Film: The War You Don't See

For today, the best option was another Sands Films offering. Their latest showing was The War You Don't See, a documentary on war propaganda, written and co-directed by John Pilger. Right down my alley. The intro starts nearly nine minutes in (they should learn to crop the film), when we find out that it's a co-production with the London Socialist Film Co-op, who also give an intro - from a political perspective. The film itself starts after about 15 minutes.

Once upon a time, bards were employed by the local chieftains to sing their praises. If it wasn't flattering to their boss, it didn't get heard. And all through history, the story has been written by the victors. Hey, I can't even watch Shakespeare's Henry V, it's so damn jingoistic! So it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that, as mentioned in this film, Lloyd George got chummy with the editor of The Guardian during the First World War. As he remarked, if the people knew what was really happening in the war, they'd call an immediate end to it..

An interesting slideshow shows the increasing percentage of civilian casualties throughout international conflicts - 10% during WW1, 50% for WW2 (where we're also reminded that Japan surrendered BEFORE the atomic bombs were dropped), 70% for Vietnam - 90% of casualties were "collateral damage" during the Iraq War, which was still dragging on when this was made. 

Frankly, it's infuriating - so much so that I had to post to Facebook before the film was even over, I was so enraged! Scene after scene shows Pilger challenging executives at the BBC and ITV, whose heels are so firmly dug in that they're immovable - Pilger's face at one point is priceless, as he's at a loss to find a response to what he's just been told!

"Our duty is to report what government spokespeople tell us. Then the public decides."

Pilger: "But that's not really fair on the public, is it? They're not getting the full story."

"Neither are we. We have to wait for someone with the time and energy to analyse it afterwards."

Oh for goodness' sake, if all that the news media is good for is parroting what the powers-that-be tell them, what use are they?! And of course, "embedded" journalists will never say anything that goes against the agenda of the people they're embedded with - as one explained, if you don't toe the party line, you'll be denied access. If you play along, they still dictate where you go, and when - and what you see. In some cases, they also tell you what you're allowed to write. Fox News, while briefly mentioned, is dismissed as "cartoonish" - which is fair comment, demonstrated by the example "news" article where the reporter spends her time asking the helicopter pilot to show her how he steers..

We also get to hear from journalists who tell us how events were stage-managed for the press - like the enthusiastic reception for US troops entering Baghdad. And there's a worrying report on how endangered non-Western journalists are if reporting against the Israeli military - we see footage of the Israelis shooting at a cameraman. 21 years old; he lost both legs in that attack. Not to mention the deliberate US bombing of the Arabic Al-Jazeerah offices in Kabul - they were kind enough to ring first, to warn them to get out. Oh, and I remember the Israeli attack on the aid convoy to Gaza, and how the footage they released had been doctored - they killed several people, that day.

Never fear, there's one ray of hope - Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange, is also interviewed, and provides the highpoint when he describes how, despite being hounded by the US, he has no problem with the UK - the Official Secrets Act apparently prohibits retention or destruction of the information.. but he's perfectly free to publish it! :-D

Remember - believe none of what you read, and half of what you see. Or indeed, believe nothing until it's been officially denied. The reasons for going to war in Iraq were totally spurious, and this misinformation has happened over and over again. Even just this week - mind you, on a different topic: the journalist regularly interviewed on This Morning - speaking about Harry and Meghan winning their court case against the Daily Mail - totally defended the newspaper's position! Well, she would, she works for them. What made me laugh though was when (not for the first time) she came out with the daft phrase "we have standards in this country". Her implication was that this was an example of British journalistic standards ensuring that when "someone gets it wrong", they get "rapped on the knuckles". Yeah, not really - this was an example of people being wronged, and having the money to go after the perpetrators. Not everyone is able to do that - so, for every court case won against them, I do wonder how many times they get away with it.. (As usual, the presenters didn't challenge her - not in their job description, I guess.)

On Saturday - wow, at last, Meetup is running things early enough in the day for me again! Up in the Cheap Seats is watching a couple of contemporary dance shows by Grupo Corpo - Bach and Lecuona, each streaming on Vimeo and available to rent for 48 hours for £3.95. So I've signed up - will rent closer to the time, and we'll be chatting about them on Saturday. Phew, it'll be great to see these folks again, it's been ages!

Swinging 60s Experience, Series: Upload (Season 1 - Episodes 9 & 10), & Film: Le Notti di Cabiria (Nights of Cabiria)

This lunchtime, I had Meetup, for once! The first in over a month.. I finally joined 45+ Not Grumpy Old Londoners, for a Swinging 60s Experience - a Live Online Interactive Tour in a Psychedelic Minibus! Also running with their sister group, Carpe Diem. Their last event that I attended was terrifically organised, and I was sure this one would be, too - it's great to see a group running something during the daytime at the weekend, again!

I was ever so slightly late in joining - but he hadn't started off yet. And, of course, the advantage of this over a regular tour was that you could join at any point! as a couple of people did. Now, this is a real tour bus that travels the streets of London - apparently attracts attention, brightly painted as it is. And the advantage of doing it this way, from the guide's point of view - is that he can pack more people in! We had 18 on the call - and I doubt he could have squashed that many into his minibus. So, it's good to see someone doing well from the pandemic.

He travels through West London, stopping at sundry points of interest - musicians' houses, mainly. He did stop at The Troubadour - which I know from when I lived out that way, been there a few times. Unfortunately, it looked quite desolate, shut down as it is. And he finishes at the Albert Hall, which I do know quite well..

To be honest, I wasn't massively interested in who lived where, or ate where, or partied where. But the photos he shared from the 60s were cool - and mainly, what I got from it was a chance to be driven through the streets of London, which hasn't happened for a very long time. Looked as grey there as here, but still brought a wave of nostalgia - I could just imagine myself going on a trip like this, on a grey weekend afternoon, and while I was still on it, plotting where to go afterwards for a nice meal. Plenty of options, around West London - hope they're still there when I get another chance! Sadly, no chat afterwards..

Well now, tv today was truly woeful - nothing on for hours after my tour ended. So I turned to the old reliable. I got another advertising email from Amazon Prime last weekend, which had some interesting options. So I've been watching Upload, a comedy sci-fi series about a world, not too far in the future, where people's memories, personalities etc. can be uploaded to a program they subscribe to, so that they can have - essentially - the afterlife of their choice, which they can experience as themselves, in simulated bodies.

To recap, we follow the story of a young man (Robbie Amell, doing a good impression of a young Tom Cruise), whose life is cut tragically short in a freak accident. However, he doesn't die straight away - and his high-maintenance, upper-crust girlfriend has a pretty high-class subscription to the upload service, where all her family plan to spend the afterlife. So she badgers him into being uploaded, on her subscription, so they can (eventually) spend the afterlife together, in genteel luxury.

Anyway, I've been dying to get a chance to continue with the story. So off I went and watched more of that - the rest of Season 1, in fact. And it's simultaneously clever, engaging, and absolutely hilarious. In the last two episodes of the season, we learn a little more about our hero's past, following an upgrade to the system, which restores some of his memories, which were mysteriously wiped during upload. The plot definitely thickens - and wow, you want to see what happens when he decides to break free from his girlfriend's influence, and downgrade to a prepaid plan. :-) True, you can't do very much online without using bandwidth..

After that, I had yet more time to kill - and wouldn't you know it, Season 2 hasn't been released yet! In fact, it only started filming last month.. Damn! Plenty of speculation about who's going to be kept on, and where the story is going to go. But (sob) it'll be the latter half of the year, at the earliest, before I get an update! Nuts.. Will definitely keep an eye on that one.

And so, finally, it was back to Sands Films, who've had some good offerings lately. To end the afternoon, I watched Le Notti di Cabiria (Nights of Cabiria), a Fellini film from the 50s, about a fiesty prostitute in Rome, played by his wife, who has a hopeful heart, but never seems to be able to find true love.

For once, there's no lead-in - the video begins straight away with the mc's introduction! Lasts about 12 minutes. And demonstrating Fellini's typical energy, this is a compelling and unexpected film to watch, as she wins our hearts with her truly poignant portrayal. A right mixture of blokes she meets.. few of which encounters do her any good at all. Enjoyed it. And there's another brief chat with the mc at the end..

While I was watching the film, yet another Amazon Prime email! And so it is that my plan for tomorrow is to try Undone, an animated series about a young woman who, after a car crash, experiences a weird new reality.. Animation, of course, makes it a lot easier for the creators to realise their vision, here.

And next Saturday - the Crick Crack Club is back! with a show for Valentine's Day, entitled This Thing Called Love, where a bunch of performers will entertain us with stories appropriate to the weekend's theme! Great - it's been months since I had any storytelling..

TV Series: From Beirut to Bosnia (Episode 3)

So, I finally got around to watching Episode 3 of From Beirut to Bosnia. Available through the sterling efforts of Sands Films, who managed to find something that's practically disappeared.

The series basically seeks to explain why Muslim extremism targets Westerners - the first two episodes deal with Western-backed Israeli aggression in Palestine and Lebanon, and as promised, the last episode heads to Bosnia. Specifically, to Sarajevo. During the nastiest of its tragic history.

So, Robert Fisk dons a helmet and flak jacket to brave the streets of the besieged city. As he points out, he's lucky to have them - the soldiers don't have that luxury. Nor do the civilians, risking their lives every time they go out to buy groceries, running down the streets with their shopping bags as snipers pick them off from nearby rooftops. God, that brings back memories - I vividly remember the reports on the evening news at the time. I remember the shame that the West wasn't doing anything, as the Serbs systematically murdered the Muslim population, or packed them onto trains to go and live elsewhere, as best they could. And the West refused to arm the Muslims, to allow them to defend themselves.

Stand-out scenes, for me, include the hospital, where we see a little boy brought in after being shot by a sniper. Also receiving treatment for gunshot wounds is his mother, who tried to shield him. As the surgeon remarks, those responsible for this aren't human. At the train station, we meet some refugees - one woman, asked how she feels when she looks at a photo of how things were just a year ago, looks at Fisk aghast. She refuses to answer - how do you think I feel? she exclaims. Shortly afterwards, as the train arrives, a frail old man has to be lifted onto it, to an uncertain future.

At a press conference, Fisk asks the UN spokesman - who's just given a summary of the situation - whether there is any area under UN control that isn't experiencing bombing or shelling. A long pause follows. "I presume," says the UN guy, "that you're using the phrase 'UN control' advisedly. We are currently experiencing shelling and sniper attacks in all areas."

A devastating sequence has Fisk being escorted by Serb police to an area that has been "ethnically cleansed" of Muslims - a misnomer, as he says. This wasn't ethnic cleansing, it was a straightforward land grab. He gets them to stop at a place he recognises - he was there a year before, visited the mosque, had a cup of coffee with the imam and his wife, who had been promised Serb protection. Now, the mosque is in ruins, as is the imam's house. Photograph frames are broken, the photographs scattered on the floor. The Serbs, of course, know nothing about what happened there. (And ask not to be filmed.) And at time of broadcast, he still hadn't found out what happened to the imam and his wife, who had been so friendly to him. Last year.

Standing in the ruins of the mosque, as the camera pans over the ruined decorations, the holes in the walls - Fisk remarks that if violence like this is perpetrated on the Muslim population, you must expect retaliation. It's a nonsense to say that it's mindless terrorism - he also reveals that he feels that, at the end of each of his articles about the Middle East, he should include the warning "Watch out!"..

A very important series. And yes, I haven't forgotten about my film backlog of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Snowden, The Unbelievable Truth, Time (all on Amazon Prime), and Zero de Conduite, on the Internet Archive. Watch this space.. as ever..

Film: The Greatest Showman & TV Series: From Beirut to Bosnia (Episodes 1 & 2)

So, one of this evening's films on tv was The Greatest Showman! Starring Hugh Jackman, it's the story of P. T. Barnum, the famous showman. And it's a musical.

The second-longest-running chat show in the world is the Late Late show, and every year, just before Christmas, they do a Toy Show, to showcase different popular toys and books. These generally have a theme - and sure enough, a few years ago, the theme was The Greatest Showman. The host came on dressed for the part, and songs from the film were performed throughout. So it was good, finally - as I'd never seen it before - to see what all the fuss was about!

The songs are the stars of the show, truly. Each is a show-stopper, and the choreography that accompanies them is stunning. Apart from that - there's not much to say. P. T. Barnum seems more personable here than in the Wikipedia article about him, and you can fairly ignore most of the plot. Basically, it's rags to riches, and he's trying to prove himself to his rich in-laws. So he gets this idea to stage a show, and it's a hit. Mind you, the sound levels in the film were very off - the dialogue seemed very muted in comparison to the musical numbers, and so in order to hear what people were saying to each other, I had to increase the volume quite a bit - now, my mother screeches in complaint if anything is too loud, so there was a limit to what I could do, and I did miss a lot of dialogue. There might have been some complexity there that I failed to notice. But it is a very enjoyable film, for the musical numbers and the excellent trapeze work that is included. Not very deep, though.

Later tonight, feeling less tired, and with nothing interesting on tv that I hadn't already seen, I caught up with the first two of the three episodes of the tv documentary made by Robert Fisk, From Beirut to Bosnia, about the relationship between the Middle East and the West. Hard to find, it's available on the Sands Films site - part of an homage to Robert Fisk. And wow, it does require concentration - one of those where I feel I should be taking notes.

In short, Episode 1 details Israeli attacks on South Lebanon. They always plead self-defence in these cases, but as this documentary shows, many attacks have been completely unprovoked, and others completely disproportionate - revenge for attacks that caused the deaths of eight Israeli soldiers, for example, resulted in the killing of 150 Lebanese in retaliatory shelling. Nine of those killed were later shown to be militants.

And particularly interesting to an Irish person was the scene where an Irish UN peacekeeper was showing him around a bombed-out building. (We send out a lot of UN peacekeepers, particularly to Lebanon.) Entering a room whose front wall had been completely blown away, his guide explained that another peacekeeper (Irish-sounding name) had been in this exact room when he was killed by a shell from an Israeli tank. Indicating the Israeli tanks, observing them from a nearby hill, he explained that although the tank driver concerned had apparently been disciplined, nobody had ever actually explained why they'd done it..

Mind you, one thing about Robert Fisk was that, living among the Arab community as he did, he always had links to that side of the conflict - and another interesting segment has him visiting a Lebanese "underground prison", of the sort where many Lebanese, and some Westerners, were famously held - generally without any kind of due process. Always good to see the whole picture.

Episode 2 concerns dispossession of the Palestinians, either through bombing and shelling, or land grabs. He visits the Gaza Strip.. not a nice-looking place at all. It's amusing to watch Israeli soldiers, constantly telling him and his cameraman to stop filming, or they'll close the area and force them out. Undeterred, he manages to interview a 16-year-old girl, already married and about to have her first child, who's experiencing pains. The curfew is in effect, and there's no way to get her to hospital - the Israeli soldiers he questions about her tell him she's already left in an ambulance. Finally, he and his cameraman end up driving her and her mother to the UN hospital.

One woman is filmed, in hysterics about how all the houses in her neighbourhood have been destroyed by Israeli shelling. And, just outside Jerusalem, he highlights the case of one lone farmer holding out against the encroaching wave of Israeli settlers. Interviewing the family, he discovers that they've owned the land for hundreds of years - they have title deeds both from the Ottoman days, and also from the British Mandate period. However, the Israeli government has issued them notice to quit - they need the land for a housing scheme. For Israelis only - Arabs need not apply. Sadly, this is the same family he mentions in This is Not a Movie, who were evicted shortly after he interviewed them. It's also interesting how the Israeli settlers he speaks to are adamant that the foundation for their right to be there, and to evict the Arabs, is given to them in the Bible..

Finally, he was given directions by a Palestinian, living in Lebanon, to the house in Acre that his family was evicted from in 1948, during the formation of Israel. He's keen to find out what happened to it - he is not allowed to enter Israel, nor are any expelled Palestinians. When Fisk gets there, he finds a lovely family, happy to talk to him. The grandad, who was the first Jew to occupy the house, is a Holocaust survivor. In an interesting twist, Fisk then goes in search of this man's family history, and visits the Polish town where they were from. Once known as a Jewish town, there are no Jews there at all any more.. and no record of those killed in Treblinka, where his search takes him.

Any correlations that you might draw here are for you to decide - Fisk says nothing about them.

I'm looking forward to Episode 3 - and very glad I don't live anywhere near there..

And yes, I haven't forgotten about my film backlog of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Snowden, The Unbelievable Truth, Time (all on Amazon Prime), and Zero de Conduite, on the Internet Archive. Watch this space..

Film: This Is Not a Movie

Film again today - and with a surfeit of sport on tv, it didn't take me long to get around to it. I watched Sands Film's weekly offering, a documentary about the late, great Robert Fisk, entitled This Is Not a Movie.

Oh wow, this should be required viewing. As the club organiser pointed out, its release this year was stymied by the pandemic, and it's kind of sunk without trace - which is a tragedy indeed. So he urged viewers to share it. Well, here we go! I should point out that it's not, at time of writing, on the "past films" page - I had to go to the main film page, which has a few Robert Fisk-related resources, under a heading of an homage to him.

It starts dramatically, with old footage of a younger Robert Fisk and his cameraman, running under fire through the rubble-strewn streets of a Middle-Eastern city. As, in more recent times, he is driven towards the front line of the Syrian civil war, he laments the fact that he sees no other journalists there. The club organiser, in his brief analysis afterwards, points out Fisk's physical courage - but as the man himself says, you have to go and see for yourself. Certainly, he's scathing about getting information from the internet - and particularly about social media.

One of the major themes throughout is his lack of trust in authority - and how refreshing it is to see someone unwilling to toe the popular line! Criticised many times through the years for being "pro" one side or "anti" another - as he says, what does he care? He writes what he sees - after that, people can make of it what they want. He has better things to do than worry about people's opinion of him.

He cut his teeth in Belfast - where he made an enemy of the British Army by refusing to follow their official line on things, instead publicising their crimes, incursions across the border and so on. Good preparation for the Middle East, where he spent most of his life. Asked in an interview why he was still there, he said it's like a book that you just can't put down - he MUST see what happens next.

You'll learn a lot about the politics of the area, just by watching this. He follows an arms trail from Syria, back to Bosnia, and thence to Saudi Arabia, who were, at the time, arming Syrian rebels. Including "terrorists" - a buzz word that he hates, because he says we're addicted to it. He's met Bin Laden a few times, incidentally - and you'll be interested to hear his account of one tense interview! Also included on the Sands Films site is a link to a rare tv documentary that Fisk made, From Beirut to Bosnia, about the relationship between the Middle East and the West - kudos to them for digging it out! I might actually watch that on Tuesday.

Always suspicious of the official line, he is scathing of the Israelis.. and you just have to see the interview with one settler (colonist, as Fisk would put it - as he says, language is important), in which the settler denies that there ever was a Palestinian state or history! Thorough, brave, and committed, truly, with his passing, a great light has gone out - we can just hope that his ideals and standards continue. This film comes with my highest recommendation.. and do stay for the credits, over which the very appropriate Cedars of Lebanon is played!

Tomorrow afternoon, the great storyteller Nick Hennessy has another livestream! Mustn't miss that. In fact, just in case we were thinking of forgetting it, he was practicing his livestream today, as I was trying to watch my film..

And on Monday - an old friend has bought me a ticket to watch the livestream of A Christmas Carol from the Old Vic! He and the family will be watching simultaneously. Aww, how thoughtful..

Play: Barbecue & Film: Foreign Correspondent

Today, Up in the Cheap Seats watched the last in that series of online, read plays - Barbecue, tickets from TodayTix again, with a minimum donation of $5. Mind you, with nothing on telly last night - I watched it then!

And OMG, I was blown away! Starts off with a (white - that's relevant) family, planning a fake barbecue during which they're going to stage an intervention, to try to persuade their addict sister to go to rehab. Perfect Zoom coordination, as usual. It then switches to a black family - you'll start to notice, although the dialogue is different, that they have the same names, and are doing much the same thing. Hmm..

Plenty of familiar faces here. The brothers are played by Colman Domingo and David Morse, the various sisters by S. Epatha Merkerson, Laurie Metcalf, Kristine Nielsen, and Carrie Coon, among others. Sounds predictable enough at the start - even when it switches to the black family, telling the same story in a different way, it sounds pretty normal. Except when you start to wonder about the names.

There's a (very) short interval - and after that, you fall right down the rabbit hole. As you get the backstory to what's gone before, you slowly come to realise that these two stories are indeed the same, dialogue changed for the black family, to reflect what black people would be expected to say. And in a perfectly delicious sequence, we see interaction between members of the families for the first time - it's no spoiler to say that what's happening is, they're making a film of the white family's story, but decided to cast a black family, for "authenticity".

Beautifully acted, perfectly coordinated, cleverly edited. Lots to say about how black people are perceived, and how you should never trust the movies' version of reality. Hilarious, too - and I just love having my expectations confounded. I was riveted for the whole second half.. right down to the abrupt ending. Highly recommended, showing till a minute to midnight, tomorrow (Monday) - in this time zone. Best I've seen in months.

So - with that watched, and nothing on tv this afternoon that I hadn't seen (again) - it was back to my film list. And good old Sands Films' latest offering was the highest rated on my list - just this week, they showed Hitchcock's Foreign Correspondent. They're doing a tribute to the late, great Robert Fisk, you see, and this was apparently the film that inspired him to become a journalist. Mind you, with buffering issues, I had to resort to my work laptop again.

The broadcast starts about 8 minutes in, then there's an introduction that might be worth a look. The film itself - well, Hitchcock is always worth watching, for his terrific direction: the Master of Suspense, truly. Made and set in 1939, it concerns a journo sent to Europe to investigate rumours of impending war. And for sure, his acts of derring-do - as he witnesses an assassination, confronts spies, evades murder attempts, and gets the girl - would entice many into the profession. Very enjoyable. Tune into the Sands Film site from Tuesday to see a film about Fisk himself, This Is Not a Movie.

That finished just in time for me to join the chat about the play, which was entertaining and lively - pity it was cut off before we got all our talking done. As abrupt an ending as in the play we were discussing, in fact! But as usual, it was great to see everyone.

Finally, I'm taking my Christmas holidays on Friday - and London Social Detours recently announced another talk for that day, in their British Heroes and Villains series. We get to vote at the end, apparently - whether for the greatest hero, or the greatest villain, I don't know. Still, isn't it great that Meetup has so much stuff on again that I can go to?

Film: The Syrian Bride

Today, I was back to film again. And would you believe, I finally finished The Syrian Bride (on Sands Films)! I had a little under an hour to go in the film - which took me a few hours to watch, what with stopping and starting throughout, and having to refresh the page twice. SO GLAD to be done with it!

Having said that, I did enjoy it. It's a lot better than you'd expect, from the lukewarm introduction of the guy at the start. He describes it as "almost a soap opera" - and he's right, in a way. He's disparaging of the "middle-class" problems of this family in the Golan Heights, who have arranged a marriage between the younger daughter and a TV star from Syria.

At least he acknowledges that there are complexities peculiar to the setting! Jeez, where do I start? Apart from the suggestion of the bride having had a previous marriage that didn't work out so well (and is never mentioned again).. Well, to start with, as a native of the Golan Heights - whose ownership is disputed between Syria and Israel - she is defined as having no nationality. The marriage is to be celebrated first at home, with a meal, then the bridal party is to go to the Syrian border, where the bride and groom are to meet and, I guess, the actual ceremony is to be performed. The bride then assumes Syrian nationality, and can never return to the Golan. Not even to visit. Which throws rather a pall on things.

Her father is a pro-Syrian revolutionary, and banned from entering the demilitarised, UN-governed border zone. Her older brother married a Russian, thus breaking the conventions of their Druze community - he's been ostracised by the village elders ever since. He's back for the wedding, but their father has been told he'll be shunned as well if he associates with his son. Her middle brother is a rather shady businessman who also lives abroad, and whose attitude at the airport en route gets him delayed by unsympathetic Israeli customs. Her sister is unhappily married, with a traditionalist husband who's determined to quash their elder daughter's relationship with the son of an Israeli collaborator. At least her youngest brother already lives in Syria, where he's a student - so he'll be a familiar face in her new life!

It's actually quite intriguing, as you wonder whether this will be pulled off at all. Will the father go to the border - and if so, will he be arrested, as threatened? Will the sister's marriage break down? What will happen with the older brother? Add all of that, and the red tape on both sides of the border, to the usual wedding problems - and you have a really interesting film. The final sequence, at the border itself, is truly gripping, as problem after problem arises and we wonder whether this can really go ahead..

Recommended. I obviously liked it more than the guy who presented it. Dunno when I'll get to the rest of my film backlog, but I do intend to..

Tomorrow - would you believe it, Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) finally has something at a time I can manage! It's another read play - this time, it's Time Stands Still, starring Laura Linney. And again, it's from TodayTix, with a minimum donation of $5. Delighted I can join them for something, for once. And it's just too bad that London Social Detours also announced another history talk tomorrow - they could have chosen today, for once!

Nothing in particular happening next Saturday - but UITCS is seeing something on Thursday that I might catch up with next Saturday, instead. Fibres is a play by Citizens Theatre, available online for free till the 23rd - the theme is the impact of asbestosis in a Glasgow community. They like you to book, and I have.

Film: La Petite Vendeuse de Soleil

I owed myself another film for yesterday; of the next on my list, La Petite Vendeuse de Soleil was next alphabetically, and having no particular preference, I went for that. Courtesy of Sands Films, it has the added advantage of being short.

It was too late last night really, so I just watched it now. As I say, conveniently short enough to fit into a gap in the tv schedule. And it's a charming little thing, under an hour long - even with all the speechifying of the director of the film club! This seems to have been one of the first they released after lockdown, and he spends some time pondering that. If you're not interested in that part, he starts to talk about the film at about 9:45, and the film proper starts around 12 minutes in.

Set on the busy streets of Dakar, the film tells the story of a little girl who pretty much lives on the streets - we don't get to see where she actually sleeps, she's just out all the time. Most of the beggars we see have some kind of disability, as does she - one of her legs is in a brace, and seems pretty useless. She uses crutches to get around. Similarly, her grandmother - apparently her only family - is blind. But you know, there isn't a moment of pity in this film - seeing the brash boys that sell newspapers, she decides that's the job for her, and indeed, she makes a real go of it! Highly recommended, as a gentle peek into the day-to-day life of poor Africans.

And in under an hour, my first Meetup of the month! London Social Detours, naturally, with a virtual themed tour "Spies, Lies & Espionage".

Film: Children of the Beehive

Film-wise, for today I had Children of the Beehive, as it'd come up in ratings since last I checked. Set in post-war Japan, it's the story of a band of orphans, searching for somewhere decent to call home. Sands Films again.

The actual stream starts about 8 minutes in, the film about 17 minutes in, after an introduction. As we're warned, the quality isn't great - it's a bit jumpy, and there are sound issues (as well as some imperfect translation). But perfectly watchable. There's virtually no plot - which I believe is typical of this director. Basically, a de-mobbed soldier takes the boys under his wing, as they wander the country in search of work. It's rather sweet -reminiscent of Boys' Town. You also get some interesting snippets of what the country was like, then. Very, very slow, mind - but stick with it for a satisfying ending, where what plot threads have been introduced are resolved. Also available on YouTube.

And tomorrow, London Social Detours is meeting in the afternoon again! So this time, it's a virtual tour of pathology, plague, & pestilence in old London Town - v topical.

Film: La Chienne

I was to watch film on Thursday - and decided to try La Chienne. This time, it's on the Sands Films playlist.

Of course, as usual I found lots else to do.. so it was actually today till I got around to it! But with an afternoon lull in decent programming, I bit the bullet. Took far longer than it should have, what with buffering, but anyway. I see this time they learned their lesson, and don't have ten dead minutes at the beginning - just an intro that lasts about as long.

The film is definitely interesting. Made in 1931, apparently it was the first "talkie" from this director. And while it tells a tale as old as time, it makes clear at the start that it's not meant as a morality tale - just an observation of life, if you will. So, the plot centres around a bourgeois man, living a humdrum life in Paris. He has a boring job as a cashier, is severely henpecked by his shrewish wife - his only passion, as he proclaims in one scene, is painting! Well, if he was hoping for a change, he certainly gets one when he gets involved with a pretty young prostitute..

I've gotta say, it's a lot more interesting to watch than most films I've seen from the era. The characters are drawn with depth, the story is non-typical.. with a couple of twists, you really can't predict where this is headed. No clichés here. Curiously, the pimp really reminded me of someone I used to work with - perhaps they're related! Anyway, well worth a watch to while away an afternoon.

Now, I was due a couple more films in the intervening days - and I fully intend to catch up on them. Just maybe not right now.. Next up in the list is Phantom of the Opera, from 1925, with Lon Chaney - available, again, on the Internet Archive. Sounds like a properly scary version..

And after that, there's Jallikattu, in which an Indian village appears to go berserk after a buffalo gets loose. Hey-ho! On Amazon Prime, this one.

Wonder whether I'll get them watched before tomorrow, when I'm back with London Social Detours, for a talk about Percy Shelley and his wife, Mary..

Film: The Company of Strangers / Strangers in Good Company

Well, with most Meetups happening in person now (and me unable to join), I looked at film again for today. And what was coming up now isn't on Amazon Prime, for once - nope, it's on the Sands Films website! The best option there was The Company of Strangers (aka Strangers in Good Company), about a group of elderly women whose minibus breaks down in Canada, in the middle of nowhere, forcing them to spend the night in each other's company. Mostly ad-libbed.

Typically for Sands Films, they started streaming too early - for goodness' sake, the first 11 minutes or so has us staring at a clock, while the mc comes on occasionally to do a synch test. Finally, the camera switches, and he gives an introductory speech - they used to have weekly film clubs (which I never attended), and I guess he's done this every time. I think the film proper starts after about 18 minutes.

This is a really, really slow film. I dozed off during it. And frankly, several of the women annoyed me - for various reasons - and I don't think I could have stuck a real-life impromptu camping trip with them. But the scenery is beautiful, and while I'm a bit dubious how well elderly women would really cope without much to eat, or anywhere comfy to sleep, for about 24 hours, maybe Canadian women are hardier, eh? Anyway, what we get are a variety of scenes of women pairing off in twos and threes, in which we learn more about their characters. We also get old photos of them - which I believe are genuine - and they talk a bit about their past lives. So I guess, the point is that we are being reminded that there's more to old ladies than creaky bones! Interesting, then - but I found it productive to be doing something else while it was on. 

Tomorrow, wouldya believe it, I'm back with the Crick Crack Club! This is a live-streamed event from King's Place, which I booked last Christmas (!), and which is taking place at the venue: but with the live streaming, I asked for my ticket to be changed to a virtual one. After all, the Irish government won't let me go back in time for it! (Well, they would, but I'd have to quarantine upon coming back to Ireland. And even if I did do that, I don't want to risk it, as I'm living with my elderly mother.) Means I'll have to miss this weekend's London Social Detours Meetup, which this week is tomorrow, but what the hey. Anyway, the storytelling is On Common Ground - The Life and Times of John Clare, as told by Hugh Lupton. Sadly, there's yet more storytelling there that evening - Ben Haggarty is performing Storytelling for Grownups - the Grateful and the Dead. But that's not being live-streamed. :-( Live only, with social distancing, and sold out a while ago. Of course.

Concert: Taim Sahel

Tonight - sick of the same, well-meaning diet of wellbeing, good wishes to the NHS, and speculation about when lockdown would be over, finally - I checked out Meetup again. First thing to catch my eye was an event by Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS), who were watching an archive recording by Curve Theatre - What the Butler Saw.

I was pre-warned that the recording isn't the best - the view is from the back of the auditorium, which is ok, but it does mean that you pick up all the audience noise. And the dialogue from the stage is so inaudible that they provide subtitles. But that would all have been fine - if not for the content itself! To be fair, I'd been pre-warned about that too, but thought I'd give it a shot. It wasn't long before I decided that it was far too puerile and offensive (dated both in terms of what was classed as being funny, and what was classed as being acceptable) to spend my time on. Very glad I didn't pay for it.

So, that left me free to check out the World Music Meetup. Eleanor, from TunedIn.London, is now apparently the organiser - and they'd organised a concert, livestreamed on YouTube this evening, by a Syrian artist, Taim Sahel, performing to an empty room at Sands Film Studios. So, here's your chance to see the theatre at Sands Films! Music starts at about 9 minutes in - and it's truly lovely. Such a contrast to what I started out watching! Highly recommended - I'm delighted to see them take part in the online offerings.

On Saturday, London Social Detours (LSD) has a quiz - in the afternoon, so I've signed up. She's requiring us to write down all our answers - dunno whether she's considered that she'll only be able to read them backwards! However, I'll also try to catch this week's offering from The Shows Must Go On!, where Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals are streamed for free for 48 hours - this week, it's Love Never Dies, a sequel to Phantom of the Opera. As advertised by UITCS.

On Sunday, as usual, I'm following UITCS' lead in watching Hampstead Theatre's weekly offering, which this week is the currently topical Tiger Country, set in the NHS.

On Monday, London Literary Walks has scheduled a continuation of the music quiz that was running.. a mistake on the organiser's part, he accidentally made the next bit a separate event! Glad he's still running it - when I saw the first event had ended, I was afraid he'd stopped, and I do enjoy them!

On the 2nd, behold, LSD has my attention again - they're doing an online murder mystery, where everyone chooses a character and (optionally) dresses up. Small fee. Cool! We get scripts, it seems.. And I've been chosen to be Sierra Tango, police constable! Seems it's been booking heavily, and that was all that was left. Fine by me.

On the 3rd, back with Hampstead Theatre for The Arrest of Ai Weiwei. UITCS is, of course, seeing it that evening.

Now, the 8th is a bank holiday - so I'll need something to do that day as well. And I'm thinking I'll follow UITCS' lead from earlier in the week, and have a look at a livestreamed Showstopper! show, filmed in the Lyric a month ago without an audience (!), now available on Facebook..

Rest of the week (again!)

So, my boss was scheduled to come over this week - but, given that the VP is coming next week, he decided to accompany him then. Cue much frantic booking on my part for this week! Happily, I came up with some good stuff. On Wednesday, London Literary Walks was off on Pop the Weasel, and I was delighted to be able to accompany them. Local again, I see. Yet another attendee once Mary signed up, yay!

It was all of a five-minute walk to The Eagle - so I worked nice and late again. When I got there, a pub quiz was in progress - I eased my way around it to find my companions at a table at the back, quiz papers in hand, although it turned out they'd arrived late, and weren't officially participating. And yes, there were only the three of us - again! So we sat and attempted to answer what we could - not easy, the questions were quite devious. We did get a few. Meantime, we were being stared at by the most adorable dog:

More photos here. Well, when the quiz ended, and we tore ourselves away from doggie, we started our walk, as generally happens, talking about the pub itself. For instance, there's a sign on the side, with apparently the original words to Pop Goes the Weasel! (Hence the name of the walk:)

As usual, we couldn't get away from football:

Anyway, off we went, around my neighbourhood - and what would I do, without this guide to show me what's on my very doorstep! For instance, I didn't know that Bruce Springsteen recorded in St. Luke's, which I pass most days.. we heard plenty about the outside, although I've been inside for a few concerts, and can tell you it's just a shell really, not worth it for sightseeing. Good music venue, though!

We saw a plaque to someone remembered by someone other than English heritage.. and passed Wesley's Chapel, hearing about Methodists. But possibly the most appropriate thing we saw that night - for tech central - was the only statue I've ever heard of that depicts a smartphone:

Maybe he was looking for the Coronation ley Line.. We finished earlier than last time.. so we managed to fit one in at the ever-excellent Astronomer. And, being near Liverpool Street, I got to the 24-hour Tesco again! (when I could find it). In the end, I had spectacular luck with my bus timings - my bus came to the stop just as I did. But it still ran too late to blog.

Yesterday had a surfeit of meetings - no blogging during the day, either. In the evening, I was back to Sands Films for Fête de la Musique - Belcirque was performing, and they did sound quirky. London European Club, TunedIn London.

I left the office a bit later than intended.. as usual. I see they've corrected the stop details for the #43! On the way to the stop, I had an abortive dash to the Co-Op (dodging a pavement skateboard display, of all things) - and they didn't have what I wanted, after all. So was I ever vexed to see a #43 leave just as I finally approached! Happily, there was another right along. We then spent almost an hour stuck in traffic.. and when I got to London Bridge, somehow, in this complicated station, I got onto the bridge overhead Tooley Street, where I needed to be to catch my next bus! Happily, just as I found my way down, that one came as well - truly, I've been lucky with buses this week. Even got a seat, despite the large crowd that got on with me.

This turned out to be one I could have done with when my leg was bad - I was dropped just down from Rotherhithe Station. The house turned out to be open early, and I made a beeline for what is now my favourite seat - unfortunately, the comfy armchair tended to encourage the cough that's been bothering me for the past week. Happily, I still had sweets left over, which I ate more of over the course of the evening. Some group members were sat on the other side of the room - but I didn't really get a chance to chat with them beforehand, and wasn't in the mood to mingle at the interval.

Belcirque weren't long in coming on:

More photos - but mostly videos - here. The lead singer (sorry, I can't remember any names!) did most of the talking, thanking us for speaking English - their stuff is written in English and French. That ain't half the story with this quirkiest of groups. Frequently they're surreally silly - but they're also melodic, they're great singers, and their songs are memorable. And catchy - someone near me was whistling the final tune as we reluctantly, finally left. Me, I think Rita is my favourite from what was a great night - trust Eleanor to source the best material! Sadly, I'm not sure I'll be able to make any more of the series - never mind, one day.

Handily, the Nisa beside the bus stop was still open when I was leaving! Checking my bus app, I saw that my bus wasn't due for a few minutes - and so it was that I shopped, and did not starve that night, which is always good. Still too late to blog, of course, and too busy today - this is getting to be a habit! 

Now in Ireland again for the weekend. On Monday, I'm indulging myself with a premium seat to see Andrew Scott perform the one-man show, Seawall, written especially for him. It's at the Old Vic, two weeks only. Now, that wouldn't be a good time to get a cough - luckily, I got a ton of phlegm up last night, and I think I might just be beating this at last.

On Tuesday, back with Up in the Cheap Seats, at Sadler's Wells. It's the Nederlands Dans Theater again - I remember good things about them from before.

As I say, the boss is now in the office this upcoming week - well, he'll just have to manage without me, those two nights. I'm keeping Wednesday and Thursday free, just in case - our team lead informs us that they're not staying past Thursday though, so I've booked with the London Jazz Meetup, for only the second time ever, for Friday! A Polish one, this - Alicja Smietana is a violinist who combines classical and jazz, which to me sounds like the best thing happening that night.

Nothing as promising for next weekend, but on the 2nd, back with Up in the Cheap Seats, at the Gielgud Theatre for Imperium I - Conspirator. The first part of a double-bill, but viewable independently, it is told from the point of view of Cicero's secretary, as he watches how his master's work is used to bring about an end to the Roman Republic. I should probably have booked the second part at the same time - there's a discount for that - but well, my schedule is generally so packed..! I see the same group is going to the double-bill on the 30th June - ah well, I've booked this now.

Rest of the Week

Tuesday was a non-going-out day in the end, as our visiting colleague took herself off home for the night. I did look for something last-minute for myself, of course, but there was still nothing on Meetup, and unlike Monday, everything from my cheap ticket clubs was sold out! I guess Tuesday is that much more popular than Monday, eh? Finally, I thought about a film - but I had to go so far down the film list to find something showing that night that, by the time I did, it was too late to go to anything. So I had an early night in, and shocked our team lead by beating everyone in the team into the office on Wednesday..

I'd booked with London Literary Walks on Wednesday night, for another Sculpture in the City walk. But wouldn't you know it, he just realised beforehand that the display only starts later in the month! He's postponed it to next month. Which left me free to head back to Sands Films, where Eleanor, courtesy of TunedIn London, and advertised via the London European Club, was hosting a blues concert by Errol Linton. Lovely!

Weather was a bit warmer, thankfully, and the traffic gods were with me - this time, I was given several suggestions for my first bus (although the 43 doesn't go from that stop, tsk!), and had under 10 minutes to wait for the 47, which I picked up at Monument this time, at one of those bus stops that attracts about one bus per minute. And so it was that, despite terrible traffic on the first leg of the journey, I was in Rotherhithe half an hour earlier than last time! So when I got to The Ship, I decided to risk ordering chips.

More photos - and videos - here. Hmm. I guess they didn't have the cooker turned on, because it took over 20 minutes for them to arrive, and when they did they weren't fully cooked. Never mind, they were piping hot and very welcome. Funnily enough, while I was waiting, from the conversation I overheard at the bar, I discovered that, not only is the barmaid Irish, but has the same first name as I do! Anyway, I didn't stay to chat - legged it as soon as I'd finished.

Now that my leg's better, it was only a hop, skip and jump to Sands Films - not a full house this time, unusually, and happily my favourite chair was free - a nice, comfy armchair, into which I settled. Wasn't long before the concert started - a glorious evening of rhythm n blues, Mr. Linton fronting four others - one on keyboard, one on bass, one on percussion, and one on guitar that reminded me of Bill Murray!

For the next couple of hours, the house rocked to the music of these five men, in the most head-nodding, toe-tapping, concert I've been at in an age. Oh, it's so long since I've listened to r n b! By the end of the night, they were dancing in the aisles. Eleanor mentioned that he's the artist she's invited there the most - I can see why. A great, relaxed evening, a real tonic for the cares of the day.

Afterwards, again I was on the run, knowing how long it takes to get home from there - well, not too bad this time, with buses coming quickly, and especially since it wasn't as cold as last time. Still, it ran too late to blog, and I was just too busy to blog at work yesterday, what with California panicking over a late software release.

Yesterday evening was the office's monthly social - this month, it was in Junkyard Golf Club. Well, it beats feckin' ping pong! We had yet another late meeting - so many people in North America to talk to - and I walked down afterwards with the one other writer who was in. It's a basement venue, and I was glad I decided to leave my coat in the cloakroom, before anything else - it was boiling hot! Worth the £1 charge.. £2 for bags, BTW, and they ran out of space for a while!

We got wristbands from the evening's organiser - there are four different courses here, and our wristbands detailed which we were to go to, and at what time. We found the course without problem - basically ignored the start times, after the initial one, just streaming in, taking clubs, balls, scorecards and pencils from the guy at the entrance.

Our course was "Pablo":

Something of a jungle theme going on. Nine holes of crazy golf followed, in somewhat stifling heat, despite the ice-cold air being blasted out by one air-conditioning unit, somewhere in the middle. To mitigate the effects, there's a treetop bar halfway through! The holes themselves? Very entertaining! Lots of tricky challenges. The first is 3 par - they give up on estimates after that, but do have the odd sign warning that there's an eight-shot maximum! I'm sure I was improving by the end.. good fun, good choice of venue!

Afterwards, we writers had a drink in the bar, only to discover that everyone else had decided it was too hot and headed outside. Someone was sent back to tell us that they'd headed left - so when we finished, that's where we wandered. We found them sat at a food stall at the end of the lane, bearing the name of The Orange Buffalo. Ooh, I thought, food! They do wings and chips - I thought wings would be too messy, so stuck to chips. Thought I might also have some onion rings, but they didn't have any ready, so I didn't.

Turns out that pretty much any of the choices of sauce you can have were a bit too hot for our crew! I'm not sure anyone finished their portion. Anyway, we sat and chatted until it was pretty dark, and we started to lose people. A couple of us then mooched over to the nearby bar - when we went for drinks, we discovered it was Juju's Bar and Stage! I thought it sounded familiar - seems I was at a talk there, last year. Well, a few of us stuck it out to the bitter end - and many thanks to both who bought me drinks! A really good, really social night.

Now I'm back in Ireland for the weekend again. Gotta say, it's warmer here, way more humid. On Monday, back with Up in the Cheap Seats for the first time in weeks! Another performance of Showstopper! The Improvised Musical - different every night. At the Lyric again.

On Tuesday, another Funzing talk, courtesy of London Speaks Sessions and LDN Talks @ Night - Inside North Korea. I see the code crazy_fun is still getting a 10% discount.

On Wednesday, London Literary Walks is taking us to A Circus School and Shakespeare's Dark Lady.

On Thursday, back with Up in the Cheap Seats - at the Bridge Theatre this time, for My Name is Lucy Barton, starring Laura Linney. I got the very last £15 seat!

Next Friday, would you credit it, I'm back with London Dramatic Arts! to see Monogamy, at the Park Theatre. Well, it sounds interesting - and they've sold their allocation for this showing, so we're free to buy our own (gee). My good God, it's August since I was last with them..

On the 16th, Funzing is advertising an ice skating display in aid of the victims of Grenfell. Via Funzing UK. The usual 10% discount applies.

On the 17th, Let's Do This is headed to the World Illustration Awards exhibition at Somerset House.

On the 18th, I'm headed to storytelling by Crick Crack again, finally.. I haven't been able to make any of their more recent ones. It's in Soho Theatre, and it's Sally Pomme Clayton, with Crow. Blood. Snow. Oh my God, it's been ages. Naturally, you'd never know from their Meetup group that it's happening at all. Our boss was supposed to be in London that week, so I decided to leave the rest of the week free, for now.

Then he pinged us, this week, to say it'll actually be the week after. Cue me booking things frantically for the week that was now free - happily, I did well. On the 19th, something very interesting - Up in the Cheap Seats is off to Whist, at Sadler's Wells. Now, turns out that this is an immersive, VR experience! Definitely different.

On the 20th, London Literary Walks is off on Pop the Weasel, and I'm delighted to be able to accompany them.

On the 21st, back to Sands Films for Fete de la Musique - Belcirque is performing, and they do sound quirky. Then it's Ireland again at the weekend.

On the 25th, I'm indulging myself with a premium seat to see Andrew Scott perform the one-man show, Seawall, written especially for him. It's at the Old Vic, two weeks only.

On the 26th, back with Up in the Cheap Seats, at Sadler's Wells. It's the Nederlands Dans Theater again - I remember good things about them from before. As I say, the boss is now in the office that week - well, he'll just have to manage without me, those two nights. I'm keeping the rest of the week, and the weekend, free, just in case. Hey, I do have to move that week as well, so could probably do with the time!

And on the 2nd, back with Up in the Cheap Seats, at the Gielgud Theatre for Imperium I - Conspirator. The first part of a double-bill, but viewable independently, it is told from the point of view of Cicero's secretary, as he watches how his master's work is used to bring about an end to the Roman Republic. I should probably have booked the second part at the same time - there's a discount for that - but well, my schedule is generally so packed..!