2407 Les Miserables, in Theatre, in Film and recorded

It is Les Misérables weekend although the time spent on writing and listening is shared with Wii Sports and Wii Fit as the game disk arrived Saturday midmorning. I have booked up my March trip to London for £31 return. I am debating whether to get myself  dressed and to Morrison’s for some sprats as they had a good supply when visiting yesterday and where I bought four ready made packs. They are so fattening though with the batter and oil .I decided against and will make do with the supply already to hand

I saw Les Misérables one and three quarters times  at the Palace Theatre London in 1991.On the first occasion, a matinee performance on Janaury3rd 1991 Upper Circle  Row A 36 at £18.50 I had to leave early before meeting up for an evening meal prior to an evening performance of Miss Saigon at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. I was to see Miss Saigon four times. I went again to Les Misérables/
    `     soon afterwards and then purchased the complete Symphonic recording of the Alain Boubill and Claude Michel Schonberg musical based on the 1000 page historical novel by Victor Hugo which I have also commenced to read for the first time. James Cameron provided the Score for the Philharmonia Orchestra supplemented with musicians from the Palace Theatre. The cast for the  recording was drawn from London, Los Angeles, New York and Sydney productions with Eponine from Tokyo. A young Michael Ball played Marius.

This morning Friday January 11th 2012 two decades later I arrived at the Cine World Bolden in time for a £1.18 coffee  at McDonalds before the 11am first showing of the film version. There just over 100 individuals in the theatre by around 11.20 when the performance commenced 2 hours 40 minutes concluding at 2pm. I had planned to listen to the recording before attending and without doing so I had  to quickly adapt to what is a fast moving story spanning two decades from 1815 to the revolution of 1832.

While the stage musical made no attempt to cover the full story of the  Victor Hugo novel it is generally agreed that it captures the main themes and soul of the work in an extraordinary way which has led to its worldwide production  attended by an estimated 60 million people. It opened in Paris in 1980 and came to London and then to the West End in 1985, opening on Broadway in 1987 and then on tour in the States. It has remained a feature of the London Theatre scene now at the Queens Theatre Shaftesbury Avenue where one agent is selling tickets in the stalls at £86. I paid £5.40 for my cinema ticket this morning.

The story opens  as a prologue in 1815 when Jean Valjean is paroled after surviving five years for stealing a loaf of bread for the starving child of his sister and a further fourteen years after attempting to escape. He is paroled for the rest of his life with the implication that he is unlikely to find work and therefore accommodation and will live as  a beggar on the streets until  a premature death from cold, starvation and illness. The opening number is in effect a scene setting confrontation between Valjean prisoner 24601 and Javert then a senior prison official who warns Jean that he will never be free.

Listening to the Mayo Kermode Film Show on BBC radio 5 when I returned home they played part of the exchange with Russell Crowe not a singer and Valjean played by Hugh Jackman, an Australian who came to International attention through his performance in Oklahoma for the British National Theatre in London. Until Les Misérables he was known for his appearances in the X Men series of films while also appearing on Broadway. I also enjoyed his performance in the epic film Australia where he replaced Russell Crowe. I thought it was mistake to play the opening sequence in isolation from the rest of the show gives a false impression of his excellence performance.
This is because the film a film and not a theatrical production and where through close ups dramatic acting is as important if not more important than the quality of the singing. This film is extraordinary, very special in fact, for the collective acting of all the members of the cast and which is enhanced by the visual brilliance created on scale  impossible on the stage, although this is not to belittle the achievement of sets created at the Palace Theatre stage which were also remarkable.

Bitter, angry, an outcast Jean Valjean finds his way outside a house which happens to be the accommodation of the Bishop of Dijon who invites him in, feeds and offers a bed  for the night. Jean repays the hospitality by stealing silver, is captured and brought back where the Bishop confirms that he had given the silver as a gift and that the man had failed to take two ornate silver candlesticks the most valuable item of his possessions.

The Bishop sends him away with  the words “Remember  this my brother, see in this some higher plan, you must use this previous silver to become an honest man.”

It after this that Jean Valjean sings an important solo in which he looks back on his life. “ I feel my shame inside me like a knife!” He decides to begin a new life but potentially making his position worse by tearing up his yellow ticket of leave, his parole requirements. (What have I done?)

Is only when I am able to listen to the film Libretto that differences between it and the theatre production may become apparent, but this is not something immediately evident to me although my impression is the order of some events may have been changed slightly rather than the  lyrics.


One change evident between the original productions and the film is that Valjean was described as having disguised himself whereas now he has shaved off his full face whiskers. He has become an important local personality, a factory owner and the town Mayor and known as Monsieur Madeleine. The date is 1823 and we  meer the poor of the town “ Its a struggle and a War”  “And they do not hear the little ones crying and Winter is coming on fast”, “ There’s gonna be hell to pay at the end of the Day.”

We meet Fantine as a worker grabs a letter, a demand from the Inn keeper and his wife who are fostering her daughter. Until this information has become known she was regarded as aloof from the rest of workforce, resistant to the sexual advances of the male foreman. Now the married women turn on Fantine and the foreman siezes the   opportunity to sack her for refusing his advances. Her employer who would have intervened and not tolerated such behaviour is distracted because of the appearance of Javert who has become the local police chief.

Where the order also appears to have altered is in  the incident of the runaway cart which pins  a man down and where Valjean uses his super strength (in the film he raises the flag pole of a damaged ship which is being hauled into a dry dock (filmed Portsmouth Harbour) by lines of the chain gang compared to the small number used in the stage production. Javert has already sensed he has seen Valjean from somewhere before now and from seeing the same great strength he suspects he has found the man who absconded from parole and makes  inquiries in Paris.

There is now one of the most mopving parts of the story commencing with Fantine singing the memorable number I dreamerd a dream, “I dreamed a dream that love would never die, I dreamed a dream so different from the hell I am living,“ followed by the number Lovedly Ladies to describes the prostitues, their pimps and other “low life” who inhabit the port of the town. The film emphasises the reality that the majority of these women were worn and sick creatures, garishly overpainted, and dirty in every sense. Fantine desperate to continue to fund the care of her child is forced to become a prostitute and we see her become thin to the point of emaciation, starving herself to save for the required payments, her body, her feelings has become dead.

There is an incident which leads to her arrest after she refuses a client who hits her with a stick so she claws him across the face, he calls the police who enter led by Javert. She explains what happens and is not believed but Valjean who is passing by steps from the crowd to plead her cause recognising her without knowing what happened, so she explains in disbelief at his ignorance. He takes her to hospital attracting the concern of Javert. It is at this point in the original production that the runaway cart incident occurs. Fantine is very ill.

There is then an important turning point in the story when Javert is confronterd with the information from Paris that the absconder Valjean has been apprehended and is to appear in court to be sentenced to further imprisonment and this poses a moral dilemma for Valjean could do nothing and become truly free knowing he had sent a man to prison for life. He goes to court and admits the truth.”My soul belongs to God. He gave me hope when hope was gone.” He admits he is 24601. There is then the second movings sequence when Fantine dies in hospital with Valjean offering to find and take care of her daughter as his own.

Fantine is played in the film by Anne Hathaway. A beautiful young woman previously in Brokeback Mountain, the Devil Wears Pravda and Rachel’s Getting Married for which she received an Academy Award nomination, Alice in Wonderland and the Dark Knight Rising. Interviewed on Mayo and Kermode she refused to reveal what she did to loose so much weight for the film and which of course could have been cinema trickery!!

However before Valjean can undertake the mission he is confronted by Javert who has come to return him to prison Valjean pleads with him for three days and then he will accept his fate willingly. He is refused, they fight and he escape after knocking down the policeman.

He finds Cossette working as a drudge at the Inn run by Thénardiers at Montfermeil. In the film the wife is played by Helena Bonham Carter who builds on her over the top comical roles of the Red Queen in Alice in Wonferland and as the wicked witch in Harry Potter, I thought she was good and funny whereas Sasha Baron Cohen is Sasha Baron Cohen also over the top but does not come off in my view as strongly as Helena although he tries hard to steal every scene that he is in and in fairness the part is drawn this way especially with Master of the Hosue in which he describes how he uses every tricks to get guests to pay several times for anything and everything if the eat and drink  and if they require accommodation. Helena priases her daughter who is spolit whereas Cosette is sent off to the woods to draw water from the well where she is found upset and bemoaning her fate by Valjean “Castles on a cloud“ Thenardier then  extracts all that he can for the visitor before releasing Cossette to him.

It is at this point that the film introduces a new number Suddenly which has been nominated for an Oscar. Javert also  visits the Inn shortly after Valjean and Cosette have departed.

In the original production this development is omitted and the action moves to the streets of Paris where revolution is in the air. It is 1832 and the poor sing  beggars at your feet echoes the opening music with the chain gang. The singers of  the poor are represented by a prostitute a pimp and an  old women.  and  introduced to  Marius who who  reports that General Remarque is ill, a man who speaks for the poor, We are also introduced to young Gavroche, a clever street urchin who has identified with the rebellion,

Also in Paris  are Thernardier and his wife and grown up daughter Eponine who is in love with Marius who although from a wealth family is living in the same tenement plotting a revolution with  students. They enounter Valjean out with Cosette now grown up and Marius is smitten much to the disappointment of Eponione. Thernardier recpgnises Valjean and exposes him. Eponine spots the arrival of Javert with police constables and Valjean quickly disappears leaving Cosette in the company of Marius. Thernardier gets off because of the absence of a victim who Javert speculates it is Valjean. Javert has an important solo but it is Gavroche who claims But it it’s me who runs this town, Marius begs Eponine find where Cosette lives,

There is now the build up to the rebellion and conclusion of the first part of stage show, Under the banner song of Red and Black the students meets at the ABC cafe to plan their next action, The are waiting for the right moment , the right sign to rally the people to get behind them. Marius is distracted and is chided on being in love and told to concentrate on the task in hand, - Red, he sings  I feel my soul on fire - Black my world  if she is not there - Red the colour of desire- Black the colour of despair. The news comes from Gavroche that General Lemarque is dead, the awaited sign, they will take to arms and man the barricades - They Will come one and all-they will come when we call.

The optimism continues with Do you herar the people sing.. There is a life about to start, tomorrow, will you join in our crusade?

It is time for Cosette to  reveal to Valjean that she has grown up and fallen in Love- In my Life. Valjean commentsd at one point -You will learn that truth is given by God To us all in our time, in our turn,  before leaving the garden where Cosette reflects in how she is feeling, Marius has come to the garden with the help of Eponine who realises that she has lost all hope of winning his love. The couple expresses their feelings for each other.

Outside Eponine finds that her father and his henchmen have also made their way to the house  and when she threatens to warn Cosette and her father of their arrival she is threatened but still screams a warning.. The gang scatter with her father saying he will punish her later,  Marius leaves as Valjean arrives to find out what is happening. He thinks Javert is involved and announces that they must both get away first to Calais and then by ship abroad This leads another of the memorable numbers.

“One Day More” cries Valjean to get away but this poses a conflict for Cosette and in tuirn of Marius between his departing love and the barricades with his colleagues  and friends. Javert also joins in One Day more and plots to join the students  and nip the rebellion in the bud... “They will wet themselves with blood.” Eponine sings  One day more on my own. And everyone sings Tomorrow we’ll discover what our God in heaven has in store, One Day more.

The action moves to the following day and the barricades Javert joins in disgusied as a rebel. Eponine accepts this is no place for her but wants to be with Marius who sends  her off with a letter for  Cosette, Cosette is declaring her in a solo  “On My Own. The Barricades are complete, the students are ready.Jarvert returns  from his false mission warning the students that the authorities have strength in numbers but they will not attack that night, Gavoroche recognises who he is and Javert is captured with a nose placed around his neck.

Eponine returns having delivered  the letter into the hands of Valjean. She is mortally wounded.  She has her moment ”A Little Fall of Rain as she is conforted that she is  dying in the arms of Marius “That’s all I need to know you will keep me close, you will keep me safe“, Others declare they will fight in her name. She will not die in vain. They carry off her  body .

Valjean has read he letter and goes in search of Marius dressed as a soldier he is admitted to the barricade. They are able to repel the first attack. Valjean asks to be put in charge of Javert. He then cuts the bonds and tell him to go. Javert says he will still go afer him Valjean tells him where he can be found. He fires a shot which convinces the comrades he has desposed of the police chief.

Marius and the fellow student revolutionaries have a night of drink and preparations for the battle the following day. There is then another of memorable numbers sung by Valjean over the wounded Marius  Bring Him Home  over the sleeping body  Marius.

With the failure of the people of Paris to immediate rise up the battle is lost and the barricade remains the only one surviving. Gavorich is killed and this spurs the rest to fight on with many killed and the remainder executed on capture. In the film Javert appears affected by the death of the young and pins a medal on one. Valjean finds the wounded and unconscious body of Marius and carries and drags him with difficulty throught her sewers. Javert realises that Valjean is not among the dead and could have used the sewers to escape and follows. Also in the sewers is Thenardier and his men robbing those found dead and when he thinks he found the dead body of Marius he takes the boys gold ring, and then runs off when he finds the exhausted body of Valjean nearby. Valjean  recovers and take Marius  out of the sewers..

He is confronted by Javert once more and pleads just for an hour to take the young man for treatment. Javert has mixed feelings and proclaims ”the man of mercy comes again and talks of justice.” He allows 24601 to complete his task but warns he will be wating for him to keep his word and return. However he then has a major crisis of conscience and self doubt and commits sucide. “Who is this man, what sort of devil is he?

The women discover the bodies of the young men lain side by side and sing “of the children of the barricades someone used to cradle them and kiss them, when they cried.” Marius recovered returns to the cafe and sings another memorable tune “Empty Chairs at Every table. Oh my friends do not ask me what your sacrifice was for? “ He is played in the film by and proves one of the many excellent performances with the young Cosette, the face of the play and the film, young Gavroche and Eponine all memorable performances. Less so perhaps the older Cosette.

Cosette arrives to  help Marius with his recovery and they are to become lovers. Marius seeks Valjean and offers him a home with them. Valjean explains why this cannot be, revealing his past persuading Marius to help Cosette accept his departure in her best interests. The couple marry but the wedding reception is spoiled by the arrival of Therardier and his wife wanting more money and posing as a Lord and Lady at what has been a Society wedding. Marius sees that  Thenardier has his ring and realises that it was Valjean who saved him after the battle..

Thenardier and his wife have their final  number “Beggars at the Feast.”

Valjean has returned to church where he and Cosett had found sanctuary with the help of the man who he rescued from under the cart so long ago. He is preparing to die “God on high hear me now take me home. “The spirit of Fantine arrives to accompany him on his journey  “You raised my child with love and you will be with God,” The young couple rush into the room without seeing the presence of Fantine, They press Valjean not to dire and he tries to live on, but his time has come  and Fantine is there to bless him  “to love another person is to see the face of God.”

There is an epilogue as the people of Paris rise up behind a large barricade  “Do you hear the people sing say do you hear distant drums it is the future that they bring when tomorrow comes tomorrow. “ As with the stage production is the opportunity for the full cast to appears resurrected in several cases in a song of revolutionary triumph against injustice and oppression.

There was applause, somewhat embarrassed, as the film ended and with several others I stayed stead as the best music is repteaed throught the credits. A couple was approached by a young assistant, possible their son or a relative to enquire had they like the film and the man said one of the best films ever. I would not as far as that but certainly one of the best musical alongside Evita which I have viewed several times and also the Moulin Rouge  both of which I have the DVD with another with more serious intent Caberet. While not a film these are alongside the best staged production along with Les Misérables, Miss Saigion where I have a cassette edition recording and where the film will come hopefully one day.

There have been film adaption disappointment with the most significant Hair where I have both Long Play records editions, the first excluded songs related to drug use and verbal sexuality and is a rare item. Les Miserables  as a stage production and now as film can be criticised for  not being out of lace in a Tea party convention, from its emphasise on personal responsibility, crime and punishment and salvation through atonement and  the Christian meaning of love. There is  a lack of socialist principles in the story. As with Miss Saigon  (Madam Butterfly retold) there is great emphasise on giving the public what it wants with emotional numbers and exicting sets, Those who have read the book extol the fact that the production does communicate what the book is about which is encouraging. I found the performance satisfying and moving. A box of tissues is required,

2406 Casino Jack Abramoff and Republicanism

I recently watched the Kevin Spacey film Casino Jack, Jack Abramoff that is, convicted and imprisoned for pushing the Lobbyist envelope beyond legal limits although from the perspective of the anarchism at the heart of white American little government, gun totting  Republicanism, he remains a hero. This was the second time I viewed.

At one level the film is an honest and therefore remarkable indictment of the Lobbying system in the United States, the corruption of some politicians and officials and the lack of ethical mindsets which led to the so called Banking crisis. I can also understand and have some sympathy for those who passionately believe that governments can achieve more harm than good despite the best of intentions and motives and that non profit independent bodies can be as affective if not more effective at helping the under classes in society as the state.

I also understand why I hesitated about writing this piece after seeing the film before as it covers some of the activities of some of the most powerful men on the planet.

The first thing to say is that from  the evidence  of the film and what I have read to date Mr Abramoff is no lightweight and in some respects I suspect his story has only just begun. I cannot believe he will be abandoned by his Republican colleagues and political friends, especially the two other members of the College Republican Triumvirate  of Ralph E Reed jnr  and the most powerful political individual in the USA to this day Grover Norquist.

Mr Abramoff was born in Atlantic City into a wealthy Republican family  whose father was President of the Diners Club franchise and who worked with Alfred S Bloomingdale, a personal friend of Ronald Regan, Mr Abramoff became an Orthodox Jew after seeing the film Fiddler on the Roof and his serious religious practice enable him to establish strong links with the born again Christian movement which has so dominated the Republican party over recent decades and elections.

He had a prolonged university experience over six years graduating in English and Law becoming Chairman of the Massachusetts Alliance of College Republicans, organising volunteers for the 1980 Ronald Regan Campaign. This was only a stepping stone to becoming Chairman of the College Republicans National Committee and  said to have moved the Committee to the right with the purpose of eliminating  those on the left. It was with the College Republicans that he became part of Abramoff, Reed-Norquist alliance,

In 1985  when  27 years of age  he joined Citizens for America and along with Grover Norquist helped Oliver North build support for the Nicaraguan Contras, and then helped organise as well as attend a conference in Africa with anti communist bodies such as the Mujadeen from Afghanistan and Unita from Angola as well as the Contras and opposition groups from Laos. He thus had long standing established  connections and credentials with the Republican Party and its Conservative right mainstream.

While his political links and interests continued especially his fund raising for the Republican party he  spent the next ten years in the film industry, notably producing with his brother the film Red Scorpion said to have been financed by the South African Apartheid led government via one of its front organisations to undermine international sympathy for the African National Congress.  Mr Abramoff rejects the racist implication and from what I have read he appears to have combined his right of centre American style belief in the free capitalism system with doing business with whoever was willing to pay his price.

It can be said that he created the pathway to his downfall when he was headhunted by the Seattle based Lobbying firm of Preston Gates Ellis, traditionally reported as Democrat leaning and therefore looking for someone with strong Republican connections after the Republican party gained control of the Congress. Presumably taking on someone at this level the firm would have done their homework about his creative style and methods. This was the era when organisations were advised to include creative intellects as backroom people or as shaper leaders but on the basis that they could be  quickly removed if individuals were caught crossing the line and the matter could not be effectively covered up.

Jack’s connections and style brought him amazing instant success and this appears to have fuelled personal ambitions creating two major restaurants as sidelines but it was his personal involvement in the Casino business when already under investigation by the Washington Post which  precipitated his  downfall, although there were other developments which contributed. He became financially over stretched and over confident.

What is also established that throughout his adult life he remained an important contributor to Republicanism Conservatism raising huge sums for the Party and individual politicians, as well as providing vast funds for charitable and social projects which interested him. He had good direct access to President Bush and his Administration and there is evidence of several meetings, including official photographs. He was an official member of the 2001 Bush Administration Transition Team and  became friendly with the Deputy Sectary at the Ministry of the Interior whose department had responsibilities in relation to the Mariana Islands. According to one report he had 345 meetings with members of the administration, 71 phone calls and 69 emails. He had ten meetings with Bush Aide Karl Rove.

In the film and from what I have read there were three main areas where the Justice Department and Federal authorities subsequently investigated. According to the film media interest was first aroused by his representation of the  commercial  interests of the Mariana Islands which enabled goods to be exported as made in the USA but where exemption was  gained from  restrictive labour and immigration laws as well as favourable taxation. Workers were forced to have abortions if pregnant and there was a sex industry involving  sexual and well as industrial slavery aspect to what went on the Islands he was representing and where he used his political influence to protect and further.

The second area involved providing representation  for Native American Tribes who had become economically dependent on Casinos for their education, health and other welfare services and where I have seen figures of fees  in the order of $80 million quoted but where the level of service no way reflected the fees charges.

The third and most serious of concerns arose over his decision with a partner to purchase for over $140 million a Casino group called SunCruz, ships which sailed off coast into International waters for gambling purposes although through friendly politicians in Florida one vessel remained moored in harbour. The owner of the  group remained  in management with a secret ten percent interest having been told by Federal authorities to sell his holdings within three years. The man was murdered shortly after a confrontation with the partner of Abramoff. A former  bookkeeper to the Gambino Crime Family and two others have been indicted for the murder and held in custody, still to be brought to trial  some  six years later. Jack and his partner pleaded guilty to a fraud charge where it appears  the $20 Million down payment for the purchase had little or no substance.

In addition to fraud he was convicted on charges of conspiracy and tax invasion together with trading expensive trips, meals and attendance at sporting events for political favours. Part of the problem appears to have been the cross over from the continuing political allegiance with organising fund raisers which is  a major part of the American political scene and where he used his four Skyboxes at major sporting events costing it is said $1 million dollars a year to run but to which he also invited politicians he wanted to influence including those opposed to the development of gambling. It was not illegal for politicians to participate in a fund raiser at a Skybox for example and not to declare any proceeds directly.

While Jack’s interests involved the gambling industry his professional interests were much wider earning over $3 million from a Russian Energy Company and he also, represented the  interests of the governments of Malaysia and the Sudan for a time.

According to the film he failed by one hour to provide prosecution evidence against a partner in the Indian Tribe Casino Scandal to reduce his sentence. The partner had got in first. Jack served four years of his six year sentences. After completing his coterminous sentences he is re-establishing himself with a book, a TV Show and providing official advice on the nature of the system which brought him into the White House as well as substantial wealth. It would be surprising if he does not do well on the lecture circuit and as I say I believe his story has only just begun.

I now turn to those who were  charged and most cased convicted with him. Adam Kidan was  the business partner the Lauderdale based SunCruz Casino group and was sentenced to nearly six years in prison for conspiracy and fraud.

Bob Ney then US Congress Representative sentenced to  two and half years pleaded guilty to bribes from Abramoff

Tom DeLay Republican Congressional House majority Leader convicted of two counts of money laundering and conspiracy.

(His former staff officer Michael Scanlon working for Abramoff pleaded guilty to bribery and sentenced to prison and community service; his former staff officer Tony Rudy pleased guilty to conspiracy; his executive Director Political Action Committee James W Ellis indicted for money laundering; and James Colyandro another executive director also indicted for money laundering)

Kevin A Ring staff to John Doolittle convicted of five charges of corruption and 20 months prison

(His former chief of staff Neil Voltz pleaded guilty to conspiring to corrupt Ney; former chief  of staff William Heaton pleased guilty to a Federal Conspiracy Charge., and another former Chief of Staff  Thomas Hart also pleaded guilty to the same charge. (Ney’s gifts included expensive golfing trips to Scotland)

David Safavian former White House official sentenced to 18 months guilty of covering up dealings with Abramoff.

Stephen Grilles former Deputy Interior Secretary pleaded guilty to obstruction of Justice and lying about the relationship with Abramoff.

Roger Stillwell Staff at Ministry of Interior given two-year suspended sentence for accepting hundreds of dollars of gift of sports and concert tickets from Abramoff.

Special Presidential Assistant Susan B Ralston resigned after admitting accepting gifts and passing information to Abramoff.

Italia Federici co founder Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy guilty of tax evasion and obstruction of Senate investigation.

Mark Zacheres former aide to Congressman Den Young guilty of conspiracy and accepting thousands of dollars of gifts.

James Hirni staff to Tim Hutchinson charged with fraud. Others who pleaded guilty were John Albaugh a cheif  of staff to Ernest Istook, Jared Carpenter Vice President Council of Republicans for the Environment, Robert E Goglin Deputy Chief of Staff Criminal Diviison Justice Department and  Horace Cooper former Labor Dept official.

The most significant political figure indicted in the story of Casino Jack  was  the Republican Congressional Leader from 2003 to 2005 Tom DeLay representing a Texas District. He is presently on bail appealing a three year  prison conviction in relation to a felonious campaign money laundering charge. He was  a strong and some would say ruthless enforcer of Party discipline on behalf of the president George W Bush and like Casino Jack was ultra Conservative pro the gun lobby, pro Life, a born again Christian which his book No Retreat, No Surrender indicates his perspective. He has also diversified since resigning  his political positions appearing in the American version of Strictly Come Dancing, It was passionate against Clinton’s involvement with Monica Lewinsky pointing out that he had given up his adulterous ways by that time.  Seen smoking a Cuban Cigar, on a trip to Israel,  the purchase and consumption being illegal in the States he was known as a passionate and important anti Castro politician. He once used Federal law enforcement agencies for purely party political purposes and was admonished by the House Ethics Committee. A more pertinent  involvement was his pressure on Lobbying firms to retain Republican officials in top positions  suggesting that those with Democrat principals would not gain access. An interesting totalitarian concept in the land of the free!!!

Although associates of Mr Delay Tony Rudy and Michael Scanlon pleased guilty along with Casino Jack, implicating Delay was not part of the  plea bargaining that went on in the case, although it is believed he was a  major target of the investigating authorities.  On one hand it is known that DeLay accepted significant gifts from Abramoff including paid golfing holidays to Scotland. He is also known to have been instrumental in blocking legislation which would have banned sex shops and sweat shops and forced employees to have abortions in the Marianna Island which Casino Jack represented. Wikipedia lists a number  of areas which were part of the Justice Department and media investigations. He now spends a considerable part of his time on speaking engagements promoting Conservative Republican Values.

A feature of the film and a significant  event which helped to bring down Casino Jack was his decision buy SunCruz a company which provided Casino Gambling ships, either off coast in International waters to avoid USA Controls but with one vessel harboured in Florida with local political support. Jack and his partner in the enterprise Adam Kidan purchased the business for $147.5 million from the  Konstantine Gus Boulis who had been successfully investigated by the Federal authorities and required to sell his holding within 3 years. However under his agreement with Abramoff and Kidan he retained a 10% interest and  ran the business. He accepted a $20 million promissory note in lieu of the initial $23 purchase down payment. The two men were subsequently indicted and pleaded guilty to charges relating to this transaction in 2005 and 2006.

After the original deal there was a fight between Boulis and Kidan  and according to the film over several issues and it was following this incident that Boulis was murdered. The film alleges that Kidan was a  factor in causing the death although it is  my understanding that no evidence to substantiate this has been brought forward. Three men, one a former bookkeeper with the Gambino crime family have been charged with first degree murder and other offences and remained in prison for a number of years without the matter coming to court.

Adam Kidan, a layer, like Abramoff and Ney held positions in the organisation of College Republicans remains a prosecution witness in the Gus Boulis murder trial . He is known to presently act as advisor on mergers and acquisitions. He served 35 months in prison.

A second major political figure to be brought down by the Abramoff investigations was Bob Ney one time chairman of the House of Representatives Administration Committee which led to  him being known as the Mayor of Capitol Hill. He also accepted lavish gift from Abramoff who stated  in his evidence along with that of DeLays former deputy chief of staff Tom Rudy, his former press secretary Michael Scanlon and his own  chief of staff Neil Voltz were given for political favours, and primarily associated with the Indian Lobby Scandal. Ney resigned after pleading guilty to charges of conspiracy and making false statements. He was sentenced to 30 months and released after serving 17.  Ney also admitted entering two statements into the Congressional record regarding the Santa Cruz Scandal for a $10000 contribution.

Ney was and may still be the only Congressman to speak fluent Persian having lived in Iran teaching English. He is reported to be working in Radio.

Michael Scanlon former Communications Director for Ney was sentenced on Feb 2011 to 20 months and 300 hours community service after pleading guilty to bribing a member of Congress and other public officials relating to defrauding of American Indian tribes. He plays a major role in the film where it is alleged he was turned in to the federal authorities and  the media by his then fiancée who found evidence of involvement with another woman

He was involved in the SunCruz scandal. Scanlon operated his own public relations firm gaining work from the Indian Tribes which he only partly undertook, pocketing the rest of the money split with Abramoff. He is reported to have referred to his Indian clients as “troglodytes and monkeys“ while Christian Conservatives were called Wackos and is alleged to have said that “The wackos get their information through the Christian right, Christian radio, mail, the internet and telephone trees... Simply put we want to bring out the wackos to vote against something and make sure the rest of the public lets the whole thing slip past them.”  He also emailed  a colleague saying “The whole thing about not kicking someone when they are down is BS  -Not only do you kick him- You kick him till he passes out then bat him over the head with a baseball bat- then roll him over in an old rug- and throw him off a cliff into the pounding surf below. Under investigation he agreed to testify against Abramoff and in the film Abramoff admits this was one hour before he was proposing to do likewise as part of plea bargaining.

Given Scanlon’s views  I wonder how he regarded Ralph E Reed Junior former College Republican, the Conservative Republican political activist, born again  Christian and first Executive Director of the Christian Coalition during the early 1990’s. It was with Jack Abramoff and  Grover Norquist that Reed formed the what was known as the Abramoff- Norquist-Reed triumvirate. He helped form the Conservative organisation Students for America and this brought him into contact with Ed Buckham and Jim Backlin, the latter Legislative Director of the Christian Coalition and through him a relationship with Tom DeLay was established.

Reed then established Century Strategies a political consultancy firm and, public relations and lobbying. The organisation became involved in the effort to protect the way commercial interests operating in the Mariana Islands. Reed then successfully mounted a campaign to become Chairman of the Georgia Republican party, a voluntary position, with funds provided by an American Indian group represented by Abramoff. Reed them  moved to become the Lieutenant Governor with some success until revelations about his links and financial interests with Abramoff. The US Senate Committee on Indian Affairs commented in its final report  on  the Indian Affairs Scandal that under the guidance of the Mississippi Choctaw tribe’s planner, Neil Rogers, the Tribe agreed to launder money because “Ralph Reed did not want to be paid directly by a Tribe with gaming interests. It also states that” Reed used non profits, like Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform, as pass-throughs to disguise the origin of the funds, and that the structure was recommended by Jack Abramoff to accommodate Mr Reed’s political concerns.

I had intended to leave the last words to mentioning that Susan Schmidt an investigative reporter with Wall Street Journal who when working for the Washington Post was awarded the Pulitzer prize for her work exposing the  activities of Casino Jack but it must go to Grover Norquist  a member of the College Republican Triumvirate who not  only survived the Abramoff investigations but has continued to prove himself the most powerful individual in American Politics to this day, more  powerful in fact than Presidents who he can make or break in terms of limiting what they can and cannot do.

He, like I suspect Cameron at heart wants to reduce the role of government “ to where it can drown in a  bathtub.“ With this in mind he created the Americans for Tax reform organisation determined to reduce the amount of taxation in real terms contributed by citizens and therefore is opposed to any taxation rises unless offset by greater reductions elsewhere, the philosophy of the Coalition here in the UK and which the Labour Party appears to struggle to reject from fear of electoral losses and failure, having digested some of the main tenets of uncontrolled capitalism swallowed under Blair and Brown. In order to ensure that the Republican party remained committed to his view of state involvement his organisation presses politicians to give pledges with 238 of the 242 Republicans in Congress and 41 of the 47 Republican Senators committed prior to the 2012 elections. His power has been slightly weakened with the number of Congressmen committed down to 218 and in the Senate to 39  development which may have helped President to prevent  having to take his nation over the so called fiscal cliff.

Norquist was of the Pro Barry Goldwater movement supporters and was  at the start of the Bush for President Campaign.. He is a co founder of the Islamic Free Markey Institute ( his wife was born  into an Islamic family, He is involved with the Christian Coalition and Toward Tradition movement. He is involved in a centre right coalition to withdraw from Afghanistan. He is an activist in Tea Party politics. He is on the board of Directors of the National Riffleman Association, The American Conservative Union, the Hispanic Leadership Fund, the Indian American Republican caucus and the Parents Right Organisation which is seeking to add a Parental Rights amendment to the constitution. He is one six people who advise on theme Magazine Person of the Year award. He is also a Member of the Council on Foreign  Affairs.

2405 return to routine and two adventure films for teenagers

I have broken away from researching and writing about my Les Troyens experience on Saturday January 5th to commence  a writing for the week. In addition will write about Les Misérables in time for the film event on Friday morning. I will also write about other films and TV experiences and then when these writings are completed I will get back to 101 work priority.

It is 1.30 on Tuesday January 8th 2013 and the month is beginning to fly, away from me  in terms of being in control.  Yesterday as this morning there was a constant drizzle and dark grey skies for most of the day. I continued with the slow starts of recent days  staying up until around 1 am sometimes  even later. I got myself ready and had an early lunch with two poached eggs on toast before setting off for the post office to collect the packet  where I was still asleep when delivered at 8am on Saturday. The packet was the set  of mini Wii accessories- a golf club. a tennis racket, a baseball bat and a couple wheels plus the base unit to house the Wii controller. I had to pay £1 parking as all the loading space next to Argos and by the bus station were taken up although vacant had I waited. However a woman driver benefited with having an hour of time available. I then made my way to Hewarth and another £2 long stay parking charge.

I had intended to read the latest Time Magazine on the journey but left in the car so another read the latest issues in the week before the next New Year resolutions  appears to be failing. I exited at Monument station which is now closing at 8 each evening for work to progress on the escalators which are being improved. I went through the Eldon Square centre to Eldon Garden  to replace the toasted sandwich pouches  which I have lost. misplaced and made the mistake of buy two packs  believing they only contained one pouch despite the cost of over  £6 a pack. The day had not commenced well but I then found the Yorkshire building Society which saved a separate visit to Sunderland and parking there where I move a sum into my current account to cover the Christmas season extras and not make worse the Credit account balance which I aim to clear by a year May if not before along with the  major loan of recent years with  the  balance outstanding. The curse of being someone able to obtain almost unlimited credit because of my good record over many decades.

I hen headed towards quayside for the barbers but stopped at Wilkinson’s to  get some display folders and at the barber and found that the Assistant is also a Sleep Apnoea man so we had a good long swap of respective stories. He is married but his wife copes with the machine than his previous snoring which drove her to spare bedroom at times. He has been moved to a two year cycle check. Returning to Shields I went to Asda for some oven ready baguettes only to find that I missed out on a two for £1 offer because only one was left. I could not resist a packet of ready Ciabatta roles for £1 and enjoyed the rest of the Pâté, I had the other two with cheese and salami today. Yesterday evening very late I  tried out the toasted sandwich pouch with a mixture of cheese and salami and a  tomato cuppa soup. I am thirsty still and will have another small can of  Pepsi Coke and then return to Les Troyens.

On return from the day’s activity I needed a break watched the latest in the Mission Impossible series of films which Tom Cruise launched in 1996 followed in 2000 and 2006 with  II and III, and then in 2011 The Ghost Protocol with a fifth film  already reported to being fast tracked because  of the continuing commercial success.  The film loosely follows the original 1960’s and 1980’s TV series in which the lead male is given an assignment via a self destruct tape and the option of declining the mission. He is part of a USA clandestine operational unit directly controlled by a Secretary of State and whose existence will be disowned if a mission  goes wrong.

In the latest money making 130 mins production the story is complex as are the special tricks to understand and credulity has to be suspended from the outset. The film opens as a Mission Impossible agent is killed while securing information by a free lance female assassin Sabine Moreau. The until leader, Jane Carter, blames herself for the failure to spot and warn the agent of the approach of Sabine whose photo is on his hand communication device too late. She swears vengeance but is required to put this on hold and to free Tom Cruise from his Russian prison after he has killed a number of Ukrainians (I think) somehow tied in within the death of his wife previously. However he knows she is alive and her death faked in order to protect her position in the future.

A computer wizard Benji is able to take control of the cell locking and prison gate system of the maximum security establishment in Russia where Tom Cruise is imprisoned. Instead of following instructions he insists on also releasing a fellow Russian prisoner again for reasons mentioned in the film which I did not hear properly or now  remember. The escape works out and the freed Russian goes his own way.

The new assignment is for Cruise to pose as a Russian General and enter the Kremlin to seek the identity of a  mad Scientist known to be planning to launch an all out nuclear war between Russia and the USA in order to start the world again with the survivors.  Cruise needs Benji to bring his tricks to deceive the Russians with  false  documents and then persuade the guards not to notice that Cruise enters the archives. They are successful only for Cruise to find the information has been cleared and that before they are able to exit their position is compromised and worse still, a large part of the Kremlin is blown up by Cobalt, the mad scientist, in order to cover the fact he has secured the system  to Launch Russian Missiles except for the codes which is the information obtained by the assassin Sabine. Cruise is badly injured and taken to hospital where he is handcuffed by the Russian Secret Service who believe he was responsible for the explosion tantamount to an act of war by the US. Cruise makes a daring escape one of many improbably moments which makes this film.

His team have a sophisticated monitoring and control centre in a compartment of a goods train which he manages to board as it moves off. Relocated he meets up with his boss played by Tom Wilkinson and a research assistant who advises that because of the Moscow events the President has used the Ghost Protocol which is a fancy name for explaining as was explained to members of the International Henley Senior Management Course in the mid 1980’s that when a creative individual or Team crosses the line or is regarded to have crossed the line, as in this instance, you  put into place the mechanism  which proves/shows that the individual/team had no connection without your company or in this instance your government. They are out in the cold with no help or assistance although in the Henley real world scenario you and they had taken precautions, protections for such an eventuality for you would not want the individual to offer their services to another company or this instance government.

Unfortunately the arrival of Wilkinson is monitored and he is killed and the car dives into a river/canal/ when a dozen marksmen are on hand to continue volleys of shots into the deep. Of course Cruise works out how to escape and also brings with him the research man who becomes part of the team who agree to help Cruise find the man who set them up and the girl who killed the agent and stop their master plan.

The action takes places in Dubai in the tallest hotel in the world with team planning to again take control of the communications system and lead the two parties into separate rooms and here the level of sophistication in terms of gadgetry becomes extraordinaire including the ability to photo documents using eye placed lens and then scrambled the information so that the buyers have a false copy after which the plan is to follow the buyer and track down the rogue enterprise. The girl is also to be apprehended and not killed.

It all goes wrong of course when the tech man finds the only way to enter the computer system at the hotel is from an outside window. This involves Cruise using two magnetic gloves one of which fails. He succeeds but the problem is getting back which involves swinging and jumping into the created open window of a hotel room and just about being hauled in. In a melee with the enemy girl she ends up being kicked out of the open window. For some reason it is necessary for Cruise to pass the real codes to the enemy but the plan is to follow and capture the enemy leader and retrieve the codes and the launch device. This also goes wrong and involves a chase with cars and on foot but the chief villain escapes in a sand storm and on finding a passing truck. Cruise discovers that the man was using a super realistic false face mask

This brings us to the finale after Cruise has worked out, using the arms dealer brother of the man he freed from the Moscow jail, that the enemy propose to use the Satellite system of a lecherous Indian Broadcaster to launch Russian missiles at the USA. It is here that the story drops to below the acceptable. The villain wants total world annihilation to achieve lasting peace and instead of launching as many missiles as he has the means to do so he only launches one. Meanwhile Cruise and the girl are at a party being held at the home of the Indian Mogul where she allows herself to be  seduced to point where she is alone with him and gains vital information which she can pass to tech man and  research man who have entered the cooling system for the computer so as to redirect the missile(missiles) away from their targets. This of course goes wrong and the single missile launched and only explosion aborted within a second bouncing of a building into water where it is described as a meteor. The final act involves action between Cruise and the villain in one of the new fangled automated car multi story car parks.

Before closure there are two aspects to be covered. Throughout the adventure the Russian secret service is in pursuit of the man who destroyed the Kremlin and for a second the gullible have been led to believe  that the arms dealing brother of the man rescued from the Moscow jail has told them where to find Cruise, when it is in fact Cruise who has told the man to tell Russian security as a kind of back up and to eventually explain to them that they are on the same side. This works.

The other aspects is the research guy turns out to have been a former field agent who had been in charge of the mission in which the wife of Cruise had died. This he thinks debars him from becoming the fourth member of the unit after its reinstatement at the end of the film. Cruise explains that his wife had not died but disappeared in order to prevent her being used as a target in the future and in the closing moments he spots her in the distance and she spots him and they communicate their love for each other at a distance. Can‘t wait for the next episode can you especially if it is to appear in less than another five year Interval? It made so much money!

There was considerable similarity between the latest contemporary version of Sherlock Holmes which I view on Tuesday evening Sherlock Holmes  A Game of Shadows. This is the second of what I fear Will be an ongoing series which attempts to recreate Sherlock Holmes into a contemporary James Bond type figure. This is a typical Guy Ritchie film albeit dressed in an Edwardian pre 1914-1918 war atmosphere

The story of this second venture is a simple one, The arch criminal Professor Moriarty who is able to employ a minor army of villains and executed a number of key industrialists and secretly taken over their business while becoming a confidant of the British Prime Minister to an extent that he is invited to be part of the British delegation to a peace conference in Switzerland to prevent war between Germany and France.

Moriarty is there to witness the assassination of an Ambassador by someone who has been surgically altered to appear to be another ambassador who Moriarty and his henchmen have captured. This the villain misguidedly believes will result in a World War to the benefit of his now vast industrial empire of weapons and associated materials needed in such a conflagration. My main criticism is that unlike the Cruise film which although required an abandonment of credulity introduces some novel technology, this film has no redeeming qualities and poses situations which are absurd and silly. .It of course made a lot of money  with the weekend audience of young people who also  paid fortunes to watch  human wolves grapple with vampires.

The film has a number of sub plots to entertain the gullible audience.  The major one involves the  forthcoming marriage of Dr Watson who finds that Holmes has forgotten to arrange his stag night because he has become obsessed with trying go work out the connection between a wide range of world wide incidents and Moriarty. Instead he take Watson to a club in the company of his brother played  tongue in  bare cheek by Stephen Fry. With the purpose of meeting gypsy fortune teller whose life he believes is in danger  There is a prolonged fight scene and  chase of the Mission Impossible kind and the use of slowed down camera techniques introduced in the Matrix series and some Chinese martial arts  movies.

The film began with the relationship between Holmes and  an entrepreneurial female agent of Moriarty with the suggestion of sexuality brewing. She is eliminated off screen by Moriarty when he finds her disloyalty.  Before her demise Holmes acquires a message in the form of a sketch of a face intended for the gypsy woman he meets and saves at the London Club

Holmes manages to get a dishevelled Watson to his wedding who then appears to separate from Holmes for good on his way to honeymoon, marital bliss and a family. However Homes appears in the next compartment having worked out that Moriarty has a plan to kill the newly weds which for some unexplained reason will help to stop Holmes uncovering what the villain is up to. The scene is a ludicrous one and which ends with Holmes pushing the bride out of the train from a  viaduct over water where Fry is waiting in a boat having anticipated the event. She finds herself looked after at the home of Fry who goes about naked although it made clear his interest is only in men an aspect put in the film presumably as a sop to attract a homosexual and lesbian audience.

Holmes persuades Dr Watson that in order to protect his bride and enjoy an uneventful honeymoon he must first  help to uncover the Moriarty plot whatever it is. This involves travelling to France to the gypsy camp of the young women he encountered in London to try and understand why an attempt was made on her life. It emerges she and her brother were revolutionary anarchists but found the movement they had joined too extreme  (a contradiction in terms if there is one). She shows Holmes  a number of other sketches sent to her by her brother who she has not seen for over a year. Assisted by fellow gypsies she takes Holmes and Watson to where the anarchist cell operates and here they encounter a former associate of the girl who explains that they have come under the control of Moriarty and that he cannot break with the villain who has captured his wife and children. He commits suicide rather than participate in further bombing outrages for non political purposes. Holmes and co escape from the wrath of the other anarchists and make their way to the Opera where Holmes releases  this is not the location of the next bomb but the site from which a Lieutenant of Moriarty is to fire a shot to kill someone attending a birthday party at a location across Paris  timed with the explosion of the Bomb as a means of covering the assassination, (presumably the French did not undertake autopsies of all victims at this time). Although everyone at the party appears killed there are no body parts and gore at the scene.

They then discover that Moriarty has secretly taken over the German arms manufacturing company of the  assassinated owner and that Germany has closed it frontiers because of bombing. The group makes their way across country on horses with Holmes on mini horse because of his aversion to the creatures over which he has no control. There is a prolonged scene in which Holmes is captured with the intention of getting close to Moriarty and stealing the record of all his dealings and accounts which he keeps in a little red book about his person. This we later learn Holmes has passed to London  police with the code breaking information and where for some unexplained reason Watson’s wife helps the police to decode and gain hold of the Moriarty’s wealth in various safe deposit boxes.. Moriarty is made penniless with the British Government also arranging for  his title to various companies to be removed.  The group just about escape the arms factory although Homes appears to be mortally wounded but is magically revived.

Amazingly the gypsy woman is transformed to attend a ball at the Peace Conference meeting at a place located at the edge of mountainside. Moriarty and Homes play chess while the gypsy woman locates her brother with the help of Watson and stops the assassination. World War is averted. Moriarty accurately prophesises that the great powers are anyway moving towards a world war which he will benefit. As Holmes is injured he will be able to kill him and then set about revenge on  Dr Watson and his bride. No loose ends. The solution of Holmes is to take Moriarty with him off the mountain into the waters below. His memorial service is a national events( the bodies were not found and Watson and his bride go to Brighton for their Honeymoon and then settled down to married life. She brings to Watson a small package which when opened reveals to Watson that  Holmes is alive. in fact he is in room in disguise as furniture. I kid you not. Whereas Mission Impossible was enjoyable rubbish this film is rubbish  without enjoyment.`

I have recently seen two films for the second time but find that although the subjects are  of great interest based on true events I do not appear top have written about as films. The most important of the two is Casino Jack with Kevin Spacey and merits a separate piece of writing

2404 Les Troyens

I found  experiencing the epic Opera Les Troyens by Berlioz on Saturday evening January 5th 2013 exhausting  although with a five o’clock scheduled start I was prepared for a long session. I was not mistaken. As if the cinema management knew  we were to have a long sitting they kept us standing outside until a few minutes before the scheduled beginning of preliminaries. As on my last visit I had booked an aisle seat to one side knowing that I would not have a stranger next to me in what had been a fairly full cinema theatre. In this instance there was a whole row vacant adjacent so I was able to move to the centre  theatre which added to the enjoyment of the experience.

I had no advance knowledge of the story or the music other than knowing of Berlioz from the Symphony Fantastique, a record of which I thought I possessed but did not find so am listening to a performance on You Tube from August of 2011  Society des Concerto du Conservatoire, André Cluytens conducting at a BBC Promenade Concert, Other known pieces are his Romeo and Juliet and Harold en Italie. I also knew he had created an opera on Benvenuto Cellini and La Damnation de Faust which includes an appearance of Helen of Troy.

In the second interval we learn that the male lead Bryan Hymel as Aeneas, the Trojan military leader had appeared in one of the rare production at Convent Garden in June and July of 2013 and that he was only recruited to this production at the last minute after the house tenor Marcello Girordano pulled out of a role which tenors find difficult because of the sustained singing and range required, a fate which fell the great Placido Domingo previously. Hymel had only a two hour rehearsal of his role before the performance just before the New Year and this made his performance even more remarkable.

This was said to only be the second time the Opera has been performed  at Metropolitan because of requirements with a dozen lead singers, a huge chorus of 120 and a full corps des ballet with lead dancers and other extras such as children who play young Trojans.

After reading the available information I find from photos that the Covent Garden production appears better staged and was available to hear live at the time. Even better I have now discovered the full opera is available on Youtube in a production from Paris and as a consequence I abandoned  the intention to go an watch Quartet this afternoon, decided listen and  watch again parts of the whole opera with Quartet rescheduled for next week as long as there are showings during the day. I had also forgotten that I am going see Les Misérables,, the film on Friday morning.

I was late setting off on Saturday and stopped in Shields to collect a second supply of ink cartridges only to find there was only three blacks left so got the rest of the five (one replacement) in colours. I therefore left myself only a few minutes spare  to get some food and the ticket before the scheduled start. I  went straight to the Asda  sandwich deal counter  parking nearby and found among the few items left a smoked salmon and cheese sandwich marked down from £2 to £1. It was delicious although eaten on the hoof as I walked from the supermarket to the cinema and attempted to obtain the ticket from the automated machine only to be told to go to the ticket counter where I discovered the problem was having booked two events at the same time.

My only knowledge of the Opera was from its title The Trojans a subject which  been covered in our popular and high culture in a variety of ways with Troy and Brad Pitt 2004 and Helen of Troy back in 1966 and who will forget Elizabeth Taylor as Helen in the 1967 production of Dr Faustus with Richard Burton, and which they also performed on stage at the Oxford Playhouse. I went in search of the programme but as I did not find I assume I did not see. I did see Marlowe’s Dr Faustus at Stratford Royal Shakespeare Company in 1986and a production of Faust based on Goethe’s version at the Theatre Royal Newcastle.

The story of the Trojan wars has featured in a number of Operas Troilus and Cressida by William Walton and I have seen the William Shakespeare Play performed by the RSC, Sam Mendes, directed at the Theatre Royal with David Troughton as Hector and Ralph Fiennes as Troilus ( Alfred Burke was Nestor). The Belle Heléne by Offenbach, Dido and Aeneas by Purcell, King Priam by Michael Tippet and Achilles by Gay are other operatic versions. There are various poems and plays created by Homer, Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, and I am sure I have seen RSC little productions of the  Trojan Women and Electra but this  may be false memory. There were three radio plays in 1998 with Paul Scholfield and a TV mini series in 2003.

There was also the extraordinary Tantalus with nine plays  which I saw over three days at the Theatre Royal and where I then acquired the script. (My search also discovered the programme from the Earls Court performance of AIDA sponsored by the Prince’s Trust and where he attended a performance with his then wife, Diana on 28th  June 1988.  Attended on Saturday 2nd July seats R 23 -27 although we quickly moved  to overlook the stage from the side!)

Now to this extraordinary five act Opera Les Troyens. There is no memorable music such as from Aida, Madam Butterfly or Carmen but I am left with a sense of great emotional and at times passionate intensity, and extraordinary chorus work. The five acts into three sessions with the first two acts some 90 mins forming an opera on its own and where the principal singers take their bows.  The first two acts cover the finding of the Trojan horse left by the departing Athenians after the years of siege and the city’s destruction after they misguidedly take into the City. The star of this two act opera is Deborah Voight as Cassandra who forecasts what happens and commits suicide with other Trojan women after  Aeneas has been persuaded  to lead the male army away to fight another day

I had not heard Deborah sing before but knew the name from the publicity over her firing from Covent Garden because of her excessive weight  and her decision to use  surgery to almost half her size. She gives an outstanding performance which was appropriately recognised at the closure of the second Act She has attempted to persuade her father King Priam and her fiancée Coroebus played by another known name Dwaine Croft who has sung some 25 roles at Met and whose brother Robert is the more well known Internationally, not to bring the horse into the city, Both perish as a consequence. The sequence where she persuades other Trojan women not to yield to the Athenians but die with her is most moving. Prior to this Aeneas the warrior is persuaded by the ghost of Hector to flee the city before the Athenians exit the Horse and to found a new Empire of Trojans in Italy.

I stayed for the first part of the interval where Voight is interviewed and then hastily went over to McDonalds to enjoy a 99p chicken burger and £1 20 or thereabouts  good cup of coffee, returning for an interview with the Met‘s new conductor Fabio Luiso. I would not have survived otherwise.

The third and fourth acts combined are even longer  and the Met production last well over an hour and a half with at last half an hour of dancing which for once impressed me greatly although led one member of the audience to comment about padding during the next interval.
The people of Tyre fled to North Africa and the city of Carthage and seven years late under the leadership of the Queen Dido, (played by Susan Graham), still mourning the murder of her husband. Graham also played Dido at the Théátre du Chátelet  in the performance I am listening to at this moment.

The exiles from Tyre have prospered and now two events in quick succession are to significantly change fortunes. Aeneas, his son and his men have sought sanctuary from the storms at the sea the city’s harbour and bring various gifts of treasure to the Queen to beg her indulgence. These she accepts and offers the hospitality of her city and its people. However the good  times are dramatically broken with the news that the Barbarians,  the Numideans have declared war and are approaching the city having destroyed outposts. The city is short of arms  and Aeneas offers his men to fight alongside placing his son in the care of Dido. The son is traditionally played by a young soprano whose name in this instance I am yet to find but who  performance was impressive.

As a consequence of the alliance the enemy is defeated and the ballet is part of the celebrations as well as the couple falling in love and with great on stage passion as clearly Dido has great personal  admiration for the young tenor Bryan Hymel aged 33.  His voice is ideal for a role which as mentioned defeats many established tenors. L learned that Graham and Hymel have sung together before when he was only 24 and they instantly took to each other and this is clear in the performance and after their Act 4 interview. On stage the problem, of their romance is that Dido neglects her leadership which cause her adviser Narbal, played by Kwangchul Youn justified concern at the commencement of Act 4

In the second and shorter interval I slipped out at quickly for an ice cream, a single scup without toppings and cherry based  which was very good although steep at £2,60 and worth about £1 less.

The final Act 5 lasts one hour and I find Aeneas about to make his way to Italy despite his love for Dido because of the appearance of Hector, Priam, Coroebus and Cassandra demanding and urging him to fulfil his destiny. When Dido finds out she curses him wishes his failure and damnation. When his fleet sets off she is so angry and distraught she orders the creation of a pyre of everything which reminds her of him and the Trojans. She prophesises that her fate will be remembered and that a future general Hannibal will destroy Italy and revenge her in so doing. She stabs herself to death with the sword of Aeneas and in that moment has a vision of the destruction of Carthage by Rome. The curse on Aeneas is echoed by all the Carthaginians witnessing the death of their Queen.

An opera to be considered great has to be more than a great spectacle or giving the audience their money’s worth in terms of length and number of principal artists. This not a  great opera which I suspect means it is the main reason why it is not performed more frequently. However there were some I was there great singing by the principals. The experience  will be memorable although I do not anticipate I will  view again or purchase a recording.

This was not so for the modern opera Satyagraha where I  purchased a CD recording. It was shown last night on Sky Arts and I recorded to view at a later date.

2403 New Year in the Midlands and London

I spent New Year’s Eve at the Travel Lodge near to Mansfield watching fireworks from my window in the village of Sutton in Ashfield, and from London on the TV, then watching the greater part of London’s New Year’s day parade on the Public Broadcasting channel which is repeated this evening when I plan to watch the opening section when I missed. The event was one of the highlights of the extraordinary visits made this year to Shoreham and Farnsfield to celebrate Christmas and the New Year.

For once I delayed  preparations to a few days before and then had a panic about the amount of space that would be available and had a trial placement of everything in the car the day before departure. It would be OK and because of the number of meals eaten out or provided I brought back the emergency rations of tins of rice and backed beans, although several packets of the instant soup were consumed.

On previous visits I set off early to arrive for lunch but in this instance I was having an evening meal at the Marston Inn at the junction with the road to Mansfield along the road between the A1 and Nottingham/Leicester which passes by Clumber Park(National Trust). And Rufford Abbey (English Heritage) both of which I have written about following previous visits to Robin Hood Country.

The White Hart once independent is now a Marston Inn which offers 2.1 main course meals from an extensive menu and Specials board and which until recently also provided a two course special for two people for a total of £9 and previously for several years for £8 from midday until 6pm. The combined portions of the two courses provided a more substantial meal that the single main course. The Inn also offers a glass of iced tap water for free or a jug for the larger  gatherings and the coffees are excellent accompanied by an after meal mint and over Christmas a chocolate.

Because of the evening meal I packed some lunch but forgot the coffee I stopped at Wetherby services and was shocked to find the £3 cup of coffee has arrived, the price of  a  whole packet from a supermarket.  I settled for a small cup at £2.89 but the medium and large are now over £3 and I envisage the £5 cuppa before I depart consciousness. Who  remembers the two and half pence cup of tea at Joe Lyons Corner houses in 1950‘s?  I earned  £5 a week in 1956 and after two University Diplomas from Oxford and Birmingham in 1963 my pay went up to £20. In 1956  the money paid for keep, clothes, travel season ticket, visits to jazz clubs, pubs, football and occasional gramophone long play records.

I made three visits to the White Hart enjoying two chicken breasts in barbecue sauce twice (Sticky Barbecue Chicken £10.50) and a small rack of pork ribs and a single chicken breast also with lashings of barbecue sauce on the third (£11.55) There is also Deep South Barbecue Beer Chicken for £10.50 and from the Mighty Meals Menu Barbecue Chicken Melt £11.75. It is forty minutes to midday all this reference to food is making me hungry and I will break off to place the steak in the oven to be accompanied by a special brew steak together with a special relish and mustard one of many apposite Xmas gifts. I have prepared the fresh veg which at £1 for a large parsnip, a medium Swede, two medium onions and eight  medium size carrots for £1 sufficient for three to four helpings.

The thought of all the good food also wipes away the memory of two horrendous back to back journeys in pouring rain, cold wind and  sometimes fog from home to the Midlands and then to Shoreham,  On the  second day knowing that there would be an evening meal waiting I decided on a good breakfast visiting the Subway adjacent to the Travel Lodge opened in competition to a sandwich  and roll selling bakery in what was previously a large bookmakers. I am not  a fan of  Sub which I think is poor value despite the including of various toppings and sauces although with a drink at £3 becomes competitive with the Boots and some supermarket meal deals. However the breakfast sub of bacon  or sausage at 99 pence or both in one for £1.50 is good value and now better than the offer from the bakery, especially if you say no to the  coffee using the facilities at the Travel Lodge. 

The fireworks on New Year’s from the banks of Thames had a red white and blue aspect with strong echoes of the Olympic games triumph without inappropriate excess.

Last year the two mile New Year’s parade from Green Park to Parliament Square was badly affected by the weather which limited the performance at the roadway arena before the various Mayors of London and invited guests who this year includes the Ambassadors from China, Brazil, Italy and Indonesia and who acted as he judges of the competition between the London Boroughs

The route of the parade was changed in 2010 in order to ensure that USA watchers and those from other  countries were able to see the great sights of the capital to include the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben and Trafalgar Square, and Piccadilly Circus and the three hour  plus event  is increasingly geared up top the USA and overseas audience with descriptions of Hotels and invites from the casts of a number of West End Shows. The   commentary is also geared  for the overseas audience

It is estimated that half a million people stand along route or to gain a place in the covered stands, particularly those at the roadway arena at the end of the March where bands perform a routine. I need to check if it is all ticket or just the stands with the objective  of raising money for charity as well as awareness of London as a Tourist destination.

A feature of recent years has been the appearance of High School and University marching bands from the USA including the Valley Forge Military Academy and College, the Stephen F Austin State University Lumberjack Marching Band, the German Town High School Warhawk Marching Band, Garringut High School Marching Admirals, Walker Valley High School Mustang Marching Band, Gadsten School District Marching Band, Stone Bridge High school Marching Bulldogs, Adrian College Marching Bulldogs, Beverely Hills High School Marching band, The Spirit  of Great Oak and Guard. Band, the Schurr High School Spartan legion, University of South Florida Herd of Thunder Marching Band, The South Downy High School band from Knox County, plus the Spirit of America Dancers, the Universal Cheer Leaders association, The American Chinese Art Society traditional Dance Troupe and the predominantly USA based ladies of the Red Hat Society with members in Australia and South Africa.

From the UK  a Scot band from Leicestershire(Ibstock) and The National Mass Bugle Band, made up from a range of  local bands attempted to show   that the UK was attempting to get in step with their USA cousins and failing, However there was a competitive marching band comprised of London based Nigerians and two displaces from London based Bolivians with costumes brought over from the Home Country. The cosmopolitan aspects was generated more from the various floats and displays from the London Boroughs but this aspects needs to be widened if the International appeal is to be developed. It is regarded as one of the great city parades in the World..

Over half the London Boroughs provided floats or displays which usually feature personalities from their areas as well as designed to attract the attention of the judges who award cash donations to favoured charities. This years participating was Barking and Dagenham, Brent Camden, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Harrow, Haringey, Havering, Hounslow, Lambeth, Merton Redbridge, Southwick,  Waltham Forest and Westminster,

There are also display groups which have featured on a regular basis as well as those appearing for the first time, including a parade of Police Cars through the ages, Heroes for Charity, UK Carnivals, the Donkey Breed Society, Merrydown Morris, the Goldwing Owners Club GB,  South Connections (Lambeth Carnival band), The Pearly Kings and Queens Association, the Veteran Cycle club. The Latin American Heritage plus the Kites of Nassar Volent (France), the Warlingham and District Mock Hunters, the Protogem Dance Company, and with creating great interest 250 London Olympic Gamesmakers and about 60 members of the Pandemonium Band of drummers who performed  at the Opening Ceremony.

I watched less TV than usual ranging from Ceebies programmes to Dr Who and the final two episodes of Young Merlin with the death of King Arthur and the coming to power of Queen Guinevere and the destruction of the enemies. There was the suggestion of Merlin surviving to the present day and the promise that Arthur would return when the time was right. There was also the three parts of Lord of the Rings although I did not see from beginning to end.

There less said about the Football the better with humiliating defeats for Newcastle who now face a relegation avoidance battle  after putting up a dismal performance against Brighton in the FA Cup third round although Sunderland who have managed a few wins also managed a draw at Bolton 2.2 coming from behind with the prospect  of a home draw if they succeed in the replay. The sporting highlight was in fact a re showing of the Ryder Cup win at Medinah which I saw again yesterday and which I regard as the greatest  Sporting  event of the past year, over the Tour De France and individual  achievements at the Olympic Games.

Excluding expenditure which I would usually make at this time of the year I estimate that the fortnight only cost under £700 with  Meals £300 (including £ 78, £78  £45 £43 £20 £20 rounded up with gratuities) accommodation £200 and Petrol and Car parking £ 135 with other extras £50.  I used Credit Card supplied vouchers for the cinema visit and worth several fold more in terms of priceless experience and memories.

2402 Shoreham by the Sea at Christmas

I am home for the first time in two weeks having returned early evening Wednesday January 2013. It is Saturday afternoon as I watch Newcastle on their way to losing the FA third round tie to Brighton for the second year in succession, 1.0 down and  with  ten men on the field.

While this is a piece about my Christmas visit to Shoreham by the Sea and Brighton my priority is to ensure that my sleeping with the Apnoea treatment machine is more productive than recently despite maintaining a 7.3- 7-5 average a night. However I did  fall asleep  while watching the opening of the Hobbit and did not feel as fresh as expected on several days. The problem may have been the need to change the air filter where  I forgot to bring the replacements and the different environments and absence of routine. The position has been good since return.

The second priority has been exercise to help weight reduction and improve fitness. The Wii Keep Fit coach commented that I had been absent for two weeks and the first day Was a struggle but the yesterday and today has been good. I have ordered the Wii sports disk having tried golf, boxing with an opponent who I knocked out three times and indoor bowling at which I was poor. However these games will be an addition to the current programme as I want to extend sessions of indoor activity to one hour.

I was encouraged while away with the scales showing half a stone less than anticipated but this I put down to the scales although despite some good eating which I shall report over the next two pieces I showed a small reduction on return which has been maintained and if anything improved.

I am going to undertake some catch up writing over the next few days and then concentrate on the artwork programme once more until March when I have three visits, two to the Midlands and one to London

The clothes were washed on return with two drying cycles but there is still some iron to do, perhaps tomorrow, perhaps Monday! I booked a seat for the Metropolitan Opera relay of Les Troyans later today at 5 and for the first performance of Les Misérables on the 11th at 11am.The outside plants have been watered noting the emergence of twelve Hyacinths bulbs which have been transferred to the outside window ledge. I have also sorted out the finances. Say no more, and replaced black ink cartridges having found I had purchased the wrong ones before setting off on the Christmas trip, There was no problem replacing them including the one where I had opened the pack before realising the mistake from the local shop where I am well known..

The walk into town was enlightening with the pub closest offering a sale with fish and chips at £2.45 and Sunday roast and sweet for £5.45, given some of the meals purchased while away including fish and chips, albeit hand cut chips for during my stay at the small but extraordinary town of Shoreham by the Sea over the Christmas period. The sales in South Shields are offering 50% reductions

Shoreham by the Sea is a town of under 20000 people, (2011 yet to become available) tends to overshadowed by neighbouring Brighton and Hove, Worthing and Littlehampton which forms  one seaside conurbation along the south coast  with some half million people. Yet in some ways it provides one of the best examples of quintessential England. It does have a seaside,

Shoreham Beach but is located in a separate area outside the  town centre over the river Adur and across from the important port. The Seaside area is fashionable providing a home for the broadcasters Chris Evans and Mike Mendoza and former Spurs player Mel Hopkins and in fact a large number than average of personalities were born in the town or have become associated with the area,  particularly writers, artists, musicians, photographers and professional sport  including Leo Sayer, the band Absent Elk.Phyillis Peasall, Chris Bennett, Judy Upton, Ted Walker Marcus Tudgay Gemma Spotfirth.

The Trotskyite Irish writer Brian Behan lived in the town before moving to Brighton and to his credit he came to recognise what a dangerous man the Socialist Labour League head and Fourth International Committee Founder Gerry Healey became in terms of his destructive subversive impact on British Industry and associated trade unionism. (I have written about this before hence the repeated references whenever I get the opportunity but is mentioned for it is counter everything that Shoreham has been and remains)

Most people passing along the  main coast road will only tend to note Shoreham as a large and important commercial port  recorded by the Romans as Portus Adurni.  According to one source the name Shoreham came into common use after the Saxon invasion in the fifth century AD. In Norman times, Shoreham was said to import wine and export wool and remained the greatest port on the south coast for almost three centuries. Trade expanded after King John landed at the port with a large army in 1199 and by the beginning of the 13th century, the port had become a Royal Arsenal.

In 1346 Shoreham supplied 26 warships for Edward III to fight against the French in battle and ships continued to be built at Shoreham Port until the mid-20th century.

King Charles II left from Shoreham port in 1651 when he made his great escape from Oliver Cromwell and the Roundheads, fleeing to Fecamp in France after paying Nicholas Tattersell £60 to cross the Channel aboard his ship the ‘Surprise’. Shoreham Harbour (and later, Port) Authority was established as a trust by Act of Parliament in 1760 when the Harbour Commissioners met for the first time. The Act allowed a new harbour entrance to be built to overcome the problem of shingle blocking the old one. However the new entrance was built poorly and began to build up with shingle like its predecessor after only a couple of years. In 1816 a new Harbour Act allowed for the construction of an improved entrance at Kingston Buci in the location of the present day entrance.

During the second half of the 19th and for much of the 20th centuries trade flourished as first a coal gas production works and later two coal-fired power stations were built on the south side of the impounded basin, the Canal, together with new locks and harbour entrance breakwaters. However, as with many businesses the late 1980s and early 1990s were not kind to the port. The closure of the second power station in 1989 meant that coal was no longer imported in large quantities hit the port fairly hard.

However, in 1996 a change of management precipitated a new approach to the running of the Port, concentrating on the import and export of bulk cargoes such as aggregates, timber, steel, grain, oil and biomass. Shoreham has also developed as a major fishing port. Today, Shoreham Port boasts a first class suite of services and facilities meeting the needs of all port users including: 2,000 square metres of covered transit warehousing; Paved open storage areas in excess of 25 hectares; A bulk-handling terminal; A 50 metre long dry dock facility, and a range of maritime services including hydrographic survey, towage, diving inspections etc. Tenant companies operating at the Port include Tarmac Aggregates, Cemex, Arcelor Mittal, Stobart Biomass, Ahlmark Shipping, Parker Steel, Dudman Aggregates, and Valero Oil. Together with the number of out of town warehouse style stores and firms on the other side of the coast road it is not picturesque and therefore the casual visitor is likely not to stop to visit two of the oldest churches in the town or enjoy a meal at one of several quality restaurants.

I have written before that I am not a religious person in terms of the main religious belief systems and have major objections to organised religions in the way they have become political and state weapons, especially the  absurd Church of England created by a fornicating murderous  monarch with no redeeming characteristics and where we now have the ludicrous position with a woman as its official head but rejects women holding the position of Bishops. The Church of England also underpins the aristocracy in general and in the past white supremacy having allied itself to slavery, colonization, war and to capitalism all things which its the supporter of  its Christian founder are reported to have said he condemned.  While listening to the radio, Five Live, Friday afternoon film reviews, the news reported that  homosexual men can become bishops if they are celibate which I find an absurd compromise.

So going to a Church of England service albeit a Christmas Carol service was a challenge, especially some of the aspects of the Christmas story which the C of E and other faiths now admit is  in part a fairy story produced at a time to help the conversion of the uneducated from many cultures and tongues into adherents. My first visit was on Sunday evening to the now Anglican Church of St Nicolas, on a site of a building going back to the 5th century AD and founded by AngloSaxons in the 10th century, with additions in the 12 and 14 centuries followed by Victorian era restoration. The Church as the unusual aspect of two aisles facing the small central area with its altar and services as he parish church along with its larger neighbour in the Town centre known as the Town Church and both with the same Priest in charge The Reverend Ann Waizenenker.

It was an interesting juxtaposition that earlier in the day I had lunch in Brighton at the Japanese style restaurant chain of Wagamama where unlike  in the UK  the complex amalgamation of Shinto and Japanese Buddhism is reported to be followed by over 80% of the population with some estimating the figures as high as 96 %. Whereas in England there has been a reduction from  71.7 to  59.4% over the past  decade with those declaring they posses no religious affiliation rising from 14.6 to 24.7%.

Given a choice of ethnic style restaurants Japanese follows French, Italian, Chinese, Indian. Spanish and Thai  but precedes American USA although in practice my weekly diet covers a Thai sauce stir fry, an Indian curry, Italian Salami and Olives, and a pizza. This year I decided against buying in Spanish Turron and Spanish sweets, although I use dried figs on a regular basis and occasionally Greek Feta cheese and Greek black Olives. At Brighton Wagamama I enjoyed a Chicken tama rice main course -grilled chicken breast stir-fried with courgettes, mushroom, red and spring onions in an oyster, ginger, garlic and wine sauce. served on sticky white rice £8,45 and shared in side dishes of  Pork ribs in barbecue sauce £6,45, Gyoza (steamed chicken and veg dumplings) £5.40, and negima yakitori (grilled chicken and spring onion skewers) £5.70. On top of this parking was £13 although included  a shopping visit.

On the following day the order was reversed with attending the afternoon service at the extraordinary  church of St Mary De Haura .My information is that it was founded at the end of the 11th century as a large cruciform church which, due to its original scale, has been described as a collegiate church—a reflection of the port of Shoreham's importance at the time. The former east end of that building survives to form the present church, and much 12th-century work remains, however the larger area which  I was shown on the visit was destroyed through failure to maintain so that one wing on what would have been four remains, but is still a large building and functions as the church for major religious and social events, as well as serving its small town-centre parish. English Heritage has listed it at Grade I for its architectural and historical importance.

As a measure of the importance of the service in the town calendar tickets enabled parishioners to get good seats in he central aisles but required queuing for up to an hour before the doors were opened to ensure placement and fortunate the weather was dry but chill. There was also reserved seating at the very front. Part of the reason why the rest of the church quickly filled with some standing at the back reminding of Christmas midnight mass of my  Catholic childhood at St Elphege Wallington was because of the special choir drawn from St Mary’s and St Nicolas plus  local singers of quality under  the musical direction of  Stuart Hutchinson( also organist). Barbara Sealy for Musical arrangements and the professional organist John March, whose playing before and after the service drew applause especially the Pastoral Symphony from the Messiah. Another of the five pieces of music noted was the Carillon de Westminster by Louis Vierne.

The service opened with O Little Town of Bethlehem in which the choir sang descant. After which there was the opening Prayer and Lord’s Prayer.  The first reading was Genesis 3 8-15. The Choir sang a  15th century carol adapted by Peter Warlock. Followed by God Rest You Merry Gentlemen.. The second reading was from St Luke 1 26-38a with a Choir carol Joys Seven arranged by the Musical Director followed by the hymn Angels from the realms of glory.

The third reading was from St Matthew 1 18 to end and he Choir carol As Joseph was a walking Richard Terry, followed by I saw three ships. The fourth reading was from St Luke 2 1-7. With the choir singing the Holly and the Ivy and the Hymn  In the Bleak midwinter then the choir once more The Truth from above.  The Fifth reading St Luke 2 8-20 with the choir Oh leave you sheep and the  hymn Nowell. The sixth reading St Matthew 2 1-12 with the Choir singing Starry night followed by We three Kings. The seventh and final reading was St John 1 1-14 with Elgar’s I sing the birth and after prayers His Praises We’ll sing followed by O come all ye faithful and the choir ended the service with Gaudete and the congregation Hark the Herald. The final piece of music was Symphony number 1 by Louis  Vierne.

The plated collection was for the Worthing churches Homeless Project and the St Mary and St Nicholas Church school and which I would be surprise if  each benefited by at least one thousand pounds. The cost of the service was met from other sources. The point needs to be made that the service was of the same order at that experienced  at Durham Cathedral and witness on TV from other Cathedral  at a regional and national level.  One does not have to be  religious to appreciate,

Afterwards an attempt was made to revisit La Galleria in East Street, having visited before and impressed with this intimate authentic Italian restaurant but was not surprised to find it booked out with a 90 minute wait for a table and which by good fortune meant being able to visit Brio, an Italian family run restaurant in Brunswick Road, where there was plenty of room.

I had a large glass of Volpicella £5.45 while waiting for a delicious Ravioli al granchio allo zafferano £9.95 where the pasta was filled with crab and cheese in a saffron and cream sauce. I savoured each morsel and would have enjoyed twice as much. Unfortunately the chosen  pudding special is not listed on site and comprised a warm concoction with a side dish of home made ice cream which was extraordinary and one of  a dozen choices I wanted to taste at £5.50. I ended the meal with a white coffee although I added little of the milk.

There are 23 places to chose to eat out in the area and on Boxing Day many were open and booked but a place was secured at Chambers Bistro in the Old Town Hall and former Custom’s House on the basis of vacating  in 75  minutes which provided for a glass of wine, a main course and coffee although a pudding would have been possible. The bistro is highly regarded by visitors recording their impressions on the Trip Advisor  and although pricey on eh day it offers an exceptionally value one to three course special menu 12 to 3 and 6 to 10 £7 to £13 and which I will partake on  my next visit if they continue with a starter of half a pint of  shell on prawns. A main course of coq au vin with buttered new potatoes followed by a  carrot cake with orange and mascarpone icing or Tiramisu.  On the day I enjoyed and Italian Merlot Castelbello del Veneto £ 5.45 and line caught Haddock in Harvey’s beer batter, hand cut chips £10.95  plus a shared side order of petite pois and a house made Tartare sauce followed by a neat Americano.

There was roast duck on Christmas Day and an excellent home made Christmas cake with lots other goodies including a new treat of peppered  nuts. Before leaving there was a midday visit to Brighton Marina where there is free parking for a Cineworld showing of the Hobbit followed by a meal at Nando’s. Brighton Marina was created between 1971 and 1979 and has the look of a compromise which in fairness there were plans for extensive modernization and development rejected by the local authority with an alliance of the Conservatives and Greens. The result is a mismatch of style and buildings. The present supermarket has no cafe  with the only choice for a cuppa appeared to be McDonalds and a Wetherspoons although there is also a Subway and a coffee shop listed.  Admittedly on a drizzly day in Winter  is not the best time to make a judgements but I came away with the impression of an unattractive mess compared to developments I know in France and Gibraltar.

I did not enjoy the Hobbit because  the seats and  seating layout was old fashioned so that when a tall man sat upright throughout in from of me part of the screen was blocked out. I will view the film in cinema again and then comment after finishing the reading of the story as one  of  my Christmas gifts. I enjoyed more the visit to Nando’s based on the Portuguese flamed grilled Peri  Peri chicken where you are invited to chose from plain, Lemon Grass, medium hot and hot. I  had a quarter chicken medium hot with chips and coleslaw which was good rather than outstanding.  As soon as I saw the Mediterranean salad of  one companion I knew I had made a mistake  as the large bowl contained  large olives and Feta cheese celery and cucumber as well as splashed with olive oil and garlic with the chicken peri peri to taste. As the companion found the mixture too seasoned and hot I was able to make short time of the cheese, the Olives and much else.

Before leaving Shoreham I visited the huge Marks and Spencer’s on the road  on a  site with a supermarket and McDonald’s plus a garage in the midst of what can be described as the residential new Shoreham sandwiched between the Coast the Old Town and the A 27 dual carriage way. I purchased two pack packs of  four single coloured handkerchiefs using part of a Christmas gift card.

When visiting  Worthing  several year before I found a traditional  jazz playing in a square  on a Sunday morning  and then found they played gigs at the Shoreham Airport Restaurant and bar part of the outstanding Art Deco building which is worth a visit yet to be made. The now private airport is supported by the restaurant which include 20 piece big band nights which are free to attend, passing the hat round with free entry after the food  closes at 17.30. A visit here and to the Chambers restaurant is a must for the future.

Another aspect of the town worth mentioning is that the most expensive of roads of private housing leads from the station with its level crossing and view of Brio and  Galleria and where the station takes commuters into London as well as Brighton and other coastal towns. There is also a bus service from Brighton to Portsmouth along the coast road. all of which makes Shoreham an exceptional small town where in the High Street and  there was no sign of the economic destruction by the coalition of South Shields town centre. It was back to the Midlands for the New Year