WARNER STUDIOS TOUR.
Further reflections on our April 2nd trip.
There are bound to be afterthoughts; when there is so much to see it is beyond the capacity of a grasshopper mind to register everything and I am easily sidetracked at the best of times. Half a mo…
[Coffee time.]
Now…where was I? Oh…yes…sidetracked and afterthoughts.
For a start, the official guide book - upon which I neglected to comment - is beautifully illustrated, packed with fascinating facts and a must as both a tour companion and a treasured memento. There is also a digital audio guide for hire (choice of eight languages; English version narrated by the excellent Tom Felton) which I’m sure works beautifully for everyone but the techno-nothing old guy. Say no more.
I failed to mention the Ollivander’s setup containing wand boxes labelled with the names of everybody who ever worked on the films. A pleasant young woman showed us around there and impressed by knowing the wand box whereabouts of any cast member mentioned to her.
(Below: Jess and Ellis are on the Knight bus.)
HOME.
Medina College Music Department Spring Concert.
Granddaughter Jess is a chorister in Medina College Choir which, together with the college ukulele orchestra, steel pans and a small brass section, treated an appreciative audience to an eclectic mix of music at this year’s Spring Concert. My Leader had previously been to one of the choir’s concerts so knew what to expect; I had not and did not. Should have guessed, though. They were a total joy and, saving the best ’til last, their rendition of Toto’s Africa was a tour de force unsurpassed by any arrangement I had previously heard. Superb. There really is not much wrong with the youngsters of today.
Costa Wight.
Here in the sunny south we have enjoyed some Mediterranean style weather. The hedgerows are thick with daffodils and, in a rare spell of sod-the-cost County pride, the Council has had the majority of roadside hedges neatly trimmed. A stately home owner would be proud of them.
There has to be a catch; given council involvement there always is.
Snippet of family conversation.
A local supermarket was selling packets of panties, Roz told Mo, six for £5 if you bought the plain, £8 for the fancy; all cotton; excellent value.
“They’ll have come from China,” I opined. “Everything comes from China nowadays. It‘s the cheap labour.”
“My school pencils come from Germany,” said bright little know-it-all Ellis.
“That’s because the Germans have got all the lead,” I said. “They stole it off our church roofs during the war.”
He thought about that for a moment, then he laughed:
“He’s lying again,” he remarked to his grandmother.
I do believe she may have agreed with him.
TELEVISION.
Titanic disaster. (Most channels)
In mid April 1912, through a combination of bad luck, insufficient lifeboats and overweening imprudence, the Titanic went down killing 1,517 of the 2,223 people on board. 92% of the 2nd class male passengers and over three quarters of all the passengers travelling 3rd class perished. It was that most treasured of all Brit historic happenings, a bloody disaster.
So one hundred years later the story had to be ghoulishly picked over for the umpteenth time and, as if a 3D Leonardo DiCaprio wasn’t enough, former welder and now dance judge Len Goodman weighed anchor with a so-so three part documentary series, a boatload of morbid bonkers-in-the-head souls set sail for the spot where the luckless liner sank, a commemorative musical muse was executed and playwright Julian Fellowes took a classy dive off the Titanic top board to complete an unexpected belly-flop.
I only watched Goodman, who I like because he reminds me of my uncle Bill. Couldn’t be bothered with the rest. Well, I know how it ends.
Silent Witness. (BBC1)
Currently ploughing through series 15 and nothing really changes. Oh, Amanda Burton long ago departed, presumably to stare into space elsewhere, but the remaining forensic pathologists are still poking their unwanted noses into police business and somehow emerging unscathed. They are still led by weird Professor Leo Dalton (William Gaminara) who, not content with losing his wife and children in a hit and run accident early in series 9, has now decided he wants to lose partner Janet (Jaye Griffiths). Don’t bother to ask why. I neither know nor care.
Homeland. (C4)
The American fetish with turbans-under-the-beds has never been more evident than in this finely balanced homage to national paranoia.
Damian Lewis is excellent as Sgt. Nick Brodie, a marine who went missing in Iraq, spent eight years in captivity and has suddenly been set free. Question is: has he or has he not been ’turned’ by the enemy?
Answer is: we shan’t find out. Not in this series, anyway. It has been so successful it is now all set for series 2 and, if it then remains popular…?
I shall continue to keep an eye out anyway. Good, well acted, stuff is always worth watching, even if it clearly is a load of propagandist bilge.
And I still think Mandy Patinkin is at his best when he’s singing.
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. (C5)
We have reached Series 12 here. Laurence Fishburne has been succeeded by Ted Danson as team leader. The writers have produced some decent story lines and ol’ Danson has produced a suitably quirky new character. I like it.
Not Going Out. (BBC1)
Back for Series 5 and worth it. Lee Mack, Tim Vine and Sally Bretton, together with Katie Wix, Geoffrey Whitehead and a well chosen supporting cast, seldom falter with Daniel Peak and Lee Mack’s cheerful, occasionally LOL, scripts.
Castle. (C5)
I again make mention of this relatively light-hearted take on an all-too- familiar subject only to say how beautiful is Molly Quinn who plays Alexis, Rick Castle’s (Nathan Fillion) daughter and how delightfully Celeste Holm-like is Susan Sullivan as his mother, Martha. Americans can be such likeable people.
It has been the making of their film industry.
The Bridge. (BBC4)
More subtitled mayhem. A corpse is placed in halves on either side of the border on a bridge between Denmark and Sweden: a joint investigation by the law forces of both countries is launched and the two most incompatible detectives in the whole of Scandinavia are forced into unwilling partnership. The Swedish detective is Saga Noren, a semi-autistic young woman played by Sofia Helin and her Danish counterpart is Martin Rohde, a shambling, happily married man played by Kim Bodnia. Their sole likeness is that both are damn good investigators.
It’s another hit for the Vikings: demands close attention, too. You won’t so much as blink; well, not if you want to keep up with what they’re saying you won’t.
Four episodes in and we are well hooked.
RE:: NEW BLOGGING EXPERIENCE .
Blogger has a new look!
Those cunning kids at Blogger have been at it again. Following protracted warnings (which I should have heeded) they have introduced their completely new streamlined blogging experience that makes it easier for me (they say) to find out what I need and focus on writing great blog posts.
Gawdblessem! I just wish!
Their completely redesigned dashboard - not seen by you unless you have your own blog - will, I’m sure, be welcomed by bloggers all over the world (or, if you are an American, the USA) so I may be a somewhat lonesome dissenter; but the truth is, lovely Blogger designers, I neither like nor fully understand your new dashboard.
And that’s the trouble with change: the older you get the less you want it.
Ho hum.
Further reflections on our April 2nd trip.
There are bound to be afterthoughts; when there is so much to see it is beyond the capacity of a grasshopper mind to register everything and I am easily sidetracked at the best of times. Half a mo…
[Coffee time.]
Now…where was I? Oh…yes…sidetracked and afterthoughts.
For a start, the official guide book - upon which I neglected to comment - is beautifully illustrated, packed with fascinating facts and a must as both a tour companion and a treasured memento. There is also a digital audio guide for hire (choice of eight languages; English version narrated by the excellent Tom Felton) which I’m sure works beautifully for everyone but the techno-nothing old guy. Say no more.
I failed to mention the Ollivander’s setup containing wand boxes labelled with the names of everybody who ever worked on the films. A pleasant young woman showed us around there and impressed by knowing the wand box whereabouts of any cast member mentioned to her.
(Below: Jess and Ellis are on the Knight bus.)
I also overlooked the giant chess pieces, the fantastic card models of Hogwarts and environs, the moving models (monster book, mutant baby Voldemort etc.) and the exhibition of costumes worn by cast members. It was a surprise how tall many of the actors appeared to be: Robbie Coltrane as Hagrid was one helluva size! At the card model display I asked a young guide, who I gathered had had about three months training, whether he was now au fait with everything on the tour and he said yes, he thought so. I said it would take me a whole lot longer than three months to take in the half of it and he laughed and asked whether we had enjoyed it, though. Well, of course, we had. And that was before we so much as glimpsed the piece de resistance which comes right at the end and is breathtaking. Then to the shop again. Yes, it is pricey, but it’s a special day out, ain‘t it. By the time we came out everybody but my Leader had a souvenir (they really should get some decent sized models of Dobby).
Later, maybe?
Three hours for the tour is a good estimate: we started at 1.30 in the afternoon and finished at 4.20.
Later, maybe?
Three hours for the tour is a good estimate: we started at 1.30 in the afternoon and finished at 4.20.
(Three happy travellers on Hagrid's bike.)
It was worth every minute.HOME.
Medina College Music Department Spring Concert.
Granddaughter Jess is a chorister in Medina College Choir which, together with the college ukulele orchestra, steel pans and a small brass section, treated an appreciative audience to an eclectic mix of music at this year’s Spring Concert. My Leader had previously been to one of the choir’s concerts so knew what to expect; I had not and did not. Should have guessed, though. They were a total joy and, saving the best ’til last, their rendition of Toto’s Africa was a tour de force unsurpassed by any arrangement I had previously heard. Superb. There really is not much wrong with the youngsters of today.
Costa Wight.
Here in the sunny south we have enjoyed some Mediterranean style weather. The hedgerows are thick with daffodils and, in a rare spell of sod-the-cost County pride, the Council has had the majority of roadside hedges neatly trimmed. A stately home owner would be proud of them.
There has to be a catch; given council involvement there always is.
Snippet of family conversation.
A local supermarket was selling packets of panties, Roz told Mo, six for £5 if you bought the plain, £8 for the fancy; all cotton; excellent value.
“They’ll have come from China,” I opined. “Everything comes from China nowadays. It‘s the cheap labour.”
“My school pencils come from Germany,” said bright little know-it-all Ellis.
“That’s because the Germans have got all the lead,” I said. “They stole it off our church roofs during the war.”
He thought about that for a moment, then he laughed:
“He’s lying again,” he remarked to his grandmother.
I do believe she may have agreed with him.
TELEVISION.
Titanic disaster. (Most channels)
In mid April 1912, through a combination of bad luck, insufficient lifeboats and overweening imprudence, the Titanic went down killing 1,517 of the 2,223 people on board. 92% of the 2nd class male passengers and over three quarters of all the passengers travelling 3rd class perished. It was that most treasured of all Brit historic happenings, a bloody disaster.
So one hundred years later the story had to be ghoulishly picked over for the umpteenth time and, as if a 3D Leonardo DiCaprio wasn’t enough, former welder and now dance judge Len Goodman weighed anchor with a so-so three part documentary series, a boatload of morbid bonkers-in-the-head souls set sail for the spot where the luckless liner sank, a commemorative musical muse was executed and playwright Julian Fellowes took a classy dive off the Titanic top board to complete an unexpected belly-flop.
I only watched Goodman, who I like because he reminds me of my uncle Bill. Couldn’t be bothered with the rest. Well, I know how it ends.
Silent Witness. (BBC1)
Currently ploughing through series 15 and nothing really changes. Oh, Amanda Burton long ago departed, presumably to stare into space elsewhere, but the remaining forensic pathologists are still poking their unwanted noses into police business and somehow emerging unscathed. They are still led by weird Professor Leo Dalton (William Gaminara) who, not content with losing his wife and children in a hit and run accident early in series 9, has now decided he wants to lose partner Janet (Jaye Griffiths). Don’t bother to ask why. I neither know nor care.
Homeland. (C4)
The American fetish with turbans-under-the-beds has never been more evident than in this finely balanced homage to national paranoia.
Damian Lewis is excellent as Sgt. Nick Brodie, a marine who went missing in Iraq, spent eight years in captivity and has suddenly been set free. Question is: has he or has he not been ’turned’ by the enemy?
Answer is: we shan’t find out. Not in this series, anyway. It has been so successful it is now all set for series 2 and, if it then remains popular…?
I shall continue to keep an eye out anyway. Good, well acted, stuff is always worth watching, even if it clearly is a load of propagandist bilge.
And I still think Mandy Patinkin is at his best when he’s singing.
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. (C5)
We have reached Series 12 here. Laurence Fishburne has been succeeded by Ted Danson as team leader. The writers have produced some decent story lines and ol’ Danson has produced a suitably quirky new character. I like it.
Not Going Out. (BBC1)
Back for Series 5 and worth it. Lee Mack, Tim Vine and Sally Bretton, together with Katie Wix, Geoffrey Whitehead and a well chosen supporting cast, seldom falter with Daniel Peak and Lee Mack’s cheerful, occasionally LOL, scripts.
Castle. (C5)
I again make mention of this relatively light-hearted take on an all-too- familiar subject only to say how beautiful is Molly Quinn who plays Alexis, Rick Castle’s (Nathan Fillion) daughter and how delightfully Celeste Holm-like is Susan Sullivan as his mother, Martha. Americans can be such likeable people.
It has been the making of their film industry.
The Bridge. (BBC4)
More subtitled mayhem. A corpse is placed in halves on either side of the border on a bridge between Denmark and Sweden: a joint investigation by the law forces of both countries is launched and the two most incompatible detectives in the whole of Scandinavia are forced into unwilling partnership. The Swedish detective is Saga Noren, a semi-autistic young woman played by Sofia Helin and her Danish counterpart is Martin Rohde, a shambling, happily married man played by Kim Bodnia. Their sole likeness is that both are damn good investigators.
It’s another hit for the Vikings: demands close attention, too. You won’t so much as blink; well, not if you want to keep up with what they’re saying you won’t.
Four episodes in and we are well hooked.
RE:: NEW BLOGGING EXPERIENCE .
Blogger has a new look!
Those cunning kids at Blogger have been at it again. Following protracted warnings (which I should have heeded) they have introduced their completely new streamlined blogging experience that makes it easier for me (they say) to find out what I need and focus on writing great blog posts.
Gawdblessem! I just wish!
Their completely redesigned dashboard - not seen by you unless you have your own blog - will, I’m sure, be welcomed by bloggers all over the world (or, if you are an American, the USA) so I may be a somewhat lonesome dissenter; but the truth is, lovely Blogger designers, I neither like nor fully understand your new dashboard.
And that’s the trouble with change: the older you get the less you want it.
Ho hum.
