29 October 2007
Having been charmed by 'The Big Over Easy' (reviewed here in April 2007), I had been eagerly awaiting the return of DCI Jack Spratt and DS Mary Mary in Jasper Fforde's second Nursery Crime Division novel, 'The Fourth Bear'. I wasn't disappointed. Goldilocks is missing, bears are buying and selling illegal porridge and Punch and Judy are turning out to be the neighbours from Hell. 'The Fourth Bear' is another mixing bowl of remarkably silly parodies which works because it has at its heart a solid and intriguing whodunnit. Slightly more focussed and less rambling than its predecessor it still manages to incorporate aliens, ancient Greek immortals and characters from Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde and Edward Lear. Fforde manages to make the most two dimensional characters both believable and sympathetic. There is a touching sub-plot about the stigma associated with being a PDR (Person of Dubious Reality) - though the closer you look the more it seems that everyone in this book is a PDR. This leads to some surreal metatextual moments (particularly Jack's psychiatric interview by Virginia Kreeper) with lots of characters clearly in search of an author. And 'The Fourth Bear' is extremely funny with some lovingly crafted and truly awful puns. The ten pages of Chapter Four serve purely to lead to a groan-inducing pun. A minor character is introduced on page 63 in order to lay the ground for a series of appalling puns on page 319. All great fun - and when you've finished, the book comes complete with 'DVD extras' - a 'making-of' documentary, deleted scenes etc which you can access through Fforde's website, but only by answering a question which requires you to have finished reading the novel. I'm very much looking forward to 'The Last Great Tortoise Race' which will be the next outing for the Nursery Crime Division.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Friday, October 26, 2007
'Stardust'
26 October 2007
Last night I returned to the Pola cinema in Welshpool which reminds me a lot of my childhood film-going at the Scala in Withington - cinema as it used to be. I saw the children's fantasy 'Stardust' starring Charlie Cox, Claire Danes, the always impressive Mark Strong and a show-stealing Michelle Pfeiffer as a witch trying to regain her youthful beauty. With a wealth of cameos including Peter O'Toole, Ian McKellen and Robert De Niro and plenty of opportunity for spotting familiar British actors in bit parts it was lots of fun. Visually sumptuous with more than a hint of Terry Gilliam, it has a quirky but satisfyingly predictable plot - enjoyable baloney.
Last night I returned to the Pola cinema in Welshpool which reminds me a lot of my childhood film-going at the Scala in Withington - cinema as it used to be. I saw the children's fantasy 'Stardust' starring Charlie Cox, Claire Danes, the always impressive Mark Strong and a show-stealing Michelle Pfeiffer as a witch trying to regain her youthful beauty. With a wealth of cameos including Peter O'Toole, Ian McKellen and Robert De Niro and plenty of opportunity for spotting familiar British actors in bit parts it was lots of fun. Visually sumptuous with more than a hint of Terry Gilliam, it has a quirky but satisfyingly predictable plot - enjoyable baloney.
Monday, October 22, 2007
'Bleak House' by Charles Dickens
22 October 2007
Finished it! 'Bleak House' by Charles Dickens is a very long book but I've really enjoyed the journey. It definitely helped being familiar with the plot from the BBC TV adaptation and it actually felt satisfyingly indulgent to take so long over each of the key scenes I remembered. Like most Dickens novels 'Bleak House' was originally published in instalments but, unlike some of his other books, this didn't result in a rambling plot. 'Bleak House' is tightly plotted and covers a relatively short period of time - and a fairly limited geography. The various narrative strands are interlinked and draw together with a brooding sense of fate and inevitability - and only a small amount of cheesy coincidence. The murder mystery plot that seemed to dominate the TV version comes very late in the novel and is not exploited half as much as it could have been - the conventions of detective fiction having yet to establish themselves. The structure of the book is interesting with two alternating narrators: Esther Summerson recounts her own story with hindsight in the first person while an omniscient third person narrator in the present tense shows us what is going on elsewhere. The third person narrator adds some great poetic descriptive passages: the technique of 'floating' over the streets and buildings of the Inns of Court and dropping in on various characters before flitting on to another location reminded me of 'Under Milk Wood' by Dylan Thomas. But the main attraction of Dickens is the characters - and there are some wonderful creations in 'Bleak House'. To anyone who is familiar with the story, the names themselves will always instantly recreate the distinctive personalities: Tulkinghorn, Guppy, Krook, Smallweed, Lady Dedlock, Old Mr Turveydrop, Snagsby, Caddy Jellyby, etc etc. There is a dose of sentimentality and melodrama but the book also addresses an impressive range of social and political issues within its relatively small frame. And it is often very funny. Having worked for some years in the area around Chancery Lane, there was a particular attraction for me in the geography of the story. If you too have been expecting a judgement you can now release the birds - I recommend 'Bleak House' to the court.
Finished it! 'Bleak House' by Charles Dickens is a very long book but I've really enjoyed the journey. It definitely helped being familiar with the plot from the BBC TV adaptation and it actually felt satisfyingly indulgent to take so long over each of the key scenes I remembered. Like most Dickens novels 'Bleak House' was originally published in instalments but, unlike some of his other books, this didn't result in a rambling plot. 'Bleak House' is tightly plotted and covers a relatively short period of time - and a fairly limited geography. The various narrative strands are interlinked and draw together with a brooding sense of fate and inevitability - and only a small amount of cheesy coincidence. The murder mystery plot that seemed to dominate the TV version comes very late in the novel and is not exploited half as much as it could have been - the conventions of detective fiction having yet to establish themselves. The structure of the book is interesting with two alternating narrators: Esther Summerson recounts her own story with hindsight in the first person while an omniscient third person narrator in the present tense shows us what is going on elsewhere. The third person narrator adds some great poetic descriptive passages: the technique of 'floating' over the streets and buildings of the Inns of Court and dropping in on various characters before flitting on to another location reminded me of 'Under Milk Wood' by Dylan Thomas. But the main attraction of Dickens is the characters - and there are some wonderful creations in 'Bleak House'. To anyone who is familiar with the story, the names themselves will always instantly recreate the distinctive personalities: Tulkinghorn, Guppy, Krook, Smallweed, Lady Dedlock, Old Mr Turveydrop, Snagsby, Caddy Jellyby, etc etc. There is a dose of sentimentality and melodrama but the book also addresses an impressive range of social and political issues within its relatively small frame. And it is often very funny. Having worked for some years in the area around Chancery Lane, there was a particular attraction for me in the geography of the story. If you too have been expecting a judgement you can now release the birds - I recommend 'Bleak House' to the court.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
'The Flying Club Cup' by Beirut
16 October 2007
In 'Gulag Orkestar', the wonderful CD by Beirut (reviewed here in November 2006), twenty-something Zach Condon from Albuquerque, New Mexico, drew on the Gypsy brass sound of the Balkans. In his follow-up album 'The Flying Club Cup', which I've been listening to this week, he somehow manages to adopt a series of completely different styles whilst remaining distinctly recognisable. Here he travels across Europe, lingering particularly in France. Pulsating rhythms, mostly in quick waltz time, provide the landscape over which his languid vocals soar - often multi-tracked to create a chorus of Condons. His slightly strained, mock-operatic voice reminds me at times of Neil Hannon from The Divine Comedy. The songs all have a feeling of melancholy ennui. The instrumentation includes the ukulele and accordion of 'Gulag Orkestar' as well as strings and piano. The brass sound is more mellow: accompanied by a wealth of percussion including clashed cymbals and tambourine it conjures up the image of a Salvation Army band leading a particularly cool New Orleans funeral march. I can't wait to see what he does next.
In 'Gulag Orkestar', the wonderful CD by Beirut (reviewed here in November 2006), twenty-something Zach Condon from Albuquerque, New Mexico, drew on the Gypsy brass sound of the Balkans. In his follow-up album 'The Flying Club Cup', which I've been listening to this week, he somehow manages to adopt a series of completely different styles whilst remaining distinctly recognisable. Here he travels across Europe, lingering particularly in France. Pulsating rhythms, mostly in quick waltz time, provide the landscape over which his languid vocals soar - often multi-tracked to create a chorus of Condons. His slightly strained, mock-operatic voice reminds me at times of Neil Hannon from The Divine Comedy. The songs all have a feeling of melancholy ennui. The instrumentation includes the ukulele and accordion of 'Gulag Orkestar' as well as strings and piano. The brass sound is more mellow: accompanied by a wealth of percussion including clashed cymbals and tambourine it conjures up the image of a Salvation Army band leading a particularly cool New Orleans funeral march. I can't wait to see what he does next.
Friday, October 12, 2007
'Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency' by Douglas Adams
12 October 2007
I'm loving the BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of Douglas Adams' novel 'Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency' (Wednesdays at 6.30 pm - see http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/dirkgently/). Dramatised and produced by Dirk Maggs who so wonderfully realised the final instalments of 'The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy' after Douglas Adams' death, for any Hitch Hiker's fans this is a real treat. And it's so long since I read the book I've completely forgotten whatever tenuous grasp of the plot I might have had at the time. Listen to it - and then listen again to try to work out what's going on! One of the best uses radio could be put to.
I'm loving the BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of Douglas Adams' novel 'Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency' (Wednesdays at 6.30 pm - see http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/dirkgently/). Dramatised and produced by Dirk Maggs who so wonderfully realised the final instalments of 'The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy' after Douglas Adams' death, for any Hitch Hiker's fans this is a real treat. And it's so long since I read the book I've completely forgotten whatever tenuous grasp of the plot I might have had at the time. Listen to it - and then listen again to try to work out what's going on! One of the best uses radio could be put to.
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
'Time of My Life' by Alan Ayckbourn
9 October 2007
There's a particular satisfaction when the risk involved in taking a 'lucky dip' approach to selecting a cultural dish results in a delicious feast. We felt that satisfaction the first time we discovered the 2-for-1 ticket booth in Leicester Square. It was 1993 and we were rewarded with half price tickets to a matinee of the new Alan Ayckbourn play which had just transferred from its premiere in Scarborough to the West End. 'Time of My Life' starred Anton Rodgers and Gwen Taylor in a family drama set in an Italian restaurant. As with most of Ayckbourn's prolific output it is a deceptively simple play - with a single set and no difficult staging arrangements - intentionally giving it a sustainable life in the amateur theatre. The particular device in 'Time of My Life' is multiple timelines moving in different directions. We can see three tables in the restaurant: the first hosts a family birthday meal while the other two tables simultaneously show us members of the family moving forwards and backwards, respectively, through time. These windows on the present, future and past gradually reveal poignant depths to the story, exploring when it is that we are truly happy - and whether we ever realise at the time. Although this all sounds complex it is easy to follow and follows a typical Ayckbourn path of making us laugh while we slip along an inexorably sad trajectory. We really enjoyed that original production in 1993 and were surprised when its run ended prematurely. Fourteen years later Ayckbourn cites 'Time of My Life' as one of his favourite and most under-rated plays. Last Saturday we were at the Royal Theatre in Northampton to see Laurie Sansom's new production of the play. Sansom came to Northampton after four years working with Ayckbourn as Associate Director of the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough and has created an enjoyable and effective revival. Our fond memories of the play were reinforced - particularly fond because we originally discovered it by accident!
There's a particular satisfaction when the risk involved in taking a 'lucky dip' approach to selecting a cultural dish results in a delicious feast. We felt that satisfaction the first time we discovered the 2-for-1 ticket booth in Leicester Square. It was 1993 and we were rewarded with half price tickets to a matinee of the new Alan Ayckbourn play which had just transferred from its premiere in Scarborough to the West End. 'Time of My Life' starred Anton Rodgers and Gwen Taylor in a family drama set in an Italian restaurant. As with most of Ayckbourn's prolific output it is a deceptively simple play - with a single set and no difficult staging arrangements - intentionally giving it a sustainable life in the amateur theatre. The particular device in 'Time of My Life' is multiple timelines moving in different directions. We can see three tables in the restaurant: the first hosts a family birthday meal while the other two tables simultaneously show us members of the family moving forwards and backwards, respectively, through time. These windows on the present, future and past gradually reveal poignant depths to the story, exploring when it is that we are truly happy - and whether we ever realise at the time. Although this all sounds complex it is easy to follow and follows a typical Ayckbourn path of making us laugh while we slip along an inexorably sad trajectory. We really enjoyed that original production in 1993 and were surprised when its run ended prematurely. Fourteen years later Ayckbourn cites 'Time of My Life' as one of his favourite and most under-rated plays. Last Saturday we were at the Royal Theatre in Northampton to see Laurie Sansom's new production of the play. Sansom came to Northampton after four years working with Ayckbourn as Associate Director of the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough and has created an enjoyable and effective revival. Our fond memories of the play were reinforced - particularly fond because we originally discovered it by accident!
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
'Heimlich' by 17 Hippies
3 October 2007
I've been enjoying the album 'Heimlich' by the German band 17 Hippies which has been championed by Charlie Gillet on BBC Radio 3 over the last few weeks. Almost impossible to categorise, 17 Hippies sing in German, French and English and play instruments including clarinet, banjo and accordion. Mostly chirpy upbeat songs. Confusingly there are not 17 of them and they are not hippies! Catchy, quirky, refreshingly different.
I've been enjoying the album 'Heimlich' by the German band 17 Hippies which has been championed by Charlie Gillet on BBC Radio 3 over the last few weeks. Almost impossible to categorise, 17 Hippies sing in German, French and English and play instruments including clarinet, banjo and accordion. Mostly chirpy upbeat songs. Confusingly there are not 17 of them and they are not hippies! Catchy, quirky, refreshingly different.
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
'Sinfonietta' by Leoš Janáček
2 October 2007
I've been listening to James Naughtie's history of Western classical music, 'The Making of Music', on BBC Radio 4 and last week one snatch of music particularly caught my attention - the 'Sinfonietta' by the Czech composer Leoš Janáček. I got hold of a recording and I've been playing it all week. I'm not sure how the piece had previously passed me by - it's fantastic. It was written in 1926 and there are five short movements - the whole thing only lasts about 26 minutes. There is some gorgeous brass writing (indeed the first movement is just brass) with a number of variations on the opening fanfare that first grabbed my ears. If you don't already know the Sinfonietta, I would recommend discovering it for yourself.
I've been listening to James Naughtie's history of Western classical music, 'The Making of Music', on BBC Radio 4 and last week one snatch of music particularly caught my attention - the 'Sinfonietta' by the Czech composer Leoš Janáček. I got hold of a recording and I've been playing it all week. I'm not sure how the piece had previously passed me by - it's fantastic. It was written in 1926 and there are five short movements - the whole thing only lasts about 26 minutes. There is some gorgeous brass writing (indeed the first movement is just brass) with a number of variations on the opening fanfare that first grabbed my ears. If you don't already know the Sinfonietta, I would recommend discovering it for yourself.
Monday, October 01, 2007
'Donkeys' Years' by Michael Frayn
1 October 2007
On Saturday we were at Milton Keynes Theatre to see 'Donkeys' Years' by Michael Frayn. A group of middle-aged men assemble in "one of the smaller courts, in one of the lesser colleges, at one of the older universities" for a college reunion 25 years on. Finding themselves quartered in their old college rooms, they soon revert to their student behaviour and there is much drinking, running in and out of bedrooms, defacing the statue of King Henry and throwing people in the lake. Not much of a story but a very slick and well-paced farce. This is quite an early Michael Frayn play - later he would create the classic de-constructed farce, 'Noises Off' - 'Donkeys' Years' is more one-dimensional but very funny nonetheless. This production is now touring after a stint in the West End and boasts a cast of very familiar faces including Ian Lavendar, Richard Hope, Sara Crowe and Norman Pace but the evening belongs to Mark Hadfield - great physical comedy and timing.
On Saturday we were at Milton Keynes Theatre to see 'Donkeys' Years' by Michael Frayn. A group of middle-aged men assemble in "one of the smaller courts, in one of the lesser colleges, at one of the older universities" for a college reunion 25 years on. Finding themselves quartered in their old college rooms, they soon revert to their student behaviour and there is much drinking, running in and out of bedrooms, defacing the statue of King Henry and throwing people in the lake. Not much of a story but a very slick and well-paced farce. This is quite an early Michael Frayn play - later he would create the classic de-constructed farce, 'Noises Off' - 'Donkeys' Years' is more one-dimensional but very funny nonetheless. This production is now touring after a stint in the West End and boasts a cast of very familiar faces including Ian Lavendar, Richard Hope, Sara Crowe and Norman Pace but the evening belongs to Mark Hadfield - great physical comedy and timing.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Davis Cup Tennis - Great Britain vs. Croatia
26 September 2007
On Sunday we were back at Number One Court at Wimbledon to see the last two matches of Great Britain’s Davis Cup tie against Croatia. There was a packed crowd – primarily there to mark the retirement of Tim Henman. Unfortunately, for us, we picked the wrong day as Henman’s final volley in Saturday’s doubles match had won the tie for Britain – but it was still fun to experience the party atmosphere of the remaining singles matches and to give Henman and the team their final send-off. We saw Andy Murray win an exciting match against Roko Karanusic before another young Scottish player, Jamie Baker, put up a brave display in losing to the impressive Croatian teenager, Marin Cilic. And not a drop of rain …
Friday, September 21, 2007
Wester Ross
21 September 2007
We had a great week on the North West coast of Scotland last week. Wester Ross is a stunning area - just looking at the map was strangely compelling with masses of contour lines right down to the sea, large swathes of uninhabited land and few roads or tracks. The reality didn't disappoint - while it took a very long time to get there, it was well worth it. The sea lochs - Gairloch, Loch Ewe, Little Loch Broom and Loch Broom - are spectacular and the view from the road above Gairloch inland to the massive Loch Maree was amazing. We had mostly good weather with three very sunny days and managed lots of hill and coast walking. We stayed in a cottage at Sand, near Laide, overlooking Gruinard Bay and we enjoyed the little towns of Gairloch and Poolewe and got as far north as Ullapool. Our only real disappointment was not managing to see much of the promised marine wildlife - despite much binoculared-gazing from clifftops and a boat trip which only resulted in a distant glimpse of a pod of porpoises and a single friendly seal. I think all the local dolphins must have been holidaying elsewhere!
We had a great week on the North West coast of Scotland last week. Wester Ross is a stunning area - just looking at the map was strangely compelling with masses of contour lines right down to the sea, large swathes of uninhabited land and few roads or tracks. The reality didn't disappoint - while it took a very long time to get there, it was well worth it. The sea lochs - Gairloch, Loch Ewe, Little Loch Broom and Loch Broom - are spectacular and the view from the road above Gairloch inland to the massive Loch Maree was amazing. We had mostly good weather with three very sunny days and managed lots of hill and coast walking. We stayed in a cottage at Sand, near Laide, overlooking Gruinard Bay and we enjoyed the little towns of Gairloch and Poolewe and got as far north as Ullapool. Our only real disappointment was not managing to see much of the promised marine wildlife - despite much binoculared-gazing from clifftops and a boat trip which only resulted in a distant glimpse of a pod of porpoises and a single friendly seal. I think all the local dolphins must have been holidaying elsewhere!
Friday, September 07, 2007
'Bleak House' by Charles Dickens - progress report
7 September 2007
I am about a third of the way through reading 'Bleak House' by Charles Dickens. I have to admit I've never read any Dickens but having relished the BBC TV adaptation of Bleak House last year (reviewed here in February 2006) I was persuaded to give it a go and I'm really enjoying it. It is, however, a very long book - at more than 900 pages quite a daunting prospect - and being familiar with the plot and characters from the TV version has definitely helped me to get going with it. I will report more fully when I finally get to the end but I thought I would mention it today because I notice that the BBC adaptation is being repeated on BBC4 - starting with two episodes tonight (Friday 7 September) at 7.30 pm and continuing on Monday. If you haven't seen it and you can get hold of BBC4 I would urge you to take a look. And then why not try the book itself …
I am about a third of the way through reading 'Bleak House' by Charles Dickens. I have to admit I've never read any Dickens but having relished the BBC TV adaptation of Bleak House last year (reviewed here in February 2006) I was persuaded to give it a go and I'm really enjoying it. It is, however, a very long book - at more than 900 pages quite a daunting prospect - and being familiar with the plot and characters from the TV version has definitely helped me to get going with it. I will report more fully when I finally get to the end but I thought I would mention it today because I notice that the BBC adaptation is being repeated on BBC4 - starting with two episodes tonight (Friday 7 September) at 7.30 pm and continuing on Monday. If you haven't seen it and you can get hold of BBC4 I would urge you to take a look. And then why not try the book itself …
Thursday, August 30, 2007
‘Little Me’ by Neil Simon, Carolyn Leigh and Cy Coleman
30 August 2007
On Wednesday evening I was at the Bloomsbury Theatre in London to see the National Youth Music Theatre production of ‘Little Me’ by Neil Simon, Carolyn Leigh and Cy Coleman. This musical hasn’t been performed in London for over 20 years but it’s loads of fun – a highly silly cartoon saga telling the tale of Belle, a girl from the wrong side of the tracks striving, over four decades, to attain wealth, culture and social position in order to win the hand of the noble Noble Eggleston. This quest carries her through a host of familiar places and events (the First Word War trenches, the early Hollywood, the doomed ocean liner ‘SS Gigantic’ – you get the idea!) throughout which Belle manages to inadvertently steer the course of history in unfortunate directions and lose a remarkable number of husbands (there is a high fatality count!). Extremely silly, wonderfully funny and energetically performed by a high quality young (aged 10 – 19) cast of 35 actors and a 13-piece band. The two leads, Sarah Hagan and Dom Hodson were very good but there were show-stealing performances by Joe Mott, Alyn Hawke and Sam Hayward (including one of the funniest death bed scenes I can remember!) – all names to watch out for. NYMT is alive and well – I look forward to the next production.
On Wednesday evening I was at the Bloomsbury Theatre in London to see the National Youth Music Theatre production of ‘Little Me’ by Neil Simon, Carolyn Leigh and Cy Coleman. This musical hasn’t been performed in London for over 20 years but it’s loads of fun – a highly silly cartoon saga telling the tale of Belle, a girl from the wrong side of the tracks striving, over four decades, to attain wealth, culture and social position in order to win the hand of the noble Noble Eggleston. This quest carries her through a host of familiar places and events (the First Word War trenches, the early Hollywood, the doomed ocean liner ‘SS Gigantic’ – you get the idea!) throughout which Belle manages to inadvertently steer the course of history in unfortunate directions and lose a remarkable number of husbands (there is a high fatality count!). Extremely silly, wonderfully funny and energetically performed by a high quality young (aged 10 – 19) cast of 35 actors and a 13-piece band. The two leads, Sarah Hagan and Dom Hodson were very good but there were show-stealing performances by Joe Mott, Alyn Hawke and Sam Hayward (including one of the funniest death bed scenes I can remember!) – all names to watch out for. NYMT is alive and well – I look forward to the next production.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
‘The Bourne Ultimatum’
22 August 2007
We were at the cinema on Sunday to see ‘The Bourne Ultimatum’ – the third adaptation of the Robert Ludlum novels, starring Matt Damon and directed by Paul Greengrass. It has been marketed as an ‘intelligent action movie’ and that’s probably a fair description. There is plenty of gritty realism and lots of all-too-believable violence. And it is good to see a Hollywood movie dealing with internal corruption rather than a cartoon-like evil villain. But there was still a fair amount of frustrating unbelievability: if CIA agent Jason Bourne has been trained to speak every European language, to know the layout of the backstreets of every major European city and has memorised all the world’s public transport timetables, how come his female colleague seems to have received no similar training and can only contribute worried looks? There is also something inherently ridiculous about any ‘control-room scene’ where ranks of computer operators tap away at their keyboards while the boss strides up and down looking at masses of text on large screens covering the walls and shouting things like “listen up”, “give me all you’ve got on Bourne”, “let’s get mobile” etc. I think all such scenes remind me too much of ‘Dr Strangelove’. Nevertheless ‘The Bourne Ultimatum’ is fast-moving, exciting and clever. Good to see a blockbuster with a key role for a Guardian journalist – and a very tense early scene on the concourse at Waterloo station.
We were at the cinema on Sunday to see ‘The Bourne Ultimatum’ – the third adaptation of the Robert Ludlum novels, starring Matt Damon and directed by Paul Greengrass. It has been marketed as an ‘intelligent action movie’ and that’s probably a fair description. There is plenty of gritty realism and lots of all-too-believable violence. And it is good to see a Hollywood movie dealing with internal corruption rather than a cartoon-like evil villain. But there was still a fair amount of frustrating unbelievability: if CIA agent Jason Bourne has been trained to speak every European language, to know the layout of the backstreets of every major European city and has memorised all the world’s public transport timetables, how come his female colleague seems to have received no similar training and can only contribute worried looks? There is also something inherently ridiculous about any ‘control-room scene’ where ranks of computer operators tap away at their keyboards while the boss strides up and down looking at masses of text on large screens covering the walls and shouting things like “listen up”, “give me all you’ve got on Bourne”, “let’s get mobile” etc. I think all such scenes remind me too much of ‘Dr Strangelove’. Nevertheless ‘The Bourne Ultimatum’ is fast-moving, exciting and clever. Good to see a blockbuster with a key role for a Guardian journalist – and a very tense early scene on the concourse at Waterloo station.
Monday, August 13, 2007
'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' by J K Rowling
13 August 2007
When I say I have just finished reading 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' by J K Rowling, I guess I am instantly going to divide you into those who groan out loud and those who wonder what took me so long. I've enjoyed all seven Harry Potter books. I can sympathise with those who say the quality of the writing leaves much to be desired and the settings, characters and magical creatures are incredibly derivative, but, by blatantly pinching some of the best elements of classic children's fiction, fantasy and mythology, Rowling has created a cracking good yarn. And I can forgive her much for the wonderful combination of both the broadest scope and the minutest detail in her plotting. It seems to me that the plot drives you through these weighty tomes at a rapid pace - both through the overall story arc of the seven books (written before starting the first novel, apparently) and through impressive attention to detail and consistency. Children can be the most obsessive of all readers and it can be incredibly irritating when the internal logic of a story is broken or an early passing reference is forgotten. I have found all the Harry Potter books incredibly satisfying in how they remember and refer back to the tiniest of details. And none has been so satisfying in this respect as the 'Deathly Hallows' which scrupulously ties up every possible loose end. I came to the book with my own mental checklist of unanswered questions and came away with all items ticked. (I daresay the massive obsessive attention to which this book will be subjected may unearth one or two mistakes or omissions but I was not disappointed.) My main problem with the 'Deathly Hallows' was trying not to read it too quickly. Having lived with these characters for so many years, like many others I was desperate to find out what happens to them - but worried about missing key clues and wanting to prolong the end as long as possible. So I took to reading two or three chapters at a time and then re-reading them before going on - meaning I have now read the whole book twice! (If any of the groaners were still with me I fear I have certainly lost them now!) I can highly recommend this technique: it is amazing how many seemingly insignificant references reveal themselves as invaluable pointers with the benefit of a little hindsight. (Slightly less obsessively, when I have finished a novel I have really enjoyed I am invariably sorry to leave it and sometimes go back and re-read the opening chapter. You would be amazed how fascinating this often proves - try it!) The 'Deathly Hallows' is definitely not a starting point for anyone who has not yet tried the Potter phenomenon: it would make little sense to those who haven't followed the previous books. But for those with at least a passing acquaintance with Harry, Ron, Hermione et al, it is a gripping ride. As with many of the books there are some passages which drag a bit, but when the action takes off it is thrilling - particularly this time as there is no guarantee who, if anyone, will survive. But that would be telling ...
When I say I have just finished reading 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' by J K Rowling, I guess I am instantly going to divide you into those who groan out loud and those who wonder what took me so long. I've enjoyed all seven Harry Potter books. I can sympathise with those who say the quality of the writing leaves much to be desired and the settings, characters and magical creatures are incredibly derivative, but, by blatantly pinching some of the best elements of classic children's fiction, fantasy and mythology, Rowling has created a cracking good yarn. And I can forgive her much for the wonderful combination of both the broadest scope and the minutest detail in her plotting. It seems to me that the plot drives you through these weighty tomes at a rapid pace - both through the overall story arc of the seven books (written before starting the first novel, apparently) and through impressive attention to detail and consistency. Children can be the most obsessive of all readers and it can be incredibly irritating when the internal logic of a story is broken or an early passing reference is forgotten. I have found all the Harry Potter books incredibly satisfying in how they remember and refer back to the tiniest of details. And none has been so satisfying in this respect as the 'Deathly Hallows' which scrupulously ties up every possible loose end. I came to the book with my own mental checklist of unanswered questions and came away with all items ticked. (I daresay the massive obsessive attention to which this book will be subjected may unearth one or two mistakes or omissions but I was not disappointed.) My main problem with the 'Deathly Hallows' was trying not to read it too quickly. Having lived with these characters for so many years, like many others I was desperate to find out what happens to them - but worried about missing key clues and wanting to prolong the end as long as possible. So I took to reading two or three chapters at a time and then re-reading them before going on - meaning I have now read the whole book twice! (If any of the groaners were still with me I fear I have certainly lost them now!) I can highly recommend this technique: it is amazing how many seemingly insignificant references reveal themselves as invaluable pointers with the benefit of a little hindsight. (Slightly less obsessively, when I have finished a novel I have really enjoyed I am invariably sorry to leave it and sometimes go back and re-read the opening chapter. You would be amazed how fascinating this often proves - try it!) The 'Deathly Hallows' is definitely not a starting point for anyone who has not yet tried the Potter phenomenon: it would make little sense to those who haven't followed the previous books. But for those with at least a passing acquaintance with Harry, Ron, Hermione et al, it is a gripping ride. As with many of the books there are some passages which drag a bit, but when the action takes off it is thrilling - particularly this time as there is no guarantee who, if anyone, will survive. But that would be telling ...
Thursday, August 09, 2007
'The Visit'
9 August 2007
I’ve been enjoying ‘The Visit’ – a new sitcom on BBC3 on Sunday evenings (though only a matter of time before it is repeated on BBC2, I would have thought). All the action takes place during visiting time at a prison with, each week, the same set of prisoners taking their seats at tables opposite the same family members and then sitting there staring at each other with very little to say! Sounds riveting, I know, but the small talk and inane banter is very very funny and there is plenty of gentle, gradual character development. There are no star names dominating – though many of the actors are reasonably familiar faces. The characters are all fairly exaggerated – this is quite an old fashioned sitcom – more ‘Phoenix Nights’ than the cringingly believable comedy of ‘The Office’. Extremely enjoyable and refreshingly subtle such as in its reverential nod to ‘Porridge’ in the use of theme music by Slade.
I’ve been enjoying ‘The Visit’ – a new sitcom on BBC3 on Sunday evenings (though only a matter of time before it is repeated on BBC2, I would have thought). All the action takes place during visiting time at a prison with, each week, the same set of prisoners taking their seats at tables opposite the same family members and then sitting there staring at each other with very little to say! Sounds riveting, I know, but the small talk and inane banter is very very funny and there is plenty of gentle, gradual character development. There are no star names dominating – though many of the actors are reasonably familiar faces. The characters are all fairly exaggerated – this is quite an old fashioned sitcom – more ‘Phoenix Nights’ than the cringingly believable comedy of ‘The Office’. Extremely enjoyable and refreshingly subtle such as in its reverential nod to ‘Porridge’ in the use of theme music by Slade.
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
WOMAD 2007
1 August 2007
The WOMAD world music festival prides itself on remaining largely sponsor-free but this year you could have been forgiven for thinking a deal had been done with Dunlop - at least in terms of product placement: if there was anyone present not wearing wellingtons it was impossible to tell what, if anything, they did have on their feet, such was the amount of deep, liquid, mud covering the festival site! The unfortunate coincidence of the wettest summer on record combined with WOMAD's move to a new home at Charlton Park near Malmesbury in Wiltshire (after many years in Reading) made for a frustratingly difficult festival experience. First there were horrendous traffic problems on the small country roads around the park: it took me two and a half hours to travel the few miles from the motorway junction when I arrived on Friday afternoon. Then there was the mud: wellingtons were a necessity and walking was very difficult - though standing still had its problems too as you soon found yourself sinking! And just when you decided to give up and call it day there was chaos in the car park: on Saturday evening it took me two hours to get out as tractors towed cars one-by-one up an increasingly muddy slope to the road. By Saturday night I had had enough and opted to head home rather than struggle through Sunday. And I was fortunate not to have been camping: it was a great relief to get back to a comfortable hotel bed each night. I know many people went home before the festival even began and there has been much anger and vitriol on the message boards at www.womad.org - though it was good to see Viscount Andover (whose father owns the Charlton Park estate) going online to respond to comments. Nevertheless, as always, there was some great music. An obvious highlight was the first festival appearance for many years of WOMAD founder Peter Gabriel who played a great set on Friday evening with a host of guest stars. I also enjoyed the desert bagpipes of exuberant Algerian band Marzoug, the beautiful, other-worldly vocals of Norwegian Sami singer Mari Boine and the amazing virtuosity of Malian ngoni player Bassekou Kouyate. It is always nice to see the artists appreciating each other's work: it was lovely to see the mature gentlemen of El Tanbura (Egypt's answer to the Buena Vista Social Club) dancing in front of the stage during a performance by the Palestinian singer Reem Kelani. The Warsaw Village Band were late - a year and 45 minutes late: I had been looking forward to seeing them play at last year's festival when they didn't make it at all - and on Saturday (like many other bands this year) they got stuck in the traffic and the mud and arrived on stage three quarters of an hour later than scheduled. But I did enjoy their 'hardcore Polish folk' - particularly the strident three-part female vocal harmonies which emphasise their musical and geographic positioning somewhere between Bulgaria and Finland. As the rain started to fall on Saturday evening we were cheered up by an upbeat session from English folk star Seth Lakeman and the most energetic performance of the weekend from Asian Dub Foundation. I finished by watching the launch of Simon Emmerson's new project 'The Imagined Village' - a re-imagining of the English folk tradition for the 21st century featuring an all star cast including Martin Carthy, Eliza Carthy, Billy Bragg, Benjamin Zephaniah, Johny Kalsi of the Dhol Foundation, Sheema Mukherjee of Transglobal Underground and British Asian singer Sheila Chandra. Fascinating to hear Billy Bragg talking about how it took two Jewish guys from Queens to make him feel English - when hearing Simon & Garfunkel's 'Scarborough Fair' for the first time - and then to realise he was telling us this while standing next to Martin Carthy - the man who taught Paul Simon the tune. There were some great performances at Charlton Park but it was hard work getting from one stage to another and it will be difficult not to remember this year's WOMAD festival primarily for the mud.
The WOMAD world music festival prides itself on remaining largely sponsor-free but this year you could have been forgiven for thinking a deal had been done with Dunlop - at least in terms of product placement: if there was anyone present not wearing wellingtons it was impossible to tell what, if anything, they did have on their feet, such was the amount of deep, liquid, mud covering the festival site! The unfortunate coincidence of the wettest summer on record combined with WOMAD's move to a new home at Charlton Park near Malmesbury in Wiltshire (after many years in Reading) made for a frustratingly difficult festival experience. First there were horrendous traffic problems on the small country roads around the park: it took me two and a half hours to travel the few miles from the motorway junction when I arrived on Friday afternoon. Then there was the mud: wellingtons were a necessity and walking was very difficult - though standing still had its problems too as you soon found yourself sinking! And just when you decided to give up and call it day there was chaos in the car park: on Saturday evening it took me two hours to get out as tractors towed cars one-by-one up an increasingly muddy slope to the road. By Saturday night I had had enough and opted to head home rather than struggle through Sunday. And I was fortunate not to have been camping: it was a great relief to get back to a comfortable hotel bed each night. I know many people went home before the festival even began and there has been much anger and vitriol on the message boards at www.womad.org - though it was good to see Viscount Andover (whose father owns the Charlton Park estate) going online to respond to comments. Nevertheless, as always, there was some great music. An obvious highlight was the first festival appearance for many years of WOMAD founder Peter Gabriel who played a great set on Friday evening with a host of guest stars. I also enjoyed the desert bagpipes of exuberant Algerian band Marzoug, the beautiful, other-worldly vocals of Norwegian Sami singer Mari Boine and the amazing virtuosity of Malian ngoni player Bassekou Kouyate. It is always nice to see the artists appreciating each other's work: it was lovely to see the mature gentlemen of El Tanbura (Egypt's answer to the Buena Vista Social Club) dancing in front of the stage during a performance by the Palestinian singer Reem Kelani. The Warsaw Village Band were late - a year and 45 minutes late: I had been looking forward to seeing them play at last year's festival when they didn't make it at all - and on Saturday (like many other bands this year) they got stuck in the traffic and the mud and arrived on stage three quarters of an hour later than scheduled. But I did enjoy their 'hardcore Polish folk' - particularly the strident three-part female vocal harmonies which emphasise their musical and geographic positioning somewhere between Bulgaria and Finland. As the rain started to fall on Saturday evening we were cheered up by an upbeat session from English folk star Seth Lakeman and the most energetic performance of the weekend from Asian Dub Foundation. I finished by watching the launch of Simon Emmerson's new project 'The Imagined Village' - a re-imagining of the English folk tradition for the 21st century featuring an all star cast including Martin Carthy, Eliza Carthy, Billy Bragg, Benjamin Zephaniah, Johny Kalsi of the Dhol Foundation, Sheema Mukherjee of Transglobal Underground and British Asian singer Sheila Chandra. Fascinating to hear Billy Bragg talking about how it took two Jewish guys from Queens to make him feel English - when hearing Simon & Garfunkel's 'Scarborough Fair' for the first time - and then to realise he was telling us this while standing next to Martin Carthy - the man who taught Paul Simon the tune. There were some great performances at Charlton Park but it was hard work getting from one stage to another and it will be difficult not to remember this year's WOMAD festival primarily for the mud.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
'Much Ado About Nothing' by William Shakespeare
25 July 2007
When your neighbours have got a troupe of travelling players performing Shakespeare in their back garden it would seem churlish not to support them – so on Sunday we made our way through the deer park to Woburn Abbey to watch the outdoor production of 'Much Ado About Nothing' by Chapterhouse theatre company. In this period of 'extreme weather' we expected the worst but, amazingly, the clouds cleared, the sun came out and we enjoyed a beautiful evening. There are quite a few companies touring open-air Shakespeare productions each summer and it always appears to be a very testing proving ground for young actors. Apart from coping with the full range of weather conditions, your projection has got to be very strong to reach the back of the audience and you have to be able to ignore numerous potential distractions – such as the flock of geese that flew across the Woburn Abbey gardens on Sunday, closely followed by a lone heron. The Chapterhouse cast coped well and gave a solid, engaging performance. Not quite as inventive in their use of the available space as the 'Romeo and Juliet' we saw last year but extremely enjoyable nonetheless – with particularly strong performances by Nicola Weeks and Simon Michael Morgan as Beatrice and Benedick. Their tour of England continues to the end of August - details at www.chapterhouse.org.
When your neighbours have got a troupe of travelling players performing Shakespeare in their back garden it would seem churlish not to support them – so on Sunday we made our way through the deer park to Woburn Abbey to watch the outdoor production of 'Much Ado About Nothing' by Chapterhouse theatre company. In this period of 'extreme weather' we expected the worst but, amazingly, the clouds cleared, the sun came out and we enjoyed a beautiful evening. There are quite a few companies touring open-air Shakespeare productions each summer and it always appears to be a very testing proving ground for young actors. Apart from coping with the full range of weather conditions, your projection has got to be very strong to reach the back of the audience and you have to be able to ignore numerous potential distractions – such as the flock of geese that flew across the Woburn Abbey gardens on Sunday, closely followed by a lone heron. The Chapterhouse cast coped well and gave a solid, engaging performance. Not quite as inventive in their use of the available space as the 'Romeo and Juliet' we saw last year but extremely enjoyable nonetheless – with particularly strong performances by Nicola Weeks and Simon Michael Morgan as Beatrice and Benedick. Their tour of England continues to the end of August - details at www.chapterhouse.org.
Monday, July 23, 2007
The Blockheads
23 July 2007
It's Easter 1992 and we're in the Swan Theatre in Stratford watching a great Royal Shakespeare Company production of John Gay's 'A Jovial Crew'. But we're distracted from the action by a small, stooped figure wandering around the back of the auditorium, selecting a series of vantage points. As he passes the back of our seats, Jeannie turns round and pointedly asks him to be quiet. We reach the interval and the lights go up and suddenly a queue is forming to shake hands with the small, restless man. If I had stopped to write a list of all the people he might have been (which I obviously didn't as I was in a hurry to get an ice cream) the list would have had to have been many pages long before it would have occurred to me that we were being disturbed by rock star and poet of punk, Ian Dury. (Though had I just spent the interval reading the programme I would have discovered that he and Mickey Gallagher had written the songs for this production of 'A Jovial Crew'.)
Fifteen years later Dury is sadly no longer with us but his band, The Blockheads, are celebrating their thirtieth anniversary. So, on Saturday evening, we made our way to The Pitz in Milton Keynes for an evening of 'Sex and Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll'. The remaining original Blockheads may have aged but showed no signs of losing their enthusiasm, musical skill or drive. Augmented by a couple of younger recruits they played a high-energy two hour set and were obviously really enjoying themselves. The Blockheads were one of those punk bands who weren't really punks - mixing a variety of musical styles including reggae (as did The Clash), Latin rhythms and funk. Their strolling bass lines sound a lot like their contemporaries Squeeze. The presence of the amazing saxophonist Gilad Atzmon took a lot of the numbers into the realms of jazz funk – at times The Blockheads sounded remarkably like Weather Report – not really my kind of thing but very impressive. Their unique selling point is still Ian Dury’s wonderful lyrics – witty, playful, hard-hitting, brutal and very funny. It was great to see a packed audience singing along to every word. Also interesting to reflect on Dury’s gentle, natural, rhythmic spoken delivery: he was rapping in 1977 – well before Mike Skinner of The Streets was born. On Saturday the Blockheads were joined for the last few numbers by the comedian Phil Jupitus. Almost unrecognisable (if it were not for his distinctive body shape!), clean-shaven and dressed in a giant red checked jacket and bowler hat (“sponsored by Home Pride”), Jupitus delivered the lead vocals with due reverence to his legendary colleagues – and was clearly a big fan. He is due to join The Blockheads for a full thirtieth anniversary tour later this year – well worth catching. And as we pogo-ed into the night shouting “hit me with your rhythm stick – hit me – hit me” I’m sure there was someone looking on from the back of the auditorium and smiling.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Boban Markovic Orkestar
17 July 2007
Since I first discovered the peerless Serbian brass band - the Boban Markovic Orkestar – after reading a review in Songlines magazine at the beginning of 2003 they have only played one UK date – in May 2003 which I missed as I was flying back from Italy at the time. So when I heard Boban was to play another one-off concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London last weekend I leapt at the chance to see the band live for the first time. They didn't disappoint. Dressed in white shoes, white trousers and round-necked, long-sleeved white t-shirts the 11 members of the Boban Markovic Orkestar looked like an unlikely collection of male nurses preparing to assist in complicated surgery on our eardrums. In front of the band, Boban and his son Marko were the epitome of cool on a sweltering evening. Marko – now in his early twenties – is a rock star with a trumpet. He stands with his feet firmly planted to the floor, his head bent forward to ensure his trumpet gets as close as possible to the microphone, his long black hair tied tightly back in a ponytail and his hips gyrating to the groove. His father constantly prowls the stage – directing the band, instructing the sound engineer and casually slipping into bursts of virtuoso trumpet solos. Boban's medium-length hair is tousled as if an elderly relative has playfully ruffled it. The back of his light blue shirt is soon drenched in sweat. His shoulders are permanently raised in a perpetual shrugging 'whatever' and a satisfied smile plays around his lips.
For me, the Boban Markovic Orkestar are the classiest, slickest, funkiest exponents of the Balkan Gypsy brass sound. They avoid the tendency of many similar bands to demonstrate their virtuosity by making everything extremely fast and frantic – preferring to vary their programme with stunning, unexpected changes of tempo and rhythm. And their rhythms are amazing – complex syncopations supported by five tuba players and three percussionists. There are no clarinets or saxophones here – just tubas (of varying sizes) and trumpets. The sound is absolutely deafening – and even louder when Boban and Marko come out from behind the microphones and play directly without amplification from the front of stage.
There is clearly a great mutual respect within the band. At the end of each number every player acknowledges the audience's acclaim by raising an arm to gesture across the stage towards one of their colleagues to suggest, modestly, where the applause ought to be directed. When the gesture is reciprocated each player turns to honour another member of the band, creating a series of white-clad musical statue tableaus with arms outstretched.
Balkan Gypsy brass is party music but with the Boban Markovic Orkestar it is a serious party. By the time they left the stage of the Queen Elizabeth Hall – having over-run the scheduled finish by an hour! – everyone was on their feet: an unforgettable experience.
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