"I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor."
Henry David Thoreau
Saturday 30 May 2015
Sunday 24 May 2015
Iris Murdoch quote
"It is difficult in life to be good, and difficult in art to portray goodness"
Iris Murdoch, 1990, The Paris Review (interview)
Iris Murdoch, 1990, The Paris Review (interview)
Sunday 17 May 2015
Film: Mr Smith goes to Washington
On Wednesday 13th May, I went to see the film 'Mr Smith goes to Washington' with Meetup at the Phoenix. It's a Frank Capra film, released in 1939 and starring James Stewart. Jefferson Smith (Stewart) is selected as senator for an unnamed American state by corrupt officials, who hope that he will neither notice nor scupper their and a businessman's plans to profit from a proposed dam.
Jefferson feels initially honoured but ill-prepared. After being ridiculed by the press, he decides to take a more active role and proposes a boys' camp to be built on the very land which the others have selected for the dam. Once he finds out about their plans, he refuses to be bribed, but puts up a determined defence, helped in no small part by the worldly-wise but not quite entirely dejected secretary Clarissa Saunders (Jean Arthur). When the corrupt senator Paine produces papers claiming to prove that it is Smith who hopes to profit fraudulently from the land, Smith takes to the floor of the senate and spends several hours attempting to convince the senators of his innocence and the need for justice for all people - not big business, in politics. Clarissa directs him from the viewing gallery and falls in love with his determination and genuineness. Smith collapses when he sees telegrams from his state calling for him to stop after an orchestrated newspaper campaign, but senator Paine finally succumbs to his conscience and confesses all after an unsuccessful suicide attempt.
It was amazing to see a film 76 years on, showing so many issues relevant today, including corruption in politics, and the role of media and big business. Clarissa was an intelligent, articulate and proactive character, and it was brilliant to see this in a classic film. I enjoyed this very much - more please!
Jefferson feels initially honoured but ill-prepared. After being ridiculed by the press, he decides to take a more active role and proposes a boys' camp to be built on the very land which the others have selected for the dam. Once he finds out about their plans, he refuses to be bribed, but puts up a determined defence, helped in no small part by the worldly-wise but not quite entirely dejected secretary Clarissa Saunders (Jean Arthur). When the corrupt senator Paine produces papers claiming to prove that it is Smith who hopes to profit fraudulently from the land, Smith takes to the floor of the senate and spends several hours attempting to convince the senators of his innocence and the need for justice for all people - not big business, in politics. Clarissa directs him from the viewing gallery and falls in love with his determination and genuineness. Smith collapses when he sees telegrams from his state calling for him to stop after an orchestrated newspaper campaign, but senator Paine finally succumbs to his conscience and confesses all after an unsuccessful suicide attempt.
It was amazing to see a film 76 years on, showing so many issues relevant today, including corruption in politics, and the role of media and big business. Clarissa was an intelligent, articulate and proactive character, and it was brilliant to see this in a classic film. I enjoyed this very much - more please!
[By Trailer screenshot (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington trailer) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons]
Trip to Bletchley Park
On Saturday 16th May dad and I went to Bletchley Park, (Wikipedia link) as a belated present from me for his birthday. We saw the mansion (including 'The Imitation Game' exhibition), huts where most of the code breaking took place (including Alan Turing's office), the museum which included a replica of the Bombe machine which helped to speed up the code breaking, the National Radio Centre and the National Museum of Computing:
We learned about what the codebreaking included; here is a little bit more about the Bombe machine:
The visual-audio guides were great, and included interviews with people who actually worked at the park during WWII.
We only had an hour at the computing museum, but saw some replicas (including Colossus - the first computer, again used for code breaking) and actual examples of old computers. This is the Colossus replica:
We learned about what the codebreaking included; here is a little bit more about the Bombe machine:
The visual-audio guides were great, and included interviews with people who actually worked at the park during WWII.
We only had an hour at the computing museum, but saw some replicas (including Colossus - the first computer, again used for code breaking) and actual examples of old computers. This is the Colossus replica:
Great day :-)
Saturday 2 May 2015
Handmade Festival 2015
Alex and I went to the Friday night (1st May) of the Handmade Festival (I was extremely impressed by Alex's thorough preparations, including a table of the artists with star ratings and notes on type of music played). We saw a couple of noisy bands at the beginning, which were not too great. Francisco the Man, an indie band from Los Angeles, were more rocky than what I usually listen to, but a good experience (and provided us with a hilarious sound check). We didn't get on with Bad/Dreems or Delta Sleep, as they were too shouty and the volume level for the whole festival was just set at too loud! Honeyblood were a little dull (and once again rocky), so we went to see Grace Petrie, an acoustic singer songwriter with a guitar, who was good, if young and political (not that either of those is a negative) :-)
Childhood were interesting, but too loud, and Alex watched from outside, while I chickened out due to the cold and watched a bit of 'The House on Haunted Hill' (an old 1959 horror depicting stable men, loopy women and horrendous ghostly masks ) in the cinema room. We then saw Sam Duckworth, another young, political singer songwriter, bizarrely also into wresting :-).
Though not all of the music was amazing, and the volume was just too loud, it was a good experience, and it was great to catch up with Alex. :-)
Childhood were interesting, but too loud, and Alex watched from outside, while I chickened out due to the cold and watched a bit of 'The House on Haunted Hill' (an old 1959 horror depicting stable men, loopy women and horrendous ghostly masks ) in the cinema room. We then saw Sam Duckworth, another young, political singer songwriter, bizarrely also into wresting :-).
Though not all of the music was amazing, and the volume was just too loud, it was a good experience, and it was great to catch up with Alex. :-)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)