MUM'S THE WORD...?

Hello, gang.

Happy Monday. Will try not to make this a whinge, but it probably will be.

I’m still not better. This damn flu just doesn’t want to shift. I’m better than I was, but still coughing, and still no energy. Inevitably, Sanja’s also ill now. Thankfully, she has avoided the 7-day fever I had – and “just” has the cough and cold – but she’s feeling pretty rough.

Throwing additional spanners in the works, my mum hasn’t been well. She was admitted to hospital yesterday – after her second trip to A&E in a fortnight – and seems to have some sort of infection that’s making her delirious. I visited Friday night to put her to bed as I usually do, and got a bit shaken up by the state she was in. 

Long story short, but she had a fall while I was there, and another on Saturday, so we’re hopefully going to be working with the hospital about her ongoing care once she’s out.

If any of you have elderly parents, I’m sure this will sound familiar. Frankly, she shouldn’t be living alone; she’s very frail, registered blind, partially deaf… but she has flat-out refused to entertain any notion of going into a nursing home. 

She’s fortunate that I and two of my sisters live close by – between us and our spouses my mum has somebody going in three times a day, as well as a carer three times a week. But… after over two years of looking after her, we’re all exhausted on a really deep level. Since my dad died, our entire lives have come to revolve around her.

Trying to fit in work, our own families, and having some sort of life of our own, has been very difficult. But mostly… it’s just not safe for her to be by herself. Her sleep pattern is a mess, so she’s up most of the night – when nobody is there. I went in the other week to find her microwaving a pre-packaged salad, which had melted. She’s been stuck on her stair-lift… it’s kind of one thing after another. Plus, she’s somebody who has always craved company, so no matter how much time we spend with her it’s never enough.

I spoke with the doctors and they seem to share my concerns. It’ll be a battle though. When she was getting checked out by the paramedics yesterday she was still insisting she’s not going into a home. I mean, I get it. She terrified at losing the home she’s lived in for more than 60 years. She’s scared we’ll forget about her. It’s completely understandable. We’ve tried to honour her wishes as long as we could, but it’s also, realistically, not a situation that can continue indefinitely.

Anyway. That’s where we’re at.

BOOK 'IM, MANNO...

So, sorry if we’ve been light on content so far this month. Sorry there hasn’t been a Biffo’s Brain, or the triumphant return of BYAMPOD and the main channel videos. The last few weeks gave us a battering.

We’re hoping to get some filming done towards the end of this week for the next couple of eps of Digi Level 2. I’d like to do a Biffo’s Brain and a Let’s Play for this weekend, to plug the Level 2 gap. All of this is dependent on how well we’re both feeling. I’ll be doing some editing, and I’ve already animated some of the segments for the next ep.

I’ll keep you posted on everything.

Now. That image above. Don’t get excited. Yet. It’s just something I mocked up quickly. I continue to waver about the book. It’s something I want to exist. I want to be able to hold it in my hand. As a kid, I loved the Monty Python books, The Young Ones Book, The Goodies File – all those spin-offs of my favourite shows. They were a direct influence on Digi – with their fake ads etc. – so to do something like that feels so natural.

But… it’s a huge undertaking. I did price it up over the weekend, looked at some printing costs, and tried to work out whether I could afford to take the time I need to put it together. I don’t want it to turn into a Digi Level 2 situation where people are waiting for two years.

However, this is something that, really, not even Sanja can help me with to get it over the line. It’d be entirely on my shoulders.

It’s a question of economics sadly, and with Digi Level 2’s viewership being fine, but not stellar… I’m nervous about doing a crowdfunder where I’m locked into writing a 120-page book, while not being able to afford to forego other work while I do so. I’d want to be able take a month or so off of any day job work just to really focus on it, and I don’t know if that’s going to be possible.

The joy of Level 2 has been working out how to get maximum bang for our buck on screen – how can we make a sci-fi bunker on the budget we had? With a book there are no tricks we can pull to cheat – using cardboard boxes as concrete walls, for instance. It’s very much a fixed cost, and it’s the poor labourer who takes the hit!

So, I’m continuing to think about it – while also continuing to think about Digi Level 3, another live show, and Found Footage 2. These are all things I want to do, I’ve just got to be smart about it. If any of you have any thoughts or bright ideas… I’m all ears!

Paul