Sunday 22nd February 2009
For a while now (by while I mean a few years) Sunday has been the busiest day of my weekend. I suppose heading to the gym at opening time perhaps means anything else done during the day is an after thought. Today I had loads to get done before heading into London. I got to the gym at 7:56am and finished my programme exactly an hour later at 8:56am, I then headed to the BP garage to jet wash my car. It was only a quick one to get rid of a little dirt, overall the car is quiet clean after three weeks. Then rather than heading back to the flat I drove to Sainsburys and waited for it to open at 10am. In the end I could not be bothered to wait and just went in a few minutes before opening and was surprised that so many other members of the public were allowed in. Having a list meant I quickly got the bits I needed and then headed back to the flat, got ready and headed out the door quite soon afterwards. However plans to catch the 11am train were short lived. I left the flat around ten minutes past the hour, I would have to catch the next train, at least it was direct.
I got to Newbury station six minutes before the train arrived to whisk me off to Paddington. You will not believe this but the service was actually early. Not just arriving into Reading (the one stop) but also London by twenty minutes ahead of schedule. We had to wait a minute while a platform became free. I picked up a timetable (something tells me these adhoc trips will become a regular occurrence over the next few months). Then, it was directly to the Underground and Bakerloo line to Oxford Circus. It was 12:42, I was in one of the most famous shopping districts on the planet and my friend was late. I headed to Nike Town and upstairs to the Running Shoes department. I will need to equip myself with a pair before the end of May. By the way, I have set up my fund raising page over on Just Giving. I love being in London, the buzz, the fast pace of life. Could I work there again now? For sure! Could I deal with a two hour commute again? No. I look forward to my next adventure in our capital. It will never be a moment too soon.
A rather political flavour to the movies I watched this weekend. First there was the Oliver Stone movie about George W. Bush entitled simply, ‘W.‘. It was not what I expected, I thought it would just assassinate the president and his ill thought ‘War on Terror’ but it shows how much of a waster he was at college and his first few jobs afterwards (which Daddy all set up for him). He never lasted long and was pretty much a bum, a drunk and would not amount to much. Until the day he discovered God. This was a life changing moment which took him all the way to the White House. There was also a classic moment when he nearly choked on a cheesy puff while watching a football match on television. Only by falling on the floor did the puff dislodge itself. Was this true or just a fictional joke by the writers? Overall it was a great movie and the casting was fantastic, Thandie Newton as Condi Rice. The British actor that played Karl Rove was a spitting image of the real White House advisor. Richard Dreyfus as Dick Cheney was an amazing choice too. Everyone at the top just worked. The only let down was Welshman Ioan Gruffud playing Scottish born British Prime Minister Tony Blair. No wonder his scenes were cut short but then it is an American film and a very American story about how anyone and I mean absolutely any bum can become President of the Free World, with a few good connections. Or a bankable family name. I would highly recommend perhaps for a lazy Sunday afternoon when you have a few hours spare. Do not go and watch it late on a Friday night like I did.
The second movie I saw on Saturday night (skipping on Match Of The Day after Arsenal’s failure to beat Sunderland at home). It was Frost / Nixon, a movie I had planned to see at the cinema but due to many reasons I did not get around to it. Michael Sheen just pins David Frost’s voice and mannerisms to a t. Frank Langella is perfect as Nixon and the film is a tour de force by Ron Howard. Frost is shown as a playboy which I felt destroyed his image in my eyes as a British institution. I suppose I would have to check with my Dad about his reputation in the media back in the mid to late 1970s. It feels strange that such a ground breaking interview took place before I was born. Maybe that sounds a bit naive but when you see Paxman grilling politician after politician without a care in the world, you forget that it had to start somewhere. Towards the end you feel sorry for the former President but at least he did finally admit some of the mistakes he made to the American people. The whole time in American history fascinates me (perhaps just a little bit less than the Revolution) and I would love to read up more about it when I have the time. Back to the movie, it is excellent and well worth watching.
Tonight I watched Super Ex Girlfriend on Channel 4. The main draw for me is Luke Wilson, personally I think he is a better comedian than his brother Owen (and better looking). It was very funny, particularly the scene in the gym that reminds me I need to organise the gym exchange with Pav very soon. Uma Thurman pulls off the super hero and psychotic ex-girlfriend role very well. Of course the whole plot is very far fetched but it does come together well at the end and it is good see Eddie Izzard put in a bit part slightly bigger than a cameo. This is a movie I had tried to watch a few times on Sky Movies but only ever got to see a few opening minutes or a few minutes in the middle while channel hopping.