St Patricks Day 2011 Flashmob. Central Station, Sydney, Australia.

The first dance is called "St Patrick's Day" and every Irish dancer, no matter what part of the world they live in, knows this dance. It is the one dance that is never changed or modernised. I still remember it myself after all these years! Beannachtaí Lá Phadraig! It was a soft day, thank God, a good parade and now guests on their way for supper. Hope you had a good one too, wherever you are!

Lost and Found

Ok, I found my script in a very unlikely place. That was all very strange and a reminder to me to make hard copy at all times. NEVER TRUST YOUR SOFTWARE. I'm willing to admit I may be doing something wrong but I'll be damned if I could get the tutorial/help/or techie support to explain it to me! Saving documents in Final Draft and making pdfs is a complicated mystery. I've read online that Final Draft 8 is buggy and maybe that's it. Anyhoo, I've learned my lesson: print out hard copy at the end of a day's work!

Final Draft 8 Has Lost My Script!

Arghhhhhhh. I don't know what happened but I have lost a whole day's work on my script for The Celtic Princess. (Decided I prefer that title.) I'm new to this software but I can't understand how it can lose a new title page and a new script. The back-up files don't have the material either even though they are a larger size than the older files. What the ... Anyway, let's see what the techies say. I'm so sick I couldn't work today and I'm utterly wary of this programme. Will go now and cry.

Puja - Varanasi India - Night Ganga

This is a beautiful puja I attended in the holy city of Benares (Varanasi) on the ghats of Mother Ganges. Here you can see how theatre developed from origins in sacred performance. Breathtaking. I'm missing India so much.

Coincidence?

I have come to India to do some finalising research for the Tibetan character in People of the Great Journey. He is a young tulku (reincarnated lama) and his name is Tenzin Dawa. I've just survived a 12 hour overnight bus journey from Dharamsala to Delhi, hairpin turns and all. But here's the stunner. The woman beside me asked me to write out her name on the bus ticket list handed around by the driver, as she only writes in Tibetan. Put my brother's name, she said, as he booked the ticket. And what was his name? Yes, you got it. Tenzin Dawa. [Twilight Zone music.]

INDIAHHHHH

sEE POST ON BLOG AS I JUST USED UP MY TIME IN CYBER CAFE IN DHARAMSALA.

New Book Finished - Hurrah!

People of the Great Journey, the book I was born to write, is finished. It's an adult fairy tale, a work of "spiritual fiction," the book I have most enjoyed writing in my life to date. I also think it is the kind of book that you curl up with in an armchair by the fire, for a delicious read. The final scene is set by moonlight at the Callanish Stones, as shown here in this beautiful image. (Found it on the web, but haven't been able to find it again since so can't credit photographer. Apologies! If it's yours, let me know and I'll add your name here.)