Observing life in Glasgow, Scotland, the UK, Europe and Worldwide; be they movies, tv, travels, food or eccentricities. . .
The week will finally show what this blog is capable of! First, some photos from another neighbourhood here in Glasgow, then some church photos (a new series), music, film, TV of the week, and a look at a “first hit, last hit” segment, this time featuring REM.
But first, take a look at this street art, from an unknown “Banksy” in Glasgow; seen in the Hillhead area.
CB
Two things stuck out the last week, and it seems that to my tastes, filmed Britishness is still superior to other forms of entertainment as long as it doesn’t fall to the theatrics of a filmed play.
The best of TV, was my finishing (finally) watching 2018’s The Terror on the BBC iPlayer, that only recently finished on BBC1 (I believe).
Charting the ill-fated, mid-19th century British expedition to find the Northwest Passage, the series suffered from, once again, overuse of colouring (brown and blue again!), a ridiculous sub-plot involving a polar bear from hell, and succumbing to a new-age, Jim Morrison type of mutineer character, in the final stages.
What could have been great, ie, show it like it was!; was in the end only quite good, except for the exceptional, even heroic acting of Jared Harris, as one of the ship’s captains. Though when compared to most, it’s a 10 out of 10.
The ten-part series, with each episode only about 45minutes, flew by.
For my film, I caught on BBC4, The Elephant Man, which I have seen several times before, both when it originally came out, and on several other occasions. Though I could have sworn that this version was longer? Is this so? Not sure. In addition, I had forgot that David Lynch had both co-written and directed it. Maybe the black and white, or use of a slight industrial score was a giveaway.
It’s a sad and moving piece; with the Doctor / Patient interchanges both subtle and moving.
FFS, they don’t make films like this anymore.
CB
What a beautiful sight! The Botanics in the West End of Glasgow. I believe the glasshouse is based on Kew Gardens in London?
Though with a recent cold spell (about -3 last night) it was chilly, but still sensational in the sun; though there was a VERY small amount of flurries about mid-day.
CB
Occupying a mish-mash of neo-psychedelia, mood music, 60s drone and shoe-gazing, yet always in the context of a rock band, Moon Duo is the type of band, that you can either put on in the background, or sit in your favourite chair, with a beer or wine; and just listen to.
What’s particularly appealing, is the use of keyboards, with a devotion to a minimalism, which at least adds a distinctness to their sound.
I could see them doing this in a small club, with reverb, echo and dry ice; it would be grand.
I listened to almost their entire back catalogue, and thought their most recent album, Stars Are the Light (2019), to be their most “poppy”. Little did I know, that the track below, already had over 2 million hits on Spotify.
Recht
Nestled between the West End of Glasgow, the City Centre and the Park District, Woodlands has a feel for everyone, be they student, first time buyer, Hipster, working classer, etc.
For the map below, I basically started in the upper left-hand corner, and meandered counter-clockwise, heading East, and then came back, north-westerly, past the Tesco Express.
As stated before, there is a distinctive taste to Woodlands, no doubt contributed to by the many types who occupy it. Years ago, when I resided here, and to be blunt it hasn’t really changed except for the house prices, there was a large Asian (Indian, Pakistani) population, along with students from the nearby Glasgow University, and cheap pubs.
Many are still here, but there has been an obvious proliferation of cafes and coffee places now, yet there is an always nice, and an unpretentious feel to it. It almost has a don’t blink you’ll miss it look, as you head up to Hillhead (more later in the blog), and then onto Byres Road – West End ground zero!
Highlights would be anything from the Al-Furqan Mosque on Carrington Street, to the Woodlands Community Garden on West Princes Street, to my favourite, The Arlington Baths Club; a Victorian swimming pool.
I did a tour a few years ago, found them to be a very open, private club.
CB
To continue this series on Beijing, I was amazed that the old buildings from when the European powers were here a hundred odd years ago, are still standing and looking good. There was also a number of older, mature trees, that I didn’t see any where else in central Beijing.
Automatically, all seemed “different”, and “old” and more “European”! In fact, it reminded me of home, in Glasgow. So much so, that I automatically assumed, that there should be a pub nearby!
From here, it was very short walk to Tiananmen Square, though it was approaching dusk, and the light was not good enough for more shots.
In reality, I’ve never really been a huge fan of Gordon Ramsay, though I’ve watched quite a few of his differing shows. So it was interesting to see him the last few weeks on BBC1, to be thrown into the role of a gameshow host of Gordon Ramsay’s Bank Balance.
It must be said, that he has an empathising appeal. He seems to always be on the side of the contestants, as they are answering questions, in order to stack their “money blocks” onto various places around a central fulcrum, making sure to never collapse it from its precarious balance – it works a treat!
It has the questions, the decision that the contestants must make (how many blocks should they choose each time), and the agony or delight when they actually have to place the blocks around the central point. It can be cruel, but it can also be very compulsive viewing.
4/5
CB
As there is little to traveling right now, I’ll go over some of my recent travels. Please try Beijing. As you can tell from my crude map, it’s a very centralised type of old city, with a central ring road and road system; ideal for walking.
Of my trips to the far east, two were to China, with the second trip seeing Beijing for a second time. After the first time the year before, I couldn’t wait to get back. Unfortunately, I lost many of the photos from that year, owing to a disaster with my PC! Not deterred, after the second visit, I actually took my time to save my photos onto my hard drive properly.
Please, before you die, I’d recommend that you go here. It still has enough of its old charm (though you may disagree), that is mixed with its newfound wealth.
I’d recommend, and the next few blog posts will show, several things:
* The Hutongs
* The old European quarter / Tiananmen Square
* The zoo / Summer Palace, in the outer northwest of the city
* The Qianhai Lake area, a musical, hive of activity, particularly at night
* Just walk in the streets – Central Beijing is VERY easy to get about in.
We started by getting a cheaper, studenty / youth hostel – the 161 Hotel, at about £40 / night, that also did a reasonable breakfast, right in the central Hutong area. In addition, the Panda Bear beer was delicious!
A Hutong being a number of narrow alleyways / streets, that have been used for centuries, both as courtyard residences, as well as an area where some of the old royalty had lived. These are now both being preserved and also possess a variety of cafes, pubs, bike shops, hotels and millionaire flats – in certain areas. My favourite place, was the Ho Kitchen & Co. establishment, with a very nice draft beer. My friend told me, that some of the properties are worth well over a million dollars (or pounds, I can’t remember) nowadays. Mainly for the central location.
Whilst at times, there was a degree of, dare I say impoverishment, the overall level of safety and basic amenities were never in question. Though, I must warn you that it is an experience if you are desperate to use the public rest rooms! From what I had watched on the tv, and what our bartender / barista had confirmed, it is the intention of the Chinese government to launch a mammoth improvement of these much needed facilities, a total of about 100,000, if I understood correctly.
In addition, when I was talking to the said bartender, because I had noticed that in my previous trip (the year before), that there was a larger window in the pub that faced the Hutong street, he confirmed my recollection. But he also added, that this was due to a government edict, that he really had no desire to talk about – which was interesting.
All of the photos are from the Wudaoying Hutong area.
CB
This week, I will FINALLY be starting to blog about recent trips to the far east and continue with the write-ups about the different neighbourhoods in Glasgow.
I’ll start to write about China and in particular, Beijing – PLEASE go there asap. It was a revelation to me.
As for Glasgow, I’ll continue to look at certain areas, specifically, several in the city centre; Woodlands and Yorkhill.
These and more food, music and my take on certain online classes, that you would NOT normally do, as at present, I am taking an online dance class!
CB
If you’re like me, then you’ve probably never really had a lot of time for TV “keep-fit” experts. The reason? Time and time again, they ALWAYS expect too much from you. It is either too long or too enduring for anyone who is trying to follow them at home. Always!
So it was a welcome surprise, for me to accidentally switch Workout the Wright Way on two times the last week, and to finally see an expert, who had low expectations of any participants.
Wright constantly stressed that it was up to you, as to how much energy to expend, or how many repetitions to do. You want to do the 3×6; fine. Less? That was fine as well. His philosophy was to so SOMETHING.
Recommended.
CB
Curious Bystander 