Wendy, Mark & David saying, “hello in there”, Nightingale, 1979
Youth Club & Director’s Cut, 3 May 2020
These last few weeks we have had regular youth club Zoom gatherings on a Sunday, which have surprising amounts in common with the gatherings more than 40 years ago.
Sunday 3rd May was another such gathering. The soap opera that is the “social distancing rabbits” story (click link here or above if you are interested) took on yet another twist, as the buck appears to have broken the social distancing rules for a few moments; all that is required, apparently, potentially to initiate another brood.
Coincidentally, much of the discussion prior to the rabbit saga had focussed on offspring, be it children or grand-children, the latter being very recent or imminent in several cases.
Even more coincidentally, I was distracted for some of the Zoom on this occasion by virtue of having been invited to a Zoom Bris in Texas by another old BBYO friend, who became a doting grandfather a few days earlier. Having not experienced a bris since my own, I was intrigued and wanted to join the ceremony, which was timed to start at the same time as youth club. I followed the former surreptitiously on my mobile phone. It’s the sort of thing young folk do in face-to-face meetings, after all.
After the ceremony, I confessed to the specifics of my two-timing activity. One of our number, from the education sector, fretted about safeguarding issues arising from a Zoom bris. I felt bound to assure him and the others that all I could really see was doting parents, a blissfully unaware baby and a few other attendees. In short, I think the director/camera-dude said “cut!” at the vital moment.
I’ll give youth club my undivided next time. “Undivided what?”, I hear you cry.
Hitting The High Notes With Lydia White, 5 May 2020
Talking of hitting high notes, I have started taking some singing lessons with Lydia White via video conference. Actually this is something that John White and I had talked about some time ago, when I learnt that John’s daughter Lydia, as well as progressing her show business career in musicals…
…was also giving singing lessons. Meanwhile, Lydia’s career had just taken an unexpected, fortuitous leap forward into a leading role, when lockdown came, bringing that opportunity to an end after just a few shows.
Anyway, it turns out that Lydia is a very good singing teacher and that, although she hadn’t tried giving lessons by VC before, that she can provide excellent coaching that way, much as Ian Pittaway helps me to progress my instrument playing, mostly through remote lessons.
Today was my second lesson with Lydia and I must say that I feel that I am making progress very rapidly. Not that I’ll ever be a great singer, but there are some basics of technique that are enabling me to get a lot more out of my voice for less effort. Most importantly, I am really enjoying the process of learning and practicing. Janie says she can hear a great deal of improvement, which is remarkable in such a short period of time…and given that Janie wears anti-noise earmuffs whenever I sing. OK I made up the bit about earmuffs.
Here is a link to Lydia’s singing lesson site.
Another Plug For Rohan Candappa’s Lockdown Theatre Company, 6 May 2020
I have previously plugged Rohan Candappa’s wonderful philanthropic yet artistically excellent project, the Lockdown Theatre Company.
This week’s production, Diff, is right up there as a piece of writing and performance:
Rohan, having funded season one himself, is trying to crowdfund season two. A link to the Kickstarter thingie can be found by clicking here or below:
You can help the project just by watching, enjoying and sharing the output with others who might appreciate it. But if, like me, you are also able to put your hand in your pocket a bit towards series two, that would be great for Rohan and the struggling artistes he is helping through this initiative.
Is It Lourdes Or Lord’s?, A FoodCycle Gig In Marylebone, 6 May 2020
Daisy and I were asked to do another FoodCycle gig this week; in Marylebone this time. The church hall in which tireless volunteers such as Ali and Jenny assemble the food parcels is the Roman Catholic Church Of Our Lady, just around the corner from my own temple – Lord’s Cricket Ground – currently closed due to covid.
We met another volunteer, Connagh, who was taking the other batch of parcels that day. He was also a first-timer at this venue so we all three wandered around together (at a suitably social distance of course) until we found Ali & Jenny.
We then drove off. While we were waiting for the sat nav to get its bearings, Dumbo (who loves visiting Lord’s more than anything)…
…decided that Lodge Road and then back past Lord’s was the best route. It wasn’t the best route for the food deliveries but it did give us all a glimpse of what we are missing.
Actually the whole experience of delivering for FoodCycle is quite an emotional experience at times. One elderly guest on the Lisson Green Estate, I believe one of the regulars when the arrangement is for the guests and volunteers to gather for a weekly meal, was waiting by the entrance to her block and started to cry when we announced ourselves. She thought we were late (we weren’t) and that she had been forgotten (she hadn’t).
The reality of our food deliveries during the pandemic is that the food parcels can only help to meet part of the FoodCycle mission, which is to alleviate both food poverty and social isolation. Of course we understand why we can only deliver a tiny part of the social agenda, by engaging as best we can within the constraints of social distancing. But it is chastening to see how isolated some of the guests must feel at the moment. Still, the food poverty agenda is also extremely important and we encountered some other guests who have clearly fallen on hard times of late and just desperately need the food.
We’re doing another gig on Sunday, around White City/East Acton. I’ll add photos from there if I get a chance to take some.
Hello In There by John Prine, 9 May 2020
I thought I’d sum up this strange week with this beautiful John Prine song, Hello In There, which I have been unable to get out of my head since I learnt that Prine was ill, about a week before he died of Covid-19 in early April.
This charming, beautiful song is so much for our times. I can only try to do it justice.
Postscript: FoodCycle Around White City, Old Oak & Wormholt & Acton, 10 May 2020
Janie’s first gig for Foodcycle had been the project known as East Acton, which is initiated at the Our Lady Of Fatima Church in White City.
As we are now billed as a double act, seasoned operators at that, we get to drop 20 parcels at 10 addresses on our run.
Actually, this proved the least onerous run so far, partly because Janie had been to three of the locations before but also because the several drops to houses on the Old Oak and Wormholt were easier to navigate than some of the more modern estates.
Again, lovely, attentive people producing the parcels and helping us to load up the car. Fr Richard even wandered around to make sure the first drop, which was a new guest very near the church, went according to plan. Again extremely grateful and friendly guests who seemed so pleased to see us when we turned up.
This really is necessary and worthwhile voluntary work at the moment.