Tomorrow And Yesterday And The Day Before And Tonight

The Tree of War is no more.  Now it’s death in Macbeth.

Alex is playing Macbeth.  Here he is in rehearsal:

Photo (C) Cog Photography

That boy knows how to commit to a part.  So much so, he passed out briefly last night when the Witches yanked his head back while he was hyperventilating. Fortunately, the Witches were the only ones who noticed.  He said he came to, mumbled for a moment, then went straight back into his line.

He’s a physical actor.  He bruised his hand quite badly in The Tree of War, punching a piece of wood each night.  He also hurt his back a little, falling (as per the script) from the wall going over the top.  He didn’t say anything until after the run because he didn’t want any of that ‘health and safety rubbish’ putting a stop to his performing.

Here’s the Macbeth trailer:

An interesting fact: WordPress spell checker suggested ‘machete’ for Macbeth.  Who knew blog hosts could be so Freudian?

Open Casting Call

If you live in the Greater Manchester area you might be interested in this from The Tree of War website:

Now Casting Actors and Crew

The team behind September 2014’s show once again head up the production of this new, extended show. Composer Oliver Mills will return to Direct and Produce, whilst Writer Rachel Mann will share Production duties.

The show calls for a cast of 18+ performers and a 12-piece orchestra. There are backstage and crew positions in departments including, but not limited to, Art, Design, Set Building, Stage Management, Front of House, Publicity and Tech.

For Casting, there will be a number of Audition dates in the coming weeks. We welcome anyone of any age and experience to audition.

Rehearsals will take place throughout the summer. Involvement in the show may require commitment from April, and will require regular availability during August and September.

*

Check the website for more details.

Make A Date With August 2014

I just read this fact on Facebook:

August will have

• 5 Fridays
• 5 Saturdays
• 5 Sundays

Thought: is it sad that I get more excited about calendar dates than I ever did about romantic dates?

I need time to think about it.  If only I had an extra weekend spare…

Free eBooks!

I came across this site and I thought some of you might be interested: bookbub.com

Subscribe, tick your preferences, and an email will alert you to when free ebooks are available.

Read this article for more details.

#Global Selfie Earth Day

I subscribe to NASA’s emails and I received one the other day that I’d like to share.  Tomorrow, they want everyone to take a selfie.

Are you up for it?  If you don’t do Twitter, Facebook, etc., post it to your blog then leave a link here in the comments and I’ll come check you out.

Here’s their blurb:

NASA invites you — and everyone else on the planet — to take part in a worldwide celebration of Earth Day this year with the agency’s #GlobalSelfie event.

The year 2014 is a big one for NASA Earth science. Five NASA missions designed to gather critical data about our home planet are launching to space this year. NASA is marking this big year for Earth science with a campaign called Earth Right Now, and as part of this campaign the agency is asking for your help this Earth Day, April 22.

While NASA satellites constantly look at Earth from space, on Earth Day we’re asking you to step outside and take a picture of yourself wherever you are on Earth. Then post it to social media using the hashtag #GlobalSelfie.

For more information on getting involved

For more information about NASA’s Earth science activities in 2014, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/earthrightnow

Donate Your Hair To Children With Cancer

If you have long hair like mine was, and decide to cut it, you can send it off to a charity in the UK called Little Princess.  They make wigs for children who have lost their hair through cancer.  A quick Google search found similar charities in other countries.  Please think about doing it if you’re going short; you need a minimum of 7″/17cm and all it costs is a padded envelope and postage.

My hair was long but thin, so my plait was pretty feeble; but every little helps.

When the Hub posted it off, the clerk asked if there was anything valuable in the packet.  The Hub explained what was in it and she winked and said, Aw, that’s nice.  Are you going to do the same with your beard?

I think he should; I heard their office needs re-wiring.

To Answer Your Question

English: human mind for performance psychology DYK page (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Squeezing this in before more visitors arrive.  My boys say we should think about turning this house into a hotel.

To answer your question, the courses I have signed up for with FutureLearn are:

• The mind is flat: the shocking shallowness of human psychology
• Causes of war
• Muslims in Britain: Changes and challenges

For two reasons: they sound interesting; and there was no creative writing course.

I am thrilled that so many of you have signed up for something.  Learning is fun (but knowledge is power.  Hope that helps with my electricity bill).

 

Time To Learn

Sesame magazine (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We’ve had a visitor here since Monday so I haven’t been able to blog as much as I had hoped, but I have sneaked away to tell you about this:

The Open University has teamed up with universities around the globe to offer free online short courses.  I have signed up for three, with staggered start dates; the first begins in November.  

Join me!  It’s all online so you don’t have to live in the UK.  

Here’s the link: FutureLearn.

 

The Laughing Penguin

If this doesn’t make you all gooey, you have a heart of stone and you’re in the wrong blog:

Thanks to my friend Pam for sharing it on Facebook.

 

I’ve got a golden ticket

Here’s my blogging friend, Kate Shrewsday. She writes fascinating articles linking weird stuff like toilets and ice cream (she may not have done that one, but it’s the kind of thing she would do).

She has the chance to go for a Britain-wide walk with her kids and dog but she needs your votes to do it.

Please take a moment to read the post and click the link to vote for her.

I promise NOT to eat a Malteser for every vote you cast (I’m on a diet and I need the motivation).

Thanks!

Kate Shrewsday

Let’s just, for a moment, overlook the fact that Grandpa, in that classic first make of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, is not the one who has won the golden ticket.

He’s happy.

In fact, the ticket winner is little Charlie. Cheer-up Charlie. Charlie, against whom the odds were stacked so high they must surely have crushed him. Charlie, who stood for honest-to-goodness integrity in the face of gluttony, avarice and greed. Whilst others got their parents and promoters to spend outrageous sums for the one thing they could not have automatically, Charlie relied on fate to bring the golden ticket to him.

But we all join Grandpa in being elated. In incredulity that finally, just perhaps, the tide of unfortunate events might be about to change.

And of course, for Grandpa, and for Charlie, life was about to alter forever.

This does not happen in real life.

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Whoops! A Daisy

Thank you to everyone who took a look at our church website (old and new) and left feedback.  

We considered every suggestion then threw them out as too radical (mention the opening times? Ridiculous!).

Not really, of course; I was just checking to see if you were paying attention.

Here’s the finished article (sort of; I still have some proof reading to do): St Matthew’s.

It’s been up and running about a month; maybe two…Our Illustrious Leader Pam asked me to thank you all for your contributions (about a month ago; maybe two).

Thank you, all!

I Have Facebook Shares

Some recent Facebook posts which I want to share with you:

And this one, made especially for me by my friend Pam.  Thanks Pam!

 

Sweet Gangnam Style by Greater Manchester Police

I saw this in March and meant to reblog it then. Ah well; it’s a nice way to celebrate the end of April.

Today

Merry Christmas to all,

and to all a good time!

Not Much Of Anything

I saw this on Facebook and really liked it:

 

Christmas Will Never Be The Same Because of Twitter [cartoon] (Photo credit: methodshop.com)

I didn’t forget the November searches but they were so dull, most weren’t worth sharing.  Here are the two funniest:

• ostrich taxes for fat people
• sweaty armpits of south indian cows

1590724263_12337be064_o (Photo credit: Ludie Cochrane)

I woke up to an email from my beloved younger son:

I’ve not been the starring role in any posts recently and this needs to be rectified.  Yours impolitely, Favourite Son.

What do you think?  Should I write about Spud?