Helen Mirren was awarded the Bafta fellowship this week and I enjoyed the celebratory film clips which highlighted her key film roles throughout an illustrious career, including the high-class gangster moll, Victoria, standing firm with Bob Hoskins as Harold Shand, in the eponymous, The Long Good Friday. I also rather liked her choice of valediction […]
I had a letter arrive in the post today, at work, in a pink envelope with a hand written address marked for my attention and on the back a note, “Do not open until the 14th!” How intriguing. Sure enough it was a Valentines card, but not quite what I was expecting. “Be my Valentine” was […]
Ipswich Gaumont, 12th April, 1982. The Scorpions are about to rip into Blackout, the balls to the wall killer title track from their latest metal opus. Just 1 year on, and with a little more spandex and hairspray, Phil Moggs mighty UFO are wrapping up the night with the holy trinity… Too Hot to Handle, […]
Trials and tribulations can be just around the corner. On Wednesday afternoon, the not so unexpected happened, the Orwell Bridge was closed because of high winds – and yes indeed safety is a concern to take seriously, but with a little thought and some planning the ‘total grind to a halt carnage’ that resulted could […]
My last drop of nectar was a sumptuous glass of Wirra Wirra – the bottle had been opened early in the New Year and not fully consumed and as consequence I was late in starting my sabbatical. I had made a vow long before Christmas festivities began to take an enforced break from the grape […]
It was brutal down on the front, with an icy northern wind and that ‘what on earth are were you thinking’ smeary dreary rain, but against all logic I was determined we’d go for a ‘nice’ stroll come hell or highwater. Shotley sits at the head of the peninsula, at the clashing point between the […]
Arcade Fire – Reflektor. Released late last year this double album is a gem – a throwback to in time to concept albums and a desire to emulate ‘rock-art’ rather than ‘sound-bite rock’. The production is multi-layered – a tangled weave of intense sounds and harmonies that clash and resonant and then capture your imagination […]
Early last Saturday morn we (that’s me and Father Forté) headed for the old Ha’Penny Pier in Harwich, armed only with flask, thermals and binoculars. We were greeted by a gaggle of similarly shivering (but smiling) folk all destined for the intrepid mist laden voyage up the Stour on the Victor. The Victor is a […]
I took my daughter to see Le Corsaire, at the Coliseum a rarely seen ballet with a storyline about swashbuckling Ottoman pirates, slaves girls and Turkish sultans – all beautifully choreographed with wonderful costumes and very clever scenery effects, especially the end sequence where multiple screens created an enthralling spectacle of stormy seas and shipwreck. […]
