Something magic has happened to day that has simultaneously made me want to cry and filled me with a warm and happy feeling.
Early in the 1940s my wonderful Grandma left Canada to become the wife of a handsome English RAF Officer and to join his family in England. She carried in her luggage a precious gift from her cousins, a set of Oneida Community Plate Flatware – or silver cutlery to you and me. Because of the expense and rationing of the time the set wasn’t quite complete and Grandma & Grandad made it up with some nice, but miss-matching silver.
Many years later, when my Grandma was the pink and white lady I shall always remember, Frog and I decided to move in together, not yet married but very much in love. It always makes me sad to think Grandma never saw us married. I am sure she knew we were right for each other though, because just before we left she gave me the cutlery, the same set she had treasured all the way from Canada, which she began her life with my Grandad with. She apologised that bits didn’t match, that it was only for six people, the dessertspoons were all wrong etc etc. I promised that I would keep my eyes scoured to complete it, but she tut-tutted and said she very much doubted I would manage it, as it was an American/ Canadian design very much of that time and not so very special.
You can guess how special it is to me. The beautiful rose pattern, the pleasure in cleaning it, getting it out for special holidays and when good friends come round to dinner; knowing that someone I love so very much had the same pleasure when she started housekeeping with her man. It is very very special.
Well it soon became clear that this design wasn’t to be found outside of North America & Canada, although I have always kept my eyes open when wandering around London’s markets and spent several hours scouring Portobello Rd. A few years passed by, and it became obvious that if I wanted to complete the set I would have to import pieces from America. Ebay confirmed that there were indeed sellers with the odd piece – but far from being “not very special” they were collectible, and “not very cheap” – nor is living in London very cheap when I worked part time and Frog at that point was a student, so we knew we had to be patient - not and easy task for me!
Then came the day when Frog and I proved my Grandma-ma right, and we got engaged. And my fabulous parents decided that as our wedding present they would complete the cutlery set for us. What was a wedding gift to my Grandma & Grandad, would become a wedding gift to us as well.
Now those who know us, know we have been married for nearly two years – so why this story now? Because finally with the help of the wonderful ebayer qirisma123 I found enough pieces in one lot, the right pieces I should say, to fill most of my missing gaps and expand our set, and at a price we could afford to import. Carefully packed they have traveled all the way from the town of Golden in Colorado to New Cross, London.
So today, I took those mismatched pieces, which I shall nevertheless treasure, out of the cutlery box, and carefully placed the “new” pieces in. The box, and my heart are full. I could never ever forget my Grandma & Grandad, but to have something that was a wedding present to them, completed by my parents as a wedding present to us, which I hope one day I will be able to pass on to the next generation, well it really is something magic.
And the design of the cutlery, appropriately enough, is called – Forever.
Wednesday, 26 May 2010
Tuesday, 25 May 2010
Filming at the BBC
When a day contains a first, it has to be a good day.
Monday was the first time I saw a TV show being filmed – at BBC Television Centre nonetheless. Splendid Ronni had signed up for tickets for the new series of Genius with Dave Gorman, and was duly offered 4 tickets – tickets which stated we should be at the studio for 6 o’clock – for the audience entry, these shows apparently send out more tickets than there are seats, and it is first come first served basis – just because you have tickets doesn’t guarantee you’ll get in. We were meant to be there at 6pm, trouble is we finish work at 5.30pm in Greenwich, and Television Centre is all the way over at White City – definitely more than half an hour away. And the London tubes at that time of day and in this crazy heat are anything but fun. If Ronni hadn’t pulled me on to an already overcrowded train (which a moment before she took one look at and asked should we wait for the next one!) we might not have got there in time, in fact despite all logic and the dictates of comfort a man in suit pushed in behind me - at least there was a buffer between me and the closing door. We made it there for 6:40 and luckily were still allowed in, caught up with my splendid husband and our good friend Daren and duly filed into the filming studio itself just after 7pm.
I freely admit at this point I was a little over excited in the manner of a small child – not really helped by the fact we had just seen the TARDIS by the entrance to the BBC and a life size Dalek in the bar – already the evening was exceeding my expectations.
Now I don’t plan to spoil the show by giving away the ideas muted by the potential genii (or geniuses depending which you prefer) or the jokes and capers cut by Dave Gorman and his guests, that would be unfair – you’ll just have to wait for the show to be aired.
We were lead out of the bar area, across the round courtyard and into the studio – my first thought was it looks a lot smaller than on TV- and a lot less solid. No photography (stills or video) is allowed inside the studio unfortunately, but it was fascinating. The ceiling was divided into lots of runs, orientated from the back of the audience to the stage, each with various rules and scales – some obviously were measuring in feet and various increments of such. There were lots of rails, hanging from which were a myriad of lights & filters, microphones, monitors and lots of other technical stuff I have no idea what it is for! There were also lots of bits of prop – industrial tubing – and the like. As I said before the set looked a lot less stable and solid than it does on TV – the magic of TV trickery transforms it even on the large monitors to a coherent whole, where as we could clearly see the balsa bits and pieces which wobbled slightly when people moved!
The whole room is lined in thick heavy black curtains – I guess these have sound as well as light insulating properties and allow all the ‘minions’ to run around back stage with no risk of being caught on camera. It was deliciously cool when we first entered – especially after the horrid heat and running across London. And then the lights fired up, you could feel the heat they emitted almost immediately. It wasn’t uncomfortable – certainly not where we were at the middle back – but you can imagine it must be very hot directly under them, and if you had to work there for too long. As it was the filming for this show ran for about – 2 1/2 hours I think.
For anyone who is a filming newby like me- the order of events is something like this the audience enters and is told where to sit – the audience crew ask people very firmly to put their cameras away, the health and safety spiel follows, and then as this is a comedy show comes the warm up guy – who gets us to practice laughing – big sustained belly laughs, little titters, and cheering & clapping. Canned laughter to fill in the bits later I guess. Then the show – filmed straight through – and no I am not going to spoil it. ‘Excellent, all done’ I think, ‘time for a drink and some food’ (I am very hungry at this point – not having eaten since 11.30am) – but no. Then come the pick ups and re-shoots of bits that didn’t work quite so well, or where the sound was unclear… try laughing at the same joke three times – it’s a little wearing. I guess if I’d thought about it, I would have realized this was an essential part of the process, but used as I am to live performance events, I hadn’t thought. And it all looks so slick on TV – turns out that is a trick of the clever editing people. The need to pre-record laughter becomes apparent – to bolster the laughter that wasn’t quite there on the third and final take.
So was the magic of television destroyed for me? Yes and No. It was fascinating and great fun. Am I a little disappointed that these shows aren’t filmed in one go, that it isn't as spontaneous as it appears on tv? – just a bit maybe, I was a little naïve before – it certainly doesn’t spoil it for the viewer does it? And who would watch a program where the sound dives in and out, and people fumble for props? Not me. Would I go again ?– Definitely!
A big thanks to Ronni for getting us the tickets. I shall look forward to watching the episode when it is finally aired, it will be interesting to see how it is edited, and what if anything is cut out – and also to watch for Daren who was near the end of our row and you should be able to spot him as Dave Gorman walks down the steps in the audience doing his opening spiel!
Monday was the first time I saw a TV show being filmed – at BBC Television Centre nonetheless. Splendid Ronni had signed up for tickets for the new series of Genius with Dave Gorman, and was duly offered 4 tickets – tickets which stated we should be at the studio for 6 o’clock – for the audience entry, these shows apparently send out more tickets than there are seats, and it is first come first served basis – just because you have tickets doesn’t guarantee you’ll get in. We were meant to be there at 6pm, trouble is we finish work at 5.30pm in Greenwich, and Television Centre is all the way over at White City – definitely more than half an hour away. And the London tubes at that time of day and in this crazy heat are anything but fun. If Ronni hadn’t pulled me on to an already overcrowded train (which a moment before she took one look at and asked should we wait for the next one!) we might not have got there in time, in fact despite all logic and the dictates of comfort a man in suit pushed in behind me - at least there was a buffer between me and the closing door. We made it there for 6:40 and luckily were still allowed in, caught up with my splendid husband and our good friend Daren and duly filed into the filming studio itself just after 7pm.
I freely admit at this point I was a little over excited in the manner of a small child – not really helped by the fact we had just seen the TARDIS by the entrance to the BBC and a life size Dalek in the bar – already the evening was exceeding my expectations.
Now I don’t plan to spoil the show by giving away the ideas muted by the potential genii (or geniuses depending which you prefer) or the jokes and capers cut by Dave Gorman and his guests, that would be unfair – you’ll just have to wait for the show to be aired.
We were lead out of the bar area, across the round courtyard and into the studio – my first thought was it looks a lot smaller than on TV- and a lot less solid. No photography (stills or video) is allowed inside the studio unfortunately, but it was fascinating. The ceiling was divided into lots of runs, orientated from the back of the audience to the stage, each with various rules and scales – some obviously were measuring in feet and various increments of such. There were lots of rails, hanging from which were a myriad of lights & filters, microphones, monitors and lots of other technical stuff I have no idea what it is for! There were also lots of bits of prop – industrial tubing – and the like. As I said before the set looked a lot less stable and solid than it does on TV – the magic of TV trickery transforms it even on the large monitors to a coherent whole, where as we could clearly see the balsa bits and pieces which wobbled slightly when people moved!
The whole room is lined in thick heavy black curtains – I guess these have sound as well as light insulating properties and allow all the ‘minions’ to run around back stage with no risk of being caught on camera. It was deliciously cool when we first entered – especially after the horrid heat and running across London. And then the lights fired up, you could feel the heat they emitted almost immediately. It wasn’t uncomfortable – certainly not where we were at the middle back – but you can imagine it must be very hot directly under them, and if you had to work there for too long. As it was the filming for this show ran for about – 2 1/2 hours I think.
For anyone who is a filming newby like me- the order of events is something like this the audience enters and is told where to sit – the audience crew ask people very firmly to put their cameras away, the health and safety spiel follows, and then as this is a comedy show comes the warm up guy – who gets us to practice laughing – big sustained belly laughs, little titters, and cheering & clapping. Canned laughter to fill in the bits later I guess. Then the show – filmed straight through – and no I am not going to spoil it. ‘Excellent, all done’ I think, ‘time for a drink and some food’ (I am very hungry at this point – not having eaten since 11.30am) – but no. Then come the pick ups and re-shoots of bits that didn’t work quite so well, or where the sound was unclear… try laughing at the same joke three times – it’s a little wearing. I guess if I’d thought about it, I would have realized this was an essential part of the process, but used as I am to live performance events, I hadn’t thought. And it all looks so slick on TV – turns out that is a trick of the clever editing people. The need to pre-record laughter becomes apparent – to bolster the laughter that wasn’t quite there on the third and final take.
So was the magic of television destroyed for me? Yes and No. It was fascinating and great fun. Am I a little disappointed that these shows aren’t filmed in one go, that it isn't as spontaneous as it appears on tv? – just a bit maybe, I was a little naïve before – it certainly doesn’t spoil it for the viewer does it? And who would watch a program where the sound dives in and out, and people fumble for props? Not me. Would I go again ?– Definitely!
A big thanks to Ronni for getting us the tickets. I shall look forward to watching the episode when it is finally aired, it will be interesting to see how it is edited, and what if anything is cut out – and also to watch for Daren who was near the end of our row and you should be able to spot him as Dave Gorman walks down the steps in the audience doing his opening spiel!
Sunday, 23 May 2010
Race for Life
So we did it, May 22nd 2010 saw one of my very best friends Ronni and I join thousands of other women at Regents Park to do the 5km ‘Race for Life’ and raise money for Cancer Research UK.
Like most of the other ladies there, we’d dressed up for the occasion with mini top hats adorned with pink feathers, pink feather boas and brightly coloured beads, and of course bright pinks tops. Around us there were pink wigs, leg warmers, tutus, huge flower hairclips, bright pink alien boppers – the works. Everyone was laughing and smiling, joking and dancing.
Ronni and I dissolved in giggles as I tried to keep up with the warm up routine as 5000 women grapvined, marched on the spot, stretched and swung arms in deceptively simple routines, which nevertheless were a beyond my abilities! The weather was delightfully sunny – it would be
churlish to say it was too hot and too sunny – so instead we shall be smug enough to say we planned ahead with lashings of sun tan lotion, and bottles of water – neither of which stopped me developing a lightly “sun-kissed” glow and a headache!The racers are divided into three groups – Runners (30min & under) Joggers (over 30min) and walkers. We decided we belonged at the front of the walkers – not quite being up to jogging 5km (our training plan spectacularly failed to happen) but by no means planning on being slow.
So we duly followed close behind the “Walkers” flag and were marched to the start line, we cheered and waved the runners & joggers off and then came our turn – we left arm in arm at a swift skip … for 100m or so and then slowed to a fast powerwalk – we were soon overtaking joggers who were flagging a little. The atmosphere was incredible, but what hit me again this year was how emotionally affecting it is. People have signs on their backs which say “I’m racing for…” and then you can fill in the rest. We passed so many that made you want to cry “I’m racing for Mum, I miss you so much”, “I’m racing for Grandad, Dad & my brother”, you see incredible support and camaraderie, one girl had a sign saying “I’m racing for my Mum” she was flanked by two friends , both with signs saying “I’m racing for Amanda’s Mum” with arrows pointing to Amanda. Little children walking with their Mum’s with signs saying they were racing for “Daddy” with childish pictures drawn underneath. One lady proudly jogged past with a sign declaring “28 weeks in remission”. But everyone is laughing and encouraging the rest on, the route is lined by bemused tourists, dedicated cheerers & marshals in orange t-shirts, and family members criss-crossing the park by shortcuts to see their family pass. Everyone there had been personally affected by the most horrific illness, and yet we were all laughing. Defiant and determined to do something positive, to do something to help. It really was amazing to see the bravery with which people face life, and I know we can be proud as every penny we raise will help the fight for the future, help ensure that there are more signs in the future which can read “28 weeks in remission” and “still fighting”.
We crossed the finish line tired but happy 48 minutes after we started.
Last year we aimed to raise £250 and managed close to £400, this year we’ve stated we’re aiming for £650 – well we’re at £428 already and we have 4 weeks to bring in the rest. We are so grateful to how generous people are being, a good friend from work ( a student who comes into tour shop almost daily for his pepsi-max & snacks) gave up chocolate for lent, and gave us the money he saved! We get daily pennies from customers leaving their change, and friends and family have been great digging in their pockets. Every donation big or small is so gratefully received, to quote the offical Race for Life sponsor “Every Penny Helps”
An especially big thank you has to go again to my fabulous husband who didn’t grumble (too much!) at being woken up early at the weekend, and came along as chief bag watcher, water carrier and photographer – Frog you are amazing!
Next year we’ve decided to give people a year off (so you can all save up to be extra generous the following year!) and instead donate our time as marshals, cheerers & litter pickers – all of whom were doing a stirling job this year to make the event possible at all.
Race for Life events happen all over the country throughtout the summer – so good luck to everyone who is planning to take part.
And if anyone feels inspired to support our attempt you still can at:
http://www.raceforlifespon
for information on the cause: http://www.cancerresearchu
thank you!
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