claytoncast

So that was 2012. I have to say it's been a rather good year. Not as much work as one might have hoped, but many things that have made me feel better. Not the least of which was a lovely Christmas away in a hotel in rural Nottinghamshire. Two absolutely fantastic bedrooms for Richard and myself, and mum. Great meals, fantastic hotel staff who couldn't do enough for us from the moment we arrived and a trip to the pantomime at the Theatre Royal Lincoln on Boxing Day afternoon to round things off. So many of us have our first experience of theatre at a pantomime. I know mine was -"Humpty Dumpty" at the Sheffield Lyceum in 1967 with the Cub Scouts. Such a shame that so many Christmas offerings are incredibly shoddy affairs. In my system for handing out points onto Equity cards like speeding points for driving licences, there were quite a few endorsements that should have been given out during this Boxing Day matinee of "Dick Whittington". Some people a

 And so it's nearly here.  Our relationship has just survived another year of putting the Christmas tree up together. Apportioning tasks and letting the other person stick to them as the key. Richard does the lights, the wiring, and all the technical things, and I unpack the boxes of baubles and tinsel etc and start strewing them over the tree. Whereas in Acting I know that the principal that works most successfully is 'less is more', it's not a maxim that I apply to decorating our Christmas tree. Rich would prefer a slightly sparser look I think, whereas I'm all in favour of throwing the whole box  at the tree and seeing what lands!  The joy about about unpacking the box each Christmas is that there are particular decorations in there that we  have collected from our travels all over the world. Among others we have a gondola in a glass ball from Venice, a treetop decoration from Macy's in New York, a cartoon penguin from Reykjavik, and in a surprise

 So my Christmas shopping has started in traditional style. It's not unknown that on my first day of Christmas retail I set off out into the December melee clutching my list determined to come home with as many parcels as I can. It's not unknown that in the first batch of parcels there will be gifts for myself. Much as though I enjoy buying presents for others, there is no delight that ranks alongside treating oneself. This year I've done it in style. It's five years since my Damascene conversion to the world of Apple. Prior to early 2007, I would scoff at friends who as far as I was concerned were lagging behind in the  technological revolution clinging to their Apple Macs. Yes, they were colourful. Yes, they looked good. But the PC was where it was all that. Or so I thought! In early 2007 I joined the show "Peep Show". At the same time as I formed a tentative working relationship with the lovely David Mitchell and Robert Webb, I couldn'