Fascinating. A very cool movie about the lead singer of Joy Division. Another exploration of the disintegration of a human being. Great insight into the creative process. Loved the music.

Current temperature: here 13C/55F, there 61F/16C

We had the opportunity to see a production of this Alan Bennett play at the Mercury Theatre. Although very much in the ilk of a British farce, Alan Bennett’s version of this traditional form had an added level of depth that engaged the brain as well as the funny bone. The cast was as excellent as ever. We had previously attended the Front Row discussion related to this production and learnt more about the play and the company’s methods of rehersal. It was an enlightening ‘presentation’ and it was quite remarkable to see the transformation between actor and character.

The production was excellent and kept our rapt attention to the ‘goings on’. The stage design was extremely sparse but perfect to concentrate the audience’s attention on the players and their interactions.

Current temperature: here 9C/48F, there 57F/14C

Sweet. This movie was so much fun. The main performances were very good. A very enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours.

Current temperature: here 9C/48F, there 55F/13C

I just came across the Mo Movie Measure. Sadly, almost everything I’ve seen recently fails by a huge margin. Most of the half way decent movies just lately seem to be about individual men psychologically disintegrating with nary a woman in sight. *sigh*

How hard would it be for a screenwriter to write an interesting story about an interesting woman? There are plenty of interesting women in the world. Perhaps the screenwriters aren’t up to the job?

To summarise: to be worth watching, a movie should have:

1. at least two women in it
2. who talk to each other
3. about something besides a man

… big fat wet flakes of SNOW!!!!!!!!

And here’s the evidence. (I’ve posted more photos to a Flickr set.)

We went to see Brief Lives at the Mercury Theatre staring Roy Dotrice. It’s a one man performance based on the writings of John Aubrey. The reclusive antiquarian takes a nostalgic journey through history, telling tales, “including the bits the the history books leave out.”

It was a very enjoyable performance filled with humour and pathos.

Current temperature: here 6C/43F, there 30F/-1C

So we’re not the only people from our little berg on the lone prairie spending a sabbatical this side of the pond. Our friends, the Kildegaards, are having a fine time just across the Channel in Denmark. Since they were gadding about this side of the water we took the opportunity to meet at the Natural History Museum. A few moments after arriving in the grand entrance the museum was evacuated for ’security’ reasons. Just our luck! No matter, we crossed the street and hung out at the V&A instead.

Much conversation and a little wandering around later and we headed back across the road to visit The Darwin Centre, a new public research facility that is a part of the Natural History Museum. We were lucky enough to sign up for a tour and spent an educational hour exploring the museum’s wet specimen collection and learning about the facility. We even got to see items from Darwin’s voyage on the Beagle.

After the Kildegaards left on their journey back to Denmark we headed back to the V&A for dinner and the chance to view the exhibit, Out of the ordinary: Spectacular Craft.

Queen of the Night by Olu Amoda.

Olu Amoda is a sculptor, designer and teacher from Nigeria. He used materials salvaged from the scrap yards and streets of Lagos.

“Nails are used in my work as a metaphor. They have survived generations and remain one of the most ideal and enduring pieces of engineering.”

Topologies by Anne Wilson (below)

Anne Wilson lives and works in Chicago, USA. Traditional textile techniques such as lace making, crochet and knitting are integral to her practice.

“…More constant is my interest in material histories and issues that come out of the everyday as they relate to our human condition.”

As an embroiderer I find much of the modern art inspired by this noble and ancient art to be lacking in numerous ways. Young artists seem to have failed to grasp that poor and skill-less imitation is not flattering. (A notable exception is the work of Jess Larson.) This piece, by Anne Wilson, breaks the mould and demonstrates that the artist understands some of the underlying drives that make ’stitching’ so addictive and life enhancing.

Stunning. Another film of epic proportions that doesn’t drag for a single moment. Hauntingly beautiful, it just sucked me in. Elegiac for a past time and place, winding towards a predestined tragic end. A poem that tells how violence merely begets more violence. How this movie didn’t rack up the Oscar nominations is a complete mystery. The music and cinematography wove together intimately and evoked an aching melancholy.

(For reasons known only to them, our local cinema brought this movie back for two more screenings. I so glad they did it, it was spectacular.)

Current temperature: here 6C/43F, there 25F/-4C

So, about one am I could feel a definite tremble in the floor through my feet. Strange, thinks I, I’ve never noticed the trains causing vibrations before, I didn’t think we were that close to the railway line. Well, it wasn’t a train. It was, apparently, an earthquake. Who’d have thunk it! That’s number three for me; my first was in Morris, Minnesota, my second in Pasadena, California and now, my third while in Colchester, Essex.

The US Geological Survey is reporting it as of magnitude 4.7 in Lincolnshire. The USGS has a really cool web site where you can check out details of the latest tremors around the world and report your experience of the event. Which I did, yay me, doing my bit for science!

Current temperature: here 4C/39F, there 18F/-8C

Cool. This was a great little movie featuring a range of interesting quirky characters who I actually enjoyed spending time with. Ellen Page is one cool actress, it’s amazing to think she was the ‘little’ girl in Hard Candy. That’s quite a range for someone so young. I’m very pleased with the way the movie resolved the relationship between Juno and her baby’s prospective father. Initially, the script is written in such a way that he has your sympathy and you see his wife as a less lovable character. But as he develops a relationship with Juno things become creepier and creepier. Fortunately they bring things to a head before you think about deserting the cinema.

It was nice seeing Minnesota on the big screen though the film was clearly made on a tiny budget as the cinematography was not the greatest and the focus puller was having a rather hard time of things.

I laughed a lot and would watch this again.

Current temperature: here 12C/54F, there 19F/-7C