My local multiplex (the Odeon, Aylesbury) has six screens, so you would think that was enough to show critically acclaimed movies. But that is not the case. It has never showed "Crash", which won the last Oscar for best film. It did show "United 93", my favourite film of the year, and a deserved South Bank Show Show award to Paul Greengrass. But it has probably missed "The Last King of Scotland" and "Infamous".
So it was off to Milton Keynes Cineworld on the last two Mondays, as it has more than twice the number of screens as Aylesbury, to see "Black Book" and "Babel", probably not considered popular enough by the Odeon as both have subtitles.
"Black Book" was a rip roaring world war 2 thriller.It was very enjoyable as it followed the heroine through a series of adventures in occupied Holland. The social comments on the plight of the Jews and collaborators were heavy handed, but was very watchable as a good thriller.
"Babel" was much deeper and quite uneasy as it constantly switched between such alien, but each so different in their own way, places as Morocco, Mexico and Tokyo. It took a while to engage with what was happening, but the drama was engrossing and the photography was brilliant. Sometimes it felt like watching a documentary of real events. The switches in time were quite simple to understand, you knew instantly that the shooting had already occurred before the Mexican nanny takes the children off to the wedding. An ultimately rewarding movie.
On Tuesday I combined a check up at the dentist (everything OK thank goodness) with checking out lights and digital phones in John Lewis. Its amazing how one and a half hours can pass without evening looking at the widescreen tv's. The swimming on Wednesday was fine. The pool is back to its normal quietness after the early January resolutions have faded. I managed six lengths of crawl at the end, but breathing every four strokes is still a problem.
I have never missed an episode of "24" since it started, so it was good to see a new series starting. I always record it as the adverts are too numerous and too long and I can fast forward through them. I normally sit in the lounge at lunchtime and catch up with the latest episode, or something like "Trial and Retribution" that Alison cannot watch.
The carpet for the new study came on Friday and at the same time we emptied the old study and started with its decoration. We had finished by Sunday so we were able to reorganise the furniture as this is now Alison's domain. So the my new study is now awaiting the desk and computer, all now ordered along with a wireless router.
Only left time for a walk on Sunday in Wendover Woods after painting the skirting. But worth it as the weather was a beautiful sunny 9 degrees.
Tuesday, 30 January 2007
Thursday, 25 January 2007
Chelsea v A C Milan - 16th February 1966
Back in 1966, I had been a Chelsea fan for three years, having moved to London to start work in 1963. Halfway through season 1964/5 I was given a season ticket for the main stand. The father of a fellow trainee at George Wimpey worked for Reuters was relocated to somewhere in Europe. But the following season I was back on the terraces. However, I was transferred to Leeds in 1963 where I went to watch United, so that was the end of following the Blues. Having returned to London in 1967, I hardly went to any games. Recently, I have been sorting through old boxes and found a number of old Chelsea programmes, together with a piece I had written about the night that Chelsea played A C Milan in front of a capacity 59,541. Here it is.
It was Wednesday night on the 16th February 1966. Chelsea met A C Milan, the European Cup Champions of 1963, in the second leg of the third round of the Inter Cities Fairs Cup at Stamford Bridge. Milan won the first leg 2-1, Chelsea scraping a late goal to have a chance in the second leg.
Unbeaten were Chelsea since the start of the year and four days ago they had beaten Leeds 1-0 in the fourth round of the FA Cup, so putting out the previous years finalists.
What a night. I had agreed to meet Ray outside Fulham Broadway station half an hour before the kick-off. That was half an hour too late! The police were moving on the packed crowd outside the station. Chelsea had been having middling crowds during the season, but outside the station it seemed that half on London wanted to see this tie. So I couldn't wait for Ray, and I didn't want to be locked out.
A huge solid mass of people stretched to my usual turnstiles, where I queued for twenty minutes compared to the usual fifteen seconds. Inside I had never seen anything like it., there were so many people packed in the open stadium. My usual place halfway down close to the corner flag was invisible.
I tried the first gangway, which itself was already packed. After a while, I wondered how I was going to get up onto the terracing, when there was no need to wonder anymore. The throng carried me up there. From that point on, I was likely to stay on the same step for for about a minute with the swaying of the solid mass.
The game matched the excitement on the terraces. A story book game n the first half. (George) Graham, a lethal header of the ball, put one in with classical simplicity from a corner after 11 minutes to put us level on aggregate. The noise was deafening, and if it hadn't been for the crush, I would have been able to jump up and down. In the twentieth minute, Osgood received the ball outside the penalty area, with a packed defence in front of him. Somehow he shot. I thought the ball missed the target as I lost sight of it. But Osgood was pawing the air in exultation before becoming lost in his colleagues. The ceaseless din rose to greet the miracle and that how it stayed until half time.
But for the break, Chelsea must surely have carried all before them, but in the second half Milan regained their composure and equalised the aggregate. All was set for a final pulsating quarter as Chelsea battered the Milan goal, but to no avail. All that was left was the outcome of the toss to decide the play off venue. Milan won the toss and this dampened a little a wonderful Chelsea victory, two great goals and the greatest nighttime crowd I have experienced.
The play off resulted in a 1-1 draw, and the tie was decided ON THE TOSS OF A COIN, which Chelsea won. They also won the 4th round against TSV Munchen 1860 on a 3-2 aggregate to go through to play Barcelona in the Semi-Final. I guess that losing the away leg 2-0 had an effect on the attendance as it is recorded as only 40,073. But two own goals once again made the aggregate level and yet another play off was required. Chelsea lost the toss again and on the 25th May 1966, it was the first ever European match to be shown on closed-circuit tv in England. This may have been my last visit to the ground as it used to be, unfortunately to see them lose another semi-final, having lost to Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup. This game at Villa Park was the biggest disappointment of all.
I can never remember Ray's surname. But we used to go to many matches together, and not just to see Chelsea. He showed me the advert in the London Evening Standard for season tickets for the World Cup in 1966, and we were able to see every game at Wembley. And the last game there probably made up for not seeing Chelsea in a final.
It was Wednesday night on the 16th February 1966. Chelsea met A C Milan, the European Cup Champions of 1963, in the second leg of the third round of the Inter Cities Fairs Cup at Stamford Bridge. Milan won the first leg 2-1, Chelsea scraping a late goal to have a chance in the second leg.
Unbeaten were Chelsea since the start of the year and four days ago they had beaten Leeds 1-0 in the fourth round of the FA Cup, so putting out the previous years finalists.
What a night. I had agreed to meet Ray outside Fulham Broadway station half an hour before the kick-off. That was half an hour too late! The police were moving on the packed crowd outside the station. Chelsea had been having middling crowds during the season, but outside the station it seemed that half on London wanted to see this tie. So I couldn't wait for Ray, and I didn't want to be locked out.
A huge solid mass of people stretched to my usual turnstiles, where I queued for twenty minutes compared to the usual fifteen seconds. Inside I had never seen anything like it., there were so many people packed in the open stadium. My usual place halfway down close to the corner flag was invisible.
I tried the first gangway, which itself was already packed. After a while, I wondered how I was going to get up onto the terracing, when there was no need to wonder anymore. The throng carried me up there. From that point on, I was likely to stay on the same step for for about a minute with the swaying of the solid mass.
The game matched the excitement on the terraces. A story book game n the first half. (George) Graham, a lethal header of the ball, put one in with classical simplicity from a corner after 11 minutes to put us level on aggregate. The noise was deafening, and if it hadn't been for the crush, I would have been able to jump up and down. In the twentieth minute, Osgood received the ball outside the penalty area, with a packed defence in front of him. Somehow he shot. I thought the ball missed the target as I lost sight of it. But Osgood was pawing the air in exultation before becoming lost in his colleagues. The ceaseless din rose to greet the miracle and that how it stayed until half time.
But for the break, Chelsea must surely have carried all before them, but in the second half Milan regained their composure and equalised the aggregate. All was set for a final pulsating quarter as Chelsea battered the Milan goal, but to no avail. All that was left was the outcome of the toss to decide the play off venue. Milan won the toss and this dampened a little a wonderful Chelsea victory, two great goals and the greatest nighttime crowd I have experienced.
The play off resulted in a 1-1 draw, and the tie was decided ON THE TOSS OF A COIN, which Chelsea won. They also won the 4th round against TSV Munchen 1860 on a 3-2 aggregate to go through to play Barcelona in the Semi-Final. I guess that losing the away leg 2-0 had an effect on the attendance as it is recorded as only 40,073. But two own goals once again made the aggregate level and yet another play off was required. Chelsea lost the toss again and on the 25th May 1966, it was the first ever European match to be shown on closed-circuit tv in England. This may have been my last visit to the ground as it used to be, unfortunately to see them lose another semi-final, having lost to Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup. This game at Villa Park was the biggest disappointment of all.
I can never remember Ray's surname. But we used to go to many matches together, and not just to see Chelsea. He showed me the advert in the London Evening Standard for season tickets for the World Cup in 1966, and we were able to see every game at Wembley. And the last game there probably made up for not seeing Chelsea in a final.
Sunday, 21 January 2007
Gardening in January, Miss Potter and Tring Park
It is so unusual to be out in the garden in January, but it was so mild it seemed a waste not to take the opportunity. The remainder of the compost heap was moved at last. It ended up that most of the borders now have a decent layer of mulch. At the same time some weeds were removed and beds dug over, especially in the rose garden. The bulbs are sprouting far earlier than they should. Snowdrops have been out since the first week in January, mini daffs have buds on them and a solitary crocus flower is now looking very sorry for itself.
Work on the new study is progressing. The old carpet was removed on Monday and deposited at the tip. The bits left glued to the floor were scraped and the skirting rubbed down and painted. Alison finished the emulsion today so now awaiting the arrival of the new carpet.
Swimming went better than last week. It was very busy in the pool to start, but amazingly had my own lane after fifteen minutes.
After the violence of "Apocolypto" last week, it was a real pleasure to see "Miss Potter". It had so much warmth, emotion and joy. I have to admit having a lump in my throat all the way through. A great performance from Rene Zellweger and the whole cast. Recognised some of the lakeland views from our visits, especially Cat Bells, Derwent Water and Rydal.
Great walking weather this weekend. However the route from Coombe Hill to Chequers and Ellesborough was the muddiest ever after heavy rain overnight added to that from during the week. Only one large branch across the narrow steps down from Beacon Hill was a problem from the storms on Thursday. Today I went to find Tring Park as Alison had recommended the views. I parked at the Zoological Museum which, as it does not open until 2pm on a Sunday, was deserted. Tring Park is only a few minutes walk away and has two signposted routes. The Woodland Walk is about an hour round with an easy (though described as steep) climb up to the top of the woods. The path along the top is a section of the Ridgeway which I have not previously walked. It is a well maintained path and it does have great views over Tring and across to Dunstable Downs. Descriptions can be found at: www.tring.gov.uk/info/tpark.htm
Work on the new study is progressing. The old carpet was removed on Monday and deposited at the tip. The bits left glued to the floor were scraped and the skirting rubbed down and painted. Alison finished the emulsion today so now awaiting the arrival of the new carpet.
Swimming went better than last week. It was very busy in the pool to start, but amazingly had my own lane after fifteen minutes.
After the violence of "Apocolypto" last week, it was a real pleasure to see "Miss Potter". It had so much warmth, emotion and joy. I have to admit having a lump in my throat all the way through. A great performance from Rene Zellweger and the whole cast. Recognised some of the lakeland views from our visits, especially Cat Bells, Derwent Water and Rydal.
Great walking weather this weekend. However the route from Coombe Hill to Chequers and Ellesborough was the muddiest ever after heavy rain overnight added to that from during the week. Only one large branch across the narrow steps down from Beacon Hill was a problem from the storms on Thursday. Today I went to find Tring Park as Alison had recommended the views. I parked at the Zoological Museum which, as it does not open until 2pm on a Sunday, was deserted. Tring Park is only a few minutes walk away and has two signposted routes. The Woodland Walk is about an hour round with an easy (though described as steep) climb up to the top of the woods. The path along the top is a section of the Ridgeway which I have not previously walked. It is a well maintained path and it does have great views over Tring and across to Dunstable Downs. Descriptions can be found at: www.tring.gov.uk/info/tpark.htm
Sunday, 14 January 2007
Retirement Week One
As Alison went back to work on Monday, I count last week as the first of my retirement. It has actually felt like taking a week off to catch up on all the jobs that need doing. Except for Monday, when I met my daughter and granddaughter at John Lewis in High Wycombe. The excuse was to order the carpet for my new study, but it was really to have coffee and cake in their cafe. That seemed to be what retirement was really about.
The week was so mild, it was good to get out in the garden on Monday and Tuesday. The downside was it meant carting a stack of engineering bricks (left over from when the conservatory was built a good few years ago) to the end of the garden to build a compost enclosure. And then bringing back compost from a heap built up over the last two years to lay down as mulch on the borders. I'm not sure when my back will recover.
And that was why my usual swim on Wednesday was so awful. I will have to remember to take it easy the day before the swim. Whilst I was at work, it was sitting at a desk most of the day. And as I usually went to the cinema on Wednesday afternoon, this week was no different. Although extremely violent, "Apocolypto" was riveting. I cannot think of a more bloody film that I have ever seen, and that includes all the horror films from "A Clockwork Orange", "Land of the Dead" to "Final Destination". So next Wednesday I am really looking forward to seeing "Miss Potter".
There was quite a bit to do to prepare the new study. The removal of the twin beds (that the children used when they came to stay in the little house in Wendover from 1985), dismantling an old wardrobe and taking to the tip. Choosing the paint and searching for a new desk. I thought Alison (who has always done all the decorations) would hand me the paintbrush as it is my study and I do have the time. But this weekend she has got stuck in with the emulsion, probably as it will take a few coats to cover the existing blue.
My contribution to her still working is to do the Tesco shop on Thursday morning, clean the house that afternoon and do some of the preparation for the evening meal. It is really so that she has less to do in the evenings and at weekends.
So I have crossed off a few of the jobs on what seems to be an increasing list. And these jobs are not to be confused with the various projects I have lined up for my retirement. I just hope that the list is much shorter by the time the study is ready, but that depends on the arrival of the carpet, a desk and some shelves and finally the new computer. Then I can actually start what I retired to do.
The week was so mild, it was good to get out in the garden on Monday and Tuesday. The downside was it meant carting a stack of engineering bricks (left over from when the conservatory was built a good few years ago) to the end of the garden to build a compost enclosure. And then bringing back compost from a heap built up over the last two years to lay down as mulch on the borders. I'm not sure when my back will recover.
And that was why my usual swim on Wednesday was so awful. I will have to remember to take it easy the day before the swim. Whilst I was at work, it was sitting at a desk most of the day. And as I usually went to the cinema on Wednesday afternoon, this week was no different. Although extremely violent, "Apocolypto" was riveting. I cannot think of a more bloody film that I have ever seen, and that includes all the horror films from "A Clockwork Orange", "Land of the Dead" to "Final Destination". So next Wednesday I am really looking forward to seeing "Miss Potter".
There was quite a bit to do to prepare the new study. The removal of the twin beds (that the children used when they came to stay in the little house in Wendover from 1985), dismantling an old wardrobe and taking to the tip. Choosing the paint and searching for a new desk. I thought Alison (who has always done all the decorations) would hand me the paintbrush as it is my study and I do have the time. But this weekend she has got stuck in with the emulsion, probably as it will take a few coats to cover the existing blue.
My contribution to her still working is to do the Tesco shop on Thursday morning, clean the house that afternoon and do some of the preparation for the evening meal. It is really so that she has less to do in the evenings and at weekends.
So I have crossed off a few of the jobs on what seems to be an increasing list. And these jobs are not to be confused with the various projects I have lined up for my retirement. I just hope that the list is much shorter by the time the study is ready, but that depends on the arrival of the carpet, a desk and some shelves and finally the new computer. Then I can actually start what I retired to do.
Saturday, 6 January 2007
Christmas and New Year - The Best Bits
Saturday 23rd December
Picked up Michael from Heathrow. His plane was late and then spent 45 minutes waiting for a park. So when we arrived home, Zoe, Peter and Hannah were already there. It turned out to be a wonderful day.
Wednesday 27th to Friday 29th December
To Cheshire to see Alison's family. Best journey up for years, probably because we left early. Great walk along the canal and the Marple lock flight, after pub lunch with all the family.
Best Walk
New Years Day - Wendover to top of Coombe Hill. Beautiful morning and great views.
Best Film
DejaVu - if only for the most original car chase ever. (Night at the Museum disappointing - probably great for children.)
Best TV
Doctor Who and Vicar of Dibley of course. But most amazing was the programme about Tanya Streeter, the free diver.
Picked up Michael from Heathrow. His plane was late and then spent 45 minutes waiting for a park. So when we arrived home, Zoe, Peter and Hannah were already there. It turned out to be a wonderful day.
Wednesday 27th to Friday 29th December
To Cheshire to see Alison's family. Best journey up for years, probably because we left early. Great walk along the canal and the Marple lock flight, after pub lunch with all the family.
Best Walk
New Years Day - Wendover to top of Coombe Hill. Beautiful morning and great views.
Best Film
DejaVu - if only for the most original car chase ever. (Night at the Museum disappointing - probably great for children.)
Best TV
Doctor Who and Vicar of Dibley of course. But most amazing was the programme about Tanya Streeter, the free diver.
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