Went to London, Took the Dog by Nina Stibbe

 

We are in March 2022 so only a couple of years ago. Nina Stibbe is sixty, forty years since she was last in London as a twenty year old Au pair. Writing home to her friend in Leicestershire that became her first book "Love, Nina". Five more novels, all on my shelf, the last being "One Day I Shall Astonish The World" for which Nina attends quite a few book events and literary festivals. But Nina has left her home in Cornwall, maybe for good, at least for a year. That's the time she sets herself for her stay with the seriously successful writer Deborah (Debby) Mogach. Another nine of her novels on the shelf. She finally leaves Truro on 18th April (possibly for ever". No word about her husband, although lots about her children.

I have to say that I found this book mainly tedious. This is not the cheerful young writer from forty years ago. This is a diary of sorts, most of which is completely boring. There is some introspection about her relationships with men, some description of how London has changed from the litter to construction work everywhere and how much everything costs. There is one note that made me laugh about Debby's garden: "her potting compost is actually a bark chipping soil improver which means it drains instead of holding the moisture".

But the book rambles on and on about her daily life. Going to a preview of the theatrical adaptation of Debby's "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" is about as good as it gets. By page 130 (and we are not halfway) Nina tells us she is "not settled in London ....... might be time to go back to Cornwall". I just wish someone could have cut out at least two thirds. We do hear about her writing a new novel, but nothing I can find about any future publication. Although there was talk about the jacket design!
By the end of January she is talking about her "year in London almost up".

Then suddenly on 14th March 2023 her last quiz night at the Grafton Arms in Kentish Town. All rather sad. "I'm going to miss my team". Debby tells her "that's the thing about life. It gets good just as you're about to f... off". A last sad bit about getting a reminder from Hampstead Heath Swimming Pools that her season ticket is about to expire. On the 19th March Nina is packed to leave the next morning, but instead heads off so as not to have to say goodbye to Debby. First to the University of Leicester for a literary event and then on the 23rd at Gloucester Services on her way back to Cornwall, thinking about this "eventful" year.

Deborah Moggach and Nina Stibbe.

Art of Film on Sky Arts - The Birth of the Moguls

 

This is the story of the guys who started the big studios in Hollywood. Ian Nathan tells us about the light of California, and these figureheads who had huge control over everything that went onto film. One after another, the presenters gave us their stories. Kim Newman says that so many were from Europe: Russia, Poland, Germany and were predominantly Jewish. They seemed to all start owning cinemas in New York. 

Ian Nathan talks about German born Carl Lemmaele who officially created the first studio called Universal in Los Angeles in 1916 in the San Fernando Valley. All because of the light. He built the studio on farmland. Next came the big producers, Cecil B DeMille and Samuel Goldwyn. They started in the theatre and set up a film making business as an offshoot. The first feature film was The Squaw Man in 1914 directed by DeMille. 

In 1912, Adolf Zukor founded The Players Film Company. After building up a chain of cinemas, they started in film production with Paramount Studios. Ian Nathan then tells us about Louis B Mayer "the most famous of them all". Born in Russia, he bought his first movie theatre and in a few years had the largest cinema chain on the East Coast. After getting into film distribution, he set up his studio in Hollywood. Neil Norman said he was a real bully, a loud brash hustler. With his partners he founded MGM, or Metro Goldwyn Mayer. Mayer's partner was Irving Thalberg, an opposite to Mayer. A quiet creative producer who wanted better pictures even if that meant less of them. He even shied away from having his name on the credits. A great shame he died at 37.

We then hear about the Warner Brothers story. The three brothers (see photo above) opened a studio in Hollywood, the first to get sound. The fourth younger brother was Jack, the best production chief in Hollywood. By the 1930's he was running the show. But he was the most ruthless of the moguls, tyrannical and ruthless. In the end he even stitched up his own family.

Neil Norman talks about another bully, Harry Cohn. He was instrumental in the setting up of Columbia Studios, making lots of cheap films on a low budget. He had microphones everywhere so he could listen in to all that was going on. His big success was It Happened One Night". Next came Daryl Zanuck who was writing scripts from a very young age. He left Warners to set up 20th Century Pictures which eventually merged with Fox to become 20th century Fox. Zanuck made some big independent films, he was more of a collaborator with his directors than any of the other producers. 

Finally we are told about Walt Disney, how he pioneered animation, set up his own studio and eventually went into theme parks. Walt actually started out as an artist but always insisted his name was stamped on the top of every picture. Christina talked about his family orientated movies, and how he set up a team of animators to make the first animated feature in 1937 - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

The Lawn in November

 

This time of year, there parts of the lawn where you cannot see grass for all the leaves from the silver birch. I do have a leaf blower that works quite well. But what was a big surprise was the fact that it also dried the soaking grass. That allowed the mower to cut so much better. I had lifted the blade to a higher cut so the grass still looks quite long. 

After trimming the edges I went round with my camera and took these photos.

There are still some leaves to come down so maybe a final cut in a couple of weeks.

Have You Seen .....? by David Thomson: Kind Hearts and Coronets, City of God and Taxi Driver

 

In 1902, a condemned man sits in his cell writing his memoir. Strange that the villain of Kind Hearts and Coronets gets to narrate his own story. He is the 10th Duke of Chalfont, but only because ...... but that would be giving away the whole plot. We track back to his childhood, a modest family He has a job in a drapers shop. But when his mother dies, he is taken on by the Gascogne family in their law firm, headed by the current Duke of Chalfont. Deaths in the family occur at regular intervals. Until our narrator is charged for a murder he didn't actually commit. The trial takes place in the House of Lords would you believe. i found this to be the funniest part of the film. David Thomson says about this 1949 film "it is a very funny film, but don't let yourself settle for the jollity". 

City of God does not actually appear in David Thomson's book. Strange as it was nominated for four Academy Awards and lots of wins in various other awards. But this is a ridiculously violent film. Totally chaotic with a huge cast. If only we knew who was who.

David Thomson says that "Taxi Driver is a great film, in which there was a clear and willing glimpse of disorder at the heart of America". When (a very young) Robert De Niro's Travis Bickle picks up Senator and Presidential Candidate Charles Palantine, he is asked if there is one thing he would do, his answer is to clear up the mess that is New York. "The city here is like an open sewer, you know, it's full of filth and scum. Sometimes I can hardly take it". Thomson goes on to say "The gesture towards urban realism exists, but the film is hallucinatory, beautiful and scarring". The New York locations are amazing, especially the scenes at night. 

I find it hard to believe I had never seen this film before, it would have looked so much better on the big screen. I found it a little episodic as Travis picks up various fares, but his pursuit of Cybill Shepherd's Betsy is pretty creepy. But Shepherd looks at her dazzling best. Thomson tells us "The streets gasp with smoke or steam, and in the dank air it turns into Bernard Herrmann's rueful saxophone - his last and maybe his greatest score". If I had known about the extremely violent and, maybe, hallucinatory ending I might have given it a miss. But then I would have missed the wonderful photography.

The Far Border

 

This was the far border in July. It is dominated by the Hypericum that was planted a good many years ago. These have all been cut back as the photo below. So next year I will keep pruning them to a reasonable height. That way I will be able to see the nice plants at the far end. The rogue tall plant at the back on the right has gone and the white Achillea on the left has been removed. These always needed supporting and still fell over. 

I have also taken out some of the Anthemis and replanted these in the long border. Finally I have planted the daffodils as my post of the 12th October. I have yet to decide what I will plant at the far end. Something of medium height this time. Finally, I can now see the lovely hypericum bush on the right in the photo below. On the 3rd July I posted a picture when it was in full flower after having been cut back after the frost damage in the winter. 

Saving the Robinia Pseudoacacia

 

There may be more posts on this blog about the Robinia Pseudoacacia (or Mock Acacia) than anything else. The photo above is from the 13th June 2023 but there are others on 7th August 2009, 16th June 2015, 10th September 2022, 26th January 2024 and the 18th May 2024. 

However, this year the ivy that has attached itself to the trunk has now reached the top of the tree. The photo below is just from the bottom.

So yesterday, drastic action was needed to prevent any lasting damage. The tree itself is situated in a piece of no-mans land that the builder of all the houses around (including ours) left as access off the road to a plot that is now the far end of our garden. This area is a now used as a dump for all sorts of branches and other garden material. The advice is to cut the ivy back six inches above ground and remove twelve inches all round. I was glad of my long handled pruning shears as some of the ivy had got into the cracks and crevices of the trunk.

I was able to pull the strands of ivy away once they had been cut and pulled away from the trunk. The bark is heavily grooved as the photo above. Typical of this tree. Below are examples of the ivy.

I will now have to watch to see if the rest of the ivy dies off. The tree itself is a fine example but I'm not sure why it was planted in the orchard that originally grew there. Or maybe it self seeded somehow. Who knows. Having lost it's leaves this autumn, I love the shape of the branches. 

Classic Movies on Sky Arts - The Story of The Deer Hunter

 

Ian Nathan introduced this episode and told us it was made "so soon after the (Vietnam) war ended" and that it "was a radical new way of showing war on screen". It was THE Vietnam movie. It allowed audiences to see the reality of Vietnam. Ian tells us that it was a huge box office hit as well as winning five Oscars. This was despite the fact that the war was hugely controversial at home. 

We are shown how the film starts with that wedding in a close knit working class North Pennsylvania town. Set in a Russian Orthodox Christian community, this early part of the film lasts fifty minutes. Christina Newland tells us how the huge number of extras for the wedding scenes were drawn from the local community, so they knew all the dances. We see the three friends here before they go off to war.  Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken and John Cazale. Leaving Meryl Streep behind. De Niro was the backbone of the project that was such a divisive subject in America. 

Steven Armstrong says this is not a traditional war movie, it's about what happens to these three friends. It all hinges on their capture by the Vietcong. The entire film was shot on location, from Cleveland to Thailand and the River Quai where the three were help prisoner and the "dramatic function of Russian Roulette". 

Those five Oscar wins included one for Christopher Walken as best supporting actor, as well as best film and best director for a young Michael Cimino. (His next film was the disaster that was Heaven's Gate). It was the British producer Michael Deeley who bought the script. He had previously had success at British Lion Films and it was when they merged with EMI Films that The Deer Hunter came to fruition. Ian Nathan ends with telling us how the film portrays "the phycological impact the war  has on soldiers". And about how America sees itself.  

Vaccinations

 

I would never ever normally post about health. So this is only here to remind me of the three recent vaccinations that all took place at different surgeries and were all booked through different websites. So much for the NHS and joined up thinking.

First of all was the RSV vaccination at the Bedgrove surgery in Aylesbury and booked through Patient Access.

Next the flue vaccination at Wendover surgery booked through Ask First.

And lastly, today, the latest Covid jab at the Oakfield surgery, again in Aylesbury. This time booked through a text message. Amazing.