End Of An Era?

(Edit: most of this post written about a month ago)

Seems like this site has had a makeover from the Dashboard side, which means that you on the reading side won't actually realise, but everything is in a slightly different place to how it was a few weeks ago. Weird, but ultimately pointless except to tie ever so loosely into what I was ambling at talking about. And judging by that last sentence, ambling was the word.

Basically, I'm going to be experiencing some new beginnings around here, I only have four shifts left to go at work. That's three days. At 11:00ish on Thursday night, my Sabbatical officially begins and I won't be employed at the Corn Exchange Newbury for six months. Is this a big deal? I think so, I mean, I've been there for six years, including my time in Southampton.

I've worked with a lot of the staff there for almost that entire time, so I figure that I'd say something about the ones I like and get on with. So...

KREN
If you look at Kren, you'd think she was late thirties. She's actually fifty, just kept youthful by the constant stream of stress and nervous energy that's a result of her working far too hard. She's genuinely the hardest working girl in showbusiness and she's the best boss I've ever had. I'll miss her.

DEBBIE
Debbie's on the Box Office as Assistant Manager and she's lovely. She can be a bit rough around the edges, but she's got a heart of gold and always has time to talk to you and help her customers. Give her a coffee with some chocolate sprinkles on top and she's a happy bunny, as well.

HANNAH
Talented artist, happy-go-lucky barmaid and all round attractive lady, Hannah got married last year, to the collective depressed sighs of about half the guys I know. She can talk the back legs off a donkey, but she's good fun to work with 'cause she gives as good as she gets.

SHIRLY
The bar used to be called Bar 1861 and we joke that it was named such because that was when Shirly started working there. She's been with the Corn Exchange since it opened as a theatre and that was about seventeen years ago. She's a grumpy old pro who believes that men should do all the heavy lifting.

ROY
Roy is the happiest man you'll ever meet. Whenever he does the announcement for people to take their seats you can almost hear 'scream if you wanna go faster!' in the subtext. He's also something of a movie nerd (not quite a gaming nerd, but he does like his sci-fi) and thus we have a good chat.


There's others, I enjoy working with Rhia and Kev, Vicky was there for pretty much every day of the cafe and she's a gamer, Julie Ann (although a traitor and going to Greenham) was one of the best duty managers, Clara on the box office has a smile that could light up the heat death of the universe and Mummy Jo is always a laugh. There's a lot of staff there, and they're good people. I'll see them again in six months. I hope.


YOUNG FRANKENSTIEN


So I'd completely forgotten I'd put myself down to steward this, because it was an special booking for a birthday party. I mean, I normally end up reviewing one golden oldie film a year, it just seems to crop up around autumn time. So, Young Frankenstien, eh? Koo, Tim's fiancee, swears by it's comedic gold and after a few stilting openings I was swayed as well.


It's an odd one, don't get me wrong. The story of Frankenstien must be one of the most often twisted and turned and reimagined and recreated for whatever ends. There's a dvd of Frankenhooker not ten feet from where I'm sitting. But this one? I think this one stands above the rest, I mean, Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder certainly knew a thing or two about comedy back then, eh?


I think the show is stolen by Marty Feldman, who plays up to the audiance the most, and is clearly the most absurd role in the movie. Having just read his bio on imdb, he seemed like a guy I probably would have liked to know.


So, what with the overpronounciations and corny ba-dum-tsss jokes that fill the script, what with the overarching shieking and feverish trembling that characterised Wilder's performance, what with the brutish meowing Peter Boyle, this film retains its classic charm. It hasn't aged well in some places, but in most, it's still just as funny as it was in 1974.


Next up: WHITE HEAT
(A BBC TV series)