I know I shouldn’t get too political on my birthday, which so far has been really nice, but I think I  need to flag this Will Hutton article up about the cultural impact of Brexit. He might go a tad far in his depiction of Outists as all backwards  and inwards looking, but he’s spot on to point out that Brexit would ruin far more than the economy. The tolerant, open, welcoming society we value so dearly is now under threat, and, birthday or not, we must fight with all our  strength to save it.

I realise I haven’t mentioned the Olympics or opening ceremonies for quite a while (and whatever regular readers I have will probably be thinking ‘tfft’) but I recently started to wonder, if a british city was to host an olympic games again soon, what would the opening and closing ceremonies look like?  Thinking back to 2012, the entire country was united  behind London; we all came together to put on a magnificent show. Now, just seven years on, the uk feels like a completely different place: half of us can’t stand the other half, or think they’re morons for being fooled into voting for something completely antithetical to their best interests; the papers spew the most vile hate every day; the whole country feels far, far darker. If  olympic  ceremonies indeed reflect nations, what would the opening ceremony look like if London was hosting the olympics again this summer? Instead of James Bond escorting the queen to the ceremony in a helicopter, Farage would have to escort her there in his Rolls Royce under armed guard for fear of being attacked by thugs. Rather than a tribute to  the NHS, there would be a homage to american health insurance companies called ‘Give  it a Try’. And instead of having the Chaos Choir sing it would have to be the choir from Eaton, as it seems we no longer cherish diversity and only the rich and privileged can be allowed to succeed.

I know I may be sounding overly grumpy, but what I’m  trying to say is the country has changed since 2012, and not at all for the better. I’m worried about it: we’ve become more inward looking and more divided. I remember the spring and summer of 2012 and how great it felt to be a londoner that year. It was around this time that we first began to hear rumours that Bond was going to be involved. The contrast to the atmosphere in the country now is chilling, and I’m worried it will be a very long time before it is restored.

I rather like The Barbican, and think I might start going up  there a bit more often. We just got in from a disability music event there. L mentioned it a couple of day ago, and, into disability culture as I am, I thought I’d check it out  too. Truth be told though, there isn’t that much for me to note on here. Don’t get me wrong, it was cool enough, and  there  were some cracking performances, but events like today’s are more about networking.  I met Adele Drake again, who remarkably remembered me; I also  met Mik Scarlett. I said hi to him,  and that I remembered him from BBC Ouch. We got chatting, and I showed him some of my work. A Really good day, then.  I looked into going to a screening of Girl while I was up there, but it  was showing too late. All the same,  it was great to see a bit of disability culture – it really seems to be coming into it’s own.

For reasons which will  become  clear shortly, I was talking to Dom about India this afternoon, and he suggested I check out a film called Lion. It was on Netflix, and I fancied watching a film, so I put it on. I’d never heard of it before, but what I just watched was truly, truly beautiful. It was the type of story which I’d think  was far fetched if I didn’t know it was true. It’s about a guy from India who, separated from his mum aged five, is fostered to a couple in Australia. Then, with help from Google Earth, he finds his mum again after twenty years. It’s told in a gentle, beautiful style which reminded me of Rabbit Proof Fence. You feel  yourself cheering the character on as you watch his search. I  now want to give it a second viewing in case I missed any details, but I think it’s already  a new favourite.

I haven’t put a leotard on in  quite a while, but this film makes me feel like digging one  out. Joking aside,, Girl, directed by Lucas  Dhont, looks very interesting indeed. It’s about  a ballet dancer who, although born a boy, trains as a girl. The Guardian is hailing it as the most important trans film in years. “In May, Girl premiered to a standing ovation at the Cannes film festival, winning a prize for its 17-year-old male star Victor Polster and three more awards including the Caméra d’Or. Netflix bought the US release and there was a Golden Globe nomination (“the ceremony was surreal, watching Lady Gaga and her amazing lavender dress”).” It’s good to see stories like this finally starting to be told in the mainstream, and I’m looking forward to checking it out. The trailer hints  that it explores the line between masculine and feminine in a fascinating, powerful way.

Hold on, hold on, let me get this straight: because they lost a referendum they never expected to lose, and knew the catastrophic consequences if they did, the tories needed to do a deal with the European Union which wouldn’t screw the country while still technically leaving the EU. They knew full well what damage leaving the union would do to the country, but didn’t want their credibility to be torn to shreds by ignoring a referendum result they never planned on. Then, when they ask parliament to vote on the deal those in favour of leaving didn’t vote for it because it wouldn’t lead to a clean enough break, and those opposed to leaving couldn’t vote for it because any kind of brexit is total folly. Would someone please tell me how the hell and at precisely what point things got so utterly, utterly ridiculous?

I’m still something of a Stephen Hawking fan, so I think this news is very cool. ”Prof Stephen Hawking has been honoured on a new 50p coin inspired by his pioneering work on black holes.” What better way to pay tribute  to the major roll hawking played in both opening up physics to a wider audience and improving the representation  of disabled people in the mainstream media? I  can’t  wait to have a few new 50p pieces in my wallet, although perhaps a  6.674p piece might be more appropriate.

I’ve probably mentioned Maryon-Wilson park on here before. It’s a  small, densely wooded park between Charlton and Woolwich which I roll through just  about every day. It’s so densely wooded that you   almost forget you’re in the middle of a huge metropolis as soon as you go in; there’s a lazy little brook running  through it, presumably on it’s way down to the Thames. I was just going through there on  my way back from watching the skaters in Charlton park, and  I was struck by the contrast in the atmosphere. Charlton park, with it’s cafe, skate  park and football pitches, is a hive of activity, whereas all Maryon-wilson park has is trees and animal enclosures. I was then struck by an idea: wouldn’t it be cool if there was some kind of performance space in there?  Some kind of band stand,  perhaps? I could see people rocking out on the grassy areas between the trees  on there, or perhaps listening to something more sedate and classical. It’s one thing Charlton park lacks which it’s neighbour could pick up the slack with. Of course, the danger is it’ll destroy the tranquility of the place, but it’s just a suggestion I’m throwing out there.

When one has cerebral palsy or any disability, patience kinda comes as a  prerequisite; but the question I’m mulling today is: how long should I be patient with people who talk down to me, behave as though they have an automatic superiority or authority over me,  and seem  to want to perpetuate issues which should have blown over weeks ago? I know I must make allowances  and accept people as they are, but no matter what I do to mend fences with this person, they won’t let things return to normal, and frankly, my patience is wearing thin.. Where with any other person, I’d expect trivial upsets to have been long forgotten, they seem to have blown things out of all sensible proportions and made some quite hurtful accusations about  me. The thing is, they may or may not have mental health  issues (I’m not sure) so the question becomes, do I make allowances for their mental health condition, or do I treat them as I would anyone else?  I expect  people to make allowances for my (physical) disability, of course, but when people go too far in that I see it as patronising. Hence, where do I draw the line in holding this person up to the same standard I expect of anyone else? I know I’m physically not able to do things people without CP can do easily, so I need  help with things. In the local shop,  for instance, staff members now  come and help me get my things automatically. However, in other situations if people assume I need help or do things for me without me  asking them, I’m prone to feel patronised or get annoyed. They are treating me as different. Isn’t assuming this  person’s behaviour is related to their potential mental illness and thus  ignoring it not a similar conundrum? If treating  someone differently due to their disability is being patronising, then surely I should react to this person and what I perceive  to be their patronising, childish behaviour as I would to anyone else.

I just came across this trailer for the new Tolkien biopic, and I have to say it has me intrigued. Dramatising the life of a fairly dry, conservative Oxford academic is always going to be a challenge; I  just hope they do it justice. Mind you, with rumours rife on the internet of a new amazon series set in the second age of Middle-Earth, I have to wonder what Tolkien would have made of his life’s story and work being adapted, used and popularised like this.

At long  last, it would seem the mainstream is beginning to champion the idea of including disabled characters in film. According to this bbc article,   “Oscar winner Rachel Shenton has urged authors to feature more characters with disabilities in their stories.” It quotes her as saying  “I’ve learnt just how important it is for…[disabled] children to see themselves in the programmes and movies they watch and in the books they read.

“Never seeing themselves can be so demoralising, and makes their experiences seem invisible.” Too damn right if you ask me.  Hearing someone speak out about this is long overdue.

The strangest thing kept happening with my powerchair chargers: they would work perfectly well for  ages then suddenly stop, The fans in them  would stop working  and they would stop giving charge. Over the years I’ve collected five or six chargers, and this happened to every one of them. Last night my last working charger gave up the ghost, leaving me with six broken chargers.

That was a bit stressful: no   chargers meant I’d better be conservative with how I used my chairs; it also meant I needed to get them fixed asap. Dom kindly took  the charger which had just broken home with him to see if he could find the problem, and this afternoon I asked Serkan to drive  me  to Welling mobility, the other broken chargers in  hand, to try to get a replacement.

Welling kindly leant me a  spare charger, taking  the broken ones to see  if anything could  be  done. Powerchair chargers are ninety quid each, so I was grateful for the loan. Getting home I plugged my main chair in and took my spare for a  short spin. Upon my return Dom had arrived to PA for Lyn, bringing  with him the charger he   had taken. We just plugged it in, and it whirred into life  just as it should. Dom had spent several hours on the problem,  only to  find a small wire had just burned out. When I heard the charger fan come on, I gave  him a huge, huge hug.  Issue resolved, then, and I’m now back to full power.

I still like to believe that mankind’s destiny is to one day explore space, but perhaps one of the lesser considered effects of Brexit is it’s impact on Britain’s space industry.. This BBC article goes into that a bit, and things don’t look  good. ”

One of the UK’s most successful space entrepreneurs has launched a withering attack on Brexit, labelling it ‘galactic scale stupidity’.

Will Marshall’s Planet company operates the world’s largest satellite imaging network, with 150 spacecraft able to fully picture Earth on a daily basis.

He warns EU withdrawal will do immense harm to Britain’s space industry. The UK will be ‘lost in space’, he says.”

Yet another reason out of now an overwhelming number to stop the stupidity of brexit.

I’m not sure why it just appeared on Youtube, but I just came across this interesting short film written by Michael Palin and Terry Jones. The Box was  made in 1981; I’d never heard of it before. The style is very unusual and very Monty Python. I like how the sound and audio are unlinked, yet tell the same story: we just see pictures  of a large box, but hear what is going on inside it. That strikes me as very innovative. Of course, Palin and Jones derive a  lot off comedy out of it, but it makes me wonder how else such a device could be used.

I’m not sure I got things completely right yesterday. I watched a few more episodes of Cynic, and, truth be told, I was distinctly unimpressed. The problem I now have is, explaining to ted that his Youtube comedy show strikes me as little more than a rather juvenile piece of self aggrandisement. He says it’s based on Curb Your Enthusiasm, but I do not see the resemblance. He seems to have written a series of short, five to six minute episodes where he is the centre of attention, without any other focus. That which he seems to think is wit or cynicism seems more like toilet humour and fart jokes. Let me put it this way: if I wrote a script about myself or a version of myself where I was the main focus of attention, had all the lines and all other characters revolved around me, you would probably tell me to pull myself out of my arse.

The problem is, ted seems to think he’s better than he is. To be fair, that’s something I have come across a lot in people with cerebral palsy; I’m probably guilty of it too. The fact that Shiress would go so far as to accuse the bbc of stealing an idea for a show from him seems to betray a certain amount of self importance on his part. While, as I said yesterday, there are similarities between the two shows, rewatching an episode of Jerk this afternoon it struck me that they were superficial at most. As you’d expect from a professional situation comedy, Jerk is more evenly spread in terms of characterisation whereas Shiress seems to want the focus of attention to be entirely on him. The fact that he likens himself to Larry David, one of the biggest dramatis personae of american comedy in the last decade, only adds to my sense that he is getting a bit big for his boots.

Why does this matter? Part of me thinks that I should just let things slide; it is, after all, only a dude’s youtube videos. It simply strikes me as odd that Shiress would be so egotistical, not only to assume that the idea for Jerk was stolen from him, but also to create a show centring about him, claiming an equivalence to Larry David. If there’s anything I can’t  abide it’s an overinflated ego. It strikes me as rather odd, too, that some sort of professional production company indulged him in producing this show: they are quite well shot, yet the scrips are, truth be told, dire, reminding me of something a teenager would write. The sixth or seventh episode, for example, has Ted apparently wooing a pretty, able-bodied girl and ending up in bed together. The final shot is of the girl looking under the duvet and gasping. What I find strange is, in any other circumstances, if Ted did not have cerebral palsy, I doubt very much that anyone would allow such bollocks to be made. What further irritates me is, Shiress seems to think the fact he somehow got someone to make such adolescent guff with him makes him some kind of Youtube star of the disabled community. If he is, then it is up to cultural critics like myself to call him up on his pretensions, and to point out how derogatory and regressive I find it. As a  disabled writer and film maker, I feel we need to do far, far better.

Earlier this morning I came across a post on Ted Shiress’ Facebook page complaining that the beeb had stolen the idea for Jerk from him. At first, I assumed Ted was being egotistical and told him so: after all, it isn’t uncommon for us crips to have similar ideas from time to time. But then Ted showed me Cynic, a series of short comedy episodes he made about five years ago, about a slobbish guy with Cerebral Palsy. I instantly realised Ted might have a point. The similarities, not just in the concept but in the style and mise en scene too, are hard to ignore. Even the titles bear a resemblance to each other. Of course one can never be absolutely sure about such things, and there are differences between the two programmes, but I can certainly see why Ted felt so indignant. While  I think it would be hard to prove beyond doubt that the producers of Jerk came across Ted’s youtube channel and decided to steal his idea, I think he may well be  onto something.

Last night I decided to catch up on Star Trek Discovery. Between one thing and another, I had neglected to watch it, and yesterday I  realised I’d fallen way behind. Having just watched episodes  four, five and six of season one though, I realise I shouldn’t have bothered. Seriously, how dare  anyone call that shit Star Trek? What’s all this bollocks about a ‘spore drive’ no other Star Trek incarnation references, and why would they need a sentient being to control it? I always respected Star Trek because i was rooted in some sort of scientific reality, but  Discovery seems to have been made up as they went along.  It’s gibberish. On top of that, the characters  are utterly nauseating; every second line they spout is a cliche. I used to love  Star Trek, so to see it reach such lows really is infuriating.

You may have noticed me fretting recently about how worrying things were getting on both sides of the atlantic: here, of course, we have the travesty of Brexit, and in america they have the farce that is trump.  But it now seems the days of both shambles are numbered:  Labour is at last putting it’s weight behind a second referendum, and with the high court effectively calling the result of the first void, it’s only a matter of time before the damage of 2016 is undone. In America yesterday, Trump’s former lawyer branded him a racist and a liar; the evidence that russia interfered in his election is now irrefutable. Surely it’s now only a matter of time before Trump is impeached. Thus both obscenities are surely now coming to an  end. At last, intelligence is  making a come-back. The only question now is, which farce will end first?

George Orwell once famously  told the tale of when the animals booted out the farmer and took over the farm, only to then  become  as autocratic as the  farmers. Perhaps it’s now  time for a new story, about another farm which  suddenly decides not to trade with it’s neighbours, isolating itself, becoming poorer and poorer yet refusing to admit  it’s mistake. It’s just an idea at the moment, but you have to wonder what old Orwell would have made of Brexit. I also think now is the perfect  time for a bit of allegory: if the outists refuse to admit the obvious, perhaps we can get through to them by taking more subtle routes.

It doesn’t seem that  long since the last time I wished my little brother Luke a happy birthday on here. Then again, it was quite  a hectic year. I still don’t see that much of him – both my brothers are very busy these days. Even our conversations on Skype seem few and far between. I’ll just wish him a happy birthday on here, then, and promise a good catch-up when we can.

Late yesterday afternoon I came across something very interesting indeed on the bbc Iplayer. I had never heard of Jerk before, but, scanning the program pictures for something to watch, it appeared to involve a guy with cerebral palsy. Naturally I decided to give it a try, but what I saw has me in two minds.

The Guardian calls Jerk a dark comedy, but I’m not sure that does it justice. It stars Tim Renkow as a guy who seems to think his (mildish) cp is a license to be a complete dick. An american living in London, he uses a rolator, walks around barefoot and doesn’t get out of bed until his mum skypes him. Of course, any program involving a character with a disability is to be welcomed, but the comedy seems to derive from the idea that his cp lets him get away with being a total wanker. To me, renkow seems to be saying ”Look at me, look what a slovenly tosser I am, but I have cerebral palsy so that makes it ok.” I know we spastics need more representation in the media, but is this really the type of representation we need? I’m not sure I like being represented in this way, by some slobbish yank who thinks the fact he has cp means he can be a complete dick. I only watched the first two episodes and plan to get the rest watched in due course, but so far, I must say seeing someone use his disability like this leaves a bad taste in my mouth. After all, he’s giving all the tricks away.

The working title of the next James Bond has been revealed to be ‘Shatterhand’, but even without knowing anything else I think I can predict this one’s gonna suck. It’s now due for  release in April next year, a full five years after Spectre, and, as big a fan of Daniel  Craig’s 007 that  I am, I think  by then he’ll be way past it. I just can’t see him still having the energy he initially brought to the franchise; it’s also set to be Craig’s last film as Bond, so there won’t be quite as much onus on him to do a good job. Of course, I hope I’m wrong and that Shatterhand will be  just as great as Casino Royale, Skyfall and Spectre, but at  the moment I think I’m right to be pessimistic.

Something just  happened which might well have  me chuckling all afternoon. I was in the park enjoying a coffee when a group of young lads lead by an adult came up to the cafe. They were obviously having a break in  their half term football lesson, and must  have  been about eight or nine. As often happens, I got a few stares, but I just ignored them and got on with my coffee. I laughed out loud though, when I heard one boy say to his friend “I saw  him on Britain’s Got Talent!” With a VOCA user doing so well on national tv, I wonder whether  being  confused with Lee Ridley is something I ought to get used to.

I really can’t make my mind up about Shamima Begum, the teenager who left London to join ISIS. The way she now wants her UK citizenship back strikes me as hypocritical, to be honest: she left the country to join a group of dangerous religious nutters, but now they have lost their war she wants to come back and resume a normal western life as if nothing has happened. She made her choice to join this band of lunatics; to demand that is just forgotten about seems to me more than a little arrogant, as does the way she seems to think she has a right to say what is and is not just. Yet as soon as I say that I sound like all these right wing p’tahks who so appal me. She has rights, as does her unborn child – rights which cannot be forgotten about, no matter what this silly little girl has done. Were we to forget about those rights we would be no better than the religious, right-wing nutters who brainwashed her in the first place. What the xenophobic morons are currently saying about her is disgusting. I thus see both sides of the argument, and can’t make my mind up.

I came across this Guardian video earlier, and it does not make for comfortable viewing at all. “Since the Brexit vote in 2016 Ukip is no longer primarily concerned with attacking the European Union. Now led by Gerard Batten the party has started to normalise far-right ideas and has given roles to figures including Tommy Robinson. The Guardian’s Peter Walker asks how it happened and examines what it means for British politics.” Far right politics seems resurgent across Europe and America, and to be honest it’s becoming very frightening. Ukip is heading further to the right, the tories are following them, and Labour are useless as an opposition. Politics is  a complete mess right now, but it’s a worrying mess because there’s no telling where all this is going to end  up.

I really must say how much I’m enjoying Africa with Ade Adepitan on sunday nights.  It is refreshing to see a disabled person host a high quality documentary program which isn’t specifically about disability. Of  course, Adepitan’s  disability comes into play at times,  for example when we see him struggling to push his wheelchair down  a rough path, but that is treated as incidental to the show. What comes through is Adepitan’s enjoyment and  curiosity; it’s clear he likes exploring, and Africa really is a fascinating, misunderstood part of the world. At the same time, the fact that he uses a wheelchair adds another – I think very welcome – dimension to the show. Travel isn’t always easy for people with mobility problems I can tell you, and we see Adepitan encounter problems Michael Palin never has; but these are counterpointed by his  clear enthusiasm for what he is doing. I think this gives the program just the right mix of wonder and realism. A great addition  to sunday night  tv, then. Let’s hope this is just the first trip of many Adepitan takes.

My PA Serkan kindly brought in a bag of Columbian coffee on Saturday. I wouldn’t call myself a coffee connoisseur, but I am rather fond of the stuff. I must say, though, the beans Serkan brought for me to try are quite shockingly powerful: I just had my first cup of the day and I can barely control my body (well, less than usual, I mean). I suddenly feel  full of energy. How can a few ground up beans in hot water have such a profound  effect? What a way  to start a week.

Although I  reference one of his scenes in my MA thesis, truth be told I never got  into Steve Coogan’s Alan Partridge when it first aired in the late nineties. I found it too cringeworthy, or rather, didn’t realise  it was supposed to be  cringeworthy.  However,  I just came across this Guardian article. Coogan  is reviving Partridge for the brexit era. Can you think of anything more fitting? The  twat is perfect for this current age: he is constantly trying to keep up with the modern zeitgeist yet always betrays himself to be a socially conservative little englander. Sounds like the perfect cringeworthy character for a truly cringeworthy time.

In all i’m pretty pleased with my University Days project. I may have mentioned a while ago, University Days is a book I composed from old blog entries last year about my days as an undergraduate. At 48 pages, I think it was a fairly substantial piece, and most of the people I talk into reading it say they like it. The thing is, that was last year, and now that spring is finally in the air, I think it’s high time I got working on something new. I was considering doing something similar – a book built up from old blog entries – based on the events of 2012, but I didn’t write enough at the time. I also still want to do something about mental health issues, but I can’t decide where to start. Writing a daily blog entry is all well and good, but as a writer I feel I should also have a longer piece on the go, and getting started with that is currently proving an issue.

Apologies  for this being another link-oriented entry about Brexit, but I just came across this rather chilling Evening Standard piece. The care of the elderly will be hit hard by brexit, as a large proportion of the support workers employed by county councils are migrants from the EU. These days,  of course, I employ my personal assistants directly with direct payments, but back at uni my morning support was done by Home Help. I know how vital those guys are to some people; in the worst cases, people won’t be able to get up. Yet another moronic consequence of that utterly moronic  referendum.

While I don’t think I can comment on it much other than to say that it might be a tad too pessimistic, I really think this Guardian article by  George Monbiot is worth flagging up. Although he mentions stuff like climate change etc, his central point is, given that it is now overwhelmingly clear that the 2016 referendum was won based on lies, and  that the leave  campaign was funded by some very dubious sources, why is so little being done  to clear this utter mess up? ” [W]hy won’t the government act? Partly because, regardless of the corrosive impacts on public life, it wants to keep the system as it is…. But mostly, I think, it’s because, like other governments, it has become institutionally incapable of responding to our emergencies. It won’t rescue democracy because it can’t. The system in which it is embedded seems destined to escalate rather than dampen disasters. Ecologically, economically and politically, capitalism is failing as catastrophically as communism failed. Like state communism, it is beset by unacknowledged but fatal contradictions. It is inherently corrupt and corrupting…”

I honestly can’t decide what to make  of this tech-related news. “A regulator should oversee tech giants like Google and Facebook to ensure their news content is trustworthy, a government-backed report has suggested.” Reading the article, it sounds fairly amiable, and we all know how much bullshit is being spewed these days. An online news regulator could, for instance, prevent people being convinced to vote  for things  totally against their best interests by online sources willing to spout any old  bollocks to achieve their goals. The danger comes, of course, when the regulator oversteps the mark and starts to try to police anything anyone says online. This is ostensibly about policing news websites, but who’s to say what constitutes news these days?

The beauty of the internet is that anyone can say whatever they want on there: you don’t  have to agree with it, and indeed much of what I find really  pisses me off, just as there will be many who don’t agree with some of what I write on my blog; but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t  be allowed to say whatever I like on the web. I realise that  this regulator will only attempt to patrol the web giants like Google and Facebook, but I fear that that will open the door for much stricter online rules governing what everyone can say on the internet,  including on sites like mine.

Zark knows what sort of warped mind made this, but they really are quite skilled at dubbing and editing. Another mash-up of Lord of the Rings with Brexit, I know I flagged up something similar a few days ago, but I couldn’t resist blogging  about this. This is fairly obscene, but had me creased up in stitches.

I had my weekly Skype chat with  Dad this morning. He and  my mum are fine, as are my brothers. My nephew and niece, Oliver and Elise, are apparently doing well. I think they might like this. I don’t usually watch Cbeebies of course, but I just found it flagged up on Nicolas McCarthy’s Facebook page. I know Nick from the Paraorchestra, and it is quite cool to see him on YolanDas Band Jam. It   might be for youngsters, but the music played on there is rather funky, and it is good to see disabled musicians not only getting airtime but having a chance  to  explain their  art to young people. Nice one Nick.

Sir Patrick Stewart was on the Graham Norton Show last night;. During his interview, he mentioned living in Bermondsey. That isn’t too far from here, which of course got me  wondering. After meeting Sir Patrick in 2014, I’ve always regretted not presenting him with a copy of my thesis or  getting my photo taken with him; if I could find where he lived, perhaps I could put that right. I googled his address, and today got my PA  Serkan to drive me over there. I had posted a copy of my MA thesis with a covering letter  to Sir Patrick’s talent agency a while ago, but never got a reply, so I thought it worth another try.

The address Google directed us to was in quite a plush, well-to-do area down by the river: it was one of narrow streets and old  wharfs and warehouses now converted into flats, We had trouble parking at first, but eventually we found a spot nearby the address. Truth be told, I wasn’t feeling that optimistic, but the chance to personally present my favourite actor with  a copy of my thesis and the covering letter meant a great deal to me. We walked up to the correct door and Serkan pressed the flat  number Google had indicated.

Predictably, of course, rather than the  voice of my favourite actor, we heard the voice of a rather irritated-sounding lady saying he did not live there any more. We had gone all  that way on a wild goose chase.  I didn’t feel too deflated –  I knew it was a long shot – but it was  a pity all the same. We had a coffee by the river, enjoying the awesome view of tower bridge, before getting back in Serkan’s car and heading home, thesis and  letter still in hand. Oh well, it was quite a good outing, and material enough for a blog entry.

I may have blogged about this a while ago, but I’m growing quite worried about two old school friends of mine – brothers – Ian and Rory Brookes. They lived in Congleton, on the  other side of town to my family, and if memory serves both had some kind of congenital  arthritis. I kind of expected to see Ian at Donno’s funeral last  year but I haven’t seen anything from either brother, online or  off, in years. Given what seems to happen to my old school friends, I’m getting quite concerned. If anyone has any info about how they are, please contact me.

I wouldn’t say it was perfect, but this has me literally rolling on the floor with laughter. Some of the lip synching is quite incredible, although what Peter Jackson would make about it, let alone Tolkien,  is another question. Where is the wisdom of Elrond when you need it?

I was just coming back home earlier after a nice, long, thoughtful walk to Greenwich when I passed Michael, owner of the park cafe, coming the other  way. Great news! The  cafe is due   to reopen tomorrow morning at eleven, with free coffee and sandwiches all round. He told  me to spread the word, hence this entry, See you there!