Girls Night Out

You may have noticed the GNO acronym explained on my left hand sidebar. It's mainly cinema evenings I arrange with some ex-colleagues of mine and we've been going to these for 10 years now. Over the years other things have crept in like celebrating really big birthdays, plus trips to Bath Christmas Market and an annual spa weekend. After loads of wine at Jamie Oliver's new restaurant in Bath last month (a great GNO), we're now contemplating a walking holiday (! and yes, these are the people I would have been Moonwalking with too). However, I thought you might like to see the kind of thing I put together each month.

It's cinema choice time! We've seen Slumdog (brilliant), I've seen Gran Torino (thoroughly recommend), so we need to select from what's left at The Showcase for next Tuesday [tomorrow]. Here's my shortlist for your perusal:
  • 17 Again - Big meets Groundhog Day as aging exec. goes back to boyhood again. 12A, 102 mins @ 7.35pm
  • The Boat That Rocked - a trip back to when we hid under the bedclothes at night listening to Radio Caroline, courtesy of Richard Curtis. 15, 134 mins @ 8pm
  • I Love You Man - The search for a best man by Billy no mates forces him to choose been friendship and his girlfriend. 15, 105 mins @ 7.30pm
  • Knowing - aged schoolgirl jottings reveal stunningly accurate predictions of past disasters with only Nicholas Cage able to save us from the next one. 15, 121 mins @ 7.05pm

So we have 2 light hearted films, Brit nostalgia or strong threat and disaster scenes to choose from. I'm dismissing the 2 light hearted ones as I suspect 17 Again will be full of giggling schoolgirls anxious to see their High School Musical heart throb and I suspect the other one will be cringe worthy rather than romcom. The Boat That Rocked has had mixed reviews - I suspect because of lack of plot, though the soundtrack is meant to be very good. So, I'm plumping unpatriotically for Knowing based purely on the trailer, which could be a dangerous move. Of course, you may wish to choose differently.

Well, which one would you go for - especially if you just had my one-liner summaries to go on?

Comments

  1. Dave20 April 2009 at 11:50

    The boat that rocked :o)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hermes20 April 2009 at 11:55

    Knowing - I loke Nicholas Cage.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Joanna20 April 2009 at 12:12

    I saw the Boat that Rocked last week with my daughter, and would have walked out except that she was enjoying it. Truly awful. Truly truly awful. Beyond awful. And anyone who says it's got a great soundtrack is trying to make the best of a lost couple of hours - I mean, non-stop 60s stuff, including a few that you'd utterly forgotten about and that it was nice to hear again ... but nothing you can't find on a compilation album or hear on Gold

    I didn't much like the look of the 17 Again film, either - US teen flick stuff. What about the Ianucci film? That looks/sounds a little better

    Sorry to be so negative
    Joanna

    ReplyDelete
  4. CanadianGardenJoy20 April 2009 at 12:40

    Ok .. I can't find one I would really like to see in your list but if pressed for one .. "Knowing" because even when he is serious, Nicky always makes me giggle .. now how is that for a recommendation ?? LOL

    ReplyDelete
  5. petoskystone20 April 2009 at 13:24

    i head for 'knowing'. even if the plot line has amazing logic holes & the script veers towards the predictable, at least there will be explosions & special effects to enjoy!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Zoë20 April 2009 at 15:54

    The boat that rocked, old enough to be nostalgic for teen days, and take a jaunt down memory lane.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Helen/patientgardener20 April 2009 at 16:52

    My 18 year old son went to see that Boat that rocked and was surprised that he quite liked it.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Victoria Summerley20 April 2009 at 21:30

    Dunno if it's on at your local (it's on at ours) but I'm looking forward to seeing In The Loop, the film version of Armando Ianucci's The Thick of It. But then my colleagues and I were addicted to The Thick of It...

    There's also State of Play, the US film version of the British TV series that starred Bill Nighy and Jon Simms.

    I've seen The Boat that Rocked with my kids, and while I think Joanna is basically right, I DID enjoy the soundtrack. And Bill Nighy, Rhys Ifans and Philip Seymour Hoffman made it worth it.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Juliet20 April 2009 at 23:16

    I'd stay in and watch a DVD ...

    WV is pressed ... I suppose if pressed, I'd go for Knowing, from your summary. So long as it doesn't have any medical bits - if the next disaster is a virus I'd stay in the foyer and eat the popcorn.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Gail21 April 2009 at 02:47

    Do you go to movies again? I'ld repeat Slumdog! Or for go a movie and head for a sweet place to hang out and talk...with at least a great dessert. g

    ReplyDelete
  11. VP21 April 2009 at 08:18

    Dave - NAH and I went as far as going out the door to go and see it on Saturday, but then decided we couldn't be bothered!

    Hermes - And Nicolas Cage has just bought a house near here, so we'd be supporting the local lad ;)

    Joanna - In the Loop isn't one of the options, otherwise that would be my recommendation

    Joy - trust you to come up with a different angle on the choice ;)

    Petoskystone - strangely I'm getting less enthusiastic about those as I get older - it must be the influence of the film club where NAH takes care of all the technical stuff

    Zoe - tempting, but in view of some of the other comments, not tempting enough

    PG - from the comments here it looks like 'the younger generation' are the ones that like this film

    Victoria - I was offered free tickets to a State of Play preview last weekc but noone was available to go! It doesn't open around here until Friday and it's on the list for NAH and I to go and see

    Juliet - DVD's on offer for next month as one of our GNO regulars can't make it as regularly as she used to, so I've built in a GNO from time to time where we invade her place for the evening :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. VP21 April 2009 at 08:20

    Sorry Gail - didn't mean to leave you out. I've seen Slumdog Millionaire twice already - once with the girls and then with NAH. I enjoyed it just as much the second time round. We go for a meal before the film, so there's plenty of time for a good gossip first. As it's a weekday people tend not to want to go somewhere afterwards as they're going to work the next day :(

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

I love hearing from you and welcome thoughtful conversations :)

Comments aiming to link back and give credence to commercial websites will be composted!

Your essential reads

That blue flower: A spring spotter's guide

Image
Spring is a prime time for blue flowers and my daily walks currently have several from the same plant family* lining the local footpaths. As I walked past the Donkey Field the other day, I overheard some children ask their parents** what the pictured blue flower was. It reminded me it's often mistaken for those other familial blues and this time was no different, as they said it was forget-me-not, instead of the green alkanet it actually is. As well as similar flowers, most of these plants are hairy in their nature, flower around the same time, and favour damp, shady places. Many of them are great for pollinators too, especially bees and this week's warm weather has certainly drawn them to these flowers. This makes it even more likely for these plants to be mistaken for each other and it's a great opportunity for me to put together a spotter's guide in case you find the same flowers on your outings. Staying with green alkanet, the key features which set it
Read more

Jack Go To Bed At Noon

Image
Last year this rather exotic looking flower appeared on mine and several other allotments for the first time. Having been stumped (again) by Mr Allotment Warden as to its identity, I rushed home to find out what it was. It's salsify, aka the marvellous Jack Go To Bed At Noon - named as such because its flowers always close by midday. Here you can see both open and closed flowers - making it seem even more exotic and alien than in the first picture. I think this must be the cultivated version because the flower in my Francis Rose Wild Flower Key looks exactly the same in form, but is bright yellow in colour and called meadow salsify . Its other common name is Goatsbeard, which must be a nod to the fantastic dandelion-like clock which forms the seed head. With 'parachutes' like those shown above, who knows how far our plotted plants came from. I rather like the photographic dissection of the seedhead found in this link . Salsify is edible: its lateral shoots and fl
Read more

Red Nose Day - Gardening Jokes Anyone?

Image
The nation goes ever so slightly bonkers on Red Nose Day - hurrah! Previously, it's been very easy to join in - usually via a dress down day at work plus lots of people up to mad things at the station and in the office. Everyone smiling for once - it's a real feel good day and all in a good cause. This year's different - every day's a dress down day for me now - my friend L suggested yesterday that perhaps I could have a dress up day instead and whilst that's a good idea, I confess that ballgowns and tiaras don't really feature in my wardrobe: scruffy student's always been my favourite look. So my Red Nose Day contribution for this year is to compile a list of gardening related jokes. For each one (clean ones only please) you leave in the comments below, I'll make a donation of 50p to the cause. Here's a few for starters just to get you warmed up: Q Why do potatoes make good detectives? A Because they keep their eyes peeled. Q What did the grape
Read more

Salad Days: Mastering Lettuce

Image
I've decided one of my salad challenges for this year is to grow as many lettuce varieties as I can, ready for the publication of my planned Factsheet* later on. The idea is to grow as many of the Tried and Trusted lettuce varieties last year's Salad Challengers helped compile, then provide a visual guide and as many lettuce facts as I can muster. So far I've found around half of those listed**. Then naturally whilst I was out searching - because such is the way with seeds - a number of other varieties found their way home too ;) A couple of weeks ago I sowed 22 varieties***. Just the simple act of sowing them has me intrigued. Why are some lettuce seeds black and others white****? They split into about half white to half black in my sample and as far as I can tell it's nothing to do with whether they're a type of cos, iceberg, or whatever. I sowed them indoors and popped them into a propagator on the windowsill. The soil's too cold outside for sowing
Read more

VPs VIPs: Derry Watkins of Special Plants

Image
Last week I had the pleasure of visiting Derry Watkins at her home, garden and nursery - the acclaimed Special Plants - just a few miles along the road from me. I first met Derry at one of her open garden days last year and was keen to find out more about her wonderful garden and running an independent nursery. She specialises in tender perennials and regularly goes on plant hunting trips to find new treasures, particularly in South Africa. As well as running Special Plants and opening her garden under the NGS scheme , Derry holds day courses at her nursery, hosts Special Tuesdays from April until September, lectures and has written a couple of books. How did you find your way from Connecticut to the UK? I'd started a biodynamic vegetable garden in Connecticut and we used to have people come along at weekends to help out. A particular young man turned up: he returned many times and at the end of the summer I married him. So it was all down to love? Isn't that the
Read more

#mygardenrightnow: heading into summer with the Chelsea Fringe

Image
Ahhhhhh, that's better! I love walking through dewy grass in bare feet, not that there's much in the way of grass on my back lawn this weekend. My wild and woolly lawn has morphed into meadow of sorts this month, which even NAH admits looks attractive*. It's also proved a great source for my Flowers for mum project so far, yielding self-sown perennial cornflowers, lamb's ears, and lemon balm in addition to the blooms you can see. These originated from elsewhere in the garden, the ox-eye daisies must have blown in from the A350 nearby. * = he got very stroppy about the weeds aka self-sown foxgloves in the lawn one year, so he's come along a bit since then. Skimble's demanding to say hello to you too. He does enjoy the patio when it warms up. If the embedded video doesn't work try this link instead. The Nectaroscordum are a revelation. I planted the bulbs around 2 years ago, but it's only this year they've bloomed properly. The bee
Read more

The Resilient Garden

Image
  Part of Tom Massey's Resilient Garden at RHS Hampton Court I've been pondering VP Gardens a lot lately. Last year's drought conditions set me off initially, then our harsher than usual winter combined with this summer's flip and flop weather means the thinking continues. It's a huge topic which I freely admit I'm struggling to get my head around. Tom Massey's Resilient Garden  at Hampton Court recently  tackled this topic brilliantly and was a timely interlude which gave me much food for thought. There he encapsulated the detailed research he'd found which informed both his show garden and book of the same name. I think it's one of the most important show gardens I've ever seen. It's clear the way I garden needs to change so that I have my own resilient garden. I haven't worked out the exact details yet, but Tom's book plus a couple of others (see below), alongside the rainwater management handout from the show garden's  sponso
Read more

Testing Times: Tomatoes

Image
  I've run a couple of tomato trials this year. The first is a revisit of the biochar trial with Oxford University I attempted some years ago (with a different organisation this time), and the second is a trial of a water gadget called Plantsurge which I was given to try at Malvern Spring Show earlier this year. Most of you have probably heard of biochar already and the claim that this inert, carbon-rich material can help soil fertility and plant health. The RHS information in the above link says results can be mixed, with reduced effects found in alkaline soils. This may help to explain the lack of difference I found in my previous trial as VP Gardens is on a lime-rich soil. Plantsurge is a different beast altogether. It's a strong magnet which is attached to a hosepipe as shown in the photo above. It's claimed that it softens water, with the result more like watering with rainwater. The higher nitrogen found in rainwater is thought to be beneficial to plants. Gardener
Read more

Chelsea Fringe 2014: Shows of Hands - Episode I

Image
The gloves NAH used to build the raised bed . The effects are L to R, top to bottom:  Original photo, Warhol, HDR, Green tint, B&W, Posterize, Boost, Cross process and Sepia Welcome to Shows of Hands - my Chelsea Fringe project for 2014! As you can see I've been having a bit of a play around in Pic Monkey for my first contribution. You're welcome to join in between now and 8th June 2014. The idea behind this year's project is to highlight the tool most precious to a gardener: their hands. How do I take part? It's simple. All you need to do is take a photo of hand(s) in a gardening context and then share it via your blog or other social media (such as Twitter or Facebook), then make sure I know you've done so. I've set up Mr Linky below for your blog contributions. The Chelsea Fringe photo on the right sidebar links to this post, so you can easily find it again when you're ready to add your contribution. If you share your photo on Twitter,
Read more

Make Use of Mildew

Image
On my garden patrol this morning I spotted some powdery mildew on a couple of my new Verbena bonariensis plants. I suppose it was almost inevitable as I prefer to grow my plants hard - this means no water for them unless they look absolutely desperate. This approach means plants root themselves more deeply and have a better chance of survival during spells of dry weather like we've had lately. However, it also means I run the risk of problems like today's, especially with any garden newbies planted late in the season. We've had a good drop of rain overnight, so this should help my plants survive. I'll mulch them later today to help lock in the moisture as it's water stress which encourages the mildew to take hold. I've also removed the infected leaves and sprayed the rest with a milky drink.* I'm also pleased to find there's a use for my infected leaves. Oliver Ellingham at Reading University has started a PhD - sponsored by the RHS - researchi
Read more