Monkey's Blog - with a little help from Alice

Down South again - part three

In case anyone is confused by finding themselves reading part three at the top of  this page, I'll point out that blogs put the newest post first, and the previous ones in reverse order - assuming that you're really keen and keep coming back for more. We make no such ego-centric assumptions, though we hope you might be at least a bit enthusiastic. So you'll find part two below this, and part one further down.

If instead you're way behind and found this at the bottom, click on the "Older Posts" link (it will turn pink) and the previous seven will load.

Alice thinks I'm talking down to you, but I'd rather risk causing a little offence, than be sorry I didn't make things clear. So, where were we?

Near Hastings. We got met off the train by another of Alice's old friends, but from Five Rhythms, not University. And she's into astrology, as well. So at least the blether was different!

This is my new friend, Basil, in the car with me. We had several trips together: maybe just to the supermarket for goodies, or better still, to go out and enjoy the area.

We were there when the great the St Jude's storm swept accross the south of England. The wind and rain were terribly noisy in the night and woke us up in the early hours. Luckily we weren't as badly affected as some, hadn't planned to travel until the following day, and were simply able to enjoy the power of Nature.

Later that day we had a most enjoyable expedition. We all went into Hastings and walked along the beach, admiring the terrific waves. But Alice was preoccupied with hunting for a particular building, which she knew was here somewhere.

This one: called Palace Court. Impressive, yes? Right click and see full size, won't you. It had featured in a wonderful vampire-film-with-a-difference, Byzantium, which SFX's DVD review called, "a connoisseur’s vampire film; a vintage red". We reviewed it ourselves on our blog in July, after seeing it in the cinema and loving it.

Try also the interesting New York Times review which picks up on the film's use of the word "soucriant" and links this to Caribbean folk culture. Jean Rhys used the word in Wide Sargasso Sea, her prequel to Jane Eyre which recounts a possible earlier life of the mad Mrs Rochester. Well worth a read, by the way.

We had to have a closer look, of course.

The beautiful doorway led to one of the locations for Byzantium.

Nice reflection here of the promenade behind, but I couldn't see much inside.

An old man came up to the glass, but wouldn't let us in. He must get fed up with people asking about the filming.

 One local resident, however, had more luck at the time of the actual shoot.

Here's a glimpse of the interior at night.
And the exterior in daylight.

See Dean Thorpe's Flickr for several more good photos. His website is worth a look too.

Below is a still from the film, with Gemma Arterton looking out at the promenade.

Under the promenade lies Bottle Alley, which also featured in the film - quite spooky at night, but an interesting place in daylight.

The walls are lined with broken bottle glass - hence the name. 

Borough engineer Sidney Little, said to be a Modernist with an enthusiasm for concrete, was responsible for the design of the alley, which was opened in 1934.  There's more great photos at the link we've found for him.

After all this exploring, we had a break for a coffee or Mocha, the latter being one of Alice's favourite hot drinks; bought ourselves a DVD of Byzantium, and went to see Ender's Game.

The film is based on the first of Orson Scott Card's excellent sequence of Sci-fi books. We all enjoyed it and found it a really exciting rendition of the novel with the important issues it raises about xenophobia and war.

Recently Card has rightly come in for criticism for his homophobic opinions. The anger of those who called for a boycott of the film is certainly understandable, yet the recent brouhaha has brought out different opinions on whether it should suffer for the author's views.

There's a very thought-provoking article about a personal response to the whole controversy at Grantland.

After this satisfying day to conclude our visit Down South, we had to pack ready to leave for home on the morrow.

Before getting the flight north from Gatwick, I enjoyed another train journey. To help me pass the time, Alice kindly gave me a loan of her iPod. I love the good old groups, like Eurythmics. Annie Lennox is super. We saw an exhibition of her stuff a little while ago. Did you see what we wrote about it here?

That's us up to date on our tavels Down South - sights seen and movies reviewed as well.

Oh, in case you're wondering, the bulbs did get planted in the window boxes at last, but of course they're not at all photogenic as yet.