Wordless Wednesday

I thought I'd missed this little fella, he flew past and stopped in the shade - I pointed and clicked in pure hope I'd catch him!

Silent Sunday

Place Order Here

Orders were slow in coming.

One customer grunted: "Fast food?" pointing disdainfully at a skinny piece of rump. The Server grabbed it by the hair and swung the bloody axe; the human girl's scream joined others as she fell, dismembered, from the hook.

The fire flared impatiently, anticipating the flesh to make its being worthwhile.

Silent Sunday

Silent Sunday

Waiting

He slams down the mobile phone; the table shudders.
He yells: "Taking the piss!"
He mutters: "Sort the car ..sort the route ...stay ...no thanks, never any thanks ..."
He stares at the cowering figures of the bank manager's wife and daughter.
He frowns at his gloved hands: musn't leave traces.
"Maybe I'll sort them too."

Silent Sunday

3BT: Palladium memories are made of this ...

Having spent a thoroughly enjoyable two hours in front of the telly last night, watching The Story of Musicals and 100 Years of the Palladium on BBC4, I remembered ...

That the first full blown musical I ever saw was 42nd Street.

Seeing Clodagh Rodgers as the eponymous heroine, with Ronnie Corbett as Buttons, in Cinderella, the Palladium Panto in 1971. Ok, my mum helped me remember that one.

That the first time I visited the Palladium on my own was to buy tickets for my parents to see The Two Ronnies. No credit card back then, so I hopped on the Tube, living, as we did, in the East End. I'd emptied my piggy bank, dumped the assorted loose change into a bag and set off. For Argyll Place, King's Cross. The Palladium, as you may know, is in Argyll Street, off Oxford Circus. Anyhoo, so I get out at King's Cross and ask a nice policeman very nicely, where Argyll Place is "you know, where the Palladium is." He looked me all up and down and then said, in a very fatherly way: "I don't think that's the Argyll place you want, love, get back on the tube to Oxford Circus."

I thanked him, as you do. It wasn't till I got home that I found out what kind of show I might have seen in Argyll Place, King's Cross!

X-Factor - I know, I know ...

.. but I somehow managed to catch a bit of it on Sunday and have to say I was impressed with the clip I saw of two of the acts. Marcus singing Stevie Wonder's Lately, the first half a bit dodgy I thought, but from around 1.30, excellent. Think he was holding back a bit at the beginning to maintain control but once he let himself go, wonderful.

And I know one contestant doesn't appear to be very popular, but if Mary J Blige were to do Movie Week *coughs*, this is how it would sound: Misha B with Out Here On My Own from Fame. I'll overlook the wobble at the end, it was the sing off.

And the charity single is out - the final 16, plus JLS and One Direction - and their version of Wishing on a Star. Which is newsworthy because of the charity - Together For Short Lives. The accompanying story was totally heartbreaking: imagine having three children and living with the fact that you may lose all of them within a short time of each other? You can't, can you, it's too awful to contemplate. Donate here to help families make the most of their precious time together.

On a ranty note, Dermot - when a judge has two acts in the sing off, wouldn't it be fairer to leave that one till last? They may not need to make a decision then. It's not rocket science is it?

One final note, if only to self - Beyonce, 9pm ITV Sunday.

Calling all composers!

Kent Arts are looking to commission an exciting musician/composer to create a 20 minute work celebrating Maidstone's part in the Cultural Olympiad next year.

With £5000 up for grabs, you don't want to miss out on this opportunity!

Maidstone is one of only two locations in Kent that will see the Olympic torch passing through it and the musical piece will premiere at the Olympic Torch event on 19th July at Leeds Castle.

'Maidstone' should be the theme and whilst the Olympics Games themselves need not influence this, the Olympic priorities should. The Arts development team are keen that the piece should be as eclectic as possible to appeal to as large an audience as possible.

Interested applicants should submit a CV, a recent piece of work both on CD/MP3 and scored and a short description of the kind of work they would like to produce for this project. Please bear in mind that this work should be accessible for a large number of performers.

The team will be shortlisting and interviewing in December 2011 and a final decision on the successful applicant will be made in January 2012.

For an informal discussion please call Mandy Hare on 01622 602178. For a full brief on this project please contact – mandyhare@maidstone.gov.uk