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Mission Impossible/Evita

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I finally got around to seeing the new Mission Impossible film, Dead Reckoning Part 1. I had seen a few reviews which weren’t exactly glowing but since I’ve seen all the rest and love Tom Cruise, off I went. I have to say, I loved it, it was a clever thriller but you need to listen at the beginning or you’ll miss what it is all about. Full of twists and turns, and some great action scenes, I couldn’t find much fault with it at all, other than I was not starring alongside Tom. At 2 hours 40 minutes, while that may appear long, the time just flew by and I would have happily sat for another hour as I was enjoying it so much. I won’t give much away in case anyone hasn’t seen it, but I would definitely recommend it. I had thought the franchise might be showing signs of flagging at this stage but far from it and I’m really looking forward to part two. Bring it on!

I was in Belfast a couple of weeks ago to watch Evita by the Ulster Operatic Company in the Grand Opera House. We stayed overnight in Leonardo’s (formerly Jury’s) on Great Victoria Street, just next door. Beautiful hotel and central to everything. It was enjoyable enough but I think I have been spoiled after seeing Jersey Boys in London a few years ago. Jersey Boys was such a professional show it made Evita look like a school production with a couple of professionals in the main roles. The leads were excellent and I especially want to acknowledge David McCrossan as Everyman, and Karen Hawthorne as Eva Peron, both brilliant singers. Caroline McMichael played Evita as a young girl and has to be commended for her role as she is only 17 years old.

I loved all the music but I have a problem when it comes to furniture on stage and believe the less the better, they had a double bed and single bed on in consecutive scenes, one would have been enough. The full force of the person of Eva Peron wasn’t really captured for me. My daughter in law knew nothing about Eva Peron before the show and still didn’t know much afterwards. I also felt some of the casting wasn’t right, especially regarding Eva getting rid of Peron’s mistress. The girl in the role was, I thought, too young and pretty to give the poignancy needed for the song ‘Another Suitcase, Another Hall’.

I also hate moving large pieces of the set around, they moved one of the larger pieces to the front of the stage for a brief while, to what end I couldn’t figure. When it comes to staging, I prefer minimal sets and changes, and unnecessary movements of props. Everything on stage should have a clear purpose and if you can tell the story without it, then get rid of it. The other criticism was that the show ended quite abruptly; we all felt that it merited another chorus of ‘Oh, What a Circus’, at least, to bring things to a proper conclusion.

Just another recommendation if anyone is heading to Belfast for a weekend or overnight, The Red Panda on Great Victoria Street is well worth a visit, excellent Chinese/Asian food.


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Weddin

An Ill for Every Pill

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I wrote this a few years ago when I was working on the show about mental health, Waving not Drowning. I came across it the other night when I was going over some old files. I wasn't sure if I had posted it before but I can't find it on the blog. I thought it very appropriate for now. The director of the show rejected it as she didn't think people would know what the reference to Tom Cruise was about and also, that medication can help people, sometimes. I wasn't looking to present a balanced debate, I was pointing out how the field of psychiatry in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders appeared to be labeling normal human emotion and behaviour as a mental health problem and then to medicate it. The title was something I heard in a programme about ADHD, that pharmaceutical companies, with the complicity of the medical profession, were creating illnesses so they could sell more tablets. Apologies if it was posted before.

An Ill for Every Pill

In the science of psychiatry, although Tom Cruise would disagree

We like to watch and see if we can find, those little anomalies in your mind

then label them from our dictionary and give it a medical pathology.

Chorus

Because we’ve got an ill for every pill

Just pick which one you’d like

and we can keep you medicated

for the rest of your natural life

 

‘The house burned down, my husband died

and now I’m feeling low’.

‘No, no my dear, you are depressed

Now take the pills and go

My childs too active he won’t sit down,

What am I to do?’

Just bring him in and we’ll settle him

With a daily dose of Ritalin

Chorus

We’ve got valium and citalopram

and don’t forget the prozac

They’ll dull the pain and stop you feeling

But keep you coming back!

and if they  don’t work

and you can’t see the Doc

Then there are others you can buy

there’s always the soluble solpadeine

or give neurofen plus a try

Chorus

That codeine adds a nice little kick

And will brighten any dull day but more importantly for us

it keeps the pharmaceuticals in pay

and even though,  over time, they might make you sick

We’ll have another pill to cure that ill

Because that’s our cleverest trick

Chorus

 


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Weddin

Mission Impossible/Fallout

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DUN DUN! Du du, DUN! DUN! Du..du, DUN!  DUN! Du..du DUN!...Your mission should you choose to take it, is to go see the latest Mission Impossible instalment and report back...  

Well, just back from watching the latest outing by Tom Cruise in the Mission Impossible series and what a wild ride it was!!  I thought the MI series might been getting a bit played out by now but I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised, I loved every minute of it!  Not everyone's cup of tea, I know, and I also know Tom Cruise has many detractors but I'm not one of them, I do love the Cruiser!  Well, he is one of the heart-throbs of my generation.  I'm not a fan of the Scientology, or any religion for that matter but you have to admit, it's working for him.  He's been at the top of his game for many, many years and still going strong.  

But...back to the movie!  If you like a good action film, and I'm not really a big action movie fan to be honest, I've never seen a Jean Claude or Steven Seagal film but I do like the Mission Impossibles.  Maybe its the music...like the Grand Prix...those opening bars send a little shiver of anticipation up the spine and deliver a nerve-tingling thrill a minute!  Believe me, thrills are thin on the ground around here...what's a girl to do?  Ya gotta takes 'em, where ya gets 'em! 

Anyway, I won't bore you with any details or give anything away but it's a good enough story with plenty of twists and turns so if you're into action movies or Tom Cruise or even Simon Pegg (who I first got to know in Spaced and who I am so jealous of, getting to work with, not just Tom Cruise but also getting parts in Star Trek AND Star Wars!)  then, go see, and enjoy!

As for me, this message will self-destruct in..Phut!

Permalink 1 comment (latest comment by Michael Gumbrell, Thursday, 9 Aug 2018, 23:01)
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Weddin

Weapons, War and Money

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Edited by Aideen Devine, Wednesday, 18 Aug 2021, 20:54

Just sitting watching the news (if it could be called news) on the topic of chemical weapons and Syria, one question comes to mind.  If you bomb a facility which makes and 'stores' chemical weapons as claimed by the West, then surely you will be releasing more toxic chemicals into the surrounding area?

There is so much propaganda and lies, you wouldn't know who or what to believe.  I still go back to Radio 4, (about 3/4 years ago, I think) when an army general announced we would be going to war with Russia within 3 years.  John Humphreys was taken aback, to say the least and basically said, 'you must be insane', or words to that effect.  The general then went on to explain that they had these new nuclear weapons which they wanted to try out.  If that is where we are headed then, I take comfort in the fact that 2 other empires perished on the Russian frontier, France under Napoleon and the Third Reich under Hitler.  So, go for it, they sooner it happens, the sooner it will all be over, and then we might finally get some peace!  Come to think about it, Germany is being very quiet on this, I haven't heard a word from Merkel?

Talking about peace, why can we not just have peace?  Why is Russia our enemy?  Who decided that?  The mentality of those in charge really needs to be looked at.  In the US, they are all paranoid, living with a mind-set that is 60 years out of date and what is all the secrecy about?  Why do we not just share our knowledge and try to find ways to improve the lot of everybody?  Why can't the US and the UK just mind their own business?  If the people of Syria want rid of Assad, then it's up to them to sort that out.  If the West is so concerned with the well being of down-trodden others, will they be bombing Saudi Arabia now over their treatment of the people of Yemen?  Of course, they won't, the hypocrisy is sickening!   Why can't the US and the UK just stay in their own country and take care of their own people! 

But at the end of the day, the buck stops with us too and we have to carry some of the blame for sitting back and shutting our minds to it all, for letting others do our thinking and for not questioning more.  Going out to vote and voting for people who basically don't give a crap about any of us, which is worse here because all they do is vote for their tribe regardless of how competent these people are. 

The media is complicit too, we don't have journalists any more, with the exception of Jon Pilger, all we have are reporters, who merely report what they have been told to say.  Thank God for the internet, at least there, you can find out more and are able to access other opinions.

I watched another good documentary online recently, All Wars are Bankers Wars, (because you'll never get this on Sky or the BBC) worth a look if you have 45 mins to spare.  But when all is said and done, I know the answer to all those questions, and as Tom Cruise says in Vanilla Sky, "What is the answer to 99out of 100 questions? Money."


Permalink 3 comments (latest comment by Mariam Jan, Sunday, 22 Apr 2018, 10:51)
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