Tuesday, 5 January 2010
Listening to the countdown at the station made me feel uneasy about uncertainty. “we are sorry to announce the 1230 from Norwich is delayed by 15 minutes”, “we are sorry to announce the 1230 from Norwich is delayed by 16 minutes”, “we are sorry to announce the 1230 from Norwich is delayed by 17 minutes”, “we are sorry to announce the 1230 from Norwich is delayed by 18 minutes”, “we are sorry to announce the 1230 from Norwich is delayed by 19 minutes”. On and on it went until I realised the collages voice had no idea how long the train was delayed, it was merely marking time.
Sunday, 3 January 2010
Lost in Space
BT Openzone has let me down again. I have been without internet for five days. It is true I have other options. Unfortunately however, the local café that has stood in for my office of late has also been closed and although their WiFi is still working I do not feel comfortable leaning against a wall clutching my laptop in the rain. Burger King was beginning to beckon.
The following post was written earlier in the week the cold has indeed materialised:
Again I have returned safely from another journey. This time I was visiting my parents in the north. Both were struck with a fearful cold, which I am sure they passed on to me. The Christmas season has been good to me, not least because of the large number of no doubt useful books I received as presents. “The Peter Cushing Companion” has given me insight into his ever-changing facial hair, more of which later. Christoper Frayling’s “Dracula” will I’m sure prove vital in the months ahead as will the biography of Christopher Lee. I’m not so sure about the “Ladybird Book of Magic” but we shall see. As I may have mentioned before, my reading is usually split into three parts with a book separately in toilet, bathroom and bedroom. Each progresses slowly and often the plot of one gets confused with another. A biography of Laurel and Hardy (my current toilet book) has lead me to think about double acts in general and Cushing and Lee in particular. I see Cushing as the straight man with Lee looning around in the background biting people. I was also pleased to spot a photograph in my “Companion” of Cushing performing in a Laurel and Hardy film called “A Chump At Oxford”, 1939 but perhaps this is a coincidence too far. Over the Christmas break Dr Bradshaw sent a message, a quote from a dramatisation of Agatha Christie’s “Appointment with Death”
“Nuns… vampires in drag who seek out misery and weakness and gorge on it”
Should this all be adding up to something? I am increasingly unsure.
Monday, 28 December 2009
After a delightful Christmas break during which time, I’m afraid, I ate and drank far more than was sensible, my companion emailed Mr Bown to confirm some dates for our visit. She recieved an informative and encouraging reply which I have partly quoted and partly paraphrased below. Firstly he was keen to correct a few assumptions I had made that he was “the caller” at the club. To be honest even from our brief meeting, my companion and I had felt he had a presence that suggested he was more than a mere employee at the Hall. On this subject His own words are more eloquent than mine, I hope he will not mind me quoting them below:
“Dear Miss Dover… I feel I need to clarify some details about myself.
I am not The Caller but do at times call bingo sessions and have a good relationship from the stage with the customers.
I sold Whitstable Bingo Club to Stewart Neame some 4 years ago. I have been asked by him to come back to the club
on a consultancy basis to try to improve the business which I have been doing for the past 8 months.”
Quite correctly Mr Bown’s main concern was that my cameras should not disturb the customers in any way. This has lead me to reassess my original idea of filming the call and response of the players. Now I am thinking of concentrating solely on the caller, and hope Mr Bown will be willing to fill this role (he intimated as much in his letter). Anyway, he has invited us to meet him to discuss the filming in the new year. I must make plans for the journey ahead.
Wednesday, 23 December 2009
Sideburn Update
Last night the lady in the attic had a visitor. There was a low rumble of conversation that lulled me to sleep. I did not hear the gentleman leave although as I heard no more this morning I assume he did so in the night. I am lying abed photographing my sideburns. It is not that I am an overly lazy man it is just that in my lodgings one is either in the kitchen, the bath or the bed. There being little room in between I conduct much of my business like an eighteenth century gentleman. Above me my neighbour is dragging something heavy along the floor. On examination of the photographs I note that one sideburn is still much bushier than the other.
Tuesday, 22 December 2009
The woman in the Attic
A woman lodges in the attic rooms above me. I have never met her, only knowing her name from the post that accumulates in the entrance hall. I know her by sound too: her footsteps, a penchant for moving furniture in the early hours, a loud cackling laugh and slightly flat singing voice. Her recent pleasure in listening to 1990s power ballads has lead me to take long evening walks around the more affluent streets of Ipswich. Tonight my companion joined me and we came across a strange sight.
