Monthly Archives: October 2020

The Shows Must Go On – Alfie Boe: Bring Him Home

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From The Shows Must Go On this weekend, a celebration of one of the West End’s most iconic voices with the full performance from his sell-out Bring Him Home Tour.

From Friday 16th at 7pm and available to watch for 48 hours

Alfie Boe: Bring Him Home – Filmed live at the Royal Festival Hall in London, during Alfie Boe’s sell out tour; the star of Les Miserables and the much loved tenor showcases his mesmerizing and outstanding voice in his very own show Bring Him Home. With an impressively diverse collection of tracks including the impassioned “Maria” from West Side Story, Ewan MacColl’s heartfelt “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”, a truly breathtaking rendition of “Bring Him Home” from Les Miserables and an emotional performance of Martina McBride’s ‘In My Daughters Eyes’. Plus, Alfie performs a wonderful medley of James Bond theme tunes, and uniquely inspired renditions of tunes from Moulin Rouge, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and much more. Alfie is also joined on stage for some unique performances by his very special guests, including Matt Lucas, Melanie C, Tom Fletcher from McFly, Claude-Michel Schonberg and Shakira Riddell-Morales. The peoples favorite tenor, delights with a truly magical performance.

People of Leeds encouraged to collect tree seeds that will form future woodlands across the city.

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Dear all,

Leeds City Council is encouraging people within their household groups or support bubbles to collect tree seeds in their local parks and green spaces to help support the growing of future woodlands across Leeds.

Running until November, residents can collect acorns, beech nuts, chestnuts and conkers, and leave them in seed collection boxes across the city for use as part of the council’s Woodland Creation initiative.

https://news.leeds.gov.uk/news/people-of-leeds-encouraged-to-collect-tree-seeds-that-will-form-future-woodlands-across-the-city?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

People of Leeds encouraged to collect tree seeds that will form future woodlands across the city: Seed Collection Launch - Arium Greenhouse

Spotting TV Licence Scams

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Image of a laptop and mobile phone with an email alert on each screen

There’s been a big increase in scammers pretending to be from TV Licensing recently and so TV Licensing is working with Action Fraud and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) to give customers information to help them protect themselves from scams

They have produced a guide to help you tell whether a communication is genuine and warn people what to look out for and it covers emails, letters, phone calls, text messages, home visits and how to report a scam.
https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/ss/Satellite…

Shared Moments: ‘Zooming with Oliver’ written by Oliver Cross

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The Corona-19 virus is an ill wind that blows nobody any good, unless you happen to be the very same Eric Yuan who introduced the Zoom corporation to the public in 2013, without realising that soon afterwards the public would find uses for Zoom that probably hadn’t occurred to Eric Yuan.

He must have thought there would be a host of business and educational uses for Zoom, which allows up to nine people at a time  to appear on one screen in a conversation from their own homes.

True they’ve been shrunk to matchbox-size and have a tendency to freeze mid-frame, as if they were having an extreme cardio-vascular event, but it’s not wholly unlike being in a roomful of people trying to carry on as if nothing too much had happened,

For example, a group of regulars at the Chemic Tavern in Woodhouse, Leeds – including me – meet twice a week on Zoom to try and recreate the aimless chat we used to enjoy before the big lockdown and now continue because, although it’s nothing like being in a pub, it’s something like being in the human race.

The problem is that we don’t have much to tell each other because there’s very little news that’s not virus-relayed and we don’t get out much. Often we end up showing each other what we’re making for tea or trying to remember all the good stuff we’ve seen on telly, which doesn’t take long.

The community group Caring Together in Woodhouse and Little London, which offers activities and advice for the over-55s and which Lynne and I belong to, has thought of a more imaginative use of Zoom.

Last week it attempted to recreate the full cinematic experience without big screens, screaming music or precariously-employed staff. There was, however, a Zoom showing of the 2017 musical The Greatest Showman, a bag of popcorn, nuts and  pleasantly unhealthy sweets, and, to represent the bit where the audience shuffles around looking first for their seats and then for the exit, a short Zoom discussion before and after the show.

It all made for something that felt like an Occasion because watching a film at home isn’t an Occasion and talking on Zoom isn’t an Occasion but combining the two, so that there is some sense of communal activity, is at the very least an Event, similar, in quality, if not in size, to a big sports final or a premier at the Odeon, Leicester Square.

Incidentally, The Greatest Showman, based on the life of the circus entrepreneur PT Barnum but not to be confused with the 1986 musical Barnum, was… well, not exactly Oklahoma or Carousel but still welcome enough in troubled and very rainy times.

Thank you for sharing Oliver, until next time….

p.s. And a big thank you to Ann for sharing your film with us 🙂

Arts & Minds Network 2020 exhibition – “Change is Gonna Come”

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The Arts & Minds Network brings together people in Leeds who believe the arts can promote mental well-being.

The theme of the 2020 exhibition is Change is Gonna Come and can be seen online this year https://artsandmindsnetwork.org.uk/exhibition/  (Click on each image to enlarge it and find out more)

“Be it social, biological or simply the passing of time, the one thing that never changes is that there is always change. Change can be self-generated or imposed, change can affect things on a micro or macro scale and change can be positive or negative or sometimes both at the same time. Change can alter the physical world around us or can be internally focused and live in our thoughts and ideas.

We exist in a time of change, both good and bad. Against a backdrop of a changing world due to the outbreak of coronavirus it is easy to forget that there are a multitude of other changes going on as well, ranging from the environmental changes happening to the planet that we all live on to the social changes being fought for and debated in countries around the globe. Whether it is a tree or a statue that is toppled, change is gonna come. Whether it is our own thoughts and feelings or our interactions with those around us that are altering, change is gonna come. Change is fundamental to our very existence and it is change that makes us human.

Change is both an opportunity and a challenge to examine ourselves and the world we live in. This year, Arts & Minds members have submitted a piece of artwork each responding to the idea of change, from personal shifts in perspective to changes on a global scale.”

 

Online ‘Scams and Frauds Awareness Session’ video from Monday 12th October 2020

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Dear all,
The video was from Monday’s ‘Scams and Fraud Awareness session’. If you do have anything to share and pass on, or even report then please do get in touch with us, on our mobile’s or by calling the office and leaving us a message, we will get back to you: 0113 243 0298 – or contact the police on 999 if a bogus caller or rogue trader is at your door, or afterwards on 101, or for scams they can be reported to Action Fraud on: 0300 123 2040. We do have leaflets we can send to you with useful information and contact numbers.
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I do have one additional note from someone who wished to share:
 
“It arrived via e Mail, It was from the home office,official looking logo, pointing out I had crossed into a paying zone whilst driving my car, £23,24 due now with links to pay and of course the threat of £80+ if i delay by more than 7 days and court action etc, quite a decent attempt ,I’ve seen a few this was the best , thought you should be aware”
 
Note: The Home Office will not send you an email for crossing a paying zone, you will usually get a letter in the post – if you are unsure call us or the council on the number you source, not the one from the email itself.
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Click on this link: bit.ly/2Fos3b8 and press play, and if there is no sound you may have to click on the volume button too -it is Catherine, Community Project Officer of the Safer Project part of West Yorkshire Trading Standards
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Note: It is on our facebook page, you don’t need a facebook account to view the video. If a box does appear asking yout to sign in, just click on not now and it will go and it will allow you to continue.  You don’t need to sign in either.
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Thank you Catherine, it was a pleasure to see you again and we look forward to seeing you again soon, warm wishes Lisa Argyle, Caring Together
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‘Monday Mind Workout’ – answers for Monday 12th October 2020

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Dear all,
See below the answers for yesterday’s ‘Monday Mind Workout’ – how did you do?

1. In which film does the famous Marilyn Monroe skirt blowing scene take place? The Seven Year Itch

2. If you were in France and saw choufleur on the menu what ingredient would it be? Cauliflower

3. What county is the geographical centre of England? Leicestershire

4. What famous film is referenced in Britney Spears’ Oops I Did It Again? Titanic

5. What is the name of the character Jem and Scout are afraid of in To Kill a Mockingbird? Boo Radley

6. What are the only two double-landlocked countries in the world? Liechtenstein and Uzbekistan

7. Boxing, wrestling and which other sport are mentioned in the Bible? Running

8. What does the “SD” in SD card stand for?  Secure Digital

9. How many novels did Emily Brontë write? One – Wuthering Heights10. What does the word conniption mean? A fit of rage or hysterics

11. What company was the first to make an iPhone? Cisco

12. Who entered a contest to find his own look-alike and came 3rd? Charlie Chaplin

13. True or false: You can sneeze in your sleep. False

14. How many varieties does Heinz have? 57

15. What did Queen Victoria ban from her funeral, the colour red, white or black?

The colour black – instructing mourners to wear white. Even the weather obliged – the ground was covered with snow.

16. Banana trees can walk, is this true or false – true

They can move up to 15 cm per year. This is because they have no central root, but lateral roots which grow and move towards the sun.

17.What was unusual about the rain in the 1952 film Singing In The Rain?

The rain was water mixed with milk. The crew did this so the raindrops and puddles would show up on film

18. You will produce 121 pints of this in your life – what is it?Tears

19. Are there any countries in the world that don’t have McDonald’s fast-food restaurants?

There are none in Greenland, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, most of the Middle East, Guyana, Papua New Guinea, Burma, Vietnam and most of Africa.

20.What do John Lennon and Gary Lineker have in common?

Both were given the middle name Winston – after Churchill. Lineker also shares a birthday with Churchill on November 30.

Leeds put in ‘Tier 2’ of new covid risk system

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Following yesterday’s government annoucement, Leeds City Council have issued the following information confirming the new rules in place from Wednesday in Leeds, along with the rest of West Yorkshire:

Updated government restrictions on households mixing indoors will be put in place in Leeds this week as part of a new national risk alert system aimed at controlling the spread of COVID-19.

Leeds was named in the “high” middle tier of the government’s three-tier system earlier today in response to a rise in the number of cases of the virus in households and communities across the city.

Everyone in Leeds is again being urged help protect the city, each other and the NHS by observing the updated restrictions, as well as observing the crucial messages about handwashing, face masks, social distancing and self-isolating when needed.

The latest data shows the city’s current seven-day infection rate now stands at now 415.5 cases per 100,000 people, with a seven-day positivity rate of 14 per cent. Cases have also been showing a consistent, upward trend over the past weeks leading to concerns over the potential for increased hospital admissions and the impact on local NHS services.

This rise in transmission rates has seen Leeds being classed as having a “high” alert meaning that from Wednesday, October 14:

  • Households will not be able to mix indoors including in homes, leisure or hospitality venues.
  • Households will be able to mix outside, including in parks, and private gardens provided they do not gather in groups of more than six.
  • People can still come inside your home for specific purposes. These include where everyone in the gathering lives together or is in the same support bubble; to attend a birth at the mother’s request; to visit a person who is dying; to fulfil a legal obligation; for work purposes, or for the provision of voluntary or charitable services; for the purposes of education or training; for the purposes of childcare; to provide emergency assistance; to enable one or more persons in the gathering to avoid injury or illness or to escape a risk of harm; to facilitate a house move; to provide care or assistance to a vulnerable person.
  • Existing arrangements for access to, and contact between, parents and children where the children do not live in the same household as their parents, or one of their parents will remain exempt.
  • Friends and family can also still provide informal childcare for children under 14.

Councillor Judith Blake, leader of Leeds City Council, said: “We have been working very closely with our partners, local businesses and residents and listening their comments and concerns about the many different ways the pandemic and the restrictions it has brought have been affecting them.

“What has really shone through in those many conversations is that, despite the immense personal challenges each of us has faced, there remains a remarkably resilient shared will and desire to keep Leeds safe while doing everything we can to protect the city, our communities and our economy.

“None of us wants to see restrictions on life in Leeds, but we are deeply concerned that if cases continue to rise as they have been, this could not only mean further restrictions for the city, but it would also risk putting our local health services under increased and unsustainable pressure.

“Having a clearer system in place to manage local restrictions and contain the spread of this insidious virus can help us all work together more confidently, consistently and effectively in the weeks and months ahead.

“It’s now down to everyone to work and engage within this new system and each play our part in protecting ourselves, the city and the incredible health professionals who have done so much to keep us safe.

“We will also remain in constant dialogue with the government to ensure we keep people updated and informed over this key period for the city.”

Everyone in Leeds can play their part in controlling the spread of COVID-19 by observing restrictions, and following the key guidelines:

  • Make space and stay 2m away from people you do not live with.
  • Wash your hands regularly and for 20 seconds.
  • Cover your face in enclosed spaces.
  • Isolate when you need to/are advised to, and get a test if you have symptoms.

Victoria Eaton, Leeds City Council’s director of public health, said: “It’s been gravely concerning for us all to see cases of COVID-19 rising in our communities and we know this year has been filled with a great deal of uncertainty and anxiety for us all.

“It is imperative that if we are to turn the tide, everyone takes their share of responsibility by following the updated restrictions.

“By doing this, we can control the spread of the virus, minimise the risk to each other and prevent the NHS from being put under increased strain over these next few crucial months.”

For details on all current coronavirus guidelines and advice visit the government website or Leeds City Council coronavirus information pages.