I am at the hot desk in the NTW offices in Cardiff. The hot desk has an Apple Mac with Harmon Kardon speakers. The Jelly fish ones. Like a set that I used to own that broke. It's incredibly bright in here. This is an open plan office with a number of Desks. A kitchen and a meeting room. There is also an area in which people can sit, downstairs by the entrance. It has the feel of an exclusive apartment. White walls and bare wooden floor boards. The neon sign sits above the stationary…
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Added by Dr Tom Payne on April 20, 2010 at 2:05 —
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It's my birthday and I am in Cardiff. I am sat next to my two year old nephew who is watching .... (pause while I look up to fugure it out) JOHNNY TEST!!! I think. He has a zebra dummy and very curly brown hair. It's still sunny. Which is great. Spring masquerading as summer. I'm not looking forward to the day that it gives up and starts raining again. The country is still grounded. I wonder what the impact of the drop in air traffic emissions will be?
I have…
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Added by Dr Tom Payne on April 19, 2010 at 21:03 —
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Brilliant, I am heading to NTW offices in Cardiff tomorrow afternoon to chat to some people about the work that they do. I am also meeting with Eddie Ladd on Wednesday morning. I'm not going to buy any Nutridrine online, but I am really glad that I now know where to buy it because I am sure that one day I will need it. I have also made some last minute alterations to my monitoring document. It read like a description of what I had done, am doing and am going to do. I…
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Added by Dr Tom Payne on April 19, 2010 at 11:30 —
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I ran the other way around the park this morning. There were less people and the morning air was fresh and crisp and cool. Later I swam with my brother, niece and nephew at the David Lloyd club and after that we went to a garden centre to look at the fish. My brother loaded plants for planting and I occupied the children. We stopped for cake and then went home. Where I slept. I have been waking at about 5am every morning because of the sun and combined with all the exercise it has been…
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Added by Dr Tom Payne on April 18, 2010 at 11:00 —
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I ran 4 miles with my eldest brother today. He lives in Cardiff by Roath Park. It was gloriously sunny and hundreds of people were taking advantage of the brilliant weather. Smoke rising from the middle of small groups of sun bathers. We ran around the outside of the park, looping twice around the same section and ending up by a red post box. My brother observed that I am pro-nating... at-least I think that is what he said. It means my right knee is collapsing inwards every time I put my…
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Added by Dr Tom Payne on April 17, 2010 at 11:00 —
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The monitoring document is complete. I am really glad that I wrote it. It helps to have sat down and written about what I have been doing and what I intend to do. Back in control of the project. My house mate gave me a lift down to Cardiff in the afternoon. I am going to spend the weekend with family and then hopefully on Monday I will be able to visit and interview some people at the National Theatre.
It occurred to me that a trip to London to visit the National…
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Added by Dr Tom Payne on April 15, 2010 at 22:30 —
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I returned to the document that I had set up the day before. And stared blankly into the sections. Hmmmm... what do you say you are doing when you are not yet sure what you are doing. I suppose the expectations can't be that high of this as I am only 6 weeks into the project. Only enough time to have started thinking really.
There are four sections to the document
A cover page
An explanation of where I am at…
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Added by Dr Tom Payne on April 15, 2010 at 10:30 —
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I set my 1st draft up on Google Docs. There are three sections. The first is an outline of the project to date, the second contains a draft structure and the third part is a rough timetable for the completion of the project. I was also able to construct a number of different research questions. I need to hand it in on Friday if I am to head off to cardiff in the evening. That means completing the work tomorrow and then tweaking on Friday.
Added by Dr Tom Payne on April 14, 2010 at 10:15 —
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Spinning. Walking. Lots of sunshine. More Running. Spinning. No labels on the wine in co-op. Forgot my wallet. Spinning. More spinning. New plan of action tomorrow. And first draft of monitoring document.
Added by Dr Tom Payne on April 13, 2010 at 10:00 —
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I went running three times today. Progressively shorter distances each time. I also did more thinking. I decided to return to John's article,
Rapid Response to find some answers to yesterdays questions. The last time I read it the first show hadn't happened. Neither had the assembly project. It was interesting to reflect upon the aims with reference to the work so far.
I have pulled out a number of quotes that seemed relevant. In what way I'm not yet sure. But…
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Added by Dr Tom Payne on April 12, 2010 at 10:22 —
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The intersection of Mill Street and Bridge Street in Aberystwyth is not the first place that one would think to have picnic on a bright Sunday afternoon, but that is what I did. A number of questions are beginning to bubble up...
What is the National Theatre trying to do? What is it seeking to achieve with the work that has been created so far? What is the relationship between the PR, marketing, online community and the actual work? We live in a media saturated…
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Added by Dr Tom Payne on April 11, 2010 at 11:42 —
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It was extremely sunny yesterday. I therefore forgot to write the blog and drank wine with friends instead. The good weather seems to change things. The way people behave and interact shifts. It's as if all the collective concerns held by people are put aside, released as a consequence of the weather.
I am censoring myself. Something has to give at some point soon. The blog has to find form and begin saying what it is here to say. Is it the very nature of an online…
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Added by Dr Tom Payne on April 10, 2010 at 21:31 —
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I've just returned from Swansea where I saw the second production Shelflife. The Swansea Old Library building is extraordinary. The stacks at the base of the building lie empty all but for the stacks themselves and the red strip lights on the ceilings. The performers took us through the stacks into the reading rooms above where we ate cheese and the performers filled the vacuum left by the absence of the books.…
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Added by Dr Tom Payne on April 9, 2010 at 12:00 —
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So I set myself the task of blogging everyday for a year and the chances are that no one is reading this and when I have the courage to make a full vlog rather than a blog I won't know what to say or what to talk about. Writing about the National theatre on the National Theatre site is difficult. Am I writing to myself? Potentially i am writing something that is accessible to the entire web using world but equally most of this may never even be seen again. Even by myself. Regardless I…
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Added by Dr Tom Payne on April 8, 2010 at 14:07 —
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The sun shone brightly today and as I spent most of the Easter weekend working I decided to spend the day with my daughter Poppy. Without a strict structured schedule I am finding that I could easily spend all my time working without a break.
We took her bright pink fishing net and searched for crabs in the rock pools. We found none so we settled for catching a white stone instead. I then took her for sausage and chips at the fish bar at the top of town and popped…
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Added by Dr Tom Payne on April 7, 2010 at 15:46 —
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Today I stood thirty feet above the waves and looked out to sea from the tail end of the pier in Aberystwyth. I walked like a very old man and lowered my centre of gravity to prevent myself from falling into the abyss. The abyss was a good ten feet away over a metal railing but all the same I thinlk it is better to be safe than sorry.
Today was also the day that i attended a philosophy reading group at the Orangery. Today was a day of cafes and dinners out. Conversations and personal…
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Added by Dr Tom Payne on April 6, 2010 at 12:39 —
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Added by Dr Tom Payne on March 31, 2010 at 12:08 —
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Sam and I ran 8km today. Mostly up hill. Except for the bits where we were going down hill. I'm not sure which was worse, the endless agonising climbing or the occasional rapid descent. The latter puts a lot of stress on the tops of the thighs and the knees and I couldn't help feeling that I was going to fly uncontrollably face first into the mud. Or else involuntarily perform the splits and then have to wait to be airlifted to the nearest hospital. Sam led the way. This was his run and…
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Added by Dr Tom Payne on March 30, 2010 at 11:56 —
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I have decided that I need to find out something about philosophy. Starting with Descarte. It seems like a good idea, seeing as I am training to be a doctor of philosophy, that I know something about ... well, philosophy. So Descartes today, Kant tomorrow, and so on until I can list them all in chronological order like the kings and queens on the back of a ruler... was it just me that had that ruler? The Rulers ruler. I don't think it helped me do much more than draw straight…
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Added by Dr Tom Payne on March 29, 2010 at 12:30 —
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I have just arrived back from the radio station following an interesting slot on what could be Sam Christie's final show. That's the same Sam that I went to Poland with. He invited me along and asked me to bring some of my own music. So I did. I took an old carry case containing 200 cds that I collected as a student between 1997 and 2001. I explained that they were the product of my attempts to develop a musical identity, without any money or any direction. Consequently it is comprised…
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Added by Dr Tom Payne on March 28, 2010 at 10:56 —
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