An Acting Masterclass

We went to see The Master yesterday. What incredible performances from the two leads, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix! It’s hardly surprising that the critics have been handing out stars like confetti and film lovers like us have been tempted to go out of their way to see it. But fabulous acting does not necessarily make a fabulous film and half way through it we were both squirming uncomfortably in our (very cramped) seats in the tiny Screen 3 at St Andrews New Picture House. It’s the story of an enigmatic 1950’s Scientlology-like cult leader and his shell shocked acolyte – an interesting scenario. But it’s boring, unstructured, unpleasant, ugly, confusing and I can’t help thinking that the critics have had a collective “king’s new clothes” moment in doling out such lavish praise. If you want to see a couple of actors in their prime then go and see it but, if you want to be entertained, give it a very wide berth.

I managed another day out with the detector on Wednesday. It was yet another lovely day weather wise and I had an extremely relaxing time in sunshine and beautiful countryside. As you can see from the photo, the field was not exactly perfect for detecting with stubble preventing me from detecting as close to the ground as I would like.

However, I was still able to recover another twenty plus artefacts and, although there was nothing terribly exciting, in addition to the usual Victorian coppers and buttons, there were some encouraging finds with three small hammered copper coins or tokens dating from perhaps the sixteenth or seventeenth century. Sadly they were all corroded to an extent that makes identification impossible for me although an expert would no doubt be able to have an educated guess. There was also a very old loom weight and a scrap of pewter with writing on it. Finds of this period make another look at the field worthwhile and, weather permitting, I’ll have another try soon.

This spur was the best find of the day. It’s post medieval and my best guess is seventeenth century. I have to report all finds here in Scotland to the local museum so no doubt they will pin down the date more accurately.