new year reflections: 31 december 2018…

Another year’s reflections (as always - a reminder to ME!):
It’s been a good year, DESPITE lots of ongoing, depressing, frustrating stuff regarding Trump, Brexit etc etc.
Anyway, on the more positive things:
WONDERFUL BOOKS:
I read an awful lot of books (90!) this year and so I’ve limited the list to just ten (it would have been very easy to have 25!): Spark (Alice Broadway)(you bet!)(can’t wait until April when the final book of her trilogy, ‘Scar’ is published); Abide With Me (Si Smith)(brilliant!); Inside The Wave (Helen Dunmore)(poetry); WTF? (Robert Peston); Milkman (Anna Burns); The River in The Sky (Clive James)(poetry); The Diary Of A Bookseller (Shaun Bythell); Redeeming Capitalism (Kenneth J Barnes); Lewis Trilogy (The Black House, Lewis Man and The Chess Men)(3 books – cheating, I know!); and Sincerity (Carol Ann Duffy)(poetry).
GREAT FILMS:
I’ve watched 27 films in the cinema this year. My top ten in vague order (sorry… again, I tried to get it down to five, but found it impossible): Lady Bird; The Post; Mountain; Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri; First Man; The Wife; Isle Of Dogs and The Shape Of Water; Cold War; and Dogman. 
LOVELY LIVE PERFORMANCES:
THEATRE:
A Monster Calls (Bristol Old Vic); Touching The Void (Bristol Old Vic); A Christmas Carol (Bristol old Vic); Twelfth Night (Bristol Old Vic); The Elephant Man (Bristol Old Vic); and The Merry Wives Of Windsor (RSC, Stratford-upon-Avon)(live-screening).
CONCERTS:
Karine Polwart; Stacey Kent; Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla and the CBSO (Mahler ‘Symphony no.1’; Debussy ‘La Mer’); and lots of the excellent Monday+Wednesday free lunchtime concerts at Saint Stephen’s church.
EXHIBITIONS:
Not as many as I’d intended (maybe I’ve missed out one or two?): Patrick Heron at Tate St Ives; In Relation at the RWA; Clifford+Rosemary Ellis (Victoria Art Gallery, Bath); the Annual Open Exhibition at the RWA; and Richard Pousette-Dart: Beginnings at Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge; Albert Irvin (RWA); Witchy Woman Art (Centre Space Gallery); and Broken Faces (Centre Space Gallery).
SPORTING MOMENTS:
I’ve really enjoyed being a season ticket holder for the Bristol Bears (rugby) and also saw a fair amount of County cricket this year (I could always enjoy even more!) at Taunton, Cheltenham and Bristol.
The last time I actually played golf was three-and-a-half years ago and I’ve now officially ‘retired’ from the game and have joined the ranks of ex-golfers. I miss the camaraderie of my lovely golfing buddies but, surprisingly, not the game itself. If anyone wants a set of very good Callaway clubs and carry-bag, make me an offer!
FRIENDS:
Once again, we’ve been blessed to be able to meet up with many of our lovely “special” friends (they know who they are!) on a pretty frequent basis during the course of the year… always special occasions – there have been a LOT of sixtieth birthday celebrations (always good to have friends that are much younger than you!)… and have also really enjoyed making new friendships. I’m very lucky to have so many wonderful friends… and to continue having opportunities to meet new friends. I feel very, very blessed.
ART STUFF:
Another really enjoyable, busy year, including:
1. I’ve still very much enjoyed continuing to post a drawing or photograph every day as part of my “One Day Like This” blog (now more than 1,100 drawings and 1,100 photographs since I started in September 2012).
2. The brilliant Drawing Group I joined in 2017 – organised by the lovely, talented artists Charlotte and Alice Pain with the support of the Churches Conservation Trust – continues to bring me great joy. We meet for two hours most Tuesdays (and also occasionally go “on tour” to draw in other locations). The Group also held a lovely exhibition at St John-on-the-Wall church, Bristol.
3. We had another successful Arts Trail at number 40 (I think this was our 15^th consecutive year)… and attracted some 700 people into our basement over the Arts Trail weekend!
4. Iris, Rosa and I combined again to produce some large window art as part of another very successful Window Wanderland in February (this time our theme was “Harry Potter!).
5. One Week 100 Faces: I was encouraged to participate in this and duly produced my 100 faces in a week – but I didn’t feel that I produced anything really worthwhile (I wouldn’t mind having another go sometime with a different approach).
6. Urban Sketchers, Bristol: I joined this wonderful group in March (thanks to a suggestion from Ian Adams)… it’s a worldwide organisation and, here in Bristol, we meet up every month and regularly get more than 20 people coming along. It’s very, very enjoyable: we compare notes (and sketchbooks) and share ideas. It’s hugely enjoyable and I’ve made some lovely new friends. The group’s brilliantly organised by local artists Jules, Jane and Charlotte. A real highlight and joy.
FAMILY AND SIMPLE PLEASURES:
Cafés, reading, drawing, photography, walking, cinema, living near the sea (well, sort of…) and, of course, our grandchildren remain very important aspects of my life (although, now that they’re all at school, our time with them is sadly a little reduced these days and ‘looking after’ no longer really comes into it)... it’s really lovely seeing them develop in their individual, unique ways (and they ALL make me laugh!!).
Feel SO lucky to have the family we have… and great that we all “get on” so well and are able to see each other regularly (even if we don’t see the lovely Chorley/Lancashire contingent as often as we’d like).
SOMETHING YET TO BE CREATED:
Each year I vow that I’m “definitely need to give more thought to this”… but, largely, end up bumbling on. I’ve really enjoyed producing double-page drawings in my sketchbooks (I’ve got a whole library of sketchbooks!!) and I’ve been experimenting a lot with watercolour pens (in addition to using my ‘usual’ black line drawings). The results have ranged from ‘interesting’ to ‘laughable failures’ and so I’d like to be able to control my use of the watercolour pens a little better (maybe in conjunction with watercolour paints or inks?). Virtually all my sketches these days are drawn ‘in situ’ and I certainly want to continue this (my folding chair/rucksack has proved a treasured possession!).
HOLIDAYS/LEISURE: 
We’ve continued to tighten our belts this year, but had a lovely week staying in St Ives in the early Autumn (plus enjoying various excursions and stopovers to Plymouth, Cambridge and Leeds.
SPIRITUAL LIFE:
We continue to be part of the lovely Community of Saint Stephens, in the heart of the city, and it really does feel like our ‘spiritual home’. A very stimulating, reflective community and I love the intimacy and informality of its services and that we can actively contribute to discussions. We’ve made some really good friends with the very special people there. We’re very fortunate with our members of clergy and I particularly enjoy the involvement from the wonderful theology students from Trinity College. My own faith-life journey has felt like a combination of being both regularly challenged and blessed. Five or six of us meet up most Wednesday mornings in Dom’s Cafe at 7.30am for “Bloke’s Prayer”… and it’s something which has proved to be absolutely brilliant – definitely not to be missed if at all possible.
HEALTH:
After a bit of a ‘health scare’ in the previous year, the past 12 months have proved to be pretty good healthwise. My foot and leg issues seem pretty much under control/sorted (well, almost). My teeth continue to fall out and my back has been playing up since the end of the summer… and I have a suspicion that my left hip might need replacing over the next couple of years or so!! I continue walk on a daily basis and, having monitored my mileage, discovered that I’d clocked up some 1,200miles in the course of a year (ie. more than 3 miles a day).
OTHER STUFF:
1. I continue to serve on the PCC of Saint Stephen’s church.
2. We continue to be a no-car household… and use a local car club very occasionally, as we see the ‘need’.

I do love reflecting back on the things that have happened over the previous twelve months and, each year, it’s a reminder that there will be some very special things that they will happen in the coming year – even though, at this moment, I don’t know what these will be. Who’d have thought, for example, that ‘urban sketching’ (and the friends I’ve made through doing it) would have become such an important (and hugely enjoyable) part of my life? Clearly, I’m also aware that there will inevitably be some sad stuff too… and perhaps challenges we feel ill-equipped to face. In such times, families and friendships will, once again, see us through.   

For us as a family, it’s been another very good year… and we continue to count our blessings.
I wish you (and all yours) a very happy, healthy and peaceful 2019!
PS: My SouthBank Bristol Arts Trail stuff in our basement (May 2018).

a christmas carol at the old vic, bristol…

Moira and I spent a rather lovely afternoon at the Bristol Old Vic seeing Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” (adapted by Tom Morris and directed by Lee Lyford)… a very good way to see the old year ‘out’! An added bonus for us was that son-in-law Felix Hayes was playing Scrooge – and he was bloomin’ good! I’ve just been reading some of the press reviews and every single one of them praises Felix to the hilt (the word ‘magnificent’ is used on a couple of occasions - and very justifiably in my view).
He was indeed very, very impressive.
Everyone knows the story of ‘A Christmas Carol’, but I was intrigued as to how they would ‘play’ it. Would it follow traditional lines in terms of ‘set’ and adaptation? Well, I think they succeeded quite brilliantly in virtually all respects. The set was skeletal (scaffolding!), dark and somewhat Gothic (definitely not ‘chocolate box’ Victorian London!) and with a hint of a rather menacing city environment. But the performance was also full of mirth, fun (not to mention audience participation!). The story starts in a depressing monochrome world which gradually unfolds into a riot of colour and celebration. The performance was accompanied by lively, evocative ‘steampunk music’ which (I have to say), on occasions, I found a little intrusive (sometimes drowning out some of the dialogue – or maybe that’s just my own deteriorating hearing!?). But hey, it’s Christmas/New Year and we can forgive such things!
Strangely (you might think!), I also found the story quite moving… and a real echo of the world today – the world of the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’, the world in which it’s all too easy to discount the poor, the homeless, the refugee, the migrant.
Scrooge’s sad life of missed opportunities and lost loves… and his discovery that generosity is the key to human happiness.
A simple, powerful message that we, oh so definitely, need today!
I loved the production - and the full house and the vibrant atmosphere within the foyer and the theatre itself was a powerful testament to the beauty, anticipation and value of live performance.
Happy Happy New Year!
PS: Members of the cast merged into the audience towards the end (Moira+I were sitting in the stalls - and I was at the end of a row)… Felix duly approached me from behind to encourage a response and got a ‘bit of a shock’ to discover that the old geazer in question was his bloomin’ father-in-law! Naturally, he was very keen to introduce me to the audience (oh cor blimey!)… hey ho (oh how we laughed!)!

december 2018 books…

As usual, I’ve been keeping a tally of the books I’ve read this year and it turns out that I’ve read a total of 90 (that’s well over a book and a half per week, which seems faintly ridiculous)… and Moira has apparently read about the same number. I think they call it 'retirement'!
Run Riot (Nikesh Shukla): I’ve previously read occasional stuff Shukla’s written for the Guardian, but this is the first book of his I’ve read (I bought two books after hearing/meeting him at the formal opening of our wonderful new Local bookshop “StorySmith Books”). It’s a novel he conceived and drafted before the tragedy in Grenfell Tower in 2017 which, strangely, makes the story even more compelling and frightening.17 year-old twins and their parents were forced to move to a city tower block… they’d been forced to move there when their rent was doubled overnight and the father’s chemo meant he was unable to work. They make the best of the situation and ultimately regard the tower as their home and their community. But then they start noticing boarded-up flats and glossy fliers for expensive apartments… sinister truths begin to emerge… and they end up having to stand up for themselves and their community. This is a thriller, set in real time, with multiple narratives, in a single location… and surprisingly (for me at least – given its gangland setting and the violent intimidation from representatives of the establishment and even the police), it’s a YA (Young Adult) novel. It’s a powerful and, at times, pretty scary story by a very impressive writer.
A Distant View Of Everything (Alexander McCall Smith): My second of McCall Smith’s “Isabel Dalhousie novels”. I like McCall Smith as a writer but, I have to say, I was a little underwhelmed (bored even!) by this book. Dalhousie is a well-off, intelligent, middle-class philosopher, living in Edinburgh, with a perfect husband and two young sons… but there’s part of me that just wanted to scream at the main character and her world of moral curiosity, kindness and, frankly, interfering, too-good-to-be-trueness! Clearly, McCall Smith is able to churn such books out with ease… and that’s what came across to me with this book (he didn’t really have to stretch himself). Sorry.
Chinese Whispers (Peter May): The final book of May’s six-book ‘China Thrillers’. Another excellent murder mystery – this time involving the so-called ‘Beijing Ripper’. Very cleverly devised, well researched and, very definitely, another page-turner (I read the 450-page novel in little more than a day!). However, I felt the final ending was just a little too contrived for my liking, but very good nevertheless. I’ve very much enjoyed the series.
What We Talk About When We Talk About Love (Raymond Carver): A book of short stories, first published in the USA in 1981. All are set in north-west America “among the lonely men and women who drink, fish and play cards to ease the passing of time” (as the book cover describes it). Carver himself died of cancer in 1977 at the age of 50; he was born into a poverty-stricken family at the tail-end of the Depression and was the son of a violent alcoholic; he married at 19, started a series of menial jobs and his own career of 'full-time drinking as a serious pursuit', a career that would eventually kill him. After the first couple of stories, somewhat ridiculously perhaps, I was put in mind of some of Trump-supporting characters that featured in Ed Balls’ recent television documentary about the US President! I frequently struggled to come to terms with Carver’s colloquial language but, despite this, found it hauntingly compelling.
The Librarian (Salley Vickers): The novel starts in 1958 and concerns a young woman who has taken up a job as a children’s librarian in a run-down library in a small market town – with a view to firing the enthusiasm of its children. Vickers is the same age as me and I was able to relate to the world she described (but I was never a ‘reader’ as a child and certainly didn’t grow up in a small market town). Although I found much of the book rather too nostalgic and sugar-coated for my liking (I suspect Vickers deliberately adopted a writing style that matched the period times but, on occasions, it felt like reading something written by Enid Blyton!), I was very pleased I persevered. It touches on our changing society, on politics (closing down libraries!), on education, on the importance of reading as a vital way of stimulating imagination and, amongst other things, on families and relationships… and also reflecting on all of this from the perspective of maturity and experience (which, of course, I have in abundance!). 

stupid, stupid brexit…

When Mr Putin – that demigod of democracy – tells us that the UK should not hold a second referendum and insist that Mrs May “should fulfil the will of the people”, you just know something is wrong.
After a week of utter chaos at Westminster and a time when confidence in UK politicians appears to have hit an all-time low (in my lifetime, at least?), we’re left with an apparent choice between Mrs May’s ‘deal’ with the EU or ‘no deal’.
Trust in politicians to deliver a good Brexit deal is collapsing and a growing number of voters want a second referendum, according to a new poll (published two days ago). The research, commissioned by Hope Not Hate and Best for Britain, showed 64% want a fresh vote to break the parliamentary deadlock. A majority (67%) also believe the government cannot deliver a deal. Nearly 80% of Labour voters said they would back a re-run of the 2016 referendum.

So, the Labour Party comes to the rescue? Well, no… not at all. In fact, according to an interview in today’s Guardian newspaper, Mr Corbyn is determined to stay with Brexit (“even if his party won a snap general election”) and that he would “seek to go to Brussels and try to secure a better deal – if possible, in time to allow Brexit to go ahead on 29 March”.

H E L L O??

Is the Labour Party living in the real world? Does Mr Corbyn REALLY believe the EU would simply change its view and accept a different deal? When the EU says “no”, does the Labour Party have a cunning Plan B? Does the Labour Party really think the electorate is stupid (oh, I shouldn’t use that word, should I!)?

What an utter, utter farce… and we think Mr Trump is a COMPLETE joke!
Whatever your personal views on Brexit, you must surely accept that the 2016 referendum vote was based on lies, myths, fears and a whole multitude of unknown factors. Whilst there still remain huge uncertainties, there can be no doubt that we now have a far better picture of the ‘facts’ on which to cast our vote. Remember, this wasn’t like a General Election – when you could change your mind in 5 years’ time – no this was a vote on behalf of this generation and subsequent generations.

Two weeks ago, on facebook, I quoted Polly Toynbee from an article in The Guardian: “Labour would finally have to resolve its conflict between Corbyn’s small coterie and virtually everyone else, Momentum included. A fudged ‘we will renegotiate’ will fall apart in the first week of any campaign. Of course Labour should stand as remainers against Tory Brexiters. Look how Caroline Lucas mocked them in the Channel 4 debate: ‘Brexit is a project for the right, by the right and why Labour would support it I just don’t understand’. But if, lamentably, that’s a step too far, then a Labour manifesto has to promise a referendum – letting the people solve their indecision is the only way to hold the party together”.

Nothing has changed… except that things have got worse!
In the same article, Polly Toynbee went on to say: “Every day, a referendum looks more likely – it would be the only escape from this car crash. ‘Hell will freeze over before May agrees,’ an ally of hers says – but it is now the last escape hatch from this hell. The Brexiters’ own ‘project fear’ has been to terrify the nation, threatening that any attempt to run another referendum would cause rebellion, mob-rule, riots on the streets. What are they so afraid of? It’s losing, now that the polls are shifting”.

Maybe a rebellion is the only answer? Are there sufficient brave MPs in parliament who are prepared to defy their Party Whips (in the case of Tory and Labour MPs)? It would be wonderful to think that there are… but I have a horrible feeling that it’ll all end in a whimper and that we’ll all be left shaking our heads – as individual MPs battle it out seeking their own personal ‘rewards’ and as they follow their ‘leadership aspirations’ and 'party ambitions'.

Don’t talk to me about democracy.

november-december 2018 books…

Time Present And Time Past (Deirdre Madden): This novel (published in 2013) is set in Dublin in 2006 – at the height of the ‘Celtic Tiger’ – but with reference to Madden’s own rural Catholic upbringing in County Antrim. It’s the story about family bonds, about its members, about memories, about secrets, about speculation (‘what might have happened if…’) and about our attitudes to the present. It’s a fascinating and beguiling novel (strangely, the voice in my head didn’t have an Irish accent… which was a little disappointing!). Family photographs (and the story of photography) play an important part and I particularly liked a section near the end of the book which ‘froze time’ and gave a brief account of what was to become of each of the family members, their careers, their future families… and, in some instances, their deaths. For me, meeting up with cousins again over the past couple of years for lunch and catch-ups (and old and very old photographs) has conjured up all sorts of memories that I’d perhaps very nearly forgotten and seeing images of people I’d never met. I recall someone once saying “middle age is a time for transformation as well as reflection” – well, I think “old age” can be seen in the same way! A very good, enjoyable, thought-provoking book.
Hong Kong (Jan Morris): This book was published in 1990 – 7 years before HK reverted to Chinese sovereignty (after 156 years of British rule). I first read it some 25 years ago (but have a strange feeling that I didn’t finish it first time around). As ever, with Morris’s books, it’s full a fascinating facts and observations. One of my favourite ‘asides’ relates to the importance of sport from the very earliest days of British rule… references to a ‘fine cricket field’ with its pavilion on the waterfront… and about one of the popular annual cricket fixtures was Monosyllables v Polysyllables (captained by Messrs D’Aeth and Holsworthy)! I found much of the colony’s C19th history, in particular, hugely depressing (all about the Empire, don’t you know!). In its latter years as a British outpost, HK was clearly regarded as something of a success story (eg. by the 1960s, it boasted ‘perhaps the most modern and efficient public transport system in any of the great cities of the world’). Amongst other throw-away comments, Morris remarks that I found amusing: “I have been told of the particular effectiveness of Sir Murray MacLehose, Governor from 1971-82, not so much because of his intellect or decision, but because he was 6’6” tall”! On the whole, Morris conceded that British Government in HK had been ‘good government’, but also felt that it “had failed to honour their best own values” – consistently declining to give political power to the people (or even keep them properly informed). Morris has clearly been intrigued by Hong Kong for many years but, unlike Oxford, Venice or Trieste for example, not captivated by it. An utterly fascinating book.
Chamber Music About The Wu-Tang (Will Ashon): The book tells the story of the acclaimed 1993 hip hop album “Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)”. I bought it after attending a book talk by Ashon at our new, brilliant local bookshop (StorySmith Books). I’d heard the album several times over the years but, in all honesty, have never really ‘got’ hip hop music. So, I’m quite possibly the oldest person to have read this book! Ashon has a background in the music industry – as a journalist and founder of his own record label – but, as he freely admits: “I am white, I am male, I am middle class, I am Oxbridge-educated, I am from England”. Nevertheless, for him, “Enter” represents ‘one of the greatest albums of all time’. The book hasn’t been authorised by the Wu-Tang Clan or any of its individual members. The original Wu-Tang Clan (as you probably know) comprised nine members – all black, all male and all with ‘tag’ names such as ‘RZA’, ‘Genius’, ‘U-God’, ‘Masta Killer’ and the like. Hilariously, I ended up having a printed out sheet of Clan mini-biographies beside me as I read the book to remind me who was who! It’s hugely articulate and very well-researched and I learnt an awful lot about the genre and the background it comes from: poverty; drugs; brotherhood; essentially fatherless; violence; race; police stop-and-search and brutality; unpunished white-on-black crimes; unfair justice system; macho; gangs; control; martial arts; gurus; culture wars; kung-fu movies… I found it a surprisingly compelling, fascinating book and I only struggled when Ashon focussed on specific album tracks and some of his descriptions of the people involved – which, to my mind, frequently became verbose, over-confident and somewhat pretentious in the language used – clearly geared towards ‘hip’ young people and not grumpy (very) old geezers like me!
Devotion (Patti Smith): This short book was written for the ‘Why I Write’ series is based on the Windham-Campbell Lectures, delivered annually to commemorate the awarding of the Donald Windham-Sandy M. Campbell Literature Prizes at Yale University. It consists of a crafted tale of obsession - a young skater who lives for her art, a possessive collector who ruthlessly seeks his prize, a relationship forged of need. Smith then takes us on a second journey, exploring the sources of her story… to the South of France to Camus’s house; the garden of the publisher Gallimard; tracking down Simone Weil’s grave in a Kent cemetery; and wandering through the Paris streets of Patrick Modiano’s novels… and, through it all, we glimpse some of her own writings, composed in a café or a train. I initially feared the book might be something of a pretentious work by a famous celebrity, but I was wrong… I found it rather beautiful, elegant and illuminating.
The Runner (Peter May): There are 7 books in May’s “Chinese Thrillers” series and, typically, I’m not reading them in sequence (this is book 5 and I’ve previously read book 2)! I was somewhat critical of the previous book I’d read (“Fourth Sacrifice”) and felt that it was probably 200 pages too long. I’ve got no such reservations of this one (435 pages) – a real ‘page-turner’… and a very clever one at that.

back to berlin…

I went along to the Watershed this afternoon to see Catherine Lurie’s thoughtful, sobering documentary “Back In Berlin”. It follows eleven Jewish bikers travelling from Israel to Berlin for the Maccabiah Games (often referred to as the ‘Jewish Olympics’).
In 1930, a group of Jewish bikers travelled to all corners of Europe to find participants for the first Maccabiah Games. In 2015, to commemorate this heroic journey, 11 Jewish bikers set off from Israel once again to re-trace their ancestors' footsteps and carry the Maccabiah torch to the site of the infamous 1936 Berlin Olympics for the first games held on German soil. Travelling 4500km across 7 countries in just 24 days, together they explore their dark genocidal past and discover how they or they families survived the Holocaust.
Given the populist movements from both the left and right rising again today, “Back to Berlin” provides an essential connection between the past and present. It’s a cautionary tale but also a story of defiance, survival and people overcoming the worst from others to restate our common humanity – and with the games themselves being a kind of redemption. Or, as the Guardian film critic, Peter Bradshaw, aptly describes it: “an Olympic flame of hope burning defiantly in the presence of moral darkness”.
It’s a beautiful, evocative and poignant documentary that reflects on anti-semitism in Europe and very much worth seeing.
PS: There were just me and five others in the audience, but I did strike up an interesting conversation with a fascinating, highly intelligent, 83 year-old man (a former nuclear scientist)… and, for some reason(!), we found ourselves talking about Trump and Brexit (he started it!!)(note: he was very much ‘a man after my own heart’!) and bemoaning how on earth we’d come to find ourselves in the current mess. At the end of the film, he turned to me, wiping tears from his eyes, and simply said: “an emotional journey”. He was absolutely right.

two go on a great western adventure…

Dear GWR
I’ll try to keep this reasonably brief – because I expect a lot of the passengers on yesterday’s 19.03 train from London Paddington to Exeter St David’s might also be writing to you…

1. We arrived in good time, found our coach (coach A) and looked for our seats.
2. The electronic seat displays weren’t working (surprise, surprise!) BUT, thankfully, reserved seat cards had been put in place.
3. We had booked seats 61+62… only to discover that the carriage only had 61 seats (really)!!
4. We (and other passengers) then discovered that the reserved seat cards seemed to have been scattered entirely randomly throughout the carriage (I kid you not!!) and bore no relationship to the numbered seats to which they’d been attached.
5. Annoying and inconvenient as this was, passengers made adjustments as best they could and eventually settled into their seats… despite the frustrations, good humour generally reigned (but staff members were conspicuous by their absence).
6. Two minutes after the train was due to depart, there was an announcement telling us that all passengers had to move into the front five coaches (no apology or explanation, just an announcement)(the train had 10 coaches and we were later advised that a staff member had failed to turn up – which meant they were only able to operate with 5 coaches… which later reverted to 10 coaches because they’d eventually managed to find another member of staff)(are you following this?!).
7. The rear five coaches were already crowded with passengers and you can imagine the displeasure of those affected (and, in some cases, sheer panic!)…
8. After a further 10 minute delay (to allow for passengers to find alternative seats or standing locations in the front five coaches) - and, of course, the notion of securing any reserved seats had long since vanished and people just sat, if they were lucky, wherever they could – the train departed.
9. The journey continued relatively smoothly… albeit late (and I actually felt quite sorry for the train manager – who was trying to cope as best she could).
10. But as we approached Bristol Temple Meads (literally 30 seconds before the train’s arrival), there was another brief announcement telling any passenger who was proceeding beyond Bristol (fortunately, this was our destination), that they needed to be in the FRONT five coaches – as only five coaches would be making the full journey. I can only imagine the consternation of the passengers affected. Why on earth wasn’t this announcement made as the train left Bath Spa station, so that people had time to prepare themselves for their ongoing journeys?

Oh, what fun we had… two go on a Great Western Adventure (indeed!).
Travelling by train and being able to book seats in advance used to be a pleasurable, if relatively expensive, experience. I’m afraid this is no longer the case… journeys have just become experiences to endure rather than enjoy.
Yours sincerely
Steve Broadway

PS: Over the past several weeks, we’ve travelled by GWR (always avoiding busiest times of day) and have been consistently finding that there have been issues with our booked seats (not to mention the odd cancelled train and delayed services). Invariably, the electronic seat display (where applicable) isn’t working and passengers, understandably perhaps, refusing to give up their seats just because someone like me tells them that they’re occupying our booked seats.

PPS: We’ve also experienced a number of occasions when the train has become so crowded that there have been, for example, more than 20 passengers left standing in our coach for entire sections of journeys. It seems that you’re just delighted to sell as many tickets as you can – even if that results in unacceptable, over-crowded trains… and then, ironically (as a train manager announced to us passengers on a train last week), one of the reasons for the late arrival of our train was the large number of passengers getting off and on the train!!

suspiria…

I went along to the Watershed this morning (another 11am screening!) to see Luca Guadagnino’s “Suspiria” (there’s no truth in the rumour that I’d misread the Watershed advertising and thought it was something to do with a “sarsaparilla” drink). To be honest, I was in town first thing this morning and the thought of watching the ‘morning movie’ rather appealed – even though I knew very little about the film in question.
It turns out that it was a pretty scary film about witchcraft – featuring lots of blood and lots of skin (in the broadest sense). Apparently, the film is a ‘cover version’ (using the director’s description) of Dario Argento’s 1977 horror classic – which I’d never seen and knew nothing about. Guadagnino’s ‘take’ is set in Berlin in the 1970s (at a time when Germany was on ‘almost on the verge of a civil war’ – according to the Watershed’s blurb) and follows Susie Bannion (played by Dakota Johnson) as an ambitious young dancer auditioning for a place in a prestigious school - run, it turns out, by a coven of witchy women – including the wonderful Tilda Swinton (who also plays the parts of the company’s lead choreographer and, bizarrely, an 82 year-old male psychotherapist!). Students are disappearing (apparently due to some kind of ancient violence that dwells within the school’s walls)…
I certainly am no fan of ‘horror films’ as a genre, but was quite impressed by its rather spellbinding, dark ‘look’ and its eerily brilliant score (by Thom Yorke). Guadagnino describes the film as being about “being immersed in a world of turmoil and uncompromising darkness”... and it's difficult to disagree. Less impressive, for me, was the film’s length (2hours 32minutes)!
If you’re looking for a warm, cosy, feel-good film, this is probably not for you!

november 2018 books…

Ariel: A Literary Life Of Jan Morris (Derek Johns): I’m a great lover of Jan Morris’s books (her ‘Oxford’ and ‘Venice’ titles are probably in the top 20 of my all-time favourite books). She’s a supremely gifted writer and story-teller about places and I love her elegant, distinctive style of writing. This book (published 2016) is written by the man who was her literary agent for 20 years (they met for the first time in the early 1980s) and is a wonderful, affectionate biography which is full of quotations from her various books - “structured more thematically than chronologically”. It is not ‘authorised’ as such, though Johns interviewed Morris “several times”, and she gave him access to material and provided the (stunning) line drawings which are scattered throughout the book. I very much enjoyed it and it’s made me want read (and re-read) some of Morris’s other works.
The River In The Sky (Clive James): This is an epic poem which takes readers on a grand tour of “the fragile treasures of his life”. Powerful, poignant, and often very funny, recollections of places, people, books, art, music, cinema, regrets, high points, Cambridge and his family and much more, as he comes to the end of his life (I wrote to him more than 3 years ago… at a time when it seemed he didn’t have long left!). I love James’s writing - his wit, his eloquence, the breadth of his knowledge. I had originally wanted to read the whole thing out loud, but all too frequently found myself stumbling over classical names, exotic places lines of Latin and the like! But I did succeed, in my rather stumbling way, to do so for pages on end and, although there was much of the poem that I didn’t fully understand (due to my lack of knowledge and intellect!), I was completely bowled over by his ability to write such beautiful prose. From his previous books, I was well aware of his love of the Tango and, sure enough, the book contained a wonderful, evocative passage - that runs for a couple of pages (pp35-6) - about the “most delicately gracious of all the dancing ladies” who was “stone blind” and “danced like a dream”. It brought tears to my eyes. It’s a stunning book – which I’ll dip into constantly over the coming years. It helps put the ‘meaning of life’ into grateful context. A real treasure.
Milkman (Anna Burns): This won The Man Booker Prize 2018 and it’s a wonderful book. Extraordinary, in fact. It’s set in Northern Ireland in the late 1970s (in an unnamed city). The entire book is written in the first-person through the eyes of an intelligent, well-read, 18 year-old woman (‘middle sister’ as she calls herself). It’s a story of gossip and hearsay; when being on the ‘wrong side’ could have severe consequences; about power and fear; where life is cheap; about rumour and counter-rumour; about control and defiance; about ‘renouncers’ and ‘non-renouncers’; about the state and the paramilitary; about innocence and naivety. The book is, in turns, frightening, hilarious and joyous (that might seem hard to grasp, but that’s exactly how I experienced the book). No ‘proper’ names are used – instead there are characters referred to by such names as ‘Somebody McSomebody’, ‘tablets girl’, ‘nuclear boy’ and ‘maybe-boyfriend’. Although the book is set in a world dominated (in all senses) by men, there was, for me, a real sense that women-power was ultimately going to play a huge part in bringing peace and commonsense to the Province. I was quite captivated by Burns’ exceptional, original writing style. Quite, quite brilliant. A truly remarkable book (in my view!).  
Sincerity (Carol Ann Duffy): Duffy is clearly a very gifted poet and this is the third book of hers I have. Although, over perhaps the last five years or so, I’ve become a great lover of poetry, I still struggle with a lot of individual poems… and such is the case with this book. However, there are perhaps a dozen poems that I think are quite wonderful (and, no doubt, there’ll be others that I will come to love as I re-read them over the coming months and years). I particularly like her ‘take’ on political situations… Overall, I have to say, I was a little disappointed (there’s still part of me that wants poets to provide postscripts giving some context for their ‘less obvious’ poems to help those of us who struggle to understand them!).
Playing To The Gallery (Grayson Perry): This was published in 2014 (one might describe it as a tidied up version of his brilliant Reith Lectures from the previous year). I’m a huge fan of Perry and think he has a real gift for words as well as art. The book underlines his commitment to ‘making’. At the beginning of the book, Perry says: "I firmly believe that anyone is eligible to enjoy art or become an artist – any oik, any prole, any citizen who has a vision they want to share" and I’m absolutely with him on this. He talks about judging quality (in a chapter entitled “Democracy Has Bad Taste”) and about his own pathway into the art world (in a chapter entitled “How do you become a contemporary artist?). It’s all very profound, straightforward and amusing. He’s very good at exposing artistic pomposity and I loved his tongue-in-cheek contention that developers should pay artists to live somewhere for 10 years rent-free (on the basis that “artists are the shock troops of gentrification”… moving into cheap housing, do their work and, before you know it, a buzz starts up and people start describing the area as “interesting” and “cool”). He clearly feels that ‘learning a technique’ is crucial to any individual artistic development (“my imaginative possibilities have expanded”). Although he freely admits he didn’t make a profit from art until he was 38, I think it’s definitely a book written from the perspective of a ‘successful artist’. He talks enthusiastically about students attending art college being allowed “uncertainty” and “the need to find themselves, the desire for freedom but also the desire to know what to do”… and, for me, as someone who frequently struggles with trying to understand ‘contemporary art’ (with countless experiences of attending Fine Art Degree Shows and feeling utterly depressed by most of the work I see!), these were important observations. Nevertheless, it still made me feel that for every ‘successful’ artist, there are thousands (some of whom are quite brilliant) who ‘just about’ survive (and only thanks to having a determination not to be beaten). Thought-provoking, stimulating, joyful… and funny.

twelfth night at bristol old vic…

Moira and I went along to the Old Vic this afternoon to see Wils Wilson’s ‘take’ on Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night”… and it was quite wonderful! We’re SO lucky to have such good theatres in Bristol that put on such amazing stuff and, now that the brilliant new foyer is up and running (and operating beautifully), the whole theatrical experience at the Old Vic is second-to-none.
We’ve seen “Twelfth Night” performed several times over the years (including a brilliant one when Felix was performing at the RSC), but this was also very, very special. This production is set in the late 1960s – with all its music, its fashion, its style and when ‘pleasure-seeking’ was ‘celebrated’(!) – and is just perfect for this ‘take’ on the play. It’s colourful, confident, clever and an absolute delight (and very funny too). Obviously, the late 60s was ‘our’ period too, so we felt entirely ‘at home’!
You probably already know the play’s plot: Duke Orsino of Illyria is in love with Olivia, but his advances are rejected. A shipwrecked Viola arrives on his shores, and with the help of a Captain, disguises herself as a boy, calling herself Cesario, and enters Orsino's service. Orsino takes to Cesario, and sends 'him' to woo Olivia for him. Have you got that?
It’s a very modern interpretation of the play, with gender identification playing an important part (including Dawn Sievewright playing ‘Lady Tobi’ as opposed to Sir Toby Belch and Colette Dalal Tchantcho playing Duke Orsino).

The acting is consistently brilliant – the entire cast is hugely talented (they’re ALL stars) – and the music is stunningly good too (with, I think, six of the twelve actors playing a wide range of musical instruments and singing). Almost impossible to pick out the ‘stars’ of the performance but, for me, I thought Dawn Sievewright (Lady Tobi), Christopher Green (Malvolio), Guy Hughes (Andrew Aguecheek) and Dylan Read (Feste) are especially wonderful.  

It was an absolute delight… an absolute joy (I’d happily go back and see it all over again tomorrow!).
Photo: Christopher Green, as Malvolio, complete with cross-gartered yellow stockings.
PS: The high-heel boots of Malvolio and Andrew Aquecheek reminded me of one of my fellow architectural students (I'm blowed if I can remember his name: Alan Byrne perhaps?)... who, despite already being 6'3" tall, used to wear high-heel boots... handsome man with a very deep, refined accent and he consistently wore a velvet jacket and trousers... whatever happened to him?
PPS: The play runs until Saturday 17 November: if you’re within easy reach of Bristol, then I urge you to see it.

peterloo…

Moira and I went along to the Watershed this afternoon to see Mike Leigh’s film “Peterloo”.
As you probably already know, the Peterloo Massacre occurred at St Peter's Field, Manchester in August 1819 (the massacre was given the name ‘Peterloo’ in an ironic comparison to the Battle of Waterloo, which had taken place four years earlier), when cavalry charged into a crowd of 60,000–80,000 who had gathered to demand the reform of parliamentary representation (15 people were killed and hundreds injured).
Although I was well aware of the Peterloo Massacre, somewhat shamefully, I knew comparatively little about its details and context (I was forced to drop History as a school subject in my second year – that’s my excuse!).
Leigh weaves multiple stories of everyday people to create an impressive historical epic that delivers a very sobering look at a 19th century moment that still resonates in the present, but there’s still part of me that rather agrees with Mary Beard’s recent comments about her dislike of ‘fictionalised history’ (with some details perhaps invented/embellished/slightly manipulated) but, nevertheless, the film is a remarkable achievement.
I’m a great fan of Mike Leigh and, yes, I know he can always be relied upon when it comes to pointing out cruel injustices waged against the working classes… but, frankly, thank goodness that we do have someone with his talent and in his position to do so!
In some ways, however, I have to say that I was slightly disappointed.
I think I’d expected it to have been concluded in something of a “what-lessons-can-we-all-learn-from-this?” big film ending, but that’s not the way Mike Leigh does things. I thought the film was slow and a little too long (just over two-and-a-half hours) – with some passages running on excessively for my taste and yet there were other sections where I would have liked more focus/greater depth. But the film is a veritable tour de force – with thousands of extras (no digital imagery for Mr Leigh!) and it tells a really important story about our crucial social history… and about the suffering of the poor families and labourers emerging utterly transformed and urbanised by new technology following the industrial revolution. The massacre was clearly a defining moment. In the Watershed’s programme notes, Leigh complains that whilst every school pupil is taught about Henry VIII’s six wives, the ‘Peterloo’ massacre is largely ignored. Interestingly (for me at least), according to Wikipedia, Peterloo is commemorated by a plaque close to the site - a replacement for an earlier one that was criticised as being inadequate as it did not reflect the scale of the massacre.
I learnt an awful lot from the film… about how the poor of the early 18^th century were so mistreated; about the fact that most of them had no political voice or true representation; about how power and influence was reserved for the tiny privileged minority; and about how, to a large extent, these people abused their responsibilities within society. Some might say: “T’was ever thus”... and they might have a point.
Inevitably with Mike Leigh, the films makes political points for us today… in the early years of the c18th, people maddened with hunger because corn law tariffs had barred imports of cheap grain from the continent… and in 2018, our government is planning to stockpile food (and medicines) in the event of similar restrictions on trade.
The film’s about austerity. It’s dour. It’s about dissent. It’s about political agitation, oratory and challenge.
Maybe there aren’t that many differences between then and now... mass pro-democracy protest in Manchester, 1819 and the People’s Vote march in London, 2018? There’s certainly the same sense of anger and unfairness.