PL3A53 R3B00+

I noticed a moment of common sense fail whilst out at Ikea the other day with my mum. For reference they have show rooms of how to maximise your space with clever storage solutions. Often they can be very inspiring. One set up they had involved a nice tv cabinet that covered a whole wall with a coffee table and rug. However for reasons unknown it seemed the designer of the room had clearly not tried opening the cupboard door on the cabinet. It just got stuck on the rug and it was the only door in the entire apartment layout.

Today whilst with choccoweeble in Sainsburys I had to question the sanity of the shelf display designers. Going down one aisle to get to the checkout we went past the 'Back to School' Section. The rather interesting juxtaposition being the aisle directly across from it. To the right school books, pencils and uniforms, to the left alcohol, mostly the really strong stuff. For all your family needs?

I will start by saying that I have loved theatre as a medium for a long while and even took an a-level study in the subject. It was with a heavy heart that a little over a year ago I found out that the Chester theatre would be shutting down. The last thing we went to see before it closed its doors was the one man Star Wars show.

So imagine my surprise when I found out that another company had taken over and was now running shows. Some poking around later and choccoweeble am I were booked to see 'This Is My Musical III' and 'The Goon Show'.

The tickets arrived, the seats were held and with some excitement and trepidation we headed off to see a show that claimed to allow you to "Experience songs from Glee, Sister Act, Legally Blonde, Jersey Boys, 9 to 5, Shrek, Altar Boyz, Billy Elliot, Mary Poppins, Lion King, Next to Normal, Love Never Dies and many more"

On arriving to the theatre and doing the obligatory loo trips and standing around we were ushered not to the seats we had expected but down into a basement theatre that reminds me of the converted church that houses D.A.D.S*. Apparently I overheard as I was passing the ticket lady this was because the big stage had been completely gutted and there was nothing left in the room at all. There was no real stage with just a flat floor with tiered seating beyond. In fact the stairs from which we descended made up part of the scenery that would be used in the performance to come.

An alarm clock on a black box centered in a clear stage greeted us as we took out seats and fifteen minutes later the sounds of beepers and buzzers led us into the introductory performance of 9 to 5. The cast were enthusiastic from the start and performed dance numbers to the songs that would be the pride of any stage production. There were nine women, four men and two children who all seemed in great voice.

Not having had any pennies to buy myself a program I was occasionally at a loss to identify certain songs. This led to politely checking with my neighbour** on occasion to give me hints. This taught me only that there are a lot more musicals out there than I know about. There was not a number that I did not enjoy however and quite a few that I hope I remember the name or lyrics of so I can look them up again.

Now before the whole thing started I'd jokingly said that as long as the Glee song wasn't 'Don't stop believing' we would all be fine. After a hasty second read through of the listings there was only one Glee song and yes you guessed it; 'Don't stop believing'. Ok, yes, I can see that when picking a Glee song that is really the obvious choice but really I wanted something else, I'm beginning to tire of Journey now. Anyway they were all in jeans with red tops in perfect homage to the tv version even sporting a fellow whose curly floppy hair made him very Jessie like to me.*** I will say this they did very, very well being let down only occasionally by the position of their mikes which was allowing the backing track to slightly overpower some of their voices.

Notable favourites from the show were a song from Shrek that Fiona sings, Tyler the Latte Boy and its sequel Tyler's Response****, an emotional song from Next To Normal, things from Legally Blonde and oh definitely the Alter Boys song. I have never giggled so much from the lyrics of a song and the performance for a long while. A volunteered***** audience participation girl was dragged up to be serenaded and her embarrassment played up the lyrics to great effect.

Definitely more than worth the ticket price of £10. Also through I am supposed to now be focusing on preparing for Odyssey as we're off to site tomorrow; inside there is a little giggly musical lover bouncing up and down and shouting 'Again! Again!'. Roll on the Goon show next week.


*Dolgellau Amateur Dramatics Society of which my darling father is a member

**Well looking from the corner of my eye instead of leaning which I consider rather polite

***Yes I know that he wasn't in that song in the show

****The first not technically from a musical but sung by a musical star. The second an Anon response both performed to great comic effect

*****By her friends who had to give her a bit of courage

Now I have to say that sometimes I get the insanest ideas and often tell myself that there is no point indulging some of them. However once in a while I get one that is silly, fun and actually possible. Now I can't take photos of myself in kit. I do however have a big bear that I hand waistcoats on on occasion when I'm being silly and who guards my special tie. I also have armour that hasn't had a proper photoshoot since I finished it.

Big Bear + Armour + Insane Idea = PHOTOSHOOT!


Big Bear + Armour + Insane Idea + Turban + Weapon and buckler = Dessert Warrior. Looking out for your icecream everywhere...mainly so he can snaffle it in the sneaky desert warrior raids that he is so well prepared for.

My sewing machine it appears has gremlins because despite me fiddling with it and not getting anywhere all the engineer had to do was rethread it...I feel slightly foolish but have managed to make up for this by sewing things today. The first was a doublet I decided it was about time I had. They are such elegant garments and I have a nice brocade so now several hours later I have an almost finished doublet in red and gold.

Then I decided to work on the waistcoat pattern that I needed for my hedgehog. This too has been sewn rather more rapidly than expected. I love it when a pattern works especially when I sort of guess my way forwards.

Both garments have roughly the same thing left to do one them, sleeve holes, button holes and buttons.

I have started on Mole 2.0 which should fix a few of the niggles of Mole 1.5...

On top of that I have been good and done my Monday cleaning so I feel accomplished. It's amazing what a working sewing machine does for my mood.

Today crafting took a bit of a back step due to my needing to catch up with my cleaning. So by 11o'clock the bathroom, kitchen and living room with adjoining stairs and hallway were cleaned. This did lend itself randomly to making my crafting a bit more organised as I cleared away all the things that I no longer required. Now I have neat little piles of each thing that needs doing.

In crafting news I set about adding buckles to my calligraphy bracer so that is now wearable...though I am, after a discussion with midnightoak feeling the urge to decorate it with lovely burning and gilding...

Then I started on my doublet getting the back fully done and cutting the front collar. I also started on Arnthor's doublet tester...it was about this point when I realised that the sewing machine wasn't doing Zigzag stiching. The timing on it is still slightly wonky. Not enough to be out of commission but enough to cause issues. So I have now called the shop and set about getting them to fix it again (still for free - yeah warranty). This leaves me with all the non sewing crafts to work on instead.

Oh and in other news I got a parcel that failed to deliver despite being in the house at the time they called. Ah well it's an excuse for a walk tomorrow.

After last weeks MOT shocker I had a weekend with Bats and Zoo and lovely people. This week I decided to make myself a todo list and start on the pile of crafts I had that needed getting done.

Now when I get into a crafting mood I can be a bit insane so below is the list of things I started today.

Hedgehog spines
Waistcoat
Doublet
Doublet for Paul
Hat with Rabbit ears
Hat for Hedgehog
Bracer for Calligraphy stuff
Larpsafe book

I shall continue work on them all tomorrow. With any luck something might get finished.

I was given a new challenge this week. choccoweeble decided that she wanted pumpkin when I took her with me to the supermarket for the first time in ages.

After searching a while I found a recipie to try out and set about dealing with the orange thing.

Then of course I had to deal with the leftovers. So, how did I do for my first try at pumpkin carving?

The skyman came by today...and brought the sky into our living room. There was talk of rain but it all seems to have gone well and we've now got a new dish and strange things like the bio channel (Not for cleaning clothes) and wine tv.

Currently I'm watching Vampire from the Abyss. A lovely show that prompted the following conversation with lucian_albrecht.

Shazrasha - apparently we've found "vampire from the abyss" to watch

lucian_albrecht - that sounds.....profound

Shazrasha - yeees :P very very deep

lucian_albrecht - does it have big sharp pointy teeth?

Shazrasha - no idea we've not been introduced yet

lucian_albrecht - in this case, I am not sure deep==profound. it is a girl abyssal vampire or a boy one? or a vampire squid, perhaps

Shazrasha - a squid yes

lucian_albrecht - I was kidding......

Shazrasha - I wasn't

lucian_albrecht - well, it sounds fun at least

Just a note to go yeah! snow! Yes it will be cold, yes it will be wet. I don't care. IT's SNOWING!