Crewe…

 Oh! Mr Porter, what shall I do?

I want to go to Liverpool

And they're taking me on to Crewe,

Take me back to London, as quickly as you can,

Oh! Mr Porter what a silly girl I am.

Liverpool Bound…

Liverpool, we’re coming for you!

@Arsenal ⚽️
@Regenersaurus 🦖
#COYG 🔴⚪️
#LIVARS 🥅

The Celebrity Traitors UK Series Two…

 **A spoiler-free Celebrity Traitors UK Series Two opinion piece**

I love The Traitors but I thought this second series of The Celebrity Traitors (UK) was pretty dire. In fact I would go so far as to say it’s the worst of any of the celeb or non-celeb UK series so far.  A highly unsatisfying watch. 

I believe it was badly cast, had ill-thought-out games, and the producers made poor production choices. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the people who were playing the game. I just don’t think they were very good at it.

Maybe it’s because the money goes to charity not themselves but nobody really seemed to want to fight for the cash. They just seemed to want to be there to make friends; a celebrity’s modus operandi.

Traitor banishments were either self-inflicted, herd-mentality piled-ons, or random spin-the-bottle affairs. The murders were mostly pretty obvious. No bluffs, no intrigue, no plotting. Just boring revenge murders.

Yes, the TV viewing numbers were good. But that’s because goodwill is there from the previous series. They’ll start to dwindle if the producers aren’t careful.  

The producers need to have a clearer think about who they cast next time. My suggestion will be to have fewer comedians and more sports people. If the show is not competitive, it doesn’t work.

And the games need to be more carefully thought through. Don’t have a game in which you can hand out shields to pretty much everybody!

As I say, I love the show and I really want it to reach the dizzying heights that I know it can. 

Paul…

40 years ago I met my best friend. Someone who has been there for me through thick and thin.

He introduced me to @Arsenal, Laurie Anderson @onlyanexpert and Angela Carter. Three introductions that rather changed my life. Thank you Paul. ❤️

 

Hay Fever @WyndhamsTheatre…

Yesterday afternoon, I went to see Hay Fever at Wyndham’s Theatre in London’s glitzy West End. @christinebaranski is glorious as Judith Bliss, with @richard.e.grant and @opheliabits among the fabulously dysfunctional family and guests. Noël Coward’s posh people behaving badly is of course appallingly droll. Yet it’s a tepid plot, and a slightly pedestrian production. Act Two perks up however. 

Thank you for the freebie Angus. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️

 #HayFever #NoelCoward

Barbican Conservatory - Adopt a Plant…

The Barbican Conservatory is closing for a refurb. So all the plants are being given away for ‘adoption’.

The final Barbican plant adoption ballot opens tomorrow. If successful, the date to adopt a plant is 2nd Dec. 

https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/event/conservatory-plant-adoption

All-Hallown summer…

Chiswick, Teddington and Richmond today. As mild as we could wish for. Indeed ‘twas a lovely all-Hallown summer after o’noon. 

Be Yourself…

Be yourself. Everyone else is taken.

The people who mind don’t matter.
The people who matter don’t mind.

Split…

Yesterday I split. At Spilt. I disembarked the ship and flew home. I’d had enough. I was all at sea on that boat. Cruising is just not for me. 

Something happened onboard on Wednesday night that was the trigger for me wanting to leave. An argument with another passenger (who was drunk, aggressive, and entitled) over a silly matter at a quiz night. But the trigger is not the gun. It’s just that little spark. That breaks the camel’s back. If I can mix my metaphors. 

The lack of agency, the forced fun, the forced socialisation, the confinement, the crowds, the short port times that lead to constant clock-watching, that feeling of being trapped…. I know myself. And I shouldn’t have gone on the cruise in the first place. Stuart knows me too well and warned me many, many times not to go. And he was right. 

My family were incredibly kind and understanding at my decision when I told them. Of course they were. We all love each other too much to not want what’s best. And this was for the best. 

So Myrtle, Joanna and Simon (and Carole and Vanessa) will all merrily sail on for another week. They will have lots of fun as they Carry on Cruising. Create many happy memories together. And I know they will have the bestest of times. 

Me, I shall create my own new memories with them all, and especially my mum, another time very soon. Just not on a boat. Or at a quiz night with inebriated Saga louts! 

A Safe Harbour…

Yesterday we arrived in Brindisi, which is a rather modest port in southern Italy. Historically, it was used as a jumping-off point to and from the Mediterranean & the Orient from Rome and Northern & Western Europe. Today’s it’s a rather unremarkable port.  Still, it served as a starting point for the Adriatic Sea.  Next stop Split. 

All At Sea…

A day and a night cruising from Malta to Brindisi gave us time to explore the ship, have a swim, and get dolled up for the captain’s cocktail party.

That was followed by a formal dinner (where we celebrated my godmother Carol’s 90th), a show (Chess Taylor anyone?), and a quiz night (with some rather dodgy fact checking by the quizmaster!)