169. News views and the last Potter.

HOME.  

What are they hiding this time?

Is it just me or does anybody else think this phone hacking furore is a load of twaddle? So far we have had an Australian billionaire and his son answering questions in parliament, a police chief out on his ear, sackings, resignations, the wrapping up of the Screws Of The World and a load of gutter press journalists cast into the wilderness wondering whether they still have that unwritten best seller left in them, Where will it all end? The House of Commons was jampacked when they discussed it. Far more members turned up than would dream of so doing to discuss a rise in the old age pension, a proposed reduction in the obscene profits made by privatised public utilities, or the discontinuation of our futile involvement in the Middle East.Sometimes it just makes you despair. What the hell are they all hiding this time? What is so secret in their paranoid political lives that nobody, but nobody, should know about it? Christ! Anybody can hack into my phone if they want to. (The mobile, too: it’s seldom switched on) I’ll cheerfully tell them in advance what they’ll hear on the house phone. They’ll hear innocuous conversations with family and friends and they’ll hear the odd sales guy from India being given short shrift because he has rung at mealtime again. They’ll hear top secret info regarding the dates and times of our dental and medical appointments and highly confidential conversations disclosing whether one or the other of us can collect our grandson from school. They’ll hear sisters and friends talking to my Leader and people talking to me who have rung up hoping to talk to my Leader. They may even intercept the needs to know news that the cat (codename Shadow) who worryingly failed to report for breakfast has now been seen sunbathing on next door’s kitchen roof. They’ll be brain numb in under a week and it will serve them bloody right!  Phone hacking? Baloney! The most dreadful recent news has come from

ABROAD.

The Norway deaths. 

Why this beautiful country, filled with peace loving people, should have become victim to a solitary man’s murderous craving for publicity is surely beyond the comprehension of any sane human being. Between seventy and eighty people died in his bomb and shooting attacks before, relying on the professional integrity of the lawmen who caught up with him, he yielded without resistance to avoid being justifiably executed on the spot. Now a nation mourns and the world awaits what will doubtless be a protracted, much publicised trial: precisely the outcome he was looking for. Norway abolished capital punishment in 1905, but I guess he will be given a life sentence. If it was left to me it would be a life sentence for every life he took and they would run consecutively. He would thereafter be made a non- person, unspoken of right up until he was eventually forgotten. Hell, the sad little misfit has had too much publicity already.

READING.

Reaper by Graham Hurley.

Reaper was first published in 1991 and entails events leading up to the 1982 Falklands conflict. It is a story involving love, betrayal, the lunatic antics of the IRA, the actions of a couple of Special Branch thugs and the machinations of an assortment of psychopaths masquerading as intelligence operatives. If you generally like Graham Hurley’s work you will like it. I did.

Our Lady of Pain by M.C.Beaton (MarionChesney).  
I think Marion Chesney’s alter ego does better with the Agatha Raisin stories. This is an Edwardian pot boiler which features Lady Rose Summer and Captain Harry Cathcart with both of whom I quickly lost patience.If you generally like M..C. Beaton’s work you may like it. I didn’t.

TELEVISION.

New Tricks. (BBC1)

Another series well underway and, in Setting Out Your Stall, a rare appearance by Sheila Hancock as Sandra Pullman’s unpopular mother. Easy viewing.              

The Hour. (BBC2)                      

Fifty nine minutes too long for me.

Torchwood: Miracle Day. (BBC1) 

The fire quickly went out on this, too. There are now American connections.Everybody except the formerly immortal Captain Jack has found they are unable to die. He is dying and his could be the only funeral in the cemetery. Episode 3 of 10 has just been shown. I’ll try and relight the torch but I’m not optimistic.

50 Greatest Harry Potter Moments. (ITV1)

They might be the 50 Greatest if your tastes exactly match those of the programme compiler. Mine seldom do, so I invariably miss such gems as: 50 Most Shunned Heroes With Halitosis, 50 Most Bloodthirsty Origami Disasters, 50 Most Unconvincing Elvis Impersonators,etc. I also determinedly avoid anything that starts with the words The Very Best Of…or The Late Great…It’s not the subject that puts me off, it’s the presentation. I get heartily pissed off with that old guy, wearing Li’l Abner overalls and a straggly moustache, who cuts in every twenty seconds to tell you how he knew the star in the sixties but can’t remember anything about it because if you can remember the sixties you weren’t there. So I viewed this 50 Greatest with misgivings and they were justified. The contributions from those who acted in, or worked on, the films were fine; pertinent, interesting and often amusing. But I was at a loss to work out why anybody thought the views of non participants - comedians, pop singers, reality show winners et al - no matter how enthusiastically voiced, would be of any more interest to me than mine would to them. Oh well, I remain a Potter devotee. No PR sales doc will change that.

FILM.

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows (Pt.2).

A super finish to a super series. All eight films have been moderately true to the seven books and all have been perfectly cast. The addition of a somewhat low key Deathly Hallows Pt.1 (which included the demise of Dobby) set the tone for this all action, occasionally tear-jerking, finale.

Nobody disappointed. The youngsters who have featured throughout the entire series: Daniel Radcliff (Harry), Rupert Grint (Ron), Emma Watson (Hermione), Harry Melling (Dudley), James and Oliver Phelps (Fred and George), Bonny Wright (Ginny), Tom Felton (Draco), Matthew Lewis (Neville), Josh Herdman (Goyle) and Devon Murray (Seamus), together with the slightly later additions, Hugh Mitchell (Colin) and Evanna Lynch (Luna), have become attractive young adults and fine actors. 

They have provided hours of innocent pleasure to millions of enchanted filmgoers and there should be success for them far beyond Potter. I certainly hope that will be the case. 

(I also hope that Jamie Waylett, who played Crabbe in the first six films and missed out on Deathly Hallows through drug charges, will stop being a silly young man before he ruins his life completely.) 

As for the bevy of respected stage and screen stars who did not feel it beneath them to appear in a Potter film, none gave less than their impressive best. Lovely Maggie Smith, battling a couple of debilitating illnesses along the way, commanded attention whenever she appeared (hasn’t she always?) and splendid Alan Rickman’s Snape was surely the most insidious antihero of all time.

From beginning to end we have been spellbound by Hogwarts and all who spelled in her. Book and film. The spell is unbreakable so I care not for the opinions of detractors and begrudge not a single penny made by those involved in the franchise. We went as a family group to see Deathly Hallows Pt.2 and next year we shall take a family trip to Leavesden studios where this very British series has been filmed. Magic like that just lasts and lasts.

Well done, J.K. Rowling!

Good man, Professor Snape!

168. Goodbye Columbo. Hello WALL-E.

 IN APPRECIATION.

Peter Falk. (1927 - 2011)

Watching the Detectives would be a misnomer if I failed to lament the loss of Peter Falk who played the gloriously scruffy and deceptively clever Lt.Columbo, Los Angeles Police Department’s finest, from 1971 until 2003.
I dare say every Columbo follower has a favourite episode. Mine, and that of my daughter Jackie, was Try To Catch Me, made in 1977 and co-starring Ruth Gordon. The veteran actress and the likeable actor clearly relished every scene they played together. It was close to perfection.
For that matter, Columbo guest actors mostly did seem hugely at ease with a star who was the personification of technical competence and generosity of spirit.
Oh, just one more thing…
Peter Falk, actor, artist and chess enthusiast, died in Beverley Hills on the 23rd of June, 2011 at the age of 83.
He will long and fondly be remembered.

HOME.

Social Networking.
Every now and then a friend, relative or chance acquaintance has approached me to become a fellow traveller on one of the social networking websites.
I have always politely declined or simply ignored the offer.
In the first place, blogging takes up quite enough of my time; in the second, I could neither face up to Facebook nor witter on Twitter without quickly making plain my ingrained unsociability.
Why should anybody be interested in what I had for breakfast, whether my Leader or I cooked dinner, or what time I made my way to bed?
I know it has become the in thing to proffer up one’s private life for public scrutiny, but I am not celeb interviewee material; chat show hosts would not want to talk to me. Might be different if I had half a dozen mistresses fifty years my junior, had succeeded in grafting a new strain of orchid onto the dog rose in my courtyard, or had obtained a knighthood following years of flouting a modest talent to maximum effect before a stupefied audience.Might be different, too, if I was the sort of moron who just couldn’t wait to be seen doing bushtucker trials or getting himself fired by an arrogant little twat in need of a shave.
But such is not the case.
So I’m afraid someone else will have to chit chat with the social network dabblers: a good old gossip on the net is not for me, even if it is cheaper than the pub.
But thanks again for asking.
Giveaway headgear.
When I was young most men wore hats. A hat was an indication of the job, place on the corporate ladder, even the class, of the wearer. I seldom wore a hat after I parted company with the army: nearly twelve years of military headgear was quite enough. But a few weeks ago my Leader and I were over in Pompey, shopping at Gunwharf Quays, when I chanced upon baseball caps similar to those worn by the NCIS cast and, on a whim, bought one.
I donned it for the first time when I set out on an unpromising morning to collect my newspaper.
“I am actually an NCIS employee,” I told my Leader. “But I don’t have the letters on my cap because I’m working incognito.”
“Off you go then, Special Agent David,” she said.
Blew me cover completely.

TELEVISION.

Camelot. (C4)
The current craze is for depictions of the medieval to be downright manic. This series is no exception. It may well be the way things were back then.
Anyway, if I was around I don’t remember it; and thank whatever god for that.
Decent cast but, at ten episodes, too long.
Top Gear. (BBC2)
Yeah, they’re back again. Same overgrown schoolboys racing about in same (albeit latest model) cars. Wonder if any of them would know how to stop the air conditioning unit in my Hyundai i10 piddling all over the garage floor?
No?
Neither does my main dealer.
Scott & Bailey. (ITV1)
Lesley Sharp played DC Scott, Suranne Jones played DC Bailey and Rupert Graves played an arsehole barrister. Not much new there then.
It was a six part series. The girls will be back. He won’t.
The Shadow Line. (BBC2)
In this sombre seven parter nobody decent, or even half decent, came to a happy ending. Beautiful performances from a splendid cast which included Lesley Sharp again, this time playing an Alzheimer’s sufferer. Such a fine actress. Well deserves to be a Dame of the British Empire, though I guess my recommendation won't help her.
Luther. (BBC1)
Still not my cup of tea, but lasted only four episodes so I scarcely had time to ignore it.
It will be back.
Perhaps I’ll ignore it then.
Castle. (C5)
Could as easily have been called Murder He Wrote but wasn’t, presumably to avoid litigation.
I’m determined to give this a chance, even if it does at first come across as a desperate attempt to revamp The Mentalist by introducing a bit of family interest. The leading actors are pleasant and the stories so far are viewable standard fare. We’ll see.
The Killing. (C4)
Talking of revamps, this is an unashamed American remake of the immensely successful Danish crime series Forbrydelsen. I am again determined to give it a chance, but I cannot help being reminded of the English remake of Wallander which abysmally failed to match the excellence of its Swedish precursor.
Well it stands to reason, doesn‘t it?:
Portrayals of Scandinavia are best left to Scandinavians.

READING.

Alexander McCall Smith.
I finished The Full Cupboard of Life. (Abacus £6.99 or see Google for outlets with reduced prices.)
Mr. McCall Smith’s Botswana remains delightfully amusing and his characters charmingly predictable. Yet another success for No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency.
So did Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni make the parachute jump?
That would be telling.
Heck, you can always buy the book.

FILM.

 Add this animated gem by Pixar to my list of favourites. The world has long come to an end, buried under trillions of tons of waste, and the only moving things left are a small robot, WALL.E,  and his friend Hal, a cockroach.
WALL-E is a Waste Allocation Load Lifter - Earth Class - the last of his kind - who ventures forth daily to transform acres of rubbish into cubes which he neatly stacks atop each other until they form compact mountains.
He is kind, industrious and a lover of the musical film Hallo Dolly, to which he hums and dances along. His enthusiasm, like Jerry Herman’s opening music, is infectious and my Leader and I have since been haunted by Michael Crawford’s rendition of Put On Your Sunday Clothes.
WALL-E’s lonely world is suddenly invaded by Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator EVE, a Ziva David style robot (NCIS fans will comprehend) landed on earth to search for any sign of plant growth. WALL-E falls in love with her and, coincidentally, he has unearthed a seedling plant…
The film was released in 2008 and was directed by Andrew Stanton. If you have not seen it I suggest you look out for the next TV showing, or pick up a DVD somewhere.
For those who are interested there is an excellent article on Wikipedia,
My Leader has now bought me the CD and the DVD. Talk about spoilt.
Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows (Pt,2)
The big night for the stars is over and next week on the 15th we get to see the final film.
I believe daughter Roz has been persuaded to take granddaughter Jess to the 0001 hours Island premiere. They’ll love it. I’d go too, but I’m usually asleep at that time. (A snippet of info I shall not be divulging on Facebook or Twitter.
Oh, I shall go as soon as I can. And bollocks to the Potter haters.
Have a good whatever...