...Love and Pride
Off to the pictures AGAIN...what are we like?? We went to see the film "Pride" as a sort of celebration of my brother's life. Four years on 25th September since he died. We thought it was a film he would have loved - there's a good disco bit! Anyway - we loved it too. It's about the 1985 Miners' Strike and a group of gay activists who decide to support them whether they want them to or not. There is a lot of mistrust on both sides but...well you can probably guess how it goes. It is quite formulaic but surprisingly moving. The music is great - especially the way Billy Bragg's Power in a Union is used. It came as a surprise to me that some of the people in the film were real people. You get the titles at the end to tell you what happened to them in real life. Again very moving - don't forget this was as AIDS was just emerging. We cried about four times for various reasons. I'm not I would watch it with a maiden aunt or The Rev Ian Paisley were he still with us. Oh and it's a really good laugh as well
This is my not particularly impressive photo of Wembury Church. It's a long way off and a lot of it is behind the greenery. I was a bit distracted by how far we had walked and the prospect of chips when we got home. It is a very purdee church - Norman most of it and it has a real sense of a community in it. People pay a lot of money to get married there and you can see why. Although, to tell you the truth, if the weather is a bit off, and it can be in Devon believe it or not, then you might be better served by having your wedding photos in a wind tunnel - the effect is more or less the same. Anyway, to walk in is to feel a sense of calm and if you pay attention, I think you can get a sense of God. I like a church me. I like old ones and new ones. I even like boxes built in the sixties. Actually, I especially like the boxy ones built in the sixties.
But (I realise that I just started a paragraph with BUT but I am trying to tell you something and I can't be bothered.) But, I read this in the Message in Luke. Jesus has just healed the Centurion's servant and raised a woman's son from the dead. They are outside, by the village gate near the funeral procession and the disciples realise something
They all realised that they were in a place of holy mystery, that God was at work among them.
They are not in church or temple. There are no visitations from Moses or Elijah or angels with fiery swords. Just them - with Jesus. And he is doing stuff. And they realise that this means that God is doing stuff. Maybe they mean that this time was a place of holy mystery. I don't know really. This signalled a change among them. And I thought that as I ask God and he moves in circumstances and I see God at work in ways that I cannot fathom, that I need to train my "Holy Mystery Detector" to see things for what they are. To not wait for meetings or for church.
The Bible said that this realisation made them
..quietly worshipful and then noisily grateful
I like this - a bit of respectful realisation of what they were dealing with followed by a bit of joy and gratitude.
Sometimes there is so much trash happening in my life, a great deal of which (but not all) I create myself that I can miss that God is there, working, above and beyond the day to day.
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To the pictures to see A Most Wanted Man. I LOVED this. It was subdued, slow and not afraid to go a full thirty minutes without people getting their entrails scattered abroad. It is a spy thriller in the old sense of the word with twists and turns and it is almost impossible to tell who, if anyone, is a goody.
I know this is trite but Hoffman is a real loss to the cinema. He was just fantastic.
Reading the series by CJ Sansom about Shardlake - a hunchback lawyer who operated in London on the fringes of the court of Henry VIII. It is no Mantel and no Wilcock (the first one is set in a monastery) but really good murder mystery stuff going on here and really famous real people keep walking in and out of the thing. (Cromwell, Rich, Duke of Norfolk etc) At the moment am finishing one and galloping on to the next. This where Kindles don't really do it for me. When I first wanted to read one of these, I downloaded it for 99p on some sort of special deal. Now, three books in, I think I would rather actually own real paper copies, to keep but it seems a bit over the top to buy it twice. What to do...what to do...
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To the theatre to see 1984. I am one of those people who has tried very hard to like George Orwell. I like the idea of him. I appreciate that his contribution to literature and to social justice is important. I think that he was very clever. I just find it all a bit - flat.
We read Animal Farm at school and watched the cartoon. I could not possibly tell you, all these years later, anything that happened. I remember it was all a bit loud and a lot of Nazi imagery. Is it ok do you think to appreciate the impact of something without actually liking it?
I also read 1984 at school. Again, it felt like a few hours that could have been more productively spent staring into space. (In contrast, I read Brave New World in one sitting - thought it was amazing) So I wasn't particularly on the edge of my seat with this but the reviews were really good and when plays tour to Plymouth, I like to drag my sorry backside out to support if I can.
And...really good. No really, come back. Have to admit to some confusion at the beginning because of the repetitive set up. Otherwise moving, scary and clever. I don't actually remember the book having this much energy. The torture scenes are very uncomfortable, set as they are in a terrifying white box and the staging is stark and violent. (Don't go with a migraine)
It is not a gentle evening out but really good. Almost got on board with Orwell. Almost
I don't know how you are with YouTube, If you have young people in the house you will probably be ok with it. FOW2 loves beauty bloggers - especially haul videos. In haul videos, young women (at least usually it's women) let you know what they have spent this week/month on make-up beauty products. Above is an example of a haul from essiebutton - one of the nicer bloggers I think. But, they do spend an AWFUL LOT of money on make up. Then - perhaps a month later, they will have an empties video and show you all their empty bottles and tell you what they thought of the product. This is a useful service or at least it is for those who will happily pay £30 for a body lotion. If you - like me - do not fall into that category, you might be interested in my empties blog. It's not quite as glammy as the ones you find from the beauty blogs, sorry, You may still find it helpful though. Here are my empty bottles for the month...
The first empty is bodywash. It's from Wilcos. It doesn't smell of anything posh really. But that's ok because all you do is put it on and wash it off. The best part is that it is usually on offer at 2 for £1.50 so you get a massive bottle of body wash for 70 odd of your British pences. What more could you want?
Next empty is conditioner. I didn't like this really, it is supposed to make your hair feel thick but it just felt a bit like it had something stuck in it so it wasn't much good to me. However, it is excellent for shaving the old legs with so waste not want not eh?
Do not panic, there has not been an addition to Martha Towers. This is an empty box of what we dog walkers like to call poo bags - no way to dress that up really. Almost a luxury item as I don't get the absolute cheapest nappy bags as when they are too thin you sometimes get accidental and unsavoury "finger poking through bag" incident and no-one wants that do they?
Lastly, one for the green lobby. This is a bottle of vinegar which, when used regularly together with bicarb can help prevent plughole emergencies without me having to deal too much with whatever grossness is going on down there. Empty though so email to Summer Naturals is in order.
So there you have it - a glimpse into my empties for this month. feel free to purchase or not, it's really up to you.
