Caramel
Something as unusual as a Lebanese Rom-com. IMDB quotes it as a oriental “Sex in the City”. I wouldn’t go that far, but the 4 women who work in the hairdresser, which is the centre of the film, are as different as the SATC women, and their problems are universal. It’s a great film, it is very sweet and lovely, and there are 2 wonderful old ladies in it, and one of them, the woman called Lily, will for sure, steal your heart.

It’s a very small film, but should it come to a cinema near you – go see it.

The Waiting Room
This warm hearted British rom is also not a blockbuster, but if you believe in love at first sight then you should go and see it. And if you don’t, you might after watching it. Also here lovely performances from older actors (some of the film is situated in a care home). Go see this one too.

Gone Baby Gone
The story of this film does have some resemblance with the Madeleine McCann case which is why the release of this film got postponed for a year, and finally now it has arrived in the UK. This is one of the best films I have seen this year. I already liked Casey Affleck in the Jesse James film but in this one he has established himself as one of the most interesting American actors around. And let his brother Ben stay behind the camera, he did a great job directing this one, and to be honest, his acting skills at not something to write home about.

Stop Shopping

I should have remembered this when I went shopping yesterday. While I took a pack of Apple Juice from the fridge, 5 other packs from different shelves (shelves I did not even touch!) somehow jumped at me too. Some ended on the floor, others started off domino effects on other shelves, in other words it became somewhat of a mess on the floor in the Sainbury’s.

Before I even had a chance to pick up the first pack in an attempt to put everything back where it belonged, two men, in suits, where already picking up packs for me, putting them back in the fridge. I was kind of overwhelmed, but did remember to say thank you. And they both, nearly simultaneously said – You’re welcome.

I. Love. British. Gentlemen.

Ciao

Some days I feel very Dutch all of a sudden …

Manx sheep - who are you looking at?

I went to Bognor Regis, and I had a good day.

Bognor Regis is much smaller and therefore much less touristy than Brighton. The weather was marvellous, and I haven’t done much more than walk to a nearly empty piece of the pebbled beach, sit/lay down, stare over the beautiful blue sea, sniffed up the fresh sea air, waved at Jonathan Livingstone Seagull, and read my book.

Bognor Regis is typical example of a British beach site: a long promenade, several fish and chips shops, ice cream, a (not very interesting) pier, and lots of pebbles.

Pebbled beaches are so convenient. You have to wiggle a bit to find a comfortable place to sit/lay down but: no sand in your shoes, bag, book or socks!

On my way home from the nearly empty train I spotted:
42 cows
149 bunnies!
2 foxes

But no sheep. The sheep on the picture are walking around on the Isle of Man. I took several photos of the sheep there, and funny enough, on nearly every single one of them there is one sheep looking directly into the camera, as if to say:

“What are you looking at?”

Or “You are wearing such a weird coat!”
Or “Why do you have only 2 legs?”
Or maybe “Why are you not eating grass?”

If the weather stays like this next weekend, I’ll be off again. Littlehampton, Rye, Portsmouth and many more places are waiting out there. It’s good to live on an island.

• I saw this over at Bloglily, and also on The Public, the Private and Everything In Between. And I have decided to join. It’s an idea from the literate kitten and the idea is that you every Friday will have to confess why, in my case that is, I again haven’t done any writing. And if I ever get my act together again to actually go and do some writing – I will use the Fess up Friday to pen down that I did!

  I haven’t picked up a pen (or rather haven’t touched Billy Mac for writing purposes) since I finished my feature script, and that was some months ago.

  It’s not that I don’t know what to write – I do.
  It’s not that I don’t have the time – I do.
  It’s not that I don’t know what to write it on – I do.
  It’s not that I don’t know which cafe to go to to write it – I do.

  Then why is it so hard to get started?

  I am going to try to write a tiny little scene before next Friday, just to get started.

• I just finished my second Henning Mankell book: Sidetracked. I love his Kurt Wallander books (they are detectives), they are very well written and very clever too. (The BBC is making some of them into a drama series with Kenneth Brannagh playing Wallander, which I think is a good cast)

  I also loved Firewall, which I bought on the Isle of Man for £1.50 in a lovely second hand bookshop in Peel. Both books will now go on to readitswap it. And I have just swapped one of my other books for a third Mankell book which is on its way to London.

• Planned for the weekend:
  • watching a film: either Gone, Baby gone (Ben Affleck’s drama starring Casey Affleck) or The Waiting room (Brit rom (com)). Will catch the non chosen one later next week.
  • Back to the coast. Again. Southern has this great ticket called the downlander which let you travel through the south east of the UK all day for £12.50. That’s a very good deal. You need to book it 2 days (no more no less) in advance though, and print your own ticket.

    I am currently considering to either go to Bognor Rigis or Littlehampton. If there are any other tips I would love to hear them!

Have a good weekend.

Somewhere under the rainbow

It has been a while, but she is back.

The view from there is pretty amazing, she said.

And yes you can send her.

The Police and full supporting Bill

In September 2007 I saw the Police in Twickenham, with a delay of about 25 years. It was a fantastic concert.

My good friend made me aware of the fact that The Police is playing their final ever gig in Hyde Park on the 29th of June. The very last the Police concert? I did manage to both convince her to come along, and to buy tickets for it so on the 29th of June it will be “Every little thing he does is magic” for the very last time live.

Another reason why we wanted to go is because KT Tunstall plays that day too. As does Starsailor, The Bangles and The Stranglers – seems like we get transferred back to the 80′s all day!

But most of all we want to go because there will be a full supporting Bill. We love Bill, we really do!

(More on Hard Rock Calling in Hyde Park, London)

LOVE - the musical

I can’t remember how I stumbled upon this, but I blindly bought a ticket on the title and poster alone. No regrets about that I can say.

Yesterday I saw Love – the Musical. And how refreshing to watch actors that are passed 60 and I think, without insulting any of them, some of them were passed 70 too. It was clear they enjoyed this play, and it was a huge cast!

The story was sweet:

Neville is approaching eighty and slowly wasting away in an unremarkable care home in a small English town. His life seems to be heading for an end until Margaret arrives. Brought in by her son for a short stay, Margaret is terrified of what will happen to her — until she meets Neville and he suggests they escape for a night out on the town…

There is a lot of singing going on, a lot of modern songs and it was a joy to hear them performed by people of this age.

I heard Blur, David Bowie, The Rolling Stones, The Verve, Kaiser Chiefs, Franz Ferdinand and many more.

I laughed and I cried. And was shocked and surprised when the old man with the rollator who seemed to live in his own world most of the time, suddenly started singing too. But mostly I enjoyed watching them, trying not to think too much about where I will be when I am that age.

It reminded my of Awakenings, the wonderful film with Robert de Niro and Robin Williams and I can highly recommend this play.

Love Lane, Peel

Some random stuff, mostly movies related.

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Broken Pencil

But I am working on it.

Photos of The Isle of Man are up in the photo gallery.

My personal favourites:
Jonathan Livingstone Seagull
and
Point of Ayre lighthouse

Dover photos are up too.

However this works (probably just 2 large sized webcams) I love the idea.

More here: Telectroscope.

It’s from the same company that brought you the amazing Elephant.

Seals on the Isle of Man

On my first day out on the Isle of Man I drove to the Langness Peninsula, for a first light house watch. I had to ask my way several times. I could see the lighthouse, but could not seem to find the road that would lead me to it. So after crossing a golf course several times (there was a small road, I did not actually race over their green!) with the risk of having the car hit by a golf ball, I finally found the tiny road that lead to the lighthouse. After taking the obligatory pictures, I sat down on a rock beside it and found the book that was given to me by a good friend as a part of an Isle of Man “chill pack”.

Well it didn’t get any more chilling than this. There were no people whatsoever to spot anywhere near me, the sun was shining, I had a lighthouse just beside me on my left, and in front of me was a very calm sea. It was quiet and peaceful, all I could hear were some birds. I started reading.

I was completely lost in my book when my ears picked up a peculiar sound. It sounded like someone snorting, and no, unfortunately, it wasn’t him. I couldn’t quite see where it came from at first, until I looked right in front of me, and there he was – a seal! He kept me company for a couple of hours, diving down once in a while for a bite to eat, and popping up again for some air. If you look carefully at the photo you can see him waving his paw. I asked him to do that, because it would make such a cute photo. He was happy to do so. His name? No this wasn’t Bill, but Sam, his brother.

Sam was not the last seal I saw on the isle. I think I have seen seals every day. I saw quite a lot of them near Sound (also in the south) and the handsome fellow in the middle (number 3 and that is Sam’s brother Bill indeed) came greeting me in the harbour of Peel. Seals are a very common sight all around the island, but they kept Wow’ing me every single time. It is so cool to see them in their natural environment.

Isle of Man - pebbles

If the beach is as empty as this (very empty) and the weather is like it was (very sunny) the pebbled beach on the Isle of Man is perfect for pebble play.

And if you are visiting – those masterpieces might still be there! (I made them near the Ayre visitors centre and the Point of Ayre lighthouse)

One thing I always wonder about is: why are there so few shells on the beaches in the UK? Or is it different on other parts of the coast?

Manx icecream

What more do you want me to say? You need to have your priorities straight.

Award winning Davisons: The best Luxury Manx Dairy Ice Cream, made on the Isle of Man.

You can get them in Peel which has one of the finest Ice Cream Parlours in the UK.

Enough said.

On the left side of the road

I collected lots of Briton points last week on the Isle of Man.
For a whole week I started my day with a full English (breakfast). That in itself is an accomplishment I would say.

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Heaven on the Isle of Man

Maybe you will understand why I want to go back.

Tea on the Isle of Man (Niarbyl)

The older man walked up to me for a little chat.
“This is the best view of the island” he said to me.
“I believe you right away” I smiled at him. (and the picture doesn’t truly show it)
“So where are you from?”
“London”
“Ah” he said, and he didn’t need to say more, I got what he meant.
“First time here?”
“Yes” I said.
“And?”
“Definitely not the last time”
“I know that” he smiled.

I know that too.

I am back in London, but I am far from back.

Isle of Man

Tomorrow I will leave for a week of holiday to the Isle of Man.

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South Foreland Lighthouse near Dover

With a long bank holiday approaching last Friday and the weather being lovely, I decided to escape London, again, and impulsively booked myself into a friendly B&B in Dover.

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