I've been singing Handel's Messiah for months (since mid-January to be precise) but without really paying much attention to what I was singing. At the first rehearsal with the soloists it hit me just how amazing it is. It's the choice of texts, the way Handel sets scriptures from the Old Testament (Isaiah 53v3-6, Psalm 2), and makes it so clear that they're about Jesus. Part 2 starts with 'Behold the Lamb of God' and continues with the suffering of Christ, and ends in victory with the Hallelujah chorus (the bit everyone knows, and deservedly so.) Part 3 looks forward to the second coming, beginning with 'I know that my Redeemer liveth' and ends with 'Worthy is the Lamb', one of the songs of praise in Revelation.
Basically the words are amazing, the music's sublime and it's a generally fabulous piece to sing or listen to. Probably more fun to sing. And this isn't the fabulously eloquent post I wanted to write about it, but I said I was going to write one, so here it is.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Monday, March 27, 2006
arr, pirates!
Ooh, seeing this on Thinklings reminded me that church yesterday was taken over by pirates.
aka the leaders of the new 'Kidz Klub' (ack, can't stand deliberate bad spelling, but if said 'kidz' like it, so be it). Anyway, they took over the service and we played silly games and sang songs and Debs and I had fun doing all the actions and giggling all the way through. The idea was to give the church a taster of what's going to be happening on Saturday mornings once a month in a new outreach to the area around City Church.
Arrr!
aka the leaders of the new 'Kidz Klub' (ack, can't stand deliberate bad spelling, but if said 'kidz' like it, so be it). Anyway, they took over the service and we played silly games and sang songs and Debs and I had fun doing all the actions and giggling all the way through. The idea was to give the church a taster of what's going to be happening on Saturday mornings once a month in a new outreach to the area around City Church.
Arrr!
another newbie
Yet another Jubilee church blogger - David Anthony's blog. Dave's an intelligent guy (and a fellow Oxonian) so I'm sure he'll have plenty of interesting things to say.
almost cut my hair
Well, I didn't cut it myself, but I had it cut. Not that you can tell. It's just the same, but shorter. Debs wondered why I bothered. I tried to take a picture, but all I managed were pictures that showed a) the dirtiness of the bathroom mirror and b) the mingingness of the not-a-cold-sore thing on my lip, so I gave up.
After singing Handel on four out of the last six evenings, I still have bits of the Messiah buzzing around my head. This is mostly lovely, except when you're trying to go to sleep and get a fugue-like bit (most often And with His stripes, or worse, He trusted in God) stuck in your head and it goes round and round unrelentingly for hours.
Ah, yes, I was going to rave about how great the Messiah is, wasn't I? I'm a bit too tired and feeling the effects of the missing hour (oh, has anyone read Mason and Dixon , no? Oh well, I'll spare you the riff on what got lost in the missing hour, like the horse and dogs that didn't make it, or maybe did and went the long way round, I really can't remember. It's a very long and odd novel and that's one of the more coherent bits. There's some really odd stuff about giant plants and things that I just gave up on. Either I lost the plot about halfway through, or Pynchon did.) and as you can tell, not really in a fit state to write sensibly. But it is great, and the music is sublime, even the bass arias. Although I wish there was another really good bit like the Hallelujah chorus at the end.
I'll stop now.
Or not. There's a novel by Stevie Smith which I love, called Novel on Yellow Paper. I wanted to quote some lines from it, about going on and on, but don't worry, there's a 10,000 word limit (something like that), but Google won't give me the quote I want. So I'll give you this one instead. Perhaps an apt quotation for all bloggers.
"For this book is the talking voice that runs on, and the thoughts come, the way I said, and the people come too, and come and go, to illustrate the thoughts, to point the moral, to adorn the tale."
STOP
After singing Handel on four out of the last six evenings, I still have bits of the Messiah buzzing around my head. This is mostly lovely, except when you're trying to go to sleep and get a fugue-like bit (most often And with His stripes, or worse, He trusted in God) stuck in your head and it goes round and round unrelentingly for hours.
Ah, yes, I was going to rave about how great the Messiah is, wasn't I? I'm a bit too tired and feeling the effects of the missing hour (oh, has anyone read Mason and Dixon , no? Oh well, I'll spare you the riff on what got lost in the missing hour, like the horse and dogs that didn't make it, or maybe did and went the long way round, I really can't remember. It's a very long and odd novel and that's one of the more coherent bits. There's some really odd stuff about giant plants and things that I just gave up on. Either I lost the plot about halfway through, or Pynchon did.) and as you can tell, not really in a fit state to write sensibly. But it is great, and the music is sublime, even the bass arias. Although I wish there was another really good bit like the Hallelujah chorus at the end.
I'll stop now.
Or not. There's a novel by Stevie Smith which I love, called Novel on Yellow Paper. I wanted to quote some lines from it, about going on and on, but don't worry, there's a 10,000 word limit (something like that), but Google won't give me the quote I want. So I'll give you this one instead. Perhaps an apt quotation for all bloggers.
"For this book is the talking voice that runs on, and the thoughts come, the way I said, and the people come too, and come and go, to illustrate the thoughts, to point the moral, to adorn the tale."
STOP
Friday, March 24, 2006
A14 sunset
It's been a long week. Today I've been to Milton Keynes and back for a meeting. Tonight and tomorrow night I'm singing in the Messiah and I really want to write something about the amazingness of Handel, but I'm too tired. I'm going to go home and have a shower and get ready to sing, so I'll leave you with this beautiful sunset.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
postcards home
New addition to my blogroll, I miss my cat, by Jo from my old London church. Go and read her amazing story of how she ended up in Thailand.
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Monday, March 20, 2006
tabula rasa
Monday morning rolls round again. A new week, a blank slate, to fill with plans and activity and business. Except, like this wall, it's never totally blank. There are routines, grooves to slip into, things that must be done. Some good, the structures that keep you safe and on time. Some bad, the bad habits you can't shake.
Looking at this picture reminds me of a metaphor for sin, the memory of which puts me back in the school playground. I think it was a powerful idea in my head when I was younger. Our conscience, our soul is a white sheet. Sin stains it black and grey and muddy. So matter how much we try, we can't wash it away. Jesus comes and takes away our stained sinful sheet and gives us his spotless white covering.I'm not sure it stands up to detailed theological analysis, (What is the sheet like to begin with? It can't be spotless. What happens to the thrown away sheets?) but something abut the metaphor obviously gripped my primary school-aged mind. I think it's the idea of a new start, washing away the past and being given a new righteousness from God.
So what does that mean for my patterns, habits and grooves? Do they get renewed too?
Well, yes. But how? Still working on that one.
Friday, March 17, 2006
I thought this week would never end
But it's nearly the weekend.
Notable events of this week:
A giant Frankenstein's monster (Boris Karloff-esque) in front of the car show room I pass on my way home. Now replaced by an equally large and angry looking Octopus on the roof.
Looking out of the window to find my nextdoor neighbour's washing line was full of stuffed animals, pegged up to dry.
I videoed Tuesday's lunchtime seminar all by myself. I haven't watched it all yet, but so far it looks OK.
Snow on Tuesday. It didn't settle, but it looked quite impressively blizzardy for a bit.
Yesterday I wore a wrapover dress over trousers which caused my two office mates to comment, independently, that I looked smart. Does this mean I'm not usually smart or just that it was an outfit they hadn't seen before?
Make-it-up-as-you-go-along curries are sometimes odd, but sometimes delicious. This week's, which was actually a half-remembered Jamie Oliver recipe with chopped tomatoes and cream of coconut, but without half the crucial ingredients, was towards the delicious end of the spectrum.
I still need a haircut. Does anyone know any good hairdressers in Cambridge?
Notable events of this week:
A giant Frankenstein's monster (Boris Karloff-esque) in front of the car show room I pass on my way home. Now replaced by an equally large and angry looking Octopus on the roof.
Looking out of the window to find my nextdoor neighbour's washing line was full of stuffed animals, pegged up to dry.
I videoed Tuesday's lunchtime seminar all by myself. I haven't watched it all yet, but so far it looks OK.
Snow on Tuesday. It didn't settle, but it looked quite impressively blizzardy for a bit.
Yesterday I wore a wrapover dress over trousers which caused my two office mates to comment, independently, that I looked smart. Does this mean I'm not usually smart or just that it was an outfit they hadn't seen before?
Make-it-up-as-you-go-along curries are sometimes odd, but sometimes delicious. This week's, which was actually a half-remembered Jamie Oliver recipe with chopped tomatoes and cream of coconut, but without half the crucial ingredients, was towards the delicious end of the spectrum.
I still need a haircut. Does anyone know any good hairdressers in Cambridge?
Monday, March 13, 2006
head full of fuzz
As demonstrated by the fact that I managed to post this on pigwotknits by mistake.
That's how I feel today. Not sure why. Too much caffeine? One too many anxiety dreams? I haven't exactly been sleeping well.
Not much else to report.
I wake up, I go to work, I go home, I eat, I knit, I sleep.
Except it's just been the weekend. Which was different.
Sorry, nothing sparkling to say today. I'm feeling a bit flat.
I did manage to find and stay on the A14 yesterday, so that's an achievement. The secret seems to be to remember not to be put off by the twists and turns and weird bifurcations and forget what the map looks like and the fact that usually when I'm on this section of road I'm going to Melton Mowbray and just follow the signs. Why this doesn't work in the dark, I have no idea.
Can I go home now?
That's how I feel today. Not sure why. Too much caffeine? One too many anxiety dreams? I haven't exactly been sleeping well.
Not much else to report.
I wake up, I go to work, I go home, I eat, I knit, I sleep.
Except it's just been the weekend. Which was different.
Sorry, nothing sparkling to say today. I'm feeling a bit flat.
I did manage to find and stay on the A14 yesterday, so that's an achievement. The secret seems to be to remember not to be put off by the twists and turns and weird bifurcations and forget what the map looks like and the fact that usually when I'm on this section of road I'm going to Melton Mowbray and just follow the signs. Why this doesn't work in the dark, I have no idea.
Can I go home now?
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
I'm really a very good driver
I am. Ask Debbie. Ask Duton or anyone else who's been in my car. I'm a good driver and I have a pretty good sense of direction, in the city. So why on my way home from Sainsbury's last night did I end up in the wilds of the Cambridgeshire countryside, not entirely sure where I was? Why, when trying to find a new venue for my cell group a few weeks ago, did I find myself in a field, miles from civilization, surrounded by travellers?
In the country, it's a different story.
The Cambridgeshire countryside is very pretty. Flat fields stretching off into the distance, long straight stretches of road raised a few feet above the level of the surrounding ground, beautiful views with lines of trees marching off into the distance.
None of this is of any use whatsoever in the dark.
The other crucial point about Cambridgeshire roads is their casual approach to signposting. You're looking for a village, let's call it Groundwater. You come to a cross roads with a pretty fingerpost pointing you towards Groundwater, Ely and Cambridge. "Oh good," you think, and poddle along in the direction of Groundwater. You come to the next crossroads. There are directions to Ely, Cambridge, Watertree and Soggy Oak, but no directions to Groundwater. "Oh well," you think, and decide Groundwater must be in the opposite directions to Watertree and you'll go that way. Next crossroads, no directions whatsoever. "Oh dear," you think, "Perhaps I should turn round." You drive along the long, straight dark road with a 3 foot drop on either side desperately hoping for a side road or gate in which to turn round. Suddenly, with no warning, you see a turning to Groundwater and you have to brake abruptly and swing round the corner, sending everything on the back seat flying onto the floor of the car.
Then there's the A14. Me and the A14 have a difficult relationship. It looks like a very useful road, running roughly East-West across the North side of Cambridge. There aren't many East-West roads on that side of Cambridge, so it should be very useful for getting to places. Er, no. The A14 is elusive. Despite the fact that I can get on it a mile and a half from my door, I inevitably lose it again. Unless I'm trying to get on the M11. Otherwise I end up heading to Bedford or Ely or Newmarket when I wanted to go somewhere else entirely.
Perhaps it knows. Perhaps it's a conspiracy of country roads to send me and my bug hurtling back to the city where we belong. Perhaps the signposters of Cambridgeshire want me to be lost.
Perhaps I just need to look at the map more often.
In the country, it's a different story.
The Cambridgeshire countryside is very pretty. Flat fields stretching off into the distance, long straight stretches of road raised a few feet above the level of the surrounding ground, beautiful views with lines of trees marching off into the distance.
None of this is of any use whatsoever in the dark.
The other crucial point about Cambridgeshire roads is their casual approach to signposting. You're looking for a village, let's call it Groundwater. You come to a cross roads with a pretty fingerpost pointing you towards Groundwater, Ely and Cambridge. "Oh good," you think, and poddle along in the direction of Groundwater. You come to the next crossroads. There are directions to Ely, Cambridge, Watertree and Soggy Oak, but no directions to Groundwater. "Oh well," you think, and decide Groundwater must be in the opposite directions to Watertree and you'll go that way. Next crossroads, no directions whatsoever. "Oh dear," you think, "Perhaps I should turn round." You drive along the long, straight dark road with a 3 foot drop on either side desperately hoping for a side road or gate in which to turn round. Suddenly, with no warning, you see a turning to Groundwater and you have to brake abruptly and swing round the corner, sending everything on the back seat flying onto the floor of the car.
Then there's the A14. Me and the A14 have a difficult relationship. It looks like a very useful road, running roughly East-West across the North side of Cambridge. There aren't many East-West roads on that side of Cambridge, so it should be very useful for getting to places. Er, no. The A14 is elusive. Despite the fact that I can get on it a mile and a half from my door, I inevitably lose it again. Unless I'm trying to get on the M11. Otherwise I end up heading to Bedford or Ely or Newmarket when I wanted to go somewhere else entirely.
Perhaps it knows. Perhaps it's a conspiracy of country roads to send me and my bug hurtling back to the city where we belong. Perhaps the signposters of Cambridgeshire want me to be lost.
Perhaps I just need to look at the map more often.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
I'm not dead
Just a bit busy.
Essay writing did beat knitting, so I didn't finish my Olympic cardigan.
Tuesday and Wednesday I was in London on a course on publicity and promotions which was very useful, if quite intense.
Today is a busy day at work since there's a big public lecture this evening, followed by a posh dinner and discussion. And I seem to need to be in about three places at once for most of the evening. I do get to eat yummy food though, so it's not all stressful.
Essay writing did beat knitting, so I didn't finish my Olympic cardigan.
Tuesday and Wednesday I was in London on a course on publicity and promotions which was very useful, if quite intense.
Today is a busy day at work since there's a big public lecture this evening, followed by a posh dinner and discussion. And I seem to need to be in about three places at once for most of the evening. I do get to eat yummy food though, so it's not all stressful.
Friday, February 24, 2006
hurrah for the weekend
This one contains knitting and an essay. And probably some other stuff. And the essay may trump the knitting.
Have a good weekend, whatever you do.
And just so there's something interesting for me to find on Monday morning, tell me your plans for the weekend. What exciting things does your life contain?
Gosh, I sound like a Radio 1 DJ. Sort of.
ta ta til then.
Have a good weekend, whatever you do.
And just so there's something interesting for me to find on Monday morning, tell me your plans for the weekend. What exciting things does your life contain?
Gosh, I sound like a Radio 1 DJ. Sort of.
ta ta til then.
Thursday, February 23, 2006
book meme
I'm a sucker for a book meme. This one came from Anne. As arbitrary as any other book list, but here you go.
Meme instructions: Look at the list of books below. Bold the ones you’ve read, italicize the ones you might read, cross out the ones you won’t, underline the ones on your book shelf, and place parentheses around the ones you’ve never even heard of.
The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown
The Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger
The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy – Douglas Adams
The Great Gatsby – F.Scott Fitzgerald
To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
The Time Traveller’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger Currently re-reading this one. It's good.
His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman Not sure whether I want to read this or not. I saw the first half of the National Theatre production and it rather put me off.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – J. K. Rowling
Life of Pi – Yann Martel
Animal Farm: A Fairy Story – George Orwell
Catch-22 – Joseph Heller
The Hobbit – J. R. R. Tolkien
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddon
Lord of the Flies – William Golding No, I still haven't read it.
Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
1984 – George Orwell
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – J. K. Rowling (family copy)
One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez I started it once.
Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden
(The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini)
The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold
Slaughterhouse 5 – Kurt Vonnegut
Angels and Demons – Dan Brown
Fight Club – Chuck Palahniuk
Neuromancer – William Gibson
(Cryptonomicon – Neal Stephenson)
The Secret History – Donna Tartt
A Clockwork Orange – Anthony Burgesss
Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte
Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – C. S. Lewis Well, technically it's a family copy.
Middlesex – Jeffrey Eugenides
Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell
The Lord of the Rings – J. R. R. Tolkien
Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
Good Omens – Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman
Atonement – Ian McEwan
(The Shadow Of The Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon)
The Old Man and the Sea – Ernest Hemingway
The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath
Dune – Frank Herbert
Meme instructions: Look at the list of books below. Bold the ones you’ve read, italicize the ones you might read, cross out the ones you won’t, underline the ones on your book shelf, and place parentheses around the ones you’ve never even heard of.
The Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger
The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy – Douglas Adams
The Great Gatsby – F.Scott Fitzgerald
To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
The Time Traveller’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger Currently re-reading this one. It's good.
His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman Not sure whether I want to read this or not. I saw the first half of the National Theatre production and it rather put me off.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – J. K. Rowling
Life of Pi – Yann Martel
Animal Farm: A Fairy Story – George Orwell
Catch-22 – Joseph Heller
The Hobbit – J. R. R. Tolkien
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddon
Lord of the Flies – William Golding No, I still haven't read it.
Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
1984 – George Orwell
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – J. K. Rowling (family copy)
One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez I started it once.
(The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini)
The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold
Slaughterhouse 5 – Kurt Vonnegut
Neuromancer – William Gibson
(Cryptonomicon – Neal Stephenson)
A Clockwork Orange – Anthony Burgesss
Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte
Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – C. S. Lewis Well, technically it's a family copy.
Middlesex – Jeffrey Eugenides
Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell
The Lord of the Rings – J. R. R. Tolkien
Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
Good Omens – Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman
Atonement – Ian McEwan
(The Shadow Of The Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon)
The Old Man and the Sea – Ernest Hemingway
The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath
Dune – Frank Herbert
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
I love radio co-op
It's so unexpectedly entertaining. I went into the Co-op on my way home last night to buy potatoes (it was cold and windy and I had a craving for sausage and mash with gravy). The tannoy system was playing Dreadlock Holiday by 10cc. Interesting, I thought. Then the song finished and I heard the unmistakable plinks of the beginning of Bjork's Venus as a Boy. A grin slowly crept across my face and I found myself staying in the shop and buying a few more things just to hear the whole song and find out what came next (something I couldn't identify). Perhaps that's why they do it. Anyway, whenever I go in a Co-op there's almost always something unexpectedly good playing on the instore radio. In the last few weeks I've heard
Bob Dylan - Like a Rollin' Stone
Amy Winehouse - Stronger than me
The Foundations - Build me up Buttercup
The Beatles - Drive my car
The Bangles - Walk like an Egyptian
And that's just the ones I can remember. It's the randomness of the selection that gets me. You never know what's coming next and they're (nearly) all quality tunes.
Bob Dylan - Like a Rollin' Stone
Amy Winehouse - Stronger than me
The Foundations - Build me up Buttercup
The Beatles - Drive my car
The Bangles - Walk like an Egyptian
And that's just the ones I can remember. It's the randomness of the selection that gets me. You never know what's coming next and they're (nearly) all quality tunes.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
hungry hungry
My stomach is making the most extraordinary noises.
Thanks to all who are praying. I don't know any more than I've already said. The post mortem ruled out any suspicious circumstances, but wasn't conclusive about the cause of death. I don't know the funeral arrangements yet.
Church was good on Sunday. It was great to able to pray for each other and feel the support of the church community. And I went out for lunch with a bunch of girls, all about my own age and non-students. Finally I'm starting to find some people like me. Hooray!
Thanks to all who are praying. I don't know any more than I've already said. The post mortem ruled out any suspicious circumstances, but wasn't conclusive about the cause of death. I don't know the funeral arrangements yet.
Church was good on Sunday. It was great to able to pray for each other and feel the support of the church community. And I went out for lunch with a bunch of girls, all about my own age and non-students. Finally I'm starting to find some people like me. Hooray!
Friday, February 17, 2006
prayer request
I heard last night that one of the guys in my cell group was found dead on Thursday morning. No idea why, there's going to be a post mortem today. I didn't know him all that well, but he seemed a lovely bloke. He was a very new Christian, full of enthusiasm, glowing with love for God and care for others. He leaves an ex-wife and a 7 year old daughter, who hadn't been told about his death yesterday, her mother is probably going to tell her today.
Please pray for his family, for the cell and for the church as a whole.
Please pray for his family, for the cell and for the church as a whole.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
unhappy wednesday
I'm having another one of those "what am I doing here, I'm no good at this job, aarrgh!" sort of days.
Silly really.
I'm feeling disorganised and completely not on top of my work. Everything I have to do seems to be urgent and needs doing yesterday. And I'm forever putting things off until I feel confident enough to do them (i.e. anything that involves the phone.)
All this despite a successful event yesterday.
Last night I ended up knitting in front of the telly, watching Jackanory night on BBC4. Wonderfully comforting and nostalgic.
Today I met Debs and my mum in town for lunch, which was great, if too brief. They're both on half term this week. I wish I was. I'm feeling very time-poor. I'm supposed to be taking my favourite food and favourite pudding to a cell social on Thursday night. I made triple quantities of mole (that's chicken in a tomatoey chilli sauce with ground almonds and chocolate, not a small furry creature) last night and froze what I didn't eat, so that's sorted, but I haven't got the time to make brownies or chocolate cake or banana cake. I might have to buy some yummy ice-cream or something.
Choir tonight. Singing always cheers me up. Last week I was feeling tired and didn't want to go, but I went and by the end felt muchly cheered and destressed. So hopefully, it will have the same effect tonight.
Silly really.
I'm feeling disorganised and completely not on top of my work. Everything I have to do seems to be urgent and needs doing yesterday. And I'm forever putting things off until I feel confident enough to do them (i.e. anything that involves the phone.)
All this despite a successful event yesterday.
Last night I ended up knitting in front of the telly, watching Jackanory night on BBC4. Wonderfully comforting and nostalgic.
Today I met Debs and my mum in town for lunch, which was great, if too brief. They're both on half term this week. I wish I was. I'm feeling very time-poor. I'm supposed to be taking my favourite food and favourite pudding to a cell social on Thursday night. I made triple quantities of mole (that's chicken in a tomatoey chilli sauce with ground almonds and chocolate, not a small furry creature) last night and froze what I didn't eat, so that's sorted, but I haven't got the time to make brownies or chocolate cake or banana cake. I might have to buy some yummy ice-cream or something.
Choir tonight. Singing always cheers me up. Last week I was feeling tired and didn't want to go, but I went and by the end felt muchly cheered and destressed. So hopefully, it will have the same effect tonight.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
happy tuesday
It is Tuesday. It is a Tuesday just like any other Tuesday. Actually not just like any other Tuesday because this one contained an event I organised which was well attended and very interesting but kept me awake last night and early this morning with every part of my body feeling tense and nervous. Tonight I plan to relax. I might have a bath. I will certainly knit. Maybe eat some chocolate. I'll have the house to myself since my housemate will be out with her fiance for some inexplicable reason, so it'll be lovely and quiet.I hope you have a happy Tuesday too.
Monday, February 13, 2006
Shandian
I went to see A Cock and Bull Story the weekend before last, and liked it much more than I thought I would. Not that I expected to dislike it, but I did worry that Steve Coogan would be too annoying. He was a little in the early parts of the film and I still think he mostly plays multiple versions of the same character, but by the end his character seemed to have some depth.
It's not a straight adaptation of the book and it's not meant to be. It shares themes with Adaptation, in that both are about the process of making a film. There's enough humour for it not to seem clever-clever and overly knowing. The film acknowledges the feeling of frustration at missed-out elements of a favourite book by using character's complaints to include 'missing' scenes. (Thankfully it completely misses out the long travelogue sections I always get bogged down in.)
Rob Brydon steals every scene he's in. Keeley Hawes looks terribly grown up as Tristram's mother. Shirley Henderson is squeaky and interesting as usual. There are some great cameos, one of the best being Tony Wilson turning up to interview Steve Coogan. (Coogan played Wilson in 24 Hour Party People.)
I think this film manages to side step possible accusations of pretentiousness by being amusing, clever and touching. It also gets away with much of its unevenness and jumps between plot lines since Sterne does exactly the same thing. The digressions are the point of Tristram Shandy.
It's not a straight adaptation of the book and it's not meant to be. It shares themes with Adaptation, in that both are about the process of making a film. There's enough humour for it not to seem clever-clever and overly knowing. The film acknowledges the feeling of frustration at missed-out elements of a favourite book by using character's complaints to include 'missing' scenes. (Thankfully it completely misses out the long travelogue sections I always get bogged down in.)
Rob Brydon steals every scene he's in. Keeley Hawes looks terribly grown up as Tristram's mother. Shirley Henderson is squeaky and interesting as usual. There are some great cameos, one of the best being Tony Wilson turning up to interview Steve Coogan. (Coogan played Wilson in 24 Hour Party People.)
I think this film manages to side step possible accusations of pretentiousness by being amusing, clever and touching. It also gets away with much of its unevenness and jumps between plot lines since Sterne does exactly the same thing. The digressions are the point of Tristram Shandy.
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