Wednesday 10 November 2010

Robert Altman

I never fail to be moved by the Saturday service of remembrance held at the Royal Albert Hall. This year it was the story of the mother and sister still coming to terms with the loss of son and brother. How do we as a nation continue to produce such young man who are willing to volunteer to serve during a war situation, and in a situation which the majority of families and individuals feel divorced from the reality of the fighting. It is a situation where although the number of deaths are reported, the number of other casualties is not.

This was not a good day in terms of feeling satisfied with what I achieved, unable to give undivided attention to anything, doing a little of this and then of that, switching between past and present.

In the early hours I completed arrangements for a trip next spring to London and the South East with five nights accommodation for £55, having to book each night individually to obtain the lowest price, and then in the morning tried to work the line of the nearest station and this was difficult with two lines within a short walk and two stations on one line. As a consequence of this process I came across a site which enabled customers to submit their views about hotel and motel stays and the five responses were not encouraging. I regretted concentrating on the financial aspects and not going back to the central Croydon lodge where I had been comfortable and had the convenience of the station with fast trains within five mins and a supermarket open all hours in the way. It was one of those situation where you kick yourself for standing back a little and giving more consideration. But later I became happier.

I did not take the exercise required if am to make the weight losses and improve physical being and being comfortable with my appearance. Food intake was going to be as good as yesterday, with only a half glass of wine and no mince pie, soup and bread, an olive and white meat crab salad, two small cuts of pork with one portion of vegetables and a glass of orange juice, but then I had a good portion of apple strudel covered with cinnamon .

I only paid some attention to Manchester United at Arsenal. Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow were there. I wished I had not paid as much attention as I did to the radio broadcast of Sunderland's home game with Portsmouth although I was delighted that I had resisted the temptation to abandon everything and go to the match. Sunderland scored within three minutes and nearly scored again several times before first yielding to a scorcher in the second half and then giving away a penalty in extra time. Last year Sunderland scored something like a dozen goals in the last minutes, making the difference between staying up and relegation. They have lost three games in succession since beating Newcastle, whereas Newcastle have won twice and could make it three or at least fain a point away at Fulham on Sunday, and the fourth week when they have featured on Sky or Satanta.

I did watch Merlin where the story line was not as strong as previous ones but the site of good doctors potion mixing was timely as I discovered a web site, or more accurately was directed to website revealing that Peter Currell Brown had acquired a complete authentic collection of an alchemist laboratory which he was hiring out for film use and also himself in costume of which there were several colourful shots. I would like to proceed with contacting but must complete other activities first.

Watching Merlin meant I missed three artists in the X factor, This week confirmed the difficulty of choosing between the remaining artists and I fear someone talented will leave before someone less. The judges are pushing the group managed by Louis Walsh because they know while they are Ok they are not in the same league as several of the ladies. I think they fear the final with be contested between three of the ladies although the young fifteen year old male stands more of a change than the group. A similar position will soon be reached with Strictly Come Dancing although the public keep voting in John Sergeant who is hopeless, admits he is hopeless and is as round as me but not quite as old.

The American film Director Robert Altman is not the household name of C B De mille or Alfred Hitchcock yet for me is one of the major directors in motion pictures and television for half a century. He died in two years ago at the age of 81.

He came from a wealthy family in Kansas City Missouri with a German, Irish and English ancestry on his father's side while his mother was a descendent of a Mayflower family from Nebraska. He was a B24 bomber co-pilot in World war 2 having joined the US Army Air Force at eighteen years, and this gave him the depth of experience and understanding about life an which underpinned his subsequent work.

However after a brief period in acting and then writing, everything from screenplays, musicals novels and magazine articles but without success he returned to his family, started a pet care company which also failed, enrolled in the Missouri University to study engineering but then wait after three years. He then joined an industrial film making company making over 60 films earning £250 dollars a month

It was not until a decade after war service that he made a small budget film in Kansas called the Delinquent, but then took the film to Hollywood where it was edited and distributed for a total cost of $150000 dollars then grossing over $1million. He commenced work in TV quarrelled with Jack Warner and did not achieve international success until 1969 with the comedy film of the Vietnam War MASH, which then became the major TV series.

While I saw this film, then Brewster McCloud, McCabe and Mrs Miller and California Split, it was not until Nashville 1975 that created a film which I enjoy experiencing every few years. Nashville is more than a film about wannabees and hasbeens, in part because it also features US Presidential politics and contains an assassination. It describes several aspects of the US perspective on itself and had not one but two memorable songs among several that are also noteworthy. I'm easy sung by Keith Caradine and which all three of women he is sleeping with think he is singing specifically to them, and It don't worry me which ends the film I also enjoyed the performance of Geraldine Chaplin as the English reporter and Lily Tomlin as mother of two deaf children and a Gospel singer. Professional country singers are reported to have hated the film, because they felt it diminish red their trade. Others remember seeing are Quintet, A Perfect Couple, Streamers, Vincent and Theo the relationship between Vincent Van Gough and his art dealer brother, the Player, Short Cuts, Pret a Porter, Kansas City, the Gingerbread man Gosford Park and The Company.

In a sudden burst of enthusiasm I started to also write about John Huston before realising that in some respects I value his body of work and the impact on me over a lifetime more than Ingmar Bergman The reason for wanting to do both in the same piece is that John also died ay 81 and also came from the state of Missouri.

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