Regular visitors to this blog will spot a slight change today with the addition of a Flattr Me button. In case you don't know about Flattr, it's a new site which aims to create a way of rewarding bloggers, tweeters and other providers of internet material for their efforts. I've always steered clear of Google Ads and similar on this blog as it's basically here for my own writing practice, I enjoy it and I'm not looking to earn anything from it. However, the beauty of Flattr is that you can donate miniscule amounts and, in due course, those miniscule sums could eventually grow into something worthwhile.
To participate you need to go to Flattr.com and sign up. You then fund your account with a sum that you can afford and, if you like, agree to a monthly commitment. Say you put a fiver in on the first of the month. You are then free to click on as many "Flattr Me" buttons as you like for a month. At the end of the month your fiver is shared equally between those sites that you have "Flattr'd" so a hundred clicks would give them all 5p, ten clicks 50p and five clicks a pound. It's a way of flattering tweeters and bloggers you enjoy reading and it costs as much or as little as you want.
So there it is. Click on it if you are enrolled and donate a penny to this poor blogger. I will leave it up there for a while and monitor the progress. It's a new site and I don't expect that number of Flattrs (currently zero) to move much initially but please don't leave me with zero - it's bad enough having no friends on Facebook.
Finally back to the cinema today. And where better than the fabulous FACT in Liverpool where we enjoyed a tasty snack in the cafe before settling down to The Ides Of March. With an amazingly strong cast including Clooney, Ryan Gosling, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamatti the omens were good. And we were not disappointed. It's a very believable story of spin doctoring and political scheming on the American Presidential campaign trail perhaps a little in the manner of the old BBC House Of Cards series. Gosling plays the Alastair Campbell style guru behind Clooney's whiter than white Democrat Governor Mike Morris but Gosling's character Stephen Mayer's idealistic views are shattered when he discovers a skeleton in his boss's cupboard. We both enjoyed the film immensely and can strongly recommend this tight and finely plotted piece of intrigue and study of political morals. A great title too.
After Clooney's thought provoking piece we had time for a quick drink before heading into the super little Box screen at FACT for Snowtown. I've read three or four glowing reviews of the film and all mentioned that it was dark. But the quality papers' reviewers must be made of sterner stuff than me as dark is way too light a word to use for this horrific true story of Australia's worst ever serial killer John Bunting. Bunting was responsible for eleven murders in total but fortunately the director spared us much of the grisly detail and we only witness one of the killings and the prelude to and aftermath of others. But the one murder shown in graphic detail was enough to prompt two of the audience to leave early. The film tells the story of how Bunting weaseled himself into the friendship and hospitality of a single mother and her sons after a neighbour she trusted to babysit turned out to be a paedophile who abused her children. Bunting's initial blood lust is cloaked in the guise of revenge but as he befriends the teenage Jamie and grooms him as a partner in crime we see him for the sinister and horrifically violent sadist that he is. The film is unquestionably hard hitting, extremely well filmed and has incredible performances from Daniel Henshall as Bunting and Lucas Pittaway as Jamie but it's grim, grim, grim. In addition, we both struggled with the sound and felt that some of the thick Ozzie accents could have benefited from subtitles and consequently we were not always sure exactly what was going on. See it only if you have a very strong stomach and even then make sure it's empty.
With Marion's mum Flo now living in a care home we have a little peace of mind. We know that we won't be getting panic calls from her neighbours saying that she has been wandering around the corridors of her flats in her nightclothes at five in the morning or attempting to catch a bus to town when the shops have closed. But that doesn't make things easier. Her well-being is a constant worry and it's not a case of out of sight out of mind as we need to know that she is happy in her new place. We went to see her yesterday and helped her to write her Christmas cards but she struggled to remember who some of the people in her address book were. Today she is going to come and watch Liverpool play Chelsea on TV. This is something that she would have loved a couple of months ago but I suspect that she won't show any interest and, as for the 3D specs, we won't even think about going there. I worry that within a couple of months she may not know who we are and the care home will have to be changed for an EMI establishment. She won't know much about it but it won't be a pleasant experience.
On Friday we found time to meet up with Peter Eglin an old friend from our working days. Peter used to run one of our dealerships in Blackburn and then went on to be a successful sales executive with one of the country's leading catering equipment manufacturers. Like us, he took early retirement, although, unlike us, he was tragically unable to share it with his wife Christine who passed away far too young. Having read my blog about my childhood experiences with dogs, Peter kindly left his German Shepherd Ben at home. I don't dislike our canine friends but I am a bit scared of them (especially big ones). We met at The Mulberry Tree at Wrightington which both of us had somehow confused for the nearby Wiggin Tree. However, it was a good mistake to make as the food, from a ridiculously extensive menu was quite spectacularly fine. And with two courses on offer for £12.95 it was tremendous value for money. Decor and atmosphere don't quite match the exceptional standard of the food but we were in good company and had a very enjoyable couple of hours. We hope to catch up with Peter again next year.
For us to go a week without a trip to the cinema is unusual. For three weeks to pass has been unheard of for some time. So we plan to remedy this with a trip to FACT in Liverpool on Wednesday to see George Clooney's political oeuvre The Ides Of March and the critically acclaimed Australian Serial Killer movie Snowtown. We had hoped to cram in Wuthering Heights as well but we just couldn't get that in without hanging around for over four hours and hope we will catch it another time.
Before then we've got more appointments with Flo. Tomorrow we're taking her to Ormskirk to see an eye specialist. She's not seeing too well at the moment and she thinks that the specialist will be able to put things right but I have a horrible feeling that it's all linked to her memory problems and there won't be a great deal that they can do. After that we've got to help the care home to draw up a care plan for her. It really is a very caring place and they will do their best to meet her needs.
I haven't been doing much gambling at all this year but I can never resist having a bet on X Factor. Last year I got it wrong and lost nearly £900 on Cher (although she has been the most successful of the contestants) but this year is looking a bit better with a potential win of £252 if either Marcus or Little Mix win against a loss of about £55 if they don't. Marion and I picked these two out a few weeks ago (I think Marcus will win, Marion likes the girls) and we managed to back them at over 10. I think they both stand a good chance so we won't trade the bets and hope one of them will pay for a couple of Christmas presents.
Great to see another two minutes of prime time devoted to our daughter in law Josephine's creation Sorority Girls on Harry Hill last night. Keep it up Harry and it will become cult viewing.
