Thursday 26 April 2012

I Star in Brent Housing Video!

I contacted local video news company BNCTV several times recently about doing a feature on the bureau and soon they were asking for a film on rogue landlords, something I have released a lot of press about recently as we have seen lots of people coming to the bureau with problems with their landlord. The landlord is evicting them illegally or hasn't paid their deposit back when they moved out or hasn't done repairs or has threatened them with violence...the list goes on.

I asked one of my clients who had a particularly traumatic story to participate as well as our Housing Specialist at the bureau. I also say a few words about my client's case.

Hope you enjoy!

Success Story from Work


Thought you might be interested in my first success as a trainee at Brent CAB - a disability benefits appeal:

***Disability Benefits Success***

Adviser Becky recently helped a client successfully appeal against a decision to stop DLA for her twin sons.

Ms Honrado's two sons are 16 but because of their learning difficulties they only have the mental age of a nine year old. They also suffer from ADHD, which means they need almost constant supervision from their mother or a classroom assistant to avoid accidents.

Before their 16th birthday they had been receiving low rate care DLA, then Ms Honrado was sent a letter saying the benefit would be stopped, despite there being no change in her sons' circumstances.

Our Brent CAB adviser appealed the decision, sending medical reports from the twins' school and medical specialist. She argued that the twins' were actually entitled to more benefit as they needed supervision whilst walking and almost constant attentiom inside. As a result, the appeal was successful and the twins will now receive middle rate care and low rate mobility DLA!

Musicals and Plays


I am now 25! To celebrate I went to see Matilda the Musical, one of the best musicals I have ever seen. Fantastic catchy and moving songs, a fabulous plot and a great actress playing Matilda. In addition, the whole stage is covered in letters meaning you are distracted from your fellow theatre-goer's conversation as you are too busy reading the words hidden in the mass of letters.

Based on the book by Roald Dahl, the musical includes the fabulous tricks she plays on her father Mr Wormwood when he treats her badly. The spirit of rebellion is nicely encapsulated in the songs including "Sometimes you have to be a little bit naughty" and "We are revolting children". Miss Trunchball, played by a man, steals the show with her hatred of children, obsession with Phys Ed and her cruel punishments including swinging a girl into the air by her pigtails and forcing a boy to eat a whole gigantic chocolate cake.

Matilda is a must see if you have ever been a child who was frustrated by grown ups. It's only the fact that it's sold out two months in advance that is stopping me going to see it next weekend again!

This month I have also seen Singing in the Rain, another lovely musical with real rain on stage during the classic song - so much rain that the people on the front rows were clad in cagoules and had to put their hoods up! Again this has lovely songs and an interesting plot. Similar to The Artist, it is about the transition from silent films into talkies and how the highly irritating voice of a silent actress is her downfall. Very funny, definitely worth seeing. They sell £25 day tickets which we bought and were able to sit in the fourth row of stalls!

I have seen Belt Up's Macbeth, a scary production set in an underground prison in Farringdon. We had to follow the actors in near darkness, the stage often lit only by candlelight, to watch the scenes of this dark play. The setting was perfect when you consider the key scenes - meeting the three witches at night on the heath, plotting murder, committing murder in the middle of the night, seeing an imaginary dagger. Being small I had to keep running around the audience to make sure I had a good view of the actors, but it was definitely worth it, especially when the actors are standing less than a metre away from you! Not for the faint hearted, but a truly unique experience perfectly capturing the morbid mad world of Macbeth.

Two days ago I took one of my pupils to see the farce Noises Off, which has fantastic five star reviews from all the broadsheets. While not quite as funny as I'd hoped, and with some very predictable slapstick and plot devices (director is secretly sleeping with all the female actors and stage hands), there were moments of utter hilarity where I could not help but laugh myself silly.

It is a play within a play which we get to see in rehearsal, from backstage and live in performance when the props are all wrong causing great pandemonium. Written by Michael Frayn, who also wrote the play Donkey's Years and the film Clockwise staring John Cleese. Frayn based the play on genuine experiences in the theatre, although it is hard to believe the absurd nature of most of what goes on!

I have no more plays lined up at the moment, and would welcome any suggestions!

Sunday 1 April 2012

Fantastic Busker - Flame Proof Moth


Today I was walking down Southbank from the Royal Festival Hall to the Tate Modern, then on the Millennium Bridge I was arrested by the sound of music. I stopped to see where it was coming from and was amazed to see a guy up to his knees in the river singing at a microphone, also in the river.

I think over half the people watching were curious as to whether he would electrocute himself! His songs were great, especially the one about his favourite pen, in which he laments that now he has to get pens from factories instead of geese and in which he says he will go on holiday to a pen factory and stay in a hotel. Another great song is one where he says he goes to his local shop to buy something, when he sees that there is only tins of peas and spaghetti left, and there's a huge queue for them. Why is there such a queue? The credit crunch is the culprit.

The highlight of his songs, were the bits between lyrics when he was just strumming his electric guitar and wiggling his hips like crazy, creating great ripples in the water around him. It was also exciting to see what happened whenever a wave drew near - would it reach his amp on shore...?

The busker had a great way of attracting money for his music. On the stony shore he had placed a cloth with his name Flame Proof Moth on top of different coloured circles, like a bulls eye. So people could throw money for the music or simply to see how good their aim was!

The musician himself, with his wetsuit over a shirt and a pair of cheeky sunglasses, cut an impressive quirky image. His folky, speech like singing, with the tone of a ballad and hilarious falsettos is very distinctive and unique.

London never ceases to amaze me with such unique events occurring when you least expect them. I hope to see Flame Proof Moth again soon.