What I'm finding strange

This will probably end up being another list, as things occur to me, but as a starter here are a couple of things that I'm finding strange (ie. freaking me out a bit!)

1. I won't be in the UK when the next Ryder Cup is played in two years. Does it even get coverage in NZ? Of course, in two years, I quite possibly won't care, but right now it feels odd.
2. I'm starting to see adverts for exhibitions and plays that won't be opening until after I leave...
3. Reading about a 'chic rooftop bar' that is being built outside the office, which I'm watching going up, but it won't open until after I've left. 
4. Watching the leaves change and drop off all the trees around my flat and realising that I won't be here in Spring to watch them re-appearing. 
5. Removing myself from the mailing lists for all the music gigs - no point getting frustrated looking upcoming gigs I won't be able to see...

From the Foo Fighters to Hot Chip

So I have now been to my final gig at Brixton Academy :-( . It was the first venue I went to in London (to see the Foo Fighters) and while it isn't the last gig I'll go to (still have one more coming up), it was lovely to go back one last time.

It has always been one of my fave venues - an old theatre, it has a sloping floor so it is usually ok to get an ok view, and I've seen so many different bands there:

• Foo Fighters
• Manic Street Preachers
• Beck
• Teenage Fanclub
• Ocean Colour Scene
• Hot Chip (more than once)
• New Order
• Echo & the Bunnymen
• Waterboys
• Embrace (more than once)
• Tim Finn/Bic Runga/Dave Dobbyn
• Ian Brown
• Franz Ferdinand
• The Thrills
• The Killers/The Futureheads/Bloc Party/The Kaiser Chiefs
• Doves
• Interpol
• Star Sailor
• The Raconteurs
• Arcade Fire
• Bloc Party
• James
• Portishead

Not a bad list :-). Also interesting to see the tickets change - from Brixton Academy, to the Carling Brixton Academy, and now to O2 Academy Brixton (although everyone still calls it Brixton Academy.

Good times :-)

Spending money

Another thing I've noticed recently is that because I am trying to save money so hard for going home, all I want to do is spend it! This month has been a write off anyhow, as I needed to buy an outfit for a wedding I'm going to, but I just seem to keep thinking of more and more things that I 'need'...

It reminds me of before I left NZ for the very first time writing (yes - it was writing back then!) to Lindsey and telling her about all of the CDs I'd been buying, and her replying and saying I would never get over to the UK if I spent all my dollars on music... :-)

Two weeks till payday and there is lots more I need yet!

DVDs of 2012

And here is the list of all my 'catch up DVDs' of the films I missed at the cinema, or have heard about via other means...

Troll Hunter - I really enjoyed this. A Norwegian film that plays on the 'found footage' approach that Blair Witch used. But what I liked about it was how it took the fairy tale stories of trolls, and applied them to the real world. If a Troll can smell a Christian man, can he smell a Muslim? You'll have to watch the film to find out!

Super 8 -After Melancholia I was sent 'We Need to Talk About Kevin' but I returned it without watching. I realised that I really didn't want to watch it. Then came Super 8 which I thought was great. Reminded me a bit of Stand By Me - it wasn't really an alien movie, more a rite of passage. Thought it was very very good. 

Melancholia - Well this one wasn't exactly a barrel of laughs! Not that I thought it would be mind... It was ok - but I don't think I'm much of a Lars von Trier fan. Bit too 'self reverential' for me. But was ok as a dvd rental...

X-Men First Class - Another one I put on my list after seeing Avengers Assemble and I loved it! Thought the introduction to the X-Men was done so well - Michael Fassbender fantastic as the young Magneto - very good intro!

Iron Man 2 - I put this on my Lovefilm list after seeing Avengers Assemble and I really enjoyed it. Particularly as it introduced some of the characters from Avengers. And Robert Downey Jr is fantastic - although he does essentially play the same character in Iron Man as he does in Sherlock Holmes!

Drive - I have had this dvd since I last updated this blog! Just haven't had time to watch it for various reasons. I had been waiting for ages for Drive - it had had such good reviews. But I was a bit under-whelmed to be honest. Maybe I shouldn't have watched it when I did as I probably wasn't in the mood for it, but I'd had it for such a long time it really was time to watch it and send it back. Just thought it was 'ok' really. And the lack of dialog, overuse of music, and lots of staring into the distance just annoyed me. And the violence was a bit un-necessary as well. So all a bit disappointing really.

The Lincoln Lawyer - another great Saturday night DVD - certainly not a film worth seeing at the cinema! Fairly standard lawyer-ish fare, with an all too brief cameo from the wonderful William H. Macy. But Matthew McConaughey is pretty good in it - nice and easy to watch. 

Oranges & Sunshine - a 'docu-drama' about the forced deportation of English children out to Australia (although children were also sent to other countries as well). Riveting tale - and one of those 'OMG - I don't believe it' type of films. Highly recommended.

The Adventures of Tintin - the Secret of the Unicorn - this had had mixed review (certainly the Good Dr didn't think much of it) and I have to admit I was pretty underwhelmed by it. Don't quite know why - think maybe I loved the characters too much as a child to enjoy thier transition to the big screen. They didn't look enough like they do in the books, and I didn't think the story was great. Not really my cup of tea...

In Time - I have to admit, I'm not sure I quite understood the ending of this one... if anyone else has seen it feel free to let me know! I did enjoy the premise though - time as currency, and there were some very clever aspects to it. Having to run everywhere if you're in a poor district as you don't have time to waste - I liked that! But I did lose it at the end. Oh - and it has the lovely Cillian Murphy in it :-).

Blitz - Sometimes you've just gotta watch a bit of Jason Statham... and this was better than the last JS movie I watched. Also had Paddy Considine in it as well who I quite like. Ridiculously silly story, but JS got to run around being JS a lot, Aiden Gillen tried to play bad, and PC just looked lovely :-). 

The Twilight Saga - Breaking Dawn - I love the 'Twiglet' movies :-). Still don't get why anyone would love Bella - she is such a moaning myrtle, and I'm also definitely in Team Jacob - again, why go for a pale, cold vampire... Looking forward to the final instalment tho!!

Trust - I don't know if 'enjoyed' is the right word for this, but it was a very thought provoking drama. Tells the story of a 14 year old who is 'groomed' via the internet and the fallout on her and her family. Directed by Ross from Cheers, I thought it was quite well done. I really like Clive Owen and I thought he was very good in the role as the father. Bits of it were a bit unlikely, but on the whole it felt quite lifelike. Gave me an inkling into how girls get sucked into being scammed by these men, and why they don't run a mile when they finally meet them.

Contagion - not quite a DVD watch, as this one I 'bought' via my tv provider. I'd wanted to see it when it first came out, and then Virgin had it available on demand early so I watched it. Really enjoyed it - done very cleverly, and also quite scarily as well. Does certainly make you think about where you put your hands on public transport! If you've seen it, you'll know what that comment relates to... :-)

Water for Elephants -  This was definitely a DVD only film, but it was fine. I think the book may have been much better than the film - especially if it goes into more detail about life in the circus's back when it was set.

Julia's Eyes - This was one of Dr K's top 10 films a year or so ago so I thought it was worth a look. It also had Guillermo del Toro attached - never a bad thing. Really enjoyed the first 3/4 of it - some great imagery and scenes playing on being blind, and I loved how you never see the face of the care worker, but the last quarter let it down a bit I thought. Great spooky first part to it though. 

Cowboys & Aliens - This was the Daniel Craig/Harrison Ford outing - Tracey and I had talked about going to see it when she was over on holiday last year. It wasn't quite what I was expecting - not terrible though. But I was expecting more of a comedy drama, but it seemed to be playing it straight. We didn't miss anything at the cinema - definitely fine to watch on a DVD or on a plane!

Animal Kingdom - An Australian film so probably known to any NZ readers I have. Not quite as good as I thought it would be, but still definitely worth watching. I did think the boy playing the teenager was very good - played the gormless 'I'm fine' teenage role brilliantly :-).

Skeletons - This was (I suspect) a little known British film when it was released. I think I heard David Morrissey talking about it on the Mayo/Kermode podcast. I really enjoyed this - didn't quite know what to expect, but it was good. Very quirky, offbeat, funny and sad at the same time.

Limitless - This was ok. Quite a clever idea, and I enjoyed it. Sort of film that would be good on an airplane. ie don't really need to pay much attention to it. Was definitely one that was fine to see on DVD...

Limbo in October...

So here I am almost halfway through October and I'm in a weird limbo state. Well not weird, but just definitely feel like I'm in suspended animation.

I know that I have shed loads of stuff to do/sort out, but I seem to have decided in an unconscious decision that I'll start all of that in November. Which is also when my whirl of goodbyes also starts, so I know I'm going to end up mega stressed by the time it gets to Jan 2nd!

But for now I'm enjoying my last month of a 'normal' life. I'm fairly unbusy this month, my flat is going to stay unchanged, so I'm relishing this end of my London life.

Leaving? Who's leaving...

What I'm enjoying

As a contrast to 'What I'm finding strange' here are things I'm enjoying :-)

1. Seeing photos of Wellington on Facebook - reminding me of how beautiful and stunning it is (on a good day!)
2. All the lovely comments I've had from my friends and family about me returning home.
3. Knowing I'm finishing work soon!

The final hurrah - in for the ride anyone?

And so all good things must come to an end... this blog is on its last legs, but its got three months left in it yet!

I'm sure my very few readers know that I'm returning to live in NZ in January 2013, and that seems a fitting time for this blog to come to its end. But before that, there is some blogging still to be done, as I want to record my final three months in the UK - so October 2nd seems like a good day to start.

My leaving my place of work (which shall remain nameless) now know that I am leaving, and today I told the accounts I'm working with. This started a small flurry of very nice emails, which made me feel both appreciated and sad. I know I'm doing the right thing, and I do think my time here is done - and it is certainly past done at work! But it is going to be a wrench, and emails singing my praises make it both easier and harder. However I do remember getting the same from TPK when I left all those moons ago, and I remember feeling the same, so I just have to keep to the path :-).

This won't just be emotional rants - I've got a lot lined up to do in the next 12 weeks, and I want to capture it all - the good, the bad, the tears!

Bit of Damien Hirst...

I extended the last Bank Holiday weekend of the summer and went to see the Damien Hirst exhibition before it finished. I always think of Eryn when I think of DH (not that I think of DH much to be honest!) - but years ago we saw his  Mother & Child (separated) - essentially a cow and her calf, cut in half and in formeldyhyde. Not one for the veges that one...

So there were certainly pieces in this retrospective that he wouldn't have liked! A Thousand Years may have tested his limits somewhat... I loved the butterfly works, and was affected by Black Sun a lot as well - that was a lot of flies...

Great exhibition though - really pleased I made the time to go see it. And not seeing it on a weekend was a bonus as well as it wasn't too busy.

Sorry for not many updates

OK - so now I can type... This is odd. Anyhow - apologies for not many updates recently. There is something odd with Blogger and I can't seem to edit some of my existing entries. VERY annoying! But then it lets me...

Sigh

Getting lost while walking

This seems to be a current theme of mine at the moment and I'm getting fed up with it! I've done two walks in two weeks and managed to get lost on both of them.

One of them was my own fault - I've started walking The Thames Path, and I was too busy chatting away to Jackie and I neglected to pay attention to where we should have been going. Fortunately (and completely coincidentally) we were in an area that Jackie's friend lives in and so she navigated us back to the Thames ( you would not believe how hard it can be to find the Thames sometimes!).

The second incident was this Saturday, walking one of the Time Out walks. The first time we got lost, I think I should have been more assertive, but the second time was just down to appalling instructions. Interestingly though, it is in the same area as another time I got lost walking with Julia (see that blog post here), so I think I have decided I'm going to give the Chilterns a miss from now on. Nice walking they may be, but I can't be doing with getting lost all the time. Oh - and a correction from that 2008 post - the Chilterns are not north London! AT ALL!

Anyhow - next up is a week in the Lake District so I'm going to try really hard to NOT GET LOST! Watch this space...

Photos from both walks on Flickr as well for anyone who hasn't spotted them on fb...

Cracking exhibitions!

So today, in an effort to do more with my Bank Holiday than sit around and try to make a BIG decision, I decided to go into town and go and see something. I ended up going to two that weren't on my list of ones I wanted to see, but I'm so pleased I went - they were both great!

I chose 'Joy in People' as I just loved the name, and the banner image for it. That was also twinned with 'I am Dead' which I'd also noticed the adverts for - hard not to :-).

I thought 'Joy in People' was just great. Jeremy Deller's approach (certainly early on) was to create art that people wouldn't necessarily see as art, or things which wouldn't last. He staged an 'installation' in his bedroom while still living at home - he charged people to go in when his parents were away... There was a great short film where he talked about his work, and different projects he had done, and I could have watched all of the film 'The Battle of Orgreave' - but I was starving and my blood sugar was getting low. Hard to describe this exhibition, but I did come away with an idea of the 'Joy of People'. Loved it.

Fortunately 'I'm Dead' was a lot smaller than JIP. And David Shrigley's work sat very well as a combined ticket with Jeremy Deller's. Very funny, very clever.

They both finish next weekend, and when I left the gallery (about 3pm having got there about midday) the queue for tickets was out the door and around the corner - so I'm pleased I got in early!

Pre-marathon planning

So tomorrow is the London 2012 Marathon and I've got two good friends running it. Both fortuitiously running for the same charity so that is good! So I'll be up and out early to try and get a good spot to see them - I'm really looking forward to it. I've not been to the marathon for a couple of years, and I've never been when close friends are running it, so I think that will make a difference.

Both Sarah and Julia are running for Sense - the colour is unfortunately bright orange... so I'll be sporting a beaut of a neon orange t-shirt tomorrow in my role as 'official supporter' :-). And in my walking trousers as well - it is likely to rain so I want trou on that will dry quickly if I get wet! So many things to consider :-)

I'm hoping for a great day out tho!!

A rare trip for work

For only the 3rd time in my career at my current employer, I got to hop on a plane this weekend and fly to another country.

I had a meeting to go to in Munich so decided to go out at the crack of dawn on Sunday and spend the day looking around the city. A slight risk given it was January... and it was cold, and a bit sleety, but not too bad that I couldn't bear to be outside. Certainly a different temperature from London though!

I considered doing a walking tour on the Sunday afternoon, but it was going to be 3 hours, and I just couldn't bear the thought of being outside for that long in those temps, so I decided not to. Wandered around for a while, went to the Stadtmuseum to get out of the cold and wandered around a bit more. There was an exhibition of puppetry at the museum - scary stuff!! The motion triggered laughing clown was particularly freaky...

Munich looked like a nice weekend break town though. I probably won't go back again, and I imagine its best just before Christmas when they have the Christmas markets, but I was pleased I made the effort to go out a bit earlier. Some pics on fb, and more on Flickr.

Even numbered years....

Are apparently better than odd numbered years - well that's according to my friend Simon, and who I am to quibble with such logic??

2012 was seen in, in a pub in Wimbledon - first time I'd been out for NYE for a long time, and it was quite good fun. Nice to do something different, the pub wasn't overly heaving, and the crowd was good. Bit of a scary disco to get through to go to the loo though!

I have big plans for 2012 - and I've already started to action them today. So overall I feel quite optimistic about this year :-).

And it is starting well - I'm watching the final of 'World's Strongest Man' on the TV and next up is the new Sherlock BBC drama - very exciting!

Welcome to 2012!!

Movies what I saw in 2011...

• 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

Not a bad list... faves were The King's Speech, True Grit, Boy and Hugo 3D.  Doesn't look like a very comprehensive list to me - must do better next year!

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 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!

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.

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!