Attack of the pigeon

My wife is recovering from being attacked by a pigeon. When I say attacked, the pigeon had flown in through our patio doors. She had turned round to see this as its feet went into her hair. I heard the scream and ran into the kitchen to see it flying around. I had two thoughts going through my head, one was if we were able to get it out, the other was of a family I came across at work who had a similar occurrence. But that pigeon died, while this one managed to fly back out. 

While I had these thoughts, my son decided to record the event as an audio file. He is not in the good books of my wife now. 

Kamala Harris and groups that do not vote

Kamala Harris has come under a lot of scrutiny since she became the Democratic candidate for US President. People are excited at how she is polling amongst the young and also amongst certain ethnic minorities. The issue is if they will vote, and will it make a difference in the swing states. Trumps demographic of older voters are more likely to vote. Also, he just has to win in a few states. He is aided by the fact that he is not a woman, he is not black and that many who are going to vote for him will keep it quiet until they are actually casting their votes.

I would love her to win, I just think that Trump will win anyway. 

Labour, the Conservatives and the General Election

I have been listening to some old episodes of The Rest Is Politics. I was struck with how well Rishi Sunak did taking the Conservative Party when it came to vote share.

When he took over from Liz Truss, the Lady Jane Grey of British politics, Labour had a massive lead over the Conservatives. At one time under Liz Truss, the lead was thirty three points, Labour polling at 54% with the Conservative Party getting 21%.

With the Conservative Leadership contest taking place, the lead Labour held when someone on the right of the party was in charge, should be remembered by them.

In fact, when you consider how bad the Conservatives were faring at one point, Rishi Sunak did well to close the gap when it came to national vote share.  

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare

My wife and daughter watched this before me and recommended it to me. Based on a true story, it is best described as loosely based. While it requires some suspension of disbelief due to plot holes being present. Despite that, it is a very enjoyable film. As expected with a Guy Ritchie film, it is very violent. I would rate this about seven out of ten and would be happy to watch it again. 

Baghead

All in all, an enjoyable film. Apart from having a British pub in a Germany where no one speaks German. It was predictable in bits, but I did not work out how it was going to end. That is normally a sign of a good film and I rate his six out of ten. It would be higher if it had been set in an English speaking nation, or had some more indications that this was set in Germany. 

Everybody hates Starmer

It has been an interesting week in politics in the UK.  Our Prime Minister has had to vote to keep children in poverty.  

However, on a more positive note, he has reinstated funding to UNRWA which had been stopped by the previous government. Keir Starmer has also reversed plans of the government to challenge the ICC arrest warrant request against Netanyahu.  In addition to that, before the change in government policy, he has spoken to Netanyahu about the need for a ceasefire in Gaza.  

I, like many in Labour, want an end to the two child limit on child benefit.  I do think that there should be some limits on what the state can offer, but the current situation is not acceptable.  If the limit is to be kept, then the amount that is given in child benefit could be increased, or even the universal credit payments could rise.

Labour have promised to act to reduce child poverty.  I hope that this is one of the promises that is kept in both word and spirit.  

Dracula Untold

This is a frustrating film. It was not produced very well. In places it was good, but it did not flow that well. It may be because it tried to fit too much into the film, but there are better vampire films, notably Blade and Dracula. I guess the all star cast prevented it from being worse. I would rate this two out of five, a below average film which showed promise at times. 

Ouija: Origin of Evil

I preferred this to the original. I cannot recall a prequel that was better than the original. I am sure that there are others but this is miles better than the film it precedes. When watching this I appreciate how average Ouija itself is. 

The atmosphere is so much better, it is far scarier and overall, is a better horror film.  I would be tempted to watch this again and recommend this as a film for others to watch, even if they have not watched the previous film. 

Ouija

I thought that this film was okay. I would rate it average to above average. I would have been okay if I had paid to watch in the cinema, but there are better films to watch. If you are okay with happy endings, then this is the film to watch. I would never call this a classic, but it is worth watching. It has a decent plot with no major holes in it that I noticed.  There were no obvious concerns with how it flowed. The Guardian did not like it as much as me and rated it two out of five. I would give it three out of five myself. 

The Minories

My daughter has been unwell for the last few days and all of us in the house hope we do not catch her illness.  At work, there have been a few people off work with COVID, but we all are hoping we escape her germs. In fact, my youngest brother also has COVID (I must text him later).

Yesterday my wife and I went out to The Minories with a friend where we listened to music, I got to dance, and we saw an old friend of ours. I have to admit that I would probably not go out of my way to listen to the music but the choice of music and the setting was enchanting.  I look forwards to doing the same again with my wife another day.

Today my son and wife and I went to a local vineyard for lunch. My daughter was meant to come but did not feel well enough to join us, so stayed at home with our dog.  All in all, a relaxing weekend. 

Alice, Darling

After a run of average films, it was good to watch something better. I suspect that this film is more of a female than a male film, the topic being psychological abuse in a relationship. In my job, I have come across victims of this, but for obvious reasons, the victims prefer not to see someone male.

It does deal with a lot of the issues which are present, the victim being socially isolated, made to feel that they don’t deserve to be loved, the need not to risk offending the partner through others taking an interest in the victim and so much else. I would not rate this as a great film, but is is the best one since last weekend. 

The Babysitters

Sometimes, I watch a film and wonder what the point of it is.  This is one of them.  To be fair, it was acted properly and it was directed well.  Though when I say the plot made sense, there were no major plot holes, other than so many teenage girls from middle class families being willing to engage in prostitution at such a young age.  

When it comes to deciding if a film was good, one is if I would have paid to watch it, the answer for this is no.  Another is if I would want to watch it again, and again, the answer is no.  If it was on TV, I would switch past it.  It is not terrible, it is just not something I would recommend watching. 

However, there are some films which I consider to be a waste of time.  This was not one of them.  In fact, the image is essentially the plot. That and the trailer. If you watch it, there is not much else to add with the film.

In Time

An interesting film. It is based on a decent idea, but I do not think it was executed properly.  I would argue that it would be an acceptable B movie.  I would also argue that it is not worth making an effort to watch it.  There are many better films in the genre.  

The main advantage of the film is to make the viewer appreciate good films.  Because this is not one of them.  Saying that, while it started poorly, it improved and finished better than it began. 

This is best summarised by its trailer. Watch it and you will not need to watch the film. 

The Virgin Suicides

I watched this with my daughter who had watched it earlier this week and also she has read the book a while ago. 

It was an interesting film, beautifully shot for an American film. Watching it after working in my job was interesting as well.  What I found the most interesting was how the teenage generation of the time never had it so bad when it came to mental health issues.

I am glad she made me watch it, and it is a film that I would recommend for others. 

Is it coming home?

England have got to a third European final.  Of course the women’s team have won the competition, but the men’s team have yet to do so. There will be many who will point out that England were lucky as we did not deserve the penalty that was awarded, but I think that our players were as surprised by the decision as the Dutch ones were.

But I remember the match in 1993 when Ronald Koeman, the current manager of Holland, should have been sent off for a professional foul when he was the last man, and then, while still on the pitch scored a free kick. We did not qualify for the World Cup then so I would like to say that an injustice was corrected.

Fingers crossed that we are the better team a Sunday and win the final! A view that I think is shared by all where I work. 

We are all together again

Leia loved seeing me! I picked her up around lunchtime and she spent the first few minutes licking my face.  I collected the family later in the day.  I did try to indicate that Leia was not in the car, but none of them believed me.  We all agreed that while we loved Gerald in Spain, we missed and love Leia so much more.

Our hosts in Spain were from Austria and Holland, the man stating that he only felt Dutch when it came to football.  Needless to say, he did not wish us luck in the match, but they all wished us a good journey.  The family were touched by the affection shown by them when they left as well and while I doubt that we will return, if any one is to go there, I cannot recommended it more.  It is an amazing place, but there is so many other places in the world to explore.

I am just hoping that the referee tonight is not going to make the mistakes that have happened before. 

Lunch yesterday

Am back at work, have to be quick as it is a busy day.  Yesterday I had a great lunch with friends which my wife had organised.  I am sure that she is convinced that I will starve.  On that topic, she had arranged for me to have food during the next few days, but I have forgotten my lunch at home.  Fortunately. I made some breakfast before coming and made myself too much.  Anyway, back to work.

Ready or Not

I really enjoyed this film.  Samara Weaving, from The Babysitter, has starred in another classic.  While technically a horror film, I would argue that this is more of a black comedy.  Basically, if you enjoyed that film, or classics like Braindead, you will enjoy this.  

I would certainly watch this again.  It made me laugh.  And I would recommend it to others.  

England vs Switzerland

I am back at home. I had to travel back as I am back at work on Monday and I have left the family behind as they have a few more days left.  

It did mean that I got to watch the match and the penalty shootout that took place. It was great to see Saka not only score, but also score his penalty.  Being an England fan of old, means a fear of penalties.

Still in Spain

Am still enjoying our holiday, though we have been very lazy and have just been relaxing at the pool. Though of course today, we have been keeping an eye on the election. Fingers crossed! 

Fake news and Keir Starmer

I saw a bit of fake news about Keir Starmer on Facebook, but the person who posted it took it down once I pointed out how inaccurate it was. However the best news one, while parody, is hilarious. 

Granada again

Today, we returned to Granada. My daughter and I went for a walk first hoping that Gerald, the black dog would keep us company, but he did not join us, having been for a walk with someone else beforehand. He was happy to see us when we got back, but he was tired and just sat and wagged his tail while we stroked him.  In fact, when we got back from Granada, my wife got out of the car to say hello to him. However later in the day, he appeared to want me to go for a walk with him, but I turned him down to be with my wife.

Granada itself was hotter than before. My wife and son were dropped off in the city centre and my daughter and I parked where we had parked before, took in the view of the city from there (see my post from two days ago if you have not seen it) and then went down. My daughter was surprised how steep it was and we felt sorry for a British couple we met who were making their way up to the top, well the suffering wife anyway. We did warn her that there was more up, but forgot to tell her that the steepest bit of the walk was at the end of it.

Lunch was amazing, my wife finding a place in an old guide book, the pictures are from it.  The guidebook was in Spanish and the hotel provided it, and I am very glad my wife found this place. The kids went to a market afterwards and then it was back to the hotel. We tried to have dinner outside, well, we had dinner outside, but it was the least favourite meal of the holiday for all of us.  It does make us appreciate the meals that we have had.  Not that we did not, but we are aware of just how good they are compared to what we can have for dinner elsewhere.