1942 Seaburn Marriott Leisure and films

Today I was to have a urine sample to the GP practice Health centre and had a blood sample in preparation for the annual check up review after the trip to Manchester for the cricket. However I had a restless night and could not resist eating just three or four liquorice twists, forgetting that I had needed to fast until the samples were taken. I would have to repeat the action the following day. Having risen early to put the waste bin out I decided to go and register for the reduce rate promotion at the Seaburn Marriot Leisure Club. It is one of the better decision of recent times. Although it is perhaps seven years since I was last a member I was able to complete 14 lengths 140 meters of the pool in two attempts together with two sessions in the sauna I have felt 100% better since returning home having walked from the supermarket to get some of the cherries and some grapes at the station grocers and then had a good shop back at the supermarket with a dozen packets of the transparent pockets at £1 per 100 instead of the usual £1.80 and higher at staples. I will have to see if there are others at the Bolden Azda.

The other pleasing aspect of the visit to Leisure Cub is that as once junior assistant is now the manager and recognised me when I went to investigate on Friday and that immediately on entering and then at departure I encountered two individuals who I have known over the year as well as making friends with a more recent member.

Tuesday was an even better at the pool as I managed 20 length and a good sauna. It is having a good effect on my metabolism and my feet. Wednesday was not so good because I delayed departure and although I had a good stint of 12 lengths before the Sauna it became crowded with families. I will try and make it four days in a row before the Oxford trip with an early start. In more than one respect I have had second thoughts about the Oxford trip.

Sunday evening proved an exceptionally interesting one although whether it will be regarded as make believe or a reality will not be revealed until the next 24 to 48 hours passes by! Later I revised this to another 24 to 72.

When listing recently seen films I omitted to mention Damn United originally based ob the book about the 40 odd days which Brian Clough spent as Manager of United. The family understandably were unhappy with the book although I thought film captured the essence of Brian’s life as it placed what happened at Leeds in the perspective of his careers as a professional footballer and then as Manager.

I liked the situation at Derby which showed the double slight which Don Revie then Manager at Leeds showed Brian first by ignoring him as he went to the stadium entrance to greet the man he admired, his team having won promotion to the then First division. Revie had the habit of stopping the team coach outside the gates of the stadium and walking the last 100 yards. He then doubled the slight by immediately leaving the ground with the team without stopping to have a drink with Clough. Clough never forgot that incident and there was a bury Revie mentality which took him to Leeds. He also right the Leeds were a dirty team who won by force rather than skill but the idea that you can change such a team by your personality was a serious mistake although understandable.

He had taken Derby from relegation threats at the bottom of the second division to winning the championship but he then fell out with the management as his career as a TV personality took over. He then had a short spell at Brighton before the Leeds challenge came and he eat humble pie with Peter Taylor before the call to Notts Forest arrived as they performed their magic with the team winning the European Championship not once, but twice and in succession.

One of the great tragedies was their final disagreement which meant that Peter died without the two having spoken to each other. Brian the retreated into drink once the door have been closed to the England job. He remains one of he great achievers in football both as a goal scorer and as a manger but someone whose life had its tragic moments.

I have seen four films since although one Hairspray the musical I only experienced part of as it was excruciatingly awful other than a homage to fatties everywhere. It does however manage to combine horrendous stereotyping teen dancing with the serious subject of the segregation which existed in USA societies until the latter part of the last century, officially. However is has had considerable popular success as a West End and Broadway musical and as a school musical along with High School the musical in addition to commercial.

Up Periscope is one of those World war II films which portrayed the command structure as a talking rule book with no flexibility to manoeuvre according the circumstances of war and armed combat. It was also vehicle of semi straight James Gardner, where there were only occasional flashes of his sardonic manner. The movie is itself a homage to the 1943Destination Tokyo. Edmund Obrien played the rule book quoting captain of the submarine taking Gardner to an island where he has to steal a codebook.

The Carry on series with the busty Barbara Windsor and her secret real life lover Sid James is also a standard fairly innocent Bawdy Romp playing the possible meanings of the Dick of Dick Turpin. In this instance the Highway is played by Sid James the local Robin Hood Vicar who with his assistant Barbara hold up the rich to give their clothes and baubles to the parish poor. Although this is the contradiction because the film portrays the parish as fornicating, lecherous drunkards. Hattie Jacques plays the long suffering Vicar’s housekeeper, Kenneth Williams plays the stupid worse than Clousseau Kenneth Connor plays one of two Bow Street Runners sent by Bernard Breslaw. Kenneth Connor, Peter Butterworth, Bill Maynard and Joan Sims make up the team. Capturing Dick is based on the theme that the villain as a birthmark you know where

I did also catch parts of the Tom Fielding classic romp of Tom Jones, brought to the screen by Tony Richardson and John Osborn with Albert Finney and Susannah York, and with David Warner making his first appearance along with stalwarts of Dame Edith Evans, High Griffiths.

I have mislaid by bank card and reported it missing and was promised a new one would arrive in 3 to five working days. I should have telephone last Thursday or Friday as the request had not been recorded but fortunately the bank statement shows there has been no misuse. The assistant offered to speak to the supervisor to see if a new card could be issued and posted to arrive before Thursday. He phoned to say that the best was likely to be Friday however this morning it arrived and I was able to make the monthly credit card payment without interest

1941 Watching sport in 3D at the cinema WOW

This is the second catch up writing for the past two months. The main subject is sport. It has been a disappointing summer of sport so far with one exciting development, although this did not include British team or individual representing the UK.

It is fine outside to day Friday July 23rd there is no inclination to watch Durham lose their championship cricket game at the Emirates Riverside. In the event they managed to avoid the follow on and the game ended in a draw which ends Durham’s already dim prospect of a third championship win in succession. It has been a depressing season so far in every respect with humiliation after humiliation in the 20 20 competition with the lowest number of wins, 4, although they also had the highest number of no results because of the weather, also 4. In the Championship Notts strengthened their claim with an impressive win while Yorkshire still second could only draw. Durham have Yorkshire and Notts to play at home as well as Essex and Lancs away and I shall be at all four games. There are at least three other games to play plus the Pro 40 in which Durham has also struggled. There is a 40 40 game on Sunday which clashes with the Sunderland Air Show. The 20 20 finals day is at Durham in 2011, next year so they will have to get their act together next season if this is not to prove the humiliation of all humiliations, especially if we fail to qualify and supporters fail to make the long journey north to support their teams.

I enjoyed watching Australia play Pakistan, especially the second game in which Pakistan removed Australia in their first innings for 88 and then made 2580 and had Australia struggling in their second innings. There was then fine performances with the bat and then ball for Australia who reached 349 runs setting their opponents over 170 runs to win. At one point the Aussi’s were 55 for 2 and then 216 for 6. Pakistan made a great start after losing one wicket early on, with second at 137. The third 137, 146 for 4, 150 for 5, 161 for 6, 179 for 7 with scores tied and the run required following. Pakistan’s first win against Australia for a decade and half having failed to achieve a similar small total to win, although this was in Australia.

England won the first 3 one day series against Australia to clinched the series but lost the next two and against expectation failed to win all three one day games against Bangladesh who had not won any of their international games for yonks and yonks. They had not won against England in any competition since playing commenced in 2000 at the full international level.

I did go out in sunshine to Seaburn, Sunderland where the Airshow is being held tomorrow, having missed the show last year. At the Seaburn Marriott hotel I noted that a summer special trial membership offer of £39 for six weeks and no joining fee if membership is then taken at £55 a month standing order or £47 non peak and an extra month if the whole fee is paid in advance. Which includes a free month. I will give consideration over the weekend and decide one way or the other on Monday.

The event of the summer so far has been a game in which England were not represented, the World Football Cup Final in 3 D. I saw the first England game at the Odeon Metro centre as previously reported and then the first half of the second during a 20 20 game at Emirates Riverside Chester Le Street. The third and successful game was watched at home followed by the disastrous and humiliating quarter final tie with Germany back at the Odeon Metro Centre. I immediately lost interest in the competition and as a consequence failed to note that some Odeon Cinemas and some Cineworld theatres were relaying the semi finals and the final in 3D. I went to purchase a ticket at the Bolden Cineworld when going for the Eclipse, only to find they were not one of the selected theatres, nor was the Odeon Metrocentre. However the Odeon Silverlink was listed.

When I first tested my red Suzuki Wagon purchased from one of the several car sales firms just off the Silverlink roundabout, (the second up from the Tyne Tunnel exit at the junction with the A1058 road from Newcastle City Centre passed the People’s Theatre and the former Wills tobacco factory, now flats, Walsend, and then from the Silverlink junction which continues the A19 to join the A1 from Newcastle onto Morpeth, Alnwick, and on to Edinburgh, and to North Tynemouth (also North Shields)), I had taken the car into the Silverlink store complex at the top end of which is the Odeon plus and the Frankie and Bennies, and a Pizza Hut.

I arrived at 10 to 7 on the Sunday evening, unaware that this was the weekend of the Whitby Jazz Festival held at a hotel close by and also the weekend of the Mouth of the Tyne Festival. I was to the first to arrive followed by three Asian Young men. There were a few more by 7 but with no relay commencing I made inquiries with a pleasant young man who was surprised and was further surprised when it had not commenced by 7.10.

I overheard a conversation between a senior assistant and the projectionist that he hoped to have the relay ready before the 7.30 kick off thus missing all the preliminary chats. In fact I later learned that these relays were organised by FIFA direct, and there was only pictures and stadium sounds without commentaries and also only one commentator during the match rather than the usual pre match build up, half time and after match analysis and replays. There was a good reason for this as I discovered when the broadcast did commence having lost my rag a bit because if the show was not going to commence then there was decreasing opportunity to find somewhere else to watch. However this upset was quickly forgotten.

The 3D showing is better than being present at the live game because first one has the best seat in the house being able to view the action from the Director’s box, or the Manager or the referee, with replays. It has the depth of reality without the usual front of screen extensions with which the 3D feature films are usually packed. The only front of scene activity occurred with the team sheets and the clock and goal tally, if there are any, and with the presentation ceremony at the end. I cannot wait to experience cricket with a one day match broadcast to pubs and clubs during the period. Then there the tennis and motor racing and of course the Olympics in 2012. As for the match itself I enjoyed it and was pleased that Spain one although just as pleased had it been Holland. The TV sets are on the market between £1200 and £3000 just as the wide screen and HD sets, and then when purchases become common the price significantly reduces. In my lifetime we shall see!

The motor racing with the British Grand Prix was a disappointment after the recent success of the two British world champions. Button failed to make the top ten but managed to get himself 4th and Lewis H came second after being 4th on the grid. Although they failed to give the British 1.2 which the home crowd longed for they remain at the top of the driver’s championship but the gap narrows with Lewis on 145 points, Button 133 and Mark Webber 128, resulting in conflict within the Red Bull team as Vettel claimed it was his colleague’s fault that he had to drop back and is on 121 points. Alonso on 98, is not out of the running, nor are Rosberg or Kubica with only 83. As with 25 points for a win on offer although the pure Renault have not shown the speed so far to take on the Red Bulls Renault clearly now ahead of McLaren- Mercedes, and Ferrari improving.

I did not pay much attention to the British Open Golf club after South African Oosthuizen took command and never looked liked yielding his growing lead, finishing on 272. Paul Casey who looked the most likely English challenger was overtaken into third place by a stroke to Paul Westwood who finished on 279.

Do I mention Wimbledon and the Andy Murray performance against Nadal after he had a brilliant start in the competition, despite injury and loss of form. He has now dropped to 4th in the rankings after coming close to being first. Federer’s defeat could mark a change in the natural order’s of things. It is of interest that the next highest ranked Brit is 176 out of 300.

1940 Catching on a month- The Films

I write for publication the first time in what is probably a month and only the second time in six weeks. I have written to individuals all over the world extensively during this time, mostly emails, sometimes instant messaging and in two instances video calls and while I am yet to complete records, as the activity will continue until the end of the month. I am yet to work out how many individuals there have been but 500 give or take 50 could be the number. I will be surprised if the total record pages is less than 3500. I may publish a review in due course but as the individuals are all living the material is confidential as is the subject.

There has been much sport, many films and international and national developments which had also engaged my attention. There was one major mistake in that I missed the last Whitley Bay Jazz festival and the Mouth of the Tyne Festival by a week. I phoned the Festival office to buy a ticket for the Friday and spoke to the son of the organiser who explained it had been successfully held the week before. Part of the error was that I had decided against a ticket for the Midnight to Mayfair concert of British Band Music of the 30’s to 50’s held at the Sage on the Thursday. I have two CD collections of the band music of the era which I should review and which I sometimes play to remind of my childhood listening to the music on the radio in the forties before I moved into Swing with Benny Goodman and discovered the Blues and Trad, and then Modern. After attending the recreation of Goodman’s Carnegie Hall Concert in 2008 and of the Armstrong’s Hot Five and Seven last year, this concert had less appeal.

Since discovering the existence of the Jazz Festival when attending the North Bank River festival at Tynemouth and finding that 3 Trad Jazz or swing bands played on the Saturday and Sunday afternoons on the green outside the Rock of Gibraltar Pub close to the entrance of the Castle and Priory. I switched my interest from South Shields events, taking the ferry across the river and then the special bus to the start of the Tynemouth High Street on both days

During the six weeks I only went once to the cinema to see a film and three times to see relayed football, once in 3D. The film was the third rendering in the Twilight Saga, The Eclipse. The plan had been to go to the Jazz Festival on the Friday session held from noon to midnight at hotel on the other side of the Tyne Tunnel close to the Silverlink retail park and entertainment centre, and to visit other general bands and entertainments on the Saturday at Tynemouth Priory grounds, returning for a meal and then going out to the evening moving art installation from Gypsy Green to just below here on the hill, for the fireworks, and then staying in South Shields on the Sunday for the multicultural bands and food event or going to the Emirates Riverside for the Durham 20 20 game which could clinch a place in the quarter finals. And then I missed it all and woe has been me.

I will begin with the films and more than a mention of the Twilight Saga and the Eclipse, having not seen the previous two films or read Stephen Meyer’s 2007 novel. The series has proved one of the great money spinners of all time with this film costing $68 billion and grossing so far in excess of a half a billion. So why the fuss? At one level it follows recent interest in Vampires and Wolves and their mutual aversion although in this instances the local Werewolf pack joins with the local Vampires to defeat an assault from an avenging vampire who has created a little army of newbees- ....Newbees are newly created vampire who are stronger than ongoing creatures because they still retain human aggressive skills.

At a second level it is a teenage heartthrob romantic drama with the lead lady, Kristen Stewart as Bella Swann, a normal girl, who is courted by Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen the Vampire boyfriend, and Taylor Lautner as Jacob Black, the werewolf.

At the third level, and the one I appreciated most, it is a story of those normals who not only feel but know they are different from everyone else, whether they fit into society as Bella or are outsiders from an early age, such as me, they struggle between the requirements and conventions of society and the call of their true nature.

The story begins as the threesome are about to graduate from High School and Bella’s Father, a senior cop, played by Billy Burke, dislikes Cullen who he fear has already taken his daughter’s virginity and who appears an intellectual cold fish, while he hopes she will take up with Black who appears to him a typical hot blooded man’s man teenager. I use the expression hot blooded advisedly of course. Black is able to offer Bella a normal healthy hot blooded sexual relationship as long as she does not mind him turning into werewolf when the moon rises and romping off to play with the both sex others in the pack.

The father warms to Cullen when he finds that his daughter still a virgin, and would have approved even more so had it known the Youngman has refused her advances until they have an earthly wedding and not just to have normal sex will be dangerous for her. He is also ambivalent about her surrendering her earthly body into the cold eternity of the vampire hood, he having been taken as an innocent old fashioned gentleman officer of the south in the US civil war. As the action progresses and Bella becomes increasingly in peril she admits attraction and gratitude towards Black who saves her life nearly surrendering his own, but she chooses Cullen not because she loves him more, but decides she wants to give way to her deepest inner nature and desires. A girl has got be what a girl has gotta be.

I liked the film, against all expectations, for the script which made all three characters real despite their absurdity, for the decision not to indulge in technical wizardry, including 3D and because of the old fashioned messages of honour and duty and above all that we need to be our true selves irrespective of where being so takes us.

I had to leave the writing to go out for black cartridges in town although it has remain wet, cold and windy all day. A nasty miserable day. I parked at the supermarket and walked over to the computer store to find they only had three black inks and took magenta as the fourth, only to find on return that I also needed to replace the magenta. I also check out cherries at the grocers under the Metro station find three full boxes of large dark red cherries. I bought close to three pounds weight for £3.90 which should keep going for most of the weekend although I will get some more before they are sold out on Saturday. On the way I noted activity at the former Azda door down the hill to discovered in the local free news appear that Morrison’s is scheduled to take this over. So we are to go full circle. I have to say this is a amazing turn of events. I bought some raspberries at Azda along with milk to cover the weekend. I enjoyed some previously bought cherries and a carton of raspberries during the day, with the renewed salad at lunch time and a good piece of steak in the evening.

I have been successful in buying reduce priced fish at the supermarket but did not enjoy a packet of six large sardines which I baked yesterday with some badly made white fish sauce. I had managed to get my weight under 17 stones but the past week has seen it slowly rise especially after enjoying a bar or two of cheap Azda chocolate at 27p.

A film which has been updated but where the original remains better is the Manchurian Candidate with Frank Sinatra and Lawrence Harvey, Janet Leigh and Angela Lansbury, based on the 1959 Richard Condon novel of what Chinese and Russian brainwashing techniques used on captured prisoners during the Korean war. The story is fundamentally flawed in the main individual brainwashed happens to be son of sleeper communist Angela Lansbury who it the wife of a top ant communist fighter politician in the USA close to the Presidency. He is conditioned to kill the Party head and President elect at the convention where he is the Vice Presidential candidate, but instead kills his step mother and father and then himself as he comes to realise the truth arising from his association with his former senior officer, played by Sinatra. The two, plus other were captured together and afterwards Sinatra ahs confirmed the heroic role of Harvey which leads to the Congressional Medal of Honour. The past begins to knaw at him until he begins to unravel what happened with the help of his girl friend played by Janet Leigh. Once you accept the implausibility of he role of the mother played by Lansbury the film remains a good thriller.

Another gem of a film is Farewell to the King with Nigel Havers and Nick Nolte as he king. The film is a good follow up to recent films about lone British or American officers who create armies in the Far East during the Second World War to undermine the roll of the Japanese, In this instance British Officer Havers finds a US army deserter who has escaped a Japanese firing squad adopted by a tribe of Head Hunters who make him their King. The two go through many adventures together with Havers persuading his commanding officer played by James Fox to accept the reality of the role played by Nolte. The film has several tragic moments as the horror of war unfolds.

This also reminds of another film of this period in which a group of US service men including radio operator are sent on mission to contact an agent who turn out to the a former USA Malayan young woman now acting as Geisha courtesan to the Japanese command seeing information which will help the proposed return of General MacArthur. Everyone including Mickey Rooney is killed except the radio officer who manages to be picked up by the planned submarine.

A different side submarine pick up is portrayed in one of the later versions of John Buchan’s The 39 Steps. This made for TV version in 2008 has Rupert Penry Jones as Hanny with a nice twist at the end.

The Funny film, which I have not previously seen is a musical version of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum in which Frankie Howard made his name in the British version. The US version has Buster Keaton in a secondary role but loses out by omitting all the double meanings. It is not really worth using valuable time writing about. Nor is Gargoyle which passed the time during a tired period this afternoon. I am sure there were several other films viewed which I failed to note titles so cannot recall the subjects or my reactions.

Next is catch up on all the sport.

1455 A day revolving around a film

As the end of the day rapidly approached, I was tired but not inclined to go to bed as it was before ten pm I selected a film to watch because the briefest of notes said it was a film which involved terrorists taking over a restaurant and where the chief investigator was Juliet Stevenson as an MI5 special agent and Pete Postlethwaite as the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, theoretically responsible for deciding how the hostage siege situation should be dealt with, Stockyard Channing has the part of a Greek restaurant owner, once married to a Turkish Muslim. The film, Red Mercury was made in 2005, does not appear to have been released for the cinema theatre as there is no review but is as interesting and question raising as the best of Spooks where a new spin off series is to be shown shortly. The combination of some fine actors and an eloquent and knowledgeable script held my attention although I worked out the punch point long before it was formally revealed. It is the plausibility of the of the plot which interested me and caused me to debate writing about the experience and in what way, I am going to write in the chronological time sequence of the experience. Three young Muslim men are part of a cell brought together by a fourth to create a dirty bomb which could devastate a city and which is to be used to blackmail the British Government into meeting a number of demands, but the authorities are topped off about their work and it is during their attempt to escape with the unmade device that they enter the restaurant. Juliet has a similar role to Denzil Washington in déjà vu and also the similar ability to see what others do not. She senses there is something not right about the situation especially when the media gets hold of information about the identity of two of the three Muslims. In order to confirm her suspicions about what the group are up to she consults her former husband who is an academic who retains security clearance and he explains that Red Mercury is a theoretical substance which it was for a time believed the Russians had developed in order to create a dirty bomb, but was a myth promoted to cause fear an side track Russia's enemies. It emerges that in order to smoke out home grown terrorists the British Government arranged for Russia to provide the substance) which they know does not work) as a means of identifying and capturing potential suicide bombers, which is fair enough, but the government is shown to be not adverse to bringing in the SAS to bring the siege to an speedy end and where the level of casualties can be expected to be high, the film suggests over 75%. For some reason the film implies that by using the police led anti terrorists squad when shooting breaks out in the restaurant there will be fewer casualties and the film implies that he real baddies are the politicians and that the terrorists are nice guys from good families who would not have come to behave as they do if they had been treated with more love and greater respect by society in general. The main sub theme of the film is that Muslim if a good religion because it preaches a good way of life whereas the way western Christian behave immorally and socially divisive. Juliet's daughter is a suicidal, self harming drug addicts who cannot connect with her mother or father but is helped by a thoughtful, understanding and supportive black man from a 'West Indian' background. One of the three has a white protecting mother who lives behind bars on a poor estate in London whose Asian father has disappeared and had a history of trouble at school and involvement in minor car crime until finding faith and preaching against drugs and crime to the latest generation of former school mates. By one of many unbelievable coincidences in this film he was influenced positively by a book written by one of the hostages who he is able to save from the wrath of another terrorist when the man challenges, taunts and provokes by exposing the hypocrisy of their behaviour. Another in the restaurant is an illicit couple, a major international corporate figure out for a discrete meal with his Personal Assistant and young mother whose husband believes she has been called way to an event in Edinburgh. The bomb maker is an intellectually bright young man who has become an expert in nuclear physics and special metals and who father is an honest and kindly Asian trader where his son is also able to give him advice on wines his rue love rather than become a PH.D. Earlier I had watched one of several short films about present day China in which a young and extremely wealthy female wine maker explains the opportunities now emerging in her country where one if five of the new four million business enterprises are also female. Depressingly another film was a series of interviews with young men and women all anxious to but the most fashionable of goods in a situation where the manufacturers of these goods are going to great lengths to gain a piece of the action regardless of the consequences upon China and the rest of us of uncontrolled consumerism lacking any sense of moral or social purpose. The interest of the main theme that governments have to use challenging methods in the interests of the overall security of the nation and which will involve innocent casualties, together with detailing aspects of the story and its characters would not have been as great had I not decided to check the internet about Red Mercury and immediately came across a factual BBC news Story dated 25th July 2006 emphasising that the film was released in 2005. What is Red Mercury, is the headline. " three men have been cleared of trying to procure the raw ingredients for a dirty bomb which the prosecution claimed could have devastated a British City if it fell into the hands of terrorists. But mystery surrounds the material at the centre of the plot., begins the story written by Chris Summers., He explained that no one in court could be certain that the terrifying substance upon which the prosecution case was based existed. The story explained that it did not matter if the substance existed but the issue was that the three men with others were attempting to acquire and use the substance. An undercover reporter, Mazher Mahmood is said to have been farcical conversations with the prospective buyers. The article gives the impression that the substance is regarded as a medicine with uses ranging from impotency to extending life. The main accused had searched the internet for information and in particular an article from About.Com. Chemistry is quoted at length in the BBC report which provides a link to the article by Dr Anne Marie Helmenstein. This explains that science newsgroups have been a-buzz about a 2 kiloton yield Russian Red Mercury fusion device, theoretically in the possession of terrorists. The article goes on to explain what is possible accurate and what is not. It is undated. I then turned to Wikipedia which explained that articles about the substance first appeared in the late 1980's and then people started to but it. By the late 1990 there was reports of the substance having a market value of one to three hundred thousand dollars a kilogram. The three young men were arrested in 2004, in eh year before the film was released.. The News of the World provided the fake Sheik. The Wikipedia article claims that Samuel Cohen, the father of the neutron bomb had been stating for sometime that the chemical known as ballotechnic had even perfected into a bomb by Soviet scientists in the form of several softball size pure fusion bombs which were then made in large numbers. The Wikipedia article then lists the various books, programmes and Video games which feature the substance, including novel called Red Mercury by Max Barclay and Red Mercury Blues an Artie Cohen mystery by Reggie Nevelson published 1995 and reissued in 2006. It was also used in third series Spooks as bait for an Al-Qaeda style terrorists group! Who therefore is kidding who and about what? I watched Middlesex do to Somerset what they did to Durham in the 20 20. Although they lost have their side for a handful of runs, Shah and Henderson performed as they did in the 20 20, Henderson getting 50 and Shah 96. Udall who was about to play for Henley on Thames until Middlesex resurrected his career and Kartick bowled tightly and Marcus Trescothick scored only 50. The cricket news of the day was the appointment of Kevin Petersen as captain for all three sides( Test, 1 day and 20 20) but only Bopara was added to the Test side in place of Vaughan and there is no place for those who have shown recent great form such as Shah or Napier in the one day squad who took 3 for 33 in six overs demolishing Northants in the Pro 40 last night. I had a workmanlike day going to the supermarket early for milk, bread, salad and stir fry, and then calling at the post office for AOL wireless internet delivered while I was away. I did the ironing and finished writing Blogs bringing this aspect of my work up-to-date. I enjoyed playing chess and Hearts. And sorting out papers but the prescription sun glasses remain missing and presumed lost while away. I will write to the garage in case there were left in the loaned vehicle. I did some more work on the plants and began to count the true financial cost of the trip. I continue to be self indulgent re food with a large portion of stir fry in the evening but the lunchtime salad was OK with one slice of bread and then offset by a small quantity of peanuts with a quarter glass of wine and the remaining three orange jam biscuits, after toasting the remaining roll for breakfast and having cereal later in the day.

1454 Beatrix Potter

I awake in a daze having not enjoyed dreams which were nevertheless interesting and which in summary were about loss and failure. I try to work through the bleariness if waking by playing games for the first time since Thursday week. Playing chess was not wise as at one point I nearly pressed the clear button which would have irrevocably wiped out the record of 101 if 300 games level one although I played over 1000 game to achieve a statement of the record having achieved 101 previously and then wiped the slate clear. Now I am at a 45 game winning streak out of a further 500 games at level two, having previously achieved 59 winning games in this total. Although I have only achieved a winning percentage of 26% of games of Hearts it is a greater achievement as unlike chess there is no way to rewind and replay a move or moves to avoid a losing high score or unintentionally playing a disastrous card through lack of concentration or a slip of a finger. There is no way of rewinding time with Hearts as there with chess or the film last night of déjà vu, also the first film viewed in over a week. I have recovered sufficiently from the night of my return home to break for breakfast and commencing the washing of clothes, but as it is Sunday and there will be no postman or anyone else calling I delay personal washing and shaving until this first writing has been completed.

The washing of clothes is done and now in the drier, and I have washed myself. During this I commenced to listen to Desert Island Discs with Richard Ingrams the editor and founder of Private Eye the Satirical magazine which developed into exposures and revelations which led to several libel suits and in one instance an attempt at criminal libel by James Goldsmith. He came from what sounded an upper class family going to Shrewsbury school and University college where he shared tutorials with Robin Butler who became Cabinet Secretary. Between school and university he was unique in failing to get an officer appointment when doing his nationals service and this reinforced his anti authority inclination which perhaps were formed through his father who was distant and who he was afraid of and who he failed to ever get to know through his early death. From Shrewsbury he knew William Willie Rushton with whom he co founder Private Eye which at first was just as satirical magazine and he had a role with the Establishment nightclub formed by Peter Cook. He remains chairman of the magazine although passed the editorship to Ian Hislop in 1986 and then founded the Oldie a humorous lifestyle for the older generation. Her had married a family friend Mary Morgan and their daughter became a drug addict and committed suicide in Brighton in 2004. One of their two their two son was born disabled and died at the age of seven. The other is an artist. The couple separated and divorced after thirty years and he is now living with someone 28 years his junior and her ten year old. He is 70. This was all brought out in the programme and he admitted that it once he handed over the editorship that the media turned its attention to his private life and it could be argued that he who lives by the sword dies by it subsequently. Much of what happens in his life appears to related to the conversion of his mother to Catholicism while his father a Protestant was strongly anti Catholic and the four sons were divided with two becoming Catholic and Richard an Anglican, playing the organ at his local church and patronising the Romney Marsh Historic Churches Trust with then Archbishop of Canterbury. The constant rebel is always full of contradictions.

There was a nasty unchristian edge to Private Eye although this perhaps was more due to Paul Foot who Ingrams let rip along with Aubron Waugh.The news of the day was resignation of the England Cricket Captaincy by Michael Vaughan followed by Paul Collingwood from the one day side in order to concentrate on his batting. It will be interesting to see who is appointed to replace them in what will be a crucial eighteen months for cricket with the Ashes, the World 20 20 cup and other 20 20 developments. Three members of he cabinet came out in support of the Prime Minister including the chancellor, no surprise there, and Harriet Harman, possibly forced to either speak up of get out, or perhaps fearing her position was being threatened with mounting talk of a challenge from local Member of Parliament David Miliband and of a group of ex Ministers coming up with an alternative policy for Labour to follow to mark their difference from the Conservatives. Would Tony come back if asked I wonder? In the evening I experiences a delightful film, one I had wanted to see in theatre and do not remember why I did not, Miss Potter with the amazing Rennie Zellweger who used make up to make herself plain and speaks in a natural English accent. This is a story to take one's maiden aunt or where three generations can sit together to view without any anxiety. I cannot remember if I knew of her books in my childhood. I remember Rupert Bear rather than Peter Rabbit and I quickly moved to Enid Blyton's Famous Five and Sevens. However Beatrix came to sell more books for young children worldwide than any other and made a fortune which she used for a purpose which outshines her books.The film concentrates on her childhood summer holidays in the Lake District although they also visited Scotland appropriate location for a socially interested family of inherited wealth from the industrial revolution rather than birth and land. Her father trained to be lawyer spent most of his time in London clubs while her mother is drawn as the worst king of social snob who attempted to marry off her daughter to a succession of awful young men with means and position.In many respecting Beatrix was the archetypical woman who liberates herself in the most constructive ways by doing what she likes to do and is good at. She learns to draw and create stories, educated at home by a governess she lacks friends while her normal brother is sent to boarding school. Beatrix also kept pets who she turns into friends with the characters of her family and their social circle. It was when moving to the Lake District that the and the family came to know Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley who created the National Trust and who is said to have help form Beatrix becoming an active conservationist fearing the Lake District would be given over to development rather than supporting the agriculture based community.The film does not bring out that at the age of 15 her parents appointed her to run their household, a role she continued until she was 30 and put every obstacle in her way regarding education and intellectual pursuits. She recorded everything that happened in journals which were not decoded until twenty years after her death. While she is known for her drawings and stories of animals. through a relative she developed a serious interest in fungi and algae and she attempted to become a student at the Royal Botanical Garden at Kew but was rejected because she was a woman. She wrote a paper on the germination of spores which had to be presented by a male relative because women were barred from the society in question. She did get to lecture at the London School of Economics in later life. This serious scientific interests is overlooked in the film. She achieved fame through the decision of Fredericke Warne and Co to publish a first edition of 8000 copies of the Tale of Peter Rabbit after 250 copies were privately printed, and by the end of the first year 1902 28000 had been sold. The film suggests that the young of three brothers who like Beatrix was discouraged from entering business was given the task of publishing her work without expectation that he or the book would be a success. It is established that they developed a relationship and at the insistence of her parents became secretly engaged but he died before the relationship was announced in society. Beatrix was devastated by his death and having means of her own she decided to buy Hill Top Farm, a working farm, in the village of Sawrey surrounded by mountains and over looking. The film suggests that she moved permanently to the farm but this was not the case and it was several years before this happened when the relationship with local solicitor William Heelis matured. He was older than Beatrix and according to the film had befriended her on her summer visits in childhood. He had become her adviser in buying up land when it became available to ensure it remained agricultural and was not sold for development. It was after the death of parents that she used their money to buy more farms and tracts of land and she and her husband moved with their menagerie of animals into the village at Castle Cottage when she became known for her grumpy temperament. Although she is known as an author of 23 books for children it is the donation through her will of 4000 acres of land 16 square kilometres gulch included 15 farms to the National Trust and which are now within the Lake District National Park. The headquarters' offices of the National Trust in Swindon are named Heelis in her honour. The film has glorious scenes in the Lake District and Barbara Murray as her mother (Beiderbecke tapes) and Ewan McGregor as her ill fated fiancée with Bill Preston as her father and Emily Watson as the sister of the publisher make up a good cast who play to the story rather than themselves.Earlier I had enjoyed Fog Island the 1945 film in which and who having spent five years in jail during which time his wife is murdered invites a group of people to his home to exact revenge on them. The building is mysterious and threatening with secret passages and the villains are numerous who get their just desserts. Up to this point I was enjoying myself and relaxed but not ready for bed so I looked to see what was showing on TV. I enjoyed the sing off for the last place in Last Choir standing. The judges selected the Bath Men's choir and for one I agreed with their decision making this the only traditional choir of the final six.A campaign by Hampshire's Women's Institute to legalise brothels in the UK was the feature of a documentary on Channel four. The two members who were the driving force behind the campaign, with the help of Channel Four visited brothels in Amsterdam, Nevada and New Zealand to work out the form of organisation to suggest to the government should be adopted in the UK. The motive arose from the murder of five young women in Ipswich, someone's daughters and the feeling hat action should be taken to provide a safe environment with appropriate medical and police support and enable the women to take control of their occupation and lives.The issue is not a simple one. There are religious and moral issues although technically being a prostitute is not a criminal activity. Soliciting is, kerb crawling is an operating an establishment as a brothel is. The programme suggested there was something of the order of 20000 mainly young women, some under sixteen years of age earning their income through prostitution with a large number of others involved in aspects of the sex industry. This number is accord with information given to a national committee on which I served considering the implications of HIV for Drug users some twenty years ago. The majority of the women are drug addicts although a percentage of these are made drug addicts by the criminals and their financial backers and eh over the past decade their has been a major influx of young sex slaves from eastern Europe. Theer will be those who like sex and those who participate on a part time basis, but core this is an industry run by criminals where the women are exploited physically and financially and given little or no protection by society. Perhaps only a national organisation a such as the Women's Institute will over a quarter of million traditionally law abiding and family members has the clout to make a difference.I cannot seethe criminals and their financial backers willingly giving up a business where even where it is legal as in Nevada they pocket 50% of incomes and offer no security and working rights. What interested with the selection of interviews with the public shown throughout the programme is the reasonable and practicality of the British people/. I found myself agreeing with every thing said by the two women WI members and also their colleagues who reacted against one nutty idea promoted by Channel 4. They found Amsterdam brothels sleazy and run by criminals and while the Nevada brothels, one of several that have been licensed appeared better on the surface it was evident that this was a male run industry where the ladies accepted the rules and conditions or did not work and where it appeared substantial earnings were made by some individuals, the reality one suspects is somewhat different. The situation as revealed in the programme in New Zealand appeared very different and positive and it occurred that it was the kind of approach which Beatrix Potter would have taken had this issue interested her than conserving the Lake District with the emphasising on quality of furnishings and environment, on condition of service including the provision of contracts, and on medical and physical safety. However what the programme failed to do was to canvass the views of the customers. While the number of customers per day was high by some contributors it is rather like taxis and the endless queues optimistic drivers that now are a regular sight at railway stations and city centres, with everyone focussed on making the money at weekend night. There are contracted services with the pubic sector and specialist services which appear to do well. Take the figures of 20000 and an average of five customers a day that is 100000 a day spending an average of £100. This amounts to over 30 million customers a year and three billion of untaxed turnover. It is this aspect which might appeal to the government as well as the boast to employment figures. There will always be a large chunk of society who will use prostitutes and sex industry services and just as with everything else there will be different levels and different interests and there is no one solution or remedy much favoured by politicians, criminals, entrepreneurs and moralists. Remember the law of unintended consequences,. My take is to wonder if in fact we have got position just about right in that a lot goes on out of the media spotlight and which does not harm to customers and providers and in some instances does some good with the authorities monitoring and taking an relaxed approached but able to step in when required. Of course there will be casualties but my priority would be on educing he number of those liked and maimed on the roads everyday, those who you see beginning to slowly kill themselves smoking at an early, and on the needs of those and their families who are presently dying and being insured in foreign fields so others can enjoy their jollies. It made a good programme and made many a newspaper story, and generated some discussion which is a good things. But legalised brothels is rather like 20 20 games. It is not cricket or English.

1939 An other life but I need to keep in touch

It has been days since I have written for immediate publication although I have written much over the past two weeks and much to others across the earth world, but os confidential from respect to them and the rules of my work project.

The sun is shining brightly outside and in my life and which could change significantly over the next three months. I try to keep in mind the law of unintended consequences and that even when we walk through the door that leads into the rose garden of TS Elliot we are likely to find the Mad Hatter’s tea party of Lewis Carroll.

I remain interested and affected by events in Afghanistan, in Cumbria and British politics. In Afghanistan the 300th soldier has died which means not just 300 bereaved families but a thousand, perhaps two or three thousand wounded soldiers, many of whom ill be forced to retire on health grounds and profound physical disability. Young lives changed forever however much they are provide with physical support. It is unlikely the British public will tolerate the continuation of this level of deaths for much longer.

Later this week the new Chancellor of the Exchequer will announce the Government’s financial programme in general terms for the next four to five years. This will have the effect of reducing public borrowing, and primarily public expenditure to a significantly reduced level from that at present. This will have the effect of reducing economic growth for the UK from the original Labour forecast of over 3% to 2% and less than 2.6% recently announced by the new independent unit set up by the coalition. It should not result in in what is described as a double dip recession but will result in an increase in the number of the unemployed, in reduced income from taxation and great payments in benefits. This is likely to offset but to what extent by taxation increases with capital gains tax which has been use by those on vary high incomes to avoid the higher tax rates. The raising of VAT is an issue and the removal of some tax advantages such as taking child credits away from those with incomes over a level. Frank Field the Labour back bench Member of Parliament has agreed to look at the whole system of welfare payments and there is likely to be renewed effort to discourage long term dependency especially by the young, the long term sick and those who are unemployed on benefit for long periods.

Yesterday a former Labour Minister also agreed to look at the question of public sector pension of which there are two kinds. Mine, other local Government pensions and regional public services have schemes which the employers contribute as well as the members and the overall fund is managed in such a way as to ensure there is income and capital to meet the cost of the pensions without government use of additional public monies. This is not the situation of other public servants, civil servants and the police for example where the government pays the pensions and where it has been customary for the police, and for firemen to retire in their late forties and early fifties and gain new employment will receiving half pay pensions. The tax payer pays the pension without reference to any backing fund. This clearly has to change but will my position be affected. There is talk of a pay freeze for those earning above a certain figure.

There have been developments in the Coalition with the departure of the highly regarded number two at the treasury because of expenses issues arising from the non disclosure of a same sex relationship. Then former leadership challenger Chis Hulne and now Cabinet Minister responsible for the Environment has disclosed he and his wife have parted and that he has established a life with someone else. I have watched many of the maiden speeches and eben impressed by the new arrivals . There are some interest new female member sin Newcastle and Sunderland who I expect to rise in the party over the course of the Parliament.

The most important political event of the past days has been the publication of the 10 volume report into the Bloody Sunday shootings in Northern Ireland when it is evident individual soldiers lost their heads and killed a number of protestors, have since lied and their actions covered up by the military and governments for over two decades before the Labour Government initiated the inquiry over a decade ago.

The release of the report was well staged managed with the families of those killed given them report early and watched the Prime Minister make a statement to the Commons in which he admitted the action was wrong and that none of hose killed were terrorists. He apologised on behalf of the government’s past. It has taken £200 million and making several law firms very rich for the truth to emerge. It shows the power of the state in a democracy with a former Chief Justice accepting failing to get anywhere close to the truth by choosing to believe the lies of the army and individual soldiers against the testimony of demonstrators and witnesses bystanders. It is a scar on Britain but does not surprise. The Prime MInister did well as he has done so far. On early votes he commands a good majority of the order of 90 to 100.

In terms of reaction the media was well briefed to put the case against the IRA and the death of 3000 other individuals in what is called the Troubles since then. I have always been quite clear that previous British Government were solidly behind the corrupt religious racist Protestant Parties which dominated Northern Ireland prevented Catholics from holding public office or achieving social advancement unless they renounced their faith and republicanism. So much for British democracy. The Protestant politicians sued to boast how the diverted British government fund for their political purpose. Bloody Sunday was the catylist to turn the general Catholic community behind republicanism with the resultant bloodshedding on both sides and British service men caught up in the middle. North American money then fuelled Republican terorrism. The holding of the Bloody Sunday Inquiry was the price for the ITA laying down its arms and turning to political action and it si to the credit fo of both sides hat they were able to work together in the Northern Ireland power sharing talks and self governing process, as well as of Tony Blair and USA senior politicians who stemned the flow of funds and helped to get people talking. While the publication and findings of the report will bring closure for many Catholics there were indications that some hard nosed so called loyalists were trying to get more government funding for raking over the coals of all the other atrocities, particularly the part played by Martin McGuiness in the IRA re-examined despite his major contribution in the Power Sharing executive since its inception.

The past two weeks has seen several important sporting events. I went to the Odeon Cinema at the Metro Centre Gateshead to watch England’s first game against eh USA on the big Screen for free. I arrived early to check if tickets were available, and intended to find a pub in Newcastle if none were available. I then a couple of hours before the theatre opened for the preliminaries at 6.30 so took the opportunity have a an explore of the centre. It had been exceptionally quiet for a Saturday evening as most people decided to watch with their families at home adn the centre was also deserted although I have not been at this time of day on a Saturday evening. In Newcastle the centre is always packed until just before closing when the crowds thin out quickly as the evening revellers take over.

It was also first time I had seen the new Odeon opened. It has a massive entrance foyer on what is the first floor of the shopping malls and the third floor of the yellow car park. I now know the way to this car park for future reference.

There is also a large Costa Coffee within the Cinema area where before the showing I enjoyed a coffee and a packet of crisps with a cheese twist. Had also ascended the floor lit staircase to the upper floor . The stairway is impressive Hollywood style. I later found the lifts. At the top there is the entrance to the Imax theatre and special lounge where for an additional premium one can sit in comfort and given a soft drink popcorn as part of the package. There is also a modern bar where I enjoyed a Peroni before locating the toilet and the lifts.

I had no idea what kind of audience would come for the showing and was pleasantly surprised by families, a couple of mothers with their sons, several Asian families and small groups of well behaved young men. There was also evidence of the British version of the long single tone trumpet sounding instrument which creates a cacophony of mindless sound by South Africans drowning out the usual crowd chanting and shoutings. It was a great pity that England performed so badly after scoring their only goal in the first few minutes. It was evident that Wayne Rooney was several notches below par form and Heskey in particular missed a goal scoring opportunity. I had taken by inner black coat which was thrown under the seat.

It was not until Monday morning that I discovered I could not find my bank card and after several checks of coats and other clothing and areas where it might have placed on return home thought the most likely explanation was it had dropped out of the coat under the seat. There was the usual difficulties of finding a human being to talk to on the main Odeon Internet contact site, but I managed and they put me through to the Duty manager who maxde enquiries and rang back to say the card hand been handed in. I made arrangements to collect the card on my way to cricket at Durham later that evening. This added to being impressed with the cinema where in the bar an assistant admitted that it was generally quiet although more quiet than usual. The various restaurants nearby did not appear tio be doing sufficient trade to be profit making on the evening or Monday lunch time when it was also quieter than on previous visits. For the cricket, the morot racing, England’s second game and anything else I can remember I will write tomorrow.

1453 I return home after a long eventful trip and all is well 2008

I am home, physically and emotionally tired and grateful that I have experienced such a full, engaging and satisfying week, during which any difficulties have been out weighed by all the good things that have happened. I had woken early but stayed in bed savouring the feeling until needing to visit the bathroom, them made some coffee and eaten the fruited cereal with the purchased skimmed milk which I had kept cool overnight in the gap between the outer and inner windows designed to reduce the incessant noise from the motorway as vehicles hurtled by as if on some race track. When I felt up to it I packed slowly although there was not much thought given to any order or separation between travel bags other than clothes in the large standard case which is also where I placed the laptop. I was not wrong in anticipating that with a leisurely start I was soon thinking of food. I had hoped the radio commentaries from the Test match would have kept me going but with Anderson out at the second or third ball of the day I sensed what was to come. Admittedly there was a further rally during which the lead crept to a point when there was a chance of bowling out the South Africans but then a sudden collapse and it was all over. There was no immediate breakthrough at the start of the South African second innings and their captain came across as being in brilliant and determined form. I stopped at the Wakefield service area for an early lunch and as anticipated became drowsy soon after setting off, stopping again at a busy service area on the A1M for a doze in the sunshine. The good weather was continuing and did so until I reached Tyneside when it was evident that there had been severe rain which continued shortly after arrival battering the roof of the garage and drowning further the plants crowded into the space open to the elements. I made a priority to sort out the plants as soon as the storm ended, emptying the surplus water from some containers. There were some good developments. The unusual blue flowered hydrangea which had promised much when bought in flower three seasons ago had performed badly last year with few flowers but had grown apace in my absence, (was it only a week?), and with heads of flowers and others to follow. The petunia tree which had nearly died when left out in the Spring frost and which had showed sign of recovery had also burst into leaves with one flower and the promise of others, and the look of others improved, once the dying and bedraggled flower heads had been removed. I wondered what the weather had been like here while I was away. There was a pile of post which appeared mostly concerned with the switch to AOL wireless and the technology package had arrived and was waiting at the main post office which closed at midday on Saturdays and would therefore have to wait until Monday. The new handset for the TV had arrived and was needed as the exiting one played up again shortly after putting on the TV to watch the cricket. I knew the free lap would take longer and there was still no sign of the Daily Mail at war series or a response to my requests for information on medical records. My usual practice was to bring in all the luggage and then unpack but my mood was such that I tackled one bag at a time. I cleaned the fridge and placed the used clothing in the washing machine but decided to leave the actual washing until Sunday as I did the washing up of kitchen and easting utensils. The Test Match was not doing well so I switched the TV off. I was not in the mood to do much, even play chess or Hearts. I enjoyed a glass of wine and a few salted peanuts, the remainder of the large green olives and then an olive pasta bake although the pieces of olives were hard to find. I fancied some pears with custard but as with much else there was no inclination to do anything. I decided to watch the film Déjà Vu with Denzil Washington playing Denzil Washington bit this is not a film for serious acting performance but an ensemble science fiction thriller within the style of 24 hours with the plot centring on a horrific one man crank bombing in which 500 revellers, including many families with children, are killed on a New Orleans vehicle and passenger ferry. The reality of this opening horror is such, with a little girl devastated as her favourite dolls accidentally is dropped and lost in the river before she is blown to buts, had me deeply upset and all the rest of the film was at first secondary. Denzil plays an ATF agent which I found out is a member of the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Bureau who investigated the Oklahoma bombings and which revealed the need for the Homeland Security reorganisation as this is not an organisation which I had come across before, or if I have then it has not registered between city and state cops and the FBI and CIA. Reviewers Frederick and Mary Ann Brussat for Spirituality and Practice described the role of Denzil as akin to Sherlock Holmes, seeing what is there to see if you have the eyes to see and the experience to know what it is you are seeing. I think they make a good point about a character who others welcome as someone who will help them to track down the perpetrator. While everyone flaps around in distress and anger, Denzil hit on the fact that a body recovered from the water which appears to have been on the ferry has a time of death put at one hour before the explosion and therefore he rightly believes she holds the key, and he becomes quickly affected by her death, how it impacted on her father and that the evidence suggests she was kidnapped because it was her car used to place the bomb on the ferry. So far the story is about who and why. It is at this point that Denzil is introduced to an experimental governmental time travelling device which enables all the information available through satellite, video camera, cell phone and computer technology to be harnessed in such a way that it is possible to focus on a situation, or a person and replay what happened in detail in real time commencing four days beforehand. This is one shot recovery but the machine raises the possibility of sending back in time warning information and eventually Denzil himself after they identify and catch the killer and have a case for prosecution but the higher authorities do not wish to intervene further. Denzil wants to prevent the death of the woman and if possible the destruction of the ferry with its horrendous loss of life. The film is good enough to leave you uncertain if he will succeed with either objective and the pace is such that you are taken along as a believer, and as mentioned in the review by James Berardinelli, it is only afterwards that you see holes in the plot. For me this was not about the story, a good one, by what we mean by time and reality and which fitted into a radio programme previously heard about how our mind processes time and how this changes with age and emotional experience. I believed I had also watched an interesting programme before a continuing comparatively early bed time but when after various attempts I found a TV schedule for Saturday I remembered that I had seen the Last Choir Standing Programme but nothing compared to the treats of yesterday. I was back

1452 Just another day of cricket

As I sat my room at the Trowel Service area on the M1 on Thursday evening I considered returning home a day early, as the weather forecast for the following day was for showers, some strong. I felt a third day at cricket was unlikely to add to my experience of the past week and I was in the mood for city exploration or to go to the pictures. And yet part of me was not ready to return to the life I had been leading although I was not unsettled or disturbed by being away, remembering my discontent during and following previous holidays especially that of 1991. I had food for lunch or evening with the second pasta and fruit salads, and I had bought four rolls and had some salami left from that purchased at Havant. I decided. I would go to the cricket. I made some coffee to take but had no water and decided that I would buy some if required from the well placed coop mini store discovered just across the road from the ticket office to the cricket ground. I needed some more skimmed milk which I would call in for on the way home. I arrived early, knowing the route and deciding to set off once I had made the decision, even if it was to watch Hampshire bat for the greater part of the day

I sat on my own in the same area as on Wednesday. During the morning I was joined by a gentleman from Mansfield who greeted me remembering my presence from the previous visit, who explained that his arrival was delayed because of unexpected visitors. He said that he had woken during the night to a tremendous rain storm and that according to the morning news there had been a thunderbolt strike on houses at Ilkeston with fire engines having to be called out. In fact there was no rain during the day and the sun came out and by early evening I had to move to another part of the ground to escape its intensity. This was at the foot of the latest stand by the new scoreboard building on the second row from ground level and provided an excellent view enabling one to feel part of the game as a boundary fielder. Pity about the exposure to the full sun during the day as this would be an ideal point to view the game in future, close to the entrance, member's pavilion and other facilities.

It was just as well that I felt relaxed, content and sleepy and I am sure that I dozed off more than once especially after Nottinghamshire were all out for two runs more than Durham Several years ago Notts had released batsman Shafayat to a neighbouring county but they had brought him back after which he had rewarded with a succession for first class performances. Today he never looked like being out until he scored his 100 and then through a moment's loss of concentration he was caught behind by the wicked keeper off the bowling of Plunkett.

As with the Durham innings, because of good bowling the run rate was restricted to an average of three an over compared with five to six in one day games and eight to ten in the 20 20. Nottinghamshire were 199 for eight at one point losing four wickets four twenty runs and my companion from Mansfield warned that this was normal and the side would be lucky to reach 200. They went on to 268, two runs more than Durham through a stand of 69 runs and he commented on being wrong and I reminded that we would have become millionaires if we were good at forecasting to which others nearby agreed. I felt that unless Durham scored freely and quickly the game was set on an honourable draw which each side having achieved five bonus point and another four for the draw, The differential between Durham and Notts at the top would be retained but with Durham having a game in hand. It would remain all to play for. There is no outstanding side this season and everyone attempts to quickly adjust to the 20 20 game and the money involved, and to the World Championships and new competitions. At lunch time I visited the cooperative mini market for some water, an ice cream and the Notts evening paper. Back at the stadium I was joined by another gentleman during the afternoon of about my age, possibly older from what he later said. When after discussing the game and the prospects of a result I mentioned that I lived close to the River Tyne he told me of his daughter his daughter who also had a home a home near the river and an office that overlooked in the centre of the city of Newcastle. He then mentioned the name and occupation of his son in law and amazingly it was someone who I had known during my managerial life, now approaching twenty years ago. It once again demonstrated what a small world it is. It was a delightful conversation, the second of the day and I reflected what nice people attend cricket at this level and regretted that I had stopped my travels to other grounds for championship games. It was just as well the company was so convivial as the cricket became exceptionally slow as Durham decided on a stalemate draw scoring 72 runs in 48 overs that is precisely one and a half run an over and a far cry from then eight and nine scored during 20 20 final days with Durham the slowest at seven runs. Clearly Durham feared a loss and not a win, However I was not discontented and the play matched my mood. I called in for the milk on the way to the car and filled up with petrol before journeying back to the lodge where the relaxed mood continued and I decided against packing or writing and watched a little TV commencing with the day at the Test Match. Peterson had done well and then thrown away his wicket just before reaching 100 to the spectacular annoyance of Geoffrey Boycott and it was then Paul Collingwood who everyone agreed and played a courageous innings as he struggled to regain his form as a batsman. He had turned from booed villain to hero with his fifty and then his one hundred greeted with wild enthusiasm. There was the prospect of saving and even winning the game if he continued to bat well with the support of partners the following morning. I watched the Big Brother eviction programme with its lack of people to care about and hope for this season. It would not be a memorable day except for being the last day of a good holiday away from what my normal existence. I had not watched a film for a week or played chess or Hearts. I hoped my home was alright and the plants had not withered through lack of water. I was expecting some deliveries which might have been taken in by neighbours for a change as I usually took things in for them, or kept at the post office or held at the delivery service local office. I was not looking forward to the travelling even though I was on the motorway and the distance would be around 150 miles. Two and half hours drive. I was too relaxed for a hard drive, starting early and knew that with packing first I would stop for food, feel tired and have need of a long break and therefore that the journey would take until the afternoon, following by the unpacking. But I went to bed as soon as I felt tired and to sleep in a mood of contentment.

1451 The great rain day spent mainly in car parks

This was the day of the great rain storm. Last night I had taken the wrong route home and came out at the road above the service area and continued northward unable to find a cross over at the subsequent service area and having to continue yet further towards Sheffield before travelling back and addition of 20 odd miles which I could have done without. The consequence of the longer journey to the accommodation together with a day in the fresh air resulted in going to bed and sleep around 10 pm for the second day in succession. It was therefore not surprising that I awoke early and started to write around 5am. I continued until seven or so when I lost the work which was irritating. It was not surprising that I felt tired around 8 and returned to bed and slept a little. When I woke and checked the day it was dark and full of heavy rain and I was content to stay in rewriting and relaxing for most of the morning. I had purchased a four pack of pan au chocolat and two for £5 pasta salads and fruit salads for the next two days, plus some skimmed milk. I also had drank most of a bottle of lemon and lime still water, a large bottle, for the same price as the smaller plain still water but there was sufficient for half a flask together with some coffee for the day's trip. I decided to visit Newark on Trent rather than head for the City centre as the rain became torrential. Although the heat rash had cleared up I was in no immediate mood for walking in such rain which was a great pity as there was much to see in this small market town with its imposing parish church of Mary Magdalene and the ruins of its castle laid waste by Charles the first.
The town is the heart of the road and railway network although the Great North Road, the A1, now b passes the town but the main East Coast line uses one station the two railway stations with the second connecting to Nottingham/Leicester and Lincoln. There are river trips and canal type boats and there are buses services to Nottingham, Lincoln, Mansfield and Southwell my next destination. The weather conditions caused me to abandon exploration by bus travel and I toyed with going to Nottingham for a performance of Journey to the Centre of the earth in 3 D as the local Cineworld did not have the technology. The town has a mixture of buildings with many fine examples of Victorian architecture and on one circumnavigation I stopped to turn around as a shopping development where I was surprised to find a new Woolworth store, given the closure of many such stores in towns such as Sunderland although that at South Shields has recently had a face lift. It was an odd place for a picnic lunch followed by a siesta but the rain continued be fierce. The road to Southwell took me past what I later learnt is the best preserved workhouse building in the UK, rescued by the National Trust when it was to turned into apartments. It is the kind of find I would normally jump at but I wanted to return to the Minister which I had briefly explored on a my previous visit to the area. I was imprisoned in my vehicle in the car park for a long during further cloud burst. It happened suddenly and one poor pedestrian was caught in the open without an umbrella and was soaked.

My patience was rewarded and as soon as there was a break in conditions I walked the short distance from the car park, where the stay is free for the first two hours to the entrance when a volunteer was anxious to greet me and would I am sure conduct me around had I not indicated firmly that I wanted a period to reflect as well as revisit at leisure on my own. The church was founded in Saxon Time and rebuilt by the Normans as part of the Diocese of York. The church became the Cathedral of Nottinghamshire in 1884 and for practical purposes has been divided into two parts with for everyday services there is an altar and choir area at the end of the Nave. I sat at the back any my attention was immediately taken by the Sculpture of Christus Rex by Peter Bull 1987 fixed high above on the crossing arch. With hands outstretched the figure appears to be lit, to glitter and I am still not sure of its impact within this ancient building. Similarly I needed time to appreciate the1996 West Window, the Angel Window created by Patrick Reyntiens. This creates a great sense of light and contrasts with the traditional 15th century side widows with Victorian glass. Unfortunately the leaflet and web site do not provide information on two features which affected me most. The first were sculpture to represent the stations of the cross, each a small table on which are scenes in contemporary forms. I was also affected by the Kelham Madonna and Child made in wood. I had hoped to also sit alone the chapter house and think of all those who had sat here in the past deciding upon the affairs and interests of the church but on two attempts I had to share with other visitors as the weather cleared, for a time and people ventured from their vehicles. At the end of my visit I spoke with the volunteer about the town and its community and my conclusions was reinforced after managing some walking. The town centre has a good array of traditional looking shops with several attractive Inns where eating and drinking out at tables in courtyards and pavements is a feature except for days such as this but everything is on a smaller and more intimate scale than Beverley. Similarly while there is green space it is comparatively small. The Burbage Green with Old Court House is the traditional Village Green and is used for roadway car parking but also has the house where Lord Byron reluctantly spent his holidays from school and college with his mother (Burbage Manor).My approach was to locate car parks before exploring, given the weather conditions and that they were free. I followed one sign down a single track lane to where it is located opposite a large parkland and play area but I failed to locate this on the internet with included a virtual tour guide which views fro, the town centre, the Leisure centre and the Minster School. Overall this is a very prosperous, middle class community where there is not the visible signs of poverty although from one car park ticked away used before exploring Burbage Green, the possession of a home were being loaded on an open lorry truck and had clearly been the process of loaded during the storms. The most likely explanation was a house or flat clearance and the furniture looked old and inexpensive. For a town of 7500 it has a 25 metre pool, fitness centre with squash and badminton courts at the Leisure where there are also facilities for young children. Southwell Minster school nearby is considered to be a private school but is a state funded secondary establishment which has recently been rebuilt with the latest facilities as a specialist college in humanities and music. There is an annual folk festival held in June and a race course and in August Ladies Day is the social event of the year where ladies are encouraged to dress up with prizes for best hats and shoes as well as best dressed. A final insight into Southwell life is that at the public toilet visit before I left there were tiny discrete typed notices advising that two good looking gentleman offered male to male escort service which would blow ones mind and that they could travel and accommodate. The treat of the day was an early evening meal at a nearby village restaurant converted from a former Inn which will remain nameless as it rightly should remain a treasure for local people. There is a £15 early evening menu from which I enjoyed a mackerel starter with horseradish, followed by pork with fresh vegetables and small pieces of roasted potatoes served to the table in attractive and keep warm containers appropriate for the rural setting. The third course was a slice of apple pie with a raspberry sorbet ice cream. I drank still water and regretted not having coffee. I was in such a good mood after this meal that I did not get into a state when on the way back to the motel I saw a sign Southwell eight miles after I had travelled at least eight miles from the area, not realising until afterward that this was a different route to the town. This time I worked out that I needed to go south rather than north on reaching the M1 with only a short distance before the service area and crossing over to the motel. There was not much time or inclination for recording and writing before another early to bed night. I kept in touch with the Test Match through the car radio and which revealed that there had been some play in the cricket between Durham and Nottingham, where the home side had reached 100 runs for four wickets and instinct based on experienced suggested that the match was moving towards a draw with two evenly matched sides aware that they had a chance to become county champions for the year.

1450 A day at Nottingham County Cricket Club

Wednesday 30th July marked a change in the mood of what was becoming a great and likely to be memorable holiday. Breakfast of pan au chocolat, Alpine cereal and coffee. I bought a pasta salad which I mixed with tomatoes and salad peppers brought with me for the trip. I also bought a fruit salad of strawberries, melon, grapes, apple. This was part of a two for £5 deal which brought the price within the reasonable range rather than expensive for my budget. I commenced to write this when I returned to my home on August 2nd and after unpacking and feeling tired I watched a DVD which had also made the same journey of the past week called Déjà vu about the use of as time machine to prevent the blowing up of a car ferry with 500 hundred passengers I am now trying to write a chronicle of my immediate past and my present as quickly as I can in order to bring the two into the same time dimension of ongoing experience. I am also trying to get up to date with everything else. I am visiting Nottingham to day, for Durham playing at the County Ground. I have visited the ground for cricket before. I have visited Nottingham University, the Football Ground and the neighbourhood of the Football ground. However in this situation it is about the present and not the past and previous experience is for another occasion. Before setting off today I completed writing about my journey to Havant and posted on MySpace. This meant I would arrive at the ground before the start of play but I had forgotten that parking could be a problem, unlikely Chester Le Street on County Championship days when the traffic would be normal with limited stops for lights and roundabouts and parking unlimited. There was no one at the Travel Lodge reception, when I was ready to leave, to ask how to get to the other side of the motorway and failing to identify the exit I returned, rang the bell and the assistant explained what I had to do, These roads are intended only for use used by emergency vehicles, staff, and motel guests, so the every effort is made to avoid casual visitors using the facility. It is such a long time since visiting the city, but less than ten years, and I had failed to work out the route and therefore I was driving more in hope of finding the best way, first time of travel, to the cricket ground. As I hoped, soon after entering the outskirts from the motorway there was a sign directing Football and Cricket traffic back out of the city towards a ring road. Then I was unsure of the way and turned back towards the town centre, passing a Park and ride, an out of town shopping centre and the coming by the main railway station where road signs included a reference to Trent Bridge and I was soon turning across the river with the football ground to the left and then saw what are the as yet unused six majestic permanent new floodlight masts at the cricket ground. These are contained within a ring rather than the usual squares and are unique and attractive architectural structures. I turned my vehicle in front of the building and went around another side, and reaching a wide road turned left moving away from the ground until finding a car park with many unused spaces. However the fee for over 3 hours was £20 set intentionally high to prevent use by cricket and football fans. I doubled back and explored the side roads but although parking was not restricted to residents there appeared to be no free spaces. However I found a space within five minutes walk of the ground and crossing over, found the ticket office at the very junction where I had turned the car left into the main road. I had gone a full circle and I work out now in my mind how I did so Usually one can enter the ground at the ticket office but there was some work being undertaken to what I discovered is the extraordinary new all singing and dancing scoreboard. By good fortune I had only needed to walk a couple of hundred yards from the car into the ground. I have lost my prescription sunglasses and had an idea where they might be, so broke off to investigate without success. The opportunity was also taken to close the bedroom curtains. I check emails and then decide to print out the Blogs that have been posted since on my travels. I have been going to sleep early around 10pm and while away waking early around four or five and writing I have then become tired during the day for longer periods that has become custom so I try and stay up but around 11pm I am very tired so leave further writing until the morning. My writing is impressionistic although written as a chronicle and an official report where the emphasise is on fact and accuracy and less on feelings and the intrusions of memories and flights into fantasy, although I encourage the former and disciplines the latter into projections of possibilities rewinding variations in future time options. Do I want this, can I make it happen, can I avoid that happening. I have recovered sufficiently from the night of my return home to break for breakfast and commencing the washing of clothes, but as it is Sunday and there will be no postman or anyone else calling I delay washing and shaving until this first writing has been completed. Inside the ground I am impressed by the visual impact and by aspects of the comprehensive developments since my last visit. There is only one old building at the corner of the ground by the street level ticket office with the entrance I used marking the other end. This is in fact the pavilion so the first aspect to note about the cricket ground is that the wickets are at angle to the pavilion with the site screen comprising white or presumably black blinds to the windows. Members sit in a the small terraced area below the windows and therefore are exceptionally well disciplined. The long room is quite small and when one cannot see the game except by bending down below window level. There are only a handful of tables compared to the vast area at Durham. There is an executive lounged/dining area which I did not explore, but I did find as small TV lounge. I only found this after circulating the ground in search of a cup of tea and in the members lounge cups of tea were being served for £1.20 a side table to the bar, where previously there had been a lunch time roast meal available. There was also a scone with cream for £1.30. There were also the player's dressing rooms and game viewing area. It is a ridiculously small and inappropriate Pavilion for a ground of such importance for international games. Nottinghamshire is the third oldest test Playing ground in the world and a photograph of the original Pavilion area indicates that section have been replaced by the new scoreboard and a hospitality conference suite. The then £7.2 million Radcliffe Road development comprises one of the tallest cricket stands I have experienced with four levels. The pitch side terracing, hospitality boxes level and then the upper terracing and then an even higher level, unused today and I suspect restricted to Internationals and perhaps domestic 20 20 cricket. The building has dept so it contains facilities open to the public and there are a few private business offices at street level, The building contains residential accommodation as well as a host conference and meeting rooms. There are also lifts. I did not explore this area because unlikely any other ground it is not possible to walk round inside the ground although pass outs are freely available if one wants to go to other areas. What I have said is not strictly accurate as I will describe in a moment. The Radcliffe Road stand occupies the widest straight stretch of stand and building inside the ground and I thought this was the new Pavilion at first until advise to the contrary by a Nottinghamshire Member. The new Fox Road stand has what is a described as a state of the art aircraft wing roof which provides shelter to the upper tiers of its 2300 seat capacity. However on my visit I could not get around this stand without going up and then down steps into the stand, until lunch time when I was able to walk on the pitch where spectators are allowed to play during championship games. Opposite this stand there is another recently opened stand with a different kind of wind and rain shield but also only applies to the upper tiers. I was able to get to this stand via one side of the Members Pavilion passing in front of the new super scoreboard in a building which may also house players or media facilities. There is a logic about locating this facility here only if it includes facilities for the players as this is the only area inside the ground for parking cars for club officials and players. However the screen cannot be seen from the Members Pavilion. The other reason is that it would have further obscured the view from the County Council offices that are located in one area of the ground and where the old scoreboard remains. I sat in the Hound Road Lower stand as there is shelter from the sun for most of the day and from the rain by the upper tier. There are hospitality and conference meeting room facilities in between the two tiers. I was on my own at the beginning of the day but when the rain arrived briefly and then as the sun reached the area everyone congregated in the undercover space and this was when I had several conversations with Nottinghamshire members. I arrived just as the third over of the day commenced to find that Durham had won the toss and elected to bat first. Nottinghamshire is an excellent bowling side with Stuart Broad released from Test duty and a first class spinner Patel so Durham took their time playing defensively and awaiting scoring opportunities, a far cry from the approach to shorter one day games. There was a good performance from Will Smith who had played for Notts who had promise but failed to progress and where he has become the most consistent performer at Durham, His 85 runs came from 182 balls in included 13 fours, His partnership with Captain Blenkenstein was crucial in bring stability to the innings although again it was slow cricket with 28 runs from 77 balls, and Chanderpaul Ben Harmison and Mustard also each scored thirty and I was delighted that my advice to Notts players than Durham would bat to the last man was proved accurate as although 204 seven a total of 268 was reached and there was only time for a couple of overs for Notts. There was much interest in the test match with the performance of Vaughan and Collingwood the subject of comment. Collingwood especially it was felt had taken the place deserved by Broad although there was delight that he was playing again for his home club. I was also told that Members usually parked for free at the Notts Forest ground but where amazingly there was a friendly with Sunderland that night so the car park was closed except to football supporters. This explained the number of Sunderland shirts in the ground and as a group of young supporters of both sexes arrived and sat in the seats in front and became lively as the drink took effect. Some move doubt of the shade as the day progressed and two girls were bright red and going to suffer as they left sheltering too late. They were part of a coach party who had booked an overnight stay. I spoke with one local supporters late in the morning when wanting to know where I could buy a cool drink, He disappeared at lunch time, reappeared a couple of hours later and then disappeared again after tea. He clearly did not enjoy a day of the opposition batting. Eventually I found a drink on advice of a gate steward I went into the Squash club bar who were offering a Hoagie roast which is a form of bread and meat, with a pint for £5.50. The Member's bar was serving a Hoagie without the pint for the same price.. In the afternoon a married woman sat nearby and asked if I she was right in saying that I supported the opposition, which surprised me how she knew. She usually came with her husband who was engaged elsewhere fro the day and was a regular member who knew a great deal about the home players which was helpful. She as other longer term members were adjusting to scale changes at the ground but also added about the lack of food for those who did not want to rely on a packed lunch. Later in the day I could not resist advising one of the young men that. I too lived on the Lawe Top which had the effect of stunning the lad which was desire as he had been allowing the drink to govern his mouth. The group, seeking shade and surrounded another older Notts member, a woman sitting on her own and although the banter had been good humoured I could see that she felt overwhelmed and left early, or to move elsewhere. They had explained to her that they were not all from Sunderland and that some were from South Shields and the young man had added the Lawe Top. It is a small world but also underlines that one should always be careful what ones says because one never knows who could be listening. It had been a relaxed day, the kind I needed and I looked forward to a quiet evening at the accommodation getting up-to-date with emails and MySpace writing as well as thinking about the following day when the weather was forecast as poor and I planned to explore the area. I then had difficulty in getting on line which was later a identified as local problem and where the service provided gave me a reference for a couple free days use which will be left until the London trip. I was able to write a little after a good evening meal of soup, the last pasta, and some cake. I was in bed and asleep by 10am.