Journal Entries
The Angels' Share
Posted Jun 8, 2012
Saw this yesterday evening, followed by Q&A with Ken Loach. Enjoyed the film very much, especially so as the cinema was packed, and the Q&A discussion was excellent.
Great cast including newcomer Paul Brannigan in the lead - KL and Paul Laverty (the writer) found him while researching in local youth centres. Happy-ish ending, but not so happy that it didn't make you think about the social issues which KL always raises in his work.
Definitely recommend this for an uplifting and entertaining viewing! Oh, and James McAvoy's sister Joy has a small part giving a guided tour of a distillery - apparently the distillery thought she was so good that they asked to stay on and give a few more tours after shooting finished.
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Latest reply: Jun 8, 2012
That London
Posted Jun 4, 2012
Avoided seriously congested trains by travelling up on Saturday afternoon, and back this lunchtime. Avoided seriously congested riverbanks by going to visit the 'Avenue of Sail' on Saturday evening (when it was also quite sunny). The collected boats in St Katharine's Dock were well worth seeing (included Gipsy Moth IV, among others), but the tall ships a bit sparse between London Bridge and Tower Bridge, contrary to the indications on the Jubilee Pageant website.
Sunday morning - light drizzle. Went to church in Stoke Newington and caught up with old friends. Friend I was staying with went to his own church. Got back about the same time, and installed ourselves in front of tv, sustained by delicious picnic lunch (quiche, smoked salmon, turkey pie, salad ... you get the picture) and prosecco, to watch the Pageant, hoping to see my sister and family in their little boat. We had caught a glimpse of them in the background on BBC news earlier, when interviews were being conducted at Hammersmith before the start - they were moored mid-river overnight.
Watched ... and watched ... and watched. No sign of the recreational motorboats. 
BBC coverage jumped straight from the 'historic vessels' to 'narrowboats'.
Twitterfeed and Facebook commentaries v entertaining (more so than BBC!) and livened up the afternoon.
Sister's boat eventually got into West India Dock at around 9.30pm, after long queue for lock. They were all a bit damp and cold by then, and ready for rum ration and corned beef hash! Sis reported that at least they had discovered some leaks in the boat roof they didn't know about before!
Now back home and ignoring the rest of the Jubilee stuff. Have done some washing and compiled list of chores for tomorrow ...
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Latest reply: Jun 4, 2012
Posh dinner in College*
Posted May 26, 2012
Spent most of yesterday at a St John's first aid course, renewing my 'First Aid at Work' certificate. It has to be done every three years, and can be tedious, but the instructors do their best to vary the methods (not just lecturing as in the old days) and it's always interesting to meet a huge variety of people on the course: yesterday included a lorry driver, EFL teacher, gym instructor, college chef, and Philosophy teacher from private sixth-form college!
Anyway, when that was over, there was a treat in store. The College has an annual memorial lecture, and this year's was being given by Dame Stella Rimington. She is a very good and amusing speaker and talked about how MI5 had changed during (and after) the time she was working there from the 70s to the mid-90s, illustrated with lots of little anecdotes. After the lecture, which was at Wolfson College (we don't have a big enough lecture hall), we strolled back to Newnham in our gowns, and drank champagne on the lawn outside the SCR before going in for dinner. We had carpaccio of tuna, lamb with Jersey royal potatoes and spring vegetables (baby beets, baby carrots and asparagus), lemon and raspberrry parfait, and cheese. Lovely wines too of course. Must say, having lived in France for a number of years, I still think it's more logical to have the cheese *before* the dessert, and to finish up the red wine with it, but that was my only quibble.
Later I had the opportunity to chat to Dame Stella, who went to the same school as I did, but about 15 years earlier. We nevertheless knew some of the same teachers, and we had both been back to the school recently so were able to talk about how it had changed since our time there.
Whole evening very enjoyable, and I was very restrained on the wine, so that I was able to cycle home safely! Didn't get back till 11pm though, which is way past my normal bedtime, so I'm having a late start this morning.
In other news: the police have apparently found my stolen bike! I will go and collect it from the Crime Store (great name!) next week.
* Resisted the temptation to call this 'Dinner in stellar company'. Getting coat now.
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Latest reply: May 26, 2012
Sorrento break
Posted May 18, 2012
Came back this afternoon after four days in Sorrento (just south of Naples, in case anybody was wondering). Decided after lots of dithering, not to take my iPad with me, and survived quite happily without Facebook, Twitter, and even hootoo and ML! Could have done with Mary Beard's book on Pompeii, which I hadn't finished reading in the Kindle version before going, but never mind.
Parts of Sorrento are quite pretty, and there are other nice places round about, but on the whole have decided I prefer France. People there don't stand outside the restaurants hassling you to come in - they let you read the menu in peace, without wanting to explain every detail to you. There is also more variety in the food.
The weather was very good on the whole. Woke up to torrential rain on Monday, but it had stopped by breakfast time, and then there weren't more than a few drops for the rest of the time I was there. Tuesday was the best day (when I went to Pompeii), but although thermometres were registering 23 to 25 degrees for the whole week, it didn't feel like that with a chilly wind, and I kept a jacket or cardi on most days.
Was all set to load my photos on to the computer from the camera this evening, but found only a couple of dozen unexceptional pics from today and yesterday. Have checked the memory card etc, but come to the conclusion that all the others are lost. Note to self: when the camera asks if you want to format, say NO! Oh well - will just have to depend on memory ... pity about all those carefully composed photos of Pompeii and Vesuvius though ...
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Latest reply: May 18, 2012
Boohoo!
Posted May 7, 2012
My h2g2 has given itself a new look (presumably as a result of the Pliny stuff everybody was going on about) and now won't let me reply to anybody's journal entry.
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Latest reply: May 7, 2012
annie_cambridge
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