Coming back from the north east I met a man on a train – his name was Paul and he was jolly nice. It transpired that we shared the same birthday – not only day and month but year as well! I suggested that perhaps we were twins separated at birth as in a Shakespeare play but even this freaky idea didn’t scare him into moving seats or pretending that he was in fact getting off at Doncaster and changing carriage! In the two hours from York to London we covered a wide array of topics: hill walking (a hobby of both of us), Rumi poetry (I was reading it on the journey), photography (another interest we had in common), the environment – is global warming really happening (not if you read Christopher Booker’s latest volume) to career changes (we both had one at forty).
The result was that two hours flashed by, and I give thanks for my Geordie upbringing which makes me almost incapable of meeting a stranger on a train without striking up a conversation (anyone who has been to Newcastle understand what I mean).
On Saturday I had a go at archery for the first time at
2020 Archery in Islington. It was an introductory course with three hours on the Saturday and another three on the Sunday. There were seven of us and they were a very nice bunch. I loved it, though it is a little tricky at first as there is a lot to remember. We are going back to shoot our first Portsmouth (twenty ends of three arrows) next Sunday. Once you have shot three cross scored Portsmouths you get a handicap which then allows you to compete against any other archer from the club on an even footing. The whole thing was thrilling and exhausting!!
On Saturday evening I went to see A Single Man at the Greenwich Picture House. I didn’t have very high expectations as I’d heard reviews that said it was a not very good film with a great performance by Colin Firth. Well I disagree. I think it is a very good film with a great performance by CF. I was moved to tears (not that unusual for me I admit) but afterwards I felt deeply moved by the film. CF is excellent as the very controlled George Falconer dealing with the sudden death of his (male) partner of sixteen years. His performance is very subtle and nuanced, so calm on the surface but so very intense beneath it. He finally chooses life over death because of a connection with a young (and amazingly beautiful) student, having concluded that making a connection – be it with nature or another person – is the only thing that counts. He chooses life because such connections are so very beautiful that they make all the pain and disappointment of existence bearable. And of course he is right.
