“This is a fictional country isn't it?” “No, it's real - we just don't know where it is yet." My mum, daughter and I had just arrived in Schwarzenbach to visit the Erika Fuchs Haus, named after my god mother and my mum’s aunt, Erika Fuchs, who used to send me ten Deutsche Marks annually … Continue reading Stories on W(h)alls: Erika Fuchs Haus, Museum für Comic und Sprachkunst, Schwarzenbach.
And another thing…
Tony Hippolyte: The Black 007 – James Blonde, Licenced to Spill
I met Tony back in 1993 when he came up to Liverpool from London to reignite his acting and directing career in the theatre. I was struck immediately by his energy and passion for his work. I hadn’t seen him in Absolute Beginners, or fully understood the iconic status he had as a result of … Continue reading Tony Hippolyte: The Black 007 – James Blonde, Licenced to Spill
Coming Closer to Home: weeding out cultural stereotypes.
"Look what I've got!" Eamon triumphantly pulled out a glass sugar dispenser from the inside of his voluminous flak jacket. "It's from the hotel!" His acquisition was met with near-universal approval in the packed minibus of 15 young trainees and not so young tutors. Anything that could be liberated from the German hotel was fair game it seemed … Continue reading Coming Closer to Home: weeding out cultural stereotypes.
Coming Closer to Home: after the communism…
I've often wondered whether EU funded adult education projects are not just about their alleged subject matter - but much more about sharing languages across our difficult and contentious continent. A few years ago July we participated in an EU funded programme, Forests for All. As well as taking a day trip around the Mersey Forest … Continue reading Coming Closer to Home: after the communism…
Coming Closer to Home: The EU ‘Jolly’.
"It's like you've got to get to know each other at 60mph!" Monica wryly observed as we all piled into a minibus at midnight at Vilnius Airport. We were truly a motley crew: Brits, Portuguese, Greeks all gathering for an EU funded Adult Learning Project in the Creative Arts with a couple of stray Estonian old … Continue reading Coming Closer to Home: The EU ‘Jolly’.
Coming Closer to Home at the Liverpool Everyman Theatre: it’s not me, it’s EU.
"Take the fucking money! Why don't you take the fucking money?" The Chairman of the Liverpool Everyman Theatre had me with my back to the wall in the little kitchenette attached to the theatre's most prestigious rehearsal room, The Red Room. He was clearly irked and my unwillingness to accept some kind of pay off from … Continue reading Coming Closer to Home at the Liverpool Everyman Theatre: it’s not me, it’s EU.
Coming Closer to Home: the Prospect of the UK becoming a EU free zone.
So, we're under starters orders; and we're off. The rumours are starting to circulate already at work. If we opt for Brexit, there's a possibility that the very large EU contract we are about to have signed off by DCLG may be delayed until after the referendum. Meaning not only that over 350 creative and … Continue reading Coming Closer to Home: the Prospect of the UK becoming a EU free zone.
Carl Speare: one dropshot, dropped too early.
I only heard about Carl's death on court third hand, after an uneventful tennis match in Warrington and after the funeral had taken place. I drove back to Liverpool Cricket Club as fast as I could that evening - something was propelling to get there although I wasn't sure what it was. It was of … Continue reading Carl Speare: one dropshot, dropped too early.
Sloppy Postmodernism: a British dining revolutionary crisis?
There’s nothing worse than sloppy post modernism in the restaurant trade. In the good old modernist days, the days before eating in a restaurant was a fashion choice and when there was no such thing as British ‘aute Cuisine, we all bought into the fancy food that was prepared invisibly behind closed doors by chefs … Continue reading Sloppy Postmodernism: a British dining revolutionary crisis?
