In The Mood

I have been intrigued to see the much discussed Korean movie Parasite since it pissed off Trump by winning best film at the Oscars.
So I popped over to Chester , had soup and a pretentious tap at my iPad in the Jaunty Goat 
before walking around the corner to the Storyhouse for the 3pm seniors (!!!) showing

I didn't get it.
I mean I understood its message about the haves and have nots in South Korean society
But I just didn't get it!
Sometimes you just have to be in the mood for a certain movie
And I think today I needed something rather different

The dogs shared a pizza tea with me
Happily crunching the crusts noisily in front of the fire
I was glad to get home

I had a hot Bath
A weep
And watched Double Indemnity in bed
Cracking!!!

Barbara and Fred never liked Aldi

76 Years

As you all know I work in a hospice
I am used to watching people closely
And today I was privileged to watch one old friend say goodbye to their lifelong friend.
I noticed the moment when no one else did.
I noticed it because I was looking for it
Unless you are Scarlett O'Hara saying her goodbyes to the saintly Melanie 
I think friends can be slightly overlooked in the access to their chums in the dying process as family members often take centre stage and today I watched the briefest of a hand hold and a brave kiss on a forehead before the family took things over
I followed the visitor outside and asked if they were alright
" Seventy six years" they said quietly with tears in their eyes " we've been friends for over seventy six years," 
And I nodded an acknowledgement
" Seventy years is special " I said lamely
" That it is !" The visitor said and we shook hands carefully before they walked head down across the car park

Oh Lord

Sometimes you are just glad that you made the effort with something unknown.
The Royal Ballet's Dances at a Gathering proved to be a pared down and joyous Jerome Robbins journey into Chopin, with a bare stage allowing the dancers to show their skill and their personalities
Stars Marianela Nuñez, Francesca Hayward and Alexander Campbell were real standouts and after an hour of watching them literally open mouthed We then had the fortune to sit through a brand new ballet, Cathy Marston's The Cellist.
Being " back" at the Royal Opera House was always going to be a moving experience for me  but I am so glad I was able to see something of so much depth and quality
The ballet centres around the aclaimed Cellist Jacqueline Du Prè and through a series of set pieces we see how Jacqueline fell in love with the instrument which catapulted her to stardom.
The cello is played with sublime skill by Marcelino Sambè who initially and magically becomes the instrument she obviously bonded with as a girl.
The two have a love affair on stage which is incredibly moving to watch and the humans in her life, her parents, sister and husband Daniel Barenboim sort of play a supporting role as multiple sclerosis starts to limit her abilities to perform.
I have never been so moved at the end of a ballet as I was at the end of The Cellist 
Unable to move on her own, we see the dying DuPré positioned around the stage by a series of grey figures as she says her goodbyes to her loved ones and as she melts into inactivity into an armchair her cello spins , almost out of control across the stage, playing frantically.
Lauren Cuthbertson literally broke my heart in the lead role.

Royal Ballet

Going to see the live filmed performance of The Cellist and Dances at a Gathering tonight

I'm tired xx

The Journey Home

My journey home tonight was delayed by a couple of hours, so I am thankful to Trendy Carol and her hubby for seeing to the dogs at short notice.
I managed to get The Walking Dead on my iPad but most of the action was set in a cave so I couldn't quite work out who was chasing who.
Also the zombie growling was a little too loud for the other passengers to stomach so I had to turn the volume down.
Not good if you want to enjoy the zombie apocalypse at its best
I'm not an avid shopper but I did have time for  mooch around Waterstones ( where I bought three books and birthday cards) primark ( where I bought some woolly hats..) and a posh kitchen shop ( where I bought a frying pan) 
When I met my friend I noticed that he studiously ignored the fact I had bought a frying pan
" Only You" he remarked shaking his head with a sigh when I finally got it out

There is nothing quite as lonely as the last train home.
The carriage ( even on a Monday night) has the vague wiff of alcohol and tiredness

.

The Venice Sleeper

The Welsh rail system is abysml
The rolling stock is outdated and feels dirty and unloved and carriages can be cramped and uncomfortable.
Im on the 14.20 to Manchester and already there is no wifi and I am unable to buy a coffee with my debit card
The train is the sort you  have to open the windows to gain access to the door handle and the guard although English is giving his announcements in a sort of strangled Welsh first.

My spoken welsh is almost  as good.
But at least he's giving it a try.

Not very romantic
Not very mysterious

I feel as though im travelling in 1978.

I'm planning a holiday of sorts in my head. It will have to be funded by overtime and from a jar in the living room cupboard where ive placed money made from the selling of unwanted items on ebay

Im going to venice on tbe train
Apparantly there is a sleeper train from Paris. A friend of mine catches it every year and his stories of waking up in the centre of the city after a night lulled by the thump-thump of the train wheels is the stuff of Agatha Christie

Lets hope the venice sleeper is better than transport for wales eh

Theatre On A Sunday

What fun
Theatre on a Sunday afternoon!!!
The Storyhouse in Chester's own production of Miss Julie was an interesting choice for what I suspect is an experimental foray into Sunday productions and I think my Sister enjoyed this adaptation of August Strindberg's 1888 play as much as I did .
This production has been moved from the original Victorian Swedish setting  to 1940s Hong Kong
Where Miss Julie, a brittle and somewhat lost colonial daughter plays a dangerous flirting game with her father's Chinese chauffeur as his fiancé, the family cook and nanny, looks on.

The original play has a great deal to say about rape, mental health and class. And this Amy Ng's version adds race, English colonism into the sexual mix.

Sundays can be depressing days and my sister described them as having that Sunday night before school feeling! 

It was nice to do something different

Deva memories reworked

This video was forwarded on to me by Miss Norm
It's been 34 years since I left
I knew most of the staff and a few of the patients shown