Holiday and life update

[altariel]

A fantastic Christmas and New Year, courtesy of our good and generous friends K&J, who let us stay for ten days and waited on us hand and foot throughout.

The festive season in fact started on the 20th, when I zipped down to Our Nation's Capital to meet gair and Gerald. We went to see Much Ado About Nothing, with Tamsin Greig and Joseph Millson as Beatrice and Benedick. 1950s Cuban setting, very well done: made the romcom very sexy, but there was an undercurrent of violence and nutsy Catholicism that made Hero's alleged promiscuity very dramatic. (Joseph Millson turned up later in the holiday as the dad in the joy-making Sarah Jane Adventures.)

mraltariel and I scooted down to London on the 23rd, where we were insanely pampered by our hosts and settled down to a strict regime of ten days of steady eating and drinking, the centrepiece of which was a whopping great goose. Obviously we needed to do some pretty lively activity to work this all off: board games, film-watching, reading. The Christmas Doctor Who was thoroughly enjoyable but I thought didn't quite have the pizazz of last year's; Dracula: WTF?!; thing I liked most was The Ruby in the Smoke (I gather they're at least making the next one in the series, and I'm looking forward to that). I cheerfully slept through The Brothers Grimm and a fair old chunk of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. (Bit of a pirate theme to the holiday, actually, what with PotC, an addictive pirate-themed card game called Loot, and then - of course, Jolly Roger: Massacre at Cutter's Cove (which gave PotC a run for its money, mostly by not having twenty minutes of pointless mucking about on a island with Ewoks surely post-colonially dodgy 'natives' and just getting down to the promised bloodletting).

Particular book gift triumphs from K&J included two more Phryne Fisher novels which were promptly passed around all four of us, and a Tove Jansson haul, including the first volume of reprints of her Moomin comic strip, and a collection of her short stories, A Winter Book. Awe-inspiring.

We'd planned to come home on the 27th, but some plans at this end got changed at the last minute, and we ended up eating K&J out of house and home until New Year's Day. We took advantage of the extra time and being in London to see The History Boys, which I'd missed in both its previous run and in the film version. Stephen Moore was excellent; Isla Blair too. I liked it a great deal, although the career trajectory of the TV historian was fairly implausible, and I don't think that bit of plot worked terribly well.

New Year's Eve was spent very happily at I&A's in Wood Green: we were stuffed to gills with more food and saw the New Year in with the excellent dice game Perudo. Also that evening I was given - and this has to be in the running for BEST PRESENT EVER - a DVD of my favourite film, A Matter of Life and Death, signed (to me!) by its photographer and master of his art, cinematographer Jack Cardiff. I'm a bit starstruck by it.

Getting back to Wood Green from Shepherd's Bush on New Year's Eve was complete madness and took the best part of 2 1/2 hours: the Piccadilly line got closed because of a massive fight at Caledonian Road. So the early hours of 2007 were spent hunkered under a bridge at Finsbury Park waiting for the night bus.

Gentle trip back to Cambridge the next day, and I've mostly spent this week sifting through the email backlog and trying to get back into the swing of work, although of course the absolutely most pressing task when I got back was to catch up on Strictly Come Dancing, the result of which I'd managed to avoid entirely over the holiday (tho' it was pretty predictable once Emma Bunton had been OUTRAGEOUSLY voted out at the semi-final stage). Stupid British public, they did the same thing with John Barrowman in that ice-dancing thing. Speaking of whom, the penultimate episode of Torchwood was a corker and, as well as the generally upward trend in the quality of the show (apart from the Fight Club one - gag), makes me optimistic for the next season. (The last episode was a bit: "Oh no, not the end of the world AGAIN..." though.)

We went to see The Holiday last night: romantic comedy drama about a house swap with Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, and Jack Black. The first half hour was pretty ghastly, particularly the tin-eared dialogue for the English characters and the fantasy English setting, but it got an awful lot better as it went on, particularly the L.A. storyline involving Winslet, Black, and an elderly screenwriter that Winslet befriends. Also Jude Law doing 'Mr Napkinhead' was worth the price of the ticket. I'll probably round off the festive season with a viewing of The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe at some point over the weekend.

So - 2007. The Big Change for next year is that we are going to be spending a fair old chunk of it over in the US courtesy of mraltariel's job. We'll be in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area from the middle of March to some time in September, so anyone who knows that region or has any thoughts on packing up and moving abroad for a bit, speak your piece. I'm hugely excited about the whole thing.

Comments

[valderys.livejournal.com]

Sounds fantastic! And the American thing explains the lack of Redemption going - I was wondering a bit about that... Apropos of not much, I happened to notice that Altariel as an lj name has been delete and purged. I believe that means you could purchase it and get rid of your annoying 1.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

The Redemption was actually a cock-up on our part: we'd been trying to fix a date with friends to go and do one of Hugh Fearnley-Wotsisname's meat-curing weekends, and I forgot to say, "Don't book the weekend of Redemption..." until after it was booked. Which is a shame, given it would have been a great way of seeing everyone before we went. To 2009!

I spotted about altariel coming free but still haven't got round to getting it. I really do want to get round to getting rid of that annoying 1.

[hafren.livejournal.com]

Good luck!

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[jhall1.livejournal.com]

Have fun!

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[forodwaith.livejournal.com]

Wow, you'll be on this side of the Atlantic! If you have any plans to head north to the colonial possessions let me know.

My friend casperflea lives in that area; I can ask if she has any tips to pass on.

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

The snag is she won't be on my side of the Atlantic! I know we oughtn't to hog her, but I can feel withdrawal symptoms already!

[redstarrobot.livejournal.com]

signed (to me!) by its photographer and master of his art, cinematographer Jack Cardiff.

Oh, yum! I saw that movie for the first time at the Irish Film Center, followed by a talk by/with Jack Cardiff, and I was supposed to get a book signed by him after the event (the stock hadn't shown up in time to be bought there, so he was going to sign them later), but for some reason, mine never showed up.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I think he must have toured to promote the book (was it called Painting With Light?): I saw him interviewed too after a screening of A Matter of Life and Death. I'm sorry you never got your copy of the book (I was too skint at the time to buy it).

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

How exciting! I do hope we can meet up while you're here - that would be lovely.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I really hope we can manage that too!

Raleigh?

[(Anonymous)]

Wow, you'll be on our side of the pond? You should contact Marta. She used to live in the Chapel Hill area for college, iirc.

I have no clue about any of it, having lived west of the Mississippi all my life.

It sounds like you had a very full Christmas and New Year's. ;-)

Dwim

Re: Raleigh?

[altariel.livejournal.com]

And I only east of the Mississippi! (I don't think I've even been anywhere west of it! - well, unless a trip to Australia/NZ and a layover at LAX count.)

I had a fantastic Xmas and NY: great to get away from the house and all the everyday things, and do something completely different. Also - spoiled rotten.

[kradical.livejournal.com]

Hm. You might want to consider the possibility of hauling yourself up to the Baltimore area for Shore Leave in July. E-mail me if you want the specifics.....

[(Anonymous)]

A should definitely think about that! I'm in Baltimore all next week, as it happens...

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Glad you had a good time. It's good to have you back, though. :))

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :-D

[fjm.livejournal.com]

What's happening in Chapel Hill and when exactly will you be in the US?

[altariel.livejournal.com]

My other half (mraltariel) is relocating for six months for his work, and rather than us sitting on opposite sides of the ocean for the period, I'm going to go out and join him. (Given that March-September is the period in the year when I'm not teaching.)

I've not fixed my precise dates yet, but I can't go before the middle of March because of teaching commitments, and I'll want to come back some time in September to prepare for next year. So mid-March to mid-September is the current, rough plan.

[ex-lark-asc.livejournal.com]

Well, I lived in Europe for a year, though it was a little different I think since I was on my own. My 2p is don't fly with a budget airline; my best friend is a pilot and advocates this one for reasons of their shady business practises, whereas I just find the customer service and the whole experience of the flight is dire. BA for the win. Also on the topic of general living-abroad stuff, gen up on stuff in advance: what your immigration status will be, what if any bureaucracy you'll have to go through once you get there in order to get legal, and for the US, when and how much you're expected to tip service staff, which you are. I'd also suggest, since the US doesn't have a public health service, that you sort out exactly how healthcare is going to work - will it be covered by mraltariel's employer or come out of your own pockets?

In terms of culture shock, you will have to explain to everyone you inform where you're from that Cambridge isn't London, it's actually quite a long way away from London, and no you don't know their friend in London. You will also put weight on if you even attempt to finish US portions, especially in the Deep (Fried) South, but apparently most restaurants will happily pack up any leftovers for you to take home.

Hope you enjoy your time abroad more than I did...

[mraltariel.livejournal.com]

Fortunately, the company pays for us to fly business class, so that's not likely to be a problem (and BA Club is a perfectly acceptable experience, although the food isn't quite as good as some others). Although, not having to race backwards and forwards over the Atlantic half a dozen times a quarter is part of the reason for going over there on a more permanent basis. And we're already all healthcared-up (although the premiums on my company life assurance [which make me worth more dead than alive, sadly] have gone up slightly with us not being based in the UK).

I absolutely agree about the food, though. I put on about four stone when I first lived in America ten years ago, and have never been able to get rid of it since (although laziness has a considerable amount to answer for in that respect).

[i-smell-shite.livejournal.com]

wow ... that is so exciting! Wow!

[altariel.livejournal.com]

:-D

[glitterboy1.livejournal.com]

What a splendid Christmas and New Year! I'm glad that it was so good. The DVD of A Matter of Life and Death was an absolutely inspired present - really, really lovely.

I managed to tape the signed repeat of The Ruby in the Smoke during the week, so I'm going to give it a whirl tonight, I think.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

It was a brilliant holiday, yes - great to switch off from life entirely and do other stuff. The DVD is something special. Enjoy The Ruby in the Smoke!

[sugoll.livejournal.com]

Coo. All sounds awesome. And I do hope we can sort something out before you flee these shores...

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I do hope we can sort something out before you flee these shores...

I hope so to - should be sending an email out about that Real Soon Now...

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Yay indeed! And I am going to do my absolute best to come to NYC and CT, as far as finances will allow.

[tyellas.livejournal.com]

Whooo eee! You'll be south of the Mason-Dixon line, missy!

-ahem- Through the magic of globalization, I may be in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area sometime when you're there, for work.

Like Merrymaia says: you'll come to CT/New York, right? I'll be in the New York/CT area from March 30th to April 11th, in NYC itself from the 30th to the 1st/2nd. You HAVE to come up so us Yankees can show you some culture. Plus, I will buy you the Best Italian Roast Pork Sandwich In The Universe.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Sorry it's taken me a few days to reply: stupid back ache limiting my time at the PC. Absolutely amazing that you're going to be in that part of the world too. The techno-world is probably smaller than we imagine.

I've pencilled in your dates in NY/CT: I'm not sure how soon that'll be after we arrive that will be, but it would be fantastic to get up there while you're there. I'm salivating at that thought of that Roast Pork Sandwich...

[tyellas.livejournal.com]

Ooo...you can get from Charlotte, NC to New York affordably via the budget airline JetBlue. It's like easyJet/RyanAir for the States. You don't get the mad crazy deals you can on easyJet/RyanAir, but it's as cheap as the train, and doesn't take 10 hours.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Ooh, brilliant tip-off, thank you! I once took the train from Boston to Washington DC, and it was exhausting.

[katlinel.livejournal.com]

Yay for your lovely Christmas and New Year.

I saw The Holiday before Christmas on my shopping afternoon with M, and yes, we liked Kate and Jack and Eli - I wished the dinner party scene with Eli's friends had been longer - and though the rest of it was pretty dire. And poor Kate, having to wrestle with dialog that sounded as if it were straight out of a cheesy selp-help manual when she was ditching the bastard boyfriend(TM). Also, for how long has Surrey been located in the Cotswolds?

I have mixed feelings about The History Boys - I think it should have ended at the singing, and I also thought Mrs Lintott's outburst in the second act came from nowhere in the play, and it felt like a sop to feminist thinking. Other people I know who saw it thought it's sense of period was off - the music suggested 80s, and some of the rest of it seemed very 50s. And at the end of it, I did feel it's yet another play centred on male bloody adolescence, and I really wish someone would do something similar for female adolescence, with the same level of focus on something other than their love lives. But it probably wouldn't get the simultaneous live performance and major film release. We planned to see the film as well, but we didn't get round to that.

And I hope the travel plans come together smoothly, and you have masses and masses of fun on your Big Adventure stateside.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Also, for how long has Surrey been located in the Cotswolds?

We both burst out laughing at the first sight of her cottage, it looked like something off a selection box. Also, how would someone doing her job be able to afford somewhere like that, not to mention live that far outside of central London. (I wonder if the L.A. stuff jarred as badly to a local?)

I wished the dinner party scene with Eli's friends had been longer - and though the rest of it was pretty dire

That did seem to be the stuff with which the writer was really most at ease. I'm sure it would have sustained its own film, actually. The problem with many of the other scenes was that they went on too long: both break-up scenes in particular (wince, wince). We both wanted Eli to have come over to England to be at the party at the end.

I really wish someone would do something similar for female adolescence, with the same level of focus on something other than their love lives

And a 1980s setting would be perfect for it too.

it probably wouldn't get the simultaneous live performance and major film release

Not unless Alan Bennett wrote it, and that's not likely. I also grumped about the sole female character, although Isla Blair's delivery of that line about not hitherto being permitted an inner voice was sublime - she really subverted it, doing it as if she had been off elsewhere doing things of vast and much greater importance, but that circumstances have forced her to give these people her attention for a little while. Perhaps she was off in the all-female version of the play.

[kerravonsen]

Oooh, big move! Of course, you won't be any closer to me...

Things for you to look forward to: lemon iced tea, big soft pretzels, cinnamon-flavoured candy, root beer, the Land of Trekness!

Things to dread: being fingerprinted by Homeland Security, "Oh, I just loooove your accent! What did you say, again?", fast fried super-size food, terrible chocolate

[altariel.livejournal.com]

The fingerprinting thing really does stick in my craw, but there's not all that much I can do about it. The accent thing is fun: I always seem to end up going hyper-English when I'm in the US, like a BBC announcer from the 1950s. Doesn't help a bit.

[edge-of-ruin.livejournal.com]

Yay! Glad you had such a brilliant time!

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Hope you had a good Xmas too!

I'm going to go and see Pan's Labyrinth at the Arts tomorrow, 4.45pm - fancy joining me?

[windswept1.livejournal.com]

Ooh! That's an exiciting change! always good to get to stay short-term in another country:) does this mena you'll have more time to write now?:o)

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I'm really looking forward to the change of scenery (particularly on a wet, grey day like today). I really hope it means more time to write, away from all the various distractions of home!