Kalo Mina! Happy Month!
I was having a bit of an ‘at home’ morning yesterday, pottering around, wondering how long the generator would be parked outside our bedroom window, would it ever stop? Where the cat had found to sleep as he wasn’t bothering me for a change, and then I thought, I’d pop up on the roof and get some shots with the long lens. So, here today are some shots from up on the roof, as the Drifters might have said. Some have been cropped-in so are a bit fuzzy.
Actually, Up On The Roof was/is also a musical by Simon Moore and Jane Prowse, I remember walking by it in the 1980s in London and, on further investigation, I discover that it was also made into a film. As the IMDB says about it: “Set in the early eighties; following the lives of a bunch of young university students who sing together in their own ‘On The Roof’ club. It follows their lives throughout the years, occasionally meeting up for a sing along and a good old British natter. All in all, the film is watchable, albeit you will appreciate it more if you are a fan of accapella music.” (sic) I tried to find a DVD copy of the film but could only find VHS and there was no sign of the CD soundtrack either. Anyway…
Talking of ‘accapella’ (a cappella, the Italian, is the correct spelling in musical direction terms), the other night we watched a film called ‘Pitch Perfect’ which stars Anna Kendrick – this is a feel good film about an a cappella singing group, and Anna Kendrick is the actress who also plays Cinderella in ‘Into the Woods’ the latest film version – very ‘Disneyfid’ with all kinds of good stuff missing from it – written by Stephen Sondheim. Anyway…
Sondheim also wrote ‘Company’ and this was one of his first hits. I saw this once at the Duke Of York’s theatre in London where it had transferred from the Donmar Warehouse, and it starred Adrian Lester and its design was the inspiration behind the rug in my office, just to bring us back to Symi. But we’re not stopping here as the trail I’m on has sent me off into a side-line as I try and establish if there is one website that lists what shows have been on at what London theatres over the years. A big job I know, but I’d be interested to know exactly when certain shows were running – so I could pinpoint what theatre Up On The Roof was on at. (Turns out it was Theatre Royal Plymouth, transferring to the Donmar Warehouse (to keep the connections going) and then to the Apollo Theatre, London all in 1987.) I’ve not found such a site yet but maybe one day… Anyway…
Where was I? Oh yes, up on the roof taking photos, and here they are. You see, sometimes my ramblings from Symi have nothing to do with Symi at all. I just get on a train of thought, settle down with a pre-packed sandwich and a coffee in a cardboard cup (a Kander an Ebb song from ‘70 girls 70’) that scolds my lip and just watch the scenery go by as my train rattles on into Lalaland. But it will one day pull into a station, but clearly not today. So I will leave you feeling bemused, probably, and head off to do some household chores to the background noise of a diesel generator not far away, a dog barking, and mother watching EastEnders in the sitting room.
Perhaps it is me who is barking.
