The Best Cinema In The North West - That's A FACT

We had a great day in Liverpool yesterday. We started out at John Lewis to try and get a few ideas for the kitchen in the new house in Suffolk. The designer was a lovely lad but his design wasn't a great deal different from the one we came up with and we were hoping for a bit of inspiration. At least we got a good idea of how many units we can have and the appliances available.

From John Lewis it was on to Waterstones for a coffee and a bite to eat. There was another of their lunchtime talks and readings going on but sadly we were too late to listen to it properly. After Waterstones it was time for our favourite cinema - FACT. I don't think we will miss too much when we move down south but we will certainly miss FACT. With its exhibitions, cafe and bar it's so much more than a cinema and it screens such a great range of films. We've got a perfectly good multiplex here in Southport in VUE but there's very little chance of the two movies we chose to see yesterday getting a showing there.

We started with Ken Loach's latest - The Angel's Share. It's a good little film but it does raise a few moral dilemmas. Stealing is wrong - yes? But Robin Hood was good - yes? So stealing is okay if it's only some unfortunate rich guy who loses out and some poor people benefit - yes? If you can go along with that then this tale of a group of young Glaswegian scallies who we meet at the opening of the film as they receive their community service orders is a fun and enjoyable piece of cinema although it also has a dark side. The brains behind the operation Robbie (Paul Brannigan) is a young thug whose girlfriend has threatened to leave with his newborn son if he doesn't end his violent ways (difficult considering half of Glasgow wants to kick seven bells out of him). Introduced to the delights of fine whisky by the affable head of the community service team Harry (John Henshaw), the intelligent Robbie is a fast learner and when the rarest cask ever to come on the market surfaces he sees an opportunity. What follows is an ingenious and very funny plot carried out by by Robbie and his small band of kilted merry men. There are fine performances by the entire cast but even as the film closes with a generous gesture from Robbie you do have to question the ethics behind it.

After The Angel's Share we went straight into Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom. If you enjoyed The Royal Tenenbaums you'll appreciate that Anderson's films can be a bit different and different this certainly is. The camera is often straight in front of the subject which Anderson places centre screen and films in such close up as to often become distorted. There's a star cast including Ed Norton, Bruce Willis, Harvey Keitel, Tilda Swinton and Bill Murray but the film is stolen by Kara Hayward and Jared Gilman as Suzy and Sam. Twelve year old orphan Sam (who looks like a young Johnny Depp) is attending scout camp on the small island where slightly older Suzy lives. They fall in love and run away together. The rest of the scouts headed by scoutmaster Norton, Suzy's family, the police in the shape of Bruce Willis along with Tilda Swinton as social services are in hot pursuit. The love story is charming, the chase is hilarious and the underlying theme of family is beautifully done. If you like quirky you will like this. We both loved it.  

A Waiting Game

Well, we got back from Scotland on Tuesday and were greeted by the FOR SALE sign attached to the front gatepost. So now we've got to sit back and wait for the potential buyers to beat a path to the door and make us an offer we can't refuse. However, I've decided not to discuss viewings or negotiations on here until we've exchanged contracts as I don't want to do anything that could jeopardise a sale - you never know who's looking with the internet. So that's all about the house for now although I will regularly post the link to the estate agent's details to keep interest as high as possible.

We treated ourselves to one of our days out in Liverpool yesterday and things could not have got off to a better start when we popped into Waterstone's for a cup of coffee to find that we were just in time for a short lecture on the life of Edgar Allan Poe followed by a reading of his short story The Tell-Tale Heart. It was a great innovation by Waterstone's and the young man who did the excellent reading said that he has got a series of such events planned right into summer. We'll certainly try another.

Such a gothic tale put us nicely in the mood for our first film choice of the day at FACT. The Cabin In  The Woods has mixed reviews but The Times gave it four stars so we thought that we'd give it a go. It opens with a couple of middle aged blokes in lab coats discussing some sort of event that they're overseeing in some large institutional building and then cuts to the five stereotypical characters you'll find in any teenage scary movie or slasher pic - the jock, the studious type, the stoner, the nympho and her respectable friend and off they go in the camper van a la Texas Chainsaw Massacre meeting the bog standard Deliverance style hillbilly before arriving on the set of The Evil Dead. So far so much going through the motions but we mustn't forget the two blokes in lab coats who provide a twist to the usual goings on in the cabin. Sad to say, in our opinion, the twist wasn't worth the effort as the film degenerated into farce long before the final credits rolled. For the Times' critic to give this four stars I can only imagine that he or she watched the film whilst smoking one of the stoner character's giant spliffs.


We went on to have a meal at Salt House Tapas but this was sadly spoilt by an incident that put a dampener on the day (nothing to do with the restaurant) and we headed back to FACT without finishing. As we walked back to the cinema "dampener" was certainly appropriate as the heavens opened with a deluge of biblical proportions leaving us to watch the documentary Marley looking like a pair of drowned rats.

We weren't really in the best frame of mind to watch Marley but it told his life story in a thorough manner although I didn't learn a great deal that I didn't already know. I love his music and would have liked to hear more of it and to have seen more footage of him performing rather than listen to talk over a collection of (very good) photographs. The film showed us what a beautiful country Jamaica is and broke the shock news that Bob smoked a lot of weed. It taught me a lot about his politicisation and his success with the ladies but I don't feel that, despite in depth interviews with those closest to him, I really know him as a man any better after watching it. I think that, unlike Senna (which could be enjoyed by anyone with no interest whatsoever in F1) this documentary is one for serious Marley fans only.


I would have preferred to see more of this.


.

Getting Back To Normal

Although Flo's death caused huge upheaval over the last few weeks and a tremendous sense of loss, life must go on after bereavement so we've come to Scotland for a few days to see Sarah, Duncan and Rose. I know that everyone thinks that their own grandchildren are the best in the world but Rose gives us good reason to feel like that - she's such a happy child; she raises everybody's sprits whenever she is around. It won't be long before she's walking and talking now and I'm so pleased that we've been able to see so much of her development despite our living almost three hundred miles away.

And speaking of raising the spirits, I read The Beginner's Goodbye  by Anne Tyler yesterday. What a lovely book. Strangely enough it is about bereavement although I didn't know that when I started reading - I just went to the first of the books that Marion has downloaded recently on the Kindle and started on page one without checking any of the blurb. It's the story of socially inept thirty something Aaron who loses his wife and how he copes with the aftermath of her death. It's beautifully written - a perfect lesson on the "showing not telling" that writers are encouraged to develop and I loved the way that the book dripped tiny snippets of information and finally gathered them all together into a very satisfying end. A very charming book that was just my cup of tea.

 I am afraid to say that Meg Rosoff's There Is No Dog was exactly the opposite. I started reading it just before Flo died and instead of finishing in my usual day or two it took over two weeks which may not have helped with the flow. However, having loved Just In Case by the same author so much, I was expecting another excellent read but I'm afraid that, despite the glowing reviews on Amazon and elsewhere, I just couldn't take to this story about God as a teenage boy with his weird, muppet-like, pet Eck. I don't know if I was in the wrong frame of mind but, despite a fascinating concept, it did nothing for me so it's not recommended, if I were to review it on Amazon I'd be giving it one star but I don't do nasty reviews on Amazon as I know that I wouldn't like them if my book ever got out there.

We went to see The Hunger Games at FACT last Wednesday. I know that it has been a smash hit but it didn't live up to our expectations. There's another great performance from the eminently watchable Jennifer Lawrence and plenty of twists in the plot but we both felt that it dragged a bit and, at almost two and a half hours long, could have done with being trimmed. 

We loved The Kid With A Bike though. The story of an elven year old boy abandoned by his dad but fostered by  the lovely and saintly local hairdresser played by Cecile de France it is a charming study of a child growing up and trying to accept that his blood relations don't want him, the effect that it has on his behaviour and the repairs that can be made by being wanted. It's a much edgier film than I had been led to believe by the headlines but beneath the delinquency of young Cyril there is a yearning for acceptance and charm in the way that he ultimately achieves it. 

All Cleared

We sold Marion's mum's flat recently so this week we've set aside four days to empty it before the new owners move in. It hasn't been the happiest job sorting everything Flo owns into just three piles - keep, charity shop and tip. We made a few journeys to the tip and we've given a selection of things to various charities and now we're left sifting through the "keep" pile. Going through everything that Flo and Marion's dad Doug kept - all the little personal mementos, cards, certificates, photos and nick nacks - is extremely sad but it has to be done. And it has made us realise that we don't want our own kids to have to do the same one day in the future. So, when we sell the house, we're going to do it for them. Whilst it's nice to have things like the lovely anniversary cards that we gave each other, our school certificates and reports, souvenirs and reminders of things that meant something to us in our lives, we never look at them; they're simply gathering dust in boxes in the attic awaiting the day when someone does what we've just done and takes them all down to the tip. So we've got a big de-clutter to carry out soon. We're going to be ruthless so Paul and Sarah don't have to. We'll keep plenty of photos in case anybody ever wants to make a family tree but the rest is simply sentimental and we'll have to rely on our memories instead.

My blog about my model mum resulted in an email from my sister linking me to an American used car seller's website. There's Mum again. This time with a megaphone and the catchy slogan "It's sale time Honey".   

   


We had planned a day out at our favourite cinema FACT in Liverpool tomorrow. We were going to see the Polish film In Darkness, the new Robots and Avatars exhibition and 21 Jump St. But clearing the flat has been so draining , both physically and mentally, that we don't think we could cope with the journey and a subtitled film about refugees hiding from the Nazis. So we're going for a lighter option of lunch in Southport and 21 Jump St at Vue. It's been getting great reviews so maybe it will give us something to smile about. I'll let you know.


  

A Busy Week

Did you miss me hey
When I was away


Okay,  I know that quoting Gary Glitter may not be politically correct but I notice that the BBC didn't airbrush him out of the TOTP repeats running on BBC4 at the moment so I'll leave it in.


Yes, too busy for blogging this week - that's retirement for you - an action packed adventure for the orthopedically challenged.

On Tuesday - Valentine's Day - we did something romantic for once and went to a soppy film. We went to FACT in Liverpool which has to be the best cinema in the north of England if not the whole of the country to see Romantics Anonymous - a wonderful French film that was just so ...... French. Parfait. A truly lovely film with two leads that were far from the glamorous norm but still charmingly sexy in a very French way. The fact that it was shown at 12 noon and there were free biscuits for pensioners could not detract from the fact that it was an absolutely lovely Valentines Day treat. If you get the chance to see it - take it. You wont be disappointed as our fellow viewers replete with free biscuit and a free Hotel Chocolate  praline obviously enjoyed it enthusiastically.

Having studiously declined the free biscuits due to our pride at not qualifying for the pensioners' offer, we dined in style at The Monro, a gastro pub down the road from FACT. They were doing a special Valentines Day meal and we got a free red rose without the hassle of someone trying to flog us one We made the mistake of ordering cocktails on arrival only to find that cocktails were included in the set meal resulting in a somewhat wobbly walk back to the station for the journey home. It was a great meal and more proof (if any was needed) that Liverpool is a wonderful place for a day out.

On Wednesday I gave a talk to the Austwick Local History Society on the thrills of my hobby of metal detecting. I know that most people reading this will think that detector users are like the bloke portrayed  by Paul Whitehouse in the Aviva ad but the talk seemed to go down well and I gave prizes to those who best managed to correctly identify this random selection of finds made by me and my brother Peter over the last few years. The winner scored just twelve out of a possible forty (which may be down to my photography). I was amazed to be given £30 as a thank you by the society as that covered the cost of the prizes and even left me a bit towards the petrol.

I made the most of the ninety minute drive to Austwick by spending the day out on the fields with my detector. I almost had a heart attack when this turned up. Shining a sparkly silver I thought that I had hit the jackpot with an old silver jewel but, as the filigree balls are stamped PATENT 6116, it's clear that it's nothing ancient. It's a brooch but it's not silver. However the patent number seems very low so maybe it has a little bit of age to it. No doubt one of the experts on the metal detecting forums will let me know.

Here's Marion opening a lovely bottle of champagne. I'm not allowed to tell you why she's opening a lovely bottle of champagne but it's a very very very very good reason. Maybe one day in  few months I'll be able to tell you.

Saw this wonderful photo tweeted by the fabulous Old Course Hotel in St Andrews today. Sorry for nicking the photo Old Course but it's perfect isn't it? Fabulous hotel, fabulous town. Can't wait to go back to St Andrews.


We're in Suffolk now. We're staying in a holiday cottage which is lovely. Not only was it very reasonably priced but the owners left us a super little hamper of stuff that was totally unexpected. Will blog more and give you the details later in the week. We've only been here four or five hours but we're already convinced that Suffolk is our Panama( © Janosch). We've dined on my speciality home made pizza accompanied by Suffolk wine and Suffolk cheese and everything is very rosy. I came with dreams of a Grade II listed cottage but have already seen a brand new house that has turned that pipe dream on its head.









We've seen this trailer about five times now. It looks better with every viewing. Looks like the Wallace And Gromit team have another winner on their hands. Only problem, since seeing the trailer I can't get this out of my head.

On Carnage And Martha Marcy May Marlene

Take four outstanding actors and put them on stage for a little over an hour and you've got a good chance of making a Broadway hit. Transfer them to the big screen and you end up with a Broadway hit masquerading as a movie. All four of the leads in Carnage play their roles to perfection but, set entirely in the confines of Michael and Penelope Longstreet's New York apartment, I felt claustrophobic and anxious for the action to move outside. The story revolves around an altercation between the couples' eleven-year-old sons which ended with the Longstreet's child with a swollen face and damaged teeth. Nancy and Alan Cowan (played by Kate Winslet and Christoph Waltz) a high flying couple - a lawyer and financier - arrive to try and make amends for their wayward son. A conversation that starts amicably enough, descends into chaos  (or the carnage of the title) when Alan Cowan (constantly distracted by the development of an important case on his Blackberry)  appears uninterested in the incident. Penelope's heckles rise until she approaches breaking point. It's extremely well acted and very funny in parts but for me it just wasn't a big screen drama.

Martha Marcy May Marlene starts brilliantly with the beautiful Martha ( Elizabeth Olsen) escaping a sinister cult commune and running away to stay with her sister. Cut between flashbacks of life in the commune and rehabilitation at the sister's magnificent lakeside home we see the horrors endured by the female cult members (especially the singing) under the spell of svengali-like leader Patrick (played with great menace by John Hawkes). Martha is constantly haunted by her past experiences and becomes paranoid over the possibility of being found. We enjoyed this but found that as the flashbacks became more extreme and parallels between the cult and Manson's "family" developed, the story lost its way and ended disappointingly.

I just glanced out of the window and saw this flipping great heron standing by the pond. It's got to live I suppose but I'd rather it chose some wild fish instead of our goldfish which have dwindled from over thirty in 2010 to just one or two today - now we know why.

I received this novel I "won" from Me And My Big Mouth (Scott Pack) yesterday. I'm really looking forward to what promises to be a highly original read. I also got a very nice hand written note from Scott as part of his 2012 hand written project.

A Double Bill Of Cinema And The First Authonomy Ebook

Unless we get a phone call to say that Marion's mum is being discharged from hospital (she's making very good progress) we're off to Liverpool today for one of our regular double bill sessions. When I was a kid there were always two films in every screening but that's a thing of the past now and we have to plan our viewing around screening times (note to cinema managers - think about resurrecting double billing). The first, at 1.30 is Martha Marcy May Marlene which has been getting very positive reviews and, later, after we've had time for a cup of tea and slice of cake in our favourite FACT, it's Jodie Foster's latest - Carnage. I've read mixed reviews of this one but the trailer looked interesting even though it looks pretty obvious that it's an adaptation of a stage play.

I've read a couple more books on the Kindle this week. I've just finished The Qualities Of Wood by Mary Vensel White. I was keen to read this as it's the first e-book published under the new authonomy label. Authonomy is a website run by Harper Collins for aspiring writers. It offers unpublished authors like me the opportunity to put chapters of their books out in the public domain for others to read and comment upon. There's a chance that their writing will be noticed and that could lead to the first step on the road to a literary career. Competition is stiff as there's some very high quality writing amongst the several thousand books uploaded or partially uploaded. I'm going to put my book on there in a couple of months when I might have more time to be active on the site. You can check authonomy out HERE

Anyway, back to Mary Vensel White's book. I deliberately read this blind without reading any of the blurb so I didn't know if I was going to be reading romance, a thriller, a whodunnit or horror and, as the pages turned, there were elements of each. The author creates a very atmospheric setting in the woods behind the empty old house that a young couple, Vivian and Nowell, have come to tidy up. Occasional flickers of light play amongst the leaves at night - a teenage girl's body has been found - it was just an accident - or was it?  Was the mysterious Abe Stokes, who lives in a house in the woods, involved?

The book explores the couple's relationship with each other and with Nowell's angry younger brother Lonnie. Although I felt that a few things seemed superfluous (for example Vivian's interest in and thoughts on art sometimes interrupt the flow of the narrative), this is a very strong debut. A compelling back story tantalisingly woven into the novel in small snippets leaves the reader guessing right through to the end. We can feel the atmosphere as the heat of the summer builds up and family tensions fray.We smell the musty old well in the back yard and we fear what's outside in the dark of the woods. At 99p this is amazing value and I'm sure that we'll see more of Mary Vensel White in the future.

A Great Performance From Leo Can't Make Up For A Dull J.Edgar

An Oscar winning director and a five times nominated leading man are the perfect ingredients for an excellent movie. So when we went to our favourite cinema FACT in Liverpool last night for a preview of J.Edgar we were hopeful of seeing something special. Well, we did  see a preview of FACT's new publicity film and that was very exciting and demonstrates brilliantly what an outstanding arts venue it is. But when it came to the main event I am afraid that we were less than blown away.


Leonardo plays FBI chief J Edgar Hoover as a stuffy, priggish repressed martinet of a man and Hoover may well have been all of those things. But they are all things that make Hoover a thoroughly dislikable man and, with a lead for whom the audience has little or no empathy (echoes of The Iron Lady here), it is very difficult to warm to the film. DiCaprio is excellent and creates a cowardly character whose real ability is in organising filing systems and forensic investigative resources instead of being the heroic, machine gun wielding  G-Man that he wants to project.


Throughout the film it is clear that Director Clint Eastwoood has decided that the rumours of Hoover's closet homosexuality are true and an almost Brokeback Mountain relationship develops between Hoover and his right hand man Clyde Tolson played by Armie Hammer. For me this relationship is ruined by both the schmalzy music which accompanies scenes of tenderness between Hoover and Tolson and by Hammer's make up as the older Tolson which make him look as if he is wearing a particularly uncomfortable latex mask ( which he probably is - don't expect any Oscar nominations on this front).


Eastwood hints that Hoover's incredible forty eight years as head of the FBI was achieved by his method of digging up dirt on anyone and everyone and keeping it in files maintained by his loyal secretary Miss Gandy who stuck with him for the whole time and was a beacon of discretion. But nobody ever dug any dirt on Hoover which implies that, in view of the machiavellian scheming of some of the presidents he worked with like Nixon and Kennedy, any closet gay tendencies that he had were, as the film depicts, totally unfulfilled. 


There is not a lot of excitement in the film which is all about Hoover's relationships with Miss Gandy (Naomi Watts), Clyde Tolson and his bullying mother (Judy Dench). There are mentions of the Lindbergh  baby case and Capone et al but in the end it's all about J.Edgar (what else do you expect? - look at the title dummy) and I am afraid that Hoover's lack of charisma is the downfall of the film.

Credit Where Credit's Due

I don't like to criticise. My son and my daughter in law have worked in television for some time and I know how damaging to morale criticism can be (especially when it is not justified). But if you read this blog you'll know that I did have a bit of a go at the BBC's Sherlock Holmes last week after the terrible Hound Of The Baskervilles episode. I ended my criticism by saying that I hoped that the next week's show would be better and I have to say that it most certainly was. A devilish battle of wits between the genius criminal mastermind Moriarty and the genius sleuth Holmes was great entertainment and so much more in the spirit of Conan Doyle. There were two great performances; Cumberbatch was, as ever, perfect in the role of the flawed genius detective and Andrew Scott was almost Shakespearean in his depiction of the villainous Moriarty. So well done to all involved - it was good to see the programme back on track after the previous week's disappointment and the BBC must be delighted with the amazing publicity that the fate of Sherlock has brought - there was even a discussion on PM on Radio 4 this afternoon.

Andrew Scott - A Perfect Moriarty

Remember this? It's my Roman gold bracelet clasp and two bracelet links that I found with my metal detector last summer. It's now in line for "Find Of The Year" on the UK Detector Net website and I could find myself the proud owner of a year's subscription to Treasure Hunting magazine. Voting closes on Friday so if you haven't voted yet you can vote here. I didn't vote for my find but quite a lot have done and, it was ahead last time I looked.


I haven't been detecting for over a month now but I got an email last week from a man in East Lancashire who said that his wife had lost her wedding and engagement rings in the garden and asked if I could help her to try and find them. I set out the following day. When I arrived at the house the young woman said that she had lost "a ring"(her husband had said two). When I asked if it was two she said it was but she was extremely vague. Our conversation went something like this.


'So when did you lose the ring(s)?'


'I don't know but it can't have been long ago as we only got married in December'


'So you didn't suddenly realise that you weren't wearing them.'


'No. I could have lost them anytime. I noticed last week.'


'So you don't know that you lost them in the garden?'


'No but I've looked everywhere else and can't find them'


As you might imagine, I didn't have a great deal to go on but I spent an hour plodding up and down the small patch of back garden. There were at least three enormous iron manhole covers plus a big metal trampoline in the garden so the detector could not perform easily near them. It also seemed that there was a big pipe or cable running near the garage so that was out of bounds too. This left an area the size of a couple of decent rooms. I found plenty of bits of foil, nails and builders waste (it was a newish house) but no sign of any elusive rings. The woman was very pleasant but I just wasn't convinced that the ring or rings were lost in her garden and felt that there was another explanation to their disappearance. Oh well. At least I tried. Last time this happened many years ago the vicar of a parish where I sometimes go detecting asked for help with his lost wedding ring and I was delighted when it turned up on the vicarage lawn.  

Before we head up to Scotland we've got another cinema visit tomorrow. Our favourite cinema FACT in Liverpool has invited me and Marion to a preview of Leonardo Dicaprio's latest film J. Edgar. We're always delighted to go to FACT and, it's great to get the chance to see a big movie like this before it goes on general release as we can see it with no preconceived opinions formed by the reviews. And, as we were so impressed last week, we can go and have a snack at Leaf before the film.

Tears Of Joy

It's been over two years since we both cried in the Movies (apart from when we saw the price of the hot dogs at Vue) but yesterday's showing of The Artist at FACT in Liverpool had us both reaching for the tissues once again. But this time, instead of being emotionally drained as were when we went to see Pixar's Up in October 2009, Michel Hazanavicius' movie brought tears of joy and delight. When the trailers to this film started cropping up a few months ago I was puzzled; were the cinema really trying to sell us a silent movie in black and white? - Never; not my cup of tea. And yet, as the reviews and the plaudits for the film started to roll in it was clear that that was precisely what we were being sold.

So much has already been written about the film (and I see that I am not even original in my "tears of joy" comment as the film's newspaper advertising carries a similar quote) that it's difficult for me to add to it. Suffice to say, you will find very few films that bring tears of joy but from the opening scene at the Premier of George Valentin's silent action picture in which Jean Dujardin silently shows more about Valetin's character than most actors achieve in an hour on screen, the film simply oozes charm and this viewer was hooked. The film charts the downfall of the silent movie and its stars through the introduction of the talkies. In a world that contains so much unpleasantness - today's news has soldiers urinating on corpses for God's sake - The Artist is a breath of fresh air that is funny, dramatic, happy and sad. It's a love story that's as old as the hills but what's wrong with that? There are strong supporting performances from John Goodman as the movie mogul, James Cromwell as the old retainer and Berenice Bejo as the young film star but it is Dujardin who steals the show and, although initially I thought it was a joke when I heard that he was being suggested for an Oscar, having now seen the film, I would be surprised if anybody else is in the running. If you only see one film this winter, make sure that you see this. And if you don't love it, you've got no heart.

  
While we were at FACT we had a look at their fascinating Republic Of The Moon exhibition and saw Martin Scorcese's Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. This was another love story. It had a slightly harder edge than The Artist but was enjoyable and had a great cameo from Jodie Foster before her Taxi Driver fame. 

Continuing the day's arty feel we walked a few yards down the road from FACT to have a look at the new artwork that was initially being hailed as Liverpool's new Banksy but is now suggested to be by street artists Mustard Tiger. I'm not sure that Banksy would put his work on a few flimsy plywood panels and no I'm not going to make any snide remarks about it being in Liverpool.

As a change from our usual trip to Salt House Tapas we tried Leaf in Bold St for a late lunch/early dinner. It's our first visit but it won't be our last. Very impressed. Very friendly nice food, good choice, lively atmosphere and I see that they're holding a writer's workshop in a week or two. Would be interested but we'll be in Scotland. May try another time.

Don't Leave Us Fair Alba

It's been a second home to us since we bought the caravan in St Andrews and I hate to think of Scotland breaking away from the United Kingdom and going all independent. I haven't had time to listen to Alex Salmond's arguments in favour of the break. He was on all the screens at the gym last night but I had forgotten my headphones and couldn't hear what he had to say; I entertained myself on the exercise bike playing Words With Friends on the iPhone and watching his face inspired me to SMUG (42 points with a double letter and triple word) - thanks Alex.


The Scots have always had a reputation for being dour and my experience of some Scots (or to be honest one particular Scot) in England backed this up. But perhaps this perceived dourness has been due to their being fish out of water and away from their homeland as, in Scotland, I have never found the people to be anything but cheerful  and friendly. I'm not saying that in a patronising way it's just that, even in a big supermarket, you are a hundred times more likely to strike up a conversation with a fellow shopper than you are in England (in Southport at least - unless it's your best friend - and even then you might just nod); and the conversation does not end the minute they hear your English accent.


The other type of Scot, the stereotypical beer swilling, whisky drinking, deep fried Mars bar munching lard arse is certainly not in evidence in St Andrews. Okay so St Andrews in not exactly typical but the same goes for all the towns we've visited including Dundee and the wonderful Edinburgh which, London apart, has to be Britain's most exciting city; I'm pretty sure that he's a figment of some lazy journalist who has never been north of Watford's imagination.


There is certainly a strong sense of pride and national identity in the country and it's good to see the traditions and local costume - long may they continue. I know that we English have got a lot to apologise for but Culloden was almost three hundred years ago now and we've been quite a united kingdom for the last hundred years. I'm not going into all the political or economic arguments about the referendum here. I'm sure that there are strong arguments both for and against but, however eloquently the politicians express them, I very much doubt that the vote will be won on those arguments. I'm sure that it will be won on how much Scotland feels wanted by the rest of the UK. So now and for the next 1,000 days it's time for us English, Welsh and Irish to let the Scottish people know that we really want them to stay.

We're off to one of our film days in Liverpool today. We've got The Artist at 1pm and Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore at 6.30pm at the wonderful FACT in Wood St.  Hopefully that will give us plenty of time to have a decent lunch as well and have a look at FACT's Republic Of The Moon exhibition. We can also go and have a look at the latest "Banksy" that appeared the other night just down the road and guess if it's genuine or not - it'll have to be a guess as we won't have a clue.


I'll end with a message to all my Scottish readers from Jimmy Somerville with my favourite vicar the Rev Richard Coles on piano.









 

Let's Be Honest

Last night's Sherlock was a bit rubbish really wasn't it? Before you start to fling things in my direction and make your troll comments at the bottom of the page, ask yourself did you enjoy it? Really? Did you really enjoy it? Okay so Benedict Cumberbatch makes a cool Sherlock and some bits of the show are great fun. I love the way that he can deduct that a character has just come back from playing squash with a left handed pigmy with a club foot and eczema - those bits of the drama are great. But last night's story was really tedious. A hallucinatory aerosol created fog, a top secret army base that Holmes enters with a fake pass while Watson doesn't even have to wind his car window down! I'm sorry but I was bored rigid. Last week's episode was entertaining and I hope that next week's is too but I suppose I'm swimming against the tide here as Sherlock is virtually untouchable.

A bit like The Killing. Or should I say The Killing 2. The original series was fabulous and deserves every plaudit that it got. Dark, tense, gloomy, suspenseful it was drama with a capital D. But series 2 had very little of what made series 1 so good apart from the magnificent Sofie Grabol who held things together sufficiently for us to stick with the whole series despite a plot with more holes in it than a pair of Frank Gallagher's socks. Last night we watched the new must see Danish series Borgen. To be honest I enjoyed it very much and I'll be back next week but sometimes I wonder how many programmes are as fabulous as everybody says and how many people say they like stuff for fear of going against the flow.

This week we're off to FACT to see The Artist. Despite dozens of five star reviews and award nominations, our local Vue does not see it as commercially viable enough to show in their Southport multiplex. I asked the manager and he said it's highly unlikely to be shown here which gives us a great excuse to visit FACT which is our favourite cinema. They're also showing Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore which is a classic from the past that we've never got around to seeing so we'll make a day of it and take in both films and a bite to eat.


I suppose I shouldn't moan too much about Sherlock. This is what they're showing on Brazilian telly.





Its been a while since I posted a YouTube video on here but, like the proverbial bus, here's another one right behind. I wonder if this will be Marion with Rose in fifteen years. 

One Year Down How Many More To Come?

If retirees like us knew the answer to that question we might well solve the current economic crisis at a stroke. We could live like there's no tomorrow and spend,spend, spend if we knew that there wasn't one or at least knew how many there were. For now we'll have to keep an eye on the cash and live within a budget that should give us a comfortable lifestyle without being overly extravagant. 

We'll have been retired for a whole year on Wednesday. We've had a great year in very many ways with the wonderful arrival of our first granddaughter Rose, our new caravan in St Andrews and the new found freedom that retirement has brought. But sadly our happiness in the past few months has been overshadowed by Marion's mum's relentless fall into Alzheimer's which has turned her into a Jeckyll and Hyde character who one day hasn't got a clue where she is and another will correctly tell you that there's eighteen minutes to go in the football and seem quite her old self before bursting into tears and asking what is happening to her brain.

So, apart from that struggle, and it is a struggle that occupies us on some level almost every waking minute now, what has retirement been like? It got off to a fantastic start with a brilliant Madness concert in Manchester just a few hours after leaving the office. Then, within a week of clearing my desk, I was in hospital having a new hip. That wrote off December although Marion looked after me brilliantly and I quite enjoyed being nursed and loved passing the time watching the new 3D telly and reading a big pile of novels.

I was up and about by the end of December when we had a memorable new year at The Old Course Hotel in St Andrews where we watched the most amazing firework display courtesy of the wedding celebrations of Di Stewart and Nick Dougherty. Since then we've got into a routine that revolves around the gym, cinema, reading, cycling, blogging, metal detecting and writing and rewriting my novel. I'm on the second rewrite now and maybe one day I'll be happy enough with it to try and publish. We've also managed to take a few holidays after going through 2009 and 2010 with none and enjoyed breaks in Cockermouth, Kirkby Lonsdale, Feizor, Isle De Re and Italy. Next year we'll probably spend all our holidays in St Andrews.

It's been a good year for cinema for us. We've seen about 37 films at either FACT in Liverpool or Vue in Southport with just one visit to the St Andrews Picture House. There's nothing wrong with the local Vue which is fine for a multiplex but we love going to FACT in Liverpool which has a much more interesting film selection and a great little cafe. I wouldn't say that there have been any classic movies this year but there have been plenty of very good ones. My favourites include A Separation, Midnight in Paris, Of Gods And Men and We Need To Talk About Kevin. Our worst experience was The Tree Of Life. Some that were undeservedly panned by the critics in my opinion were The Eagle and The Lincoln Lawyer.

We've only managed five theatre trips but two of those, One Man Two Guvnors and The Ladykillers were comedy classics.  Concerts have been fewer still with Dolly Parton, Glen Campbell and Madness all that we saw. 


All in all a good year. I hope that there will be many more to come. I read an article in the weekend papers about longevity. The writer reckoned that, although I can hope to live for up to another twenty years, the rot sets in at around 63 and most men will encounter some sort of functional deterioration or illness that will restrict them from then onwards. So we had better make the most of the next four or five years. Get the cruise brochures out Marion.

Attempting A Return To Normality

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.