November 2018 – dotSquared

The Comedy about a Bank Robbery

Mischief Theatre formed in 2008 by LAMDRA theatre students who produced improvisation shows until in 2012 writing their fully scripted first play – The Murder before Christmas. This became The Play that Goes Wrong the following year and went on to a sell-out tour. It has been running in the West End since 2014 and now plays in every continent of the world except Antarctica!

The Comedy about a Bank Robbery began in 2016 and is packing theatres throughout the UK tour 2018/19 tour.

I’ve been lucky enough to see both plays, slightly preferring The Comedy about a bank Robbery for it’s endless slapstick, slick actors and fast paced dialogue, it leaves you gasping for air as the gags roll around. Characters with names such as Robin Threeboys result in expected humour but here it takes it up a notch, wringing out every last drop of discourse possible.

Both shows are extended until 2019, you’ll find them somewhere near you I’m sure. DON’T miss out!

https://mischieftheatre.co.uk/

The Archers

It seems I share my birthday with Brian Aldridge!

For those of you who have no idea who that is – you’re missing out. The Archers has been running on BBC Radio 4 since 1950. It began as an educational programme post World War II to help farmers feed the nation after years of rationing.

The Archers lost its educational purpose in 1972 but still tries to follow rural developments closely. It brands itself now as ‘contemporary drama in a rural setting’.
I personally feel it’s a work of ongoing genius! The characters are so well developed, many of the actors have been working on the series for many years and it handles topical stories with true BBC care!

“perhaps a small piece, I’m still feeling very full after that magnificent lunch”

Brian Aldridge after being offered birthday cake by his wife, Jennifer.

You can read more about my birthday companion Brian Aldridge here – http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/46Rwxk09090Q8kwr685dfz0/brian-aldridge

Why not start your own journey with The Archers!?
Visit www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qpgr.

Arecibo Radio

On this day 44 years ago scientists sent a message to a cluster of stars 25,000 light years away.

The message was sent from the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico and contained 1,679 binary digits. These digits could be arranged in such a way to display information about the human race and life on earth. The message was sent to display the power of the Arecibo telescope which was the most powerful in the world at the time.

Cornell University professor of astronomy Donald Campbell said:

“It was a strictly symbolic event, to show that we could do it,”

Campbell worked with the team of researchers who devised the message at Cornell University led by astronomer and astrophysicist Dr Frank Drake.

When received, the message could be arranged in a grid 73 rows by 23 columns to form a pictograph that represents facts about mathematics, human DNA, planet earth, and humans.

The hope is that, in many thousands of years, it may reach another living being.

Since the Arecibo message was sent, the message has travelled just 259 trillion miles – a fraction of its journey to its intended destination, which will take roughly 25,000 years to complete.

Find out more on Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arecibo_message