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Post by nick on Jun 16, 2022 9:35:33 GMT
A souvenir shop in Greenwich has turned into one of these. Greenwich are usually hot about shops - they kicked Macdonalds out some years ago. However there's an increasing number of empty shops so I'm intrigued to see how it plays out.
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Post by nick on May 23, 2022 9:22:22 GMT
I will still be seeing this again, I'm aware of all it's faults but I was so excited to see it live again. Although the weather makes booking hard. No help but my birthday is June 7th, I'm 60 this year and I think it's only rained once on my birthday. Slightly more seriously early June has been generally quite dry with rain hitting later - The Wimbledon Effect
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Post by nick on May 17, 2022 14:51:53 GMT
I think Nick's idea has merit, especially as the London theatre world has actually shrunk to a couple of big owners outside of the public subsidy sector, and they have significant incentives to preserve best, the critical and/or commercial hits for both alternative and future monetisation. They could have a small central function dedicated to judging which to immortalise, and later, which are worth the trouble of converting rather than losing the digital capital that was the only silver lining of COVID. There will always be filtration but thirst for early product of later megastars, both sides of the stage, will generate continual windfalls as well as provide artistic reference. Again, easier said than done and keep in mind that not all producers are created equal both financially and in size. The likes of ATG, Trafalgar, Cameron etc might be able to afford to digitise their content but smaller producers like Eleanor Lloyd, Playful etc do not have that luxury. Surely we should protecting the live experience? The closure of cinemas, theatres and concert venues during lockdown proved to me that we do not want a future where everyone stays at home to consume their entertainment because it's isolating and sucks the joy out of the shared experience. I agree in principal. But some examples. In the 60s/70s TV companies did recorded versions of some shows - For example there should be versions of Joseph and Godspell plus rehearsal footage of the original UK cast of Hair. Wonderful historical documents. The Joseph and Hair programmes exists and, while certainly nothing like the real theatre experience, they are both useful for historical research and evocative of an era. But the Godspell production is, sadly, gone. Luckily most of the cast reunited to do a potted version in an episode of David Essex's late 70s TV series. I have all these existing shows but it would in no way discourage me from seeing a live production - indeed they have quite the opposite effect. In fact I'd argue the opposite of putting people off - otherwise why would producers create shows of work existing in other media - Moulin Rouge for example
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Post by nick on May 17, 2022 10:28:00 GMT
Interesting change of direction on the thread from excessive ticket prices to how the theatre world needs to be producing a digital copy of each production (be it for archive or for streaming). To do this would additional cost to the producers, which would ultimately end up be recouped in the ticket price... Also, as a point of interest, when it comes to large-scale digitising of archived material, the digital copy is still actually stored physically, on a tape, believe it or not. I think I'm advocating that already existing recordings of productions should be transferred to format that helps preserves them. Expensive yes but actually helping to secure the original cost of making the recording in the first place. And for historical record. There is an irony about digitisation in that film companies, who mostly now make films on digital media, are archiving them on 35mm film as that is seen as the best media for long term preservation. It's a complex subject but the heavy losses of television programmes of the 60s and 70s and the subsequent inability for TV companies to exploit them when home video appeared should be some sort of a lesson.
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Post by nick on May 16, 2022 17:56:06 GMT
The BBC have digitised their holdings and I imagine that 90% of it is not commercially viable. The BFI are near the end of digitising their holdings as well.
It seems to me that there are two things going on. Firstly it's preserving history by moving from a defunct technology. Not to make money but to preserve. Both the BBC and the BFI have the preservation as part of their ?charter? (if that's the right word.
The commercial part is separate. Can those holdings then be exploited for profit.
I think TV companies learnt in the 1980s that destroying their archive was a very bad idea once home video took off and they could make money out of their archive.
So they are prepared to spend money digitising both to preserve and for potential future profit. Most of their holdings will never make money but it's not always easy to tell which that will be.
Almost every book exists because there is a legal requirement for a copy to be lodged in the British Library (and Oxford?). Copies of British films have routinely been lodged at the BFI. The BFI (eventually) extended their remit to keep copies of TV programmes. So now the theatre world needs to get their a**es into gear.
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Post by nick on May 3, 2022 6:02:25 GMT
Any idea if Cinderella had a particular sales problem , or just not enough seats filled for the boss's liking? Or, put another way, is it part of a bigger problem? I just ask because I added another unused theatre ticket to my collection last week at the Marlowe - covid at 1 in 17 infected without a mask in sight, is too high a risk for me and my odd endocrinology. But when I looked, the the theatre was only about 30 percent full anyway. And when i today looked at Wicked 5 days before, the next Saturday matinee was also about a third full? is this common now ? If it is do we have a bigger problem than Cinderella not being high on my to see list? I can't answer your question but there was a discussion on the radio about no-shows to things - one example they gave was the band Madness' Christmas gig - sold out but only about 1/3 full on the night. I don't know how that reflects all performances but it's a stark reminder of the ongoing effect of Covid. However it seems to be the lack of sales rather than the lack of bums on seats in Cinderella's case. In other news, I attended my first event - my son's first paid (£20!) gig as a musician. Everyone else was under 25 (I'm 60 this year) and just one mask in sight. I survived without catching anything although I spent a few nights in the spare room to protect my vulnerable wife.
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Post by nick on Apr 30, 2022 12:31:49 GMT
Tbh I felt that Mitch was set up. He wasn’t at all as experienced as most of the others and although his wrap dress was ok it wasn’t up to much. It was obvious he had to go. I wonder what the audition process for this is. There must be dozens of people better than he was. I got the feeling they wanted more straight men on the programme this year, so he was probably competing against a smaller pool of candidates than some of the other categories of contestants. (And of course they categorise the kind of contestants they want on - they’d never manage to get a diverse mix of age, sex, race, physical disability, sexuality and personality otherwise.) I think you're right. Perhaps I should take lessons from my wife (who is a terrific seamstress) and have a go next year.
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Post by nick on Apr 13, 2022 20:49:12 GMT
The Morning Show... available on AppleTV+ rather than Netflix/Prime (but a streaming platform nonetheless) Jeepers. Series 1, what a ride. Incredibly strong characters. Obviously some heartfelt deep writing has gone into this. Deliberately awkward scenes as we progress into the story. I'd written off Jennifer Aniston as basically 'Rachel' in everything but she absolutely nails the co-host on the edge. High praise and a strong recommend. Series 2 is less strong IMO. Watchable but loses the focus that the first series has.
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Post by nick on Mar 27, 2022 11:46:36 GMT
Lots of people who dislike the government have a problem with The Lancet paper I think you mean. It really is as simple as that. It’s a peer-reviewed paper in the UK’s leading medical journal, itself edited by someone quite strongly opposed to the government. It’s conclusions are hardly surprising in the case of the UK - why wouldn’t a country with a fast comprehensive vaccine programme rate well in world terms and average in West European terms ? That's everyone isn't it?? We will see at the next election but, looking at the Daily Mail comment section, this government are certainly not popular with their core supporters.
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Post by nick on Mar 19, 2022 17:53:30 GMT
Cases back up over 100k for the day but it does include delay from Scotland. Hospital numbers also going up, Cheltenham again this week. Just hope with Ukraine v Russia people don't take their eye off the ball with this. 620,000 cases one day last week in South Korea always touted as the country we should have been following from the start. High suppression/low vaccination countries like Hong Kong/China are in real trouble now. There was a paper in the Lancet this week, reported in the FT, which looked at excess deaths over the two-year course of the pandemic in a hundred or so countries - Chris Whitty calls this the "gold standard" measurement method as it eliminates differences in classifying and reporting Covid deaths. UK was below average for Europe, around the same as France and Germany. What was interesting was the furious backlash against this simple provable fact from people absolutely unwilling to accept the UK had done anything other than terribly, were the worst in Europe, and were amongst the worst in the world. The fact is UK did some things very badly, some things very well, and lots of things very averagely. www.thelancet.com/action/showFullTableHTML?isHtml=true&tableId=tbl1&pii=S0140-6736%2821%2902796-3I'm finding myself, strangely, in a position of potentially defending the government. Is this paper able to take into account population differences? We have an older, less healthy population than many other countries. Mind you below average is where I'd place us. Some terrible decision made at the start of the pandemic followed by some better ones later on. Throwing everything at immunisation was definitely the life-saving decision.
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Post by nick on Feb 27, 2022 20:15:14 GMT
i've had both sides.
I was brought up in Southport in the Northwest. I assume I was very lucky because we had a thriving local theatre with some great touring shows plus Liverpool and Manchester were both within an hour away. It felt like golden times with many happy memories.
I've now lived in Catford in SE London for 30 years and, again, seen some great theatre. However not that much of it has been in the larger subsidised central London Theatres - bit of NT and the Globe with the odd Opera House ballet. But also little of it has been local - Bromley theatre once and the odd trip to the Broadway Theatre that is within walking distance but has been closed for the last few years. Most of my trips have been to commercial West End shows or the smaller central London theatres - Southwark, Menier, The Vaults, Little Angel etc
I think what I would like to see is the cash spread not so much geographically but around more diverse creative organisations (which of course includes different geographies - The Liverpool Everyman had such a distinct Liverpudlian feel to it and more of that would be fantastic).
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Post by nick on Feb 14, 2022 10:21:14 GMT
1: JCS - I've never seen a production I haven't enjoyed 2: Evita 3: Rocky Horror 4: Godspell 5: A Chorus Line but this is based on seeing it once in the 1970s and being blown away.
But different productions give different answers - Original Cats in my top ten, recent Cats revival in my bottom five.
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Post by nick on Jan 24, 2022 9:16:32 GMT
I don't know what anyone else thinks but I can't see him being gone anytime soon, It seems unlikely the report will be so damaging he will resign and you sense that the party could be split enough he could even survive a no confidence vote. I mean, if they have any sense whatsoever he's got to go, why on earth would you defend and stick with a man who is leading your party to almost certain defeat at the next election. Maybe I'm wrong but he's still here this time next year imo? Labour's favourite scenario.
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Post by nick on Jan 23, 2022 11:38:26 GMT
I once saw former page 3 star, Linda Lusardi with very low expectations. Aaaaand it was not bad.
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Post by nick on Jan 10, 2022 6:44:06 GMT
"potentially enabling the next mutation" was what i was referring to Ah, thanks for clarifying that. I'm still not sure there's a small chance... I thought the more infections, the more likely that mutations will appear. And there are currently a couple of new mutations being closely watched, one called IHU (in France) and one called Deltracron (in Cyprus) that seems to blend Delta and Micron. I think the idea is that at some point there will be a relatively small number with infections so the chance of mutation is hugely reduced. Mutations have happened where the virus is running rampant (Africa for omicron for example and an earlier one in the UK when we had a surge)
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Post by nick on Jan 10, 2022 6:22:30 GMT
they do that for lots of info but for the census?? I've never seen anyone redacted on a census (but the UK doesn't release them for 100 years, probably because of this very reason). The 1939 Register does redact anyone that 'might' still be alive, although if you can document their death their information can be unredacted. Of course. Silly me.
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Post by nick on Jan 9, 2022 17:36:13 GMT
People should isolate when they have flu though, that's literally the whole point. I don't want flu any more than I want Covid. You're sick, stay away from other people. How should people know if they have flu if we don’t test for it? Like Covid, many people will have very mild, if any, symptoms. I can’t afford to take time off work every time I’m feeling a bit under the weather. That makes sense but I've always found it a bit weird that when people are clearly ill (sneezing, coughing etc) they are still encouraged to struggle in to work. It feels counter intuitive because they spread their illness to the rest of the workplace which means productivity goes down more than if they'd just taken a couple of days off.
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Post by nick on Jan 9, 2022 16:25:03 GMT
You have to pay for the actual census entry page but you can get the info free. The actual page is of course what you want as it will have all the info, siblings, occupations etc. Many of us will never see ourselves on a census cos 31 was destroyed in a fire, 41 not done cos of the War and 51 won’t be released for years.. a bit mean to have to pay but the company that does it is commercial, gov funds not stretching to it being accessible. Well actually we should never see ourselves on the online information as they blackout people who are still living*. On that point, they made a mistake with my mother-in-law. They've blacked out the wrong person in her family so, although she's very much alive, you can see some of her records. *Actually I've just thought I'm not an expert - they do that for lots of info but for the census??
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Post by nick on Jan 7, 2022 11:27:36 GMT
Have to say I watched Toast and just didn't get it. Just a man banging his head on a table for 5 minutes and lots of shouting. Not my idea of comedy I'm afraid. Might be an age thing. Or a gender thing? I've tried with Toast and don't get it. But when I think of the comedies I've enjoyed recently, they've all been written by or starring women - Mandy, Alma's Not Normal, Back to Life, Bump, The Chair, Feel Good, Motherland, Starstruck, This Way Up, We Are Lady Parts and I've just discovered the Irish show, Finding Joy which is a ..... joy. Actually there are a few other comedies I've enjoyed - Back, The Cleaner, Meet the Richardsons, Staged and Ghosts.
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Post by nick on Jan 1, 2022 13:26:17 GMT
I'm afraid that I feel far more hopeless about covid now than I did this time last year. This time last year, when vaccination had just begun, I hoped that once everyone had been vaccinated covid might be almost eliminiated. A year later, most of us have been triple-jabbed & yet covid is having a whale of a time with a record number of cases today. Yes for the general population you're less likely to die of covid but vulnerable people are still vulnerable & with my mother having had a slew of major health problems in the last year she's far more vulnerable now than she was this time last year. As covid now looks unlikely to be eliminated I'll be spending the rest of her life living in fear of getting covid & then giving it to her. I'll never be able to sit in a theatre relaxed & enjoying myself, there will always be fear accompanying me to the theatre. My wife is highly vulnerable as well so you have my full sympathy. We have the added complication that my son still lives at home and is a university student. Plus we are living in London. It does feel very difficult. However we have invested in antibody tests. My wife tested a couple of days ago and got a very high score. It's not certain but it shows that she is unlikely to become very ill if she catches it. I can't tell you how reassuring it feels to have that figure. It wont stop us being cautious (no visitors and certainly no theatre for the forseeable) but once the numbers go down I think we will be confident enough to get back to something like normality.
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Post by nick on Dec 25, 2021 16:58:31 GMT
I was going to say something similar. My son is a bit older than gcse but he’s an aspiring musician and him and his friends are exploring 80s music. There’s also a bit of an 80s fashion revival atm.
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Post by nick on Dec 18, 2021 16:30:31 GMT
111 Covid-related deaths in the UK registered yeasterday (140-ish the day before). Plus, getting closer to the million jabs a day (936K). Looking at the data this week, the only things shooting up are known cases and vaccinations - hospitalisations and deaths remain steady. The next 4-5 weeks - last winter's peak, but with a new variant - will be absolutely fascinating both in terms of vaccine efficacy, and steering an economy in the times of Covid.
Also, if we still accept the ratio of unvaxed deaths vs. vaxed deaths at 9 : 1, vaccines look pretty powerful medicine.
Yesterdays data >> www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/13/covid-uk-coronavirus-cases-deaths-and-vaccinations-todayI deeply hope you're right but we are not quite there yet with the omicron variant. If they remain steady for another week then maybe we can start uncrossing our fingers.
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Post by nick on Dec 13, 2021 7:03:17 GMT
My friend's fiance gets up at 5am Monday to Friday, so he can get to work in time for when his shift starts at 6am. He then spends at least eight hours, often 10, sometimes 12, beating a hot lump of metal into shape. That's exhausting! I've done that. I've also spent most of my life as a teacher which is a sort of performance. IMO banging metal all day is less exhausting than keeping a group engaged in the task in hand. Yes your body aches all over but it is good mentally. There are many ways to get exhausted - personally i think being a nurse/doctor which is physically demanding and often making life/death decisions must be one of the most tiring jobs. Please note the "In My Opinion" - I understand others might disagree.
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Post by nick on Dec 9, 2021 21:23:55 GMT
"Choosing" is the important word. There are people who cannot be vaccinated. This is why the government cannot have a blanket ban on the unvaccinated. I have sympathy for those people above advocating draconian measures on the unvaccinated but, in our relatively free society, it can't be done. I agree people who cannot be vaccinated, Someone in a Tree pointed this out with some of his clients' having autism, I would also agree it is unreasonable to expect someone who is psychotic to be vaccinated. I cannot think of anyone else who cannot be vaccinated? The vaccine is 100% safe. If you end up in ICU with Covid, the people treating you are the best people to decide if you can be vaccinated. If you can be vaccinated and you have had the opportunity to have all 3 doses and spurned these, then the NHS has a right to charge for your care. My mother-in-law’s boyfriend has medication which means he cannot have the vaccine. I don’t know the details so can’t comment further but it’s not just people with autism or people who are psychotic.
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Post by nick on Dec 9, 2021 16:52:02 GMT
"Choosing" is the important word. There are people who cannot be vaccinated. This is why the government cannot have a blanket ban on the unvaccinated. I have sympathy for those people above advocating draconian measures on the unvaccinated but, in our relatively free society, it can't be done.
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Post by nick on Nov 30, 2021 16:26:01 GMT
Early signs from new variant are more transmissible and less severe disease. We're not certain of the severity yet; the early comments about the symptoms not being severe were a result of the first cases being in young and (otherwise) healthy people. But it would be good if it was less severe, because it might out-compete the more dangerous strains. Yes it's interesting that this might (MIGHT) be a positive thing - lots of people becoming immune after catching this potentially milder variant and so bringing herd immunity closer. COVID parties might actually become a thing (I am joking btw).
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Post by nick on Nov 30, 2021 16:13:01 GMT
Moving on…..do we expect shows to close again this time? Will the government end up forcing mass attended events to shut down? Just booked my train tix for Xmas week theatre visit and made sure I bought the insurance just in case! I doubt it but it might bring vaccine passports back onto the agenda.
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Post by nick on Nov 23, 2021 11:35:07 GMT
I remember blankets and scarves etc always seemed to be super itchy as a kid, the last thing you wanted was for them to touch your skin. I still remember my surprise being given a soft scarf as an adult after years of refusing to wear the itchy ones and being cold. Actually, your childhood woollens probably *were* scratchier than today's versions. Lots of work has been done in breeding and processing to grow softer, finer micron sheep wool without the 'itch' factor. You can thank us Aussies for that one! Hmm I'm sure you are correct but I suspect that many scarves and blankets of the 70s 80s just weren't pure wool. I started getting interested in clothes in the early 80s and ended up wearing vintage clothes all the time as I wanted natural fabrics and new clothes were rarely 100% wool or 100% cotton. Mind you vintage then meant victorian up to 40s and were very cheap. Also I do historical reenactment and sometime wear clothes made from wool from old style sheep that have been hand spun, dyed and woven and they aren't really scratchy - although I'd hesitate to say they were soft.
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Post by nick on Nov 23, 2021 8:23:10 GMT
Possibly. I guess there was Time Out as well. I just don't remember doing it.
The mention of directories reminds me of something else that existed for a very short time indeed. In the mid-1990s I had an Internet Directory, as in a printed book listing all the most interesting websites of the time. I threw it out a few years ago, but now I wish I'd kept it because it was a snapshot of a moment in time when there were enough Internet users to make a print run viable but not enough Internet to make coverage impossible. This reminds me of Halt and Catch Fire. They start the last series by cataloguing the entire internet (not on paper) and, of course, it is entirely possible in 1992 ( or so). As the series goes on it becomes increasingly impossible. It’s a time i remember well - I first used the Internet at that time.
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Post by nick on Nov 22, 2021 10:22:25 GMT
Rhys was not in sync with Nancy again during that dance off. I don't understand why they thought he was worth saving. He hasn't listened to the critiques to be more controlled and precise in his movements. His time should have been up. He's a better dancer overall than Tom, and at this stage of the competition that should matter I'd dispute the word 'overall'. He is a better dancer at the dances he does well. There's been little variation in his dances - mostly upbeat and little slow and elegant. I have to say that I don't think Nancy gave a very good performance this week. But I think it doesn't matter whether it's Tom this week and Rhys next week or vice versa. Dan clearly isn't going anywhere yet - actually this was the first week where I felt he could actually be a decent dancer.
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