posting and cabaret

I think it's going to take me several days to get back into the habit of posting regularly, but you never know. At least my morale is a lot better now. I'm catching up on a whole pile of Redemption work. I think I must have phoned half
the committee this morning.

Next task (after misc tech stuff and misc hotel stuff and misc auction stuff, etc.) is trying to find volunteers (for 'volunteer' read 'kidnapped and shanghied') for the cabaret.

We've got a couple of good acts now, but need more. What does it take to get all the singers/dancers/musicians/poets/raconteurs/joke tellers/magicians/sketch-writers/actors/pupeteers/etc to come out of the closet?

I swore to stick to fan cabaret after one con I went to many years ago had a show put on by the guests (which you had to pay extra for). It taught me that many TV actors are no good with a live audience. You could tell the ones who'd wo
rked in theatre - it made a real difference. I also learnt that being an actor did not necessarily mean that you could sing or play a guitar.

Fans, at least in my experince, can do at least as well, and often better.

Sparrrows

Why are sparrows so much a part of our national psyche?

They are far from the prettiest birds to visit my garden. It could easily be argued that pidgeons (not feral ones) are far more attractive visually. But sparrows have character. They're never still; they're always alert, gregarious. They're flock birds, and thus, I think we see a little of ourselves in them.

When I'm washing dishes in the kitchen, I can see the flock that currently hang out in our hedge. Pyracantha is popular with sparrows: it has thorns to discourage cats and berries to eat in winter. In addition, it is only a few feet away from the bird-table where there is a regular supply of sunflower seeds and high-quality bird-seed.

I have a strong suspicion that the only time they leave us in winter is to vist a garden three doors away from us, which also has a proper hedge. If I'm in an upstairs room, I can watch the flock commuting.

They hang around, preening, squabbling, nicking berries from my hedge. My life would be immesurably poorer without them.