Sunday

This must be what Sunday's are like for people who don't work on Sundays.
A lazy relaxing good day.

The morning began so early - wide awake aas usual at 5.30 a.m.but managed to fit in loads because of that. The morning listened to the final 1/2 of Isaiah in one go which was really great - inspiring & challenging. What incredible pictures these guys painted, & how deep it goes within when you stay within a book for so long.

Early afternoon Jane Elisha & I went to the swimming baths & had a great time. Swam 50 lengths & really enjoyed it. 12 years ago we were last at Fenton Manor when we lived in Newcastle Under Lyme with Elisha just a few months old & it was a lovely being in the pool with her today 12 years on.

Had a lovely slow cooked chilli for tea with some yoghurt flat bread - thank you Janie.

Good day, but miss Church now LOL

Tangled

Good Disney film; images are sharp & beautiful, lots of humour in there, & the story is actually a good retelling of the story of Rapunzel. Its kinda like the really old Disney films in that its a really old story given a new spin.

The music is naturally sugary vomit inducing stuff with the occasional nice song thrown in ;-) but this is certainly the best Disney film I've seen for ages.

Entertaining clean family fun.

Little Fockers

Really enjoyed the previous 2 of the Focker films, & this one has some of the same great laugh out loud moments but certainly less of them.

Ben Stiller is good as Gaylord (Greg) Focker & the rest of the cast too I guess, though Owen Wilson less so.

No doubt it will be played a lot like the previous ones in the series have been in our house.

Limitless

Loved this sc fi film so much. Its about a drug called NZT which allows you to use 100% of your brain.

Its a great thriller & the only thing that stops me saying 5 star is that the end is a little open - we sensed a sequel would be in the pipeline if the film made enough at the box office.

I think De Nero is the greatest actor of his generation & a real hero of mine & he is the reason I picked this up - glad i did.

Kings Speech

Not my favourite though everyone else loved it, I guess I cant get over the subject matter, that said though as a story its good & the acting is top notch.

I thought Geoffrey Rush was just as good as Colin Firth to be honest.

Certainly wont be rushing to watch it again but glad that I saw it once.

True Grit

Now this is a real film, loved everything about it especially Hailee Steinfeld.

I remember watching the original & wondered if this would just be a cheap rip off, but it isnt at all. It really is worth all the hype & for me is better than the John Wayne film, though I do want to watch that again now :-)

Cant think of anything bad to say about it at all & will be watching it again for sure.

Talladega Nights

What can I say - ridiculous, daft, funny in parts & way too over the top.

I'm not a huge fan of Farrell, though I loved Blades of Glory, & there is way too much of him here. Couple that with the fact that NASCAR is earth shatteringly boring & that the film is so predictable, I should have hated this . . .  but I'm kinda glad we watched it.

Sacha Baron Cohen's French racing driver Jean Girard steals the show & has some brilliantly funny lines, but the best bit is without doubt a scene where Farrell says grace before eating a meal & prays to 'little baby Jesus'.

I've copied the script for that bit below because its just so funny; one day I'm going to use this in a service because there are an incredible number of people inside Church let alone outside it who prefer the sweet little baby Jesus not the real Christ.

Glad we saw this, it brightened up a rather wet dull day.

Carley: Supper’s ready! C’mon ya’ll. I’ve been slaving over this for hours. Ricky: Dear Lord Baby Jesus, or as our brothers to the south call you, Jesús, we thank you so much for this bountiful harvest of Domino’s, KFC, and the always delicious Taco Bell. I just want to take time to say thank you for my family, my two beautiful, beautiful, handsome, striking sons, Walker and Texas Ranger, or T.R. as we call him, and of course, my red-hot smoking wife, Carley who is a stone-cold fox. Who if you were to rate her ass on a hundred, it would easily be a 94. Also wanna thank you for my best friend and teammate, Cal Naughton Jr. who’s got my back no matter what. Cal: Shake and Bake. Ricky: Dear Lord Baby Jesus, we also thank you for my wife’s father, Chip. We hope that you can use your Baby Jesus powers to heal him and his horrible leg. And it smells terrible and the dogs are always bothering with it. Dear tiny, infant Jesus, we…. Carley: Hey, you know, sweetie, Jesus did grow up. You don’t always have to call him “baby.” It’s a bit odd and off-putting to pray to a baby. Ricky: Well, I like the Christmas Jesus best and I’m saying grace. When you say grace you can say it to grownup Jesus, or teenage Jesus, or bearded Jesus or whoever you want. Carley: You know what I want? I want you to do this grace good so that God will let us win tomorrow. Ricky: Dear tiny Jesus, in your golden-fleece diapers, with your tiny, little, fat, balled-up fists…. Chip: He was a man! He had a beard! Ricky: Look, I like the baby version the best, do you hear me? I win the races and I get the money. Carley: Ricky, finish the damn grace. Cal: I like to picture Jesus in a tuxedo T shirt, cause it says, like, “I wanna be formal, but I’m here to party, too.” Cause I like to party, so I like my Jesus to party. Walker: I like to picture Jesus as a ninja fighting off evil samurai. Cal: I like to think of Jesus, like, with giant eagle’s wings. And singing lead vocals for Lynyrd Skynyrd, with, like, a angel band. And I’m in the front row, and I’m hammered drunk. Carley: Hey Cal, why don’t you just shut up? Cal: Yes, ma’am. Ricky: Okay. Dear 8 pound, 6 ounce newborn infant Jesus, don’t even know a word yet, just a little infant and so cuddly, but still omnipotent, we just thank you for all the races I’ve won and the 21.2 million dollars – woo! (the rest of the family says “woo” too) – love that money, that I have accrued over this past season. Also, due to a binding endorsement contract that stipulates I mention Powerade at each grace, I just want to say that Powerade is delicious and it cools you off on a hot summer day. And we look forward to Powerade’s release of Mystic Mountain Blueberry. Thank you for all your power and your grace, dear baby God. Amen.

The Boat that Rocked

The Boat that rocked was a much better film, really really enjoyed it; a good comedy.
It's about a pirate radio station in the swinging 60's & the governments attempts to shut them down.

The sound track was excellent; the cast including Bill Nighy, Philip Seymour Hoffman & Nick Frost were too.
Good fun.

Gullivers Travels

I mentioned in a previous post that over my two weeks holiday we sat & watched a few films - most family films & not new releases.
I don't tend to watch many films - I am generally too busy & if I'm honest I get bored quickly!

It was a nice change & I really enjoyed it. It was great to spend time with the family & watch things together, especially as these days we all tend to watch different things or have our noses buried in laptops.

So Gullivers Travels with Jack Black




It was OK I guess. In parts funny but never anywhere near as good as it could have been.
Jack Black I always find is very grating after a while, & this is certainly not a patch on 'School of Rock' which is still the best thing I have seen him in.

Certainly wouldnt recommend it!

Summer Holiday 2011

Almost at the end of our holiday. Had a lovely week in Churchill in North Somerset thanks to a good friend who allowed us to stay at her manse while they were on holiday. Things didn't get off to too good a start when being so manly & strong I managed to pull the door knob off when shutting the front door!!
Thankfully the Circuit repair man came along & put it back on - phew!

Sadly the weather was pretty wet to say the least but still we had a good time.
Trips to Bristol Glastonbury Cheddar & Weston Super Mare together with 3 trips to the swimming baths as well as some lovely walks & a fair few pints of local cider & beer made for a lovely holiday.



Two highlights would have to be walking up a fair bit of Cheddar gorge http://www.cheddargorge.co.uk/ on the one quite sunny day we had, & a trip to Glastonbury abbey http://www.glastonburyabbey.com/.


In both places it felt like the thin place Revd George MacLeod described Iona as - a place where only a thread separates the material from the spiritual.
The splendour of the Gorge & the holy feeling of the Abbey - wonderful. 


Sadly the rest of Glastonbury felt very oppressive - never felt like that in a place before, goose bumps & a heavy almost evil sense. We couldn't wait to get out of the town when our visit to the Abbey was over. 


The second week has been spent with the 2 two big girls who didn't come to Somerset with us before they both go off to Uni. Lovely day out at the Black Country Living Museum http://www.bclm.co.uk/ was great.  




Read a book & a few newspapers, wasted hours watching films & doing very little.
Relaxing but next year can we please find some sun. 

Funeral problem

Very embarrassed at a funeral today. Announced & then had to sing the wrong hymn, then managed to spill water very visibly down my shirt moments before the final prayers. Seriously wished the ground would open up & swallow me.

The family were wonderful & accepted my apology, & thank heavens the rest of the day with them went off very well, but still feel terrible.