Even more surreal

Following day after the wedding I catch up with me Mum and in the evening head off to a restaurant just outside Solihull - nothing flash, just the local Beefeater/Harvester thing.

During dessert a group come the table next to us. I look up and then do a double take - one of them looks familiar. Apply the obscure TV knowledge I possess - often in demand for the occasional quiz night - and yep, it's her.

Next table contains Corrie, Bad Girls and Carry On Cleo legend - Amanda Barrie. One thought goes through my mind - why??

Nice one Cyrille

Back in Birmingham for a couple of days - mainly to go to a friend's wedding. Good time had by all at a traditional British bash - nice church, heartfelt speeches, disco and conga line. The day had a nice vibe.

Father of the Bride's speech commented that all her family were West Brom fans, and all the Groom's were Coventry. How can this difference be reconciled? He produced a photo of Baggies and Sky Blue legend Cyrille Regis and hoped they could all unite behind him.

A couple of hours later - just before the disco - Father of the Bride took the microphone and referred back to Cyrille. Then, in one of the most surreal moments I've encountered at a wedding, he announced, "Ladies and Gentlemen, he is here tonight. Cyrille Regis!" And in he walked - still looking as young as ever.

Incredible - on so many levels...

Mission of madness?

I've just watched Bear Grylls:Mission Everest which I recorded from yesterday and I don't think I've seen such a couple of slightly posh daft sods in my life. Many of Bear Grylls' films are quite entertaining -this was, but for the wrong reasons.

The idea - for exactly what reason was never clear - was to try to fly over Everest using paramotors. Imagine a person with a parachute and a massive fan on their back and you get the sort of idea. Bear's companion in this folly was Gilo Cardozo whose job was to design the motors and who seemed to have modelled himself on the Harry Enfield 'Tim-nice-but-dim' character.

Firstly, one engine froze prior to testing in an industrial cold wind tunnel - a fairly major design you might have thought given they needed to operate in extreme cold. This meant that they eventually turned up in Nepal with one engine that hadn't been tested... or run... at all.

Then their dry run in the Alps failed due to strong winds - though these were winds that were lower that they expected to find at Everest. Bear realised that the wind might actually be a problem so instead of flying over Everest, they decided they'd fly at a greater height, but a few miles to the south. Didn't that negate the original idea?

Finally they take off - that's after,

• having had trouble with the weather balloons they were using to assess the weather and find a suitable 'window'. Again, surely another fairly fundamental problem??
• having had Gilo make last minute adjustments to one engine whilst it was on Bear's back as he was about to take off - talk about at the 11th hour!
• Gilo's wife - who for some reason had come along on the trip - had a nosebleed just as Gilo was about to take off.

Having taken off their radio communication then began to break up and they had to do '3 clicks for yes and 2 for no'. Now most Everest expeditions manage to have radio communications so why did their's fail? A little later Gilo's engine - the one which had to be rebuilt and hadn't been tested or even flown since it froze at the wind tunnel - packed up and he had to descend early. Oh, yes the altimeters also froze and stopped working at 19,000 feet - so they had no idea how high they were and wouldn't know if they'd achieved their target height until after they landed!

The final 'irony' was that having landed when they looked at the equipment to try to see how high Bear had gone.... they discovered the altimeter had stopped working completely at around 25,000 feet - we'd never know if he'd done it or not!

Absolutely unbelievable - the overall impression the programme left me was that 2 slightly barmy posh blokes had gone off on some under prepared jolly jape. Harry Hill's TV Burp - consistently one of the funniest things on television - had got huge laughs from Bear Grylls previous series. Can't wait to see this weekend's edition - he should have a field day!

There Will Be Blood

The latest film from PT Anderson tells the story of Daniel Plainview in the early part of the 20th century as he searches for oil, and particularly as he drills for oil in one area of California.

The film has had great reviews and Daniel Day-Lewis gives a mesmeric performance in the lead role, for which he quite rightly won the Best Actor Oscar. Some parts of the film are excellent and the period is wonderfully evoked - the power of striking oil is wonderfully captured and put across on the screen.

However, as with No Country For Old Men, I just couldn't warm to the film overall. None of the characters are particularly likable and I'm not sure I care what happens to them - which is surely a major flaw in a film?

Yes it's better than 99% of the films currently on release, and yes there are some interesting subplots - the father/son relationship and the role of the local minister being two of them - but at the end I couldn't help thinking that I seen a cross between Citizen Kane and Dallas. Harsh? Undoubtedly - but honest.

Does my bum look big in this?

Now, I'm rarely at the height of fashion. Like Jeremy Paxman I'm more likely to worry about the gusset support of trusty M&S underwear than whether I'm wearing the latest 'must have of the season'.

However, a bizarre combination of an upcoming wedding invitation and me needing a new suit means that I'm unexpectedly at the forefront of fashion - I've popped into the newly opened Banana Republic store on Regent Street.

It's basically a smarter version of Gap - but I know what I like and this sort thing appeals to me. I do note, however, that even a new store, whose assistants were good in showing me where things were, still has that universal issue of not having enough tills open when I actually want to pay for the stuff.

My descent into middle aged grumpiness continues...

A summer sport

Know that Rugby League is now supposed to be a summer sport - but can someone please tell the weather?

Go to see my local Super League team for the second time this season - and for the second time it's absolutely freezing. Never mind the players - the cheerleaders must be in danger of hypothermia as we got four seasons in the space of one match.

Oh yes - and an inept second half performance also meant defeat...

Website of the week

It's not really a website - but enjoyable nonetheless.

Forest for the trees

Back from a long weekend at Center Parcs, Longleat to celebrate a 'landmark' birthday of a relative.

Never been to Center Parcs before and have to admit I found it a bit strange. It's well set out and there is plenty to do - even the really bad weather we had over the weekend didn't stop us from doing anything planned - but it feels a bit artificial, pretending to be remoter than it actually is. Is it really any different to a Butlins resort? Though perhaps a bit more middle class!

However, as with most breaks it isn't so much where you are as who you're with and a lovely time was had. For this sort of thing - a celebratory long weekend with multigenerational ages - it was ideal. A thoroughly enjoyable few days.

Duchamp, Man Ray, Picabia

Having had a pretty hectic week it's nice to toddle off to an evening showing of the current exhibition at Tate Modern.

Now, what is art? The never ending question in modern art, and one which I'm not going to solve now. All I will say is that the famous Duchamp Fountain (a urinal on its back) is not art - if it were it makes B&Q and Wickes wonderful chains of accessible art galleries.

However, at this exhibtion in amongst all the emperor's new clothes there are some wonderful items - particularly the impressionist pieces in room 3 and some of the Man Ray photography.

If you like modern art - and lots do as this was the busiest evening viewing I'd ever been to at Tate Modern - then you'll like this. If not, this exhibition will just annoy rather than convert you.

We interrupt this service...

Nothing on the blog front as it's been a very busy week. Hopefully the normal service of my erratic, and occasionally mildly amusing, blog posting will resume shortly.

In the meantime - a brief interlude.



Remember - this is what television used to show. Better times??

Juno

A quirky off-beat 16 year old finds she is pregnant - what happens next? Juno is a bit strange - lovely but strange. What she should do? Abortion is thought about - she even makes it as far as the clinic - but elects for a 'good old fashioned quick adoption'. That's the story in a nutshell.

I'm intrigued as how this movie was pitched to the funders; teenage pregnancy and adoption don't immediately sound full of laughs or good 'box office'. But don't let the premise of this film put you off as you will miss a film that handles a delicate subject very well - far better than I've seen for a long time either in film or on TV.

As well as having many jokes, it's also a thoughtful character driven piece - there is not a weak link in the excellent cast. Ellen Page is superb, mixing emotion with humour as her character deals with her situation. Michael Cera and Jason Bateman - two of the actors in the very funny and much missed Arrested Development TV series - are good value. Additionally, Jennifer Garner, Allison Janney and JK Simmons all make the best use of their limited screen time to get their characters across.

Its 12A rating has raised a few eyebrows given the subject material - and in the screening I went to the largest demographic was 11-14 year olds by far - however, the film's honest portrayl of a sensitive situation is so good, and so well handled, that I hope many more see it.

A delightful, quirky and funny gem that tenderly deals with a potentially difficult subject.

All about timing

Another four year wait then...

;o)

You know you're old (part 94)

I realised that every item of clothing I had on - with the sole exception of my cufflinks - is from Marks and Spencer...

You can almost hear the male menopause - along with the inapproriate purchase of leather trousers to regain lost youth - approaching...

Website of the week

Do you ever wonder where you could find someone who looked like Kenny Rogers?

Thankfully there are professionals.

Doing what you can

Well last night wasn't my normal Friday night - I was sat in a church listening to a black former Zimbabwean international cricketer sign Nessum Dorma. I've just thoroughly enjoyed An Evening with Henry Olonga.

I saw Henry Olonga play in the 1999 Cricket World Cup - always an erratic bowler his first spell had been pretty poor. He then came on, took 3 wickets in an over, bowling India out and handing Zim the victory. At the 2003 World Cup he and Andy Flower wore black armbands to highlight the situation in Zim - at great personal cost to them both.

Now based in the UK I'd heard Henry speak and sing a few years ago. Funny, articulate and passionate I was impressed with how he came across - and even more surprised with the beauty of his singing voice. Now pursing a musical career, he continues to raise awareness about the situation in Zim.

Last evening - organised by the charity Tearfund who are doing a lot of work in the country - beautifully mixed song, humour and cricket as well as continuing to highlight the problems in Zim. With several ex-pats in the audience (there is a large SA & Zim community in SW London) some moments were very poignant - during one song the woman next to me was weeping - but there was also humour. At one point Henry's comment to the Zims in the audience "do you remember growing up when we used to laugh at Zambia" brought some chuckles (trust me, if you're African it is one of those funny truisms) as did the joke about the name of Idi Amin's boat? Idi-yacht.

As Henry said, he didn't feel he could contribute much to solving the situation in Zim back in 2003 when he and Andy Flower made their stance - but he did what he could. A thought for us all.

Old Mother Hubbard?

This is the current state of my fridge.

I need to get to out more...

...if nothing else...

...to buy some groceries.

Website of the week

I've been a bit lax with these of late. Anyway...

...if we campaign enough perhaps this could be in the 2012 Olympics.

Elgar and the the Apostles

Last night spent a lovely evening in the wonderful surroundings of the Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Albans listening to the Hertfordshire Chorus perform The Apostles by Elgar.

It's a work that I don't think is performed too often - the need for 6 soloists, a full choir and orchestra suggest it's quite a project for a choral group to tackle.

A thoroughly enjoyable evening - good company and an interesting piece beautifully performed in a very appropriate location.

Bah, humbug...

;o)

Enjoy the video below - from the ever reliable and thought provoking people at PostSecret.

You know you're geting old when...

Got the following text yesterday - this is exactly what it said, punctuation, spaces and all.

That gr8 news!luk4wad2it!v.xtid!hopeurok:-)

It took me about 5 minutes to work it out...