Personal

Halloween in September

Halloween's definitely getting bigger in the UK. How can I tell? I've just had the first knock at the door in five years of living in Woodbridge.

Greenbelt , Personal

Mike Yaconelli

It was with a heavy heart that I heard the news this morning that Mike Yaconelli died yesterday.

In 1988 I went to Greenbelt for the first time. In amongst the music, the games and the laughter, one man spoke right into my soul. It was his first time there too, and back home he wrote of the Greenbelt he saw in words so instant, so compelling, that his memories of GB88 have become mine.

And he kept coming back. Right up 'till GB03 where, asked by Martin Wroe if he had any advice for Greenbelt, Mike said that Greenbelt should move on, that organisers should make way for new blood on the planning groups, so that the festival would continue even if the organisers did not. Tough words to hear then, but in the context of today's news, so much easier to understand.

Loud, jovial, inspiring and - who'd have thought it? - wise.

Missed by many already.

Arts

Film: Belleville Rendez-Vous

"A new dimension in boredom," declares MarcoB on IMDb. I can see where he's coming from. If you're looking for a dizzily paced cartoon packed with sight gags, stick to Pixar's output; a film with less than ten lines of dialogue is never likely to lift you from your slumber.

On the other hand, if you stick with it, you may find Belleville Rendez-Vous is a real treat: a dark, toe-tapping film animation made for adults.

Try not to go into this one with too much hype in your head. Relax, tap along in time with the music and I dare you not to be captivated by Bruno's doggy dreams.

Arts

Film: Intolerable Cruelty

One view on this film: "The trailer wasn't so hot, but it's the Coen Brothers and that's all I need to know."

Personally I don't think I've seen enough of the Coens' work to hold them in such high respect as others do. (Wait: this is the fourth film of theirs I've seen; maybe it's time to make a judgement call.)

So here it is... a glamorous, beautiful screwball comedy. There are a few missed cues (the character of Herb Myerson pushed taste boundaries a little too far for me), but on the whole it's a wonderful, well-paced film.

Personal

Another artistic weekend

The return match, Nicola's been in Woodbridge this weekend finding out what it means to live in the flatlands. (But at least Suffolk's not as flat as Cambridgeshire.)

What's on offer when you visit Angel Lane for a long weekend, then? This week's specials included two films, two walks (three and eleven miles), two National Trust properties (of which one was educational, the other inspirational) and a sophisticated evening out. Season that with a little home cooking, rather more eating out (hmm, best fix that next time), some fine wine, exceptional conversation and a dash of Skye's best.

Coastwalk

Dunwich Heath → Dunwich

Distance: 2.0 miles
Ascent: unknown
Duration: 56 minutes

Welcome to Suffolk
« Sizewell | Southwold »

Apart from my first week of coast-walking, I didn't initially record the dates of my walks. I've been able to deduce those for all bar the first few walks in Suffolk. To patch up this gap I've resolved to rewalk the coast between Bawdsey and Dunwich. Shortly after making this resolution, Nicola visited Suffolk for the first time -- a good opportunity to introduce her to my favourite walk and start chalking off the missing miles.

Arts

Film: The Man Who Sued God

Second film of the week, and it's nice, it's pleasant, it's alright.

OK I'll admit I didn't go in with particularly high expectations, and let's be honest, Billy Connelly isn't going to be convincing as a Scottish once-lawyer-now-fisherman living in Australia. (His brother in the film has a strong Australian accent; at one point he's referred to as the "Irish fella"; you wonder whose geography we're using here.)

Arts

Film: Good Bye, Lenin!

It's too long, and I'm not sure it deserves Empire's **** review, but Good Bye, Lenin! is an interesting film that's well worth watching if you don't mind a few rough corners.

Waking from a coma during which the Berlin Wall fell, Alex's mother is at risk of a fatal heart attack if she is excited. For the sake of her health, Alex hides the revolution from his mother, re-creating the DDR in her flat.

Rather than dwelling on the emotional significance of reunification, the film provides an alternate angle on November 1989. Through the net curtains of East Berlin, it peeks out a world that's changing at an alarming pace: favourite produce is no longer available, commercial enterprise is everywhere. A sense of fear of the unknown is presented, perhaps for the first time for western audiences.

Personal

Missing Them

Today I woke in my own bed. Today I creaked my way downstairs in a cold, old house. Today I ate breakfast alone.

Yesterday didn't exist: I saw two sunrises from the sky. But on Sunday, and for six days previously, I woke in my family's Adirondack outpost. I crept downstairs to the cry of "Uncle Paul!" from Isabel, and a dribbly grin from Nicholas. I spent the days playing and chatting, reading and relaxing. I laughed at Isabel's mid-Atlantic accent; I wondered where Nicholas's will be.

Not for ten years have I spent so long in the company of my sister. Never have I spent time with nephews and nieces.

And I miss them.

Personal

Coin Update

I almost forgot to look.

But as I walked downstairs, can of coke in hand, I couldn't miss them: the coins were still there. They've not disappeared over the last ten days, nor has the sequence been continued.

Experiment over, I guess. I have no idea what this proves.

Personal

Saranac Sunset

It's astonishing to think: I've been here a week. Tomorrow Joanna suffers the downside of my cheap air fare: we have to be at the airport at 5am. Thank goodness it's only a fifteen minute drive then!

What have I achieved this week? I've very little to show for my time here, but I feel much better for it.

I've got to know my nephew and niece. I've reconnected with my sister and brother-in-law. I've finally visited the place everyone else in the family has been talking about.

I've survived a week without my Mac, my email, my mobile phone.

I planned to write: a journal, a poem or two, maybe some prose. Instead, I wrote four postcards and read a lot.

But: my thoughts are now clearer on a number of key issues. I'm flying back home full of wonder at how the year will round off, and full of excitement that it might just blow my socks off.

Personal

Rural America

Joanna put her finger on it today: in all the times I've been to the USA, I've never been to a rural location. Work has dragged me round the conference circuit and last year I sent myself to New York on a holiday, but not once have I strayed beyond the city blocks, the streets and avenues, the reach of the subway.

This week I'm staying with my sister and her family at their home in Saranac Lake. It's in New York State, but the differences between here and the city couldn't be more marked.

Personal

Now I Know Red

For one week in the year, my garden looks stunning. The hedge protecting the road behind from my gardening experiments is a tangle of green throughout the summer, but sometime during the autumn it suddenly becomes a blaze of red, before burning itself out within a matter of days.

Such a pity this started the day I left for America.

Website

Offline

I'm going to be offline for a few days now, so don't expect updates this week. I'll be scribbling notes in the meantime so entries from the week should appear in a flurry sometime in future.

In the meantime, how about this photo, taken earlier today? A decent self-portrait: nicely composed, not too frowny a face (unless you count the stubble), and in focus. Amazing how throwaway snaps look so much better as the sun starts to set; I guess this is why the film guys call it the Golden Hour.

See you in a week.

Personal

My Favourite Tree

My favourite tree has been cut down. Every limb: amputated. All that's left are four strong trunks reaching twelve foot towards the sky. No branches to support, casting a long shadow rather than providing a wide shelter.

This tree taught me the beauty of graffiti. Miles from anywhere, its trunks are covered in carvings. Each year I'd come and check that another's been added. The oldest I can find is CLAIRE 1921; this year she's joined by Jack 2003. There's a beauty in these names and notes I'd not seen before: dreams frozen in an instant and tattooed into the bark of a wise old tree. An eternally present past, stretching its arms towards our future.

Personal

Plush Velvet Buttermilk

I've had quite literally no comments on my proposed bedroom colour scheme. Congratulations. This means you all have much more constructive things to do with your weekends than admire my DIY. I however do not share your fortune.

Arts

Film: Whale Rider

If the trailer's schmaltz has put you off watching this film, try your hand at selective amnesia and go see the film anyway. (I mainly went because I tend to see every film shown at The Riverside.)

Keisha Castle-Hughes is spellbinding in the lead role, showing a lot more talent and maturity than most actors these days. And while the film veers close to excessive sentimentality at times (at a couple of points it drags on a bit too), that's easily forgotten when you see the sweeping landscape - physical, emotional and cultural - underlying the story.

Greenbelt

How Radio 1's Changed

As this trail from 1979 shows, Radio 1's changed just a touch over the years.

(This entry was originally posted on the Greenbelt Blog.)

Greenbelt , Personal

A Dog Called Big Issue

At the party:
  An evening with familiar faces,
  wise words from and old friend.
  Relaxation, drink, loud, loud chat.

On the way home:
  A dog called Big Issue,
  a surprise phone call from a new friend.
  The shipping forecast spoken softly.

Tonight has been a beautiful evening. Stepping out of the car at one in the morning, the stars smile brightly on me. On nights like this I know friends near and far see the same constellations and no matter where I am I cannot feal alone.

Personal

A Productive Day

On Monday, a single penny appeared on a ledge in a stairwell at work. On Tuesday it was joined by a tuppence; yesterday a five pence piece continued the sequence. Call it an experiment; a game I've been playing anonymously with my collegues.