Last week I watched the third and last of the Great One's latest documentary series called Flight (Sky 1). There wasn't much new in it in terms of information we have already seen in numerous documentaries in the past, notably Life on Earth and The Living Planet. We have had high speed cameras for a long time which have unlocked the secrets of flight in insects and birds; we have got up close and personal with birds in flight, courtesy of the questionable (to some) practice of imprinting birds on human beings by denying them the benefit of their natural parents at birth. These birds will then follow their human "parents" slavishly wherever they go, enabling cameramen to get as close as they like while the birds in question are on the wing.
All these techniques were deployed by the very high budget team from Sky. And more. For example, wishing to depict a peregrine falcon taking a starling on the wing high above the cupolas of Florence, The camera team first used a "peregrine wrangler" to get his bird to dive on a lure and go into its classic swept-back "stoop", then to deploy a "starling wrangler" to work with a small flock of trained starlings against a green-screen. They then graphiced the various bits of footage against a backdrop of Florence and hey presto! there was the scene in its all its glory, looking exactly as if some magical camera had indeed been high above the river Arno recording events faithfully.
David recently landed himself in hot water when it emerged that a scene involving polar bears caring for their young in a snow-cave in the Arctic were in fact filmed in a zoo in Amsterdam. You may think this is acceptable within the limits of making a film which is watchable for the general public; you may think the techniques I have described above equally acceptable and for the same reasons. For me, I still haven't decided, though what we must accept is that wildlife films have changed, and that they do not necessarily represent unvarnished truth and reality. But what we must accept is that things have thankfully moved on, ethically speaking, since the 1940s. Have you heard of Armand and Michaela Denis? They were the brave forerunners of Attenborough and his ilk, filming lions hunting in the Serengeti, hyena chasing down distressed wildebeest etc, but they were not above a bit of artifice themselves. On one occasion they were filming a Pygmy tribe in the heart of the great tropical jungle of the Congo Basin, and showed them building a rope bridge across a raging torrent. Only problem: they had never in their entire history built any rope bridge of any kind. In fact they were shown how to do it by the film makers, who then presented as it an example of the Pygmy's indigenous ingenuity. Now that's just plain wrong. I'm sure Saint David would never do anything like that. Would he?
Thursday, 29 January 2015
Saturday, 24 January 2015
Death of a tyrant: much missed, apparently
World leaders from around the world have cleared their diaries and are converging on Saudi Arabia as we speak to mourn the loss of their great King Abdullah. At home flags on public buildings are flying at half-mast: a sign of respect offered to the passing of any monarch, no matter how unjust the regime they may have presided over.
Let us be in no doubt: the current situation in KSA resembles that in Britain in the 16th century: one family in absolute power, prepared to behead anyone they don't like the look of. Agreed, you might say, but we need their oil, right? Wrong. If we expanded our sustainable energy production and worked harder on conservation and the avoidance of waste we wouldn't have to kow-tow to these despots. OK, how about their critical joining with the West in the fight against Islamist militants? Wrong again. These Islamist militants espouse a form of Islam identical to the type practised in KSA, hence their sponsoring of the Taliban in Afghanistan since the early 1990s, and their active (though largely unpublicised) support of ISIS.
The Saudi Royal family is huge, comprising nearly 11,000 members (which puts our own Royals in context, with barely 100 members). They constitute an elite which is essentially above the law. They are free to behave as they please, gamble, whore, drink alcohol and use drugs: that is to say generally indulge in obscene excesses, all of which as I understand it are specifically proscribed by the Koran. These excesses include treating women as slaves and depriving them of nearly all of the freedoms they appear to enjoy so much.
So farewell, King Abdullah. You will not be missed outside your own family. Not really, even though right now we're all pretending we do.
Let us be in no doubt: the current situation in KSA resembles that in Britain in the 16th century: one family in absolute power, prepared to behead anyone they don't like the look of. Agreed, you might say, but we need their oil, right? Wrong. If we expanded our sustainable energy production and worked harder on conservation and the avoidance of waste we wouldn't have to kow-tow to these despots. OK, how about their critical joining with the West in the fight against Islamist militants? Wrong again. These Islamist militants espouse a form of Islam identical to the type practised in KSA, hence their sponsoring of the Taliban in Afghanistan since the early 1990s, and their active (though largely unpublicised) support of ISIS.
The Saudi Royal family is huge, comprising nearly 11,000 members (which puts our own Royals in context, with barely 100 members). They constitute an elite which is essentially above the law. They are free to behave as they please, gamble, whore, drink alcohol and use drugs: that is to say generally indulge in obscene excesses, all of which as I understand it are specifically proscribed by the Koran. These excesses include treating women as slaves and depriving them of nearly all of the freedoms they appear to enjoy so much.
So farewell, King Abdullah. You will not be missed outside your own family. Not really, even though right now we're all pretending we do.
Tuesday, 20 January 2015
Edinburgh: civilised town
Followers of this blog may recall my dispatch from Scotland's wonderful capital city posted in December of last year. Now I hear they have enforced a 20 MPH speed limit throughout the city. Naturally there have been complaints from the motoring organisations and some city traders: from the former that it is unnecessary and contrary to civil liberties; from the latter that business may be adversely affected. However the city fathers have listened to wiser council, namely that the measure will have a significant effect on the severity of injuries suffered by pedestrians in collision with motor vehicles. Farsighted as they clearly are, they have perhaps predicted the generally calmer and safer atmosphere that will prevail once the new speed limit comes into effect.
In my city of Cardiff 20 MPH limits have recently been introduced in certain areas, notably schools and other areas where there is high pedestrian footfall. But travelling these streets on an almost daily basis as I do has illustrated a problem: if the speed limit is not enforced rigorously from the outset people will ignore it. Which is what is happening in my neighbourhood. Some good folks (I flatter myself to count myself among them, in this context at least) carefully observe the limit. But more than 50% of drivers do not and still roil down the streets at their customary 35-40 which is the speed many people adopt in a 30 MPH zone.
Citizens need a helping hand to come to terms with changes in the law. For the first few months then, people should receive a simple warning if they are not observing the limit. But after this honeymoon period they should bust everyone who breaks it. The best way of doing this is of course to use speed cameras, again the source of outrage to some motorists who object to a "Big Brother" society that attempts to tell them how to live- this despite the improvement in injury and death statistics everywhere they have been introduced. Jeremy Clarkson and his benighted supporters may not like them but the fact is, speed cameras save lives.
Pelagius says: Let's have a 20 MPH throughout the inner city of Cardiff- and let's enforce it!
In my city of Cardiff 20 MPH limits have recently been introduced in certain areas, notably schools and other areas where there is high pedestrian footfall. But travelling these streets on an almost daily basis as I do has illustrated a problem: if the speed limit is not enforced rigorously from the outset people will ignore it. Which is what is happening in my neighbourhood. Some good folks (I flatter myself to count myself among them, in this context at least) carefully observe the limit. But more than 50% of drivers do not and still roil down the streets at their customary 35-40 which is the speed many people adopt in a 30 MPH zone.
Citizens need a helping hand to come to terms with changes in the law. For the first few months then, people should receive a simple warning if they are not observing the limit. But after this honeymoon period they should bust everyone who breaks it. The best way of doing this is of course to use speed cameras, again the source of outrage to some motorists who object to a "Big Brother" society that attempts to tell them how to live- this despite the improvement in injury and death statistics everywhere they have been introduced. Jeremy Clarkson and his benighted supporters may not like them but the fact is, speed cameras save lives.
Pelagius says: Let's have a 20 MPH throughout the inner city of Cardiff- and let's enforce it!
Sunday, 18 January 2015
24 hours in London
Is not enough time to do much, you might think. You'd be wrong. Without a sense of rushing, which always marks the death of any real pleasure, my wife and I were able to accomplish quite a lot in one whole day.
On Friday afternoon we visited the Tower of London. Neither of us had been there since our childhoods, yet somehow nothing had changed, except our attitudes. I last visited the site in 1958, when I was just seven years old. I can remember my disappointment at seeing Traitor's Gate (It's just a gate, right? so what?) but also my wonder at the Crown Jewels, scarcely diminished even now: the massive 523 carat Cullinan"1" diamond topping the Sceptre; the various crowns dripping with precious stones flashing the colours of the rainbow in every direction. What passed me by last time was the knowledge that most of the regalia were created for Charles II, presumably so he could make a really big splash following the republic set up after his father was beheaded, only to collapse so quickly following the death of its figurehead, Oliver Cromwell.
After marvelling one more time at the famous "White Tower", already extant for 600 years when Charles II ascended to the throne, we made our way west in the gathering gloom to attend a concert given by the Endellion string quartet at the Wigmore Hall. Featuring works by Haydn, Janacek and Schubert, one was instantly aware of being in the presence of one the world's greatest string ensembles. During the first movement of the Schubert I became so utterly transfixed I almost forgot to breathe.
The following day my wife and I parted ways, she to attend a music therapy conference, while I visited the Wallace Collection to see "Dance to the Music of Time" by Nicolas Poussin, one of the most important pictures ever painted. The exact meaning of the image is still unclear three hundred years after its creation, but the magical spell it casts remains undiminished. I had a busy schedule, but there was still enough time to luxuriate in the erotic magnificence of the Wallace's collection of works of Jean-Honore Fragonard and Francois Boucher- pornography for the upper classes, as they have been called.
Next to the Natural History Museum, to see the famous Emperor penguin egg brought back from the Antarctic after it been collected by Cherry-Garrard, Bowers and Wilson on the now celebrated "Worst Journey in the World" across three hundred miles of ice desert in the black heart of an Antarctic winter.
Finally back to the Royal Academy to see the Allen Jones exhibition. Jones was one of the founders of English "Pop Art" in the early 60s, creating life-sized mannequins of gorgeous women in revealing poses as his comment on contemporary sexuality. The "sculptures" retain their power to arrest the attention even after a generation living under the sexual revolution, and for me still radiate an enormous erotic power. Wow!
Finally, via an uncrowded underground system, which by the way you can now pay for simply by passing your debit card over a sensor (capitalism can be extremely innovative in finding ways to lighten your pocket) I was on time to meet my wife at Paddington to make our way home (undelayed fortunately) courtesy of Great Western Trains. Now that's how to do 24 hours in London!
On Friday afternoon we visited the Tower of London. Neither of us had been there since our childhoods, yet somehow nothing had changed, except our attitudes. I last visited the site in 1958, when I was just seven years old. I can remember my disappointment at seeing Traitor's Gate (It's just a gate, right? so what?) but also my wonder at the Crown Jewels, scarcely diminished even now: the massive 523 carat Cullinan"1" diamond topping the Sceptre; the various crowns dripping with precious stones flashing the colours of the rainbow in every direction. What passed me by last time was the knowledge that most of the regalia were created for Charles II, presumably so he could make a really big splash following the republic set up after his father was beheaded, only to collapse so quickly following the death of its figurehead, Oliver Cromwell.
After marvelling one more time at the famous "White Tower", already extant for 600 years when Charles II ascended to the throne, we made our way west in the gathering gloom to attend a concert given by the Endellion string quartet at the Wigmore Hall. Featuring works by Haydn, Janacek and Schubert, one was instantly aware of being in the presence of one the world's greatest string ensembles. During the first movement of the Schubert I became so utterly transfixed I almost forgot to breathe.
The following day my wife and I parted ways, she to attend a music therapy conference, while I visited the Wallace Collection to see "Dance to the Music of Time" by Nicolas Poussin, one of the most important pictures ever painted. The exact meaning of the image is still unclear three hundred years after its creation, but the magical spell it casts remains undiminished. I had a busy schedule, but there was still enough time to luxuriate in the erotic magnificence of the Wallace's collection of works of Jean-Honore Fragonard and Francois Boucher- pornography for the upper classes, as they have been called.
Next to the Natural History Museum, to see the famous Emperor penguin egg brought back from the Antarctic after it been collected by Cherry-Garrard, Bowers and Wilson on the now celebrated "Worst Journey in the World" across three hundred miles of ice desert in the black heart of an Antarctic winter.
Finally back to the Royal Academy to see the Allen Jones exhibition. Jones was one of the founders of English "Pop Art" in the early 60s, creating life-sized mannequins of gorgeous women in revealing poses as his comment on contemporary sexuality. The "sculptures" retain their power to arrest the attention even after a generation living under the sexual revolution, and for me still radiate an enormous erotic power. Wow!
Finally, via an uncrowded underground system, which by the way you can now pay for simply by passing your debit card over a sensor (capitalism can be extremely innovative in finding ways to lighten your pocket) I was on time to meet my wife at Paddington to make our way home (undelayed fortunately) courtesy of Great Western Trains. Now that's how to do 24 hours in London!
Thursday, 15 January 2015
Official: walking makes you live forever.
OK, not quite, but evidence coming out of Cambridge strongly suggests that even light exercise of just 20 minutes daily (which in most people's currency is the equivalent of walking one mile) has a significant effect on longevity. Perhaps more accurately we might say it restores the years which a lifetime of sloth and inactivity would have subtracted. This is certainly good news for me as I try to walk more like 10 miles a week, and throw in a bit of ascent in for good measure.
Interestingly, this evidence comes only a couple of weeks after research from Harvard was published suggesting that with a few notable exceptions such as smoking, most fatal illnesses are randomly distributed across the population and not genetically pre-determined. This certainly accords with my observations over a lifetime of practising medicine, which suggested to me that the random fickle finger of fate seemed to point at people with little rhyme or reason. Take my second wife Sue for example, who was as thin as a pencil, vegetarian and took plenty of exercise but nonetheless succumbed to an unusually virulent form of breast cancer at just forty-five years of age.
Way back in the seventies I remember talking to an experienced consultant physician about the best way to live a long time and he responded:
"It's all about diet and exercise really. That and a bit of luck."
Forty years on and you still can't fault those words...
Interestingly, this evidence comes only a couple of weeks after research from Harvard was published suggesting that with a few notable exceptions such as smoking, most fatal illnesses are randomly distributed across the population and not genetically pre-determined. This certainly accords with my observations over a lifetime of practising medicine, which suggested to me that the random fickle finger of fate seemed to point at people with little rhyme or reason. Take my second wife Sue for example, who was as thin as a pencil, vegetarian and took plenty of exercise but nonetheless succumbed to an unusually virulent form of breast cancer at just forty-five years of age.
Way back in the seventies I remember talking to an experienced consultant physician about the best way to live a long time and he responded:
"It's all about diet and exercise really. That and a bit of luck."
Forty years on and you still can't fault those words...
Saturday, 10 January 2015
What Ched should do next
What indeed. The answer "disappear without a trace for a couple of years" seems to come back in a pretty loud chorus, with a secondary choir descanting with "preferably forever". But not if his friends and supporters have anything to do with it, most notably the father of Evans' girlfriend. This wealthy gentleman has been running a powerful campaign to get him back playing with a first class football team. It emerged the other day that the reason Oldham Athletic did not immediately dismiss any speculation he might join their side is that the wealthy gentleman in question offered to indemnify them against any financial loss they might face should any sponsors drop out in protest against them employing a convicted, and so far unrepentant rapist. He even offered to pay his (perhaps) future son-in-law's wages. You have to admit it must have looked like a pretty tempting offer at first glance.
Having tried several times to get back into playing league football and failed miserably, will Ched now be advised to give it a rest? That is certainly the advice of this observer. He should now wait until the full five year term of "imprisonment" has expired, which is some time towards the end of 2016. Then he will have more justification for saying:
"Hey, I've served my time, fulfilled my debt to society. If anyone believes in rehabilitation, they should think about offering me a job now." This is certainly an improvement on what has happened in the last few months, where his future father-in-law has been as good as trying to buy his rehabilitation.
And he should think very carefully about issuing a more substantive apology to the woman he wronged. He has already produced what I call a "Bernard Matthews apology", where he has said he feels bad about any distress he may have caused, though that was never his intention and in fact he is not really responsible for what happened. What we, and she, really need to hear is something like this:
"When I had sex with that woman I was so drunk I didn't really think about whether she had given her consent or not. I have had time to reconsider and now accept that what I did was wrong."
The fact is that having sex with someone who is too out of it to give consent is wrong, not only legally but morally too. If he accepts that and waits for a while, I think people may feel more like forgiving him and allowing him to put his past behind him.
Ched, man, don't let your girlfriend's dad run the show. Tell him you're grateful for his all efforts on your behalf, but could he now please leave it out and let you adopt the low profile which right now is the only way to go?
Having tried several times to get back into playing league football and failed miserably, will Ched now be advised to give it a rest? That is certainly the advice of this observer. He should now wait until the full five year term of "imprisonment" has expired, which is some time towards the end of 2016. Then he will have more justification for saying:
"Hey, I've served my time, fulfilled my debt to society. If anyone believes in rehabilitation, they should think about offering me a job now." This is certainly an improvement on what has happened in the last few months, where his future father-in-law has been as good as trying to buy his rehabilitation.
And he should think very carefully about issuing a more substantive apology to the woman he wronged. He has already produced what I call a "Bernard Matthews apology", where he has said he feels bad about any distress he may have caused, though that was never his intention and in fact he is not really responsible for what happened. What we, and she, really need to hear is something like this:
"When I had sex with that woman I was so drunk I didn't really think about whether she had given her consent or not. I have had time to reconsider and now accept that what I did was wrong."
The fact is that having sex with someone who is too out of it to give consent is wrong, not only legally but morally too. If he accepts that and waits for a while, I think people may feel more like forgiving him and allowing him to put his past behind him.
Ched, man, don't let your girlfriend's dad run the show. Tell him you're grateful for his all efforts on your behalf, but could he now please leave it out and let you adopt the low profile which right now is the only way to go?
Wednesday, 7 January 2015
JE SUIS CHARLIE
That's the line springing up all over France just hours after the attacks on the offices of Charlie Hebdo. It is a cry of rage against any attempt to stifle free expression, and a cry that should be taken up around the world.
Attacks on journalism are happening all the time: right now three Al Jazeera journos are languishing in Egyptian jails, serving lengthy sentences for the sole reason that the Egyptian leadership has fallen out with the Qataris because they support the Muslim Brotherhood, an organisation now banned in Egypt. Elsewhere, ISIS has been offing reporters every time they find them..
Meanwhile in Germany anti-"Islamisation" demonstrations are attracting thousands of supporters, to the acute consternation of others apparently. For me it was such a great moment when the lights of Cologne Cathedral went out as the demonstration began, almost if that venerable building was hiding its face from the spectacle.
Attacks on journalism are happening all the time: right now three Al Jazeera journos are languishing in Egyptian jails, serving lengthy sentences for the sole reason that the Egyptian leadership has fallen out with the Qataris because they support the Muslim Brotherhood, an organisation now banned in Egypt. Elsewhere, ISIS has been offing reporters every time they find them..
Meanwhile in Germany anti-"Islamisation" demonstrations are attracting thousands of supporters, to the acute consternation of others apparently. For me it was such a great moment when the lights of Cologne Cathedral went out as the demonstration began, almost if that venerable building was hiding its face from the spectacle.
Sunday, 4 January 2015
No seasonal good cheer in Palestine
Palestine is just gearing up to celebrate its second Christmas. The first one was on the 25th December marking the Roman Catholic date. The next comes on the 7th January when the Eastern Orthodox church likes to celebrate it, while the third, marked by the Armenian Christians does not come until the 17th of this month. But you can be sure their festivities will be run on a shoestring after Israel withheld $127 million in tax revenues as a direct punishment for the Palestinians having the temerity to apply to be a member of the ICC, the International Criminal Court. This money is desperately important to such impoverished regions as the West Bank and Gaza.
If allowed to be a member, the ICC would in theory be allowed to pursue war crimes by either side of the ethnic divide in Israel/Palestine. But there are one or two small problems. First, by its constitution the ICC is only permitted to pursue individuals and not governments, second, that the Israeli leadership has already made it clear that it will protect its citizens and members of its army from any prosecution. So don't expect any Israeli soldiers or indeed settlers appearing before the ICC any time soon.
Last week the Palestinians appealed to the UN for protection from continual attacks launched against them from the illegal settlements. This came after 5000 olive tree saplings recently planted on Arab lands were systematically uprooted by settlers. When two UN SUVs went to investigate the claims they were attacked with rocks from the settlements and forced to withdraw.
The ICC, as I said, has strictly limited powers: they were unable to make any charge stick against the deputy Kenyan Leader Uhuru Kenyatta, even though there was compelling evidence that he and others had orchestrated horrifying post-election violence in 2007. Nonetheless it would be a minor breakthrough if Palestine were to be taken into its fold, even if only politically. Watch this space...
If allowed to be a member, the ICC would in theory be allowed to pursue war crimes by either side of the ethnic divide in Israel/Palestine. But there are one or two small problems. First, by its constitution the ICC is only permitted to pursue individuals and not governments, second, that the Israeli leadership has already made it clear that it will protect its citizens and members of its army from any prosecution. So don't expect any Israeli soldiers or indeed settlers appearing before the ICC any time soon.
Last week the Palestinians appealed to the UN for protection from continual attacks launched against them from the illegal settlements. This came after 5000 olive tree saplings recently planted on Arab lands were systematically uprooted by settlers. When two UN SUVs went to investigate the claims they were attacked with rocks from the settlements and forced to withdraw.
The ICC, as I said, has strictly limited powers: they were unable to make any charge stick against the deputy Kenyan Leader Uhuru Kenyatta, even though there was compelling evidence that he and others had orchestrated horrifying post-election violence in 2007. Nonetheless it would be a minor breakthrough if Palestine were to be taken into its fold, even if only politically. Watch this space...
Friday, 2 January 2015
How was it for you?
Last year I mean. For me it was a year dealing with the consequences of my actions, but then isn't it always? Still, I was able to divert myself reasonably well. I walked nearly 500 miles, keeping to my target of walking 25,000 miles in my whole life. I probably ascended something like 7 vertical miles, again keeping with my target of ascending 350 miles in my lifetime; the equivalent of walking straight up to the height of the International Space Station. I played table-tennis with my wife about 140 times, though I have resolved this year to join the old fogeys (over 60s that is) down at our local sports centre once a week. I look forward to being thrashed by people long in receipt of their pensions (I don't qualify for mine until next year). Don't giggle- some of those gnarly old gits, and gitesses, well into their eighties, show surprisingly quickness around the table and conjure the most fiendish feints and spins with their ancient bats which sometimes look almost old as they do.
Towards the latter end of the year I started juggling again after a lengthy lay-off, working mainly with three and four balls. I enjoyed it enormously and would propose it for anyone as a fun way of taking your mind off your problems. It certainly worked for me.
Last year I saw 112 films for the first time, a record for me I think, and read 36 books (not a record: mine is 45 in one year, and that, incredibly, achieved when I was still working). From these I offer a list (skip this if you hate lists, though I don't understand why you should) of the most notable:
BOOKS
1. Captain Scott, by Ranulph Fiennes
2. The Worst Journey in the World, by Apsley Cherry-Garrard
3. Alone in Berlin, by Hans Falada
4. Effie Briest, by Theodor Fontane
5.The Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri
6. Traveller of the Century, by Andres Neumann
7. Omeros, by Derek Walcott
8. The Blue Flower, by Penelope Fitzgerald
All these are quite wonderful books which I would recommend to anyone with a reading age of 12 or better.
MOVIES
1. Caesar must Die (2012)
2. This is Not a Film (2011)
3. Divine Intervention (2002)
4. I want to Live (1958)
5. The Patience Stone (2012)
6. Les Biches (1968)
7. Ida (2014)
8. Home from Home (2014)
9. The Exiles (1961)
10. Mr Turner (2014)
Once again I cite these as representing the finest examples of cinema and accessible to everyone. I can guarantee, and this goes for the books as well, that you will be stirred both intellectually and emotionally, which of course, is why we read and go to the movies in the first place.
As for TV, three series stand out, and forgive me if they are a little predictable:
1. Game of Thrones
2. Breaking Bad
3. Fargo.
It is impossible for you not to have heard of the first two, and despite the astonishing level of hula surrounding them they remain unforgettable examples of television at its best. The third. Fargo, seems to have gone under many people's radar, but believe me, if you are thinking of acquiring a box-set this year, make it this one. The performances of Martin Freeman (comedic it ain't) and Billy-Bob Thornton are breath taking, and the writing is darker than dark. It's believable, but so terrifying.
Good luck to you in this brave New Year and may it be an improvement on the last one, even if the last one was good too- you lucky bastard!
Towards the latter end of the year I started juggling again after a lengthy lay-off, working mainly with three and four balls. I enjoyed it enormously and would propose it for anyone as a fun way of taking your mind off your problems. It certainly worked for me.
Last year I saw 112 films for the first time, a record for me I think, and read 36 books (not a record: mine is 45 in one year, and that, incredibly, achieved when I was still working). From these I offer a list (skip this if you hate lists, though I don't understand why you should) of the most notable:
BOOKS
1. Captain Scott, by Ranulph Fiennes
2. The Worst Journey in the World, by Apsley Cherry-Garrard
3. Alone in Berlin, by Hans Falada
4. Effie Briest, by Theodor Fontane
5.The Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri
6. Traveller of the Century, by Andres Neumann
7. Omeros, by Derek Walcott
8. The Blue Flower, by Penelope Fitzgerald
All these are quite wonderful books which I would recommend to anyone with a reading age of 12 or better.
MOVIES
1. Caesar must Die (2012)
2. This is Not a Film (2011)
3. Divine Intervention (2002)
4. I want to Live (1958)
5. The Patience Stone (2012)
6. Les Biches (1968)
7. Ida (2014)
8. Home from Home (2014)
9. The Exiles (1961)
10. Mr Turner (2014)
Once again I cite these as representing the finest examples of cinema and accessible to everyone. I can guarantee, and this goes for the books as well, that you will be stirred both intellectually and emotionally, which of course, is why we read and go to the movies in the first place.
As for TV, three series stand out, and forgive me if they are a little predictable:
1. Game of Thrones
2. Breaking Bad
3. Fargo.
It is impossible for you not to have heard of the first two, and despite the astonishing level of hula surrounding them they remain unforgettable examples of television at its best. The third. Fargo, seems to have gone under many people's radar, but believe me, if you are thinking of acquiring a box-set this year, make it this one. The performances of Martin Freeman (comedic it ain't) and Billy-Bob Thornton are breath taking, and the writing is darker than dark. It's believable, but so terrifying.
Good luck to you in this brave New Year and may it be an improvement on the last one, even if the last one was good too- you lucky bastard!
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