Quote Of The Day

"Victory goes to the player who makes the next-to-last mistake - Chessmaster Savielly Grigorievitch Tartakower (1887-1956)"

Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Monday, December 30, 2019

Jean-Paul Sartre: Hell is other people...

Jean-Paul Sartre: Hell is other people.
Twitter HQ: Sweet idea, monsieur. Let's build the app.

https://www.twitter.com

Friday, December 27, 2019

Your Handy Guide To London Underground Cleaner Codes #TFL #Code2

Your Handy Guide To London Underground Cleaner Codes
Code 1: Blood
Code 2: Urine/Faeces
Code 3: Vomit
Code 4: Spillage
Code 5: Broken Glass
Code 6: Litter

Yep, Code 2 = poo

Thursday, December 26, 2019

Dad’s 89th Birthday....

My dear old Dad turned 89 today. Charlotte made him a cake and he acted like a big kid when we showered him with presents. Bless.







Wednesday, December 25, 2019

Xmas Day...

Father Xmas came last night. His stocking this year sure cuts to the chase. #NoFillerJustKilker




Don’t tell Stuart! Sneaked out for a *proper* Xmas dinner! Strangely no pigs in blankets though. Can’t think why. #BrexitIrony





Tuesday, December 24, 2019

The Art of Carolling @ Barbican...

Last Sunday Stuart and decided to go carolling in London's glitzy Barbican. Not content with the odd fa-la-la, we decided to pay a visit to a couple of art exhibitions too; 'Apple' to 'Anomaly' photography exhibition at the Barbican Curve and 'Cabarets & Clubs in Modern Art' at the Barbican Art Gallery.

The photography was fun. 30,000 photographs with each slightly different to the last. Starting with an apple and ending in porn, bankers, jellyfish and political discourse.

The cabaret art exhibition was fun too. I had no idea there were so many famous night clubs in Tehran, Camden, Nigeria and Mexico City and that they attracted so much modern art. The show took us from Cabaret Fledermaus in 1907 Vienna through Rome's 1921 Bal Tic Tac, Paris's 1880s Chat Noir, to Berlin's 1920s Weimar Nightlife and to Nigerian's 1960s Mbari and Harlem's 1930s Jazz clubs.








Monday, December 23, 2019

Fascinating Aida @ Queen Elizabeth Hall "Clever, rude and musical their new stuff worked brilliantly - spot on politically as ever and wildly funny" @FascinatingAida

Last Friday night Stuart and I went to the Queen Elizabeth Hall on London's glitzy Southbank to see cabaret's own, its very own, Fascinating Aida.

Having seen Fascinating Aida perhaps a dozen times since the mid-1980s I knew what to expect and the gals didn't disappoint.

Two hours of great songs old and new, they assaulted us with hit after hit in their very witty, satirical show. The songs were hilarious and topical, the glamour was unstoppable: Britain’s greatest cabaret trio were back with a bang!


We had a lot of classics; Bulgarian Song Cycle was back with new fresh outrageous lyrics, Health & Safety had lost none of its wit, Boomerang Kid as funny as ever, Lieder still funny, the sly but telling Little Girls In Pink was back too, Socialist Britain as poignant as ever, Dogging made a welcome return, the ever seasonal Cunty Christmas still shocks, Adele's song Prisoner Of Gender was simply inspired - 10 years in the writing it was Adele's coming out story of being a transsexual and got the tone just right. And of course Cheap Flights - over 25 million YouTube and Facebook hits and counting - went down a storm.

But Dillie Keane, Adele Anderson and Liza Pulman always know how to freshen up a show of classics too, and they simply relished bringing us their selection of new songs - well, some you haven't heard before and some we wish you’d never heard in the first place! Clever, rude and musical their new stuff worked brilliantly - spot on politically as ever and wildly funny.

We loved it.

Michael Roulston accompanied the gals on the piano and the show was directed by Paul Foster.

Here's the full(ish) set-list:-

Fake News
Boomerang Kids
One True Religion
Bob
Funerals
This Ain't The Hokey Cokey Anymore
So Sorry Ireland
Health & Safety
Instagram Hashtag
Is It Me, Or Is It Hot In Here?
Bulgarian Song Cycle 2019
Lerwick Town
Lieder
Little Girls In Pink
Goodbye Old Friends
Dogging
Prisoner Of Gender
Socialist Britain
Cheap Flights
Stick You Head Between Your Legs

Encore:
Cunty Christmas

Friday, December 20, 2019

Ronnie Spector and the Ronettes @ O2 Shepherds Bush Empire...

Last night Stuart and I found ourselves watching Ronnie Spector and The Ronettes show the "Best Christmas Party Ever!" at O2 Shepherds Bush Empire in London's glitzy Shepherds Bush.

Veronica Yvette Bennett as she was born might be 76 years old but she sure can still belt them out. And more amazing still, she's still here.

Brought up by her African-American/Cherokee mother and Irish-American father in Spanish Harlem, at a tender age Ronnie met and married record producer Phil Spector. With the Ronettes she went on to have classic hits like "Be My Baby", "Baby, I Love You", "(The Best Part of) Breakin' Up", "Do I Love You?", and "Walking in the Rain". So far, so rock and roll.

Only Phil became jealous and subjected Ronnie to years of psychological torment. He sabotaged her career by forbidding her to perform live, surrounded the house with barbed wire and guard dogs, and confiscated her shoes to keep her from leaving. On the rare occasions he allowed her out alone, Ronnie had to drive with a life-size dummy of Phil. Soon, she began drinking and attending AA meetings to escape the house. According to Ronnie, Phil installed a gold coffin with a glass top in the basement, promising that he would kill her and display her corpse if she ever left him, then stated "I can keep my eye on you after you’re dead." In their 1974 divorce settlement Ronnie forfeited all future record earnings because Phil threatened to have a hit man kill her. She received $25,000, a used car and monthly alimony of $2,500 for five years. In 1998, Ronnie testified that Phil had frequently pulled a gun on her during their marriage and threatened to kill her unless she surrendered custody of their children.

So here she was, standing in front of us, beaming. A survivor.

The only sour note in the next two hours perhaps was this was a Christmas show - and a really cheesy Christmas show at that! But that said, the band was great, the Ronettes were great, and Ronnie was a little powerhouse. We swayed, we marvelled, and we sang along just happy to be in the presence of a genuine star.

Here's the setlist:-

Set 1
Intro (Spanish Harlem)
Frosty the Snow Man (Gene Autry cover)
Because (The Dave Clark Five cover)
Do I Love You
It's Christmas Once Again (Frankie Lymon cover)
Baby, I Love You
Under the Mistletoe
What'd I Say (Ray Charles cover)

Set 2
Sleigh Ride (Leroy Anderson cover)
I'm So Young (The Students cover)
Best Christmas Ever
Walking In the Rain
(The Best Part of) Breakin' Up
How Can You Mend a Broken Heart? (Bee Gees cover)
Happy Holidays
Back to Black (Amy Winehouse cover)
Be My Baby (Ellie Greenwich cover)

Encore:
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus (Jimmy Boyd cover)
Happy Xmas (War Is Over) (John Lennon & The Plastic Ono Band cover)
I Can Hear Music

Thursday, December 19, 2019

Theatre...

39% of the British public have been to the theatre in the past 12 months. But that drops to 8% if you don't count panto. 

Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Wait.. Wait... Weight!

Ever get on the scales at home, then go to the toilet and get back on the scales to see if you weigh less? Asking for a friend.


Monday, December 16, 2019

Cyrano de Bergerac @ Playhouse Theatre. The whole ensemble was great but it's McAvoy who is on top form; fierce, aggressive, playful and seductive. It's a corker of a performance.

Last Friday night Stuart and I went to see the French-verse classic play Cyrano de Bergerac at the Playhouse Theatre in London's glitzy West End.

Starring James McAvoy, this, Jamie Lloyd’s latest production, is anything but classically staged though.

Master playwright Martin Crimp's brilliant English rhyming text, the sparse set, the cast in modern dress all see the play reimagined as a poetry jam cum rap battle; here words are used was weapons.

The plot centres on Cyrano (McAvoy), a French soldier poet who, in 1640, falls in love with his cousin Roxane (Anita-Joy Uwajeh) but is too shy to tell her because his huge nose (here imagined rather than real) makes him feel ugly. When, however, she confides in him that she loves Christian (Eben Figueiredo), a young new recruit, a fascinating triangle develops. Christian is handsome, but not very good with words, so Cyrano becomes his proxy go-between.

The whole ensemble was great but it's McAvoy who is on top form; fierce, aggressive, playful and seductive. It's a corker of a performance.

Friday, December 13, 2019

The Duchess of Malfi @ Almeida Theatre...

Last night Stuart and I went to see Jacobean revenge tragedy The Duchess of Malfi at the Almeida Theatre in London's glitzy Islington.

Written by English dramatist John Webster in 1612–1613 the play is famous for its violence and for its line, "We are merely the stars' tennis balls, struck and bandied which way please them."

Directed by Rebecca Frecknall, The Duchess of Malfi can be a challenging play. The Duchess is a widow in a position of power yet constrained by the will of her overbearing brothers. She defies them to marry her steward, Antonio, in secret. In a plot full of violence and madness, she gives birth to three children without confirming their father's identity. The brothers are incensed, and bloody tragedy ensues.

The action takes place on a set (designed by Chloe Lamford) which consists mainly of a wide glass box. Frecknall avoids simple melodrama; instead, an air of sadness prevails.

Scenes are labelled: "A Birth", "A Trap" etc. and actors often move in slow motion. Nevertheless, all the characters are allowed a degree of humanity and ultimately it all pays off, speeding to the horror of the final image: the slow piling up of bodies to the mournful strains of "Dido's Lament".

Central to a fine ensemble are two outstanding performances: Lydia Wilson (nominated for an Olivier Award for her Kate in Charles III) in the title role, and Leo Bill as Bosola. Wilson is authoritative, affectionate, desperate, but stoical in death. The line "I am Duchess of Malfi still" is a reclaiming of herself rather than defiance of her murderer. Bill is sensational, finding every nuance of a complex character, disaffected by his lack of status, a cunning spy for jealous brother Ferdinand (Jack Riddiford, hinting early at instability) then longing for redemption.

Women are central throughout. Even in those final moments, as men die, the music is the lament of a woman betrayed. Finally, the devastation is silently surveyed by the Duchess' young daughter.

Thursday, December 12, 2019

Vote early, vote often! #GE2019 #GeneralElection2019

Vote early, vote often! This is the first time I’ve ever voted before the sun has got up. It’s also the third General Election in five years. I hope I can remember how to put my cross in a box!

We just got interviewed outside the polling station by NDR. The interviewer said “we are NDR - a German BBC!” As if that was a way of getting us involved. So funny. We gave it to her with both barrels about our current crop of UK politicians!





Wednesday, December 11, 2019

Lads (who liquid lunch)...

Andy and I went out yesterday for a spot of lunch. Waiter said, is it a lumberjacks’ Christmas party?!
 







Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Bridget Riley @ Hayward Gallery

Last Saturday afternoon Stuart and I went to see the amazing Bridget Riley exhibition at the Hayward Gallery on London’s glitzy South Bank.

Hypnotic, confusing, wonderful, playful, thoughtful, unnerving, joyful, repetitive, bewitching, disorientating, funny, and very, very cool. We laughed, we wobbled, we laughed some more.

Go see!






















Monday, December 09, 2019

My Brilliant Friend Parts One and Two @ Olivier Theatre...

Last Saturday afternoon and evening Stuart and I went to see April De Angelis' adaptation of Elena Ferrante's My Beautiful Friend Neapolitan Novels at the Olivier Theatre in London’s glitzy West End.

The story centres around two women, Lila and Lenu; their childhood and how their journey to adult life intertwines as they grow up in Italy (Naples and Florence) from the 1950s right through to the 2010s.

Condensed from four books, into two plays, over almost six hours, by the end we two were utterly exhausted.

It's not that the soap opera plot is weak - there is much to admire - it's just there is just so much of it. To cram it all in, there are large sections when the characters simply recount what other characters have been doing in the meantime; "She said this, he said that, she did this, he did that, they went here, they went there..." It was draining. And while the play was in this 'tell don't show' mode there were a lot of people standing around listening; including us.

That said, the production was good; the feminist tracts were great, the gambol through modern Italian history fun, and the two leads (Catherine McCormack as Lila and Niamh Cusack as Lenu) solid.

The set was nice too - impossible staircases swung to and fro like graceful dancers. The female characters, when being attacked or molested, turned into floating dresses tumbling into the action instead. The music was fun too - helping set each scene to its correct year.

It's just it was all so long. We heard a fair bit of snoring near us.

Friday, December 06, 2019

Quiz Night Highbury Library @HighburyL - here are the answers to Wednesday night's quiz...

Highbury Library Quiz

Here are the answers:

Round 1: Minced Pie Taste Test
We got to eat 3 and guess which supermarket they came from;
1. Waitrose
2. Mr Kipling
3. Morrisons

Round 2: In the News
1. Prince Andrew seems to have a slight memory loss about some of his past, but where does he specifically remember being on the 10th March 2001? Pizza Express Woking
2. According to Spotify stats what is the number one streamed song in the UK for 2019? Someone You Loved - Lewis Capaldi
3. Why has a Tokyo Sushi restaurant Sukiyabashi Jiro stripped of its three Michelin stars? Stopped taking public bookings
4. Last week Channel 4 held a debate on climate change and unsurprisingly Boris Johnson and Nigel Farrage failed to attend, so what did Channel 4 put in their place? Ice Blocks
5. What unusual occurrence happened during Elon Musk's demonstration of Tesla's new Cybertruck? The unbreakable windows shattered after being struck.

Round 3: Round the World
1. The Pillars of Hercules appear on the national flag of which country? Spain
2. Tallahassee is the capital of which US state? Florida
3. Benazir Bhutto was the leader of which country before her assasination in 2007? Pakistan
4. Name the two Brazilian footballers who were members of Arsenal’s 2003-2004 Invincibles squad? Gilberto Silva & Edu
5. Which country became the world's first democratic Muslim state in 1918 before being incorporated into the Soviet Union just 2 years later? Azerbaijan

Round 4: Food and Drink
1. Boston Butt is the name for a cut of meat from which animal? Pig/Pork
2. Advocaat Liqueur and Lemonade are mixed together to create which festive cocktail? Snowball
3. "Johnston's Fluid Beef" was a product created for Napoleon III to feed his troops which today is commercially sold under which brand name? Bovril
4. What species of Broccoli superficially resembles a cauliflower but has a Fibonacci number of spirals on its head? Romanesco
5. Which Prosecco classification indicates the least amount of sugar in the wine? Brut, Dry, or Extra Dry? Brut

Round 5: Connections
1. Which word has been used as an album title by Katherine Jenkins, Cher and Justin Bieber? Believe
2. in the game of Chess, what name is given to the move that gives up a piece with the objective of gaining tactical or positional compensation in some other form? Sacrifice
3. Arsenal Football Club’s Latin motto Concordia Crescit roughly translates to English as Victory Through What...? Harmony
4. What word did Sigmund Freud originally use to refer to a sense of self, later revising it to mean a set of psychic functions such as judgment, tolerance and defense? Ego
5. What is the first name of the author who wrote the 1719 novel Robinson Crusoe? Daniel
6. What is the Connection? All titles of Elton John Songs

Round 6:  Play Doh Round - create a gift
We made a Woking Pizza Express pizza

Round 7: Sequences
You have to fill in the gap - For example - Game... Set...  BLANK... Answer: Match

1. Shredded Wheat... Wheat... Never Wheat... BLANK
Answer: Never (Going clockwise round a compass using the famous phrase that teaches cardinal points "Never Eat Shredded Wheat")
2. US Government - Washington... Business Executives - Suits... British Detectives - Scotland Yard... The British Monarchy - BLANK
Answer: The Crown (Palace accepted) (Metonyms - where a thing or concept is not called by its own name, but by the name of something intimately associated with that thing or concept)
3. India Pale Ale... lnternational Quality Assurance... lrish Republican Army.... BLANK
Answer: Individual Savings Account (or any other ISA acronym accepted) - All acronyms with the middle word moving up one in the alphabet each time
4. 1936 - Berlin - Adolf Hitler... 1940 - Cancelled... 1944 - Cancelled ... 1948 - London - BLANK
Answer: King George VI (Olympic Games location with those that opened the games)
5. Gold + Copper = Red Gold.... Gold + Silver = White Gold... Silver + Copper = BLANK
Answer: Sterling Silver (Examples of Alloys)

Round 8: Science & Nature
1. Hawksbill is a species of which animal? Turtle
2. Insulin is produced in which organ of the body? Pancreas
3. What is the name of the fabric cleaning process that involves the use of a liquid solvent rather than water? Dry Cleaning
4. What might be known as a Soufriere in the French Caribbean? Volcano ("sulphur outlet" is direct translation)
5. In 1992, the Joint Photographic Experts Group created a standard of digital photography image compression which is commonly referred to today as what? JPEG

Round 9: The Arts and Culture
1. Which American rapper celebrates his 50th birthday today? Jay-Z
2. What is the name of the latest book in Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series? Blue Moon
3. A US fast food chain specialising in Louisiana cuisine has the same name as the title of a 1980 musical film starring Robin Williams. What is it? Popeye
4. What was the original name of the boutique run by Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood located on the Kings Road before changing to the name World’s End in 1980? Sex
5. In the Christian religion, who are the biblical Magi (pronounced MAY-JAI) more commonly known as in present day traditions? Three Wise Men

Round 10: Intro’s round
1. Don't You Want Me? - The Human League
2. Always On My Mind (House Mix) - Pet Shop Boys
3. That's My Goal - Shayne Ward
4. 2 Become l - Spice Girls
5. Killing (In The Name Of)- Rage Against the Machine
6. Who are the artists and what is the connection? UK Christmas Number 1s

Thursday, December 05, 2019

Quiz Night @HighburyL Great place. Great fun. How did we do? We came 2nd! #QuizTeam #AdventCalendars

Last night Jane, Sara, Katie, Stuart and I went to the monthly Highbury Library Quiz. We came 2nd! No-one was more surprised than us!

Here are the questions:
 
Round 1: Minced Pie Taste Test
We got to eat 3 and guess which supermarket they came from;
1. Waitrose
2. Mr Kipling
3. Morrisons
 
Round 2: In the News
1. Prince Andrew seems to have a slight memory loss about some of his past, but where does he specifically remember being on the 10th March 2001?
2. According to Spotify stats what is the number one streamed song in the UK for 2019?
3. Why has a Tokyo Sushi restaurant Sukiyabashi Jiro stripped of its three Michelin stars?
4. Last week Channel 4 held a debate on climate change and unsurprisingly Boris Johnson and Nigel Farrage failed to attend, so what did Channel 4 put in their place?
5. What unusual occurrence happened during Elon Musk's demonstration of Tesla's new Cybertruck?
 
Round 3: Round the World
1. The Pillars of Hercules appear on the national flag of which country?
2. Tallahassee is the capital of which US state?
3. Benazir Bhutto was the leader of which country before her assasination in 2007?
4. Name the two Brazilian footballers who were members of Arsenal’s 2003-2004 Invincibles squad?
5. Which country became the world's first democratic Muslim state in 1918 before being incorporated into the Soviet Union just 2 years later?
 
Round 4: Food and Drink
1. Boston Butt is the name for a cut of meat from which animal?
2. Advocaat Liqueur and Lemonade are mixed together to create which festive cocktail?
3. "Johnston's Fluid Beef" was a product created for Napoleon III to feed his troops which today is commercially sold under which brand name?
4. What species of Broccoli superficially resembles a cauliflower but has a Fibonacci number of spirals on its head?
5. Which Prosecco classification indicates the least amount of sugar in the wine? Brut, Dry, or Extra Dry?
 
Round 5: Connections
1. Which word has been used as an album title by Katherine Jenkins, Cher and Justin Bieber?
2. in the game of Chess, what name is given to the move that gives up a piece with the objective of gaining tactical or positional compensation in some other form?
3. Arsenal Football Club’s Latin motto Concordia Crescit roughly translates to English as Victory Through What...?
4. What word did Sigmund Freud originally use to refer to a sense of self, later revising it to mean a set of psychic functions such as judgment, tolerance and defense?
5. What is the first name of the author who wrote the 1719 novel Robinson Crusoe?
6. What is the Connection?
 
Round 6:  Play Doh Round - create a gift
We made a Woking Pizza Express pizza
 
Round 7: Sequences
You have to fill in the gap - For example - Game... .Set... .MATCH
1. Shredded Wheat... Wheat... Never Wheat... BLANK
2. US Government - Washington... Business Executives - Suits... British Detectives - Scotland Yard... The British Monarchy - BLANK
3. India Pale Ale...lnternational Quality Assurance... lrish Republican Army.... BLANK
4. 1936 - Berlin - Adolf Hitler... 1940 - Cancelled... 1944 - Cancelled ... 1948 - London - BLANK
5. Gold + Copper = Red Gold.... Gold + Silver = White Gold... Silver + Copper = BLANK
 
Round 8: Science & Nature
1. Hawksbill is a species of which animal?
2. Insulin is produced in which organ of the body?
3. What is the name of the fabric cleaning process that involves the use of a liquid solvent rather than water?
4. What might be known as a Soufriere in the French Caribbean?
5. In 1992, the Joint Photographic Experts Group created a standard of digital photography image compression which is commonly referred to today as what?
 
Round 9: The Arts and Culture
1. Which American rapper celebrates his 50th birthday today?
2. What is the name of the latest book in Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series?
3. A US fast food chain specialising in Louisiana cuisine has the same name as the title of a 1980 musical film starring Robin Williams. What is it?
4. What was the original name of the boutique run by Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood located on the Kings Road before changing to the name World’s End in 1980?
5. In the Christian religion, who are the biblical Magi (pronounced MAY-JAI) more commonly known as in present day traditions?
 
Round 10: Intro’s round
1. Don't You Want Me?
2. Always On My Mind (House Mix)
3. That's My Goal
4. 2 Become l
5. Killing (In The Name Of)
6. Who are the artists and what is the connection?






Wednesday, December 04, 2019

Don’t Blink! #doctorwho #xmas #weepingangels

Xmas tree shopping. One of the most fun traditions at this time of year. As you can see Stuart is definitely of the more-is-more school of Xmas tree decorating... When we travel we try and collect a Christmas bauble from wherever we go; and they do sell them pretty much everywhere. We even bought one in Antartica!


























Tuesday, December 03, 2019

Touching The Void @ The Duke of York's Theatre...

Last Friday night Stuart and I went to see mountaineering thriller Touching The Void at the Duke of York's Theatre in London's glitzy West End.

The plot concerns Joe Simpson and Simon Yates's disastrous, and near-fatal, climb of the mountain Siula Grande in the Cordillera Huayhuash in the Peruvian Andes, in 1985. It is based on Simpson's 1988 book of the same name. Many people might have also seen the critically acclaimed Touching the Void PBS documentary too.

The story is that Simpson and Yates, both experienced mountaineers, set out to ascend the previously unclimbed West Face of Siula Grande in Peru. Though they reach the summit, a powerful storm develops and Simpson suffers a badly broken leg in a fall during the descent. The pair attempt a self-rescue, deciding to lower Simpson with ropes down the steep and snowy slope while an enormous storm rages on. Yates cannot see where he is lowering Simpson, and inadvertently lowers him over the edge of a large cliff, leaving him suspended by the rope in mid-air. Yates arrests his fall, but cannot see the predicament his partner is in, nor hear him over the howling wind.

Unable to pull Simpson back over the cliff and gradually losing traction in the loose snow, Yates realizes after about an hour that there is little chance of recovery from this situation for either of them and he decides to cut the rope connecting him with Simpson. Yates descends after surviving a sub-zero and stormy night on the mountain but cannot find his partner. He assumes Simpson is dead and returns to the base camp alone, where he stays to recover.

Simpson, however, has actually survived the fall and is now trapped in a large crevasse. He manages to lower himself further into the dark abyss and finds an exit leading to the base of the mountain. He then spends days crawling back to base camp across glaciers and rocks, despite his broken leg, frostbite, and severe dehydration. Exhausted and near delirium, Simpson reaches camp only a few hours before Yates intends to leave and return to civilization.

Awkward!

In reality, Simpson fully accepted that Yates did the right thing by cutting the rope, and risked his own life to help save Simpson's life, and has always defended him on that matter.

The Duke of York's show itself is fine. The actors clamber up and down some steep staging attached to tightly held ropes and the fake wind and snow and dramatic drops are convincing and fully realised. However, perhaps less convincing on the night we saw it was the computer control system power outage. This left the staging unable to move, the house lights up for 30 minutes, and us watching the technicians trying to fix it.

The play and the climbing ropes both rather lost their tension at that point.

An OK show, perhaps a little over-wrought at times though. Great story though.