Performance

Posted on July 7, 2024 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged actors, audience, Fun, Life, Memory, penkhull mystery plays, Performance, Titchy theatreLeave a comment

Play under a gazebo, Titchy Theatre. We had a good attendance and people seemed to enjoy the small, two page playlets. We had a variety of performances, one play imagined life as an elevator where different floors matched with ages of life and what people do then. Like childhood, aging, and even death. Another was about memories of tandem riding, and various memories of the riders, a third about a noisy neighbour. It was really good to see people’s thoughts down on paper, and the actors enjoyed doing it despite only seeing the scripts about an hour before the performance.

Classic or punk rock

Posted on July 6, 2024 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged bad memory, Classical music, dailyprompt, dailyprompt-1991, Music, Prompt, punk rock, QuizLeave a comment

What is your favorite genre of music?

Basically I like classical music and punk rock.

Classical because of the complexity of the music, punk because it was the sound of my youth.

I love Sibellius, Rachmanninof, Tchaikovsky, Mendelson, Stravinsky, Holst, and many more. I can’t name all the symphonies, concertos or other pieces of music they wrote. My memory for music is in the tune, not the detail.

For that reason I can also enjoy punk rock and music of that era, people like Blondie, Ultravox, The Police, Bowie, Elvis Costello.

But apart from a few, stand out songs I cannot remember the names of their songs, singles or albums. It’s like I have a blind spot in my memory. If I do a quiz I never get music questions right. It’s just weird!

Too busy to blog!

Posted on July 6, 2024 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged Good day out, Harpers Titchy Theatre, Penkhull, penkhull mystery plays, Stoke-on trent, Village hallLeave a comment

What a day! I went up to the Harpers Titchy Theatre event today. We held a small theatre in the round, with short two page scripts. Funny and poignant, thought provoking and hopefully memorable.

In addition a local author had a stall selling her books, we had various stalls selling knitware, tee shirts, some glassware, turned wood pieces, penkhull mystery plays memorabilia. Plus the obligatory raffle and tombola. I am currently drinking the raffle prize I won.

We were not only entertained by the actors, but also Ukelele players and Clay Chorus choir.

There were lovely cakes, scones, sandwiches and ice creams for sale. Plus tea, coffee and juice.

All in all it went really well. Hopefully enough funds were raised towards staging a full Mystery play event in Penkhull next year, which would be the twentieth anniversary of the community event.

Day after

Posted on July 5, 2024 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged ballot boxes, Conservative party, General election, Government, Labour Party, News, polling, UK, USA, Voting2 Comments

14 years after the Conservative Party took over government in the UK, the Labour Party has now won our General Election.

Yes the election votes were counted last night, and this morning, after the votes had been collected in only two results are outstanding. I guess that’s because we have about a fifth of the population of the USA and I think I’ve read that the UK would fit into Texas?

But it is remarkably speedy. Sir Kier Starmer is now Prime minister. He is already selecting his cabinet and has taken over the reins of government today. Rishi Sunak the Prime minister yesterday has left number 10 Downing Street already.

It’s so different from what we saw on January 6th 2021 in the States. No fight over the winner, maybe a few recounts, all done manually with people counting bundles of votes which were collected in from Polling stations within hours of them being cast. And how do we indicate who we want to vote for? With a pencil cross in a box next to the candidates name.

The only change recently? Having to have photo ID. Not universally appreciated as not everyone has it and you have to apply for a certificate of authenticity if you don’t have a photo driving licence or a passport. The amount of electoral fraud was only in the hundreds if I remember rightly. This was one expensive policy by the previous government that might have disenfranchised some voters yesterday.

So congratulations and hoping for a much better, less frantic, government for at least the next five years!

Going abroad with a cold

Posted on July 4, 2024 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged channel, Coach, Cold, dailyprompt, dailyprompt-1990, Holiday, Illness, Life, Memory, Wine tasting3 Comments

Describe your most memorable vacation.

I went on holiday on a wine tasting tour with my relative. Unfortunately I started coming down with a cold on the coach. Soon my nose was red with sneezing and my throat was sore.

Over the channel and into Europe. I slept most of the way. I had thought that I would be able to order some aspirin in a shop, but I made the mistake of asking for it in a familiar way rather than the proper (formal) way with strangers. I got an disapproving look!

Two days of cold with runny nose. I don’t remember much, I couldn’t taste the wine, I didn’t know how to order food. Half of the trip was during a local holiday so the shops shut at midday.

Eventually it was time to come home. I enjoyed the scenery, the friendly vineyards and wine tasting cellars. But I was glad to be back on the coach.

The highlight? Watching ‘ The hunt for Red October’ video on the TV above my seat. It cheered me up and took my mind off the journey.

End of the rainbow

Posted on July 3, 2024 Posted in Memories, Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Clouds, dark sky, Life, Memory, Rain, Rainbow, Sketching, Sunlight, Time, Water, Weather4 Comments

I just read a post on Facebook about a rainbow and it bought back memories from the 1980s.

I was outside on a sunny day when dark clouds piled up as a shower passed by. I noticed a rainbow forming and unbelievably the end came down just up the street from where I was, about fifty yards away. I walked forward and it moved away. I tried jogging, but it kept the same distance away, then gradually faded as the sunlight was blocked by clouds behind me. I really think this is a real memory, not imagined…

Application unsuccessful

Posted on July 3, 2024 Posted in Fine Art, Memories, UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Art, Burslem, Fine Art, Leopard Hotel, molly leigh, Mural, Painting, Stoke-on trent, three counties open exhibition2 Comments

I’m sad to say that I didn’t get my painting of Molly Leigh the Burslem witch into the three counties open exhibition this year. (Staffordshire, Cheshire and Shropshire).

I know they had over 200 entries and it depends who is selecting the works of art. I also know that the exhibition has to be cohesive and not too eclectic. So will I enter again? Yes, but I will probably choose to do something less specific. But I’m glad I painted this.

The reason why? I painted something similar to this as a mural in the Leopard Hotel in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, several years ago. The building burned down a couple of years ago and I wanted to try and recreate the memory of it. The painting means a lot more to me than getting it in this competition. X

Say thank you

Posted on July 2, 2024 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged dailyprompt, dailyprompt-1987, gratitude, Life, Poem, Poetry, Support, thanks, Thinking, Thought9 Comments

How do you express your gratitude?

With a note or in words

To receive and to give

Make good your gratitude,

Or say it with flowers?

For work of many hours

Giving back your pleasure

Of deeds well done

Or welcome support

In adversity.

For service rendered

Time spent in caring,

Thanks are required and accepted.

Down

Posted on July 2, 2024 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged ambulance, Down, funeral, Life, Memory, Penkhull, Police, Shattered, Thinking, Time, Up, will2 Comments

People aren’t around, and if they were I don’t want to bother them. Some memories have been arriving on my Facebook page and I remembered what fun I was having ten years ago. People were there then, a group who worked together. Work was OK, life was satisfying.

Now? I feel shattered, broken, I’ve caught myself crying a few times. I’ve got things planned for later on, so I hope I’ll be OK. Life is up and down at the moment. I’m sharing this here because it’s better to get things off your chest. I need to unstick myself and stop thinking about things. But worries assert themselves.

This was triggered by adverts for funeral plans and wills on the TV and seeing seven or eight police cars and an ambulance up the hill last night. What happened? Are people OK? Nothing in the news, but anxiety bites again.

Penkhull Mystery Plays

Posted on July 2, 2024 Posted in Fine Art, Memories, UncategorizedTagged Life, Penkhull, penkhull mystery plays, Picasso, Stoke-on trent, Time, Titchy theatre, Village hall2 Comments

Ten years ago, three horseheads of the apocalypse!

Up until Covid we were merrily holding Mystery Plays almost every July. We had a fallow year where we did other things, but the central play was missing. But now a group of residents are working towards a 20th anniversary performance in 2025.

So on Saturday 6th July 2024 we are holding a Titchy Theatre fundraising event to try and enthuse people to get involved for next year. The event will be in Penkhull Village Hall from 12.30 to 2.30pm.

We had fun creating props from willow withies and paper and glue. The horses were based on Picasso style ideas.

Mallaband-Brown

Category: Memories