Dawn French' funny girls

It was late this evening when I caught a documentary by Dawn French which centred about what makes female comics....well funny.
Perhaps 50 comics were interviewed and the one that made we laugh until I cried was the all too brief interview with Helen Lederer.
Helen recalled a story when she and a group of her 10 year old schoolgirl friends decided to "hate" the golfers who used the golf course behind her house. (why?)
To register their displeasure at the sporting activity, the girls would stand together and sing aggressively "Nellie the elephant packed her trunk and said goodbye to the circus!!"
It does not sound funny as I write it, but I literally howled till I cried at her delivery!!!

Aching for quiet

The scream of the fukuda monitors during a 12 hour shift literally do my head in now. The constant banal chatter of colleagues detailing who did what to who also makes my head spin, so I couldn't wait to finish work and walk down the lane in the dusk, VERY, VERY, QUIETLY!!! with all four dogs padding behind me.

Albert has done Chris' head in today, as one after another he has deposited a steady stream of bird and mouse bodies on the back patio.

"The place resembles a morgue" he complained when I walked in.

Chris is a bit squeamish when it comes to bodies so it was up to me to remove the carnage

Låt den rätte komma in (2008)

Let the right one in (2008) literally turns the general Hollywood vampire flick onto its head as it combines brief flashes of horror with a most melancholy and delicate story of pre adolescent love.
Oscar (a wan little Kåre Hedebrant) is a lonely and bullied schoolboy with a busy divorced mother and an amiable alcoholic( but absent) father.He meets Eli, a strange,older-than-her-years 12 year old girl (an amazingly poignant Lina Leandersson) and over time the two become involved in a mutually dependent friendship which is complicated only by the fact that she is indeed a vampire.
Director Tomas Alfredson concentrates heavily on the atmosphere and sadness of John Ajvide Lindqvist's novel and lends a depth and slowness of pace to the film, with its unhurried and beautifully shot scenes of an Winter in a 1981 Ikea filled Sweden.
The two child leads are wonderful. especially the doe eyed Leandersson, and the shocks when they come would have had Hitchcock standing up and applauding!....One scene in particular involving a pack of frightened cats is terrifyingly effective.
Over all I liked it, but I must say the film would have benefited by being 30 minutes shorter.
An impressive 8/10

Weather turns

Well at least the Scotties are photogenic after their recent grooming!

The weather closed in today and with blustery wind and rain lashing the cottage, the day has felt almost wintry. I am not too bothered as the field was desperate for water, and at least it has given us the chance to do non-allotment related chores!

We braved the wind to have a walk on the beach,then had a great lunch at the Scala cafe (we are going back tonight to see Let the right one in (Låt den rätte komma in )- I cannot quite believe Chris is actually going to a Swedish subtitled vampire film!!!! He is such a "traditionalist" when it comes to cinema. Margaret Rutherford and Murder at the Gallop or Carry on Dick is more to his taste.

Haleh and the stick thin Blanche are still doing fine, Blanche is still a bit dazed and broody and had to be shaken up a little to be able to react to some tempting spaghetti! Manfully the duckling joined her and tried to swallow a 5 inch piece before they scooted back inside their run out of the rain. (above) Gloria braving the driving rain

Torch Song Trilogy Part 1

Nige reminded me that this IS one of my favourite films..........Harvey is the most unlikely of heros!
Love the "taxi" comment at the end.

Just Panties (What Else Do I Need?) POSEIDON!

Now sometimes you can too much hen information......I found this clip on youtube this morning before I started farm work.....
Readers will know that I am a disaster film fan....and this "song" from the musical version of the Poseidon Adventure has to be seen to be believed......

The lost art of writing

Taking the dogs to the groomer cuts into the day by at least 2 hours or so!
I am typing this blog at the shop as I wait for Maddie and George to be finished off! (I am using the owners laptop as a concession for waiting for so long- which was a kind thought)
I received another Birthday card today, so all in all I have been given 21, and I thought I would write a blog about how much I appreciate the thought behind the simple action of picking out,writing and actually posting a greetings card.
In this age of text, phone and email, people seldom write letters anymore, however they do still write greeting cards to mark special events, and the effort in the ritual of card sending, to me underlines the bonds of affection,loyalty,love and most importantly respect.
My friend Nia in Australia, even after emigrating has never missed sending me a card, Nuala, with all her family woes of recent years likewise has never forgotten, and best mate Mike (who is famous for his lack of contact)has even made an effort to put ballpoint to envelope!
Every year I get a card from another friend I have not seen in over 20 years, and more recently my mother in law always carefully inscribes her card with a sweet neat message which is always welcome. Friends and family seem to enjoy picking the moist appropriate cards possible, so the 2009 themes include, dogs,hens,gardening,talking vegetables, the Royal family and an old lady kicking her leg above her head......yes all so appropriate me thinks
To me, cards simply reflect the fact that someone is thinking well of you.
...and that is important

Polling day

The elections for the European Parliament took place today and after a bit of a mental tussle with my conscience I took myself off to vote! In these awfully cynical times of MP expenses, it has been suggested that a combination of apathy and dissatisfaction by the electorate may mean that far right BMP representatives may get a foothold on the political ladder and although I did have a temptation to just deface the voting paper (which would be recognised as a show of dissatisfaction against all of the political parties!!)..
In the end I voted tactically. When I returned home from the polling station, I noticed that the village Conservation Group volunteers had been hard at work and had filled the flowerbeds in the centre of the village. The Village has two community groups,- the conservation group, and our Trelawnyd Flower Show Committee, both work very hard giving something back to the village, whether it be aesthetic changes to the flower beds and green spaces or practical donations to the community needs in the Memorial Hall.
I am trying to make a rough poll of the villagers to find out what we could spend monies collected by this year's Flower Show on.....answers on a postcard please

ps

Blanche update

I have seen her outside just once today, the duckling (who I have named Haleh after my favourite character in ER ) is looking mighty fine