Star Trek

Sexy Simon Pegg and an even sexier Zachary Quinto in Star Trek

New Chicks

Hopefully the latest field casualties will be replaced by some of the chicks hatched today. So far ten out of the fifteen have fought their hard way into the world and by morning there may be one or two more. Five of the first hatchers are already set up under the heat lamp in the shed.

A Real Sexy Spock

Apparently Star Trek is the 11th film of the sci fi franchise to burst forth onto our screens and I must say that although I am not a huge Star Trek geek, it certainly is the best of the whole series (and I am including all of the tv shows in this assessment too!)
This exciting prequel to the tv USS ENTERPRISE days, chronicles James T Kirk's unsteady rise to Captain status and Spock's even shakier (and much more interesting) journey to be his second in command and along the way we are joyfully introduced to the well known supporting team of Scotty,Bones,Uhura,Sulu and Chekov.
Chris Pine makes for a spunky and likable Kirk, Karl Urban is a dead ringer for the old cynical Dr McCoy , newcomers Zoe Saldana and John Cho give a newer, sexier twist to Uhura and Sulu's usually bland characters and Simon Pegg gives the one and only comic turn as the moon faced engineer Mr Scott.
The action sequences are top notch, the usual Star Trek psycho/technical/pseudo religious babble is mercifully kept to a minimum and although some of the film's time travel storyline is over complicated the whole movie is a refreshing,dynamic and successful re booting of a tried and tested formula!
The character of Mr Spock (played with a smoldering smartness by the very VERY sexy Zachary Quinto) re enforces the film's ability to be totally revitalised and original from anything that has gone before it, and he deftly steals the film from the rest of the youthful and very attractive cast.
I loved his charm particulary and the film in general
I gave it a cracking 9/10

From left to right Chekov (Anton Yelchin) Kirk (Chris Pine), Scotty (Simon Pegg), Bones (Karl Urban), Sulu (John Cho) and Uhura (Zoe Saldana)

Robina R.I.P

My sister in law read the last couple of blogs and sent me this photo of me and Robina. She was my very first hen and I can't believe it was taken over three years ago now....Jayne said I looked very young!...I think I only look younger as I actually look clean!

Silence

Now I know I am somewhat jetlagged today as I am cranky and rather quiet......in actual fact "being quiet" is exactly what I need to be today as I have missed my usual self contained field days. Now I love my in laws dearly, but the constant chatter that accompanies being in their ( and Chris' company), whilst on holiday and beyond was a little bit too much....I have to remind myself that for most of the time I am content to be in my own company with only a few fairly silent animals for company!...I am such a crabby old fart, who is stuck in his ways!

After taking Richard to the station, I got stuck in with the field and garden chores. Grass needed to be mown, weeds cleared and the ton of seedlings hiding away in the old enamel bath all needed to be planted. Only one week ago I strimmed the entire field..within 7 days, the whole place looks overgrown and slightly untidy again........The warm wet patch has brought forth a super quick growth spurt from the weeds , grass and hedges.

I dropped off duck eggs, hen eggs and spare turnip seedlings to my Sister's co operative allotment and received broad bean, pea and sunflower seedlings in return. I planted these and also put in runner bean seedlings,parsnips, iceberg lettuce, marigold flowers ( a natural pesticide) and extra pumpkins and onions.

The ducklings were cleaned out yet again and were put into the sun to dry themselves off, and I prepared the smaller crate for the new hen chicks, which are just starting to hatch in the kitchen incubator.

This afternoon I cut the cottage lawn,weeded around the aquilegia (above) which has self seeded in the garden, cleared 7 days of pig latrine (a real disgusting job) and retrieved 3 dead mice from a testosterone filled Albert, who had joined the dogs and I on the field (the hens ate all three within seconds!)

I was so tired I didn't EVEN dare lay down to cloud watch......

BBC 1 HOLLYWOOD 0

The one good thing about flying for 22 hours whilst on holiday is that you generally have the opportunity of watching a few acceptable films......hummm how wrong can one film fanatic be???
British Airways presented me with the following:-

Last Chance Harvey ( a dire "romantic comedy with a lacklustre Dustin Hoffman and the generally excellent Emma Thompson) 5/10

The Day the Earth Stood Still yawn yawn yawn yawn yawn....5/10

P.S. I Love You (another romantic comedy...with " face like a bag of spanners "Hilary Swank in the starring role as a grieving widow) 5/10

Inkheart (Tosh) 3/10

Thank god for Australia (2008) at least 2 hours were wasted away on this enjoyable emotional romp
I had to wait until last night (Jetlagged and wide awake at 2am) to be able to watch a little gem of a tv programme. "The Street" was a tv series created by Liverpudlian Jimmy McGovern three years or so ago. It centred its stories on the "gritty" lives of a working class community in a run down Manchester street, and I was lucky enough to catch episode nine entitled "Demolition"

The storyline was nothing hugely new. It centred upon a working class builder Vincent Regan, a married father of 2 children, who consistently worked away from home to support his family. He shares accommodation with a fellow construction worker (Will Mellor playing against type as a closet gay man) and unexpectedly the two men become romantically involved with traumatic results.
Now this kind of tale ("straight guy confronting his sexuality) is not a particularly innovative storyline...and to be honest I found much of the plot lines (Regan being ostracised by his redneck colleagues for example) rather hackneyed and stereotypical, but what really impressed me was the towering performance given by Vincent Regan (above left) .
He dominated the screen with a tortured and complex portrayal of an ordinary man suddenly faced with an opportunity to be himself after more than forty years . I was incredibly moved by his performance despite the jet lag. Make sure you watch it if you can
9/10

Second Chances and Back to Normality

I found myself slightly flummoxed this morning, as when I opened up the wooden ark out popped a fairly sprightly and brighter Susan! (above pic when she was a youngster!) I think Richard had actually mixed up the hens' names so after a detailed head count I worked out that the actual casualties were Robina and Shelley Winters (one of the Buffs)- which is sad.
I cooked some pasta this afternoon and Susan ate the whole portion, perhaps she has finally turned the sick hen corner
I picked up the Welsh terriers from the kennels this morning, and according to the kennel owner both had spent a sleepless week barking their heads off in doggy hysteria. I bathed all four dogs early and Meg and William have slept the day away, their first proper rest since we left for San Francisco!.....I am yet to catch up with my sleep!

The hens' eggs in the incubator are due to hatch within the next couple of days, I "bobbed" several of them with Richard in tow, and most seem to be housing a bouncing chick....let's hope so, I have tentative orders for at least 8 hen chicks from interested locals.

I have also conscripted five provisional members for my poultry course, which I am very pleased about, I am to start teaching it in June.

Richard goes back to Broadstairs tomorrow, and has spent much of the day shopping and lunching with Chris as I caught up with jobs. I did take him for some son-in-law/father-in-law bonding at tea time when we slipped to the pub (the village pub has just re opened!) for a couple of pints during which Chris played mom and cooked dinner.

Richard seems to have enjoyed his brief journey into the good life, and says he will miss the field, animals and especially the company of George and Maddie. I am trying to talk him into buying a dog..........

Richard's photo of young Rogo.

Wicked Musical - Defying Gravity - Vicki Noon

I found this on you tube and although I don't hold with the recording of live theatre I think it does underline how good the sing actually was in the San Fransisco production.......Mz Noon was the understudy and cracking in the role.of Elphaba...a real star in the making.....