Rapper workshop went very well. We had 5 and a half sets who all seemed to have fun and then we carted them all off to Bennets where we had a pretty good dance (and a very strange discussion about the shipping forecast and the possibilities of a monopoly type game based on it) and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. We seem to have gained 2 dancers and a fiddler (who, last night, turned out to be a pretty good dancer too) so things are looking hopeful on the Mons Meg front.
I've had the flat confirmed, which is a huge relief but have yet to start packing (mostly cause I'm in panic mode where I run around like a mad thing, picking stuff up and putting it back down and getting precisely nowhere.) Meanwhile, hating the post and whoever put the lock on the main door of the stair since I've been having to run back and forth to the depot (which isn't close!) on the say-so of cards that are themselves 10 days late to collect normal letters. So looking forward to having a main door address.
The pipe workshop at Celtic Connections was great fun. I even managed to get a tune (using the broadist definition of the word) out of them by the end of the day. Would actually consider adding them to my current instrument collection if I could afford them but I can't which is probably a good thing. Should try and achieve a playable level with the melodeon and the fiddle before I attempt anything else (so that could be a good long while).
The concert on the Sunday was also good fun. Not sure about the Cairngorm piece they opened with. all very good musicians but the tune would barely have stretched to 4 minutes, never mind the half hour it lasted! (Plus one of the fiddlers looked like he was ducking bullets the whole time he was playing). Interestingly (for me at least) the lead fiddler was the younger sister of one of my university dancy friends. Saltfishforty and Spiers and Boden were both excellent (although Saltfishforty are slightly weaker on their songs) and together they were absolutely brilliant. Sounded like there was far more than 4 of them.
Had my last proper rapper practice with Mons Meg last night. It was a good fun night with trying to put three beginners through the dance (and a dog I got to make friends with!). Plus Trina produced a cake for me (topped with a set of bellows with a face...wonder what that could possibly represent) and I got a framed collage of rapper photos and a T-shirt with the picture of us on the steps at Holmfirth on it (plus the contract that apparently hands me over to Mabel Gubbins which I find mildly suspect...). Am very, very sad to be leaving Mons Meg but glad I still get to dance with them at things like DERT and Holmfirth. (And we're booked for Holmfirth again this year. Looks like there's a good number of us going and we're all camping. Huzzah, Mons Meg encampment!)
Have notified all who need to be notified that I'm leaving; twice in the case of British Gas who, I forgot, did both my gas and electricity. Liked the poor lad on the end of the phone who clicked to it long before I did and pointed out that I may have just spoken to him...
Have booked for the fiddle workshop at Witney, the weekend next so am just waiting to hear back about that, then it's stewarding at the Cheltenham Folk Festival the weekend after that, back up to Edinburgh for a Mons Meg DERT practice the weekend after that, IFVDF, the weekend after that and then DERT and it's not looking like it'll ease up through the summer. Huzzah!
Tuesday, 25 January 2011
Thursday, 13 January 2011
Rapper, Rapper and More Rapper
Had our first tour of the year on the 8th (and in fact out first time dancing out in quite some time given all the cancellations due to snow!)
Because of the threatened snow, we decided to hold it in Leith as opposed to Glasgow as originally planned. We started off in Mathers on Broughton Street to a very good reception despite out distinctly shoddy footwork (although, to be honest, we were just greatful taht we all remembered the dance!). Then we set off down Leith Walk and let me just sat that smooth soled rapper shoes, polished sheet ice on the pavements and copious amounts of alcohol make for a somewhat exciting tour. For the life of me I can't remember where we danced but we got a good reception everywhere we went. I got recognised as being from The Council by one of the bouncers outside Priscilla's which threw me for a moment until he reminded me that he used to work in the newsagents along the road and I did like the other bouncer telling us that we could leave our swords with the DJ while we were dancing. Took us 3 goes to tell him that we actually needed them during the dance! Saw an amazing dancer in Priscilla's who was dancing to 'All That Jazz' and she seemed to be really interested in coming along to have a go at rapper. She seemed to be worried as to whether she would be good enough and she's right to be. It's a long way down to our standard from where she's at!
We started getting free Aquavit when we hit the run of Swedish bars halfway down the road which actually seemed to help with balancing on the ice. We got approached by a very enthusiastic fiddle player in one of them who was asking if she could come and play for us so we were only too happy to give her our card. Itwas also in one of these pubs where we discovered that it might have been a bit too long since we danced in a really tight space as we found it really hard going. We got through but it was probably the weakest dance of the evening (even including the one at the end where Trina lost her shoe!)
Anyhow, then it was back to Trina's and Rapper Central for Suspicious Slivovitz and Vimto cocktails, lasagne and crumble (not together!).
Absolutely brilliant evening and I'm going to miss Mons Meg soooo much!
Monday's practice was good fun since we had a new lad along who's just moved up from Oxford (we seem to be doing an exchange programme!) and, while he's not danced rapper before, he seems to have done a lot of Cotswold so he picked things up very quickly. I hope he comes back.
We've got our first workshop on Friday at Tollcross Community Centre at 7pm. No idea how many people will turn up but am a little nervous as I can suddenly no longer remember how to do any of our figures which, I suspect, will not help anyone. Must remember not to be too enthusiastic at people in case I scare them...again...
Because of the threatened snow, we decided to hold it in Leith as opposed to Glasgow as originally planned. We started off in Mathers on Broughton Street to a very good reception despite out distinctly shoddy footwork (although, to be honest, we were just greatful taht we all remembered the dance!). Then we set off down Leith Walk and let me just sat that smooth soled rapper shoes, polished sheet ice on the pavements and copious amounts of alcohol make for a somewhat exciting tour. For the life of me I can't remember where we danced but we got a good reception everywhere we went. I got recognised as being from The Council by one of the bouncers outside Priscilla's which threw me for a moment until he reminded me that he used to work in the newsagents along the road and I did like the other bouncer telling us that we could leave our swords with the DJ while we were dancing. Took us 3 goes to tell him that we actually needed them during the dance! Saw an amazing dancer in Priscilla's who was dancing to 'All That Jazz' and she seemed to be really interested in coming along to have a go at rapper. She seemed to be worried as to whether she would be good enough and she's right to be. It's a long way down to our standard from where she's at!
We started getting free Aquavit when we hit the run of Swedish bars halfway down the road which actually seemed to help with balancing on the ice. We got approached by a very enthusiastic fiddle player in one of them who was asking if she could come and play for us so we were only too happy to give her our card. Itwas also in one of these pubs where we discovered that it might have been a bit too long since we danced in a really tight space as we found it really hard going. We got through but it was probably the weakest dance of the evening (even including the one at the end where Trina lost her shoe!)
Anyhow, then it was back to Trina's and Rapper Central for Suspicious Slivovitz and Vimto cocktails, lasagne and crumble (not together!).
Absolutely brilliant evening and I'm going to miss Mons Meg soooo much!
Monday's practice was good fun since we had a new lad along who's just moved up from Oxford (we seem to be doing an exchange programme!) and, while he's not danced rapper before, he seems to have done a lot of Cotswold so he picked things up very quickly. I hope he comes back.
We've got our first workshop on Friday at Tollcross Community Centre at 7pm. No idea how many people will turn up but am a little nervous as I can suddenly no longer remember how to do any of our figures which, I suspect, will not help anyone. Must remember not to be too enthusiastic at people in case I scare them...again...
New Flat
Went down to Oxford to go flat hunting just after New Year. Found 2 which I liked, one was a very large room (larger than my current flat pretty much) right on the edge of Oxford and the other was in the gorgeous little village of Waterstock. I have to say that I loved the cottage in Waterstock and could quite happily have lived there but the room was very small and I have a lot of stuff (even after culling it severely) so I decided to be sensible and go for the Oxford one since I'll save in travel and can fit all my stuff in.
The trip itself was fairly uneventful except for some slight problems with my national express tickets on the way down. When I got my pre-christmas tickets for the bus that got cancelled amended, I was given a code and assured again and again that that was all I needed, despite my being very sceptical. Apparently I was right to be so since the first bus driver was incredibly reluctant to accept my ticket and only conceded because the bus was mostly empty (I didn't even attempt it for the Milton Keynes to Oxford stage but just bought a ticket. Fortunately it's the cheapest bit of the journey!). I called in to the National Express office in Oxford when I got down there and they very nicely printed me out some proper tickets so at least the journey back wasn't a problem. On the plus side, they've built a very nice new interchange at Milton Keynes which was a nice change from freezing to death in front of the old collection of portacabins for an hour or so like I've been doing for most of last year! Journey back was very crowded as well so I had a very uncomfortable night with no sleep and had to go straight to a full days work in that condidtion. Still, that's my own fault for having used up all my holidays on interviews and being too short for the seats. The Youth Hostel wasn't bad either (I tried the YHA next to the train station this time which, despite being right next to the railway line, still managed to be quieter than the one I stayed in last time!)
Anyhow, time since then has been spent on tenterhooks while waiting to see if the contract would go through alright and trying to tidy my current flat so that it didn't look cluttered when my landlady shows future residents round. (She was apparently a bit concerned with the 'clutter' when she came round last week, despite the flat being clean and tidy. She said she thought it made the flat look small. I refrained from telling her that it's the fact that the flat is small that's making it look small!). Anyhow, Trina has been kind enough to temporarily adopt some of my bulkier items (and all the moles) which freed up some space and I've managed to shoehorn the rest into cupboards. I now have to manage to live without leaving a trace for the next 2 and a half weeks! I've already taken some stuff to charity shops: all but 2 of my ball dresses, an old wedding hat, some old shoes that I no longer wear and some of my better made reenactment kit and a wierd bit of exercise eqipment that my mam gave to me (for a laugh, I think!) which I've never managed to work out how to use. Have got rid of all my old jigsaw puzzles that I no longer do due to lack of time. Have sorted out which DVD's I want to get rid of and will hopefully get them along to cash converters next weekend (and may possibly take along my video recorder since I don't watch american videos any more, it's over complicated and I have a much simpler video player as part of the TV that I can use to watch PAL videos). Have even contemplated getting rid of all my Tom Clancy and Clive Cussler books since, if you've read one, you've read them all and they take up a lot of space. All my old, useless reenactment kit is heading to charity shops or the bin in the next week so that too should free up room.
Anyhow, contract for new flat came through today (albeit with my name wrong on the first try but we've corrected that now) so at least I know I have somewhere to live which is actually a huge relief. Have booked a medium sized van for the last weekend (mostly cause the stuff I have is too bulky for a little van), arranged to pick up keys and booked a train back from Edinburgh for the 31st (for less than it would have cost me on the coach which I found fairly impressive!)
Then it's starting the new job on the 1st! Not nervous, not nervous at all...
The trip itself was fairly uneventful except for some slight problems with my national express tickets on the way down. When I got my pre-christmas tickets for the bus that got cancelled amended, I was given a code and assured again and again that that was all I needed, despite my being very sceptical. Apparently I was right to be so since the first bus driver was incredibly reluctant to accept my ticket and only conceded because the bus was mostly empty (I didn't even attempt it for the Milton Keynes to Oxford stage but just bought a ticket. Fortunately it's the cheapest bit of the journey!). I called in to the National Express office in Oxford when I got down there and they very nicely printed me out some proper tickets so at least the journey back wasn't a problem. On the plus side, they've built a very nice new interchange at Milton Keynes which was a nice change from freezing to death in front of the old collection of portacabins for an hour or so like I've been doing for most of last year! Journey back was very crowded as well so I had a very uncomfortable night with no sleep and had to go straight to a full days work in that condidtion. Still, that's my own fault for having used up all my holidays on interviews and being too short for the seats. The Youth Hostel wasn't bad either (I tried the YHA next to the train station this time which, despite being right next to the railway line, still managed to be quieter than the one I stayed in last time!)
Anyhow, time since then has been spent on tenterhooks while waiting to see if the contract would go through alright and trying to tidy my current flat so that it didn't look cluttered when my landlady shows future residents round. (She was apparently a bit concerned with the 'clutter' when she came round last week, despite the flat being clean and tidy. She said she thought it made the flat look small. I refrained from telling her that it's the fact that the flat is small that's making it look small!). Anyhow, Trina has been kind enough to temporarily adopt some of my bulkier items (and all the moles) which freed up some space and I've managed to shoehorn the rest into cupboards. I now have to manage to live without leaving a trace for the next 2 and a half weeks! I've already taken some stuff to charity shops: all but 2 of my ball dresses, an old wedding hat, some old shoes that I no longer wear and some of my better made reenactment kit and a wierd bit of exercise eqipment that my mam gave to me (for a laugh, I think!) which I've never managed to work out how to use. Have got rid of all my old jigsaw puzzles that I no longer do due to lack of time. Have sorted out which DVD's I want to get rid of and will hopefully get them along to cash converters next weekend (and may possibly take along my video recorder since I don't watch american videos any more, it's over complicated and I have a much simpler video player as part of the TV that I can use to watch PAL videos). Have even contemplated getting rid of all my Tom Clancy and Clive Cussler books since, if you've read one, you've read them all and they take up a lot of space. All my old, useless reenactment kit is heading to charity shops or the bin in the next week so that too should free up room.
Anyhow, contract for new flat came through today (albeit with my name wrong on the first try but we've corrected that now) so at least I know I have somewhere to live which is actually a huge relief. Have booked a medium sized van for the last weekend (mostly cause the stuff I have is too bulky for a little van), arranged to pick up keys and booked a train back from Edinburgh for the 31st (for less than it would have cost me on the coach which I found fairly impressive!)
Then it's starting the new job on the 1st! Not nervous, not nervous at all...
Thursday, 6 January 2011
New year with Bellowhead
What an amazing New Year's Eve! Having got the train down to London, I met up with a friend and we spent a couple of hours browsing round the shops before heading off to find the Youth Hostel. This would be the point we got ourselves very lost by getting the bus in the wrong direction before we managed to get ourselves orientated. Finally made it to the Youth Hostel at the same time as the other friend we were sharing with who had still been on the train when we set off. Anyhow, we got changed into our gear (for me this would be, hat, ruff, ears and tail which I finally managed to get finished the night before. And trousers and top cause it would have been chilly and disturbing else) and set off to meet everyone else at a Dim Sun restaurant beside the Southbank Centre called Ping Pong. Food was very nice but I still have no idea of what it actually was I ate. Anyhow, I quickly gave myself a black doggy nose with eyeliner (hadn't wanted to before I ate in case it made everything taste of make-up!) and off we went to queue to get in. A couple of our group did a bit of morris dancing to a melodeon while we were waiting which seemed to amuse everyone a great deal.
The first act was the Baghdaddies who were pretty good (their calypso/reggae version of 'Keep Your Feet Still Geordie Hinny' made me laugh a lot) but got a bit of a subdued reaction just, I think, cause they were the first on and everyone was waiting for Bellowhead. I think the audience warmed to thema lot more later in the evening. Then Bellowhead came on and everything really took off. Their first set was great fun and I finally got to hear 'If You Will Not Have Me' live. Worth the ticket price alone, in my opinion. The songs were also interspersed with short circus acts which were fun. After Bellowhead's first set, I wombled upstairs to see the session which was being hosted by Mike Wilson and Damien Barber. Got to hear them do 2 songs (1 of which was 'Shiney-O' which I love) and got to sing a long to a few songs before headingdown to the silent disco where I got to dance to 'All Around My Hat' and 'The Floral Dance' (another ambition I never knew I had until I accomplished it). After this, it was back to see Bellowhead and, after having said they wouldn't do a covers set due to lack of practice time, this is precisely what they did. This time they were all dressed up as clowns for the most part and it was hilarious to see them playing 'Amsterdam' so seriously. We also got versions of 'Take on Me' and 'Baggy Trousers' from Mr Spiers, 'Mack the Knife' and 'Close to You' (complete with very dodgy wig) from Mr Sartin and 'Foxy Lady' by Mr Kirkpatrick, made all the more memorable by the 2 comperes who came on as a huntsman and a fox whereupon the 'fox' started to strip until he was down to his tail and a thong. Bad enough really until the other lad made one of his socks disappear and then whipped away the thong to reveal where the sock had gone, shortly before whipping the sock away as well. The most disturbing bit in all this was that he was still wearing the fox's tail. Really, really glad that I wasn't right at the front and that I'm quite short (although a lot of the band's expressions were priceless!). I also liked the acrobat dressed as a rabbit (and the very odd but good accompanying music from Bellowhead). Very effective and just slightly bizarre. I think my favourites in this set were 'Baggy Trousers' and 'Mack the Knife'.
We managed to get up to see O'Hooley and Tidow do a couple of numbers which was lovely before we headed out onto the balcony to watch the fireworks which were pretty impressive (and chilly). Then it was back in for Bellowhead's last set and they pulled out all the stops with some of the new songs and a lot of old favourites and we all bounced our socks off. Just a brilliant, brilliant night and I hope they do it again next year (although where they got the energy from I have no idea!)
We did get a little lost on the way back to the Youth Hostel but we sorted ourselves out and I managed to make it back to Edinburgh the next day with only a minor problem with temporary loss of power on the train just past Berwick.
Great fun all round really.
The first act was the Baghdaddies who were pretty good (their calypso/reggae version of 'Keep Your Feet Still Geordie Hinny' made me laugh a lot) but got a bit of a subdued reaction just, I think, cause they were the first on and everyone was waiting for Bellowhead. I think the audience warmed to thema lot more later in the evening. Then Bellowhead came on and everything really took off. Their first set was great fun and I finally got to hear 'If You Will Not Have Me' live. Worth the ticket price alone, in my opinion. The songs were also interspersed with short circus acts which were fun. After Bellowhead's first set, I wombled upstairs to see the session which was being hosted by Mike Wilson and Damien Barber. Got to hear them do 2 songs (1 of which was 'Shiney-O' which I love) and got to sing a long to a few songs before headingdown to the silent disco where I got to dance to 'All Around My Hat' and 'The Floral Dance' (another ambition I never knew I had until I accomplished it). After this, it was back to see Bellowhead and, after having said they wouldn't do a covers set due to lack of practice time, this is precisely what they did. This time they were all dressed up as clowns for the most part and it was hilarious to see them playing 'Amsterdam' so seriously. We also got versions of 'Take on Me' and 'Baggy Trousers' from Mr Spiers, 'Mack the Knife' and 'Close to You' (complete with very dodgy wig) from Mr Sartin and 'Foxy Lady' by Mr Kirkpatrick, made all the more memorable by the 2 comperes who came on as a huntsman and a fox whereupon the 'fox' started to strip until he was down to his tail and a thong. Bad enough really until the other lad made one of his socks disappear and then whipped away the thong to reveal where the sock had gone, shortly before whipping the sock away as well. The most disturbing bit in all this was that he was still wearing the fox's tail. Really, really glad that I wasn't right at the front and that I'm quite short (although a lot of the band's expressions were priceless!). I also liked the acrobat dressed as a rabbit (and the very odd but good accompanying music from Bellowhead). Very effective and just slightly bizarre. I think my favourites in this set were 'Baggy Trousers' and 'Mack the Knife'.
We managed to get up to see O'Hooley and Tidow do a couple of numbers which was lovely before we headed out onto the balcony to watch the fireworks which were pretty impressive (and chilly). Then it was back in for Bellowhead's last set and they pulled out all the stops with some of the new songs and a lot of old favourites and we all bounced our socks off. Just a brilliant, brilliant night and I hope they do it again next year (although where they got the energy from I have no idea!)
We did get a little lost on the way back to the Youth Hostel but we sorted ourselves out and I managed to make it back to Edinburgh the next day with only a minor problem with temporary loss of power on the train just past Berwick.
Great fun all round really.
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