Round the world in various guises from Boorman to Wylson

In the Middle Ages they may or may not have believed the known world was flat, with dragons inhabiting the far flung edges. Later, expeditions to find short cuts to the spice rich Asian continent led to unexpected landings in the West Indies.

In the 1590s, Shakespeare has Puck saying he'll put a girdle round the earth in forty minutes to fetch the magical flower for Oberon. Pretty nifty even by modern supersonic standards.

Jules Verne's adventure story, Around the World in Eighty Days, written in 1873, told of the voyage of Phileas Fogg with his French valet Passepartout. Michael Palin took up the challenge by the BBC in 1989 to try to emulate it in reality, with his camera crew as his modern version of the French valet, after three people had turned the chance down, thus starting a whole string of his filmed travel adventures.

Yuri Gagarin on 12th April 1961 was the first person to journey into outer space and complete an orbit of the earth, describing its beauty. But it took til 1968 for a manned spaceship, Apollo 8, to leave earth's orbit, reach the moon and look back at the earth; in 1969 Apollo 11 landed on the moon and Neil Armstrong held up a thumb and covered up the 'tiny pea, pretty and blue' as he described it.

Back on earth in the summer of 1999, David and Kate Grant, and their three children, set off from Scotland's Orkney Isles to travel around the world in a gypsy caravan; the story of this journey is retold by David in his book 'The Seven Year Hitch' - the journey took them seven years in all.http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gypsy-life-on-the-high-road-1102678.html

In 2004, Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman's fantasy  bike trip to Spain grew into a round the world trip on sturdy BMWs, their idea to film their adventures stretching into a crew that included a couple of support vehicles and another cameraman on wheels. After extensive training, including first aid, they decided that, neither having faith in the other's ability to treat them if injured, they'd best take professional medical back-up. One of the many people they encountered on their travels was a solitary cyclist going it alone in total contrast to their ultra-planned, funded, supported trip. Other escapades have followed, mainly without Ewan as film schedules intrude, and many other celebrities have joined in the round the world flurry in various directions and on multiple forms of transport.

Also in 2004, but on a much humbler scale, two young lads, Ben and Jamie, set off from England to cycle round the world, without all the trappings of a film crew,etc.:check out Free Wheels East website for their adventures!

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKry69GI7c4     http://www.familyonabike.org/stories/books.htm

From Donnie Darko to Source Code

At last watched Source Code on tv last night - have sort of been meaning to watch it since it came out in 2011, though couldn't quite work out if I'd like it. After all, the plot sort of goes nowhere, a blacker version of Groundhog Day where the main character - played by Jake Gyllenhaal - relives several times the final eight minutes of a passenger on a bombed train. He seems most horrified when he looks in the mirror and doesn't recognise himself - the reflection isn't that of any famous actor in fact! Still, it's not any where near as scary as that mirror reflection of the mysterious silver grey rabbit in Donnie Darko(2001).
Donnie Darko was the first film I saw Gyllenhaal in, which I enjoyed though never totally fathomed the story out. Like Source Code it can give you qualms about travelling at speed - no-one would want to catch a train straight after watching the more recent film, but in the older film a jet engine crashes in Donnie's bedroom. Frank, the mysterious rabbit, tells him the world is to end in 28days, 6hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds, so at least Gyllenhaal has more time to play with there, though it's odd that both films end with him reliving the action to save the girl.

 Donnie Darko was filmed over the course of 28 days and missed breaking even, grossing only $4.1 million worldwide, though it has since amassed a large cult following. Source Code grossed  $147 million, with highly positive reviews, a lot of spectacular special effects and plenty of pixellation. It's directed by Duncan Jones (once Zowie Bowie, son of Major Tom himself), who had previously directed Moon, where the main characters turn out to be clones, no reliving of events there, just face to face encounters of the different versions of your personality. I enjoyed Moon, and it seems the critics agreed- it won the BAFTA award for an Outstanding Debut by a British Director, Writer or Producer.  After seeing Moon, Gyllenhaal had lobbied for Jones to be the director of Source Code.

But at the end of the day I definitely prefer Donnie Darko; apart from the fact it's one of the few films I've seen at the cinema twice, I will no doubt watch it again some time, whereas it's unlikely I'll view Source Code again.So no reliving of events planned there.

And what of Richard Kelly, who hasn't managed to repeat the success, albeit limited, of Donnie Darko. It seems his film, Corpus Christi, about the friendship of an unstable Iraq war vet and his wealthy  supermarket boss, has been shelved due to lack of funding, and he is working on a real life story for Amicus, about a record producer planning to kill his family. No happy endings as yet then.

Film costume, fashion and far away places!

At last got to the V and A film costume exhibition last weekend, on the penultimate day, the museum had even opened in the evening to squeeze everyone in, and it was certainly packed when we went. But it far exceeded my expectations, I was amazed at the sheer quantity of costumes, at first I couldn't think of any major gaps! (Although later it occurred to me that Annie Hall and Bonnie and Clyde would have been good additions as they both influenced seventies fashion so much, but perhaps that wasn't necessarily the brief, or possibly Diane Keaton, Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty held on to their wardrobe. It seems that Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal kept some pieces of their Brokeback costumes, according to the excellently detailed exhibition notes.) The film clips and videos of interviews with costume designers plus a few actors and directors added greatly to the interest; it was good to see the costumes' origins especially if you didn't know the film or recognise the clothes.

The exhibition of photography by Tim Walker at Somerset House was also at the end of its run, so again very busy. Impossible to categorize or even describe, as there seems to be little limit to his imagination, some of the work displayed appears on his website under 'archives'. There were no photos with Lily Cole, who he frequently featured in the past, but my favourite was of Tilda Swinton; other actors also appeared, including Scarlett Johansson re-imagined as Bette Davis in her 'Whatever happened to Baby Jane' role! Props used for the photos also form part of the exhibition, and added to the surreal and other-worldly feel of the exhibition.

And finally to another world, that of Ansel Adams, exhibited at the Maritime Museum: this one runs until 28th April. Entitled 'Photography from the Mountains to the Sea' , the collection includes water in its many forms, in Adams' trademark iconic views of American landscapes. From tranquil lakes to dramatic waterfalls and seascapes, where the water is frozen in time by his lens, his work is a powerful witness to environmental concerns.

The Beautiful Buckley Boys: three new films

'Greetings from Tim Buckley' takes its name from the 1972 album by Tim called 'Greetings from L.A.'; it juxtaposes the two Buckleys' lives, both cut tragically short.  In it, the younger Buckley is played by Penn Badgely,(above) Ben Rosenfield plays his father. It was shown at the Toronto film festival last September and is soon due for general release. Directed by Daniel Algrant, it shows Jeff's life immediately prior and up to his legendary performance of his father's songs in 1991.All the music in the film comes from the Tim Buckley estate, except for Hallelulah by Leonard Cohen, which Jeff Buckley famously covered on 'Grace', his only studio album. Jeff grew up in Orange County as Scott Moorhead, with his mother and step-father Ron Moorhead, only taking on his real first name and his father's surname after his father's death in 1975.

The second film is  'A Pure Drop' (also the name of a biography by Jeff Apter), in it the Australian director Brendan Fletcher examines the relationship, or lack of it, between the father and son. The film's writer, Train Houston, says it is a 'look at the life of a gifted and troubled musician who was haunted by a father whom he hardly knew.'

Jeff Buckley's mother, Mary Guibert, holds rights to her son's music and is the executive producer of the 'official' biopic, 'Mystery White Boy'. (In 2000, three years after Jeff's accidental drowning, she had compiled a selection of live recordings which were released under the same name.) Patricia Arquette will be playing Jeff's mother in  this film, Reeve Carney is the lead, directed by Amy Berg. David Browne's book 'Dream Brother: The Lives and Music of Jeff and Tim Buckley' has been used to help shape the story.

Penn Badgely/Jeff Buckley/Reeve Carney

Tim Buckley had several acclaimed hit albums from late sixties until he died of a drug overdose in 1975. He had divorced Mary a month before Jeff was born. Jeff's public singing debut was at a tribute concert for Tim, called 'Greetings from Tim Buckley', where he sang 'I never asked to be your mountain' a song his father had written about him as a child (and his mother) He concluded the concert with  the beautiful 'Once I was'. Buckley later stated 'It wasn't my work, it wasn't my life. But it bothered me that I hadn't been to his funeral,that I'd never been able to tell him anything. I used that show to pay my last respects.'

Desert Island Discs

Went to a party last night where we were supposed to dress in the theme of Desert Island Discs (Hawaiian shirt, anyone?) and/or take our own selection. I couldn't quite get my head round dressing for the tropics in the depths of English winter, though I know some people do it all the time, so I tried to compile my own list. Owing to faulty discs I never did manage to take a hard copy with me, but it got me considering the whole scenario. Unlikely as I am to ever be on the famous radio show, what would I choose? I decided that my own personal definition of a record deserving to be on the playlist would be one which, the minute it finishes, you want to hear again. When I was young my mother and I used to play 'Heard it through the Grapevine' with the record arm across (so the thing plays again and again) until one day my father commented 'Is this a long-player?' He was never quite on the same wavelength as us. So that could be first on my list. The song which always makes me want to dance, and that would be pretty essential in a desert island situation, is 'There, There' by Radiohead. I'd be happy dancing on my own to that! Enough said.

  Although there'd be no shortage of Elbow room, I'd probably have to choose two Elbow tracks, with Guy Garvey's voice you'd never feel totally alone. So that'd be 'Mirrorball' and 'Bones of You'. One of them from the live recording with the BBC orchestra and choir in the interest of variety.
I can't quite make up my mind about 'I burn for you' or 'Tea in the Sahara' from Sting's live albums with 'The Blue Turtles' 'Bring on the Night' (as it's so humid on this island!) and the marvellous Branford Marsalis on soprano sax, both titles seem appropriate for the climate. But according to the record notes 'Tea in the Sahara' was Branford's favourite so perhaps I should go with that. I'm sure it's what I'd miss there, a good English cuppa! On a more traditional note, to conjure up an entirely different world to the sandy beaches, I'd also choose Christmas at Sea, from Sting's 'On a Winter's Night' album a poem by Robert Louis Stephenson, set to music by Sting and Mary Macmaster, who adds haunting Gaelic vocals.

Another haunting choice excellent for singing along to would be 'You've lost that loving feeling', but only by The Righteous Brothers.

To carry on the slightly melancholy mood I would choose the beautiful Jeff Buckley's 'Last Goodbye' and while I'm not sure I could survive with just the one song from him, I'm runnning out of numbers and would also need some cheerier fare.
 

I'm not sure if all alone I could cope with the optimistic cocktail glass half full to full on 'Shiny Happy People' of REM, though I love Michael Stipe's voice, but as so far I have  very little female company perhaps I would need to choose the light nostalgia of 'Chinese cafe' by Joni Mitchell, remembering civilization and bustling cafes, youth, the social whirl of friends and relatives. To finish I'd need a lullaby, and what better than  'Sleep' by Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir, with a whole world of  uploaded voices to soothe me in my isolation. And if I could have the video too, it would be heaven, worlds of angels singing for me.

Only having ten choices, I've not chosen any classical, jazz, or world music, but would need at least another ten for those, and since it's all hypothetical, who's to say I can't....another time.