The snow has returned with a fall of over six inches, more than previously and with the temperature saying below freezing it remains as packed iced along roads and pavements on the hill, despite constant blue sky sunshine of the past two days. It was therefore with some misgivings that I decided to watch again, The Day after Tomorrow,” the disaster climate change movie which has a simple story of a series of storms which follow desalination of the oceans because of the melting of the Polar ice caps and which causes a dramatic drop in temperature in which the majority of the planet is returned to a second ice age and with all life frozen solid in an instant when the big drop occurs.
The dramatic aspect is encapsulated in the story of a federal government weather researcher (Dennis Quaid) who understanding what is happening arising from a research outpost contact weather researcher (Ian Holm) and tries to warn the Presidency, and the need to evacuate as many people as possible to the southernmost states, Mexico and South America, He is ignored got a time during which vast numbers of people are lost but at least is able to save his son who is in New York with his college basketball team and who takes refuge in a Library surviving by burning books and sitting on top of the fireplace with a few others who accepted the advice. Father treks across country, used his experience of Polar expeditions in order to find his son in New York. Thus despite millions perishing all over the world the film is able to end on an optimistic note. The film was rightly criticised for suggesting the various climate changes which may occur over centuries could suddenly happen within hours and that such a catastrophe would conveniently leave a whole country such as Mexico apparently unaffected.
This being said I liked the film concept that it would be North America and Northern Europe which would perish leaving the previously poorer countries close to the Equator unaffected. However given the sudden reappearance of severe UK winter it gave me the chills while leaving me cold as a film. It’s how you tell em.
Sunday proved a very different experience beginning with the disappointment of the Australian Grand Slam Men’s’ Final in which Andy Murray was again humiliated by Roger Federer, arguable the greatest tennis player of all time who notched up his 18th major title win in three sets although Andy did put up quite a fight in the tie breaking third. I could not bear to watch but dipped back to see what was happening from time to time. Half the nation got up early on a Sunday morning in hope and then went back to bed or made best use of their time for the rest of the morning. Roger had scorned his opponent joking that no Brit had won a major for 150000 years. He was close as the true figure is 74 years. Mind you Tim Henman never reached one final and Greg Rudeski only one so with two appearances against Federer in Australia and the USA Andy is getting closer to a Wimbledon show which would make him the best British player of the last half of the 20th century. He is already the best Scottish player ever.
Manchester United demolished Arsenal at Highbury impressively, Man City could only draw while Newcastle similarly drew at home in a boring game. Sunderland play tonight but it is being shown on ESPN and therefore the additional cost is not justified. However the sporting news of the weekend was on the front page as the Captain of England’s football team John Terry is reported to be having an affair with the wife of a Chelsea team mate and English team colleague. Divorce is the name of this game and calls for Terry to be stripped of the captaincy. The reason for the excessive media interest is that he was voted Dad of the Year recently and with the World Cup in the summer his personal behaviour is symptomatic of the gap between hype and aspiration, reality and truth..
I looked forward to two television shows on Sunday evening and then fortunately discovered that there were three, commencing at 8 and continuing until 12.30. The first is the at times sentimental and sugared nostalgic look back at the village and country town life of Lark Rise to Candleford. This week it was nothing of the kind as a measles epidemic swept through Oxford and Larkrise but was restricted in Candleford although the Little Man at the Post office was affected. The episode saw the return of the Oxford City reporter Daniel who has come to tell Laura he is taking a senior position with a paper at Cambridge following his articles on the epidemic which led to the deaths of a number of children and led to him being head hunted . He is leaving on the coach when he sees one of the Timmins children overcome with the disease.
The problem facing Larkrise is that additional to being overwhelmed as all the children in the village go down, it is harvest time and the individual families need their children if there is to be bread throughout the winter. It is at this point Daniel decides to give up the job promotion opportunity and stay behind suggesting that the villages first care for all the children collectively and also pools the outcome of the harvest. He also appeals to the Candleford community and a number of people assist. Thomas who lost three of his younger brothers and sisters previously to the diseases and the youngest of the Pratt sisters who also had the disease in her childhood. Others such as the elder of the Pratt sisters together with others. The Little Man recovers with the help of Thomas’s wife Margaret as Dorcus goes without food and sleep until he recovers, However Alf (the eldest son of Dawn French, incarcerated in prison since series 1) is to lose his younger brother. Dawn has a child when in prison cared for by Mrs Timmins and she/he is a comfort in his sorrow and that of the village. I found the episodes very moving and on a different level to the earlier parts of the third series.
It was then time for the fictionalised film on the last part of the life of Mo Molam, the Member of Parliament for Redcar and who was the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 1997 1999 when the cease fire was negotiated on what has become known as the Good Friday agreement.
I had known something of the life of Mrs Mowlam and witnessed the prolonged applause and standing ovation which greeted her name mentioned by Tony Blair at the Labour Party conference immediately after the cease fire agreement was signed.
What I did not know is that her colourful personality which included an earthy and direct language full of expletives could have been caused by a long standing brain tumour which was only detected a few months before Labour won the 1997 election and she was then appointed to Ministerial office. The programme brought out that she first attempted to cover up the illness fearing it would result in her political demise but when it became evident because of substantial weight increase and the wearing of wigs, the disclosure significantly improved her popularity to an extent that she became a potential rival to Tony the Prime Minister.
I have no means of knowing if the exchanges between her and the Republican and Loyalist interests were accurate but if so it is evident that she was personally instrumental in getting the parties to be prepared to move forward to a cease fire and to power sharing. For this the people of Ireland will be eternally grateful as well as removing the threat of terrorism in the UK in relation to the Irish situation. She will be remembered for bravely going into the Maze prison to speak to Loyalists convicted of murder in order to achieve their cooperation in the peace process. I was also aware that she maintained contact with her constituency
There were a number of aspects with which I was not familiar. The first was the extent to which Senator Kennedy, the youngest of the Kennedy brothers, together with President Clinton exerted pressure on the Jerry Adams and through him on the various parts of republicanism to bring them to the negotiating table. It is assumed that President Obama may be exerting behind the scenes influence at this time when the Power Sharing government is once again at risk of ending because of disagreement over the proposed decentralization of policing. The programme did explain that the position of David Trimble was always under threat from the more party led by Dr Ian Paisley, and I have previously commented on the amazing sight of Dr Paisley and Martin McGuiness as chief and deputy chief Ministers holding session with the Stormont Assembly. Politics is the art of the possible but occasionally individuals are able to transform and superimpose changes which amaze and admire. Given the history and the circumstances.
The second is the extent to which she reacted when the Prime Minister decided to become personally involved in the talks having direct meetings with the Principals and the extent to which she appears to have become paranoid about the approach of Tony and Peter Mandelson who replaced her as the senior Minister. The programme left the impression that she had immediately withdrawn from the Government and Commons whereas she became the Minister for the Cabinet Office for two years 1999-2001. She had been one of the organisers of the political campaign to get Tony elected as the Labour Leader. The programme suggested that under the influence of her husband, the city banker Jonathan Norton who she married in 1995 when 45 she came to believe she could take the Premiership from Tony, despite Gordon Brown and his supporters continuing to make their own plans. I have read an interesting an important article from the Sunday Observer by Rachel Cooke, interviewer of the year and who does not appear to have a Wikipedia entry, and which questions how far this aspect is accurate or how far Mo herself became ambitious, disillusioned and angry with Blair and Mandelson. Norton also died young, soon after he had established a relationship with Clare Short another critic of Blair, especially in relation to the Iraq War. She gives her evidence about the Iraq war on Tuesday morning and to some extent has sent the agenda for the Inquiry through her book and public statements
Over the weekend I completed another full play of Luxor Majong with a new top score of over 16 million points and the second highest Luxor Rising with over 10 million points not the highest stage which is third in the points totals. I will now concentrate on level three chess as well as the original traditional patience games for a while.
This brings me to the third important film of the night on Winnie Mandela, born in 1936 so now in her mid 1970’s. The programme does not cover her early life when despite all the restrictions against black people gaining higher education she obtained degrees in social and in international relations before meeting and marrying in 1958, when she was 21-22, the lawyer and anti apartheid activist Nelson Mandela and who was then 40. They had two children within three years during which time Mandela was on the run.
It has to be remembered that the couple were only together four years before Nelson was apprehended and taken into custody, and banished to an island for the next three decades. It should be noted that the CIA of the USA provided information which led to his arrest. When her husband returned they were strangers and she had developed her own life and relationships and position within the African National Congress. It should also be remembered that the White Afrikaners and their British sympathizers were often sadistic fascists akin to the Nazi and Stalinists who committed murder and torture of anyone who appeared to challenged their collective and individual power and authority. She was taken into custody, tortured, abused, and humiliated. This is only mitigation for her subsequent shortcomings but is made much of in the film, especially when it was evident that Nelson did not have such a bad time. On release the government made every attempt to isolate her from all other contact except for politicians and journalists who insisted on having contact so they could draw the attention of the world to her position and that of the blacks in general in the country.
The film suggests that although she resisted, it was only later that she realised she had power as the authorities were afraid of the international reaction if they went too far. This led her to increasingly becoming a symbol for the ANC and its political and unofficial activities. There were two aspects which as with the republicans leadership in Northern Ireland, affected her standing and personal international influence. Her rhetoric could one of violence with reference to the fact that while they had no guns they had boxes of matches for neck lacing which was to soak tyres in petrol and set them alight, around their victims, which included informers. She was accused of being involved with the abduction of adolescents and specifically with involvement in the death of one youngster.
She was subsequently convicted with her broker of various charges of fraud and theft and sentenced to five years although with was over turned to a suspended sentence when the court rules that in mitigation she had not acted for personal; gain but to raise funds for the causes she supported, She was able to return to politics and in 2007 came first on the ANC NEC election list thus confirming her continuing standing among the party and people. She separated from Mandela shortly after his released and was divorced on grounds of her adultery after his release from captivity. There is a Hollywood film to be released later this year although she has expressed concern about not being consulted with threats of a legal challenge. As she remains a major figure in South African politics it will be interesting to see how she is presented in the film and how her role will be compared with that of Mandela in bring about the freeing of their country men and women.
The dramatic aspect is encapsulated in the story of a federal government weather researcher (Dennis Quaid) who understanding what is happening arising from a research outpost contact weather researcher (Ian Holm) and tries to warn the Presidency, and the need to evacuate as many people as possible to the southernmost states, Mexico and South America, He is ignored got a time during which vast numbers of people are lost but at least is able to save his son who is in New York with his college basketball team and who takes refuge in a Library surviving by burning books and sitting on top of the fireplace with a few others who accepted the advice. Father treks across country, used his experience of Polar expeditions in order to find his son in New York. Thus despite millions perishing all over the world the film is able to end on an optimistic note. The film was rightly criticised for suggesting the various climate changes which may occur over centuries could suddenly happen within hours and that such a catastrophe would conveniently leave a whole country such as Mexico apparently unaffected.
This being said I liked the film concept that it would be North America and Northern Europe which would perish leaving the previously poorer countries close to the Equator unaffected. However given the sudden reappearance of severe UK winter it gave me the chills while leaving me cold as a film. It’s how you tell em.
Sunday proved a very different experience beginning with the disappointment of the Australian Grand Slam Men’s’ Final in which Andy Murray was again humiliated by Roger Federer, arguable the greatest tennis player of all time who notched up his 18th major title win in three sets although Andy did put up quite a fight in the tie breaking third. I could not bear to watch but dipped back to see what was happening from time to time. Half the nation got up early on a Sunday morning in hope and then went back to bed or made best use of their time for the rest of the morning. Roger had scorned his opponent joking that no Brit had won a major for 150000 years. He was close as the true figure is 74 years. Mind you Tim Henman never reached one final and Greg Rudeski only one so with two appearances against Federer in Australia and the USA Andy is getting closer to a Wimbledon show which would make him the best British player of the last half of the 20th century. He is already the best Scottish player ever.
Manchester United demolished Arsenal at Highbury impressively, Man City could only draw while Newcastle similarly drew at home in a boring game. Sunderland play tonight but it is being shown on ESPN and therefore the additional cost is not justified. However the sporting news of the weekend was on the front page as the Captain of England’s football team John Terry is reported to be having an affair with the wife of a Chelsea team mate and English team colleague. Divorce is the name of this game and calls for Terry to be stripped of the captaincy. The reason for the excessive media interest is that he was voted Dad of the Year recently and with the World Cup in the summer his personal behaviour is symptomatic of the gap between hype and aspiration, reality and truth..
I looked forward to two television shows on Sunday evening and then fortunately discovered that there were three, commencing at 8 and continuing until 12.30. The first is the at times sentimental and sugared nostalgic look back at the village and country town life of Lark Rise to Candleford. This week it was nothing of the kind as a measles epidemic swept through Oxford and Larkrise but was restricted in Candleford although the Little Man at the Post office was affected. The episode saw the return of the Oxford City reporter Daniel who has come to tell Laura he is taking a senior position with a paper at Cambridge following his articles on the epidemic which led to the deaths of a number of children and led to him being head hunted . He is leaving on the coach when he sees one of the Timmins children overcome with the disease.
The problem facing Larkrise is that additional to being overwhelmed as all the children in the village go down, it is harvest time and the individual families need their children if there is to be bread throughout the winter. It is at this point Daniel decides to give up the job promotion opportunity and stay behind suggesting that the villages first care for all the children collectively and also pools the outcome of the harvest. He also appeals to the Candleford community and a number of people assist. Thomas who lost three of his younger brothers and sisters previously to the diseases and the youngest of the Pratt sisters who also had the disease in her childhood. Others such as the elder of the Pratt sisters together with others. The Little Man recovers with the help of Thomas’s wife Margaret as Dorcus goes without food and sleep until he recovers, However Alf (the eldest son of Dawn French, incarcerated in prison since series 1) is to lose his younger brother. Dawn has a child when in prison cared for by Mrs Timmins and she/he is a comfort in his sorrow and that of the village. I found the episodes very moving and on a different level to the earlier parts of the third series.
It was then time for the fictionalised film on the last part of the life of Mo Molam, the Member of Parliament for Redcar and who was the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 1997 1999 when the cease fire was negotiated on what has become known as the Good Friday agreement.
I had known something of the life of Mrs Mowlam and witnessed the prolonged applause and standing ovation which greeted her name mentioned by Tony Blair at the Labour Party conference immediately after the cease fire agreement was signed.
What I did not know is that her colourful personality which included an earthy and direct language full of expletives could have been caused by a long standing brain tumour which was only detected a few months before Labour won the 1997 election and she was then appointed to Ministerial office. The programme brought out that she first attempted to cover up the illness fearing it would result in her political demise but when it became evident because of substantial weight increase and the wearing of wigs, the disclosure significantly improved her popularity to an extent that she became a potential rival to Tony the Prime Minister.
I have no means of knowing if the exchanges between her and the Republican and Loyalist interests were accurate but if so it is evident that she was personally instrumental in getting the parties to be prepared to move forward to a cease fire and to power sharing. For this the people of Ireland will be eternally grateful as well as removing the threat of terrorism in the UK in relation to the Irish situation. She will be remembered for bravely going into the Maze prison to speak to Loyalists convicted of murder in order to achieve their cooperation in the peace process. I was also aware that she maintained contact with her constituency
There were a number of aspects with which I was not familiar. The first was the extent to which Senator Kennedy, the youngest of the Kennedy brothers, together with President Clinton exerted pressure on the Jerry Adams and through him on the various parts of republicanism to bring them to the negotiating table. It is assumed that President Obama may be exerting behind the scenes influence at this time when the Power Sharing government is once again at risk of ending because of disagreement over the proposed decentralization of policing. The programme did explain that the position of David Trimble was always under threat from the more party led by Dr Ian Paisley, and I have previously commented on the amazing sight of Dr Paisley and Martin McGuiness as chief and deputy chief Ministers holding session with the Stormont Assembly. Politics is the art of the possible but occasionally individuals are able to transform and superimpose changes which amaze and admire. Given the history and the circumstances.
The second is the extent to which she reacted when the Prime Minister decided to become personally involved in the talks having direct meetings with the Principals and the extent to which she appears to have become paranoid about the approach of Tony and Peter Mandelson who replaced her as the senior Minister. The programme left the impression that she had immediately withdrawn from the Government and Commons whereas she became the Minister for the Cabinet Office for two years 1999-2001. She had been one of the organisers of the political campaign to get Tony elected as the Labour Leader. The programme suggested that under the influence of her husband, the city banker Jonathan Norton who she married in 1995 when 45 she came to believe she could take the Premiership from Tony, despite Gordon Brown and his supporters continuing to make their own plans. I have read an interesting an important article from the Sunday Observer by Rachel Cooke, interviewer of the year and who does not appear to have a Wikipedia entry, and which questions how far this aspect is accurate or how far Mo herself became ambitious, disillusioned and angry with Blair and Mandelson. Norton also died young, soon after he had established a relationship with Clare Short another critic of Blair, especially in relation to the Iraq War. She gives her evidence about the Iraq war on Tuesday morning and to some extent has sent the agenda for the Inquiry through her book and public statements
Over the weekend I completed another full play of Luxor Majong with a new top score of over 16 million points and the second highest Luxor Rising with over 10 million points not the highest stage which is third in the points totals. I will now concentrate on level three chess as well as the original traditional patience games for a while.
This brings me to the third important film of the night on Winnie Mandela, born in 1936 so now in her mid 1970’s. The programme does not cover her early life when despite all the restrictions against black people gaining higher education she obtained degrees in social and in international relations before meeting and marrying in 1958, when she was 21-22, the lawyer and anti apartheid activist Nelson Mandela and who was then 40. They had two children within three years during which time Mandela was on the run.
It has to be remembered that the couple were only together four years before Nelson was apprehended and taken into custody, and banished to an island for the next three decades. It should be noted that the CIA of the USA provided information which led to his arrest. When her husband returned they were strangers and she had developed her own life and relationships and position within the African National Congress. It should also be remembered that the White Afrikaners and their British sympathizers were often sadistic fascists akin to the Nazi and Stalinists who committed murder and torture of anyone who appeared to challenged their collective and individual power and authority. She was taken into custody, tortured, abused, and humiliated. This is only mitigation for her subsequent shortcomings but is made much of in the film, especially when it was evident that Nelson did not have such a bad time. On release the government made every attempt to isolate her from all other contact except for politicians and journalists who insisted on having contact so they could draw the attention of the world to her position and that of the blacks in general in the country.
The film suggests that although she resisted, it was only later that she realised she had power as the authorities were afraid of the international reaction if they went too far. This led her to increasingly becoming a symbol for the ANC and its political and unofficial activities. There were two aspects which as with the republicans leadership in Northern Ireland, affected her standing and personal international influence. Her rhetoric could one of violence with reference to the fact that while they had no guns they had boxes of matches for neck lacing which was to soak tyres in petrol and set them alight, around their victims, which included informers. She was accused of being involved with the abduction of adolescents and specifically with involvement in the death of one youngster.
She was subsequently convicted with her broker of various charges of fraud and theft and sentenced to five years although with was over turned to a suspended sentence when the court rules that in mitigation she had not acted for personal; gain but to raise funds for the causes she supported, She was able to return to politics and in 2007 came first on the ANC NEC election list thus confirming her continuing standing among the party and people. She separated from Mandela shortly after his released and was divorced on grounds of her adultery after his release from captivity. There is a Hollywood film to be released later this year although she has expressed concern about not being consulted with threats of a legal challenge. As she remains a major figure in South African politics it will be interesting to see how she is presented in the film and how her role will be compared with that of Mandela in bring about the freeing of their country men and women.
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