Silly cow

Congratulations to Sam Atwood, who just won the final of Dancing on Ice with a heartfelt rendition of Torvill and Dean's Bolero.

We've been with brother Edward and Sascha eating wraps and playing with the Tyndarids, who have just come back from ratty boot camp! 

There have been a phenomenal number of hits for the Metro film on You Tube, which is brilliant, although we've also had a fair number of grotty comments accompanying them from those who feel the film is nothing but a glorified freak show! We're doing what all great art does and dividing people! 

It's very interesting to see the sheer number of people who seem to find the concept of a musical somewhat challenging! A Symphony for Yorkshire was almost universally praised on You Tube, I suspect because it was riding under a different banner. Call it a symphony and a different type of person decides to watch it; possibly a type of person who is more likely to enjoy the films I make, which rarely appeal to young people, or cynics!  No one dares to admit that they hate classical music, they just give it a wide berth!

Am I breaking the law by not filling in my census form today? And is it me, or did the clocks go forward today?! 

March 27th 1661, and Pepys' workmen had buggered the staircase to the extent that he could only get up and down by using a ladder. Elizabeth wasn't feeling well, so stayed in bed all day, probably attempting to avoid a potentially humiliating incident involving a vertical drop into her front room!

Pepys' brother, Tom, came round and Pepys went through his old clothes, giving him a black suit and a hat. It's unclear whether this was a form of hand-me-down, or whether Tom, as an apprentice tailor, was being expected to recondition them. These were still impoverished times. Make do and mend, and all that...

Pepys went to the dolphin pub in the evening for food, drink and general merriment with both Sir Williams and their families. There was singing, and a "noise" of violins, which has to be about the best collective noun I've ever heard! 

Pepys admitted to dancing... For the first time in his life! These former puritans, eh? Imagine getting to 27 before dancing for the first time? Everyone was upstaged, however, by the razor sharp moves of the Negro servants, Mingo and Jack, who belonged to the two Sir Williams. The former, particularly, surprised everyone with his astonishing sense of rhythm. Go Mingo!