Random Jottings

Sweeney Todd

Earlier this year I saw Bryn Terfel sing this role in the superb Sondheim musical (though I hesitate to call it that as it really is a hybrid of a piece) and he was quite chilling and magnificent.  Wonderful though this performance was it lacked one thing.  Alan Rickman.  I knew then that a film was being made of Sweeney and remembered thinking that the only person who could play the judge was the glorious Alan in a part that would fit him like the proverbial glove.  In my mind if a film was going to be made then it simply HAD to have Mr R in the cast list.  As the only person who could play Severus Snape was Alan so the judge.  I was therefore ecstatic to see his name appear in the cast list as was I at the idea of Johnny Depp playing Sweeney.  He certainly can't sing like Bryn, but then Bryn doesn't look like this!

Word on the street is encouraging so cannot wait to go see.

To Loan or not to Loan - that is the question

Simon on Stuck in a Book has posed a tricky question.  Are you happy to lend books?  I have mixed feelings on this subject as I tend to be very possessive indeed about my bookshelves and will admit to being tremendously reluctant to let friends borrow any of them. 

The quote which Simon uses 'neither a borrower nor a lender be' is a very sensible one and I try to stick to it as much as possible.  I will not borrow books if I can avoid it (unless, obviously, it is a library book) and if I do I worry tremendously until I return it safe and sound and in pristine condition.  On one never to be forgotten occasion I loaned a book to a friend who spotted it said 'oh, that looks fun can I borrow it' which makes it impossible to refuse, and of course I had to say yes.  She then she left it on a bus.  She was overwhelmed with guilt and horror and incredibly apologetic and I gather chased after the bus for miles to no avail, and then went out and bought me another copy.  Of course, it was brand new and nothing like my beloved old edition but I smiled brightly and thanked her as she felt bad enough as it was.  I managed to find another second hand copy of my original book some months later luckily so all was well, but this taught me a lesson.  Friendships can be wrecked by something as trivial as this.  I know I was cross about the loss of this book, but had to hide my feelings and be kind so it is best to avoid this situation whenever possible.

I have close friends I trust to whom I lend books, but even so I am always relieved when I get them back.  I have loaned books to Simon in the past, via the post, and he to me and we both know we can trust each other completely to look after them, but I am always worried that he or I might consign our books to the tender mercies of the post and never see them again.

In another post Simon asked how people felt about writing in books which engendered some very interesting replies.  I never write in books, preferring to use a note pad, even if I am studying (I will admit however to writing all over Troilus and Cressida when I was trying to understand Chaucer for my A level) as the thought of scribbling  in a book is anathema to me.  I know others will disagree and that is fine, we all have our own methods of reading and annotating, but when I get a loaned book returned to me with writing all over it then I get really mad.  This happened to me several years ago and I was furious as I felt my personal property had been treated with disrespect.  As I would never mark up a book borrowed from a library as it does not belong to me, then I expect my friends to treat my books as such.

On that occasion I did NOT hide my feelings and, sadly, the friendship was never the same afterwards and eventually died the death.  I don't think I was being unreasonable about my response, but she thought I was and that did it really, the fact that she was unable to understand why I was cross.

Perhaps I am just a sad person and need to get a life....

Cranford - Episode 2

Wondered if the second episode could be as good as the first - silly me, of course it was.  Probably better now it is getting into its stride. I am currently reading Lady Ludlow and it is very interesting to see how they have slotted this story into Cranford.  You really cannot see the join.  I mentioned that in order to get hold of this particular story quickly I had to purchase the 'now a major TV serial' version and I have to say that the production values are not up to scratch.  Paper dull and rough and altogether very cheap looking.  I shall have to keep an eye out for another second hand copy in my future searches.  I like the look of this one much better

Have noticed that some of the story lines have been changed - not a huge amount, but enough to make it more dramatic and visual and it has been done well.  The cast list continues to amaze.  This week we had first sight of Sir Michael Gambon who is not exactly an oil painting, let's face it, and yet with that warm seductive voice of his, is just so attractive.  He greeted Miss Matty, obviously an old love, with such style and charm and the next episode is going to be so touching.  I won't give any further information as I don't want to reveal any story lines.

Letter of the Week in the new Radio Times, which I purchased this morning laments the fact that new dramatisations of Oliver Twist and Sense and Sensibility are in the pipeline, asking what new slant could they bring?  This is a moot point.  When it comes to dramatisation on the Beeb they do tend to go for Bronte, Dickens and Eliot with the odd Hardy or Gaskell slung in for good measure and don't think outside the box much in this respect.

this correspondent suggests more Hardy, Wilkie Colllins and also mentions an 'untapped mine of literature from the 1950s or 60s' ie Nevil Shute, Hammond Innes.  The editor of the page has asked readers to write in and tell them which books we would like to see as TV dramas.

I can think of a few that I would love, but no guessing that they go down the same well worn track of VicLit, but I would be very interested to receive any suggestions and I will forward them on to the BBC.  Would be nice if they actually took viewers wishes into account for once.

The Dress and I

Off to final fitting for dress for TWOTY last night and all was well and the dress is perfect, the veil divine, shoes lovely and all well.  So then it could be taken away and left in my tender care until the Big Day.  This responsibility weights heavy on me I can tell you.

Out of the shop into crowded Oxford Street and pouring rain and, fortunately, managed to grab a taxi pretty quickly.  Big hug from Bride and a promise to let her know as soon as I arrived home safely and off we went.  Driver said 'Ah, your daughter getting married is she?' and when I said yes, he then proceeded to tell me that he and his wife were celebrating their Golden Wedding next week and his two sons had paid for a cruise for the both of them to celebrate and they were having a huge party with grandchildren etc. 'You don't mind me chatting do you?  Please tell me if you want me to be quiet...'  I demurred and we yakked all the way.  We set the world to rights, lambasted the current government (could think of another name for this administration but this is a blog read by many people so must watch my language), changes he had seen in London in his forty years as a cab driver, holidays we had both enjoyed etc etc and in the end both agreed that the family was the most important thing in life and he had been very happy with his wife. 'She's been good to me' he said 'I've been very lucky and I never forget it'.  Arrived at Liverpool Street, he got out to help me alight, shook my hand, said it had been a pleasure talking to me and wished Helen all the best for her wedding.  He was delightful and I really enjoyed the ride.

My intention had been to purchase an upgrade and travel first class where there is more room, but took one look at the vast queues snaking across the concourse and decided not to bother.  Got onto an Inter-City which had just arrived which meant I had a choice of seats and found one which had plenty of room behind the seat back and the bulkhead, for want of a better word, where I was able to hook up the dress in its packing.  I then spent the next hour on the train watching it obsessively and flinching every time somebody lurched past clutching a drink in case they tripped and spilled it over the bag or tripped and dragged it down or some other disaster.  I had visions of the train crashing and me being carried out of the wreckage screaming 'Don't forget the DRESS'......

Arrived safely at Colchester and as I was standing waiting to get off, a young lady looked at the bag, saw the name of the bridal shop and a smile crept over her face as she realised what it must contain.  She then looked up at me and I saw the look of shock on her face and I could read her mind 'Surely that can't be the bride?'  she dropped her eyes as she spotted I had seen her and as we were getting off the train and as she nipped past me, I could not resist the temptation to whisper to her 'I'm the Mother'.  'Oh' she shrieked, went bright pink and shot down the stairs.  A bit wicked of me but I couldn't resist it.

I drove home at a very decorous pace to make sure that I wasn't stopped for speeding, or going to slow or something or other and did not relax until I was indoors and all was safely hung up.  A text was then sent to the Bride....'The Eagle has Landed'

We can now sleep easy.

Strictly Strictly ..things are getting tense

A stonking good show this weekend and once more we had Bad Boy Boring Boy Brendon throwing a hissy fit because his routine was criticised.  I do hope that next year they get rid of this prima donna, he is getting to be such a pain.  He won the first series with Natasha Kaplinski and ever since then has been moaning about his partners and being really obnoxious and when he has a girl who is really good, Kelly Brook, he tries to be a tad too clever and mucks it up again.  His problem is that the dance is all about HIM not his partner and he throws in extra lifts and does things he shouldn't, then goes onto TV and apologises for his bad behaviour and then does it all over again.  Kelly, who strikes me as a very savvy young lady, said that they deserved to be in the bottom two as she had not been very good and found the dance difficult, thus spiking the guns of viewers who thought Yah Book Sucks.  Clever move and Brendon would be wise to take a bit of advice from her in the PR stakes.

Sadly, it was clear that John had to be the one to go.  He was very vulnerable this week and if it had been left to the viewers only, pretty sure he would have stayed and Brendon gone, but the judges voted unanimously for he and Kelly to continue.  Brendon is very keen on playing to the veiwers and dismissing the judges who, much to their credit, remain firm that Strictly is a dance not a popularity contest, otherwise they would have had him out the door by now.

Great Viennese waltz from Letitia Dean who I love and am delighted to see her get better every week, Alesha great as always, but Matt and Flavia were simply sensational with a very difficult salsa full of complicated choreography which he carried off with great aplomb. 

What can I say about Kenny Logan?  It finally seems to have sunk in that it might be a good idea not to continually diss the judges and say he doesn't care what they say as he has obviously worked very hard this week and did a great American Smooth. On Sunday there was a group dance celebrating 20 years of Dirty Dancing and he and Ola did THE lift at the end much to the delirious delight of the audience who leapt to their feet shouting and cheering.  Then Anton du Beke and Erin Boag did a quickstep that just took the breath away with the speed and grace with which they sped across the dance floor.  Fantastic.

I think the reason I love this show so much is that it is FUN FUN FUN all the way.  My prediction for the final three are Alesha and Matthew, Matt and Flavia and, one of the following couples, Letitia and Darren/Camilla and Gethin. Hopefully we will have waved goodbye to Kenny and Brendon by then.

Christmas special should be fun too...

Mem: must stock up on blank videos

Sarah Bower - Book of Love

Here is the second part of the lovely chat I had with Sarah Bower in Aldeburgh a week or so ago (read first part here )in which we learn all about The Next Book...

When is the next book going to be published and what it is called?

It's due in May 2008 and is called The Book of Love.  Its hero is Cesare Borgia who I have always found fascinating.

Bet you read Jean Plaidy when you were in your teens..

Yes I did!  And I got the bug then.  My heroine is a Spanish Jewess expelled from Spain by Ferdinand and Isabella during the diaspora of 1492, who flees to Italy and becomes entangled in the lives of both Cesare and Lucrezia Borgia.

The Borgia family are totally fascinating and not as they are generally portrayed.  Lucrezia, for example, was not a poisoner but an educated cultured woman.  She married three times, had five children and her last marriage to the Duke of Ferrara lasted seventeen years and he was devastated when she died.  If you go to Ferrara and look at statutes and pictures of her there, she is fondly remembered for the sophistication of her court and her gallantry when the city was threatened by a Papal army during the War of the League of Cambrai.

Unlike the Jean Plaidy books and the Donizetti opera where she was portrayed as nothing but a poisoner..

Exactly.. and last year Sarah Bradford wrote a biography of her showing Lucrezia's true character, a wonderful book which I read as part of my research and would sgtrongly recommend to anyone who is interested in the fact - as well as my fiction of course!

Any ideas for a third?

Oh yes, I am thinking of Juana, know as 'the mad' who was the eldest daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella - Catherine of Aragon's sister - and who was married to Philip of Flanders, know as 'the Handsome'.

Jean Plaidy again...I remember reading her book about the mad Juana

Not sure that she ever was mad.  She was just thought to be so because she was intelligent and knew her own mind and, again, well educated.  She had the misfortune to fall in love with her husband and was unhappy as a result.

Now you teach Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia.  Is this full or part time?

No, it is part time and I also do some private mentoring.  I try to keep it this way sot hat I have plenty of time for my writing.  I am very pleased with the response to Needle in the Blood.  It is selling well and I am just so delighted that it has been reviewed by so many wonderful bloggers so many thanks to you all.

***************************

Here endeth the interview but I cannot close this post without mentioning that I have also discovered that Sarah is an ardent cricket fan and would love to go on tour with The Barmy Army.  A writer of historical novels and a cricket nut ...a woman after my own heart and a delight to meet.

I was in Waterstone's yesterday and turned two copies of Needle to the front of the shelves as is my habit.  Those of you who have yet to read this gorgeous book please treat yourself to a copy for Christmas.  Those of you over the pond have the delight of the publication in April 2008.  There is of course nothing to stop you ordering a copy from the UK of course....

Go on, you know you're worth it.

The Blessed Delia

I posted earlier this year about my venture into catering and, having read this week that the wonderful Blessed Delia Smith is about to grace our TV screens again some time early in 2008, I began to muse on the part that this lady has played in my culinary life.

My mother has always been an excellent baker of cakes etc and from watching her as a child, I learned the art of creaming butter and sugar together, adding eggs, flour etc and greasing baking tins and up until my mid-twenties was a basic, if uninspired, cook.  Then in the 1970's Delia burst upon the scene with her cookery course which appeared on the BBC in three series, each one with the matching book.  I followed each programme religiously and to my utter delight, every single thing I tried was successful.  I have yet to follow a Delia recipe that did not work. 

My children were fed on recipes from the Delia canon:  chicken drumsticks in sticky barbecue sauce with rice, meat balls in fresh tomato sauce with spaghetti, shepherd's pie with leeks and cheese on the top, carbonnade of beef with pale ale (which I cook to this day in my slow cooker and the results are sublime); chicken and sausagement pie (brilliant hot or cold); caramelised onion tart to name a few, and then the desserts: apricot crumble cake (great cold, even better hot with custard); gooseberry fool, rich chocolate dessert, apricot and amaretto trifle, steamed treacle pudding...I could go on and on.  And I have to say that her chicken liver pate takes some beating as well.

Oddly enough, the only thing I did not care for out of all her recipes was her Christmas pudding, she put stout in it and it made it too dark and rich for my palate, and her Christmas cake was not one of my favourites.  However, she did an alternative Golden Christmas cake which I made each year for a long time.  No dark fruit was used.  Instead of sultanas, raisins and currants we had chopped dried apricots, yellow, red and green cherries, angelica, candied pineapple, orange and lemon and when all cut up in clear bowl and left overnight to soak in sherry, they looked like jewels.  The golden caster sugar was used and when the cake was baking the most wonderful fragrant aroma crept through the house.  No heavy marzipan needed for this, just simple icing and when it was cut the inside lived up to its name and was a beautiful gold colour.

If Delia recommended an ingredient the supermarkets sold out.  One year she had a penchant for cranberries.  None to be found anywhere for weeks afterward.  Another year it was limes.  Same thing happened if she recommended a particular utensil.  She actually saved one factory from bankruptcy by recommending their baking tins and they had to take on more staff to deal with the upsurge.  All these were marketed with the slogan 'As recommended by Delia Smith'.   For a long time, Delia could do no wrong though I remember reading a very sniffy letter in the Times 'I am surprised Delia Smith doesn't put garlic in her scones.  She puts it in everything else....'

Of course, then along came the celebrity chefs who always seemed to me to be more interested in getting their faces on the telly and flogging cookery books than the actual cooking.  Delia fell out of fashion and decided to retire much to the dismay of all of us aficionados.  Still, I could console myself that I had all her books on my shelves and she would always be there for me whenever I needed her and she also has a Delia website full of gorgeous recipes so we knew we could call on her whenever needed. 

The long lasting influence she has had on my family and its cooking is illustrated by a time when my elder daughter was at University in Leeds and shared a house one year with four male students who took it in turns to cook.  They were all pretty good and Kathryn was put on her mettle to produce a great meal when it was her turn so she decided to use Delia's meatball recipe (I had given her a copy of Delia's one volume cookery course when she left home) and rang me up to say that she had made over 65.  'Oh that should do you a couple of days' says I.  Wrong.  She called me the next day to say that the boys had eaten the lot and actually licked out the bowl to make sure all the sauce was eaten as well.  This is a recipe that is now over 30 years old and I am still using it.

So I for one am looking forward to her return next year.  During the time of her 'retirement' she become more involved with Norwich City football club, which she now partly owns and supports wholeheartedly.  There was one well documented occasion a year or so ago when she walked onto the pitch and exhorted the fans to support their team more.  She actually yelled at them all 'let's be 'aving you' much to the surprise of the great British public who had never seen Delia so 'animated' before.  There was talk that she had had too much sherry trifle for her lunch....

So Naff off Nigella, Goodbye Gary and Gordon and welcome back Delia.  You have been sorely missed.

George Smiley

The more mature amongst us (ahem) may well recall two superlative series on the BBC some 25+ years ago, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Smiley's People, both based on the stories of John le Carre.  His take on the seedy twilight world of espionage is far closer to reality than that of Ian Fleming and, while on the surface of it both these dramatisations appear slow and wordy, they contain an underlying simmering tension that is still effective on recent rewatching.

BBC4 showed both these series again recently, but I was unable to see all the episodes so was delighted to find them both on DVD on Amazon, special offer and have snapped them up and they arrived today in a lovely parcel.  It is impossible to watch either of these series without putting the phone on voice mail, sitting quietly and concentrating else the intricacies of the dialogue and story line will defeat the watcher otherwise. 

I well remember watching Tinker, Tailor when it was first on and discussing it with then husband and trying to work out what was going on.  We then watched the repeat the night before the next episode so we could keep abreast of it all.  It had a dark quality about it and the final episode was nail biting.  I remember Alec Guinness and Michael Jayston driving along in the rain with headlights flashing as they went past them and waiting for something awful to happen.  it didn't but you felt any minute it would and that was more unnerving than an actual incident.

Smiley's People is more leisurely, but again this feeling of being out of kilter, something waiting around the corner,  lingers.  There is one scene when George Smiley is on Hampstead Heath in the area where a colleague has been shot, sifting through the autumn leaves with his umbrella looking for anything left behind.  It is a scene with no dialogue and nothing happening and yet full of menace.  I was trying to work out why and realised after a while that there was no background music, it was screened in total silence.  How wonderfully effective and what a relief from the usual cacophony in the background on all dramas currently being shown.

Both dramatisations star Alec Guinness as George Smiley, taking the art of under playing to another level.  With his heavy glasses, Homburg hat and dead eyes which have seen the manipulations and trickery of the world, including his wife's unfaithfulness, he is quite wonderful and his voice, so mellifluous and unmistakable.

I am going to save these up for the Christmas holidays when I have plenty of time to sit and watch and relish and enjoy.

Eating for England

Nigel Slater is a cookery writer I always enjoy reading and has lots of simple easy to do recipes that I also enjoy making (though I hasten to re-iterate my allegiance to St Delia of Smith who I am delighted to see is back on TV next year - move over Nigella) and he has just published in time for Christmas, naturellement, the most witty amusing book, Eating for England, the Delights and Eccentricities of the British at Table.

Those of you from over the pond who are reading this post will just have to gape and wonder at the wonderful weirdness of some of our habits.  First off, Marmite.  Yes that stuff that you either love or loathe, as being used in the latest TV advertising:

"Savoury tar for your  toast.  As shiny as lovingly polished army boot, saltier than a mouthful of seawater, stickier than treacle and somehow the work of the devil, nothing quite polarises opinion like a pot of Marmite......too much on your soldiers and they are almost inedible.  Never has the less is more tag been more appropriate'

There is an entry for Soldiers too in case you were wondering:

"A thin slice of buttered toast to poke into the liquid yolk of your boiled egg.....so christened because it possesses a straight, upright manner, is crisp and uniform in appearance and will stand to attention even when it is up to its knees in yuk"

Treacle Tart - "The Americans hold the title for a love of shallow sticky tarts with their world famous pecan pie.....shoo fly pie with its black hearts of currants and molasses.  Yet somehow we have managed to upstage everybody with an open pastry case full to the brim with syrup and breadcrumbs..... The cast of butter, sugar, flour, golden syrup and bread ensures that there is not a vestige of hope for this recipe in terms of nutrition.  those irritating harridans on television who persist in telling us how to dress, think and of course eat would no doubt rather die than tuck into a slice of this golden, sugary pie.  Which is why they are no fun.  leave them to their mung beans.  That way there will be more treacle tart left for us"

This book has had me giggling helplessly for the past hour.  It has entries on After Eight Mints, Murraymints, Jaffa Cakes, the Ritual of the Kit Kat, Heinz Tomato Ketchup, Dairylea, Dripping ("always kept in a cup with a broken handle"  YES), Fray Bentos Steak and Kidney Pie and a myriad other gems all of which have evoked waves of nostalgia for my childhood when I seemed to consume all these multi-coloured, sugar loaded, synthetic foods and knock back Kia Ora and Ribena, and somehow have managed to come through unscathed.

This is a definite stocking filler book which is why, of course, it is available now.....

Tuesday Thoughts of a Random Nature

One of those days when you sit at the laptop and just ponder with the mind roaming free.  It is a dark and stormy night and it is raining and the wind is blowing and I have just climbed out of a lovely warm bath.  I am sitting here in old dressing gown, old socks, face cream on shiny face and drinking a cup of tea and feeling nice and snug and very clean....

Am half way through the biography of Nureyev by Julie Kavanagh which I think is a tour de force.  I cannot see that it will ever be bettered.  The amount of research and interviews and background knowledge displayed in this book is amazing and totally fascinating.  I have often mentioned, probably to the edge of boredom, that I saw him dance many times and it is only now, when reading this book, that I realise how extraordinarily lucky I am to have these memories to look back on.  Kavanagh talks about the force of personality which can make an audience watch nobody but a particular person on a stage to the exclusion of all else, and Nureyev had this in abundance.  When he was on stage you could not take your eyes off him. Even standing still watching another dancer perform his very stillness seemed explosive.  It is difficult to explain the impact he had on balletomanes at the time who were used to English dancing, very elegant, very nice, very precise and then suddenly this dynamic, Tartar figure hurling himself around the stage at a speed and height that just took your breath away - it was a revelation.

In between Nureyev, I am re-reading Cranford as mentioned in an earlier post and have had to purchase the Cranford Chronicles tie in volume which features the three stories which make up the BBC series, much though I dislike so doing, but needs must.  So lunchtime at work I settle down in the corner of the staff restaurant on one of the large squishy sofas that they so obligingly supply, and read quietly for half an hour before going back to my desk.  I am reacquainting myself once more with all those wonderful ladies who live in Cranford and remembering how much I love them.

TWOTY is not far away now and last week the Bride and Mother of the Bride went for a dress fitting and when Helen appeared in her bridal gown, she looked so absolutely beautiful that I came over all thing.. Cannot wait to see James's face when he turns round and sees her walk down the aisle.  We repaired to a great new eating place at the top of my favourite Oxford Street store, John Lewis, for tea and chat and talked about bouquets, buttonholes, hairdresser, beauty treatments and make up and generally had a girly afternoon.  Yesterday I purchased a single pearl on a silver chain for her to wear on the wedding day and a pair of drop red crystal ear rings for Kathryn, chief bridesmaid, to match her dress. In true PA fashion, I am now drawing up an itinerary for the two days before the wedding and plotting out who goes where and gets what, who delivers who where, and who is having their hair done first and make up etc.  I tell you, it is being planned like a military action.

Right, Random thoughts all done and now off to bed where the electric blanket has been heating up nicely so I will get into a lovely warm bed.  Nothing nicer than having a bath, clean nightie etc and curling up in bed.

Bliss.