Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Fame at last! (well, sort of...)

I've been a fan of the Reduced Shakespeare Company since I saw a production of "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)" at the Criterion Theatre, Piccadilly, London some several years ago; I have the audio recordings, I have a DVD of "The Complete History of America (abridged)" and I hold out the hope that I might get to see one of their other productions one day, in some form or other.  In the meantime, I listen to their weekly podcast, which is entertaining, informative and, above all, short.  Ish.

Today, I downloaded the latest episode (189 to be precise) and listened to it on my way home from work - it's about the right length for the cycle ride home and as Austin Tichenor was doing the traditional closing bit, I got to my front door.  And then I heard my name.

The podcast always features what the RSC calls "A Random Shout Out"; as Tichenor always states, "No reason, it's just random".  The shout out is usually of someone who has signed up to the RSC newsletter, or joined their website forum, which I did some time ago.  I never actually expected to hear my name on the podcast though, and it felt good - especialyl as Mr Tichenor actually used the correct pronounciation (you would be surprised at how many variations people find to pronounce my name - I used to get quite shirty about it; in case anyone wants to know, it rhymes with "Lines" or "Vines" and not "Bins" or Tins"
Thank you to the RSC and to Mr Tichenor, for bringing a little light into my day!  (It doesn't take much!)

Moving on, I have now harvested a second batch of spuds from the garden, and I'm having some of them for my dinner tonight...