A review of the new movie “Joy”
December 29th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
I’m a massive fan of Jennifer Lawrence but even she can’t save this film from being a disappointment. You can read my review here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
A review of the new comedy movie “Sisters”
December 29th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
This is not a film that everyone will enjoy – it is aimed at a middle-aged demographic with broad minds when it comes to crude dialogue. But I confess that I enjoyed it. You can read my review here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
Listening to “25” by Adele
December 27th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
I was massively impressed by Adele’s first two albums – “19” and “21” – and very pleased to receive her third, “25”, as a Christmas present. Adele has such a powerful and distinctive voice and I’m loving her latest work.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (1)
Will the British political pollsters redeem themselves in 2016?
December 27th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
As we are reminded in detail by David Cowling – a fellow student politician from my days in the late 1960s – in this piece for the BBC, the opinion polls were spectacularly wrong in predicting the result of the General Election in May 2015. Will they start to get it right in 2016? He writes:
“Within 24 hours of the election result, the British Polling Council launched an independent inquiry into the performance of the polls. Chaired by Prof Patrick Sturgis and assisted by colleagues such as Prof Jane Green, their conclusions will be made public in mid-January.
They will be looking closely at a number of possible explanations: late swing, shy Tories, lazy Labour voters, differential turnout, sample weighting and whether we are any longer able to contact representative samples of the population.”
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
So how has Jeremy Corbyn done in his first 100 days as Labour leader?
December 27th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
In a leader in today’s “Observer” newspaper, we have the following assessment with which I could not disagree:
“No leader could make more than fledgling progress on the long road to electability in 100 days. But Corbyn’s first three months leave the impression that he does not even see winning an election as his primary task, let alone developing a gameplan that could achieve it. His most enthusiastic announcements have focused on process, not ideas: he wants to give Labour’s recently swelled ranks of members – further to the left of the country than ever before – greater control over party policy. Corbyn has taken over at the helm of a political party – and he is busy transforming it into a social movement. Usually the process works in reverse.”
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
It’s Boxing Day … so time for a box set
December 26th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
In a posting three months ago, I explained how Vee and I had picked up on the American television series “Homeland” four years after it first started to be broadcast.
Over a period of six nights, we saw all 12 episodes of series 1. This evening, we started on the box set of series 2 by watching the first four episodes. Compulsive viewing.
Has anyone seen all 60 episodes up to and including series 5? Are we in for a long haul or does it fade?
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (1)
Listening to “A Head Full Of Dreams”
December 26th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
One of my Christmas presents was the latest Coldplay album: “A Head Full Of Dreams”. It is the fifth Coldplay album in my collection.
I know that critics can be quite condescending about Coldplay’s music, but it is consistent in style and consistently pleasurable and joyful.
It’s the kind of music you hear a lot in cafes and clothes shops and I enjoy listening to it while I’m working on the computer. So what’s wrong with that?
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
Christmas is too much fun to have only once a year
December 26th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
So, that’s it: another Christmas over. Forget the presents; what’s really special about Christmas is seeing family and friends and all that delicious food and drink with some time off work. It’s a pity that we only do this sort of thing once a year.
But, wait … The Americans effectively do it twice a year because, a month before Christmas, they have Thanksgiving. I’ve never understood why other countries don’t take on this idea. After all, we’ve borrowed so many other American traditions, most notably Halloween.
OK. So, if Thanksgiving isn’t coming to us, perhaps we can go to Thanksgiving. The idea has been on my bucket list for some time.
Now our good American friends Mike and Laura – who live outside Washington DC – have invited us over to spend Thanksgiving 2016 with them. So we don’t have to wait 12 months for another Christmas-type event. Great stuff!
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (2)
Happy Christmas story (1): how 18 month old Bella survived the switching off of her ventilator
December 24th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
“A couple who said a final farewell to their baby daughter as her life support machine was turned off told of her miracle recovery.
Francesca and Lee Moore-Williams, 41 and 44, cried as they held Bella’s hand and took one final photograph before her ventilator was switched off.
The couple even signed a Do Not Resuscitate form meaning no special measures would be taken to keep her alive.
But just 30 minutes after their heartbreaking goodbye the 18-month-old tot, who doctors had given up for dead, began kicking and screaming.”
You can read the full story here.
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
Happy Christmas story (2): how three year old Emma saved her pregnant mum and unborn brother
December 24th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
“A girl of three received a bravery award on Wednesday for saving the life of her heavily pregnant mum who tripped and fell downstairs.
Little Emma Bazzard called 999 as mum Catherine, 27, lay unconscious on the floor with a ruptured placenta.
The toddler calmly gave her name and address and explained what happened during the 11-minute call to emergency services.
Emma told call handler Sarah Morris: ‘Mummy fall down a stairs and she has got a baby.'”
You can read the full story here.
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)