I hope you’re all keeping well during these strange continuing times.
Last year I was in a play called The Sylvia Swing, a touching piece about loss and loneliness. Playwright Melanie Hopkinshas adapted the stage version to be performed online, and it went live Friday night.
Take a look at the results below. A lovely piece – and feels apt for these times.
The Lockdown Log…
So, Lockdown 2 is over and we are now in Tier 3 (again) – or T3.2 as I think of it.
I passed the days of Lockdown 2 doing a daily log update with a max running time 2:20, so I could post to Twitter.
I’m keeping up with the Log now we’re in T3.2, hopefully through to Christmas at least. Link below is for the YouTube Playlist for the Nov/Dec videos… Take a look, I walk the dogs, eat breakfast, drink coffee and spend time at the computer…. Exciting times.
During this last lockdown we’ve recorded it, made a video, and now released it just in time for the Festive Season. And we’re using it to raise funds for Yorkshire Children’s Trust. 100% of the funds raised will go straight those who need it and what’s more, it’s serving families in this region! – To donate, click here – https://bit.ly/36plAaE
The Video is below – The single can also be downloaded on iTunes, Spotify and Amazon Music!
Here’s the Blurb for it..
The U.K’s favourite Singing Plumber, Paul BALLO Ballington always has an annual Christmas song available… But this year it’s something a bit special.
As the nation struggled through the Covid Pandemic, Paul joined up with his mates from “The Yorkshire Teabaggers,” John Atherley and Dave McClelland, to reassure families that Santa would still be calling on them this Christmas.
Recording a song, and shooting a video, isn’t easy when you can’t be in the same room as your bandmates, but the team used technology to put it all together remotely, and the final video is like joining a Zoom call with a bunch of Yorkshire mates. And even Santa himself joins in the call!
And it became a family affair with Paul’s daughter Lana, and John’s wife Maria joining in, along with a cameo from actor Andy Whitaker who plays Policeman PC Swirling on ITV Soap Emmerdale (as Andy Moore) .
The lads wanted to help families who are struggling through the Covid Crisis – and the Yorkshire Children’s Trust seemed like the perfect partner to raise funds for. 100% of the funds raised will go straight those who need it and what’s more, it’s serving families in this region! – To donate, click here – https://bit.ly/36plAaE
The single can also be downloaded on iTunes, Spotify and Amazon Music!
I hope you’re all well and staying safe during this pandemic. I don’t know how it’s impacting on you, but for me, I seem unable to concentrate on computer stuff, hence the long wait since my last post. I just don’t have the willpower tou sit at a screen. I’ve had to force myself to write this today.
Similar tale with TV. I can sit to watch a show and I’m constantly pausing to check for phone updates. And I fall alseep a lot in front of the telly, despite sleeping well at night. It’s different ways of reacting to the state we live in I guess.
I’m trying to be creative, done lots of garden work, tidying, weeding, planting. I make lots of videos, dog walks, bird song, etc. More of that further down.
A couple of things I’d like to promote though… 5 years ago, I worked on a web series called Barry Pigeon Protects, all about a night security guard sharing his life via webcam. Lovely project written/directed and produced by Kurt Brookes and Andrew Birtwell.
My old mate Doug Thorp asked if I could rekindle Barry as a guest for his Broken Biscuits Online Cabaret.
I asked Kurt and Andy, and within a week we had it written, shot and edited. Due to lockdown, I shot at home with a green screen, and my old security cabin office magically appeared in editing.
Here’s Broken Biscuits Online No. 2. Barry Pigeon is the final artiste in the show… It’s well worth the watch as an alternative to the assault of information we have these days.
For those who want just a dose of Barry Pigeon, here’s the new episode….
And good new Pigeon fans, more Barry is likely to be forthcoming 🙂
I’ll update when I can.
Other bits of creativity overcome me. The opening of David Bowie’s Diamond Dogs album, the spoken track Future Legend, is something I committed to memory at age 16.
The words kept coming back to me recently, so here it is, performed as a monologue…
I have another favourite song committed to memory that I plan to make a video for. A more complicated production, but hopefully coming soon.
As mentioned earlier, I’ve been filming my daily dog walks, and sharing on my Facebook feed as Virtual Dog Walking for Shut Ins. I also post my daily Twitter Feeds… the sound of bird song captured in the park.
