5315/18235
All set for Monday then? We all know Brexit is itself and that it is coloured red, white and blue. I can’t imagine the Europeans will require any more than that, will they?
A few of our West London friends have been involved in organising collections of clothes, baby stuff and food for the people displaced by the Grenfell Tower disaster. It’s incredible how everyone has come together and tried to help, to the extent that some of the collection points were saying they had enough donations. Our friend told us that they were short of cardboard boxes and I had about a dozen big ones under the bed which I bought ages ago in anticipation of our move (and that have sat there for a year or so because the move did not happen). So even though it wasn’t much we thought the least we could do was drive those boxes and some tape over to the nearest collection point that was still taking donations, just down the street from Latimer Road.
It was amazing to witness this hive of industry set up in just hours and to see the number of people who were out there helping to organise everything. There are many valid reactions to this tragedy and I have been as moved by the passion and the fury as I have by the compassion and the love, but I really hope that the good that has come out of this awful and preventable event will change our country for the better. Certainly the Prime Minister’s lack of reaction to it all and her inability to engage with the people it has affected is an outrage. There will be millions now spent on working out what has happened and who is to blame - what a shame it was not spent in advance. Austerity doesn’t work. It will cost you more in the long term and when that cost is the horrific deaths of dozens of people, then the people in charge must be brought to account. It’s not a case of politicising this tragedy. It’s happened because of politics and symbolises so much more. We are not powerless and impotent in these situations. The people of West London have already shown their power to get stuff done and all around the country others have done what they can to help in the immediate aftermath (in organising at least two big comedy gigs it seems even comedians have done more than the government thus far). But it’s what happens in the long term that matters.
Anyway, my own personal contribution felt mildly pathetic, especially as in the time it took us to get to the community centre there had clearly been a big delivery of boxes from Pickfords. But I am glad I witnessed the more admirable efforts of others.
Tonight we finally got round to watching Prevenge, which I am not sure was a good idea given my wife is pregnant. It’s darker than I expected and has a fair bit of gore, but it’s amazing work from the brilliant Alice Lowe. Tom Davis and Dan Skinner are both impressive as disgusting men (though that’s really my forte so disappointed not to have got the call) and Alice is even more impressive than usual, given she was heavily pregnant during the filming. Most mums rightly want to have a lie down at this point, not direct and star in a feature film. Anyway, it’s well worth a watch, though my squeamishness meant I couldn’t watch some of it.
Last chance to own one of the proof sheets from the Emergency Questions book, plus another opportunity to shell out big bucks for one of the limited edition copies of the book with a bonus question.
Head to ebay this week.All money goes to filming series 11 of RHLSTP.
And if you just want to pay a normal amount of money for a book then head to
gofasterstripe for a non-signed one. They are selling really well (Chris Evans - not that one- has already run out of his supply so I am sending him a load of mine tomorrow), so if you want one of the first edition copies then don’t delay. We will, I think, be doing another print run soon, but this is a chance to own a first edition of a book and one that, if my plans reach fruition, might become a big deal. I am even hopeful that we might manage to fund the filming of series 11 of RHLSTP through these book sales, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Be nice if we could though. The book seems to be a big hit with those who have seen it, so for £10 you get a funny book, that might be a collector’s item in the future and also pay for 18 filmed episodes of RHLSTP (or more- or maybe less).
We have no budget for PR as usual and rely on you to spread the word. The book works just as well (maybe even better) for people who haven’t heard of the podcast.
We are also working on an app. And I have even more ambitious plans for the EQ (as no one calls it) franchise.
