On Saturday 18th July, Tania and I saw a play of Harper Lee's 'To kill a mocking bird' at the Barbican Theatre in London.
Scout, an intelligent and independent girl, views the events of a trial of a black man accused of raping a white woman in 1930s Alabama, who is being defended by Scout's father, Atticus Finch. Over the space of two summers, Scout, her older brother Jem and friend Dill experience adventures including uncovering the true nature of the loner Boo Radley, and learn about life, prejudice and morality.
A wonderful book and a wonderful play.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Kill_a_Mockingbird
http://tokillamockingbirdplay.com/
Saturday, 25 July 2015
Michaelangelo quote
"If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn't seem so wonderful at all."
Michaelangelo, http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/michelange183868.html#s4l9asUIqxzOLSQY.99
Book: 'A study in scarlet' by Arthur Conan Doyle (the first Sherlock Holmes mystery)
Dr Watson, an army doctor on leave in order to recuperate from sustained injuries, meets and rents an apartment in 221b Baker Street with Mr Sherlock Holmes, a "consulting detective".
Watson witnesses Sherlock solving a case involving Jefferson Hope, an American, who travels to London in pursuit of two men from the Mormon community, who he holds responsible for killing his fiance and her father.
"There's the scarlet thread of murder running through the colourless skein of life, and our duty is to unravel it, and isolate it, and expose every inch of it." (Sherlock Holmes, 'A study in scarlet', Chapter 4)
Watson witnesses Sherlock solving a case involving Jefferson Hope, an American, who travels to London in pursuit of two men from the Mormon community, who he holds responsible for killing his fiance and her father.
"There's the scarlet thread of murder running through the colourless skein of life, and our duty is to unravel it, and isolate it, and expose every inch of it." (Sherlock Holmes, 'A study in scarlet', Chapter 4)
Ida B Wells quotes
"The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them."
"One had better die fighting against injustice than die like a dog or a rat in a trap."
Ida B Wells: http://www.vox.com/2015/7/16/8978257/ida-b-wells and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ida_B._Wells
Wednesday, 1 July 2015
John Ruskin quote
“It is only by labour that thought can be made healthy, and only by thought that labour can be made happy, and the two cannot be separated with impunity.”
John Ruskin, http://tinyurl.com/no4jdnn
John Ruskin, http://tinyurl.com/no4jdnn
Sunday, 21 June 2015
Film 'No'
On Wednesday 10th June, I went to see the film 'No' with a group of friends (Steve, Will, D, Amy, Cathy and Hannah (Cathy's friend)). The film was shown as part of a political season at the Phoenix (as with 'Mr Smith goes to Washington'), with an intro and discussion led by a PhD student from UEA (which once again proved to be really valuable :-)).
'No' is a Chilean film, filmed in 2012 with 80s technology, resulting in an authentic 80s look complete with the old-fashioned, narrower screen ratio. It's directed by Pablo Larrain and stars Gael Garcia Bernal as Rene Saavedra: an advertisement maker. The background to the film is the 1988 Chilean referendum in which people voted whether to keep Pinochet in power. (He instigated the referendum due to international pressure.)
Saavedra is depicted as more or less apolitical, particularly at the beginning of the film. However, when he is approached for input into the 'No' campaign by a family friend, he eventually agrees. His outlook on life and the campaign is based on neoliberal capitalism - he aims to 'sell' the 'No' message, and envokes happiness and aspiration, together with a multi-coloured flag and a jingle, to do so. His advertisements form a sharp contrast to the reality of living under Pinochet and his brutal regime, and some of the other broadcasts, such as those depicting the widows of the 'missing', portray this more realistic picture. Saavedra clashes with several campaigners who see his broadcasts as shallow and misleading. However, they appear to work and contribute to the success of the 'No' campaign, as shown by the adoption of Saavedra's jingle ('Chile: Happiness is coming') by the celebrating crowds. The film intelligently exposes Saavedra's approach as both superficial and potentially false, but also attractive and comforting, and to me succeeded as it both made its point, but demonstrated a warm understanding for human nature. The film ends with Saavedra, the political drama of the 'No' campaign behind him, filming an advert for a soap opera. Actresses in black dresses pose on top of a high rise building with the soap heartthrob approaching by helicopter. One of the actresses alludes to a previous career dancing in a burlesque bar - we will always be drawn to lighter matters and entertainment, and the success of the 'No' vote has not stopped the tide of capitalism bringing us an abundance of those on a plate, but that's the way things are, and they could perhaps be worse.
I enjoyed and admired the film very much and learned about Chilean history too, so a double thumbs up, plus it was good to catch up with so many great people :-),
["No (2012 film)" by Pablo Larraín. Via Wikipedia -https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:No_(2012_film).jpg#/media/File:No_(2012_film).jpg]
The wikipedia page is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_(2012_film).
'No' is a Chilean film, filmed in 2012 with 80s technology, resulting in an authentic 80s look complete with the old-fashioned, narrower screen ratio. It's directed by Pablo Larrain and stars Gael Garcia Bernal as Rene Saavedra: an advertisement maker. The background to the film is the 1988 Chilean referendum in which people voted whether to keep Pinochet in power. (He instigated the referendum due to international pressure.)
Saavedra is depicted as more or less apolitical, particularly at the beginning of the film. However, when he is approached for input into the 'No' campaign by a family friend, he eventually agrees. His outlook on life and the campaign is based on neoliberal capitalism - he aims to 'sell' the 'No' message, and envokes happiness and aspiration, together with a multi-coloured flag and a jingle, to do so. His advertisements form a sharp contrast to the reality of living under Pinochet and his brutal regime, and some of the other broadcasts, such as those depicting the widows of the 'missing', portray this more realistic picture. Saavedra clashes with several campaigners who see his broadcasts as shallow and misleading. However, they appear to work and contribute to the success of the 'No' campaign, as shown by the adoption of Saavedra's jingle ('Chile: Happiness is coming') by the celebrating crowds. The film intelligently exposes Saavedra's approach as both superficial and potentially false, but also attractive and comforting, and to me succeeded as it both made its point, but demonstrated a warm understanding for human nature. The film ends with Saavedra, the political drama of the 'No' campaign behind him, filming an advert for a soap opera. Actresses in black dresses pose on top of a high rise building with the soap heartthrob approaching by helicopter. One of the actresses alludes to a previous career dancing in a burlesque bar - we will always be drawn to lighter matters and entertainment, and the success of the 'No' vote has not stopped the tide of capitalism bringing us an abundance of those on a plate, but that's the way things are, and they could perhaps be worse.
I enjoyed and admired the film very much and learned about Chilean history too, so a double thumbs up, plus it was good to catch up with so many great people :-),
["No (2012 film)" by Pablo Larraín. Via Wikipedia -https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:No_(2012_film).jpg#/media/File:No_(2012_film).jpg]
The wikipedia page is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_(2012_film).
Friday, 19 June 2015
Haruki Murakami quote
“When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.”
― Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore
(http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/520313-when-you-come-out-of-the-storm-you-won-t-be)
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