Mike's musings

Harry Potter

Well, neither us felt like watching TB tonight, so I popped round next door and hired Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I've certainly seen it before, though Moo can't remember if she has. Fun to watch, though. Oh, and I've got another knitting project on the go, which is good.

Labels: films

More films, and a visit

(backposting) Sitting in the restaurant yesterday, we noted via Facebook that a friend of ours (of my sort of age *gulp*) was in hospital. A flurry of text messages later, and the reason, it transpired, was that he'd had a heart attack while training for a marathon. Apart from the obvious justification we felt for our general view on the dangers of excessive (read "any") exercise, we were naturally rather concerned. I rang him this morning, and offered to pop round to see him in hospital: he accepted the offer, and I popped round in my clerical collar (aka "access-all-areas costume"). It turns out that it seems to have been a fairly minor one - to the extent that any heart attack is "minor" - and he was in pretty good spirits. We had a very good chat and I lent him a few DVDs.

On leaving, I found myself near Colchester centre, and at a loose end, as Moo had taken the girls off earlier in the morning to her parents, to make sure that they'd get a chance to see their cousins this weekend. I'd already had a sleep after they left, so I decided to go and watch How to Train a Dragon again: this time in 3D. Even better, I have to say, and I can't recommend it highly enough.

Easter Eve vigil in the evening, watched some Blackadder Goes Forth, and headed to bed. Easter Day tomorrow!

Labels: Easter, films, illness, services

Good Friday - family time

(backposting) I wasn't involved any of the services in the team today, and Moo and I took the opportunity to spend some family time. A number of options presented themselves, but we ended up going to see How to Train a Dragon at the Freeport Cineworld. We decided against the 3D version, because the girls - Miri in particular - really struggle with the glasses, and just take them off, so we went with the standard 2D version.

What a great film! Funny, exciting, good plot, fun characters, and brilliant animation. Something for adults (who came up with the line "breast-hat"?), lots for kids. Just a great time. That's the sort of family film we like to watch. Only really annoying thing was why all the adults had Scottish accents, but none of the kids did (and if you're going with Vikings, why Scottish, anyway?). But great fun, nevertheless.

Labels: family, films

Frogs - and Rugby

We took the girls to see The Princess and the Frog today, which they enjoyed. As did we, in fact. Although the quality of the animation isn't up there with the best, the story was pretty good, the characters fun, the politics there to read if you wanted, the heroine much more convincing than almost any other, and the music _excellent_. In fact, we've ordered the CD.

On return, after some stern words of warning, Moo and I watched the rugby: England-Wales at Twickers. The girls did OK, in fact, and Moo is an absolute star for taking the girls up and letting me watch the last 20 minutes. And we won: some exciting rugby, though some rather disappointing errors. I had one of those "let's be honest, I'm never going to play rugby again" moments. You just have to face up to them from time to time.

Labels: films, rugby

A great film

It's been a while since I watched the marvellous Hot Fuzz. Moo's working late, and I get the chance to enjoy this genius yet again.

Labels: films

Piano and Avatar time

(backposting) I was in charge of the music for the final Communion service of the weekend, so chose the hymns and played the piano. It was lots of fun, and there were some stonking hymns. I think I must have spent too much time with those Methodists on ERMC, because I discovered that morning (having chosen them around a week earlier) that 3 of the 4 were by Charles Wesley. At least he was an Anglican.

The girls weren't going to be back home until the evening, so I decided that after a long hard week and weekend, I deserved a treat. Avatar 3D. Did the shopping first, thereby assuaging possible guilt, and then sat down to watch it, in a fairly full cinema. It's very impressive, and utterly believable, in terms of the visual effects. Not a stunning good plot or very complex character development, but a good film, I have to say, and I'm very glad I saw it in 3D.

Girls half woke up when they turned up in the car (well, Moo was very awake, particularly after her hour-long diversion given the closure of the A14), so I got to say "I love you", give them each a kiss and put them both to bed. Ah.

And great to catch up with Moo, too.

Labels: films, music

Being in charge

(backposting) We took Jo to ballet, and after that I took the girls out to a restaurant (well, I say that, it was a Frankie and Benny's), and then to Haverhill Cineworld to see Planet 51. They did very well (and no loo-breaks during the film, which is a minor miracle), though with about 30 minutes to go, I suddenly discovered that my lap was not my own. The film falls into the "mildly diverting" category, but I think they enjoyed it.

When we got back (and after a cup of tea), I foolishly agreed to take Jo around the village to drop off some cards that she'd refused to write before school finished yesterday. 2 were fine, but we discoverd that despite her protestations, she really had no idea where her friend Ellie lives. Didn't stop us driving around several times, and the tears, but I did my best.

Watched the first 3 episodes of the excellent Generation Kill. Really into it, I have to say.

Moo spent much of the day working, poor thing. But some big bids have come up, and she wants to have a good clear run over Christmas.

Very snowy here, and around -5 Celsius. It turns out that negative numbers aren't a big thing to Jo when explained with regard to temperatures. Worth remembering.

Labels: films, girls

A late night

(backposting) And our own fault, for a change, too. We had Victoria, Charles, Sennen and Jack around for supper and videos. The kids (Jojo, Miri and Sennen) watched videos and then failed miserably to go to bed properly for hours (well, Miri was fine...). And the adults had a beef stew (lovely stewing steak which I cooked for about 6 hours), and then watched Shaun of the Dead. Victoria just didn't get it at all. So we tried some Alan Partridge. Ditto. At least she enjoyed Green Wing. But honestly, you think you know someone...

Labels: films, friends

Skype

A good day at work: we had two Reference Group meetings to discuss the work we've done so far - and next steps - and I think they both went very well. We're now talking about what we might be doing in August next year, which suggests that people are really buying into things.

In the evening, after my usual sauna and swim combo, I had supper, and then talked to the girls on Skype, with video. It was lovely to see them (and talk to them), although Moo didn't look very comfortable at all, with the two of them climbing all over her.

My Dirk Bogarde season continued with the excellent The Blue Lamp, in which Jack Warner makes his debut as PC George Dixon (later to become Dixon of Dock Green). Good ending: using the tic tac at the greyhound track was a nice twist. The deprivation post-war (it was released in 1949) and the lack of cars on the street made it an interesting watch from a social point of view as well. More Bogarde to come!

Labels: family, films, work

More Dirk Bogarde

(backposting) Finished watching Hunted tonight. It's a great film, and I'm really getting into this Dirk Bogarde box set. The story's good, the acting is too, in places, and the ending is fascinating: much less resolution than you'd expect from a film these days, I think.

Labels: films

Sauna and swim - and expensive pints

(backposting) I've got into a routine, once I come back to the hotel, of going to the sauna - for 15-20 minutes - and then heading into the (room temperature) swimming pool for some lengths. Only managed 6 today (more like 20-30 for the past few days), but it's a good habit to get into.

Watched Eagle Eye on my phone tonight, having bought it in Heathrow on the way over, and ripped it. Loved it, I have to say. Good action, some suspense, and a fun plot. Not particularly believable, but I didn't care.

Finished off the evening with a €6 (nearly £6) pint in the hotel bar. And not even a pint. Short. Shocking.

Labels: films

Internet access

You take it for granted, don't you? But I've spent the day on a customer's LAN with a pretty draconian proxy and blacklisting policy (no User Friendly (humour), no Facebook (social networking), no IM, no IMAP, no SMTP..., and the hotel I'm in just has crap access. Slow, when it works at all. I've complained, natch, but don't expect much to happen about it soon.

Realised last night, after posting, that I'd completely forgotten to note that I watched a great film on the plane yesterday. Given that I was seated in cattle class on a 3 hour BA flight, it wasn't on the in-flight systems, obviously, but I watched the fantastic The Sleeping Tiger - a Dirk Bogarde masterpiece. I recently bought a box set of his classic films because I wanted to watch his brilliant Victim, but this is the first of the set that I've got round to seeing. Great drama, some good acting, and a good old plot, too. I really enjoyed it, and I'm glad that I've got a few others all ready for me to watch on my phone when I get the chance.

Labels: films, Internet

Oh, dear

(backposting) So, although Jo's ballet went well, there was something of a trauma afterwards. I was given the opportunity to take Jo to a party in the village at 1200. We headed off, with Jo in her Stephanie (Lazytown) outfit. And her silver shoes. Which don't fit her. They really don't. So she fell over and grazed her knee. Quite badly. So, a few tears. But she calmed down and we went into the Post Office. But as we came out, she realised that she was bleeding quite badly.

Melt-down.

And then we made it to the party venue. It was very quiet. And locked. So I called Moo, and Moo'd got the wrong day for the party.

More melt-down.

I carried Jo back, and we cleared up the blood. And then we took them to the cinema, just as something to do with them. We watched the vaguely diverting G-Force. I don't think we'll be watching it again, but it used up an hour or so, and was quite enjoyed. And then we went to a local Frankie & Benny's, which also helped.

The girls are really, really tired, poor little things.

Labels: films, food, party

Home alone

The girls are away at Kate and Mac's this weekend, so I'm home alone. We started off the day driving to Sainsbury's, planning a lovely fry-up. We got there at 0735 - the shop opening time being 0730 - but the café wasn't open yet, so we did some shopping. And _then_ we went to the caf&ecacute;. No fry-ups. And no clue about anything else either, it seems. But I bought a pair of trousers and a shirt for work. And some food for the weekend.

Got home, had a sleep, did all of the ironing whilst listening to the cricket. We've set them a good target, but, well, the pitch is holding up better than expected.

I've also updated my home laptop to karmic alpha 4, had an Indian take-away, and am watching Chain Reaction. Amusing and moderately diverting, but not High Art[tm].

Labels: cricket, films, food, geekery, girls

Ice Age 3

(backposting) Moo and I took the girls to see Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaur. We decided not to do the 3-D version, as last time we took them to a 3-D film (Bolt), Miri, at least, kept taking them off. It turns out that there are so quite scary dinosaur bits in the film, and a lot of cuddling ensued.

Labels: films

Baptising Boo

Today I baptised Si and D's daughter, Boo. After some discussion, they decided to be brave and to include her nickname "Boo" in her baptism, making it official, so her name is now "Charlotte Phoebe Boo". I preached on Ubuntu theology, and "I am, because we are" (rather than the "I am, because you are", which I'd found yesterday online). We started with a clapping game, with 5 different rhythms, building them slowly on top of a simple 4 beat (thanks, Chris, for helping with this one), and I then talked about the catholic nature of our faith: not only was I baptising Boo into the universal church - not any local church - but we must remember that our salvation through Jesus Christ is not just an individual salvation, but also a catholic salvation. Christ died for us all.

We had a lovely afternoon eating, drinking, chatting and the rest, and the girls did really well. And now they're in bed, and we're watching Karate Kid.

Labels: baptism, films

Walking or Trekking?

(backposting) Well, the obvious answer is "both", because I walked to Castle Hedingham today to drop off a repeat prescription, and then walked back. And I also went to see Star Trek, which I enjoyed enormously. It was a little over-complicated, possibly, but I felt that it was entirely in the spirit of the show and the previous films, so good for them. I really wanted to see it on the big screen, and now I want to see it again! I suspect that Moo won't be that interested...

Labels: films, walk

A Quantum of Redundancy

Up at 0500 - why is that? Well, just woke up and couldn't get back to sleep, so I got to say Morning Prayer in silence, on my own for a change. Which was nice.

The other two things of note for today are:

• my company started redundancy proceedings around my job today. That's how it works: they don't make you redundant, they make your role redundant. Anyway, it'll take a while, and it's not much fun, but that's the way it goes.
• Moo and I watched Quantum of Solace tonight. The girls were both asleep by 0630, so we decided to get out a film on DVD: something we've not done for ages. We'd not seen the latest Bond film, so thought we might as well do so. It's not the most, erm, plot-driven film, but it was mildly diverting, and Daniel Craig is quite rugged. And chiseled. Which was nice.

Labels: films, job

The first show

(backposting) Today was Jojo's first dance show: it was lovely. I cried at the end of her first appearance, I was so proud. I cried during the middle one, as I was nearly wetting myself with laughter. It was only a dress rehearsal, and was great. Jo didn't really get the fact that she should have been concentrating on remembering what to do, rather than (for instance) chatting to her friends or waving at me and Miri (or mouthing "where's Miri?" as she peered past the stage lights).

Moo managed to see all of Jojo's four routines, I'm pleased to say. I even managed to get one of them on video on my phone. Everyone who sees it laughs, despite the fact that it was one of the less, um, shambolic routines.

Miri managed the entire 2 and a half hours, and was a star.

Oh - and in the morning, we watched Monsters vs Aliens in 3D, which was excellent. Miri slept through some of it, of course, but Jojo enjoyed, as did we. I'd strongly recommend it: it was very funny, and had enough adult bits to be diverting.

Labels: films, jojo, miri

Cough, cough

(backposting) Woke up not very well, and went back to bed, where I slept for 2-3 hours: thanks very much to Moo for letting me to this (as she had to look after the girls while I did). We then went off to Freeport for lunch, and ended up not only buying Miri a new carseat (moving up to the >15kg type, and it was in fact 2, as we'll need one for Mel's car, too), but also going to see the film Bolt (in 2D, as we couldn't face the trauma around children and 3D glasses). We rather enjoyed it, and Jo got really into it (she burst into tears when it looked like the dog was going to walk away, and cried "the cat must tell him, the cat must tell him"), Miri called out "CAT!" whenever the cat came onto the screen (which was often), and clearly neither Moo nor I had tears in our eyes at the denouement, oh no.

Miri was a nightmare to get to bed last night, and Jo tonight. I got the short straw both times.

Labels: films, illness