"One Swallow......"

Saw 'The Girl With Red Hair" at Hampstead on Tuesday. I didn't dislike it as much as my companions and it was lovely to see an old friend Patricia Kerrigan doing some fine work and also Sandra Voe who played my mother many years ago in the Lyric Studio - I was a psychopath! Had a drink with PK afterwards, haven't seen her for years and we swore it would not be so long before the next time. In fact we shall be doing some reading together on the 21st at the university in Leicester for writing students.
I leapt from my slumber yesterday got myself togged up for decorating and prepared the banisters for a coat of Cameo White gloss. Horrible job, been putting it off for a year or two. No sooner had I dipped my brush the phone rang with lovely agent Sarah asking me if I would do a small part of a Polish Archbishop in a rehearsed play-reading of Richard Bean's new Euro sex-farce, David Grindlay directing, as someone had dropped out. There was money mentioned and it's a day and a half having a laugh so I said yes. Thursday and Friday sorted - banisters only half done. Now I am not a superstitious bloke but the painting and the phone call correlation is one I have noticed before. Just imagine what job I'd get if I started to build a house or booked a round the world trip! Ten years or so ago I gave up acting altogether and I got a commercial with big money, a job at the National and a long-running part in a TV series all within six months!
I spent a delightful evening in the company of Paul Miller, he of the excellent my London life blog. He showed me his production pics of 'Democracy' which he directed in Tokyo recently. Very spare and sumptuous at the same time. The quality and intelligence of the actors shone out as well. He felt he had been lucky and was a little nervous of having to equal it next year as he has been asked back.