Ivan Little summed him up, “a giant of a journalist and a gem of a man” . Eddie was laid to rest yesterday at Killead, Crumlin and, at the age of 83, we lost a legend. If you need a contact or a bit of advice Eddie was your man, didn’t suffer fools gladly mind you. When I told him I planned to write a book about the early days of Ulster Television he said in no uncertain terms, “No one would be interested in that, don’t waste your time.” It was with a smile and I knew he was goading me on to fulfil my plan and that was proved when he congratulated me on the result and said how much he enjoyed the book and complimented me on my writing. Of all the approving comments, Eddie’s meant most as I admired him and his style and he told the truth. His life wasn’t all roses but he overcame his demons until his cancer got the better of this special man.
Always when you met Eddie, at the theatre most in recent years, his gentle wife Irene was with him. His wife of over 40 years and a delightful couple to meet, I always left them smiling, they were smiling and I was smiling.
Sadly I wasn’t able to be at Eddie’s funeral yesterday but I’m told it was packed with those who admired and love him.
Thanks for the memories, the articles, the advice and the fun. Sincere sympathies to his family, love and prayers Irene.
SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW
I wasn’t able to take part in the Pride Parade yesterday but it certainly sounded like a phenomenal day, they came from all arts and parts, gay and straight, all genders met in an atmosphere of love and tolerance. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was an extremely popular visitor the the City Centre, apparently 180 groups were represented in the parade including churches, one poster read Christians at Pride, another welcoming everyone to their church.
Not Orange or Green but a united event rejoicing under the colour of the Rainbow.
What a week it’s been.
I can’t imagine how those homeowners in England are coping with the weight of worry living under a reservoir which could well burst its walls and swamp a town. I wonder why there is a town situated in that precarious place, surely the threat must always have been in people’s mild. I hope sincerely all the work going on to lessen the threat will prove successful. And then there is this morning’s news of 30 people murdered in two incidents in America. I wonder what little gem the president will come out of, he’d do well to address gun control but that’s unlikely, he wants to keep in with the powerful gun lobby.
At least from a political point of view it’s been entertaining and a fascinating on-going story – what will he do, what’s his problem with Ireland? Is he looking a little frayed round the edges? TV and radio has been compulsive viewing and listening. But, But, But – terribly frightening, there’s no point in living a fantasy, hard facts have to be addressed. Having a ‘war cabinet’ sounds ominous. Did you read this:
‘A few days before the Tory leadership contest result, Boris Johnson told a newspaper that his favourite movie scene was “the multiple retribution killings at the end of The Godfather”. In the 24 hours since then, he’s confirmed that’s the spirit he’s going to govern in, from the bloodbath of the formation of his Cabinet, to his finger-jabbing first performance at the despatch box.’
My Hero
What a dish! And what a legacy this man is going to leave, he’s a champion and much loved. I’m talking about 93 year old David Attenborough, one of my heroes and if the recent Glastonbury is anything to go by, a hero to thousands of young people too. When he applauded them from the stage for being aware of single use plastic he said: “Now this great festival has gone plastic-free that is more than a million bottles of water have not been drunk by you in plastic, thank you, thank you
Sadly the aftermath doesn’t quite reflect this as the cleaning up is still going on with volunteers retrieving the debris left scattered in the fields, despite 15,000 bins, and sadly a huge amount of that rubbish includes plastic bottles.
But, let’s face it, plastic is useful and you only have to make one trip to the supermarket to realise just how important it is to packers and wholesalers. Don’t blame the shops, although they can put pressure on their suppliers and if the bags we use for food waste in the kitchen caddies are biodegradable, why not use this material.
A ‘big’ shop last week resulted in 12 rolls toilet paper ‘tube card widely recycled. wrap plastic not currently recycled.’ This is the motto on most bags and the plastic film covering – ‘not currently recycled’ – including a round lettuce, sliced ham with plastic tray, cartons of grapes, apricots, tomatoes, onion bag, tray of mushrooms, bag of pears. And so it goes on. A mail order blouse came in a plastic bag, inside the item was in another plastic bag. Fashion magazines seem to arrive by the dozen all contained within a plastic bag although one animal charity has it cracked and their outer sleeve is recyclable, Why can’t this be the norm?
Our recycling score is higher than the UK average with a rate of over 48% so we should easily reach the European statutory ‘waste from households’ recycling target of 50% by 2020. That will only happen when people like those lining the roads for the Twelfth processions wise up and take their waste home. The Lisburn Road was a disgrace.
Currently £23 million has been allocated by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs ‘to make recycling easier and improve the quality of recycled material in Northern Ireland’ but please, don’t make the shopper feel guilty, the majority of us are aware of the dangers and are responsible citizens, some people even make a habit of taking a bag and a pair of disposable gloves with them when on a walk and lifting plastic containers as they go, if we all do that over the holiday, especially at beaches, it would make a difference. At least it would channel a lot of rubbish into one household bin, what happens after that is anyone’s guess!
EXTRA EXTRA
There seems to be a growing number of people who tell me they were part of Game of Thrones or Line of Duty and most recently the latest blockbuster Bloodmoon. It’s great for impressing friends but is it really such a memorable experience? For the majority it’s a great way to meet people and make a few extra shillings but according to one extra I talked to, I’ll call him Joe, being on the sidelines isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. He was accepted on GOT for nine days and reckoned on about £1000 towards a new car but stuck it for just one day. “Standing around from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. then walking to a hedge 20 times isn’t fun but I met some nice people!” He feigned ill health and escaped. “Life’s too short!” Another extra told me he got paid £155 for 14 hours. “To get the best food and the sky high wage you have to be a star. We just got a polystyrene box of something inedible. I lived on muffins!”
Of course, as I say, there are others who love the experience. Although it didn’t pay her, one woman travelled every day from Derry to be on set and for young aspiring actors it’s good for the CV.
Joe had a second shot at becoming an actor In Bloodmoon, the followup to GOT.
“Although it’s free to sign on with the local agency, you’ve got to realise once you’re working there’s 15% commission to be paid on every day’s wage and an annual registration fee, as well as tax. You are recommended to have an annual Access NI certificate costing £26, or a Basic Disclosure certificate when working with children. No photos are allowed, I had a sticky put on the camera lens of my phone and I knew I’d be kicked off the set if I disobeyed.” He added: “The word you hate most is ‘reset’ which means do it over again maybe 25 times. One day I was on set for 12 hours and 10 of those hours was just sitting waiting to be called for a scene. When I worked it out I was getting about £10 an hour.”
THE MESSAGE IS, DO YOUR RESEARCH.
Game of Thrones has come and gone and there are local actors who have made a fortune but sadly not the extras but the majority do it for love. Now Bloodmoon is giving for the public another chance to be part of what is expected to be a television sensation; for extras taking part in crowd scenes however, there’s little chance of becoming a star though there are many other opportunities for seven to seventy year olds to take part in smaller productions or in commercials where you’re more likely to have a specific role to play and a better chance of having a special experience. Agencies must to be careful to match the person with the character and certainly, with something like 20,000 people here signing on, they have a fine choice.
If you feel like having a go, our leading agency is The Extra Department at www.theextrasdept.com
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Have a good week, get out in the fresh air if you can and leave the news behind for a while. I say that knowing full well I for one will still be plugged into the fascinating wit and wisdom of Boris! If it wasn’t so scary it would be funny.