Friday 18th September commenced with contrasting fortunes. I begin with a good tale of exceptional customer service by Amazon the on line supplier of new, cut price and second-hand goods. I have used Amazon over recent years to purchase for myself and for others. Earlier in the year I received the gift of a set of DVD of the science fiction series 4400 and which I put aside until ready to watch all episodes in quick succession. It was several months before the right moment arrived and I found the series concept of interest and intended to commence the second disk after watching the double first year introduction and the second programme. I was disappointed to then find that the first disk had been duplicated and the second missing. I contacted the individual who had provided the gift hoping it had been purchased from a chain with a local branch and was advised that it had been obtained from Amazon. I suspected this would cause a problem obtaining a replacement and made the initial contact with the firm, put through to call centre probably located in India and was advised that the original purchaser had to notify the problem and the firm would send direct to me a replacement set. Almost immediately the firm had been notified by the purchaser I was forwarded two emails, the first advising that the replacement had been sent and its progress could be tracked and the second advising that the original had to be returned within 30 days and giving the online reference to download a label for the return as well as an enclosure to be included in the. Despite the postal strikes and delays the replacement set arrived within two days of the email notifications and I was able to repack the faulty set in the original packing and downloading the labels which had code bars identifying the specific problems and purchaser. If that is not brilliant customer service I do not know what is.
I enjoyed New Tricks last night which continued without the presence of the former likely lad and a new face, but did not enjoy England being thrashed as the batsmen once again failed and the team are at risk of being whitewashed 7.0, the first this has happened in an international series. In the afternoon I also enjoyed a clever mystery drama with Yul Brynner being not just Yul Brynner and two Yul Brynner’s and with Britt Eckland, she who was the one time girl friend of Peter Selllers and had the wicked siren part in the original The Wicker Man. Within the past month there was an excellent programme in the coast series which feature the area of Dumfries and Galloway which was used to represent the fictitious Hebredian Island - Summer Isle featured in the film. Such has been the popularity of the film with its cult following that the village in which the film was made has become tourist attraction to such an extent that souvenirs have created a income and a re-enactment of the film ending is undertaken once a year.
When I misunderstood the position in the cricket championship I was tempted to book accommodation for the game at the Rosebowl, Hampshire this week but was put off by the prices of accommodation. This has proved just as well not just because the championship was settled in brilliant sunshine last week but the weather has changed from high summer to winter within the space of a few days and the forecast is not great for next week’s trip to Worcester. Last night the temperature dropped to the lower 40’s some 10 degrees lower than on the South coast. Today it is warmer in the 50’s with an 110 difference with the temperature at Worcester. The ten day forecast suggests that there should three full days cricket with showery rain on the second day and the day time temperatures touching 60 degrees so is it wrap up coat watching cricket with plenty of hot coffee and soup on hand. The present game at the Rosebowl looked promising on the second day after Durham reached a total of more than 400 in their first innings and Hampshire had lost four wickets for under 100 with young Borthwick getting two of these. However with various stands the total added up to within 50 runs of Durham and a draw became inevitable. Hampshire by not losing have almost made themselves secure from relegation. Sussex remain favourites to be relegated by a narrow margin if the two key games next week are drawn although there is a good chance they could lose at Nottinghamshire who will be fighting to get back second place from Somerset and with Warwickshire also in the hunt of the position. Hampshire are now the least likely to be relegated play Yorkshire at Headingley so a draw appears in the interests of both clubs although Yorkshire will want to end the season on a strong note. The major excitement in the second division where Northants looked to have a commanding lead with two games to go. Having been bowled out today Essex who are one of the other chasing clubs have been set 240 odd runs to win from 50 overs and at 84 without loss the 150 required from 30 overs is attainable. If they win Essex will be ahead with one game to play but with four other clubs in which a chance of promotion. I found out Essex did win after going tot he pictures and they now are second in the table with points in had so if they win next week they will gain promotion.
There has been a flurry of fast food offers over the past couple of weeks. Following on from the breakfast vouchers Kentucky Fried Chicken sent householders sent households main meal concessions and today I enjoyed a Cimbatta sandwich with chips and a coffee of £1. I could also get two Chicken Twisters for he price of one. My Local Wetherspoon’s pub which is a short walk part way down the Hill and close to the Metro station has circulated a range of food and drink offers which includes a traditional breakfast and coffee for £1.99. In force tot he end of November I envisage making use of the four over the period. There are also two vouchers for 20% off the price of a main meal such as fish and chips. Unfortunately I need a friend to enjoy one of two steak meals with a bottle of wine for £15. McDonalds circulated today five vouchers for their main meals for £1.99 plus the cost of coffee. There is also a voucher for a McChicken or Big Mac with a medium soft drink for the same price. Alas I cannot make use of £5 off the price of an 8 or 12 piece Griddle Chicken variety bucket and where the for the 8 size you get 4 fillets, 4 mini fillets one large pop corn chicken four regular fries and two large sides such as beans and coleslaw and which I make 15 items and
The 12 piece has 19 items WoW.
I also went to see a film about food called Julie and Julia based on two true stories. First the true stories. Julia Childs became an American Cordon Bleu cooking guru after discovering French cooking after her husband had been posted to Paris in the US Diplomatic Corps. She then trained as a cook and with collaborators wrote her magnum opus the 734 Mastering the Art of French Cooking and then on returning to the states became a national cooking icon through television series, videos and DVD’s and books. Her French Chef series last 10 years from 1963 and the final series 1999 2000 had 22 episodes. She was 87 at the time. Her books went on to cover the whole range of food cooking and after her death an autobiography was completed by a relative. One hand it could be said that she was not an original creative genius and this is how she is played by Meryl Streep in the film. Childs had a conventional middle class family stand Republican background with a maid cook and a father who thought Joseph McCarthy was the bees knees. After graduation in English she moved to New York as a copy writer returning to her family in California until 1941. After the bombing of Pearl Harbour she attempted to enlist but was rejected because of her height but was recruited by the OSS working first in the USA in the Secret Intelligence unit and then in 1944 to Ceylon and to China where according to the film she met her husband who its was said worked for the intelligence. He husband in contrast was an artist and a poet who had lived in Paris and immediately after the way (the couple were married in the USA in 1946 when Julia was 34 and again according to the film a virgin and the significance f which will be revealed shortly. The husband was then posted to Paris with the USA Information Service, (which usually implies covert intelligence) although again according to the film he was summoned to Washington to be questioned about his loyalty and personal life, Are you a homosexual he was asked ? The film attempts to draw the connection between a love of food and sex and also suggests that her devotion to the art, something which is still largely a male preserve to this day was the consequence of not having children.
This is when the story of Julie Powell comes in, a young post graduate approaching 30 married with an unpublished novel and no children who loves cooking great food and has Judith Childs as her idol and her Mastering French Cooking tome as her Bible. She works for the government and has to deal with frustrated, angry and depressed victims of 9/11 and their families. She hits on the idea of recreating all the 500 odd Julia Childs French Cooking recipes during one year and fortunately the combined salaries of the couple, he works as an editor for Archaeology Magazine means they can afford the ingredients of the food which appeared to be shared regularly with friends. In real life she was born in 1973 and graduating in creative writing and theatre, and with her husband lived in a noisy flat above a Pizza restaurant in the Queen’s District of New York. She not only decides to recreate the cook book for her husband and friends but write a daily Blog which gains some popularity according to the film and which in turns leads to an interview reported in the New York Times. This leads to attention in the cooking and food world and to the publication of her Blog. According to the film there was also a close association between the love of good food and sex. It is here that the parallels between the two women end because Julia remained conventionally, and it is understood, happily married, until the death of her husband a decade before her, he was ten years older when they married. Julie on the other hand had at least one major row with her husband who left her for a period and according to the film returned to live happy ever after. However Julie has written a second book with the publication delayed until the end of the year because it is about the affair she had after the publication of the first book. The new work is entitled Cleaving the story of Marriage, Meat and Obsession. This is not mentioned in the film all the reason for the break in the film is her obsession with completing all the recipes within one year and writing about them. In the film Julie is told that the aged Julia reacts hostilely at the news of what Julie has done because it shows disrespect and they never get to meet, Julie consoling herself that Julia has probably never reads her Blog which she regards as a tribute and a work of love. In real life the actress playing Julie, Amy Adams, had worked with Meryl as the young nun in Doubt who reports her concerns to the mother Superior.
I thought the film was overlong and without a dramatic conclusion. I then read a brilliant review of the film by Benjamin Sutton and Henry Sutton in L Magazine (USA) who make the point that at one level the film has been written on the basis that making cooking into an creative art form a substitute for children although good is a momentary experience hence the need to continue doing it, just as good sex is OK but loses its potency if it does not result in children. I suspect the film ended as it did because the writer and producers were aware that one aspect of the story quickly fell apart or perhaps that a sequel was already under consideration!
Now to the two things which spoilt my day. Neither are world shattering in the great scheme of things but the two upset me greatly coming together. I had been looking forward to the new season of relayed Opera from the Metropolitan New York and although the Cineworld chain was listed on the Internet site, except at Bolden there was no announcement by Cineworld so I contacted and was told the contract was under negotiation. I suspect the problem was to do with price because the relays are being shown in Newcastle at the Tyneside film theatre but with prices trebling or doubling according to the performance £25 without concessions and £21.50 with. Last night at Bolden I checked and the negotiations failed and looking back int he web site the Cineworld theatres have been removed and outside of London where there are half a dozen there are vast swathes of the country, especially in the Midlands where there is no showing. I also scrapped paint off the wing of the car and the less said about that the better for my mental health. There is also a good weekend of sport ahead having discovered that Sunderland’s game at Burnley is on the TV at lunchtime Saturday and the last one Day at the Riverside on Sunday. There is also the vital Davis Cup where we have no talent apart from Murray who is injured and therefore may not be available for the doubles and second single. Britain faces relegation again this time from the second level to third. Come Dancing also goes head to head with the X Factor together with the return of the series Merlin. It is also the Great North Run on Sunday where some 50000 runners are said to have registered for the half marathon.
I enjoyed New Tricks last night which continued without the presence of the former likely lad and a new face, but did not enjoy England being thrashed as the batsmen once again failed and the team are at risk of being whitewashed 7.0, the first this has happened in an international series. In the afternoon I also enjoyed a clever mystery drama with Yul Brynner being not just Yul Brynner and two Yul Brynner’s and with Britt Eckland, she who was the one time girl friend of Peter Selllers and had the wicked siren part in the original The Wicker Man. Within the past month there was an excellent programme in the coast series which feature the area of Dumfries and Galloway which was used to represent the fictitious Hebredian Island - Summer Isle featured in the film. Such has been the popularity of the film with its cult following that the village in which the film was made has become tourist attraction to such an extent that souvenirs have created a income and a re-enactment of the film ending is undertaken once a year.
When I misunderstood the position in the cricket championship I was tempted to book accommodation for the game at the Rosebowl, Hampshire this week but was put off by the prices of accommodation. This has proved just as well not just because the championship was settled in brilliant sunshine last week but the weather has changed from high summer to winter within the space of a few days and the forecast is not great for next week’s trip to Worcester. Last night the temperature dropped to the lower 40’s some 10 degrees lower than on the South coast. Today it is warmer in the 50’s with an 110 difference with the temperature at Worcester. The ten day forecast suggests that there should three full days cricket with showery rain on the second day and the day time temperatures touching 60 degrees so is it wrap up coat watching cricket with plenty of hot coffee and soup on hand. The present game at the Rosebowl looked promising on the second day after Durham reached a total of more than 400 in their first innings and Hampshire had lost four wickets for under 100 with young Borthwick getting two of these. However with various stands the total added up to within 50 runs of Durham and a draw became inevitable. Hampshire by not losing have almost made themselves secure from relegation. Sussex remain favourites to be relegated by a narrow margin if the two key games next week are drawn although there is a good chance they could lose at Nottinghamshire who will be fighting to get back second place from Somerset and with Warwickshire also in the hunt of the position. Hampshire are now the least likely to be relegated play Yorkshire at Headingley so a draw appears in the interests of both clubs although Yorkshire will want to end the season on a strong note. The major excitement in the second division where Northants looked to have a commanding lead with two games to go. Having been bowled out today Essex who are one of the other chasing clubs have been set 240 odd runs to win from 50 overs and at 84 without loss the 150 required from 30 overs is attainable. If they win Essex will be ahead with one game to play but with four other clubs in which a chance of promotion. I found out Essex did win after going tot he pictures and they now are second in the table with points in had so if they win next week they will gain promotion.
There has been a flurry of fast food offers over the past couple of weeks. Following on from the breakfast vouchers Kentucky Fried Chicken sent householders sent households main meal concessions and today I enjoyed a Cimbatta sandwich with chips and a coffee of £1. I could also get two Chicken Twisters for he price of one. My Local Wetherspoon’s pub which is a short walk part way down the Hill and close to the Metro station has circulated a range of food and drink offers which includes a traditional breakfast and coffee for £1.99. In force tot he end of November I envisage making use of the four over the period. There are also two vouchers for 20% off the price of a main meal such as fish and chips. Unfortunately I need a friend to enjoy one of two steak meals with a bottle of wine for £15. McDonalds circulated today five vouchers for their main meals for £1.99 plus the cost of coffee. There is also a voucher for a McChicken or Big Mac with a medium soft drink for the same price. Alas I cannot make use of £5 off the price of an 8 or 12 piece Griddle Chicken variety bucket and where the for the 8 size you get 4 fillets, 4 mini fillets one large pop corn chicken four regular fries and two large sides such as beans and coleslaw and which I make 15 items and
The 12 piece has 19 items WoW.
I also went to see a film about food called Julie and Julia based on two true stories. First the true stories. Julia Childs became an American Cordon Bleu cooking guru after discovering French cooking after her husband had been posted to Paris in the US Diplomatic Corps. She then trained as a cook and with collaborators wrote her magnum opus the 734 Mastering the Art of French Cooking and then on returning to the states became a national cooking icon through television series, videos and DVD’s and books. Her French Chef series last 10 years from 1963 and the final series 1999 2000 had 22 episodes. She was 87 at the time. Her books went on to cover the whole range of food cooking and after her death an autobiography was completed by a relative. One hand it could be said that she was not an original creative genius and this is how she is played by Meryl Streep in the film. Childs had a conventional middle class family stand Republican background with a maid cook and a father who thought Joseph McCarthy was the bees knees. After graduation in English she moved to New York as a copy writer returning to her family in California until 1941. After the bombing of Pearl Harbour she attempted to enlist but was rejected because of her height but was recruited by the OSS working first in the USA in the Secret Intelligence unit and then in 1944 to Ceylon and to China where according to the film she met her husband who its was said worked for the intelligence. He husband in contrast was an artist and a poet who had lived in Paris and immediately after the way (the couple were married in the USA in 1946 when Julia was 34 and again according to the film a virgin and the significance f which will be revealed shortly. The husband was then posted to Paris with the USA Information Service, (which usually implies covert intelligence) although again according to the film he was summoned to Washington to be questioned about his loyalty and personal life, Are you a homosexual he was asked ? The film attempts to draw the connection between a love of food and sex and also suggests that her devotion to the art, something which is still largely a male preserve to this day was the consequence of not having children.
This is when the story of Julie Powell comes in, a young post graduate approaching 30 married with an unpublished novel and no children who loves cooking great food and has Judith Childs as her idol and her Mastering French Cooking tome as her Bible. She works for the government and has to deal with frustrated, angry and depressed victims of 9/11 and their families. She hits on the idea of recreating all the 500 odd Julia Childs French Cooking recipes during one year and fortunately the combined salaries of the couple, he works as an editor for Archaeology Magazine means they can afford the ingredients of the food which appeared to be shared regularly with friends. In real life she was born in 1973 and graduating in creative writing and theatre, and with her husband lived in a noisy flat above a Pizza restaurant in the Queen’s District of New York. She not only decides to recreate the cook book for her husband and friends but write a daily Blog which gains some popularity according to the film and which in turns leads to an interview reported in the New York Times. This leads to attention in the cooking and food world and to the publication of her Blog. According to the film there was also a close association between the love of good food and sex. It is here that the parallels between the two women end because Julia remained conventionally, and it is understood, happily married, until the death of her husband a decade before her, he was ten years older when they married. Julie on the other hand had at least one major row with her husband who left her for a period and according to the film returned to live happy ever after. However Julie has written a second book with the publication delayed until the end of the year because it is about the affair she had after the publication of the first book. The new work is entitled Cleaving the story of Marriage, Meat and Obsession. This is not mentioned in the film all the reason for the break in the film is her obsession with completing all the recipes within one year and writing about them. In the film Julie is told that the aged Julia reacts hostilely at the news of what Julie has done because it shows disrespect and they never get to meet, Julie consoling herself that Julia has probably never reads her Blog which she regards as a tribute and a work of love. In real life the actress playing Julie, Amy Adams, had worked with Meryl as the young nun in Doubt who reports her concerns to the mother Superior.
I thought the film was overlong and without a dramatic conclusion. I then read a brilliant review of the film by Benjamin Sutton and Henry Sutton in L Magazine (USA) who make the point that at one level the film has been written on the basis that making cooking into an creative art form a substitute for children although good is a momentary experience hence the need to continue doing it, just as good sex is OK but loses its potency if it does not result in children. I suspect the film ended as it did because the writer and producers were aware that one aspect of the story quickly fell apart or perhaps that a sequel was already under consideration!
Now to the two things which spoilt my day. Neither are world shattering in the great scheme of things but the two upset me greatly coming together. I had been looking forward to the new season of relayed Opera from the Metropolitan New York and although the Cineworld chain was listed on the Internet site, except at Bolden there was no announcement by Cineworld so I contacted and was told the contract was under negotiation. I suspect the problem was to do with price because the relays are being shown in Newcastle at the Tyneside film theatre but with prices trebling or doubling according to the performance £25 without concessions and £21.50 with. Last night at Bolden I checked and the negotiations failed and looking back int he web site the Cineworld theatres have been removed and outside of London where there are half a dozen there are vast swathes of the country, especially in the Midlands where there is no showing. I also scrapped paint off the wing of the car and the less said about that the better for my mental health. There is also a good weekend of sport ahead having discovered that Sunderland’s game at Burnley is on the TV at lunchtime Saturday and the last one Day at the Riverside on Sunday. There is also the vital Davis Cup where we have no talent apart from Murray who is injured and therefore may not be available for the doubles and second single. Britain faces relegation again this time from the second level to third. Come Dancing also goes head to head with the X Factor together with the return of the series Merlin. It is also the Great North Run on Sunday where some 50000 runners are said to have registered for the half marathon.
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