45 Comments
Oct 24Liked by Jill

Assuming it’s the same person, he has literally just released his own brand of alcoholic sparkling wine called (yes, you guessed it) Britpop.

Also my husband calls him “that cheese wanker” after he was rude to him on a train. Hope that makes you feel better! X

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Jill! The stars aligned today and for the first time I listened to you while I was driving, and let me tell you, you & I had a great time. From the safety of my vehicle bubble I could shout “No cauldron?!”, and “That’s a different fucking play then!!” at the top of my lungs. I did so much head shaking & eye rolling that I was dizzy when I reached my destination, but my goodness was it worth it. You’ve made my day, thank you. I hope you’re not left feeling too Tender by your co-op run in 😬❤️

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I saw a modern dress production in London recently. Brilliant. The cauldron was played by an electric blender, and the witches were three blokes. It actually worked very well. It strikes me that those young people who had "got" Macbeth had only got a pale imitation made by people whose hubris 8s beyond belief, beyond satire. Sorry you had such a rotten time, but I enjoyed your review

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Enshittification, shouty, blurry, rampant! Don't stop Jill, it's a hilarious, real, wild ride.

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. Sadly, I'm awake in the middle of the night reading this, which was a bad idea because now I'm thinking about all the ways that you could have given him a copy of wordsmoke (there are none, but the idea is funny to me) to make your encounter even more awkward.

I was thinking it had to be Blur or Oasis and assumed they had all been to rehab, but I imagine Liam Gallagher would have been more of a dick? Still, I am sure that Damon gets asked for stuff all the time, so brushing shit aside is prob second nature, like testing a reflex. Good for you to try.

Also...Damon...kind of a fitting spooky name. If only the Macbeth production could have liscensed a blur song ...naw...too gen x, kids wouldn't like it.

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This is a joy to read; the most enjoyable writing that I've come across in quite some time!

(I think many others would have written "a famously recovering alcoholic" instead of what you did).

Much thanks to Chloe Hope over at https://www.deathandbirds.com/ for directing me here.

I hope your community manages to take ownership of the pub. Best wishes!

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SUCH an enjoyable read, Jill - thank you so much! I'd been saving this post as a treat - and oh boy, it's been worth the wait!

(I knew exactly which 'sleb you were talking about, and am still laughing at Gina's comment!)

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Almost gave you Covid, eh? Ha!

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Macbeth - tell this was a bad dream!

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Sounds like the play was scary in the worst possible way. 👻

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Wonderful stuff as always lovely 🥰

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Just put this on your note, but adding here too.

Ah that was good. Listened to it in the car and on the ferry on the way to the dentist. Driving while laughing!

My wife is involved in trying to get a community pool built. Like the Cotswolds, we have our share of reclusive people of means, in our case people with last names like Costco and Microsoft. Your celebrity adventure was so relatable! Forwarded to her.

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That Macbeth sounds just awful. How did you stop yourself standing up and screaming 'This is fucking awful!' before you walked out? I saw a production of Mozart's Requiem recently that had dancing in it. From beginning to end. Distracting? Just a little. You know, just when you want to let the Lachrima wash over you, here comes some gyrating men and women, free expressive movementing all in front of the choir. It truly shocked me into horrified silence. When I was working I lived in Oxford Mon-Fri. Wherever you go in Oxfordshire there are celebrities cropping up. I once stood on that old and infamous Top Gear presenter's foot in a restaurant. I didn't apologise. I. wished I'd done it on purpose.

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Oct 24Liked by Jill

I’m with your Sister. Do not sweat that interaction. Fortune favors the bold! You were bold and he used his rehab as a shield against getting involved at all in his community. He could have been much more gracious in his response.

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An enjoyable post and I liked the way you brought the various strands together. I enjoy fresh and adventurous productions of Shakespeare plays when I get the chance to see them. But I think the Queen Duncan thing would have too much for me, too.

I found the story of 'poor Anne Greene' pretty shocking, but somehow not surprising. And engagingly told.

I hope you have better luck soon with getting a local celeb to pay for the pub. In the meantime, I'm looking forward to seeing a Shakespeare production here in Tokyo soon which I hope will be a good omen: "All's Well That Ends Well". Let's see what they do with that.

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Thank you for the very entertaining post, and the astonishing effort you are making to keep the pub. Just “screw your courage to the sticking place” and I am sure you will get some more people to sign up (sorry, I could not help myself).

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