The old mill by the stream - I think I can paint this one. But it is really one of my better pictures.

The gentleman in red!

This is in France - I painted it, but somehow or other the view through the trees was far too explicit. I probably take better photographs it has to be said. But it is a lovely view. And I intend to try again.
So is this.
But not this and no guesses for where it happens to be. I did paint it, and this time not at all well, but I will have another go. It was, as you can see, a rather dreary day in the month of May. The sun does not always shine in Rio.

This is somewhere east of Bergerac - sunshine on the river. It lookeed lovely and the result has rather taken me by surprise.

Christmas Parties 11/08/2008

Had lunch in the Old Mitre off Ely Place today - seems to have an upstairs room where you can have a party. May be worth checking out. We need a place for the Critics' Circle to hold one, a place which doesn't cost too much to hire and where they have pub prices. But finding a nice pub is not easy. You would think London was full of them but it ain't. Trouble is the Circle lot are poor - or tight fisted. One or both. I suspect it is because people who get their entertainment for free don't go out much at the weekends in the West End and in the West End things cost a lot. Clubs do take non member events but tend to charge the earth for allowing groundlings into their hallowed halls - halls not always as swish as all that either. But the venue sounds good. This is what is wrong with living in a big city - you have to go for the centre and that puts up price and there is no word of mouth local reputation to aid you. That reputation means the place wants your business as your word of mouth will send other business. But not when you are in London's West End. Or not so that it counts.

Many months later

So what is this about blogs? Does anyone care what I get up to? Curently watching Cover Girl on dvd - which takes one back. Went to West Side story the other day and realised I had seen it 50 years ago, which, I suppose, casts me into outer darkness. Actually it wore quite well - the music is good, the dancing was terrific, but it does need a production which thinks for itself instead of repeats roughly what happened then. Trouble with musicals is that they don't have the stamina of plays which can take rediscovering - nobody could film a Cover Girl now because there are no people like Kelly or Hayworth or Arden - well maybe Alison Janney could do the part -or Silvers around. The plot if pretty slight, and Kelly's refusal to let Hayworth get her big break is a mite macho, but the numbers are terrific, especially the reflection in the shop windows one. And then there are the song. Eat you heart Lord Lloyd Webber it is long ago and far away indeed. Anyway today - 09/08/20009 - it is raining, I don't feel like braving the wet and the West End is hell on earth as it is full of tourists and there is no sight more debilitating than the tourist in the rain not know where it is headed and bumping into you, filling up the buses and the tubes and worst of all, when they are American, uttering banalities you understand.

Will anyone ever read this? Today's money spent was on a CD of Valmouth. The vocal score is unobtainable. How do they revive shows? Somewhere they must exists, because it is not the only one that is unobtainable. But some were probably never published. However the book was so why not the music? But enough for today. If anybody finds this and reads it do tell me - I assume there is a way of doing that.

What the hell?

So what have I done? What do I do on here? Is there anybody out there? Will anyone ever come in here, and if so, why?