So, an empty desert of tv yesterday afternoon was saved by a video call with Helen! We spent longer than intended - and more than compensated for my late start, Zoom playing up again and not wanting to log me in. I was, frankly, amazed when it did, finally and unexpectedly, work. Finicky thing. Anyway, we had a good, long old natter, briefly interrupted by a spat between two of her pussycats in the background - and spent some considerable time dreaming about travel. Anywhere would be good, for us both. Gee, but it was good to have a good, long chat again - it's been a long time. Delighted we did that - I see so few people, these days.
Yesterday evening - the Crick Crack Club was back! with a show for Valentine's Day, entitled This Thing Called Love, where a bunch of performers entertained us with stories appropriate to the weekend's theme! Great - it's been months since I had any storytelling. Happily, as usual it started late, which coincided perfectly with the National Lottery draw, which my mother would never miss.. When she asked me how long it'd go on for, I estimated two hours, and to be fair, she stayed quite schtum, over the side, for about that long. Unfortunately, they overran massively, and when she asked me near the end what time they'd be done, I couldn't tell her! So the end of the performance had a backdrop of loud sighing, punctuated by the odd sarcastic remark.
But I pretty much managed to enjoy it, although the cat didn't much like it either.. proved great for putting her to sleep though, apart from when anyone was singing, which got her distressed. She really doesn't like singing.
We'd been told the waiting room opened 15 minutes early, so as soon as possible I logged in, just not to have to think about it while cooking my dinner and pandering to Puss.
And when they did start, it took them a while to get going - as I say, that worked out well for me. Plenty of people forgot to mute themselves - even while our host was speaking - which was mildly annoying, but a decently low number, given that almost 250 people were on the call! My, that's more than you could fit into a live venue..
Our MC was, as usual, Ben Haggarty, dressed in black as usual, who was laudably unphased by the random noise coming through as he first introduced the show, then launched into the first story of the night, about the creation of man, who was immediately bored. So he thought up a game of hide and seek, in which the various feelings, currently roaming free through Paradise, participated. Love hid in a rosebush, and at the end, when Madness was poking around looking for Love, with a pitchfork, he accidentally put out his eyes! Which is why Love is blind, and led by Madness (who promised to see him home..)
And so, on to the others, most of whom presented in both (unequal) halves. Nell Phoenix had an animal-based story, as usual..
Followed by the irrepressible TUUP! A touch of drumming accompanied his performances, and he had an animal-based story for the first, and a tale of the love affair between Salt and Pepper for the second! He's such a larger-than-life character, even my uninterested mother was inspired to comment when she heard him.
Next we had Xanthe Gresham, whom I don't think I've heard before - her first story was Iranian, and centred on a love affair in a beautiful garden, while her second was about the creation of Adonis, in Greek mythology. (This is the one that featured the singing to which the cat objected.. would really have benefitted from having a live musician, had that been possible!)
The incomparable Jan Blake, huddled in a shawl for warmth, started her first story with a song - this was followed by a rather disturbing tale, of another kind of love..
The genial Tim Ralphs took us to the interval, with a tune that was a mixture of folk song and pop.
After a brief interval, most treated us to another performance - with Sarah-Liisa Wilkinson appearing for the first time tonight! Always entertaining, tonight she had rather a saucy tale - and most vividly told! She was quite an act for Tim to follow, for his second performance..
It was also lovely to read in the chat where everyone was from - and the comments that followed each storyteller. I still prefer it live - but this is a most acceptable alternative. And by the end, the cat had dozed off:
Roll on the next one.
Well, last weekend saw another Amazon Prime weekly email. And on foot of that, I'm currently watching Undone, an animated series about a young woman who, after a car crash, experiences a weird new reality.. Animation, of course, makes it a lot easier for the creators to realise their vision, here.
In bed, it turned out that the episode of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? that I was going to watch was a repeat of one I'd already seen. So, back to Undone for another couple of episodes. It's quite cool animation - rotoscoping is used, which is the tracing of live-action video, to give a more realistic effect. The acting is good, the lead character personable - and the plot is pleasantly weird. I'm guessing it's all a dramatisation of the mind of someone with schizophrenia, but it's very clever, and there is a plot involving her dad's murder, which he's tasked her with solving. She learns to distort reality by shifting back and forth through time, and the plot progresses nicely in these episodes.
Yep, interesting enough to stick with. I like her, she's sarcastic enough to make it interesting, as they all are. Kevin Bigley, who was in the excellent Upload, shows up here in just one scene.. Anyway, the internet was bad last night, so I couldn't do the blog. Watched a bit more of the series today.
And then I turned back to the telly, where they were showing the 1954 version of Sabrina, in which the daughter of the chauffeur at a posh estate (Sabrina, played by Audrey Hepburn) falls for the younger son of the estate owner (William Holden). A playboy, he's not interested in her until she travels to Paris and comes back all sophisticated. But wouldn't you know it, his older brother (Humphrey Bogart) has started to notice her too..
Well, I have to say, it's simply charming! (And she has a perfect French accent). Honestly, she's always watchable. It's not a bit twee, and not very dated. I am curious as to how Harrison Ford acquitted himself in the remake, though, which I never did see. Good to catch a film on tv, that I haven't seen, for once!
And on Saturday - well, Up in the Cheap Seats are viewing Hymn the day before. Of course, I can't make that time, so will be watching on my own. It's live-streamed from the Almeida, from Wednesday to Saturday, so the only show I can make is the Saturday matinée. And I'm glad I took the organiser's advice to book early, as the last one sold out - this one has too, now! (As I learned from last night's Graham Norton Show, where one of the stars of the play was a guest. And proved himself an excellent dancer.)
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