Another march for the rights of everyone, well almost everyone;
as a Western nation, we have more rights than the larger proportion of this planet's population. Not that I am against marches and people standing up for what they believe, it has been very useful at times. But sometimes I do wonder if some of the people marching, know what they're marching for, or is it just a day out? I doubt the real trouble-makers, those that garner all the headlines, really know what it's all about. My bet is that they just want their five minutes of fame. Have they given a thought as to who will pay to clean up their mess, probably the long suffering tax payer. My good friend Patricia, she with whom, I shared a room while we were at RADA, went along and joined the decent people who were making the point peacefully and then she tells me she went shopping and had a cream tea at John Lewis, afterwards. She must have missed all the trouble in Oxford Street. I hope the trouble makers didn't target John Lewis - don't they know what a great and democratic store it is, owned by the employees and has been for years. It just goes to show that we in the UK are not completely lacking in common sense, if an institution like John Lewis can be so successful.
 I got a call just recently to invite me a special screening at the BFI of George Orwell's "1984", which I did for the BBC in the 1960's. It was one of the shows we all thought had been lost or erased, as happened a lot then. I am delighted it has been found and look forward to seeing it again. I believe other TV shows from that time have also been discovered! This one was found in the US. We are lucky; I suppose the BBC did not appreciate the long term value of these productions and did tape over some of them as we have been told. Anyway I play Julia, girlfriend of Winston, who is targeted by Big Brother. It is a disturbing and scary piece, a bit close to the idea of Nanny government and some of the characters are alarmingly reminiscent of the State bullies, we have seen from time to time.
I have been watching TWENTY TWELVE on BBC 4 and really recommend it, it is hilarious and like all good comedy has a strong ring of truth to it! The scripts are excellent and the performances terrific, little gems we would call them. I was listening to one of the actresses Siobhan Sharpe, who plays the PR 'whiz' ...terrific... talking about her career on the radio and it rang a few familiar bells with me. She's very successful and deserves it, but she said that she always dreamed of and imagined her career would be as a hugely successful Shakespearean actress at the National Theatre or Royal Shakespeare Company. That's exactly what I had dreamed of, when I was planning to be an actress. Like Siobhan my career took a different path....satisfying... but not Shakespeare. The first great love of my life was Laurence Olivier, when I saw him playing Darcy in the film of "Pride and Prejudice". I remained entranced until I auditioned for him for the National, I didn't get in and I found him a bit cool, so my love turned into a love/hate thing. He was still an extraordinary actor, but sadly I wasn't his type, so there we are. I didn't really hate him - how could I? But when our talent is spurned, we actors can become sad and bitter animals! It's one thing I've tried to stay away from and always turn to my favourite line/epithet "I wont think about that now, I'll think about that tomorrow" - Scarlett from "Gone With The Wind". It's a line that's served me well in times of stress, anger, sorrow, fear, panic .... you name it.
Since the acting work is a bit thin on the ground now for me and a few other of my contemporaries, apart from creating my own work, like "newchillingtales", I have turned now to writing as well, it is very satisfying and I love it. If I have any success with it I will let you know. It is really difficult though, unlike acting, as you have no blueprint to work from, for an actor the script, unless you're adapting someone else's work. Even a painter has something in front of him/her to work from, even an abstract painter. For a writer it's all out of your head, your imagination. It's fun though. I can't leave my days empty of some creative thing to work on.
So there you have it my friends and a fond farewell to the legend and unique beauty Elizabeth Taylor. One of God's little masterpieces.
Till next time.
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