Nope, that's not just me being random, it's a homage to my attempts to learn a Welsh accent. FFBOS' next show is to be A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, and I will be auditioning for the part of Philia, the slightly... err... less than bright virgin slave. The director of the show has decided that she should be Welsh as the accent has (and I quote) "a certain innocence about it".
I tried pointing out I do a mighty fine Norfolk Dumpling accent, and we sound a bit on the dim side too, but he wasn't going for it...
Cue the acquisition of the Penny Dyer Access Accents South Wales CD, watching Gavin and Stacey until my eyes bleed (and why didn't someone tell me how brilliant it is the first time around?!) and watching various Rob Brydon, Charlotte Church, Tom Jones and Little Britain clips on YouTube. I am now heading towards having something approximating a Welsh accent for my audition.
I'm also almost one hundred percent sure I'm the only gay in the village...!
The audition is on the 23rd May - keep it all crossed for me, okay?
In other news, work has finally settled down and I am finally back to doing only my own job for the most part, which is a big relief, although I must admit to feeling a wee bit lonely being back up in my office on my own! At least I can listen to music up there (and random Welsh things!) but it's strange going from being in the hub of activity for the whole school to basically seeing no one... AND the kettle and the loo are down 5 flights of stairs! Disaster!
On the bright side, now I am back to being less stressed and tired, I've had time to start exercising again. After the excellent weight loss brought about by the rigorous dance routines for Bad Girls, I bought a Dance Workout For Dummies DVD. It's great, although the chick leading it is perhaps a little TOO chipper, and it turns out I have a LOT of stomach muscles. I know this because after two days, they are screaming at me for mercy.
Never fear, I'm not listening, and the taming of the tummy monster will continue apace!
On the writing front, I am now just over halfway through this year's Whittaker Prize over at TWI (link on the right there if you want to join the group!). Unlike previous years, this year has been a struggle for me. I don't believe that the standard of my writing has suddenly fallen from last year's competition, however it appears that my genre (urban fantasy/horror/sci-fi) doesn't sit well with either of this year's judges. It's not the scores I have a problem with (actually they have all been perfectly respectable scores), nor the fact that other people have been scoring more highly than me (Although I'm still not sure about those stories which are like modern Oscar-winning films: a great deal of sod-all happening, which seems to make judges go "Oh, I don't understand this, it must be brilliant!". See Old Country For Old Men for an example... actually, no don't. Save yourself the trouble and just go to sleep instead ;)).
What bugs my happiness is the comments which clearly indicate to me that the judges have no grasp of the genre and are making no effort to understand it. Being marked down for things which are central to the genre gets my goat, I'm afraid. For example: I don't believe that fantasy/horror stories need to have some deep, dark intrinsic meaning. Why can't they just be entertaining/disturbing and left at that? Nor do I believe that an anthropomorphic personification needs hopes, aspirations and doubts - they can just be pure vengeance if that's what they represent, no?
I will finish the competition, mainly because I've paid for it and I'm buggered if I'm wasting the money, but I shan't be paying too much attention to the judge's poor, vague comments from now on.
Especially since I have just added links on the right there to my poem Sinner's Lullaby at The Fib Review, and Hadron Colliderscope Comics (run by my talented baby cousin Michael V Bramley) who have just accepted my first ever script for a comic, They Come. I will also soon be adding two more hits at Every Day Fiction to the list, as they have accepted two of my flashes, Promise and Pieces (links to follow).
So yah-boo sucks to you, Whittaker judges :P
You've made me homesick,Stef, it seems like only a couple of years ago I was doing endurance riding in those very mountains (or some very like them.) Good luck with the Welsh accent. I think the South Walian more 'sing song' voice is easier than the more nasal North Walian one, the main thing is not to mix the two!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the Whittaker Prize, and congrats on your determination, with or without the Judges accolades. Judges I've found, are like reviewers. Some 'get' your work and any negative comments are constructive, and you can learn from them, others just don't get it, and you have to accept that, knowing you 'can't win 'em all' Good for you to keep going - you show em, girl!