A cold, dank, dark (absolutely nothing crisp about it) January in England just can’t be done with – so it was off to sunny Tenerife for added winter sunshine.
The Best Jacaranda Hotel on the south coast resort of Costa Adeje was the choice of venue, duly ticking all Rest & Recreation boxes.
Not much more to add but photos of sunny scenes and selfies galore…
The Best Jacaranda Hotel
Some bloke against a blue sky…
Could be the same bloke – this time wearing a Wonder Woman costume
Since 2004, 16th January has been declared as ‘Appreciate a Dragon’ so this month’s Flat Disc Society film night centred around Dragons.
There is, of course, a very important Welsh heraldic Dragon to honour – first up was the complete Ivor the Engine story, which introduced us all to Idris the Dragon.
The main feature was King Hu’s genre-defining Taiwanese Wuxia film Dragon Inn. Wuxia is a traditional Chinese martial arts fantasy fiction where the heroes typically come from the lower social classes following a code of chivalry and fighting for righteousness, removing oppressors and bringing retribution for past misdeeds.
“Before Kung Fu, there was Wuxia. Before cinema, there was Wuxia.”
Dragon Inn became known as a keystone Wuxia film and has become influential in world cinema with similarities found in such films as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and House of Flying Daggers. Also owing their creative debt to Wuxia are the Kung Fu Panda films – and the Snickers advert featuring Rowan Atkinson.
The University of Birmingham is always worth a visit with its pleasingly green campus and mixed architecture. Plus it also contains the impressive Barber Institute and Lapworth Museum.
The Barber Institute marked the 150th anniversary of the artist Vuillard’s birth. The Vuillard and Madame Vuillard display was the first ever exhibition to explore the relationship between Eddie and his Mom.
Édouard Vuillard painted his mother more than 500 times throughout his career, striving to establish himself among the French avant-garde. He lived and worked in apartments, which he shared with his mother in Paris, daubing away like a man possessed whenever Mommie Dearest reached for the Vim and a duster. His small-scale, domestic portrayals featured heavily throughout the exhibition in a selection of paintings, pastels, prints and photographs.
‘Studies of a European Otter’ by the Dutch School
Another exhibition, Perspectives on the Natural World, showed how much images of animals could reveal about the creatures themselves. The display explored a wide range of representations of animals – drawings and prints – dating from the 16th to the 20th century by artists as diverse as Rubens, Gericault and Delacroix.
“A Study of a Horse” by Eugène Delacroix
The Lapworth Museum, as mentioned in a previous post (Glorious August 2018) is always well worth a visit.
All that culture needed rounding off with pizza, beers and brilliant live music by the Trevorless Burton Band at the Brasshouse in Birmingham…
Finally – another old cartoon from the Crow Collection archives…
Occasionally, the UK provides little scenes that wouldn’t be out of place in the wilds of the America West (admittedly there may be a certain lack of fire and brimstone).
One such occasion happened during our weekend in Minsmere in Suffolk where we enjoyed the spectacle of three otters winnowing about in the shallows of Island Mere. (There was also a fourth otter – we saw one earlier but it may have belonged to this particular trio). A Marsh Harrier circled the otters on the lookout for fishy scraps; a Kingfisher fished and caught a fish, a Bittern sailed into the reeds, and a Water Rail sprinted between reed beds.
Water Rail Chick with a bald spot
Rare Headless Water Birds
As dusk approached, a Red Deer trotted past us, and several Green Woodpeckers rose up and pegged it as we walked up Whin Hill. Late sightings of Stoats, Muntjac and Red-legged Partridges all capped a fine day.
With acres of woodland, wetland, scrapes and heath – and a bit of coastal to go with it, you could spend weeks in Minsmere and never think it enough.
Mingling with the ducks and waders were Spotted Redshank, Ruff, Avocet and godwits. Elusive Bearded Tits (stop sniggering at the back) showed well in the reeds, and a Red-necked Phalarope dropped in. Raptors were well represented by the harriers, a Peregrine, Sparrowhawk, Hobby and Kestrel. Emerging from the grazing marshes, a Chinese Water Deer stepped out from the tall grasses for a quick munch.
There is much to recommend Southwold for its proximity when visiting Minsmere. Not least the Adnams brewery, which faithfully stocks the town pubs with a selection of its wares.
The town was also the home of a number of Puritan emigrants to the Massachusetts Bay Colony so it ties in nicely with the previous post.
Southwold has a pier, and a lighthouse; brightly painted beach huts overlook the sand and shingle beach.
Pre-squabble Gulls
A short hop past the old and new water towers took us to Southwold Harbour, where a squabble of gulls fought over a dead rat. The rowing boat ferry service then rowed us over to Walberswick where a quick pint was quaffed. It was not long before the rain lashed down and forced us into Southwold’s pubs.
Now for a little Crow Collection cartoon before we go into the culture section: This one almost never made the cut as it was deemed too icky but it sold quite well:
At the Barber Institute, there was a Monet doing the rounds.
Water Lily Pond, on loan from Chicago in exchange for a Gauguin, was showing well in the Blue Gallery. Probably one of the most recognisable motifs of Impressionism – the Japanese bridge over the water lily pond in Monet’s garden at Giverny was a theme he became obsessed with – and this version is considered one of the artist’s most luminescent masterpieces.
Water Lily Pond
Minding its own business close by was an early oil painting by Henri Matisse – Landscape in Corsica – on long-time loan from a private collection.
The Barber Institute never fails to deliver, and in a little offshoot gallery, an exhibition was showing 19th-century portrait photography, with many public figures striking notable poses including Queen Victoria, Oscar Wilde and John Hanning Speke.
Craig Deeley was appearing at the Glee Club’s Rough Works with Joe Lycett, Andy Robinson and a whole bunch of comedians. For the comedians, Rough Works provides an ideal platform to try out brand new material, and the packed audiences are very encouraging and supportive. A very funny night out with drinks before, during and after – and the comedy was pretty good too (drum roll).
The resumption of Film Club opened with the Spanish animation film Wrinkles, the story of a retired bank manager who has been shuffled off into an elderly care home. The Tomatometer from Rotten Tomatoes website gives it 96% and the consensus can be agreed on as such:
Poignant and tender without succumbing to schmaltz, Wrinkles offers a thoughtful — and beautifully animated look at old age.
The “I Want! I Want!” Art & Technology exhibition at Birmingham Gas Hall was inspired by William Blake’s engraving of the same name. This little engraving shows a tiny figure that announces his desire to get to the moon with a cry, “I want! I want!” It conjures up a memorable image of aspirational zeal.
The exhibition features work by contemporary artists who have been influenced by the rapid development of technology. Some interesting stuff was on show – particularly the Dawn Chorus video installation and a computer animation by celebrated Blur cover-artist Julian Opie.
A heady mix of gladiatorial passion and throbbing football was the order of the day with Tamworth downing high-flying Salford City 2-0 at the Lamb Stadium. Salford City had risen phoenix-like in recent years with the unparalleled wisdom and experience of Manchester United’s former poster boys investing in the club. Unphoenix-like but very in tune with the death throes of a stricken grouse on the Glorious Twelfth, Tamworth’s talons were unsheathed and, with little regard for mixed metaphors, felled the northern giants.
But enough of that.
The avian theme continued, however, with our annual pilgrimage to the Forest of Dean with the West Midland Bird Club.
To notch up Hawfinch, Goshawk and Great Grey Shrike before the day was done is always mightily pleasing. Added for extra vim, in the skies above the New Fairy Viewpoint, were a Peregrine, Sparrowhawk, Buzzards and Raven.
Also warming up nicely along the viewpoint was a couple of Common Lizards, either very confiding or just too cold to move.
To complement, here’s a lizardy cartoon from the crow Collection:
Its impossible not to enjoy a day out in the spring forest regardless of what may or may not be seen but there’s always something to gladden the eye. The Hawfinches were spied along the treetops at Parkend; the over-wintering shrike (there’s always one) put on an inhibited showing at Crabtree Hill and goshawks plied their distant aerial acrobatics at New Fancy.
Great Grey Shrike – Marek Szczepanek (the photographer, not the Latin name!)
Hawfinch – Mikils
The Commitments was on at the Alexandra Theatre, and we squeezed into the restricted leg-room seats to enjoy a hugely entertaining production based on the successful film, which was based on the successful book by Roddy Doyle, which was adapted for the stage, which whatever…
Apart from the usual grumpy tirade about having to pay outrageous extra ticket fees on top of ticket prices and then getting hit by a stealthy transaction fee (for what? For why? For Goodness Sake!) it was surprising not to be subsequently charged an entrance fee at the door and a completion charge to exit at the end of the show!
Tirade over. It was a great show, as summed up by this review by Diana Davies of the Express and Star:
The Commitments, New Alexandra Theatre – review and pictures
These are things we learnt whilst watching The Commitments stage show last night.
Soul is politics, soul is the rhythm of the working people, soul is sex and sex is soul.
Well if soul is sex then I am certainly in need of a rest and a cigarette after watching that performance at the New Alexandra Theatre. That much soul can wear a girl out!
Watching this production of The Commitments is like your best night out with your craziest friends – or family!
Set in Dublin in 1986, young music lover Jimmy decides to form the ‘world’s hardest working band’ to bring soul to the people of Ireland and sets about recruiting band members.
What follows is a cacophony of people shouting and occasionally fighting, oodles of laughs and some fantastic classic soul tunes.
Andrew Linnie who delivers a solid performance as the ambitious young entrepreneur plays Jimmy but he is ultimately the ‘straight man’ to the many colourful characters in the band and the production.
The strangely charismatic, ageing musician Joey ‘The Lips’ who claims to have a musical CV to die for, is back in Dublin to spread the word and love of God – though he spreads the love a little too freely with the girl singers in the band.
The base but annoyingly-talented singer Deco is played by Brian Gilligan. If soul is sex then the velvety smooth seductive voice of Gilligan is the aphrodisiac. His performances of It’s a Thin Line Between Love & Hate and also Try a Little Tenderness send a tingle down the spine that sinks down to your very toenails.
And his irrepressible energy in such upbeat numbers as Proud Mary, Mustang Sally and Papa Was a Rolling Stone is stubbornly infectious.
Sadly Deco is an aphrodisiac that works only if you close your eyes, as the character’s personal habits are as detestable as his arrogance and vanity.
Kevin Kennedy – who for most of Britain will only ever be Curly Watts – brings a lot of laughs as Jimmy’s ‘Da’ despite a dodgy accent, while my favourite character was Mickah, played by Sam Fordham, as the excitable and somewhat menacing ‘security’ man.
The trio of backing singers are played by Amy Penston, Leah Penston and Christina Tedders who, as well as demonstrating some incredible vocals, play interesting, individual characters who have their own influence on the dynamics of the band.
It came as no surprise to see everyone on their feet at the end of the show singing and clapping along – we had been fighting the urge from the start of the show.
Bonus clip: here’s a little taster of the gang from their Dublin show on YouTube:
This month’s Flat Disc Society film, La Strada, is also doing the rounds at the Birmingham Rep this year. So this is the Rep’s own take on it, which, as usual, saves me a job:
Frederico Fellini’s Oscar-winning La Strada is one of the all-time masterpieces of world cinema.
La Strada ‘The Road’, a metaphor for life, is a deeply impassioned tale of love and loss. A journey into the heart of the Italian countryside where Gelsomina, full of the innocent spirit of youth, is bought by Zampano, a travelling street performer, to join his ‘strong man’ act. When the mismatched pair stumble across a ragtag circus and a daredevil tight-rope walker, Gelsomina finds herself caught between the two men, not knowing which way to turn…
Before the main feature, we were treated to a short film, The Vagabond, featuring Smethwick’s very own Charlie Chaplin!
Here’s some pertinent – and handy – photos from the Birmingham Mail website:
Michael Chaplin attending the unveiling of a memorial to the Romany Gypsy community in Smethwick, where his father Charlie Chaplin is believed to have been born.
The Black Patch in the 1850s.
Black Patch Park in Smethwick, thought to be the birthplace of comedian Charlie Chaplin.
It was not too far a venture this month for our monthly walk as we nipped over the border to Warwickshire and stretched our legs around the Studley area.
Here’s Stuart with the particulars:
Map: Explorer 220
Parking: Sports Centre car park, off Pool Road, Studley. Free parking and there are “award winning” toilets a short distance on at start of walk.
Grid reference: SP070636
Post code for satnav: B80 7QU
The walk:
I haven’t pre-walked the route yet but my route will be roughly south towards Coughton and then north west to Sambourne for lunch at The Green Dragon pub. An excellent pub, which serves well-kept Hobsons and Purity beers.
After lunch it’s east and then north to follow River Arrow back to Studley.
It was a nice, flat walk – none of that hilly nonsense. The Green Dragon pub was interesting in that it was a regular haunt for Brummie comedy actor Tony Hancock – his Mom having been the licensee for a few years.
Once more, I have plundered YouTube for this clip of Hancock delivering one of his more memorable skits: The Blood Donor bit:
Managed to catch the last weekend of the Francis Bacon exhibition – or rather last chance to see his painting, Two Figures in a Room, at the splendid Barber Institute. The painting was on loan from the University of East Anglia, and is the first ever to go on display at the Barber. Here’s the painting and the blurb from the Barber website:
This disquieting image from Bacon’s middle years features two naked figures, usually interpreted as male lovers, and was daring and provocative at the time of its creation, when homosexual acts in private between men were still illegal in the UK. Works by Matisse, Degas and Michelangelo have been suggested as sources for the two figures – and its display among the old master paintings of the permanent collection simultaneously suggests the debt and influence of historic art on modern painters.
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