Omnibus: John Barry: Licence to Thrill

On the BBC last week there was a repeat of an edition of Omnibus about how John Barry became the greatest movie music maker ever. On 31st January 2011, I posted a note when I heard that he had just died, so I will not repeat what I said then. But there were a couple of interesting facts from last week's programme, and most involved his terrific guitarist Vic Flick who is standing with John at the front of the above photo.

 

They showed a clip of John singing with The John Barry Seven on "Six Five Special", a programme we never missed. It was a wise decision when John decided they should be a purely instrumental band. John composed the theme to "Juke Box Jury" (another favourite programme) called "Hit and Miss". Listening again the the guitar of Vic Flick, you can hear that influence in the theme to the James Bond movies.

 

But before Bond, Barry composed his first film music for a movie called "Beat Girl". It all happened because Barry helped Adam Faith get started, and secured him an audition for the BBC programme "Drumbeat". Barry went on to arrange the music for his succession of hit singles including the number one "What Do You Want". The pizzicato strings, although influenced by Buddy Holly's "It Doesn't Matter Anymore", are classic John Barry. When Adam Faith was to star in "Beat Girl", the film company chose Barry to compose and arrange the music. He again put Vic Flick's guitar in the lead.

 

After another three films, along came "Dr No". Monty Norman had composed the James Bond theme music, but it was John Barry whose orchestration turned it into the iconic sound that has appeared in every James Bond movie. He went into the recording studio with The John Barry Seven and a full orchestra. Barry again puts the guitar at the front, and who does he turn to? Of course it was Vic Flick. 

 

Drown, The Clothes on Their Backs and Like

I came across the author, the Pulitzer Prizewinning Junot Diaz, when he recently was given great reviews for his latest book "This Is How You Lose Her". "Drown" was his first novel, a collection of ten short stories about immigrants to the USA from the Dominican Republic, and was even more well received, if that is possible. The writing is certainly spectacular and original. They are written in the first person with lots of Spanish words thrown in. There is a Glossary of sorts at the back, but these only cover half those used. So I did find it quite alien at the beginning, but very interesting. As I progressed, I found the author's voice and the characters took on amazing shape. Very different to books I normally read, but not at all highbrow or challenging. Just stories that get to the heart of their lives.

Having enjoyed Linda Grant’s latest novel “We Had It So Good”, I was looking forward to reading her previous book. It did not disappoint. It is narrated by Vivien, the only child of Hungarian refugees, looking back from the present day to the year when she became 25 in 1977. Her parents will not tell her anything about her notorious uncle who she saw once when he visited their flat when she was ten. Alone and heartbroken, she tracks down Uncle Sandor who reveals at last, the story of their family, and his in particular. London in 1977 is the backdrop to this emotional and gripping story, and the author cleverly uses those dangerous times to explore the lives of her characters. Vivien’s family home inside the confines of Benson Court I know well. Grant is a brilliant writer and in the young Vivien we are in the engaging company of someone she now acknowledges is very different to the one thirty years on. I opened the book at random and found the rejection of Vivien’s first attempt at a book review. “Next time, try writing in the English language”. Just the opposite of how Linda Grant’s filled me with pleasure.

Sometimes, when you go back to a favourite author's first book(s), it can be a disappointment. Not that "Like" was a poor first novel, it seemed just even more fragmented, quirky and obtuse than Ali Smith's later work. She had certainly not perfected the way to write obscurely but with something that works. However, there is much to enjoy. Ali Smith has written four books of short stories, and her novels are in someways a crossover from this format. Having read all five of her novels (so obviously I'm a fan), the short stories will be next on my reading list. "Like" is in two halves, the first with the title "Amy" and the second "Ash" (short for Aisling, but everyone calls her Ash). Amy's past, and her relationship with Ash, is elusive (as with any of the writer's books, this comes later). She lives in a caravan in Scotland with her eight year old daughter Kate. It is entering the life of Kate that is quite beguiling, she is a wonderful character. Ash is a complex young woman, and so is her story, especially how she relates to Amy during their life in Cambridge. There are passages that drift away from what seems real, only to be followed by a startling and exciting description of an art heist. A fascinating book, probably one that will be better for a second reading.

Skyfall, The Master and Silver Linings Playbook

After the disaster that was "Quantum of Solace", 007 was back on form with "Skyfall". Although when the movie opens with yet another car chase, my heart sank with the  memory of that which opened "Quantum". Mercifully, we were out of the cars quite quickly, but if we have to have a chase, please think of something more original. However, the film did have probably the best dialogue for any Bond film for a long, long time. Lots of great one liners that had been missing for so long. But overall, despite undoubted fun for a couple of hours, I found the whole thing a bit predictable. Although I guess that is what we like about Bond. I was disappointed by the final sequence, where was the big set and hundreds of extras? There were some great performances, I especially liked Ben Wishaw as Q, Albert Finney as Kincade and Ralph Fiennes as Mallory.

It was a dark and wet early evening that I drove to High Wycombe to see "The Master", the latest movie from Paul Thomas Anderson. It turned out to be a baffling but disturbing film, typical of this writer/director. It is basically a character study more than a story. There are two Oscar worthy performances from the two leads, Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman. At time it seemed very theatrical, as the camera gets up close and personal with their faces, and they are together for most of the time. The movie is beautifully filmed, but the feeling of alienation is not helped by the discordant music, some off key scraping from Johnny Greenwood. And the screenplay is perhaps intentionally wobbly. There is another great performance, this time from Amy Adams, but can terrific acting compensate for an unremittingly cold  story? At 144 minutes, it did not seem that long, and was never boring. So lots of contradictions, not an enjoyable film, but one that brings the highest quality theatre to your home town.

What happens when you combine an director like David O. Russell and Harvey Weinstein? An outstanding story of two (make that lots) of damaged people and a lot to say about mental illness and those people that have to put up with it,  with a crowd pleasing feel throughout. This is one of the three best movies I have seen this year, it really is a fantastic film. The screenplay that Russell has written, based on the novel by Mathew Quick, is absolutely brilliant and should win an Oscar. In the hands of the two leads, Bradley Cooper in his best role to date and Jennifer Lawrence who is just mesmeric, the dialogue sparkles. There are some outstanding supporting roles. Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver and Chris Tucker are superb. We are in the realms of offbeat, wacky romcom, but it all fits together so well. The comedy is in fact very subtle, not laugh out loud but warm and quirky. OK, the unoriginal ending is nothing like the rest of the movie, but as Cooper shouts at his parents at four o'clock in the morning, why did Hemingway in "Farewell to Arms" have to spoil everything with a miserable conclusion.

Phantom of the Opera at Milton Keynes

This was Alison's birthday present. And, luckily enough, she chose me for the other ticket. We last went to see Phantom in London in August 1993, so over nineteen years ago. The new touring production  had been on for a month at Milton Keynes, and was basically sold out for every performance. And you can see why. The sets are extraordinary and need a long run to justify their construction. We had absolutely amazing seats in row K, and were showered with bits from the exploding chandelier, that was directly above us, at the end of the first half.

All the performances were terrific. Olivia Brereton, in her professional debut, after recently graduating from the Guildhall School of Acting,  was especially good as Christine, a roll she shares with the more experienced Katie Hall. My guess is that we have seen the start of a stellar career.

The singing was first class, the orchestra fantastic, and the amplified soundmixing spot on. It was just worth every penny, and as good as anything in London. For me, an even better experience than Les Miserables that we saw last year, even though not as good music or story.

My Favourite Instrumentals

When I compiled my list of 131 Songs, I consciously left out any that were just instrumental. So I thought that I would rectify that and list my favourite instrumental tracks of all time. Here they are:

Classical Gas by Mason Williams

Originally released in 1968, Classical Gas was written and performed by virtuoso guitarist Mason Williams. It gained  three Grammy awards in 1969. Check out the live version from 1988 on YouTube.

Foggy Mountain Breakdown by Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs

The Foggy Mountain Boys was a bluegrass band formed by guitarist Lester Flatt and banjo player Earl Scruggs who wrote this track that was first released in 1949. It was used as background music in the movie Bonnie and Clyde. A late Grammy award came in 2001 when it was performed by a group that included Steve Martin. I can see a huge influence here on Alison Krauss and Union Station.

Take 5 by The Dave Brubeck Quartet

I used to have this single when it came out in 1959, at a time I listened to Jazz more than anything else. It was written by Dave Brubeck's saxophonist Paul Desmond in the very unusual quintuple or 5/4 time. It has been covered numerous times, but the original cannot be beaten.

Rockin in Rhythm by Duke Ellington

Another jazz classic from my ancient collection. First recorded in 1931, the big band of Duke Ellington never sounded better. Not sure if it was played at the concert I attended at the Hammersmith Odeon in 1967. And what a concert. Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington.

Last Date by Floyd Cramer

This has to be my number one favourite, if only because every time I hear it, I get
a lump in my throat. Don't ask me why. It has the distinctive "slip note"  that Cramer developed as part of the Nashville sound of the time. Last Date was released in 1960 and sold over a million copies. Not bad for an instrumental.

Shadow Dancer, Anna Karenina and Argo

At last. Three grown up, intelligent movies with hardly, if any, trace of CGI between them. The stories are enough. The first two were showing on Senior Screen, the single Wednesday morning shows, as these had not previously been shown in Aylesbury.

Shadow Dancer is about turning a female member of the IRA into a mole. The tension mounts as she faces the suspicion of her own family. A spine chilling story set in a wonderfully shot 1980/90s gloomy Belfast. The success of the movie is down to a large part by the acting of leads Andrea Riseborough, superb as Colette McVeigh, and Clive Owen as Mac, her British intelligence handler. Their uneasy relationship is set against the twists and turns of a fragmented terrorist group. Here the performances are excellent, as is Gillian Anderson as Mac's unscrupulous boss. I'm never keen on the author of the original novel adapting it for the screenplay, but Tom Bradby just gets away with it because of the superb cast. Director James Marsh (Man on Wire) does OK, keeping the pace and tension just right. I just don't know what the crinklies would have made of it.

Much more up their street was Anna Karenina. An interesting and modern language take on Tolstoy's classic, adapted by Tom Stoppard and a sumptuous  production directed by Joe Wright. So British through and through. I have to say that I expected more. More intrigue, more story. more landscape. Instead we have what I thought was a highly unsuccessful attempt to move the action backwards and forwards from being set in a grand theatre to normal live action. This cinematic device was, I guess, an attempt to distinguish this movie from a number of other previous films. But it did not work. There were times when the director seemed to get fed up with it and we were out of the theatre for a long period. But then we were back and it just seemed like a different movie spliced in. The two main characters of this romantic drama are played by Kiera Knightly as Anna and Aaron Johnson as her lover Vronsky. They are both the worst bits about the film. There is no chemistry and they both seem totally pathetic. In contrast. Mathew MacFadyen is fabulous as Anna's brother, as is Jude Law as her husband. And the subsidiary love story between Domhnall Gleeson's Levin and Alicia Vikander's Kitty is much more successful, as are the cameos from Ruth Wilson, Kelly McDonald and Olivia Williams. Could have been great, but wasn't.

Ben Affleck has done it again. I loved his first two movies as director, Gone Baby Gone and The Town, and now, for the first time away from his home of Boston, he has made a thrilling hostage rescue movie based on real life events, that have been heavily dramatised for better effect. We are in Tehran in 1979 and six people from the American Embassy have avoided being taken hostage with the sixty others, only to find themselves in more danger hiding out in the Canadian Ambassador's residence. What follows next is a dangerous mission to rescue them. Tony Mendez (Affleck) has an audacious plan to use a fake movie for their extraction. He enlists the help of a make up genius, John Goodman, and a producer, Alan Arkin. (Which of these will win best supporting actor, who knows? They are that good in what are reasonably small roles.). Affleck, with his director's hat on, really ups the tension almost to the point of gratuitous manipulation that is almost laughable at the end. But who cares.

Family History Websites

I now have two websites for each of father and mother's family history. When I reinstalled my FTP (the fantastic FileZilla) and uploaded my mother's data to Ancestry's freepages, it seemed to work even better than when I uploaded my father's last year. And this time I found I could easily make amendments. So I took the opportunity to reupload father's data which now has all 600 odd individuals separately instead of just in families.

Freepages is really only for data from my Family Historian programme (there is a device here for saving the data in a format especially for a website) so I have also placed all my family history documents onto separate Google Sites. The four websites are:

The Family History of Peter Richard Boyd Roberts:

http://freepages.family.rootsweb.com/~davidbbroberts
http://sites.google.com/site/dbbrobertsfamilyhistory


The Family History of Dorothy Roberts ne Askew
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~davidbbroberts
http://sites.google.com/site/askewfamilyhistory

This, however, is not the end. There are still some outstanding searches that I need to complete. There is the mystery of the Hoyland properties on Busheywood Road in Sheffield. One of these was where Dad was born, and one (or the same) where we lived when John and I were infants. I want to write on this blog about my great grandfather George Robert (Bob) Leather who played football for Rotherham (go to YouTube for "Rotherham Town v Thornhill" where Bob was now the trainer for Rotherham). But I am waiting for a reply from a Gillian Leather who has already done some research, some of which prompts more questions than answers.

Next year I intend to visit Rotherham or the villages of Toynton St Peter and Toynton All Saints in deepest Lincolnshire which is where the Askews, Ascoughs and Ayscoughs came from. There is always something more to do.

the distance between us, Fahrenheit 451 and A perfectly good man

the distance between us is the fourth novel by Maggie O'Farrell that I have read. It is nearly up there with the brilliant "The Hand That First held Mine", "The Disappearing Act of Esme Lennox" and "After You'd Gone", but not quite. It just got a little too romantic two thirds through, but apart from that, it is a typically wonderful story from this terrific author. For a long time there are two very separate stories. The fact that they alternate every page or so is at first quite disconcerting. But the writing, as usual, is so fluid and warm, that we soon are entranced by what happens to Jake and Stella. I just love O'Farrell's turn of phrase, and the back stories are cleverly interwoven with the present day.

Fahrenheit 451 was a big disappointment. The story was fine, and Bradbury's vision of the future was powerful and disturbing. But I found the writing to be awkward and his descriptions sometimes poor. "The bombers crossed the sky and crossed the sky over the house, gasping, murmuring, whistling like an immense, invisible fan, circling in emptiness". Just not my taste at all.

I had forgotten that Patrick Gale is such a great storyteller. My review of his earlier bestselling novel "Notes from an Exhibition" was not entirely complimentary, so either I got that wrong or his latest book, A perfectly good man, is so much better. Both are set in the same area of Cornwall, but this is not so much a sequel as a companion piece. Like his earlier book, the narrative shifts around in time and person. The central character is Barnaby Johnson, the vicar of Pendeen and Morva, but we also follow various other connecting characters in a way that is always satisfying. This mainly a gentle but never boring story of people with secrets that sometimes burst through with awful consequences. The writing is full of soul, wit and well constructed. I enjoyed it immensely.

Alison and Anne go to Strictly

On Saturday, Alison and her sister Anne went to see the live production of Strictly Come Dancing at the BBC Television Centre at White City. You can apply for tickets to be in the audience, although you are not guaranteed entry even though you have a ticket. So you have to queue. The BBC seem to give priority to production staff, and possibly anyone who works at the BBC can get tickets and they get all the best seats. So they never know how many places will be left for the public. There are forums on the Internet (some with quite horrific stories about disappointments) that suggest you have to arrive much earlier than the 2.30pm suggested, so Alison and Anne were there at 10.45am. There were already 120 people ahead of them!

Fortunately, their places were confirmed before 1pm, so they were able to have break at the Westfield shopping centre in nearby Shepherd's Bush. When they were eventually led in, they were disappointed not to be on the ground floor. But in the end, their seats in the first row of the balcony were absolutely superb. In the photograph above (courtesy of Hello magazine) they are in the dark in the very top left hand corner. They both said the experience was one of the best of their lives. Fantastic views of the dancers, a brilliant warm up by Brucie, wonderful sets and lighting, and hearing the music live. But I still cannot say I would have like to have gone.

Maggie and Archie

I have only just realised that this blog contains nothing about our cats So here they are.

Maggie, our tortoiseshell, has been with us for fifteen years. She was at least three years old when we chose her at the animal shelter. Or rather she chose us. Alison said she would never be able to choose, but would let the inmates decide. Maggie crawled up her leg ("take me") so that was that. She has always been "two hour Maggs" as she entered Wood Green animal shelter on Christmas Eve and we found her the first day they opened after the holiday. She is now an elderly cat, seems to be pretty deaf, but is as loving as the day she arrived.

Archie is our new (21 months) ginger tom. He is still settling in. He replaced Marty (who came with Maggie,) who died nearly two years ago. Archie (previously called Charlie) came from a retired couple in the village. He came from their son's family, now in the far north, who could not keep him. He has had a bit of a troubled past, but is now a delightful and entertaining addition to the family.

Homeland Season 2 Episode 4 "New Car Smell"

Carrie does it again, breaking protocol, as only someone with her state of mind can do. Meeting Brody in his hotel bar was not it. That was what she was supposed to do, as it was all being recorded. But when Brody leaves to go back to his room, Carrie has one of those moments. Convinced that Brody has seen through the set up, and will be immediately out to warn his terrorist friends, she disregards orders to leave ( was that Saul trying to help Brody?) and follows Brody to his room.

I guess Brody thinks she wants to rekindle their earlier liason, but in response to Brady suggesting they be friends, Carrie blurts out everything she has been holding back: "Do I want to be friends with a demented ex-soldier who hates America? Who decided strapping on a bomb was the answer to what ailed him? Despite his daughter, his son, people who loved him in real life not in the mindf**k world of Abu Nazir. Who in the end didn't have the stones to go through with it but had no problem sending me to the nuthouse? I don't think I need a friend like that."

The acting between Clare Danes and Damian Lewis makes this one of the best bits of television I have seen for sometime. Would Brody have tried to kill Carrie? We will never know as the guys from the CIA burst in and arrest Brody.  A confused and desperate Brody states, "I liked you Carrie," to which she shockingly responds, "I loved you". All the hurt at the way Brody and the CIA have treated her comes to the fore, as an emotionally wrecked Carrie watches him being dragged away. The camera concentrates on her face and then pans backwards in a memorable conclusion. Fantastic.

Tring Book Club - Stuart a life backwards and Moon Tiger

Someone at book club suggested we might try a biography for a change, and we settled on the life story of Stuart Shorter by Alexander Masters. This is his first book, and at the very end, there is an excellent article by Josh Lacey about how the author got to know an ex-homeless, ex?-druggie, chaotic man called Stuart. It was only through a growing friendship that Masters was able to tell the whole life story after years of interviews with family and friends, and many conversations with his subject.

Stuart Shorter is a complex character. An explanation for his descent into crime, drugs and mental instability only comes later as we travel back in time to his youth and childhood. For me, the book stirred many emotions, anger, sympathy and everything in between. If I saw him on the street, I would probably cross the road to avoid him. Although he would probably not blame me for doing so. On the one hand he is a vile, unscrupulous layabout who has hardly ever had a job and relies on the state to maintain his drug habit. But the causes of his chaotic lifestyle are too heavy for us to be judgemental, and Stuart clearly has some intelligence, humour and goodness that is not always apparent.

The years of research and putting together the novel way of telling the story backwards has certainly paid off in what is a moving account of one of life's losers. Or is he? Alexander Masters lets us make up our own minds.

None of us had ever read a book by Penelope Lively, although she is a very prolific and gifted writer. Moon Tiger won the Booker Prize in 1987, and I am not surprised. Claudia is an ill old woman, in hospital, and is writing "a history of the world ..... and in the process my own". She is visited by family and friends, and she looks back on her life with them. But they have their own point of view, and the author cleverly uses the third person, sometimes from more than one person's perspective to complement Claudia's first person (and amazingly third person) memories.

Lively's writing is therefore technically very interesting, but more than that it is high class and is so modern, it could have been written today. She has a wonderful way with words:

History is of course crammed with people like Mother, who are just sitting it out. It is the front liners who are the exception.

..... of  course, intelligence is always a disadvantage. Parental hearts should sink at the first signs of it.

There are times when I thought things got a little tedious. The visit to Plymouth Plantation and some exploration in Egypt come to mind. But apart from that, this is a terrific story, and the final third is brilliant. I shall be reading another of her novels soon.

Resident Evil: Retribution, Looper and Taken 2

Remind me that the Resident Evil series is now dead in the water. The last couple at least had some kind of story. But this 3D sequel had none at all. A complete waste of time.

There are just not enough decent science fiction movies around, maybe one a year. So it was good that Looper turned out to be worth seeing. A sharp time travelling thriller from writer/director Rian Johnson, there are plenty of twists and just enough action to keep us interested. The screenplay is more than adequate and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis and Emily Blunt bring some top acting talent to the party, although the latter strangely only appears half way through. A decent story with the right ending.

When I reviewed Taken in 2008, I said "you just sit back and enjoy the ride". It was very reasonable hostage thriller and it was little wonder that a sequel would be on the cards. Unfortunately, Taken 2 is underwhelming in comparison. Lian Neeson was convincing in the original, but here seems very wooden when he has to speak, but that may be down to the poor writing. Some of the action sequences are OK and Istanbul is photographed superbly. But the plot hardly exists. A sorry sequel.

ENB's The Sleeping Beauty at Milton Keynes Theatre

The last time we went to the ballet was four years ago when we went to see English National Ballet's production of The Sleeping Beauty at Oxford's New Theatre. So last night was a repeat of that wonderful performance, but this time with more comfortable seats. As the orchestra pit took up the first rows of seats, we actually ended up in the fifth row, with perhaps the best view in the house of the raised stage that projected into the auditorium.

Everything about this production is first class. The dancing, costumes, lighting and of course the great music. Listening so near to ENB's 60 piece orchestra playing Tchaikovsky is almost worth the ticket price alone. The principals for this performance were Fernanda Oliveira as Princess Aurora and Dmitri Gruzdyev as Prince Desire. I don't think Fernanda had danced this role since 2008, and this was her first time on this tour. So she may have been a little rusty. Don't get me wrong, she is a brilliant dancer having progressed from Principal to Senior Principal in the company. But the following review from 2008 explained what we had seen:

"being so close it was possible to see that she was really pushing herself ; must have been quite nervous as she her hand was shaking slightly. I cannot imagine why as she delivered one of the best danced Auroras I have seen for a long while!"

Gruzdyev is a very experienced lead and was confident all the way through. But the one dancer that caught my eye was Ksenia Ovsyanick dancing for the first time as as the Lilac Fairy, one of the main roles. So it was to my surprise after the performance to see she is listed on the ENB website as one of the lowly artists. In 2008 she was just one of Lilac Fairie's attendents. But last night she danced a role normally reserved for Principal Dancers, and at one matinee on the tour she actually dances the lead. She is still quite young, but to my uneducated eye, this is a future star.

Lawless, Savages and The House At The End Of The Street

It was such a promising story. We are in Virginia at the time of prohibition, and the Bondurant brothers seem to have the trade in bootleg alcohol sown up. But the writer of Lawless (Nick Cave) has tried to portray them each as vastly different characters. Tom Hardy and Shia La Boef are wholly unconvincing (but that is not their fault) and they end up wooden and ridiculous. Instead of concentrating more on the plot, we have a ponderous script punctuated by scenes of casual violence. The director, John Hillcoat, has actually made quite a good looking movie and the odd action sequences are quite thrilling. There are some neat cameos from actors out of the top drawer. But the characters for Gary Oldman, Jessica Chastain and Mia Wasikowska just drop in now and again. What could have been a very good movie ends up a bit of a mess.

Oliver Stone's Savages had received some awful reviews. But I found it a quite reasonable thriller about drug gangs. It has a good plot and the story unfolds with pace and some surprises along the way. The two main leads, Taylor Kitsch and Aaaron Johnson, are pretty poor, especially when they are up against (in both ways) Benicio Del Toro, Salma Hayek and John Travolta. And newcomer Blake Lively does her bit as the damsel in distress. The photography is excellent (we would not expect anything else) so the movie looks great. There is some rapid and intense dialogue (Stone has been watching a lot of Tarantino's work), some good action sequences. Immediately forgettable, but enjoyable at the time.

It is hard to describe The House at the End of the Street. First of all where does the title come from when there are only two houses near each other in the woods? I thought it might be haunted house mystery, but no. More a reworking of Psycho. So that got me confused. But not as much as the truly awful script and atrocious editing. There was obviously only one reason it got it's funding, and that was when they had signed up Jennifer Lawrence. She really tries her best, given the dreadful dialogue, and almost saves the film from being that bad. But director Mark Tonderai and his writers have conspired to make it one big mess.

Blue/Orange at Aylesbury Waterside Theatre

It seemed to be a strange choice for Aylesbury, especially as the theatre rarely performs such plays . But I guess we are lucky that the theatre is run by The Ambassador Theatre Group, so we might see more plays that are put by their Theatre Royal Brighton Productions. Blue/Orange is an award winning drama by Joe Penhall about mental illness originally performed in 2000. It is an intelligent and challenging play that has many interesting things to say about the psychiatric profession and it's ideology.

Christopher is an ambiguous character. he has been sectioned by the police for the standard 28 days, and he is on the eve of his departure from his secure hospital. Bruce, his young doctor, is worried about him leaving (why so late? and how come someone in their first year as a qualified doctor has this responsibility?). Bruce's superior is Robert, the Senior Consultant. He cannot see why Christopher should not leave and constantly, with increasing frustration, dismisses all Bruce's increasingly angry efforts to demonstrate why this should not happen.

The dialogue is sometimes frantic, sometimes calm and occasionally very funny. The acting is first rate, led by a wonderfully mature performance from the experienced Richard Bathurst (currently becoming involved with one of the sisters in Downton Abbey). Gerard McCarthy is suitably loud and edgy as Bruce, and Oliver Wilson is terrific as Christopher. The director Christopher Luscombe makes sense of the whole thing.

There was one scene which really gets Bruce into trouble. He repeats the words "uppity nigger" back to Christopher. Amazingly, this was on the same day as John Terry was found guilty by the FA of repeating similar words to Anton Ferdinand. Incredible.

The Art of Fielding, Landfall and The Comfort of Strangers

Funnily enough, the only boring bits of The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach were the descriptions of the odd game of baseball. As someone who only knows the basic rules, and having only seen one game live (the Yankees against the Red Socks on my visit to New York in 2008), I quite liked the explanations of some of the finer points of the game. Thankfully the book is so much more. It is a marvellous story about the intertwining lives of the five main characters on the campus of Westish College. The characterisation is first class, they are all people we warm to quickly. Obviously, they have their ups and downs, and occasionally there is a little too much repetition of their habits, but we enjoy their company all the way through to the end. But what sort of names are Skrimshander, Affenlight, and Schwartz. We have to wait for the secondary characters for sensible names such as Cox and Melkin. But I guess that is just being British.

I chose to read Landfall by Helen Gordon on the strength of the four reviews in the book club that appears in the Times on Saturdays.

I enjoyed all but the last thirty odd pages. Up until then, this is an interesting story of a modern single woman, Alice, who is in her thirties and takes refuge from redundancy after a burdensome career and relationships in the home of her parents (away on a long trip - a little contrived?) in the suburbs. She has time to reflect upon her sister, Janey, missing since she was seventeen. And she is joined by Emily, a preening teenager from America, and a niece of Alice's parents. Their time together is well documented and I liked how they both are in, what is to them, alien territory. But just as we become interested in what must be a mysterious ending, the author makes a complete mess of dreaming up a trite and sudden finale. Such a shame.

Having read nearly all of Ian McEwan's novels, I have been catching up on some of his earlier work. I enjoyed The Cement Garden and The Child In Time. In between he wrote the Comfort of Strangers. Only 125 pages, so more like an extended short story. Would it have been worth the read if it had been written by anyone else? Not really. The writing is already quite smart, but it is a fairly boring story of a couple on holiday in Venice, although the city is curiously never mentioned by name. It reminded me a little of the far superior and also brief Amsterdam. Everything is quietly set up for a devastating ending. But this time it just seems silly.

Cornwall in 2012

Another September, another week in Cornwall. Our eleventh annual visit to Port Quin, the first eight were at Doyden, and the last three at Lacombe, a National Trust cottage used many years ago in the TV series Poldark. Above is the view from a new elevated patio that had only just been finished.

On arrival on the Thursday afternoon, after a straightforward journey down, we took our normal stroll along to the headland towards Port Isaac. Friday started very windy, but after a short shower while Alison did an early run, the sun came out. We headed off to Polzeath for some bodyboarding and we were greeted by a pretty deserted beach (where we park our car) and some spectacular surf. This meant that we were able to catch some good waves, especially when we caught a double wave. The second pushed us on a further good distance. After changing, we treated ourselves to a pile of chips at The Beach Cafe, me with double egg and Alison were her favourite cheesy chips. In the afternoon we took a short car ride to Rock and walked along the beach of Daymer Bay.

Every year at the weekend, if the weather is fine (and it normally is) we do the coastal walk towards Polzeath. Saturday was calm and sunny and despite being a little tired from the bodyboarding, we set out with a packed lunch. It is only half an hour to Lundy Bay, our favourite place in Cornwall.

We were also lucky that the tide was out, which meant we could explore the beach and coves which are cut off at high tide.

We were at Lundy for well over an hour which meant we only arrived at Rumps, our first destination, in time for a late lunch looking out towards the tiny island of Mouls.

In the last couple of years we have then walked on to Pentire Point, with views over Polzeath, but we felt that we had done enough, so we headed back to Port Quin. The tide had come in as we passed Lundy Bay.

Sundays also take a regular pattern. Alison runs from the cottage to Rock and takes the ferry over to Padstow. I take the car to Padstow and hire a bike to cycle the Camel Trail. We meet up at lunchtime and I have fish and chips at The Quayside cafe. The highlight for Alison this year was that she shared the ferry with Sir Richard Branson and family. And then after we both met up, Sir Richard was in the queue outside waiting for a table at Rick Stein's Fish and Chips. We could have advised him that the Quayside is cheaper, just as good and no queue. After our lunch, we walked up to the monument and sat on a bench in the sunshine, looking over to Rock.

On the Monday we usually go further afield, and this year we decided to revisit St Ives. Another sunny day, and we parked at Lelant Saltings to catch the park and ride train. After a stroll on the beach, we had lunch at The Tearoom. This is one of the nicest cafes we have ever visited. The decor and furniture was first class. The special was a Pea and Goats Cheese Tart which we shared, and very good it was too. I have put on a link to their website. It was a surprise that it was just not that busy. The prices are slightly higher than normal, but value for money is exceptional. After lunch we walked around the harbour, and down the slipway where people were waiting for a boat trip.

Alison was delighted that a seal followed the boat in and came right up to the slipway where she took this photo.

It had become quite cloudy as we walked over to Porthwiggen Beach, so when we arrived there we enjoyed a welcome coffee and hot chocolate outside a cafe overlooking the beach. As we started to walk back to the harbour, a very light drizzle persuaded us to divert to the shops, an area behind the seafront we hadn't seen before. Just as we thought about making a move for the train station, the sun came back out, so we stayed for a while on a bench opposite the harbour, before finding our way back to the train.

Tuesday had been forecast to be the best day, and although it started sunny, it was very windy. So we changed our plans from a strenuous coast walk, and instead visited nearby Port Isaac. First out to the sea wall as it was low tide, and then up the hill for the great views over the harbour.

After lunch back at the cottage, we decided on a run down the Camel Trail from Wadebridge. I managed four miles and had a rest while Alison went on to do five. It ended up being a very enjoyable day. We must do that again.

We were back well in time to get ready for our dinner at "Fifteen" at Watergate Bay. Every year (this was our fourth) we say that was best time ever. What made this time special (apart from the wonderful food and service) was our table next to the window wall overlooking the bay. For the first time on our visits, the tide was in, and the strong waves seemed to be rushing in under our seats.

Wednesday was our last day and, as we always do at the end of our holiday, we parked at Rock and caught the ferry over to Padstow. It was cloudy and breezy to begin with, but after a walk around, and a climb up the hill above the centre, we took the path out and headed up the far hill up to the monument where we had a choice of benches to eat our packed lunch, in what was now a lovely sunny day.

We did a little shopping, but having only chosen four hours for parking, there was no time to make Rick's Deli at the far end of the harbour, so no curry paste this year. But it did mean we were back at the cottage by 3pm, and it was so nice to site on the new patio having tea and cake.

It had been an action packed week, given the great weather, and it was the first time we able to really chill out. Our cottage is just perfect for the two of us, it is detached, with a little garden and great views. Maybe here again next year?

Halton Village Fete and Halton House Open Day

The Sunday before we went on holiday was sunny and warm. So Alison and I rode our bikes to the neighbouring village of Halton to visit their late summer Fete. The usual combination of stalls and games, straight out of Midsomer Murders. There was a large marquee with rows of seats, so we grabbed a drink and sat and listened to some music. Very nice.

To co-incide with the Fete, the RAF had their annual open day for Halton House. For many years I have passed near the mansion on walks up to Wendover Woods, and have always wanted to see inside. As we rode our bikes across the grass of the RAF playing fields, we were directed up the hill to where visitors cars were parked on the grass at the top. And what a huge number there were.

 

Originally built by Alfred de Rothschild, Halton Mansion, The War Office bought the house and the estate in 1919 for the newly formed RAF. It is now their Officer's Mess. The rooms are all pretty impressive, one particularly had been used extensively in the filming of "The King's Speech". But it is the staircase that is the highlight.

 

We noticed that there was a cafe open, and as it was late lunchtime, we hoped to find a sandwich and a cake. What we found was an enormous dining room full mainly of visitors having a full roast meal. We stuck to something lighter.





Alison had asked one of the officers on duty about the old lake she saw on one of the photographs on the walls. He pointed us in it's direction, and on leaving the house we headed across land where on another day we may have been shot at. We were almost at the Tring Road when we saw something through the treess. Sure enough, hidden in the undergrowth, we found the old concrete base of the lake. On the other side we could see the car park, so it was a short stroll to pick up our bikes. A very pleasant Sunday.

 



King John at RSC Stratford

Shakespeare would have been overjoyed with this ultra modern production of the little performed King John. His aim was to appeal to the masses while at the same time delivering important messages in wonderful language. So a serious play about kingship and war set at it's own time would have been a total bore. But here at Stratford's intimate Swan Theatre, it becomes a big party. And what a party. It all starts with a young woman (The Bastard, see later) and a ukulele encouraging the audience to join her in an uptempo version of "Land of Hope and Glory". So you knew straight off that this would be different. Oh, and the bank of balloons at the rear of the stage gave the game away.

The young Swedish director Maria Aberg has taken two huge liberties with the casting. Well, "fast and loose" is a quote from the play. The characters of The Bastard (the most significant role in the whole production) and Pandulph, the Pope's representative, have changed gender. And with two important roles for the mothers of John and his dead elder brother's son Henry, (who had more of a claim to the throne than did John) we now have a play about four strong women. And this works superbly well. The Bastard is played by the wonderful Pippa Nixon (below). Here is a star in the making. She is absolutely brilliant. No wonder the RSC have given her some big roles over the last couple of years. She even did a superb rendition of Wye Oak's folk rock song "Civilian".

The staging of the play is hugely entertaining. The whole cast is on stage for much of the time in the first half. After the wedding, we are treated to a West End musical as Dirty Dancing ("The Time of My Life") and "Say a Little Prayer" take over.

The second half is a much shorter and dramatic as John's grip on the crown becomes increasingly tenuous. The party is over. Shame, as we had such a wonderful time.

The Dark Knight Rises, The Bourne Legacy and Total Recall

Usually over the summer holidays there is at least one small but interesting drama that I can go to see at the cinema. but not this year. So I went FOUR weeks without going to see a film. I cannot remember the last time that happened. And when I did venture back, the summer blockbusters were still the only movies worth a try. The Dark Knight Rises is a competent enough effort from Christopher Nolan. So why is it that my one lasting memory is that the ending is one we have seen so many times before. It ruined what was an entertaining conclusion to the Dark Knight trilogy.

There was also plenty to enjoy in The Bourne Legacy. Although you knew exactly what to expect. Plenty of chases, fights and general action. There was a bit of a story in there, and the dialogue was not at all bad. Tony Gilroy has done good things directing with his big budget, and there is some quality with the acting. Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weiz and Edward Norton are all pretty convincing. Better than expected.

I was surprised how different the new version of Total Recall was to the original. Not totally different, our hero still has a wife who tries to kill him, but this time she (Kate Beckinsale) has a far bigger role. As has Jessica Biel as his partner from his previous life. In fact if this was a play, these two are so alike, you could imagine the pair seamlessly interchanging roles. Now that would be interesting. The most stunning thing about this movie are the sets. They reminded me very much of Blade Runner and Inception.. The guys and gals working on the CGI must have had a great time. The new storyline was novel to start with, but soon became pretty monotonous, the dialogue is pretty clunky, as is it's delivery. Colin Farrell does not have to stretch himself, apart from physically. And the ending? Oh no, not again!

Tring Book Club - The Shadow of the Wind and There but for the

The first half of The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon was great, the characterisation was good, the location of Barcelona quite splendid and the parallel stories of Daniel Sempere and Julian Carax, the mysterious author of the book he chooses from the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, was pretty smart. Daniel's adolescent crush on the magical Clara is quite poignant, and we have a real villain in Inspector Fumero. But in Fermin Romero de Torres, we have one of the most enjoyable characters I have come across for a long time. He is such great company funny, witty, cleverer  and brave, but always there is a sense of danger because of his past. There is a glow in the writing whenever he appears. Although it is a shame that at times the writing is too elaborate. The translation from the Spanish does not always ring true, which is a shame. The parallel stories then take on rather cute but unrealistic turns, Daniel and Julian both having boyhood friends and similar girlfriends in Penelope and Beatriz. This is history repeating itself taken too far. The second half of the novel becomes just a complicated detective story as Daniel seeks to uncover Julian's past. But what we get is a rush through some back stories as if the author had to cram in all the information somehow, and one particular device is almost diabolical in it's construction. Character gives way to a highly detailed plot that ultimately is a bore. So sad after such a wonderful introduction.

Ali Smith is not everyone's cup of tea. Her writing can be quite experimental and frustrating, but this is worth it for her clever and original use of words and language, her playful sense of fun and making the reader think for a change. It was only discussing her latest novel There but for the at last night's Book Club did I understand a couple of things I had missed. I had previously read and enjoyed Ali Smith's prizewinning The Accidental as well as Hotel World and the less impressive Girl meets boy. The author writes mainly in short stories that are interlinked, and so in her new book we have four. They all have a connection with Miles who locks himself in a bedroom during a dinner party. There is a lot in the book about memory. Anna didn't remember Miles very well, until gradually her meeting him on a trip to France at seventeen ( a quite wonderful description) all starts to come back. "Things we wished we could forget about forever, but no matter how hard we try, we cannot forget". How true. Mark's story includes a terrific conversation about the forthcoming dinner party with Miles who he has just met, and then a superb account of the dinner itself, especially some of the awful people there. The passage about elderly May seems to be from a completely different book, until towards it's conclusion where there is a hugely emotional revelation. Having been introduced to ten year old Brooke at an early stage, I was so looking forward to her story. But I found this to be the least convincing. She is far too intelligent and independent for her own good, but does manage to include some good jokes and puns. It is amazing that although written in the third person, we are right inside the mind of this precocious girl. An amazing and highly enjoyable book, and one I will read again.

The Paralympic Torch Relay passes through Weston Turville

It was quite an event for our village, and there was a big turn out to watch the Paralympic Torch Relay come past last night. It was strange to see so many people lining Weston Turville Main Street so late at night. We all took up our positions around 10.15pm just before the torch was due to arrive. But it was over an hour late, so it was not until 11.30pm that the relay came through. The torch stopped right in front of us to change torchbearers.

It had turned quite chilly while we were waiting, so it was good to get home for a warm drink. And it was only took a few minutes to walk back. A memorable occasion.

Earlier in the evening, Alison went to see the Torch Lighting Ceremony at Stoke Mandeville Stadium, having been allocated a ticket in the public ballot. Apparently, after a slow start, it was a very enjoyable event.

The Hollow Crown

The BBC 2 Series of The Hollow Crown has set a new benchmark for the televising of Shakespeare. I had never previously thought that Shakespeare was successful on TV until, that is, David Tennent's Hamlet showed the way. Sam Mendes' production company Neal Street Productions have not only secured the best directing and acting talent, but have invested heavily in the sets, locations, costume, music, sound, lighting and all the other aspects of film making. So it all seems highly cinematic.The dialogue is not only beautifully spoken, it is crystal clear, something not always there on stage. All four plays have been adapted, but so are many in the theatre these days, Timon of Athens the latest.

The directors have all made the most of their plays. Rupert Goold has been a theatre director for fifteen years and an associate director at the RSC for the last two. Richard II is his first film and he has made a fabulous job of what is a pretty stodgy but very poetic play. Ben Wishaw is brilliantly unsettling as the king, well he does have all the best lines "the worst is death and death will have his day" ......... "let's talk of graves and worms and epitaphs .....". The bloodless revolution is handled superbly, and Rory Kinnear is almost apologetic as he seizes the crown. Add in David Suchet, Patrick Stewart and David Morrisey, and there is so much to admire.

Both parts of Henry IV are directed by Richard Eyre. His filming of the quiet court in dull greys compared with the noise and colour of Falstaff's tavern works incredibly well. Tom Hiddlestone was a strange choice as Hal, but he manages to convey his deliberate association with the lower classes, so as to be seen in an even better light when he becomes King. Simon Russell Beale is a slight disappointment as Falstaff. Although his performance is top class, he just does not have that big physical gruffness the role demands. But he is surrounded by greatness in Julie Walters and Maxine Peake. Jeremy Irons is terrific as the old King, and it was good to see favourite TV actors such as Alun Armstrong and the follicly challenged David Hayman as Worcester almost unrecognisable in an extraordinary wig.

Thea Sharrock has for a long time been a brilliant theatre director, but had not really tackled Shakespeare until her 2009 As You Like It at the Globe. And as far as I can tell, absolutely no experience of TV or film. But her Henry V is very good. It is subtle rather than powerful. The King delivers his famous speeches with an almost embarrassed evocation. This is a man who does not glorify in war, but sees it as a necessity for the country. Sharrock uses music to up the emotion, especially as Pistol, Bardolph and Nim say goodbye to Mistress Quickly (Julie Walters) and the unnamed boy for the war in France. This is one of the best scenes in the whole series. I had forgotten how Shakespeare had made Pistol and his friends representative of the great British public with their reaction to facing yet another war. And who else could be cast as the Chorus except for John Hurt. From an outstanding Prologue to the eve of battle and "from camp to camp through the foul womb of night ....... a little touch of Harry in the night". It just does not get any better.

The Fear Index, Four Stories and Wish You Were Here

The description sounded good. A thriller by Robert Harris about a hedge fund sounded like fun. Unfortunately The Fear Index is all plot and little substance. It follows the legend that is Alex Hoffman, a financial genius whose life begins to unravel. The book has good pace and is what I'm told is a real page turner. It's just that I need something more out of a novel. I love thrillers on TV or at the movies. But not in books. But that's just me.

Alan Bennett has just not written enough fiction. And when he does, they are very short. The Uncommon Reader is a novella of 121 pages, but a masterpiece. Smut is two short stories and Four Stories is, well, four. "The Laying On Of Hands" is a fine and hilarious depiction of a memorial service. All sorts of famous people unexpectedly arrive as Clive Dunlop (the deceased) was a masseur. In "The Clothes They Stood Up In", an ordinary mature couple find their flat has been stripped bare. And I mean bare. Every last bit. How they eventually trace their possessions is a wonderful twist. Midgley visits his father who is dying in hospital. A comic story of a family finally  understanding their past. I had already read "The Lady In The Van", and it isn't fiction. It is from his collection of various writings called Writing Home that is one of my all time favourite books. And non fiction at that. The author allowed Miss Shepherd to park her van on his drive for fifteen years, after she struggled with the authorities for the previous five out on the street. His diaries tell an amazing story that sounds more like fiction than anything from true life.

I had only ever read one book by Graham Swift and that was his prizewinning Last Orders. So when his latest novel came out in paperback, I thought it might be worth a try. This is not a fun book. It tells a distressing story of Jack and Ellie, childhood friends from neighbouring farms in Devon. Now married and in their late forties, the death of their parents still haunts them (well Jack anyway), even though their lifestyle has hugely improved having inherited a profitable caravan park on the Isle of Wight. Jack cannot put out of his mind the mad cow disease that crippled their farms. And to top it all, they receive news that his brother Tom has been killed in Iraq. As I said, not a fun read. As Jack makes the journey (think Last Orders) for Tom's repatriation (a wonderful portrayal) and funeral, he ponders on the past. The narration does jump about between the present and the past, possibly a bit too much and as a result I found the storytelling quite a bit uneven.  But this is definitely a "condition of England" tale, and one that is important to tell.

Timon of Athens at The National Theatre

I had forgotten what a wonderful space is the Olivier Theatre. The largest of the three that make up The National Theatre, when it is full it creates a superb atmosphere. The open revolving stage and the fan shaped auditorium needs a big production to do it justice, and this is exactly what we get with a modern day version of Timon of Athens. It had received terrific reviews and it lived up to it's reputation. It was so good, you wonder why the RSC had not performed it for the last twelve years, especially as it fully resonates with the current Greek debt crisis. And the play is all about wealth, money, moneylenders (these days it would be banks) and debt. You could just believe that Timon was a metaphor for Greece itself. Inheriting wealth, he gives it all away, just to be a friend of the rich. But when the time comes when it has been surpassed by debt, and the moneylenders come calling, his so called friends don't want to know.

In the second half of the play, we see a destitute Timon pushing his supermarket trolley around a deserted building site, unable to find the redemption offered along the way. It reminded me so much of the fall from grace of King Lear. I believe the success of the production is all down to Nicholas Hytner who has been the Artistic Director of The National Theatre since 2003. He is the genius behind One Man Two Guvnors. His modern staging of Timon is breathtaking. There is a huge cast who fill the big spaces of the stage so that there is almost too much to see. It could all be happening in London itself, the bankers, the riots, the city. The acting, of course, is first rate and in Simon Russell Beale as Timon, we have a great Shakespearean actor at the height of his powers.

Shakespeare: Staging the World at The British Museum

One of the principle objects to be found in The British Museum's current exhibition "Shakespeare: Staging the World" is an original First Folio. Secure in it's glass case, it is what meets you as enter the first of the nine sections situated in the old central Reading Room. However, apart from the Robben Island Bible just before the exit, what is left in between is pretty ordinary.

What the exhibition tries to do is to give the viewer a glimpse of what influenced Shakespeare to write the many different types plays. Starting with Shakespeare's London (obviously), then The Forest of Arden suggesting the Warwickshire countryside responsible for "As You Like It", The Classical World (for "Julius Caesar") and so on. But the actual exhibits (a rapier, the proclamation of a plague, a woollen cap, a venetian glass goblet) were very ordinary. Some of the portraits were interesting, as were the old maps of Venice and designs for the Union Flag of Great Britain. But how relevant were all these?

The best feature ( and what enticed me to go) were the clips of scenes acted by members of the RSC scattered through the exhibition. We never see the witches, but we heard them. And Anthony Sher with lines from "The Merchant of Venice". However there is one inescapable reason why I'm so glad I went, and that is seeing the interior of the Reading Room. This architectural marvel, completed in 1857, is now almost entirely used for major exhibitions for which you have to pay. And boy, is it impressive.

Using cast iron, concrete and glass, it was built in the centre of an open courtyard which was surrounded by the four wings of the museum. It was restored when the Foster designed Great Courtyard was constructed in 2000 for a cost of £100 Million. The interior was brought back to it's former glory, and seeing it above the exhibition was well worth the price of admission.

The layout, lighting and display of the exhibition is of the highest quality that now is the benchmark of such events. So full marks for presentation, but very few for content.

I now realise that I had not before seen the Great Court since it was refurbished in 2000. I had been meaning to go for a long time, but nothing at the museum had attracted me before. As I expected, it is a completely spectacular construction. What was basically a courtyard garden is now the largest enclosed public space in Europe, with the Reading Room at it's centre. The glass roof is awesome, and the facings to the buildings seem as if they were renewed only yesterday. Very, very impressive, as the number of photos I took will testify.



The New Drive

It was goodbye to the old concrete drive and hello to brand new block paving. Not without it's moments of distress (note the attempt to destroy our neighbour's hedge), the final result is all we could have wished for. My role of Project Manager was even lonelier when Alison went to stay with her sister for the three worst days, the neighbours with whom we share the drive having escaped on holiday. But I was glad to make sure everything was right, including the very important pattern and it's critical junction of the two drives. A seamless wonder.

London by Thea Gilmore and Sandy Denny

You can imagine my surprise when I heard the music that accompanied a montage of Gold Medal Winners on the BBC. Obviously chosen for the words "I wish I was in London, that's where I wanna be", the song "London" is a collaboration between Thea Gilmore and Sandy Denny and is from the album "Don't Stop Singing". Two of my favourite artists and the Olympics. How good is that? This is how it happened, courtesy of www.forfolkssake.com.

In 2007, while compiling Sandy Denny’s unrecorded material for what would become last year’s monumental eponymous 19CD box set, the late Fairport Convention singer’s estate uncovered several sets of lyrics unused and unscored before her untimely passing in 1978, aged 31. These were then entrusted to lifelong Fairport fan Thea Gilmore, and Don’t Stop Singing is the result.

This process lends the beautiful ‘Pain In My Heart’, in particular, an extra poignancy. “Stage fright and thoughts of you stir up the butterflies”, Gilmore sings – a lyric intended by Denny for a lover, but which surely must apply equally to its performer’s thoughts of its writer.

Elsewhere, the loneliness that afflicted Denny is catalogued on ‘Song #4′ (“Will he come, will he ever come, home again to me?”) and ‘London’ (“The hotel is just like yesterday’s/ The city has no name… I wish I was in London, that’s where I wanna be”).

Emotional closing track ‘Georgia’, in honour of Denny’s only daughter, counters the feeling at the time that the increasingly troubled singer cared little for her child – husband Trevor Lucas took the infant, who has never publicly spoken about her mother since, home to Australia out of concern over Denny’s substance abuse and erratic behaviour, while fellow songstress Linda Thompson recalled in the Guardian that Denny was “crashing the car and leaving the baby in the pub and all sorts of stuff”.

Gilmore’s stunning voice represents the perfect medium for Denny’s words, and her arrangements bring the best out of them, but it is essentially a selfless performance and it is easy to forget it is not Denny herself on the record. ‘Long Time Gone’ perhaps best captures the project’s ethos with the lyric “If I don’t make it before I die, then I just ain’t gonna die” – Denny never achieved the mainstream success she craved and her talent deserved (certainly in comparison to, say, fellow Fairporter Richard Thompson) but projects such as this mean she will never truly be lost.

Words: Tom White

London 2012 Olympics - Day 8

It was called Super Saturday, and we were there. When we entered the ballot for tickets, we thought that we had more opportunity for a morning session. And with Jessica Ennis competing in the Heptathlon, it promised to be something special. Earlier I had found the Stadium seating plan, and our seats were just above the long jump pit, absolutely ideal to watch Jess in her event.

We boarded the 7.15am train from Watford. Unusually for that time on a Saturday it was packed. It looked like everyone was going to the Olympics. At Kings Cross we took the Underground to West Ham, avoiding the long wait at St Pancras for the Javelin train to Stratford. It was a twenty minute walk to the Olympic Park along The Greenway, an old footpath/cycle path that has been upgraded for the Olympics.

There was no wait at security as we had a choice of empty lanes. Inside the park, we looked for a water station to fill our bottle but we had to wait a long time in the queue, probably the only fault we found during the whole day. We took our seats with half an hour to go before the start and were entertained by our commentary team on the big screens.

This is a picture of the lighting tablets that were used for the opening ceremony. There was one between every seat.

The start of the session saw Jessica Ennis competing in the long jump, the fifth of the seven disciplines in the Heptathlon. She came in leading the event, but she had experienced problems with her run up in the  long jump  all year. She started with a safe but short effort, but then had excellent jumps of 6.40 metres and then 6.48 metres, only 0.03 behind her personal best. When none of her challengers did anything special, she had increased her points lead to a massive 258. I think we knew then she had won gold. I will always remember the standing ovation she recieved as she walked back from that last jump.

It only got better in the next discipline, the  javelin. Jess threw 47.49 metres, a personal best. And although this is one of her weakest events, she took a lead of 188 points (or a distance of 13 metres) into the final 200 metres later that evening.

There was so much going on at the same time. After the men's 100 metres preliminary heats, there was Round 1 of the 400 metres going on at the same time as the long jump and pole vault where GB's Holly Bleasedale qualified for the final.

After the heats of the women's steeplechase came the main event on the track, Round 1 of the men's 100 metres. And of course it was Usain Bolt most people wanted to see.

The morning session actually concluded with the Heptathlon javelin, so that all other events had finished and all eyes could watch Jessica Ennis and her rivals. Leaving the Stadium, we made our way to the Orbit where we had timed tickets for 2.30pm. However, so had everyone else and we had to wait half an hour in a queue. But we were luckily under cover for the two heaviest showers of the day. Was it worth the wait? Definitely. We had great views over the Olympic Park and the City and Canary Wharf in the distance.

It was mid afternoon when we descended the steps form the top of the Orbit. We grabbed a coffee and a cake (no queue) and sat on our mats in the sunshine. Refreshed, we set off for a walk around the Park. It was so impressive. The planting is great, and the various venues look good. But it is the atmosphere that has to be experienced. It is brilliant.

It was just before 5pm that we left and this time we headed for the main gate and Stratford International station. The route out was very quiet and our carriage on the Javelin shuttle train (6minutes to St Pancras) was almost deserted. It was the end of one of the best days ever. Little did we know what would happen in the Stadium that evening.