Sunday, May 07, 2006

Inside again

In prison this morning for all three services. We structured the presentation around Jez singing songs from his CDs. I thought the meeting went fine; the chaplain thought we might have pushed some inmates closer to suicide.

Two of them did say they'd pray for me and one asked for 'some of those bead things'. I can see the headlines now: Prisoner strangles himself with rosary beads after church service robs him of will to live. (No, we're not Catholics but we're all the same in there.)

But only one man was actually in tears as he left.

For the second and third services, after the chaplain had pointed out his concerns. we tried to lift the atmosphere a little. I told the story of Harvey nearly dying. I think it helped.

It was all a bit of rush getting in and setting up as we had to have our photos and our fingerprints taken. It's so they know who's in the prison at any moment and works instead of little tags that we used to hang around our necks. At least I'm sure it will work in the future when they've got the technology sorted. And they get an officer on the gate who is slightly less painfully slow when it comes to typing in names.

They say they destroy the records as soon as we've left but I'd like to think that they'd frame my photo and put it on the wall. With a nose the size of mine, I'd make a good dartboard.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

We watched Mrs Henderson Presents last night. It was jolly good. Funny and poignant, and Judi Dench was, as always, magnificent. Bob Hoskins was a revelation too, looking distinguished and with a posh accent. I kept expecting him to lapse back into his normal Cockney voice but he didn't. And it was all in the best possible taste. Except possibly the glimpse of some rather elderly and flo ... flabby naked men.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Our little visitor has gone home now. Holly got in the car without so much as a backward glance or a wag for me. After all I've done for her!

1 comment:

Chris said...

Hope they don't get the records muddled up, Liz, and, in their attempts to rectify the problem of dealing with criminals who should have been sent home, try to deport you!! Still you wouldn't have far to go, would you?

I really liked 'Mrs Henderson Presents'. Dame Judi is great in whatever she does, Bob Hoskins was fantastic (but, like you, I kept waiting for the cockney accent to show through) and I was really pleased to see that Will Young could actually act.

I'm sure that Holly is missing you already. Isn't it just like small children when they first go off to school: no clinging on, no tears just you feeling totally bereft and rushing home to cry. But doesn't it make you proud!

Verification is in a curly script and I can't read it. Even the person in the wheelchair is looking perplexed, perhaps the people with the foreign accents are being too foreign......ah, that's better, nice clear letters, but no vowels. Perhaps it's Welsh.