Mutterings - June 16

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Hook :: Peter Pan
2. Ringer :: Dead
3. Hoodwink :: Fool
4. Football :: Goal
5. Out of the way :: Quiet
6. Skull :: Numb
7. Enough :: Stop!
8. Scholarship :: Exhibition
9. Ruin :: Ivy (and 'Une ruine coquille vide' Eluard/Poulenc)
10. Lawyer :: Justice

Teaser Tuesday - June 11

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

It was Priscilla. She marched past me into the sitting-room and immediately began to cry.

Iris Murdoch's The Black Prince. A mediation on art and ethics (and the Post Office Tower).

Looking up wharfedale

Looking up wharfedale, a photo by rajmarshall on Flickr.

We spent last week at Scargill house on a summer gardens week, trips to various gardens in the vicinity - Beth managed all those, I went on the Parcevall Hall and Japanese garden trip, and otherwise just rested with a couple of evening trips down to Kettlewell. The album of photos I took is on line.

Mutterings - June 9

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Rubbish :: Bin
2. Court :: Margaret (it must be the tennis season)
3. Bangs :: Exhaust
4. Affinity :: Sympathy
5. Wholesome :: Tasty
6. Jessica :: Cat (we had a cat called Jessica - that's her on the right seeing snow for the first time)
7. Trumpet :: Blast
8. Treatment :: Healing
9. Happening :: Event (60s)
10. Pain :: Ache (closely followed by - French - bread)

Mutterings - June 2

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Progress :: Pilgrim's
2. Wife :: Partner
3. Denim :: Trousers
4. Wow :: Factor
5. Jacket :: Smoking
6. Studio :: Pad
7. Boyfriend :: Gay
8. Tablet :: Touchscreen
9. Hidden :: Caché (Michael Haneke film
10. Closer :: Danger

Teaser Tuesday - May 28

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

Now the time had come to break up the strange domestic arrangements at Crespigny Road. Blackwell and Tooth were almost as sorry to see Freda and Diane leave as Chapman himself.

Our bookgroup book of the month - Agent Zigzag - Ben Macintyre the tale of a double agent during World War II a man of very mixed motives - but a fascinating story. I did wonder about some of the details - why did the Germans allow Chapman to bring his Iron Cross into the UK on a spying mission for them?

View from the Edge

View from the Edge, a photo by rajmarshall on Flickr.

Last week there was another All Saints' walk - and the evening turned out beautifully for a walk over Alderley Edge ending at the Wizard.

Mutterings - May 26

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Rental :: Car
2. Collapse :: of stout party
3. Seismic :: Shift
4. Barricade :: 1968 (Paris)
5. Dip :: Fondue
6. Teamed :: Cattle
7. Jeans :: Pair
8. Why not? :: Indeed
9. Honing :: Knife
10. Dough :: Bowl

Sunset

Sunset, a photo by rajmarshall on Flickr.

Earlier this week I led the church walk with a walk around Bollington from the Vale Inn. You'll find the flickr album of photos as the walking season progresses here. The Vale Inn sells a book of walks one of which we used - in a truncated form! You can see the full route and download a route card and a GPS file. We missed out the walk up to White Nancy (booo!) and did the walk in reverse cutting across to Ingersley Vale at around half way around - well it was the evening and we needed to get back to the pub for chips - which were enjoyed! The photo was taken from just beneath White Nancy. Our walk next week is on Wednesday (not Thursday!)

Mutterings - May 19

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Arrow :: Time (..flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana)
2. Hum :: Ho
3. Cornerstone :: Arch
4. Flight :: Departure
5. Music :: Life
6. Determine :: Calculate
7. Analysis :: Mathematical
8. Better day :: Tomorrow
9. Audio :: Plug
10. Meditation :: Silence

Teaser Tuesday - 14 May

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

Oh, my lordy, lordy! Raf'? Dey ain' no raf' no mo', she done broke loose en gone! - en here we is!

That's probably 4 sentences but it may only be 2? Huckleberry Finn and Jim getting into a scrape...but it's a good teaser!

Mutterings - May 12

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. 537 :: odd
2. Horizon :: Ringed by the flat.. (George Benjamin work and a quote from Eliot's The Waste Land)
3. Episode :: Soap
4. Character :: Set (and gives me a chance to link to a recent xkcd!
5. Crossed :: Palm (with silver)
6. Shipping :: Lanes
7. Jump :: to it!
8. Bowling :: Alley
9. Grumpy :: Dopey
10. Them :: Us

Teaser Tuesday - May 7

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

It was kind of lazy and jolly, laying off comfortable all day, smoking and fishing, and no books nor study. Two months or more run along, and my clothes got to be all rags and dirt, and I don't see how I ever got to like it so well at the window's, where you had to wash and eat on a plate, and comb up, and go to bed and get up regular, and be for ever bothering over a book and have old Miss Watson pecking at you all the time.

Huckleberry Finn with his Pop from Mark Twain's book. I've not read this since I was young and I'd been wanting to re-read it for some time and was given impetus by a blog which quoted from it and the relationship between Huck and Jim (the escaped slave), I shall see how it goes!

Mutterings - May 5

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Interests :: Common
2. Bloom :: In
3. Ceiling :: Rose
4. Tears :: Fears
5. Jerk :: Pull
6. Weight :: Light
7. Friends :: Companions
8. Camera :: Flash
9. Chicken :: Scared
10. Hose :: Doublet

Teaser Tuesday - April 30

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

He decides on the 'Goldberg' Variations. He has four recordings here and selects not the showy unorthodoxies of Glenn Gould, but Angela Hewitt's wise and silky playing which includes all the repeats.

Another teaser from Ian McEwan's Saturday a carefully chosen non-random one - as at the point around where I am in the book there's far too much danger of a spoiler! The main character is a brain surgeon and he's just selecting the music to accompany an operation.

Mutterings - April 28

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Industry :: Revolution (Hive of..)
2. Jerry :: Can
3. Detour :: Long
4. Mug :: Cup
5. Steer :: Guide
6. Link :: List (..linked list)
7. Harmony :: 4 part
8. Epic :: User story
9. Suspect :: Dodgy
10. Translate :: Equivalent

Teaser Tuesday - April 23

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

He watched the strange programmes that the television pumped out in the small hours. Open University documentaries about glaciers.

From Mark Haddon's A spot of bother our book group book of the month like the teaser for last week. For some reason I'm reminded of a Brian Rix farce! Still trying to identify the period, late night OU programmes are reminiscent of a certain era.
(fixed title - was I that far ahead of myself?!)

Mort subite

Mort subite - i, a photo by rajmarshall on Flickr.

Back in 2009 I went on a trip with some folk from work to a Beer bar in Altrincham - Morte Subite it has a certain atmosphere - from googling I see thta it used to be the local mortuary! As we were in Altrincham yesterday I paid a return visit, when you get used to the illumination level to be able to read the menu there's a wonderful selection of beers!

Le Havre

Yesterday we went to Altrincham for an Open University day of French Cinema. After an introduction we saw Kaurismäki's Le Havre - here is the trailer A film about and set in the French port of Le Havre, it pays homage to French cinema of the 30-50's as well as merging together the eras! A film about a shoe-shiner and his encounters with an illegal immigrant who is attempting to get to London - it's funny but when you consider the story it's somewhat of an un-funny tale, but that didn't detract from it. Produced by Sputnik films with a dog (a fairly important character) called Laika(!), with a female lead called Arletty (as the 30's French film star lots of scenes and constume reminiscent of those eras. Modern mobile phones abut with phones from the 30's - delightful. I enjoyed the moment after the priests (smoking - as does nearly everyone) have their shoes shined and Monet (the detective in pursuit of the immigrant) appears to go into church and a wooden panelled confessional to be addressed by someone off screen, but after a moment you realise he's in the police station talking to his boss! Delightful!
In the afternoon we had some sessions discussing the film which helped to place the insight of others alongside what I'd seen as well as clips from the related historic films.

Mutterings - April 21

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Pork :: Scatchings
2. Work :: Opus
3. International :: Rescue
4. Board :: Game
5. Idea :: Balloon (those things which appear in cartoons when you have an idea)
6. Spinning :: Top
7. Relations :: Friendly
8. Dresser :: Welsh
9. Poster :: Bed (and easy step from the previous one!)
10. Inappropriate :: Conduct