I finally managed to persuade Alice to help me write up another outing we had recently. As you know, she's been "underground" for simply ages, but I think we can say she's making her way up to the everyday world again, although she hastens to add it's very gradually indeed. She's up a bit (for a little longer?) then down again (but not quite so far?) by fits and starts. If you've been there yourself, you'll know what we mean. The picture of me here is a kind of clue to what, or who, we've seen. Do you get it? I had to make do with one of Alice's gloves to pose in, as although she managed my stripey scarf, I imagine mittens my size are a bit beyond her capabilites with knitting needles. Still, she took the photo anyway, and got so carried away Googling links and looking for images she almost forgot she needed some lunch.
We went to the cinema. First time since Yes, we enjoyed it, despite the fact that afterwards Alice felt totally exhausted and even a bit dizzy. That's not because of the content, it was just the effect of the assault on the auditory and visual senses that any film launches at its audience. When your nervous system has become over sensitive like hers has recently, movies are not the best experience to go for too soon!
We first came accross Nick Cave when a Five Rhythms teacher played his magnificent Red Right Hand for some energetic Staccato. Listen on YouTube here if you don't know it: we're not quite sure how we feel about the accompanying visuals, however. Alice has been something of a fan ever since.
When she'd recovered at home from the screen onslaught, she played them over and even sort-of danced in the kitchen. That was indeed a good little slice of Up.
20,000 Days is certainly a very weird film. Mark Kermode was rather iffy, but still gave it four stars. Check out other reviews at Rotten Tomatoes. Some of it was hilarious, some very self-obsessed: yet the most interesting part, in our view, was how he worked so tirelessly on his songs, nurturing his creativity, then both composing and recording.
We see him with his long-time collaborater, Warren Ellis, trying out melodies and ingenious backing sounds in the studio.Now that's a truely amazing beard that Ellis sports.
As well as recordings and live gigs, the two have a number of excellent and usually very atmospheric film scores to their credit. For some of our favourite films, too: The Proposition, for example: a gritty Australian "Western" starring Ray Winstone, for which Cave also wrote the screenplay. It got four stars from The Guardian.
Although
she won't rush to go to the cinema again that soon - except perhaps to Mike Leigh's forthcoming Mr Turner with Timothy Spall and breath-taking cinematography - Alice thought she'd try watching TV again.Downton Abbey is both easy on the intellect, not too taxing on the senses (there are breaks for ads, or the loo, or a cup of tea, after all) it's superbly acted, and altogether harmlessly delightful as only the best in costume drama can be.
But Red Right Hand stirred memories of rather different fare: it's the theme tune for Peaky Blinders now back on the BBC for its second season.Aaah, that dishy Cillian Murphy, playing the head of a Birmingham mafia-style family between the wars.
The peaks are on the caps, by the way, and they're blinders beause there are razor blades hidden therein.
And it has some fabulous period cars!
Now we'll just have to wait til the next series, I suppose...
