A Short Story experience

Last week I had a short story of mine read out in public at a creative writing class I go to at Edinburgh University. This is a first for me.  I've been attending the class since the beginning of the year and these were the first efforts our teacher had asked us to complete. He told us to be prepared to have it read out to the class, but I was just not expecting him to choose my humble little effort. 


The first couple of weeks we did various different exercises building up to our first completed short story two weeks ago. He aims for a story a week, which is hard going I can tell you.

Having my story read out in public was a weird, strange, exciting, incredible experience. I can't really begin to explain how it felt. When I realised it was my story I just wanted to flea the room. But then thought oh well what the hell just got to go with the flow.

Our teacher used to be with the 7:84 Theatre Company and is now  lecturer in drama, so he knows how to do a public reading , which I think kind of helped. As he was reading it I kept thinking to myself did I really write this stuff?

Anyway I don't think it's a great story by any means and as he read it I thought that there were a few things I would change. But I don't think I will, as it's my first effort and I reckon it should be left the way it is. 

The teacher, Colin, wrote some constructive comments, and says it's a very good first effort. But I reckon he says that to all the boys, and girls, of course.

The End

To The Traverse Theatre on Saturday night to see The End which is based on Beckett story of the same name.

It was one of those theatre experiences that just sears into the brain to stay there forever. Totally unforgettable. I've seen lots of Beckett but I reckon this was just about the best I have had the privilege of seeing. Wish my wee brother had been there, as we've seen a few Becketts together over the years.

It's a one man performance, by an actor chappie called Conor Lovett. And he was immense. He made it sound as if he was making it all up as he went along. Perfect timing. As if he was struggling to find the right words.  Simply incredible. I have never seen anything like it before. You just had no sense of him having done this before or told the same story before or indeed that he was acting.

A magical performance. Totally believable. Lovett is just superb. I could hardly breathe half the time as I watched him seemingly struggle for the next bit he wanted to tell us. And of course he had Beckett's dark sense of humour to help him along. It was very funny in parts and of course deeply tragic.

I just can't praise Conor Lovett enough. I spoke to him in the bar afterwards as he was on his own for a bit. He lives in France with his wife, who directs him.  He was telling me that there is a Beckett festival in Cork, Ireland on St Patrick's day, 17th March, when he is doing Molloy, Malone Dies and The Unnameable over 200 minutes, with two breaks. I'm very tempted to go.

If you ever get a chance to see him doing his Beckett, don't miss it. Unmissable. Satisfaction guaranteed.

"Aqui esta encerra el almade....."

One would think that a piece of music called "A Pastoral Symphony" by an English composer called Ralph Vaughan Williams, would be all about the English countryside and take you to the Cotswolds or some such place. But that's not the case. It comes in fact from his experience of the First World War in France, where he served with the Medical Corps having enlisted at the age of 41. The trumpet solo was tremendous, the best part of the evening for me. Incredibly moving.  His inspiration for this part came from hearing a French bugler practising his calls, when he was out on the ambulances.

It was the first piece played by Scottish Sinfonia when I went to hear them in Edinburgh recently. I don't often listen to classical music at home, but the live experience I really enjoy. Even though I mostly don't have much knowledge of it, I find it very uplifting, and inspirational, even if at times my concentration does begin to drift and I find myself in another world.

My pal George plays the cello in  the orchestra so it's really through him that I find myself at Scottish Sinfonia concerts. He's a fine cellist to boot. Thanks George, long may you bow that cello. Does one bow a cello?

The second piece for the evening was Elgar's Violin Concerto, which I enjoyed but found more difficult. Still the challenge was worth it. I think Elgar liked a bit of excitement in his love life and said about this work : Aqui esta encerra el almade..... (herein is enshrined the soul of .....) and admiited that the five dots stood for a woman's name, not his wife either. She was called Alice as was his wife, funnily enough.

Anyway a fine evening was had. ps the violin soloist was Daniel Bell, excellent he was too.  

Shame and Carnage and a Bit of Full Frontal

Must be time for me to write something on here. I see that quite a few readers are checking my blog most days so I guess I should give you all some reading material.

Here in Scotland the days are getting longer and brighter. This used to be my mother's favourite time of year and now it's mine too. The whole world seems so full of possibilities, it's good to be alive.

For those of you reading this in Peru or anywhere near the equator the idea of the days getting longer may not be an easy concept to understand. But trust me that's the way it is. As I look out my window in Edinburgh the sun is  still working away and I can see a thin pale sliver of a moon hanging over The Pentland Hills, saying goodbye to the sun as it decides it's had enough for the day and sinks into the western sky.

Best film I've seen this past fortnight was "Carnage". It's witty, funny and entertaining. The dialogue just sparkles along at a pace. Cristoph Waltz is just perfect. He has a way of looking with that cynical sneer of his which I just love, the film is worth seeing just for him alone. Jodie Foster is excellent despite what may have been said in various smart arse newspaper reviews. I will see it again on DVD.

"Shame" was thoroughly entertaining too but very different. Not many laughs. If you like your actors starkers then you are in for a treat, as Michael Fassbender gives us some full frontal nudity to keep us going for a while. With a name like that it's only to be expected I suppose.  He acts pretty good too. There's a tremendous version of "New York New York" sung by Carey Mulligan as the Fassbender character looks on, in tears, which luckily I was able to hold back this time. There's a clip on YouTube should anyone wish to hear her. Great film and definitely worth seeing.

War Horse with Lewis

Went to see the Spielberg movie War Horse with Lewis last Saturday. I guess it was inevitable that it would all end in tears. He knows how to manipulate the emotions does  old Mr Spielberg.

Actually the tears began well before the end, in fact a few minutes into the movie I could feel things welling up and soon enough the tissues had to come out. I wish I could cope a bit better with this kind of manipulation, but I'm afraid that's the way it is so just have to get on with it.

In fact the experience is quite cathartic if not even enjoyable.  I remember being reduced to a sobbing wreck by Toy Story 3, which I saw in Lima, though not too many people noticed, maybe because they were busy hiding their own tears. Hard to believe that a bunch of toys having a hard time could leave one so emotionally exhausted, but quite frankly it was a great movie and fully deserving of tears, of joy as well as loss.

Lewis seemed to enjoy the movie too and he also had a tear or two to hide. It reminded me of going to see ET with Iain and Anna way back in the early 80s. Both of them and their uncle Don were slightly overcome and Anna had to be comforted, quickly followed by Iain who had been putting a brave face on things by hiding under the seat. I think that was the day that Anna began to chant "Maggie Maggie Maggie Out Out Out" as she thought the cinema queue was the start of another anti Tory demo. If you are reading this in Peru you maybe wont get the reference to Maggie. Let me know if you want to know more about her and will maybe post something to explain.

For those of you who have not had the good fortune to have met Lewis he is my nephew Keith's son. I feel very privileged to be able to spend a little time with him. Thanks Keith. Lewis is brilliant company and keeps me entertained with his stories. I picked him up in Irvine last Friday and we drove to his grandparent's house, a journey of about one hour twenty minutes. He spoke non stop all the way there. I just had to make the occasional interjection and he just kept on talking. He even noticed himself that he had rather a lot to say, but he just kept on going. Amazing. He wanders from subject to subject as the mood takes him, one minute football, then school, then family stuff, then films, games, whatever takes his fancy. I just love him to bits.

He is doing a project for his school about the Second World War, so the movie maybe gave him an idea or two for that. I gave him some stuff I had from my father's world war 2 "archive", including one of his medals, to show in his project. Apparently Keith had always wanted one of these medals when he was a wee boy himself,  though I've no recollection of this. But I guess K would agree it's going to good use now. Lewis has promised to look after the medal and pass it on to his son some time in the future.

I have no idea how this posting got here from War Horse. If you are looking for a good movie to see I can recommend it... tears are optional of course.