Double Fault, On Chesil Beach The Mission Song and Notes from an Exhibition

Having been so impressed by Lionel Shriver's We Need to Talk about Kevin, I picked on Double Fault from the other six novels she has written. However, this was quite disappointing and took a long time to reach the end. And then there is no happy ending. In fact the main character, Willy loses both ways at the conclusion. So her struggle, and mine, were not worth it in the end.

The next two books were the opposite and were devoured far too quickly. In fact On Chesil Beach is such a short novel (166 pages) that it would never take long. But Ian McEwan wrings out everything you ever want to know about the two main characters. His writing is superb and the drama of such a little story is mesmerising.

I have read ever book written by John Le Carre. But the poor reviews of The Mission Song nearly put me off. I'm glad they didn't as the author has lost none of his craft and wit. It is equal to any of his later novels, a great plot, stunning locations and brilliant writing. I cannot wait to see the film.

I thought Notes from an Exhibition would be right up my street. Set in Cornwall, time twisting narrative and interesting characters. However it did not quite work for me. There were sections that were quite tedious, interspersed with something quite magical. I must have found the right key three quarters through as suddenly it flowed to a satisfying conclusion.

Reflections of My Life by Maramalade

When Alison bought "Jackie The Album", ( a 3 CD collection of hits from the seventies) I thought there might be the odd track I might like. But there were a lot more than that. The standout song for me was one I had not heard for some time, but was a staple when I used to listen to Radio 2 before it became Radio 1 and a half.

Reflections of My Life was the one brilliant composition from Dean Ford (born Thomas McAleese) and Junior Campbell (born William Campbell) who were the vocalist and lead guitarist in the Scottish band Marmalade. They had previously sung other people's compositions and it was only when they changed record labels and joined Decca that they were allowed to write their own stuff. And it obviously all poured out in this one great melancholic song. It contains a novel reverse guitar solo from Campbell and great vocals from Ford. Unfortunately they never repeated it's success. But definitely one of my favourite records.

The Eye, Doomsday and Iron Man

I had hoped that when the half term holidyas were over, we might have some decent, intelligent films to see. But these have not materialised and I am down to one film every two or three weeks.

The Eye was a decent enough thriller. A remake of the Japanese original, it suffered slightly from a subdued performance from Jessica Alba in the main role. A few shocks along the way depended on apparitions appearing suddenly. Could have been better.

Doomsday had been panned by the critics, but I did not want to miss a Neil Marshall movie after "Dog Soldiers" and "The Descent". It was much better than I had feared. OK, there were many references to other films, particularly the "Mad Max" chase, but it was all done in fun. Rhona Mitra did well in the lead, but Bob Hoskins, who had been advertised as the main star, had a very small contribution. Familiar faces included Adrian Lester from "Hustle" as Mitra's number two.

I had serious reservations about yet another superhero movie, but Michael had recommended "Iron Man", and the trailer was good. I was glad I went. The superherotype action was thankfully limited and we were left with good characterisations and a decent plot. Robert Downey Jr was terrific. He would get the award for best actor in a superhero movie. Ably supported by baddie Jeff Bridges and wet assistant Gwyneth Paltrow. I might even see the sequel.

Mark Knopfler at the Albert Hall

When I went to see the Shangri La Tour three years ago, it was one of the best concerts I have ever seen. Mark did most of the songs sitting down, but that must have been as a result of his motor bike accident which meant that the tour had to be resheduled. But this time he was back to his old self standing throughout.

I liked it that the new arrangements of many of the songs that he played previously were just slightly different. The addition of JohnMcCusker on fiddle/citern just raised the folk sound a notch. The band played all but two of the Dire Straits numbers from last time. Walk on Life and Money for Nothing were dropped but the rest were there: Romeo and Juliet, Sultans of Swing, Telegraph Road, Brothers in Arms, So Far Away and the full 13 minutes of Telegraph Road. Sublime.

Single Spies

I had never seen an Alan Bennett play on stage despite him being one of my favourite writers. So when the Wycombe Swan advertised his "Single Spies", I invited Zoe along for the evening. I have to say that I was a little disappointed by the production, possibly because I was expecting too much.

It was probably that the first of the two pieces seemed a bit flat. Set in Guy Burgess's dowdy apartment in Moscow, the tone was pretty dour. The visit of old friend and famous actress Coral Browne does not really lift his spirits. Nigel Havers and Diana Quick seemed unable to make anything of some mundane gossip.

However, they are much more at home in the second half playing Sir Anthony Blunt and the Queen. Their conversation sparkles with humour and this is where Bennett is in his element. This was worth seeing on its own.

Jersey Holiday

When Alison found there was a half marathon in Jersey in May, it was the ideal opportunity to revisit the island. The last time was a short break to meet her sister's family which mainly involved the beaches and making sandcastles with the children.

We set off on Saturday morning. The journey was memorable for the ease of using ParkPlus at Gatwick and the flight on a FlyBe Bombardier Q400 twin prop aircaft, the first time I have been on a propeller driven plane. It may be hugely environmentally friendly. but I did prefer the jet for our return. We spent most of the day in St Helier before finding our hotel.

We were up early ( before breakfast) on the Sunday morning to drive across the island (and its lack of road signs) to drop off Alison for the start at 9.30. I managed to arrive back at the hotel in time for bacon and scrambled eggs, before driving to the finish in time to take the all important photo.

Alison (and most of the other runners) found the last mile very difficult as was right into a cold head wind, so she was very tired at the finish. But she had managed her second fastest half marathon, so was very pleased with the result.

We found a cafe at the end of St Ouen's Bay and Alison was able to devour a bacon and sausage roll with no problem. The rest of the day was spent "slowly" visiting the harbours of St Helier.

Monday started sunny but cool. We went to St Aubin's harbour which was very attractive and walked up the hill in the middle of the following photo for good views over the port.

Then on to St Brelade's Bay (Alison's favourite) and walked along the beach before continuing on over the clifftops above Beauport.

We finished the day at Corbiere Point. We had thought to walk on the path over to the lighthouse, but the alarm sounded as the tide was rising, even though it seemed it would take some time before the path was underwater. Five minutes later, waves were lapping over the concrete and soon became impassable. It was a wonderful sight to see the first wave over the path and it gradually being submerged.

On Tuesday we started at Gorey, another very picturesque village, overlooked by Mont Orgueil castle.

Then on to the north coast, ending up at Greve de Lecq. The chilly wind had died down and we were able to enjoy the warm sunshine sitting on the harbour wall.

We packed and left the hotel on Wednesday morning with time to visit Ransoms for coffee and a final walk on St Brelade's beach before the journey home.

Tutankhamun at the O2

It was such good weather forecast for our day in London, and the timed tickets for the Tutankhamun exhibition were not until early afternoon, that we thought it would be nice to travel there by river. The train and Underground took us to Marylebone and then Charing Cross. After a quick look round Trafalgar Square and a longer stop for coffee, it was time to head to Embankment to catch the Thames Clipper to the O2. As we had travel cards, £2.60 each must be the biggest bargain in London.

Some good views from the boat, including the Tower of London and Traitors Gate below.



When we reached Docklands, we could even see Discovery Dock, right in the middle of the next photo.

When we reached the Dome (sorry O2), we had time for a quick snack whilst I started to wonder if this exhibition was really what I wanted to see, having little real interest in Egyptology. However, I was very pleasantly surprised by some remarkable relics shown in beautifully staged and lit spaces. Some of the exhibits were so well preserved AND SO OLD.

As we left the O2, it was Alison who suggested we make for Covent Garden as the weather was so sunny and warm.



After wandering around for a while, we settled on Ponti's pasta dinner. Sitting outside to eat on a warm May evening was a a great way to end an excellent day.

The kind girl from the next table, who was a model, took this photo.