Mahinda’s Little World

Grrr. I lost a whole damn post on the Macclesfield Beer Festival, thanks to Firefox crashing.

Well, it was fun, and we drank plenty. We — PhlAsh, Paul C, Becky C (née D) and I – also spent over an hour chatting with Nicholas Winterton, the local MP. As one does.

He’s a very outspoken chap (thankfully a bit less controversial than his wife), and a real character. A proper old-style right-wing Tory, too. Oh, and a founder member of CAMRA.

It can probably be summed up by Becky’s phone call to her mother. Both of them are staunch Labour, as opposed to Paul, Becky’s husband, who’s from a very Cheshire Tory background.

"Mum, you’ll never guess who I’ve been talking to!"
…
"Nicholas Winterton! A Tory MP! And he’s actually a good bloke!"

Note the surprise.

28 Weeks Later

On the Sunday, Sarah M was in town, and she invited me out to the cinema to watch 28 Weeks Later. We always go to the cheery ones — the last time we went to the cinema together, it was to see Children of Men.

   

This film was very different to its predecessor, 28 Days Later. Days was a gritty indie-like affair with largely unknown actors…and Christopher Ecclestone…which was notable for its absolutely amazing portrayal of a post-holocaust London. I’ve always felt, however, that it’s two thirds brilliant and then let down slightly by a poor "let’s all run around lots" final third.

Weeks was altogether more polished, with a lot of Hollywood money. And it showed. Not necessarily in the good way, however. The opening third was pretty damn good — like Days but better, albeit lacking the initial amazing "London like you’ve never seen it before" wow factor.

First third:

Unfortunately, it then became a bit of a formulaic action blockbuster, with much running, screaming and blowing things up. Oh, and helicopters. It was all a bit cheesy too, with the whole "let’s make sure we look after the children".

Final two thirds:

The soundtrack was excellent, like in Days, with a few of the motifs carried through.

There’s probably room for 28 Months Later sometime…but I hope not.

Overall:

I should have had the noodles

Rather than accompany Sarah, Leila, Tall and Jen to Wagamama for noodley goodness, I decided to go home and pack, as I was off to Philadelphia the following morning.

The weather was absolutely filthy — not at all good for driving. I hit the Mancunian Way, and came off onto Princess Parkway. Some numpty boy racer tried to squeeze into a gap that just wasn’t there as I exited the roundabout…I took evasive action…the car fishtailed…I lost control of the back end (it being rear wheel drive)…and span round, whacking the rear passenger side wheel against the kerb of the central reservation.

I’d chewed up an alloy, and the wheel was bent inwards — a bent suspension arm, broken torsion bar and a broken driveshaft, as it happens. Ooops. So, instead of spending a chilled out evening packing, I ended up waiting for RAC guy to come and take me home.

Thankfully, dad came up to Manchester (twice), with parts from a scrapyard, and has all but fixed it. There may be a little damage to the wheel bearing, which is why the thing currently makes a bit of a noise when the wheel’s turning, but it’s driveable.