Restaurant: An Teach China

Well, I flew back to Ireland today. Amazingly, considering the appalling treatment we got - and I don't know whether to blame Stansted or Ryanair. At the airport, several announcements were made to the effect that the Ryanair app shouldn't be trusted! Later, these were amended to be more specific - apparently, it had incorrectly said that some were cancelled. However, the gate number given was correct - and hallelujah, for once it was accessible by the transit! as opposed to the slog through the airport I normally have.

Yep, and then there was a massive queue at the gate. And then, we had a situation at the bottom of the escalator that was actually dangerous, where people kept being sent down, but the door we were supposed to access was closed, and there was nowhere to go. Which was dangerous. No recognition of that by staff, though, no control. When I made my way through, I ended up in the Tunnel of Doom - where we were stuck in stifling conditions for 40 minutes, all crammed in together. No bus to take us to the plane - because, not that there were any announcements to tell us, but on the plane afterwards, made on a virtually incomprehensible tannoy, we were told (I think) that the plane coming over had something wrong with it and had to be changed, which was the cause of the delay. So there had been no plane to put us on. Yeah, back to cattle class with Ryanair at Stansted.

Oh, and for almost the whole flight, I had a kid kicking my seat. Arriving at last (an hour late), I headed for a takeaway at An Teach China. Decided to have something different - sorry I did. "Crispy General Chicken" is reminiscent of my favourite dish, but they just don't do it very well, and I don't think I'll have it again. Not very tasty. Also seems to be less food in it than in my regular fillet beef szechuan. Well, nothing ventured..

Now, the cinema listings are finally out for Ireland for the next week. Four films I might be interested in, and only one showing in the Omniplex in the afternoon. So I've booked that one for Sunday - it's The Lost City, and stars Channing Tatum, Sandra Bullock, Brad Pitt, and Daniel Radcliffe in another of those lost-city-in-the-jungle capers.

The other three only have afternoon showings in Ennis - so, it's there I'm bound. They charge for booking, so I haven't. I have six days in which to see them - watch this space as to when that'll be. In descending order of rating, they are:

The Northman, a Viking caper about a young prince whose father, the King, is murdered, so it falls to the lad to avenge him. Nicole Kidman is the Queen, and it also stars Alexander Skarsgård, Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe, and Björk.

Operation Mincemeat stars the ever-dependable Colin Firth, Matthew Macfadyen, and Penelope Wilton in a comedy based on the true story of how, during WWII, they put the Nazis off the scent by handcuffing a case of fake "secret" papers to a corpse, and letting it be found. They've made a play about this too, you know!

Finally, Morbius is another of those superhero things - an antihero, rather. Jared Leto is the hapless biochemist who accidentally turns himself into a vampire - with all the powers that entails. Also stars Michael Keaton.

Well, my friend got back to me - they're away in the middle of next week, back on the 21st, so the most sensible thing to do seemed to be to visit on the 22nd, which I've now arranged with her. Happily, my boss was also fine with me taking that week as holiday. Anyway, I'll fly back to London on the 24th. And on the 25th, I'm off to The Corn is Green, at the National.

Spoken Word - Poetry: Search Party & Storytelling: The Market at the End of the World - pub: The Butcher's Hook & Cleaver, & Film: The Many Saints of Newark

Wednesday, first time to meet my boss! Who very sensibly suggested a gelato expedition. I was a bit dubious - she being a vegan- but said I'd risk it. 

Well, she does enjoy walking! I seriously thought we'd never get there. And yes, she's a fast walker.. When we finally arrived at Prime Gelato (whose website I can't seem to open).. there was a "Be back soon" sign! Well, she was determined - at least there were tables and chairs outside, where we waited until someone showed. It was a lovely, sunny day.

Happily, they have a non-vegan section! I had two scoops - one of mint chocolate chip (of course), one of hazelnut. In a cone. She paid - and yes, she has a loyalty card. Unfortunately, she needed to get back, so we had to eat on the run. But oh man, the hazelnut was a revelation! Wow, seriously recommended- I can see why this is her favourite. And in all that time, we had a great chat..

Wednesday night, back with Up in the Cheap Seats for Search Party at the Donmar Warehouse. This was an evening of poetry, spontaneously created from audience suggestions, by Inua Ellams, writer of Barber Shop Chronicles. Running all week. (When I mentioned it to my boss, she pulled a face.) Unfortunately, I bought my ticket before one of my cheap ticket sellers (CT) started to offer them for free - what the hey, it wasn't expensive.

So, I left work earlier than usual, leaving time to grab some salted peanuts in the Co-Op beforehand. Got the bus, walked through the area around Seven Dials for the first time in oh so long! Passed the Seven Dials Market - new to me - and it was great to see all the tables out on the street! I was the first of our group there, and it was great to people-watch - and when my companions arrived, also great to chat to them! until it was time to go in.

So yes, I was seated to the side of the stage - when he came on, he sat in that chair. Some of the books scattered around were for sale. The show took the form of him asking for words from the audience - then he'd search on his tablet for poems that he'd written that had that word in them. And read one to us.. generally from his tablet, although that night, I did notice that he recited the last one from memory.

As I tried to explain to my boss next day, I adore hearing good writing recited on stage. I get lost in the mood of it. So I loved this: my only gripe was that no sooner was I lost in a poem - than it was over. Never mind.. this was a terrific evening. Surtitles were provided, typed live because the poems (and therefore content) weren't determined in advance. He had a lovely, chatty, easy demeanour, put us at our ease - and I enjoyed the poetry. Even when, instead of providing a word, someone asked whether he, as an unappreciated poet, could have a go, he was invited on stage to read one of his own! which I thought was a lovely touch. We'd been warned about adult language - sure enough, Inua has apparently written a collection of poems that all have a title that starts with "F***" - little, if any, of the following content has any adult content in it, though. A lot of them do have a dark tone, reflective of the fact that he comes from Northern Nigeria, since overrun by Boko Haram - his family fled when he was small.

Ireland even got a couple of mentions - firstly, when he mentioned that he never used to drink until he went to Ireland and discovered Irish cream, and secondly, in his admiration for Irish revolutionary, Roger Casement, who was the subject of one of the evening's poems. Awesome evening, delighted to find something unusual and so enjoyable. Sadly, there was little enthusiasm for a drink afterwards, despite the show finishing so early, but it was still a great evening.

Coming back, passed a light installation in Covent Garden:

And it's as well I'm quite familiar with my local bus routes, as Google Maps seemed to have forgotten there was a stop by my place at all! Didn't get the blog done that night, was catching up with other stuff instead.

Now, Thursdays are the day that my boss' main team tend to come in the office - and so I got dragged off for lunch with them, that day. "Market", suggested someone- so that's what we did. They must all really love walking- it was a trek to Whitecross Market. As with all markets, there was a wealth of choice of eateries- when I spotted a katsu stall though, I was sorted. 

As it turned out, I was the first to get my food. When I found my boss, I asked her where we were eating. "Oh, back at the office." Uhh. At least we walked back a bit slower. But of course, mine was too cold by the time we got back- and microwaving didn't really help..

On Thursday evening, woohoo! Back with the Crick Crack Club for The Market at the End of the World, at King's Place. Starring Daniel Morden, Sarah Liisa Wilkinson, Clare Murphy, and TUUP. Oh man, was I looking forward to that! The work group have their drinks night on Thursdays too, and I said I'd come for one - we went to the Butcher's Hook & Cleaver, a few minutes' walk from the office. Excellent, strong house white, I have to say!

Well, I left after one, as they repaired elsewhere - had a variety of buses I could take to King's Cross, and arrived at King's Place with tons of time to spare. I'd considered getting something in the cafe - only to discover that the cafe was closed! Bummer. Sat over the side, somewhere I could get my phone charged, making a start on this blog, until it was time to head downstairs.

Downstairs, the bar was open - I was in need of food more than drink, and managed to get a packet of fairly tasteless crisps eaten in time to go in and get a seat; despite us having seat numbers on our tickets, we were told that seating was unallocated. Striving to get as close as possible to the front, I headed around the far side, and managed a seat at the end of the second row.

What a joy it is to be in the hands of four such consummate professionals! I guess each story lasted about 15 minutes, because each storyteller had time to tell one before the interval, about an hour in, and with each also telling one afterwards, it was about a two-hour show. All around the theme of markets, and what a wild and wacky set of markets they were. Strange things were bought, magic was performed, thieves and swindlers abounded. TUUP had his bongo, but was a bit more restrained than usual - I loved his gentle drumming as Clare did the intro though, spine-tingling.

As usual, her first story came from Ireland, with a nod and a wink. Sarah Liisa's were Nordic, as ever, with a feeling of fun throughout. TUUP's second story was obviously designed for an audience that had spent the interval drinking, as he described to us the problems inherent in a harvest of penises - man, his telling was hilarious! But it was Daniel who won the night for me, the star of a first-class group, as his second story, in particular, was the exotic weaving of a tale from Armenia, about a prince who falls in love with a shepherdess - when she tells him she cannot marry a man without a trade, he employs a Persian master weaver to teach him how to weave gold cloth. Later, when he is tricked at a marketplace, this skill saves his life. Absolutely engrossing. And what a joy to have live storytelling again.

On the bus home, I was reminded somewhat of the Dairy Milk ad with the little boy on a bus who offers some of his Dairy Milk to a weeping woman. Except in this case, the lady in question seemed a little tipsy - and was, indeed, carrying a small bottle of wine. She was certainly flustered, dressed in a summery dress, and after she sat just across from me, she soon started to sob. Plenty of looks in her direction, but nobody offered her anything.. she flounced off in Shoreditch, so we shall just have to wonder what her evening involved.

That night, again, I got caught up doing other things, and the blog didn't get done. On Friday, nothing major was catching my eye, and I had nothing booked - which was just as well, as someone at work was having leaving drinks. So, back to the Butcher's Hook & Cleaver, second night in a row. And I stayed longer this time, the chat was mighty, I knew more people, and the guy who was leaving proved hilarious (I'd never before spent time with him socially). Aww, another fun person bites the dust! Anyway, just lucky I'd had nothing booked. Drank a bit too much, again.. But none of us had any idea what this guy was doing - he seemed to be pouring wine into the openings on top, which came out as bubbles..?

And was definitely too tired to blog, especially as I had to be up early next morning.

You see, this was an Ireland weekend for me, and I should have flown on Friday - but could not get a Friday flight for love nor money, as they say. And so, booked myself on a flight Saturday lunchtime. (Well, I got my Friday night free that way.) There was a slight panic, when I realised I couldn't text for some reason - so I messaged my taxi driver on Facebook on Friday night to pick me up. Whereupon it transpired that he was away, and had blocked my car in.. So he phoned his father, 6am Saturday, to go for me, and to bring a key to move the other car. Lordy me..

The train to the airport was uneventful - apart from an uptight lady sitting across from me, who was fiddling with her luggage as I was trying to get into my seat. She bumped into me, shot daggers at me, and then silently shook her head in disgust. Spent most of the trip sanitising.

Having escaped her clutches, I arrived at the airport, timing everything - sure enough, again I was an hour too early. Ryanair was good enough to text me again (I had no problem receiving texts) to let me know what my gate was probably going to be - and so it proved. And I dozed a bit on the flight back - unfortunately, I couldn't get comfortable. I couldn't get much air out of my vent, despite having turned it to the max and pointing it directly at me, and especially with the mask, I was stifling. Had to take off the mask at one point, out of sheer discomfort.

Our first experience of being asked for Covid documentation was arriving in Shannon, where everyone had to show a receipt for having sent off a passenger locator form. And yes, one young fellow hadn't done it, and was made to go over the side and fill one out on the spot. Good luck to him - with all the details I had to look up for it, it must have taken me half an hour! (I did it during a quiet moment at work on Thursday.) It was a palaver to handle both that and my passport, mind, to get through customs. Got back to my mother's eventually (shopping on the way, of course) - I didn't plan anything else for that day, I was tired, and it was good to chill. Indeed, I literally fell asleep while doing the blog that night.

Yesterday, headed to the pictures - best-rated was The Many Saints of Newark, showing nice and early in Ennis. And I was delighted, upon watching the trailer, to discover that this was one I'd heard of a while back, which looked really good! The coming of age of Tony Soprano, basically. Now, I never really watched the TV series, but I do love a good gangster movie, so I was hooked.

Didn't bother to book, as booking was slow. Parked in my usual place - free on Sundays. When I went to buy my ticket at the cinema, however, I got a surprise - they're now asking for your Covid cert before they'll sell you a ticket! There'd been a notice about that on the website, and a sign at the top of the stairs, but I hadn't paid any attention. Well, thank goodness I had it on my phone, and she patiently waited for me to dig it out so she could scan it.

There were four of us in the screen. Some trailers were shown, for decent-looking films.. and then the censor's certificate came up. For, eh, Malignant! Someone across from me went to tell an usher, and while we waited for them to change it, we got about the first five minutes of Malignant. Now, this is a horror film, and I'll always give those a shot - but honestly, it looks awful. A cartoonishly strong and evil man is incarcerated in a mental institution - but Lord knows why, since he finds it so easy to overpower the guards. Anyway, for some reason, he calms down eventually and is overpowered himself, and the clinic director is just saying how he's been a bad b.. and they finally got around to changing the reel, so that was all we saw of that. And frankly, it's now come off my film list. Not what I've come to expect from James Wan.

So, back to the gangster film. Handily, they have the young Tony Soprano played by Michael Gandolfini, the son of the late James Gandolfini, who played him in the TV series - so he's quite believable as someone who could turn into the older man. Vera Farmiga is his mother, Ray Liotta plays both his great-uncle, who's in prison for the whole movie, and makes a few appearances in there, and also plays Tony's grandfather, the convict's brother.

One review said there were far too many references to The Sopranos - well, I wouldn't know. But I really enjoyed it - perhaps a bit overlong, but beautifully acted, compelling, and of course, ultra-violent. So, if you like gangster films, you'll like this! The title, BTW, refers to Ray Liotta's characters' surname, Moltisanti, which means "Many Saints". And the main subject isn't Tony, but rather his uncle and mentor, another of the Molitsantis.

Afterwards, back to An Teach China for the first time in weeks. Now, the last time I was there, I ordered a dessert that they never gave me. Well, would you credit it - she remembered! and gave me the same dessert last night for free. Now there's customer service. And yes, absolutely delicious, as always - and we're still making our way through the prawn crackers.

Well, I have most of this week off, so I'm staying in Ireland for a few days. With Malignant gone from the film list, I'm left without much to go see - next up is Respect, the Aretha Franklin biopic starring Jennifer Hudson. Forest Whitaker plays her father, a Baptist minister who got her started singing in church. I hear good things, I hear she sings a blinder - so, looking forward to that. But I'd like to go to the earliest showing, at 2.20pm in the Omniplex - I can't make that today, having to pick up my mother's pension, and preferring to do it in the afternoon - but tomorrow will do just fine.

Films: Candyman (2021) & Postcards from the Edge

Today, the idea was to try the car guy again for valeting - which means I'd be sourcing a film in Ennis. There was only one matinée that I hadn't seen - happily, it was one I was interested in. The new Candyman is - they said - more downbeat than outright horror. But I liked the original, and it's co-written and produced by the talented Jordan Peele, and is a sequel to the original. So yes, on my radar.

When I got to the car, I appraised the state of it - and concluded that, you know, it could do with another wash! Not as dirty as last time, it was still green-spotted along the side, with various bits of dirt scattered along the roof - this is what you get for parking near trees. Well, that would give me a good excuse to stop at the carwash, even if I was unsuccessful with my valeting request! Happily, he was there today, with his female helper (wife, sister, cousin, girlfriend..?). Hence, the queue stretched nearly to the road - I was lucky to be able to slot myself in at the end of it. The car that came after me had to park beside me, or stick out into the road.. everybody knows this guy is good!

With three cars ahead of me, it was a long, hot wait in the sun. I had the radio on, and was glad to hear a favourable review of Candyman! "Very clever", he said. The programme after that even had interviews with the crew that worked on it, and someone explained how they'd gone to great pains to stick to the story of the original, which they've updated. Good omens, certainly. When it was my turn for the carwash, I decided to let them at it and mention the valeting when the man was asking for payment. When I asked him about valeting, however, he gazed up at the sky and exclaimed "Not today!". Fair enough, it was sweltering - not to mention the queue of cars behind me, which still stretched to the road. I asked whether he could fit me in on Monday (a bank holiday in the UK, so I'm off work) or Tuesday (I'm actually taking the rest of this week off - a good thing, with so much else to do!). So we agreed on Tuesday morning. (Later on, I remembered that's when we get our Tesco delivery - but I managed to switch that to later.)

After that, I got petrol and bought a paper in the shop - it can be hard to get them in town. And the whole while, that queue for the carwash never got shorter. Testament to customer satisfaction..

With Abbey Street car park full as usual, and not fancying wasting time waiting for a free space, I parked in my usual spot - handy for everywhere I had to go, including Tesco, which is just across the road. And I had enough time to get to the Garda station - to report that my mother's bank account was phished last week. They took the details, and said they'd ring me with the crime reference number - of course, they didn't. But I did get the Garda's name.. hope that'll do the bank. Unfortunately, they also said that they'll have to interview my mother too - damn it, she has no idea what's happened (apart from the nuisance calls). What's more, when I said that she wasn't really mobile, they said they'd send someone out. Gee, that'll provide weeks' worth of gossip for the neighbours, a squad car parked outside our door.. and I'll have fun, trying to keep as much from her as possible.

Well, that didn't take too long, and I made it to the cinema on time. And on a day when I could really have done with an ice cream, they didn't have a single one. So I had a Sprite. Again, I was told I'd have the screen to myself - and when the usher led me there, it was to find the lights on, and the cleaners still busy. The usher exclaimed that he'd TOLD them to leave it; they said, well, the left side is dry.. he informed them that I was waiting, and when one asked whether it was too late to clean, he said yes, well, the film is actually starting! Sure enough, during this conversation, the ads started to roll. It wasn't too long before they exited apologetically, one showing me to my seat - or well, the closest to it on the left..!

When the film started, I noticed it was back to front - all the film company titles were reversed! I thought about complaining, but figured that as long as I didn't have to read anything through the film, it'd be OK. And I didn't, and it was. And.. you know what? Watching the trailer again, I realise that that was actually intended! You see, the premise of the film(s) is that the Candyman is summoned by looking in a mirror and saying his name five times. So, the opening credits literally reflect the mirror theme..! Hell, one of the reversed film company credits even appears in the trailer - I just never paid any attention before.

Yes, I liked this very much - Jordan Peele is on form! It's gruesomely violent, but not gratuitously, and while a few scenes made me cringe, the camera usually teases rather than exposes the gore. I do wonder whether the man has something against artists - the film is set in the art community, centring on an upcoming young artist and his art gallery curator girlfriend, who've just bought one of the expensive new apartments in the neighbourhood where the events of the original film occurred. Anyway, her brother starts the whole thing off with this ghost story about the Candyman, and the upcoming artist - Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, very easy on the eye - finds himself becoming obsessed with the character. The film takes a somewhat critical tone against artists, for exploiting urban grime, and sure enough, we're soon at an art show, featuring the work of this guy: a mirror, with an explanation of how you should say "Candyman" into the mirror five times. The mirror can be opened to reveal a darkened room with his artworks. Is it a coincidence that the first killings of the film happen at the art show?

Wow, reading the summary of the original film, I can see how closely they stick to the story - which they also explain in this film, in case you're not familiar with it. (It's too long since I saw it, I hardly remember it at all.) Kudos, I do like consistency. Why, even the protagonist - Anthony - is the grown-up baby from the original. Mind you, for someone who's had as much trouble with bees as we have lately, the Candyman is even more disturbing, surrounded by bees as he perpetually is. Highly recommended - don't believe anyone who tells you this isn't a horror film though: why, they even give us a sacrificial group of schoolgirls, blithely showing their courage by playing the Candyman game.

Afterwards, back to An Teach China again, where I ordered the same as last week - I had been going to change, but got a yen for fillet beef szechuan at the film! And wow, was I right - it was as delicious as ever. It wasn't until I got home, though, that I realised that I hadn't been given the dessert I'd ordered! Nuts.. but I would've been too full this evening anyway.

Tonight's late tv film was Postcards from the Edge, which I'd never seen. This is based on Carrie Fisher's novel, in turn based on her volatile relationship with her mother, Debbie Reynolds - in this film, an all-star cast features Meryl Streep as "Carrie", Shirley MacLaine as "Debbie", Dennis Quaid as the guy Meryl gets involved with, Gene Hackman as her director, and Richard Dreyfuss as a star-struck doctor at the hospital where she's taken with a drug overdose.

Anyway, I always kind of avoided it because I was afraid it'd be as mawkish as many a similar offering - after watching it for a very short time, I was delighted to discover that it's simply entertaining! The banter is sparky, the lead characters are born performers, and it's fun to watch, even when they're at their lowest. Also highly recommended, should you come across it.

Tomorrow, the only matinée I'd be interested in is Andre Rieu 2021 Summer Concert: Together Again (Encore), which is showing in the Omniplex - and damn near sold out already! So I booked, despite the high ticket price - what the hey! It'll be the first time I'll ever have watched a concert in the cinema. This concert is showing in cinemas, this weekend only..

Films: Paris Can Wait, Sweet November, The Italian Job (2003), & Reminiscence

Wow, for once, yesterday's tv was a bonanza of decent films! I watched three back-to-back.

First up was Paris Can Wait, in which Diane Lane is married to busy film producer Alec Baldwin. (Given that the writer / director is Eleanor Coppola, who's married to Francis Ford Coppola, I have to wonder whether it isn't a bit autobiographical. But anyway.)  She's come to France to be with him while he works. They're in the south of France, due to travel to Paris - but he is called away elsewhere, and tells her to head on without him. However, she has an ear infection, and doesn't fancy flying - never fear, his solicitous French colleague offers to drive her, and won't take no for an answer.

So begins a languid road movie. He's a gourmand, and knows every interesting detour - so that she's very late getting to Paris, and her husband gets rather suspicious. (He doesn't appear after the beginning of the film, except for sundry tetchy phone messages, warning her about her driver.) The subject of the film is the growing relationship between her and her driver - but the film is more interesting, in general, as a travelogue, with some lovely settings. To the extent that I'm vaguely thinking of a break there for my birthday. Watch this space. Her companion is unfailingly charming, and the trip is a most watchable one. Recommended.

Right after that was Sweet November, in which Charlize Theron dates a different man every month, fixes their faults, and sends each back into humanity a more empathetic person. She rather meets her match, however, in Keanu Reeves, a workaholic exec. Jason Isaacs also shows up as one of her friends. It's a sweet film, in fact, and the relationship between them is touching.

Finally, I should have gone to sleep - but got hooked into another film of hers - The Italian Job (2003). An all-star cast for this remake, in which she is a safecracker, whose boyfriend (Mark Wahlberg) leads a gang of thieves planning to rob Edward Norton (my favourite actor of all, alongside Andrew Scott.. jeez, if they were ever in a film together, I wouldn't know where to look!). Donald Sutherland plays her safecracking father, who taught her everything she knows, and is a mentor of her boyfriend. Also in the gang we have Jason Statham - whom I've never ever seen in a film before, action films not being my thing - as a driver.

It's a long time since I saw the original - all I could remember of it was that it was a heist film, with Michael Caine, and a fabulous car chase in Mini Coopers. Well, this one doesn't disappoint - the action comes thick and fast, with some great performances, and just like the original, the theft occurs during a traffic jam, and there is a knockout chase in Mini Coopers! (Small and manoeuvrable, you see.) Terrific fun.. anyway, it didn't finish until after 3, and I was too tired to blog.

Today, I decided to head back to that nice chap outside Ennis, who took such pains over washing my car (which already had cobwebs on it again - that's nature for you!), to see about getting it valeted. Which meant I had to clear the rubbish out of it first.. I also looked at what's on in the cinema there - and what appealed was Reminiscence, set in a dystopian, flooded future, where people like to live in their memories, and Hugh Jackman is a "detective of the mind", who has some fancy machinery to bring their memories to life. Thandiwe Newton is his assistant, Rebecca Ferguson the femme fatale. Showing late afternoon, so if I got to that nice man early enough - well, it shouldn't take as long as washing the car did! I'd have to pay for parking, but it isn't much, and he doesn't work Sundays.

Ah well, he wasn't working when I got there either - his little shed was bolted up, and there was no sign to say when he'd be back. Nuts - but I have time before the test, and I'll try him again. At least I got it cleared out at last! And since I wasn't having the car valeted, I had that much more time before the film - plenty of time to trail around Abbey Street Car Park, which was full again, and head back to where I'd come from.

I made the cinema in time - an usher again insisted on showing me to my seat. When we got there, it was to find another couple occupying my seat (and one beside it) - he asked them to move, which they happily did. As they said, they'd thought they were going to be the only ones there, and had moved more centrally. Fair enough. Ironic though, I thought, that I was just asked to sit in the seat that had just been vacated - so much for cleaning the cinema between viewings, so we don't catch each other's germs!

So, this is a film noir with a backdrop of flooding - it's set in Miami, but the low-lying streets are flooded, and, except in dammed areas, people travel in boats: reminiscent of Venice, but not as pretty. There's also a brief nod to temperature increase, as Hugh mentions that it's so hot during the day that people tend to sleep, and live their lives at night. It's a cute idea, but apart from reminding us of the perils of climate change, serves little purpose in the film. Apart from a vague description of how the impending flooding led to war, in which he and his assistant both fought - which explains why she's so handy with a gun.

The other futuristic gimmick, of course, is this mind-reading device, which forms the backbone of the plot - people can come to this chap and relive memories, which can then be viewed and recorded. They have to lie in a water bath to do this, for some reason - electrodes attached to their heads, and to a machine that delivers a low voltage. He speaks softly into a microphone to direct their thoughts, and the results are displayed on a kind of stage, and recorded. Lovely for people to relive past happiness, in what is a miserable age - also very handy if you've lost something and want to remember where you put it!

The plot basically centres around some bad people wanting access to other people's memories, for nefarious reasons - the recordings are stored on nifty transparent plates, sort of like mini floppy discs. Rebecca Ferguson plays a singer again, as she did in her other film with Hugh Jackman, The Greatest Showman, but this time she does her own singing! And is quite passable. Dunno whether he had anything to do with the writing and sketching in his notebook, though. Anyway, aside from the mind-reading aspect, it's pretty straightforward film noir, so if that's your bag you should enjoy it.

Stopped off at An Teach China again on the way back, ordered the same delish meal.. someone ordered satay while I was waiting, I might have that next time! They didn't have the dessert I wanted, so I chose an alternative - but she assured me that they'd have mine back next week!

Tomorrow's film: well. No matinees that suit - all films left that I haven't seen are for a MUCH younger demographic. So I've broken it to my mother that it's going to have to be an early-evening film. So she'll have to do without me for a few hours in the evening. Now, going on IMDB ratings, the top two films in the area are - films I'm just not interested in. Third up is The Courier, a Cold War spy film with Benedict Cumberbatch - but the showings are later than I'd hoped, heading towards the 7pm mark.

Would you believe, next on the list is a horror film! The Night House has a rating of 6.9, which is much higher than horror films typically reach.. Rebecca Hall is a young woman whose husband inexplicably committed suicide. Seeking to make sense of what's happened, she goes to stay in the lake house he built for her. Things get weird. Watch some pretty scary trailers, you'll see what I mean.. I'm not going to give anything away, I'll just say that it reminds me of a seriously weird book I read, whose name escapes me, which was recommended on a list of scariest books of all time. The subject was a house of multiple dimensions.. I've booked that film, at the Omniplex.

Films: Don't Breathe 2 & Unless

Ah, it's great to have my car fixed! Whee, serviced n all, and sitting outside. So the plan for today was to go get it washed - as my taxi driver friend remarked, it was so green it looked like Kermit's car. Now, there's an excellent handwash car service - cheap too - on the way in to Ennis. So I thought.. if I got done in time, Don't Breathe 2 has a matinée showing at the Arc Cinema in Ennis.. I wasn't so impressed with the original, but what the hey, I said I'd give it a go. Again, with hardly any seats booked, I thought I could afford to head in without booking. Of course, parking isn't free on Saturdays, nuts - would just have to grin and bear it. (And I'd be tempting fate, because I was at a film in the same cinema, the day my car broke down. Ah well..)

I wasn't even sure the carwash was open - you can't see it as you approach. So it was with some relief that I saw a queue, which I joined. Shortly, I was second in line - and I could see the sole carwash worker giving me the odd look. He was done with the car in front in about five minutes - it was hardly dirty - and I drove forward and parked where he indicated.

And that's when he got a proper look. He spent about five minutes just scratching his head, looking at it, walking all around, scrubbing at some of the dirt with his hand. He duly ran off to get his mobile and take a photo of it. He felt obliged to ask me how on earth it got in this state.. um, parked under trees? I mean, over the last year and a half, it hasn't had much exercise, and has indeed been parked under - and near - greenery, as opposed to outside my taxi driver's house, where it is when I'm in London, and where there isn't as much. Well, he duly started his task.

15 minutes into the wash, I was texting my taxi driver - for something to do - to let him know it was getting washed at last. It took 40 minutes in all, and he charged me just under double the basic price for a small car. (Well, it does say "from.." on the price list.) Well worth the money - an automatic carwash would never have managed it! The car that came in behind me gave up and left - the car behind that one stayed, the driver taking the opportunity to do his shopping in the adjacent store, pump his tyres with the convenient airpump beside him.. Water-blasted, washed and waxed, I rolled out of there in a sparklingly clean car. Unreal. The environment had better keep away - next up is valeting, and the test is scheduled for the third of next month; Ennis is the more convenient centre, but didn't have availability before that week, which I conveniently have off - and didn't have a convenient time until that day.

Right! That sorted, I had about an hour before my film - drove around and around Abbey Street car park, but couldn't get a spot, and finally parked a bit further away - it's not a large town anyway. Waited a bit - I didn't want to pay too early, as there's only supposed to be two hours' parking, and the film wouldn't be over by then. Not that anyone probably checks, but wouldn't that be just my luck.. Parking in that part of town is just €1 for two hours, and I headed off in due course, bought my ticket (and a packet of chocolate M&Ms, just because it's been so long), and the lady who took my ticket actually took it upon herself to show me to my seat! There were a few people sat at the back - wow, that made the screen feel positively crowded..

I had just settled myself when the lights went down. They don't have a long ad program here, but what they did show was a trailer for Free Guy, which has made me feel like I might like to see it, now. I wasn't sure at first about this comedy where Ryan Reynolds plays a videogame character (called Guy) that's happily going about his daily business, until one day he discovers that he is actually in a videogame.. but the trailer looks decent, and goodness knows, he's easy on the eye. With or without glasses.

And so, without delay, to the main feature. Now, the original film has a blind guy, ex-military, providing more than able resistance to the gang of thieves that invade his house. He also has a fixation on getting another daughter, to replace the one he lost in an accident. Well, in the sequel, he has one - and I have to say, Madelyn Grace is the most bright-eyed and bushy-tailed youngster I can think of since Shirley Temple! Not that he'd know that, being blind. Anyway, unsurprisingly, she's not actually his - he found her after a house fire, and pretended to be her father as he raised her, and taught her survival skills. It's not much of a spoiler to reveal that her real father shows up - but is he really any more fit to raise her than the man who did..?

So, it's better than the original - the blind man is more sympathetic here, there's more of a plot (even if it is over the top), and it's a bit less gruesome. Still not terrific, but interesting - and a couple of beefy dogs for the aww factor. I wouldn't rush to see it, but it's not terrible.

Rising quickly to leave (I wanted to get back to the car), I was surprised, when I looked around, to see that all the others had beaten me to it! Crikey, they moved fast. Anyway, I got back to my unrecognisably clean car - this was the first proper look I'd got at it since - to find.. that no-one had penalised me for overstaying. Gee.

My mother was spoiled when I brought back prawn crackers from my last trip - they're good at An Teach China, the closest Chinese to us, and I'd promised her I'd stop there again. Didn't fancy the same as last time, so I decided on fillet beef szechuan (always go for the fillet, it's melt-in-the-mouth). Mind you, the young lady they had behind the counter was completely stumped when I ordered the mint trufito - just as well I had a poster I could point to! She had to bring out the manager. Nonetheless, I was served quickly.

An uneventful drive home - the car survived - the food was still hot when I got it back, and ooh, was I right in my choice! Delish. I was stuffed - couldn't manage the trufito, which is still in the freezer, and we only had some of the prawn crackers - but they kept for several days the last time, so we wrapped them up and will eat them as we feel like it.

Tonight's late-night film was one I just had on tv in the background, but soon paid more attention to. Unless has Catherine Keener as a middle-aged woman whose happy life is turned upside-down when her and her husband's eldest daughter suddenly drops out of college to go and sit on the side of the road and beg. Refuses to communicate with anyone. Sleeps in a shelter.

My attention was immediately caught when I heard a Leonard Cohen track playing, close to the start of the film. A very easy way to get me onside. But although no more of his music was on the soundtrack, I found this a compelling and intense watch. Silence is always powerful, and that of this girl now sitting on the pavement is complete. The family has to deal with a host of people who don't understand, and with a lot of useless advice - as for the girl who's caused all the trouble, everyone can only speculate why she's doing what she's doing. We do get an explanation at the end - but the film is more powerful while she remains a mystery. I really liked this - watch, if you get the chance!

Well, tomorrow - now that I'm mobile - I've promised to take all those empty wine bottles that have built up, down to the bottle bank. And wouldn't you know it, that's on the way to Limerick. ;-) And they're showing Free Guy there. So I've booked it, for late tomorrow afternoon. Well, it's free to book, there.. and I was getting worried, with all the seats that are blocked off as soon as any seats are booked.

Series: The Purge (Episodes 6 - 8) & Films: The Forever Purge & The Secret Scripture

Well, I had a look at cinema listings for the weekend - and wouldn't you know it, the Arc cinema in Ennis has a matinee - of The Forever Purge! (Only showing in the evening in Limerick.)  Decided to head to that on Sunday - free parking on Sundays, dontcha know. Nobody'd booked by the time I left, so I thought I'd rock up on the day and buy a ticket, given that they have a booking fee.. I kept an eye on it. 

In preparation, if you like, I started to watch the series The Purge on Amazon Prime. Online reviews say it's not as good as the second series (also available) - I have to say, if the second is better, I'm really looking forward to it. I'd thought I was coming to the end of Season 1 - apparently not, although you'd be forgiven for thinking so, given that almost all the stories are by now resolved. Except.. this series has more twists and turns than anything I'd previously seen, and as I trawl through episode after episode, they keep spewing out more! Episode 8, in particular, has left me gasping to find out what happens next. These people are really having an eventful night. And there's still more in Season 1..

So, off I headed to the cinema on Sunday, in good time. I'd wondered whether the glorious weather had tempted people to the beach - sure enough, there was plenty of space in the car park this time. I found a space in relative shade, and when it was time, off I went - not getting lost this time! I see the cinema's hand sanitiser had been filled. Bought my ticket at the concession desk, and was dying for an ice cream, so was grateful that they had some left - I had a choc ice.

She remarked to me that I had the place to myself.. nearly forgot to ask me where I wanted to sit. Why is it they always ask "front or back"? I like the middle.. anyway, off I went, ticket and choc ice in hand. This is in Screen 7 - which is in the building across the lane, reached by a corridor in the cinema that runs through a porch over the lane. Found the screen, took my seat, and removed my mask to eat my rapidly melting choc ice. All the doors had been left open, and it was decently cool in there - lovely. Much nicer than baking outside. I finished just before lights down - and given that nobody else was there, I left the mask off. V nice indeed.

I love the Purge idea - don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating it, but it's such a handy hook to hang ideologies on. The Amazon series explores many associated ideas - and The Forever Purge has another; what do you do if, after time is up, people just keep purging? We follow the story of a Mexican couple who've paid to be smuggled to the States. She, in particular, is a fan of the American dream - although at the moment, she's working in an abbatoir. He's working on a ranch - the owner is a lovely bloke, but his son isn't massively keen on mixing with the Mexicans, and there's one overtly racist worker who's a constant thorn in his side.

Come Purge Night, the Mexicans join other poor folks in an armed compound for the night, and the rich white folks roll down their steel barriers and settle in too. And on this night, not much bad happens - that we see. No, for once, this film concerns itself with the following morning - when the sirens have gone to signal the end of Purge, but there are still people in scary masks, terrorising the locals - whose reaction is shock that they're not following the rules! Cue some shocking deaths, and locals rapidly arming themselves - this is Texas, so that's quite doable. Travelling any distance is best done in some kind of large vehicle, preferably bulletproof - we see the same thing in the Purge series, where people use a variety of large vehicles to get around. Again, easily done in America.

Apart from a few jump scares near the beginning - I hate those, they're cheap - I really liked this. So, it seems this anarchy is nationwide, the NFFA has called out the National Guard nationwide to deal with "Forever Purgers", and the country is going to hell in a handbasket. A Native American is interviewed on television, uttering dire predictions about how the white man's hate will destroy his civilisation. In due course, as our central characters are figuring out their next move, they hear that Mexico and Canada are opening their borders to refugees for six hours - and then closing them indefinitely. So it becomes a race for survival - to the Mexican border.

This, of course, isn't the first film to portray Americans as refugees to Mexico etc. Always a fun idea - and particularly when one of the characters fleeing there isn't sure how he actually feels about Mexicans. So it's now a pacy action film - and it's done really well, with epic shots of the Mexican border at El Paso, lines of cars trying to cross. I also love how that Native American ends up being the one to show the way. Plenty of overt politics here, then - but as I say, you can hang lots of politics around the idea of the Purge, which is why it endures so well.

Well satisfied, I headed off - and decided that, if I wanted a Chinese, it made no sense to bring a takeaway all the way from Ennis when there's one in Tulla! A shorter distance to travel meant the food would be hotter. So, I headed off. And wouldn't you know it - as I drove out of town, the car started to play up whenever I slowed for one of the many small roundabouts. I figured that something was wrong with the gears - anyway, there wasn't much traffic, and once I got out of town, I could change into higher gears, and the car was fine! It troubled me, though - but on the way, I figured that, if there was a problem with the lower gears, I could get around it by pointing the car down the large hill in Tulla, to aid with starting off. So that's what I did, parking directly opposite An Teach China.

I checked the menu on the window, then went straight in and ordered - not a long wait, but long enough for me to be reminded that they have those lovely, frozen chocolate desserts here. I was, in fact, standing right beside a picture of one. So I ordered one of those too - paid in cash because their cash machine is broken (fine, I have far too much cash these days anyway! not using it up), took my purchase and headed off in the car. Which was just fine - until I got to the junction with the main road, and had to stop for a car travelling on it. Jeepers, could I get the car to move again.. just as well there was no other traffic. I eventually managed to force it into first, and get up enough speed to change to third - awful stench from the engine before I changed, but it was fine to get me home. I was a bit nervous about slowing to turn into the yard, but managed it. I've rung the garage, and they're coming in the morning - dunno what time, so I'd better get to bed!

The meal was lovely - but as usual, too much. I didn't eat the dessert until this evening, and it was gorgeous - and we're still making our way through the prawn crackers! which are staying fresh, so far.

That night's tv movie was The Secret Scripture, in which Vanessa Redgrave plays an inconvenient, doddery old lady in a mental hospital that's being converted to a hotel. Adrian Dunbar plays the particularly unpleasant director of the institution, who throws all her stuff in a skip to persuade her to go - however, a sympathetic young doctor (Eric Bana) and nurse manage to salvage it. He says he'll take responsibility, and inside her bible they find a diary! So they piece together her story, which is then told in flashback - her younger self is played by Rooney Mara.

Hers is a story of a more repressive Ireland - which is, honestly, quite depressing, if rather compelling. I will say this, though - the twist that is required to complete it is one of the more unbelievable I've seen. Still, it's touching, and quite watchable.

For Saturday.. Cultureseekers will have another quiz, though the topic isn't announced yet. And there isn't any point in looking up what's on in the cinema, as I'm not sure I'll have any way of getting there! Meantime, I still have plenty of The Purge to see on Amazon..

Ireland: Day 1 (Lough Derg)

Well jeez, didya miss me? Really, in my travels around Ireland, I did not have a chance to do the blog - even had I had a decent internet connection (of which more to follow). So, bear with me - my connection wasn't good enough to upload the photos I have, and I'm waiting for Helen to do something with them when she gets a chance (but you know how that four-letter word called "work" can get in the way). I do have a few - but they're worth waiting for; we got spectacular weather (!) and there are some spectacular photos to match. I'll get them to you when I can. As I'll get the write-ups done when I can.

Well, we flew on the Thursday and Helen had to meet someone in Foynes on the Saturday, which meant we couldn't really get started on the Wild Atlantic Way until Sunday. Friday 3rd, then, was to be spent locally, and I'd planned ahead: the wet weather plan was for Ennis, the dry weather plan was to head for Lough Derg. And wouldn't you know it - after all my dire warnings to Helen about bringing wet weather gear, we spent almost the entire week in glorious sunshine!

Sunset at the airport on landing

Lough Derg it was. Armed with small water bottles and sunshades, we set off - bought peaked caps on the way: in the county colours. I had a vague plan to head for Mountshannon and grab a boat trip to Holy Island, if we could. I'd never been on one of these, but had often seen them advertised, and thought it would be a lovely thing to do on a hot, sunny day.

So, after a stroll at the lakeshore and a few photos, we moseyed on over to the trailer parked by the harbour, which prominently advertised tours on the side. The door was open, displaying rows of guidebooks to the island, stacks of fliers - a girl hovering nearby asked whether we wanted to go on a tour, and when we said we did, she rang the boatman. A local historian, whose book on Holy Island is available for purchase, he also runs boat trips to the island, ferrying people back and forth all day, as required. He was at the island just then, but came right back in - it isn't more than a few minutes' trip - and took us out, for a price of €10 per hour.

Good choice! We were on a small boat, not high above the water, and on a hot, sunny day I don't think there's a better place to be. We had a terrific - if brief - trip out, under a scorching sun, and as he dropped us at the small pier on the island, he said he'd be back in an hour. He's written a guide, which you can take with you, returning it to the trailer afterwards - but he doesn't accompany you around the island. It's a small one, and the guide contains a map, so that's not a problem.

Holy Island is an old monastic settlement, now uninhabited. It was denoted a "Notable Shrine" by the pope in 1608, and the island is still richly populated with ruins of churches, a round tower, and other monuments of note:

When I say uninhabited, I am neglecting to mention some regular residents..

..who were most curious about us. Apart from them, though, we had the place to ourselves - a group had been leaving as we arrived, and a man came on his own as we left (just over an hour later): but other than them, the OPW people cutting the grass, and the guy looking after the cows - just birdsong to keep us company. And really, there is more than enough here to keep you occupied for the hour - we had to pass on some of the further-flung sites. We were taken back on a faster boat, the spray splashing our faces, and when we returned to dry land, we bought a guidebook..

Lunch beckoned, and I suggested Nuala's, a short way down the lake. We sat in the restaurant proper, surrounded by pictures and texts on the theme of Holy Island, and had starters and mains. Which were excellent, as ever - but I'd forgotten to warn Helen about the portion sizes, and the poor lass was stuffed for the rest of the day! We skipped dessert.

On down the Lough Derg drive, and to Killaloe, another fine place on a sunny day. I was lucky to get just about the last parking space by the water (beside a fortune-teller's van) and after a stroll around there, we headed to the ancient cathedral of St. Flannan's:

There's an even more ancient oratory next door, not open to the public:

The cathedral itself is open, but although you can walk around the entire churchyard, there is no direct access from there - you have to enter via the main door:

..and it makes a lovely, cool retreat on a hot day. On to the University of Limerick, with its striking murals in the Foundation Building (sorry, we do have plenty of photos, but currently I don't have access to them!).. and that was it for the day. Exhausted, we got a takeaway from An Teach China (literally, The China House) in Tulla that evening. And collapsed to bed, ready for a trip to Foynes next day..