Moon
I wouldn’t say it was one of the very best films I have seen, but it was certainly one that I enjoyed.
In some ways the story was very much like those that you read in the 1960s from authors, who published in yellow covers on Gollancz. You used to go through public libraries looking for those covers.
I won’t say too much about the story, as I don’t want to spoil it for everyone, but it concerns a man isolated on the far side of the moon mining Helium 3. As with most science fiction stories it is fairly feasible and could actually happen. The mining of Helium 3 was actually covered in a BBC Horizon program.
It was also a very well made film, from Sam Rockwell’s acting to the sets and the special effects and models.
Go and see it.
If you look at Moon on the Internet Movie Database, you’ll see a post from the director, Duncan Jones, in response to the feedback. He says that he made the film for $5,000,000 in 33 days. It was money well spent and much better value than a lot of films I’ve seen.
One thing that spoilt the film was the BO of the man sitting next to me. It is much nicer going to the cinema with a fragrant lady!
The Advantages of European Time
I was at Newmarket Races last night and got chatting to a friend about one of my beefs with the UK; the fact that we don’t have the same time as most of the UK.
To take a narrow view, horse racing would benefit enormously, in that with longer evenings, there would be a much longer time, when evening meetings would be viable. As they would generally be an hour later, there would be much more time to finish work and come racing, so it would be likely that current evening meetings would benefit. Not that last night wasn’t a large crowd!
Now if racing would benefit, so would lots of other outdoor activities and sports, from just walking in the park to playing a game of golf. I also think that some sports like football, where they use floodlights would benefit financially as they wouldn’t need to be used so much. Aren’t we supposed to be saving energy?
There is always the argument that more children would get injured going to school in the dark. This is wrong, as when we didn’t put the clocks forward in the winter of 1968-69, the number actually went down, as most accidents occur after school and then it was light. Incidentally, I worked at ICI at the time, and the worst thing that happened was that people left their lights on when they parked after driving to work. Cars warn you now!
And there is the argument about farmers not wanting to get up in the dark. I have kept horses for years and you do a lot of the work according to the sun and not the clock. All my farmer friends are the same and don’t care at all what the clock says.
So is the real reason, we don’t have European time, the fact that if we did, the tabloids would say that we are cow-towing to the wishes of the EU. Bollocks!
You will note I have not said anything about the international advantages of being on the same time as Europe. They are so overwhelming, I’ve not bothered.
Black Humour
I have just had a letter addressed to my late wife. I thought it was junk mail, but it was something to do with a system that she used to secure her credit cards.
It had the following on the envelope.
You’re only one step away from total peace of mind – Activate your benefits today!
They ought to be more careful what they put on envelopes.
Is It Art?
There was a discussion as to whether some of the high-profile art in the UK recently, like Anthony Gormley’s Fourth Plinth, is actually art. Perhaps, it is, but perhaps it is not.
In the 1960s, the Engineering Department at Liverpool University bought a set of modern prints. Some wag put a beautifully typed and framed note beside one, which said “We would have liked to buy a painting by this artist, but unfortunately we could afford it. So he was gracious enough to sell us the rag on which he wiped his brushes.”
Seriously though, I went to the University recently to see the Stuart Sutcliffe retrospective. I don’t like modern art generally, but when it is good like some Warhol, I relate to it. Now, the Sutcliffe paintings showed a certain talent. I wonder what would have happened if he hadn’t died at 22.
Apollo 11 Lands
Exactly forty years ago today, Apollo 11 landed on the moon.
My wife was still in the Middlesex Hospital with our first son, who had been born on the 16th. There was no reason for them to stay that long, except that partly that was the way it was done in those days and also the hospital was rather short of clients. They were actually phoning round other hospitals and it appeared that everybody was holding back giving birth, as they were waiting for the landing.
My wife and everybody else in the maternity unit actually crowded round the television to watch the landing. I think that some of them actually watched the moonwalk later.
Immediately, the landing was over, the phones started ringing and all hell broke out in the unit and by the morning they had beds in corridors.
We’d also put his birth in The Times and I still have two copies of the paper for that day.
The Times - July 20th, 1969
He is still the only birth I have seen in The Times, out of alphabetical order.
The paper on the left is actually a 4 a.m. edition. Does The Times still have one now?
One little incident that a friend remembered was that they interviewed a mother, whose baby was born on the 21st and they asked her if she was calling her son, Apollo. She said she was going to call him Paul.
My Basset and Cat
This picture shows my basset hound and my cat.
My Basset and My Cat
As you can see, they are friends. But then the cat is half-Abyssinian.
Horse Chestnuts
Everybody in the UK, is familiar with conker trees.
Horse Chestnut Trees
This is a row that my late wife and myself put up several years ago, when we bought the house. They have done particularly well and you can see some conkers in the picture.
Interestingly, one was planted on top of the grave of one of our English Setters and that is the healthiest and biggest. Perhaps, when I go, I’ll get someone to put a tree on top, so that I can do my big for combating global warmings.
But the trees are suffering from horse chestnut leaf miner damage. This is a moth that is ravaging horse chestnuts all over Europe.
Horse Chestnut Leaf Miner
Note the damage in the leaves. This is only minor, but I couldn’t find a really damaged one to photograph.
The jury is still out on whether the moth will lead to the loss of some or all of our horse chestnuts, with Wikipedia saying no and my tree man saying yes. But at least it appears that some birds are taking a liking to the caterpillars.
RSPB and the A11
It now looks like that the RSPB are trying to stop the dualling of the A11. This was reported in yesterday’s East Anglian Daily Times.
Now I like birds, but they are very adaptable creatures and if we make adequate provision, they will move. But the trouble with a lot of bird groups is that birds come first and people and commerce second. Now, who is it that pays for their little feelgood group?
As I indicated in my post Where Have All the Birds Gone, it could be that some of the beliefs of the bird groups, actually reduce such things as song birds. I only say could be, but endless studies never seem to find a problem as to where have all the sparrows gone.
On the other hand, I’m not in favour of shooting either. In one picture, my late wife is pictured with a racing professional, who was shot because a gun was handy. I just don’t like guns and have banned them from my land, except where say a deer, that has been injured by a car, needs to be humanely put-down. They are just too dangerous to be in the hands of a lot of people who own them.
We just need balance between everything, so that people, commerce, farmers, birds and animals all thrive.
But please let’s have the missing link in the A11! And while we’re at it, let’s make the A47 all dual-carriageway from Yarmouth to Peterborough.
The Anonymous Widower 