MOLIBLOG

Universe Saved…

Moli

So many things irritate me, like children that cry, scream and misbehave and the parents who do nothing about it. People who start conversations with, ‘What it is yeah.’ And those people who read my blog and never leave any feedback… You know who you are!!!

Then there are the OCD things in my life. The things that if not put right, will result in the universe clearly being destroyed or at the very least, being slightly singed around the edges. These things included tins in the cupboard being around the right way, switches in the right position and having a shave before brushing my teeth in the morning. Okay, I might be mad but I have my routines and I’m happy with that. However, don’t blame me if you wake up in the morning and have no universe because I didn’t have the beans facing the right way.

Outside my lounge window is a great view across the River Thames but sadly this was disturb with an orange carrier bag caught on some trees. It had been caught for a number of weeks and it was starting to annoy me. I mean, how can this be allowed to continue. I mentioned my pain and anguish to my girlfriend and we decided to remove it. Having walked down to the trees it would appear that the trees were in fact bushes with razor short thorns and the bag was the other side of what can only be described as natures WW2 barbwire. Being at the far side it was clearly impossible to remove and I gave up any hope of removing this blight on the landscape. Fleur on the other hand had other ideas and decided to crawl in the mud, under the bushes and towards the thin gap between the river wall and the river itself. As she did this rather bold and crazy feat, she would catch herself on the odd thorn, which scratched her back and made it bleed. However, she continued to crawl with determination until she reached the other side and the orange bag, which was caught on the razor sharp thorns.

Fox Crawl

She smiled as she removed the bag and threw it towards me. At this point a gust of wind blew it and it once again landed on more thorns of pain some distance away. It was at this stage that the word ‘bugger me ‘was used. Or something similar or more colorful… She again had to crawl through the mud and scratch more of herself in the process until she had finally and once again, rescued the orange bag.

Fox Cawl

Fox Crawl

Now I hope you are all very happy about this, as Fleur has clearly saved the universe single-handed and until now, you didn’t even know it was in danger…

M

Moli and The Iron Lady…

Moli

Moli Meets Meryl…

Which is was a great start to the year with my first Q & A for 2012 for the film, The Iron Lady…

The Iron Lady Poster

The film was always going to have the Marmite effect on the public opinion given the subject. Like many, I remember having a low opinion of Thatcher, as did much of her cabinet, which led to her ultimate demise. However, after nearly 22 years since she left office I find myself ambivalent to her and her history. I won’t deny that she had a major influence on British society and this film allows the viewer to bring their own memory of that impact by skirting around the political issues and focusing on the person. Anyone expecting to get any political insights or answers to her more controversial decisions will be disappointed. It’s not about politics. It’s more about the loss of oneself and the equality that we all have in old age and death. In essence, it’s a story about everyone. No matter who we are or were, we could all drop dead washing up a teacup.

Meryl Streep never met Thatcher in her preparation for the role and her performance wasn’t any worse for it. Streep captured the essence of the character without being comical or a spitting image caricature of Thatcher, she told us that she did get advice from Neil Kinnock, former Labour leader and unnamed people who were in her cabinet at the time in order to capture the person. The well researched make up and costume supported what was an award nominating performance. Listening to Streep talk about the role showed that she was a very smart and intuitive actress and to some large degree, much better than the quality of the overall production. Streep’s portrayal of Thatcher’s mental illness was based in artistic license, as this isn’t really known in detail. Only a book by Carol Thatcher, her daughter has given any insight into this and was certainly a catalyst for the movies theme. Therefore it is a weak premise for historical accuracy but fascinating as a subject matter.

Iron Lady Screening 2012, Meryl Streep & Phyllida Lloyd

Director Phyllida Lloyd whose previous work includes Mamma Mia and writer Abi Morgan (Brick Lane, Shame) chose to tell the story through flashbacks of her life. However, the flashbacks were primarily on her political life without going into any real detail and the hallucinations of the recently passed Dennis Thatcher played by Jim Broadbent. The appearances of Dennis were comical but all too distracting for me and took too much away from the torment of her inability to let him go.

The Iron Lady Screening 2012

The film didn’t touch on Thatcherism and the rights and wrongs of her career or her time as a Chemist and Barrister, which I feel would have added something to the story. Her desire to be more than a shopkeeper’s daughter is a rag to riches story that missed out her pre political life and her time at Oxford.

The film did nothing to change my opinion of Thatcher, which goes to show how balanced the screenplay was not to glorify or offend. It’s all too easy to demonise someone who, for many people is already demonetized and in contrast to this for some is worshiped and any critical approach would be unwelcome. However the film missed a chance to be something great and Streep was wasted in my opinion.

As always, I say go and see it and make your own mind up,

Moli

Invasion Scum…

Moli

Greetings,

The east end of London has been my home since birth. It has seen many changes with its identity and outlook and the changes have come in some very small ways and some very big ones. The big changes can be seen in the London Docklands area, which was once a centre of commerce bringing fruit, tobacco and alcohol into the capital. The docks and the river Thames also had a reputation for bad smells. However, the transportation of cargo into docklands came to an end when Tilbury docks opened and adopted the newly invented container system of cargo transportation. This ultimately caused the docks to die in the late 70’s and early 80’s leaving an empty wasteland that has was resurrected in the 90’s into a place for international finance and a great place for me to live. However, the smaller changes are the more concerning. I’m not talking about immigration, as this has always been a founding element of the east end and Throughout history, the area has absorbed waves of immigrants who have each added a new dimension to the culture and history of the area without destroying the existing culture around it. However this has started to change recently. Robins Pie mash shop in East Ham has closed down after trading since 1890.

Robins

This is not the first pie mash shop to close as Goddard’s in Greenwich closed down after trading for nearly 150 years being replaced with a burger chain. However, where Goddard’s closure was as a result of a greedy landlord and a cracking rental offer from Gourmet Burger, Robins was due to it’s location being infested with what can only be described as scum. The shops are indicative of this scum being populated with pound shops, stalls selling corn in a pot, international calling cards, Dixie fried chicken shops, pizza by the slice and several Kebabish kebab emporiums. It’s no surprise that Marks and Spencer pulled out years earlier and I doubt that these institutions will return to the area any time soon. Subsequently a traditional east end pub called ‘The Hammers’ has now closed down.

Hammers

This however maybe more due to the economic crisis but I’m sure the changes in the area did nothing to aid business and is yet another nail in the coffin for the traditional east end.

I’ve decided now to never go back to East Ham. It’s a disgusting place and I like many others surrender it to the hordes of scum that have taken over. I wonder where the line will be drawn?

On a lighter note, Today I noticed a Tate and Lyle truck with a spill kit attached to the side…. What does it contain? Tea and a dash of milk?

Until next time,

M