It’s a special anniversary for my diary writing
December 31st, 2021 by Roger Darlington
On New Year’s Eve 1961, I started to write a diary.
Since then, I’ve managed an entry for every single day. So today I celebrate exactly 60 years of recording my daily activities. The total number of daily entries now stands at 21,913.
The historian David Kynaston has made a total of six visits to study my diaries and included two references in his new book “On The Cusp” on the year 1962 .
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What can the world expect in 2022? Another year of living dangerously.
December 30th, 2021 by Roger Darlington
“On the brink of a new year, the world faces a daunting array of challenges: the resurgent Covid-19 pandemic, the climate emergency, the struggle between democracy and authoritarianism, humanitarian crises, mass migration, and trans-national terrorism. There is the risk of new inter-state conflicts, exacerbated by the breakdown of the rules-based international order, and the spread of lethal autonomous weapons. All in all, for most people on Earth – and a handful in space – 2022 will be another year of living dangerously.”
This is opening paragraph of an article in today’s “Guardian” newspaper which provides an useful, if sobering, review of the current state of humankind.
Speaking personally, I’m hoping that 2022 can be ‘the year of travel’. I really want to go abroad a few times to make up for two years at home. We’ll have to see if that’s possible …
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A review of the classic German war film “Das Boot”
December 29th, 2021 by Roger Darlington
“The Boat” is a German war film with an interesting genesis and aftermath. In 1941, war correspondent Lothar-Günther Buchheim joined German submarine U-96 on a patrol as part of the hard-fought Battle of the Atlantic. In 1973, he published a best-selling novel called simply “Das Boot” based on his experiences aboard U-96. Wolfgang Petersen then wrote and directed a film of the same title based on the novel and this was released in its initial theatrical form in 1981 (how I first viewed it) and then as a director’s cut in 1997 (how I subsequently saw it).
The first version lasted two and a half hours, while the director’s cut ran to three and a half hours. In between the two cinematic versions, German television broadcast a five-hour version as a mini series.
Quite rightly the work has been both a commercial and a critical success and viewing it is a nerve-wracking experience. It is very rare for a non-English speaking film to receive an Academy Award nomination outside of the Best Foreign Film category, but “Das Boat” received no less than six (although it did not actually win any).
The film had one of the largest budgets in the history of German cinema and the sets and sound are terrific with the claustrophobic nature of the submarine constantly hammered home. The captain of the real U-96 during Buchheim’s 1941 patrol served as a consultant which ensured the authenticity of the operation although some of the narrative is fiction. A fine cast is led by Jürgen Prochnow as the submarine captain.
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My Christmas gift to you
December 26th, 2021 by Roger Darlington
It’s my latest short story entitled “After Life” which you can read here.
To access all my short stories click here
If you would like to have my short stories in book form, you can purchase “The Rooms In My Mind” for a very modest price on Amazon click here
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Life at the moment feels like a waiting game
December 20th, 2021 by Roger Darlington
I’m waiting to see if …
… England enters into some kind of fourth lockdown to combat the impact of the Omicron variant of the corona virus
… the western nations will honour their undertakings to provide anti-covid vaccines to the developing nations so that we reduce the incidence of deaths, illness and new variants
… Prime Minister Boris Johnson will be pushed out of office for his serial lying and gross incompetence
… President Joe Biden can somehow persuade the US Congress to approve his infrastructure bill
… Russia invades Ukraine and, if so, how far will the Russians advance and what will be the death toll
… China invades Taiwan and, if so, what will be the American reaction and the consequences for the world
… Israel launches bombing raids on Iran to prevent the latter acquiring a nuclear capability
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A review of the new blockbuster “Spider-Man: No Way Home”
December 19th, 2021 by Roger Darlington
After almost two years of the global pandemic, demand was high for a new Marvel movie and, if I wanted to see it in IMAX on the opening weekend, to secure a decent seat I had to attend the showing at 8 am on the Sunday morning. But it was worth it to forget the Omicron variant for a couple of hours and enjoy a genuinely entertaining spin on the Spidey story.
First, we had three “Spider-Man” movies directed by Sam Raimi with Tobey Maguire in the eponymous role; then we had two “Amazing Spider-Man” films helmed by Marc Web with Andrew Garfield as the titular super-hero; now we have third offering from director Jon Watts with the third representation of the arachnidic super-hero played by Tom Holland.
What’s new in the reel world is that, as revealed in an end of credits clip last time, the identity of Spider-Man is now public knowledge and what’s new in the real world, as revealed by the media, is that Holland (Peter Parker) is now in an actual relationship with Zendaya (Michelle Jones aka MJ).
Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) tries to sort out the exposure of Spider-Man’s identity, but finds that meddling with the multiverse can bring all sorts of earlier characters in the franchise crashing into the here and now, providing all kinds of set-ups, both threatening and amusing. As always, stay for the two clips in the middle of and at the very end of the credits.
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The grim record of covid deaths in the United States
December 15th, 2021 by Roger Darlington
The US death toll from Covid-19 has passed 800,000, a once-unimaginable figure seen as doubly tragic given that more than 200,000 of those lives were lost after vaccines became available last spring. The figure represents the highest reported toll of any country in the world and is likely to be even higher.
The US accounts for approximately 4% of the world’s population but about 15% of the 5.3 million known deaths from coronavirus since the outbreak began in China two years ago.The grim milestone comes as the world braces for a rise in cases of the new Omicron variant, with the World Health Organisation (WHO) warning it is spreading at an unprecedented rate.
The deadly milestone comes as cases and hospitalisations are on the rise again in the US, driven by the highly contagious Delta variant, with the new variant Omicron posing a fresh threat. About 200 million Americans are vaccinated, or just over 60% of the population. That is well short of what scientists say is needed to keep the virus in check.
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A review of the award-winning Japanese film “After Life”
December 11th, 2021 by Roger Darlington
I only heard of this 1998 Japanese film some two decades after its release when I saw a play based on it performed at London’s National Theatre. Coincidentally, just a few months later, the film was shown as part of a Japanese season at the British Film Institute which is next door to the theatre so naturally I took the opportunity to see it.
Written, directed and edited by Hirokazu Kore-eda, it has a wonderful plot device: when people die, they find themselves in a kind of limbo where they have to chose their happiest memory which will then be reconstructed for them and be their sole/soul memory for the rest of eternity. The work explores what we remember and why and how we recall and reconstruct our memories.
The film has a minimalist look: shot in black and white in one nondescript building, the whole operation – especially the recreation of the chosen memories – is low-key and amateurish. It looks like a documentary which is not surprising: Kore-eda started his career as a maker of television documentaries, some of the interviews are selected from more than 500 that he shot in development of the film, and even the fictional interviews are sometimes improvised.
It is a gentle and delightful work which nevertheless poses some existential questions.
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Do you have any nicknames? Would you like to know three of mine?
December 10th, 2021 by Roger Darlington
When I was a lad, there was a popular comic called “The Beano” and one of the regular characters in that was a young boy called “Roger the Dodger”. Inevitably, I was often called that.
When I started my working life, it was at the then Polytechnic of North London where I was the Accommodation Officer. My colleagues called me “Roger the Lodger Man”.
The main part of my career was working as an official for a trade union that represented telecommunications technicians. One of my secretaries dubbed me “Roger Diallingtone”.
If you’re interested in names, I’ve written an essay on naming practices around the world which you can access here.
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A review of the samurai film “47 Ronin”
December 9th, 2021 by Roger Darlington
A ronin is a samurai without a lord. In early 18th century Japan, 47 ronin sought to avenge the death of their master knowing that, even if they survived the endeavour, they would be put to death for breaching the authority of the shogun.
This true story is very well-known to all Japanese because of the sense of nobility that it coveys and it has been represented in many films, plays and even an opera. This 2013 Hollywood version of the Ako incident invents a mixed-race character with special powers played by Keanu Reeves who looks the part and brings his reputation for few words and much action to this fantasy adventure movie.
The film went down badly in Japan, even though most of the actors are Japanese, because the narrative differs so much from the traditional tale. It did little better outside Japan because the one star, Reeves, was not a sufficient draw (this was before his “John Wick” movies). But, on a cold winter’s evening in front of a television, it proved watchable enough for two hours.
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