Catching up

It's been a busy week- ridiculously so. Various stuff - work stuff, other stuff - culminating in doing, somewhat bizarrely, a sort of talk to a local youth group.

Overall a busy and bitty week - hopefully tomorrow will be a chance to veg out.

Hello Z gap!

Look, I'm on the web!

Busyness

Apologies but been a hectic week so a lack of posts.

Hope to catch up fully this weekend.

Happy Go Lucky

In Mike Leigh's new film we meet Poppy, a young, single primary school teacher. We meet her friends, see her take driving and flamenco lessons, and generally see a slice of her North London life.

And that's pretty much it.... virtually nothing happens in this film.

Whether you like or hate this film will depend on how much you like Poppy's 'quirkiness' and 'always look on the bright side' take on life. Me? I just about stood it, but only just.

My main problem was about 90mins into the film I realised there wasn't actually much of story. We meet Poppy, spend some time with her, but nothing is resolved in the plot as there is no plot to resolve. The story doesn't seem to go anywhere - and then the end credits role.

Now, this is not a film to completely dismiss as a complete waste of my time - tempted though I am. The acting is excellent with numerous lovely character pieces who all interact well. London is far more recognisable than the version we tend to see on screen through the eyes of Hollywood and/or Richard Curtis but still looks beautiful. There is even a trip to Southend. But...

There are several scenes which easily could have been cut without ruining the film - the flamenco lessons, the visit to the physio etc. - whose overall running time is too long. In another scene Poppy is coming home past a deserted warehouse late at night. She hears a noise which she investigates by going in to the said derelict warehouse and ends up chatting to a tramp. Eh?? No - people just wouldn't do that.

That scene, like much of the film, just doesn't ring true. Disappointing.

Website of the week

I know it's an advert - but I do like this.

Pottering around Puttenham

The weather is glorious so strap the bike on the roof of the car and head into Surrey. Do a lovely 25+ mile circuit around some rural parts of the North Downs, starting and finishing in Guildford.

I still find it amazing that you can find an oasis of rural Britain so close to London, and take in countryside that wouldn't look out of place in an English-set, Hollywood-financed romcom movie, such as Seale Church in the picture.

You can almost make out Hugh Grant and/or Bonneville and Kate Winslet in the background.

Follow the umbrella

Occasionally in London I'll do something 'touristy' - it's a global city which get loads of visitors and sometimes those of us who live here forget why people visit. Today was one of those days.

I've driven round Hyde Park corner numerous times but I've never actually visited Wellington Arch or No 1 London. Both are fascinating in their own way but the real gems are the monuments around the arch, especially the New Zealand and Australian ones.

To make me feel like a tourist I happened to be there as the guards made their way through the arch.

To make me feel like I live here I bumped into some people I knew on the escalator at Hyde Park tube station!

Blimey, it's Boris

Comedians and satirists relax. Your prayers have been answered. For the next four years you should never be short of material - Boris has been elected Mayor.

Some observations;
* Both Boris and Ken have big 'personal' votes - given how badly the other results have been for Labour, would the London defeat have been greater if it had not been for Ken's personal support?
* If Ken had run as an 'Independent', as he had to in 2000, would he still be Mayor?
* Ken's speech following the defeat was very gracious - more so when you consider how ill-tempered some of the campaigning had been. If he had shown such graciousness and humility earlier, or during his time in office, would he still be Mayor?

All rather academic now - but let's strap ourselves in as the next four years could be entertaining.

Well, I'm working on a couple of ideas...

Last night I toddled along to the latest meeting of the writer's group I'm sort of part of. Have to admit I'm starting to feel a bit of a fraud. Others are moving ahead with their draft scripts and ideas, and one even has a Stargate tie-in audio book coming out soon. I've got a rather lame 3/4 finished script that seemed 'a good idea at the time', and some lame idea about a leaving party.

I could come over all arty and say I'm "struggling with my craft" - but the reality is I'm either too busy, or lack the discipline of setting sufficient time aside to put fingers to keyboard. Heck, I'm even rubbish at updating this blog...

Ho-hum...

A slightly surreal evening

For reasons I'm a little unclear about - though apparently I was "on a couple of people's lists" - I am invited to the launch of Now I am a Person, a book linked to the Umthombo Street Children project. The venue is 11 Downing Street.

Have to admit it's all slightly weird. The author/photographer of the book says a few very well chosen words, Simon Mayo interviews the Umthombo founders, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer is present. The contrast between the location and the reason for the event is also quite poignant.

The most surreal part of the evening is when a small Scottish women, full of energy, bounds up to our small group and says, "Hello, I'm Maggie Darling." It takes me a moment to put two and two together and work put that she is 'Mrs Chancellor of the Exchequer'.

So, a slightly surreal, but throughly enjoyable evening.

A compliment... but then again...

Today my boss commented that she valued my 'measured responses' to things.

Couldn't help but think that it could be interpreted that I was forthright and gobby...

Website of the week

If the toaster can have an online museum, then why not the humble banana?

"Like Barry from Eastenders"

Yesterday was a beautiful day, a real sense that spring had finally sprung - and I spent most of it in a meeting in a church basement.

Actually it's not a bad as it sounds. A chance to catch up with people, throw around ideas, look back on the past year but also forward to the next. Breaks for coffee, food, and a much welcome drink down the pub for an hour, also helped!

There was a slightly surreal part of the day when the issues of being single got discussed - quite how I'm not entirely sure - and it was quite intriguing. How we address the issues facing those who are 'desperate and dateless' (or who perhaps end up in the 'freaks, geeks and losers' category - don't worry, all the terms were used in 'ironic' quotes and initiated by those of us in the categories!) threw up some interesting ideas; and surprised me how out of touch on such an issue some can be.

Intriguingly, I'm at that 'awkward age'. I'm slightly too old to be in the first flush of attractive singledom - but if I wait another 10 years then my time will come. Those currently in relationships become divorced and I, as a 'nice guy', become a hot property - woo-hoo!!

Amusingly, and completely separately to all this, someone is trying to play cupid and set me up. "Just look them up on Facebook, send them an email or message, and take it from there," were the instructions. Now one flaw is I don't actually know their Facebook name, nor do I particularly use Facebook, but that wasn't my main issue.

"So I just send them a message out of the blue and suggest meeting up? Despite the fact that I don't know her, or what she looks like, and she has no idea who I am? It seems somewhat... contrived? Not exactly a 'natural' way of meeting up is it?" I say.

"I was trying to think if you've met before and was trying to describe what you looked like."

"Barry from Eastenders is often said as a pretty good likeness," I reply. The day moves on.

Later the person rather sweetly apologised for embarrassing me earlier. The apology was unnecessary but I suppose I was embarrassed - it was the whole 'arrange a blind date via Facebook' thing that threw me most. Mind you, as I often say, it's when people stop trying to set me up that I need to worry!

;o)

Son of Rambow

Son of Rambow is a charming and very British picture which follows the unlikely friendship of two boys - one a bit of a cocky so and so and the other from a strict Plymouth Brethren family - as they attempt to make their own version of Rambo. It's a film set it the 80s and has beautifully observed moments of the decade - poor hairstyles, VHS video and how cool foreign exchange students seemed. But it should have been such a better film.

Yep, this movie has heaps of charm, some nice laughs, and does capture growing up in the 80s well - it is also incredibly annoying. As much as I wanted to love and be charmed by it, there are just a few too many faults that got in the way of me totalling enjoying it.

Firstly, the two main children are annoying - you, frankly, just want to slap the cocky one, and the acting of the other is, at times, painful. A subplot involving the mother of one of the children as she struggles to do right by both her son but also her strict faith is wonderfully played by Jessica Stevenson, but ultimately seems to go nowhere. The worst thing is the criminal under use of Eric Sykes in a cameo that is so brief that if you blink you are in danger of missing it, but it still completely lights up the film.

Son of Rambow is not a bad film - it has much to commend it - but you just feel that it could have been so much better, and ultimately you sense a wonderful opportunity lost.

Website of the week

And why shouldn't this humble but vital kitchen appliance have a wonderful website dedicated to it??

Connections deep and wide...

Spent the last couple of evenings catching up with friends. Thursday was a drink and some food with a friend who I did my accountancy studies with 10 years ago. We've kept in touch and now his career has brought him to the world of Whitehall - handy for catching up when you work in the Westminster village!

Last night was a meal in north London with a group of friends I used to work with nearly 10 years ago - in many respects people to whom I owe my career. Again we've kept in touch and gather together over food once in a while to catch up, gossip and find out what's going on in our lives. The conversation was varied, and at one point I commented that I'd been to at least a wedding a year for the past 15 years - often several in some years.

This seemed to surprise them, not that I got invited to weddings as I'd been to most of their's, but the amount I'd been to. Most of them had only been to a handful, which I found slightly strange especially as I was the only unattached person in the group. I said I guess I know quite a lot of people and often through different aspects of my life - few of my friends intersect. I probably have a wide circle of friends/acquaintances (aside - when does an acquaintance shift to friend territory? - end aside) but I suspect most of the relationships aren't as deep as theirs - for example, many friends and family are spread out around the country. It's probably different to those who have a smaller, but deeper circle of friends and family. Anyway the conversation quickly moved on to catching up with something else.

Driving back I had a brief ponder. I know I'm quite private and can keep a distance - I'm aware of the irony that I have a blog (!) - yet I also keep in touch with people over many years. Is a smaller, but deeper, circle of friends better than a wider set of acquaintances that last over several years?

Who knows - and does it matter? All I know is it was thoroughly enjoyble spending time catching up with people with whom you have a connection and a shared history.

Such time is always time well spent.

Website of the week

Wouldn't you just love to do this at Waterloo or St Pancras?

Frozen Grand Central

1066 and all that

As we were all taught at school, William the Conquerer landed on the South Coast in 1066 and there was the Battle of Hastings. It is, of course, slightly incorrect. The invading Norman forces landed at Pevensey, a few miles to the west of Hastings, then proceeded inland and had the battle a few miles to the north of Hastings - at a place now cunningly called Battle. They pretty much avoided Hastings - and having been there today I can understand why.

If you like traditional seaside tat and fried food, then Hastings will have some appeal. It's clearly a town which has been through hard times, but there are signs of improvement - there seems to be a fairly new shopping centre and the Old Town part of Hastings has several lovely back alleys with an eclectic range of shops, bars and cafes. Nonetheless, I couldn't warm to the place - it just seemed, well, sad.

I didn't expect Bexhill, just up the coast, to offer much. It's probably best known as being the butt of several Goon jokes and where Eddie Izzard spent much of his childhood. To be honest there isn't really much there to keep you long, but it does have the magnificent De La Warr Pavilion.

Beautiful and imposing it combines an auditorium, gallery spaces and a cafe/restaurant all overlooking the coast - an excellent arts centre. It's just been recently renovated and, to me, proves that the main problem with buildings is not when they were constructed, but how well maintained they are. A Victorian building can just as easily become grotty as this concrete modernist masterpiece - all that's needed is a bit of TLC.

It's not to everyone taste - but I love it. A work of art hosting works of art.

Chichester

I've never been to Chichester - and I wasn't intending on doing so as part of this trip. However, on an impulse I turn off the A27 and am so glad I did. What a charming town.

Here the skyline is dominated by the cathedral. It's one of the oldest in England - the See of Chichester was established in 1075 and the building of present cathedral was begun in 1076. It's a proper, massive cathedral and an intriguing contrast to Portsmouth. However, like Portsmouth it is also a lovely welcoming place at the heart of the town - the cathedral is on the edge of the main shopping area and opposite the House of Fraser store. It feels an integral part of the town and whilst I pottered around the place there as a brief pause as, on the hour, a couple of short prayers were said from the pulpit. It had the right vibe - blending faith, history and relevance.

Having wandered around the town centre for a little while I stumbled across the Pallant House Gallery. It's a wonderful, smallish gallery housing a fascinating collection of modern art. An absolute gem of a place and I spent a good while working my way round the artistic displays. Here, in a gallery down a side street, I came across works by Picasso, Dali, Nash, Moore, Hepworth, Sutherland, Nicholson, Caulfield, Hodgkin, Freud, Hockney, Blake and Warhol. Should you ever be in Chichester, and even remotely interested in art, I heartily recommend you pay a visit - and if modern art isn't your thing it has an excellent bookshop and restaurant/cafe. Simply delightful.

Solent Views

In Notes on a Small Island Bill Bryson comments that it must look strange as he dines alone in various local restaurants at typical British seaside towns out of season. I know how he feeld as I'm sat in a pizza restaurant overlooking the Solent as various ships, ferries and hovercrafts go by - there is even a bloke sculling in a rowing boat. It's out of season and I've escaped London to the south coast for a couple of days.

The Spinnaker Tower dominates the Portsmouth skyline. It's impressive, iconic and beautiful. It is also completely pointless. I join a queue, pay my money, join another queue for the lift (there is only one and you can't walk up), go up, look at the view (which is impressive) join another queue and then get in the same lift to go down. I'm there less than half an hour - most of which is in queues for the lift - and have paid £7. Like many UK tourist things it promises more than it delivers - it's a great idea but poorly delivered. It is best viewed from afar.

The rest of the new development at Portsmouth seems to be the work of a group of 14 year olds who had too many Red Bulls - it's hideous and Portsmouth has replaced one dated and worn development for one which will itself look dated in a decade. You sense a missed opportunity.

Less than a mile away and you come to Old Portsmouth. Whilst there is not much there, you can stroll by the harbour entrance and then stumble across the delightful Portsmouth Cathedral. In the middle of a residential square the Cathedral is wonderfully accessible and homely - it shows its roots as an upgraded parish church. A church has been on the site since the 12th century but the the Portsmouth Diocese was only created in 1927, and some parts of the Cathedral weren't finished until 1991. There is little pomp or glamour - there is no cafe and only a small bookshop unlike most other cathedrals. It's one of the nicest cathedrals I've been in, and one you feel you could make your local church if you lived locally - which is as it should be.

A little further on and you come across the Royal Garrison Church - and you thought your local parish church had a roof problem!

Overall don't know what to make of Portsmouth. It has loads of history, a long naval tradition, the beauty of the Solent and the lovely open spaces at Southsea. The weather has been glorious and I've no doubt seen it in its best light, but... I don't know. Like many coastal towns you wish it well, you hope that the new development will work and it will be less reliant on football for its identity. You hope you're wrong - but you just feel that its best days are behind it.