Canterbury and Chatham Historic Dockyard

I'm not sure why Alison picked the first week in March to have a short break. I guess the fact that the two nights at the very nice Ramada hotel outside Maidstone and the Eurotunnel fare were free using Tesco vouchers had something to do with it.

We ( or should I say I) picked the Historic Dockyard at Chatham for the first day. It might have been that it was pretty deserted, but the whole place seemed to be a bit amateur compared with, say, Portsmouth. And the weather didn't help. Although bright, there was a very chilly wind, and Alison particularly suffered, as you can see. There was nowhere to get warm, even the horrible cafe was cold.

The two ships we went on were quite interesting. The second world war destroyer showed how basic the conditions were at sea. The guided tour of the submarine HMS Ocelot was the high point, especially having to slide through the hatches from one compartment to another. The best presented exhibit was the RNLI display of 17 old lifeboats, each with their own history.

On the second day, Canterbury was a totally different story. The weather was sunny and the wind had died down. The Cathedral looked wonderful, both outside and the interior with the sun streaming through the stained glass windows.

I was particularly interested to see where Thomas Becket ( we were always taught it was Thomas a Becket) was killed, having done "Murder in the Cathedral" by T S Elliott for O Level. I was not prepared for the impressive area dedicated to the events of 1170. Visiting the spot 46 years after studying the book ended up being quite emotional, especially seeing the stained glass window representation of Thomas which is used so often.

In the end, because we were there in early March and the few visitors, meant we enjoyed the visit to Canterbury even more, and coupled with the great weather, made for a memorable day. We ended up in the Roman Museum, which was worth it to see the remains of a Roman building underground.

On Saturday we went through the tunnel to go shopping at Cite Europe. Our hotel was only half an hour from the tunnel so the travelling was reduced to just the journey back. The garage is now stacked with wine and beer and the fridge has a delightful smell of cheese.

All go in my new study

It has taken over two months to organise, but at last the new study is up and running. Since my last posting (two weeks ago) I have set up the new computer, installed a wireless router (thank goodness I bought it from Virgin, my internet provider, as the installation instructions were not specific about using the ethernet cable (whatever that is) and I ended up using the USB cable provided. So Virgin were able to let me know what to do and it was working in no time.

I then had to buy a wireless adaptor for the new computer. PC World were not sure if they had one that was compatable with Vista. They checked that the Belkin was, even though it did not say as much on the box. The first time I followed the installation CD, it did not work. Eventually I phoned Virgin who suggested I uninstall, try again or take it back to the shop. I took some advice from some reviews on the internet, tried a different way of installing and seemed to get a connection, but how I will never know. This took most of Sunday, missing West Ham v Spurs which Alison said was the best game of the season. So now I get internet and e-mails to my new computer by magic.

On Tuesday, the office furniture (from Weelemobel) arrived. Two desks went together really well - trust the Germans to have the perfect fixings and almost perfect instructions, the shelf unit was the same and the drawer unit only needed the casters, runners and handles fixing. Very impressed. So this is the first posting from a new desk. All the photos from the other computer are now loaded and started to transfer to Picasa. I might even be able to start my history project next week.

Hints of Spring

The mini daffodils are out early this year. The snowdrops are still going strong, most are under the trees at the back.

Venus, Bood Diamond and Notes on a Scandal

Three brilliant films, and not one set in America. They have changed my mind about what was my preference for movies set in the USA. I have always enjoyed the different settings for these films, whether it be in a city or in some remote wilderness, the landscape across the country is so varied. But these three films, along with the others I have seen recently (Babel, Black Book and Apocalypto) are all set in different countries, and have all been great. The only disappointment this year so far, has been Night in the Museum - set in New York. The only interesting bit was the sequence in Central Park and picking out the San Remo Apartments I recognised from the Manhattan Scrapers book that Michael gave me for Christmas.

All the acting in Venus was very special. A lot must go down to the director Roger Michell and the writer Hanif Kureishi whose name I did not recognise. But he had collaborated before with the same director for the film "The Mother" and turns out he wrote the screenplay for one of my favourite films "My Beautiful Laundrette. As the BBC website puts it, "a veteran purveyor of suburban misanthropy".

I also thought that the writing carried Notes on a Scandal. I thought that Patrick Marber's screenplay for "Closer" was very disappointing. Especially after seeing his wonderful version of Strindberg in "After Miss Julie". But here he was on top form, and the film held my attention for every second.

I did not expect too much from Blood Diamond, but it turned out to be a good thriller. A bit too much gratuitous violence ( coming from someone who loves horror films), but the plot development was highly satisfactory. The message seemed a little lost now that Sierra Leone is at peace.

The Best Things about Retirement Part 1 - Following the Weather

I have already found that it is best to be flexible when it comes to what I want to do in the week. This is because it depends a lot on the weather. For instance, last Monday was pretty wet all day, so I ended up clearing the loft of all the bits of carpet and vinyl that we kept "just in case". Some of these were the ends of carpets and flooring that have already been replaced. The car was quite full by the time I headed for the tip. The new computer arrived in the morning, so although it was nice to unpack all the bits, without a desk, it has not yet been turned on.

And then the next day was sunny with clear blue skies. So it was off to Marsworth for a walk around the reservoirs and canals. I took it easy so as not to be too tired for my swim on Wednesday. Then on Thursday, it was warm enough to sit in the conservatory and finish Alan Bennett's "Untold Stories", and later wash the cars and clearing debris from the lawn and under the trees. It is great to be out in the garden in the middle of February. I have found that I prefer to be outside than in, but I have to ensure that I keep up my writing and get the brain ticking over.

Pink Floyd and ROCK'N'ROLL

I have never really been a fan of Pink Floyd. I quite liked some of the early stuff, "Arnold Layne" and "See Emily Play". I caught up with them when the brilliant "Another Brick in the Wall" hit the charts, but that was it. The rest just seemed like a pretty weird noise.

Then something happened to change my mind. In August last year, I went to see a new play by Tom Stoppard called "Rocknroll". Set in Czechoslovakia and Cambridge, it revolves around the Czech revolution with references to The Plastic People of the Universe playing in Prague and Syd Barrett living his final years in Cambridge. The scenes are punctuated by extracts from 18 songs from Syd Barrett's "Golden Hair" to the Rolling Stone's "Its All Over Now". But the ones that made the biggest impression were the five from Pink Floyd including "Wish You Were Here". How can I have missed such a great piece of work.

So for Christmas I asked for their compilation "Echoes". Whilst there are some tracks that are not exactly to my taste, and some seemed just like wallpaper music, there were some blinding flashes that go to the heart. My preference for listening to music is in the car. It is only here that I occasionally hear something that has an actual physical impact, usually a tingling sensation somewhere in the brain. This certainly happened with "Wish You Were Here" and "Shine on you Crazy Diamond".

It also happened listening to another two albums I received over Christmas. "You Do" by Aimee Mann from the album "Bachelor No 2" was the stand out track. Not so much on any of the individual songs on "All the Road Running" by Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris, but just a succession of wonderful tracks. I can remember the odd song from Alison Krauss did it, a couple from Thea Gilmore on her latest album "Harpo's Ghost", every time I hear "Brothers in Arms" and recently Sandy Denny's "Who knows where the time goes" and "Solo". A good few years ago, driving home on a Friday evening, I can remember Johnny Walker playing the whole live version of "Freebird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd, all 13 minutes and eleven seconds, and buying the double LP just to get this track. Radio 2 is now just not the same.

Snowfall

On Thursday morning we awoke to a fairly heavy fall of snow. However, by the time it stopped snowing in the middle of the day, it had already started to melt. Alison took the day off, not wanting to chance the journey to Bracknell.

We did manage to get to Tesco for the weekly shop in the afternoon. The main roads, including that through the village, were all gritted so were all clear.