The Zimmers are the oldest rock group ever with a combined age of 3000, and the oldest member 100 years young, they are even older than the Rolling Stones. The group of OAPs came together to perform as a result of a BBC TV program called Power to the People, a three-part series of mischievous documentaries presented by Tim Samuels - who helps some of the most disenfranchised people in society make their voice heard. Their choice of the Who’s ‘My Generation’ as the single they have recorded is made more poignant when the 90 year old lead singer, Alf, sings the immortal line – ‘I hope I die before I get old’.
In an interview one of the women in the group expressed how excited she was to be flying to America to appear in a talk show. She said it would be the first time on an airplane since 1926!
Friday, May 25, 2007
What now?
We bought some new garden furniture with the help of Sue’s Aunty Joan who gave us money instead of Christmas and birthday presents. A couple of weekends ago we found a good deal that allowed us to buy a table with six chairs, an umbrella and stand, a bench and an occasional table and we arranged for them to be delivered on a Friday (they didn’t do weekend deliveries). Later that weekend though our washing machine packed up in spectacular style by blowing the fuses, so we looked around and ordered a new one. Being smart we arranged for it to also be delivered on Friday but, as is so often the case, things didn’t go to plan and the company tried to deliver to the wrong address. So they are going to redeliver this Friday instead. After we received the garden furniture and assembled it we decided to get some bits in for the weekend as my Aunt and Uncle were coming over. We ‘popped’ into a garden centre just to have a look and ended up buying a BBQ to go with the new furniture.
It was Jamie’s 21st birthday on Friday and we sent him an emergency rations delivery from the supermarket (including beer, fizz, cake, chocolate, eggs, bacon, sausages and bread) and rang him to wish him all the best. He is in the middle of exams at the moment and is planning to come down next weekend to see us and we hope to christen the BBQ – it will probably rain.
My Aunt and Uncle come over on the Saturday and we spent the next couple of days eating, drinking (luckily we had taken the previous empties to the recycling), and visiting some local National Trust properties.
We visited the nearby Polesden Lacey, the quaint little Oakhurst Cottage, and the musical collection at Hatchlands Park.
It was Jamie’s 21st birthday on Friday and we sent him an emergency rations delivery from the supermarket (including beer, fizz, cake, chocolate, eggs, bacon, sausages and bread) and rang him to wish him all the best. He is in the middle of exams at the moment and is planning to come down next weekend to see us and we hope to christen the BBQ – it will probably rain.
My Aunt and Uncle come over on the Saturday and we spent the next couple of days eating, drinking (luckily we had taken the previous empties to the recycling), and visiting some local National Trust properties.
We visited the nearby Polesden Lacey, the quaint little Oakhurst Cottage, and the musical collection at Hatchlands Park.
More of wot I have watched…
Wallace & Grommet – The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
These Plasticine heroes are legendary and Aardman and Nick Park are one of the best creators of stop-motion animation. This latest offering is even better than there previous cinematic gold. Jammed packed with comedic gems they prove that a good script and fantastic characterisation can make a fantastic film without resorting to shock and appal.
Night in the Museum
Another film that is mainly for the kids that still manages to provide something for the grown-ups too. The appearance of Dick Van Dyke and Mickey Rooney topped an all star cast for me. The website that goes along with the film is also quite entertaining.
These Plasticine heroes are legendary and Aardman and Nick Park are one of the best creators of stop-motion animation. This latest offering is even better than there previous cinematic gold. Jammed packed with comedic gems they prove that a good script and fantastic characterisation can make a fantastic film without resorting to shock and appal.
Night in the Museum
Another film that is mainly for the kids that still manages to provide something for the grown-ups too. The appearance of Dick Van Dyke and Mickey Rooney topped an all star cast for me. The website that goes along with the film is also quite entertaining.
Faceless…
British people and Londoners in particular, are the some of the most closely monitored population with more CCTV cameras per head than anywhere in the world. Artist Manu Luksch and her collaborators have decided to bring this to people’s attention by creating a collective and making a film called Faceless by using only footage gained from these cameras. As you have the right to ask for copies of any CCTV footage you appear this group acted out a story in plain view and got these everpresent eyes to film it for them. This project proves to be an interesting if slightly scary concept.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
More of wot I have watched…
Happy Feet
Dancing and singing penguins, what more could you want? Light and fluffy (or perhaps feathery) and obviously aimed at kids, this film still has some real laugh-out-loud moments for the ‘grown-up’s too. The visual imagery is very good with nice textures, smooth animations and believable animal characterisations - that are not too cartoon-like. Robin Williams provides the wacky voices for two characters with his usual reliable results. There is an obvious but not overplayed environmental message that underlines the story which doesn’t detract too much from the simpler boy-penguin-meets-girl-penguin, outcast for being different penguin, and perseverance in spite of sea lions messages.
Set in a time where food is scarce and tensions high our hero, Mumbles, is a penguin that can’t sing and has a compulsion to dance, much to the horror of most of his fellow penguins. He is banished to the wilderness where he finds acceptance and friendship with a group of different penguins who teach him to believe in himself. Driven to succeed against all odds Mumbles sets off to find out what is happening to all the fish and save the day – accompanied by a series of song and dance routines.
The History Boys
This is a very entertaining film, now a stage show, that explores the hot-housing of students for academic success, literary-historical jokes, and exploration of relationships between students and between teachers and students (though I felt the story seemed to be a little unbalanced by too many bi-sexual and homosexual references in preference to other relationship issues). The ensemble cast and strong young actors really made the film come to life.
Set several decades ago a class of bright but unruly history students are close to being the first to all make it into the Oxbridge universities. The headmaster is determined to see his school finally succeed and so he employs a young and confident teacher to coach the boys in the finer points of university entrance. Conflict arises with the existing teacher whose emphasis is more towards giving the boys a ‘real’ education.
Best line – How do I define history? Well it's just one f**king thing after another, isn't it?
Little Miss Sunshine
I love qwerky movies with that ‘Indie’ feel, and this fits the bill for me, plus it has a yellow VW van in it too. Nice and strong acting from the whole cast brings a real feeling of cohesion to an ever more unravelling series of events that finally comes together with an unexpected and moving sequence on a stage.
A dysfunctional family make a road-trip in their clapped out van when the youngest member has the opportunity to take part in the finals of the Little Miss Sunshine competition. They all have to come to terms with their inner failings and the disappointment of failure when they are forced to rely on each other to make it through difficult times.
Tideland
This is a Terry Gilliam film! So you have been warned. A fantastical story from the perspective of a young girl left in an unusual situation and left to draw on her own inner strength to cope. Like many of his films Tideland runs a line that many people find either genius or grotesque (sometimes both), and always controversial, which is one of his stated aims – to make the audience think. The young lead actress is remarkable and totally convincing in the role and is someone to keep an eye out for in the future. Tideland is an amazing film.
Pierrepoint
How could a film about a hangman be entertaining? Take a handful of supreme dramatic character actors, like Timothy Spall and Juliet Stevenson, a tight script oozing repressed tension and you have a recipe for a gripping movie. The movie is a biopic of the most well known executioner in the UK, Albert Pierrepoint.
Jasper Carrott
Carrott is a goofy and entertaining comic, at his best when he stays away from the profane and sticks with his great observational humour.
Dancing and singing penguins, what more could you want? Light and fluffy (or perhaps feathery) and obviously aimed at kids, this film still has some real laugh-out-loud moments for the ‘grown-up’s too. The visual imagery is very good with nice textures, smooth animations and believable animal characterisations - that are not too cartoon-like. Robin Williams provides the wacky voices for two characters with his usual reliable results. There is an obvious but not overplayed environmental message that underlines the story which doesn’t detract too much from the simpler boy-penguin-meets-girl-penguin, outcast for being different penguin, and perseverance in spite of sea lions messages.
Set in a time where food is scarce and tensions high our hero, Mumbles, is a penguin that can’t sing and has a compulsion to dance, much to the horror of most of his fellow penguins. He is banished to the wilderness where he finds acceptance and friendship with a group of different penguins who teach him to believe in himself. Driven to succeed against all odds Mumbles sets off to find out what is happening to all the fish and save the day – accompanied by a series of song and dance routines.
The History Boys
This is a very entertaining film, now a stage show, that explores the hot-housing of students for academic success, literary-historical jokes, and exploration of relationships between students and between teachers and students (though I felt the story seemed to be a little unbalanced by too many bi-sexual and homosexual references in preference to other relationship issues). The ensemble cast and strong young actors really made the film come to life.
Set several decades ago a class of bright but unruly history students are close to being the first to all make it into the Oxbridge universities. The headmaster is determined to see his school finally succeed and so he employs a young and confident teacher to coach the boys in the finer points of university entrance. Conflict arises with the existing teacher whose emphasis is more towards giving the boys a ‘real’ education.
Best line – How do I define history? Well it's just one f**king thing after another, isn't it?
Little Miss Sunshine
I love qwerky movies with that ‘Indie’ feel, and this fits the bill for me, plus it has a yellow VW van in it too. Nice and strong acting from the whole cast brings a real feeling of cohesion to an ever more unravelling series of events that finally comes together with an unexpected and moving sequence on a stage.
A dysfunctional family make a road-trip in their clapped out van when the youngest member has the opportunity to take part in the finals of the Little Miss Sunshine competition. They all have to come to terms with their inner failings and the disappointment of failure when they are forced to rely on each other to make it through difficult times.
Tideland
This is a Terry Gilliam film! So you have been warned. A fantastical story from the perspective of a young girl left in an unusual situation and left to draw on her own inner strength to cope. Like many of his films Tideland runs a line that many people find either genius or grotesque (sometimes both), and always controversial, which is one of his stated aims – to make the audience think. The young lead actress is remarkable and totally convincing in the role and is someone to keep an eye out for in the future. Tideland is an amazing film.
Pierrepoint
How could a film about a hangman be entertaining? Take a handful of supreme dramatic character actors, like Timothy Spall and Juliet Stevenson, a tight script oozing repressed tension and you have a recipe for a gripping movie. The movie is a biopic of the most well known executioner in the UK, Albert Pierrepoint.
Jasper Carrott
Carrott is a goofy and entertaining comic, at his best when he stays away from the profane and sticks with his great observational humour.
More of wot I have read…
The Island by Victoria Hislop
This is the author’s debut novel and it is interesting and involving if a little on the light side. I enjoyed finding out about the island life of recent Crete and about leprosy and the leper colony. Some of the main characters are lacking some depth but there is a good amount of detail about the places and lifestyles of the people which betrays the author’s background in travel journalism. Incidentally the author is married to Ian Hislop of Private Eye and Have I Got News For You fame.
‘On the brink of a life-changing decision, Alexis Fielding longs to find out about her mother's past. But Sofia has never spoken of it. All she admits to is growing up in a small Cretan village before moving to London. When Alexis decides to visit Crete, however, Sofia gives her daughter a letter to take to an old friend, and promises that through her she will learn more. Arriving in Plaka, Alexis is astonished to see that it lies a stone's throw from the tiny, deserted island of Spinalonga - Greece's former leper colony. Then she finds Fortini, and at last hears the story that Sofia has buried all her life: the tale of her great-grandmother Eleni and her daughters and a family rent by tragedy, war and passion. She discovers how intimately she is connected with the island, and how secrecy holds them all in its powerful grip...’
This is the author’s debut novel and it is interesting and involving if a little on the light side. I enjoyed finding out about the island life of recent Crete and about leprosy and the leper colony. Some of the main characters are lacking some depth but there is a good amount of detail about the places and lifestyles of the people which betrays the author’s background in travel journalism. Incidentally the author is married to Ian Hislop of Private Eye and Have I Got News For You fame.
‘On the brink of a life-changing decision, Alexis Fielding longs to find out about her mother's past. But Sofia has never spoken of it. All she admits to is growing up in a small Cretan village before moving to London. When Alexis decides to visit Crete, however, Sofia gives her daughter a letter to take to an old friend, and promises that through her she will learn more. Arriving in Plaka, Alexis is astonished to see that it lies a stone's throw from the tiny, deserted island of Spinalonga - Greece's former leper colony. Then she finds Fortini, and at last hears the story that Sofia has buried all her life: the tale of her great-grandmother Eleni and her daughters and a family rent by tragedy, war and passion. She discovers how intimately she is connected with the island, and how secrecy holds them all in its powerful grip...’
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