A Triumph Of Spectacle Over Substance

We haven't watched a great deal on the 3D TV since we got it. There's still only one channel and the limited choice on offer is repeated day in day out. But we saw the ads for the Kylie Minogue Aphrodite Tour and thought that we'd give it a go. It was certainly spectacular and the 3D was stunning - the troupe of muscular dancers seemed to reach out into the room.  There were so many abs, pecs and gleaming torsos on show it felt like we'd inadvertently stumbled upon a gay porn channel. The set was amazing, the costumes dazzling and the dance routines perfectly choreographed. At times it looked like the borrowers had set up home on our TV cabinet with their mobile phones aloft recording the show. But for all that visual spectacle, within about twenty minutes we both had the same thought. 'This is boring' we almost said it in unison. So I'm afraid we switched off and deleted it. It doesn't matter how good a concert looks if the music is dull.

Dull is the last word that you would use to describe "A Bout Portant" - "Point Blank" the French thriller that we went to see at FACT in Liverpool on Tuesday. Starring Eric Cantona lookalike Gilles Lellouche as a trainee nurse who somehow finds himself involved in a violent underworld, the film opens with a chase and from then on the action is non stop right to the finish. The plot pushes the limits of credulity but that doesn't take away the excitement as the action traverses Paris with plenty of twists and turns along the way. It's only 84 minutes long and feels like 60. Try and catch it. You won't be disappointed.

I was a little disappointed with "Potiche" which we saw a couple of hours later. It's possibly because of the hype that left me anticipating a riotous evening of laughter. Instead it was more a case of a few hearty chuckles. The wonderful Catherine Deneuve plays a potiche or trophy wife who, faced with her husband's sudden illness, has to take the reins at the family business - an umbrella factory. Here she puts her husband's draconian form of capitalism to shame and brings the factory into the 20th century (the film is set in the late 1970's). Her new position brings her into contact with old flame Gerard Depardieu (looking increasingly like a barrel on legs with every new film) who still holds a torch for her. Will they get back together? I will leave you to find out. I did like this film. It shows great insight into the French attitude to infidelity compared to our prim English position and I loved the performances of Deneuve and  Karin Viard as the long suffering secretary and bosses' bit on the side. It was just a bit too long and wasn't as great as I had hoped.


There are plenty of new releases for next week although we couldn't find anything at VUE yesterday for our regular Orange Wednesday trip. "Life in a day" the film made up of Youtube contributions looks interesting for next week. I've heard good things about "Bridesmaids" too although they seem to have missed all of them from the trailer we saw on Tuesday which made it look like one of those boorish Adam Sandler films but with the parts played by women instead of men.

It seems like only yesterday that we got this photo and the news that we were expecting our first grandchild but it's less than three weeks now to the big event and the excitement and anticipation is starting to get to us. We're off to see Sarah in St Andrews on Monday for a couple of days. We're taking the pram and a "few" other bits and pieces that we've got and we really can't wait for the baby (nicknamed Pip by Sarah and Duncan) to arrive. I'm sure that we'll have no nails left by 13th July and we just hope that everything runs smoothly and Sarah is blessed with a baby that's as good as she and her brother were. I'll keep you posted.

Apart from being a superb cinema, FACT in Liverpool also participates in showing Virgin Media Shorts - small films of under three minutes that showcase the talents of up and coming new film makers. There's a great one running at the moment that's not yet available on YouTube but here's a recent favourite. How do they cram so much in such a short time? Hollywood take note.

No Time To Blog

This retirement lark is not all sitting around in carpet slippers twiddling your thumbs and waiting for the grim reaper you know. In fact this last couple of days has been so hectic I haven't had time to write this  blog and keep up my writing practice. It started with Fathers' Day on Sunday (great cards thanks kids) when we had a trip with friends to Hoghton Tower for the monthly Farmers' Market. Though billed as the largest in the North West it was not exactly enormous although what it lacked in quantity was more than made up for in quality with some outstanding local produce on display. Despite our healthy food regime the temptation of fine organic cheeses and home made macaroons was too much and we left with a bag full of goodies. 

We then went on to the super Freemasons at Wiswell and enjoyed a very fine lunch before driving to the excellent Whalley Wine Shop in Whalley (where else) and stocking up with a couple of super wines. It's great to see an independent specialist retailer thriving like this against stiff competition but you can't beat top quality and expertise.

Before we left home on Sunday I opened the fridge to find these. Oops. Marion had been to a party on Saturday night and she promised to provide some cakes and pastries which she duly did. Unfortunately these were hidden behind some eggs and got left behind so I hope the guests didn't think she'd been a bit stingy with just three boxes. We aren't eating too many calories at the moment so we returned to the hosts and, as they still had a full house, they were happy to take them off our hands.

It's farewell to Paul's season ticket today. Mine has already gone out on loan to a friend and another friend has put me in touch with someone who wants to take this one for the season. So no more trips to Anfield. No traffic jams. No worrying if the car will be in one piece when I get back to it. No standing up throughout the game. No crappy sausage rolls. No overpriced programmes. No having my ears bludgeoned with foul mouthed abuse. No kick offs at 5.15 p.m on Saturday for the benefit of TV. No sulky players who don't give a toss. God I'll really miss it.

Bit of a disaster on the metal detecting front this week. I went on Monday with a really nice bloke that I met on the internet (don't get the wrong idea). We drove an hour or so and got out of the car in the middle of nowhere with all the gear only for Fred (not his real name) to discover that he had forgotten the battery for his detector. Groan. However he did have with him an emergency battery pack. Hooray. But the batteries in it were flat. Groan again. Oh well there was a garage about five miles down the road so we were able to pack the car back up and go and buy some. Unfortunately to no avail as, apart from a few nice buttons and the usual shotgun cartridge cases and bits of junk, this coin was the only find of any interest. It's a Roman sestertius from around the first century but in such lousy condition that there's little hope of identifying it. It means that I can't write up the day's detecting and blog on it which is a real pity as I've increased the blog readership by hundreds when I've had something of interest to report. Oh well there's always next week.


Went to FACT in Liverpool yesterday but I've written enough today and I'll blog on the films (Point Blank and Potiche) tomorrow.

Here's a taster.





  

A Flying Visit To The Capital

We left home at around 1p.m yesterday and were back just after midnight. We went down to London to a summer reception being held by the people who manage our finances. It was held at The Foundling Museum near Russell Square and we had the opportunity to take a guided tour. The museum celebrates the charitable work carried out by retired seaman Thomas Coram who built a hospital for foundlings and illegitimate children and funded it by getting the most renowned artists and musicians of the time to donate artworks and arrange performances. The public flocked to the hospital which was Britain's first ever public art gallery. The most famous patrons were Handel (who performed an annual concert there) and Hogarth. The museum displays several of his works in a beautiful building built on the site of the original hospital. The room above, a reconstruction of one of the hospital's rooms, has ceiling, fireplace and panels from the original. Most touching for us were the trinkets left by mothers who abandoned their children as a means of identifying their offspring should they ever try to reclaim them (the children were all given new names). These included thimbles and small items of jewellery and, in one case, a metal bottle label bearing the word "BEER".

We had an hour or two to kill before the party and this flew by in St Pancras station (above and below).

We were commenting as we left Preston on how run down and dreary that station looked. St Pancras, in contrast, is bright and has almost as good a choice of shopping and places to eat and drink as we've got here in Southport. It was quite easy for us to sit outside one of the cafes and just watch the world go by. If we had stayed longer we could have watched a group perform as there is a live music festival being held on the concourse every day until mid July.

 We've just been planning next week's cinema visit. We're off to FACT again on Tuesday for a helping of French films with the thriller Point Blank at lunchtime followed by Potiche in the evening. To make it a French day all round we'll have to go for a bite to eat at Bistro Franc in between showings. We might try and see Bridesmaids on Wednesday as well, as the Twittersphere has been making positive noises about it and we're going to a wedding soon.


And talking of the Twittersphere, the news has been full of social media related stories this week from the woman juror who stupidly contacted a defendant on Facebook, to the Ministry of Defence and their security videos on YouTube with a soldier's mum taking tea with a terrorist and a couple of sailors checking into a nightclub on their phones. Here's a funny little film that will really make you think about what you're doing online.