The Really Big Chorus - Messiah From Scratch

The Really Big Chorus is made up from members of choral societies from all over the UK and from abroad. Anyone can sing, just pay for your seat, bring the score, and join over 3,000 others at a sold out Royal Albert Hall last night. Alison was joined in the altos (in red tops) by our niece Emily. Her parents joined me in the audience who took up the other 1,000 plus seats. Handel's Messiah is a wonderful piece of choral music and Alison had joined Wendover Choral Society when they performed it two years ago. But this was a different experience completely.

 The Really Big Chorus is really loud. But what is even more amazing is the separation of the voices in such a huge space. Sopranos on the left, altos on the right and tenors and bass in the middle swept around the auditorium in unamplified magical stereo. The orchestra and organ were excellent, and so were the soloists, all marshalled by conductor Brian Kay. What would Handel have thought about so many wanting to come together from all over Europe to sing his Messiah?

Elkie Brooks at The Stables

It was Alison who really wanted to see Elkie Brooks, so a concert at The Stables in Milton Keynes was not to be missed. And what a great evening it turned out to be. An intimate 400 seat venue was perfect, and being in the fourth row at the side was superb. And boy can she still sing. Elkie may be my age but she sounds as good as she ever did, belting out all her most popular songs together with some great blues numbers. An interval after an hour on stage, and then back for the final 45 minutes of a great show. Her six piece band were very good, especially a highly talented sax player. I had just wished she had saved "Don't Cry Out Loud" for the end. It sent shivers down my spine.

Slaughterhouse 5, The Dead Zone and The News Where You Are

I had been meaning to read "Slaughterhouse 5" ever since it was highly recommended by Alison's sister Anne. I think I have her to thank for finding Kate Atkinson amongst others. However this novel was not to my taste. It wasn't so much the subject matter; the infamous fire bombing of Dresden is only a small part of the book, and is dealt with in quite a sensitive way. The main character is saved by virtue of being locked in a place that gives the book it's title. What I found really hard was the writing. It seemed very ordinary with lots of American slang. Well it was written in 1969. The main character, Billy, has few redeeming features. He believes that he time travels and this seems at complete odds with the main worthy concept of the novel which is the absurdity of war. And why does the author have to torture the reader by regularly dropping in "So it goes". I never want to read these words ever again.

When I watched a discussion on "The Review Show" on BBC2 about Stephen King's new novel "11.22.63", and heard what a good writer he is, I searched on Amazon for a non horror novel I might try. Having never read a single book of his, and also having been recommended by Linda at Book Club to try one, I plumped for his 1979 novel "The Dead Zone". I have to say that it was a gripping tale, and boy can King tell a story. But for me, plot, excitement, character and action was all we got. And for me that is never enough. In comparison with the something like "A Visit From The Goon Squad", by another American author, it just does not have the subtlety and literacy of the books I normally read. All the way through I thought it read like a film script. So when I finished the book, I went looking for one, and what did I find? A film by one of my favourite directors, David Cronenberg, with Christopher Walken and Martin Sheen. A DVD was £2.20 on EBay and is now waiting for me to play it. I can actually see why Stephen King is so popular. And maybe one day I will try him again. For now I will stick with books like the next one.

"The News Where You Are" is the latest novel from Catherine O'Flynne. We read her first novel "What Was Lost" for book club and it gained universal approval (see posting 6th September). Her new book is not quite up to the standard of her first, but that is not to say that it was not again a lovely read. It contains all the trade marks of her style, witty and profound.Again it is based in Birmingham where the main character, Frank Allcroft, presents the evening local news programme. He is haunted by the memories of his more successful predecessor who has been killed in a car accident. Or was it accidental? All set to a vividly described urban landscape of the second city. The author conjures up some wonderful characters, possibly just too many jumps between them. But a story that gives you a nice glow with just a hint of mystery. Probably too much of a contemplation of getting old for me.

131 Songs - Numbers 127 and 128

Number 127 - Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me by Elton John

I thought I may run out of songs before I considered one from Elton John. However, listening to some of his early stuff, it reminded me of an LP I had in the seventies. The songs on "Greatest Hits" now seem pretty old hat; except for one. "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" (composed by Elton and Bernie Tapin) still sounds as good today as it did all those years ago. Invariably it was, in those days, through some headphones when there was nothing I wanted to watch on TV. One of those LP's that was played to death, but one track that still lives for me.

Number 128 - The Air That I Breathe by The Hollies

I have no idea how I came to miss this track. Written by the British songwriting duo Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood, it first appeared on the former's 1972 album "It Never Rains In Southern California" ("it pours, man it pours"). But it was the version by The Hollies that gained most success, reaching Number 2 in the UK. An absolutely stunning performance of a great song.

Robin Van Persie

It's safe to say that Arsenal are not my favourite team. But I have stuck with Robin Van Persie in my fantasy football team for the last few years. And after a quiet start, he has again come up trumps, especially when I made him captain which double his points. Before Game Week 8, I was struggling around the 1.2 million mark, out of 2.5 million teams. But as soon as Robin started scoring (in the last five games he has scored 2,2,3,1 and 2 goals), I have steadily made my way to the top 252,000. In these last five games, Van Persie has scored 132 points , 44% of my total points for these games! So after Game Week 12, I'm only 18 points and 109,000 places behind Alison. All thanks to VP. Can he keep it going?

PS - 28th November 2011

The answer is ...... No! This week Robin didn't score, or provide an assist, or get a bonus, even playing Fulham at home. The rest of my team played so poorly (including Balotelli with minus points after being sent off having come on as a substitute) that my total for the week was a pathetic 24 points. That put me in 2.56 millionth position out of a total of 2.64 million players. So given that there will be many that are not playing any more, being in the bottom 80,000 for the week is worse than a lot of those, and worse than I have done in the the three years playing the Fantasy League. so I am now back to 423,000 overall and massively behind Alison in 135,000 place. It just serves me right for gloating. Some big transfers are required this week.

The Killing II

Hurrah. "The Killing" (or rather "Forbrydelsen" which better translates to "The Crime") is back with a new series on BBC Four. I don't always agree with AA Gill's television reviews in The Sunday Times, but he put into words exactly how I felt about the first episode on Saturday:
"The Worst bit was waiting for it to start. Would it be the same? ......  (Would) they want to give it twists and new directions.........So Phew, tak. The first few minutes were a great, huge cathartic relief, a reassurance that it was all going to be allright. The haven't changed a thing. "

Like me he likes the "convoluted confusion... the politics....everyone's a suspect and, most important, Sarah Lund is still the buttoned-down, wound up, taciturn piece of Nordic ice-hotness in a scratch hair shirt" (the jumper did change for Episode 1 to the (blood) red garment in both pictures - (the one above courtesy of MEESON,HITANDRUNMEDIA.COM in the Sunday Times). And of course Denmark "is still a strangely featureless flat land full of strangely featureless flat people".

We agree about the foreign language giving a disturbing sound, and how the film is shot with "an awkward and disconcerting mixture of disengaged exterior observation and intensely fraught interior claustrophobia, but with good chairs". Gill doesn't mention the music. Fortunately exactly the same melancholy melody as before. If anyone at film school wanted an exam question to compare Scandinavian crime drama with American, they should look no further than how Series 1 was remade in the USA. Everything discussed above was missing. Chalk and cheese.

Jenna, Lena Marlin and Alison Krauss with Union Station

I have only bought a couple of CD's in the last six months, very unusual for me. Perhaps the following reviews explain why.

After finding her album "Brother" had so many good songs, I finally sent for her first and only other CD "Barefoot and Eager". Not up to the standard of "Brother" and more a mixture of covers with few original songs. But an easy listen and her version of "Wish You Were Here" is quite something.

I actually received Lena Marlin's "Twist The Truth" for Christmas, being her latest CD from 2009. I love her other three albums, so on first listening this was quite a disappointment, and that was probably why I didn't review it previously. However I played it in the car last week and was surprised how I enjoyed it. It actually has one stand out track that matches any of her best work. "Story of a Life" is unmistakeably a Lena composition.

Somehow I missed the release of "Paper Airplane", the latest from Alison Krauss and Union Station, so I only had time to play it a couple of times before their concert that heavily featured these songs. I have to say that, again on first play, this is not their best album. The songs are all OK, but they just seems like rehashes of everything they have done before. The instrumental accompaniment is again first class, but nothing that stands out. In a way, it is nice to have something new from Alison and the band, but it seems like they just went through the motions. It has generally received rave reviews, so I will have to listen a few more times before I can make a final judgement.

In Time, Johnny English Reborn and Tower Heist

The concept of "In Time" was better than the fulfilment, but there are not enough good sci fi movies around so this one would have to do. In some ways it is a one trick pony, although the basic idea was a pretty brilliant one. Andrew Niccol, famous for writing "The Truman Show" and "Gattaca" has come up with another imaginative story. He has a pretty decent budget and the action looks great on the screen. The first half is quite good, but the movie descends into some awfully predictable car chases towards the end. Justin Timberlake still cannot act and is therefore unconvincing in the lead role. And Amanda Seyfried is almost unrecognisable in her wig.

I would have normally given "Johnny English Reborn" a miss, but Alison wanted to go, and as this would double her visits to the cinema this year to two, I could hardly refuse. In the end it was a reasonably jolly film. There were plenty of references to old Bond movies, and the action sequences were OK. I think that Rowan Atkinson is past his sell by date, but why would he refuse such a big pay day. And the attendances have been staggeringly high. At least Alison's next trip will be for the new Sherlock Holmes feature.

I had no great expectations for "Tower Heist" as I would normally avoid anything with Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy in two of the main roles. However I was pleasantly surprised. This comedy caper did have quite a few laughs and some big twists and suspense moments towards the end. There is a long build up to the robbery and this worked quite well. Ben Stiller was OK, and Eddie Murphy was not in it for very long. Alan Alda, Casey Affleck and Mathew Broderick and the rest of the cast all did their bit. The direction by Brett Ratner catered to a mainstream audience, but he has done a lot of these movies before. I guess he repeated the formula for "21" and others before that. As a piece of frivolous entertainment, it worked fine.

Alison Krauss and Union Station at the Royal Festival Hall

How fortunate for us that at the end of a long summer tour criss crossing the USA (including a stop at the Hyannis big tent on Cape Cod, long after we had left), Alison Krauss and Union Station came to the UK. Four sold out nights at the 3000 seater Royal Festival Hall shows just how popular they have become. They played a non stop two hour set of songs from their new album "Paper Airplane" intermingled with some old favourites. The band was on top form and Alison's voice was quite splendid. I was also surprised at how good is Dan Tyminski's  singing live. When they sing together, they complement each other so well.

Jerry Douglas gave the others a break with a brilliant solo, and two more musicians on piano and percussion came on for some of the numbers. The encore was even better when Alison and the band gathered around one microphone for five quiet numbers (including "When You Say Nothing At All" and finishing with a superb "There Must Be A Reason") with very little accompaniment. Fantastic. The only downside was that the sight lines are not the best at the Royal Festival Hall, and they missed out  "Doesn't Have To Be This Way" and "Let Me Touch You For A While". But we did get "I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow". Thanks Dan.

The Garden in November

We have ariived at the middle of November and we have not had a frost. So there are some perennials that are still flowering. The roses continue to bloom and we have taken the odd cutting to display inside.

However without a frost,  the autumn colours have not been at their best. Although the Silver Birch in the back garden has never looked better.



The hand that first held mine, The Elephant to Hollywood and One Good Turn

Having already read, and been impressed by,  Maggie O'Farrell's "After You'd Gone", it was obvious that her Costa award winning "The hand that first held mine" would be right up my street. and it certainly was. It alternates between two stories, one set in the modern day, and the other in the 1950's. The first follows the life of Ted and Elina with their new baby and the second centres on young  Lexie who leaves her Devon home for life in London. This seems the far more successful of the two, but the stories have a connection which gradually unfolds. O'Farrell is a terrific writer. Her prose is eloquent and interesting which has produced a highly emotional and dramatic novel.

I read very few autobiographies, I think the last one was Richard Attenborough's. And after reading Michael Caine's "The Elephant to Hollywood", I wont be in a hurry to read another. Not that there were not lots of interesting stories, but that the writing was so poor. Nearly every page had something like (and I opened the book at random here) "... I became good friends with ...". How many friends can one man have? Well I suppose quite a few when you are Michael Caine. I was hoping that there would have been more about the restaurants he owned, but there was not much at all. I guess most people would only want to hear about his movie career.

Back to some brilliant writing with Kate Atkinson's "One Good Turn". There is something clever or witty in nearly every sentence. Again I opened the book at random and immediately found "Martin managed to give him the slip while he was entrenched in negotiations over his hat". It is just her choice of words that I love. It is the second of her novels that includes the private detective Jackson Brodie. But the great thing is he only appears for about one fifth of the book and he does no paid private detecting. It is how Kate Atkinson combines a thriller with dramatic family stories that is so wonderful. Not quite the best of her four Jackson Brodie novels ("When Will There Be Good News" is still my favourite - Jackson is hardly in it) but better than anyone else could write.

Tring Book Club - Any Human Heart

It had been on my to read list for sometime, so I was really glad when Linda recommended "Any Human Heart" by William Boyd. But when I found that this long, 500 page, book was written as a journal, I was not initially impressed. However it turns out to be a terrific piece of fiction. Logan Mountstuart starts his journal at the end of 1923 in his last year at his private school and follows his life from his time at Oxford University (Jesus College) to his working life, wartime and up until his death at a good old age. His entries are sometimes haphazard with gaps at certain times, but it makes for fascinating reading as it follows the main events of the twentieth century.

Logan's life is one of ups and downs, sometimes too much so, but otherwise it would not have been the great story it is. He becomes a writer, but although he is published, he never makes use of his talents. He is an attractive and charismatic man, but a pretty immoral one. He is married three times (once very happily but tragically) and has numerous affairs. He visits many countries for various reasons and during the second world war has the best of times and the worst of times.

One of the main themes of the book is that Logan meets many significant real life characters: Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, Ian Fleming, Viginia Woolf, Evenlyn Waugh and Jackson Pollock to name but a few. But it is his (surreal) relationship with the Duke and Duchess of Windsor which is most dramatic, especially the period in the Bahamas. Sometimes the feeling of unreality creeps through, but it is nonetheless highly entertaining. I read the last 100 pages in one go, something very rare for me. But that says something for the brilliant novel it is.

We Need To Talk About Kevin and The Help

After recently seeing "One Day", two more films adapted from books that I have enjoyed. "We Need To Talk About Kevin" is based on the book by Lionel Shriver where Kevin's mother Eva writes letters to her "estranged" husband Franklin. Were they always written so that Eva could get them published one day I now ask myself? The film takes a more narrative construction but still uses Eva as the centre of the story. It is directed by Lynne Ramsay, her first for nearly ten years. It is a bold and brilliant interpretation of what is a harrowing tale. The editing of real time and flashbacks (especially at the start) is sometimes too quick, but it gives the film the sense of disturbance it needs. Awful things happen, but the director never makes them unbearable. The visual flair of the movie is extraordinary. You do not fail to miss the most ordinary objects that are coloured red. The performances are wonderful and so is the casting. You just knew that Tilda Swinton would be so right as Eva, and she was. The music is haunting. Lynne Ramsay has somehow tapped her Scottish routes by including three early recordings of American folk songs by her countryman Lonnie Donegan. I could not believe it when the first came on. The original score is by Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood. This was a very well made film in all respects. And the end is still as devastating as it was in the book.

We had read "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett for Book Club last year, and I really enjoyed it.  The movie very faithfully followed the book's narrative and it was pleasure to be reminded how it was such a great story. The photography of the deep south is absolutely gorgeous, the costumes, lighting and sets should all get Oscar nominations. The ensemble acting is first class. Emma Stone comes of age in the lead role of sparky Skeeter Phelan, but it is Viola Davis as the maid Aibileen who steals the show. Another Oscar nomination a certainty. Yes, it does get a bit sentimental at times, and it is a bit long, but it never felt less than engrossing, and the crucial incident that colours the last half hour seems even better on film than it did in the book.

My City

Ignoring the pretty ordinary reviews, I entered the Almeida Theatre full of anticipation to see "My City" the first play written (and directed) by Stephen Poliakoff for twelve years. In that time he has created some of the best films for television ever shown. My fantastic box set of DVDs include "Shooting the Past", "Perfect Strangers", "The Lost Prince", "Friends and Crocodiles" (my favourite) and "Gideon's Daughter". Any of these would have made a good feature film at the cinema, but like his latest movie "Glorious 39", there is limited appeal. So he made a series of films for television which have won great acclaim, including his latest excellent productions "Joe's Palace" and "Capturing Mary". I just love everything of his I have seen.

So it was a big disappointment that "My City" was such a let down. The problem was that there was such little plot. Poliakoff has always been good on narrative, but here all we have is basically a collection of stories and memories. The action takes place over one night, when two twenty somethings meet their old headmistress and two of her colleagues who are all now retired. The story of how they inspired their pupils unfolds over the course of the night. There are periodic flashbacks to school assemblies (an exciting device to start with) as head Miss Lambert (very well plated by Tracey Ullman) Mr Minken (a brilliant David Troughton) and Miss Summers (Sorcha Cusack) address the children (the audience) and tell stories that stay with them for ever. Yes, it is like being taken to the past  in a particularly interesting assembly, but we are not children any more, and we need something more inspirational and emotional from a play than that.

The two ex pupils are in fact very well acted by Tom Riley and Sian Brooke, and when they cross examine their old teachers, the old Poliakoff sparks start to fly, but this is all too rare. The dialogue is always good, but that is what you expect from this writer. But in the end it is a pretty flat affair. I guess my memory of the play will also be tarnished by the journey home. Two hours and ten minutes was not funny. The Holloway Road was blocked and turning round to find the way I came in via the A40 was a disaster. First I got lost and ended up nearly going over the river. Found my way to the Aldwych and all was fine. But the A40 had night roadworks and the jams going into one lane were awful. I would have been better off joining Miss Lambert on one of her nightly walks around the city.

131 Songs Numbers 124,125 and 126

Number 124 - Next Time You Fall In Love by Reva Rice and Greg Ellis

The next three songs are unlike anything that has gone before. They start with one from a musical, Starlight Express. I had thought to include songs from "Tell Me On A Sunday" which I think is the best thing written by Andrew Lloyd Webber, and the lyrics by Don Black are also excellent.  However, if I wanted a really cheesy number, I looked no further than "Starlight Express". My chosen track wasn't even in the original 1984 production. When new songs were added in 1992, Don Black again found the right lyrics to suit Lloyd Webber's syrupy melody. It always makes me smile, so that must be a good thing.

We Sail The Ocean Blue by Gilbert and Sullivan

There was no way I would not have a song from  G&S, there are so many to choose from, and "HMS Pinafore" is my favourite of all their light operas. I almost chose "Now Give Three Cheers", but the song that starts the whole thing off never fails to stir.

Ernie by Benny Hill

I was wondering what my favourite comedy song would be. A Flanders and Swann? The Goon's "Ying Tong Song"? However there is only one real contender for me. "Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West)" to give it's full title, is not only performed by Bennie Hill, but he wrote it too. His inspiration came from his time as a milkman in Hampshire. It became the Christmas number one in 1971. Even David Cameron chose it as one of his eight Desert Island Discs. Says it all.