Three very different films in the course of just one week
August 3rd, 2013 by Roger Darlington
As regular readers of NightHawk will be well aware, I am a big movie fan and have eclectic tastes. I try to see a film a week, but this week I have viewed three which could hardly be more different from one another:
- “RED 2” – my review here.
- “Only God Forgives” – my review here.
- “Mr Smith Goes To Washington” – my review here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
The charm of Czech wedding traditions
August 2nd, 2013 by Roger Darlington
As I explained in this posting, last weekend Vee and I were in Prague for the wedding of a dear friend. It was interesting to compare and contrast the traditions associated with such an event in the Czech Republic and Britain.
Some of the traditions are the same. For instance, we both have the Flower Bouquet Toss. The bride throws the flower bouquet over her left shoulder into a crowd of single women. The lucky lady who catches the bouquet is the next one to get married.
But the Czechs have traditions that are unfamiliar to us such as:
Breaking the Plate: At the beginning of the wedding reception, a plate is broken at the feet of the bride and groom and they must sweep the chips together. This tradition has its roots in two superstitions; that chips bring happiness and that the newlyweds show a will to cooperate by jointly sweeping the chips away and their marriage will therefore be harmonious.
Kidnapping the Bride: This tradition symbolises a woman’s separation from her parents and a transition to a new living community. When the reception is almost over, friends of the newlyweds kidnap the bride and usually hide her in a pub. When the groom finds her, he is obliged to pay the bill for the drinks as a kind of ransom for the bride.
I trust that these traditions will ensure Vojta and Kaca have a long and happy marriage, Even without these traditions, Vee and I have now managed over 30 years.
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (1)
The wonderful work of Czech artist and designer Alfons Mucha
August 1st, 2013 by Roger Darlington
I have long been an enthusiast for the work of Czech designer and artist Alfons Mucha (1860-1939) who is most famous for his association with the style of Art Nouveau. I have been to several exhibitions of his work and I own six books about his posters and paintings. At the weekend, I was in Prague and had the opportunity to see two brilliant exhibitions of the work of Mucha.
The first exhibition was at the Municipal House (Obecni dum) and consisted of a huge collection of Mucha’s posters and panels which have been collected over decades by the one-time Czech tennis ace Ivan Lendl. Most of this work dates from the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, much of it during Mucha’s time in Paris. Many of the images have become very famous and you can see them today on greetings cards and the like.
The second exhibition was at the Trade Fair Palace (Veletrzni palac) and consisted of the 20 huge paintings that make up Mucha’s “Slav Epic’. These paintings have only recently moved to Prague after previously being located in the artist’s home town in Moravia. The paintings were done from 1912-1926 and are largely unknown outside his homeland, not least because understanding the subject matter requires a knowledge of Slav history that I for one do not have but is contained in a useful booklet available at the gallery.
The first event is a world premiere and it is currently the most visited fine arts exhibition in the Czech Republic. I am sure that, when it concludes in mid September, it will go to other countries. However, I cannot imagine the ‘Slav Epic’ ever leaving the Czech Republic (although I once saw the last painting in the series in a London exhibition), so you will have to go to Prague to see it.
Posted in Cultural issues, My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
A wonderful example of Czech irreverent humour
July 31st, 2013 by Roger Darlington
My wife Vee and I have just returned from a long weekend (four nights) in Prague where we were attending the wedding of a dear friend. It was my 24th trip to the Czech Republic, largely explained by the fact that Vee is half Czech.
We have seen all the sights so many times so, on recent visits, we have concentrated on viewing exhibitions and museums where we can observe something new. This time, we went to the Franz Kafka Museum which is situated in a courtyard with an unusual fountain.
The fountain depicts two life-sized male figures urinating into a pond which is shaped like the outline of the Czech Republic. You’ll get the idea here:
I cannot imagine such a feature in Britain – it would be regarded as offensive. And such a piece of art in the United States would probably be viewed as so anti-patriotic as to be almost an act of terrorism.
But the Czechs have a wonderfully irreverent sense of humour.
Posted in Cultural issues, My life & thoughts | Comments (2)
A special wedding in a special city
July 27th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Czechoslovakia – now the Czech Republic – has long had a special place in our lives and hearts because my wife’s father was Czech. He was a distinguished night fighter pilot in the Second World War and you can read about him here.
In 1985 while Czechoovakia was still communist, we met a Czech doctor on a secondment in London and Pavel Horvath became one of our very closest friends as, following the velvet revolution, we got to know his wife and three children when we regularly visited Prague and they often came over to London.
Tragically, nine years after we met him, Pavel died of leukaemia in London following two failed transplants and you can read my tribute to him here.
But of course we stayed in touch with his famly who became as close as family to us. Today his eldest child Vojtisek (Vojta) – now aged 31 – married Katerina (Kaca) at the New Town Hall in Prague and we were there to share in his happiness. It was my 24th visit to the Czech Republic and Vee’s 22nd but the most joyful ever.
Even the sun came out to play as we basked in 33C/91F.
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)
What is the highest bungee jump in the world – and would you do it?
July 25th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
There is news today that there are plans to build “the world’s highest bungee jumping platform” on a Swiss cliff top. This raises the question of what is currently the highest bungee jump on the globe.
Now for me it’s an academic question, because you ain’t going to get me doing any sort of bungee jump. But to some the definition and location are all important.
There is a list of the 15 highest bungee jumps on the planet. The fourth on the list – Bloukrans Bridge in South Africa – is described as “the highest commercial natural bungee jump in the world”.
I note this because, in 2004, my wife and I were on a tour of Southern Africa when we visited Bloukrans Bridge and, then just short of her 60th birthday, she made the jump. Crazy or what?
You can read my account of her amazing jump here.
Posted in Miscellaneous | Comments (0)
How diverse is your community?
July 24th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
I often think that how one sees the world is coloured – if you’ll forgive the pun – by how one’s community looks in terms of diversity or ethnicity.
I live in the Northwick Park Ward of the Borough of Brent in the city of London and I have recently seen census data for the 13,000 citizens in the ward and it breaks down as follows:
- White 31.2%
- Black 10.2%
- Asian 51.0%
- Mixed 3.3%
- Other 4.3%
I am half English and half Italian; my wife is half Welsh and half Czech; and our daughter-in-law is Canadian. In our road, our immediate neighbours include Irish, Spanish, Polish, Indian, Pakistani and Lebanese. My postman is Nepalese, my doctor is Indian, my dentist is Iranian, my newsagent is Sri Lankan, and my dry cleaner is Pakistani.
I love this diversity. England, more especially London, and most especially Brent, is a microcosm of our diverse world and all the more wonderful for it.
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (2)
Farewell Consumer Focus, hello Consumer Futures
July 23rd, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Consumer Focus – on whose Board I served for four years – has just published its last Annual Report. In it, the Chair Christine Farnish writes:
“This is the last Consumer Focus Annual Report. We were established by Parliament in 2008 as the result of a merger between the National Consumer Council, energywatch and Postwatch. Consumer Focus operated across the UK and was strengthened by the existence of nation level committees in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland which advised the Consumer Focus Board and advocated within devolved administrations. Over our brief life we published over 300 reports, responded to over 500 consultations and commissioned over 200 pieces of consumer research. Examples of our advocacy include the payment of £63 million of rebates to energy consumers, a change in UK Government policy on copyright, and an end to rip off holiday money charges and poor performance on ISA transfers… among many other things.”
So, what happens now?
In April 2012, the UK Government decided that the work carried out by Consumer Focus on behalf of consumers in the general economy would transfer to Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland on 1 April 2013; and that a new unit calledConsumer Futures would be established to represent consumers in essential markets subject to economic regulation.
Until April 2014, Consumer Futures will continue to be a Non- Departmental Public Body sponsored by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). It will fulfil the responsibilities of the statutory consumer body in energy and postal services in Great Britain, water services in Scotland and postal services in Northern Ireland; it will also have a wider role in applying learning and insight across other regulated markets.
Subject to decisions in Parliament, in April 2014 Consumer Futures will transfer from the public sector to Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland, with the Extra Help Unit (EHU) also transferring to Citizens Advice Scotland and responsibility for consumer representation in postal services in Northern Ireland moving to the Consumer Council for Northern Ireland (CCNI). It is intended that Consumer Futures will remain as a unit within Citizens Advice reporting to their CEO, Gillian Guy.
Posted in Consumer matters | Comments (0)
The Royal Family has a new prince but the Darlington family already has a princess
July 22nd, 2013 by Roger Darlington
The latest picture of my granddaughter Catrin
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (1)
A review of the summer blockbuster movie “Pacific Rim”
July 22nd, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Two of the cities that I visited on my holiday in March are destroyed by sea monsters in “Pacific Rim” so it’s a good thing that I went when I did. You can read my review of the film here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)