Wednesday, August 26, 2009

133. A Mostly Homely post.

HOME.

It took the Isle of Wight Council.
Economically this holiday island, like many another, is heavily reliant on the tourist industry for its survival. Parking charges are generally bloody, but I guess visitors are so accustomed to the avaricious money grubbing of councils that they expect the big stick wherever they go.
This year, however, legalized thievery reached new heights over here when popular carnival spots were deluged with parking tickets issued by council traffic wardens. Both the daytime and evening (Illuminated) carnivals were targeted. Needless to say the IW Council hotly denies accusations that its actions were monetarily motivated and claims that it only had safety in mind.
Is anybody seriously expected to believe that?
Do the patronising rogues care?
And do they give a toss how much goodwill and next year’s returning holidaymaker business they may have lost?
I sometimes think that when we stopped electing opportunistic jerry builders (who we knew were in it to fiddle council contracts from their funny handshake mates) and opted instead for career expenses claimants (who seem to be in it because they like the money and don’t like television) we took an enormous step backwards.
And it took the Scots.
When, in my last post, I ventured the opinion that sometimes we should simply tell our bullying American cousins to piss off, I had no idea the Scots would do it.
Should have known better.
They have always told the English where to go and the Romans built a bloody great wall across the north of England to avoid confrontation with them.
With a history like that did the pleasant President of America and his unpleasant Secretary of State (doing a televised good cop/bad cop routine) expect grovelling acquiescence to their clear indication that the man imprisoned for the Lockerbie deaths should remain incarcerated until he died?
How good or bad the evidence against him was, or whether the medical prognosis is at all questionable, I have no idea: so whether, given the choice, I would have released him I do not know.
But the Scottish Justice Minister did have the choice, decided enough was enough, and acted accordingly.
Though I still deeply distrust politicians, I must admit to the grudging belief that he may have done everybody a favour.
 
TELEVISION.

Proms on BBC4.
Just as I was decrying the dearth of my sort of music at the Proms along came the wonderful West-Eastern Divan Orchestra conducted by co-founder Daniel Barenboim to give us Liszt’s Les Preludes, the Prelude and Liebestod from Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde and Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique, all hauntingly musical.
The orchestra was founded in 1998 by concert pianist Barenboim, an Israeli-Argentinian, and Edward Said, a Palestinian-American author.
In the words of the conductor it is “a project against ignorance.”
Whatever their off-stage differences, in performance this fine orchestra’s magical harmony is clearly born from its affection and respect for maestro Barenboim: feelings clearly reciprocated.
The following night, with an international cast of singers, they performed Beethoven’s Fidelio.
Long may they and their remaining founder thrive.
Cricket.
“England won The Ashes then,” I said to the cat Shadow.
“Yeah,” he said. “Did you watch it?”
“No, did you?”
“Nope.”
He thought for a moment: “Don’t matter. They wouldn’t have won if we had.”

FILM.

The Constant Gardener.
This intense, moving and well acted adaptation of the John le Carre novel was directed by Fernando Meirelles, produced by the late Simon Channing Williams and starred Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz (who won a best supporting actress Oscar).
There was a lot of flashback, a twisting plot and the subtle absence of a feel-good finish.
Fascinating.

AND HOME AGAIN.

A great result.
Libby and Eamonn Lawless own a farm here on the Island and we have been friends for many years.
Back in the seventies Eamonn, a superb horseman, ran a riding school at the farm and our daughter Roz was one of his pupils. She would have been around ten years old.
They got on.
Neither of them suffers fools.
When he eventually forsook the saddle Eamonn began more seriously entering his dogs for sheepdog trials. On the 24th of August we received an email referring us to the International Sheep Dog Society website which at the time carried the news that Eamonn and his dog Bill had become English National Trials Champions 2009.
Well done, mate!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0AKf6mCNhk

Monday, August 17, 2009

132. Beware of Russian Arabs and Self-Importance

HOME.

It was a Russian Arab!
Report from our languages correspondent in Ventnor, Neil Barnden (nepotism - so what!) after I sent him an assumed Arabic email for which I had been unable to obtain an English translation from Google translate.
"It is Russian (the text refers to something costing 3900 rubles - probably Viagra!). But I can't get any translation from the text either. The names you copied into your blog were actually in Cyrillic script - which Google translate was happy to work with. So perhaps it's the fact that this text has been translated from Cyrillic Russian to 'Roman' Russian that's the problem."
Well thanks, Neil, now I need not fear al-Qaeda: just the KGB.
Hell, they don't target you for shunning their Viagra, do they?
Three lessons in self-importance.
Lesson 1.
I suppose it is not surprising what a touchy little politician American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton can be. She is, after all, still married to Bill. But her recent outburst in response to a question from an uncomprehending Congolese student was a classic in affronted dignity.
She is not alone of course. Self-importance in the political world is more common than fleas on a hedgehog.
It has even been mooted that Georgy, writer of the pro-Georgian blog Cyxymu, an outspoken critic of sadly misunderstood Vladimir Putin and his gentle cronies, so upset delicate Russian sensibilities that party line hackers swamped the web, interrupting Twitter and Facebook, in a concerted attempt to disable his blog.
Lesson 2.
Now we have the ludicrous example of America v. McKinnon, where a British hacker and Asperger syndrome sufferer named Gary McKinnon is to be extradited to the United States to face charges that he infiltrated American military websites, caused thousands of dollars in damage to their national security and badly dented their beribboned self-esteem.
What a pathetic bunch of incompetents they are.
If an eccentric Scot can so easily slide under the razor wire of their computer security is it inconceivable that Afghanistan, China, Iran, Russia, or even Monaco might be doing the same?
OK, so the man needs to have his wrist slapped for being a bloody nuisance, but by a court here, please, not by the US criminal justice system.
Sometimes we should simply tell our bullying American cousins to piss off.
Lesson 3.
On Wednesday our two daughters travelled to Italy for a well-earned holiday. The following is an extract from my diary after their arrival phone call to their mother.
The actor James Nesbitt and his family were at Gatwick and booked on the same flight as Jacqui and Roz. Seems he left his wife struggling with the luggage, the kids and all the arrangements, sailed to the head of the queue to be first to board the plane, and left nobody in any doubt that he considered himself much the VIP.
Consequently, Mo's: "How interesting..." reaction to the initial news that he was at the airport elicited a typically down-to-earth response from Roz:
"Not really. He's a tosser."
She's usually right.
See you, Jimmy.

TELEVISION.

BBC Proms 2009.
My interest in the Proms is desultory nowadays. I have never been able to understand the lure of Stravinsky, Shostakovich or any of the weirdly discordant modern composers so readily given a Proms platform in recent years. As time goes by I find it increasingly difficult to accept them. I play no instrument but I love melodic music.
Recently The National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, conducted by Vasily Petrenko, performed Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No.1 in B flat minor. No matter how dismissive the pianoforte aficionados may be, you cannot write it off.
This performance, with the occasionally wild-eyed Stephen Hough as soloist, was somehow as new as its young orchestra.
Tuneful and exciting and great viewing.
Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.
Just shown here have been a couple of episodes when Christopher Meloni was away.
Mariska Hargitay managed brilliantly and serial policeman Richard Belzer, "Captain" Dann Florek and confident ice-T were first rate.
When ol' Chris did come back he found himself thrown straight into the deep end with a nasty case involving neo-Nazis and little children being shot by a sniper. The story had more twists and turns than a mountain road, a denouement that the writers of Murder She Wrote would have killed for, and a screen-stealing performance by Marcia Gay Harden as an undercover FBI agent.
Special Victims Unit becomes more special with each series.

FILM.

Grow Your Own.
This little film, directed by Richard Laxton, surfaced and sank in 2007 to mixed reviews, most of them rather poor.
I watched it on television on a night when the opposition was mostly repeats and I found it quite enjoyable.
There was a touch of gentle humour, a few sad truths, and nice underplaying by a multi-racial cast of modern day Brits.
I put it in The Full Monty/Hear My Song category so perhaps I am prejudiced.
I liked them, too.

READING.

The Endless Game.
Finally reached the end of Bryan Forbes's lengthy spy yarn to find that it really is the prelude to A Song at Twilight, published with it. He's good enough to make you persevere, so I shall.
I shall also be reading Corduroy Mansions by Alexander McCall Smith because it was a gift and is clearly a far cry from his No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency.
More anon.

CARS.

The Old For New Deal.
We are exchanging our ten year old, two door, 1.4 Seat Arosa (one careful owner) in a couple of months for a new, four door, 1.2 Hyundai i10 Comfort.
The exchange is being done under the scrappage scheme and, though I shall miss the Arosa's great little engine (it would do over ninety all day long on the motorway I have been told), we shall not be sorry to abandon the inconvenience of only two passenger doors.
Anyway, the one careful owner tag cuts no ice when it comes to depreciation.
I checked its trade-in price.
Hear the hollow laughter?

Thursday, August 06, 2009

131. INDEX 1 - Posts 1 to 130

THE CAST - IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER.

Abbot, Russ: 127 Abby (Scluto): 64,68,75,103,115 Ackland, Josh: 129 Adams, Douglas: 82 Adams, Tony: 118 Affleck, Ben: 29 Agyeman, Freema: 75,104 Alexander, Sasha: 35,46 al-Fayed, Mohamed: 98 Alibhai-Brown, Yasmin: 40,69,71,79,89,97,128 Allen, Dave: 115 Allen, Keith: 124 Alliss, Peter: 130 Allsopp, Kirstie: 116,125 Amis, Martin: 89 Amos, Emma: 71 Anderson, Bruce: 97 Anderson, Jon: 127 Andrews, Julie: 43 Annis, Francesca: 87 Anonymous John: 75,77,83,84,99,104,106,109,112,121 Ant & Dec: 122 Armstrong, Alun: 3,8,108,129,130 Armstrong, Jonas: 128,129 Arnott, Jake; 101 Ashdown, Simon: 64 Asher, Jane: 118 Ashman, Kevin: 68,73 Asriel, Lord: 88 Astaire, Fred: 114 Astin, Sean: 111 Atkins, Eileen: 92,97 Atkinson, Rowan: 53 Aunt Kate: 41 Ayres, Pam: 117,123 Bacchus, D.S. John: 111,124,125 Bailey, Bill: 125 Balding, Claire: 129 Ballesteros, Seve: 81 Banks, Leslie: 63,69 Bannen, Ian: 25 Barclay, D.S.I. Iain: 62 Barker, Sue: 78 Barlow, D.S. Charlie: 62 Barnaby, D.C.I. Tom: 16,27,84,97,115 Barnden, Dennis: 105,110 Barnden, Jacqui: 75,82,123,127 Barnden, Lilian: 100 Barnden, Neil: 28,29,51,55,70,82,84 Barnden, Pauline: 84,99 Barrett, Alan: 118 Barron, Keith: 84 Barrowman, John: 101 Bassey, Shirley: 78,96 Bean, Sean: 111 Becket, Thomas: 98 Beckham, David: 74,75,76,77,84,86 Beeching, Richard: 111 Beesley, Max: 101,115 Belfrage, Bruce: 112 Belzer, Richard: 16 Bening, Annette: 86 Bennett, Alan: 107,109,111,112,114 Bennett, D.I.George: 111 Bennett, Jan: 76,113 Benton, Mark: 102 Bergerac, Jim: 16,27 Berlin, Irving: 95 Bernstein, Leonard: 96 bin Laden, Osama: 102 Black, Jennifer: 93, Blair, Tony: 8,66,67,78 Blanc, Ernest: 127 Blessed, Brian: 61 Bloom, Orlando: 48 Blumenthal, Heston: 49 Bocelli, Andrea: 77 Bogart, Humphrey: 43 Bolam, James: 38,108,130 Bolton, Michael: 95 Bonasera. Stella: 126 Bond, James: 33 Bonneville, Hugh: 62 Boorman, Charlie: 92 Bowles, Lynn, 129 Bowlly, Al: 95 Bowman, Stuart: 64 Boyd, D.S. Peter: 62 Boyd, 'Barrowlands': 129 Boyd, William: 117 Boyle, Susan: 123,126 Brading, Amy: 105 Brambell, Wilfrid: 100 Branagh, Kenneth: 114 Brand, Russell: 112 Branning, Dot: 97 Braun, Lilian Jackson: 4. Brennan, Temperance: 124,125 Brett, Jeremy: 7 Brett, Simon: 7,8 Brimble, Nick: 61 Broadbent, Jim: 100 Brooks, D.S.Ronnie 122 Brown, Gordon, 8,66,73,78,108,123 Brown, Johnny Mack: 85,117 Brown, June: 97 Brown, Rosie: 119 Brown, Warrick: 116 Bruford, Bill: 127 Brydon, Sir Mark: 51 Buble, Michael: 87 Buchan, Andrew: 99 Buchan, John: 115 Buchanan, Colin: 72,73 Bucket, Hyacinth: 63 Bullard, Dr. George: 84 Burke, D.C.I. Matt: 57,104 Burnham, Andy: 112 Burroughs, Edgar Rice: 43 Burton-Hill, Clemency: 123 Bush, George: 67 Butler, Phil: 75 Butterworth, Peter: 83 Cadfael, Bro: 97 Caine, Horatio 11 Caitlin (Todd); 35,46 Callan, David: 33,99 Cameron, David: 73,124 Camilleri, Andrea: 114 Campbell, Menzies: 89 Campion, Albert: 7 Carroll, Lewis: 65 Carson, Willie: 129 Carter, Jim: 100 Caruso, David: 7,10,11,18,39,58,91,100 Caruso, Enrico: 96 Casement, Roger: 95 Cassandra: 85 Cassidy, Eva; 105 Cassidy, Hopalong: 117 Castle, Andrew: 126 Castle, John: 24 Cerdan, Marcel: 107 Chambers, Tom: 114 Chandler, Raymond: 43,114 Chapman, Beth Nielsen: 95 Charlatans, The: 128 Charteris, Leslie: 43,77,114 Christie, Agatha: 87,105 Churchill, Randolph: 82 Churchill, Winston: 74 Cink, Stewart: 130 Claire and Lara: 9,10,29,33,39,65 Clapp, Gordon: 61 Clarke, Oz: 49 Clarke, Roy: 83, 127 Clarke, D.S. Siobhan: 93. Clarke, Warren: 16,72,73 Clarkson, Jeremy: 107 Cleasby, Emma: 86 Clooney, George: 13 Close, Glenn: 110 Clunes, Martin: 87 Cocker, Joe: 127 Cole, George: 63 Cole, Brendan: 114 Cole, Kevin: 12 Collette, Toni: 125 Collins, Joan: 91 Coltraine, Robbie:27,31,84 Columbo, Lt: 130 Columbus, Chris: 80 Comden, Betty: 83 Connery, Jason: 128 Connery, Sean: 61 Connolly, Billy: 120 Constantine, Leary: 89 Cook Jnr,, Elisha: 46 Cooke, Christian: 118 Cookson, Catherine: 107 Cooper, Gary: 43 Cooper, Jilly: 86,95 Cooper, Tommy: 33,77 Coppell, Steve: 64,125 Corbett, Harry H. 100 Corden, James: 121 Corelli, Franco: 96 Cosmo, James: 21 Costello, Elvis: 46 Costner, Kevin: 61,86 Coward, Noel: 77,83,96,124 Crabbe, D.I. Henry: 7,121 Cracker: 27 Craig, Daniel: 90.95 Cranham, Kenneth: 74 Craven, John: 123 Crawford, Randy: 127 Creek, Jonathan: 44,111,115 Cremer, Bruno: 114 Cribbins, Bernard: 108 Crispin, Edmund: 122 Cromwell, Oliver: 115 Crosby, Bing: 95,96,115 Cruise, Tom: 120,130 Crushem, Will: 105,110 Cuaron, Alfonso: 80 Cunningham, Liam: 86 Curtis, Richard: 53 Dale, James Badge: 11 Dali, Salvador: 76 Dallaglio, Lawrence: 82 Dallerup, Camilla: 114 Daltrey, Roger: 71,72 Daly, Fred: 81 Dalziel, D.C.S. Andy: 16,72,73 Damon, Matt. 29 David, Ziva: 94,115 Davies, Alan: 111,115,117,121 Davies, Dangerous: 7,8,71 Davies, Deidre: 104 Davies, Rupert: 114 Davies, Russell T: 51,100,102,108 Davis, Bette: 43 Davis, Phil: 69,100,101 Davison, Peter: 7,8,71,87 Daws, Robert: 76 Dawson, Les: 123 Day, Doris: 95 Dayer, Roz: 60,84,95,123 De'ath, Charles: 71 Deed, Judge John: 69 deMooi, C.J: 68,73,107 Dench, Judi: 78 de Pablo, Cote: 94 Depp, Johnny: 95 Dexter (Morgan): 105,115,120 Dexter, Colin: 64,95,107,109,111 Diana, Princess: 76,117 Dickens, Charles: 109 Dimbleby, David: 108 Dinozzo, Anthony: 46,64,115 Dillow, Ian: 53 Diversity: 126 Doctor Who: 73,75,102,104,105,106,107,108 Donat, Robert: 115 Donna (Noble): 102,104,105 D'Onofrio, Vincent: 58 Doris (sister) 124 Douglas, Kirk: 43 Dourdon, Gary: 116 Dowland, James: 121 Driscoll, Sgt. Jack: 130 Duff, Blythe: 104 Duffy, Carol Anne: 126 Dumbledore, Albus: 56,86 Dunn, Carrie: 114 Durante, Jimmy: 96 Durr, Jason: 115 , Duvall, Robert: 86 Dyke, Greg: 112 Eagleton, Terry: 89 Earp, Wyatt: 94,95 Eastwood, Clint: 125 Elliot, John: 82,109 Elliott, Sam: 94 Ellis, grandson 'Boo': 42,53,60,64,75,93,109,111,114 Evans, Rupert: 98 Eve, Trevor: 62,101,102 Everett, Rupert: 33 Ewen, Jade: 126 Faldo, Nick: 81 Falk, Peter: 130 Farndon, Zoe: 127 Feast, Michael: 74 Federer, Roger: 79,108,130 Fen, Gervaise: 122 Ferguson, Alex: 49,59,64,126 Ferris, Pam: 105 Fields, Gracie: 96 Fillis, Brian: 100 Finch, Scout: 111 Fine, Sylvia: 95 Firth, Peter: 24,91 Fishburne, Laurence: 122 Fisher, Connie: 22,48 Fitz: 31 Fitzgerald, Tara: 38 Flemyng, Jason: 124 Fletcher, Cyril: 96 Fletcher, Dexter: 101 Fletcher, Jessica: 50,97,103 Fletcher, Justin: 100 Flynn, Barbara: 97,109 Flynn, Errol: 128 Flynn, Jerome: 33 Fogle, Ben: 98,117 Forbes, Bryan: 125,127 Forsyth, Bruce: 114 Fowke, Philip: 81 Fowler, Daphne: 68,73,107 Fox, James: 108 Fox, Laurence: 64 Foxx, James: 130 Foyle, D.C.S. Christopher: 7,62,63,103,104,109 Franz, Dennis: 11,61,63 Fraser, Hugh: 8 Fraser, D.C. Stuart: 57 Frazer, Liz: 63 Fred & Ginger: 43 Freeman, Morgan: 61 French, Dawn: 98,121 Friday, Sgt.Joe: 111 Front, Rebecca: 64,76 Frost, David: 68 Frost, D.I. Jack: 7 Fry, Stephen: 74,100,113,115,117,127 Fu Manchu, Dr. 100 Gallagher, (brothers): 115 Gallagher, Frank: 64 Gamble, P.C. 90 Gambon, Michael: 86,91,114 Gandhi: 128 Gandolfini, James: 65,90 Gardner, Freddie: 96 Gaunt, Marion: 105 Gedda, Nicolai: 127 Gens, Veronique: 10 Gently, D.I. George: 69,111,124,125 Gerrard, Steven: 75,106 Gershwin, George: 96 Gervais, Ricky: 37 Gibbs, Leroy 'Jethro' 22,35,46,58,64,68,75,92,93,94,95,103,115 Gielgud, John: 64 Gifford, Josh: 129 Gish, Sheila: 64 Glenister, Philip; 69,101,118 Gless, Sharon: 53 Gok, Wan: 109,126 Goody, Jade: 56 Goran, Det. Robert: 58 Gould, Elliott: 43 Graham, Julie: 115 Graham, Nicola (Royston-Parry): 105,106 Granger, Hermione: 50,80,130 Grant, Richard E: 72,73 Grappelli, Stephane: 96 Green, Adolph: 83 Green, Hughie: 101,102,123 Green, Robson: 24,28,33,37 Greer, Germaine: 113,123 Griffiths, Richard: 7,97 Grint, Rupert: 50 Grissom, Gil: 116 Gross, Andrew: 53 Grout, James: 64 Grump, Arthur: 115 Guetary, Georges: 96 Guinness, Alec: 90,128 Hagrid: 27,84 Haining, Peter: 77 Hallinan, Olivia: 98 Hamilton, Lewis: 89 Hammerback, Dr. Sid: 126 Hammond, Joan: 82,96 Hancock, Tony; 101 Hannah, John: 21,74 Hannay, Richard: 115 Harbinson, Patrick: 111 Hardwicke, Edward: 7 Hardy, Robert: 64 Harewood, David: 128 Hari, Johann: 79,97,128 Harmon, Mark: 16,22,31,35,58,64,68,75,92,93,94,100, Harper, Lee: 111 Harrington, Padraig: 81 Harris, Richard: 5 Hastings, Captain: 7,8,97,111 Hathaway, Det.Sgt: 64 Havers, D,S, Barbara: 2,83,106 Havers, Nigel: 41 Hawking, Stephen: 103 Hayman, David: 62,101 Haynes, Natalie: 125 Hayter, James: 128 Hayward, Louis: 43 Hazlewood, Charles: 12 Head, Anthony: 111 Helfgott, David: 22 Henman, Tim: 79 Henri, Thierry: 59 Henriksson, Krister: 114 Henshall, Douglas: 123,124 Henshall, Ruthie: 123 Henson, C.S. Laura: 104 Hepburn, Katherine: 43 Herman, Jerry: 96 Heymer, Dennis: 102 Hibberd, Stuart: 112 Hickson, Joan: 87 Hill, Harry: 100 Hinds, Ciaran: 115 Hislop, Ian: 37,62,111,123 Hitler, Adolf: 71 Hoffman, Philip Seymour: 120 Holliday, Doc: 95 Holman, Claire: 64 Holmes, Sherlock: 7,31,97,104 Hood, Robin: 61,122,129 Horowitz, Anthony: 103,104,109,125 Howard, Trevor: 96 Howe, Steve: 127 Howell, Anthony: 63,103 Howerd, Frankie: 101,102 Hubbard, Ron. L. 124 Hucknall, Mick: 127 Hughes, Chris: 68,73 Hughes, Gwyneth: 62 Hughes, Sean: 71 Humble, Kate: 74,127 Humphrys, John: 92 Hunt, D.C.I. Gene: 69,101 Hunter, Alan: 69 Hunter, Russell: 99 Hurt, John: 111 Ice Road Truckers: 99,116 Imrie, Celia: 120,127 Ingleby, Lee: 69.111,124 Innocent, Harold: 61 Isaacs, Jason: 49,51,53,100,101 Izzard, Eddie: 64 Jackson, Barry: 84 Jackson, Peter: 48,111 Jackson, Philip: 8,111 Jacobi, Derek: 97 Jacobs, Marc: 110 James, Clive: 36 James, P.D: 111 Jankovic, Jelena: 79 Japp, C.I. James: 7,8,97,111 Jardine, Douglas: 59 Jason, David: 7 Jehovah: 124 Jeffreys, Prof. Alec: 44 Johanssen, Scarlet: 111 John, Elton: 78 Johns, Stratford: 62 Johnson, Boris: 123 Johnson, Celia: 96 Johnson, Karl: 98 Johnson, Lyndon B. 57 Johnson, Samuel: 40 Johnston, Sue: 97 Jones, Martha: 104 Jones, Nicholas: 24 Jones, Suranne: 118 Joseph, Lesley: 117 Joy, Robert: 126 Judd, Ashley: 124 Kahn, Gus: 95 Kanakaredes, Melina: 11,126 Kaye, Danny: 51 Kearney, Martha: 125 Kendal, Felicity 105 Kennedy, Gordon: 76 Kennedy, Nigel: 120 Keppel, Judith: 68,73 Kerr, Deborah: 89 King Charles 1: 115 King, Justin: 128 King, Simon: 74,127 Kingdom, Peter: 127 Kingsley, Ben: 128 Kington, Miles: 97 Kipling, Rudyard: 69 Kitchen, Michael: 7,62,63,103,104 Kline, Kevin: 124 Kos: 57 Kuryakin, Ilya: 35 Lahbib, Simone: 24 Lamb, Amanda: 116 Lancaster, Burt: 43 Lane, Dorcas: 98,121 Lane, Lupino: 96 Langford, Bonny: 99 Lansbury, Angela: 50,51,120 LaPlante, Lynda: 111,115 Larwood, Harold: 59 Latham, Jody: 99 Laughland, Nick: 71 Laughton, Charles: 82 Law, Jude: 104 Lean, David: 96 le Carre, John: 90 Lee, Peggy: 127 Leigh, Janet: 130 Le Mesurier, Joan: 101 Le Mesurier, John: 101 Lemon, Miss: 8,97,111 Lewis, Damian: 128 Lewis, D.C.I. Janine: 44 Lewis, D.I. Robert: 64 Liddell, Alvar: 112 Lincoln, Andrew: 22,31 Lock, Sean: 117 Locke, Josef: 96 Lockhart, Sally: 107,109 Logan, Phyllis: 104 Long, Max: 109 Lovegood, Linda: 79 Luca, Giordano: 128 Luft, Lorna: 117 Lumley, Joanna: 51,53,121,125 Lusardi, Linda: 99 Lynley, D.I. Tommy: 2,83,106 Lyra: 95 Mack, Lee: 118 Maigret, Insp. Jules: 114 Makutsi, Mma: 121 Malfoy, Draco: 80 Malfoy, Lucius: 49,53 Mallard, Dr.'Ducky': 35,115 Mankell, Henning: 114 Mantle, Doreen: 97 Marcus Aurelius: 82 Margolyes, Miriam: 97 Marlowe, Philip: 43,114 Marnham, Patrick: 18 Marple, Jane (Miss): 87,97,98,101 Marples, Ernest: 111 Mastrantonio, Mary Elizabeth: 61 Matthews, Jessie: 41 Maugham, Somerset: 82 Maupin, Armistead: 124,125 May, James: 49 McBride, Damian: 123 McCain, John: 111 McCallum, David: 35 McClaren,Steve: 14,15,47,76,84,92 McCredie, Colin: 57 McCutcheon, Martine: 87 McDermid, Val: 111 McDonnell, Owen: 130 McEnroe, John: 81 McEwan, Geraldine: 61,87,97,98 McFly: 128 McGee, Timothy: 103,115 McGovern, Jimmy: 31 McGregor, Ewan; 92,109,111 McKellan, Ian: 111 McKenna, Charlene: 64 McKenzie, Julia: 76,97,98 McKidd, Kevin: 86 McLaughlin, Joseph: 96 McNeice, Ian: 100 McShane, Michael: 61 Medavoy, Greg: 61 Melua, Katie: 95,109 Menuhin, Yehudi: 96 Mercer, John: 99 Mercury, Freddie: 101 Merlin: 56,111 Merman, Ethel: 96 Merton, Paul: 37,76,107,113 Miles, Ben: 98 Milligan, Spike: 89 Mills, John: 63 Milner, Paul: 63,103 Minghella, Anthony: 100,104 Mirren, Helen: 38,78 Mitchell, David: 121 Mitchell, James: 99 Mitchum, Robert: 96 Mitty, Walter: 127 Mo, friend: 112 Molina, Alfred: 104 Monk: 97 Monroe, Marilyn: 43 Montalbano, Insp, Salvo: 114 Monteith, Kelly: 101 Montgomery, Robert: 43 Moore, Roger: 43 Moran, Pauline: 8 More, Kenneth: 115 Morse, D.I. Endeavour: 69,97,107 Motion, Andrew: 78 Mourinho, Jose: 87,126 Mower, Patrick: 99 Mullan, Peter: 99 Munch, John: 16 Murnaghan, Dermot: 68,73,86,107 Murray, Al: 69,97 Murray, Andy: 79 Murray, Jamie: 79 Murray, Sean: 103 Mynenko, Yuriy: 128 Nadal, Rafael: 108 Nettles, John: 16,27.58 Newell, Mike: 80 Newman, G.F. 101 Newman, Nanette: 125 Nighy, Bill: 100 Nilsson, Harry: 95 Norton, Alex: 57,104 Norton, Graham: 86,126 Novello.Ivor: 124 Obama, Barack: 111,117,124 Ochoa, Lorena: 82 Oddy, Bill: 74, 127 Ogden, John: 81,96 Ogilvy, Ian: 43 O'Grady, Paul: 41,91,115 Osbourne, Jack: 36 Osbourne, Sharon: 20 O'Shea, Tessie: 96 Osmond, Donny: 86 Outhwaite, Tamzin: 99,101 Owen, Michael: 84 Pack, Roger Lloyd: 35,118 Packham, Chris: 127 Padel, Ruth: 126 Palance, Jack: 46 Pallette, Eugene: 128 Palmer, Harry: 33 Paris, Charles: 7,8 Park, Nick: 115 Parker, Nathaniel: 106 Parker, Peter: 113 Parkinson, Michael: 117 Parton, Dolly: 96 Pascoe, D.I. Peter: 16,72,73 Paterson, Bill: 109,122 Patinkin, Mandy: 44,92 Patterson,James: 53 Paulin, Tom: 113,123,125 Pavarotti, Luciano: 85 Paxman, Jeremy: 92 Payne, John: 130 Peake, Maxine: 101 Penry-Jones, Rupert: 24,91,115 Perette, Pauley: 64,68,75 Pertwee, Sean: 86 Petersen, Willian. L: 15,26,44,51,122,123 Phillips, Sian: 38 Pigott-Smith, Tim: 72 Pixies: 128 Plater, Alan: 64 Poirot, Hercule: 7,31,97,103,111 Poliakoff, Stephen: 91 Poppins, Mary ; 94 Porter, Cole: 96,124 Porter, Linda: 124 Portillo, Michael: 123 Potter, Beatrix: 109 Potter, Dennis: 114 Potter, Harry: 4,5,9,12,27,39,45,50,63,77,78,79,80,82,83,88,100,106,111,114,120,124,130 Powell, Dick: 43,114 Powell, Robert: 115 Powers, Stefanie: 68 Prescott, John: 8,91 Presley, Elvis: 96 Preston, Duncan: 120 Preston, Robert: 96 Price, Claire: 93, Prince Philip: 98,106 Prodigy, The: 128 Pullman, Philip: 50,88,90,95,107,109 Queen Elizabeth 2: 80,91,100,102,106,121 Quentin, Caroline: 44 Quick, A.C. Bob: 114,123 Quilleran, Jim: 4 Rachmaninov, Sergei: 96 Rackham, Jane: 33 Radcliffe, Daniel: 50 Radd, Ronald: 99 Ramotswe, Precious: 100,121 Ramsay, Gordon: 37,115 Rankin, Ian: 21,109,111 Rathbone, Andy: 28 Rathbone, Basil: 61 Rathbone, Willie 34 Rattle, Simon: 10 Razorlight: 128 Rebus, D.I. John: 21,25,29,30,88,93. Red Arrows: 128 Redknapp, Harry: 70,105,112,118 Redman, Amanda: 38,108,130 Reichs, Kathy: 121,122,124,125 Reid, D.S. Jackie: 104 Reilly, Kelly: 115 Renwick, David: 111 Reynolds, Kevin: 61 Rhys-Davies, John: 48 Richard, Cliff: 34,78 Richard The Lionheart: 61 Richards, Ben: 99 Richards, Dakot Blue: 95 Richie, Shane: 35 Rickman, Alan: 5,29,30,53,61,104,120 Riseborough, Andrea: 115 Robb, Natalie: 64 Robeson, Paul: 89 Robinson, Tony: 108 Roddick, Andy: 130 Rodgers, Richard: 129 Rogers, Anton: 76 Rogers, Ginger: 114 Rohmer, Sax: 100 Ronaldo, Cristiano 67,108 Rooney, Wayne: 15,67,84,86 Rooper, Jemima: 111 Root, Henry: 87 Rose, Anika Noni: 121 Ross, Jonathan: 112,130 Rowling, J.K. 5,18,27,36,45,63,71,77,78,80,82,88,98,100,114,130 Rush, Geoffrey: 22 Sachar, Louis: 50 Sachs, Andrew: 112 Saint, The: 43,77,114 Sallis, Peter: 127 Sanders, George: 43,114 Saunders, Jennifer: 49,53,121 Savage, Lily: 115 Sawalha, Julia: 98,117,121 Sayers, Dorothy L: 28 Sayle, Alexei: 107 Schofield, Phillip: 99 Schweitzer, Albert: 111 Scoresby, Lee; 94 Scott, Jill: 121 Secombe, Harry: 96 Sellars, Peter: 22 Semprini, Albert: 95 Sessions, John: 121 Sewell, Brian: 76 Shahi, Sarah: 128 Shaps, Simon: 103 Sharp, Lesley: 22,31 Shaw, Martin: 69,124 Shcherbachenko,Ekaterina: 128 Shearer, Alan: 14, 15 Sheila,friend: 99,112,121 Shepherd, Jack: 62 Shore, Dinah: 95 Shrapnel, John: 71 Shunpike, Stan: 111 Silent Bob: 30 Sim, Alistair; 63 Simenon, Georges: 114 Simm, John: 115 Simon's Cat: 118 Sinatra, Frank: 36 Sinclair, Hugh: 43 Sinise, Gary: 11,126 Sipowicz, Andy: 61,63 Sjowall & Wahloo: 114 Skellern, Peter: 127 Skinner, Claire: 76 Slater, Christian: 61 Sleep, Wayne: 117 Sloan, Mark: 97 Small, Sharon: 106 Smiley, George; 90 Smith, Alexander McCall: 100 Smith, Andreas Whittam: 97 Smith, C.Aubrey: 69 Smith, Julian: 126 Smith, Kevin: 30 Smith, Liz: 45,98 Smith, Maggie: 97,111 Smith-Start, Brix: 126 Snape, Prof. Severus: 5,66 Snowdon, Liza: 114 Soprano, Tony: 65,90 Spall, Rafe: 102 Sparrow, Walter: 61 Spencer, Phil: 116 Spiderman: 113 Spielberg, Steven: 14 Squire, Chris: 127 Squire, William: 99 Staff, Kathy: 127 Standen, Clive: 128 Staunton, Imelda: 97 Steed, Maggie: 7,97 Stephen, Jaci: 72,73 Stereophonics: 128 Stettner, Patrick: 125 Stevens, Rachel: 114 Stevens, Toby: 124 Stewart, Sam: 63,103 Stott, Ken: 21,25,30,62,88,90,93,101, Strachan, Gordon: 49 Streep, Meryl: 110,125 Street-Porter, Janet: 121 Streeter, Tanya: 83 Stuart, Moira: 62 Styne, Julie: 83 Suchet, David: 7 Sutcliffe, Thomas: 108,121 Sutherland, Joan: 128 Swift, Clive: 118 Sykes, Melanie: 91 Tarrant, Chris: 87 Tarzan: 43,69 Tatchell, Peter: 112 Tate, Catherine: 102 Tate, Jeffrey: 120 Tauber, Richard: 96 Taylor, Mac: 11,100,126 Teale, Owen: 64 Templar, D.C.S. Gill: 93, Tennant, David: 102108 Tennyson, D.S. Jane: 38 Terry, John: 75,106 Thatcher, Margaret: 71,99,108,125 Thaw, John: 69 Thomas, Leslie: 71 Thomas, Matthew: 71 Thompson, Emma: 98,121 Thompson, Flora: 98 Timmins, Laura: 98,100 Titchmarsh, Alan: 86,102,126 Tofield, Simon: 118 TOGs: 3,5 Tolkein, J.R.R. 48 Tomkinson, Stephen: 127 Torode, John: 60 Torres, Fernando: 108 Townsend, Robert: 81 Townshend, Pete: 78,110 Toyah (Wilcox): 117 Tracy, Spencer: 43 Treacy, Philip: 110 Trelawney, Sybil: 98 TrippingOnWords: 9,21,29,33,39,51,53,58,65,75 Trotter, John Scott: 96 Troughton, David: 58,108,129 Troughton, Patrick; 108,129 Troughton, Sam: 129 Tuck, Friar: 128 Turnbull, Giles: 58,87,109 Turow, Scott: 124 Twain, Mark: 57 Umbridge, Dolores: 79 Valentine, Anthony: 71,99 Valjean, Jean: 27 Van Dyke, Dick: 94,117 Vane, Harriet: 28 Vegas, Johnny: 117 Venables, Terry: 92 Vickers, Roy: 38 Vogt, Lars: 10 Von Nida, Norman: 81 Wainwright, Hetty: 97 Wainwright, Rufus: 78,127 Wainwright, Sally: 118 Wakeman, Rick: 127 Walker, Johnny: 129 Walker, D.C.S. MIchael: 62,101 Wallace & Gromit: 115 Wallace, Gregg: 60 Wallander, Insp. Kurt: 114 Walliams, David: 101,102 Walsh, Bradley: 122 Walter, Harriet: 122 Walters, Julie: 106,118,120 Walters, Paul: 5,41 Warhol, Andy: 107 Wark, Kirsty: 123 Warnes, Jennifer: 127 Waterman, Dennis: 38,108,130 Watson, Doctor: 7 Watson, Emily: 109 Watson, Emma: 50,130 Watson, James: 89 Watson, Tom: 130 Waugh, Evelyn: 82 Weasley, Molly: 120 Weatherley, Michael: 46,64 Weaver, Sigourney: 120 Webber, Andrew Lloyd: 22,126 Weeks, Honeysuckle: 7,63,103 Weissmuller, Johnny: 43,69 Wells, H.G. 106 Wendy, friend: 112 Wenger, Arsene: 59,64 Wesley, Mary: 5,18,38,125 West, Samuel: 58 Wexford, C,I, Reg: 97 Whately, Kevin: 64,97 Wheeler, Jimmy: 113 White, Jessica: 20,47,50,60,76,83,84,95,105,110,113,123,128 White, T.H: 63,67,77 Whitehouse, Mary: 106 Whitehouse, Toby: 51 Whitfield, David: 96 Whitfield, June: 97,127 Who, The: 128 Widmark, Richard: 102 Wilde, Oscar: 77 Wilde, Brian: 127 Wilkinson, Colm: 27 Wilkinson, Johnny: 82 Williams, Iris: 96 Williams, Lee: 101 Williams, Robin: 125 Williams, Rowan: 98 Williams, Venus: 79 Willis, Bruce, 5 Wilson, Benji: 103 Wilson, Richard: 111 Wilson, (truth about): 85,117 Wimsey, Lord Peter: 28,31 Wincott, Michael: 61 Winkler, Irwin: 124 Winstone, Ray: 43,48 Wogan, Terry: 3,5,13,18,27,41,102,106,126,129 Wolf, Dick: 122 Wood, Elijah: 111 Wood, Victoria: 53,72,73,76,120 Woodman, George: 85 Woodman, Greta: 85 Woodward, Edward: 99 Woolgar, Fenella: 105 Wright, Clarissa Dixon: 109,111 Wycliffe, D.C.S. Charles: 62 Wynter, Danny Lee: 91 Yates, David: 80,100,130 Yates, Jess: 102 Yates, Paula: 102 Young, James: 64 Young, Neil: 128 Young, Will: 128 Zellweger,Renée: 109 Zingaretti, Luca: 114

Wednesday, August 05, 2009

130. From Magic to Mystery via Misery

FILMS

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.
Most of the usual cast are back for the sixth - and darkest to date - episode of this popular film series.
Five of us went to see it: four enjoyed it, the other one went to sleep.
Well...it ain't a film for a four year old.
My enjoyment was slightly tempered by some glaring departures from the J.K. Rowling original.
Slimy accountants apart, why did film director David Yates choose to make substantial alterations to a bestselling author's work?
I would put it down to him being an arrogant bugger, but I believe he speaks highly of me.
A couple of weeks ago the often irksome Jonathan Ross interviewed Emma Watson (Hermione Granger) and behaved himself sufficiently not to ask too many lewd questions about her private life.
She has changed little over the Potter years, is still brightly intelligent, blessed with innate common sense - the two don't always go together - and seems destined for a succesful life long after the curtain has fallen on the final Potter film.
Meantime, with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows being imaginatively split into Part 1 and Part 2, we should be seeing her on screen until at least 2011: later than that if Warner Brothers play the same daft release game they played with The Half-Blood Prince.
Collateral.
I like Tom Cruise (no matter what weird religion he may espouse) and this 2004 film proved again what a fine actor he is. Good guy or villain he delivers the works.
Here he is the villain; Vincent, a contract killer. The hero is cab driver Max, perfectly played by James Foxx, who is forced to take part in the killer's plan to make several hits around L.A. in one night.
The result is a thriller on a par with The Long Kiss Goodnight.
Thoroughly enjoyed it.

TELEVISION.

New Tricks.
The same reliable crew (Redman, Armstrong, Bolam and Waterman) are halfway through series six and show no sign of flagging. So far we have had stories about a murderous monk, a duplicitous American airforce chief and a cunning control-freak husband.
All have been totally watchable .
Shows what can be done with regular airing, reasonable story lines and fine actors.
Wimbledon.
I found the cat Shadow asleep and when I woke him he was devoid of poem.
"That's not like you," I said. "Once the heavy servers and the ball boys...girls...children...whatever...have done their stuff you're usually full of rhyme."
"Well it was Federer again, wasn't it," he grumbled. "OK, so there was the big serving much improved Andy Roddick and a final that went on forever, but in the end Federer won and he doesn't rhyme with anything.
"I talked it over with the boys on the roof: none of us could find a rhyme for Federer or Roddick."
"Didn't the Centre Court's new retractable roof come to mind?" I asked.
"Nothing rhymes with roof, either, other than goof, hoof and poof," he said sourly. "Anyway, I lost the muse."
I might have commiserated had he not immediately gone back to sleep.
Golf.
He seemed to be sleeping again when the British Open finished at Turnberry.
Eventually Tom Watson was beaten by Stewart Cink.
(Praise be, not one newspaper carried the headline Cink Sinks Watson.)
Suddenly I became aware that a Shadow eye had opened.
"Ol' Tom didn't manage it then," he said.
"I thought you were asleep," I said.
He stretched: "Na-a-ah, I was just giving me eyes a rest. I heard Peter Alliss and the rest of 'em rabbiting on."
He thought for a few seconds. "How old are you?" he asked.
"Seventy eight, " I replied.
"Just think," he said, "If you'd been a professional golfer the whole bloody world would have been told that a thousand times between the 16th and the 19th of July."
He really had been awake.
Columbo.
When it comes to a thousand times, I'm sure Peter Falk's Columbo repeats must well exceed that number. Today it was Janet Leigh and John Payne in the 1975 episode Forgotten Lady. She played Grace Wheeler Willis, a former star of musicals, much admired by Columbo's wife.
According to Columbo, in their early days together Mrs. Columbo dragged him to see all of Grace's films.
Halfway through, the thought struck me that Mrs. Columbo must hate her husband with a passion.
Everybody she admires he eventually arrests for murder.
No wonder she refuses to be seen with him.
Single-Handed.
A new police kid on the block, this time a Garda one, Sgt. Jack Driscoll (Owen McDonnell) working in western Ireland.
Last night we saw the first of a three parter and it was uncomfortable viewing.
I was reminded of a friend of mine who, some years ago, was offered a police job on one of the Channel Islands: he declined when it turned out that outside the holiday season he would be expected to turn a blind eye to certain (locally regarded as minor) law infringements.
Jack Driscoll finds himself in something of the same predicament. He has taken up the post of senior police officer in the area where he was brought up.
His conscientious approach to the job is hampered by the fact that his father, the popular previous holder of the post, was an 'us and them' copper quite prepared to ignore anything that might embarrass his cronies.
There is a disturbingly insular and faintly incestuous atmosphere about it all.
Damned good television though.

HOME.

A reasonable reason for a late post.
At the beginning of the second week in July I was stricken with the squits; easier to spell than diarrhoea.
I know it sounds like an old bloke's attempt to outdo the advert where a red-haired woman with strange eyes tells her mates she's passing hard lumps - (Could that be why she has strange eyes, d'you think? No matter.) - but this attack put me in bed for a couple of days, took a couple of weeks to clear and was caused by the food poisoning bacteria Campylobacter.
Don't know how I came by it. Could have been from a portion of fish and chips. Never will know now. Didn't care to gather evidence.
One thing is for sure: I have never had it before and I never want it again.
ps. At the risk of an indelicate reply, where is that advert coming from?
Unsolicited e-mails.
Lately my Inbox has been the casual target of people writing in Arabic. At least, I assume it's Arabic. No idea what they want.
They could be trying to sell me a carpet.
They could be attempting to recruit me into al Qaeda.
They could even be proclaiming a fatwa against me.
Normally I just delete such stuff and empty the deleted items folder, but two have appeared again this morning and for the first time I have opened them.
As you may have gathered, they didn't explode.
One was a short message from Святослав Панфилов which I did not keep and the other was from Новикова Лида which I thought I might publish but the attempt went haywire.
(Monitored by that contradiction in terms, an Intelligence Agency?)
Needless to say I have not the slightest idea what any of it is about.
I would rather not be responsible for somebody in the Middle East having their hands, head, or unmentionables chopped off but, what the hell, how many fundamentalists read this?
So if anybody else out there gets unsolicited Aladdin, Ali Baba, Sinbad messages and can translate them into English, even if it's very rude, please let me know what they say.
Oh, if the senders are seeking support for the young woman who could be flogged for wearing trousers, they need look no further. I am on her side.
Religious bigotry is crap and its perpetrators are crap artists.
Whatever their religion.