Brendan

We got the tail end of storm Brendan during the day, which included some window-shaking weather in the office, and by the time I went home, there was a fairly large tree down across one of the main roads in T Wells, making getting out of town even slower than usual.


The woods at home had taken a bit of a battering too, as the following day’s dog walk showed.

Taxing

Good news – tax return completed and submitted.


Better news – they owe me – a little, but much better that way around.

Back

Sunday afternoon trip back to halls. Just the one bag. Just for the one night, as just the one exam on Monday before coming home again for a few days to revise some more for the next exam later in the week.

Jojo

Tapas followed by film night.

There had been some debate over whether it should be Jojo Rabbit or 1917, but Jojo won out, and what a fine film it was too. In parts funny, heart-warming, thought-provoking, and heart-stoppingly sad. Hard to imagine from a film with the one line premise of being about a little boy with Hitler as his imaginary friend, but there you go.

Listened to the end of the most recent Kermode and Mayo film show (because of a mention on Twitter) and Mark Kermode says it best (in response to a deeply moving listener email) when explaining the importance of cinema. To paraphrase:

The importance of film, and the role it plays in people's lives, goes so far beyond the mechanics itself. Cinema is like a dream - when you imagine something in your mind, it's like the way a film unspools. Its emotional impact is experienced on a fundamental level. Cinema is a machine for producing empathy.

3 books

Buying books in threes.

Firstly, spending my Christmas voucher from Bec, these were the choices.


Looking forward to getting into each of them, for different reasons. I hope that the Iger book isn't to business-focused, not too self-congratulatory, but provides some real insight on life working for an on behalf of 'The Mouse' and being responsible for its legacy. The Cruickshank should offer some great London trivia, get me off the well-trodden path, and encourage some interesting diversions. Then, the Lily Allen autobiography looks intriguing, someone with an opinion or two, and not afraid to say it how it is!

A trip to the Oxfam bookstore produced another trio of books worthy of further investigation - the story of setting up and running a bookshop, philosophical answers to internet searches, and literary extracts for reading aloud. Marvellous!

Board

One done

Service

My little car went in for a service today. The bonus was that I got to take the nice new big car to work whilst Nicky ferried mine back and forth. The good news was that my car passed its MOT, had a service, and most importantly had its annual clean (total cost £280). The bad news was that the garage seemed keen to offer it a new clutch and some new front brakes, for a total cost of £1,600. Work declined. Pressure now on to get rid of the trusty little car and switch to something newer.