Have I told you we are doing a panto?

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So what is a pantomime. Its a crazy comedy with characters that have been portrayed on stage for years. Some panto(mime) characters include :

Aladdin, The Genie of the lamp and the genie of the ring, Princess Jasmine, Abanazar, widow Twankey and the Sultan and Sultana in our panto.

Jack in Jack and the beanstalk, the giant, Jack’s mother and the panto cow, usually called Daisy.

Robin Hood and his merry men with Robin, Marion, the sheriff of Nottingham, Sir Guy, King John, little John, friar tuck, Will Scarlet.

Sleeping beauty and Cinderella are also pantomimes. So basically they are fairy stories or children’s stories that have been adapted for the stage. Various other characters are added. Like the principle boy, who plays the hero but is often played by a girl, or the ugly sisters and widow Twankey who are played by men. A lot of cross dressing in the panto is traditional.

Pantos are played for laughs, modern ones can be quite commercial and include product placement. In our case we are amateur and just have fun.

If you live nearby to Stoke and want to come along let me know.

Spider or beetle?

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Roots can be interesting and exciting. Just be duplicating a picture you can get something fascinating. This looks like a spider to me, but someone else suggested a beetle about to fly. Or I guess it could be a land crab?

Anyway see what you think, have you got any images you can play with and create flights of fancy?

Insomniac?

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The cats can sleep

Why can’t I?

Aches and pains

Husbands feet

Went to bed

Just two hours sleep!

Up with the lark?

No, awake with the bat

I’m so tired

But I don’t know what?

Where is sleep,

The arms of morpheous,

To rest a whole night

Would be glorious!

Just drank some cocoa,

More in hope

Than expectation

Of getting a few hours

Sleep

Zzzeds are needed

Tiredness exceeded

Brains a whir

Dreams

Occur….

Dawn chorus

Now I hear it stir,

Birdsong!

Liquid, mellifluous….

Earplugs

I have none

 

Dance like there’s no tomorrow..

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The 64 million artists January challenge today was to post some music and an image on the theme ‘dance like there’s no tomorrow’.

My problem is I still have a sore hip and I don’t really have a music collection.. What to do? I asked my hubby to dance… Lots of laughter and this photo. I’ve cropped it so he cannot be identified….

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Feeling owlish

_20200123_120219After a bad night’s sleep I decided to go to Etruria Artists this morning. One of the group suggested drawing a wise animal. My hubby drew a fox, I decided to draw an owl. I wanted to do something colourful and more abstract than I would usually do. This is based on my handbag, though it’s not a copy, more inspired by my bag. I think he’s more cheeky than wise!

Sleepless again..

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Can’t sleep and I have an ear worm going round in my head ‘all I need is you, all I need is you, and all I ever knew only you’ all because I’m singing at a choir festival on Saturday and I had to learn the backing tune to our rendition of ‘only you’ by Yazoo.

I’m also panicking because I’m in another choir, also singing, but I can’t even remember the song, let alone the words, for that one. All I can remember is that it’s a song by Robert (Rabie) Burns, because it is Burns night on Saturday, when the wee Haggis is praised….

So, trying to sleep in an armchair, but I can’t get off. They recommend you don’t use screens at night, but I’m bored, listening to a little bit of Radio. Got to be out early. No doubt I will be tired out….

I will go back to bed moaning about how tired I am, to listen to snores from someone who doesn’t have that problem….

Farewell Terry Jones

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Terry Jones, one of the Monty Python team, has died today aged 77. He had been ill for a while with dementia. He was born in Wales in Colwyn Bay.

He was very funny and one of his lines while playing Brian’s mother in the film ‘the life of Brian’ was ‘he’s not the Messiah! he’s a very naughty boy!’

Monty Pythons flying circus was a TV programme in the 1960’s and 70’s. It was a surreal sketch show where Terry Jones, Micheal Palin, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Graham Chapman and animator Terry Gilliam (who’s film about Don Quixote is just being released) all worked together to create the most bizzare and wonderful and mad series of sketches. Terry Jones would often be dressed up as a woman and talk in a very high silly voice.

The pythons also made several films and Jones was of course involved with them. He also wrote sketches for the Two Ronnie’s along with Micheal Palin and went on to make history programmes later in life. He was awarded a Bafta for his work.

It’s a sad loss. He will be missed

Cat tree

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In winter the cats retreat to their cat tree. It’s angled to be close to the  radiator. The female fits neatly on her tray. But the male is more squashed up. He squeezes on but his leg and tail sometimes flop off the edge. His tray is slightly further away from the radiator, bur they have always kept the same positions, they don’t swap. Sometimes if they get too hot they go off in search of different places. Then comes the battle of the armchairs. The cats know which is my hubby’s and like stealing his seat if he goes out of the room….

If I coukd I would shrink down to cat size and curl up on the top tray above the two cats and relax. They don’t use it so it’s free….