Bit unfortunate really - looks like this forum was directly linking to one of my images and stealing my bandwidth. What a shame I changed the image to something a little bit different to what they were after. Whoops!
Anybody got any suggestions of other messages you want to see me put in my image on my site? Oh what a pity it would be if somebody else happened to be linking to that image without asking me. :p
14-9. Poor old France. Guess who’s going through to the Rugby World Cup final again?!
Looked a bit dodgy at 70 minutes but Jonny Wilkinson delivered once more, this time with a stunning drop goal just a couple of minutes after putting us in front thanks to a penalty.
World Champions again? It’s certainly looking more promising than it was…
The fair rolled back into town this week, with Tewkesbury celebrating its several-hundredth Mop Fair. Unlike in the past where the working class would carry mops to the fair and seeking employment for the coming year, the modern fair sees Tewkesbury filled with sideshows, food and many of the Danter Bros’ best rides. Below are some highlights from this year’s Mop:
The fair takes over most of the centre of Tewkesbury
Continue reading ‘Freakin Out at the Fair: Tewkesbury Mop Fair 2007′
Yesterday I drove down to Portsmouth to meet up with Tara and Shashi for a day trip to the Isle of Wight. Despite the Island’s reputation for being the bit of England where the rich go to retire, we still found more than enough to do (even if most of our planning didn’t take place until we were on the ferry!).
Isle of Wight in the distance
Our first stop on the Island was Osborne House, where Queen Victoria spent most of her time after Prince Albert died. Here we learnt a lot of interesting stuff: you can’t drink out of a person, walled gardens are exactly what they say they are, statues of humans don’t have pupils but dogs do, nine of the 18 children broke cups and disappeared, the antelope lived in a separate house, and they do sound like Brazilian pirates.
Osborne House
Taking pictures of the view from the terrace
After lunch in East Cowes we headed over to Alum Bay. Unfortunately a lot was being wound down at the end of the season, including the chair lift down to the beach which was closed. Therefore, our visit was quite short but we did stop to watch the glass blowing and pick up some pick n mix from the sweet factory.
Alum Bay
Tara had seen there was a garlic farm on the Island and we all thought it would be good to take a look. It wasn’t the easiest place to find, being way off the main road down a steep single track road, but was well worth the effort. Anybody coming around to mine for a meal in the next few weeks is quite likely to get garlic butter and garlic mint sauce (maybe with a few other ingredients thrown in too).
Garlic Farm
By then it was near the end of the day and we just had time to head off to Ryde for some Chinese before catching the ferry back across to the mainland.
Ryde Pier at sunset
If we don’t mention my mammoththree and a half hour drive home down the foggy back roads of southern England, the day couldn’t have been a lot better. Good fun, even if you’re not 80.
First of this season of films at my local Film Society last night was The Page Turner. It’s a French film telling the story of Melanie Prouvost, a girl who moves in to a family home to look after a young boy whilst his father is away on business.
It quickly turns out that Melanie shares an interest in piano playing with Ariane, the mother of the household who happens to be a gifted classical pianist. Ariane invites Melanie to become her page turner at an important concert but, unbeknown to her, she has met Melanie previously and has dangerously placed her vulnerable self in the hands of someone who could wreck both her marriage and her career.
In places The Page Turner is gripping, with director Denis Dercourt rarely opting for the obvious. The build to the inevitable climax is, however, at times a little plodding but the peak itself is a masterpiece in understated drama. A decent start to the new film season.
A Mighty Heart is the film version of Mariane Pearl’s account of the events surrounding her husband’s death. Many people will remember following the story of Daniel Pearl on the news. He was a journalist for the Wall Street Journal, kidnapped in Karachi and eventually beheaded.
Michael Winterbottom’s direction relies on flashbacks to fill in the backstory, but fails to ever set the film solidly in the context of the wider political atmosphere in Pakistan and between Pakistan and the US at the time. Due to the focus on Mariane, we as viewers never see the kidnappers or the story from Daniel’s side after he has been taken.
Of course, concentrating on the kidnapping would turn this into an action thriller, which is not what the film is trying to be. Instead it works as a sensitive telling of the endurance and hard work of the team aiming to return Daniel safely home.
Unfortunately, despite some fantastic acting from Angelina Jolie, the film doesn’t work. The story just isn’t engaging (however much it should be) and the constant backtracking only makes for a confusing track to follow. Disappointing.