A boring Ridley Scott, Christmas and Jonney award!

American Gangster (2007) is a meticulous,multi layered alternative American dream story of drug baron Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) and his Javert- esque Nemesis, cop Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe). It covers a lifetime of crime and punishment and sadly is dull,dull dull. Washington is pretty bland, as is a rather fat Russell Crowe ( Looking remarkably like me a year or so ago!!!) which is a bit of a disappointment.It is left to Veteran African American actress Ruby Dee, to steal the film with one pivotal scene as Lucas' not-so-stupid mother. All in all the whole thing was rather boring.

Finished most of the Christmas shopping today and wrapped the gifts after taking Janet and Ruby to the beach with our pack! Ruby was gentle and friendly enough but showed her power by constantly charging at William, Meg and George and flipping them over as she would have done to a rabbit! She was so quick and strong , that the terriers were rather frightened and galloped behind me to hide. Only Maddie managed to fend Ruby off with the sternest of gazes!

Heard that my Friend John has won a National Newspapers "Business editor of the year" this evening which is a great achievement! I hope to meet him for a drink on Tuesday before catching up with Mike and Jane! Congrats John Well done!.....wonder if he made a speech!?

Vampires and Christmas shopping

We have seen it all before; small American town filled with a mixture of heroes and despots is attacked by supernatural forces. Some live, most die horribly. and there are lots of jumps and screams in the dark, as every cliche is ticked time and time again in this horror/thriller movie; I must admit, I kind of enjoyed 30 Days of Night (2007). The setting in a snow bound town within the Arctic circle during a month long winter darkness, is atmospherically shot, the vampire baddies are suitably frightening and animalistic and occasionally the tension creeps above the average slasher/teen film. One scene in particular lingers in the mind. As the vampire hordes attack the townsfolk we see a birds eye view of the bloody carnage complete with arterial spurts,panicked locals, all set in the general normality of a snowy"It's a wonderful life" high street in the dark!

All very creepy!

Got a load of Christmas shopping done in Llandudo afterwards. Thank god it wasn't snowing!!!

Marks and Spencer 2007 Christmas ad

Not as good as last Year's James Bond themed advert but I do like the 1950 fel to it!

A tale of good and bad service, and winter planting

There is one problem with holidaying in New York! and that is you really appreciate good service. Breakfasts were always taken at Pershing Square (http://www.pershingsquare.com/), which proudly boasts to be the busiest cafe and restaurant in New York, and I loved watching how the 2 cafe managers,8 waiters and a score of support staff managed the 40 tables and booths with a military type precision. One lugubrious manager always made me smile as he ambled through the tables looking quite laid back, almost as though he was sleep walking; however he missed nothing! a table that should have been cleared, a waiting diner, a chair out of kilter, everything was noticed and was dealt with. Our waiters and Hispanic support staff ( the Hispanics who could not speak adequate English cleared tables and served food in support of the waiters) ensured that the great food was on time and that we had a smile and a good experience every time. The whole staff deserved their part of the 16%-20% tip ( left to our discretion by most of the waiters who realised that we knew just how to tip) and it is interesting to think that you can get so used to quality service in such a short time on holiday!

Today, my experience of UK service was rather different. On the way to pick up a sack of wheat for the chucks, I popped in to comet to buy a pair of earphones. Without help I found a cheap pair that cost a couple of quid and proceeded to the checkout. Two clerks were stood that the till and both ignored me. Finally the manager looked up and motioned his colleague to serve me. She looked around 18, and appeared very very depressed, or at least bored to death, as she didn't look at me once. I asked her if the headphones would fit the radio I had in my hand, and she mumbled a somewhat economical "yeah" from under her hair straightened fringe. The rest of the transaction was carried out in a stony silence, and I couldn't resist a sarcastic "Thank you sooo much!" when she handed me the receipt.
At hearing this the manager who had initially ignored me raised his head and asked blandly, "Is everything alright!?". I nodded and replied dryly "my welsh terrier could have served me with better grace" before walking out like an old queen!!...................I know I am a grumpy old man.

The whole day has been devoted to the allotment, which has been turned over ready for planting tomorrow. The flock (including the ducks) all lined up against the fencing waiting for the usual worm titbits (right). Dug up a load of parsnips and the rest of the leeks (see top pic) before the light faded. But it was nice to be out all day.

Catching up with Hazel for the cinema on Thursday and we are going to Ann and Tim's on Friday night ( to bore them about NY). Next Tuesday I am looking forward to catch up with Mike , Bev and Jane in my only pre Christmas visit to Sheffield, and Kathryn in Derbyshire , oh and Nigel comes over that weekend ! so it feels a bit Christmasy on the social front!

A matter of life or death

Like in a scene from a film, a Lockheed p-38 American World War 2 , has just been found down the coast aways, after it crashed over 60 years ago. The actual location is being kept secret and is apparently under surveillance, until the rare plane is recovered. I think the kite photo of the crash site is a cracking one

!

Gethin

OK,

I am begining to become a bit of a fan!

This picture made me smile when sitting down for the first time after a fraught few hours on ITU

Heaven

Heaven (2002) was a strange little film that I caught on my break last night. Unfortunately I only watched the odd half hour of it but I suspect I will try and watch the entire film on DVD if I can as the performances of the actors Cate Blanchett and the odd looking Giovanni Ribisi were quite compelling. I was particularly impressed with Ribisi who had a odd stillness about his performance as a shy Italian policeman who falls for a suspected terrorist, that was incredibly moving.

Been asleep all day, so Chris has been on chicken,duck,dog,and dinner duties which he has completed with a martyr type gusto! just on the way to work now!

Ruby

No we have not got another dog! Janet and Ned have been bitten by the canine bug and have bought a lercher cross called Ruby. Though not my cup of tea, (I prefer the stocky cocky terrier types rather than the aristocratic gracefulness of the "running" worker dogs) she is a lovely natured and impressive animal.
I look forward to watching her run circles around my four!
Working all weekend on nights so will miss Strictly Come Dancing this evening, which is a bummer! We have not done much today; walked the dogs on the beach ( The tiny figure of George and Chris makes the photo look posed)
Caught up with Ruby, then caught the end of Now Voyager on BBC2