natasha . . .

I felt overwhelmingly sad awakening to the news of Natasha Richardson's death.

I'm not entirely sure why I feel so affected by it, but wrote the following to a friend early this morning, and felt like also posting it here . . .

For the last several years, this is the photo that has adorned the website and printed promo material for the lone small theatre I still regularly attend. Whenever I'd hear anything about Natasha or the theatre, I'd always automatically put the two together.

The image is from The Lady from the Sea from 2003, which I didn’t go to see but remember when it was being publicised because it was around the time of my Redgrave fascination/serendipitousness*.

It’s funny, I’ve often thought ‘why do they still use that same old photo after all this time, they should really remove it…’ but of course I’m sure they won’t now. I hope not, anyway.

* Around 6 years ago, I happened upon an entire floor of exhibition space about the Redgrave family at the Theatre Museum in London. A rather quaint homage, really. I wasn't working at the time, and it was free, so I went back a few times, and throughout this time, things about one Redgrave/Richardson or another kept coming up.

I always thought it odd but fascinating that this was a permanent exhibition. The theatre was fabulous, and I used to always take visitors there (no one ever seemed as interested as I), but lost its funding 2-3 years ago and was shut down. Part of the building now forms something useless like a Starbucks. Very depressing.

I always meant to go back and visit the Redgraves before their lives were removed, but never made it. Natasha's tragic fate has now reminded me of that.

Perhaps my unwitting fascination with her is also fuelled by the fact I had to watch The Parent Trap at least, roughly, 25+ times due to a previous job and my mother running a home daycare (where the film was much-loved by the kiddies) during a time when I'd had to move back home.

I've only a vague memory of A Handmaid's Tale; I think it included something untoward, so of course immediately went onto the teenage 'must see' list. I can recall hiring it from the local video shop, my friends and I disappointed to find it wasn't as racy as we'd been expecting!

Thinking about the opening line of the BBC's obituary: 'Natasha Richardson spent much of her life being labelled; first as the daughter of Vanessa Redgrave and then as the wife of Liam Neeson. '

In my younger days, I didn't know any of this, and it wouldn't have mattered anyhow. If I'd needed to label her, it probably would have been something such as 'beautiful English lady'.

What more could one want?

I read this in . . .

. . . a US-based friend's Out of Office reply:

> We will be closed on Monday Feb. 16th for the Presidents Day holiday

Hmmm…

President’s Day?

Presidents’ Day?

This appears to be unclear even to those who try to educate children.

I also didn’t realise this day's the same as Washington’s birthday - wasn’t it previously called that?
Lincoln still appears to have his own day; hmm, doesn’t seem fair for him to get a mention while the first George W doesn’t.

How do people get through life not wondering about such things?

Why not combine the two into just one day - or a day to celebrate every single one of them - and then it really can be called Presidents Day.

No, that's wrong too.

Presidents’ Day it is, then . . .

Now onto the really important question: Why don't we have Prime Ministers' Day?

Heath? [mind, he did get his own airport]

Wilson's Day?

The National Day of Attlee?

In fact, Britain hasn't a single holiday to officially-recognise anyone's contribution to national history.

Hrmph.

I don't want to go to Chelsea . . .

. . . Hotel, that is.

As difficult it may be to believe, yesterday was the thirtieth anniversary of the death of Sid Vicious.

I shall have more to say on this later when I've a bit more time.

i made a . . .

. . . little town in the snow

currently watching: Murder, She Wrote (Jessica's in Ireland, allegedly)

here and now . . .

‘South-east England has the worst snow it has seen for 18 years. . . ’

IMPACT OF THE SNOWFALL
One of two runways closed at Heathrow
Passengers stranded at Gatwick
Southampton Airport closed
London City and Luton airports closed
London buses withdrawn
Train services cancelled
Hundreds of schools closed
The Highways Agency said there have been too many minor accidents on the roads "to put a number on".

I am just on my way out now to play in it - with hopes I can last more than a few minutes!

blast! I have finally had to . . .

. . . break down and accept the fact that Google now owns this.

The reason this page hasn't been updated for so long is because I was very chagrined to learn I had to create a new Google account, etc in order to access my page ever since Blogger was taken over a couple of years ago.

I've finally given in, primarily because I wanted to comment on another blogger's post, but couldn't do so without first signing in. If that person ever ends up on this page, I would like to share with her now how honoured she should consider herself I've finally gone to these lengths, because despite how much I like to say about everything all of the time, nothing has propelled me to do so in over 2 years!

So here I am. Perhaps I shall have to go back to keeping up this page . . . we'll see.


currently reading: Bill Bryson - The Lost Continent


[edit: I've decided to, as time permits, re-post some bloggy bits that were listed elsewhere. I mention this so that I don't look as if I'm contradicting myself by saying above that I've not updated this page in two years, when just below it one can see posts with more recent dates. I'll add them in with their original date and time stamp!]

a work in progress . . .

. . . is how to describe this post.

i keep wanting to list some bits about my recent trip but haven't had time as yet - well, for that reason, and because i've been exceptionally jetlagged [resulting in a strong bout of laziness] all week for the first time ever.

to be updated - soon, hopefully . . .

[edit: yes, two nights ago i really did watch this film noted below - truly one of the worst things i've ever seen ever - and that's saying a lot. dare i say to car-crash calibre, which means i couldn't stop watching even if i wanted to (what if it had got even worse and i'd missed it? not worth chancing). poor mama walton...]

Currently watching:
A Christmas Without Snow

Current mood:
sleepy

my new obsession . . .

. . . library thing!

isn't it the most? to say the least? *

i admit that last night i spent about 4 hours adding books, fixing up covers, etc - i could have carried on all night!

my own collection is being listed in thematic order, grouped as they are on the shelves [i am very pedantic about such things - i mean, you have to make things flow, don't you - it's only sensible that scarlett letter should go next to the story of wallis simpson which goes next to the story of clementine churchill. there's a theme, you see...but i digress] - hence, if someone were to stumble upon my page at the wrong time, they might think i only like - for example - old hollywood or travelling to eastern europe...

ahh, but no. once you get them all in there you can sort at will, receive interesting stats on what famous dead people^ had the same books and find new internet friends** based upon your similar collections.

i may be in love. . .

* and if you can name that quote, you get a prize
^ who would have thought that tupac shakur and i would own the same book (hey, who would have thought he knew how to read)
** yes, i may need to get out more - but i'm recovering from a holiday, for pity's sake

Currently reading:
Memo from David O. Selznick




Current Mood:
giddy

momentous (or is that monumental?) changes . . .

. . . i seem to be experiencing alot of these at the moment, over which i've had no control

it's well past time for me to make some of my own - which should probably include leaving dear old myspace behind too

that's it, really . . .

Currently reading:
George’s Marvelous Medicine By Roald Dahl





Current mood:
sad

i just love that . . .

. . . the country has taken to court someone who weighs her vegetables on a scale that is in pounds and ounces, rather than grams and kilos

in a way, i do really mean that i love it - somehow it's a bit quaint, really, isn't it?

on the other side, i'm truly appalled that my taxes are paying for this...

Currently reading:
Down Under
By Bill Bryson

Current mood:
vexed

another reason to fancy Joe Escalante . . .

(. . . an enjoyable account of a recent tour of England)

'It was so cold outside, people were afraid to go anywhere. I did a long power walk to get some exercise but I went so far I had to take a bus back. I just faked an english accent and put a pound in the drivers tray and said "university please" in a ron weasly voice and it totally worked. They don't know you are faking it and if you do it well, like rene zelweger does, they actually understand you better. But you can only do this when you are alone because if the guys in your band hear you doing it, they will likely puke.'

Yes, Joe, I understand . . .

run, run away. . .

. . . here we go again

coming soon, with ref to this, this (warning - pdf doc), this and this

phew

viva arsenal . . . er, i mean france

I interviewed really poorly for a job today. Shame. Just...bad. I wasn't in the mood and it directly followed the realisation that I had f***ed up big time a large mailing we spent heaps of ££ on; I co-ordinated it, prepared the list, etc and as 'invalid address' packs started to pour in, realised that my Excel sort clearly had somehow gone a bit funny at the proverbial eleventh hour and the first line of nearly everyone's address went pear-shaped and 5,000 packages went out to incorrect postal addresses around the world. With first class postage. And an external mailing house (paid) to carry out all the work. Sigh.

So I must make a new list, and by hand solely open each package, make a new label, re-stuff new envelope and post again. Did I mention there were 5,000?

I used to have the bloody word Director in my job title, for God's sake - surely I shouldn't be expected to mail merge properly and should have people to do this.

Funny, I never (rarely) used to make mistakes in any job that I have done, but in my current one, I seem to make them fairly often. New kind of pressure? Red tape? Geordie boss? One couldn't begin to guess...

q: how do you know when . . .

. . . you have officially become an honourary english girl. . . ?

a: when you too look and feel like this* when this happens

(*awaiting sad photos to turn up on web for pasting)

it started . . .

. . . here

to which my comment to a friend was:

yet another one from over there making friends over here and giving a brilliant impression of how (un)worldly and educated americans are viewed by those over here. truly embarrassing:

'Her many utterances are so outrageous, for example, "I think the government should be spying on all Arabs, engaging in torture as a televised spectator sport, dropping daisy cutters wantonly throughout the Middle East and sending liberals to Guantanamo."'

I read the article first, then watched the video here (er, and yes, Paxman does tend to just jump right in and on people like this)

then really enjoyed the comment here

and added my own after reading:

'...especially when I consider British viewers sitting at home taking in her usual dog-and-pony show of snide stridency. I can only imagine she confirms their worst suspicions about Americans: contemptuous of science and reason, nuttily and selectively religious, arrogant, stupid, and shrill.'

as someone (who was at one time) from the u.s. (she says uneasily and non-patriotically) who has been living in the uk for several years, I had composed an email to a friend on this topic before reading this blog, commenting nearly these exact words about the impressions given by brash, insular u.s. types such as this woman. this kind of stuff really sets relations back. . . they've only just stopped talking here about how the u.s. ambassador/embassy refuses to pay their accrued congestion charge (£271,000 as of 1st may), presuming they/he is above the law (surprise, surprise!) and happy to pass along these charges to londoners. but I digress...

also agree with the '...a real press -- such as they have in the UK -- that she can't help but look like an idiot' and that Pax didn't take her seriously anyhow

people tend to get offended if I get annoyed when someone says a bit too loudly 'she's american' and/or 'she's from america' - but it's because of people like this that I wish to constantly distance myself from any responsibility. also - frankly - I simply do not at all identify with the term/label. sometimes I don't even realise it's me they are talking to/about - it's a bit like if someone pronounces or spells your name wrong and you don't even associate the fact you're the person to whom they refer

by the way - in attempts to circumvent any flaming - I'm not saying britain is an angelic country that can do no wrong and doesn't have its share of idiots (oh no - just look at the hooliganism news (again) re the world cup (again) .. and many, many other things, of course)

. . . . .

a brief extra bit on the Paxman interview - I found this to be quite a typical response from a brit (as nicked from here), given the majority of them seem to have no concept or respect of religion, etc (which I still find astounding, given their history):

'Paxman immediately countered her by jumping to a conclusion: "So, you think that the world was created in six days?" What I found interesting about this brief exchange was that Paxman seemed to be reasoning that Biblical creationism "seemed silly" on the face of it, whereas Darwinism "seemed rational enough" by the same criterium.'

current mood: chuffed it's england v ecuador in 2hrs

you don't get into a car for ages . . .

. . . then five come along at once

more on that later (not that it's exciting - well, maybe (this) one...)

it can be a bit frustrating, this blog, because one never knows which walls have ears, so i find myself continually holding back certain events, thoughts and photos that i would otherwise quite like to share

but even if i am anonymous with names, faces, places, dates - as well as hide my blog from searches - what if someone happens upon it randomly and works out who i'm talking about, where we were and when? or does it really even matter, really?

it may seem unlikely this could even happen, but i remember when around 3 years ago, i was going through some cvs for a job for which i was helping to recruit. there were loads of them, so it became a quest for the ones most visually pleasing to go into the 'read' pile. i suddenly spotted one with a format i really liked...then quickly worked out the reason i liked it...it was mine! or...was it?

in fact, it was a nearly-precise carbon copy of my cv (in font/format/verbiage/etc), submitted by a former colleague to whom i'd sent my cv the previous year when looking for work and asked him to keep an ear to the ground. the cheeky bugger! i was tempted to drop him an email but was afraid he would be thoroughly mortified - don't we all nick ideas from other people's designs/content - ? - yet never expect said other people to see it?

but i digress, as this is but only a tenuous similarity

my point was that i have done quite a lot of interesting things over the past couple of weeks and am currently composing (mentally) how best to blog about them without getting myself into trouble with a wandering eye

more tbd

yesterday was a very bizarre day, but . . .

. . . all good, really

no time for chat now - here's a cute pic in the meantime



ps - still having a bit of trouble with this kc thing - and why on earth, after all this renovation and expense, would they make the stairs and walkways half the size they used to be and put two less carriages on all the trains!? makes the whole more-efficient-service-to-passengers thing a bit of a joke

Hunting for a . . .

. . .flatmate is truly a sick cross between recruiting for a job and finding a date. It has become a second job, and I quite honestly think moving-out-housemate should pay me for all the work...

One guy has provided 21 bullet-points of his 'Flatshare Specific Attributes', even including his list of top ten films - no surprise that I like all the details, and he's coming round this evening. Forget the flat, perhaps I'll get him to take me out...

So far there has been only one nutter, but I've been looking for over 4 weeks now and it's really not much fun.

Think my standards might be a bit too high? No wonder I can't find a nice young man to take me away from it all...what's so wrong with settling, anyway?

eek, i'm a tourist . . .

. . . or it felt that way this morning, anyway

of course i'd seen the signs for the past few weeks, advising customers that the interchange between over and underground lines would be changing from 28th may and that signage would accompany duly

but i wasn't prepared for a whole new station (ish) ! they've been working on it for ages, but when there are barricade thingies all round - behind which you assume there is simply a little corner for the builders to have their tea - it is truly amazing to discover they've been building a whole new everything back there

suddenly i was a tourist in my own city/station - wandering about aimlessly without a clue as to where i was, needed to go, how to get there and why

once i found the platform, of course i realised it was the same one as usual, but just a bloody long way round to get there. typical. they renovate the full lot, but make it more difficult for me to get from here to there, rather than simpler

i'm additionally saddened by the completion of this work because sometimes when coming home late at night, the guys were working on the area through which i needed to walk, so they would open a short cut, through which it took about 30secs to cross the distance rather than 3mins(ish). damn

by the way, what's with ken using a photo that's decades (ok, maybe years) old . . . we all know he has no hair now, so he may as well give us a current pic

Currently reading: Global Finance by Leo Gough
Current mood: mischevious/uncertain/a bit giddy

another fantastic quote from . . .

. . . Auntie Abigail (a code name which I have only just selected byway of a funny little word association that just happened in my head):

' "fellow traveler" used to be code for pinko commies who were trying to bring down the establishment.'

I had not heard this before, but have now also found it here.

I do love it, especially given the context in which it was used regarding a friend who working somewhere with someone who is pure Hell...