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I had almost the whole day without the kids as their grandparents picked them up at 8.30am and had high hopes of turning my stalled work/exercise life around. But I watched the Lionesses scrape their way into the next round of the World Cup and ended up feeling so sorry for the Nigerian players that I found it hard to even get out of my chair, let alone put any clothes on. So I half-watched the next match too, half feeling that it was right that I should get to enjoy my life and not worry about work and half feeling sad that I can't snap out of this funk. Should I spend the next 30 years watching sports whilst playing UNO on my phone? Is that a good use of the precious gift of life.
The truth is that a weekend of solo parenting had knocked the stuffing out of me. But I still feel I could use my down time more productively. At least get out the house for a run rather than eating the kids' sweets.
I did manage to make some progress with booking the tour, hooking the wonderful Alasdair Beckett King for Norwich, adventurer Amar Latif for Leeds and Steve Pemberton for London (Davina McCall is also doing the Leicester Square Theatre). I got a reply from a big name guest who is up for doing Aldershot (Badgers and Plussers - you can find out who in your secret areas).
I now have 25 guests confirmed (about a third of the total) and remarkably only six of those have been on the show before (and Spencer Jones only did half an Edinburgh one and Lauren Pattison has only done that and a remote one). So the nice thing about the tour is I can go for some left field or unexpected choices. One of the joys of this podcast is the crazy once in a life time bills it can throw up - Janina Ramirez and Paul Chuckle being my favourite so far.
Late to the party I've also finally watched Get Back on Disney. It's a fascinating and also sort of dull, but that's equally fascinating, into the creative process and the falling apart of a group of people who have worked successfully together. The unspoken bits are the best, but it's amazing to hear songs that will be classics appearing from nowhere. But in the final part the stars are the policemen who try and fail to break up the rooftop concert. It's lucky for the world that they were so ineffective, but it's enjoyable watching them trying to do something about it, whilst clearly too nervous to push things. They threaten arrests without ever looking likely to make good on that and chew their chin straps like they are children who've only put on the helmets for the first time today. Which is possible. I feel like Big Train or Kevin Eldon or both should have done a sketch about two young policemen standing in a corridor failing to do anything.
What's remarkable is how many people in the vox pops were enjoying what was going on. Hardly any dissenting voices even from the older people, showing that stopping the concert would not have been popular, but I'd have been annoyed if I was trying to work nearby.
I love the policemen and the very polite Sergeant Wilson one who shows up looking for the ones who are already in the building. I'd like to see a three part six hour documentary just about them and what they got up to on that day.
