2012

Moliblog is global…

Moli

It would appear that Moliblog has a truly global audience.  Last year the stats came back with UK, US and Australia being my audience which although welcome was fairly limited compared to the size of the planet.  This year however the stats have come in and my audience has increased considerably.  However, I’ve still got some work to do to break into Iceland, Greenland, China and most of Africa…  Thank you for reading Moliblog in 2012…
Moliblog Global Reach

 

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Moli review of the year…

Moli

Like most years, 2012 started as most years do, with promises for diets and fitness, plans for a better working life and more fun that the previous year.  These plans always find a way of failing for one reason or another.  I wanted so many things to happen in 2012 and I’m a little sad to say that most never came to fruition.  They say that the I wants always want and I gets always get.  I therefore didn’t make things happen for myself and only have myself to blame for any stagnation in my life.  As a child the 6 weeks holiday from school lasted a lifetime in the longest and warmest of summers.  Now a year passes with the blink of an eye and I find myself writing my review of the year with the feeling that I’ve some how let myself down having not done enough to move my life forwards.  Its not however that I haven’t tried, just that I’ve failed to land my plan in 2012…

Moli & Beer - London Olympics 2012

The year was always going to be special with some significant events that really defined how I will remember the year. I firmly remember standing in the cold and rain with thousands of people to get my first chance to see the queen in the flesh.  Little would I know that 3 months later I would be sitting next to her in my car while in a traffic jam. Now that was a very surreal moment…

Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant

The Diamond Jubilee was the start of a party that led up to the London 2012 Olympic Games which I felt was the most amazing month for London and the UK as a whole.  I loved seeing the games makers everywhere I went and still wonder where these people are now that we can no longer see them dressed in purple and with an ID badge the size of small TV around their necks.

Games Makers

We did have some hot sunny days but my cold soaked feet tell me otherwise, I know that at the start of the year the weather men were asking for more rain after a very long dry period but whatever rain dance they did it certainly worked and continues to do so with abundance.  I humbly ask that we can have a decent summer in 2o13. Please……  The Jubilee and the Olympics brought ships, boats and all manner of water craft to the Thames.  I loved seeing all the tall ships, the cruise ships and seeing the aircraft carrier HMS Ocean which I was lucky enough to visit.

Tall Ship

GEMINI - GALLEONS LOCK

HMS OCEAN

The daily helicopter flights of the RAF flying over my home keeping me and everyone else safe was always welcome even late at night.  The special forces practicing mock attacks on the Queen right outside my lounge window was better than any TV show.  Also it was free and it lasted most of the day…

It was the year that I decided to change my car after many years with Jennie the Mini and although it broke my heart to part with her, the new car is amazing and so much more than I could have expected.

Land Rover Freelander 2

It took for most of the year to pass for me to finally get a couple of decent films to watch.  The first was Looper which was a very original story and so well constructed.

Looper Poster

and the other was Skyfall which was long overdue and well worth the wait.

Towards the end of the year I took a Helicopter flying lesson and drove a rally car which was great fun.

Silverstone Rally Experience

I was lucky to meet and see some interesting people, Jeri Ryan, Keeley Hawes, Matthew Macfadyen, Jerome Flynn, Karl Urban, Gillian Anderson, Carol Ann Ford, Meryl Streep, Natalie Portman, Richard Curtis, Stellan Skarsgård and only last week ended up meeting up and coming British actress Hayley Atwell…

Moli & Hayley Atwell

After all that, I guess 2012 wasn’t a terrible year. I got to take lots of pictures. Have some laughs and oh bugger, that’s another year gone with a blink of an eye… I wonder what 2013 will bring???

Happy New Year everyone and thanks for reading Moliblog…

M

Shut It…

Moli

When I was a child my mum and dad gave me a 20 inch black and white television in my bedroom.   I was very lucky to have such a TV in the 70’s, which today is very common for kids.  I’m sure I should have been sleeping but in the days before the watershed I was watching The Sweeney.  John Thaw and Dennis Waterman as tough cops from the Flying Squad.  The opening sequence and music are a strong childhood memory along with blaggers with stockings on their heads driving Jaguars and hard drinking cops in their Fords.

The Sweeney

However, as an adult its the language of the series which is more engrained into my memory and that of British culture with lines such as ‘put your trousers on, you’re nicked’ and ‘We’re the Sweeney, son, and we’ve haven’t had any dinner yet, so unless you want a kickin’…”

The Sweeney

The period of time since the series finished in 1978 has seen Police shows like The Bill captured a more realistic portrayal of Police life but it wasn’t about it being real, it was about it being hard, dangerous and rough.  It wasn’t until Life on Mars came along that the world of the Sweeny was brought back to life.  It was a very different show but the character of Gene Hunt, a cop that drank hard and will hits first and asked questions later was very much the same.

Movies set in London are always fun to watch.  The city is very photogenic and should be used a lot more than it is.  So many films are set in New York or LA it makes a change to see London shot so well in the 2012 movie of The Sweeney with Ray Winstone playing Regan and Ben Drew as Carter.  It was a little distracting to watch the movie at West India Quay as the aerial shots showed the Cinema I was actually sitting in.  This has happened to me before while watching 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks later, which were shot in the same area.  It can be fun though; I once made a phone call from a payphone at Liverpool Street station and then went to see Mission Impossible. During the film Tom Cruise made a phone call from the payphone I’d just used.  I also like it when I see gunfights or zombies near my home. There is an extra sense of reality to the most unreal of situations.

The Sweeney

The film was directed by Nick Love and by the numbers, by which I mean it didn’t stretch itself too hard, it just told the story.  It seemed to lack any style and at times it looked like a commercial for the new Ford Focus ST and Jaguar, which got some great screen time.  The script lacked any depth and failed to stretch itself and was fairly obvious and plodding.  However, Winstone was everything you wanted him to be which really means he was himself playing Regan.  The serious tough guy East Ender with a few C and F words thrown in made him compelling to watch with exception to his half naked lovemaking scene that just got more laughs than anything else.  I also enjoyed Ben Drew’s first foray into acting with a performance that was really convincing.  The connections to the original TV series I watched as a kid and this movie are very lose but that didn’t make it a bad film.  The gunfights and car chases were amazing and fairly long but I found myself waiting for the next one to come along.

The Sweeney

The character driven story was replaced with a narrative that just linked each action sequence and patted the audience on the head. I never expected to come out of the cinema with my life changed but I felt the characters needed time to develop enough for me to care about them.   I didn’t care about them and that’s the reason it was a bad film…

Moli

Two amazing weeks…

Moli

The past few weeks have been fairly exciting. I posted images previously of the cruise ships and mega yachts arriving for the Olympics. I’ve spoken about the things I’ve seen in the build up to the games, but nothing prepares you for the reality of London hosting the Olympic games. My understanding was that the roads and the trains would be packed with millions of people and getting about would be impossible. Boris Johnson’s Transport for London announcement told of 1 million people daily using the network. I think however, people were too scared by this information to travel and therefore didn’t do so. I found the roads to be empty of cars and the trains offering pain free travel. From the moment the bizarre and spectacular opening ceremony began I was captivated by sports I’d never heard of or watched before… There was some concern about empty seats when people couldn’t buy a ticket for less than a kidney and a right arm and there were some sports, which didn’t have any spare seats, like women’s beach volleyball.

Womens Beach Volleyball

However, I can’t think why???

I was so pleased to get a ticket myself at the last minute for Basketball. I couldn’t wait to get into the Olympic park and sample the atmosphere that I was watching on the many BBC TV channels created just to watch the games.

Moli & Basketball - London Olympics 2012

I’m glad to say that I wasn’t disappointed when I got inside. The park was packed with the people of the world all displaying their country’s colors with a predominance of the union flag.

Sea of People - London Olympics 2012

The Union Flag has been growing in popularity over the past few years and especially in the past 12 months since the royal wedding and the Queens diamond Jubilee its never been waved so much, and now its done supporting team GB. As I was seeing Team GB vs. Australia I had very little objection to doing the same. I think its odd that before the Olympic games I don’t remember a team GB. Now I’m their biggest supporter. I’m cheering the Judo and Table Tennis. Or Ping Pong as I call it. Why can’t you have Olympic Ping Pong??? Actually, is that really a sport? Either way, I’ve never enjoyed sport so much. The spectacle of Usain Bolt, Mo Farah and Ben Ainslie winning gold was compelling viewing. I have to be honest that hearing the national anthem now brings a tear to my eye. Considering that over a year ago the country was ripping itself apart and now we have come together to present ourselves to the world in a really positive way makes me proud that the scum didn’t win.

Moli & Beer - London Olympics 2012

I didn’t want the games to end and as the second week came to an end I was left feeling fairly blue about life returning to normal. I felt the closing ceremony was disappointing. As a rock concert goes, I thought it was amazing, especially Fat Boy Slim. However, as a closing ceremony it lacked originality and the right pace for a celebration of what great things had preceded it. Maybe I’m just being grumpy with the post Olympic blues but it fell short for me.

Time to move on and get ready for a new season of Doctor Who and the Paralympics…

I know I’m going to be inspired and humbled by the Paralympics. Bring it on Team GB!!!

M

Bring on the games…

Moli

Last night was the Olympic opening ceremony and my concerns about it being truly terrible were replaced with pride. Pride in the country’s achievements. Pride in our icons, Bond, Beckham and Bean. Pride in our humor, our music and in our athletes.

Olympic Bean

Olympic Stadium Fireworks

Beijing and their opening ceremony was pure perfection and a real tough act to follow. Although the scale was so much smaller I felt that Danny Boyle did an amazing job and his imagination and story telling made it a truly British event. The only painful bit of the night was the athletes flag parade which I’m still certain would have been better and quicker if set to the theme tune to Benny Hill…

Team GB

All in all, it was a good day that started with me seeing Michelle Obama, who was visiting team USA which are based a short walk from my home. However I was more impressed with the size of her entourage.

Michelle Obama - Cavalcade

So, let the games begin, I’ve managed to get some tickets to see Great Britain vs Australia in the mens Basketball and I can’t wait to wander around the Olympic park. Go team GB!!!

HMS Ocean…

Moli

I’ve just had a really great tour of HMS Ocean which is currently at Greenwich for the olympics.

The ships company were very welcoming and professional.  The ship is impressive from a distance and close up.  I got to play with handguns and machine guns and chat with the various members of the crew about their job.

Here are some pictures.

HMS OCEAN

HMS OCEAN

The rest of the set can be viewed here…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/xalio/sets/72157630584761342/

I’m told that they plan another open day, so look out for dates as its well worth a visit.

M