No, I didn't really. Aside from the unfortunate ancestral surname, it's quite fascinating to be able to look back 300 years.
You should live on the west coast of Scotland...plenty of Old Firm fans are still living as if it's 300 years ago
Love it. Here in New Brunswick, Canada the mighty Saint John River traverses the Province from North West to South (Bay of Fundy) and in the Steamboat era many famous vessel plied the waters including The Reindeer (displayed in attached portrait by my former English Groundwater Manager in Water Resources Branch). The government built High & Low Water concrete wharfs as cargo trading points along the river's expanse. The attached portrait can be bought for C$100 ($US70) from my friend Lawrence (born 1945 in Manchester).
On BBC4 now, and doubtless on iPlayer for ages, Gaucho Gaucho, a haunting black and white documentary about the dying traditions of the gauchos in Argentina. Part of the often superb Storyville series, it’s oddly beautiful. Reminded me of the Truffle Hunters, another documentary about the old men and their dogs looking for truffles in Piedmont. On looking it up both films made by the same people who obviously specialise in isolated communities with special bonds with animals - dogs in Italy, horses in Argentina.
Overnighter in Edinburgh last night to see Mogwai, one of Glasgows finest exports, as they wrap up the first part of their World Tour. Stayed in a Premier Inn just up from the Grassmarket - you know what you get as standard in these digs, big comfy bed but no frills, perfect for coming back to after a night out, especially with a midday check-out! Headed out on to Lothian Road towards the venue and came across a small pizzeria, Fired Dough. Rapid service, and one of the best pizzas I've ever had - a calamari starter, two pizzas and drinks for just £35. Then off to the Innis and Gunn alehouse, plenty of real ales and IPAs to choose from. Couple more drinks then off to the venue, The Usher Hall. I"ve driven past this place many times, but never been inside. It looks like a mini Albert Hall from the outside, and we weren't disappointed when we got into the venue - ornate gilt cornacing, steep balconies, and grand pillars either side of the stage. A quick refreshment at the bar, then into the standing area - we went to enter and the usher recommended we try a door a bit further down - we ended up about 5m away fron the stage! Result - the size of the speakers right in front of us promised ensuing deafness. We'd missed the first support act but Kathryn Jospeh was on when we got in. She's the calm before the storm, sat at her keyboard she's a mix of Kate Bush, Tori Amos and Florence Welch. Good set, had seen her a few years ago and she's still very neat. Then the main set - Mogwai. For those not in the know, I absolutely love this band. Their music isn't for everyone, lots of dro e and feedback over heavy guitar...some songs (not really songs, tunes more like as a lot of the tracks don't have lyrics) take a while to build up, then hit a crescendo of noise. They are tagged as noise-rock, post-rock and instrumental-rock. A lot of shoegaze influence. An immense set, so hard to pick out any favourites...until the encore, the whole of My Father My King, a 20 minute epic based around a Jewish prayer which builds and builds and builds until your ears feel like they are about to explode, then the guitars go full throttle, your face feels like it's melting and you can feel your bones and internal.organs start to shake! So so good. I'm not a fan of people video-ing gigs, but this guy must've been sat right above me last night... Beautiful venue, excellent evening out - been a while since I did an overnighter through Edinburgh. The crowd were much more sedate and polite than the weedgie crowds we're used to, but still a great atmosphere. Off to the Barrowlands in May to see them as they resume the tour - the crowd will be different there! A shout out to my wife, that was her sixth gig in eight days! I'd done four
I see The Blue Box is still available to watch on iPlayer https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001q7qz/storyville-blue-box Suggest Stroller doesn't watch that one, he'll be frothing at the mouth once he sees how ****ish some of the Jews were whilst setting up Israel, and the land grabs they did from the Palestinians... Blue Box is a brave account of how the Jewish National Fund acquired land in Palestine before and after the creation of the State of Israel. Film-maker Michal Weits' great-grandfather Joseph was a key figure in the organisation. In her family, and across Israel, he is celebrated as the father of the country’s forests, taking ‘a land without a people for a people without a land', but when Michal finds his private diaries, she discovers a very different story. In conversations with her family, she questions her great-grandfather's actions, resulting in an exploration of Israel's past and an uncomfortable truth.
The Punch Bowl, Farm St W1. Used to be owned by Guy Ritchie, now by Butcombe Brewery. Downstairs a fairly standard boozer, with very nice staff. The dining room upstairs is lovely, not too cramped and the food is great - good fresh mignonette oysters and an epic ox cheek and bone marrow pie. Plus one of my mates had some kind of deal where you get 25% off on Wednesday, which made the price with wine bearable. Popped into Hedonsim, a huge wine shop on Davies St after, mainly to challenge my mate who reckoned they had everything. Turns out he was right, I got their last bottle of Montefalco Sagrantino which I haven’t been able to find anywhere else in the UK. Very knowledgeable staff. Lovely day out.
The Leopard, Netflix. Expensive looking series based on the great book, Il Gattopardo, by Di Lampedusa. One of my favourite books ever, which is always a bad sign for adaptations. However, this one has already been adapted in the superb film by Visconti starring Burt Lancaster from the early sixties. Alas, the new series is completely redundant. The source material is of course too slow and elegiac (even though it’s a short book) for modern TV so it’s got lots of added shouting and histrionics, and tons and tons of exposition which was not thought necessary in either the book or film. Gave up after about half an hour, the dubbing is atrocious, if you do watch it go for the original Italian with subtitles. Might be worth a look for anyone unfamiliar with the book or film, but don’t judge either based on this. Also saw, oddly for the first time, BlacKkKlansman, from Spike Lee. Really good film with great performances even from Adam Driver who I usually find irritating at best. It’s relatively close to what really happened as well. Recommended.
