I'm All Lost in a Supermarket
Knackered, walking around (or should that be round ?) the local supermarket - Morrisons actually - looking for the BOGOFs (buy one get one free) that Dearest has spotted in some glossy mag that I had picked up the last time I went.
I was looking for lasagne and some Lloyd Grossman pasta sauce. I'd been at it for ages to no avail. I know I should have asked an assistant, but don't forget, I'm a man; and men never ask for directions do they ?
Later, as I sat nursing two fingers of Jameson's finest, I thought back 30 years or more. Lasagne ? Pasta ? Sauce ?.......do you not mean 'gravy' ? I doubt anyone I knew would've known lasagne or pasta if it kicked them in the balls. Spuds. That's what we were brought up on. A special meal usually happened once a year - Christmas - and that, as we all are aware, meant turkey *with all the trimmings*
As the 70s arrived and my purple satin loon pants flapped around my platform soles, we progressed to 'eating out'. This, for my income - and aspirational - group, invariably meant a 'Berni Inn' of some description - and a steak with chips and salad. Christ we knew how to live back then. The 'Hole in the Wall' on Oldham Street in Manchester. The 'Cafe Monica' in Oldham and, Dearest and I's favourite; 'Barnaby Rudge', just off St Ann's Square in Manchester.
"How would you like your steak ?"
"Errrr well done......and can I have another pint of bitter mate ?"
Thirty years on I'm complaining if my Sea Bass isn't cooked to perfection, and the wine isn't *quite up to scratch*
This evening, Dearest and I decided on a DVD night. Eldest was going to his Darlin's straight from work, so a spag bol concocted with Mr Grossman's tomato, chilli and basil 'gravy', and then a film. (NB NOT 'a movie !'), was the plan.
A decent bottle - or two - of a pleasant shiraz were consumed, as we settled down to watch one of the many DVDs that friends have bought or lent Dearest for consumption during convalescence.
We decided on 'Captain Correlli's Mandolin'.
Now, I'm one of those folk who loved the book. For a number of reasons. Apart from anything else, I love the Greek Islands and I play the mandolin - so I'm obviously gonna be a sucker for a combination of the two.
" Faults will be found by anyone who's looking for them, but Captain Corelli's Mandolin remains a sensuous, richly layered film that die-hard romantics will find hard to resist." Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com
Faults ? Faults ? What ? Like a total disregard for the unknown and unrequited homosexual love that pervades the novel ? A love that is central to the narrative ! A love that makes sense of one of the most important scenes in the film? Add to this the fact that the end has been totally re-written (for Hollywood ?),so that the outcome appears to be the exact opposite of de Bernieres' densely detailed novel. I think I have a good case for never bothering with an *aimed-at-an-audience-who-can't-concentrate-for-more-than-ninety-minutes* type of MOVIE again. 'Richly Layered' ? My Arse !
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