The Oddity

There’s a match tonight, so I’m in the car again but not in the gym. I shall let my ageing body have a day off.

L is still miffed that they are closing a lane at John Carroll pool, presumably to save money on lifeguards. However according to the HSE’s website, it appears that they are under no obligation to have anyone present all. It will be up to the council’s own H&S policy, which presumably they will have tied themselves in knots with.

While I am out tonight, the oddity that is Chicken Shepherds Pie is being served at home by special request. Meanwhile I’ll be on the microwave meals at my Mum's. L and Daughter will have earned their oddity after a night of flat hunting, unpleasant flats that is that are not as at all as advertised. The hunt goes on.

Derby meanwhile draw 1-1 with Preston. 

(Tuesday 7^th March)

There Is No Logic

This morning my training partner and I repeat the early morning swim at Harvey Hadden then I drop L and the boys at park again. I even get a parking space at work. Despite leaving later, I was actually earlier to work. There is no logic...

Then it’s the gym after work although L wants the car for 6.50, so she can get to her fitness class, which speeds things up a touch. We’re all currently training for the fitness test that you have to pass to get into the police after Daughter brought home some information about it the other day. 

(Monday 6^th March)

Inclement Conditions

Today I needed a 10k purely as training for next week’s Retford Half Marathon. Yes, it may be a bit late to start training for a half marathon but I always get injured training so perhaps not training is the best way...

The day dawns damp and gets damper as we join an impressively long queue to get into the car park at Holme Pierrepoint. I don’t recall anyone ever having charged for car parking at Holme Pierrepoint before and we have been here dozens of times but they are charging £5 to park, which has manufactured the queue.

As start time approaches I jump out of the car and leave L to park up, just in case they don’t delay the start but sensibly, they do. Now I have the problem of having excess clothes to dump which I hide behind one of the porta cabins in front of the main buildings.

As I said I needed a 10k and any 10k would do...

Question: What’s worse than one laps of the rowing strip at Holme Pierrepoint?

Answer: Two laps.

Question: What’s worse than two laps of the rowing strip at Holme Pierrepoint?

Answer: Two laps in driving wind and heavy rain.

Yes, it’s not pleasant but then the omens have never been good for this race right from the moment they sent me my race number ‘666’.

My time is unsurprisingly unimpressive but it’s only training. Isn't it? The bonus is that despite the inclement conditions nothing snaps.

Afterwards we head to Wetherspoons in Beeston for a bacon roll and a hot coffee to warm up. My dedicated supporters are as wet and cold as I am. Then L’s at Puregym where she doesn’t relish having to put wet clothes back on afterwards. She best get herself home as quickly as possible and get them off again.

In the evening we’re back at Broadway. 

It is 1947 and Lord Mountbatten (Hugh Bonneville) has been sent to Delhi as the last Viceroy of India with the task of handing India back to its people within twelve months. After 300 years, British rule is coming to a close.

The story takes place mainly inside the walls of the Viceroy's House where ‘Dickie’ Mountbatten resides with his wife Edwina (Gillian Anderson) and daughter Lady Pamela (Lily Travers) along with their many many Hindu, Muslim and Sikh servants.

The political elite, namely Nehru (Tanveer Ghani) of the Indian Congress, Jinnah (Denzil Smith) of the Muslim League, Mahatma Gandhi (Neeraj Kabi) the revered leader of the independence movement and others, all visit the House for meetings as they wrangle over the terms of independence whilst in the country as a whole riots erupt.

Gandhi, Nehru and Mountbatten (initially) all wanted a single nation of two faiths but the London Government, for its own political reasons, preferred to partition the country along religious lines. Namely to create a new Muslim nation of Pakistan with a downsized India populated mostly by Hindus. It was this ‘Mountbatten Plan’ that was eventually agreed and with the British army too war weary to cope with the continued rioting, Mountbatten advanced the date for the transfer of power by six months.

The actual border for partition was decided by a London barrister called Cyril Radcliffe (Simon Callow) but what Mountbatten didn't know, was that he had been well and truly stitched up by London. The whole partition plan had already been put together years ago by Winston Churchill and he was simply sent there as the fall guy to deliver it.

Partition led to the uprooting of 14 million people and millions more were killed in the resulting turmoil. Real newspaper headlines and archive footage give weight to the story creating an educating docu-drama. 

The Mountbattens to their credit stay on in India to try to help in any way they could while the consequences of partition still reverberate to this day, seven decades later.

Sadly, to give the film a bit more general appeal, there is also a love story between a Hindu servant Jeet (Manish Dayal) and his intended Muslim bride Aalia (Huma Qureshi). They quickly find themselves in conflict with their own communities. This diversion is a shame, as it takes screen time away from the main story and leaves the film perhaps not as punchy as it could have been.

That said, the film is still a fascinating watch about an important piece of post-war history albeit mainly from the British perspective.

The film is directed by Gurinder Chadha whose own family were caught up in the events that unfolded.

We eat in Broadway after the film, that is when they remember us. It takes the consumption of three Leffe Brunes until they finally serve us despite the place being almost empty. At least one of them is a freebie for the delay. This doesn’t leave us enough time to get to the pubs on Canning Circus so we nip into the new Six Barrel Drafthouse for the second time but again we don’t stay, not being impressed by the offering and we end up in Major Oak for a Titanic Stout instead.

(Sunday 5^th March)

The Usual

L says she ‘bloody park running’ this weekend, if I am.  We toy with doing the new one at Bestwood but in the end make the short trip to the ‘usual’ at Forest Rec. Although it’s only really been my ‘usual’ running wise, as opposed to ball chucking, for a few weeks.

In the end though, L doesn’t run. She tries warming up, obviously struggles and instead supports with Doggo. MD and I run but it’s not a very quick one. So really none of use deserve breakfast in the café but we have it anyway.

Then I drop L at Pilates where Daughter has already done an hour and is about to do another one.

At the match, Derby actually win for a change beating Barnsley 2-1. Then, in the evening Daughter joins us at Broadway.

Hidden Figures follows three black women who worked in NASA's computing section in 1961 where they performed the calculations for the space program by hand. They were basically the computers of the day as real computers were only just being rolled out to such places as NASA. Being coloured they had their own separate toilets and dining facilities.

Dorothy Vaughn (Octavia Spencer) had been managing her section for some time but is repeatedly denied a supervisory position and is instead overseen by her own supervisor Vivian Mitchell (Kirsten Dunst).

Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe) meanwhile is an aspiring engineer but she cannot progress further because she doesn’t have the right qualifications, which she is barred from getting because of her colour. She goes to court to try to get this changed.

Then there is Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), who is the main focus of the film. Johnson is the most talented mathematician at NASA and once they realise this she is called upon to work in the Space Task Group under Paul Stafford (Jim Parsons) and his boss Al Harrison (Kevin Costner). Their aim is to put a man in space before the Soviet Union.

It’s not easy for her working in her new environment and not only because she had to climb a high ladder every day to write on a huge blackboard. She has to drink coffee from a pot labelled ‘Coloured’ and has to run half a mile back to her old building where the nearest toilet for coloured females is. While at home, she has three young daughters to raise.

Despite all this, through her excellent work, she earns the respect of everybody on the project including astronaut John Glenn (Glen Powell). Glenn trusts her calculations above those of anyone else’s including those produced by their new IBM computer.

The aim of the film is clearly to raise the struggles that the coloured minority had to be recognised at that time. However, personally I found learning about the space race with the Soviet Union, the difficulties of getting a man into space, keeping him there and then getting him back again in one piece the most fascinating part. 

As it is ‘based on true events’, you of course rush home and immediately ‘google’ the plot. If only to check whether Katherine really need to run half a mile just to use the toilet? And... no, of course she didn't. That, and a whole lot of other things, were manufactured or overstated for dramatic effect. Sadly, that ruined the film for me.

Katherine Johnson herself states that she didn’t experience any segregation and that everyone worked brilliantly together as a team. In fact, the film seems to totally undersell what Johnson achieved. As for NASA, who are practically painted as racists, they didn’t even exist until after the types of issues raised in the film were resolved.

The real story is fascinating enough, so it’s really annoying that the filmmakers were not impressed by the quiet and efficient way these women actually conducted themselves and achieved so much.

Therefore, it’s really just an enjoyable piece of (part) fiction that is also quite informative about the space race, which I don’t think they tampered with too much.

(Saturday 4^th March)

Anniversary Treat

It's our 21st today and we don’t look a day over 20. As a special treat, I get to walk the dogs while L goes for an early morning swim.

She keeps saying she wants to speed up her swim and is looking at those gadgets which set a pace for you by ‘beeping’ in your ear. I think she had one before but we can’t remember whether it got lost because it was so small or whether she sent it back judging it to be a waste of money.

In the end, she opts to buy a new sports bra instead which is a much better use of funds as we both benefit from such sexy attire and anyway, I can always swim alongside her and beep in her ear.

L’s boss keeps telling her how lovely Llandudno is, which is of course where I have my ‘free’ triathlon. He says it's a traditional old seaside town, which is a shame, as I was hoping to discover it was actually inland and therefore I wouldn’t have to face a sea swim.

(Friday 3^rd March)

Graveyard Shift

It’s cold, it’s wet, I’m such a wimp. I decide to stay dry and go to work on the bus.

There is no squash again tonight. Although my opponent is fit the only courts available were at 8.15 or later. That to him is the graveyard shift, for me it would just about be the perfect time. Plenty of time to cycle home, get my breath back, rest the legs a touch and maybe even get something to eat.

Instead, it’s Plan B, which really should be called Plan A, as it’s much more fun. L and MD do their usual walk to the Dispensary where Doggo and I meet them, having driven there. I grab a quickie in the gym first though.

In the Dispensary they have a tasty Milk Stout from the Bristol Beer Factory and something from Watneys... I do find the fashion for resurrecting old defunct breweries rather strange. Surely the use of Watneys which closed in 1979, and is famous for its much maligned Red Barrel and Party 7s, must be one of the most ironic or perhaps not?

(Thursday 2^nd March)

Recruitment Policy

On the bus today as I’m out with a friend tonight. There was supposed to be four of us but the other two don’t turn up. No idea why. We stay in the Brunswick all night and eat there as well although there are no new dark beers on.

L and the boys meet us off bus. The dogs were promised candlelit yoga tonight or at least sitting in the car while L and Daughter did it but it doesn't come off. Probably for the best. Naked flames and Daughter don’t tend to mix very well.

L has also tried a ‘trial’ run tonight on the dreadmill, I’m not sure it went too well.

In other news, Nottingham is having about its 100^th attempt to get a Bierkeller off the ground, this one’s in Friar Lane. For anyone who might fancy a job, please note that there does appear to be a strict recruitment policy.

(Wednesday 1^st March)

Under New Management?

It looks cold out this morning but there doesn't appear to be any ice around, so I bike. L goes for another swim, just not at 6am this time.

You may remember I reported that Run For All had been told they couldn’t use Nottingham city centre for their 10k and I said they probably end up at Holme Pierrepoint... Well here’s the new route. At least it’s not the usual two loops of the lake.

Dog training tonight with a pint in the Masons afterwards with L and the new lodger. I am stunned when L texts through that there is a choice of two new beers on the bar, Naylor’s Pinnacle Mild and Stonehenge Danish Dynamite IPA. Are they under new management? I give the IPA a go.

(Tuesday 28^th February)

The 6am Swim

Up at 6am and off with L for an early morning swim in the 50m pool at Harvey Hadden. The boys come too and then I drop the three of them back at Harrow Road for their morning walk and ball chuck.

It seemed to work quite well, although L did get home to find that next door’s builders had cheekily parked on our drive. They did at least have the decency to be apologetic about it and she let them stay put.  I make it to work on time, just. As everyone is off ill, there is at least room in the car park.

It's back to the grind for both of us. L dealing with all the work her office junior has diligently saved up for her and me with all the work nobody’s even looked at.

The much anticipated and much dreaded A52\Pride Park junction roadworks start today with a month of pre-works, mainly tree felling I believe, which won’t apparently affect the A52 itself but still manages to lock up Sainsbury’s at lunchtime.

After work, L and the new lodger head off to the gym while I go for a quickie myself.

The Oscars have been presented, again before we have managed to see all of the candidates. For saying the boost the awards season gives to film going they don’t seem to manage is very well in the UK. Most of the films were out in America late last year but don’t tend to be released over here until about now, at the point they’re already handing the awards out. Surely it would be beneficial to either get the films out here earlier or push the awards ceremonies back a month or so?

(Monday 27^th February)

New Lodger

Back home, we have a new lodger of course. Daughter has moved back in and is now a week into her new job in Nottingham.

We’re straight back on the film trail tonight.

Fences is an adaptation of an award winning play by August Wilson and even on the big screen it still feels very much like a play being very dialogue driven. There is a very small cast and very few scene changes, in fact very few scenes at all but those that are there are quite long. So perhaps it could have been more concise but if people standing out in the yard talking about not much of consequence is your thing, then this is for you.

It’s the sort of thing that some directors, say like Quentin Tarantino, are fond of doing, so how will Denzel Washington get on? This is very much his baby (excuse the pun, that bit comes later) as he is both the director and the lead actor.

It is 1950's Pittsburgh, Troy Maxson (Washington) is a former baseball player and an ex-con who now works as a dustman along with his friend, Bono (Stephen Henderson), the only white face in the film. Every evening Troy comes home to his wife Rose (Viola Davis) and his son Cory (Jovan Adepo). While on payday, Troy's son by his first wife, Lyons (Russell Hornsby), drops in for a loan to prop up his ‘career’ as a musician, a loan which Troy always resists.

Then there is Troy's brother Gabriel (Mykelti Williamson), whose house they are living in because Gabriel, who suffered a head injury in the war, is too busy battling imaginary hellhounds in his head. Oh, and Troy’s building a fence either to keep something out or to keep something in.

The film drip feeds us bits of his life story as we go along. Troy is a bitter man, resentful that he feels his baseball career stalled because of his colour but unwilling to acknowledge that times are changing and so he prevents his son from taking up a place on the college football team because, he says, the same thing will happen to him.

Troy is a complex character but thoroughly selfish and unlikable, ironically the prejudices that once held him back he now seems determined to keep alive and to inflict on everyone else. Yet his wife stands by him throughout even when it is revealed he’s had an affair and is soon to be a father all over again. In fact, everyone holds him up as being a great man except his son. After having had all other avenues to better himself closed off by his father, he leaves home to explore the only career left open to him in the Marines.

As a film it is powerful and engaging, what it lacks in actual story it makes up for with some very strong performances. Denzel Washington really inhabits his role and is very good but Viola Davis is even better.

Good but not great.

(Sunday 26^th February)