A Welsh Dick Van Dyke and City of Men

I experienced a rather surreal moment this afternoon,as during another torentially wet day, I was sent outside the cottage to check if the chimney sweep's brush was poking it's "Mary Poppins-ish" head out of the chimney pot. The elderly sweep himself turned out to be an incredibly charismatic character,full of bluster,anecdotes and more "chutzpah " than could be found from the cast of Fiddler on the Roof!!!!!!!!! Every small activity was explained and discussed, Horror stories of soot filled flues were told and re told, and several times I had to stick my head through the access door in the fireplace to inspect and re inspect his work. I enjoyed every minute of it- he was incredibly good fun

City of Men (Cidade dos Homens (2007) showing at Theatre Clwyd this evening was a sort of sequel to the terribly violent City Of God Cidade de Deus (2002) and follows two of the now grown up characters trapped within the life-is-cheap favelas of Rio de Janeiro. Where as the first "city" film concentrated on the violence of slum life ( and did so with some stunning visuals) City of Men concentrates more on friendships and hope, and the importance of both in the effort to survive the hardships, it therefore is the easier of the two films to watch as it has a clear heart. Surprisingly for me I was more impressed with the City of God, for all it's cruelty and edge.

My chest still feels awful today, but lots of cough syrup seems to be helping. The damp wet day hasn't helped at all