Green-day

For a long time i've always known what my favourite colour is. I've never chopped and changed between the tantalising allure of maroon or turquoise...even when i knitted an entire jumper out a more glossy version of the colour. For years i was perplexed by the names of cyan and magenta as they appeared on  the household's 48k spectrum number buttons. I found out that cyan is quite close to turquoise, and magenta seems like as good a name as any for a shade of purple.  But simply put, i've always had an unwavering affinity for green. Perhaps because i was surrounded by an abundance of grass while growing up. Yet the same could be said the the blue skies above. Maybe it was to do with applying the finishing coat of various green camouflage colours to my airfix models, which i used to do on a regular basis. But whatever it was/is...i'm green (not politically mind you). This means i've got no visual issues with getting back to grips with the green screen apparatus as we delve back into Watch iT! for the upcoming international (no less) tour.

We have been working on trying to make the move from the live action on stage to the video action on screen a bit more seamless. The buzzword for this re-development process is immersive. And the video is just one element we will be dealing with. I must be getting better at pre-planning for such activities as the whole day passed pretty quickly without any hiccups or miscalculations. Of course it helps when you're working with the experienced crew of Cagoule Productions and there's a lack of naysayers in the Brunton theatre technical team. Here's a few snaps from the shoot...

A bit of cunning improvisation was required to black-out this space.

Precision matters...roughly.

Serious mime skills at work here.

This what happens when you get too close to the TV.
So hopefully we'll get the results of this work in the next couple of weeks along with some new 3D modelling. Then it will be time to start messing around with some surround sound...watch or listen to this space. 
In other news i've been stripping off and getting down to some skimpy shorts in a room full of women (mostly) and getting sweaty. Yes...i'm on the Bikram tip at the moment. I figured i needed a new challenge (because i don't have enough already) and that's exactly what i'm getting. I did a little Bikram in London many moons ago. It wasn't that difficult i recall and i wondered what all the fuss was about. But this time around is no joke. I am mentally trying to hang on as i physically lose my grip in various postures. I've never been a flexible being. This is slightly paradoxical given my chosen profession. But if i can become mentally a bit more dextrous perhaps the body will follow. We shall see. In the meantime my lymphatic system is getting a helluva good workout. I've also started taking Russian lessons....the challenge list increases exponentially. Well i'll be heading over there to teach so i figure i ought to build on the smattering of Russian i learned during the Blaze tour. It's all part of a long term plan i'm hatching...intrigued? you should be. I now have homework. That's a concept i'm struggling to re-familiarise myself with...but you know...flexible minds people, flexible minds. Recent days have been about as packed as they possibly could be. A lot of time has been spent commuting from one side of Edinburgh to the other. I think i look a bit odd working on my laptop in the bus. I'll start to worry if i end up taking a portable printer with me. Other first world problems include the dodgy headphone socket on my ipod. that combined with a $%^ed screen = replacement is due. But no ca$h + no time = no replacement just yet. I will just have to live with my first world problem...now that is a challenge.