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French and Saunders

Today the World has Lost a Great Source of Laughter

By Gigs & Shows, Happiness & Joy, Inspiration, ThinkingNo Comments

victoria-wood-funny-image

Victoria Wood Funny Image (from: ‘An Audience with Victoria Wood,’ December 1998)

It is with great sadness that I write this blog post. Today Victoria Wood died, after a short battle with cancer at the age of just sixty two.

Victoria was an exceptionally funny Comedian, Actress and Writer. I feel that we have lost a great source of laughter in the world.

Victoria came from humble beginnings, being born and raised in Rochdale, Lancashire, in the North West of England. Victoria moved down to London to pursue her dream of becoming an Entertainer. In an interview with Victoria she once said that she always knew that she wanted to be a performer.

Victoria had much success and recognition in her career working in the mediums of stand-up comedy, sketches scene comedy, musical comedy and script writing. She has worked on TV, radio and theatre shows.

Through Victoria’s TV work she touched the hearts and resonated with millions of people across the country. This was likely because of her very down to earth and human approach to the audience. In Victoria’s shows she was always ahead of the times. All of her previous work is as relevant today as the day she wrote/performed it.

When Victoria first started out in mainstream comedy, all Comedians were male. It is said by some that Victoria led the way for other female Comedians – the likes of French & Saunders.

In Victoria’s personal life, she married young and has had two children. My thoughts are with her family. Victoria also disclosed and has talked openly about having depression.

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My Victoria Wood DVD Collection, along with other DVDs by female comedians.

For me Victoria was and is a constant source of laughter. Proper laugh-out-loud laughter.

Left is an image of my Victoria Wood DVDs. Some of them I have watched so often that I could repeat them to you word by word. Yet they still make me laugh. Victoria was a clever comedian that found the fun and humour in the often otherwise ordinary. I wish she had toured in the last few years, so I could have seen her live.

Victoria Wood is also a source of connection to my good friend Sye. We have often watched Victoria Wood DVDs together and laughed. The laughter helping to cement our friendship through our shared love of Victoria’s comedy and the shared experiences of watching together.

I heard the news of her death on the radio whilst driving home from work. My initial thought was one of disbelief.

I had to check several newspaper websites when I got home from work. Then I sat down in shock. Victoria has often worked with the same people throughout her career, many of whom were older than her. Yet she has died before them. Just goes to show, you never know how much time you have on this planet.

My third feeling and the one that’s stayed is a feeling of sadness. Think of how much unfinished ideas and creative works she wasn’t able to complete. Think of the new jokes and tales of laughter she was planning on sharing. Very sad.

Write soon,

Antony

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A Random List of Things I Like & That Make Me Feel Good

By Happiness & JoyNo Comments

Here’s a random list of things I like and things that make me feel good:

  • Quality time with my family & friends.
  • Reading – being transported into a different life or world by an Author.
  • Being Creative.
  • Writing.
  • Having an adventure – such as the one I’m having at the moment in India.
  • Spending time walking in nature on bright and warm Summer’s days. Places like Rivington an Wales.
  • Watching shows, performances and gigs.
  • Laughing.
  • Making others laugh.
  • Caring for others.
  • When people write ‘Love you Always’ in a card.
  • Receiving a message that makes me smile.
  • People smiling.
  • Complements.
  • Small acts of kindness.
  • Waking up pain-free.
  • Having such a good conversation that I loose track of the time.
  • Watching a film that makes me so happy or sad that I cry.
  • Easing another’s suffering.
  • Sunshine.
  • Warm weather.
  • Blogging.
  • Sunbathing.
  • Naps.
  • A long, hot and relaxing bath.
  • Listening to music in the bath.
  • Birthday cards.
  • When someone says: ‘I just saw this and thought of you.’
  • New notebooks, especially Paperchase ones.
  • Seeing a sunset.
  • Uni-ball pens in various colours.
  • Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream.
  • Intimacy.
  • Pop music.
  • Lit Yankee Candles.
  • Low lighting.
  • A new hair cut.
  • New clothes.
  • New technology devices.
  • Playing Civilization 5.
  • Dancing.
  • Imagining having tea with Gandalf, Dumbledore and Mary Poppins.
  • Waking up after a good night’s sleep.
  • Having no where to be and nothing to do.
  • Watching Victoria Wood, French & Saunders, Lilly Savage, Jack Whitehall and Russell Howard stand-up again and again. To the point where I know the script word for word.
  • Colouring in – focusing on staying in the lines.
  • Carrot Cake.
  • Nice coffee – in particular a Starbucks hazelnut latte or Douwe Egberts.
  • Cinnamon buns.
  • Looking through old photos.
  • Looking through Memory Boxes.
  • Unexpected, spontaneous dinners and meals out.
  • Chocolatey goodness.
  • Cinema trips.
  • Sweet Popcorn.
  • Finding a pound in the pocket of your winter coat, the first time you come to wear it as the weather gets colder.
  • Imagining that I live in the countryside, in a nice small cottage with a well-stocked larder.
  • Imagining what I’d do if I won the euro millions jackpot.
  • Re-living happy memories in my mind.
  • A brew.
  • Doing a good job, in whatever I’m doing.
  • Films that capture my imagination or make me feel something.
  • Watching musicals.
  • Imagining being able to fly.
  • Crystals.
  • Dinosaurs and everything dinosaur-related.
  • Minions and everything minion-related.
  • Watching wildlife documentaries, where animals show love and care towards one another.
  • Writing lists.

What are some of the things you like? What makes you feel good? Leave a comment below.

Blog soon,

Antony



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The Latest Me Gossip

By Amazon, Books & Authors, Creativity, Happiness & Joy, Health, Life, Love & Relationships, Shopping, TechnologyNo Comments

Now, as you know, I’m not one to gossip but (looks over both shoulders)…let me tell you the latest me gossip.

I had a flare-up of abdominal pain in mid-April for about three weeks. Not fun. This accompanied by two other infections and a abscess in my wisdom tooth, made me feel exhausted, grumpy and down in the dumps. I saw my GP who sent me for blood tests and referred me onto a Gastroenterologist. I saw my Dentist who prescribed some antibiotics for the abscess. Then I saw a Gastroenterologist who wants a CT scan with dyes done. This has been booked for the day before my birthday. 🙁

During this period of ill health, I realised that when I feel bad, I spend money to make myself feel better. I overspent online buying things I didn’t really need. Then when I was feeling well enough, I went to the Trafford Centre and bought these:


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My New Superdry Wallet


I did feel guilty for buying these, as I didn’t really need them. But we’re allowed to spend a little money on ourselves from time to time, right?

But that’s not the biggest piece of gossip. That would be that: I’m in a relationship. Boyfriend-A, as I shall name him here, came along completely unexpected. He’s great. Everything I want in a partner. I’m sure you’ll learn more about him as time goes on. But for now, that’s all I want to share.

I just discovered the new SimCity game (which is actually not that new. It came out in November 2013 and I didn’t know about it till now). Boyfriend-A bought me a copy and we play together. It’s completely addictive and fantastic, apart from this disaster that happened today:

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Simcity Screenshot: Lizard Disaster

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Simcity Screenshot: Lizard Disaster

Oh and anyone who loves anything Sim-related will be pleased to know that The Sims 4 is coming out later this year. Here’s a video:

Click here to display content from www.youtube.com

Despite being busy I’ve managed to write, edit and submit a dystopian short story. I hope to be able to give you an update on this later on in the year. I’m reading two fantastic books: Above by Isla Morley and Thief’s Magic by Trudi Canavan. Above is a phoneminal and Theif’s Magic is a must-read for any fantasy fiction fan. Reviews on these titles will be coming soon.

I also have so many wonderful things to look forward to, including:

  • Going for a weekend away in A Lovely Welsh Cottage with Simon in May and then with Jayne in September.
  • Seeing McBusted live which will be one of my best birthday present ever. Thank you to a kind man for this.
  • Attending Lancashire Science Festival with Steve & Jayne. I’ve booked tickets in the moring for Dr Sarita Robinson’s talk ‘How to Power Up your Brain’ and in the afternoon Dr Ian Turner’s talk ‘The Science of Doctor Who.’
  • More good times with Boyfriend-A.
  • And celebrating the birthday’s of some of my friends and family.

Despite my health problems, I feel quite alive and happy to be living :). I can’t wait to have all of these good times and to write about them here.

Blog soon,

Antony

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Four Hundred Posts

By The Web2 Comments

This is my four hundredth blog post since I went back to using WordPress about five years ago, before then the site existed in other various formats see Geeky Post: Website Development for previous formats. Whether you’ve been following my blogging for the last five years, had a browse through the archives or are a relatively new reader I wanted to use this post to reflect on some of my life experiences and my growth as a person in this time.

I’ve had many Good Times some of which have been watching various comedians and musical performers. I’ve seen Dylan Moran, Russell Howard, French & Saunders, The Feeling, Tina Turner, Pink, Kylie, John Barrowman and Steps. These experiences have been shared by the most important people in my life my friends and family.

At the beginning of this WordPress blog I wrote about people that inspire me, explaining how my friends and family inspire me. It’s as true today as it was then. Among my close friends I’ve wrote about good times with Simon & Chrys, Sye, Steve, Jayne and Kay. A few recent good times that spring to mind are a trip with Simon & Chrys to Liverpool and visiting Anglesey with Simon.

There have been a few new additions to the family including Shaun the long lost brother, his wife Sarah (see The Wedding of the Year) and their family unit. Dylan and Russell, my two gorgeous bengal kittens have been brought home and added to my family unit. I’m so thankful to have the love and support from my friends and family.

My love life has included dates, relationships, relationship problems and break ups involving several different men. I’ve moved to Spain to start a new life with someone and then moved back when it didn’t work out. I’ve learned from the relationships and although I’ve not yet found that someone special to spend my life with; I’m sure I’ll meet my Mr. Right eventually.

I made the choice to go back to University to complete my Nursing Degree, successfully being awarded a BSc Nursing Hons Upper Second (2:1). I’ve moved out of Nurses accommodation to a grotty house-share and then bought my first home.

Happy times have to be balanced with sad times; saying goodbye to M and experiencing grief after my younger brother Alex passed away are among the few truly sad times in the last 5 years. These events in my life along with others have helped my paganism and spirituality flourish. This has been seen with my Reiki One qualification, my work with Apollo and through me fully embracing pagan festivals such as Samhain.

My writing has developed with changes to subject matters, style, editing, grammar and spelling. Subject matters have changed, from writing purely about me and my life to an increase in reviews of books and films. I feel I’ve managed to keep a careful balance between writing about my life and reviews. I have retained and continue to retain that this is a personal blog, that I write more for me than anyone else. A place to write about experiences I have, memories I want to keep and thoughts that I want to share or reflect upon.

My own individual writing style seems to be unfolding although I’m not sure quite how, or what it will look like when it’s fully formed. I do know my writing is increasingly descriptive and seems at times to have a voice. I used to a write blog post and hit the publish button, whereas now I spend more time editing the post than writing the first draft. This has hopefully led to better grammar and spelling – although I don’t claim these to be perfect. In the past my blogging was a spontaneous event, now I try to write a little each day and this change has probably led to the improvement in my writing.

As I have continued to experience life I’ve certainly grown and developed in many different ways. Life’s events have influenced the way I think, feel or act in situations as they do for everyone. I have enjoyed writing about these events and continue to do so, so here’s looking forward to the next four hundred (plus) posts.

Write soon,

Antony



I aim for posts on this blog to be informative, educational and entertaining. If you have found this post useful or enjoyable, please consider making a contribution by Paypal:


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