Hamlet

Back in August, was it? Grace and Jess went to the Barbican to see Benedict Cumberbatch in "Hamlet". Last night, they both saw it again. Jess in Bedford with a friend, and Grace in Rugby Cineworld with me. It was being streamed live from the Barbican to over 300 cinemas in the UK, and across the world. And it was superb!

OK, we did suffer some technical problems which meant that the pre-film documentary and the first scene of the play were seen in a squashed, wide screen, with Cumberbatch looking more like ET with head injuries than the Prince of Denmark. But the picture jumped into correct proportions at the opening of scene 2, and all was well after that. The production is brilliant, Cumberbatch outstanding, Sian Brooke's Ophelia wonderful.

 

 

There was some pretty poor acting, it has to be said, not least from Ciaran Hinds, playing Claudius. Guildenstern was pretty wooden, too. And I felt that the deaths in the last scene were pretty hammy, looking more like a school production than the National Theatre. But the weaknesses faded into insignificance in the sheer wonder of the whole production. It was so totally absorbing that I completely forgot that I was being forced to sit still for a total of three hours, something I hadn't been looking forward to, with just a 20-minute break before the final act.

The ice-cream was pretty special, too! It was a great evening out.

So where was summer?

Or is that it, now? From now on? A shorter summer, with hot bits, cold bits, very hot bits, pretty chilly bits and lots of wet bits? I remember proper summers, back in the day, when I could have my 23rd September birthday party on the common, under a warm, blue sky. As I type, it's flipping nippy, and I'm considering lighting the stove.

So, back to the house on Saturday 8th, with Grace and Jess going to Hamlet on the Monday, and various housey/gardeny jobs to do on the other days. We managed to get dentist/hygienist appointments on the next day, and came back to the boat the next day. Not for long, though. We had the guys from Sofa Bed Barn coming on the following Saturday with our new sofa bed, and we still had the old sofa to get rid of. I'd advertised it here at the marina, and on FreeCycle locally and in St Albans, but the only interest was in St Albans. So back we went on Sunday, with the sofa in the back of the car. It's a small one. A "cuddle chair". The man I'd agreed to give it to just didn't turn up that day as he should have, so I notified the second in line before we came back early on Monday, and she'll arrange collection with Naomi.

The new sofa bed's great. Not perfect, but perfection's a lot to expect. For one thing, it's larger than the other sofa, larger than it looked in the warehouse, and that'll take some getting used to. But it makes a good double bed, it has the useful drawer under it, and it is more comfortable than the other, too.

On one of the grimmer days recently, we went to see Mission Impossible - Rogue Nation.

"With the IMF now disbanded and Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) out in the cold, a new threat, called the Syndicate, soon emerges. The Syndicate is a network of highly skilled operatives who are dedicated to establishing a new world order via an escalating series of terrorist attacks. Faced with what may be the most impossible mission yet, Ethan gathers his team and joins forces with Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), a disavowed British agent who may or may not be a member of this deadly rogue nation."

It was, of course, excellent entertainment. We'd hoped to be able to spot Naomi amongst the cast of extras, but missed her. At least she had fun, got paid well, and had Tom Cruise say "Good morning!" to her!

Finishing touches

We're back at the house at the moment. Various domestic bits and sods to sort out, and Grace and Jess are going to the Barbican tomorrow, to see Benedict Cumberbatch play Hamlet. Amidst all of the odd jobs, I've had the time to complete my book. It's all done now, though it'll need proof-reading and copy-editing before it's ready to upload to Kindle. I have over 2000 photos on Flickr to illustrate it, but the site's being playing up lately, and unsorting photos that I've sorted, so that's slowed me down a fair bit. It's nearly done, though.

To whet your appetite for this 280-page masterpiece...

I'm really looking forward to seeing how it's received by Kindle readers. To quote from the Foreword...

It's my hope that this book of mine will attract readers with different interests in canals and canal life. Perhaps some of you are already living in a similar boat, part-time or full-time. Some of you have maybe had narrowboat holidays. Others will be considering one or other of those, or both. Or neither. Whichever it is, I do hope that each of you finds it interesting, that it answers some of your questions, teaches you things you didn't know, entertains you, amuses you, and gives you a chance to laugh at some of our experiences, our mishaps and mistakes. If you're an experienced boater, you're bound to have at least a chuckle at some of our early ignorance and naivety. Please feel free. I've certainly done so whilst writing this.

 Watch this blog!

"Isn't it strange how life won't flow, like a river, but moves in jumps, as if it were held back by locks that are opened now and then to let it jump forwards in a kind of flood?" (Anita Desai)

What's next?

Well, we had planned to go straight from the GU cruise up to Peak Forest on the Macclesfield Canal. The return trip from Yelvertoft would be about five weeks long. But Lockie John at Watford Locks put us off that idea a bit, with stories of the visitors' centre at Whaley Bridge not being finished yet, and people he knows being stoned by morons as they passed through a nearby urban area. On top of that, though, Grace has won a pair of tickets to see Benedict Cumberbatch playing Hamlet at the Barbican Theatre. Performance choices were limited, so she chose the August 9th. That put the kibosh on a five-week trip.

No matter. We would have stopped in at the marina anyway, to get shopping, do washing, collect mail and suchlike. And instead of the Peak Forest cruise, we'll trip up the River Trent, via Nottingham, to Cromwell Weir, the furthest one can go in non-tidal waters. On our way back, we'll do the whole length of the Erewash. We had to turn back before getting half-way a couple of years back. That trip should take just three weeks, which means we can do it in a leisurely manner, with no time pressures.

Cromwell Weir

So, we were going to set off today. But we awoke to a strong wind which got stronger as time passed. Sarah and Trevor took NB AtLast off on their annual visit to Sharpness, braving the wind, and leaving the marina in style. Trevor 1 - Weather 0. But then came the rain, so we looked at the weather forecast, saw that things were not going to improve today, and stayed put. The rain stopped. The wind didn't.

Tomorrow, then. Early!