Ironclad

Dir: Jonathon English

I was looking forward to seeing this film, as the city of Rochester is close to my heart, and I spent many happy hours examining Rochester castle when I lived next door to it. I have always wanted to build a model of a Norman castle like Rochester, perhaps not one quite as big (though as castle's go its not big), and I have quite a few diagrams and a couple of books about Rochester castle to that purpose. Consequently I am sufficiently well read on this particular building to bore your pants off.

I had no expectations of historical accuracy from the film, not least since the hero shown on the posters appeared to be a Templar Knight (because why?), and I was therefore not surprised by how many historical inaccuracies there were. What did surprise me was the scale of those inaccuracies, the biggest of which was the complete absence of the city of Rochester! The castle stood alone, by its bridge across the Medway, as if Southern England were a deserted swampy wasteland.

This made way for a few nice matte image backgrounds, and a story that utterly ignored nuance with Paul Giamatti doing his best to be King John (and doing a fair job it has to be admitted) and James Purefoy pretending to be a Templar Knight who just happens to be named after Sir William Marshal (but again; why???). Purefoy seems bored most of the time, or perhaps he was put off by the detestable presence of Brian Cox who once again uses his Midas-like touch to turn a promising film into a crock of shit.

Seen from a purely wargaming/model building perspective, the film wasn't so bad. There were a lot of skirmish situations with numerous shots of seige combat (and some amazingly rapid firing trebuchet'), but on the whole I was disapointed by the cardboard cut out characters and the absence of any decent sub plots. The quality of some of the supporting actors (such as Derek Jacobi and Charles Dance) doesn't make any difference either and although I really wanted to like this film, I just couldn't forgive King John's blue painted, shaggy Danish mercenaries who looked like they walked out of a Hollywood assembly line.

The Ghost

By Robert Harris

The problem with Harris is, he's too unproductive. The guy writes brilliant novels, interesting and very easy to read, but since 1992 he has produced a mere seven books. When I say they are easy to read, I mean the flow and pacing are so well done that the books run as smooth as a roll of film in a comfortable cinema.

'The Ghost' is about a ghost writer's experiences as he goes to work for a former British prime minister who is about to be impeached for war crimes, and at first I thought it was going to be dull. In fact I didn't even buy this book, fearing the subject would be tedious. My friends Goeg and Frauke gave me the book as a birthday present, and a good job they did too, for it is an excellent read (I should have trusted Harris's story telling ability).

The book also seems to be about Harris's relationship to Tony Blair, whom the British prime minister in the book is an obvious replica of. Apparently Harris has some kind of relationship to Blair, or had, and this is a factor in the books creation. What ever. I don't really care about Blair and his legacy. I never liked him as a politician, and when he was first elected (I was living in Liverpool at the time) I predicted that he would be a problem in the long run because no matter how good he was, Labour always fuck things up.

Thankfully the book is apolitical in this regard, dealing more with the ghost writers experiences as he uncovers a dark secret at the heart of the former prime minister's past.
4/5





The Ghost Writer

By Roman Polanski.

I'm not big on Polanski. There are too many recurring themes in his films which annoy me, since they appear to present a jaded world vision reflecting Polanski's own life. Without a doubt the man has a talent for making films, but equally so he has a tendency to project himself (or his tedious wife) into his art in such a manner that it becomes impossible to watch one of his films without seeing the unsavoury perspective on the world he projects.

This film adaptation of Harris's book has an advantage in that Harris worked closely with Polanski to create it. Unfortunately, though there are only a few changes from the original, the subtlety of the novel has been lost, the claustrophobia is missing and the dialogue is rushed. The dialogue in particular was annoying. Having just read the book, it seemed to me that the pace of the novel, which was reflected in the barren winter setting of Martha's Vine Yard, had been sacrificed and the actors raced through their lines, almost talking over each other, in places where the book indicated long pregnant silences. I got the distinct impression that the actors were simply reading from a script, and had not bothered to read the book.

I didn't care for the less-than-subtle ending either!
2/5

T-Force; The Forgotten Hero's of 1945

By Sean Longden

This book is about a British unit that was set up during World War Two originally by James Bond author, Commander Ian Fleming, then of British Naval Intelligence. Its purpose was to locate and secure German military technology, a lot of which was being destroyed and as the battle lines moved over the factories and test grounds of Nazi Germany. SHAEF came to realise that as the Allied forces were moving across Europe, they were destroying both valuable technical research and important evidence of Nazi crimes. The group which eventually became known as T-Force was created to prevent this, and to 'grab as much loot as possible'. The western Allies understood that the more they could salvage from the German's the better equipped they would be in the inevitable confrontation with Stalin.

Eventually T-Force was the only British unit to remain in action after the cease fire with Germany had come into effect. In order to prevent the Russians from getting there first, and possibly entering Denmark from the south, T-Force, with a force of 500 men sped ahead of the British front line to secure the city of Kiel, which was guarded along the way by two SS divisions and a city garrison of 20,000 guards. They succeeded. Thankfully.

From a war gaming perspective there is a lot of scope for skirmish games here. T-Force units were often small and fast, armed mostly with infantry weapons and occasionally armoured cars. The nature of their missions meant they seldom faced heavy resistance and each mission had a clear goal to secure an objective. There is also the Ian Fleming angle. According to Longden, Fleming based a lot of the ideas and characters of his Bond novels on his experiences with T-Force and his forerunners.

Unfortunately the book is not very well written. There is a lot of repetition and I suspect the author of padding to compensate for a lack of official records. Most of the book appears to be based on the memories of former T-Force personnel and as a consequence I never really got a good idea of T-Force as an operational unit. This may not be Sean Longden's fault however as most official records do not seem to have survived. Given how much of the latter half of the book deals with British forces looting Germany under the unofficial guise of 'war reparations', and putting one over the Soviets, that's probably no great surprise, but it doesn't change the fact that the book is confused, jumping back and forth between seemingly random facts and quotes.

The subject deserves a star all by itself though, so I'm inclined to be lenient.
3/5

Brothers in Arms

I usually mark fallen Danish soldiers to signify their loss means something to me, even though I'd never met them nor heard their names. It matters though. I don't care about Afghanistan, but I do care about Denmark.

I also care about Britain too, as I am half English by virtue of my Mother, and as a child of both countriesd I recognise the historical significance of the alliance between Denmark and Great Britain, so it was with regret that I noted the loss of the three hundredth British soldier in Afghanistan today.

April 9 2002 Private Darren George, 23
August 17 Sergeant Robert Busuttil, 30
January 28 2004 Private Jonathan Kitulagoda, 23
October 29 2005 Lance Corporal Steven Sherwood, 23
March 22 2006 Corporal Mark Cridge, 25
March 27 Corporal Peter Craddock, 31
June 11 Captain Jim Philippson, 29
June 27Captain David Patten, 38, and Sergeant Paul Bartlett, 35
July 1 Corporal Peter Thorpe, 27, Lance Corporal Jabron Hashmi, 24,
July 5 Private Damien Jackson, 19,
August 1 Captain Alex Eida, 29, 2nd Lieutenant Ralph Johnson, 24, Lance Corporal Ross Nicholls, 27
August 6 Private Andrew Cutts, 19
August 9 Private Leigh Reeves, 25
August 12 Lance Corporal Sean Tansey, 26
August 20 Corporal Bryan Budd, 29
August 27 Lance Corporal Jonathan Hetherington, 22
September 1 Ranger Anare Draiva, 27, Lance Corporal Paul Muirhead, 29
September 2 14 soldiers killed in Nimrod crash: Flight Lieutenant Steven Johnson, 38, Flt Lt Leigh Mitchelmore, 28, Flt Lt Gareth Nicholas, 40, Flt Lt Allan Squires, 39, Flt Lt Steven Swarbrick, 28, Flight Sergeant Gary Andrews, 48, Flt Sgt Stephen Beattie, 42, Flt Sgt Gerard Bell, 48, Flt Sgt Adrian Davies, 49, Sgt Benjamin Knight, 25, Sgt John Langton, 29, Sgt Gary Quilliam, 42, Lance Corporal Oliver Dicketts, 27, Marine Joseph Windall, 22
September 4 Private Craig O'Donnell, 24
September 6 Corporal Mark Wright, 27, Lance Corporal Luke McCulloch, 21
October 19 Marine Gary Wright, 22
December 5 Marine Jonathan Wigley, 21
December 12 Richard Watson, 23
December 27 Lance Bombardier James Dwyer, 22
January 13 2007 Marine Tom Curry, 21
January 15 Lance Corporal Mathew Ford, 30
February 21 2007 Marine Jonathan Holland, 23, Marine Scott Summers, 23
March 3 Lance Bombardier Ross Clark, 25, Lance Bombardier Liam 'Paddy' McLaughlin, 21
March 6 Royal Marine Ben Reddy, 22
March 8 Warrant Officer Class 2 Mick Smith, 39
April 13 Private Chris Gray, 19
May 3 Guardsman Simon Davison, 22
May 20 Lance Corporal George Russell Davey, 23
May 26 Guardsman Daniel Probyn, 22
May 28 Corporal Darren Bonner, 31
May 30 Corporal Mike Gilyeat, 28,
June 6 Lance Corporal Paul Sandford, 23
June 9 Guardsman Neil Downes, 20
June 24 Drummer Thomas Wright, 26
June 30 Captain Sean Dolan, 40
July 1 Sergeant Dave Wilkinson, 33
July 12 Guardsman Daryl Hickey, 27
July 25 Lance Corporal Alex Hawkins, 22
July 26 Guardsman David Atherton, 25
July 27 Sergeant Barry Keen, 34
July 29 Lance Corporal Michael Jones, 26
August 10 Private Tony Rawson, 27
August 11 Captain David Hicks, 26
August 23 Private Aaron McClure, 19, Private Robert Foster, 19, Private John Thrumble, 21
August 30 Senior Aircraftman Christopher Bridge, 20
September 5 Private Ben Ford, 18, and Private Damian Wright, 23
September 8 Sergeant Craig Brelsford, 25, and Private Johan Botha, 25
September 17 Lance Corporal Ivano Violino, 29
September 20 Colour Sergeant Phillip Newman, 36, Private Brian Tunnicliffe, 33
October 4 Major Alexis Roberts, 32
November 9 Lance Corporal Jake Alderton, 22, Captain John McDermid, 43
December 4 Trooper Jack Sadler, 21
December 8 Sergeant Lee Johnson, 33
January 20 2008 Corporal Darryl Gardiner, 25
January 17 Corporal Damian Lawrence, 25
February 20 Corporal Damian Mulvihill, 32
March 30 Lieutenant John Thornton, 22, Marine David Marsh, 23
April 13 Senior Aircraftman Graham Livingstone, 23, Senior Aircraftman Gary Thompson, 51
April 21 Trooper Robert Pearson, 22
May 2 Trooper Ratu Babakobau, 29
May 19 James Thompson, 27
May 25 Marine Dale Gostick, 22
June 8 Private Nathan Cuthbertson, 19, Private Daniel Gamble, 22, Private Charles David Murray, 19
June 12 Lance Corporal James Bateman, 29, Private Jeff Doherty, 20
June 17 Corporal Sarah Bryant, 26, Corporal Sean Robert Reeve, 28, Lance Corporal Richard Larkin, 39, Private Paul Stout, 31
June 24 Sergeant Major Michael Williams, 40, Private Joe Whittaker, 20
June 27 Warrant Officer Dan Shirley, 32
June 28 Lance Corporal James Johnson, 31
July 22 Corporal Jason Barnes, 25
July 24 Army dog handler Lance Corporal Kenneth Michael Rowe, 24
July 28 Sergeant Jonathan Mathews, 35
July 29 Private Peter Cowton, 25
August 11 Signaller Wayne Bland, 21
August 18 2008 Corporal Barry Dempsey, 29
September 4 Ranger Justin James Cupples, 29
September 10 Warrant Officer Class 2 Gary O'Donnell, 40
September 12 Private Jason Lee Rawstron, 23
September 13 Lance Corporal Nicky Mason, 26
October 15 Trooper James Munday, 21
November 4 Rifleman Yubraj Rai,28
November 12 Marine Robert McKibben, 32, Marine Neil Dunstan, 32
November 15 Colour Sergeant Krishnabahadur Dura, 36
November 24 Marine Alexander Lucas, 24
November 27 Marine Tony Evans, 20, Marine Georgie Sparks, 19
December 12 Lance Corporal Steven 'Jamie' Fellows, 26, Sergeant John Manuel, 38, Corporal Marc Birch, 26, Marine Damian Davies, 27
December 15 Lieutenant Aaron Lewis, 26
December 17 Rifleman Stuart Nash, 21
December 21 Corporal Robert Christopher Deering, 33
December 24 Lance Corporal Ben Whatley, 20
December 31 Corporal Liam Elms, 26
January 1 2009 Serjeant Chris Reed, 25
January 11Marine Travis Mackin, 22
January 14 Captain Tom Sawyer, 26, Corporal Danny Winter, 28
January 17 Acting Corporal Richard Robinson, 21
January 30 Corporal Daniel Nield, 31
February 14 Marine Darren Smith, 28
February 16 Lance Corporal Stephen Kingscott, 22
February 25 Acting Lance Corporal Paul Upton, 31, Corporal Tom Gaden, 24, Rifleman Jamie Gunn, 21
February 25 Marine Michael Laski, 21,
March 14 Lance Corporal Christopher Harkett, 22
March 15 Corporal Graeme Stiff, 24, Corporal Dean John, 25
April 28 Lance Sergeant Tobie Fasfous, 29
May 7 Corporal Sean Binnie, 22
May 7 Rifleman Adrian Sheldon, 25
May 7Sergeant Ben Ross, 34, Corporal Kumar Pun, 31
May 12 Lieutenant Mark Evison, 26
May 14 Marine Jason Mackie, 21
May 22 Fusilier Petero 'Pat' Suesue, 28
May 23 Sapper Jordan Rossi, 22,
May 27 Lance Corporal Martin Richards, 24
May 28 Lance Corporal Kieron Hill, 20
May 30 Lance Corporal Nigel Moffett, 28, Corporal Stephen Bolger
June 2 Rifleman Cyrus Thatcher, 19
June 11 Private Robert McLaren, 20
June 12 Lieutenant Paul Mervis, 27
June 19 Major Sean Birchall, 33
July 1 Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Thorneloe, 39, Trooper Joshua Hammond, 18
July 4 Lance Corporal David Dennis, 29, Private Robert Laws, 18
July 5 Lance Corporal Dane Elson, 22
July 6 Captain Ben Babington-Browne, 27
July 7 Trooper Christopher Whiteside, 20
July 9 Rifleman Daniel Hume, 22, Private John Brackpool, 27
July 10 Corporal Lee Scott, 26, Corporal Jonathan Horne, 28, Rifleman James Backhouse, 18, Rifleman Joseph Murphy, 18, Rifleman Daniel Simpson, 20, Rifleman William Aldridge, 28
July 16 Rifleman Aminiasi Toge, 26
July 19 Corporal Joseph Etchells, 22
July 20 Captain Daniel Shepherd, 28
July 22 Guardsman Christopher King, 20
July 25 Bombardier Craig Hopson, 24
July 27 Warrant Officer Class 2 Sean Upton, 35
July 27 Trooper Phillip Lawrence, 22
August 4 Craftsman Anthony Lombardi, 21
August 6 Corporal Kevin Mulligan, 26, Lance Corporal Dale Hopkins, 23, and Private Kyle Adams, 21
August 8 Private Jason Williams, 23
August 13 Captain Mark Hale, 42, Rifleman Daniel Wild, 19, Lance Bombardier Matthew Hatton, 23
August 15 Private Richard Hunt, 21, Sergeant Simon Valentine, 29
August 16 Fusilier Simon Annis, 22, Fusilier Louis Carter, 18, Lance Corporal James Fullarton, 24
August 20 Serjeant Paul McAleese, 29, Private Johnathon Young, 18,
August 25 Fusilier Shaun Bush, 24
August 29 Sergeant Lee Houltram,
August 31Sergeant Stuart Millar, 40, Private Kevin Elliott, 24
September 2 Lance Corporal Richard Brandon, 24
September 3 Private Gavin Elliott, 19
September 9 Corporal John Harrison, 29
September 13 Kingsman Jason Dunn-Bridgeman, 20
September 16 Trooper Brett Hall, 21,
September 16 Acting Serjeant Stuart McGrath, 28
September 21 Acting Sergeant Michael Lockett, 29
September 27 Private James Prosser, 21
October 1 Senior Aircraftsman Marcin Wojtak, 24
October 5 Guardsman Jamie Janes, 20
October 8 Lance Corporal James Hill, 23
October 22 Corporal James Oakland, 26
October 25 Corporal Thomas Mason, 27
October 31 Staff Sergeant Olaf Schmid, 30
November 3 Warrant Officer Class 1 Darren Chant, 40, Sergeant Matthew Telford, 37, Guardsman Jimmy Major, 18, Corporal Steven Boote, 22, Corporal Nicholas Webster-Smith, 24
November 5 Serjeant Phillip Scott, 30
November 7 Rifleman Philip Allen, 20
November 8 Rifleman Samuel Bassett, 20
November 15 Rifleman Andrew Fentiman, 23, Corporal Loren Marlton-Thomas, 28
November 18 Sergeant Robert Loughran-Dickson, 33
November 30 Acting Sergeant John Amer, 30
December 7 Lance Corporal Adam Drane, 23
December 15 Lance Corporal David Kirkness, 24, Rifleman James Brown, 18
December 19 Corporal Simon Hornby, 29,
December 20 Lance Corporal Michael Pritchard, 22
December 21 Lance Corporal Christopher Roney, 23
December 22 Lance Corporal Tommy Brown
December 28 Rifleman Aidan Howell, 19,
December 31 Sapper David Michael Watson, 23
January 3 2010 Private Robert Hayes, 19
January 11 Captain Daniel Read, 31
January 15 Corporal Lee Brownson, 30, Rifleman Luke Farmer, 19
January 22 Rifleman Peter Aldridge, 19
January 24 Lance Corporal Daniel Cooper, 22
February 1 Corporal Liam Riley, 21, Lance Corporal Graham Shaw, 27
February 7 Corporal John Moore, 22, Private Sean McDonald, 26
February 8 Warrant Officer Class 2 David Markland, 36
February 11 Lance Corporal Darren Hicks, 29
February 13 Lance Sergeant Dave Greenhalgh, 25
February 14 Rifleman Mark Marshall, 29, Kingsman Sean Dawson, 19
February 15 Sapper Guy Mellors, 20,
February 18 Lieutenant Douglas Dalzell, 27, Lance Sergeant David Walker, 36
February 24 Senior Aircraftman Luke Southgate, 20,
February 25 Rifleman Martin Kinggett, 19
February 26 Sergeant Paul Fox, 34
March 1 Rifleman Carlo Apolis, 28
March 2 Corporal Richard Green, 23
March 5 Rifleman Jonathon Allott, 19
March 6 Rifleman Liam Maughan, 18
March 7 Corporal Stephen Thompson, 31, Lance Corporal Tom Keogh, 24
March 15 Captain Martin Driver, 31
March 16 Lance Corporal Scott Hardy, 26, Private James Grigg, 21
March 22 Serjeant Steven Campbell, 30
March 26 Lance Corporal of Horse Jonathan Woodgate, 27
March 27 Rifleman Daniel Holkham, 19
April 1 Guardsman Michael Sweeney, 19
April 4 Rifleman Mark Turner, 21
April 7 Fusilier Jonathan Burgess, 20
May 2 Corporal Harvey Alex Holmes, 22
May 3 Sapper Daryn Roy, 28, Lance Corporal Barry Buxton, 27
May 9 Corporal Christopher Lewis Harrison, 26
May 21 Corporal Stephen Walker, 42
May 26 Gunner Zack Cusack, 20, Corporal Stephen Curley, 26
May 30 Marine Scott Gregory Taylor, 21
June 1 Marine Anthony Hotine, 21
June 4 Corporal Terry Webster, 24, Lance Corporal Alan Cochran, 23
June 8 Lance Bombardier Mark Chandler, 32
June 9 Private Jonathan Monk, 25
June 12 Lance Corporal Andrew Breeze, 31
June 14 Marine Steven Birdsall, 20
June 15 Corporal Taniela Tolevu Rogoiruwai, 32, Kingsman Ponipate Tagitaginimoce, 29
June 18 Trooper Ashley Smith, 21
June 20 Royal Marine from 40 Commando. Marine Richard Hollington

Gomni!

Old, old favourites. Ali Farka Toure & Toumani Diabate playing together. I discovered them both thanks to Peter Gabriel and Real World records back in the 1990's. In those days before Amazon I had to really hunt through all the record shops I came across in the UK and Denmark and even then I was lucky to find what I was after. So much of my music collection is based on compromise and what was availabe on the shelf, or what could be found in the store computer. Today I just type in the names in You Tube and then order on Amazon. I suppose its better now, but I miss the days when I'd listen to the Andy Kershaw show late nights on the BBC, one finger always ready to press the record button. Those days were good. Mette and I lived in Liverpool, both attending the Liverpool School of Art, at John Moores University and most of our time was taken up with studying and making 'art'. I was studying Graphic Design/Illustration and Mette was studying Fashion.

Liverpool was quite depressing, so on a slow evening I might lie on the sofa, listen to 'world music' and maybe smoke a joint if it was 1996 (I'd given up marijuana by 1997). In the end we left Liverpool and moved to Rochester which was a far nicer place to live. Sunnier, friendlier and nicer to look at. Andy Kershaw lost his slot on the BBC and life switched gears on us. I still had my tapes though, (I still do but they packed down in a box somewhere) but I'd bought a portable Cd player and I was never able to find any of the World Music Kershaw had featured on his show. I did however have a few Cd's by Real World Music and I used them as a reference point to find more.

Who remembers these?

This is what I grew up with, back in the 1970's. Its amazing how good these were, even though they are obviously so primitive.

You couldn't make this stuff up

Not only is Lord Achmed not elected, technically neither is Gordon Brown...

Bach: a teenage deterent!

If your ever having trouble with teenagers, here is the remedy: Johann Sebastian Bach

Staying recently in a South Yorkshire town called Rotherham—described in one guidebook as “murky,” an inadequate word for the place—I was interested to read in the local newspaper how the proprietors of some stores are preventing hooligans from gathering outside to intimidate and rob customers. They play Bach over loudspeakers, and this disperses the youths in short order; they flee the way Count Dracula fled before holy water, garlic flowers, and crucifixes. The proprietors had previously tried a high-pitched noise generator whose mosquito-like whine only those younger than 20 could detect. This method, too, proved effective, but the owners abandoned it out of fear that it might damage the youths’ hearing and infringe upon their human rights, leading to claims for compensation.

There is surely something deeply emblematic about the use of one of the great glories of Western civilization, the music of Bach, to prevent the young inheritors of that civilization from committing crimes.

Link

A simple token of appreciation

For my Grandfather Sidney George Cooke, my Great Uncle Beresford Grosvenor, my Brother Philip, and for all those who have fought for my freedom and for those who loved them.

Happy Guy Fawkes Night

Today is the day the Brits celebrate their democracy by burning Guy Fawkes in effigy. Back in the halcyon days of youth we used to watch the fireworks and eat treacle toffee and toffee apples. It was one of the occaisions when England was actually 'hygggeligt' and people delighted in each others company. The kids would run around and scream in delight as the fire works went off. I can still remember the heat of the flames on my cheeks and the front of my trousers. It all seems like a dream now, it was so long ago. I have memories of certain fires but I have no idea where I was at the time. I don't even recall who I was with except once when we were in Tarleton.

The nearest Danish equivalent would be Midsummers Eve or 'Saints Hans's Night' when Danes burn witches in effigy and eat good food together. Its okay, though I haven't really celebrated it myself since 2001. Since its during the summer, the whole thing lacks the feel of Guy Fawkes Night. The fire seems 'less impressive' on a summers night.