Rev Stan's other stuff

Seven days to go

Went to see An Education last night which, incidentally, was very good but what got me really excited was seeing the full trailer for Bright Star on the big screen. It is longer than earlier trailers, with a bit more humour and I can hardly contain my excitement as it finally comes out on Friday.
It reminded me of lovely hour I spent last week while on holiday. I was laying in a hammock on a hot afternoon, partially shaded by the branches of a grapefruit tree watching the odd cloud cross the sky and the occasional plane while listening to Ben Whishaw recite Keats poems on my iPod. It was one of those perfect moments I'll always remember. I'm sure Keats would have approved.
Here's the trailer, sadly with the US voice over which wasn't on the version of saw last night, and one of the poems...

02 La belle dame sans merci

Ben Whishaw

Shoestring budget movies

Was catching up with the Radio 4 film programme podcasts which, incidentally, are very good if you are interested in non-mainstream film, and there was an interview with first time director Peter Strickland who made the film Katalin Varga.
It's been on the fringes of my films-to-see radar but I confess not a priority until listening to the interview. What intrigued me is the fact that it is a first film, made on a tiny budget in Romanian and Hungarian.
Strickland inherited £40,000 from a relative and rather than do something sensible like buy a house decided to realise a dream and make a film. But not only did he make the film, a challenge in itself, but he chose to make it in Romania and in languages he doesn't speak. As he found out Romanian and Hungarian are not very commercial languages to shoot a film in and once it was finished he really struggled to get someone to show it. He even starting thinking 'oh well at least I got to learn a bit of Romanian'.
It was eventually picked up and showcased at this year's Berlin film festival and has made it to the Curzon in London.
I confess I find the story of how it was made fascinating and want to go and see it this weekend. A colleague saw it at the weekend and really enjoyed it (and she was sat behind Ben Whishaw, can you believe that).
It's interesting that it is potentially the second shoe-string budget film I've seen in month that has actually been very good (Le Donk and Scor-Zay-Zee being the other) and proves that you don't necessarily need millions to make good movies.

QotD: Trapped in a TV Show

If you had to be trapped in a TV show for a month, which show would you choose?

Make Me a Supermodel, not because I want to be a supermodel (5ft 1in and the rest, I don't think so). Nope I'd just be quite happy amusing myself hanging around with the (male) models. I'm sure I could make myself useful on the (underwear) photo shoots.

Branden

Jonathan

Turkey in pictures

Merhaba. I was trying to sum up my week in Turkey in one picture but that has just proved impossible so I am wimping out and putting up a slide show instead. Apologies there are quite a few.

It was a great trip. The yoga wasn't up to par owing to the teacher's lack of experience and knowledge - he came away having learnt a posture or two, so that is something I suppose.

Oh well it was good to get away, feel the sun on my skin and just have time to take a much slower pace.

Dalyan was a little bit touristy but small enough not to warrant the attention of big hotels and therefore bearable. Never made it to the beach which may horrify some but with a rather nice swimming pool just there and the beach a bus ride away, I took the lazy option.

The hotel was small and family run with two dogs and a cat having the run of the grounds. Gorgeous animals who have the best life with so much space. The dogs even sleep outside and it felt very safe having them 'on guard' even if they were scaredy cats most of the time. Felt almost part of the family by the end. The cleaner gave me the biggest hugs each day when I tried my Turkish out on her. She was so tiny it was like hugging my Mum.

Anyway without further ado, here are the pictures...Oh but I should explain that Dalyan is famous for its turtle population, hence the er..turtles in various forms.

Hooray for holiday (now with piccie)

I was here (Grenadine Lodge, Dalyan)

So here I am sitting in the small but perfectly formed beach-side bar in the lovely little family run hotel I'm staying at in Dalyan, Turkey. The sun has gone down on another lovely hot day but it's cooler now. I'm drinking a glass of lovely Turkish red wine and listening to some jazz which Bulent our barman and sometimes Turkish dance teacher has chosen (the video won't be going up on youtube, I've promised the rest of the participants!)

The jazz is quite apt as there has been a lot of relaxing on this holiday, swimming in the pool every day and a bit of yoga of course.

But I have also slathered myself in warm smelly mud (for the minerals) then bathed in equally smelly natually hot water just to complete the transformation of my skin. And I've hiked up to the ancient village of Kaunos to see the ruins having first been rowed across the river but one of the fattest grinning Turkish men I've ever seen. You'd think with all that rowing he'd have the figure of an athlete but he's obviously a pide fan.

I've also perfected my pronounciation of the Turkish for 'thank you' thanks to Bulent's and various other kind Turkish people's daily, well actually more like hourly reminder. I even ordered the bill in a restaurant in Turkish and was understood - how proud?

And for the next two days? Who knows? I'll see how I feel.

Pictures to come when I get home*.

Being uploaded to Flickr as I type.

Sexiest list surprise

Empire magazine has published its annual list of the 100 sexiest movie stars (50 men and 50 women) and there is a bit of a surprise in the top 10 men.
He's what I would dub a guilty pleasure. Someone you have a soft spot for but don't really want to admit to because they aren't a Brad Pitt or Johnny Depp. And so I was gob-smacked he's been voted into the top 10, because this is a readers vote so it's not just me who appreciates him. But as he is now officially in the top 10 and I think I can reveal my secret love...

Alan Rickman gets my vote

So who else is on the list I hear you ask?
10. Gerard Butler - Not really seen him in much, like a slightly better looking Russell Crowe but then Russell doesn't do it for me either
9. James McAvoy - Yep he floats my boat, loved him beefed up in Wanted but like the fact that he plays more intelligent roles too
8. Alan Rickman - From Truly Madly Deeply to the leather-clad Sheriff of Nottingham what else can I say
7. George Clooney - *sighs* Oh and he shares my birthday.
6. Hugh Jackman - He could be in Wolverine and the Damp Dish Cloths and I'd still go and see it. And don't get me thinking about him in those tight trousers in Australia...
5. Christian Bale - He starred in one of my all time favourite films, Empire of the Sun but he was a kid and grown up he's just not doing it - think it might have something to do with the bland characters he has been playing recently.
4. Brad Pitt - He's starting to look a bit old but he'll always be hot
3. Robert Downey Jnr - Nope, don't get it.
2. Robert Pattinson - He is drop dead gorgeous but a bit young and I think his career will be driven purely by his looks rather than his acting talent. He should stick to music as he seems to have more depth when he's writing and singing.
1. Johnny Depp - I had to step aside while Nadia was a single lady but now she is married, he's mine all mine. Love him, love him, love him would go and see him read the telephone book for two hours. 

QotD: Snail Mail

When was the last time you received a hand-written letter in the mail? Who sent it?

Back in the summer from my bezzy mate Chris. It was a note to let me know that she was thinking of me as I was going through a particularly tough time.

It's not the first time she's sent me a little card or a note through the post and I've kept them all. In fact one lives in my purse so I can carry a little bit of her fantastic friendship with me at all times.

She also sends me the most beautiful hand-made Valentine card every year. It's been a tradition for us to swap cards on Valentine's day since we were at Uni together. It started as a secret deal so that we didn't have the humiliation of going to collect our post from the pigeon holes in the common room and find nothing. It's been a tradition ever since.

QotD: City Life vs. Country Living

Which do you prefer? City life or country living?

Without a doubt city life. I grew up in the country and London terrified me to the extent that I vowed I would never live here. After graduating it became immediately obvious that if I was going to get a job in the media I needed to be in London.

So I arranged a couple of interviews at temping agencies, found somewhere to stay for a couple of weeks, packed a few things in a bag and jumped on a train. Didn't know a soul but on my second day I was at the National Gallery when I bumped into someone I knew at University.

That's London for you. I've been here for 17 years now and I can't imagine living and working anywhere else.

Lets face it no where else would satisfy my cinema and theatre addiction and give me such a wide variety of cuisines to dine on beforehand!

My Flickr pages are full of other reasons I love London

Walking to work one summer's morning

Chilean feel to Saturday night telly

Can I just say how much I'm enjoying the second series of Merlin. Not sure why. Ahem.

Santiago Cabrera

Ooo and I've just found this on the BBC website best bits the last 3 mins. Sigh.

Sunday afternoon cinema: Le Donk & Scor-Zay-Zee

Saw this film this afternoon. It was made on a shoestring budget of just £48,000 and shot in five days. It's a mockumentary-style feature about five days in the life of Le Donk, a washed up roadie who has 'discovered' a young rapper Scor-Zay-Zee.
The only other thing you need to know is that the Arctic Monkeys are in it. Briefly.
It's 71 mins long, entertaining and laugh out loud funny. Oh and I love Paddy Considine. No I do, really I do.

Chimneys

Chimneys, originally uploaded by Rev Stan.

It was sunny in Glasgow when I was there for work last week. Unfortunately I didn't get much time to go off snapping for myself but I did get this from the venue we were hosting an event in, before the guests arrived.
Quite like how it turned out.

QotD: Gone Too Far

What is the scariest incident with drugs or alcohol you’ve witnessed or personally experienced? How did it change you?
Sponsored by MTV's "Gone Too Far." Tune into the series premiere this Monday at 10 p.m. EST.

I've been lucky in that I haven't witnessed or experienced anything particularly scary but I have seen first hand the effect of drug addiction.

I had a house mate, when I first moved down to London, who had a boyfriend with a heroine addiction. She was away for a few weeks and her boyfriend stayed in her room. You could tell when he was high because he was fairly pleasant to be around but when he wasn't he was moody and verbally aggressive.

He started stealing things from the house so I hid valuables, even my change jar but he always found them. I used to sit at my desk at work, thinking of him rifling through my things in my room.

When I confronted him he would either flatly deny it or be really apologetic and give the usual promises that he'd never do it again.

My housemate ended up not coming back from her trip leaving me with the prospect of sharing a house with a drug addict. I put his few possessions in a bin bag in the front garden and changed the locks while he was out. Have never seen him since.

And on a lighter note, this is a clip of the brilliant Grange Hill cast 'Just Say No' video from my childhood. For those not of these shores or too young, Grange Hill was the kids programme when I was at school. Everyone watched it and everyone talked about it the next day. One the characters� Zammo got addicted to heroine, which was a controversial storyline at the time. The cast then released this single. This was the sum total of my drugs education.

Cottesloe redeems itself with Our Class

The last couple of things I've seen at the NT's Cottesloe Theatre have been a bit of a disappointment: Black Album and Dido, Queen of Carthage.
Our Class was theatre-buddy Debbie's choice and if she could apply the same judgement to picking horses she'd be very rich.

Our Class at the National Theatre

Written by Polish playwright Tadeusz Slobodzianek and translated by Ryan Craig it follows the lives of 10 classmates growing up in Jedwabne, Poland where hundreds of jews were massacred, from the 1920s to present day.
It's the first time I've seen the Cottesloe use the flexible seating arrangement it boasts and the stage was in the middle: A bare-boards pit with 10 chairs. The only other decoration was a pile of ash for the second half.
The opening scene is set in a classroom with the 10 each introducing themselves and saying what they want to be when they grow up - the playfulness, innocence and friendship you know is going to be slowly destroyed by horrific anti-semitism, politics and fear.
All actors remained on stage sitting on the edge of pit when not part of the action. There was a mix of re-enactment, first person narrative mixed with children's songs and live music stirred in.
It examines the tragedy of Jedwabne through the eyes of those 10 who lived (and died)
It's a thought provoking and harrowing piece of drama and a great bit of theatre, simply but effectively done.
And here are some others thoughts

Guardian What the play also proves, with unsensational dignity, is that, as one of the characters says, "you can never bury the truth"
Daily Telegraph It is hard to praise the 10-strong cast too highly as they bring the complex stories of 10 characters, some of them through many decades, to vivid life

PS I can tick yet another Harry Potter actor off the theatre list - Stan Shunpike the bus conductor in Prisoner of Azkaban AKA Lee Ingleby. Shame Michael Gambon has had to pull out of the Art of Class but I get Richard Griffiths instead, although it will be the third time I've seen him tread the boards.

QotD: My Biggest Frustration

What's the biggest frustration in your life right now?

Work spilling over into my life a little bit too much at the moment. Feels like everything outside work is just to keep me going for work. Counting the days until my holiday...I need my holiday.

Booker prize prize (now with the winner)

My friend Sanna now works for the Man Group sponsor of the Booker prize and won a couple of tickets in a work raffle to readings from the shortlisted contenders for this years award (listed below).
She invited me.

Wolf Hall: A Novel

Hilary Mantel

And I'm so glad she did because I've never been to a book reading before and I've never been inside the Queen Elizabeth Hall before.
Four of the six shortlisted authors were their to read excerpts and then take part in a Q&A. One of the remaining two JM Coetzee being in Australia (he sent a filmed reading) and Sarah Waters was ill and her editor read for her.
Firstly it made we want to immediately pick up three books and read them. Secondly it was fascinating to hear published and successful authors discuss not only their books but the process of writing.
Sadly I've never read any of these writers' books shortlisted or otherwise but what the hour and a half revealed about their personalities definitely pushed some closer to my reading lists than others.
A S Byatt turned up with her book in a carrier bag and plopped it down beside her seat which initially endeared me to her but she came across as stern, proclaiming she didn't let anyone read her manuscript before it went to her publisher. She made a point of saying her publisher rarely changed it. She reminded me of my old English teacher who terrified me.
On the other hand Hilary Mantel was witty and jovial,

The Children's Book

A.S. Byatt

answering what was an unintentionally insulting question with patience and without a hint of being angered. I could imagine having afternoon tea and cakes with her and a good old chin wag or even a glass of good red wine or two.
The saying is you shouldn't judge a book by its cover and perhaps it should be extended to or its author too but it's hard not to. I was draw to the personality of the author and feel that if I can relate to them or feel entertained by them in someway then I'm sure I'll enjoy their novel.
Tomorrow night the winner will be revealed. I'll be rooting for Hilary and I'll definitely be getting her book Wolf Hall, just as soon as it's available in paperback. I may try AS Byatt just to see if my impression of her translates to her book.

The shortlisted books for the 2009 Man Booker prize are:
A S Byatt The Children's Book
J M Coetzee Summertime
Adam  Foulds The Quickening Maze
Hilary Mantel Wolf Hall
Simon Mawer The Glass Room
Sarah Waters The Little Stranger

Added 6 October: And the winner is....Hilary Mantel. Really pleased. Will definitely read it when it's out in paperback.
 

Speaking in Tongues - an explanation

Found this review of Speaking in Tongues on the Telegraph site which explains the play far better than my attempt on this blog a few days ago. There is also this quick interview with the director. (I like how some newspapers do these video interviews to supplement a story or a review).

QotD: Fluent in...

If you could be fluent in any language (that you don't currently read or speak), which one would it be?

I'd love to speak any language fluently but I'm rubbish at learning languages (English would be a good start, ahem).

But my first choice would be Spanish as it's such a passionate sounding language. I also go to Spanish speaking countries on holiday probably more than any other and I'd loved to go and see an Almodovar film without having to read the subtitles.

Also if I could nail Spanish, I reckon it would be an easy step to Italian...

Musical blast from the past

Jonathan Ross played this on his radio show last Saturday (am listening to the show on iPlayer so I can hear his interview with John Simm whom I saw in Speaking in Tongues last Saturday)
Anyway it reminded me what a great album Bjork's Debut was so I thought I'd post it.

09 Come To Me

Björk

QotD: Famous Encounter

Who is the most famous person you've ever met?

Actually met, then that would be Jools Holland. He bought me a scotch.

Jools Holland

In terms of famous people I've seen then, excluding watching them in a play, I walked past Britney Spears and Ewan McGregor (on separate occasions) on Wardour Street when I worked in an office there.