Watched 'Ethel And Ernest' on the beeb last night. The story of Raymond Briggs's parents and his life had a real ring of honesty about it. No punches pulled. As with 'The Snowman' it was beautifully crafted and it was a stunning piece of social history.
As someone who grew up in post war London I recognised so much. Getting our first telephone, our first TV, our first car. There is a lot of propaganda about right now about how hard done by the younger generations are compared with us old gits.
What couple today puts a mattress on the bare un-carpeted floor of their first home and hangs sheets at the windows. Today people expect to furnish right away, they expect holidays, cars, televisions, computers, individual phones. They expect child care and help from the state and on it goes.
I'm not against any of it, but the idea that we had it so much better is laughable. Yes, property is very expensive in many places, but our mortgage rates peaked at seventeen percent, we made do with second hand things and yes in most families people found a way for both parents to work. I know a retired nurse who worked nights, so she could be there for the kids during the day, snatching sleep in short bursts here and there.
Today she quite often babysits for her grandchildren. Each generation has its challenges and difficulties, I thank my lucky stars I missed both world wars. I wonder how many people between the ages of twenty and forty would recognise Raymond Briggs's world. I do and it was tv at its very best for once; a creative, storytelling treasure.
It also shone a light on the cheerful attitude that permeated much of working class London, so different from the BBCs soap opera version. And a reminder that things really aren't so bad for those coming along now.
Three cheers for Raymond.
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Thursday, 29 December 2016
Thursday, 13 October 2016
It's About Storytelling
Watched the first episode of the new BBC series 'The Missing' last night, strong cast and good acting. Only reservation was the constant jumping around in time. I think flashbacks or jumping forward can add to the telling of a story when used judiciously, over use the device and the story just becomes disjointed and more difficult for people to follow and understand. At the end of the day it's about storytelling, so only nine out of ten on that basis. Nice cliffhanger at the end though.
If you're starting to think about Christmas already!
If you're starting to think about Christmas already!
Tuesday, 11 October 2016
Is It Strictly Or Is It Us?
Strictly Come Dancing has been accused of being racist. I don't think the show itself is racist, but I wonder where British society is at. Many Brits seem to have got back in touch with their nasty side in the run up to and after the recent referendum.
Radio DJ Melvin Odoom was the first black contestant to leave Strictly and in all honesty he wasn't the most graceful of dancers. Next to leave was soap actor Tameka Empson. Again, as a layman, I think she was just pipped in the dance off. However it was the public vote which put her in the dance off and that may be a reflection of the racism we've seen growing with a little help from Farage and Boris The Turk.
Sorry, I sound a bit racist myself there; I have nothing against Turkish people at all, indeed, two of my best and most respected friends are Turkish, but Boris using fear of Turkey, when he of all people knows better was hypocrisy on an epic scale, so I just wanted to remind people of his heritage and two faced nature not denigrate Turks.
Back to Strictly and racism may have played only a minor part, it's impossible to know. I have noticed a tendency for people at the bottom of the leader board to attract a sympathy vote which puts better dancers out, also unfair. It is also to some extent a popularity contest and that's not right either, but it's more acceptable than racism. Racism is never acceptable and Britain IS struggling with it right now and we should be better than that.
Malcolm Snook on You Tube
Radio DJ Melvin Odoom was the first black contestant to leave Strictly and in all honesty he wasn't the most graceful of dancers. Next to leave was soap actor Tameka Empson. Again, as a layman, I think she was just pipped in the dance off. However it was the public vote which put her in the dance off and that may be a reflection of the racism we've seen growing with a little help from Farage and Boris The Turk.
Sorry, I sound a bit racist myself there; I have nothing against Turkish people at all, indeed, two of my best and most respected friends are Turkish, but Boris using fear of Turkey, when he of all people knows better was hypocrisy on an epic scale, so I just wanted to remind people of his heritage and two faced nature not denigrate Turks.
Back to Strictly and racism may have played only a minor part, it's impossible to know. I have noticed a tendency for people at the bottom of the leader board to attract a sympathy vote which puts better dancers out, also unfair. It is also to some extent a popularity contest and that's not right either, but it's more acceptable than racism. Racism is never acceptable and Britain IS struggling with it right now and we should be better than that.
Malcolm Snook on You Tube
Saturday, 8 October 2016
The Most Significant Watch In The World
Yesterday I reviewed an episode of Grand Designs but mentioned I'd watched another really good programme the same evening - a rare event indeed. The other programme on the BBC, getting it right for once, was Nicholas Parsons, of Sale Of The Century and Just A Minute fame, revealing his love of clocks and watches and telling the story of the watch Breguet made for the tragic Marie Antoinette Queen Of France.
What a story it was too. The watch itself is probably the most intricate masterpiece and the most valuable watch on the planet. Its story does not disappoint. Forty years in the making, with every point of friction cushioned with sapphire, with every complication known to Breguet, his patented tourbillon plus day, date and leap year calendar and what we would call an automatic movement but which Breguet called perpetual.
What would normally be brass parts were gold. The watch is believed to have been commissioned by a member of the Swedish aristocracy who was at least an admirer of the queen and possibly her lover. He stipulated unlimited time and unlimited budget and he got his wish, but not the watch which was finished some time after the queen had been executed in the French revolution.
The watch eventually came into the hands of a British industrialist and collector, before being bequeathed to a museum in Jerusalem. In Jerusalem it was stolen by a brilliant burglar. The heist was the biggest robbery in Israel's history and the police were unable to solve the case.
The Breguet company were dismayed and, after years of searching, using original records and photographs they set about making a replica. As many as a hundred craftsmen worked on the project for several years and just as they finished an antiques dealer in Jerusalem received a call from a lawyer and incredibly found himself face to face with the lost original.
The thief had never sold it and confessed on his deathbed to his wife who contacted a lawyer to broker the return of nearly one hundred stolen watches of great significance, none more so than the Marie Antionette.
Nicholas Parson tells the story with charm, intelligence and insight. Marvellous to see him still going I won't reveal his age but he's a most impressive gentleman. You can find the programme at the BBC website for a short while.
Gifts for watch enthusiasts.
What a story it was too. The watch itself is probably the most intricate masterpiece and the most valuable watch on the planet. Its story does not disappoint. Forty years in the making, with every point of friction cushioned with sapphire, with every complication known to Breguet, his patented tourbillon plus day, date and leap year calendar and what we would call an automatic movement but which Breguet called perpetual.
What would normally be brass parts were gold. The watch is believed to have been commissioned by a member of the Swedish aristocracy who was at least an admirer of the queen and possibly her lover. He stipulated unlimited time and unlimited budget and he got his wish, but not the watch which was finished some time after the queen had been executed in the French revolution.
The watch eventually came into the hands of a British industrialist and collector, before being bequeathed to a museum in Jerusalem. In Jerusalem it was stolen by a brilliant burglar. The heist was the biggest robbery in Israel's history and the police were unable to solve the case.
The Breguet company were dismayed and, after years of searching, using original records and photographs they set about making a replica. As many as a hundred craftsmen worked on the project for several years and just as they finished an antiques dealer in Jerusalem received a call from a lawyer and incredibly found himself face to face with the lost original.
The thief had never sold it and confessed on his deathbed to his wife who contacted a lawyer to broker the return of nearly one hundred stolen watches of great significance, none more so than the Marie Antionette.
Nicholas Parson tells the story with charm, intelligence and insight. Marvellous to see him still going I won't reveal his age but he's a most impressive gentleman. You can find the programme at the BBC website for a short while.
Gifts for watch enthusiasts.
Friday, 7 October 2016
Sheffield Boy In Puglia
My TV Review blog is a bit of an indulgence really; I don't watch tv avidly, don't do soaps or the real housewives of anywhere, Kim Kardashian is a mystery to me other than what I see in the news. It was a genuine surprise then to watch two programmes in a single evening which I felt worthy of comment.
The first was an old Grand Designs, on Channel 4, about a couple of British artists who built a Roman style villa in Puglia complete with home made mosaics. A place large enough to run art courses and they must have done over ninety percent of it themselves with almost bare hands and nary a tradesman in sight, not to mention a minuscule budget once the land was paid for.
I've always liked the programme, the insights and gentlemanly not to say kindly manner of the presenter Kevin McCloud. On many occasions I've been thoroughly impressed by the industry and vision of the contributors. These two took the biscuit though. They had some help from friends and family, but their industry was mind boggling. I have a home in the neighbouring region and I know how hot it can get down there in summer. These two were my generation and the work they did was superhuman, no other word for it. And skilled, building Roman arches around a wooden former with no previous experience for example.
Tomorrow, or maybe later, the other one!
Malcolm Snook blogger and traveller
The first was an old Grand Designs, on Channel 4, about a couple of British artists who built a Roman style villa in Puglia complete with home made mosaics. A place large enough to run art courses and they must have done over ninety percent of it themselves with almost bare hands and nary a tradesman in sight, not to mention a minuscule budget once the land was paid for.
I've always liked the programme, the insights and gentlemanly not to say kindly manner of the presenter Kevin McCloud. On many occasions I've been thoroughly impressed by the industry and vision of the contributors. These two took the biscuit though. They had some help from friends and family, but their industry was mind boggling. I have a home in the neighbouring region and I know how hot it can get down there in summer. These two were my generation and the work they did was superhuman, no other word for it. And skilled, building Roman arches around a wooden former with no previous experience for example.
Tomorrow, or maybe later, the other one!
Malcolm Snook blogger and traveller
Tuesday, 4 October 2016
Unreported World
Channel 4's 'Unreported World' has won awards and quite rightly too. Recently they have put the spotlight on Yemen where the sight of children dying of malnutrition will make you weep. The war in Yemen is between Sunni and Shia, yet again, with Saudi Arabia backing one and Iran the other, again. There's no moral high ground for Britain or America though, again.
Ninety percent of Yemen's food is imported and more than seventy percent of that comes in though one port. that port is blockaded by Saudi Arabia AND they've taken out the cranes that unload the ships using British and/or American missiles. Now the flour that does arrive is rotten before it can be used and civilians and children are dying, again.
How do our bloody politicians sleep at night? Do what's right, not what's expedient, stop the bloody arms sales, especially to Saudi and start being part of the solution not part of the problem.
Malcolm Snook author and believer in peace.
Ninety percent of Yemen's food is imported and more than seventy percent of that comes in though one port. that port is blockaded by Saudi Arabia AND they've taken out the cranes that unload the ships using British and/or American missiles. Now the flour that does arrive is rotten before it can be used and civilians and children are dying, again.
How do our bloody politicians sleep at night? Do what's right, not what's expedient, stop the bloody arms sales, especially to Saudi and start being part of the solution not part of the problem.
Malcolm Snook author and believer in peace.
Tuesday, 20 September 2016
Your Starter For Glory
Last night's University Challenge was a blinder, the best I've ever seen. It's not the first time there's been a tie break, but the passion of the contestants was something to behold, one of them so passionate in fact he has apparently become an internet and twitter sensation. Well, I don't know about that and it's not the first tie break ever, but it was the way the game was played, with feeling and gusto that made it stand out.
If you're not familiar with the format teams compete over a starter question, if a team interrupts and gets the question wrong they lose five points, get it right and not only do they get ten points but they also get three bonus questions where the other team cannot buzz in. Normally there is no point interrupting a bonus question, but Wolfson College Cambridge, playing School of Oriental and African Studies did this many times in order to avoid wasting so much as a second when playing catch up.
It seemed contagious too as SOAS made several interruptions on starter questions and lost points accordingly. Despite several penalties on both sides and the lead changing constantly, it was a very high scoring game for both teams, finally resolved by a sudden death starter question after a tie at full time so to speak. Remember, interrupt a starter question and get it wrong and you lose five points, so the pressure was intense. It was also fascinating as a match between old and young effectively as well, something most unusual. I won't spoil it for you in case you watch it on iPlayer, catchup or whatever.
Anyway, all eight contestants were post grad students, but the SOAS team were considerably older. I watch BBC's Mastermind too, where I can usually answer a smattering of questions, but University Challenge is in another ball park completely, it has always amazed me that people so young can have learned so much, in so short a time. Sadly the speed of it means I fail to retain much of what I should be learning, but as entertainment, when something happens the way it did last night, it's hard to beat.
You can find out for yourself whether the older or the younger team prevailed. It's to be hoped that the losers will go through as one of the top losers. Sadly a contestant on one team appears to have died between filming and screening, sincere condolences. This was TV history.
Something for the hobbyist
If you're not familiar with the format teams compete over a starter question, if a team interrupts and gets the question wrong they lose five points, get it right and not only do they get ten points but they also get three bonus questions where the other team cannot buzz in. Normally there is no point interrupting a bonus question, but Wolfson College Cambridge, playing School of Oriental and African Studies did this many times in order to avoid wasting so much as a second when playing catch up.
It seemed contagious too as SOAS made several interruptions on starter questions and lost points accordingly. Despite several penalties on both sides and the lead changing constantly, it was a very high scoring game for both teams, finally resolved by a sudden death starter question after a tie at full time so to speak. Remember, interrupt a starter question and get it wrong and you lose five points, so the pressure was intense. It was also fascinating as a match between old and young effectively as well, something most unusual. I won't spoil it for you in case you watch it on iPlayer, catchup or whatever.
Anyway, all eight contestants were post grad students, but the SOAS team were considerably older. I watch BBC's Mastermind too, where I can usually answer a smattering of questions, but University Challenge is in another ball park completely, it has always amazed me that people so young can have learned so much, in so short a time. Sadly the speed of it means I fail to retain much of what I should be learning, but as entertainment, when something happens the way it did last night, it's hard to beat.
You can find out for yourself whether the older or the younger team prevailed. It's to be hoped that the losers will go through as one of the top losers. Sadly a contestant on one team appears to have died between filming and screening, sincere condolences. This was TV history.
Something for the hobbyist
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