This week seems to have so gone quickly! Perhaps because the weather has been warmer and the sun has shone - it was really warm out of the cool wind. There's nothing quite like the warmth of sunshine after a cold winter.
In spite of this, we've managed to get out and about. The European Union Chamber Orchestra gave a stunning performance last Tuesday. The first piece was Handel's Arrival of the Queen of Sheba which I've always adored but feel an especial fondness for since we had it at our wedding :)
Saturday was a trip round Hidcote Manor Garden to see what was growing. The sun was bright, the wind cool and blustery - a typical March day.
And last night we saw A Dangerous Method with Keira Knightly, Michel Fassbender and Viggo Mortensen. I've never been very interested in Freud (played by Mortensen) and Jung (Fassbender) so I was surprised when I enjoyed the film so much. It was beautifully filmed, great dialogue which was dryly amusing in places.
Writing
Revision of Mystery in Morocco has suffered because of everything going on this week; and I've had little time to focus on the comments about my short story which arrived at the beginning of three very hectic days and evenings.
I'm just taking a break from going through the comments - it's exciting to see my work through the eyes of someone else.
But right now, on a Sunday afternoon, after lunch, I'm sitting nodding over the keyboard. Better get up and move around before I slump forward and all you see is o4w9t 9u 9d d efi oy jtuk trtusrtoi/zrib\ rou5te4nuae46 uUrhoih'aorh 5oih5oi h5iahie hi,fm fdljj :i {P I[d#r;kg :)
Showing posts with label films. Show all posts
Showing posts with label films. Show all posts
Sunday, 4 March 2012
Sunday, 22 January 2012
Sunday Summary
Life
Mr Prue has had a cold and this brought back some of the symptoms he had with pneumonia. He had been making such good progress too. I'm hoping he'll get over this setback soon. In spite of this we've seen two films - Las Acacias and Habemus Papem; both subtitled, both intruiging and entertaining.
And we were up early on Saturday for a geology meeting arranged by the West Midlands OUGS (Open University Geology Society). Five speakers, all very good; three of them were excellent. I love listening to talks by people who can speak about their work in an informative and entertaining way, and whose enthusiasm shines through. It's infectious and energising :)
In a few spare moments, I've been reading about the First Intermediate Period (2160 - 2055 BC) in ancient Egypt. Historians try to piece together what happened in those far-off times using small amounts of information which have survived, against all odds. It's like working out the picture from a 5000-piece jigsaw where ninety-nine percent of the pieces are missing.
And I find it fascinating! :D
Writing
Typing-in all the revised words and sentences for The Green Ribbon. It's finished but there's the not-so-small-and-very-confusing matter of breaking it up into chapters. Sometimes the break is clear; sometimes it isn't. More information can be found here.
Mr Prue has had a cold and this brought back some of the symptoms he had with pneumonia. He had been making such good progress too. I'm hoping he'll get over this setback soon. In spite of this we've seen two films - Las Acacias and Habemus Papem; both subtitled, both intruiging and entertaining.
And we were up early on Saturday for a geology meeting arranged by the West Midlands OUGS (Open University Geology Society). Five speakers, all very good; three of them were excellent. I love listening to talks by people who can speak about their work in an informative and entertaining way, and whose enthusiasm shines through. It's infectious and energising :)
In a few spare moments, I've been reading about the First Intermediate Period (2160 - 2055 BC) in ancient Egypt. Historians try to piece together what happened in those far-off times using small amounts of information which have survived, against all odds. It's like working out the picture from a 5000-piece jigsaw where ninety-nine percent of the pieces are missing.
And I find it fascinating! :D
Writing
Typing-in all the revised words and sentences for The Green Ribbon. It's finished but there's the not-so-small-and-very-confusing matter of breaking it up into chapters. Sometimes the break is clear; sometimes it isn't. More information can be found here.
Sunday, 8 January 2012
Films Added
I've added a new page to the right-hand bar: films.
Mr Prue and I go to the cinema regularly at the local arts centre. There's a nice balance between the more popular mainstream films and foreign films.
I really like sub-titled films even though it means more work as I don't speak any language - other than my own - fluently enough to follow a whole film. These films are usually very different from mainstreams; slower in pace (although not always), often beautifully filmed, and leave me with a greater feeling of satisfaction at the end, or something to take away and think about. It's a bit like eating a chocolate brownie (sub-titled film) compared with a stick of candyfloss (high-action mainstream).
At the end of the year we can never remember which films we've seen, so this year I'll try to keep a note of them here.
Come and have a look - there maybe something which takes your fancy. Or perhaps you could share your favorite film.
Mr Prue and I go to the cinema regularly at the local arts centre. There's a nice balance between the more popular mainstream films and foreign films.
I really like sub-titled films even though it means more work as I don't speak any language - other than my own - fluently enough to follow a whole film. These films are usually very different from mainstreams; slower in pace (although not always), often beautifully filmed, and leave me with a greater feeling of satisfaction at the end, or something to take away and think about. It's a bit like eating a chocolate brownie (sub-titled film) compared with a stick of candyfloss (high-action mainstream).
At the end of the year we can never remember which films we've seen, so this year I'll try to keep a note of them here.
Come and have a look - there maybe something which takes your fancy. Or perhaps you could share your favorite film.
Sunday, 20 November 2011
The Week in Summary
Life
Films are a source of entertainment which I love; and a period drama goes down particularly well. So last Sunday I went to see Anonymous - almost obligatory as I live near Stratford-on-Avon, home of the Bard.
The story is about Shakespeare who didn't, according to this film, write the plays attributed to him. This has caused much gnashing of teeth in Stratford, with one group going round the Warwickshire country signs, placing tape over the word 'Shakespeare's' in Shakespeare's County. As you can see here. We have a great attachement to Will Shakespeare in these parts - his birthplace is in Stratford, he's buried in the town's church - and it appears that, for some at least, the claim that he didn't write his plays is tantamount to a literary form of blasphemy. Feelings have been running high!
Not in me though. I set off with every expectation of a enjoying the evening. Derek Jacobi, Vanessa Redgrave and Sebastian Armesto are in the film, after all. And enjoy it I did. However, there are young and older versions of some characters and they are played by different actors. As I was coming down with a cold, I wasn't the sharpest tool in the box and got a bit muddled so would benefit from seeing this film again :)
Apart from that, and the fact I was distracted by the Earl of Oxford reminding me of a Peter O'Toole in his younger days, this film entertained me and gave a very believable reason why Shakespeare didn't write the plays - and who actually did.
Things got a bit snuffly after Sunday because of the cold and my evening class was cancelled because the tutor was ill. But on Friday I made it to Hidcote Manor Garden's Enchanted Evening. Seeing the garden I know so well decked out in lights was awesome. The beech alley was my favorite. You can see it in daylight here and here. It was lit by one large white light on the ground at the start of the alley, where the photos are taken from. The light reflected off the trunks, getting fainter and fainter along the length of the alley. It was as if I'd stepped into Lord of the Rings territory, and fully expected to see a silvery cavalcade of Elves thread their way between the trees.
It was breath-takingly beautiful and slightly eerie.
Writing
Not so much of this happening this week. I'm still inching forward with Lesson 19 of HTRYN but disaster struck when I lost the latest version of my short story! A big thanks to Carole, whose suggestion led to my finding the missing story saved into the wrong folder.
No, I have definitely not the sharpest tool this week :)
Here's to a better week next week. Have a good one!
Films are a source of entertainment which I love; and a period drama goes down particularly well. So last Sunday I went to see Anonymous - almost obligatory as I live near Stratford-on-Avon, home of the Bard.
The story is about Shakespeare who didn't, according to this film, write the plays attributed to him. This has caused much gnashing of teeth in Stratford, with one group going round the Warwickshire country signs, placing tape over the word 'Shakespeare's' in Shakespeare's County. As you can see here. We have a great attachement to Will Shakespeare in these parts - his birthplace is in Stratford, he's buried in the town's church - and it appears that, for some at least, the claim that he didn't write his plays is tantamount to a literary form of blasphemy. Feelings have been running high!
Not in me though. I set off with every expectation of a enjoying the evening. Derek Jacobi, Vanessa Redgrave and Sebastian Armesto are in the film, after all. And enjoy it I did. However, there are young and older versions of some characters and they are played by different actors. As I was coming down with a cold, I wasn't the sharpest tool in the box and got a bit muddled so would benefit from seeing this film again :)
Apart from that, and the fact I was distracted by the Earl of Oxford reminding me of a Peter O'Toole in his younger days, this film entertained me and gave a very believable reason why Shakespeare didn't write the plays - and who actually did.
Things got a bit snuffly after Sunday because of the cold and my evening class was cancelled because the tutor was ill. But on Friday I made it to Hidcote Manor Garden's Enchanted Evening. Seeing the garden I know so well decked out in lights was awesome. The beech alley was my favorite. You can see it in daylight here and here. It was lit by one large white light on the ground at the start of the alley, where the photos are taken from. The light reflected off the trunks, getting fainter and fainter along the length of the alley. It was as if I'd stepped into Lord of the Rings territory, and fully expected to see a silvery cavalcade of Elves thread their way between the trees.
It was breath-takingly beautiful and slightly eerie.
Writing
Not so much of this happening this week. I'm still inching forward with Lesson 19 of HTRYN but disaster struck when I lost the latest version of my short story! A big thanks to Carole, whose suggestion led to my finding the missing story saved into the wrong folder.
No, I have definitely not the sharpest tool this week :)
Here's to a better week next week. Have a good one!
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