A Perfect Day

We have had no summer to speak of so far this year. But the weather became distinctly warmer mid week, and shows no signs of letting up. Yesterday was Alison's birthday, and we spent the whole day together. Unusual for a Saturday.

We had to go to Aylesbury in the morning to sort out something with the business account with the Abbey. Coming out, Alison suggested an iced coffee and cake in M&S, and that was an unexpected but enjoyable start.

We then drove to Waddesdon. There is plenty of shade in the beautiful grounds and being on a hill, just a slight breeze. We took a picnic and sat on a bench under a tree. There are not many summer days as nice.




Back late afternoon, we caught up with some of 20/20 finals day, before getting ready to go out for dinner. When we booked our favourite Italian restaurant, The Akeman, we had no idea it would be so warm, so we wondered if they had a/c. However there was no need to worry, as they had lots of tables outside. Ours was situated on some lovely decking in the courtyard that was all in the shade, there could not have been a better spot anywhere that evening. The food was as good as ever, as was the service.

Back home, we watched the end of the 20/20 final come down to the last ball. A perfect end to a perfect day.

"The Seymours"

All my notes on the first three years of the reign of Edward VI have been consolidated into one chronological set. So, at last, I have started the screenplay in earnest. I am very happy at how the story develops and the order of the scenes. The writing is pretty atrocious, but this is only the first draft. I am told that it can easily take several.

I thought the free software I downloaded from the BBC produced a very basic and ordinary looking product. It was only when I found a website with hundred of scripts that they all at least looked like mine. If I can complete the first draft by the end of the year, I will be very happy.

The Taming of the Shrew

There are only a few plays by William Shakespeare that I have not seen, so that when one of them opens, I try to go. Over the last few years these have included Titus Andronicus and The Comedy of Errors. So when the The Taming of the Shrew opened at Stratford, I booked straight away. It turned out to be one of the best productions of any play I have ever seen. I have to agree with the critic from the Sunday Times who called it "a performance of such unrestrained energy and bravura" and with "the mayhem meticulously choreographed".

All this was necessary for what is a pretty stupid and chauvinistic plot. But who cares when the players arrive out of the back of a lorry and are tipped out onto the Courtyards huge thrust stage and rush to accost all of the surrounding audience. When you are in the third row, like I was, and on an isle, there is so much action that takes place a few feet away, actors dash by you and even land in the lap of the man in front of me, who was then hauled onto the stage. Yes, it is all mayhem, but beautifully staged and acted.

All this is down to the director, Conall Morrison, and a young cast headed by Michelle Gomez and Stephen Boxer. Every character was larger than life, whether using a regional accent or not. Typical of this great acting was Jack Laskey as Biondello. In a smallish part as Lucentio's servant, he lit the stage with personality. The Sunday Times gave the production four stars, I give it five.

In the footsteps of Ian McEwan's "Enduring Love"

I had always wanted to follow the walk described in the first chapter of Enduring Love, and to find the location of the balloon accident. There are a few hints in the description of the walk, but I had to spend some time working out what I thought would be the right way.

I parked the car at 10am to the promise of a sunny day. The first part of the walk is fairly straightforward. From Christmas Common I walked through Queen Wood and followed Hollandridge Lane.

Turning right at Hollandridge Farm, the path arrives at beautiful open fields before going into College Wood.

The book describes going west in the wood and this probably meant a detour that I didn't find. Then out into open countryside on the way to Pishill. This part of the route is as good as the author describes: "This was surely the finest landscape within an hour of central London. I loved the pitch and roll of the fields and their scatterings of chalk and flint, and the paths that dipped across them to sink into the darkness of the beech stands".

Following the Oxfordshire Way, the path goes through Doyley Wood before reaching Maidensgrove.

I then had to decide which route to travel the next three miles to reach the Ridgeway, as this is left to the reader. I headed for Park Corner on a path with equally wonderful views.

I arrived at the Ridgeway just before 1pm. It was lucky I was not wearing shorts as for half a mile the path went through a field of a crop that would have torn bare legs to shreds.

The book then leaves the Ridgeway: "we struck out along one of those broad fingers of land that project westwards from the Chilterns into the rich farmland below". It is hard to say where exactly this might be. I plumped for Harcourt Hill, but it could easily have been Ewelme Downs or Littleworth Hill.

They picnic on the north side of the hill, and this was where I had my lunch.

The route back is not described in the book as the balloon accident, which happens below their picnic spot, takes over the story. But I guessed that as the Ridgeway heads back towards Christmas Common, this is the obvious route. This passes the majestic Ewelme Park.

Then on to Swyncombe and it's 11th century church.

The last part of the walk is not very interesting. At least until I reached Watlington Hill which was close to my starting point.

I was back at the car at 4.15pm, a total time for the walk of six and a quarter hours. The total distance is about 13 miles, further than I have walked for a long time, so I was glad for a rest at the end. And the weather had been fine. Enough shade in the woods not to get too hot, and even in the sun it was not too warm until later in the afternoon. A memorable day.

Amy MacDonald, Brandi Carlile, Minnie Driver and Michelle Branch

There are so many fantastic female singer-songwriters, and I have added another four to my CD collection.

How can someone of 20 write such perfect upbeat, folk inspired rock and roll that appeals to an oldie like me? Amy Macdonald can, and her album This is the Life is brimming with uplifting pop songs. As soon as the CD came on in the car, it was a case of turning up the volume and being transported to another place. For me, this is one of the best albums I have heard for a long, long time.

Brandi Carlile's songs used to be more alt country, but on her latest album The Story, we are in more mainstream territory, but none the poorer for that. I'm not the only one who thinks she is like a female Ryan Adams. The difference is that every song on the album is easy on the ear. Her voice is raunchy and strong, a little in the Bonnie Tyler style. The producer for the recording is none other than T Bone Burnett (who also produced Raising Sand), and his use of a punchy bass with hard chord sequences result in haunting instrumentals that do justice to these great tunes. The final track, Again Today is just wonderful, there is even a fan's website that uses the title, so other people must feel the same. A slow, quiet first half beginning with the accompanyment of an extraordinary hollow keyboard sound, the band suddenly burst into a heavy chord sequence that then accompanies the rest of the track before slowing at the end. Brilliant lyrics "The path of least resistance is catching up with me again today". For me, it just does not get any better.

I cannot remember how I came to hear Michelle Branch, it might have been an Amazon recommendation. Not quite in the same class as the previous two, but Hotel Paper is still a very good album. A couple of tracks border on a country/ folk sound, but basically good old rocky pop. Her latest CD is a joint collaboration with Jessica Harp. The album is Stand Still -Look Pretty and they call themselves The Wreckers. This has much more of a country sound, almost too country for me, probably down to the Nashville roots of Jessica. I prefer the tracks written by Michelle, and looking forward to listening to her earlier album, The Spirit Room.

Why did I buy Minnie Driver's CD? After reading the reviews, I heard samples on allmusic.com and thought it sounded OK. Well it is... OK. And that is about all. Nothing objectionable, but nothing exciting. The production is equally bland. It does have a guest appearance of Ryan Adams on one track, but you would never know. Overall it was just OK.

I didnt realise I owned so many recordings by female singer songwriters. As well as my long time favourites Sarah McLachlan, Nanci Griffith, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Emmy Lou Harris, Lucinda Williams, K T Tunstall and Thea Gilmore, there are others such as Nina Gordon, Tina Dico, Lena Marlin, Aimee Mann, Shelby Lynne, Lucie Silvas, Jewel, Lisa Miskovsky, Tara Blaise, Julie Miller, Jenny Queen, Shawn Colvin, Nerina Pallot, Sandi Thom, Tift Merritt, Eve Sellis and Gina Villalobos. Quite a collection.

Family History

I'm not supposed to be doing anything on my Family History until I have finished "The Seymours". But doing a quick search for some web based family history software, I could not help entering my surname into Google and that was it. Looking at the some ancestors in Sheffield, I found them in an essay on "Sheffield Silversmiths" and two books on the cutlery trades.

I had thought the research done by another branch of the family was exhaustive, but it is amazing what new information the Internet can provide. The above Jacob Roberts (baptised 1697) is referred to in the Cutler's Company Minute book for 1728 that notes "Jacob Roberts, late of Sheffield Cutler, having been absent from his family for a considerable time past and not yet returned (or likely to return) and Mary, his wife, being left in such poor circumstances is uncapable to continue on the Business etc".

The best Lakeland surprise view

One of favourite walks in The Lake District is up to Easedale Tarn from Grasmere. Very few people follow the path that continues up next to the main feeder stream before slanting up to the ridge. Wainwright says that the path is "too deeply enclosed to be attractive". That may be why on reaching the ridge, the most wonderful view comes suddenly into sight. The top of the Langdale Pikes surrounds Stickle Tarn and these are dwarfed by Pavey Ark which is Langdale's biggest cliff. Wainwright says "The view of the Ark across the waters of Stickle Tarn, at it's foot, is superior to all others of this type in Lakeland". I would not disagree, especially when it comes into view so suddenly.

We continue up to Sergeant Mann, 734m, and finally to our destination which is High Raise at 762m, regarded as Lakeland's most centrally situated fell. Our route back to Grasmere is next to Far Easedale Gill, making it an enjoyable circuit.

Gone Baby Gone, Indiana Jones and The Incredible Hulk

The reviews for the crime thriller Gone Baby Gone were promising and it turned out to be every bit as good as they had promised. A great story, driven by good dialogue, well acted and interesting characters. Terrific direction for his first movie by Ben Affleck. Superb locations of the seedy side of Boston. This is my kind of film, though there are too few around.

We have hit blockbuster season, so the choice for a decent movie is pretty limited. For her annual trip to the cinema, Alison wanted to see the latest (and hopefully last) in the Indiana Jones series. The most interesting part for me was early in the movie that was set around the University (actually they used Yale). The recreation of 50's America was well done, even if a little hammy. For the rest, it was the same old stunts and chases. Easy to watch, but nothing to be gained.

However, The Incredible Hulk was better than I had expected. It had a reasonable story that unfortunately had to be interrupted by the expected transformations and fights. But these were well filmed. Even better were the action sequences that involved Bruce Banner as a normal, vulnerable human. Edward Norton fits the part, but Tim Roth trying to be a nasty villain just did not work.