Oh my, this started off okay if a little cheesily but slowly deteriorated into a pile of sentimental slush that was sometimes unbearable to watch. Spartakos, a guest blogger over at the Hathor Legacy has analysed the relationships in the film but is far too kind in not actually saying the film itself is execrable. Her views on the Colin and Sarah stories are particularly good. May I take this opportunity to say that Emma Thompson was awesome as was Bill Nighy and I did laugh quite often because this is Richard “Blackadder” Curtis but otherwise, yuck!
It’s the time of year when everyone is trotting out their lists of their favourite albums and songs from the previous year. Well, I’m going to be different mainly because I can’t do the new album thing convincingly and because my favourite music from this year isn’t necessarily from this year e.g. Lida Husik, Aroah, Mirah, and even Bat for Lashes. So this is a list of the albums and songs that I have listed to the most in 2007.
The songs I have listened to an awful lot this year include:
“Another Day” and “Bitter Rose” by Paula Frazer & Tarnation - the former has a simple piano based refrain which I find utterly endearing while in the latter Paula manages to make the line “my love is deeper than the deep blue sea” sound like the most profound statement ever
“Ginger” by Lovers which is one of those songs that instantly hook you in with a splendid strings arrangement followed by Carolyn Berk’s fragile and tremendously sad voice
any version of “La Familia” by Mirah with its catchy chorus and a line like “makes me want a little sugar in my bowl” is irresistible
“Now, Now” by St Vincent is inventively orchestrated and shows off Annie Clark’s charismatic vocals, the line “you don’t mean that, say you’re sorry” is hypnotic and it builds up to a bonkers finish
“Long Shot” by Aimee Mann is rock pure and simple with Aimee’s weary vocals summed up in the word “whatever”
“Easy to be Around” by Diane Cluck has (I assume) sumptuously double tracked vocals by a woman I know nothing about except her voice is stunning on this track
“Horse and I” and “What’s a Girl to Do” by Bat for Lashes - I have not been this excited about a middle class posh woman from the south east of England since Kate Bush - her work is full of interesting sounds and arrangements particularly the percussion and her voice is indeed lovely
“Mother Richard” by Lida Husik is an odd thing because her voice is almost flat but it flows over the bass like chocolate
“Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before” by The Smiths - I wasn’t a fan when I was a younger - however, I love them now and I adore this song with its hilarious lyrics and delightful guitar sound
the first time I heard “Captain of Your Ship” by Reparata & the Delrons I loved it - from the ship’s horn to the twangy thingy to the falsetto “you’re going to lose a good thing” it is huge fun
“I Insist” by Barbara Manning & the Go-Luckys is yet another classy song by a little known songwriter - her vocals are sombre but arresting and the guitar is rich
the start of “Mansfield and Cyclops” by Espers is so utterly gorgeous that it usually stops me in my tracks and that’s before Meg Baird’s vocals even begin - if you don’t adore this song by 1.45 then psychedelic folk isn’t for you!
“An Orchid is a Flower That Thrives on Neglect” by Aroah - guitar, drums and a humming thing and Aroah’s understated vocals make this a perfect opening track
There are a handful of tracks that I never skip when I’m listening to music randomly (which I do a lot) which include “Red Vines” and “Ghost World” by Aimee Mann, “Little Black Egg”, “There’s Someone” and “The Well” by Tarnation (Paula Frazer) and “Almost” by Sarah Harmer.
The wife of the new Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, was profiled on the BBC News website. She’s a lawyer but clearly what was as important was to mention the colour of her hair. And this truly bizarre paragraph,
By keeping her own name, rather than taking her husband’s, Ms Gonzalez Durantez seems to be following in the footsteps of Tony Blair’s wife Cherie, who used the moniker Booth whenever she was working,
makes me cringe. Moniker implies pseudonym and I don’t think that Cherie Booth using the name she was given at birth (you know, her real name) can under any definition be pseudonymous. Also, it betrays ignorance of culture because according to Wikipedia: “In Spain, a woman does not ever change her official surnames when she marries.” (awkward phrasing but you get the idea). And, of course, she would have definitely changed her name if the wife of the Labour leader had changed hers…
I confess that I notice left-handed people all the time despite the fact that I am particularly right-handed but – whatever - you’ve got to hang an entry on something.
Julia Sawalha is famous for playing juveniles both when she was a juvenile and when she was well past that age.
She played fifteen year old Lydia in Pride and Prejudice when she was twenty seven and it didn’t seem wrong. So it was with a bit of shock when she turned up in the first episode of Cranford looking like she was in her late thirties (which she is). It was okay for me to say that but I felt that Sir Charles Maulver (played by Greg Wise) was a real meanie for saying so in her hearing.
For most people, Julia Sawalha is Lynda Day from Press Gang or Saffy from Absolutely Fabulous. I find AbFab rather tedious and it seems superfluous talking about great she is as the steely and caustic Junior Gazette editor. So I’ll talk about the two roles that I think she thoroughly shone in but don’t come instantly to mind when she’s mentioned: Ginger in Chicken Run and Carla in Jonathan Creek.
Chicken Run is a Nick Park creation which passes the Bechdel test with flying colours (pun intended). The voice acting is superb with Miranda Richardson quite marvellous as Mrs Tweedy. However, Julia holds it together as the leader of the hens who is not deterred by all the setbacks that beset her and her fellow inmates. She may be a little spiky in a Lynda Dayish way towards Rocky but she does exasperation so well.
Jonathan Creek’s charm was partly due to the relationship between Jonathan and Maddie (Caroline Quentin) so when Quentin left it felt like the show was going to suffer. However, Julia was a delight and seemed to really enjoy the role-playing that being Jonathan’s sidekick demanded.
There is warmth, genuine niceness and an air of decency about her acting which I admire and enjoy. She is also splendidly shaped.
And I’ll be nice and forget she was ever in Second Thoughts which is a classic ITV sitcom. Classic that is in the sense of being entirely unfunny and atrociously acted by a cast that included James Bolam and Lynda Bellingham.
