Decluttering

It's less exciting than theatre trips and museums and conventions, but the other thing which I've been doing recently, is to try to de-clutter a bit, and to try to bring myself to get rid of all at least some of the things that I don't use, but have been keeping 'in case they come in handy' or because they still work.

I managed to make a bit of progress this weekend - I was spurred into action by the fact that I'd said I'd take some books for the BristolCon free books table, which was an incentive to sort through my 'books I have very nearly decided to pass on to new homes. any time now, honest' pile, and took one big carrier bag full of SF&F books on Saturday (I looked at the table about an hour before I left, and they seemed to have all been taken, which is good. I like to think they'll all have found loving new homes!).

Sorting through to decide which books were suitable for a Con also gave me the chance to check the status of the other books in the heap, and to sort out 2 further bags full, one of which went to the Oxfam bookshop in Bath this morning, and the other (mostly hardbacks, and some 'as new' YA paperbacks) which is going to go to the library next time I can catch it being open.

I also spent some time on Sunday going through my bathroom cupboard and have binned all the old, part used stuff which I haven't used in the past 12 months, and have sorted the things I'm keeping so that the cupboard is better organised, and, hopefully,I shall be inspired to keep it that way. (Monday was dustbin day, so it's too late for me to change my mind!)

I need to go through my wardrobe and get rid of the things I never wear (or most of them), and free up some space for the things I actually do wear, and then I think the next thing is probably the Cupboard under The Stairs, which has depths I haven't plumbed for years. I should have installed shelving when I first moved in, before I started putting stuff in it. I suspect that if it were properly organised, it'd would probably only be about half full.

I still need to do a lot more work. And this will, I think, include further thinning of the books, but I feel like I have made a good start.

BristolCon

The 4th annual BristolCon took place yesterday, and this was my 3rd year as an attending member. I didn't get into Bristol quite as early as I'd hoped (thank you, projectile-vomiting cat), so missed the 1st panels, but once I was there, I enjoyed myself.

Stephanie Burgis

I attended several panels, ranging from one about toilets (and other bodily functions) in space, to Women in Sensible Armour, to apocalypses and Steampunk.(separately. There wasn't a steampunk-Apocalypse panel, or of there was, I missed it!)

I also went to the launch party for Stephanie Burgis's new book - 'A Reckless Magick', which is the third in her Regency & Magic series. It was good to meet Stephanie and to hear her read a little from the book, and the wine and home-made cookies were excellent, too!

I was lucky enough to sign up in time to attend the kaffeeklatch with Philip Reeve and Moira Young (at which Ben Jeapes was also a guest) and enjoyed the opportunity to hear them discuss their books and writing styles in a smaller, more informal setting.

Next year's BristolCon will be a week later, which I think will put it on 26th October.

(more photos on flickr)

In Which there is a comedian

Since I signed up for Toppings of Bath's mailing list, I keep getting invitations to see all sorts of interesting people.

On Tuesday evening I went to the Assembly Rooms, in Bath, to see David Mitchell. I haven't been to the Assembly Rooms for years, and I had forgotten what an impressive set of rooms they are. We were in the ballroom. It does make one feel that one ought to be wearing an empire line dress and carrying a reticule, ready to exchange witticisms with Captain Wentworth or Mr Darcy. However, no dashing Regency gentlemen were to be seen, so we all settled down to wait to hear from Mr Mitchell.

He started by explaining that he is not David Mitchell the novelist, author of 'Cloud Atlas', and asked whether anyone had attended by mistake (one person admitted to having done so)...

This David Mitchell is the comedian - I am mostly familiar with him for being one half of 'That Mitchell and Webb Look' (one of my favourites is here). He has now written his autobiography, Back Story, and read several passages from it, in the course of an interview.

It's probably not a surprise to hear that it is funny...

David explained that he had been going to write a misery memoir, but didn't really have any terrible traumatic childhood experiences to base one on (except for the lobster incident, obviously..)

He read passages from the book about the lobster incident, about his school and about his early experiences as an actor, before answering questions from the audience.

I think the book will be well worth reading, and of course you can also read David's weekly columns in the Observer newspaper.

Octocon!

I spent the weekend in Dublin, for Octocon, and had a wonderful time.

I arrived (later then planned, due to Aer Lingus) on Friday, and met up with friends SpacedLaw and Raven Books for a meal (and lots of conversation)

The Con started on Saturday, but I skipped the opening ceremony and morning panels, and headed to the National Gallery of Ireland, where I spent a happy hour or so wandering around. They have a Caravaggio, Fra Angelico, an early Van Gogh and a Picasso. I also enjoyed finding some less familiar artists - they Gallery has several works by Jack Butler Yeats - I particularly like the latter, more impressionistic works.('For the Road' was my favourite)

Trinity College

 I also wandered through Trinity College and admired their public art works -

My afternoon at the convention included attending the GoH interview with Liz Williams,and panels about alternate histories, heroism and stoicism, not to mention time spent catching up with friends old and new.

The evening brought a meal out with SpacedLaw, Anabel (and her cousin) and  Ian Sharman at the wonderful 'JoBurger'

Brian J Showers, Deirdre Thornton and R.F. Long - Roots of Irish Fantasy Panel

On Sunday there were lots more panels - everything from the roots of Irish fantasy (Ruth Long had some wonderfully insane books from early 20th C writers) to writing about cultures not your own, when and how a writers words or actions in 'real' life impact on whether you can enjoy his books.

There may also have been quite a large amount of sitting around in the lobby having conversations with other attendees. It was fun.

Spacedlaw and I wound up the evening at The Winding Stair, which is a restaurant with its own bookshop. Or possibly a bookshop with its own restaurant. Either way, the food and wine were delicious.

On Monday morning there was just time to head over to Blackrock to visit Louisa at Raven Books, (and inevitably, to buy some books, before heading back to the airport for my flight home.

It was a lovely weekend, and (as you can see from the pictures) it was even sunny for about half the time!

In Which There is a Very Nice Man

Michael Palin has been described as the 'Nicest Man in Britain'. I didn't actually meet him, so cannot vouch for his over all niceness, but he is certainly a very entertaining speaker.

He was in Bath on Wednesday evening, promoting his new BBC series, and book, Brazil. He gave us a whistle-stop tour of the country, and visited everyone from Amazonian tribes-people to street poets and the biggest gay pride march imaginable (in which he rode on the Transsexuals'/Transvestites' float, looking and feeling a little under dressed!)

He came across at the talk, in a very similar way to the way he comes across in his TV shows - friendly, self-deprecating, and  amusing. Had the queue been shorter, or the event on a Friday or Saturday evening, I would have stayed and perhaps bought a book to have signed,. As it is, I shall wait and watch the series (which I gather starts in about 2 weeks)

In Which There Are More Writers

It's been a busy weekend.

On Friday I had tickets for another Bath Kids Lit. Fest event - an event with Johan Harstad, a Norwegian novelist and playwright whose first YA novel, 172 Hours on the Moon has recently been translated and published in English.

I was only able to stay for the first half of the event, as I also had a ticket for the theatre, and I'm sorry I couldn't stay longer. Johan explained that he had been asked to write a book to be given away to children as part of a cultural festival, and that the book turned out more frightening than originally expected, so ended up being distributed to older children than originally planned.

He spoke about his love of horror movies and books, and claimed that his intention in writing the novel was to cause people to be scared of the Moon... I haven't read the book yet, but I think it will be interesting!

from Bath Theatre Royal website
 (Mr Rushworth)

After leaving that event, I walked up to the theatre to see 'Mansfield Park', in a new adaptation fr the stage. I love Austen, but admit that 'Mansfield Park' is my least favourite of her works, partly, I think because it was a set book (with an uninspiring teacher) at A-Level, but also because I find it so hard to identify with Fanny Price, one of literature's wet blankets.

This production has slimmed down the cast of characters - there is no Mr Norris, No Julia Bertram, No Mr Yates, and Dr Grant, Mrs Grant and Lady Bertram do not appear on stage. The play moves quickly, and there is a good deal of humour, but perhaps inevitably, a lot of the nuances are lost.

Most importantly, Edmund's kindnesses to Fanny are limited to providing her with paper to write to her brother, when she first arrives, and ensuring that she is included in the trip to Sotherton, which, combined with his infatuation with Mary Crawford made it hard to see what Fanny saw in him....

However, despite this, the play is entertaining and witty. I may even go back and re-read the novel again.

Michael Morpurgo

On Saturday, I was back in Bath for 2 Kids Lit events, and a separate one run by Toppings (on of Bath's two wonderful independent bookshops)

The first event was Michael Morpurgo, who is the author of 'War Horse', and over 100 other books - his event was at the Forum, which started life as a (fabulously Art Deco) cinema - there were around 1,000 there, more than half of them children.

He spoke about the inspiration for 'War Horse', and claimed that the reason that many of his books feature characters called 'Michael' is because he is "deeply unimaginative". He also commented that there ought to be a requirement to have spent time as a teacher before they could become Education Secretary, and got the biggest cheer of the day!

It was clear that the children in the audience were enjoying themselves, and that Michael was as well!

Anthony Horowitz

Later on, I returned to the Forum for the event with Anthony Horowitz, author of the Alex Rider books, and of a series, Power of Five, which he has just completed by writing the 5th and final book, Oblivion. 

Horowitz came across as very enthusiastic about his work, and talked not only about the Alex Rider books, and Power of Five, but also about his TV work on Foyle's War, and about writing the Sherlock Holmes sequel, A Touch of Silk, It was entertaining, but I was left feeling it was all a bit superficial.

The final event which I attended was not part of the Kids Lit Fest, but the separate 'autumn book festival' which Toppings books are involved with. They had arranged for radio 4 presenter, James Naughtie, to come to speak about his book, The New Elizabethans. 

The book is a series of 60 essays, each of which started as the script for a  15 minute radio programmer. Each  essay is about a person (or persons) who are seen as 'new Elizabethans', so they are all people who are, or were, famous or extraordinary during the 60 years of the Queen's reign.

The 'Elizabethans' were selected by a panel, from nominations sent in to Radio 4 by listeners, and ranged from Sir Edmund Hillary, to Sir David Attenborough, to Jocelyn Bell Burnell, to others who were perhaps more unexpected - Simon Cowell, for instance...

Naughtie read several short extracts from the essays, and talked a little about some of the challenges - writing to a very tight deadline, writing about  people whom he knew personally, and so forth. I'm glad a went, although sadly I did have to leave just before the end, in order to catch my train home.

In Which Shakespeare Happens

Sometimes you have to wait for the Good Things to happen. Way back in February, I saw Stephen Fry tweet that he was going to be appearing at the Globe Theatre, in Twelfth Night, in the autumn. So I rushed off to the theatre's website, booked a pair of tickets, and then asked my friend J if she'd like to meet up and go with me. And then we waited for 8 months, and on Wednesday we both travelled to London to meet up and see the show.

We had tickets for the matinee performance, so had also take the opportunity to book tickets for the British Museum's exhibition 'Shakespeare - Staging the World'.

'The Long View' -Wenceslaus Hollar, 1647

The exhibition uses Shakespeare's life and works as a prism through which to look at the world he lived in, and London in particular, and brings together some fascinating articles, interspersed with videos of actors (including Anthony Sher and Paterson Joseph) performing extracts from some of the plays.

There were maps of London, tapestries of Warwickshire, a 1st Folio, an actual page in Shakespeare's own hand (part of a play about Sir Thomas More) as well as other items with less immediate connections to Shakespeare - including a hand bill for a bear pit (and the skull of a bear!) the eye of Edward Oldcorne (executed for alleged involvement in the Gunpowder Plot)

Reliquary containing right eye of Edward Oldcorne, 1606

And the Funeral Achievements of Henry V (including a decorative shield which is believed to date from the late 1300s - it's just amazing to think that this could have survived so long.

I had slightly mis-calculated how long stuff would take us, so we ended up having to run the last bit to the Globe in order to avoid being late for the start of the show!

-
We were seated in the upper gallery, which (as the name suggests) is right up at the top of the theatre, but we had great seats (or rather, spaces on the wooden bench!) - right at the front.

View from our seats, during the interval

The show was excellent - it's a very traditional version of the play, with an all-male cast, and full period costume. Mark Rylance (Olivia) was the complete, upper-class lady - dead white make up, huge farthingale - very much the great lady, rather than the young, naive girl she is sometimes played as.

(Photo Nigel R Barklie/Rex)

Olivia glides across the stage (rather like the ladies in 'Trumpton'), making 3-point turns when she needs to turn or sit. There are occasional moments where she slipped over in to pantomime dame, but they were infrequent.

Samuel Barnett's Sebastian and Johnny Flynn's Viola were superb -they were dressed in identical white doublets and hose, with long hair, and managed to make their mistaken identity became believable.
 Liam Brennan's Orsino was very convincing in his (slightly uncomfortable) attraction to 'Cesario'.

Stephen Fry's Malvolio presented as a dry, pedantic bureaucrat, less malignant than the character is sometimes presented as being, arrogant and awkward in his hopes of affection from Olivia, and pitiable in his imprisonment.

taking a bow

In all, it was a highly enjoyable piece of theatre, and while the run at the Globe was fully sold out and has, I think, now ended, the play is transferring to the West End - I'd say it's well worth booking tickets,  if you can. And I very much hope that having returned to the stage after so long, Stephen Fry will be considering more productions in future.

In Which there are Poems

This year's Bath Festival of Children's Literature started on Friday. Although there wasn't any one event this which which leapt out at me as being totally unmissable, but lots that struck me as interesting in one way or another, and I have tickets for 5 or 6 events.

The first was Michael Rosen (well, technically, the first was Ali Sparkes, but I booked that before I knew I had to work on Saturday morning, so I had to miss it, which was a shame)

Michael Rosen's event was in the Guildhall's banqueting hall, and was sold out, which means there were about 350 people there - at a guess, about half of them were small children, and everyone seemed to be enjoying Michael's stories about his school days (back in the Stone Age, when teachers didn't allow children to breathe during lessons, and there was a school dungeon where rats gnawed your toenails) and his poems, many of which involved audience participation.

The event was clearly aimed at young children, but despite neither being, nor having with me, a small child, I still found it lots of fun. An excellent start to (my) festival.

More Fun Stuff

Jeremy Hardy, who is one of my favourite I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue and The News Quiz regulars, is touring at present, and on Friday night he was in Melksham, which is about 5 miles from here, so of course I had to go and see him. I have seen him live before (in May and in November 2009) but not for a while.

It's a very chatty, self-deprecating show, with a lot of political content, but without ever becoming rant-y (be honest. When is the last time you heard a comedy routine which included discussion of (and definition of) 'Anarchic Syndicalism'?) and discussions around the many, many, failings of the Tories and the government, and whether or not Michael Gove is human..

The show also ranged over age, cats and dogs, the Olympics, the jubilee, Danes (well, Sandi Toksvig mostly) differences between men and women (relating to packing, mostly, according to Mr Hardy).

It was a very entertaining evening.

In Which There Is Music (and Half-Pony, Half-Monkey Monsters)

On Saturday night, Jonathan Coulton and Paul and Storm were performing at the Colston hall, in Bristol, and I went along to see them (and to help out with the Merch table)

As anticipated, it was a whole lot of fun. I arrived early and got my very first 'Access All Areas' pass, (sadly not an awesome laminate such as JoCo provided for the Fabulous Lorraine, but one must, I assume, start small and work one's way up, with these things...)

I met up with Kerrin, who is a long term fan, who acts as a roadie for Jonathan and Paul and Storm during UK tours, and with Angela, another hard-core fan, who had travelled from Switzerland for the UK gig, and who was responsible for the whole licorice penises thing, and Angela's friend Lena. We chatted, and ate swiss chocolate, and discussed licorice penises and panties (as one does).

And then we went up to the hall, to find seats and sell T-Shirts, before the gig started.

Paul and Storm opened for JoCo. Appropriately, they opened with 'We are the Opening Band', which was derailed when Angela orchestrated a certain amount of throwing of panties...

They also treated us to the wonderful new 'Write Like the Wind (George RR Martin')

and of course there was a song about pirates . .

After the interval, Jonathan Coulton took over - as always, he was fun and geeky. And soldiered on, despite a broken guitar string (which caused a capella 'Madness' songs by Storm) and Paul's nose-panty incident, and some slightly over-enthusiastic audience participation!

It turns out that the cake is a lie (who'd have guessed?) and I was a little disappointed that no-one seemed to have brought jaffa cakes, but one cannot have everything!

We sold a lot of t-shirts and CDs, and I had a lot of fun, enjoyed meeting some new people, (and some who are not so new) and finally got home, very tired, around 1 in the morning.

I would have preferred it if I had then been able to go straight to sleep, rather than then being kept awake by a very loud altercation between two of my neighbours. I may not have caught all the nuances, but it seems that Emily may have been gossiping about 'her', and apparently this needed to be addressed. At 2 a.m. At great length. *sigh* Still, who needs sleep?

More videos from the JoCo gig are up on my YouTube channel, if the ones here aren't enough for you!

Bleugh

I've been feeling grumpy. I've not been well this week, and  I'm bored with it.

If it's been a cold, it's a really vicious bugger. If its flu, it's a really mild dose. Plus, as long as I do absolutely nothing (and keep a supply of lemsip and a bunch of tissues handy) I mostly feel OK, so I also feel like a bit of a malingerer for not being able to do anything more.

But it's meant I couldn't go to Rye last week to see the Dave McKean exhibition, I had to miss 3.5 days of work this week, and today I managed to get to the library but was then too exhausted to do anything else, so I didn't go to see Joe Abercrombie or Moira Young, both of whom were here signing today. Although the new library is nice. I'm not entirely sure why they were large numbers of people wearing khaki shorts and false moustaches wandering around the library but there were also a LOT of children (and I'm pretty sure that the Gruffulo was actually there, and not an hallucination caused by my low grade fever) which is all good. Kids having fun in libraries is a good thing.

A Night of Comedy

Last week, on twitter, I spotted a message from Bath Theatre Royal, mentioning that Russell Brand would be appearing for a one-off gig there on Sunday night. It sounded like fun, so I booked a ticket. (It's just as well I did. They seem to have sold out very quickly)

I mostly went out of curiosity - I think Brand can be very funny, and at other times.. not, so I went along hoping to be entertained.

I was.

The show opened with warm up from poet Mr G, who managed to move from comedy to poetry and back without missing a beat (literally or metaphorically)

Then Russell himself came on. The show was billed as being a warm-up / try out of new material ahead of a bigger tour, but a lot of it was (or seemed) spontaneous - riffing on his visit to Bath and the Abbey, and on the theatre and the set for The Tempest (which is half way through its run)

The set includes two raised balconies, and inevitably Russell ended up climbing up the ladder, playing with the drums, and nervously coming down with the assistance of James - a very good-looking volunteer from the audience!

I think Russell Brand is possibly one of the few people who could move seamlessly from a visit to Bath Abbey to a new story about bestiality. and then there was the whole part where Russell ended up swapping his socks with  another audience member. And stories about performing in the Olympic closing ceremony.

I was very favourably impressed - and glad I'd followed the impulse to buy a ticket!