Adrian Phelan
Post 56
I’m grateful to those of you who clicked in looking for the blog. I’m sorry it’s a day late.
Don’t forget to hire me.
Goodbye neighbour
I’ve changed the opening topic of this post because I’ve just found out that a neighbour of 13 years has passed away. When I say this was a neighbour who still drove, still did her own gardening and was still flying about the place until recently, it might surprise you that she was already 15 by the end of the Second World War. The maths is correct, she was 96 very recently and was an absolute force of nature. We are a close-knit set of neighbours in a street where few have moved on. Our family are the newbies, and we’ve been here 13 years.
So top billing goes to saying goodbye to Eileen. Top billing to a top neighbour and an inspiration to all who knew her. Thoughts are with her family, friends and our neighbours, all of whom will miss her dearly.
Still October surely
Every year I say it, but I can’t belieeeeve it’s November. The Christmas lights have started to go up, and we’ve not even had Guy Fawkes yet. I do also declare however that we are back in Wrong Coat Season. I’ve worn my big coat for the first time today as I was heading up to Leeds, and I barely needed it. It was lovely out. I’ll be flicking between the two for a while I think.
Having shopped for baubles in Liberty in September I don’t have a strong case to moan about Christmas coming too early. However, I did see footage of a Dublin DJ rounding off his Halloween set with a Here it is Merry Christmas and I’m not having that. It’s too soon.
The filim bit
I saw stop-frame animation Wildwood at the weekend, and it was epic. Without going into too much detail about the process the film is made up of more than 165,000 individual frames, each one moved along by hand. So when you watch the film, you’re watching thousands of hours of tiny physical movements brought together to create the magical illusion that is the film.
However, putting the production magic to one side, a bit about the film from the interweb to check if it’s your bag:
Wildwood is a darkly magical fantasy adventure about a young girl, Prue McKeel, whose baby brother is abducted by a flock of crows.
Determined to rescue him, Prue ventures into the mysterious Impassable Wilderness, an enchanted forest hidden beyond Portland, Oregon. Accompanied by her schoolmate Curtis, she encounters talking animals, dangerous bandits and powerful characters, discovering a secret world threatened by conflict.
As her journey unfolds, Prue must find the courage to confront forces far greater than herself and fight to save both her brother and the magical world of Wildwood.
For its production alone, the film gets an A for effort. I have some minor criticism of the pace and rhythm which is sometimes abrupt and jumpy. Some of the movement is far-fetched as well; everyone should be dead with some of the near misses. It’s a bit heavy on the melancholy as well but that’s it for the feedback from me. As I said, it gets an A for effort, and I highly recommend everyone to watch it at the cinema.
Leeds the way
I’m a day late with this as I popped to Leeds on a whim and met up with some university friends. It was a great day out. I went and checked out my old halls, had a drink in the pub I used to work in and had a nice autumn stroll around Temple Newsam. Having moved there when I was still just 18, it was strange to walk around the town for the first time as a 50-year-old, in theory old enough to be any of the many students’ Grandads. My own sons could do worse when they leave school. The place is as vibrant as ever. A big shout out to Leon and Stu for looking after me for the day and for LNER for the Delay, Repay. It made the whole experience quite economical.
Do Good Well – International Stress Awareness Week
There’s always lots going on for us ‘do gooders’ to get involved with and the one that caught my eye this week was International Stress Awareness Week.
International Stress Awareness Week is a major annual campaign created to increase public awareness of stress, its impact, and the importance of mental health and wellbeing. The Week brings together employers, wellbeing practitioners, policymakers, educators and communities in a shared commitment to healthier, more supportive ways of working and living.
I think that’s been summarised very well. We are all affected by stress at some stage in our lives; or if you’re not, you’re very lucky. Do spread awareness of the campaign where you can. Here is a link for those in Ireland.
Goodbye and thanks
Once again, sorry for being late but I hope you found something within to enjoy. Another plug for my CV page. Remember to keep me in mind and I’ll see you again next week.
Thank you, thank you.
Socially viable
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