The last king,but not the last of the rain

The Last King of Scotland (2006) is an interesting film which I tried very much to enjoy; unfortunately I liked bits of it but not all. Forest Whitaker's supposed tour de force performance of the despot Idi Amin left me rather cold but I did did enjoy James McAvoy as fay,hedonistic and flawed Dr Nickolas Garrigan, Amin's personal medic and right hand man. The film, shot in a faded grainy all so familiar documentary type way has a strange hew to the cinematography as if the colours in it are all bleeding; This works very well with the 1976 African setting. The story Chronicles McAvoy's friendship with the dictator, and his all- so- slow realisation that things are not right with the world in Uganda, and although some off it was based an "real events", the twists and turns of it all doesn't quite hold up and when you stop believing in a film, you stop enjoying it.

Whitiaker looks on course for the Academy award for best actor but I would like Peter O'Toole to grab it for old times sake for Venus (2006).

Speaking of the Oscars, I was excited to see the nominations today! especially nominations for best actress

Penélope Cruz in “Volver” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Judi Dench in “Notes on a Scandal” (Fox Searchlight)
Helen Mirren in “The Queen” (Miramax, Pathé and Granada)
Meryl Streep in “The Devil Wears Prada” (20th Century Fox)
Kate Winslet in “Little Children” (New Line)

Hummm. historically when the brits are all up against an American the yank gets it! and for once I would like Streep to win ! ( mind you I have a feeling Cruz will nab it)

Rain is bloody back tonight, which is a real pisser, at least I managed to get most of the gardening done! did squeeze in a long chat with Mike too this afternoon, which was nice

Gone with the wind sunset, & the rituals of life!

Took this picture of the sunset tonight as I was shutting up the chickens! The weather is very cold and crisp and not a hint of rain! Houses in the village still have no electricity and our sky tv is still not fixed! but I have found it welcome to be able to listen to the radio and to watch our small library of dvds instead of the likes of celebrity big brother ! Today is to be Lifeboat (1944) , a cracker of film!

Thinking of my slightly obsessive nature today on a kitchen roll and cat food visit to Sainsburys after a few hours sleep after nights! The OED define a ritual as "a series of actions habitually and invariably followed by someone", and I only realised today that after a shop with the dogs in the car I always buy a sandwich to share with them all before we drive off! I would never have noticed this little habit if it wasn't for George who suddenly aware of this new windfall, nearly killed himself to line up with the others as I returned to the car!

I am a creature of habits! I clean and tidy the cottage in a particular order (Living room, bedroom, bathroom and kitchen), I can only have a cup of hot tea when lawns are cut and bordered and I hum "campdown races" when I clean my teeth! I constantly balance our Joint account, and I usually make a list of "to do" things every morning!..........how anal is that? hey ho must go and listen to Just a Minute , as I always do when I preparing the evening meal !

By the way Joan, is now back to her own self, and has just woofed down the remains of sunday's chicken and a two containers of Sheba! ...............crafty old bugger

Thank god it wasn't 15 below! & a cinema friend

Eight Below (2006) is a bit of a disappointment; It recounts the incredible saga of a team of sled dogs left to fend for themselves for months during a brutal Antarctic winter while their distraught handler tries desperately to mount a rescue operation . Sounds good eh? well I suspect the 1983 Japanese version called Nankyoku Monogatari - which chronicled the "true life" 1958 story (where a Japanese science expedition had to leave behind 15 dogs! ) was grittier and obviously sadder ( only 2 dogs survived), but in disney hands most (but not all) of the huskies survive!, and the film adheres to all those old fashioned Disney feel good cliches, which really do not work anymore.I suspect the Japanese film rightly described how the dogs resorted to cannibalism, something the Disney film would never mention!
Mind you, I did have a bawl when the dogs owner Paul Walker, found the last dog alive, his favourite Maya!

I think my version of the film's official photograph is better!

Saw Hazel today, a friend from work who loves good arthouse cinema and theatre. She has arranged tickets for us to see Laberinto del Fauno, El -Pan's Labyrinth (2006) at Theatre Clwyd which should be great as the tiny old-fashioned cinema has just undergone refurbishment. I feel that Hazel pines for the cut and thrust of Manchester where she was in University and lived until 8 years ago .I think that she feels I am a kindred spirit in some aspect of her missed life- perhaps I still possess a northern city type of mentality which she likes!!.

Fading Joan .......

Joan has started to fade somewhat this week, nothing too drastic, but she has lost that senile constant motion that characterises her so well. Dispite all manner of catty foods offered she has not eaten anything for two days, but has drunk some milk. I am loath to subject her to a vets visit as she detests any change but made a decision to take her tomorrow if things are no better. Joan has been a gentle and distant constant in my life for 18 years
all sitting and walking and walking and sleeping, she has always just been there ! and I would like her to remain here just a bit longer. Walked up to the shop and bought some cooked chicken drumsticks this afternoon and offered them up to her, initially she was having non of it, but then, after I had chewed them up for her for a while, she obviously decieded to eat and now is sat on Chris as he watches another Miss Marple dvd. Hopefully we will have her a tad longer!

A very Long Engagement

A Very Long Engagement ( French title Un long dimanche de fiançailles (2004) is a gem of a film, and I can thank the gales that knocked off "sky" and Chris' unfortunate absence to be able to sit down and enjoy it all over again tonight. Convoluted both in narrative and visual presentation, it is a breathtaking piece of work that tells the tale of five French soldiers , who are convicted of self-mutilation in order to escape military service during World War I. They are condemned to face near certain death in the area between the French and German trench lines. It appears that all of them were killed in a subsequent battle, but the fiancée of one of the soldiers refuses to give up hope, and begins to uncover clues as to what actually took place on the battlefield. The story is told both from the point of view of the fiancée in Paris and the French countryside of the 1920's, and in flashback to the battlefield. Audrey Tautou, a favourite of director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, is the somber glue that holds the piece together, but it is the visuals, filmed with an odd sepia/yellow hew that linger in the mind. The set piece where hundreds of French wounded and their nurses are trapped in a Zeppelin hanger, under attack by enemy mortars ( with the hydrogen filled dirigible still in it!) is visually stunning and has to be seen to be believed.

Mathilde's aunt,played by Chantal Neuwirth is constantly amused (in a very Amilee type way) by the flatulance of her dog. Every time the dog breaks wind she is heard to say gleefully "Doggie farts......lighten my heart!!"......................................where the hell does that come from?

Under siege/ Institutional racism

I Have never known it so windy. All the heavy pots on the cottage wall have gone for a burton, and the dogs big walk this time in Bishop's wood had to be cut short as I had trouble physically standing! Effectively I feel under siege! I have never before felt nervous of the strength of the wind but I do today and keep checking if the slates have been ripped from the roof! Some consolation is the fact that the cottage has been here for three hundred years or so; Chris is marooned in Widnes or some godforsaken backwater and is trying to get to Chester so I can pick him up later, all the trains (as per usual when weather strikes in this country) have stopped !

Several trees in the churchyard have been damaged, and least of our problems the satellite dish has stopped working! Hey at least my custard tart has come out ok, so thank God for small mercies. Carole from next door popped round for a coffee and to say hi to the dogs, all of whoom she loves!! (below) but just missed out on the "tart"!

Celebrity Big Brother seems to be going from bad to worse with this racist element being flagged up! The sponsors (carphone warehouse) have now pulled their financial support in light of the Jade Goody/Danielle Lloyd alleged bullying against Shilpa Shetty , and the row has bounced worldwide. This is the end of Big Brother I feel, and not a moment too soon. Originally it was an interesting psychological experiment of sorts, but it has been manipulated to death and now resembles a score of Christians being hurled to the lions!

Goody and her family, I am afraid, seem to be representative of much of the UK population, in the fact they are ignorant and insular and do not have the ability to reflect. They just exist and are what they seem to be! Of course the stress put upon them in this awful atypical environment of the Big Brother house, would make a nun spit, and has fuelled this fishwife behaviour, but Jade and her brood are racist, just as they are narrow minded,crass,ignorant and rude. I see this racism a great deal, and certainly notice it more in Wales than I ever did in Sheffield. It is a product of living lives isolated from diversity and exposure to differences in all manner of things, not just of other cultures and race. The whole sorry mess saddens me greatly.

On a positive note Shilpa Shetty has actually come across as a well adjusted, confident, and self aware individual whereas Goody and Lloyd resemble brittle teenagers who are out of their depth in this unreal situation! Perhaps all this also reflects very badly upon the producers and psychologists of this programme who manipulated these damaged people in the first place.

Chris has just rung,Britain in a weather crisis! , motorways closed and train services all stopped so he has decided to bum a bed off his professor! in scenic Preston.

A Chicken run,mushrooms & Cow pats nightmareS

Nightmare ! Whilst cleaning out the chicken run this morning, I must have left one side loose ! and as I was loading the car with dogs, one of the hens ( I can never work out who is Robina and who is Sarah) could be seen poking her head round the corner of the run, ready to break to freedom! She looked rather cool and calm, so I thought if I edged ever so slowly around in full view I could persuade her to dart back into the run. I stepped forward one step..she stepped back one ! I climbed over the gate, she blinked a couple of times!, I stepped another step and without a change of expression she put her head down and galloped like road runner on a mission across the orchard with me in hot pursuit. I won't bore you with the details of her capture, but it entailed several weetabix , alot of begging and an hour and a half!


Planting mushrooms is a disgusting practice as the compost reeks to high heaven. Please forgive the pink gloves. Hopefully in a few weeks we will have a crop!

To calm down after the chicken incident, took the dogs (including George, who is walking very well on the lead) up The Gop, minutes into the walk all four of them found a cow pat! It was one of those sloppy wet ones with a greenish crust ! and obviously totally irresistible to terriers! Finlay swallow dived into its centre, Meg just started to eat it ! (gross) and Maddie not to be left out waded like a fat old woman at the beach. George alone remained clean! It took me over an hour to bath them all on our return to the cottage.

Eddie Mair,the old girls win at the golden globes! and a large tin of custard

I do like Eddie Mair. I used to enjoy his soft, humorous voice every Sunday morning, when he presented Broadcasting House. PM, the BBC news flagship on radio 4, is obviously not as witty and satirical as his former show, but he did manage to raise a smile from me (difficult after 3 hours sleep after night shift) as he discussed the Golden Globe winners ( or more importantly for the BBC, which Brits won what!? and fu*k the Americans)

I was thrilled to hear that Meryl Streep and fellow middle aged thesp Helen Mirren won a fist full of awards! at the Golden Globes, and well deserved they were too!, Middle aged women seem to be making a resurgence in Hollywood nowadays what with Susan Sarandon, Jessica Lange, Diane Keaton, Annette Benning, Sigourney Weaver and Judi Dench all bubbling in the wings ! Both Mirren and Streep looked absolutely fabulous !!! ( By the way Susan Sarandon's family originte in North Wales)

Cold today and guess what?.......it is very rainy! settled down in front of the fire and tv with some Bird's custard and lots of telephone calls !. First night in for a week!!!