The Long Night of Religions
May. 27th, 2017 11:20 pm![[personal profile]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lethargic_manSix years ago, I put on my list of things to do before I turned forty attending a service of another religion (other than Christianity); but it remained not done well into my forties, because I didn't have the contacts to achieve this. (Actually, I suppose if I'd really wanted, I could have used work colleagues as entry points, but didn't.)
Then last week![[livejournal.com profile]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
aviva_m got me off my tochus (and overcame my fear of not understanding enough German*) to participate in the Long Night of Religions, in which different religions open the doors of their houses of worship up to the public.
This is such a good idea; I look forward to exploring other religions in subsequent years, but if I just say that I came back not just edified but very well fed, can you guess which religion's house of worship I ended up attending?
* I prepared for only understanding two-thirds of what I might hear by reading up on the religion I chose in advance. I'd guess my poorer German at the time is the reason why I didn't take advantage of this last year.
Then last week
aviva_m got me off my tochus (and overcame my fear of not understanding enough German*) to participate in the Long Night of Religions, in which different religions open the doors of their houses of worship up to the public.This is such a good idea; I look forward to exploring other religions in subsequent years, but if I just say that I came back not just edified but very well fed, can you guess which religion's house of worship I ended up attending?
* I prepared for only understanding two-thirds of what I might hear by reading up on the religion I chose in advance. I'd guess my poorer German at the time is the reason why I didn't take advantage of this last year.
You look better already
May. 27th, 2017 04:05 pmghoti_mhic_uait( the list )
This song was written in 1975 for Hawkwing by the bass player of that band. He left the band later that year, and formed a new band, using the title of the song as a name for the band, who in 1977 recorded the song.
Motorhead by Motörhead
This song was written in 1975 for Hawkwing by the bass player of that band. He left the band later that year, and formed a new band, using the title of the song as a name for the band, who in 1977 recorded the song.
Motorhead by Motörhead
Ceremony
May. 27th, 2017 01:11 pmhollymathGot the details of my citizenship ceremony! It's on June 7, so... quicker than I was expecting!
I knew it'd be a weekday, I was told they usually are on Wednesdays, so figured I could arrange for whatever friends wanted to celebrate to go to the pub that evening, but it's Eve of Poll so I imagine even then a lot of you will be busy!
Me and the Brighouses are already talking about going to watch village cricket that weekend, to celebrate surviving the election/commiserate about whatever kind of Brexity government we've ended up with. With the picnic hamper and wine and I can make a cake. It would be nice to have something like that to look forward to.
I am finding the whole citizenship thing a bit anticlimactic, to be honest. Maybe just due to my brainweasels, maybe the job interview didn't help, or maybe it's just taken so long and been so expensive and draining that I can't summon the energy to care any more.
I hoped to be more happy about this, but I expected to at least be relieved.
Maybe I'll feel better after the ceremony, but at the moment I'm just trying not to dread it too much. I don't want to make it a self-fulfilling prophecy kind of thing where I think I'll hate it and so I hate it, but damn, I've never liked this idea. And now it's not an idea, it's this letter with all the information printed so tiny I got Andrew to read it. It suggests practicing the Oath or Affirmation before you get there but "this isn't a memory test!" so cards with the text on will be provided. So I'm gonna have to print it off at about 20-pt font because I won't be able to read their damn cards. I'm torn between really not wanting Andrew (or anybody) there and wanting him there for accessibility reasons, like so I don't get lost finding the place.
I'm glad it will be over soon, anyway.
I knew it'd be a weekday, I was told they usually are on Wednesdays, so figured I could arrange for whatever friends wanted to celebrate to go to the pub that evening, but it's Eve of Poll so I imagine even then a lot of you will be busy!
Me and the Brighouses are already talking about going to watch village cricket that weekend, to celebrate surviving the election/commiserate about whatever kind of Brexity government we've ended up with. With the picnic hamper and wine and I can make a cake. It would be nice to have something like that to look forward to.
I am finding the whole citizenship thing a bit anticlimactic, to be honest. Maybe just due to my brainweasels, maybe the job interview didn't help, or maybe it's just taken so long and been so expensive and draining that I can't summon the energy to care any more.
I hoped to be more happy about this, but I expected to at least be relieved.
Maybe I'll feel better after the ceremony, but at the moment I'm just trying not to dread it too much. I don't want to make it a self-fulfilling prophecy kind of thing where I think I'll hate it and so I hate it, but damn, I've never liked this idea. And now it's not an idea, it's this letter with all the information printed so tiny I got Andrew to read it. It suggests practicing the Oath or Affirmation before you get there but "this isn't a memory test!" so cards with the text on will be provided. So I'm gonna have to print it off at about 20-pt font because I won't be able to read their damn cards. I'm torn between really not wanting Andrew (or anybody) there and wanting him there for accessibility reasons, like so I don't get lost finding the place.
I'm glad it will be over soon, anyway.
Interesting Links for 27-05-2017
May. 27th, 2017 12:00 pmandrewducker- Conservatives getting nervous about their election campaign
- (tags: politics uk Conservatives )
- How Much Does it Cost to Climb Mount Everest?
- (tags: mountains everest climbing money )
- Cretans don’t get heart disease despite high-fat diet due to good genes
- (tags: genetics diet fat )
- Where New Slang Comes From
- (tags: language slang )
- China and Europe to build a base on the moon and launch other projects into space
- (tags: china europe space moon )
- 11 Years Old, a Mom, and Pushed to Marry Her Rapist in Florida
- (tags: usa marriage rape OhForFucksSake )
- Trump understanding as much of G7 summit as a dog would
- (tags: dogs politics usa )
The Blood is the Life for 27-05-2017
May. 27th, 2017 11:00 ammiss_s_b- miss_s_b | The Blood is the Life for 26-05-2017
- I posted The Blood is the Life for 26-05-2017 to my dreamwidth blog
- Kids With Their Superhero Shadows | The Mary Sue
- This is beautiful
- DC Super Hero Girls Gets a New Series From Cartoon Network
- They'd better show it in the UK!
- Supergirl - Extended "Wonder Woman" Promo - YouTube
- In which the cast of my current fave TV show do a little promo for the new Wonder Woman movie and it's ACE.
- gallifrey_times | GT for Friday the 26th of May 2017
- I posted GT for Friday the 26th of May 2017 to the Gallifrey Times Whoniverse Newsletter
- miss_s_b | In case you're wondering where I've been the last couple of days...
- I posted In case you're wondering where I've been the last couple of days... to my dreamwidth blog
- Please Enjoy These Photos Of Macron And Trudeau's Impossibly Romantic First Date
- RT @pamcowburn: Please Enjoy These Photos Of Macron And Trudeau's Impossibly Romantic First Date via @davidmackau
Music meme 1 - a song I like with a colour in the title
May. 27th, 2017 08:43 amdjm4Meme grabbed from sfred and ghoti
( Meme list )
1: A song you like with a colour in the title:
This one took me a while to think of. I toyed with saying 'anything off Chris T-T's 9 Green Songs album', but none of the songs on the album have a colour in the title themselves, so this was clearly cheating.
In the end, I went for Fade to Grey, by Visage. Yes, grey's a colour.
This is just distilled essence of early Eighties, right down to the lyrics being jointly in English and French because why wouldn't you do that. I'm a lot more familiar with the song than with the video, which is a shame because I've just watched it now and the video turns out to be a thing of beauty by Godley & Cream right at the start of their video directing career.
As with any chart song pre-1983, I missed this completely at the time, but when I first heard it in the late eighties, it settled into my brain like dew from a morning mist, and has never really left.
sfred and ghoti( Meme list )
1: A song you like with a colour in the title:
This one took me a while to think of. I toyed with saying 'anything off Chris T-T's 9 Green Songs album', but none of the songs on the album have a colour in the title themselves, so this was clearly cheating.
In the end, I went for Fade to Grey, by Visage. Yes, grey's a colour.
This is just distilled essence of early Eighties, right down to the lyrics being jointly in English and French because why wouldn't you do that. I'm a lot more familiar with the song than with the video, which is a shame because I've just watched it now and the video turns out to be a thing of beauty by Godley & Cream right at the start of their video directing career.
As with any chart song pre-1983, I missed this completely at the time, but when I first heard it in the late eighties, it settled into my brain like dew from a morning mist, and has never really left.
fork bomb
May. 26th, 2017 07:35 pmmarnanelIn the second year of my BSc, one of the lecturers asked us to build a Unix shell. In those days, Unix on PCs was a novelty, and most people used accounts on a minicomputer called altair. (Now I feel old.)
Anyway, a fundamental part of building a shell is the sequence of fork() then exec(). It's unique to Unix-like systems, and most students were unfamiliar with it-- hence the exercise.
Now, if you miss out the exec(), you'll have a continuous loop of fork()s, otherwise known as a fork bomb. This could bring down the system, especially in those days. So imagine several dozen CS2 students logging in to the same computer, building a fork bomb by accident, and setting it off.
The funniest part was how angry he was with *us* in the next lecture. "The sysadmins are saying I told you to put fork() in a loop! I *never* told you to put fork() in a loop!"
Anyway, a fundamental part of building a shell is the sequence of fork() then exec(). It's unique to Unix-like systems, and most students were unfamiliar with it-- hence the exercise.
Now, if you miss out the exec(), you'll have a continuous loop of fork()s, otherwise known as a fork bomb. This could bring down the system, especially in those days. So imagine several dozen CS2 students logging in to the same computer, building a fork bomb by accident, and setting it off.
The funniest part was how angry he was with *us* in the next lecture. "The sysadmins are saying I told you to put fork() in a loop! I *never* told you to put fork() in a loop!"
Too many thinks
May. 26th, 2017 02:32 pm1ngi Was supposed to entitle this too many things but think my typo should stand.
Best beloved has their surgery date confirmed for the middle of this month. I am a confused mix of making sure I am being supportive and feeling v stressed about the practicalities. I'm supposed to be on holiday but right now I feel I have to nail down all the logistics.
Coming up to London for this from Wales just complicates things. Apparently there might be some visitor accommodation about 3 miles from the hospital so trying to book that. I need to find out about buses and nearby food places.
We need a fridge freezer (only have ice box at the mo) so that we can stock it up for when we get back.
I need to find some sort of carerer or housekeeping assistant (because hands/own health problems)
Need to buy a day-bed for the main bedroom (for me) so that Sion can stretch out in our bed and parents-in-law can have spare room. I could manage on the sofa I guess. I hope having the parents-in-law is the right thing for first few days.
I'm taking part in our Open Studios in July and need to get some work done so I've got three full weeks before surgery to get some done and up to the framers. I'm hoping to get some canvases done after we get back but I'm aware I could be a bit wiped. I'm going to have ask other people to take over my publicity duties for Open Studios I think. Just too much on.
To say nothing of feels.
Best beloved has their surgery date confirmed for the middle of this month. I am a confused mix of making sure I am being supportive and feeling v stressed about the practicalities. I'm supposed to be on holiday but right now I feel I have to nail down all the logistics.
Coming up to London for this from Wales just complicates things. Apparently there might be some visitor accommodation about 3 miles from the hospital so trying to book that. I need to find out about buses and nearby food places.
We need a fridge freezer (only have ice box at the mo) so that we can stock it up for when we get back.
I need to find some sort of carerer or housekeeping assistant (because hands/own health problems)
Need to buy a day-bed for the main bedroom (for me) so that Sion can stretch out in our bed and parents-in-law can have spare room. I could manage on the sofa I guess. I hope having the parents-in-law is the right thing for first few days.
I'm taking part in our Open Studios in July and need to get some work done so I've got three full weeks before surgery to get some done and up to the framers. I'm hoping to get some canvases done after we get back but I'm aware I could be a bit wiped. I'm going to have ask other people to take over my publicity duties for Open Studios I think. Just too much on.
To say nothing of feels.
In case you're wondering where I've been the last couple of days...
May. 26th, 2017 02:28 pmmiss_s_b... the Manchester thing hit me pretty hard, and then yesterday I had a migraine to the extent where I could just about manage twitter on night mode in a darkened room but not much else.
So if I missed anything important, I'm sorry xx
So if I missed anything important, I'm sorry xx
Music meme: day 1 of 30
May. 26th, 2017 01:01 pmlivghoti_mhic_uait and a bunch of other people are doing a 30 day music meme, and it's really interesting to see people's choices! In some ways music isn't a big part of my life, so I might struggle with this one, and anyway I'm not going to commit to posting every day for 30 consecutive days, but I thought I'd give it a go.The first is
A song you like with a colour in the title, so I went for White winter hymnal by Fleet Foxes. I don't always love the kind of very blurry musical style that Fleet Foxes go for, but I got really fond of this song a few years back and it's one that always raises a smile when it comes on shuffle.
People are generally linking to YouTube, and I'd never actually seen the accompanying video for this one before. It's kind of a cool claymation thing, so I'm glad I searched it up.
( Embedded video )
Citizen
May. 26th, 2017 12:15 pmhollymathI didn't really get a chance to catch my breath about the citizenship, because of the job interview appearing so quickly on its heels. Now that I've got the inevitable rejection out of the way, I'm starting to think a little more about it again.
I've been forgetting about it, or I've been at best excited that I have my passports back. I really underestimated how much I would hate being without them (plural because the expired one has my proof of Indefinite Leave to Remain in it, which is my proof I can work here and hopefully what keeps the border guards at Manchester Airport from being completely awful to me whenever I come back, so the expired passport is still an integral part of the deal).
Working on my book (I owe Kickstarter an update too). I am so stressed about it at this point, but Andrew's looking at what I have today and assures me it's not as bad as I feared and it's not as far from being done as I feared either.
Andpo8crg and haggis are taking me out for dinner tonight to celebrate my UK citizenship, so that should help make it seem a bit more real!
I've been forgetting about it, or I've been at best excited that I have my passports back. I really underestimated how much I would hate being without them (plural because the expired one has my proof of Indefinite Leave to Remain in it, which is my proof I can work here and hopefully what keeps the border guards at Manchester Airport from being completely awful to me whenever I come back, so the expired passport is still an integral part of the deal).
Working on my book (I owe Kickstarter an update too). I am so stressed about it at this point, but Andrew's looking at what I have today and assures me it's not as bad as I feared and it's not as far from being done as I feared either.
And
po8crg and haggis are taking me out for dinner tonight to celebrate my UK citizenship, so that should help make it seem a bit more real!Interesting Links for 26-05-2017
May. 26th, 2017 12:00 pmandrewducker- Police cuts mean forces can't handle terror threat without Army help, Police Federation says
- (tags: uk police Conservatives )
- An Epic Landslide in California, Before and After
- (tags: california earth photo roads )
- Star Wars: The glass-half-full gift of the only official unaltered original trilogy DVDs
- (tags: StarWars )
- Ancestry.com denies exploiting users' DNA (they can totally exploit mine if it helps cure anyone of anything)
- (tags: genetics data )
- Mindfulness-focused childbirth education leads to less depression
- (tags: mindfulness depression childbirth mother )
- Netflix and Amazon streaming service rivals put BBC 'download and keep' service out of business
- I have never "bought" a tv show on digital. Really can't imagine ever doing so. Happy to "rent", and subscribe for streaming though.
(tags: tv bbc vod streaming viaSwampers ) - The Handmaid's Tale, Dystopia & Life Imitating Art
- (tags: women scifi tv dystopia )
- I was not aware quite how large crocodiles got
- (tags: crocodile video )
- Brain images reveal roots of kids' increasing cognitive control
- (tags: psychology neuroscience children brain )
- When Will Machines Exceed Human Performance? Survey of AI Researchers.
- (tags: ai thefuture )
- Fathers' brains respond differently to daughters than sons
- (tags: parenting fatherhood psychology )
- It Is Really Important to Humanize Evil
- (tags: evil society psychology slavery humanity )
- A collection of terrible terrible book jokes
- (tags: books jokes funny )
- Americans discover that you can put butter on bread _with other things_. Not satire. I think.
- (tags: food usa wtf )
- IFS criticises Labour and Tory plans - Neither major party is being "really honest" with voters
- (tags: labour Conservatives economics tax welfare uk OhForFucksSake )
- Why I Quit Being So Accommodating (an essay from 1922)
- (tags: advice business )
- Whales are the largest animals on Earth. Now we know why they got so big
- (tags: animals ocean prehistory evolution climatechange )
The Blood is the Life for 26-05-2017
May. 26th, 2017 11:00 ammiss_s_b- Student teaches teacher about Geneva Conventions
- This is the kind of thing I would have done
30 Day Music Meme day 12
May. 26th, 2017 09:26 amghoti_mhic_uait( the list )
When I was 12, Everything I do (I do it for you) was number one for 16 weeks. Everyone was talking about Bryan Adams. So I listened to everything he'd released at that point, and that's why even though I was wee at the time it was released, it's going into the pre-teen slot. Imagine a lonely, depressed 12 year old in a 3 bed semi in a small town. Then I heard this, and it was like all the hope in the world wrapped up in one small Canadian.
The Best Was Yet To Come by Bryan Adams.
When I was 12, Everything I do (I do it for you) was number one for 16 weeks. Everyone was talking about Bryan Adams. So I listened to everything he'd released at that point, and that's why even though I was wee at the time it was released, it's going into the pre-teen slot. Imagine a lonely, depressed 12 year old in a 3 bed semi in a small town. Then I heard this, and it was like all the hope in the world wrapped up in one small Canadian.
The Best Was Yet To Come by Bryan Adams.
The Play that Goes Wrong, and the job interview that goes wrong too
May. 25th, 2017 09:22 pmhollymathI didn't get the job. ( Boring details about that. )
Anyway, almost as soon as I got home from the interview, it was time to leave again. Part of me wanted to sleep for a week but I'd arranged to go to the theatre with James and Jennie and Other Holly back when I couldn't have known what a tiring week this was going to be, and the rest of me knew that I'd feel better once I got myself there.
And I did. We saw "The Play That Goes Wrong," which pretty much tells you everything you need to know about it.miss_s_b's review is here (very slight spoilers) which is lucky as I think I'm getting a migraine so should get off the computer before I could write one myself.
To hers I only need add that she was awesome for giving me a little impromptu audio description, which especially at the beginning of the play where the gags were all visual was very welcome because we were sitting way at the back and so I was doomed to hearing people laughing a lot and having absolutely no idea why, which wasn't exactly the mood-lifter I needed. I was worried someone would tell us off for Talking During the Performance but luckily no one did and it totally made the experience for me. There were lots more dialogue-based jokes later on and some of the phsyciality was stuff I could just about discern, but I still would have felt like I'd missed out on a lot if it weren't for my kind friends.
We were a pretty noisy audience eventually anyway, so maybe I needn't have worried. Some asshole to the left of us started shouting "funny" things (as opposed to actually funny things) almost right away, and continued to throughout the first half. And eventually, the po-faced actor/director-playing-the-inspector's tantrum included "Despite appearances tonight, this isn't a pantomime!" and I feel I earned all my British-citizen cred by being the first person (from what we could hear, anyway) to shout "Oh yes it is!"
Anyway, almost as soon as I got home from the interview, it was time to leave again. Part of me wanted to sleep for a week but I'd arranged to go to the theatre with James and Jennie and Other Holly back when I couldn't have known what a tiring week this was going to be, and the rest of me knew that I'd feel better once I got myself there.
And I did. We saw "The Play That Goes Wrong," which pretty much tells you everything you need to know about it.
miss_s_b's review is here (very slight spoilers) which is lucky as I think I'm getting a migraine so should get off the computer before I could write one myself. To hers I only need add that she was awesome for giving me a little impromptu audio description, which especially at the beginning of the play where the gags were all visual was very welcome because we were sitting way at the back and so I was doomed to hearing people laughing a lot and having absolutely no idea why, which wasn't exactly the mood-lifter I needed. I was worried someone would tell us off for Talking During the Performance but luckily no one did and it totally made the experience for me. There were lots more dialogue-based jokes later on and some of the phsyciality was stuff I could just about discern, but I still would have felt like I'd missed out on a lot if it weren't for my kind friends.
We were a pretty noisy audience eventually anyway, so maybe I needn't have worried. Some asshole to the left of us started shouting "funny" things (as opposed to actually funny things) almost right away, and continued to throughout the first half. And eventually, the po-faced actor/director-playing-the-inspector's tantrum included "Despite appearances tonight, this isn't a pantomime!" and I feel I earned all my British-citizen cred by being the first person (from what we could hear, anyway) to shout "Oh yes it is!"
[psych] Define Empathy?
May. 25th, 2017 04:31 pmsidereaI am thinking about writing a thing, or several things, about empathy. I come from a perspective of generally being appalled about how the concept is bandied about, not just in the popular press, but pretty much everywhere, including among the pros.
Part of my appall is how there seem to be a vast profusion of definitions, many mutually exclusive, loose out there. Like, I'm pretty sure two of my grad school classes promulgated precisely opposite empathy vs sympathy distinctions.
So, for kicks and giggles, what's your personal definition of empathy? Assuming, of course, you have one. (If you don't, you can say that too.)
All comments will be screened, and I may or may not be unscreening some or all of them at my personal discretion. If you don't want your definition of empathy being tied to you, comment anonymously.
Part of my appall is how there seem to be a vast profusion of definitions, many mutually exclusive, loose out there. Like, I'm pretty sure two of my grad school classes promulgated precisely opposite empathy vs sympathy distinctions.
So, for kicks and giggles, what's your personal definition of empathy? Assuming, of course, you have one. (If you don't, you can say that too.)
All comments will be screened, and I may or may not be unscreening some or all of them at my personal discretion. If you don't want your definition of empathy being tied to you, comment anonymously.
Interesting Links for 25-05-2017
May. 25th, 2017 12:00 pmandrewducker- Stop Calling It a 'Vagina'
- (tags: genitals women vagina language )
- Conservatives’ free school breakfast pledge costed at just 7p per meal
- (tags: Conservatives food money OhForFucksSake )
- Have a list of marketing tricks to avoid falling for
- (tags: marketing psychology viaSwampers )
- Researchers find dozens of genes (mildly) associated with measures of intelligence
- (tags: Intelligence genetics )
- Terrorism is mass murder with a media strategy; it’s long past time to disrupt it.
- (tags: terrorism media )
- Laffer curve: Everything Trump and Republicans get wrong about trickle-down economics
- (tags: economics tax politics usa history )
- What It's Like to Carry Your Nobel Prize through Airport Security
- (tags: awards science physics security viaSwampers )
- China Reaches the Moon Snapping Incredible, Never-Before-Seen High-Definition Images
- (tags: moon china space photos viaDrJon )
- Google starts tracking what you buy at stores in person
- (tags: Google shopping surveillance )
- A true, real, and accurate definition of the term "fanfiction"
- (tags: fanfiction funny writing )
- No, ‘The Conceptual Penis as a Social Construct’ Hoax Doesn’t Prove Gender Studies Is Garbage
- (tags: academia fraud fail viaSupergee )
- Dog sits on the editorial boards of seven international medical journals
- (tags: academia dogs fraud )
- Study indicates mushrooms may be the safest recreational drug
- (tags: psilocybin drugs safety )
- Britain stops sharing Manchester attack intelligence with US after leaks continue
- (tags: usa spying OhForFucksSake )
- I am terrible with names, and would totally do this
- (tags: names funny comic )
The Blood is the Life for 25-05-2017
May. 25th, 2017 11:00 ammiss_s_b- Instagram photo
- I very much approve of this sign on The Commercial Railway near my house :)
- miss_s_b | Theatre Review: The Play That Goes Wrong at @GrandTheatre LS1
- Google and Facebook lobbyists try to stop new online privacy protections
- Oh what a surprise.
- Never meet your heroes – unless they’re Roger Moore, the greatest Bond of all
- This is adorable.
Theatre Review: The Play That Goes Wrong at @GrandTheatre LS1
May. 25th, 2017 10:05 ammiss_s_bLast night we went to Manderley again the theatre in Leeds to see The Play That Goes Wrong. It was funny to the extent that my stomach hurts from laughing so hard this morning. I very much recommend it if you are in need of an evening of jollity - and who isn't, these days?
I think my favourite character was the corpse (no, really), but it was a close run thing between him and the stage-hand-who-ends-up-getting-roped-
The recalcitrant set, of course, is a character in it's own right. Whoever designed it is a genius. Bits alternately fall off or unexpectedly don't fall off; doors swing open or fail to open, depending on what they are not supposed to do, etc. The timing of all these things is vital, and it was absolutely spot on every time, right down to the ( small spoiler ) at the end.
The po-faced actor/director-playing-the-inspector's ( small spoiler ) He reminded me of nothing so much as my English teacher at school, who used to sweat blood pushing recalcitrant children into the school play, and inevitably things went wrong as they do in these situations.
The one note of caution I would sound is that it doesn't pass Bechdel. There are two female characters, but they don't talk to each other at all (although at one point they talk over each other and ( small spoiler )). There's no real reason why the Butler, or the Sound Engineer, or even the Inspector couldn't be women, they just... aren't. This is a bit of a contrast from the Agatha Christie plays which this is clearly riffing off, which are always scrupulously gender balanced...
That was the only thing that really bothered me, though. Otherwise I had an excellent time, the performances were good, the stage set was excellent, and the comic timing was first rate. If you get the chance, go see this, particularly if you've already seen and are familiar with The Mousetrap, to which there are many many refernces. Also, you need to get in there ten minutes or so early. No spoilers, but it's worth it.
I think my favourite character was the corpse (no, really), but it was a close run thing between him and the stage-hand-who-ends-up-getting-roped-
The recalcitrant set, of course, is a character in it's own right. Whoever designed it is a genius. Bits alternately fall off or unexpectedly don't fall off; doors swing open or fail to open, depending on what they are not supposed to do, etc. The timing of all these things is vital, and it was absolutely spot on every time, right down to the ( small spoiler ) at the end.
The po-faced actor/director-playing-the-inspector's ( small spoiler ) He reminded me of nothing so much as my English teacher at school, who used to sweat blood pushing recalcitrant children into the school play, and inevitably things went wrong as they do in these situations.
The one note of caution I would sound is that it doesn't pass Bechdel. There are two female characters, but they don't talk to each other at all (although at one point they talk over each other and ( small spoiler )). There's no real reason why the Butler, or the Sound Engineer, or even the Inspector couldn't be women, they just... aren't. This is a bit of a contrast from the Agatha Christie plays which this is clearly riffing off, which are always scrupulously gender balanced...
That was the only thing that really bothered me, though. Otherwise I had an excellent time, the performances were good, the stage set was excellent, and the comic timing was first rate. If you get the chance, go see this, particularly if you've already seen and are familiar with The Mousetrap, to which there are many many refernces. Also, you need to get in there ten minutes or so early. No spoilers, but it's worth it.