And there goes the day......
Having one day off a week I try to pack as much as possible into it….the plan yesterday was my archery lesson in the morning, an hour or so catching up on e-mails…then hot foot it Intramuros to join another of Carlos’ walks…and then to join friends for alcoholic sustenance in the evening…
After dragging myself out of bed and punishing my archery instructor with what must have been the worst hour ever….(at one point an arrow rebounded off the target pad and out the sodding window) I decided that attempting the rest of the plan was daft…I did go and settle at Starbucks at Robinsons Galleria (first time I’ve been in that mall – quite nice actually) and after about an hour or so felt so grotty that I crawled home to bed..from where I didn’t surface until about 9pm…at which point the only thing that would make me feel better was a couple of hours of Simon Schama’s History of Britain…
Victorian England…although I have watched it many times before, each time throws up a new fact that amazes me….this time…the Great Exhibition of London attracted 6 million visitors….fairly impressive for that time…. I have to say that Victoria as a person has never fascinated me as Elizabeth I or Henry VIII has (I always think that her relationship with Albert had a very high ‘ick’ factor!) and I think her attitude to the progression of women was appalling...'fairer sex'..my arse.. , however the era that she ruled over is one of the most amazing of British history.
The second episode that I watched focused on the Indian Mutiny, a period of history that has long fascinated me, whether it is the stupidity of the Empire or romanticism of the period, I don’t know…but a quote that I think sums up the British attitude at that time comes from Viceroy Lytton…
‘The further east you go, the greater the importance of a bit of bunting’…
On Monday night I traipsed down to Greenbelt to see Tristan & Isolde, I kind of wish I hadn’t….I am hard pushed to find something good to say about the movie….the scenery is spectacular, the battle scenes are unfortunately (granted, that's a personal opinion) very, very graphic….and there I run out of good things…on the not so good side…I thought the acting was wooden, the historical accuracy of the English castle was way out, and as for the use of the John Donne poem – give me strength…surely in this day and age of movie making they could have come up with something a little more accurate – the legend of Tristan and Isolde is from the 5th or 6th Century.. Tristan was actually one of the Knights of the Round Table, John Donne lived and wrote about 1000 years later...and as for the wedding ceremony…don’t get me started….!
BTW...off subject (do I ever stay 'on' subject?)...this post is hysterical....move over the HKG police force and make way for "Asia's NEW finest".....
After dragging myself out of bed and punishing my archery instructor with what must have been the worst hour ever….(at one point an arrow rebounded off the target pad and out the sodding window) I decided that attempting the rest of the plan was daft…I did go and settle at Starbucks at Robinsons Galleria (first time I’ve been in that mall – quite nice actually) and after about an hour or so felt so grotty that I crawled home to bed..from where I didn’t surface until about 9pm…at which point the only thing that would make me feel better was a couple of hours of Simon Schama’s History of Britain…
Victorian England…although I have watched it many times before, each time throws up a new fact that amazes me….this time…the Great Exhibition of London attracted 6 million visitors….fairly impressive for that time…. I have to say that Victoria as a person has never fascinated me as Elizabeth I or Henry VIII has (I always think that her relationship with Albert had a very high ‘ick’ factor!) and I think her attitude to the progression of women was appalling...'fairer sex'..my arse.. , however the era that she ruled over is one of the most amazing of British history.
The second episode that I watched focused on the Indian Mutiny, a period of history that has long fascinated me, whether it is the stupidity of the Empire or romanticism of the period, I don’t know…but a quote that I think sums up the British attitude at that time comes from Viceroy Lytton…
‘The further east you go, the greater the importance of a bit of bunting’…
On Monday night I traipsed down to Greenbelt to see Tristan & Isolde, I kind of wish I hadn’t….I am hard pushed to find something good to say about the movie….the scenery is spectacular, the battle scenes are unfortunately (granted, that's a personal opinion) very, very graphic….and there I run out of good things…on the not so good side…I thought the acting was wooden, the historical accuracy of the English castle was way out, and as for the use of the John Donne poem – give me strength…surely in this day and age of movie making they could have come up with something a little more accurate – the legend of Tristan and Isolde is from the 5th or 6th Century.. Tristan was actually one of the Knights of the Round Table, John Donne lived and wrote about 1000 years later...and as for the wedding ceremony…don’t get me started….!
BTW...off subject (do I ever stay 'on' subject?)...this post is hysterical....move over the HKG police force and make way for "Asia's NEW finest".....
posted by Madame Chiang at 9:13 pm
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Hi. Hope you're adjusting well to life in Manila:)
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