Is your visit really necessary?

Here in the UK we are enjoying (suffering?) from a visit by Condaleeza Rice. Today she was visiting Jack Straw's constituency of Blackburn. I don't know who was experiencing more of a culture shock - Ms Rice or the bemused residents of this Northern, deprived, former textile town. Certainly not all the locals greeted her warmly. Many people still find the notion of suspects being ferried through British airways in transit between the US (where torture only exists in the form of brutal executions - I heard someone recently took over 20 minutes to die in the electric chair - but not before his head caught fire and the sound of his screams had convinced all the inmates of death row of their fate) towards a country where the methods of persuasion are a little more elaborate. I gather Jordan (and even Syria) are the destinations of choice. Naturally Ms Rice (or Dr Rice according to some) denies this and Jack Straw is unaware of any CIA planes carrying people to their doom have ever crossed over or stopped off in Britain.

There is something rotten in the Secretary of State (to adapt Shakespeare).

Transamerica

I went to see 'Transamerica' on Friday. This is an everyday story of a man who is about to become a woman but at that very moment discovers she has a 17 year old son. The film traces their journey across America from New York where the son has been making money as a rentboy, to California where the man is to become a woman and the son thinks he will find his father who is rich and will get him a job as a filmstar.
I enjoyed this film - although it did take me most of the film to believe that Felicity Huffman was a man about to become a woman - there were only occasional moments when she behaved in anything other than a feminine way. Even when we catch a glimpse of the appendage he/she is about to have removed it still doesn't seem that she is a man! Kevin Zegers as the son was excellent - only too believable as a boy on the make - screwed up by abuse from his stepfather, and finding his mother dead.
There is a classic scene in a restaurant featuring the dysfunctional family which probably made the film worth while watching.
This isn't your average road movie and I reckon well worth seeing.

The Old Country

What can you say? A play by Alan Bennett, starring Timothy West, Jean Marsh and Simon Williams. As usual with an Alan Bennet play the characters are so well drawn, the language so accessible, the atmosphere so intimate. The theatre - the Trafalgar Studios (previously the Whitehall Theatre) is ideal for a production of a Bennett play. The seats are not separated from the area where the actors perform (hardly a stage really). I loved this play - hardly a comedy but entertaining and thought provoking. A literary play, making gentle jibes at class, politics, and the literary world. Here we have a spy in exile who is visited by his sister and pompous brother-in-law who have come to take him back to Britain. The spy is content in Russia, but another (lower level) exchangee really wants to return - but won't be given the chance. Alan Bennett is so good at drawing out the elements of character and pokes fun at the pomposity of class. Well worth seeing.

Library

I'm sure you know I love visiting the library - and it is great that my local branch opens on a Sunday.
Today I renewed "Anna Karenina" - I've just started to read it and love it already.
I also took out "The History of Germany (since 1789)" by Golo Mann - I heard it mentioned on the radio earlier today as the best analysis of German history - and it is written by Thomas Mann's son!
N recommended Dorothy Dunnett so I've taken out 'The Spring of the Ram!.
I also selected the latest Alexander McCall Smith (Blue Shoes and Happiness) - good light reading, 'The Rose City' a book of short stories by David Ebershoff and a short crime novel by Joseph Hansen (Troublemaker).
It'lll keep me busy!

Tsotsi

I went to see the film 'Tsotsi' yesterday. What an absolute stunner of a movie! I'm not surprised that it won an Oscar - it deserves a very wide showing - although as it is sub-titled throughout I suspect it will be destined for being marginalised. This will be a tremendous pity.
I found it moving, cathartic, shooking but somehow uplifting. It is supposed to be representative of the currect South African desire for reconcilation. It is all about redemption to my mind. I found the depiction of the gangster attacks on the new black middle class, fascinating. The only white character is a police inspector.
I loved the music too. It was so upbeat and uplifting that it was a remarkable contrast to the dark almost malevolent theme of the film.
Ironically as I am currently suffering from insomnia I caught an interview on the World Service at 3 a.m. this morning with the actor who played the older gangster and sang most of the songs on the soundtrack - I think he was called Zola.
Certainly Presley Chweneyagae who plays the lead in this film deserves to become a big star - he was superb and had a wonderful supporting cast.

Iraq

So what are the Americans up to now? It looks like they've decided to re-start the war. Now this is OK - except I thought the Iraqi's now had their own government elected by the Iraqis - for the Iraqis. Has this new government invited the US government to re-start the war - or is this an alternative to civil war? Instead of Iraqis fighting one another they'll now unite in fighting the invading/occupying forces! Great move George W.

BLOG 101

Probably not the same as Room 101.
Two things today - a report in the news about a pharmaceutical experiment involving eight people testing a new drug. Six were given the drug, two a placebo. Result - 6 almost dead men. I wonder if this drug had been tested on animals previously? Lets hope they get better and the pharmacy company learns from this mistake.
Secondly I've just finished 'Cold Mountain'. Well worth the read - and as I suspected it really didn't end well. I'm now on to Juian Barnes' 'Arthur & George'.

Palestine

What on earth is going on? The Israeli government seem to be doing their own version of prison break. I reckon they are setting the Palestinian authority up to fail. I appreciate that there is a wanted criminal and alleged murdere they are wanting to punish - but I thought he was already in prison. Could they not come to some sort of arrangement rather than sending a portion of the Israeli army in to effect the capture. Perhaps someone out there can explain it to me?
PS THis is my hundredth blog! Neat......

Milosovic

History repeating itself? The twentieth century revolved around the Balkans - bringing war to the whole world as a variety of bizarre tiny kingdoms argued their petty disputes amongst themselves. Various offspring of Queen Victoria and her relations were persuaded to take up the thrones of these countries, or peasant warlords adopted the title of king. Now all these countries are wanting to become members of the European Union - some are already using the Euro instead of their own currency. All seem to want to distance themselves from Serbia - the current bete noir of the Balkans. And now Milosovic inconveniently dies amongst rumour and accusation of poison, suicide and righteous indignation of justice betrayed. It would be comparable to the melodrama of opera if it wasn't so scary.

Syriana

I went to see George Clooney's "Syriana" today. A very powerful film - and far more political than the other George Clooney film currently doing the rounds "Good Night and Good Luck". Neither George nor co-star Matt Damon are playing to type. I was extremely impressed by this critique of US & Middle Eastern politics. You certainly need to concentrate throughout this film, as it cuts from action in Washington to Tehran to a mythical state in the Gulf to Beirut to Marbella to Geneva and back to Washington. The first time I've seen the thorny subject of suicide bombers and their motivation described in a film - and done competently as well. I rate this film very highly - go see it!

Crufts

Two reasons for this blog. The winner of the hound category at Crufts was a Norwegian Elkhound owned by namesakes of mine - Mr & Mrs Middleton. The second reason illustrates the dangers of live television and badly researched and trained presenters. Ben Fogle is meeting the winning dog & his owners. Ben "Now congratulations Mr Middleton on winning this category. All hounds of course have a particular purpose and work to do. What was the original purpose of the Norwegian Elkhound? What did they hunt?" Reply "Well they hunted elk".
Ben Fogle: "Where did they originate from? Somewhere in the north - Norway perhaps?" Reply "Yes".
Mmmmmmm - clever interviewing there Ben.

Tosca

I went to see Tosca at the Hackney Empire tonight. Fabulous!!!!!

Happy Birthday

Today is my friend's birthday. We've known each other since we were at infants' school in the 1950s.
We don't see each other often - in fact for about 20 years, but he was like a theme running through my life. We went to different secondary schools, and I left home at 18 never to return (except for the odd few weeks here and there), but we've kept in touch. Do we know much about each other - probably not, but he's still a constant throughout my life. We all need that kind of constant whilst friends and acquaintances come and go - especially when families are so inconsistent.

Current Reading

Went to the library today, and borrowed:
'Cold Mountain' - renewed as I'm only half way through
"Rich Dust" by George Greenfield - a wartime mystery
Leo Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina"
"Music and Silence" by Rose Tremain (heard it serialised on radio - but always worth reading the original).
A nice crime novel 'The Little Dog Laughed" by Joseph Hansen
and "The Queer Commando" by Paul Mann (guess what that might be about!)

A mixture of news

A man had to be evicted from a hospital. He had been living there for three years. But for the past 2 and a half years he hadn't needed medical attention or nursing care. I wonder where he will live now?
The President of Brazil is here on a state visit. This means he rides around London in a carriage with various members of the Royal Family. Then he'll have a banquet, and various politician will propose toasts of everlasting friendship and the Queen will show him parts of her private collection of pictures and artifacts - probably containing bits of Brazil's history that she's picked over the past half century. Then he'll give her a gift and she'll give him a memento of the visit.
Tessa Jowell still needs to answer lots of questions - but she has 'lost' her husband. They'll be tears before too long.
It has been raining in London for the past 24 hours. It is (we're told) the correct kind of rain. This is the rain that it steady and constant which means it will soak into the ground and top up the water table - drought averted? I don't think so!

Boo Hoo!

I'm in mourning - why did Brokeback Mountain win so little at the Oscars? Is this just chickening out at the last minute? Maybe the publicity campaign for 'Crash' succeeded where quality failed.

Lib Dems - Wots that all about?

This is blog 91 by the way.
So this party have just elected a guy who will close on 70 by the time Gordon Brown calls the next election - and however he tries he can't look anything other than a old minger. The party itself will probably get called 'The Mingers' from now onwards too. Age itself doesn't really matter I suppose, but these Lib Dems seem to wonder what they are for. The last leader was pushed out (probably by a faction led by the newly elected leader) because he was a recovering alcoholic - not recovering enough for lots of people. One contender was revealed as having a peccadillo - a regular rent boy - although he had paraded his wife and children as a guarantee of his probity and credentials as a leader. All senior politicians in the UK seem to be breeding like rabbits, so a gay leader might be a welcome change. Another contender couldn't make up his mind about his sexuality despite the fact that everyone knew he was gay (and didn't care about it at all!)
In the midst of all this the Lib Dems win a famous bye-election. All publicity is clearly good publicity. Now, they decide they want to privatise the Post Office (following the Japanese?) No one seems to know quite why - although the current Royal Mail service is dire and most branch offices seem likely to close as the government force most pensioners/benefit recipients to receive payment directly into the bank - in spite of this resulting in most of them having to pay at a cash machine to take it out. The Lib Dems also seem to be dropping the notion of taxes being imposed on the rich. So - what are they for? Just there to supply MPs to the fringes of the Kingdom - and to run some Councils? How many of the current MPs will survive the next election - if the electorate think there will be a close result can many really want to see a major party's manifesto watered down and the geriatric Sir Menzies as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster or Lord Privy Seal and Simon Hughes as Minister for Europe?
Makes you think.

We live in strange times

Two things have struck me today - both of them on TV this evening. They involve the two men illustrated here. The guy on the left you might not recognise - he's called Daz Sampson. Tonight he was selected for the campest competition in the universe. He will sing (or rather talk through) Britain's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest. This is taken incredibly seriously elsewhere in Europe but in the UK is a bit of a joke - largely because we are never going to win until global warming become so severe that London will disappear under 30 feet of water. If we had a chance of winning we'd take it seriously - but until that day's dawning we'll continue to select the bizarre. Like Mr Sampson - a white rapper(???!!!) surrounded by women dressed as schoolgirls. As Terry Wogan said 'What will they make of that in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia?'
The second TV programme featured Tony Blair. Now I'm both uneasy and slightly queasy when politicians parade their faith in public. We British don't talk of such things. Anyone parading their religion is seen as either eccentric or downright mad. Certainly anyone striking up a conversation with you casually on a train about religion will result in clearing the entire carriage very rapidly. A Prime Minister who believes that God (rather than the electorate) will judge him will certainly be viewed extremely sceptically. Until we got to that point Tony's interview with Parkinson was going pretty well. Nice chat about music, acting, Bill Clinton, early childhood inflences, and then bam - car crash TV - is he really saying this. Ah well, he's retiring soon - perhaps a monastery beckons.

Which film?

Ok - last chance folks - tell me a good film to go and see this weekend!

Walking Stick

Today I started to use a walking stick. Over the past few days I've felt in need of reassurance when I've been walking around. I feel a bit of a fraud but the pain in my hip and knees makes the stick very useful, and seems to be relieving some of the pressure. What was interesting was the reaction of my co-workers. Some reacted incredibly badly - rushing towards me in alarm and consternation, as though I'd broken an arm or leg. Others ignored it completely, others just seemed interested and asked about my condition.
I think to some it was like a penny had dropped - so he really is ill!
Now, I'm rather like Weaver out of ER or House out of......House!

Welcome 700 visitors

As my profile visitor count hit over 700 - welcome everyone. Any suggestions for the topic of the day?
It is now almost 8pm and I'm have watching a programme about a group of villagers buying a peel of bells for their Church. When I was in primary school I was part of a group of handbell ringers - and that was exciting, challenging and satisfying. I've always fancied the idea of ringing full size bells, but I have this problem, - I'm not a believer! Maybe I should form a troop of heathen campanologists.
This cold weather isn't helping my health. It isn't helped by having to work this morning (usually I work afternoons) and then I had to go for physiotherapy this afternoon. I missed two nebulising sessions, and rushed my eating. I have to have regular meals or else I get so very tired.
They are now ringing the eight bells on the TV - wonderful, and oh so English!