The University of Oxford Botanic Garden

When Alison asked me if I wanted to join her on a visit to Oxford on Friday (she was off to the Pompeii exhibition at The Ashmolean),  my first reaction was that I might not find anything new to see. How wrong I was. I had never been inside the Oxford Botanic Garden although I had been past on numerous occasions. I was lucky that the weather was perfect. Mostly sunny and warm and the garden has lots of shade from the many mature trees.

The first part of the garden is laid out in formal beds, most of which contain one specific variety of plant as indicated on the picture below and the photo above.

At the front of each of these borders is information about the plants.

I have found a new word and that is taxonomy. Plant taxonomy is the science that finds, identifies, describes, classifies and names plants. That is why these formal beds are described on the map as The Taxonomic Beds.

There is a beautiful high wall that separates these beds from the next part of the garden.

First up is the water lily pond.

Then the main herbaceous border on the other side of the wall.

And what are called The Merton Borders. With the spire of Magdalen College in the background.

They take you to the far end of the garden by the River Cherwell.

Along the footpath to reach Magdalen Bridge.

Next to the river are the Glasshouses which are outstanding.

This is the Musa velutina or pink banana in The Rainforest House.

And on the right is the Pilocereus strausii in The Arid House.

The giant waterlillies in The Water Lilly House have been grown from seed this year.

There are other greenhouses including The Carnivorous Plant House. This Botanic Garden is so impressive, I cannot believe I had not visited before. I shall definitely go again.

Blinded By The Light, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and Angel Has Fallen

Before Javed has that damascene moment when he discovers Bruce for the first time, the soundtrack of songs from the eighties sets the scene perfectly. From the introduction to "It's A Sin" by The Pet Shop boys to "The Sun Always Shines On TV" by A-ha and "Don't You Want Me" by Human League. When at last he is given those Springsteen tapes, there is a trademark guitar strum from one of the albums. But which one??? It's those moments that make a film for me.

And again, it takes ages for Javed to actually decide to listen to the tapes, and when he does, it accompanies the great storm of 1987. I thought this sequence was quite brilliant, not like one critic:
Javed’s immersion in the music of Springsteen takes place during the great storm of 1987 and in a silly, messily handled sequence, he’s inspired to frolic in the wind as lyrics appear on the screen and video footage plays on a wall. It’s one of many awkward attempts to truly embed Springsteen’s music in the film.

The film pulls no punches in it's depiction of a town like Luton in the eighties. And what it was like for a family of Pakistani immigrants. Javed's difficult relationship with his father is especially well handled. This is all down to director Gurinder Chadha who also co-wrote the script with the author of the original book. The lead actors are OK, however there are some excellent cameos from Rob Brydon, Hayley Atwell, Sally Phillips and David Hayman. 

Finally, the scene at the end with Javed's father and mother is terrific. I actually preferred this movie to Bohemian Rhapsody, Rocketman and Yesterday. I thought it was splendid. (This review took me half an hour longer than usual as I failed at first to find the word damascene.)

I think that Quentin Tarantino just wanted to make a film of the actors driving cars around Hollywood in 1969 listening to some classic songs of the day. But I guess he had to put a plot in there somehow. In the end he gives us one of his greatest movies, a kind of patchwork revolving around the lives of fading actor Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio reprising one of his typical edgy roles) and his stuntman and (only?) friend Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt in superior lade back form). Many of Tarantino's regular actors are here, sometimes you get distracted thinking which movies they made.

There are a whole series of set pieces, one of which is memorably outstanding. The setting is the run down Spahn Movie Ranch, the "home" to Charles Manson and his followers. Cliff stumbles on the place having given a ride to one of Manson's young female followers. What happens next is full of magnificent tension as Cliff investigates the place. The one saving grace is that you know Cliff can look after himself, having previously beaten up Bruce Lee. However, the superb writing and Pitt's presence takes the film to a new level. No violence, no CGI, just a great set and Brad.

Tarantino saves any real violence until the very end, saving it up for the villains. His regular producer Shannon McIntosh is joined by Harry Potter producer David Heyman. He explains how they needed to cut an hour  from the original three and half hours. This includes a third encounter with ten year old Julia Butters as one of Rick's co-stars. Her first scene when they discuss acting is superb. And Tim Roth's scene never made the final version. I would love to see what was taken out.

A decent popcorn thriller was spoilt for me by the prolonged shoot out at the end. Apart from that, there was plenty to enjoy as Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) is on the run from both the good guys and the bad guys. Have we not seen this before? However, there are some clever stunts in this, the third and last? of the franchise. ( Fortunately I avoided the second). Add in Morgan Freeman and Nick Nolte and the rest of the cast hardly matter.

Tring Book Club - The Sixteen Trees of the Somme by Lars Mytting and Someday I'll Find Me by Carla Lane

I cannot remember the last time I read a book that is basically a mystery that turns into a search or rather a quest. This book is carefully, intricately and meticulously plotted but not so complicated that you get lost. The author cleverly gives you the occasional little reminders along the way. Half way through I needed to write down a family tree just to keep my mind straight. Family History becomes complicated.

This captivating page turner is not a thriller in the classic sense, more a journey involving people to meet and documents to find. Although one archive just felt too much. Starting at home in Norway, Edvard's travels take him to the Shetland Isles and France. Events in a wood during the first world war is at the centre of the story.

Character development does take second place to the plot and the characters suffer as a result. But the translation is generally excellent. I had to read the ending twice, the first in a rush, the second time it made a lot more sense. There are twists and turns along the way, some I guessed, others I did not. A clever and enjoyable read.

It all started off so well with some nice anecdotes from her childhood. It isn't long before she and her friend Myra are at the BBC and being commissioned to write a comedy series about two young women sharing a flat. Whilst there is some interesting (but limited) stuff about the people there, there is almost nothing about the process of writing. Very little about the production meetings and who had what input. I wanted to know about each and every episode and where the inspiration and ideas came from. But no.

The chapter on "Butterflies" was a mystery. It felt like it was just one series when in fact there were four from 1979 to 1983. All in five and a half pages!!! Same again for "Bread" from 1986 to 1991. Somehow all this seemed to rush through so Carla can get onto what interests her most and that was the animal sanctuary she set up and as a campaigner for animal rights. None of this was of any interest to me.

Not only that, but half way through the book in the chapter titled "Changes", we are back at the BBC after "Bread was finished and she cannot cope with what she describes as "a new kind of comedy was being born", although no such programmes are mentioned. Is this just an excuse for the end of her career in television? Because she is so, so wrong.

Series such as "Last of the Summer Wine" went on until 2010, "The Vicar of Dibley" to 2007, "As Time Goes By " (with Geoffrey Palmer from "Butterflies" and Judy Dench) to 2005, "Dinner Ladies" to 2000 and "Still Game" to 2019. And our favourite "Detectorists" written by Mackenzie Crook, who also acted alongside Toby Jones, that won the 2015 British Academy TV Award for best scripted comedy.These and others prove that the situation comedy for a mature audience are still being produced.

Carla's insistence that the new kind of comedy "was in a different format, a different language even, thr0wing some viewers into a state of confusion. We were galloping towards something very new, and the middle-aged generation was being slowly squeezed out". This is complete and utter rubbish and I'm surprised her publisher didn't cut it out. I found it a disgrace. 

New London Architecture

It all started in 2014 when I went on a tour of the new £3 Billion Kings Cross redevelopment with Zoe and Hannah. The photo above shows the Granary Building and Granary Square.

But it wasn't until two years later that I arrived at the National Theatre to see the £80 Million refit described as  "Brutalism's Fine Revival".

Then in 2017 I returned to Kings Cross which was now in a far advanced stage of development. The apartments in the old gas holders were nearly complete. I want to go back now that the Coal Drops Yard is open.

 On to 2018 and the £2 Billion Paddington Basin.

More tasteful was the £50 Million redesign of the Royal Academy that I visited in the same year.

As was the new £50 Million V&A Museum Exhibition Road Quarter, also visited in 2018.

The most disappointing has to be the £2.2 Billion Nova Victoria. Ugly office blocks and a run of the mill shopping mall. My 2019 trip was a waste of time.

Completely the opposite is Battersea Power Station which I visited this month. This will be the most amazing of all the new London develpments. Well it does come in at £ 8 Billion.

So what is next? Well, apart from Coal Drops Yard, it has to be the new Weston Tower and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries at Westminster Abbey. And one day Crossrail. If I live that long!

Measure for Measure at the RSC Stratford

I had to look up the meaning of the title. It comes from Mathew 7.2 "For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you". At the heart of this "comedy" is a powerful and unsettling message about morally corrupt politicians and sexual exploitation.  Vienna has sunk into the mire that resonates with events of today. Director Gregory Doran has let a play from 1604 speak yet again to a modern audience about the abuse of power.

Above are Sandy Grierson, who brings a grave melancholy to Angelo, thrust into a position he did not seek. But his performance is strained compared to Lucy Phelps as Isabella, a crusading evangelist at odds with all those around her.  However, neither are in the same league as the leads in the production at the Almeida in 2010. (See posting 13th April 2010). Rory Kinnear and Anna Maxwell Martin were outstanding in Michael Attenborough's modern setting.

There is some comedy to lighten the mostly dark mood. But even these interruptions are never less than salacious. Joseph Arkely is terrific as Lucio as is David Ajao as Pompey.

The cast is held together with a majestic performance from Antony Byrne as the Duke. But even his presumption in his last line only proves that he is not immune from the corruption that pervades this play. We go home in the same disgust as did Isabella. Some comedy!

The Art of Architecture - Battersea Power Station

The second in the Sky Arts series on The Art of Architecture featured Battersea Power Station. Whilst the first about the New York World Trade Centre Transportation Hub featured an in depth interview with architect Santiago Calatrava , it had very little about the construction. Whereas this one about Battersea Power Station was filled with very interesting (to me) sections about matching the new with the old.

The architect is WilkinsonEyre who also designed the reconstruction of the gas holders at Kings Cross. It was Jim Eyre who described how the Battersea building is such a complicated redevelopment featuring retail, apartments and offices within the shell of the old complex. And we were shown many of the features in the construction phase.

The overall development (including the brand new apartment and office buildings that finance the whole project) is £8 Billion. The brick structure is the largest in Europe and required 1.7 million new imperial sized bricks to match the existing. I loved how one of the team tracked down the original manufacturer Blockleys.

The chimneys were completely rebuilt but using the identical materials and type of construction as the originals. One will have a glass lift to a viewing platform at the top. I can't wait!

There are 16 tower cranes and numerous hoists on site requiring 44 crane drivers. I like this photo taken at night.

It was hard to find a photo inside the building but here is one.

This is what the shopping mall will look like.

There will be 69 lifts and 20 escalators. What I could not find was a photo of the four service cores that will house lifts, stairs and mechanical and electrical services. I had to watch the programme again to make sure that I wasn't dreaming. These are photos taken from the TV. The four rectangular concrete towers are the cores.

Apocalypse Now - The Final Cut

One night only. Apocalypse Now - The Final Cut was shown in cinemas last night. Predictably, not at my local Odeon, but Cineworld Hemel Hempstead showed it on their IMAX screen. So we were in for a wild ride. As Francis Ford Coppola said it is more of an experience than a traditional movie.

Did I ever see the film in the cinema forty years ago? Probably not, but I have certainly revisited the original over the years. I shall not go into the history of how this film was made, but it remains one of the most visually stunning pieces ever made. Some of the scenes involving countless extras is something to behold. Especially on a huge screen. And no wonder sound won the Oscar.

I had forgotten how bonkers was Dennis Hopper as a photojournalist (no name) high on alcohol and drugs as were most of the cast.

Now a running time of 183 minutes against the original 147 minutes (forgetting the Redux version at 196 minutes). The additional footage includes the dinner scene at the French plantation that I had forgotten existed. As I had the words of the title painted on something at the Kurtz base.

One of the critics has now said "I have come to think Apocalypse Now is a film you finally grow out of". I would not totally disagree, but as a cinematic event, it is hard to beat.