The Extreme Staycation

Location: London, UK  COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown I love the soap "Neighbours" as I have mentioned before in this blog. Well, I think we have now entered into episodes which were filmed with social distancing. By and large you can't really see it, but I did notice that the coffee shop (Harold's) has suddenly got a whole load of new plants (presumably to replace people and make it look less obviously empty) and that the extras have dwindled to single figures. Neighbours was one of the first shows to go back into production around the world.  I believe Emmerdale was the first to resume in the UK. So far, there has been no mention of a global pandemic and I'm wondering whether there will be.  I know they are going to work it in to the storylines for EastEnders.  I guess the others have to work out if they want the soap to continue to occupy the "real world" or whether they decide to keep the likes of Erinsborough, Weatherfield or Hollyoaks in a...

  Location: London, UK  COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown The temperature is still way above average and in London we are praying for some weather - be that wind, rain, something, some relief from the still, hot air. Last year on a day as similarly hot as today I did an improv gig with my group, The Trophy Room. It was in a room which they had tried to air-condition as much as was possible, but still involved everyone getting there by tube so the whole experience was...sticky. Amazingly, there was still a small, but dedicated audience! They weren't going to let a little heat get in the way of some comedy genius...

  Location: London, UK  COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown Continuing on my weather theme, a nyone remember the summer of 2007?  Well that was the year that  Umbrella  by Rhianna was number 1 in the UK for 10 weeks.  And all we did was use our umbrellas as it was the wettest summer since records began. I cursed this song at the time as all I wanted was some sunshine and we didn't get any. Then in 2012, I was fortunate enough to take part in the Paralympics Opening Ceremony.  It was a fantastic experience and I got to dance with 200 other people in one of the opening segments to, yes you guessed it, Umbrella by Rhianna. I had to make my peace with the song as it was all I heard for several months and I actually came to love the remixed version we danced to (Seamus Haji & Paul Emanuel Club Remix). We had very heavy umbrellas that lit up and changed colour, hats with lights on as well as mismatched Dr Marten's and the rest of the fetching costum...

  Location: London, UK  COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown It is really, really hot at the moment. In London it hit 36 ° c on Thursday and is set to continue with daily highs of 32 °c -36 °c  for the next week. When I think of recent summers, there have been a few with very hot weeks, usually in July.  I remember two specifically, 2013 and 2018 as both times I was rehearsing for a show which involved a lot of physical movement and rolling around on the floor, which during a heat wave, was hot work.  But these are isolated weeks, the rest of those summers were typically British - mildly warm with showers. We seem to have had pretty hot weather for months.  In many ways this has been a blessing.  With the country in lockdown and then only allowed to meet socially outside, with less clement weather, this whole situation we find ourselves in could have been a lot more unbearable.

  Location: London, UK  COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown Oh it's a bit hot isn't it? I'm not quite sure what my cat is thinking, but she insists on spending most of the day in the hottest part of the house.  I've tried explaining to her that there are cooler areas she could recline in, but no, she will not listen. I appreciate that trying to reason with a cat seems like a pointless activity and to be frank on this occassion, it has proved to be so.

Location: London, UK  COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown London Underground Prior to the lockdown and depending on my week, I would be on the tube pretty regularly. Today I got the tube for the first time since March 13th - that's a long time ago.  I didn't even know if I had any money on my Oyster card (I did). I was quite anxious about it.  I'm a confident traveller - growing up in London and without a family car, I have used public transport extensively throughout my life.  I know the tube map pretty well, I am happy hopping on and off buses, I've been on the DLR, boats, trams, even the cable car in my travels across the capital. Masks are mandatory on all public transport so I was pretty annoyed when the first carriage I got in had three people in it (spaced out) two who had their masks around their necks and one who didn't have one at all.  As more got on, the two with them around their necks put them on and the guy without one produced it as he got o...

Location: London, UK  COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown I bought myself a pillow and it may be the best thing I've purchased in sometime. It's called a boomerang pillow and is shaped like... you get it. It comes with it's own special pillow slip and is the MOST COMFORTABLE thing to snuggle into. That folks, is how exciting life is at the moment. Pillows. https://www.argos.co.uk/product/1270475?clickSR=slp:term:boomerang%20pillow:5:172:1

Location: London, UK  COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown A staple sleepover film when I was growing up was Clueless . It was and still is a brilliant film.   I re-watched it today - it's a bit like having a catch up with an old friend, I know it so well. Clueless was one of my generation's defining films - everyone coveted Cher's tartan mini-skirt suit and had fluffy topped pens sticking out of their pencil cases.  Clueless was responsible for key phrases such as: "What-ever!" "Ugh, as if!" And these gems: “Do you prefer fashion victim or ensembly challenged?” “She’s my friend because we both know what it’s like to have people be jealous of us.” “She’s a full-on Monet. It’s like a painting, see? From far away, it’s okay. But up close, it’s a big old mess.” And to us over here in the UK, I think we imagined all American secondary schools to be just like the one in this film. If you haven't seen it for a while or (gasp!) have never seen it, find ...

Location: London, UK  COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown In growing news, we have peas!  They were sweet, delicious and again the excitement of growing something I can eat was immense! It wasn't exactly a harvest for Birdseye to worry about in terms of competition but apparently more grow when you pick the first lot... can you tell I still have no idea what I'm doing?! Anyway, peas!

Location: London, UK  COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown Ah Edinburgh . This is the time of year when traditionally many thousands of people migrate north for the month of August. I've performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe three times and been as a visitor several more times. Each experience was quite different - all fun, all stressful at some point and all good learning curves. My first time was with a cast of 8, we had a great flat, I drank quite a lot and made friends who I am still in touch with to this day. Second time was with my solo show, " Awake " - nice flat, even further out from the centre than the first time, had an amazing number of supportive friends and family who came up to see the show and enjoy the festival, didn't drink a drop. Third time was with a revolving cast of about 20, slept like sardines for a month, had a hit show, drank a lot of coffee. Edinburgh - I raise a glass to you and to all the people who were intending to be there thi...

Location: London, UK  COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown My church opened a while ago, initially for an hour a day, so that parishioners could visit and pray. Then about a month ago, it opened for daily masses but with social distancing in place.  Track and trace is done at the door, masks are worn and instead of holy water by the door we have... holy hand gel? It's all a bit strange to say the least and I doubt the church has ever been cleaner, but I think it's good that places of worship are able to open.  They are necessary to so many as a place for quiet and time for reflection, as well as operating as the centres of community, of which they are for so many people.

Location: London, UK  COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown Another one bites the dust - Cameron Mackintosh has announced that Phantom of the Opera, which has run uninterrupted in the West End for 34 years will not return in 2021. https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/news/phantom-of-the-opera-west-end-tour-closed-cancelled-ticket-refund-cameron-mackintosh-a9643116.html One in two people in the UK go to the theatre every year.  And more people see live theatre every year than go to a football match and yet football seems to have been fast tracked to starting again.  I'm not having a go at football (especially as Arsenal are in the FA cup final) but when are the government going to make a decision about theatres?  Without dates, plans can't be made.  The deadline for decisions about pantomimes, which often provide regional theatres' with the majority of their funding for the year, is fast approaching. Oh yes it it.

Location: London, UK  COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown I have taken ballet classes since I was about 3 years old.  In that time I have had many pairs of ballet shoes.  I'm remember the excitement of graduating from elastics to ribbons and then getting my first pair of pointe shoes - these are seminal moments for a dancer. I recently came across this item on the BBC news from 2018:  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/entertainment-arts-46025716 I found it quite astounding that black dancers have had to cover their ballet shoes in foundation to get them to resemble their skin tone until very recently.  It took until 2018 for Freed's, one of the best known dance shops in the world, to produce a pointe shoe not in satin pink. Whilst it's great that they are doing it, why on earth has it taken this long?  I'm honestly gobsmacked and saddened for the many dancers who possibly felt that ballet was not a world for them, because literally, the shoe didn't fit. Im...

Location: London, UK  COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown Meanwhile, in Australia, there are two fairly huge environmental issues which need to be known about by the wider world. Most people are of course aware of the devastating bush fires which swept Australia late last years and for the first quarter of this year.  Bush fires are a naturally occurring thing down under, but this scale was unprecedented. Now some time has passed and authorities are beginning to get an idea of just how big the damage to the animal and wildlife populations these fires was - they estimate that  3 billion  animals were hurt or killed.  Koalas, one of Australia’s indigenous and iconic animals will be extinct by 2050 if serious intervention doesn't take place now.  It's a shocking and very upsetting thought. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-53549936 Elsewhere in Australia, water is the problem, with coastal erosion causing millions of dollars of damage to ...