- The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest
- The Big Sleep
- 127 Hours
- The Way Back
- The King's Speech
- Black Swan
- The Fighter
- True Grit
- Never Let Me Go
- Source Code
- Boy
- Bridesmaids
- Sarah's Key
- Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
- The Ides of March
- The Help
- Wuthering Heights
- Hugo 3D
- Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Movies what I saw in 2011...
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
And so Christmas rolls around again...
Christmas was a slightly different affair this year with no Maya to spend it with. Fortunately for me (although not for Maya and Chris), Chris was still waiting for his visa, so he came to mine and we hung out together. Double bonus for me, as it meant I had a resident cook :-). It was a very quiet, laid back affair - lots of eating and watching rubbish TV - just a usual Christmas for me! Particularly enjoyed the back-to-back episodes of 'The World's Strongest Man' that we watched on Christmas Day! Oh - and Top Gear... and Dr Who....
And the books...
December 2011
The Good, The Bad and the Multi-plex - Mark Kermode
As a complete change to vampires, I went to the good Dr's second book. I'm a huge fan of Mark Kermode/Simon Mayo's film podcast from 5Live (and would recommend it to anyone who doesn't listen to it!) and when Tracey was over in London in September we went to see Mark K do a reading from his book. I think Tracey was quite a convert to him :-). This book was as good as his first one (It's Only A Movie) - and is somewhat akin to reading his 'rants' from the radio. And in a nice bit of continuity, there are a few references to Kim Newman in it - he's a horror movie expert and a friend of Mark K's :-). My only criticism of it would be that it had very long chapters with no natural breaks in them - not conducive to book reading on a train!
Anno Dracula - Kim Newman
Well this was a different sort of book to 'A Farewell to Arms'... The starting premise is that Dracula doesn't die in Bram Stoker's book but goes on to marry Queen Victoria. At the same time, Jack the Ripper is slaughtering new vampires in Whitechapel... I wasn't sure about it at the start - I could decide if I just thought it was derivative or not, but I ended up enjoying it. There were several character names that I recognised (eg Jekyll/Hyde, Mycroft etc) and I thought they were introduced very cleverly. At the end I was suprised to discover that this was published originally in 1992 and had just been reprinted. Obviously cashing in on the current vampire craze (he's written further books in the series as well), and I think in the future will no doubt pen one which references Twiglight, Buffy and True Blood - well he seemed to suggest that in the afterword. I'm not sure if I'll read the others - I can't quite decide how much I liked it - they could be good, or they could just be very samey. Well I certainly wouldn't buy them - maybe take them out from a library tho!
November 2011
A Farewell to Arms - Ernest Hemingway
No I'm not doing a trawl through the classics... it just reads like that at the moment! I read this as Stresa (where I went with Tracey on holiday) features in it and we walked past the hotel the protagonist stays in every time we went to town so I thought it would be good to read it. Can't say I enjoyed it very much - very 'I did this. Then I did this. Then I went here.' style. I was talking to a (male) friend about it yesterday who loved it which sparked a bit of a discussion about female views vs male views, as he really can't get Jane Austen. So I know its a classic and all that, but I was a bit 'meh' about it all. There were some sections where the Italians were talking about the war which were great, but on the whole I was fairly underwhelmed... Not what you're meant to say about a classic I know!
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
For some reason I had never read this - I really don't understand why. But I bought it recently in Waterstone's final "3 for 2" offer - more out of desperation (needed a third book) and I thought it would be good to get a classic. I absolutely loved it - of course that is why it is a classic... but I did think it was brilliant. Although not a 'big' book it seemed to take a lot of reading. There was so much detail in the story telling and the characterisation, that I felt like I'd been reading it for ages, but was still barely into it. All of the characters were so well drawn - and the story felt very true as well. Assuming I'm not the last person to have read it - if you haven't I would really recommend that you do. Next up will be watching the film adaptation of it - amazingly it doesn't seem to have been remade since the 1962 version.
October 2011
Transition - Iain BanksIt took me a while to read this one as Tracey's visit coincided with the starting of it. I don't think I read another one in between. This was another birthday book - from this year, and from Lindsey. First time I've read Iain Banks for years and I LOVED it. A definite keeper, and a definite re-read as well. Not one of his sci-fi ones, but so clever, and despite taking a long time to read it I could still follow the story easily enough. Very clever twisty turny plot involving many different worlds, travellers between worlds, megalomania, right vs wrong. Really really enjoyed it - a great book to be given as it isn't one I would have picked up and read myself.
August 2011
Towards Another Summer - Janet FrameI think this is another birthday book as well - not from this year though - possibly from Fone? I have to admit I've not read much (possibly any) Janet Frame before. I liked this but found it quite tough going - for a couple of reasons. The book, although small, is quite heavy, with a stiff card cover and thick pages - obviously a lot of money went into its production. So despite being carried to and fro work in my bag it didn't look battered at all by the end, and in fact still looks quite untouched! It was written in 1963 but was not allowed to be published while JF was still alive - it is an autobiographical novel about a NZ writer living in London, how she is struggling to fit in, and tells the tale of her going up North for a weekend. Some of her descriptions of growing up in NZ really resonated with me - even though it was set long before I was born, there were aspects of it that I felt could have been describing my childhood. Captures NZ so well - a brilliant passage describing children singing the national anthem had me laughing out loud :-). A hard read, but definitely worth it, and definitely a keeper.
The Cookbook Collector - Allegra Goodman
This is one of my birthday books - a gift from Jackie. I enjoyed this - the story of two sisters and their journey to find love. It is set in the time of the dotcom boom, just before 9/11. The characters are well developed and she has a nice way of introducing a character, and you then get an alternative view of them further on in the book. A subplot about Hasidic jews is also cleverly done and I didn't see the twist coming with that one at all. This felt a bit like intelligent 'chick lit' but it is one I'll re-read, and would recommend it. Great holiday reading!
The Prince of Mist - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Another one borrowed from Kevin. This is by the author of 'The Shadow of the Wind' which has one of the best opening lines ever I think - “I still remember the day my father took me to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books for the first time.” However I'm not writing about that book... This was written a few years ago, and is aimed at the Young Adult market (one for my sister Leigh then!). Its good - not great, but good. A nice supernatural story (which I always like), but it just felt a bit undeveloped for me - maybe thats because its a translation. Its a nice,quick easy read however, so is worth a look.
July 2011The Night Book - Charlotte Grimshaw
I'm not quite sure who I got this one from - possibly Tracey? Anyhow - a book by a NZ author, looking at relationships between the characters and what links them. Questions the nature of love - between a father and his adopted daughter, the marriage of the next Prime Minister and the secrets within it, all the while mocking the National Party bigwigs. I really enjoyed it - didn't know what to expect as I hadn't read any of her stuff before. Evoked NZ very clearly for me, and the story had me hooked. Slightly ambiguous ending which I wasn't sure about, but on the whole it was really very good.
Cold Skin - Albert Sanchez PinolThis is one that Kevin lent me. Didn't enjoy it very much - the story was good, but I just didn't like the characters. Which for me is quite an important piece of whether I enjoy a book or not. But it was quite short, and very different from Wolf Hall so I persevered. It tells the story of two men on an uninhabited island at the edge of the Antarctic Circle. Or is it...?? Review from The Observer here. Next up will be one of my birthday books I think.
June 2011
Wolf Hall - Hilary MantelAbsolutely LOVED this book - so far it is definitely the best book of the year for me. So cleverly written - so funny and so interesting. Although I do have to admit thinking I was reading about Oliver Cromwell for a bit of it... :-). Definitely my recommendation of the year (to date)
May 2011
Trespass - Rose TremainNormally I like Rose Tremain's books, but this one just didn't work for me. Couldn't relate to the characters at all, and didn't like the story particularly either. I may have been slightly influenced by a friend telling me before I read it that she didn't like it, but this just didn't gel with me at all. One for the charity shops I think...
April 2011
The Passage - Justin Cronin
This is weird - I thought I'd updated this list since March... anyhow - so at some point in April I finished 'The Passage'. A well read book this one - came to me via Philippa, then went to Maya and then back to me. Big fat vampire read - I really enjoyed it. An easy read, but a good one. A book of two halves, but I'm looking forward to reading his next one. Bizarrely, it is only just being released here in the UK so there are lots of billboards advertising it at the mo - I got excited as I thought they were advertising the sequel...
March 2011
The Hand That First Held Mine - Maggie O'FarrellI've read all of MoF's books - she's one of my repeat authors. I really enjoyed this one - she has a way of writing great characters, and her stories really pull you in. This was both sad and uplifting at the same time - definitely recommend it (and her!).
The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ - Philip PullmanVery good retelling of the story... Really quite thought provoking - good old PP puts the Christian story under the spotlight again. And who is 'The Stranger'???
The Season of the Witch - Natasha MostertBorrowed this off Kevin. For those who like supernatural type books it is worth a read. Gripping, good characters, good plot etc, but a nice light read at the same time.
Jan - Feb 2011
The Year of the Flood - Margaret AtwoodThis is actually Mhairi's copy - which I will return one day! Really enjoyed this - sort of a prequel/sequel to Oryx & Crake. Well worth a read.
The Lacuna - Barbara KingsolverStruggled with this one. Some of hers I like, but it took me ages to 'like' the character and I'm not good with books when I don't like anyone in it.
Fatherland - Robert HarrisXmas pressie from Maya. Sort of a detective novel, but set in a world where Germany won the second world war. That made it much more interesting, and it was done very cleverly.
The Good, The Bad and the Multi-plex - Mark Kermode
As a complete change to vampires, I went to the good Dr's second book. I'm a huge fan of Mark Kermode/Simon Mayo's film podcast from 5Live (and would recommend it to anyone who doesn't listen to it!) and when Tracey was over in London in September we went to see Mark K do a reading from his book. I think Tracey was quite a convert to him :-). This book was as good as his first one (It's Only A Movie) - and is somewhat akin to reading his 'rants' from the radio. And in a nice bit of continuity, there are a few references to Kim Newman in it - he's a horror movie expert and a friend of Mark K's :-). My only criticism of it would be that it had very long chapters with no natural breaks in them - not conducive to book reading on a train!
Anno Dracula - Kim Newman
Well this was a different sort of book to 'A Farewell to Arms'... The starting premise is that Dracula doesn't die in Bram Stoker's book but goes on to marry Queen Victoria. At the same time, Jack the Ripper is slaughtering new vampires in Whitechapel... I wasn't sure about it at the start - I could decide if I just thought it was derivative or not, but I ended up enjoying it. There were several character names that I recognised (eg Jekyll/Hyde, Mycroft etc) and I thought they were introduced very cleverly. At the end I was suprised to discover that this was published originally in 1992 and had just been reprinted. Obviously cashing in on the current vampire craze (he's written further books in the series as well), and I think in the future will no doubt pen one which references Twiglight, Buffy and True Blood - well he seemed to suggest that in the afterword. I'm not sure if I'll read the others - I can't quite decide how much I liked it - they could be good, or they could just be very samey. Well I certainly wouldn't buy them - maybe take them out from a library tho!
November 2011
A Farewell to Arms - Ernest Hemingway
No I'm not doing a trawl through the classics... it just reads like that at the moment! I read this as Stresa (where I went with Tracey on holiday) features in it and we walked past the hotel the protagonist stays in every time we went to town so I thought it would be good to read it. Can't say I enjoyed it very much - very 'I did this. Then I did this. Then I went here.' style. I was talking to a (male) friend about it yesterday who loved it which sparked a bit of a discussion about female views vs male views, as he really can't get Jane Austen. So I know its a classic and all that, but I was a bit 'meh' about it all. There were some sections where the Italians were talking about the war which were great, but on the whole I was fairly underwhelmed... Not what you're meant to say about a classic I know!
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
For some reason I had never read this - I really don't understand why. But I bought it recently in Waterstone's final "3 for 2" offer - more out of desperation (needed a third book) and I thought it would be good to get a classic. I absolutely loved it - of course that is why it is a classic... but I did think it was brilliant. Although not a 'big' book it seemed to take a lot of reading. There was so much detail in the story telling and the characterisation, that I felt like I'd been reading it for ages, but was still barely into it. All of the characters were so well drawn - and the story felt very true as well. Assuming I'm not the last person to have read it - if you haven't I would really recommend that you do. Next up will be watching the film adaptation of it - amazingly it doesn't seem to have been remade since the 1962 version.
October 2011
Transition - Iain BanksIt took me a while to read this one as Tracey's visit coincided with the starting of it. I don't think I read another one in between. This was another birthday book - from this year, and from Lindsey. First time I've read Iain Banks for years and I LOVED it. A definite keeper, and a definite re-read as well. Not one of his sci-fi ones, but so clever, and despite taking a long time to read it I could still follow the story easily enough. Very clever twisty turny plot involving many different worlds, travellers between worlds, megalomania, right vs wrong. Really really enjoyed it - a great book to be given as it isn't one I would have picked up and read myself.
August 2011
Towards Another Summer - Janet FrameI think this is another birthday book as well - not from this year though - possibly from Fone? I have to admit I've not read much (possibly any) Janet Frame before. I liked this but found it quite tough going - for a couple of reasons. The book, although small, is quite heavy, with a stiff card cover and thick pages - obviously a lot of money went into its production. So despite being carried to and fro work in my bag it didn't look battered at all by the end, and in fact still looks quite untouched! It was written in 1963 but was not allowed to be published while JF was still alive - it is an autobiographical novel about a NZ writer living in London, how she is struggling to fit in, and tells the tale of her going up North for a weekend. Some of her descriptions of growing up in NZ really resonated with me - even though it was set long before I was born, there were aspects of it that I felt could have been describing my childhood. Captures NZ so well - a brilliant passage describing children singing the national anthem had me laughing out loud :-). A hard read, but definitely worth it, and definitely a keeper.
The Cookbook Collector - Allegra Goodman
This is one of my birthday books - a gift from Jackie. I enjoyed this - the story of two sisters and their journey to find love. It is set in the time of the dotcom boom, just before 9/11. The characters are well developed and she has a nice way of introducing a character, and you then get an alternative view of them further on in the book. A subplot about Hasidic jews is also cleverly done and I didn't see the twist coming with that one at all. This felt a bit like intelligent 'chick lit' but it is one I'll re-read, and would recommend it. Great holiday reading!
The Prince of Mist - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Another one borrowed from Kevin. This is by the author of 'The Shadow of the Wind' which has one of the best opening lines ever I think - “I still remember the day my father took me to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books for the first time.” However I'm not writing about that book... This was written a few years ago, and is aimed at the Young Adult market (one for my sister Leigh then!). Its good - not great, but good. A nice supernatural story (which I always like), but it just felt a bit undeveloped for me - maybe thats because its a translation. Its a nice,quick easy read however, so is worth a look.
July 2011The Night Book - Charlotte Grimshaw
I'm not quite sure who I got this one from - possibly Tracey? Anyhow - a book by a NZ author, looking at relationships between the characters and what links them. Questions the nature of love - between a father and his adopted daughter, the marriage of the next Prime Minister and the secrets within it, all the while mocking the National Party bigwigs. I really enjoyed it - didn't know what to expect as I hadn't read any of her stuff before. Evoked NZ very clearly for me, and the story had me hooked. Slightly ambiguous ending which I wasn't sure about, but on the whole it was really very good.
Cold Skin - Albert Sanchez PinolThis is one that Kevin lent me. Didn't enjoy it very much - the story was good, but I just didn't like the characters. Which for me is quite an important piece of whether I enjoy a book or not. But it was quite short, and very different from Wolf Hall so I persevered. It tells the story of two men on an uninhabited island at the edge of the Antarctic Circle. Or is it...?? Review from The Observer here. Next up will be one of my birthday books I think.
June 2011
Wolf Hall - Hilary MantelAbsolutely LOVED this book - so far it is definitely the best book of the year for me. So cleverly written - so funny and so interesting. Although I do have to admit thinking I was reading about Oliver Cromwell for a bit of it... :-). Definitely my recommendation of the year (to date)
May 2011
Trespass - Rose TremainNormally I like Rose Tremain's books, but this one just didn't work for me. Couldn't relate to the characters at all, and didn't like the story particularly either. I may have been slightly influenced by a friend telling me before I read it that she didn't like it, but this just didn't gel with me at all. One for the charity shops I think...
April 2011
The Passage - Justin Cronin
This is weird - I thought I'd updated this list since March... anyhow - so at some point in April I finished 'The Passage'. A well read book this one - came to me via Philippa, then went to Maya and then back to me. Big fat vampire read - I really enjoyed it. An easy read, but a good one. A book of two halves, but I'm looking forward to reading his next one. Bizarrely, it is only just being released here in the UK so there are lots of billboards advertising it at the mo - I got excited as I thought they were advertising the sequel...
March 2011
The Hand That First Held Mine - Maggie O'FarrellI've read all of MoF's books - she's one of my repeat authors. I really enjoyed this one - she has a way of writing great characters, and her stories really pull you in. This was both sad and uplifting at the same time - definitely recommend it (and her!).
The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ - Philip PullmanVery good retelling of the story... Really quite thought provoking - good old PP puts the Christian story under the spotlight again. And who is 'The Stranger'???
The Season of the Witch - Natasha MostertBorrowed this off Kevin. For those who like supernatural type books it is worth a read. Gripping, good characters, good plot etc, but a nice light read at the same time.
Jan - Feb 2011
The Year of the Flood - Margaret AtwoodThis is actually Mhairi's copy - which I will return one day! Really enjoyed this - sort of a prequel/sequel to Oryx & Crake. Well worth a read.
The Lacuna - Barbara KingsolverStruggled with this one. Some of hers I like, but it took me ages to 'like' the character and I'm not good with books when I don't like anyone in it.
Fatherland - Robert HarrisXmas pressie from Maya. Sort of a detective novel, but set in a world where Germany won the second world war. That made it much more interesting, and it was done very cleverly.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
The truly wonderful 'Hugo'
Today I went to see Hugo - which I absolutely loved. It is based on the book 'The Invention of Hugo Cabret' which I borrowed off Kevin last year. The book itself is a graphic novel - although most of it is pictures rather than words. And graphic novel does it an injustice, or paints it as something that it isn't.
It is a wonderful story, and the film absolutely does it justice. It was 'very 3D' - most of the other 3D movies I've seen have had bits of it in 3D, but this one really is almost entirely 3D. It makes it quite tiring to watch, but it was so beautifully done, and it really does add to the film.
Just loved it :-). One you could rewatch and rewatch - although at home with no 3D that might be quite difficult!
It is a wonderful story, and the film absolutely does it justice. It was 'very 3D' - most of the other 3D movies I've seen have had bits of it in 3D, but this one really is almost entirely 3D. It makes it quite tiring to watch, but it was so beautifully done, and it really does add to the film.
Just loved it :-). One you could rewatch and rewatch - although at home with no 3D that might be quite difficult!
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Talking about heroes...
I went to see Sir Ranulph Fiennes talk about his new book 'My Heroes' - I'd seen the tickets advertised ages ago and for £10 they seemed like a bargain.
He was such a great speaker. Based on his life I'd expected someone who was loud, overbearing and very sort of 'Bear Grylls' ish. Not like that all - very funny - very dry sense of humour, and a wonderful storyteller. The time just flew by, and I certainly left wanting to know more about him and some of the adventures he's been on. He was very clear that technology has improved exploring, and illustrated that with some very funny examples.
I also like how his heroes are not necessarily who you would expect from a man with a military and exploration background. I think the book would be a very interesting read.
He was such a great speaker. Based on his life I'd expected someone who was loud, overbearing and very sort of 'Bear Grylls' ish. Not like that all - very funny - very dry sense of humour, and a wonderful storyteller. The time just flew by, and I certainly left wanting to know more about him and some of the adventures he's been on. He was very clear that technology has improved exploring, and illustrated that with some very funny examples.
I also like how his heroes are not necessarily who you would expect from a man with a military and exploration background. I think the book would be a very interesting read.
Sunday, December 04, 2011
Out on the wiley windy moors...
So today I went to see the new adaptation of Wuthering Heights - I knew it had had mixed reviews but Mark Kermode made it his film of the week a couple of weeks back, and I had wanted to see it.
Rather wished I hadn't bothered now. Didn't do it for me at all. I didn't get much feeling out of any of the characters at all - either when they were young, or when they were older. It wasn't the shortening of the story that I didn't like - I just didn't warm to any of the actors. The Observer review is interesting - I just didn't see them bonding as children particularly. Maybe I'm too literal - but it bugged me tht the actor who played Hindley didn't change (and appeared to be almost an adult when Heathcliff is first brought to the house) but Cathy and Heathcliff are played by different actors as adults. The ages just didn't seem to work/gel for me. Personally - I wouldn't recommend it. Has made me want to re-read the book though!
Rather wished I hadn't bothered now. Didn't do it for me at all. I didn't get much feeling out of any of the characters at all - either when they were young, or when they were older. It wasn't the shortening of the story that I didn't like - I just didn't warm to any of the actors. The Observer review is interesting - I just didn't see them bonding as children particularly. Maybe I'm too literal - but it bugged me tht the actor who played Hindley didn't change (and appeared to be almost an adult when Heathcliff is first brought to the house) but Cathy and Heathcliff are played by different actors as adults. The ages just didn't seem to work/gel for me. Personally - I wouldn't recommend it. Has made me want to re-read the book though!
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Because I obviously need a musical focus...
I've been a bit lost since finishing my trip through my ipod. I have got so used to knowing what I 'had' to listen to that having complete freedom to pick and choose is a bit overwhelming for me! So I've just gone through my notes and am going to go back and revisit the albums/bands I made specific mention of.
Interesting to see the same names crop up more than once - so I'll be starting with Gaslight Anthem, Deer Tick, Richmond Fontaine, Future Clouds & Radar, and Built to Spill - they all got more than one mention over the A-Z. But loads of others to revisit as well - now I can relax again - I have another focus!
Interesting to see the same names crop up more than once - so I'll be starting with Gaslight Anthem, Deer Tick, Richmond Fontaine, Future Clouds & Radar, and Built to Spill - they all got more than one mention over the A-Z. But loads of others to revisit as well - now I can relax again - I have another focus!
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
I'm 'All Ears'
I went to a fantastic evening this week - this 'Storythyme' event run by All Ears events. I absolutely loved it!
My friend pulled out at the last minute as she had a cold and I couldn't find anyone else to go at short notice. I was a bit worried about going by myself, but it turned out fine. And it was such a great evening. I'm a big fan of The Moth podcasts and this was very similar to it.
I really enjoyed the first and last speakers - for very different reasons. Harry's story was just interesting (and makes you realise how lucky you are) and Danny's talk was interesting as what he is trying to do is such a good thing - and so challenging. The middle speaker was good too - but much more polished than the first two and so I didn't enjoy him quite as much.
Food was fantastic, and there is just something really cool about listening to real people tell real stories - at the risk of sounding twee (and given I'm blogging it is a bit sillly!) it was so lovely to hear people talking their stories as opposed to just reading or watching about it.
Can't wait for their 2012 line up!!
My friend pulled out at the last minute as she had a cold and I couldn't find anyone else to go at short notice. I was a bit worried about going by myself, but it turned out fine. And it was such a great evening. I'm a big fan of The Moth podcasts and this was very similar to it.
I really enjoyed the first and last speakers - for very different reasons. Harry's story was just interesting (and makes you realise how lucky you are) and Danny's talk was interesting as what he is trying to do is such a good thing - and so challenging. The middle speaker was good too - but much more polished than the first two and so I didn't enjoy him quite as much.
Food was fantastic, and there is just something really cool about listening to real people tell real stories - at the risk of sounding twee (and given I'm blogging it is a bit sillly!) it was so lovely to hear people talking their stories as opposed to just reading or watching about it.
Can't wait for their 2012 line up!!
Sunday, November 20, 2011
The Help
I went to see The Help this afternoon - it was a very foggy dank Sunday afternoon so it just seemed to call out for a trip to the cinema.
I really enjoyed it - although I've read a few reviews which are vaguely critical of it in that it is a white person 'to the rescue' again, and a lot of the political history of the time is mentioned at a very high level in the background, but doesn't form much of the story.
However having just read 'To Kill a Mockingbird' I was fascinated by the depiction of the maids bringing up the children of their employers - this is a key theme throughout TKAM as well. And even with the caveats above, it is still an easily watchable piece of social history - that I sat through and thought 'really?' while knowing that it was probably much worse than what was being depicted on screen...
I really enjoyed it - although I've read a few reviews which are vaguely critical of it in that it is a white person 'to the rescue' again, and a lot of the political history of the time is mentioned at a very high level in the background, but doesn't form much of the story.
However having just read 'To Kill a Mockingbird' I was fascinated by the depiction of the maids bringing up the children of their employers - this is a key theme throughout TKAM as well. And even with the caveats above, it is still an easily watchable piece of social history - that I sat through and thought 'really?' while knowing that it was probably much worse than what was being depicted on screen...
Saturday, November 19, 2011
And so it ends...
So it has taken from June 2009 to November 2011 but I have now finally finished my odyssey through my ipod. I've finished listening to all the late additions and a couple of random misses - either songs from albums, or occasionally the whole album, and I can now confirm that almost everything that is on my ipod has been listened to (just finishing off 'Mr Love & Justice' by Billy Bragg as I type.
You'll notice they're all mainly in the first half of the alphabet - acquired after I'd started obviously and I just never went back to listen to them...
So the last lot were:
Admiral Fell Promises - Sun Kil Moon
The Age of Adz - Sufjan Stevens
American Slang - The Gaslight Anthem
American IV: Ain't No Grave - Johnny Cash
Ancient Melodies of the Future - Built to Spill
Avi Buffalo - Avi Buffalo
Band of Joy - Robert Plant
Beachcomber's Windowsill - Stornoway
Beneath this Burning Shoreline - Cherry Ghost
Black Dirt Sessions - Deer Tick
Brief History of Love - The Big Pink
Buffalo - The Phoenix Foundation
Contra - Vampire Weekend
Courage of Others - Midlake
Dark Night of the Soul - Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse
Dark Was the Night - Various Artists
Destroyer of the Void - Blitzen Trapper
Drown Your Heart Again - The Strange Death of Liberal England
Emotionalism - The Avett Brothers
End Times - Eels
Erland & The Carnival - Erland and the Carnival
Fools Gold - Fools Gold
Forward March - The Strange Death of Liberal England
Four Thieves Gone - The Avett Brothers
The Gleam - The Avett Brothers
Go - Jonsi
Here's Tom With The Weather - Shack
Interpol - Interpol
Into Your Lungs - Hey Rosetta!
Kiss Each Other Clean - Iron & Wine
Live, Vol 3 - The Avett Brothers
The Midnight Organ Fight - Frightened Rabbit
Mr Love & Justice (Disc 1&2) - Billy Bragg
The Whole Love - Wilco
The Winter of Mixed Drinks - Frightened Rabbit
Sun Kil Moon I liked. Sort of a bit 60s folkish - nice and balladic. I do like a good ballad! Gaslight Anthem I really enjoyed - the music almost seemed to 'age' over the album. Really rated it. Stornaway was another hit from this list and I liked Deer Tick as well. The Midlake album was a bit depressing for me - but I was listening to it on a Monday morning! Big Pink I loved too. Especially the song Dominos. The Avett Brothers remain firm faves, and I liked TSDOLE as well. No idea how I missed the Billy Bragg and Johnny Cash albums the first time round!
What will I do now I've finished!!??
You'll notice they're all mainly in the first half of the alphabet - acquired after I'd started obviously and I just never went back to listen to them...
So the last lot were:
Admiral Fell Promises - Sun Kil Moon
The Age of Adz - Sufjan Stevens
American Slang - The Gaslight Anthem
American IV: Ain't No Grave - Johnny Cash
Ancient Melodies of the Future - Built to Spill
Avi Buffalo - Avi Buffalo
Band of Joy - Robert Plant
Beachcomber's Windowsill - Stornoway
Beneath this Burning Shoreline - Cherry Ghost
Black Dirt Sessions - Deer Tick
Brief History of Love - The Big Pink
Buffalo - The Phoenix Foundation
Contra - Vampire Weekend
Courage of Others - Midlake
Dark Night of the Soul - Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse
Dark Was the Night - Various Artists
Destroyer of the Void - Blitzen Trapper
Drown Your Heart Again - The Strange Death of Liberal England
Emotionalism - The Avett Brothers
End Times - Eels
Erland & The Carnival - Erland and the Carnival
Fools Gold - Fools Gold
Forward March - The Strange Death of Liberal England
Four Thieves Gone - The Avett Brothers
The Gleam - The Avett Brothers
Go - Jonsi
Here's Tom With The Weather - Shack
Interpol - Interpol
Into Your Lungs - Hey Rosetta!
Kiss Each Other Clean - Iron & Wine
Live, Vol 3 - The Avett Brothers
The Midnight Organ Fight - Frightened Rabbit
Mr Love & Justice (Disc 1&2) - Billy Bragg
The Whole Love - Wilco
The Winter of Mixed Drinks - Frightened Rabbit
Sun Kil Moon I liked. Sort of a bit 60s folkish - nice and balladic. I do like a good ballad! Gaslight Anthem I really enjoyed - the music almost seemed to 'age' over the album. Really rated it. Stornaway was another hit from this list and I liked Deer Tick as well. The Midlake album was a bit depressing for me - but I was listening to it on a Monday morning! Big Pink I loved too. Especially the song Dominos. The Avett Brothers remain firm faves, and I liked TSDOLE as well. No idea how I missed the Billy Bragg and Johnny Cash albums the first time round!
What will I do now I've finished!!??
Thursday, October 27, 2011
On the nature of being ill and memories
Or to be honest - a bit poorly...
I've had a low-level cold this week - took one day off work to try and shake it, and since then have just been generally bunged up and sneezing a lot. Weirdly it feels more like hayfever than a cold, but it is October and the leaves are dropping off the trees and nothing is flowering so I think it is just a cold limping its way out of me.
But this got me thinking about when I am ill. Which (touch wood) I very rarely am. I can't remember the last time I had a full on grotty head cold, let alone the flu (thereby now opening myself up to a winter of lurgies no doubt) and I don't really know what to attribute that to. I'm not uber healthy, nor do I live a clean and pure lifestyle which would build up my resistance to all the bugs floating around. But somehow I tend to manage to avoid the worst of them - the most I do is quaff echinacea and fortified vitamin c when I feel something coming on. Maybe thats it!
But the one thing I do always have is lemon & honey with disprin. I can't bring myself to buy Lemsip - and don't really see the point. And there is something comforting and homely about my lemon & honey drinks. Memories of hearing Mum walk up the passage way when I was ill at home as a child, and knowing she was bringing me my drink. Always before bedtime to help us sleep. Although I think I put a tad more honey in than she did as sometimes they were a bit tart! And even feeling just a little bit poorly, I go straight back there, and still want to be looked after. I'll never forget my 21st family celebration - feeling full of cold, and I just wanted to be at home. I was going home anyhow (I think I bused back with Eryn) and it was a journey from hell - cold, hot, sweating and shivering. But we got back to Taupo, I crawled into bed and Mum bought 'the drink' in. I was so happy to be home - even though I felt like I was dying!
I've had a low-level cold this week - took one day off work to try and shake it, and since then have just been generally bunged up and sneezing a lot. Weirdly it feels more like hayfever than a cold, but it is October and the leaves are dropping off the trees and nothing is flowering so I think it is just a cold limping its way out of me.
But this got me thinking about when I am ill. Which (touch wood) I very rarely am. I can't remember the last time I had a full on grotty head cold, let alone the flu (thereby now opening myself up to a winter of lurgies no doubt) and I don't really know what to attribute that to. I'm not uber healthy, nor do I live a clean and pure lifestyle which would build up my resistance to all the bugs floating around. But somehow I tend to manage to avoid the worst of them - the most I do is quaff echinacea and fortified vitamin c when I feel something coming on. Maybe thats it!
But the one thing I do always have is lemon & honey with disprin. I can't bring myself to buy Lemsip - and don't really see the point. And there is something comforting and homely about my lemon & honey drinks. Memories of hearing Mum walk up the passage way when I was ill at home as a child, and knowing she was bringing me my drink. Always before bedtime to help us sleep. Although I think I put a tad more honey in than she did as sometimes they were a bit tart! And even feeling just a little bit poorly, I go straight back there, and still want to be looked after. I'll never forget my 21st family celebration - feeling full of cold, and I just wanted to be at home. I was going home anyhow (I think I bused back with Eryn) and it was a journey from hell - cold, hot, sweating and shivering. But we got back to Taupo, I crawled into bed and Mum bought 'the drink' in. I was so happy to be home - even though I felt like I was dying!
Sunday, October 23, 2011
From 0 to 100 in...
Ok - not quite. But I've done my 'numbers' albums - so I'm very much reaching the end of my odyssey through my ipod... But I still do have quite a few new ones to listen to, so I'm not quite done yet.
Mhairi asked if I haven't been listening/buying to anything new since I've been doing this. I have been buying the odd new album and listening to new stuff - just as well as this has taken me a couple of years! But it is probably fair to say I have slowed in that regard. But then again, I've discovered some of the great music I already own :-). So the albums are:
004: Hope - The Green Room (Loop)
12 Songs - Neil Diamond
12 Tales from Winter City - The Young Republic
16 Lovers Lane - The Go-Betweens
18 - Moby
19 - Adele
The '59 Sound - The Gaslight Anthem
'64-'95 - Lemon Jelly
69 Love Songs - Vols 1, 2 and 3 - The Magnetic Fields
$87 and a Guilty Conscience that gets Worse the Longer I go - Richmond Fontaine
1972 (Bonus dvd) - Josh Rouse
The ones I really enjoyed in this (short) list were The Gaslight Anthem and Young Republic. Neil Diamond is obviously always brilliant, Moby gets very boring, Lemon Jelly just sounds like background filler music to me, and Richmond Fontaine was also very good.
Mhairi asked if I haven't been listening/buying to anything new since I've been doing this. I have been buying the odd new album and listening to new stuff - just as well as this has taken me a couple of years! But it is probably fair to say I have slowed in that regard. But then again, I've discovered some of the great music I already own :-). So the albums are:
004: Hope - The Green Room (Loop)
12 Songs - Neil Diamond
12 Tales from Winter City - The Young Republic
16 Lovers Lane - The Go-Betweens
18 - Moby
19 - Adele
The '59 Sound - The Gaslight Anthem
'64-'95 - Lemon Jelly
69 Love Songs - Vols 1, 2 and 3 - The Magnetic Fields
$87 and a Guilty Conscience that gets Worse the Longer I go - Richmond Fontaine
1972 (Bonus dvd) - Josh Rouse
The ones I really enjoyed in this (short) list were The Gaslight Anthem and Young Republic. Neil Diamond is obviously always brilliant, Moby gets very boring, Lemon Jelly just sounds like background filler music to me, and Richmond Fontaine was also very good.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Tracey comes to town...
I'm not even going to try and do a catch up in terms of Tracey's visit - she's been gone almost two weeks now :-( . But some of the fun bits below - and loads of photos are now on Flickr. More than my facebook album!
- Day out at the seaside in Brighton
- Beautiful Stresa/Lake Maggiore
- The heat in Bologna and Milan
- The weather during Tracey's last week
- Leeds Castle
- Buckingham Palace - no Queen but we did see 'The Dress'!!
- London Zoo - always a good day out :-)
- The Lost Gardens of Heligan - stunning
- Eden Project - great to go back to
- Having someone to drink G&Ts with!
W, X, Y and Z...
Visiting sister means I've not updated this recently... so lots of music I've got through in the last couple of months! Still not done tho - am now doing the "numbers" and then I've got lots of new music to listen to. This mission ain't done yet...
W
Wait for Me - The Pigeon Detectives
Wake Up! - The Boo Radleys
Want One - Rufus Wainwright
Want Two - Rufus Wainwright
War Elephant - Deer Tick
Warnings/Promises - Idlewild
Washington Square Serenade - Steve Earle
Water is Life, Aman Iman - Tinariwen
Watershed - Grant McLennan
Watina - Andy Palacio & The Garifuna Collective
We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank - Modest Mouse
A Weekend in the City - Bloc Party
What Are You Going to do With Your Life? - Echo & The Bunnymen
What the Crow Brings - The Low Anthem
(What's the Story) Morning Glory? - Oasis
Whatever People Say I Am Thats What I Am - Arctic Monkeys
When Its Over We All Have to Clear Up - Snow Patrol
Whiplash - James
Whiskey Tango Ghosts - Tanya Donnelly
White Ladder - David Grey
Who You Are - Cary Brothers
Wilco (The Album) - Wilco
Wildwood - Chatham County Line
Wingspan (Hits & History 1 & 2) - Wings
Winnemuca - Richmond Fontaine
The Wire ' "And all the pieces matter" - Various Artists
Woman King - Iron & Wine
Wooden Shjips - Wooden Shjips
Words & Music: Greatest Hits Disc 1&2 - John Mellencamp
Workbook - Bob Mould
So the Ws....? Pigeon Detectives were good - bit Arctic Monkey-ish, Deer Tick was great - sort of alt country. Great voice! Modest Mouse have a couple of songs that I've added to my faves, but overall didn't grab me a lot. Cary Brothers I liked - sort of Snow Patrol/Mumford & Sons style. Quite into that at the moment. Richmond Fontaine also great - really like his stuff. Two albums of Wings is a bit too much though!
X&Y - Coldplay
XX - The XX
I quite like this Coldplay album. XX got loads of press when they hit the scene, and its a good album. Didn't really really love it though.
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco
Yellow Moon - The Neville Brothers
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots - The Flaming Lips
You Are Not Alone - Mavis Staples
You Can Have it So Much Better - Franz Ferdinand
You Gotta Go There To Come Back - Stereophonics
Yours Truly, Angry Mob - Kaiser Chiefs
Youth and Young Manhood - Kings of Leon
Enjoyed the Kaiser Chiefs again - some good songs on that album. Kings of Leon were a bit 'meh' on this album. Not one of my faves of theirs. Wilco - always good, and the Neville Brothers were a bit of history! The Flaming Lips was great - I saw them sing songs from this album at the Big Day Out back in 2004 so I have a real softspot for it!
"Z" - My Morning Jacket
Zeus - British Sea Power
MMJ - always good! The British Sea Power ep was ok. Good at the start but gets a bit too full on for me towards the end.
W
Wait for Me - The Pigeon Detectives
Wake Up! - The Boo Radleys
Want One - Rufus Wainwright
Want Two - Rufus Wainwright
War Elephant - Deer Tick
Warnings/Promises - Idlewild
Washington Square Serenade - Steve Earle
Water is Life, Aman Iman - Tinariwen
Watershed - Grant McLennan
Watina - Andy Palacio & The Garifuna Collective
We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank - Modest Mouse
A Weekend in the City - Bloc Party
What Are You Going to do With Your Life? - Echo & The Bunnymen
What the Crow Brings - The Low Anthem
(What's the Story) Morning Glory? - Oasis
Whatever People Say I Am Thats What I Am - Arctic Monkeys
When Its Over We All Have to Clear Up - Snow Patrol
Whiplash - James
Whiskey Tango Ghosts - Tanya Donnelly
White Ladder - David Grey
Who You Are - Cary Brothers
Wilco (The Album) - Wilco
Wildwood - Chatham County Line
Wingspan (Hits & History 1 & 2) - Wings
Winnemuca - Richmond Fontaine
The Wire ' "And all the pieces matter" - Various Artists
Woman King - Iron & Wine
Wooden Shjips - Wooden Shjips
Words & Music: Greatest Hits Disc 1&2 - John Mellencamp
Workbook - Bob Mould
So the Ws....? Pigeon Detectives were good - bit Arctic Monkey-ish, Deer Tick was great - sort of alt country. Great voice! Modest Mouse have a couple of songs that I've added to my faves, but overall didn't grab me a lot. Cary Brothers I liked - sort of Snow Patrol/Mumford & Sons style. Quite into that at the moment. Richmond Fontaine also great - really like his stuff. Two albums of Wings is a bit too much though!
X&Y - Coldplay
XX - The XX
I quite like this Coldplay album. XX got loads of press when they hit the scene, and its a good album. Didn't really really love it though.
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco
Yellow Moon - The Neville Brothers
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots - The Flaming Lips
You Are Not Alone - Mavis Staples
You Can Have it So Much Better - Franz Ferdinand
You Gotta Go There To Come Back - Stereophonics
Yours Truly, Angry Mob - Kaiser Chiefs
Youth and Young Manhood - Kings of Leon
Enjoyed the Kaiser Chiefs again - some good songs on that album. Kings of Leon were a bit 'meh' on this album. Not one of my faves of theirs. Wilco - always good, and the Neville Brothers were a bit of history! The Flaming Lips was great - I saw them sing songs from this album at the Big Day Out back in 2004 so I have a real softspot for it!
"Z" - My Morning Jacket
Zeus - British Sea Power
MMJ - always good! The British Sea Power ep was ok. Good at the start but gets a bit too full on for me towards the end.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Verily through the 'V's...
Another letter that didn't take long to get through... but quite a few 'Very Best Of' in there!
Valhalla Dancefloor - British Sea Power
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
Vehicles & Animals - Athlete
Very Best of Elvis Costello - Elvis Costello
The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac (Disc 1 & 2) - Fleetwood Mac
The Very Best of Kris Kristofferson - Kris Kristofferson
The Very Best of The Eagles - The Eagles
Very Best of The Jam - The Jam
Very Best of The Smiths - The Smiths
Very Best of Woody Guthrie - Woody Guthrie
Vexations - Get Well Soon
Viva la Vida or Death and all His Friends - Coldplay
Voice of the Seven Woods - Voice of the Seven Woods
Athlete were ok - bit 'Snow Patrol' lite and ended up sounding a bit derivative. I enjoyed Vexations - quite melodic but lots of different styles in there so you never knew what was going to come next. Mixed it up a bit which was interesting. Viva la Vida has to be Coldplay's worst album - just a bit dull really. British Sea Power are always good :-).
Short but sweet letter, but lots of old faves in the 'Very Best Of's so I quite enjoyed it.
Valhalla Dancefloor - British Sea Power
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
Vehicles & Animals - Athlete
Very Best of Elvis Costello - Elvis Costello
The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac (Disc 1 & 2) - Fleetwood Mac
The Very Best of Kris Kristofferson - Kris Kristofferson
The Very Best of The Eagles - The Eagles
Very Best of The Jam - The Jam
Very Best of The Smiths - The Smiths
Very Best of Woody Guthrie - Woody Guthrie
Vexations - Get Well Soon
Viva la Vida or Death and all His Friends - Coldplay
Voice of the Seven Woods - Voice of the Seven Woods
Athlete were ok - bit 'Snow Patrol' lite and ended up sounding a bit derivative. I enjoyed Vexations - quite melodic but lots of different styles in there so you never knew what was going to come next. Mixed it up a bit which was interesting. Viva la Vida has to be Coldplay's worst album - just a bit dull really. British Sea Power are always good :-).
Short but sweet letter, but lots of old faves in the 'Very Best Of's so I quite enjoyed it.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
A trip to East Yorkshire...
Not the nicest bit of the county to go to... but it is where my friend Dawn lives so off I went. Got the train to Hull although she actually lives in Beverley. Not much of note to say about Hull as we didn't spend any time there - although it was where the poet Philip Larkin lived, and there was a very nice statue of him at the train station - I particularly liked the inscription :-).
Saturday we went over to Helmsley and visited Rievaulx Abbey which was really quite spectacular. Also interesting to visit having finished Wolf Hall recently. One of the many Abbey's that Henry VIII had stripped to get their wealth. Gives you a bit of a different perspective on history!
It was a lovely weekend - and as always it was great to get out of London and see the countryside! Photos below, and more on Flickr :-).
Saturday we went over to Helmsley and visited Rievaulx Abbey which was really quite spectacular. Also interesting to visit having finished Wolf Hall recently. One of the many Abbey's that Henry VIII had stripped to get their wealth. Gives you a bit of a different perspective on history!
It was a lovely weekend - and as always it was great to get out of London and see the countryside! Photos below, and more on Flickr :-).
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Sunday, August 14, 2011
London prepares...
I went out and checked out the London-Surrey Cycle Classic today - fortuitiously the route went through Kingston!
There were loads of people out watching, and it was a great atmosphere. As soon as the police came through people started cheering and clapping them. I'm pretty sure that was a direct result of the riots and looting of last week, and it was lovely to be able to show them some appreciation as they've been getting beaten up a bit from the press and the politicians recently. I don't think that people would normally be quite so keen to 'clap the cops'. And they loved it! At various points as they had to stop to wait for the cyclists, they were chatting away to the crowd, they were waving, acknowledging the claps and cheers, tooting their horns, putting their sirens on etc. Brilliant!
As for the cyclists, a bit like when I went to see the Tour de France come through London they were past in a flash! As you can see from the only two photos I managed to get of the cyclists!!
Good fun though - am really pleased I went and did it.
There were loads of people out watching, and it was a great atmosphere. As soon as the police came through people started cheering and clapping them. I'm pretty sure that was a direct result of the riots and looting of last week, and it was lovely to be able to show them some appreciation as they've been getting beaten up a bit from the press and the politicians recently. I don't think that people would normally be quite so keen to 'clap the cops'. And they loved it! At various points as they had to stop to wait for the cyclists, they were chatting away to the crowd, they were waving, acknowledging the claps and cheers, tooting their horns, putting their sirens on etc. Brilliant!
As for the cyclists, a bit like when I went to see the Tour de France come through London they were past in a flash! As you can see from the only two photos I managed to get of the cyclists!!
Good fun though - am really pleased I went and did it.
The front runners
The front runners
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.
These were the first two through - the rest of the pack were a good bit behind them.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Two very interesting blog posts...
These are both good - the first one was linked to in the Guardian (it is worth reading through the comments below as well), and the second one I got to through the comments on the first post.
The press and the radio are full of people talking about how and why this happened/is happening - debates on whether they are protesting (general consensus is that they aren't - the BBC won't refer to the looting as protesting), rioting, or looting. I'm firmly in the looting category it has to be said...
Walworth Road
Power of One
And another recording as well of 'yoof' from Manchester talking about their looting - let me know if it doesn't play and I'll describe it in a separate post. The Guardian also had this bit from Kevin Sampson about his role in the Toxteth riots - hard to argue with the logic in it. It is essentially a Wii game come to life for a lot of them, with the bonus of free stuff thrown in...
The press and the radio are full of people talking about how and why this happened/is happening - debates on whether they are protesting (general consensus is that they aren't - the BBC won't refer to the looting as protesting), rioting, or looting. I'm firmly in the looting category it has to be said...
Walworth Road
Power of One
And another recording as well of 'yoof' from Manchester talking about their looting - let me know if it doesn't play and I'll describe it in a separate post. The Guardian also had this bit from Kevin Sampson about his role in the Toxteth riots - hard to argue with the logic in it. It is essentially a Wii game come to life for a lot of them, with the bonus of free stuff thrown in...
Tuesday, August 09, 2011
Well 'U' didn't take long...
And here I am - back again with another letter completed! Easy when there aren't many albums!!
Ugly Beautiful - Babybird
The Ugly People vs The Beautiful People - The Czars
The Ultimate Bill Withers Collection - Bill Withers
Unchained - Johnny Cash
Under Cold Blue Stars - Josh Rouse
Under the Blacklight - Rilo Kiley
The Unforgettable Fire - U2
Up - REM
Urban Hymns - The Verve
Us - Mull Historical Society
Not much not to like in this short list. Babybird was fun to listen to again after a very long time. Can't go past a bit of Johnny Cash either! Mull Historical Society and The Verve - both wee strolls down memory lane. All good fun.
Ugly Beautiful - Babybird
The Ugly People vs The Beautiful People - The Czars
The Ultimate Bill Withers Collection - Bill Withers
Unchained - Johnny Cash
Under Cold Blue Stars - Josh Rouse
Under the Blacklight - Rilo Kiley
The Unforgettable Fire - U2
Up - REM
Urban Hymns - The Verve
Us - Mull Historical Society
Not much not to like in this short list. Babybird was fun to listen to again after a very long time. Can't go past a bit of Johnny Cash either! Mull Historical Society and The Verve - both wee strolls down memory lane. All good fun.
Panic on the streets of London...
Or Manchester or Birmingham or....
It has been a surreal few days in London town - probably right up there for me with the few days immediately after the July 7 bombing. Right now it appears fairly calm across London but its all starting to kick off up in Manchester.
Still loads of people referring to it as 'rioting'. This isn't rioting - this is pure outright looting. The mob mentality takes over and off they go. The worst thing about it is the effect it is having on small local businesses and people who live in these areas. Homes are being burnt out as fires are started in the shops they live above, whole businesses are being destroyed - and they aren't the big multi-nationals either.
This clip is interesting - not sure if non-UK readers will be able to listen to it, but essentially two girls talking about what a laugh all this rioting is, and how they're attacking businesses as 'they are rich' and they are showing the rich they can do what they want. They're drinking looted rose wine at 9am in the morning, hoping it all kicks off again that evening. So awful - so stupid and so so awful. I've heard and seen so many truly heartbreaking stories over the last couple of days and to hear this sort of stupid commentary just makes it worse.
And of course it is also bringing out some interesting attitudes as well - my favourite facebook comment so far has been from someone suggesting that we bring the army back from Iraq and ship all of the looters out there... Hmm - not sure that would work.
Hopefully this will all start to calm down now - the police have taken a battering (both literally and in the press/from the public) but if nothing else London is only reaping the results of the cuts the Met has had to make recently.
Interesting times we live in...
It has been a surreal few days in London town - probably right up there for me with the few days immediately after the July 7 bombing. Right now it appears fairly calm across London but its all starting to kick off up in Manchester.
Still loads of people referring to it as 'rioting'. This isn't rioting - this is pure outright looting. The mob mentality takes over and off they go. The worst thing about it is the effect it is having on small local businesses and people who live in these areas. Homes are being burnt out as fires are started in the shops they live above, whole businesses are being destroyed - and they aren't the big multi-nationals either.
This clip is interesting - not sure if non-UK readers will be able to listen to it, but essentially two girls talking about what a laugh all this rioting is, and how they're attacking businesses as 'they are rich' and they are showing the rich they can do what they want. They're drinking looted rose wine at 9am in the morning, hoping it all kicks off again that evening. So awful - so stupid and so so awful. I've heard and seen so many truly heartbreaking stories over the last couple of days and to hear this sort of stupid commentary just makes it worse.
And of course it is also bringing out some interesting attitudes as well - my favourite facebook comment so far has been from someone suggesting that we bring the army back from Iraq and ship all of the looters out there... Hmm - not sure that would work.
Hopefully this will all start to calm down now - the police have taken a battering (both literally and in the press/from the public) but if nothing else London is only reaping the results of the cuts the Met has had to make recently.
Interesting times we live in...
Saturday, August 06, 2011
And still falling...
This year Megan comes in at 23 in the most popular names list. Was 20th last year, and 15th the year before! There were 2223 girls named Megan in the UK in 2010...
Maya comes in at 57th (up from 66 last year with 1061), while Lucy pips me (again!) coming in at 21st (down from 16th last year with 2544). No Leigh, Louisa or Tracey, but Elizabeth comes in at 49th. Interestingly Erin comes in at 35th for girls with 1621.
Thomas comes in at 6th with 5307 - no change from last year. William is 7th with 5256. Alex is at 52 with 1359 (down from 50 last year) and Sam is at 93 with 692 (down from 88 last year).
Maya comes in at 57th (up from 66 last year with 1061), while Lucy pips me (again!) coming in at 21st (down from 16th last year with 2544). No Leigh, Louisa or Tracey, but Elizabeth comes in at 49th. Interestingly Erin comes in at 35th for girls with 1621.
Thomas comes in at 6th with 5307 - no change from last year. William is 7th with 5256. Alex is at 52 with 1359 (down from 50 last year) and Sam is at 93 with 692 (down from 88 last year).
Torn through the 'T's
Well not quite actually, as there are a lot of albums beginning with the letter T!
Takk - Sigur Ros
Tallulah - The Go Betweens
Tanglewood Numbers - Silver Jews
Technique - New Order
Teenager - The Thrills
The Tennessee Fire - My Morning Jacket
Theology Disc 1 - Sinead O'Connor
There is no Enemy - Built to Spill
There is Nothing Left to Lose - Foo Fighters
There Will Be A Light - Ben Harper and the Blind Boys of Alabama
Think Before You Speak - Good Shoes
Thirst for Romance - Cherry Ghost
This Hungry Life - Tanya Donnelly
This Is Hope - Mull Historical Society
This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours - Manic Street Preachers
This Old Road - Kris Kristofferson
Thriller - Lambchop
Through the Window Pane - Guillemots
Throw Down Your Arms - Sinead O'Connor
Time on Earth - Crowded House
Tired of Hanging Around - The Zutons
To See The Lights - Gene
Tonight At The Arizona - The Felice Brothers
Too-Rye-Ay - Dexy's Midnight Runners
Topless Women Talk About Their Lives - Soundtrack
Totally 2 Tone - Various Artists
Tourist - Athlete
Treasury Library Canada c/w Houndstooth Europa - Woodpigeon
Trees Outside the Academy - Thurston Moore
Trompe-L'oeil - Malajube
Trouble - Ray LaMontagne
True - TrinityRoots
True Love Cast Out All Evil - Roky Ericcson & Okkervil River
Trust the DJ: GP05 - Eclectic, Vol 2 - Various Artists
Tuatara: A Flying Nun Compilation - Various Artists
Turn on the Bright Lights - Interpol
Lots of NZ music in this letter which was great. Revisited a few old fave songs which I hadn't heard for a while. Other thoughts - Crowded House. Musical torture - soooo dull and boring. Their greatest hits are ok, but how anyone listens to their albums is beyond me... Blast from the past with Too-Rye-Ay as well - great fun! The Go-Betweens - also always great. Thurston Moore I enjoyed as well - weird to hear 'Sonic Youth' but it wasn't like Sonic Youth. Mull Historical Society I quite enjoyed as well - hadn't listened to them for years. Sinead - dull as well. Especially the Theology album - bit too ridiculous for this listener...
Takk - Sigur Ros
Tallulah - The Go Betweens
Tanglewood Numbers - Silver Jews
Technique - New Order
Teenager - The Thrills
The Tennessee Fire - My Morning Jacket
Theology Disc 1 - Sinead O'Connor
There is no Enemy - Built to Spill
There is Nothing Left to Lose - Foo Fighters
There Will Be A Light - Ben Harper and the Blind Boys of Alabama
Think Before You Speak - Good Shoes
Thirst for Romance - Cherry Ghost
This Hungry Life - Tanya Donnelly
This Is Hope - Mull Historical Society
This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours - Manic Street Preachers
This Old Road - Kris Kristofferson
Thriller - Lambchop
Through the Window Pane - Guillemots
Throw Down Your Arms - Sinead O'Connor
Time on Earth - Crowded House
Tired of Hanging Around - The Zutons
To See The Lights - Gene
Tonight At The Arizona - The Felice Brothers
Too-Rye-Ay - Dexy's Midnight Runners
Topless Women Talk About Their Lives - Soundtrack
Totally 2 Tone - Various Artists
Tourist - Athlete
Treasury Library Canada c/w Houndstooth Europa - Woodpigeon
Trees Outside the Academy - Thurston Moore
Trompe-L'oeil - Malajube
Trouble - Ray LaMontagne
True - TrinityRoots
True Love Cast Out All Evil - Roky Ericcson & Okkervil River
Trust the DJ: GP05 - Eclectic, Vol 2 - Various Artists
Tuatara: A Flying Nun Compilation - Various Artists
Turn on the Bright Lights - Interpol
Lots of NZ music in this letter which was great. Revisited a few old fave songs which I hadn't heard for a while. Other thoughts - Crowded House. Musical torture - soooo dull and boring. Their greatest hits are ok, but how anyone listens to their albums is beyond me... Blast from the past with Too-Rye-Ay as well - great fun! The Go-Betweens - also always great. Thurston Moore I enjoyed as well - weird to hear 'Sonic Youth' but it wasn't like Sonic Youth. Mull Historical Society I quite enjoyed as well - hadn't listened to them for years. Sinead - dull as well. Especially the Theology album - bit too ridiculous for this listener...
Monday, July 11, 2011
Pretty pretty England...
So on the weekend it was off to Stow-on-the-Wold for a couple of nights with Divya. Every town in the Cotswolds seems to have as their claim to fame that they are the prettiest etc, but Stow's seems to be that it is the highest one. Which isn't to say it isn't pretty - it really is rather lovely. You can't go wrong with all the beautiful warm coloured stone they use...
Saturday we walked from Stow to Lower Slaughter and Upper Slaughter via Bourton-on-the-Water. Bourton-on-the-Water is called the 'Venice of the Cotswolds' - very pretty. Lots of little low bridges over a shallow river. Very pretty - but FULL of people. Bit too busy for us - and we were very spooked by watching a very little boy teeter on the edge of one bridge with no one apparently watching him. Fortunately he didn't topple in.
Sunday we ambled around Maugersbury which was just gorgeous. Very small with lovely little cottages. More beauty!
For anyone not on fb - more photos on Flickr.
Saturday we walked from Stow to Lower Slaughter and Upper Slaughter via Bourton-on-the-Water. Bourton-on-the-Water is called the 'Venice of the Cotswolds' - very pretty. Lots of little low bridges over a shallow river. Very pretty - but FULL of people. Bit too busy for us - and we were very spooked by watching a very little boy teeter on the edge of one bridge with no one apparently watching him. Fortunately he didn't topple in.
Sunday we ambled around Maugersbury which was just gorgeous. Very small with lovely little cottages. More beauty!
For anyone not on fb - more photos on Flickr.
Friday, July 01, 2011
Ya egg!
Finally got to see 'Boy'! As part of the 'City of London Festival' there was a mini-NZ film festival on at the Barbican - I knew Boy would have to be the opener so I was obsessively checking for tickets from when I first heard about it.
Maya and I went and had a good old Kiwi nostalgia fest. Loved it - the language, the scenery, the 'old stuff' I recognised (like Stud Cola!). Just fantastic.
Taika Waititi was there to introduce it as well - he was somewhat 'jetlagged' however so I'm not sure he really added much to it!
I also sat next to the guy in this advert - somewhat odd. He made sure I knew it was him in the advert - very funny. Or maybe he was trying to hit on me - I wasn't quite sure! But it was definitely him :-)
Maya and I went and had a good old Kiwi nostalgia fest. Loved it - the language, the scenery, the 'old stuff' I recognised (like Stud Cola!). Just fantastic.
Taika Waititi was there to introduce it as well - he was somewhat 'jetlagged' however so I'm not sure he really added much to it!
I also sat next to the guy in this advert - somewhat odd. He made sure I knew it was him in the advert - very funny. Or maybe he was trying to hit on me - I wasn't quite sure! But it was definitely him :-)
Thursday, June 30, 2011
My mini festival...
Headed off to Hyde Park to see Arcade Fire + guests. I like the Hyde Park gigs - they are like mini-festivals but in central London - finish nice and early so its easy enough to get home, and you don't have to take a day off work.
The full line up (well who I saw anyhow...) was The Vaccines, Beirut, Mumford & Sons and Arcade Fire. It was good weather (I missed the rain), I hung out with Sue and her friends and drank some cider (I NEVER normally drink cider!), and generally had a very good afternoon. Highlight for me were definitely Mumford & Sons - just felt more 'personal'. Arcade Fire were great, but it was uber rammed by then so I felt quite removed from them. Still good - but they are better in a smaller venue I think.
But I'm now having a full on crush on Mumford & Sons - cute band and great music!
The full line up (well who I saw anyhow...) was The Vaccines, Beirut, Mumford & Sons and Arcade Fire. It was good weather (I missed the rain), I hung out with Sue and her friends and drank some cider (I NEVER normally drink cider!), and generally had a very good afternoon. Highlight for me were definitely Mumford & Sons - just felt more 'personal'. Arcade Fire were great, but it was uber rammed by then so I felt quite removed from them. Still good - but they are better in a smaller venue I think.
But I'm now having a full on crush on Mumford & Sons - cute band and great music!
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Shed load of the letter 'S'
This letter took me a while to get through... I had to make notes on my phone as I finished an album as I knew I wouldn't remember by the time I came to type it up!!
Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers - The National
Safety - Richmond Fontaine
Salty - The Mutton Birds
Sam's Town - The Killers
Saturnalia - The Gutter Twins
Sawdust - The Killers
Scissor Sisters - Scissor Sisters
The Second Gleam - The Avett Brothers
The Secret Migration - Mercury Rev
See The Light - The Hours
The Seldom Seen Kid - Elbow
Send Away the Tigers - Manic Street Preachers
Separated by the Sea - Findlay Brown
Separation Sunday - The Hold Steady
Set Yourself on Fire - The Stars
Seven Swans - Sufjan Stevens
The Shaky Hands - The Shaky Hands
Shaun of the Dead - Soundtrack
Shocking Pinks - Shocking Pinks
Showbiz - Muse
Siberia - Echo & the Bunnymen
Sign No More - Mumford & Sons
Silence is Easy - Starsailor
Silent Alarm - Bloc Party
Since I Left You - The Avalanches
Singles - Suede
Sirens of the Ditch - Jason Isbell
Sky Blue Sky - Wilco
Sky Motel - Kristin Hersh
Sleep Mountain - The Kissaway Trail
The Sleeper - The Leisure Society
Slideling - Ian McCulloch
Snowflake Midnight - Mercury Rev
So Much for the City - The Thrills
The Soft Bulletin - The Flaming Lips
Sojourner Box Set: Nashville Moon - Magnolia Electric Co
Sojourner Box Set: Shohola - Magnolia Electric Co
Sojourner Box Set: Sun Session - Magnolia Electric Co
Sojourner Box Set: The Black Ram - Magnolia Electric Co
Some Cities - Doves
Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle - Bill Callahan
Songbook: The Singles: Vol One - Super Furry Animals
Songs for Polar Bears - Snow Patrol
Songs for Silverman - Ben Folds
Songs for Northern Britain - Teenage Fanclub
Songs from the Front Lawn - The Front Lawn
Songs from the Victorious City - Anne Dudley / Jaz Coleman
Songs in A&E - Spiritualized
Songs of Strength and Heartbreak - The Mighty Wah!
The Sound Inside - Breaks Co-Op
Sound of Silver - LCD Soundsystem
Souvenirs - The Duke Spirit
The Specials Singles - The Specials
Speed of the Whippoorwill - Chatham County Line
Stadium Arcadium: Jupiter - Red Hot Chilli Peppers
Stadium Arcadium: Mars - Red Hot Chilli Peppers
The Stage Names - Okkervil River
Star Time (Disc 1-4) - James Brown
Stars of CCTV - Hard-Fi
Stay Positive - The Hold Steady
The Stereo Bus - The Stereo Bus
The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses
Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea - PJ Harvey
The Story - Brandi Carlile
Straitjacket Fits - Straitjacket Fits
Strange Angels - Kristin Hersh
Strangelet - Grant Lee Phillips
Streets of our Time - Danny & The Champions of the World
Strings - Kristin Hersh
Strip-Mine - James
Stutter - James
Subiza - Delorean
Substance - New Order
The Suburbs - Arcade Fire
Summer Teeth - Wilco
The Sun Came Out - 7 Worlds Collide
Sunny Border Blue - Kristin Hersh
Superabundance - The Young Knives
Surfer Rosa/Come on Pilgrim - The Pixies
Surviving the Quiet - Seafood
Sweatbees - My Morning Jacket
The Swell Season - Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova
So from my notes... Delorean - Good - atmospheric, a bit dancy. Didn't think Brandi Carlile was anything special. Liked Duke Spirit - rough girl singer! Really like Spiritualized - thought it would be more dancy than it was, Leisure Society - very good. Melodic and soft - a bit folky. Kissaway Trail I also really liked - sort of country-ish. Really liked Avalanches as well - bit dancey with a bit of rap sound too, Shocking Pinks I liked - sort of NZish. Stars reminded me of NZ music as well. Gutter Twins I described as being a bit 'Nick Cave-ish'.
Also didn't realise how many albums there were by Kristin Hersh that started with S!
Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers - The National
Safety - Richmond Fontaine
Salty - The Mutton Birds
Sam's Town - The Killers
Saturnalia - The Gutter Twins
Sawdust - The Killers
Scissor Sisters - Scissor Sisters
The Second Gleam - The Avett Brothers
The Secret Migration - Mercury Rev
See The Light - The Hours
The Seldom Seen Kid - Elbow
Send Away the Tigers - Manic Street Preachers
Separated by the Sea - Findlay Brown
Separation Sunday - The Hold Steady
Set Yourself on Fire - The Stars
Seven Swans - Sufjan Stevens
The Shaky Hands - The Shaky Hands
Shaun of the Dead - Soundtrack
Shocking Pinks - Shocking Pinks
Showbiz - Muse
Siberia - Echo & the Bunnymen
Sign No More - Mumford & Sons
Silence is Easy - Starsailor
Silent Alarm - Bloc Party
Since I Left You - The Avalanches
Singles - Suede
Sirens of the Ditch - Jason Isbell
Sky Blue Sky - Wilco
Sky Motel - Kristin Hersh
Sleep Mountain - The Kissaway Trail
The Sleeper - The Leisure Society
Slideling - Ian McCulloch
Snowflake Midnight - Mercury Rev
So Much for the City - The Thrills
The Soft Bulletin - The Flaming Lips
Sojourner Box Set: Nashville Moon - Magnolia Electric Co
Sojourner Box Set: Shohola - Magnolia Electric Co
Sojourner Box Set: Sun Session - Magnolia Electric Co
Sojourner Box Set: The Black Ram - Magnolia Electric Co
Some Cities - Doves
Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle - Bill Callahan
Songbook: The Singles: Vol One - Super Furry Animals
Songs for Polar Bears - Snow Patrol
Songs for Silverman - Ben Folds
Songs for Northern Britain - Teenage Fanclub
Songs from the Front Lawn - The Front Lawn
Songs from the Victorious City - Anne Dudley / Jaz Coleman
Songs in A&E - Spiritualized
Songs of Strength and Heartbreak - The Mighty Wah!
The Sound Inside - Breaks Co-Op
Sound of Silver - LCD Soundsystem
Souvenirs - The Duke Spirit
The Specials Singles - The Specials
Speed of the Whippoorwill - Chatham County Line
Stadium Arcadium: Jupiter - Red Hot Chilli Peppers
Stadium Arcadium: Mars - Red Hot Chilli Peppers
The Stage Names - Okkervil River
Star Time (Disc 1-4) - James Brown
Stars of CCTV - Hard-Fi
Stay Positive - The Hold Steady
The Stereo Bus - The Stereo Bus
The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses
Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea - PJ Harvey
The Story - Brandi Carlile
Straitjacket Fits - Straitjacket Fits
Strange Angels - Kristin Hersh
Strangelet - Grant Lee Phillips
Streets of our Time - Danny & The Champions of the World
Strings - Kristin Hersh
Strip-Mine - James
Stutter - James
Subiza - Delorean
Substance - New Order
The Suburbs - Arcade Fire
Summer Teeth - Wilco
The Sun Came Out - 7 Worlds Collide
Sunny Border Blue - Kristin Hersh
Superabundance - The Young Knives
Surfer Rosa/Come on Pilgrim - The Pixies
Surviving the Quiet - Seafood
Sweatbees - My Morning Jacket
The Swell Season - Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova
So from my notes... Delorean - Good - atmospheric, a bit dancy. Didn't think Brandi Carlile was anything special. Liked Duke Spirit - rough girl singer! Really like Spiritualized - thought it would be more dancy than it was, Leisure Society - very good. Melodic and soft - a bit folky. Kissaway Trail I also really liked - sort of country-ish. Really liked Avalanches as well - bit dancey with a bit of rap sound too, Shocking Pinks I liked - sort of NZish. Stars reminded me of NZ music as well. Gutter Twins I described as being a bit 'Nick Cave-ish'.
Also didn't realise how many albums there were by Kristin Hersh that started with S!
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Rushing through the 'R's
Yep - another section of my ipod completed... Definitely on the homeward stretch now!
Rabbit Fur Coat - Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins
Rabbit Songs - Hem
Raising Sand - Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
Rattle & Hum - U2
Razorlight - Razorlight
Reckoning - R.E.M.
Recurring Dream: The Very Best of Crowded House - Crowded House
Remedy - Basement Jaxx
The Reminder - Feist
Remixes and Radio Cuts - Salmonella Dub
The Remote Part - Idlewild
Republic - New Order
Reservoir Dogs - Original Soundtrack
Return of Fly My Pretties - Fly My Pretties
Reveal - R.E.M
Revelations - Gene
Revival - Katchafire
Revolver - The Beatles
Riceboy Sleeps - Jonsi & Alex
Rip It Up - Razorlight
Robbers & Cowards - Cold War Kids
Rock Art & The X-Ray Style - Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros
The Rockingbirds - The Rockingbirds
Room on Fire - The Strokes
Roots & Echoes - The Coral
Rooty - Basement Jaxx
Route 23 - Chatham County Line
Rubber Soul - The Beatles
Rufus Wainwright - Rufus Wainwright
A Rush of Blood to the Head - Coldplay
Not a bad letter this one! A few old faves there - Gene, Coldplay and a great start with Jenny Lewis and Hem - two I like very much. I found Rice Boys a bit dull (sacrilege possibly??) but really enjoyed Cold War Kids - sounded a bit like Jack White. Good to listen to Razorlight again as well as I don't often think to play them.
Rabbit Fur Coat - Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins
Rabbit Songs - Hem
Raising Sand - Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
Rattle & Hum - U2
Razorlight - Razorlight
Reckoning - R.E.M.
Recurring Dream: The Very Best of Crowded House - Crowded House
Remedy - Basement Jaxx
The Reminder - Feist
Remixes and Radio Cuts - Salmonella Dub
The Remote Part - Idlewild
Republic - New Order
Reservoir Dogs - Original Soundtrack
Return of Fly My Pretties - Fly My Pretties
Reveal - R.E.M
Revelations - Gene
Revival - Katchafire
Revolver - The Beatles
Riceboy Sleeps - Jonsi & Alex
Rip It Up - Razorlight
Robbers & Cowards - Cold War Kids
Rock Art & The X-Ray Style - Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros
The Rockingbirds - The Rockingbirds
Room on Fire - The Strokes
Roots & Echoes - The Coral
Rooty - Basement Jaxx
Route 23 - Chatham County Line
Rubber Soul - The Beatles
Rufus Wainwright - Rufus Wainwright
A Rush of Blood to the Head - Coldplay
Not a bad letter this one! A few old faves there - Gene, Coldplay and a great start with Jenny Lewis and Hem - two I like very much. I found Rice Boys a bit dull (sacrilege possibly??) but really enjoyed Cold War Kids - sounded a bit like Jack White. Good to listen to Razorlight again as well as I don't often think to play them.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Spring walking
Spring has finally sprung here in the UK and we took advantage of it to walk the Godalming Circular walk.
This one took a bit to get out of town, but once we were it was lovely - felt really remote and quiet which is unusual for a walk in Surrey - that tends to often still feel very urban.
And the daffs were out! So lovely :-)
This one took a bit to get out of town, but once we were it was lovely - felt really remote and quiet which is unusual for a walk in Surrey - that tends to often still feel very urban.
And the daffs were out! So lovely :-)
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Julia turns 40...
Julia hit the big 40 on Friday 18th, so on Saturday 19th she had organised a dinner at River Cottage - home of the Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall food machine. Most people headed down on Friday night but as it was Jackie's birthday on Saturday, Simon and I drove down on Saturday. Well technically he drove...
After a bit of confusion we met up with them all in Seatown (note: Seaton is not the same as Seatown...). But getting there, and then finding them took us through a good few counties - Surrey, Wiltshire, (saw Stonehenge from the car!), Dorset, Somerset, Devon...
The meal was just lovely - we were in the farmhouse, so it was a bit like a private dining room. Gorgeous food, and great company. I think perhaps staying up really late and drinking whisky once we were back in our house was perhaps not the best idea. Def felt the worse for wear on Sunday! I don't think I was much company for Simon on the trip back...
I'm sure most of you will have seen the photos on fb, so won't repost any.
After a bit of confusion we met up with them all in Seatown (note: Seaton is not the same as Seatown...). But getting there, and then finding them took us through a good few counties - Surrey, Wiltshire, (saw Stonehenge from the car!), Dorset, Somerset, Devon...
The meal was just lovely - we were in the farmhouse, so it was a bit like a private dining room. Gorgeous food, and great company. I think perhaps staying up really late and drinking whisky once we were back in our house was perhaps not the best idea. Def felt the worse for wear on Sunday! I don't think I was much company for Simon on the trip back...
I'm sure most of you will have seen the photos on fb, so won't repost any.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Norman Rockwell
Saturday was a lovely spring day (as opposed to Scotland where it is still snowing!) and Jackie, Nicola and me headed off to Dulwich to visit the Dulwich Picture Gallery to check out the Norman Rockwell exhibition. We lunched first at the Crown & Greyhound - very nice 'fush & chups' with tasty minted peas :-).
The exhibition really very good - great history of America in lots of ways, and interesting to see some of the real paintings next to all of the covers as well. Lots of Dulwich is rather nice, so we had a nice time strolling around the streets admiring some of the beautiful houses. When I win the lottery I might move to Dulwich... :-)
The exhibition really very good - great history of America in lots of ways, and interesting to see some of the real paintings next to all of the covers as well. Lots of Dulwich is rather nice, so we had a nice time strolling around the streets admiring some of the beautiful houses. When I win the lottery I might move to Dulwich... :-)
Tuesday, March 08, 2011
Books what I have read...
How exciting! Another new feature on my blog... I'm sure all my readers will be thrilled...
So books I have read... Decided to keep a list for this year, so have started it off below. Will be interesting (well to me anyhow) to see what and how many I read, and what I think of them at the end of the year. This is partly inspired by a friend from work who does a fantastic blog on her book reading (and anything book related really). This won't reach the standards of hers, but what the heck - this blog is all about me after all!
So books I have read... Decided to keep a list for this year, so have started it off below. Will be interesting (well to me anyhow) to see what and how many I read, and what I think of them at the end of the year. This is partly inspired by a friend from work who does a fantastic blog on her book reading (and anything book related really). This won't reach the standards of hers, but what the heck - this blog is all about me after all!
Wednesday, March 02, 2011
Good but disturbing...
Just back from seeing 'Never Let Me Go' - very good, but quite disturbing. Without giving away the story (although it isn't really a 'twist' as such), what is still sort of hanging around for me is the complete and utter acceptance of the situation the characters are in. It really is what it is - and that for me was very unsettling.
I haven't read the book, and I know that people who have are disappointed with the film, but if you've not read it, I think it is definitely worth seeing.
Oh - and my Oscar pick was way off :-( . But I did love 'The King's Speech' so its not too disappointing!
I haven't read the book, and I know that people who have are disappointed with the film, but if you've not read it, I think it is definitely worth seeing.
Oh - and my Oscar pick was way off :-( . But I did love 'The King's Speech' so its not too disappointing!
Sunday, February 27, 2011
A difficult choice...
So having been to see True Grit today -
I think the Oscar for the best film should be True Grit or Inception...
I've seen 9/10 so lets see how my choice goes.
I think the Oscar for the best film should be True Grit or Inception...
I've seen 9/10 so lets see how my choice goes.
Mind your Ps and Qs...
Another two letters completed - although to be fair 'Q' didn't take very long as there was only one album!
Parachutes - Coldplay
Partie Traumatic - Black Kids
Penny Century - Clouds
Peoria - Future Clouds & Radar
Perfect from Now On - Built to Spill
Performance & Cocktails - Stereophonics
Pet - Fur Patrol
Phantom Phorce - Super Furry Animals
Phantom Power - Super Furry Animals
Picaresque - The Decemberists
Pieces in a Modern Style - William Orbit
Pink Moon - Nick Drake
The Place We Ran From - Tired Pony
Play - Moby
Playing with a Different Sex - The Au Pairs
Please Describe Yourself - Dogs Die in Hot Cars
Political Manifest - The Creekdippers
The Ponsonby DCs - The Ponsonby DCs
Porcupine - Echo & the Bunnymen
Portishead - Portishead
Poses - Rufus Wainwright
Positively George Street - Sneaky Feelings
Post to Wire - Richmond Fontaine
Postcards from a Young Man - Manic Street Preachers
Power, Corruption & Lies - New Order
A Product of the Ego Drain - The Leisure Society
Puzzle - Biffy Clyro
Queen of Denmark - John Grant
What did I think of these ones? Didn't like The Au Pairs - seemed dated and not my cup of tea at all. Sneaky Feelings are always good :-). Enjoyed more of Future Clouds & Radar and Built to Spill. Moby was tedious (goes on way too long - a couple of songs are good, but the whole album is just too much), and Richmond Fontaine was great as well.
Athough I'm realising I need to take notes as I'm listening as with some of these I can't really remember what I thought - and it wasn't that long ago!
Parachutes - Coldplay
Partie Traumatic - Black Kids
Penny Century - Clouds
Peoria - Future Clouds & Radar
Perfect from Now On - Built to Spill
Performance & Cocktails - Stereophonics
Pet - Fur Patrol
Phantom Phorce - Super Furry Animals
Phantom Power - Super Furry Animals
Picaresque - The Decemberists
Pieces in a Modern Style - William Orbit
Pink Moon - Nick Drake
The Place We Ran From - Tired Pony
Play - Moby
Playing with a Different Sex - The Au Pairs
Please Describe Yourself - Dogs Die in Hot Cars
Political Manifest - The Creekdippers
The Ponsonby DCs - The Ponsonby DCs
Porcupine - Echo & the Bunnymen
Portishead - Portishead
Poses - Rufus Wainwright
Positively George Street - Sneaky Feelings
Post to Wire - Richmond Fontaine
Postcards from a Young Man - Manic Street Preachers
Power, Corruption & Lies - New Order
A Product of the Ego Drain - The Leisure Society
Puzzle - Biffy Clyro
Queen of Denmark - John Grant
What did I think of these ones? Didn't like The Au Pairs - seemed dated and not my cup of tea at all. Sneaky Feelings are always good :-). Enjoyed more of Future Clouds & Radar and Built to Spill. Moby was tedious (goes on way too long - a couple of songs are good, but the whole album is just too much), and Richmond Fontaine was great as well.
Athough I'm realising I need to take notes as I'm listening as with some of these I can't really remember what I thought - and it wasn't that long ago!
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Another birthday and a few orchids...
Twas another weekend with a birthday theme as on Friday night I was out with Divya to celebrate her birthday - we went to the Salt Yard which I've been to a few times and really like. We were half an hour late for our table but fortunately they had kept it for us! It was another lovely meal, but not a late night for us - we were both exhausted!
Saturday I met up with David, Dominic, Chris and James at Kew for the 'Tropical Extravaganza' - the (annual I guess) display of the flowering orchids. Absolutely gorgeous flowers - really stunning. And both Chris and David were full of stories of having had orchids in the past and killing them. Reminded me of Leigh! Apparently James has the knack...
It was well worth the trip. Very cool. We also checked out the Marianne North Gallery as well - again just stunning. She had the most amazing life - travelled all over the world (including NZ) and painted the plants, landscapes etc. Didn't start until she was 40 and spent the next 14 years globe trotting. Really quite inspirational - and the newly revamped gallery was beautifully done, and really quite incredible.
Yet again, Kew has not failed to disappoint. Check out the orchid piccies on Flickr if you haven't already seen them on fb.
Saturday I met up with David, Dominic, Chris and James at Kew for the 'Tropical Extravaganza' - the (annual I guess) display of the flowering orchids. Absolutely gorgeous flowers - really stunning. And both Chris and David were full of stories of having had orchids in the past and killing them. Reminded me of Leigh! Apparently James has the knack...
It was well worth the trip. Very cool. We also checked out the Marianne North Gallery as well - again just stunning. She had the most amazing life - travelled all over the world (including NZ) and painted the plants, landscapes etc. Didn't start until she was 40 and spent the next 14 years globe trotting. Really quite inspirational - and the newly revamped gallery was beautifully done, and really quite incredible.
Yet again, Kew has not failed to disappoint. Check out the orchid piccies on Flickr if you haven't already seen them on fb.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Birthday bashes and Paris...
So February started with a weekend of two birthday events. First up was Sarah's at the Alphabet Bar in Soho - I rarely go out in town on Saturday nights so it was both fun, and also a reminder of why I don't do it very often - loads of drunken young things and drunken tourists staggering around. Not always my idea of a good time!
Second up was lunch for Nicola's birthday at The White Hart - service left a little bit to be desired, but it was a lovely afternoon. Much red wine was drunk by all which is always fun I think!
And I'm just back from a quick visit to Paris for work - my second ever trip for work. The work stuff was so-so, but it was fun to go on the Eurostar again and I did have a lovely 'traditional' French dinner last night of steak with bearnaise sauce and an exquisite creme brulee!
Second up was lunch for Nicola's birthday at The White Hart - service left a little bit to be desired, but it was a lovely afternoon. Much red wine was drunk by all which is always fun I think!
And I'm just back from a quick visit to Paris for work - my second ever trip for work. The work stuff was so-so, but it was fun to go on the Eurostar again and I did have a lovely 'traditional' French dinner last night of steak with bearnaise sauce and an exquisite creme brulee!
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Oscar season
This year for the first time in ages I've almost seen all of the films nominated for the Best Film Oscar - unheard of for me!
Latest one I saw was 'Black Swan' which I went to last night. What a full on film - I came out of it still not sure what I thought, and I'm still a bit like that. Will definitely be watching it again on DVD. Natalie Portman was superb and I can see why its got the Oscar nominations it has.
Still to open here are True Grit and The Fighter - both of which I'm really looking forward to seeing. And Winters Bone (the only other nomination I've not seen) is on my DVD list! I really wanted to see that at the cinema when it came out and missed it - doubly cross about that now.
Having seen most of them I'm not sure which one I'd pick at the mo, as I have loved most of them. Probably Inception for its sheer brilliance and incredibly twisty turn plot and filming - but then again I did love The King's Speech and Toy Story 3...
Latest one I saw was 'Black Swan' which I went to last night. What a full on film - I came out of it still not sure what I thought, and I'm still a bit like that. Will definitely be watching it again on DVD. Natalie Portman was superb and I can see why its got the Oscar nominations it has.
Still to open here are True Grit and The Fighter - both of which I'm really looking forward to seeing. And Winters Bone (the only other nomination I've not seen) is on my DVD list! I really wanted to see that at the cinema when it came out and missed it - doubly cross about that now.
Having seen most of them I'm not sure which one I'd pick at the mo, as I have loved most of them. Probably Inception for its sheer brilliance and incredibly twisty turn plot and filming - but then again I did love The King's Speech and Toy Story 3...
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Ode to the O
Trotted through another letter on my ipod as well - racing along now!
O - Damien Rice
Ocean Rain - Echo & The Bunnymen
Oceans Apart - The Go-Betweens
Oh My God, Charlie Darwin - The Low Anthem
Okonokos (Live - Disk 1 & 2) - My Morning Jacket
Olympian - Gene
On and On - Jack Johnson
On The Outside - Starsailor
On The Sun - The Black Seeds
On Your Sleeve - Jessie Malin
Once - Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova
Once Around - The Autumn Defense
One by One - Foo Fighters
One Drop East - Salmonella Dub
One Life Stand - Hot Chip
One Plus One is One - Badly Drawn Boy
Only By The Night - Kings of Leon
Open Season - British Sea Power
Oracular Spectacular - MGMT
Origin of Symmetry - Muse
Original Pirate Material - The Streets
Other Peoples Problems - Upper Room
Out of Nothing - Embrace
Out of Time - R.E.M.
Outside the Dubplates - Salmonella Dub
Overnight Success - Dave Dobbyn
Some old faves in this lot - Embrace, Starsailor, R.E.M... And two Salmonella Dub albums - bit like buses really. None for ages then two at once... Enjoyed Muse, The Streets, British Sea Power and Kings of Leon. And of course Hot Chip... Not many duds in this lot actually - except maybe Jack Johnson. He is definitely music for a time and a place - and I'm not sure its the UK in the middle of winter!
O - Damien Rice
Ocean Rain - Echo & The Bunnymen
Oceans Apart - The Go-Betweens
Oh My God, Charlie Darwin - The Low Anthem
Okonokos (Live - Disk 1 & 2) - My Morning Jacket
Olympian - Gene
On and On - Jack Johnson
On The Outside - Starsailor
On The Sun - The Black Seeds
On Your Sleeve - Jessie Malin
Once - Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova
Once Around - The Autumn Defense
One by One - Foo Fighters
One Drop East - Salmonella Dub
One Life Stand - Hot Chip
One Plus One is One - Badly Drawn Boy
Only By The Night - Kings of Leon
Open Season - British Sea Power
Oracular Spectacular - MGMT
Origin of Symmetry - Muse
Original Pirate Material - The Streets
Other Peoples Problems - Upper Room
Out of Nothing - Embrace
Out of Time - R.E.M.
Outside the Dubplates - Salmonella Dub
Overnight Success - Dave Dobbyn
Some old faves in this lot - Embrace, Starsailor, R.E.M... And two Salmonella Dub albums - bit like buses really. None for ages then two at once... Enjoyed Muse, The Streets, British Sea Power and Kings of Leon. And of course Hot Chip... Not many duds in this lot actually - except maybe Jack Johnson. He is definitely music for a time and a place - and I'm not sure its the UK in the middle of winter!
Friday, January 21, 2011
Tragedy...
King Lear that is - which I went to see the Royal Shakespeare Company performing at The Roundhouse.
Absolutely loved it - its one of my favourite Shakespeare plays anyhow (somehow I'm more into the tragedies than the comedies...) and I thought this production was fantastic. I could pretty much remember what happened up to Lear going crazy, but couldn't remember how it finished (although I knew it wasn't a happy ending!) and I'd completely forgotten the sub-plot of Edmund and Edgar.
Seems to have been a few contentious reviews about this particular production - but I'll go with The Guardian's review :-). Although this is reviewing it at The Courtyard Theatre it was the same production we saw with the same cast etc. I'd probably give it 5/5 stars tho...
Absolutely loved it - its one of my favourite Shakespeare plays anyhow (somehow I'm more into the tragedies than the comedies...) and I thought this production was fantastic. I could pretty much remember what happened up to Lear going crazy, but couldn't remember how it finished (although I knew it wasn't a happy ending!) and I'd completely forgotten the sub-plot of Edmund and Edgar.
Seems to have been a few contentious reviews about this particular production - but I'll go with The Guardian's review :-). Although this is reviewing it at The Courtyard Theatre it was the same production we saw with the same cast etc. I'd probably give it 5/5 stars tho...
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Quality 'culcha'
Nice day spent seeing two very good cultural things...
First up was The Glasgow Boys at the Royal Academy with Nicola - very good and some great paintings. Very busy tho - but that does come of going the weekend before the exhibition ends...
Next up was The King's Speech with Jackie. Brilliant film - it has to be a shoe-in for an Oscar for Colin Firth, and Geoffrey Rush is also very good. Would absolutely recommend it - a fascinating story. I remember Mum talking about the abdication and how upset Nana was - that period has featured a lot in things I've seen recently so I might read a bit more about it.
Don't miss it!
First up was The Glasgow Boys at the Royal Academy with Nicola - very good and some great paintings. Very busy tho - but that does come of going the weekend before the exhibition ends...
Next up was The King's Speech with Jackie. Brilliant film - it has to be a shoe-in for an Oscar for Colin Firth, and Geoffrey Rush is also very good. Would absolutely recommend it - a fascinating story. I remember Mum talking about the abdication and how upset Nana was - that period has featured a lot in things I've seen recently so I might read a bit more about it.
Don't miss it!
Sunday, January 09, 2011
Astonishing human endeavour
This has been a weekend of films relating to extraordinary human endeavour - both of which I'd greatly recommend.
First up was 127 Hours - despite knowing what happens, and so waiting the whole film for the 'act' to happen, it was still very very good. Showing Aron reaching the point where he has to do what he does is so well done - does make you wonder how much you would do to survive.
And on that theme I then went to see The Way Back today - I hadn't planned to spend my weekend watching two such full on movies, but today's was already in the diary, and 127 Hours was a spur of the moment thing.
There has been a bit of controversy surrounding The Way Back - was the book it was based on really true etc. This is an interesting piece on the whether it is true or not... However I really enjoyed it, although it did feel long - a bit like their walk :-). But again, showing what people can do and will do to survive. Fascinating film viewing.
First up was 127 Hours - despite knowing what happens, and so waiting the whole film for the 'act' to happen, it was still very very good. Showing Aron reaching the point where he has to do what he does is so well done - does make you wonder how much you would do to survive.
And on that theme I then went to see The Way Back today - I hadn't planned to spend my weekend watching two such full on movies, but today's was already in the diary, and 127 Hours was a spur of the moment thing.
There has been a bit of controversy surrounding The Way Back - was the book it was based on really true etc. This is an interesting piece on the whether it is true or not... However I really enjoyed it, although it did feel long - a bit like their walk :-). But again, showing what people can do and will do to survive. Fascinating film viewing.
Tuesday, January 04, 2011
Starting 2011 in a busy-ish fashion
As I type the spectre of work again tomorrow is looming over me... But I have been fairly productive with the first few days of 2011 :-).
And I have many plans for the year as well - including blogging a bit more! 2010 was my lowest number of blog entries since I started... so I'll just have to make sure I have stuff to blog about!
And I have many plans for the year as well - including blogging a bit more! 2010 was my lowest number of blog entries since I started... so I'll just have to make sure I have stuff to blog about!
Monday, January 03, 2011
The Big Sleep
Met up with Julia for lunch and we then went to see 'The Big Sleep' at the BFI. It was great! I'd seen it before, years ago, but was wonderful to watch it again. The dialogue was great - and so fast! I also loved the bloodless shootings - so much nicer than the bloodbaths we get nowadays.
My favourite bit was when they both admit they love each other "I guess its because I'm in love with you". Brilliant :-).
And again - I hadn't been to a movie at the BFI for years. Rediscovering things on your doorstep - great cinema, nice bar and restaurant. Might be going back there methinks!
My favourite bit was when they both admit they love each other "I guess its because I'm in love with you". Brilliant :-).
And again - I hadn't been to a movie at the BFI for years. Rediscovering things on your doorstep - great cinema, nice bar and restaurant. Might be going back there methinks!
Sunday, January 02, 2011
First walk of 2011
Headed out with Jackie, Nicola and Sarah to do the first walk of the year - an easy 10 miles in Surrey, not far down the track from me.
This took us past Polesden Lacey where we had a very nice lunch. Didn't go into the house tho - wanted to make sure we could get the walk done while there was still enough light in the day. It was a nice walk - nothing really outstanding. As I've commented before, walking in Surrey often means you don't feel like you are getting that far away from civilization as you see the world out walking their dogs...
But it was great to get out, stretch the legs and get some fresh air and catch up with everyone about their Xmas and New Year!
This took us past Polesden Lacey where we had a very nice lunch. Didn't go into the house tho - wanted to make sure we could get the walk done while there was still enough light in the day. It was a nice walk - nothing really outstanding. As I've commented before, walking in Surrey often means you don't feel like you are getting that far away from civilization as you see the world out walking their dogs...
But it was great to get out, stretch the legs and get some fresh air and catch up with everyone about their Xmas and New Year!
Saturday, January 01, 2011
Finishing the trilogy
On New Year's Day I hauled my slightly sorry carcass to the cinema to see the final film in the Lisbeth Salander trilogy.
I had seen the first two at the cinema so really wanted to make sure I caught the last one as well. I thought 'Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest' was very good. Finished it nicely and didn't mess with the storyline too much. I did feel a sense of completion!
On a related note, Maya bought be a spoof book for Xmas - called 'The Dragon with the Girl Tattoo'... Lisbeth becomes 'Lizbreath Salamander' - it actually looks quite funny!
I had seen the first two at the cinema so really wanted to make sure I caught the last one as well. I thought 'Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest' was very good. Finished it nicely and didn't mess with the storyline too much. I did feel a sense of completion!
On a related note, Maya bought be a spoof book for Xmas - called 'The Dragon with the Girl Tattoo'... Lisbeth becomes 'Lizbreath Salamander' - it actually looks quite funny!
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