One win and one draw

Our lead over the team that rhymes with city has been cut thanks to a draw against Newcastle. A season ago, I would have expected three points at home against them, but with their new manager (well not new now) they have been a force to be reckoned with. With the two teams with the best defensive records playing against each other, a draw would be expected by many.

Our game against Brighton was a different matter. We did well to win it, but they exposed the defensive issues that I am still concerned about and the game was almost closer than it ended thanks to an offside decision.

Here is hoping that we keep winning rather drawing, but I doubt our form will continue when we play the big teams but I do expect us to finish in the top four. At least the team most likely to take the title did not win both matches.

NHS waiting lists and funding

Downing Street has said the government is “providing the NHS with the funding it needs”, amid warnings of a winter crisis at hospitals.

We have people waiting over a day in A&E, oxygen shortages, ambulances queuing outside hospitals unable to hand patients over to hospital staff leaving people waiting for hours for help to get to them.

Here is a graph on NHS waiting lists from the Financial Times. 

As you can see, under the Conservatives, waiting times have increased, and this graph looks at the funding that the NHS has got over this time.

There are calls from Conservatives that the NHS needs reform, forgetting that reform took place under the Conservatives after Labour were voted out of office in 2010.

Avatar: The Way of Water

This is a film that I can imagine will either be liked or hated. I liked it. But, I can see why many will not do so. 

Plot wise, it is a simple plot with a few issues which I suspect will be dealt with in the next two films. There is a huge plot hole and this may be addressed in a directors cut, or even in the sequels to come. It is not too taxing to follow and watching it with my son, who had not watched the first film, he was able to come up to speed fairly quickly. Issues of greed and exploitation which were the plot in the first film came up again. The visuals are spectacular and while some have complained that the film was too long, I think that with the content included, it was about the right length as it flowed well. Overall, the plot was mostly predictable, though there were a few surprises for me. The tale was told well, but like the first film, other than the special effects, this is not a notable film that will be a classic in the future.

If you liked the first film, I would be surprised if you do not like this. And if you do not like the first film, then do not bother watching it. I am glad to have watched it and I look forward to the sequels which are to follow. I am not sure if my son will be watching them though. For those who do not wish to watch it, here is the trailer, but like with many films watching it will reduce the enjoyment of the film.

A failure to flatten the curve

When my brother came to see us last year, we discussed what was to happen with both Christmas our mothers birthday. After all, she was to turn 80. We discussed the different options and he agreed to book somewhere. At the time, I said that I was not sure that the birthday and/or Christmas would take place as I stated that the NHS was under pressure and I imagined that Christmas would be cancelled. Of course, it turned out that my mother did not join us for her birthday, but she did see us over Christmas.

Imagine my surprise when it was not and the queues to be seen in A&E had increased so much. In addition to this, the antibiotic shortage with Strep A may have not been as much of a problem if social distancing was put back into place. 

We went into lockdown on the previous two Christmas periods to avoid this. Yes, things would have been worse in the last two years if we had not done this, but the use of a mask alone would have reduced the horrific scenes in our hospitals up and down the country with COVID, and social distancing would have meant less worried parents trying to find antibiotics.

The Honeymoon

This is a truly terrible film. I am sorry that I suggested this to my wife yesterday. It will be hard to beat just how bad this film is. 

 

The best bits include the scenery, not just The Lake District at the start, but also Venice. It was good to see Maria Bakalova again after watching Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. Also the other great part is that it ended. Not just for the track played as the end credits rolled, but also for the second deleted scene. The film is watchable until the best man’s speech, one that is even worse than the speech from Four Weddings and a Funeral. Once you get to this part, read these spoilers and skip to end end, or just watch a different film.

After the speech, Bav accompanies Adam, his best friend, and his new bride, Sarah, on their honeymoon as Adam is worried that Bav will kill himself (later turns out that his comment about not being there was because he was to travel to India). Bav christens the honeymoon suite with diarrhoea as he blocks his own toilet due to food poisoning. He accompanies the couple on a boat trip with a “See You Next Tuesday” t-shirt but is left to his own devices for a day. During this time, he befriends the son of a Mafia boss (Giorgio) who has fallen for Sarah. The three are invited to a party with this very handsome Giorgio, who flirts with Sarah. Adam finds them cutting drugs when looking for the toilet, then as he tries to get them to leave, Baz destroys some priceless Venetian masks while trying to impress a lady. In order to pay for this, Adam and Bav are sent to deliver drugs to Slovenia and return with the money. They get pulled over at the border, but despite Bav leaking narcotics, they leave. Rather they flee after being allowed through, burn their car in panic and have to find a safe house to stay overnight. 

 

During this time, Sarah has been charmed by Giorgio who takes her to parts of Venice that has been closed off to her when she had toured the city with Adam. Giorgio promises to aid her career and shows how he can do so before allowing her to pick a fantastic dress from a selection and then charming her with a rooftop dinner overlooking the city. The boys meanwhile find the safe house. Adam waxes strips of himself as he takes of the numerous drug packets that are sellotaped to him while Bav soaks them off in the bath, inadvertently breaking a lot of the packages which mix with his bath water. The following day, the two fight over this when being taken to the drug drop (by an intimidating man called Ivan) and lose most the drugs they have remaining. 

The drop does not go well but they are saved and almost killed when the police, tipped off by Giorgio, raid the drop. The two escape with the money and make it back to Venice. When Bav leaves Ivan’s car without the drug money, they decide to rescue Sarah. They are caught but Sarah rescues them and they flee through Giorgio’s villa, more art being broken in the process. Bav sacrifices himself, but they try to same him. Giorgio let’s them go due to his love for Sarah and it sends with Bav meeting an Italian beauty just before end and Ivan discovering the money in the first of two end credit scenes.

New Years 2023

Time for a quick update before bed. Yesterday we entertained Lyndsay and Nick while my daughter went to a friends for a sleepover. It was great seeing them though I passed out after midnight. 

Today, we met up with my brothers (and partner) in London. My daughter had not got much sleep the night before though. We were hoping that my mother would join us, but she declined.  I am not sure what we did to annoy her over Christmas, but she may relent and allow us to see her again.  I had offered to pop round and see her before the meal, but she said she would be out, but was present when one of my brothers visited her before our meal.

It was a great meal though and it was amazing seeing both brothers again as well as Lauren, the partner of one.  The only good point of my mother dropping out was that we changed the venue to a dog friendly place, which turned out to be at the site of a meal that we had with my mother several years ago.

Being in Islington always brings back fond memories from when I was younger. Back then we used to take the bus to Chapel Market as my brother and I found the walk too hard.  When older, my mother would give me a shopping list and on the weekend and I would get the shopping from Sainsburys’s (which is still there).  I used to know the prices of most the everyday items we got such as milk and bread as every hard earned penny my mother had was invaluable. My father did pay child maintenance at times, but he was never that reliable.

Anyway, time for bed after a very enjoyable start to the New Year.

Your Christmas or Mine?

It was nice to watch a decent Christmas film. Not a classic in the way that Love Actually (or Die Hard) is, but it was lovely. The characters were lovely, the plot predictable, but it is the way the film is put together. And I liked the characters. Yes, the film has too much cringe at the end, but I am glad that I watched it and would happily watch it again. My wife preferred this to the much more miserable film that she had watched earlier (she thought it was to have been a comedy).  Don’t watch the video if you want to be surprised by the way…