Sunday, 6 July 2008

All things Sunday

Saturday night was, as always in our house, movie night. Last night we managed two movies. First up was "The Nines". I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy this movie as it sounded like it might be a bit complicated for my simple tastes. Actually it was fantastic. Three separate stories seemingly unrelated using the same cast in each tale. The acting was superlative, the stories cunningingly interwoven although seemingly unrelated. I enjoyed it so much that I went and bought it on Play straight after we finished watching in it. Nine out of ten (pun intended!).

Next up was "Numb". Starring Matthew Perry I think we assumed that it would be funnier that it actually was because he was so funny in "Friends". It wasn't a bad movie, it just wasn't a good movie either. So having said it was better than most of the movies that I have seen starring former "Friends" cast members. Only five out of ten for this one.

Of course the other piece of watching that had to be done for Saturday night was the season finale of "Doctor Who". Having spent a whole week waiting to find out what would be the outcome of the 'cliffhanger' where he started to regenerate (and reading a good deal of speculation on the internet) it was both a relief and a disappointment to have it resolved within the first few minutes of the episode.

Bits of the episode I liked: the thoughtful German speaking Daleks "Exterminieren! Exterminieren!" (it always bothers me that aliens always speak English); Catherine Tate's almost uncanny mimicing of David Tennant's enthusiastic speech patterns (I don't usually like her much, but that was excellent); the fact that all the annoying side-kicks have been sealed from future storylines (no more Rose and no more Donna). Bits of the episode I didn't like: predictable outcomes (the whole hand/regeneration thing), the implication that Mickey and Martha are off to Torchwood (no!) and the huge amount of attempts to tie-in former storylines so that there is an apparent story arc. Whatever. I have seen worse episodes (oh so many) - I guess we'll see where we are heading next... what will we do for Saturday night TV for the next year or so, I'm sure we'll manage.

This afternoon was the eagerly awaited British Grand Prix. The weather has been delightfully changeable, and we hoped for rain. This was perhaps the best Grand Prix I have seen in ever such a long time. Aided by the fact that although there was rain, there were tyre issues, there was aqua-planing... but there was no safety car. Lewis Hamilton eventually won the race with a huge (huge) lead (over a minute, only the two other drivers on the podium weren't lapped) it wasn't a boring race. Lewis started strongly off the start (coming from fifth place to take second spot behind team-mate Heiki). Kimi looked like he was going to be a strong contender in his Ferrari until an unfortunate tyre decision effectively took him out of the race. There were a lot of cars spinning off the track, but most managed to get back on again. The most exciting bit was towards the end when Heiki was chasing Alonso (and a few other cars in the mix)... all in all an absolute cracking race. Oh yes, and lots of Fantasy F1 points for me as Silverstone is my chosen track and Lewis my number one driver!

After that I felt compelled to tidy the kitchen. I think it is something to do with the advent of the new fridge-freezer. I scrubbed and cleaned, I polished and tidied. The glass cupboard shines again and even the drawers are clean. Again, almost akin to exercise, that is twice in one weekend!

Now I'm sitting half-watching the Wimbledon men's final. Very thoughtful of the rain to disrupt the afternoon so that I can see the end of the match. I'm not a tennis fan (not at all) but I always enjoy a highly charged game, which is what is going on here. I also have a passing affection for Roger Federer after the Ty Beanie Baby Feder-Bear.

So, that is Sunday... what a Sunday!