Winter draws on

Posted on October 23, 2015 by armund

It’s always a little depressing at this time of year marked by two events.

Firstly; the whole country goes back onto Greenwich Mean Time. This means that our clocks go back one hour on Sunday morning. We get one hours extra sleep in bed but it then becomes dark an hour earlier on an evening and each week we lose a little more daylight until around Christmas when it never seems to get light.

The Second thing is Halloween; Halloween seems to start off the celebrations heading toward Christmas. Parents spend a lot of money on outfits for their kids who then wear them for a couple of hours while banging on people’s doors for a trick or treat. They must spend more time applying make-up than actually displaying it. If there was a party after the door-knocking it would be worth the effort but it seems they simply return home and go to bed as usual. It’s an American import of course. We only imported the dressing up and knocking part, but not the gatherings afterwards, which makes it all rather a waste to my mind.

Following that we have November the 5th, Guy Fawkes night or bonfire night as it’s sometimes called. Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the English Parliament 400 years ago but failed. I am not too sure whether we celebrate his brave failure or his treachery. Depends if you are a Catholic or a Protestant as to how you feel about it. In truth, no one really cares any more as long as there are fireworks and a bonfire with finger food and possibly beer/wine for the adults. There is sometimes a ‘Guy’, a stuffed dummy who is then burned on the bonfire as an effigy of the man. You do dress the dummy up but don’t dress yourselves; Wellington boots and an old coat that can’t be harmed by smelling of wood smoke for a few days is the usual mode. A lot now simply let off fireworks and don’t bother with a bonfire at all.

I seem to have been in manic mode this last few days. The untidy drawers, cupboards and piles of boxes in my workroom have been gone through. My feeling of achievement is high. Lot’s of things that I have hoarded over the years have been thrown away and many spaces cleared. It’s a great feeling. The tidiness is a minor pleasure.

The Shake-Speare book is still on a low simmer. Stories are still being written but I can’t yet seem able to motivate myself to begin in earnest the re-writing of it; but I will. I am reading a lot about the man still, though a whole chapter seems only to reveal one interesting fact. The rest is irrelevant to my task.

 

 

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Home Again

Posted on September 28, 2015 by armund
Sir Walter Raleigh's Desk where he wrote "The History of the World" while imprisoned in the White Tower (of London)

Sir Walter Raleigh’s Desk where he wrote “The History of the World” while imprisoned in the White Tower (of London)

We are at home now. It only took 4.5 hours to journey from South London. I have spent most of the day putting everything back into it place until next time and cleaning and sterilising all of the water equipment. There is still much to do tomorrow.

I have brought a bad cold back with me so am sneezing and sniffing a lot. It’s that time of year really, everyone catches some sort of throat, nose or lung infection between now and New Year. At least for me it won’t be flu as I am due to have an injection against it next week.

The car goes into the garage on Thursday to have the dent in the roof repaired. Someone threw a rock, and I do mean rock, up in the air in a street not too far away and dented my car roof. It’s about 3 mm deep and 35 mm across. There were a lot of people about but most were school children and they are the chief suspects. I can’t prove anything of course so I have lost a lot of money in excess payment on my insurance claim and then next year my premium will increase due to having made a claim. I will also be without a car for a few days. You have to move on don’t you? No good getting angry, I would be the only one suffering.

There were two new books on the door mat when we got back. ‘The lodger. Shakespeare on Silver Street” is one and “Contested Will. Who Wrote Shakespeare” is the other. I have started to read the first one but yet again it is a lot of detail and not much entertainment. Reading it gives me a feeling of academic study rather than pleasure. The more books I read on the subject of Shakespeare the more I feel my own rejected book isn’t too bad. I suppose it is some kind of schadenfreude, it makes me feel a little less incompetent.

As I have a good internet connection again I can post a picture or two now.

The Globe Theatre from the millennium bridge.

The Globe Theatre from the millennium bridge.

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Southwark Cathedral

Posted on September 21, 2015 by armund

We are in London and went to the Imperial War Museum today. It rained a lot so being indoors was a bonus. I took some photographs but being on a very slow site internet connection I decided not to try to post them. After a couple off hours that wasn’t really long enough (for me) we walked to the riverside a mile away at the Globe Theatre. We have tickets for tomorrow’s performance of Nell Gwynn so today walked past the place and on to Southwark Cathedral to look for Edmund Shakespeare’s memorial gravestone. We found it and took a couple of pictures but again it will take too long to upload them. I may try tomorrow when it not so late. After that we had a coffee and a  bite to eat then walked over the millennium bridge and straight to St Paul’s Cathedral where we caught a Num 11 bus to Parliament Square and then the Num 3 to Crystal Palace and home. We were a bit wet.

I tried to upload a picture but it crashed out twice. To much data I assume.

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Read it, Note it, start again.

Posted on September 18, 2015 by armund

Summer holsDistant Days of Summer.

I’m back to basics with the book. Reading and writing notes. I much prefer fiction were I can simply let my mind wander and invent. Writing non-fiction is long and arduous, and a constant battle with facts. Time and again I have to crush what I am thinking because it doesn’t quite fit. Does anyone out there know a book that is both a biography and a part fictional story built on facts? I need to read it because I cannot work out how to do it without jolts to the reader. A loving or domestic scene one minute and explanations about what had actually happened that birthed the love/domestic scene. I wonder if separate chapters would be a solution. A chapter of fiction then a new chapter of cold facts and interpretations. Unfortunately, the jolt would still be there would it not. It’s almost as if I have to write two books covering the same people in the same period. Book ‘A’, the fictional but factual dramatic story; then Book ‘B’, the actual known events that have coalesced and created the fictional interpretation. I’m beginning to lose myself now.

I read a book recently that said that one of William (Stratford) Shakspere’s younger brothers called Edmund Shakspere went to London and became a player, that’s an actor I assume. He died in 16o7 aged 27 and is buried in or around Southwark Cathedral. That is quite close to The Globe and The Rose theatre’s as were. He was buried under the name ‘Shakespeare’. The only one of the family that was, all of the others, including William, stuck close to the real family name of ‘Shakspere’. If that about Edmund is true and documented then he has more connection to London’s Elizabethan theatre scene than his celebrated brother, and if he had not have died so young would have been a better contender to the authorship of the Shake-Speare canon. Why have I never ever heard of him before? I wonder if it is yet another piece of planted information done in the 1700s. I will be in London soon so will make a point of visiting the Cathederal and looking for his memorial. I do know there is one in there but it was put up years later after it was realised (?) he was Williams’ brother. This means that whatever the inscription on it says, has to be regarded as dubious.

 

 

 

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Creative Writing

Posted on August 21, 2015 by armund

I am in limbo at the moment. My story has gone off to be edited by a professional. No doubt he/she will tell me it is all wrong and that I need to write half of it over again. In the meantime I am stuck twiddling my thumbs unable to move on. I do keep re-reading my story and making small changes but it’s a bit silly as it has gone away in its original form to be edited. I am a little bit fed up of it to be honest. I simply want to see it in print and have my discoveries broadcast to the world.

To keep me sane I have joined a Creative Writing circle at my local library. My first meeting was a couple of days ago. There were only three regulars and no other new joiners. They were all ladies around the same age as me but were very Sparky and willing to talk and read out their own work. I was grilled a little and admitted that I had written a book and had a rejection. They want me to bring a couple of chapters to the next meeting to read out to them. When I told them what I had written about they were very intrigued but not surprised nor did they say I was daft. I have had problems twice with other people not having a clue that there is Shakespeare authorship question. It is like I was saying that the earth is flat. Anyway, I have been given some homework by the group leader. I have to write 4K words describing someone. I usually go way over the amount stated when doing assignments but 4K on a description? That’s a lot of words, I expect that we have to delve into their life’s achievements. I will have to make something up.

I bought another book last week. It is a reprint of Stowe’s Survey of London first printed in 1598 but my copy is 1878. It’s nice to own something old even if it isn’t a origional first edition. I have bought a lot of old book reprints but a lot are exact copies from the original and so in black-letter. They have the long S that looks like an f and also i and y are substituted for no reason. The letter r is and odd-looking thing too. It’s good to have them even though I can’t read them at any meaningful speed. Once I prove that Anthony Munday wrote Shakespeare the copies of Stowe that he had a hand in will double in price. I have tried to purchase one but they are very rare and I have failed. Never mind, I wouldn’t sell it if I did get one so there is no lost profit.

ttfn

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Richard the Second

Posted on July 24, 2015 by armund

 

We were in London a couple of weeks ago and went to see Richard the Second at the Globe Theatre. I was brilliant, I loved every minute of the sell-out performance as did most of the audience. Not all though, some older school kids, well young teenagers actually, that were watching the performance from the pit area were well bored with it, yawning and phone gazing most of the time. Don’t misunderstand me, a lot of them were riveted to the performance and hardly moved throughout the play. They did have the best view being nearer and almost within touching distance of the actors. We were not allowed to take photos during the performance but later, when we took the tour, we could.

The Globe Theatre, London.

The Globe Theatre, London.

This is taken from the inside and I thought it showed the open air but I see now it is the thatch on the roof. It is open to the weather though, It has to as there is no lighting. It is all as it would have been in the 1600s with the open roof. It can’t close, there is no provision to close. Come rain or shine the performance carries on and the ‘groundlings’, those in the pit, get wet. We were on the second level and so had a seat under cover but it didn’t rain. The seat was a small wooden bench in truth. You can hire cushions but it seems it has to be done when ordering your tickets. Be warned. If you ever get to London a performance has to be seen but book early and don’t go in winter. It’s closed for three months because it’s too dark and cold; although the Sam Wanamaker indoor theatre performs in winter in the same complex by candle light. Yes, real candles not electric dummies.

ttfn my friends.

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Ancesters

Posted on May 6, 2015 by armund

I am in Durham at the moment on a family history tour. We have been all over the place covering miles looking for where people lived a hundred years ago. It is surprising how many don’t exist any more. Today we found a place in Newcastle that was where granny was born but it is now level. Everything is demolished and raked level. We had a word with the postman who told us that the site was where the Newcastle Brown Brewery used to stand until three years ago. If he is correct then granny’s house must have been pulled down before the second world war. Long gone. We have found this happening before. the place you look for no longer exists. After that disappointment we went into the city center and had a meal before going shopping. The plan was to visit the waterfront of the river Tyne but after a couple of hours we left one complex and found ourselves back where we had started. Don’t know how that happened but we called it a day then and drove back to Durham. Our plan is to visit Beamish museum tomorrow and simply enjoy ourselves. The weather forecast is good so a good day is in prospect.

The pub where great-granddad used to drink at in Ferryhill.

The pub where great-granddad used to drink at in Ferryhill.

At least the pub is still there. Built in honour of Lord Eldon I assume.

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Summer is a coming in

Posted on April 18, 2015 by armund

Things are picking up in York and Britain now as it’s the middle of April and the Sun is bright and even warm at times.

We have been invited to a party next month and the instruction is ‘Hawaiian Themed’. I bought a bright shirt off tinternet and a floral garland to go with it. That was not quite the truth, my wife bought them because I said that I wouldn’t bother, no one will notice. It became a pantomime; ‘O yes you will’. ‘O no I won’t’. The wills won as usual in these situations.

I am suffering a sore throat and snotty nose at he moment. It’s one of those that make you feel seriously ill when you arise in the morning but after an hour it’s not so bad, then after two hours you feel fine; until bedtime when it all comes back like Dracula from the coffin. That’s odd too, I don’t do much coughing.

I have written around 80K words for the book but only 38,644 in the story so far. The rest are recorded but discarded. I wrote a 2K piece about two people having a conversation only to realise later that I had the dates wrong, It could not have happened the way I portrayed it and I was really pleased with it too,but it had to go. I think they call it ‘kill you darlings’. I don’t know much about writing books but a quick count of the ones on my shelf vary from 80K+ to 120K words. I can take pleasure in the fact that some time today I will reach the minimum half way point. One big worry I could have is material but not with this story. I have lots of stuff still to go over. I expect to finish at 90K words but if it runs over it won’t matter.

There is a General Election coming up in May. We have our voting cards that confirm we are registered. Trouble is I have only just realised that I am not at home that day. I will see about a postal vote on Monday but it may be too late; Sugar.

Well, the sun is shining and the garden is waking up for summer and there is a lot of jobs to do. I could well do to sit here and write all day but it isn’t a good thing for the mind and body is it? Half and half today perhaps. I need a lot of rainy days if I’m to make any good progress with the qwerty. Oh, did I say, I don’t compose on paper much. I have forced myself to type it all as I think it. At first I could not do it but now it come naturally and no crossing out. If I want to change anything I type a row of ZZZZZZZs at the start and end of the piece so I can’t drift off the corrections. When I’m happy I then remove the ZZZZZZs.

I have found in my long life that whenever I do anything new and finish it I have a daydream that I am only just beginning but with the knowledge off the first effort still in my brain. When this book is done I know that I will think, I could do a better job of it now.

Adieu

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Reading, Notations and Writing

Posted on February 19, 2015 by armund

It’s hard work writing a book. I am spending hours reading and researching information that at times contradicts itself. I just want to type out the story but there is no point if it’s inaccurate.

In the last four weeks I have bought seven different books about Elizabethan England and read them all from cover to cover. Each one fills a little of the picture but there is always a little piece missing or at odds with someone else’s writings.

Of course the greatest problem is reading references to Shakespeare when I know he didn’t exist and that it was pseudonym used by Anthony Munday. References are made to documents that refer to the Stratford-on-Avon Man that I know cannot be true but I only have what another person says is the fact. We never get to see a copy of the actual document.

I was in Stratford-on-Avon a few months ago and in the church where the Stratford-on-Avon Man was Christened is a copy of the entry in the register. Look as I may I could not make out the name ‘Shakespeare’ at all and wondered if there had been a mistake. It was so messed up and interfered with that it was meaningless.

I have had a look at his actual will online this week. The reference to Shakespeare leaving two well known London actors money is squeezed in between two lines of the original writing and it’s an obvious forgery to bolster the Stratford-on-Avon claim to fame. The whole thing is simply wrong.

Who ever wrote the body of writing we all call ‘Shakespeare’ it wasn’t that bloke from Stratford-on-Avon.

I have found some good pointers to the actual person being Anthony Munday but I can’t reveal them until the book is finished or I will create my own spoiler.

Ah well, back to the reading and notations I suppose.

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It’s been a while

Posted on January 20, 2015 by armund

I have at last found time to write my blog. It’s not that I haven’t been writing it’s more that I am writing other stuff.  Not all writing mind you, I have read a lot of research books and articles but the more I read them more I realise that I am not on track with the story and have to scrap half of it and start again.  Perhaps I should only take notes for a while and write the odd on-theme but disconnected paragraph.  I have spent quite a bit on books off t’internet but each one only gives me so much information about the subject; but they always recommend another book to buy. Nil desparandum I think the phrase is.

It’s very cold here in the North of England at the moment being close to freezing during the day and below in the night.  We went to the cinema today to see ‘Testament of Youth’, written by Vera Britain after the First World War.  Very brutal and very sad it is. If I was a bit more emotional I would have cried at a few points; but I’m not so didn’t.  Alicia Vikander plays Vera and brilliant performance she gave too. If you get a chance go and see it.  One tip, go when it’s warmer because the cinema near us was cold, I kept my anorak on all of the time it was so uncomfortable. When there were shots of the men in rain soaked muddy trenches I felt that I was with then in there, I couldn’t have been any colder.

The fence blew down again last week. One post had snapped at the bottom, where else? it’s always at the bottom isn’t it.  I bought a new post for less than a tenner and my neighbour and me fixed it.  I ruined a saw blade trying to cut through the nails through the panels but it turned out they were screws and hardened. My neighbour simply unscrewed them from his side; doh.

It huffed and it puffed and it blew the fence down

It huffed and it puffed and it blew the fence down

 

 

 

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