February 2012
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On saying goodbye to my inner hipster
It’s hard to be a hipster in Leicester. The charity shops only sell shellsuits and nobody here has ever heard of any decent music from any era in the whole of human history so you can’t even tell them you were into The Shins way before they sold out. Now that I’m old and jaded and TWENTY FUCKING EIGHT YEARS OLD (and doing a music industry uni module), I can occasionally hold a...
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IT'S MY BIIIRRRTHDDAAAAAAYYYY
Look what I got from @_Cabble in my twitter feed this morning:
GIRL BONER
January 2012
6 posts
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For the love of fucking ridiculous outfits
I went out last night and this is what I wore. (Don’t ask me why my head’s at that funny angle. Maybe it always looks like that and I just haven’t noticed until now.) I saw the playsuit on River Island’s website about a week ago and it subsequently appeared in visions on a daily basis until I bought it on Thursday. If you’re able to imagine such a thing,...
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Shows I have missed recently because I am entering...
Audience (Ontoenderenderndrend Goed)
The Table (something to do with puppets)
Lovesong (dancing about bereavement - looked lovely)
42nd Street (everyone said it was mint)
PLS SEND HALP
Edit, 23.25: You can scratch Lovesong off that list. I got so pissed off with everything when I posted it at breakfast time that I said FUCK YOU THE MAN and got on a train after my lecture. Despite their...
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"You are live at the Arts Council's annual...
A few weeks ago my mate Hannah asked me if I’d like to be one of nine arts-types live-blogging ACE’s annual conference in Manchester next month. It’s all officially-sanctioned and everything. I’m even getting a night in a hotel and my train fare reimbursed.
I finally managed to stop laughing hysterically at all the possible worst-case scenarios in accepting such a...
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Birthdays and pictures
I’m getting to that stage where birthdays aren’t quite the celebration they once were. If I’m entirely honest, the big 3-0 is pretty terrifying, and I’m trying to pretend that my ovaries are in some kind of Walt Disney-esque state of suspended animation, complete with bunny rabbits and singing flowers and dwarves and shit. But, I have a birthday approaching. Thankfully,...
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On education
Remember this?
It’s the post I wrote back in April when the Arts Council announced their new NPO organisations and the company I work for wasn’t included. At the time I was energised by all the bad news, and simultaneously really pissed off with uni. Every assessment felt like pointless crap and I just wanted to be out of Leicester and living an adult life again.
My uni course is...
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CASEY AFFLECK IN THE BATH KLAXON
There you go. Don’t say I never do anything for you.
I just watched THE BEST FILM. Even if Casey Affleck wasn’t naked in the bath during an early scene, it still would’ve been THE BEST. It’s called Lonesome Jim and did I mention Casey Affleck is NAKED IN THE BATH IN IT.
I’ve had LoveFilm for ages now. It may’ve even been a New Year’s resolution a...
December 2011
2 posts
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2011: art, running, love, twitter
I’ve just looked through the photos on my camera to remind myself of everything that’s happened this year. Turns out it was 60% dying my hair, 20% baking, and 20% looking at very blurry sunsets whilst on public transport. Gaddafi? Who’s the fuck’s that?
In reality, 2011 has been just as eventful for me as it has been for military dictators. It was a year of two halves,...
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All I want for Christmas
is a Devo hat.
November 2011
5 posts
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“Allen Ginsberg was staying at Mick’s place in London once, and I spent an...”
– I’ve been reading Keith Richards’ autobiography on and off for months. It’s getting to the good bit now. The Anita Pallenberg, elegantly wasted period. I hate that he’s been so Americanised for the book. “Panties” and “off of it” and shit like that....
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On not being arsed
I’ve seen a couple of shows this last week, and a few others in recently, that I’ve not been bothered to write about. It’s not that I’ve had nothing to say - it’s NEVER that - but priorities seem to be shifting. I think it’s maybe because I’m sooooo bored of being a student now. Whenever I’m not writing an essay I just want to be listening to The...
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What I did on my holidays*
*overnight stay in Newcastle*
A couple of months ago, when I was staring down the barrel of six weeks of weekend overtime, I booked myself a trip to Newcastle. I’d never been there before, the new Sound & Fury show was touring, and it seemed more exciting than a trip to bloody Coventry.
Because I’m mega-poor, I stayed in a guest house which was quite securely wrapped in...
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October 2011
6 posts
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Petition to make micro-scooters compulsory for all...
We, the undersigned, support the introduction of legislation to ensure micro-scooters are used in every theatrical curtain call across Britain, whether commercial or subsidised, and regardless of venue or type of staging.
We see two main benefits from introducing such a law. Firstly, as proved in the case of Matilda the Musical, a choreographed micro-scooter curtain call is a fitting end to...
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A paean to @Fuckingledge and his ground-breaking...
At the start of the year @Betfairpoker took Twitter by storm. A corporate account being funny and creative and interacting with us and (a key issue here) not blindly RTing every bit of praise it received. I still follow and I still laugh. They only thing I’ve ever bet on before is the Mercury Prize but I may well put a fiver on Sven Goran Eriksson’s next move since he’s...
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5 jobs I'd apply for if I lived in Ambridge
Assistant Director to Linda for all village concerts/pantomimes
Security officer at the flower and produce show
Tom’s pig trainer (and saboteur of Tom’s life in general)
Chief food taster at Underwoods
Poacher
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SHANE RITCHIE NOT INCLUDED
My favourite book of all time is Gone With The Wind. I never saw the Trevor Nunn musical version because it closed about 45 minutes after it opened. I understand it was bollocks.
My second favourite book of all time is One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. I once saw a stage version with Shane Ritchie as McMurphy. SHANE RITCHIE. One can only assume that the guy who cast Cliff fucking...
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Don't be fooled into thinking this is a post about...
Generally speaking, it suits me to blog about a show immediately after returning home from the theatre, while everything is fresh in my head and I’m buzzing with excitement. I think our immediate response is often the ‘realest’, and too much reflection can cause me to wank on and on about the fucking aesthetic relationship and what Kant would say or some bollocks like that. If...
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Bang Bang Bang by Out Of Joint, or, When Theatre...
I’m not usually one for theatre about real ISSUES. I like a bit of depth and stuff to think about, but tend to prefer shows involving a glitter cannon to anything too morbid. You really have to wonder why I decided to book tickets for a play about humanitarian workers in the Democratic Republic of Congo but, when I think about it, the last thing I saw by Out Of Joint DEFINITELY involved...
September 2011
4 posts
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Something about families and ancestors and, like,...
Anyone who says they’re not prone to self-reflection from time-to-time is full of shit. We all think about ourselves and where we’re going and where we’ve come from and who we used to be in comparison to who we are now.
I’ve just got back to Leicester after a weekend chilling out up north with my folks. On Saturday night we went to a restaurant near to where they live...
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Things I have learnt about cricket
Until today, my knowledge of cricket had almost completely come from the 18 month period in which I lived with Daz and Andy. We shared a house near Platt Fields and we had Sky Sports. I couldn’t tell you if we had any other channels. They may’ve been there, but I never saw them.
Daz and Andy taught me the following things about cricket:
‘20 20’ is okay if...
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A SHOW ABOUT 9/11 THAT DIDN'T MAKE ME CRY
My parents used to call me ‘the Ice Maiden’ when I was a kid because I was completely unmoved by killer emo telly stuff like Lassie Come Home and Watership Down and that thing about the dead reindeer, Prancer. With hindsight, I was probably just distracted by imagining my life as the owner of a pegasus, or as a mermaid, or if Kylie and Jason were my parents, because nowadays I sob at...
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The Wild Bride and Meg's Kneehigh Bingo
I went to see The Wild Bride last night and it was, as expected, absolutely wonderful. I know I’m supposed to really look deep into a work and (*yawn*) search for its heart and soul and everything, but chuck some glitter about and sing me some blues and you’ll have my knickers off in a flash.
The Wild Bride is classic Kneehigh, with its pretty lights and sleazy onstage music and...
August 2011
9 posts
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Excerpts from a letter from my parents, dated 29th...
Written by Dad, unless otherwise stated.
“Dream Report: Dreamed about taking Mum’s sewing machines (she has two now!) to the dealership for repair. They are both broken. Seems like a waste of a dream to me.”
“Winter Fuel Report: Coal and wood are stocked up for the winter. We even have a smart new coal bunker to brighten up our lives. Mum keeps threatening to...
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What I think about arts journalism #177,693
The Observer has printed its Autumn Arts Calendar today, including the usual categories of art, dance, pop, classical, etc etc. In some ways I’ve found it useful, because I tend to dip in and out of films and exhibitions and stuff if the topic/content particularly interests me, and would never purport to have my finger on the pulse. I’m quite looking forward to the Postmodernism...
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Edinburgh: Day 5 (in which I think about WHAT IT...
I am home. The washer is going and I’m in my pyjamas. I have a glass of wine. Unless this creaky student house is actually some kind of sound installation, I’m pretty certain that there is no theatre going on within a several mile radius. (This is the East Midlands, so there is probably no theatre going on within a 100 mile radius.)
I like it.
Today was a bit of a write-off,...
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Edinburgh: Day 4
I purposefully kept today’s schedule quite clear when I was booking tickets, partly because Thursday is an important day in MY NEW RUNNING TRAINING PLAN (yup), partly because I knew that, by day 4, I would be in need of a square meal at some point in the afternoon, but mainly because I wanted to be able to see some of the amazing things that my scouts (ie, everyone on twitter) had discovered...
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Edinburgh: Day 3 (in which I accidentally see some...
Guys! Guys guys guys GUYS GUYS!!!
I saw some comedy!!!
I thought it was going to be poetry but it was comedy! AMAZING!
I don’t know the first fucking thing about comedy. Edinburgh is completely wallpapered with posters all featuring a bloke in a suit doing a face. Never a normal face, always some other kind of face, like ‘zany’ or ‘deadpan’ or...
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Edinburgh: Day 2 (or, Some Questions I Have About...
When will theatre involving iPads stop being all OOOH LOOK AN IPAD, DOESN’T IT LOOK LOVELY, LET ME TOUCH IT, and start being just theatre?
Did I like Futureproof more than the woman who I followed out of the auditorium because I actually liked the play more, or because all the pretty things and Terry Gilliam cast-offs made it easier for me to ignore the writing?
As a single woman with no...
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Edinburgh: Day 1
I’ve been awake since FIVE AM. *rattles*
Right now I should be at the Ontroend Goed show that everyone’s been calling “indefensible”, but Scary Gorgeous went up late and I was relishing the sit down (if not the show) so didn’t get myself across town in time for OG. (Did you see that way I just called them ‘OG’? That’s because I’ve, like,...
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July 2011
6 posts
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Something about Amy Winehouse, death, tragedy, and...
I was really furious earlier, with online opinions that I would ordinarily ignore without any problem at all. Amy Winehouse was found dead today, and for every expression of sadness or respect there was another talking about how her death is not comparible to the scores that were killed by Behring Breivik in Norway yesterday. Some were talking about how she ‘chose’ to become addicted...
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Meg's guide to presenting theatre at Latitude...
The first thing to remember is that no-one at a festival wants to see a heavy-going production about gang violence or the banking crisis. We want people in wigs falling over and funny songs, thank you very much.
Always assume the festival volunteers you’ve been given are total fuckwits. That way, you will be prepared to manage the queue yourselves, and will also be pleasantly surprised...
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“What is happening, in short, is a revolution in the way young people access...”
– Rupert Murdoch said this in a speech in 2005. I literally just stumbled across it when doing dissertation research.
June 2011
2 posts
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Devoted and Disgrunted session on theatre...
I went to the recent Devoted & Disgruntled satellite session about theatre criticism, partly because it’s the topic of my dissertation and partly because, y’know, WRITING ABOUT THEATRE. I’ve never been to one before, and I think I’ve probably been guilty of lumping open space discussions like D&D in with the post-show discussions that I uniformly detest, populated...
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“Remember, it’s just maybe, someday, sometime, somebody will pick you up...”
– This is from Woody Guthrie’s autobiography, Bound for Glory, but I found it quoted in the prologue to Dorian Lynskey’s new-ish book about protest songs, 33 Revolutions Per Minute, which is a great title.
I’ve finished uni for the summer now and I’ve had a holiday and my...
May 2011
3 posts
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“I tried to talk to myself about it; he was very resistant. The guy’s a...”
– Mark Rylance on how he dealt with being Tony-nominated for Jerusalem but not for La Bete. Whole interview is on the Time Out NY site.
April 2011
4 posts
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Music and love and stuff, like, man
I think I’ve made my peace with nostalgia. I was in London with Hannah yesterday and we were talking about when I was in Manchester, going out six nights a week and getting embroiled in the local music scene, ostensibly to prove I could have a more exciting life than my ex-boyfriend but also because it was a whole fuckload of fun. I styled myself as some kind of music expert, writing about...
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The Campaign For Plain English (arts division)
I’ve been in two minds about whether or not to blog about this today, because I want to be supportive to artists making interesting projects, but also I don’t think I expressed myself very well on twitter this afternoon and am in danger of coming across as a proper ignorant twat if I don’t attempt to do a better job of stringing my sentences together.
To fill you in, Helen Cole...