Month: February 2011

Guys and Dolls – A Class Act


I had the great pleasure, on Saturday night, to see Guys and Dolls. This being the latest production by the Stage One Youth Theatre Group. This group never cease to amaze. Although they are, by definition, an amateur group their productions are anything but. The members of the cast range in age from 8 to 18 and they are perhaps the most enthusiastic group that I have ever encountered.

Anyone who has ever trod the boards will know how daunting it can be to step out in front of an audience. The members of this group seem to overcome any reservations and burst onto stage if not with broad smiles on their faces then with a gleam in their eyes.

Guys an Dolls was no exception. Although this was not perhaps their best ever production, it was right up there with the best.Certain aspects of this production were a bit shaky and there were a couple of bum notes from the orchestra. The highlights of the show, for me, were the performance from Megan Healy as Miss Adelaide, Sam Ring as Sky Masterson, Natasha Brown as Sarah Brown and James Lawbuary as Arvide Abernathy. All managed to sing and act at the same time with particularly strong vocal performance from Ring and Brown.  All in all it was an exuberant show and most of the audience that I observed when leaving were in high spirits, with smiles of pleasure on their faces.

Over the years I have seen many Stage One performances including Les Miserables, Oliver, Anything Goes, Kiss Me Kate, West Side Story, Oklahoma, Bugsy Malone and Me & My Girl. As you can see from this list they do not shy away from the more complex productions. These shows have moved me through the whole gamut of emotions, from tears to full belly laughs. To my way of thinking these productions are great value for money. Where else can you be entertained with music and action from the West End shows without having to pay West End prices.

A beer before the show, and ice cream in the interval, brilliant entertainment and NO ADVERTS. Top Class

Welcome to the Stage One website!.

Bewildering light bulbs that cost up to four times as much as standard one


As one who has been affected in a less than positive way by this less than enlightened legislation I read this article with great interest and agree with just about everything that it says.

Something not touched on though, is the great variation in the start-up times of some of these new bulbs. Most don’t reach their full lighting potential until they have been on for a  period of time.

Not a good thing if you are passing through a room on your way to, perhaps , the bathroom in the middle of the night. You hit the switch and instead of the old “instant”  bright light created by the traditional bulb what you are presented with is a sepia version. Everything bathed in a dull albeit warm glow.

Surely, if you are vision impaired in any way, this is a safety issue.

Many of us have set routines when we get up to go to work in the morning. Part of my wifes routine is to do her hair in front of the long mirror in our hallway. She used to just walk out there turn on the light then do her hair. Now due to the time it takes our energy-efficient bulb to get to full power she turns the light on before going for her shower. By the time she is ready to do her hair the bulb is bright enough.

Is this really saving energy ? The bulb is now turned on for longer than the old style bulb would have been !!!

The government and the lighting industry as a whole have made a huge error with this switch over.

Another instance of the British citizens being shafted by the EU and our government allowing it to happen.

Bewildering light bulbs that cost up to four times as much as standard one | Mail Online.

British Government Has Selective Hearing Problem


The British government is displaying the symptoms of an acute case of selective hearing. They were quick enough to climb down when the people resisted their plans to privatize the nations forests. They showed that they were listening and despite the huge embarrassment they backed down, reversed their decision.

Shame that they don’t exhibit the same degree of listening ability when it comes to something which is much more worrisome. They seem not to be able to hear all the voices that are saying that the government have got it wrong regarding the mothballing of our ships and planes. Read any of the online articles associated with the defense cuts, then read the comments attached to those articles. Pretty much, without exception, they are saying that the government has got it wrong. They are saying that these cuts will leave us exposed and unable to respond to emergency situations.

I would have thought that all the unrest throughout the middle east  would be prompting them to rethink their defense strategy. Yet they show no signs of reversing or even slowing down the rate at which they are decimating our armed forces.

Come on Mr Cameron, its time to wake up and listen to the advise that you are being given. Don’t leave it until there is no way to recover.

The link below is to a copy of a letter sent to David Cameron by military experts and retired commanders warning of the risks posed to British forces by the Strategic Defence Spending Review.

Military experts’ warning over defence spending review – Telegraph.

Another Benefit Farce


Yet again our benefits system is failing the honest British tax payer.
I have just read about a woman who is pregnant with her 17th child.
That’s right17th
And who is paying for all these kids ? You and me, that’s who.
This leech on society is pulling in the equivalent of £42k.
Why is this allowed to happen ?
Who monitors and regulates the claims ?
At the very least this fat cat should have been spayed.

Malvern Primary School health and safety brigade ban footballs in the playground


This is the “nanny-state” gone mad. What do these people think they are doing ?

Our children are being so cocooned that they have no sense of excitement or adventure.

So far we have no school trips, no sports fields, no conkers, no footballs, no snowballs……. etc. etc. Pretty soon we won’t be allowed to send the kids to school because it will be too risky.

After all they might strain themselves picking up a pencil. Oh I forgot, they won’t be allowed pencils because they are dangerous, too sharp.

Malvern Primary School health and safety brigade ban footballs in the playground | Mail Online.

The ECHR Is No Longer Fit For Purpose !!!


Why can’t woman on benefits, owing £3,500 rent be evicted !!!

Because her eviction could be contravening the European Convention on Human Rights (EHCR).

Well I bloody well want to know how that works.

I used to be housed by the local council. I had an agreement which required that I pay the rent. If I didn’t pay the rent I would have broken that agreement. And because I broke that agreement I would have been evicted.

Well I have moved on from there, I am not on benefits and work for my salary, out of which I have to pay my mortgage.  What I do know is that should I fail to pay that mortgage for any prolonged period of time the bank would seek my eviction from the property and not a court in this land would stand up for me on the basis of the ECHR.

What I also know is that my human rights are being trampled daily under the guise of the ECHR.

Not only am I paying for my home but I am paying for this womans home and thousand like her.

I am sick to the back teeth of this country funding all the dead beats and scroungers via all kinds of benefits.

There is endless talk of fixing the benefits culture in this country but I tell you it isn’t happening fast enough. It isn’t being helped by the legal “experts” who misuse the ECHR so often that its becoming valueless. The ECHR is no longer fit for purpose.

I believe that we as a country should resign our membership or what ever we have to do to prevent ourselves from being hog-tied by this useless piece of legislation.

Assange To Be Extradited – At Last


After so much time and public money has been wasted on this guy. Finally a judge steps up to the mark and says he should be extradited.

Of course he should.

Do we or do we not have friendly relations with the Sweden.

Assange and his lawyers have wriggled and squirmed, even claiming that good old catch-all, Breach of his Human Rights. They also claimed that the crime of which he is accused  in Sweden would not be considered a crime in this country.

Let him fight his case in the Swedish courts, not in ours and not in the newspapers.

Where’s The Ferry For The Brits ?


The Yanks have hired a ferry to get their people out of Libya while the Clameron Twins dither.  Just like a scene from  Yes Prime Minister, Cameron is off on a jolly round the middle east and Cleggy says he “forgot” he was running the country during his absence.

Where is the ferry to get our people out ? In fact where is there any sign that our government is doing anything. Did the powers that be not see that guy on the news last night saying that he had basically been told by an embassy official that it was up to him to get himself out of Libya

This is just the scenario when you expect your government to step up to the mark.

Send Him Home


Why is there any delay in deporting this person ?

He has admitted that he lied and that his only intention was to earn money to send back to his family. He did not need asylum. The fact that he lied to his friends, the UK Border Agency, MP Jonathan Edwards and just about everyone else just reinforces the Border Agencies decision as being the correct one.

The only assistance this guy needs is to get him on a plane back home.

BBC News – Deportation battle student Ahmer Rana’s identity lies.