Blog 16th May 2009
A busy few days. Wednesday was a supposedly a quiet day at school now the Year 11’s have left but all I did was fill in endless forms for my two D of E trips. Stupid questions include putting down the registration numbers of all the vehicles used. So what happens if something breaks down or we have to find a substitute? They had to be handed in by Friday because I’m on a First Aid course next week. I finally managed to put them in last thing on Friday after most sensible people had gone home. I wonder how many panic enquiries there will be while I’m away...
We went to see Eric Clapton at the Echo Arena (Scouse bowl) on Wednesday night. Thank God, he got straight on with playing, no nauseating intros like ‘Hello Liverpool’. Instead we were treated to the wonderful, fluent sound of the electric guitar played by a master. Two great musicians in one week – I’m not normally so lucky. But I must say I prefer the Empire or the Philharmonic Hall to the Scouse bowl. It’s exterior is stunning both in terms of architecture and setting – you get a great view of the Mersey at night. But the interior reminds me of a football stadium with a roof except the seats are more comfy. They all face into the centre of the arena rather than towards the stage and are a long way off. The most irritating part is that people wander in and out constantly to buy beer, then need to go to the loo and so there is constant disruption. It is like a busy ants nest. At least at the Empire and Phil everyone has to sit still while the performance is on. I’m sure it makes the experience more intense. Even if people are moving at a distance it still distracts your eye. A triumph of profiteering (the beer is not cheap, neither is the water) over pleasure.
On Thursday I decided to show Year 10 the Great Global Warming Swindle. I was going to show ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ so we could discuss the science. I did point out to Year 10 that both programmes are guilty of using graphs without necessarily having a proven mechanism to explain the pattern. However some in Year 10 are now convinced that carbon dioxide levels might not be the evil they are portrayed to be and global climate change doesn’t spell the end of life as we know it. I hope, if nothing else they will view any such claims critically.
When I got back from my Thursday singing and dance classes the Liverpool Memorial match was on. Rushie had already scored but I saw Aldo head in a classic striker’s goal. His instinct is still strong. My favourite memories of Aldo are of him scoring goals and watching him dancing up and down on the touchline at Prenton Park turning purple with rage. It will be interesting to see what the files about Hillsborough reveal when they are released. I think there could be some very dark stuff .
Wirral Writers Group was on Friday. I eventually finished my short story for the Maynah Lewis Cup; not that I think it will win, it is for 1600 word stories and, frankly, I had such a lot of plot it was difficult to develop the characters much. Infact, with a bit of tweaking and a subplot that one could be expanded into a novel. I read out my rewritten chapter from my novel ‘Silent Blossom’. This time everyone thought I had created much more tension so I will continue to try and improve parts of it. Mike had one of his stories accepted for a magazine – he is an accountant with an amazing imagination. I also enjoyed a poem about the First World War as well as an excerpt from Barbara’s book about the same period. Chris described part of a holiday to Russia she found in the Liverpool Echo. It was back in the 80’s and only cost £169 for 10 days. Frank read out his article lionising Margaret Thatcher. We had to make sure we concentrated on the writing rather than the politics!