Reading and Viewing- Part 1

So what have I been reading and watching recently? On the book front I recently completed reading 'High Minds,' by Simon Heffer. It was a hefty read, some 700-800 pages, taking things from around 1840 to around 1880. I have since ordered the next volume which is called 'The Age of Decadence' which takes things up until the start of the First World War, which I have already received from Amazon and then the third book, which is already available in hardback but comes out in paperback in around May-June and called 'Staring At God,' which covers the First World War. If these books are as well researched and written as the first volume, then they should make excellent reading. I can recommend the first one, but since I haven't started the next one, I can't as yet comment.

I next read 'The Old Vic: The Story of a Great Theatre- From Ken to Olivier to Spacey' by Terry Coleman. Right up my street, being something of a theatre fanatic and having worked in professional theatre myself. Carol and I went to see a production staged by Propellor Theatre, in a performance of 'The Taming of The Shrew at the Old Vic, when she was a teacher at Stantonbury School and we were hooked on this all-male company and following this production, managed to see them several times more, at Milton Keynes Theatre and the Oxford Playhouse. Really great theatre and rip-roaring productions.

Having read all that history (and there was a lot I learnt as a result.) I decided I needed some fiction to read next, so I turned to my good old stand-by, Sherlock Holmes, as i'm gradually working my way through the entire canon and I have now reached 'The Return of Sherlock Holmes,' which begins with 'The Empty House.' Since reading that I decided to read one of Anthony Horowitz's take on Sherlock Holmes, so I have bought the first one in the series, which have apparently been approved by the Conan-Doyle estate, called 'The House of Silk.' I wasn't sure I would like this novel, and have been pleasantly surprised by how good it is. Horowitz has managed to write in the style of Conan-Doyle, the voice of Doctor Watson is very well done and completely convincing, but done in a modern manner. We get a fair amount of backstory for Watson and the typical Holmesian 'tropes' are in place; the arrival of the gentleman who wants Holmes to investigate the crime (I won't give to much of the plot away on here.) An easy read, which is what I wanted and I will have to read more of this series.

I've finished the third series of 'The Crown' on Netflix and as a result I've closed my subscription. I've enjoyed the show, but I don't think this last season was as good as the first two. Olivia Colman as Her Maj is good, but the episodes haven't been as enticing and engrossing as earlier episodes. Out of the 10, several were duds, nothing wrong with the writing, but a couple just didn't gell somehow. I can't explain, but I realise out of ten it must be difficult to maintain a particularly high standard and were there just to make up the numbers. I still think it would be better to have some sort of connection between each episode, a story arc which links them. There's nothing to keep you wanting to carry on watching. I know there was no intention to be a 'cliff-hanger' at the end of the episodes, but it's what keeps you wanting to continue watching. I can understand why they're ending the show with the 5th season as it would become to close for comfort when it gets nearer to the present and some difficult events in the royal story would have to be covered, I imagine the death of Princess Diana would be difficult to handle as well as several royal relationships and particularly what the Queen referred to 1992 as her 'Annus Horribilis.' It still has amazing detail, the period is beautifully portrayed, the costumes, makeup and sets are brilliant and it deserves all the awards. I may resubscribe to Netflix in time for the fourth season, but there is nothing else on Netflix which makes me want to continue with it.

Oxford Outing- Part 1

On Saturday we decided to have a day out and went to Oxford.  The last time we went  was almost exactly one year ago to the day, and as I have a free bus pass (one has now got to the age where one gets such things.) it seemed a good idea to leave the car behind, oblivating the necessity to not  only j driving there but also find parking space, even though there is a 'park-and-ride' scheme in operation in Oxford (we have used this on several occasions.) We got the bus from just outside the Academy in Saxon Street and arrived at Milton Keynes railway station and then had to wait before the Oxford bus came in. It arrived within about ten minutes and then we were off, going through Buckingham on the way, which we drive through on our way to Stowe Landscape Garden, one of our favourite National Trust properties. One advantage of being in a bus is that you sit up a good deal higher than you would if you were in a car, so you can see a good deal more of the countryside and in particular you see over hedges that grow alongside the roads you drive along. We went through Bicester (I went there to do induction for one of the care agencies I used to work for. A bit of a waste of time and effort if you ask me because I didn't get much work out of them as it turned out, but that's another story which I may or may not discuss in a future post.) We went past Bicester Village, the outlet shopping centre as well as Bicester Avenue, which we visited earlier in the year, which is fairly new.
We arrived in Oxford at around 10.00 and had need for the use of the toilets. Sorry to bring this up, but it seems to be a necessity of both of us. We knew that there were toilets in the bus station (where the bus came in at Oxford) but we soon discovered that there was some building work going on there and the toilets were out of operation. They had managed to put notices up telling you where the alternative toilets were and when we got there was a queue of people. On our way home on the bus we realised that there were toilets on the bus itself so that was one problem solved on the way home.
We have visited Oxford on several earlier occasions, a few times to Oxford Playhouse to see productions of Shakespeare plays produced by the all-male company, Propellor, in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "Twelfth Night." We saw their version of "The Taming of The Shrew" a couple of years ago when Carol was teaching at Stantonbury Campus and we managed to get tickets through the school and went on a coach trip to see that show at the famous Old Vic theatre in London, which was a real treat. The last show of theirs we saw was "Henry V" a couple of years ago when they came to the Milton Keynes Theatre. So we know Oxford fairly well. This time we wanted to visit the Oxford Natural History Museum but weren't sure exactly where it was, so we spent quite some time wandering somewhat aimlessly around the streets in an attempt to locate it. We eventually managed to find it on a map but it was quite a walk out from the city centre and then discovered that it was CLOSED due to the roof being repaired which was something of a disappointment but there was an event going on outside the museum, I believe something to do with the friends of the museum or something, where there were stalls selling food and exhibits and managed to get pizza and something to drink because by now we were hungry and thirsty and it was quite a warm day and all that walking had taken it's toll.

Visit to Oxford

It's been another really warm and sunny day, so we went to Oxford. We didn't take the car, instead opting for bus travel. I now have my concessionary bus-pass (yes, one is now at the age when one can travel by bus for nothing!) and we caught the bus on Saxon Street which took us into the centre of Milton Keynes next to The Point, and then to the railway station, where we boarded the bus for Oxford, and within around an hour and ten minutes we were at Oxford Bus Station. So the entire journey there and back cost around £12.50, and without the hastle of driving, the cost of petrol, finding somewhere to park, or at least not having to use the park-and-ride system into the centre of Oxford. We have been there on several occasions, usually to visit the theatre, The Oxford Playhouse, or a performance of Creation Theatre (who perform in something called the mirror or spiegeltent.) and we've seen a show based on stories by the Brother's Grim and the theatre set up in the carpark of the B.M.W. car plant, and another show based on Shakespeare's  'Saints and Villains' and performed in a city centre church. The other shows we've seen have been at the Playhouse, and performed by Propellor, and all-male company who stage Shakespeare productions, and we've seen 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' and 'Twelfth Night' there, as well as 'Henry V' at the Milton Keynes Theatre, as well as 'The Taming Of The Shrew' at The Old Vic, when we went with a party from Stantonbury School when Carol worked there.
Oxford on most sunny summer's days must be quite busy, particularly as it is very likely to be one of those places that attracts tourists, from whatever country, as it is a particularly historic place, featuring in many events over the centuries. Also, it has been used in many films and television drama series as well as being the setting for many novel, notably the "Inspector Morse" novels and the television series. C.S. Lewis, author of the "Narnia" books and J.R.R. Tolkein, of "Lord Of The Rings" and "The Hobbit" fame were professors here and were part of a literary group known as "The Inklings." Lewis Carrol was Dean of one of the colleges during the 19th century and wrote the "Alice" books. And also Philip Pullman used a version of Oxford as a background to his "Dark Materials" trilogy of novels. So, it wasn't at all surprising that we saw groups of people being taken on guided tours of the city centre. We also saw a film unit parked in one of the main streets. From experience as a television walk-on and supporting artiste I know what one of these looks like, and the amount of space all the vans, lorries and other paraphernalia looks like. We couldn't see exactly what the film or television series was they were filming, but I have an idea it might have been the "Inspector Morse" spin off, "Lewis."

Theatre Visit and Milton Keynes Centre

We went to see a production of "Henry V" by W. Shakespeare performed by Propellor Theatre at Milton Keynes Theatre on Saturday afternoon. We decided to leave the car and went into MK centre by bus, which was a good deal easier and far more stress-free than going by car as we didn't have to worry about where we were going to park, nor the cost of parking. We had imagined that it would be busy, in the build-up to Christmas, and we were absolutely right. We got into the centre with more than enough time to spare, so we walked into the shopping centre (the bus dropped us directly outside the theatre.) and couldn't believe how crowded the place was. It doesn't appear as if there's an 'economic downturn' as people were (supposedly) doing their Christmas shopping and not really taking much notice of the fact that things were so dire. We did notice that a lot of shops had pre-Christmas sales on. We went to W.H.Smith as Carol is interested in getting an E-reader. Smiths have their own one called a Kobo, and we got a good demonstration from a member of Smith's staff. Carol is more interested in the basic model, whilst I'd like the one that is wi-fi connected and colour so you can surf the internet.

We continued to walk through the shopping centre, then visiting Boot's as they have their usual 'Buy 2 items and get one free' and we selected what we'd buy as presents. I have won a £25 voucher from doing on-line surveys, which came at just the right time to spend on presents. We didn't buy the things there and then as it would have meant taking the shopping into the theatre, so we'll buy the items later. Next, we went to Waterstone's, thinking that they would have e-readers in stock. I have an idea that I saw a display of Kindles when we were last in the store in Midsummer Place a couple of weeks ago. We went upstairs and asked an assistant, to be told that, since Waterstone's was taken over by a new company, they no longer stocked Kindles. Very strange, as Kindles (and all brands of E-readers) where the latest 'must-have' gadget, and if that was the case, Waterstone's weren't doing themselves any favours by not stocking them.

We walked back through the shopping centre and ended up in John Lewis, and browsed in the gifts department. Then we walked towards the theatre, which is only a short distance from John Lewis. We had a good forty-five minutes before the play began, so we got coffee from the bar and sat in the foyer.

We could hear music and laughter and raised voices coming from behind a glass partition. I at first thought it might have been something to do with a drama course, as the theatre does have courses for acting and other stage-related business, such as fights, etc. It then turned out to be a rehearsal for the theatre's pantomime "Aladdin" which opens on 9th December. We could see into the rehearsal studios, and Carol got quite excited when she saw the 'star' of the show, Gareth Gates, a former winner/contender on something like 'Pop Idol' or at least, one of those so-called 'reality' television talent shows.  We could glimpse what was going on in the rehearsal room through little glass panels in the partition. It was difficult not to hear what was going on, and occasionally there were children's voices cheering, such as 'he's behind you!' and 'oh yes he is!' etc etc. It's certainly not every day that you get a glimpse into the rehearsal room for any show, and not least a pantomime. Having sat and drunk our coffee, we made our way into the theatre auditorium. We have seen several Shakespeare productions by Propellor. The first was when Carol was teaching at Stantonbury Campus, and we went with a party on a bus to the Old Vic in London to see their production of "The Taming Of The Shrew." This is an all-male ensemble, which means all the parts are played by men, as would have been the case in Shakespeare's day, when women weren't allowed on stage. "Henry V" is modern dress, with the cast dressed in army uniforms as if off to the war in Iraq or Afghanistan. By turns very emotional, funny and quite gripping. We have also seen their production of "Twelfth Night" at the Oxford Playhouse, and the fact that it's an all-male cast is even more effective, as the play involves characters who are not only twins, but one is supposed to be a girl who dresses up as a boy. Which makes it more relevant to the plot, which you certainly don't get if it's a cast of men and women. We last saw their production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" also at Oxford Playhouse, and "Henry V" is the first of their productions to be toured to Milton Keynes Theatre. It was a very sparse audience, unfortunately. Perhaps the people of Milton Keynes don't like Shakespeare or have never heard of this company. Our last visit to the theatre was to see the National Theatre production of "Hamlet" with Rory Kinnear in the lead.