A review of the new space movie “First Man”
October 25th, 2018 by Roger Darlington
The ‘Space Race’ between the USA and the USSR took place in the 1960s when I was an impressionable teenager and I followed avidly every exciting development.
NASA’s Apollo 11 mission – the concluding segment of this movie – was in July 1969. At the time, I was president of my students’ union at university and I kept the union building open all night so that we could watch live Neil Armstrong’s “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”. Chronologically “First Man” comes between “The Right Stuff” and “Apollo 13” and it is a superb addition to the space canon of the cinema.
Director Damien Lazelle (“Whiplash”) and writer Josh Singer (“Spotlight”) have chosen to tell Armstong’s story from 1961-1969 so the movie opens with a breathtaking flight in a North American X-15 experimental aircraft and concludes with his safe return from the moon.
The account is not a triumphalist one, but a human one, showing the danger and the death involved in the Apollo programme and the struggle by Armstrong – a man of restained emotions and few words – to cope with the loss of a daughter and the worry of his wife and sons.
Interestingly this American couple is portrayed by the Canadian Ryan Gosling as the laconic Neil and the British Claire Foy as his more expressive wife Janet. Of course, Lazelle and Gosling worked together on the delightful “La La Land” and, while the topic is utterly different, the chemistry is just as sparkling and the representation of obsession just as compelling.
We really see and indeed feel how tiny and fragile the space capsule was and how powerful and explosive the rockets were. The attention to period detail is impressive, even down to one of the Armstrong sons wearing a Davy Crockett coonskin cap (we all had those), while the sound (Phil Barrie) and cinematography (Linus Sandgren) are simply stunning.
See “First Man” on a big screen and you’ll leave the cinema feeling that you’ve made a lunar flight but glad that it wasn’t your life on the line. The last time that a man was on the moon was in December 1972 and one wonders whether and, if so, when and why it will happen again …
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Word of the day: the fear of long words
October 24th, 2018 by Roger Darlington
Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is one of the longest words in the dictionary — and, in an ironic twist, is the name for a fear of long words. Sesquipedalophobia is another term for the phobia.
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Word of the day: the longest in the English language
October 24th, 2018 by Roger Darlington
The longest word in any of the major English language dictionaries is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, a word that refers to a lung disease contracted from the inhalation of very fine silica particles, specifically from a volcano; medically, it is the same as silicosis.
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Visit to Rome (4)
October 22nd, 2018 by Roger Darlington
On our third and last full day in Rome, again we had a theme: this time, the papacy. Again we were out all day but this time the weather was cooler and generally overcast.
We decided not to visit the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel (I’ve been three times before) since 11 year old Joshua was not that interested, but we did want to see St Peter’s Basilica which is of course part of Vatican City and the home of the pope. We managed to get there by the metro, only to find a morning queue that was said to be taking two hours.
So, we postponed St Peter’s and walked down to Castel Sant’Angelo. This structure by the side of the River Tiber was originally built in 123-139 AD as a massive circular tomb for the Emperor Hadrian, but it was a papal castle for 1,000 years and it is now a museum. There are some fascinating artefacts and glorious vistas with plenty of photo opportunities.
Afterwards it was time for lunch, but the area around the Vatican is a tourist trap and prices – always steep in Rome – were astronomical in the restaurant between the castle and the basilica. As an illustration, Joshua’s burger and chips was 33 Euros (£29) and the whole of the bill was subject to an automatic service charge of 17%.
At least, when we returned to St Peter’s Basilica, we found that the queue was down to half an hour. Constructed between 1506-1626, the church is simply enormous and centred on the huge altar canopy created by Bernini. Other works of art include the famous Pieta marble statue crafted by Michelangelo. The basilica has a somewhat gloomy interior but the Swiss Guards outside add some colour.
Home tomorrow after a most enjoyable but expensive long weekend in the Italian capital
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Visit to Rome (3)
October 21st, 2018 by Roger Darlington
On our second day in Rome, we had a clear theme: the Roman era. Again we were out for a full eight hours.
We started by spending the morning at the Colosseum where we had a male guide who told us horrific stories of the slaughter of Christians, prisoners and gladiators for the pleasure of the masses in the earliest case of dictators dispensing ‘bread and circuses’. It was all started by the Emperor Nero in 80 AD and the blood continued to flow for more than 300 years. It was impossible to visit this place and hear these stories and not think of the wonderful film “Gladiator”.
We had lunch at a restaurant opposite the Colosseum called “La Biga”. This name does not mean what you might think; it is the Italian word for the type of one-person chariot used in the race sequence in the film “Ben Hur”.
We then started the afternoon with a guided tour of the Forum. Our female guide told us the mythical story of the foundation of Rome when Rhea Silvia was raped by a god and gave birth to the twins Romulus and Remus. Clearly the need for the #MeToo movement goes back a long way. The Forum ruins include many temples and three triumphal arches.
After our time at the Forum, we walked round to Piazza Venetia, the location of the Victor Emmanuel II monument which is so huge and multi-layered that it is popularly known as ‘the wedding cake’. In the square, we found a gelataria where we had enormously expensive but hugely delicious ice cream dishes.
Finally we wandered over to the Capitoline Hill. This lovely quiet square was designed by Michelangelo and features an equestrian statue of the emperor/philosopher Marcus Aurelius.
Throughout the afternoon, the weather became cooler and overcast. Then, just as we went out for our evening meal, there was a ferocious thunderstorm with heavy hail [see here], but fortunately we managed to find a restaurant very close by.
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Visit to Rome (2)
October 20th, 2018 by Roger Darlington
Our first full day in Rome was a long walking tour. We were out for eight hours and, in that time, visited six locations and made three refreshment stops.
We started near our hotel with a visit to the huge Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. This was originally built in the 5th century with Romanesque, Renaissance and Baroque additions over the succeeding centuries. We then made the long walk to the so-called Spanish Steps whose proper name is Scalinata della Trinita dei Monti. The popular name comes from the nearby Spanish Embassy and the true name is the church at the top of the steps.
It was not far from the steps to the famous Trevi Fountain. This 1732 creation by Nicola Salvi is so large that it virtually occupies the square which is always heaving with tourists. Next stop, not fat away, was the Pantheon. This dates back to AD 118-125 when it was a pagan temple. It was given to the then pope in 608 and today houses the tombs of two Italian kings.
Not far away again is Piazza Navona, one of the largest and loveliest of Rome’s many squares. At the centre of the oblong square is Bernini’s Fountain of the Four Rivers, each representing a different continent. Finally we called into Campo dei Fiori (Field of Flowers). During the Inquisition, executions were held here, but today it houses a thriving open air market which includes many flower stalls.
Rome seems like a safe city with the only danger being the traffic, but at all the sights there were pairs of soldiers armed with machine guns. We walked everywhere, only taking a taxi back to the hotel at the very end of the day. The weather was excellent, reaching a high of 27C, and, in the evening, we even managed to eat our dinner outdoors.
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Visit to Rome (1)
October 20th, 2018 by Roger Darlington
I’ve kept a diary since I was a teenager and I like to count things, so I know that this is my fourth trip to Rome and my 12th visit to Italy. It is the 200th time that I have travelled outside the UK. On this occasion, I am away with two members of my Chinese ‘family’: mother Hua and her son Joshua (aged 11).
Although I am half Italian (my mother was from Naples), it never fails to amaze me how an advanced country like Italy can be so chaotic.
On the day of our departure, coincidentally the “Guardian” newspaper had an article about how public services in Rome are falling apart under the new mayor from the populist Five Star Movement Virginia Raggi. Problems include overflowing bins, potholes, and burning buses (10 this year). The taxi driver we arranged to pick us up from the airport was over one hour late because of “traffic”.
Our accommodation here is quite special. It is in an old, five-storey building opposite the opera house and near the main station. The lift is one of those old cage affairs that looks as if it belongs in an Hitchcock movie. We are in a bed and breakfast place with just three rooms. The only time we see a person is at breakfast time and incredibly the breakfast guy is from the Philippines but speaks Mandarin because he used to work in Taiwan.
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What is at stake in the US mid-term elections?
October 19th, 2018 by Roger Darlington
This week, I attended the first of two sessions at London’s City Literary Institute to discuss the United States mid-term elections. This session looked at what is at stake and considered what might happen. The session after the elections will examine the results and debate the implications for the presidential election in 2020.
The elections are on Tuesday 6 November 2018, although in some states voting – by post and even in person – has already started.
The lecturer was Mark Malcolmson who is in fact the principal of the college. He is an expert on US politics, having lived in the country for many years, and an excellent prosenter.
He gave us the basic statistics of what is up for election:
- All 435 seats in the House of Representatives
- Around one-third, actually 35, seats in the Senate
- 36 state governors and three US territory governors
- 6,066 state legislative races in 46 states
He explained that there is something called “the mid-term penalty”. This is the almost invariable pattern that the party holding the presidency does badly in the mid-terms, so this will act against the Republicans this time. Another factor is that turn-out is always much lower in the mid-term elections than in Congressional elections when the presidency is up for election too.
Besides these two general factors, this year we have two extraordinary considerations. The first is the massive aversion to Donald Trump as president, especially among women. The second is the huge controversy over the recent confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
On the one hand, Democrats (and independents) are fired up and there is talk of “a wave election” with the Dems doing really well. On the other hand, Trump remains very popular with his base and many Republicans feel angry at how Kavanaugh was treated.
The consensus on the course was that the Democrats are very likely to take the House of Representatives (they need to take 23 seats which should be achievable). But the Dems will probably not take the Senate (they would need to win two seats and hold all their current ones).
A Democratic majority in the House would enable the Dems to block legislation from Trump or Republicans, although Trump has achieved very little (except tax cuts) even with a Republican majority. Also the House under the Dems could initiate investigations on issues like Russia, keeping these subjects in the headlines and exposing new facts as we approach the next presidential election.
If you would like to know more about the American political system, you can read my guide here.
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Do you know who was the founding first president of the new state of Czechoslovakia 100 years ago?
October 18th, 2018 by Roger Darlington
It was Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk – or TGM as he was often known – and this week I attended a talk given by his great granddaughter Charlotta Kotik. The event was organised by the British Czech and Slovak Association and the venue was the Slovak Embassy in London.
Masaryk was already 68 when he became President in 1918 and he won a succession of new terms before age and ill-health forced him to abdicate in 1935 at the venerable age of 85 (he died two years later).
His great granddaughter is an art historian in the United States, but told of her childhood in Communist Czechoslovakia where, as a member of the Masaryk family, she was denied access to university and employment.
Some years ago, I read a very interesting biography of Tomáš Masaryk and his son Jan and you can read my review of that book here.
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Is there any good news in the world? Maybe in Ethiopia …
October 17th, 2018 by Roger Darlington
All that most people in the world know about the African state of Ethoipia is that it had a famine in 1984. But profound political changes are currently taking place in the country. As the “Guardian” newspaper reports today:
“Ethiopia’s prime minister has appointed women to half the posts in his cabinet and created a new ministry of peace in a sweeping reshuffle that will reinforce the momentum of his radical reform programme in the vast, strategically significant African country.
Abiy Ahmed has turned the region’s politics on its head with a string of reforms since being appointed in April, earning comparisons to Nelson Mandela, Justin Trudeau, Barack Obama and Mikhail Gorbachev.
On Tuesday, he named the former construction minister, Aisha Mohammed, as defence minister – the first woman to hold that position in the country – and announced the creation of a new peace ministry led by Muferiat Kamil, former parliament speaker.
Kamil’s office will oversee the intelligence and security agencies, a move that reinforces the downgrading of the traditionally powerful security establishment in the authoritarian state.”
You can read a little more on this story here.
I visited Ethiopia in 2015 and you can read the account of my trip here.
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