The Extreme Staycation

  Location: London, UK  COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Certain people have always been a bit disgusting in the way in which they treat their surrounding. The number of surgical masks I see lying on the street every day is quite revolting.  Not only is it an act of pure sloth to just throw it on the floor without a care in the world for your environment, but surely in times when we are being asked repeatedly to wash our hands and use hand sanitiser it's an almost an act of aggression to disgard something potentially infectious in such a disdainful way? A plea therefore - please throw your salived filled masks in the bin, not on the floor.  Astonishing to have to ask really!

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...