait untill August so I can see everyone again, well not everyone, there are a few of my friends who will not be there :'( but loads of my friends will be and it will be great to meet other savoynetters who I have never met before! :) The only trouble will be that, if last year is anything to go by, I will spend from now untill the time of the show getting really excited about it all and getting really hyper nearer the time and then suddenly it will all be over and I will be depressed for weeks afterwards because I saw everyone for such a short ammount of time and will miss them all again! I know that it is what's bound to happen but...... ahh well the happiness, fun and friendship of a savoynet show is worth the few days of depression afterwards.........I'd be over 1000 times more depressed if I couldn't go at all!! (to all savoynetters..........I LOVE YOU GUYS!)

The other bit of my title refers to our most recent lesson at uni where our task was to make a performance in a car. We were split into groups of 4 or 5 and had to make short performances in cars which, for the most part we were not allowed out of. It was great fun and I hope I get to do it again as I had such a laugh!!

Pantos, Buxton, Jubilation and disappointment

2005-03-01T17:15:00.000+01:00

Wow great title! he he. Well lets start with da first bit Pantos. Well one particular panto..... "Aladdin by the Elmsett and Aldham players!" For which I traveled roughly 160miles back from uni, during study week, to play in the band for! I was playing flute, alto flute and tenor saxophone, and had only three rehearsals with the band and cast before the show. It was hard work, particularly as I did not have music for some of the songs, just chord sheets, but it was loads of fun. The show was a great success, despite worries about some people not remembering their lines!!

Ok now to the other three bits of the title, Buxton, jubilation and disappointment. Well The cast list was announced for Savoynet's Iolanthe and first I am going to say congratulations to everyone! I was delighted that it included quite a few of my friends so I know I will see them again, but there were others of my friends who I know wanted a principle role who were not on the list. I hope that they will be in the chorus, but I know a couple of my friends from abroad may not be because of the cost of travel, and other opportunities to perform in a principal role 'closer to home' as it were! :'( o well............. I will miss them cos I love all my savoynet friends to bits but that's life and I know I will see them all again.
I am now waiting for the chorus list to be announced to check to see if my names on it, if not then I won't be seeing anybody!!! lol.

PS. I will be bringing my photos of Bob and Jackie's qwert to Buxton with me if anyone is interested, they are currently all on my wall at uni freeking out my mates!!! lol!

Savoynet Iolanthe

2005-01-08T02:21:00.000+01:00

Yes Savoynet are doing Iolanthe in Buxton this year and I can't wait!
I was in Iolanthe in 2003 so I can still remember all of the music which is brilliant!
The only question is..........Do I dare audition for a principal role? I haven't got long to decide so I'd better make up my mind quickly but one thing is for certain......... I DEFIANTLY WANT TO BE IN IT.....................BUXTON HERE I COME!!! :):):):):)

Shows and reviews

2005-01-08T01:57:00.000+01:00

Well I saw a couple of truly excellent productions over the Christmas break.
The first was Robin Hood and the babes in the wood at the New Wolsey theatre in Ipswich. The show was a 'Rock and Roll panto' and was very fast paced and colourful and hilariously funny! I loved 'Nanny Nellie Night Nurse' and Numbskull the Sherrif's assistant, and as for the Sherrif(Opera Della Luna's very own Martin George)............He was BAD very BAD, at least that's what he told me to say in my review for uni! LOL. All the actors were brilliant however and it isn't realy fair to pick out just a few, they were all stars and the songs were brilliant! After the show Mum, Dad and I had a chat with Martin in the bar and he joked that I had not booed him load enough/shouted out enough things at him, so not wanting to disappoint him I went to see one of the matinees as well! At the matinee I booed really loudly, Wolf-whistled at him when he was pretending to be maid Marion, and as I was sitting at the back where he had to hide for the chasing scene threatened to not let him hide and when he did to not let him escape. I also cheered really really loudly for him at the end! (Hope I didn't embarrass him too much! LOL)

The second show I went to see was 'The Master Of Mayhem' by Eastern Angles. This show was, as ever a real riot and hilariously funny. Eastern Angles have this great knack of doing shows where you actually look more of a prat if you DO NOT join in the audience participation, particularly if you are on the front row! My friend Ross and I were both on the front row opposite each other and ended up being waves, lions, mirrors and tightrope holders! The use of physical theatre and quick costume changes to play multiple characters was exquisite and the full sise Elephant and the trapese act in such a small theatre had to be seen to be believed!
I love Eastern Angles and hope to do my year 2 thesis on them!

Random Clouds of randomness!!!!!!

2004-12-05T15:24:00.000+01:00

Sounds like another of my blitherings doesn't it?!? Well yes I suppose it is!
I went to see a performance at Uni the other day by two ex students who called themselves 'Lone Twin'. The performance basically consisted of one of them walkin round in circles for ages wearing loads of warm clothes and carrying river water in bottles attatched to his sleeve, trying to get hot. While this was going on the other bloke said some random stuff to provoke little movement patterns and also really weird phrases such as.......
"It was so cold we threw the Robbie Williams into the air and he came back down as the Justin Timberlake!"
And "I will tell you the story of the frozen shit.!"
IT WAS SO RANDOM.
At the end of the performance we all had to go outside and the purpose was that if the bloke who had been walking round was hot enough he should be able to make a cloud.
To make this 'cloud' he stripped off to the song 'Wild world' and when the chorus came we all had to throw the river water (which had been distributed out into the audience in plastic cups) over him! It worked really well!
Now why am I putting this on my blog?
Well to be honest I don't know, I guess I am just wanting to share that with everyone and see if anyone else apart from me, a couple of my mad mates who were also at the performance, and a rather deranged tutor, also have the urge to make 'clouds' of their own!!!!

Mad Margaret eat your heart out!!! LOL! ;)

Qwerty towers

2004-11-13T23:59:00.000+01:00

Well what can I say? A great time was had by all and I loved it! A Big THANK YOU to Bob and Jackie for organising and hosting it!
All my solos went ok, and as Adam mentioned in his comment I also sang Pitti-sing in 'Mikado' and Edith in Pirates. Thanks for that Adam! :P (Just remember that I have a couple of pics of a certain person playing a certain energetic arcade game! ;)) I really enjoyed singing those roles however so he may be forgiven!

Highlights? ............ Too many but I will list the main ones.......

Seeing everybody from Pirates again and meeting other savoynetters that I havn't met before!
Looking after Tilly and Ollie friday afternoon - it was such fun!
Hannah looking after Eeyore for me!
Missing cues in Trial and knowing that it didn't really matter. (I'll get them right next time though!)
The sparklers!
All the silly dances and 'alternative song words' that kept cropping up during the qwert.
Finding that I could sing 'Strange adventure' and actually stay in tune!
All the other soloists - What a talented bunch of singers we have on savoynet! (Or should that be actor/singers? ;))
Having my first propper meals in ages! (student life you know!)
Sharon's Ida
Singing "Three little maids" and "The criminal cried" - such fun and also I had great people to sing with!
David Duffey's Mikado - HILARIOUS!!!!
Playing a certain arcade dancing game with Adam ........... needless to say I won by a mile!!
Christopher hall and I singing "I am the very model of a modern major general" to the tune of "My eyes are fully open" - It was really funny especially as Adam was trying to learn "I am the very model" at the time!
Bob, Jackie, Tam and Polly's wonderful hospitality.

Well there are loads more highlights I could put and no doubt I will be updating this post over the next few days as I think of more! But for now........back to my uni work.........:(

Work, work, work, and play!

2004-10-24T16:15:00.000+02:00

As you can gather from the title I am starting to get a lot of work at Uni and it is driving me mad!! Mind you, some of the 'work' is going to the theatre to watch shows which is quite good, although the show we saw the other night was really weird! I am finding it quite difficult to find time to get on the internet and I am missing it. It doesn't help that my laptop has 'wireless connection' but there is none available in this area so despite having paid loads of money getting a posh laptop I can use in my room I still have to go to the computer room to go on the Net!!!
Anyway......
I think I'm going to end this post on a happy note by announcing that I have at least 4 roles in the fourth coming savoynet QWERT at the Torcroft Hotel in Torquay. The roles are

Plaintiff - Trial by Jury

Ella - Patience

Zorah - Ruddigore

Kate - Yeomen

I am soooo excited!!!!!

Uni Rules!!! At last I can post again!!!

2004-10-17T15:27:00.000+02:00

Ok so I know its a kinda weird title, but I didn't know what to put, I'm just so glad to be able to post again!!!!! Just a quick summary of what's been going on..........

I am now at Uni at Dartington College Of Arts in Devon. It's a really great place and is surrounded by the most beautiful countryside and gardens. My hall is pretty cool, although my room is rather small. Everybody in our hall gets on so well and we often go on midnight walks, have late night Jam sessions or more often than not go to the student bar together......... well it is literally 5metres (or less) away from our door so it would be silly not to take advantage!!! ;)
The course is good (I'm studying theatre) but at the moment it seems to involve a lot of rolling around on the floor, but hey....... someone's got to do it! ;)
Well I'm gonna finish now as I don't have long on the computer but I hope to update this again soon.....................

"Starting next morning for Devon."

2004-09-24T13:42:00.000+02:00

Yes I know the proper quote is "Started that morning from Devon" but I had to change it so it made sense for this post! (Thanks for the suggestion Jonathan! ;))
I am just finishing doing my last minute packing and sorting ready to go to Dartington College Of Arts to study Theatre. So far the plan is....

Wake up early tomorrow (Saturday 25th September) and say a tearful goodbye to my rabbit :'( before getting my stuff into my dad's car and traveling to Devon with my parents.
Arrive in Torquay about mid/late afternoon and find The Torcroft Hotel. Say a big Hello to Bob and Jackie Richards when we get there and make note of the location so I can find it when the time comes for the QWERT.
Sleep
Sunday morning.......Have breakfast, sit around for a bit, have dinner and then travel to Dartington ready to register for my room in halls at about 2.00pm.
Find room and unpack.
Cry loads as I will miss my parents but finally manage to say goodbye.
Get settled in and try to make a few new friends. Maybe cook myself a meal and try not to burn down the kitchen on my first day! ;)
Sleep.

Well that is my plan for the first couple of days anyway! I still don't want to move so far away from home, especially being a self confessed 'mummy's girl' with a rabbit who sometimes doesn't eat when she is away on holiday!

I hope to be back updating my blog and checking emails asap! (though I will quickly check them Saturday morning before I leave.)

Starting to get nervous.......... :S

The "Lord High Substitute" leaves with a bang!

2004-09-21T01:42:00.000+02:00

Well tonight was my last rehearsal with Ipswich G & S society. :'(
Rehearsals started by blocking the opening number of act two, "Night Has Spread Her Pall Once More", which is my fave song in the whole show! I was standing in for one of the chorus ladies which was quite fun. After break however we had a run through the first bit of act one, and as the Lady playing Elsie was away I was asked to stand in for her when we got to "Here's a Man Of jollity". I agreed and we did that song and I thought we would stop there but then we did "I Have A Song To Sing Oh". I sang that and then did the dialogue afterwards and was sure we would stop before the trio between Elsie, Jack Point and The Lieutenant.........But we didn't! I had never sung that trio before but our producer handed me her score and that was it, I sight read it! Though, I say it who shouldn't, I don't think I did too badly and only got one bar wrong (as far as I know) and my top B's were a teeny bit flat, but all in all I did ok. When I had finished the whole company gave me a round of applause and our MD joked that if the Lady playing Elsie is ill the night I go to see the show then I will have to take her place! No way would I ever be able to do that!
When the rehearsal had ended I said goodbye to everyone which was sad, and promised to keep in touch. Our producer Mavis gave me a big hug and said she'd miss me and we were both nearly crying cos I'll miss her loads too! Still, life goes on and it won't be too many weeks before I see them all again in the show in November. From what I've seen it promises to be a really good show! :)

OPERA DELLA LUNAtic!!!!!!!!

2004-09-19T23:26:00.000+02:00

Yes I am A 'Certified Lunatic' yet again after renewing my membership!
Yesterday I went to the Greenwich Theatre in London to see the matinee of Opera Della Luna's "HMS Pinafore". It was only the second time I had seen this particular production, (I have seen their other G&S productions at least 3 times each) the first time I saw it also being the first show I saw by the company.
"Pinafore" is a more traditional interpretation than the other ODL G&S shows but is still full of the light hearted humor and enthusiasm that makes ODL shows so much fun to watch. The cast of eight (plus band who were also dressed in sailors uniform and came on for a quick bit of 'drill' at the start) covered all the main parts and chorus and did a brilliant job of it. I am not one for writing long complicated reviews, but I will jot down a few comments/highlights........

I Liked the fact that all the marching started on the left foot, which is the correct foot. So often in the theatre choreographers start marching sequences on the right foot as this is the foot dancers start on. (This happened when i went to see Pinafore at the Savoy.) Starting on the left foot is so much more authentic. Infact, The choreography all round was excellent and the energy levels never dropped. Well done!
I loved the sort of Bi-sexual campness of Sir Joseph and thought his 'swooning' over Ralph Rackstraw was hilarious! Also at the end the fact that the Boatswain and Dick Deadeye were 'almost' a couple!
Sir Joseph's 'Aunt'............Well what can I say!!!!!!!!!! LOL
Theb singing was excellent and the 'cuts' were well thought out and all my favourite songs were still there, especially 'Refrain Audacious Tar' and 'Farewell My Own.'
The costumes were all wonderful, and I loved 'Little Buttercup's' gloves........They were gorgeous! Where did they come from? I want a pair!

I could easily write loads more things, but I enjoyed the whole show so much that picking out certain bits is almost impossible!

As always I had a quick chat with Louise and Ian after the show and congratulated them yet again. Ian told me he has been readin this blog, so if you are reading this Ian............HELLO! :)

After the show Mum, Dad and I went on the London Eye before making our way home after a most enjoyable day.

So ends my dream..........

2004-09-19T23:22:00.000+02:00

.......Well, my dream of getting letters after my name before uni anyway. As you may or may not already know/have gathered, I failed my dipABRSM flute exam. :( I can't say I wasn't expecting it, but it still came as a disappointment. I'm not sure yet if I will retake the exam, I'll see how I feel once I've got settled at uni.

Just Jammin!!!!!

2004-09-17T01:58:00.000+02:00

I've just returned home from the most amazing gig! It was at a local pub called "The Grinning Rat" and it was a Jam session that is on every couple of weeks or so and is organized by my high school music teacher and his daughter. Basically there is a main band who start off the gig and then lodsa people bring along their instruments (or borrow one from someone else) and put their names down on a piece of paper to get called up to play with the band or on their own/in their own group. It's sorta like a Kareoke except with musical instruments, though you could sing as well. You don't put down which song you wanna do either, just the style of music (though you could request a song once you were called if you wanted.) and there's no music, you just have to improvise or play a tune you know by heart! I played my tenor sax and was playing for quite a few of the numbers by the main band as they were all tunes we used to play in our high school jazz band, Westbourne Jazz. I also played for a couple of numbers with a different set of people as they wanted a sax player. I didn't know the songs they did so I have no idea if I was playin the right thing but it sounded ok! It was great to meet up with a load of my old school pals again especially the music teacher Slim Hopgood who is one of the best musicians I have ever met! (He plays loads of instruments!) I also met loads of new people and had a really great time, it was so relaxed and so much fun.
If anyone reading this hears about a Jam session going on anywhere near them I would defiantly recommend going, you won't regret it! (Though your ears might, as they tend to be very loud!)
If anyone reading this has any gig recommendations............Let me know! :)

"Lord High Substitute"

2004-09-13T23:15:00.000+02:00

Yes that's me!
Because I am going to university at the end of this month (26th September to be precise,) I am not able to be in the production of "Yeomen Of The Guard" that our G & S society (Ipswich G & S) is putting on in November. However I have been attending all the rehearsals and have been 'substituting' for people who have been away. During the music rehearsals I used to 'sing in' a few of the principle roles which was fun, but now the 'floor rehearsals' have started I have been 'filling in' for various chorus members. Last week I was a 'washer woman' and this week I was one of the Yeomen. Our Musical Director joked that if I was playing a Yeoman than I had to sing the part..................So I did!! (Much to the amusement of everyone else!) Our producer was also a total darling this week as she said that we would be blocking "Night Has Spread Her Pall Once More" next week (which is my last week) and that is my favorite bit of the whole show!! (Though don't ask me why!)
Two thoughts/questions occurred to me tonight though...........
"Why is it that the men (as a whole) always seem to take longer to get their moves/positions right than the women?" and "Why is it that up until now I had not realized how weak some of the diction is?" (Could it have anything to do with Buxton I wonder? ;) )
Still, the show seems to be going very well and I have already bought my ticket to see the Saturday evening performance...........I just hope I can get there in time from Devon!!!

The torments of a teenage soul!: Why do we behave like we do?

2004-09-09T01:25:00.000+02:00

Ok so the title is a little melodramatic (and philosophical) but, hey I'm still a teenager (well til January anyway) so am allowed to be! :) I've been doing a lot of soul searching recently about various issues that I have to address in my life and have come up with a few startling issues!

My friends know me as one of the jokers of the pack. They also know me as a complete flirt! This is true, I am a joker and I do tend to flirt a lot, but inside I am a very shy, timid insecure person! (This may come as a shock to some of my friends reading this but it's true!) This problem is not uncommon among teenagers and even older people. Joking around is just a mask covering up any insecurities, it is much easier to have a laugh and a joke with someone then to have a 'proper deep and meaningful conversation'. You can get away with revealing less of the real you and therefore feel less vulnerable. It can sometimes be difficult to drop this 'mask' even around people you like and trust, leaving you trapped within your own insecurity. Often people who put on these 'masks' bottle up their feelings until they just can't take anymore and get very upset, sometimes not knowin where or who to turn to. (I'm lucky in that respect as I have loads of great friends who I can turn to! Thanks guys! :) )
'Serial flirtyness' is yet another 'mask' that comes out of a desire to be liked by and get attention from, people of the opposite sex. Most guys and gals will flirt back with someone who is flirtin with them even if they don't necessarily 'fancy them'. It feels good and gives a confidence boost. It always makes me laugh though when I think how much easier it is to flirt with someone you don't fancy then someone you do! (Though I do with both! LOL) My theory is that it is a 'safety valve'. You flirt with someone you don't 'fancy' because you are scared of a relationship, possibly because of the fear of rejection and heartache, you know that flirting with someone you don't fancy is 'safe' from this. (Although you have to be careful about the other persons feelings as I know from experience!)
Takin this to a more general sense, it is also easier to flirt or talk openly to someone online or via telephone than face to face! Also it can be easier to talk your problems through with someone you don't know, such as a counselor or a moderator on an internet chatroom, such as the 'wardens' on Church Of Fools. Somehow having that distance helps confidence, but I don't really know why!
All these 'Masks' can be removed with the help of others and a belief in yourself, but it can be difficult! I am happy to say that my own 'masks' have been 'thinned'/punctured/whatever, with the help of my many friends both new and old, far and near and I thank God for giving those friends to me!

Phew all that deep stuff has worn me out now! I'll try to keep my blog more cheerful in the future, I just needed to get it outta my system! :)

Transposing! A musical question........

2004-09-03T23:28:00.000+02:00

I have recently got a new Alto Saxophone to add to my ever increasing selection of instruments and was having a Jam session with my mate Ross after our worship band rehearsal when I thought of this. Why do certain instruments have to transpose? I play flute, piccolo, alto flute, recorders, clarinet, tenor sax, soprano sax and alto sax. (and a few other instruments that I don't play over well, plus I sing.) My flute and piccolo are in C (concert pitch) but my Alto-flute is in G. My clarinet, tenor and Soprano sax's are in Bb and my alto sax is in Eb. I have learnt to transpose for all my 'non concert pitch' instruments. My confusion arises from the fact that technically my treble recorder is in F and yet when you learn it you just learn different fingerings for the notes and learn it in C. My question then is......Why can't you do this for other instruments? I really don't get it and if somebody could shead some light on why I would be most grateful! :)

Daddy's back from Russia!

2004-08-29T14:41:00.000+02:00

Yes my dear darling Daddy (:P) is back from Russia. He bought me lodsa things back, a crystal egg, a trinket box, a tiny glass rabbit in a little bag you wear round your neck, a wooden doll, some Russian chocolate, a beautiful shawl that's black with a pink design (after hearing about me wearin pink in Buxton) and a bottle of Real Russian Vodka, None of this silly smurnoff stuff (or water as dad now calls it) that we get over here! He even said that his host has said that if in my third year at uni when I have to do some "Work experience" with a theatre company, that if I wanted to do some with a Russian company than she would give me accommodation! - Quality!!

Buxton - Last installment

2004-08-25T23:17:00.000+02:00

Friday 13th August
This morning I attended the "Festival chorus" workshop led by Brian Brown. It was great fun and I would just like to say that the breathing exercises were soo easy.........But then this comes from a girl who worried her clarinet teacher when she was asked to hold on a long note and managed it for just under 1 minute! (Ask my mate Ross who shared my lesson at the time, he did it too!) I also loved the "Days of the week" warm up where you sing the days of the week and then have to sing them backwards, it was soo funny! The songs we sang were "Hark the hour of ten is sounding" from trial, "Hail Poetry" from Pirates (what else!), "Welcome Gentry" from Ruddigore and my favorite song in the whole world "The Lost Chord". It was quite funny as I already knew all the songs so did not need my music. Brian seemed really surprised that I did not need my music for "The Lost Chord" but as I have said it is my fave song and I have sung it loads of times at church and various school concerts etc.
In the Afternoon mum and I went to Eyam to have a look in the museum. It was really small but very well layed out and had lots of information about the plague coming to the village and also about mining.
After that went back to the cottage to meet up with Nana and Grandad and then went to the pavilion restaurant (where the festival club is held) for a meal. We then had time for a short walk before going to see the evening performance which was "Ruddigore" by the G&S Opera Company. This production was a copy of the First night performance so it had all the original songs and some cut dialogue. I really enjoyed the performance although there were times when some of the principals seamed to forget their dialogue but it was not to noticealbe.
After the show I went to the festival club and managed to blag getting in for free as I was singing with the festival chorus - quality! Our bit of the cabaret went well and everyone seemed to enjoy it. The second half of the cabaret was "The Savournin family singers" What a talented family these festival stalwart are! I thoroughly enjoyed it. When the entertainment was over I went and said "Goodbye" to the other savoynetters in the club and once again wished Jonathan "Good Luck" for Patience, though he doesn't need it cos he's a star!

Saturday 14th August
Time to go home!!! :'(
My family and I cleared the cottage and said goodbye and thanks to the owners (and the cats) before heading off to the memorabilia fair. (leaving our cars at the cottage with the owners permission) As always the fair was full of lots of G&S stuff and I had to be very careful I didn't spend all my money! I couldn't resist buying a little trinket box with "pirates" characters on though. Mum and I then said "Goodbye" to Nana and Grandad before going into the portacabin one last time to buy some more videos (and order some from the last week of the festival) and also so I could buy a festival poster to add to my collection. We then went back to the car and drove home. Although in a way I was glad to be home to see my rabbit (Dad is on holiday in Russia so he won't be back for 2 weeks) I was already starting to miss all the friends I had made at the festival and am counting down the days till next year! :) It was my best holiday ever! :)

Buxton - part 6

2004-08-25T13:58:00.000+02:00

Wednesday 11th August
Woke up this morning feeling rather sad that the show was over. I had spent all year looking forward to it and then it was over so quickly. It was nice to have a lie-in however but I did not lie in too long as at 10.30am I went with my mum to the Paxton to hear Clive Woods (another fellow savoynetter) give his talk "An accompanist's Lot is not a happy one!" It was really interesting and Clive also played some pieces on the piano in between talking, including a Parody of "A policeman's lot" talking about all the things that can go wrong for accompanists!
In the afternoon mum and I went to Matlock to do some shopping. I scoured the charity shops and found 2 G&S vinyl records and 3 G&S cassette tapes that I haven't got! Of course I bought them!
tonight's performance in the Opera House was "Yeomen Of The Guard" by Bluecoat/Trent Opera. This performance had two professional guest stars Samantha Hay as Elsie, and fellow savoynetter Nick Sales as Fairfax. (There was also a couple of savoynetters in the chorus, but I do not have my programme at hand for their names!) Nick Sales as always sang beautifully and "Free from his fetters grim" nearly reduced me to tears! (Indeed it probably would have done if the girl infront of me had not jiffled all the way through it. That is one song you defiantly DO NOT jiffle through! It was all I could do to stop myself giving her a sharp kick!) Although I have no doubt that the standard of the show was excellent, as indeed it was, I did not enjoy it as much as I usually enjoy Yeomen. The reason? It's the old one I'm afraid I personally did not like the 'Darker' interpretation of Jack Point. I just could not feel any sympathy for him. I am usually in floods of tears (literally) at the end when he 'Dies' but I didn't even shed one tonight! It's a shame because the actor played the part very well but because I did not like the interpretation it kinda spoilt the whole show for me. I understand that others like this version of Point and I respect that but I just have really strong views about him. (So much so that I have vowed to direct a Yeoman at some time in my life if it's the last thing I do!) I did enjoy the show however as did my family.
The cabaret afterwards was excellent, but I am kinda biased as they sang one of my fave pieces An arrangement of "For the beauty of the earth" by John Rutter.

Thursday 12th August
A G&S free day......at least that's what my mum said!
Mum and I went to Manchester today. The first thing we did was to buy a complete score (orchestra, vocal and libretto) of The Mikado for our MD at Ipswich G&S, I also bought a G&S instrumental CD. When we had bought those (and been to the Disney shop), we went to the science museum where they had an exhibition about The Titanic. It was really good and bought to life the hopes and expectations about the ship and also the full scale of the disaster when it sank. My mum could not help laughing as I even managed to find a G&S connection there as the last tune allegedly played by the band of The Titanic as it sank was the tune to Nearer my god to thee which was composed by Arthur Sullivan! :)
We didn't go to the Opera House or the festival club tonight but at least I had the satisfaction of knowing that the day wasn't totally "G&S free!" ;)

Buxton-part 5

2004-08-23T01:14:00.000+02:00

Sorry about the wait, Have been at my friends over the weekend so haven't been able to post......

Monday 9th August
Today was the last rehearsal before we go into the opera house tomorrow.
We started off by running through and doing fixes of the whole show in the morning and then having a dress rehearsal in the afternoon. The dress rehearsal went really well although if I had £1 for every time I or somebody else stood on my skirt I would have at least enough money to buy a video of the production! I found out that my hat needed about 10 hair grips in it to stop it from falling off and when you add that to the amount I needed to keep my hair up and my hairpiece on it came to about 20! Not really a lot to say that would be of interest!
Didn't go to the show tonight. I wanted to attend the festival club but fell asleep!

Tuesday 10th August
SHOWTIME!!!!!!!!!!!!
Got to the Opera House about 10 am and climbed countless (ok about 4/5 but it's enough at that time of morning,) flights of stairs to get up to the dressing room. The company spent the morning getting used to the stage and doing a few fixes before having lunch and getting changed ready for the dress rehearsal/technical rehearsal/orchestra rehearsal/anything else you want to call it rehearsal in the afternoon. It took me a little while to get used to the makeup as it is different to what we use at Ipswich G&S but I managed in the end.
Because of the scenery changes we started the dress rehearsal with act two. It was at this point I realized how small the stage really is.....It's Tiny!!! It's about three quarters or less the width of the stage we use in Ipswich, infact I think its about the same width as the stage at my old High School, though it is a bit deeper. It was quite worrying when the men were doing their trunceon routine I can tell you! Because the rain earlier in the day had caused some flooding, we were not allowed to use the passage under the stage for the rehearsal so we had to walk slowly and carefully behind the backcloth to get from one side of the stage to another. The run seemed to go relatively smoothly as did the run through of act one although we did have a few problems with speeds of songs and telling the orchestra about certain bits of business, but they seemed to pick them up very quickly. The "Pep talk" after the dress rehearsal was mostly positive with only a few minor "moans" and changes which were quickly sorted out.
During the break between rehearsals and the performance a lot of the cast stayed in the Opera House dressing rooms as this meant that we could keep our costumes and/or makeup on. The "Daughters" dressing room must have looked a right picture as most of us were sat there in our petticoats and bra's with our hair still up in ringlets/wigs and our hats still on our heads! Quite a sight I think you'll agree! LOL
The time passed really quickly and when the half hour call came it took me completely by surprise! Luckily I only had to put my top and skirt on and make a few adjustments to my hair which included spraying it with half a ton of hairspray so that it would stay in place!
From my point of view the show went really well (apart from some parasols, including mine, breaking. My family said that you couldn't really tell from the audience but I certainly noticed! parasol is now a "swear word" in my book! LOL) One thing that I found really funny in the performance was going under the stage during "With Cat like tread" because there are a couple of creaky floorboards near the orchestra pit and we were trying to time standing on those with the loud chords in the music, it was sooo funny! All too soon the performance was over however and it was time to get changed and go to the festival club.
When I got to the festival club I started to watch the magic act and was looking around for my family when I suddenly noticed that my mum was up onstage helping with a trick! SHAME!!!!! LOL. After the Magic show Bob Richards played his guitar and sang a few songs including a version of "Streets of London" called "Streets of Buxton" I thought It was excellent! Then all the savoynet cast and other savoynetters crammed onto the stage to sing. We sang, "The act one finales of Sorcerer and Ruddigore" with "The ghost's high noon" in-between. The cabaret was loads of fun and was a real laugh! When the cabaret was over I stayed and chatted to various people and said my goodbyes to those who were leaving in the morning which was sad. I also said good luck to Jonathan for the "Young artist's patience" just incase I don't see him again before I go home on Saturday! :( I finally got back to the cottage about 2.00am tired but on a high! I really enjoyed today and wish that we could have performed the show more than once as it was such fun!

Buxton - Part 4

2004-08-19T17:28:00.000+02:00

Saturday 7th August
Rehearsals today started with a "Tidy up" of the finale of act one as we had not done that too well yesterday. After that we had a run through of act two before lunch. At lunchtime I went to the pavilion to meet up with my family for lunch as my Uncle David, his partner Margaret and her daughter Tanya were over from Nottingham for the day. David etc were late arriving however and by the time they got there I only had 1/4 of an hour with them before having to return to rehearsals! :( The afternoon was spent doing a run through of the whole show, which, all things considered went pretty well! I remembered Most of what I was meant to be doing, and what I forgot wasn't anything major! I returned to the cottage just in time to catch Uncle David etc for another 10 minutes and a photo before they had to leave. o well........
Tonight we went to see "HMS Pinafore" by The New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players. Pinafore is probably my favorite G & S show and I really enjoyed it tonight and thought the choreography was amazing. (I had a laugh with my mum imagining the men in Ipswich G&S trying to dance the dance to "We sail the ocean blue." it doesn't bear thinking about!) I thought the main cast were wonderful and commend Buttercup on her accent....It was quite good I thought. I loved the encores to "The bell trio" and also Sir Joseph's first entrance which was very funny!
There was a "Pot-luck" Utopia in the festival club tonight, with a principle cast made up mainly of savoynetters. I had brought my score but as I had a sore throat my mum had told me I was not allowed to sing and nicked my score off me so that she could use it! By the time it got to "Eagle High" I could not help myself and sang anyway despite stern looks and sayings of "if you lose your voice for the show........" from my mum. I was delighted that the routine for "Society has quite forsaken" from last years savoynet Utopia was redone as it was hilarious! A thoroughly enjoyable night!

Sunday 8th August
Had a day off from rehearsals today. In the morning I went with my Nana to hear Trevor Hills talk about his time in a prisoner of war camp and of the G & S shows he performed there. It was a very interesting talk and there was one very moving point when he was reunited with one of the men from the camp.
In the afternoon I went on my own to see "Iolanthe" by NYGASP as I had enjoyed their "Pinafore" so much yesterday. I found the Fairies opening number enchanting and watching Fleta on her 'Points' started to wish that I had not given up ballet lessons as a child. The principles were all excellent (many were the same as last night) but the Strephon was a little old for the part. I have been told the reason, so am not criticizing especially as he played the part very well so it was not to difficult for me to adopt "Suspension of disbelief." My only real criticism of the show was that there were too many encores. I don't mind encores, I don't mind multiple encores, but when you have 4 encores of "The nightmare song" followed immediately by a similar number of encores of "If you go in...." It does get a bit much! I did enjoy the show however and was glad I decided to go at the last minute.
The reason I went to the matinee and not the evening performance was that tonight was The Savoynet meal! :) I met up with everybody outside the Opera House at about 7.15 and had a chat. When the Opera House doors closed for the evening performance we all gathered on the steps for the annual Savoynet photo. After the photo we all walked down to Chinese restaurant together. (I've forgotten the name cos I didn't write it in my diary!) When we had all sat down the meal was served. It was Delicious but there was soo much of it that there was quite a bit left on our table as we just could not eat it all however much we wanted to! After we had all eaten David Duffey gave a speach thanking the restaurant for having us once again and for a splendid meal and also to Bob and Jackie for organizing it. We then spent a few moments remembering absent friends before the madness commenced! We started with a competition to see who had The saddest ringtone on their mobile which I think I won as I have lodsa sad ringtones on mine! LOL.
We then sang "Hail Poetry" before getting out our kazoos and Swanee whistles to play various G & S tunes as a whole ensemble and in small groups. It was hilarious and the noise was like nothing I have ever heard before. I wish I had bought a tape recorder or video recorder with me! All too soon it was over though and we sung "strange adventure" to finish. It was the most fun I have had in ages! :)

Buxton-Part 3

2004-08-18T18:43:00.000+02:00

Thursday 5th August
Bloked the Finale and opening number of act two in rehearsals today which seemed to go well. When the men joined us we blocked the double chorus and then did a run of the act. A certain young pirate kept readin my magazine which was rather worrying but I took a photograph so I can send it in and claim £20 for either "Boy reading girl's mag" or "magazine being read in an unusual location!" he he he.
Tonight's opera was "Princess Ida" by Nene Opera. This production had fellow savoynetter and "Pirates" chorus member John Sabberton in the chorus. The production as a whole was quite good, although some of the diction left a little to be desired at points. The principle cast was strong but Arac played by John Savournin stood out as he had a really great voice and stage presence. There was one point in act two where one of the principal's hats fell off and I sat there for ages waiting for somebody to pick it up, eventually one of the ladies chorus walked over to get it. I congratulate her for doing so but it was very obvious and I'm sure that somebody else could have picked it up less obviously. This is not a criticism however as I know how difficult it is to think about these things having been in a similar position in a school production!
The Cabaret tonight was fun and my family and I did not do too badly in the quiz, even if we did have a few different opinions on what the answers were! (I was always right of course!) LOL!

Friday 6th August
Well we had a chocolate biscuit hunt at rehearsals today! For those of you who are not familiar with this game I will explain........ During the first bit of rehearsals somebody went outside and hid a load of twix bars with peoples names on outside the church. During the first break we each had to find our own twix so we could eat it. They were hidden all over the place, in the flowers and shrubs, on the walls, on top of car tyres and on drainpipes! Mine was hidden quite high up behind a drainpipe - thanks very much! :P LOL. After that bit of fun we had a music rehearsal, then lunch and then a run through of act 1. After that we all got changed into our costumes for the "Costume Parade". We were then let off early! woooo! LOL
Tonight we saw "The Pirates of Penzance" by Southampton Operatic Society. This production had fellow savoynetters and cast members Tim Bartlett and Sheila Skipper in the chorus. This was a modernized interpretation of the piece that contained quite a few "gags" or "pork-pie" as we like to call it. (The sort of production my A level drama teacher Mrs McRae would put on if she ever got let loose on G&S). On the whole I found it very enjoyable though some of the "Pork pie" got a bit much at times! One gag/interpretation that I really loved however was the Gay/camp policemen in act two. They were soo funny "mincing" across the stage that I warmed to them at once. (If I ever direct Pirates I may have to use this, I usually hate "pork pie" but this worked!) Although I found the principle cast strong as a whole I have to agree that "Frederic" was not the best I have seen, but certainly not the worst!
The cabaret in the festival club afterwards was excellent. My mum sang in the first half with the festival chorus and the second half by Southampton was the best cabaret I have seen so far this year!

Buxton - Part 2

2004-08-18T12:39:00.000+02:00

Tuesday 3rd August
9.30am start for rehearsals again today and it seems that this will be the pattern for the rest of the days to come........O well! Today was mostly spent blocking act one for the ladies which was great fun, especially working out how the heck I could get my shoe on and off quick enough before Frederic's aria! The "Photo competition" also went up today and although I had not entered I did enjoy looking at the photos and trying to match the baby photos with the show photos.
The performance in the Opera House tonight was "The Mikado" by Houston G&S Society. This production had fellow savoynetter and "Pirates" cast member Jonathan Ichikawa in the chorus.
The whole show was a mass of colour and was really enjoyable to watch. The intricate fan work, especially in the opening men's chorus was a delight and very well polished as indeed was all the chorus work. I would partly agree with the adjudicator though in saying that there was sometimes a bit too much fan work etc but not to a distracting level. The principle cast were all strong, but I will give special mention to "Pooh-bah" and "Katisha" who's performances really shone. I was almost reduced to tears during Katisha's "Alone and yet alive", something which has never happened to me before during this song! I also thought Alistair Donkin's "Ko-Ko" was really funny and the "little list" was Hilarious! I particularly enjoyed the mention of "Savoynet" ;) (but we would be missed!)
All in all I found the production a complete delight to watch, so much so that I went and bought the video!

Wednesday 4th August
9.30am start again! LOL. Had a run through of the whole of Act one in rehearsals today, didn't go too badly. I fluffed up a few of my moves but nothing too major. David and Ori said they had seen worse on the Opera House stage so we couldn't have done too badly! The afternoon was spent with us ladies going over and over "Climbing over rocky mountain" to try to get our Parasol work properly synchronized, It took Ages! I saw and tried on my costume for the first time today, it's really beautiful but........It's pink!!!!! Pink! PINK!!! For someone who is not at all a "girly girl" and lives in Black Pink comes as a bit of a shock. I have to admit though that the costume is beautiful and I will enjoy wearing it. (I suppose pink's not that bad really! ;))
Didn't go to the show or festival club tonight as I didn't have tea till 8.00 and felt to tired to attend the club.

Buxton-first few days

2004-08-17T19:17:00.000+02:00

Well I now have a few minutes when I can start to write a potted account of my time in Buxton so here goes............
Saturday 31st July
My Family and I got to Buxton just in time to catch the end of the costume parade and to see the "Big Sing" in the Octagon which was very good. In the evening we went to see "The Ghosts of Ruddigore." By Opera Della Luna. The Production was first rate and highly entertaining as always and I found myself laughing at all the jokes even though this is the 4th time I have seen this production! Outstanding! I Met up with Louise Crane and Ian Belsey from ODL in the festival club after the performance and congratulated them.

Sunday 1st August
Today I was mad enough to take part in the G&S Fun run around the pavilion gardens. The turnout was rather poor but we did have fun (Even if Neil Smith did take a short cut!)
In the afternoon there was the first rehearsal for the savoynet show. Everyone was really friendly and welcoming and I had a really good time. It was lovely to meet up again with some of the people I met last year and also to put faces to the names of those who I hadn't yet met!
The evening performance of "Patience" by Grim's Dyke opera was not the best production I have seen and certainly not up to the standard I would expect from a professional opera company, the chorus and the principals kept getting out of time with the orchestra and quite a bit of the dialogue was either fluffed or forgotten! Still, despite it all I did enjoy it - but not nearly as much as I usually enjoy Patience.

Monday 2nd August
I had to be at rehearsals at 9.30am today which is rather early for me, but I managed it-Just! Rehearsals seemed to go quite well but were hard work. Woe betide anyone who doesn't pronounce their consonants properly when Ori is the MD! ;) The only bad bit about today's rehearsals was the fact that the parasols that us ladies have to use for our opening number kept breaking but our props team did their best to try to repair them and are on the lookout for alternatives that we can use for rehearsal.
I didn't go to see the show in the opera house tonight but did go to the cabaret in the festival club afterwards. It was really good and I really enjoyed it, even though Eeyore got kidnapped by the savoynetters at one point! ;) LOL.

To be continued................

I'm Back!!!!

2004-08-14T18:27:00.000+02:00

Well I've just got back from the best holiday I have ever had! :)
Most of my time was spent rehersing and then performing the savoynet production of Pirates Of Penzance but I loved every minute of it! The cast and crew of savoynet are all great people with wickedly rude sences of humour so I fitted in straight away! :)
I won't give a detailed description of my holiday now but will go as far as to say that I wanted for nothing......Great accomodation, brilliant company, first class entertainment and some great looking guys to boot......what more could a girl wish for! ;)

I'm off to Buxton!

2004-07-30T01:24:00.000+02:00

I will not be posting on this blog for the next two weeks as I am off to the International GIlbert and Sullivan Festival in Buxton. Whilst there I am going to be in the savoynet production of The Pirates Of Penzance, which promises to be hard work but lots of fun! :)
I will post about my "adventures" upon my return, in the mean time, feel free to continue leaving messages here for me &/or emailing me as I will be reading them all when I get back.
See you in a fortnight! :)

A random funny quote!

2004-07-27T01:06:00.000+02:00

I was watching an episode of "Sharpe" this evening and one of the characters (can't remember which) came up with this gem of a quote after someone had got shot in the backside........

"You won't die from a bullet up the bum, but you will spend a lifetime scratching your ar*e!"

Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!! :)

Why is it never open?

2004-07-22T19:37:00.000+02:00

Almost every time I have tried to get on Church of Fools recently it has been closed! I know there is this new rule about it only being open when there is a warden about which I agree with, in priciple. The only trouble is there never (well hardly ever) seems to be a warden about when I can go on. Why the wardens can't draw up a timetable so that the church is open at least 95% of the day is beyond me, but hey........... I love COF and so will keep trying to get on, its just all the failed attempts (and all the different windows you have to go through before it will even load only to be told it is closed) are costing me a fortune!

The Ordeal's over..................?

2004-07-21T17:58:00.000+02:00

Well I took my Dip.ABRSM Performing on flute today! Didn't go too badly, my pieces seemed to go ok (apart form 1 point when there was some noise from some building works that threw me and I ended up having an extra bar in one of the pieces), the talk about the pieces seemed fine as well, but the sight reading was horrendous!!!! I don't think I did that part very well at all!
I think I've failed the exam overall, but at the end of the day I did my best so I'm not dissapointed!
I can always retake! ;)

The last youth group

2004-07-18T23:58:00.000+02:00

Yes, it was the last ever meeting of our church youth group 7to9@5two8 tonight as our leaders Youth Chaplain Rev Phillip, his wife Karen and their son Michael are moving to a new post in Hitchin. :'( We had a farewell BBQ and 21 month old Michael kept us all entertained by acting as "Waiter" :) After the BBQ and Silly games, we had our traditional candle time where we pray for the issues that concern us and also about members of the group. Then came the "tear jerker" bit, when we played a video message from two ex-members of the group who could not make it tonight and then presented Phil and Karen with a photo album/scrap book of the times we've shared together and also a poem written by one of the members. We also presented Michael with a cusion embroidered with teddy bears. We cut the farewell cake, and Phill and Karen gave the longstanding members of the group a christian book each which they then signed with a message.
We will all miss Phil, Karen and Michael as we have shared many happy times together, both in church, youth group and on our youth group "retreats".
All I can say to them is.............
"Good Luck, Thankyou, God bless and We'll miss you!"

Gatecrashing!

2004-07-17T00:00:00.000+02:00

Well kinda........ It was the annual staff end of year get together for the staff at my old school. (well the school I went to for sixth form.) Because my dad is caretaker there I got to gatecrash the party agian. (3rd year running.) They are quite cool actualy, especialy when I have competitions with my ex head of year to see who can eat the most of the ham. (a draw) And get to have lodsa white wine! yey!
LOL!
Probably no-one wanted to know about that but........o well. I said this site was gonna be full of random rubbish so don't say I didn't warn you! :p
(p.s. message to Alone, sorry for today to, but I had to go. U still no.1 ok;))

Random, very random!

2004-07-15T23:32:00.000+02:00

Just a list of a few of the interesting things that have been said this week in the staff room at work.

*"If you're gonna eat it is nice to eat something nice!"
*"I like her she's a nice girl" then 2 minutes later.. "She always talks a loda C**P all lies!"
* "Eww I don't like this [salad] cold I'll put it in the microwave!"
*"Kipper pizza? well I'll try anything once.........."
*"Draw a face on your finger dressing Sarah, then you can play finger puppets!"

I love work! lol :)

OUCH!

2004-07-13T22:30:00.000+02:00

I trapped my finger in the car door today! Thats bad enough but I was on my way to a gig with my saxophone quartet, so I spent the whole gig in lodsa pain! O well, I did get paid for the gig and got free food and wine so.......
My finger still really hurts and I need someone to kiss it better.......... offers in the comment box! ;)

Churh of fools and flirtin

2004-07-12T17:20:00.000+02:00

If you ever get a chance to go on the "Church of fools" chat room, go, it's brilliant! I usually go on it as either SazaJ or Opera Babe (which is da favourite at the moment). If you stay in the sanctuary it's ok but the crypt is soo cool and is full of interesting people who you can have some really weird discussions with. I am so surprised I havn't been chucked off it by the wardens yet as I usually end up chatting up a bloke or two, but I guess thats cos I wisper all my conversations with them! I NEVER give out my, adress, email or phone number though, but I have been known to tell a few of them my blogspot adress. If you are reading this and are one of them then welcome and please leave a comment. If you aint got a blog you can post annonymously and leave your name/COF name at the end!
Church of fools is great, I hope it doesn't have to close!

Why, Just Why?!

2004-07-09T18:41:00.000+02:00

Just a few thoughts/questions that have arisen from todays events.
Why is it that.....
*Photocopiers always break down at the most inconvienient times?
*Your Bingo card never wins untill you give it to someone else?
*Guys will be full on flirting with you one minute then totally blank you the next?
*If you are alone in a room with a guy for more than two minutes people automatically assume there is something going on?

Those are just a few thoughts to ponder, though I doubt I will ever know any of the answers!

I want more Instruments!

2004-07-09T00:56:00.000+02:00

Just come home from playing in a concert with a saxophone quartet I'm in and listenin to the other band that was performing I decided that I would love to play the timps. After all I don't play that many musical instruments..........................................

Hey theese blogs are cool

2004-07-08T19:17:00.000+02:00

Well this is my first message on my new blog! Don't ask how I found out about them, it's a LONG story.. but lets just say now i've found them, I'm hooked! This blog is really gonna be full of my random thoughts, probably mostly about GIlbert and Sullivan Operas and how unfair it is that you have to leave all your clubs and societies when you move to a new area for uni! What fun!