There is so much I have to be grateful for in my life; my health, my family, my career. And yes now is the time to reflect. It’s so easy to concentrate on what is wrong in our lives, it’s actually a good time to sit down and take stock and reflect on all the things that are blessings. I like to think of Thanksgiving as providing both peace and a moan-free zone… at least for one day! We can go back to complaining after the weekend.
Our breakfast club sponsors Air New Zealand were kind enough to give a couple of breakfasts away to a member who had the best line to be thankful for at Tuesday’s event. The winner, Lynn Helmn joined myself and Air New Zealand representative, Jonathan Cowley for a full English at Cecconi’s in West Hollywood. Lynn, who, I’m happy to say has recently fully recovered from a brain aneurism, was most grateful for being alive and walking again. (Puts it all in to perspective, doesn’t it?)
Time to exhale…
Well, what a crazy week it has been for all of us. We have had SO MUCH going on – but of course, all wonderful things in the golden state. First our sponsors invited a few lucky members to The Land Rover Experience at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, where they got to test drive the new Discovery “off-road” (well, on a very impressive man-made assault course), but nonetheless it was a lot of fun and members enjoyed checking out the supreme hold of the Land Rover and it’s new operating system with side cameras. It is also LA Auto show this week and we went along to the VIP reception thrown by our sponsors, Jaguar, USA. There’s nothing better than getting to see all these fantastic cars close up, I personally love to see the concept cars to get a peek at what the future might be like and I’m a little turned on by the idea of fingerprint recognition (no more hunting for keys down the back of the sofa!)
Regular readers will know that I am currently appearing in a production of the Noel Coward classic The Vortex. We’ve had some amazing houses and a few famous faces have dropped by to catch the show, including Chesney Hawkes, Samantha Mumba, Nigel Daley MBE and Lord of The Rings star, John Rhys-Davies. A big thank you to everyone who has come to the show already and especially to all of our volunteers – Caroline Feraday, Alexandra Afryea, Matt Crabtree, Michael Finlay, Nicola Bailey, Mercedes, Eileen Lee, Katie Amess and Kim Morgan Greene. Last Saturday Eileen organized a wonderful ‘Brits in LA go to the theatre’ night to see the play with a champagne reception to follow. We’re planning another next month with another Coward classic, ‘Blithe Spirit’ with the wonderful Angela Lansbury. So hard to believe she is 89 years old and still remembering lines. Good on her, I say! If you are interested in joining us on Dec 16th please send me an email to britsinla@gmail.com and I’ll let you know all the details.
If you missed out on our last Talk-back for THE VORTEX, we have another one this Sunday (tickets available at www.plays411.com/vortex) The wonderful Sandro Monetti will be moderating, which means, if you know Sandro, it should be thoroughly entertaining. He’s also back on board for hosting next week’s pub quiz – Such a busy man. We love you Sandro.
We are doing lots of giveaways among our Facebook group for British acts playing in LA during the next couple of months so watch out for the chance to see acts including the peerless guitarist Johnny Marr.
A big shoutout to BiLA members (and my collaborators), Darren Darnborough and Richard Keith. We have become semi- finalists for the script Andy and Chaz Destroy America in the Screencraft writing competition….fingers crossed we win. And also a big congratulations to Ruth Connell, a BAFTA newcomer who is making her mark in the long-running TV series Supernatural this week. Well done, keep at it and know we are all very proud of you!
Finally we must make mention of the UKares Foundation, our (official) BiLA charity that takes care of British and Commonwealth subjects living in Los Angeles. UKares has finally received its 501(c) 3 status and has been busy putting together its advisory board. Please visit Ukares on Facebook to see how you can help.
Have a wonderful weekend and see you all next week!
Cheers,
Craig
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