Thankful Thursday: A Day Out With Catriona

Catriona goes back to school next week.  She is a weekly boarder but will not get home for the first two weekends.   I thought it was about time we had another day out together.  Coincidentally her Mum had to go into the practice today so when I asked Catriona last night if she would like to go and see The Book Thief today she was very happy to do so.  So at 9am we set off to play a couple of games of croquet (Thursday is a club day).  Then Catriona suggested lunch at The Groove Kitchen.  This is a place that I pass almost daily and yet have never been into.  I have been missing a lot.  The service and lunch was good and having looked on Trip Advisor I see that I have been missing far more than I realised.  I shall be back.

"If I make silly faces you won't put it on your blog!"  - Got that one wrong didn't you Catriona?

A large milk shake whilst waiting for lunch (taken with my phone in less-than-perfect light).

Coincidentally we met friends at the cinema and watched The Book Thief.  I had tried to read the book on the strong recommendation of a lady at croquet.  I struggled and never got very far.  One of the friends with whom we watched it this afternoon said that the film was better than the book.  I do not think that there was a dry eye in the cinema by the time it had finished. 

Of course there was the mandatory sitting in the sun having an ice cream on the way home.

The day ended at 11.30 at night when Wendy and Martin, Jamie and Catriona eventually made their way from The Cottage up the drive to bed (or for Wendy and Martin to pack for their trip to Wellington after their last patient this afternoon).

How could one be anything other than very thankful for such a wonderful day?

Grandfather For a Day

I had Catriona, The Family's eleven year old daughter, for the day today.

"I don't like crossing Tennyson Street on my own, Graham."  So Catriona this morning when we went into town.  "Well you can always hold my hand if you want to." said I smiling "but you may not want to do that."  "The point is, Graham," came the response "people might think that I was helping you across the street."  

As I couldn't stop laughing we nearly missed the green go man at the traffic lights.

That set the tone for the rest of the day.  Catriona is witty and entertaining company and a joy to be with.  But then I'm not a parent!  As everyone assumed that I was her grandfather, though, I was delighted to take the role on for the rest of our time together today.

 

Imagine a 3D movie of animated characterisations of cavemen called The Croods.  The Dreamworks blurb describes it as a prehistoric comedy adventure that follows the world's first family as they embark on a journey of a lifetime when the cave that has always shielded them from danger is destroyed. Traveling across a spectacular landscape, the Croods discover an incredible new world filled with fantastic creatures -- and their outlook is changed forever.  Does that sound just like my sort of film?  No.  However Catriona thought it would be a good idea to see it (and I certainly wasn't going to be party to her seeing any of the other 4 or 5 films that were showing at the cinema!).  We were the only people in that screening (actually on the way out we did see a young couple hidden on the back row: ah memories).  And you know what?  I thought it was brilliant.  I'd never seen a 3D movie since the days of those red and green paper spectacles you held up in front of your eyes and was mesmerised by the effects.  Catriona dismissed the 3D effects as below average.  We both agreed on the fact that it had been well worth seeing.

Afterwards I took her to play croquet.  She enjoyed that too.

Home for spag bol and another film until Mum and Dad came home from the practice and came down to The Cottage see how we'd got on (and so I fed them too).

I still can't work out what I have done to deserve such a good life these days?

On Prejudice and Movies

How often do references to things relating to James Bond films or Star Wars films crop up in every day life?    The answer always seems to me to be 'quite frequently'.  There can be few people in any country where this blog is read who have not heard of James Bond and at least some of the characters who appear in Star Wars.

I, for example, know that Ursula Andress walked out of the sea dressed in a white bikini (who does not know that?) and that Darth Vader, R2D2 and C3PO appear in Start Wars as do Light Sabres.  I might dredge up other morsels if questioned more specifically on James Bond but, on the whole, my ignorance of these topics is astonishing.  "So what?" you may well ask and, until recently I would have taken the view that not being able to complete Trivial Pursuits games nor half the quizes The Family play was a small price to pay for not having to endure those films.

Generally speaking I don't like science fiction nor fantasy and Bond and Start Wars seem to fit those categories rather well in my mind.  So how come I am, and have been since I first read it in the early '70s, addicted to The Lord of The Rings?  Why did I think Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials Trilogy was superb and compelling?   Why do I admire the ideas behind Anne McCaffrey's 'Ship' books?  The answer, it occurred to me a few months ago, is blind prejudice.  As that is a trait I find absolutely unacceptable in most walks of life I decided that I had better think again about James Bond and Star Wars.

So last week I hired the DVDs of Dr No (the first Bond Film from 1962) and Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (Episode 1 of the Star Wars Trilogy from 1999 - the sequence in which the six films should be viewed is, I discovered, the subject matter of  many articles on the internet). 

By the standards of modern film making and even TV series The Bond film seemed amateur and silly - but then it was made half a century ago.  The Star Wars movie did nothing for me but it was interesting to see some of the characters of whom I have heard (although not Alec Guiness's character).

Will I watch some more?  Yes.  I have the second of each series waiting by the television and when I have some ironing or a quiet evening then I may well educate myself further.  Never again will I be able to claim that I have never seen a Bond or Start Wars film right through.