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Dec. 4th, 2008 06:38 pmThis morning Paula and I divulged to each other that we are both working on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. As we're allowed to pretty much sit where we want on those days, we were both glad to know we'll have each other for company on those graveyard shifts.
I got one miseryguts who "won't do any surveys over the phone" and went further, when asked to just confirm his address, by saying he "won't give any more details". I remarked to Paula "How anal do you have to be to refuse the address check?" Paula's reply was "I like that word."
Still have a throatful, though nothing of substance is coming up. Outed my last two books of raffle tickets to Kim and Jan, as they promised on Tuesday.
Went to the square between the town hall and the library after work for the Christmas lights switch-on. The reason I went along to what's basically a kids' event was that Essense were performing there. I saw and loved this girl group at the 2006 Waterfront Festival but haven't had a chance to catch them since.
The festivities started just before 4 with the Quay Radio roadshow playing Christmas singles (Stop The Cavalry was there but, alas, no Fairytale). At 4.15 two DJs from Quay, a guy and a girl, our hosts for the event, came on, did a quick intro patter and introduced the opening singer, Arron Crowle, who sang Dock Of The Bay then a few swing numbers. A power cut stopped him in his tracks, after a pause he joked that the generator had run out of petrol and they'd gone to the BP station to get some more, then five minutes later he got to finish his set with You Raise Me Up.
Next on were ESSENSE!!! The girls all looked fantastic, and they gave brilliant renditions of I Don't Feel Like Dancin', Valerie, Umbrella, Stay Another Day (beautiful) and Merry Christmas Everyone. After their first song they asked the crowd "Are you warmed up now?" and to the shout of "Yes" they replied "We're not," and added "Let's all have a dance and get warm." If only they'd been given longer...
Anything after the lovely ladies was going to be an anticlimax, so I drifted to the back as the DJs introduced the 'Big Noise Samba Band' who gave us 10 minutes of energetic drumming. Next up were various local school choirs : many of their Christmas-themed songs were unfamiliar, but thank goodness we had Jingle Bell Rock, Hark The Herald Angels Sing, Ding Dong Merrily On High and Away In A Manger. Finally Keith Harris and Orville came on stage as the DJ announced that two-for-one tickets for Keith's panto in Fareham were on sale outside the Conservative Club. Keith and Orville did a quick routine, including the joke about Cuddles at the swimming pool that he does every year, then Keith said "28 years ago we were number one in the charts" (26 years ago and number four actually) and asked the crowd "You don't want to hear 'I wish I could fly', do you?" A lot of people shouted yes, so he sang Orville's Song, passing all among the audience during the second half, then Keith returned to the stage and led the crowd in counting down from ten. At the climax the Mayor pressed a huge mock detonator device and all the lights came on.
Keith finished the proceedings by leading the crowd in Merry Christmas Everyone but I'd heard that song sung better an hour before so drifted away. After a wet morning it had, mercifully, stayed dry all through the show, but soon after I began walking home the rain started.
I got one miseryguts who "won't do any surveys over the phone" and went further, when asked to just confirm his address, by saying he "won't give any more details". I remarked to Paula "How anal do you have to be to refuse the address check?" Paula's reply was "I like that word."
Still have a throatful, though nothing of substance is coming up. Outed my last two books of raffle tickets to Kim and Jan, as they promised on Tuesday.
Went to the square between the town hall and the library after work for the Christmas lights switch-on. The reason I went along to what's basically a kids' event was that Essense were performing there. I saw and loved this girl group at the 2006 Waterfront Festival but haven't had a chance to catch them since.
The festivities started just before 4 with the Quay Radio roadshow playing Christmas singles (Stop The Cavalry was there but, alas, no Fairytale). At 4.15 two DJs from Quay, a guy and a girl, our hosts for the event, came on, did a quick intro patter and introduced the opening singer, Arron Crowle, who sang Dock Of The Bay then a few swing numbers. A power cut stopped him in his tracks, after a pause he joked that the generator had run out of petrol and they'd gone to the BP station to get some more, then five minutes later he got to finish his set with You Raise Me Up.
Next on were ESSENSE!!! The girls all looked fantastic, and they gave brilliant renditions of I Don't Feel Like Dancin', Valerie, Umbrella, Stay Another Day (beautiful) and Merry Christmas Everyone. After their first song they asked the crowd "Are you warmed up now?" and to the shout of "Yes" they replied "We're not," and added "Let's all have a dance and get warm." If only they'd been given longer...
Anything after the lovely ladies was going to be an anticlimax, so I drifted to the back as the DJs introduced the 'Big Noise Samba Band' who gave us 10 minutes of energetic drumming. Next up were various local school choirs : many of their Christmas-themed songs were unfamiliar, but thank goodness we had Jingle Bell Rock, Hark The Herald Angels Sing, Ding Dong Merrily On High and Away In A Manger. Finally Keith Harris and Orville came on stage as the DJ announced that two-for-one tickets for Keith's panto in Fareham were on sale outside the Conservative Club. Keith and Orville did a quick routine, including the joke about Cuddles at the swimming pool that he does every year, then Keith said "28 years ago we were number one in the charts" (26 years ago and number four actually) and asked the crowd "You don't want to hear 'I wish I could fly', do you?" A lot of people shouted yes, so he sang Orville's Song, passing all among the audience during the second half, then Keith returned to the stage and led the crowd in counting down from ten. At the climax the Mayor pressed a huge mock detonator device and all the lights came on.
Keith finished the proceedings by leading the crowd in Merry Christmas Everyone but I'd heard that song sung better an hour before so drifted away. After a wet morning it had, mercifully, stayed dry all through the show, but soon after I began walking home the rain started.
