Look at my
desk – up there! - just look at it. I've been so busy I haven't –
or hadn't – the time to even clear it. I finished my play and went
in to something straight away so just didn't get around to it.
Actually it
doesn't look too bad in the photo but between the scanner and the
printer there is every draft of my script, various cables, little
junctions (or adapters or whatever), blank CDs, blank DVDs and a
feather.
So that's
why I haven't written a post lately.
What
intrigued me, though, was even though I hadn't published a post since
September 3, I still get about 30 – 35 views per day; yesterday it was 118 page
views, so who are those people who keep faithfully following – or
following faithfully? Here look:
and you can
see here where a lot of them are going to:
Quite a few
things have happened since the last post. Nissan have decided to
build two models of their vehicles, in Sunderland, which will make
the workforce happy who were devastated by a person called Thatcher
some years ago.
Of course it's not some kind of philanthropic act,
the pound is down so they will build the cars from their sterling
account and sell them for dollars.
The other
thing - Bobby Vee died.
That was a
blow, those were my teenage years.
I have
liked a lot of music over the years from straight pop right through
The Beatles to grand opera and classics such as La bohรจme
and Philip Glass, and jazz like Dave Brubeck and Miles Davis, but
there is nothing to compare with a great guitar by Jimmy Reed or Ike
Turner. Nothing; but none of it was as much fun as Bobby Vee who was
heavily influenced by Buddy Holly.
Bobby Vee, Billy Fury and all that
fun. All gone.
That
pop music of the late 50s and early 60s is totally unbeatable.
I remember
a girl once – actually she was a dental nurse - who picked a fine
time to chat me up, when I was about sixteen.
She asked me if I liked
Frank Sinatra as she had a couple of tickets to see him live, and
what did I say? 'I like Bobby Vee.'
I could see
her attitude change in a moment – 'who is the bozo who prefers
Bobby Vee to Frank Sinatra?'
Well I did but, since those days, I like
Frank Sinatra too.
Amongst other
things going on over here is a pop singer had a hissy fit when
one of the judges on Strictly Come Dancing gave him a bad
review and he walked off never to be seen or heard from again.
Maybe he
wanted more money – but from the BBC I couldn't see that happening.
I know the dancers don't get very much on that show as they complain,
when you meet them, but I should imagine the stars get quite a bit.
Not as much as some of the other reality shows that go out on ITV
where, in Celebrity Big Brother and I'm a Celebrity Get Me
Out of Here go up to about half a million – each – depending
on your agent.
When you consider it though they are long jobs and the
real reason professionals do it is to promote themselves.
Half a million is above average but Ann Widdecombe was offered three times that to do I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here.
Who?
A
politician called Ann Widdecombe, or words to that effect, was on
Strictly Come Dancing a number of years ago and at the moment
she is working on a cruise giving two lectures, one on politics and
one on Strictly Come Dancing and they are both standing room only.
Actors and actresses who have appeared on these shows have done quite
well for work afterwards but it's really like selling your soul to the
devil and in Ann Widdecombe's place her sole!!
Two of the
judges on Strictly Come Dancing do the show live on a Saturday
evening here, record the show that goes out on Sunday evening
straight after it, then fly out to Los Angeles on Sundays to work on
the American version Dancing with the Stars which goes out on
Monday evenings (live) and then again they record the results show as
soon as the votes are in.
The other
show here is The Great British Bake Off, again on the BBC so
not much money there again. The series has been bought from the
producers by Channel 4 so the BBC have lost out. The chief host is
going with it to Ch 4 for many wheel barrows of money leaving the BBC
to work on a new show, a rival.
The only
thing they (Ch4) haven't taken in to consideration is you can't
copyright a format – only the title – so we'll see.
I don't
like food shows, but from the bits I've seen it's quite a happy
little show and so is Dancing with the Stars – Strictly
they call it here!!
I
know I should protest against all the reality shows, antiques,
cooking, dancing, knitting, skating, as they are taking the place of
drama, which is supposed to be employing me, but they are cheap shows
even though the money is good on the International Commercial ones
but the commercials on Channel 4 will be at around £100,000 per
commercial slot which – and Channel 4 is a minority channel –
is hard to figure.
Talking
of the single word identification Strictly: some time ago I was doing a Shakespeare play in the theatre, As
You Like It, and when I told a
casting director where I was working she asked 'Are you in As
You?'
Just
couldn't be bothered to say the full title – Strictly
off the record.
