Yesterday the government invited companies to bid for licences to begin the process of hydraulic fracturing, to give it its full name, throughout the UK. Just to give a quick summary of how it works, large quantities of fresh water (it has to be fresh; salt water would damage the drilling equipment, though why they couldn't simply make equipment that would resist salt water I don't know, what I do know is that fresh water, drawn from the same rivers you and I get our drinking water, will be used, and in vast amounts) is pumped deep underground under pressure, opening up little fault lines in the shale rock, freeing the oil and especially gas that is "locked" within. The water, now toxic, is lost: it will stay down deep, well below (we are reassured) the aquifers many of us depend on for our clean water supply.
By these means, we will, apparently, be the beneficiaries of a limitless supply of gas, and almost as much oil, guaranteeing us "energy security" (the new buzz phrase, meaning we will no longer be at the mercy of the Russians, who could turn off the gas tap any time they chose) well into the 22nd century.
However, when you burn fossil fuels of any kind, you release carbon dioxide, a significant factor in global warming, a phenomenon now accepted by everyone except a bunch of right wing nutters who unfortunately are still able to punch well above their weight on the world stage. Also, the fracking process is also at risk of leaking vast quantities of methane into the atmosphere, a gas with six times the effect of CO2 as a greenhouse gas. Naturally we are reassured this won't be a problem, though these reassurances are offered mainly by the people most likely to profit from the process. Meanwhile the sustainable energy resources, wind, solar, wave etc, are still sidelined as off-the-wall, hippy projects with no real prospect of making an impact. It suits the oil companies and automotive industries to keep the world in a fossil fuel based economy- it just doesn't suit the Earth: the only place we've got to live.
Tuesday, 29 July 2014
Monday, 28 July 2014
Don't just say something, stand there!
I was on a CND march once, a long time ago, and with me was an 80 year old woman. Someone watching the march go by called out that there was no point in us demonstrating; the government wasn't going to abandon its nuclear deterrant, no matter how many worthies like us wanted them to. The lady was quick with her response: "I demand my right as a citizen to protest, and that's what I'm doing".
This is what I and about 2000 other people decided to do in Cardiff on Saturday as we processed through the streets of the city demanding that Israel lift its blockade of Gaza. You might say our protest was as impotent as was CND's all those years ago. Israel has been selling the lie around the world that in the Palestinian people we have an entire population of terrorists, and that lifting the blockade would allow them to flood out into Israel reeking death and destruction on the Israeli people, armed with all the weaponry and other hardware of murder they could now obtain through the open border. The American people have taken these lies to their hearts and now it is very hard to find anyone in that benighted and misled country who supports their demands for freedom of movement and other civil rights enjoyed by their Israeli neighbours. And President Obama, may shame be upon him, has actually encouraged this lie.
We were not without dissent on our march either. At one point a bunch of drunken, racist scumbags sitting outside a bar began to throw glasses at the marchers as they passed the bar, provoking a furious response from some Arabs in the demonstration, who, showing remarkable courage, waded into those louts, swinging fists and throwing chairs at them. Good for them. Racist hatred must always be opposed, by violence if necessary, as I believe it was in this case. I actually picked up a shot glass and took it home as a souvenir (I'm not brave enough for violent direct action myself, though I did shout "racist scum!" at them, to the horror of some people standing near me). But the incident illustrated how big a mountain the Palestinian people still have to climb before they are free.
This is what I and about 2000 other people decided to do in Cardiff on Saturday as we processed through the streets of the city demanding that Israel lift its blockade of Gaza. You might say our protest was as impotent as was CND's all those years ago. Israel has been selling the lie around the world that in the Palestinian people we have an entire population of terrorists, and that lifting the blockade would allow them to flood out into Israel reeking death and destruction on the Israeli people, armed with all the weaponry and other hardware of murder they could now obtain through the open border. The American people have taken these lies to their hearts and now it is very hard to find anyone in that benighted and misled country who supports their demands for freedom of movement and other civil rights enjoyed by their Israeli neighbours. And President Obama, may shame be upon him, has actually encouraged this lie.
We were not without dissent on our march either. At one point a bunch of drunken, racist scumbags sitting outside a bar began to throw glasses at the marchers as they passed the bar, provoking a furious response from some Arabs in the demonstration, who, showing remarkable courage, waded into those louts, swinging fists and throwing chairs at them. Good for them. Racist hatred must always be opposed, by violence if necessary, as I believe it was in this case. I actually picked up a shot glass and took it home as a souvenir (I'm not brave enough for violent direct action myself, though I did shout "racist scum!" at them, to the horror of some people standing near me). But the incident illustrated how big a mountain the Palestinian people still have to climb before they are free.
Tuesday, 22 July 2014
Gaza's agony
What is peace? The dictionary definition, I believe, is simply "the absence of war". At this moment Israel and Palestine are at war. Netenyahu tells us that around the world there is great support for Israel's actions, that everyone agrees it has a right to keep its citizens safe from attack. And though I doubt very much whether Israel really does enjoy the support of the world community, it certainly can continue to rely on its greatest friend, America, whose leader, Barack Obama, has done little to rein in its ally beyond asking it to keep civilian casualties to a minimum. Considering the way Israel wages war that isn't going to be easy.
Israel has the best equipped and most powerful army in the Middle East. They have been using F16 warplanes and the latest attack helicopters (courtesy of the US, of course) to blast civilian areas in Gaza for several weeks, causing hundreds of deaths, thousands of injuries (which have overwhelmed the medical services there) and tremendous damage to Gaza's already parlous infrastructure They thoughtfully send text message to residents of Gaza suggesting they leave the area, then one minute later the bombs start falling. Some are simple high-explosives, others are horrible phosphorus bombs, and now, increasingly often they are using anti-personnel devices packed with little blades known as "flechettes", guaranteed to cause maximum injury to any living thing within a 50 metre radius. Residents flee the area if they can, but where can they go? Gaza is like the Warsaw ghetto: no one can leave. So all the residents can do is run from one area of jeopardy to another.
Hamas is believed to possess 10,000 missiles ready to fire into Israel. It sounds terrifying looked at like that, but these missiles are old, half of them don't even explode and when they do more often than not they land in empty desert, because their guidance systems are antiquated. In the West Bank the Israelis are not yet using their full fire power, but a new weapon of subjugation has recently been deployed: "skunk water"- water which smells like faeces and once on the clothing or skin is almost impossible to clean off. They spray it on the streets to keep people in their houses, and they spray it into the faces of demonstrators, partly so they may be identified later when the army breaks down doors to extract whoever they feel is any kind of threat. This includes pregnant women and children- big threat there.
Tony Blair is the Middle East "peace envoy". Yet at the peak of the crisis where is he? Is he standing, like the Pope did, next to the separation Wall and declaiming: "I am for peace! Stop the killing now- on both sides!" No, he's back in England, being stroked by the labour party who are celebrating 20 years since he became Labour leader. Let us not forget he filled dead men's shoes: the most excellent John Smith dying suddenly of a heart attack was the cue for Blair's assumption of power. Would Smith have travelled the dubious road Blair has, with his poodling to the Americans and now his sickeningly hypocritical approach to the Middle East? I don't think so. Because John Smith was a conviction politician, one who really believed in labour ideals, not spin and cant. Rest in peace, John Smith. How we could have used you right now...
Israel has the best equipped and most powerful army in the Middle East. They have been using F16 warplanes and the latest attack helicopters (courtesy of the US, of course) to blast civilian areas in Gaza for several weeks, causing hundreds of deaths, thousands of injuries (which have overwhelmed the medical services there) and tremendous damage to Gaza's already parlous infrastructure They thoughtfully send text message to residents of Gaza suggesting they leave the area, then one minute later the bombs start falling. Some are simple high-explosives, others are horrible phosphorus bombs, and now, increasingly often they are using anti-personnel devices packed with little blades known as "flechettes", guaranteed to cause maximum injury to any living thing within a 50 metre radius. Residents flee the area if they can, but where can they go? Gaza is like the Warsaw ghetto: no one can leave. So all the residents can do is run from one area of jeopardy to another.
Hamas is believed to possess 10,000 missiles ready to fire into Israel. It sounds terrifying looked at like that, but these missiles are old, half of them don't even explode and when they do more often than not they land in empty desert, because their guidance systems are antiquated. In the West Bank the Israelis are not yet using their full fire power, but a new weapon of subjugation has recently been deployed: "skunk water"- water which smells like faeces and once on the clothing or skin is almost impossible to clean off. They spray it on the streets to keep people in their houses, and they spray it into the faces of demonstrators, partly so they may be identified later when the army breaks down doors to extract whoever they feel is any kind of threat. This includes pregnant women and children- big threat there.
Tony Blair is the Middle East "peace envoy". Yet at the peak of the crisis where is he? Is he standing, like the Pope did, next to the separation Wall and declaiming: "I am for peace! Stop the killing now- on both sides!" No, he's back in England, being stroked by the labour party who are celebrating 20 years since he became Labour leader. Let us not forget he filled dead men's shoes: the most excellent John Smith dying suddenly of a heart attack was the cue for Blair's assumption of power. Would Smith have travelled the dubious road Blair has, with his poodling to the Americans and now his sickeningly hypocritical approach to the Middle East? I don't think so. Because John Smith was a conviction politician, one who really believed in labour ideals, not spin and cant. Rest in peace, John Smith. How we could have used you right now...
Germany dispatch
Just home from four days in north Germany, revisiting the site, ten years on, of my father's demise on a cruise ship as it entered the mighty locks at the western end of the Kiel Canal. Caught by a gust of wind as he went on deck to view that impressive feat of engineering, he fell and struck his head on a steel stanchion and suffered a brain haemorrhage. He was airlifted to a nearby neurosurgical unit in the town of Heide, but was found to be brain-dead. Three days later his ventilator was turned off. My mother and brother (who had flown out on hearing the news) were there, but I was not. I was home looking after my practice as my other partners were on holiday. Ever since I have bitterly regretted not dropping everything and going there myself.
So last week, ten years almost to the day, my brother and I drove the 542 miles to Heide to pay tribute to his memory. It was a good time, even though the feelings were obviously mixed. Complex family dynamics (don't go there) in the 80s and 90s found us estranged, so this was a brilliant "reunion" of sorts, an opportunity to catch up for the lost decades when we barely spoke. Dad would have been proud of us.
I think he would also, like us, have been highly impressed at the way the Germans have embraced sustainable energy sources. On our road trip we saw literally thousands of wind turbines, and hectare after hectare of solar cell arrays. No fracking for them it seems. Germany recycles more than 80% of its domestic refuse, whereas we barely manage 25. Why do we lag so far behind them in these vitally important matters? Because we are still in the thrall of the oil companies of course, and other outdated modes of thinking that keep us locked in the ideas of the 20th century when we should, like the Germans, be looking to the future. Let's get our act together Britain, while there's still time!
So last week, ten years almost to the day, my brother and I drove the 542 miles to Heide to pay tribute to his memory. It was a good time, even though the feelings were obviously mixed. Complex family dynamics (don't go there) in the 80s and 90s found us estranged, so this was a brilliant "reunion" of sorts, an opportunity to catch up for the lost decades when we barely spoke. Dad would have been proud of us.
I think he would also, like us, have been highly impressed at the way the Germans have embraced sustainable energy sources. On our road trip we saw literally thousands of wind turbines, and hectare after hectare of solar cell arrays. No fracking for them it seems. Germany recycles more than 80% of its domestic refuse, whereas we barely manage 25. Why do we lag so far behind them in these vitally important matters? Because we are still in the thrall of the oil companies of course, and other outdated modes of thinking that keep us locked in the ideas of the 20th century when we should, like the Germans, be looking to the future. Let's get our act together Britain, while there's still time!
Monday, 14 July 2014
Pelagius gets it right. Again!
I know! I'm scared too. For the second time in a week I have got a sporting prediction correct, both of them not necessarily that easy to call. In yesterday's case, we very much had a case of the irresistible force meeting the immovable object: what happens? Argentina came into the final with the best defensive record of any side in the World Cup, while Germany showed it had been the most vicious and probing in attack. You could also look at it the other way round, with Argentina's Messi, arguably the world's best player (though this status is now called into question) in their attack, and Germany having all the skills to neutralise his threat and also that of any other striker they came up against.
Last night's final was the most exciting match I have ever seen which did not feature a goal for nearly 130 minutes, and surely the most satisfying as I had tipped the plucky Teutons to go all the way.
What have we leaned? That Germany can bring on its youthful players to compete at the highest level far more effectively than we can. Time then, for us to study their techniques closely and try to apply them to our benighted country. Otherwise we will continue to be becalmed in the doldrums of world football indefinitely. Somehow this young German team was forged into a cohesive unit that worked almost as one consciousness, and even more importantly oozed confidence from day one. I don't know how to inculcate that into players, but my guess is that it wasn't magic, it was hard work. I feel inclined to believe we just don't like that sort of work- we'd rather trust to luck, and we've seen where that got us...
Last night's final was the most exciting match I have ever seen which did not feature a goal for nearly 130 minutes, and surely the most satisfying as I had tipped the plucky Teutons to go all the way.
What have we leaned? That Germany can bring on its youthful players to compete at the highest level far more effectively than we can. Time then, for us to study their techniques closely and try to apply them to our benighted country. Otherwise we will continue to be becalmed in the doldrums of world football indefinitely. Somehow this young German team was forged into a cohesive unit that worked almost as one consciousness, and even more importantly oozed confidence from day one. I don't know how to inculcate that into players, but my guess is that it wasn't magic, it was hard work. I feel inclined to believe we just don't like that sort of work- we'd rather trust to luck, and we've seen where that got us...
Tuesday, 8 July 2014
Vive Le Tour!
In terms of live audiences, the Tour de France has been the world's biggest sporting event for many years. Upwards of 12 million people line the streets, avenues and mountain passes of La belle France every year, even in the lean years when Lance dominated the event, and the even leaner ones when it emerged that several other "winners" had also cheated. Yet in just three days of touring the moors of Yorkshire and the leafy lanes of the home counties, nearly half that total, ie 6 million people, had waited patiently for the few brief moments when the peloton came racing through their towns and villages.
Cycling has never been as popular in Britain. We've seen our first ever winner of Le Tour in the shape of Bradley Wiggins, then Chris Froome notching up his own victory the following year. We've seen Mark Cavendish demonstrate his awesome sprinting skills too, to say nothing of Britain's extraordinary successes in the velodrome. But I think the way the British people have taken to the three stages here to their hearts has been truly wonderful, as the pictures from one village and town after another attest.
I used to cycle a lot, especially in my teens. In the 90s I rediscovered it with my son, but two bike thefts and some near-death experiences on crowded roads put me off badly. Too many British car drivers (and HGV drivers to a lesser extent) seem to view cyclists as mere sub- human impediments to their goal of getting from A to B as quickly as possible, but this is in stark contrast to the attitude on the continent of Europe where cyclists in the main are actually treated as human beings with a right to be on the road. When we finally arrive at that position, cycling will truly have arrived in Britain and I will buy myself a new bike. Let's hope it's soon.
Cycling has never been as popular in Britain. We've seen our first ever winner of Le Tour in the shape of Bradley Wiggins, then Chris Froome notching up his own victory the following year. We've seen Mark Cavendish demonstrate his awesome sprinting skills too, to say nothing of Britain's extraordinary successes in the velodrome. But I think the way the British people have taken to the three stages here to their hearts has been truly wonderful, as the pictures from one village and town after another attest.
I used to cycle a lot, especially in my teens. In the 90s I rediscovered it with my son, but two bike thefts and some near-death experiences on crowded roads put me off badly. Too many British car drivers (and HGV drivers to a lesser extent) seem to view cyclists as mere sub- human impediments to their goal of getting from A to B as quickly as possible, but this is in stark contrast to the attitude on the continent of Europe where cyclists in the main are actually treated as human beings with a right to be on the road. When we finally arrive at that position, cycling will truly have arrived in Britain and I will buy myself a new bike. Let's hope it's soon.
Sunday, 6 July 2014
Pelagius gets one right:a precedent broken
Followers of this blog will know of its author's propensity for getting sporting predictions wrong, sometimes spectacularly so. After Federer had a bad year (2008) I said he would never win another major- he went on to win three more. I said Nadal was finished after he lost in Monte Carlo in 2013- he won almost everything else he played in that year. As recently as last night I said Costa Rica would win the penalty shoot-out- and of course they didn't Doh!
However, today I said Djoki would win the men's final- and to everyone's astonishment- mine no less than anyone else's- he did! True, I also said he would win it in three effortless sets, whereas actually it turned out to be a five set thriller, but irregardless, he did win it. Nonetheless I reiterate my warning that no one should take my predictions to the bookmakers- that way lies madness- and bankruptcy.
Well done Novak, and well done also Roger, who provided us with a hugely entertaining final, reminding us all why televised tennis can be the greatest fun.
However, today I said Djoki would win the men's final- and to everyone's astonishment- mine no less than anyone else's- he did! True, I also said he would win it in three effortless sets, whereas actually it turned out to be a five set thriller, but irregardless, he did win it. Nonetheless I reiterate my warning that no one should take my predictions to the bookmakers- that way lies madness- and bankruptcy.
Well done Novak, and well done also Roger, who provided us with a hugely entertaining final, reminding us all why televised tennis can be the greatest fun.
Friday, 4 July 2014
Should Rolf Harris go to jail?
Yes! I can hear you shout. Disgusting pervert, the ultimate dirty old man etc, etc. His crimes against girls were indeed despicable, even in that far-off era of the 60s and 70s (and beyond, apparently) These things were wrong then and certainly wrong now. I have said before that it never occurred to me to grope women back then, and thought men who did (and there were a great many of them) were sick.
So, given all that, why shouldn't the guy go to prison? I think it comes down to his age and frailty. He's 84 for Chrissakes, and doesn't exactly look in the peak of health. His guilty verdict has completely destroyed his reputation, not just here but around the world. That in itself is a very severe punishment. I do think he should have a suspended sentence, I do think he should be given a lengthy term of community service, and I believe all his honours, OBE, CBE etc, should be stripped from him now we know the truth about his conduct. But a prison term? No. That is a step too far; it would be a disproportionate act of revenge rather than true justice.
Not that I have any innate sympathy for the man. I was told a story last week which really says it all about him. A female friend of my wife's happened to bump into him on a beach in Majorca in the mid 70s when she was just five years old. Spotting him, she rushed over to where he was sitting and, breathless with excitement, she gushed with admiration, telling him how much she loved to watch him on TV. "Fuck off" was his response.
So, given all that, why shouldn't the guy go to prison? I think it comes down to his age and frailty. He's 84 for Chrissakes, and doesn't exactly look in the peak of health. His guilty verdict has completely destroyed his reputation, not just here but around the world. That in itself is a very severe punishment. I do think he should have a suspended sentence, I do think he should be given a lengthy term of community service, and I believe all his honours, OBE, CBE etc, should be stripped from him now we know the truth about his conduct. But a prison term? No. That is a step too far; it would be a disproportionate act of revenge rather than true justice.
Not that I have any innate sympathy for the man. I was told a story last week which really says it all about him. A female friend of my wife's happened to bump into him on a beach in Majorca in the mid 70s when she was just five years old. Spotting him, she rushed over to where he was sitting and, breathless with excitement, she gushed with admiration, telling him how much she loved to watch him on TV. "Fuck off" was his response.
Wednesday, 2 July 2014
Always get your retaliation in first
Grim news from Israel this morning, not that that's a rare thing. Having discovered the bodies of the three murdered teenagers near Hebron in the West Bank, premier Netanyahu has sworn there will be dire consequences. There already have been. Within hours of the kidnapping, as I reported on this blog recently, Israeli shock troops were charging through the refugee camps, destroying homes and arresting dozens, and then hundreds of Palestinian youths. Most are still incarcerated despite the fact that the search has been narrowed down to just two men, thought to be in a splinter group of Hamas. Fourteen people have died during the IDF's most recent activities, three of them children. Already then, the Israelis have killed nearly five Palestinians for each Jewish boy murdered. And don't think it will stop there.
Apart from the official actions, groups of militant Israeli citizens have been patrolling East Jerusalem looking for Palestinians to punish vicariously. News has just emerged of a Palestinian youth being kidnapped. Meanwhile, any vestige of peace talks have melted away. When the pope visited the West Bank recently and basically embarrassed both sides into actually doing something, I warned that factions among the Zionists and Hamas would be busy calculating how any possible progress could be torpedoed before they got off the ground. And look! Here we are.
In 1998, not long after the famous "Good Friday Agreement" in Northern Ireland, a splinter group of the official IRA calling itself the "real" IRA set off a bomb in Omagh and killed 30 people. They didn't want the peace process to work either. Fortunately the authorities did not react by roiling through catholic areas, arresting everybody they didn't like the look of and bulldozing the houses of sympathisers. They kept their eye on the prize because the peace process was something worth struggling for, not killing for. Israelis, take note...
Apart from the official actions, groups of militant Israeli citizens have been patrolling East Jerusalem looking for Palestinians to punish vicariously. News has just emerged of a Palestinian youth being kidnapped. Meanwhile, any vestige of peace talks have melted away. When the pope visited the West Bank recently and basically embarrassed both sides into actually doing something, I warned that factions among the Zionists and Hamas would be busy calculating how any possible progress could be torpedoed before they got off the ground. And look! Here we are.
In 1998, not long after the famous "Good Friday Agreement" in Northern Ireland, a splinter group of the official IRA calling itself the "real" IRA set off a bomb in Omagh and killed 30 people. They didn't want the peace process to work either. Fortunately the authorities did not react by roiling through catholic areas, arresting everybody they didn't like the look of and bulldozing the houses of sympathisers. They kept their eye on the prize because the peace process was something worth struggling for, not killing for. Israelis, take note...
Tuesday, 1 July 2014
June 2014 book and film review
BOOKS
RUBBERNECKER, by Belinda Bauer. Patrick is what we used to call "an odd boy". These days we say he has Asperger's syndrome. But he also, like all Asperger's cases in novels, though rather less often in real life, has some "special powers"; in his case acute observational skills and an obsessive need to solve problems around him. Enrolling in an anatomy class so he can unravel the mystery of his father's death he stumbles on what appears to be a case of murder in one of the cadavers the students are studying. Trouble is, no one else will buy his crackpot theories...
Here we have two essential ingredients of a successful novel today: a thriller combined with a fashionable medical problem, as in, say, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, (autism) and Nathan Filer's The Shock of the Fall (schizophrenia). The style is very simple and naturalistic, and the narrative races headlong to its dramatic conclusion, but for me there were too many twists and turns in the plot, and the details of the dissection room, while doubtless fascinating for the lay person, actually have a number of factual flaws (remember, I did a year of anatomy myself as part of my medical studies). Sound holiday reading though.
THE RIDDLE OF THE SANDS, by Erskine Childers. A civil servant offers to crew a small yacht cruising the Frisian Islands with a friend, but finds his friend has developed a theory that the Germans are preparing for war, and this is in 1903. Our narrator is sceptical at first, but slowly the evidence mounts up, as does their own jeopardy...
A strange, dreamy book which is almost 70% maritime detail, though none the less intriguing for that. Childers's famous novel grips one from the outset with its meticulous prose and its slow, but relentless build-up of tension. Today the novel is seen as prescient in view of its highlighting of the threat to Britain Germany represented, even though the book was written 11 years before the outbreak of the Great War- that and the fact this is clearly a pro-British book, even though it was written by a man who was later to become the president of the Irish Republic and therefore not necessarily expected to be seen as a supporter of a country that had oppressed his homeland for centuries.
THE SCENT OF THE NIGHT (An Inspector Montalbano mystery), by Andrea Camileri. A banker goes missing, just as his massive Ponzi scheme is exposed. Only to be expected, surely: he's run off with the cash. But has he? Inspector Monalbano isn't convinced. In his own unique, highly relaxed style, he sets about unravelling the threads of lies and deceit to find the truth.
If you're on holiday in Sicily, what else can you do but read one of Camileri's highly successful Montalbano stories which are based in that distant outpost of Europe? And I did enjoy this tale a lot. Montalbano has an anarchic edge I found myself identifying with very quickly; for instance there is a wonderful moment early on where he discovers an ancient olive tree has been uprooted to make way for a luxury apartment and is so infuriated at this act of vandalism he sets about the house with a baseball bat and a can of spray paint. Superior thriller writing.
FILMS
DARBY'S RANGERS (1958) D- William Wellmann. As the build-up towards D Day intensifies, a group of US Rangers finds themselves training in a small Scottish village. There they hone their killing skills under the tutelage of colonel James Garner, but the grunts always have half an eye on the local talent. Inevitably some fall in love with the local lasses. But will their dads approve?
William Wellmannn was nearing the end of his glittering career by the time this movie was made, but his skill and subtlety still shine through strongly. The action sequences are powerful and the romances are great fun. A different kind of war film.
PUNCH DRUNK LOVE (2002) D- P.T. Anderson. Barry Egan (Adam Sandler) runs a factory making novelty items. It makes a working profit, even though Barry clearly has problems, not least his numerous sisters, all of whom seem to have a down on him for some reason. One day he seeks solace in a phone-sex encounter, but the girl he rings then tries to extort money from him. That's it! Now he's mad as hell and isn't going to take it any more...
In 2001 PT Anderson had just made the highly successful, but long, Magnolia and announced that his next film would stick to 90 minutes and would star his favourite actor of the moment, Adam Sandler. It was a wise move. Sandler is absolutely brilliant as the dysfunctional protagonist, often hilarious but also very moving at times. Terrific little movie.
IN A WORLD (2013) W/D- Lake Bell. In a world where male voice-over artists roam the Earth unchecked, one girl is brave enough to challenge their might. And succeed... The voice-over industry is huge, especially when it comes to movie promos, where a voice can be enough to persuade millions to hand over their hard earned cash at their local multiplex one more time. And it's true: most of these promos use those same few gravelly-tonsilled men whose tones we have come to know so well. Enter Carol Solomon (Lake Bell) whose dad is one of the biggest players in the promo voice-over game. To his horror she enters her own tape in a contest to do the job for the next blockbuster- in direct competition with him...
Neat little offering, with excellent performances all round, especially Lake herself, who wrote, directed and starred in this film which only cost $1 million to make, but which brought in many times that sum at the box office. You go, girl!
LOOK WHO'S TALKING (1989) W/D- Amy Heckerling. An attractive New Yorker (Kirsty Alley) has an affair with her boss, but she protects the rat (George Segal) by telling people it's a sperm donor baby. She settles down to live as a single mom, but a kindly friend (John Travolta) would wish to alter her status. Oh yeah, and did I mention? we can hear baby's thoughts, courtesy of Bruce Willis.
An interesting idea, with good characterisation and the novel idea of using America's favourite tough guy to voice the baby. Plus the fact that in 1989 Kirstie was looking as gorgeous as she ever would, before the comfort eating spoiled her looks forever. Oh well... A fun little outing, snappily written though badly dated now (it's always the music that gives them away, am I right?). Having said that it is well made and still a lot of fun. Was a smash at the box office at the time and spawned numerous sequels and remakes. You could probably leave all those out though, and just try this one.
THE KILLING OF A CHINESE BOOKIE (1976) D- John Cassavetes. Cosmo Vitelli, a night club owner in Vegas gets into the mob for a large sum of cash and is offered a get out of jail free card, on the condition that he kills one of their principle rivals. He isn't keen, but needs must...
John Cassavetes was known for his avant garde movies which made some of his films hard to watch (Shadows, Faces), but here is Cassavetes at his most approachable, with a film which delves deeply into the hearts of its protagonists, especially that of Cosmo Vitelli, brilliantly played by Ben Gazzara in what may be his finest filmic achievement. Somehow Gazzara is able to convey Cosmo's strange emotional makeup: a blend of toughness and vulnerability, plus the sensitivity and even love he has for the people who work for him. Quality film making from one of Hollywood's leading auteurs.
OMAR (2013) D- Hari Abu Assad. Omar (Adam Bakri) lives on the West Bank and is mainly interested in marrying his girl before someone else snags her, but is distracted by his friends who are planning to shoot an Israeli soldier as an act of protest against the military occupation. The hit goes down, but he is immediately picked up by the Israelis. They know he's involved but can't prove it. So they threaten him with life in prison unless he comes over with the goods about who the actual shooter was. Thus Omar is placed in a tricky situation: he likes freedom, he wants to pursue his romance, but he is deeply loyal to his friends.
An intelligent, finely wrought movie which graphically illustrates how occupying forces work: a network of spies and informers, a population intimidated into co-operation by fear of prison or worse, the whole leading to the occupier's desired end: divide and rule in a toxic atmosphere of fear and paranoia. As in his previous film Paradise Now, Hari Assad gets us into the hearts and minds of his Palestinian players in a unique and powerful style.
Not easy to watch, but if you want to get a highly skilled, non-Israeli spin on events in the West Bank, you probably should...
POST SCRIPTUM
Rather fewer films on offer in June, but then I've been away for a week, and there were other distractions: Game of Thrones, Wallander and Fargo, to say nothing of Wimbledon and the World Cup, so you can see I've been kind of busy. Should be a bit better in July, no wait, Le Tour starts on Friday... Oh well, I'll try to do my best. So much to watch, so little time!
RUBBERNECKER, by Belinda Bauer. Patrick is what we used to call "an odd boy". These days we say he has Asperger's syndrome. But he also, like all Asperger's cases in novels, though rather less often in real life, has some "special powers"; in his case acute observational skills and an obsessive need to solve problems around him. Enrolling in an anatomy class so he can unravel the mystery of his father's death he stumbles on what appears to be a case of murder in one of the cadavers the students are studying. Trouble is, no one else will buy his crackpot theories...
Here we have two essential ingredients of a successful novel today: a thriller combined with a fashionable medical problem, as in, say, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, (autism) and Nathan Filer's The Shock of the Fall (schizophrenia). The style is very simple and naturalistic, and the narrative races headlong to its dramatic conclusion, but for me there were too many twists and turns in the plot, and the details of the dissection room, while doubtless fascinating for the lay person, actually have a number of factual flaws (remember, I did a year of anatomy myself as part of my medical studies). Sound holiday reading though.
THE RIDDLE OF THE SANDS, by Erskine Childers. A civil servant offers to crew a small yacht cruising the Frisian Islands with a friend, but finds his friend has developed a theory that the Germans are preparing for war, and this is in 1903. Our narrator is sceptical at first, but slowly the evidence mounts up, as does their own jeopardy...
A strange, dreamy book which is almost 70% maritime detail, though none the less intriguing for that. Childers's famous novel grips one from the outset with its meticulous prose and its slow, but relentless build-up of tension. Today the novel is seen as prescient in view of its highlighting of the threat to Britain Germany represented, even though the book was written 11 years before the outbreak of the Great War- that and the fact this is clearly a pro-British book, even though it was written by a man who was later to become the president of the Irish Republic and therefore not necessarily expected to be seen as a supporter of a country that had oppressed his homeland for centuries.
THE SCENT OF THE NIGHT (An Inspector Montalbano mystery), by Andrea Camileri. A banker goes missing, just as his massive Ponzi scheme is exposed. Only to be expected, surely: he's run off with the cash. But has he? Inspector Monalbano isn't convinced. In his own unique, highly relaxed style, he sets about unravelling the threads of lies and deceit to find the truth.
If you're on holiday in Sicily, what else can you do but read one of Camileri's highly successful Montalbano stories which are based in that distant outpost of Europe? And I did enjoy this tale a lot. Montalbano has an anarchic edge I found myself identifying with very quickly; for instance there is a wonderful moment early on where he discovers an ancient olive tree has been uprooted to make way for a luxury apartment and is so infuriated at this act of vandalism he sets about the house with a baseball bat and a can of spray paint. Superior thriller writing.
FILMS
DARBY'S RANGERS (1958) D- William Wellmann. As the build-up towards D Day intensifies, a group of US Rangers finds themselves training in a small Scottish village. There they hone their killing skills under the tutelage of colonel James Garner, but the grunts always have half an eye on the local talent. Inevitably some fall in love with the local lasses. But will their dads approve?
William Wellmannn was nearing the end of his glittering career by the time this movie was made, but his skill and subtlety still shine through strongly. The action sequences are powerful and the romances are great fun. A different kind of war film.
PUNCH DRUNK LOVE (2002) D- P.T. Anderson. Barry Egan (Adam Sandler) runs a factory making novelty items. It makes a working profit, even though Barry clearly has problems, not least his numerous sisters, all of whom seem to have a down on him for some reason. One day he seeks solace in a phone-sex encounter, but the girl he rings then tries to extort money from him. That's it! Now he's mad as hell and isn't going to take it any more...
In 2001 PT Anderson had just made the highly successful, but long, Magnolia and announced that his next film would stick to 90 minutes and would star his favourite actor of the moment, Adam Sandler. It was a wise move. Sandler is absolutely brilliant as the dysfunctional protagonist, often hilarious but also very moving at times. Terrific little movie.
IN A WORLD (2013) W/D- Lake Bell. In a world where male voice-over artists roam the Earth unchecked, one girl is brave enough to challenge their might. And succeed... The voice-over industry is huge, especially when it comes to movie promos, where a voice can be enough to persuade millions to hand over their hard earned cash at their local multiplex one more time. And it's true: most of these promos use those same few gravelly-tonsilled men whose tones we have come to know so well. Enter Carol Solomon (Lake Bell) whose dad is one of the biggest players in the promo voice-over game. To his horror she enters her own tape in a contest to do the job for the next blockbuster- in direct competition with him...
Neat little offering, with excellent performances all round, especially Lake herself, who wrote, directed and starred in this film which only cost $1 million to make, but which brought in many times that sum at the box office. You go, girl!
LOOK WHO'S TALKING (1989) W/D- Amy Heckerling. An attractive New Yorker (Kirsty Alley) has an affair with her boss, but she protects the rat (George Segal) by telling people it's a sperm donor baby. She settles down to live as a single mom, but a kindly friend (John Travolta) would wish to alter her status. Oh yeah, and did I mention? we can hear baby's thoughts, courtesy of Bruce Willis.
An interesting idea, with good characterisation and the novel idea of using America's favourite tough guy to voice the baby. Plus the fact that in 1989 Kirstie was looking as gorgeous as she ever would, before the comfort eating spoiled her looks forever. Oh well... A fun little outing, snappily written though badly dated now (it's always the music that gives them away, am I right?). Having said that it is well made and still a lot of fun. Was a smash at the box office at the time and spawned numerous sequels and remakes. You could probably leave all those out though, and just try this one.
THE KILLING OF A CHINESE BOOKIE (1976) D- John Cassavetes. Cosmo Vitelli, a night club owner in Vegas gets into the mob for a large sum of cash and is offered a get out of jail free card, on the condition that he kills one of their principle rivals. He isn't keen, but needs must...
John Cassavetes was known for his avant garde movies which made some of his films hard to watch (Shadows, Faces), but here is Cassavetes at his most approachable, with a film which delves deeply into the hearts of its protagonists, especially that of Cosmo Vitelli, brilliantly played by Ben Gazzara in what may be his finest filmic achievement. Somehow Gazzara is able to convey Cosmo's strange emotional makeup: a blend of toughness and vulnerability, plus the sensitivity and even love he has for the people who work for him. Quality film making from one of Hollywood's leading auteurs.
OMAR (2013) D- Hari Abu Assad. Omar (Adam Bakri) lives on the West Bank and is mainly interested in marrying his girl before someone else snags her, but is distracted by his friends who are planning to shoot an Israeli soldier as an act of protest against the military occupation. The hit goes down, but he is immediately picked up by the Israelis. They know he's involved but can't prove it. So they threaten him with life in prison unless he comes over with the goods about who the actual shooter was. Thus Omar is placed in a tricky situation: he likes freedom, he wants to pursue his romance, but he is deeply loyal to his friends.
An intelligent, finely wrought movie which graphically illustrates how occupying forces work: a network of spies and informers, a population intimidated into co-operation by fear of prison or worse, the whole leading to the occupier's desired end: divide and rule in a toxic atmosphere of fear and paranoia. As in his previous film Paradise Now, Hari Assad gets us into the hearts and minds of his Palestinian players in a unique and powerful style.
Not easy to watch, but if you want to get a highly skilled, non-Israeli spin on events in the West Bank, you probably should...
POST SCRIPTUM
Rather fewer films on offer in June, but then I've been away for a week, and there were other distractions: Game of Thrones, Wallander and Fargo, to say nothing of Wimbledon and the World Cup, so you can see I've been kind of busy. Should be a bit better in July, no wait, Le Tour starts on Friday... Oh well, I'll try to do my best. So much to watch, so little time!
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