Trip to Luton

[wellinghall]

On Saturday, we went into Luton for the day. Our first port of call was Wardown Park Museum.


The first exhibit to hit our eyes was the Wenlok Jug.
http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.24hourmuseum.org.uk/chg/content/images/2006_2123.JPG&imgrefurl=http://www.24hourmuseum.org.uk/norwich/news/ART37607.html&h=247&w=200&sz=13&hl=en&start=1&tbnid=ifmLE6mQjSolUM:&tbnh=110&tbnw=89&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dwenlock%2Bjug%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-GB:official_s%26sa%3DN

Large, well-made and intricate, the most curious thing was how a smilar jug had come to be found in the tribal kingdom of Asante in Africa.

Then into their current exhibition, on games. Central to this were the Lewis Chessmen.
http://www.24hourmuseum.org.uk/content/images/2005_0014.JPG

We had of course seen many pictures of them, but seeing them in the flesh (so to speak!) was incredible.

Then the piece de resistance - the Harlington Chessman. This was found near Harlington church in the 1880s. It dates from the 10th or 11th century, and displays features of both Islamic and Western pieces.



Then lunch - an adequate fish and chips for me, and spinach and ricotta canneloni for Creatrix. Then onto the cinema, for -



It was, alas, too full of young teenage boys, but I suppose one must expect that of a Bond film.

We sat through the usual adverts and trailers, including one for Eragon; I hadn't read the book, but managed to pick up the Star Wars references pretty well.

We enjoyed the film, but it wasn't perfect. Overlong at about 140 minutes; Craig is a good Bond, but not up to the standard of Brosnan; the central poker game could have been handled better. There was no Q, no Moneypenny, and not much use of the James Bond theme. Nor was there an over-extended pre-credits sequence, but I didn't miss that. OTOH, both Bond girls were attractive; Craig, while not good-looking, had his plentiful muscles on display (including one scene where he is naked); and it did make for a pretty entertaining two and a half hours.



Then back home, for chicken, followed by orange pudding; second half of Strictly Come Dancing, Robin Hood, and TOTP2; and some of Master and Commander on tape.

Comments

[dreiviertel.livejournal.com]

We saw Casino Royale yesterday as well, and I agree with you - it is overlong, and I prefer the more fetching Bonds of yore :), but it was still good fun.

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

It struck me in rather the same way the Peter Jackson "King Kong" did - a visual tour-de-force, but rather too much of it.

[helflaed.livejournal.com]

I'm trying to avoid reading about the Bond bit.....

The jug does look incredible. I was lucky to see the Lewis Chessmen when the Across the Board exhibition was in Lincoln and we'd managed to get my parents to look after the children- it was so quiet without them!

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

The jug was a good deal more interesting (and a good deal larger!) tha I thought it would be. The Lewis chessmen were again in the Across the Board exhibition - the whole thing was very enjoyable.

[romancinger.livejournal.com]

Interesting you weren't impressed. I've been reading about how the writers intentionally went back to a more 'original' and gritty Bond, sans over-the-top effects, and was looking forward to this.

But POKER? It should be chemin-de-fer!

[didiusjulianus.livejournal.com]

What's chemin-de-fer? (says I, illustrating why they presumably decided to change it although that doesn't mean they should've).

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

A version of 21, vingt-et-un etc. You try to get to nine, without going over (from memory).

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

Gritty, yes. The torture scene is pretty bad. Elsewhere in fight/ physical scenes, they make you feel / hear the blows. But the big gunfight ispretty over-the-top, there are two big effects sequences, and the something like the usual dose of gadgets.