Chinese GP Race Review...a bit late

China Grand Prix
Review

The race was brilliant....absolutely fantastic and one of the best I have seen for some time.  The right guy won it and it proved the effectiveness of a lot of the new "toys" in F1.  The most notable success was the strategy that can come into play surrounding the tyres.  Saving a set in qualifying now looks to be more and more important.  So much so that you can qualify well down the field and, given a reasonably competitive car and fresh tires, watch as your opponents struggle and lose track position to you.  So does this make qualifying less important than in past years.....time will tell.

Lewis Hamilton drove an outstanding race and deserved all the plaudits he received afterwards...but I would say that the drive of the day came from Mark Webber who stormed from 18th on the grid to nab the final podium place.  This was more impressive than some of his victories and showed real fighting spirit.  I would have liked to see him overhaul Vettel in second but the laps ran out before he had a chance.  Speaking of Vettel....both he and Button suffered due to not having pace at the right part of the race.  Button took the lead from the start and was quick enough to hold his persuers at bay....Vettel later on drove away for a while...but at the key moment late on in the race both faded into the clutches of Hamilton and Webber whose tyre advantage really was significant.  Jenson also made a rookie error by driving into the wrong pit box, stopping briefly in the Red Bull area and his race seemed to go downhill from there.

The race and indeed the championship will I think be about these 4 drivers and more than likely Vettel and Hamilton will ease away from their team mates to dominate later on.

The team who seem to be struggling right now more than most is Ferrari....their woes continue and they NEED to turn it around for Alonso to have any chance at mixing it with the leaders...right now he simply does not have the car underneath him to challenge and they are always racing for "best of the rest."  In the past it would have been possible to blame the driver but the team know they cannot do that this year....the car is simply not good enough, as a lot of people predicted at the beginning of the season.

Next: Formula Fantasy Scores

My book :)

Simply Concorde

By Mark Child

Book Preview

Book Review

"A light hearted look at murder"

by Mark Watson

I recently booked tickets to see Mark Watson at the Guild Hall near here. He is a brilliant stand up comedian in my opinion and I am totally looking forward to seeing the show...and don't worry readers...if there are any readers (*shouts HELLOOOOOOO*) I will write about the gig after I have been in December. So anyway I wanted to see if there were any dvds of his available on amazon and found after a search that he had written a couple of books. Based just on the title I decided to get my library to search the land for a copy of "A light hearted look at murder". They did and I finished reading it last night...

so now....I can feel the anticipation building....I can tell you what I thought. All sitting comfortably out there in Blogland?

Ok so the book is pretty short, about 300 pages, and is divided into two different sections. The text in these sections is either light or bold and titled either Alexandra or Andreas. Basically it is 2 stories about 2 people that have a link that brings them together

First we have Alexandra who is a researcher for company that makes documentaries...she is the central character of her sphere of the story....she has a brother Dan, who she shares a flat with after falling on hard times. Also in the flat is Dan's best mate, Gareth...and occasionally Dan's girlfriend Trixie. Alexandra herself has a best friend, Helen who works at the same company as she does.

The second universe belongs to Andreas who is a German student, studying American literature at an English university...may have been Cambridge. He is not a great people person and to start with has not many friends on campus...except for maybe Nina who lives in the same student accommodation as him. It is while there that he meets Rose...who is the 5th tallest woman (can't remember if it was in the world or just in the uk) and is instantly attracted to her. Through her he enters the world of professional look-a-likes and he begins a career as a Hitler impersonator. His social world then expands to include many strange people...Charles Steel who lives over a museum and is the tour guide there, Rachel who is Charles' assistant, Robert, the third tallest man who Andreas dislikes, Julian the Jack the Ripper impersonator and several other slightly strange characters.

These two universes collide because Andreas is is prison now and is part of the write-to-a-convict scheme. Alexandra gets involved and, with Gareth as a translator of Andreas' memoirs, she learns more and more about his life. But what was his crime, why is he in there...all will be revealed in the letters.

Ok so that's the basic set up and I am not going to give away any more of the story than that lol ...so what did I think of it I can hear you all cry. Ok well guys and gals I could ramble on and not make much sense but thats not my style....lets bring some order to this:

• Writing style:

The style was easy to read, very human if that makes sense. It was funny in places but, I don't think as funny as some of the quotes on the cover made out. Sometimes these quotes do the film or book a disservice by saying THIS IS LAUGH OUT LOUD FUNNY...so you go into the experience waiting for that huge laugh and you can end up disappointed...even if you enjoy whatever it is over all. So it was humorous in places but no more than that.

• Character development:

I thought this was a strong point in the book. The characters, no matter how ridiculous, always seemed believable. Also the author had a good eye for detail, and by that I mean emotional as well as physical description. I think there was a lot of realism in there that was good. Some books churn out nothing but stereotypes but this book really went to great lengths to make it so you knew the people and cared about the two leading characters

• Plot:

The plot was a slow burner. It kept you coming back because each translation of Andreas' life added new elements to the plot. This was good and I enjoyed the suspense building gradually - a change from my normal books where disaster has hit the fan within the first few pages. Maybe its a more mature plot for me (AAAARGHHH I'm growing up!!!)

In conclusion:

I think Mark Watson has written a good book here. Its not brilliant, it has its flaws but overall its a solid piece of work and I think it would encourage me to try one of his others. The characters were especially well written and the scene-setting was good. I did feel that the ending was a bit telegraphed - like a TV murder mystery where you have been held in suspense for 95% of it and then you think "well it has to be that guy cause he is the only leading actor left..." I say that as a certified non-genius in the plot twist spotting department...I never guessed that Bruce Willis was a ghost in the sixth sense....I may never live that down ;)

Grace Rating: 7/10

James Taylor - Hourglass

A review of one of my favourite albums by one of my favourite recording artists. I have been a fan of James Taylor's for many, many years and last year went to see him in concert which was everything I expected it to be. This album, Hourglass, was actually the first one of his that I heard after seeing him appear on a TV show to promote it. Subsequently I bought his back catalogue as well as more recent offerings but this one is special in my collection as it was my first. So here are my thoughts on a track by track basis :)

Track 1: Line 'Em Up

This is a great opening track. It reminds me for some reason of American Pie by Don McLean...it has that same kind of weaving together of strands of life. To carry on the pie analogy, its a slice of Americana. It's a song that takes you on a journey from beginning to end, delivered perfectly with JT's trademark laid back style. 5/5

Track 2: Enough To Be On Your Way

Another solid song. The strings at the beginning lead effortlessly into a quiet guitar intro. This then is a pleasing background as JT sings another melancholy story. Very subtle, understated use of backing vocal. 4/5

Track 3: Little More Time To Be With You

Featuring Stevie Wonder on Harmonica this is the first real toe-tapper on the album. Probably my first favourite that I came back to after the initial playing of the CD. A far more simple song in concept than the others but that's no bad thing. 5/5

Track 4: Gaia

This wasn't my favourite when I first heard it. I think coming after such an upbeat track it's a change of pace that left me disappointed... After hearing it many more times though my opinion has changed. The lyrics appeal to me and I particularly like the soprano sax section (try saying that after a few drinks) in the middle of the piece. Its still not my favourite but it's better than I first thought. 3/5

Track 5: Ananas

For me this is the weakest song on the album. It's a dip in quality I think and doesn't seem to fit with the other offerings. There is a nice electric guitar section but other than that it doesn't do much for me. 2/5

Track 6: Jump Up Behind Me

Back on familiar ground here for JT. An uplifting track with a good beat, easily accessible and another to return to a few times. As with other songs it paints a vivid picture of places and people and the vocal delivery is good as ever. Makes you feel like you are sat out on the porch overlooking a vast open countryside. 4/5

Track 7: Another Day

A slow beginning with little accompaniment suggests we might be heading into melancholy. The lyrics and the voice have a certain positivity that builds throughout the song. Once again, vivid settings and people easily enter the imagination. 4/5

Track 8: Up Er Mei

Another track that doesn't feature on my album favourite list. Its not bad but for me just feels a bit something and nothing as a track...not as well rounded as others. 2/5

Track 9: Up From Your Life

This is a stand out song on the album and from the initial burst of alto sax I was hooked. JT's voice really is like another instrument, smoothly merging with the music backing him. The verses build nicely to a chorus that, while simple, is delivered superbly with slight variations of emphasis and feeling. Some more sax and acoustic bass in the song make this one to listen to again and again. 5/5

Track 10: Yellow And Rose

Upbeat and with good tempo the song starts off deceptively with just the words "yellow and rose" sung in such a way as to leave you no clue where the song will go...could be mellow or could be a crowd pleaser. It is a solid song with a good beat that could have people up and dancing (not me as I can't dance, but other people) 3/5

Track 11: Boatman

Similar feel to the previous track. The album has some strong songs to finish off and this falls into that category. 4/5

Track 12: Walking My Baby Back Home

A simply brilliant cover of this 1930s track. There isn't much to say really, its a classic song and JT delivers it superbly. Simple and elegant. 5/5

Overall Grace Rating

8/10

Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum

Welcome to Grace Review's first non-movie review! Hope you enjoy!

On a recent trip to Florida my family and I decided to check out the Ripley's Believe It or Not! museum in St. Augustine. We were able to get discounted tickets for $4.50 (normally $16) and figured it would be worth a look. My family owned one of Ripley's anthologies and I grew up reading about such things as animals that were born with extra body parts and palaces made out of human bone. So when I found out there was a museum that had some of the actual artifacts housed in it, I was curious to see it. To give you a little more background, Robert Ripley was a cartoonist and traveler who sought out as many strange and unusual things he could find back in the first half of the 20th century. He was quite famous during his time and was eager to share his discoveries with his readers. And now, the people who own the company in charge of his legacy would like to share it with the world (for a price). :)

Anyway, the outside of the museum is nice enough, Asian/Middle Eastern inspired architecture. China was Ripley's favorite destination so I imagine that was the thought behind the design. I appreciated the layout of the interior: small area with many floors; they built up instead of out. There was a particular path you had to follow through the museum which I liked because that meant you wouldn't miss anything. Often in museums I find myself going "Did I go down that way yet? Did we check this hall?". There was no question where to go next here, which was nice. Even when you were going down a hall to the next room or section, there were various pictures with plaques to read. The middle of the museum was a large atrium type space where a giant Erector set Ferris wheel had been constructed. The place overall gave me a funhouse type vibe; you never knew what you were going to find in the next room.

For the most part, the things in the museum were interesting, even though there were a lot of sections that were just models and blown up photographs. And there were a lot of things that reminded me more of a science center rather than an oddities museum but I suppose they have to add that kind of stuff to make it more fun for the kids being they would probably get bored after a while of looking at things in cases. So it was a good mix of things for a family, enough interesting things to see for all ages. Plus, they had a wide variety of themes. Interested in pirates? Want to know more about the medieval times? It's all there.

On a side note, I'm an avid amateur photographer and they had no problem with me taking pictures and using my big flash so that was a plus.


In conclusion, it was worth my $4.50. I'm a huge fan of "Did You Know?" facts and useless trivia so a museum full of stuff I can bring up in later conversation is cool by me..."Speaking of wool, did you know that in such and such a year there was a lamb born with two heads?". It was a nice hour or two spent with family and if you are looking for something to do for an afternoon and can find a discount, I would recommend this place. It wouldn't be worth the full admission price however so if you are looking for more bang for your buck, I might hit up the Alligator Farm or some other St. Augustine attraction.

Grace Rating: 7/10

Black Gold

This is my review of a documentary film called Black Gold. It will be more editorial in nature because this will not only include remarks about the film but also my personal opinions about the subject matter. The documentary itself was well filmed and produced thanks to funding from the UK national lottery. It is a strong piece that I would recommend to anyone as a means of understanding the world around them, or one aspect of it, a bit better.

When you buy a cup of coffee, do you think any further than the delicious flavor or satisfying your need of a caffeine fix? Do you think about where it came from? How many of us consider this question with things we consume daily?

Everything comes from somewhere and at the bottom of the production chain is usually where you find the real story...but its not usually a story that makes for comfortable viewing for people in the developed world. It is a story that is more convenient to put in the back of your mind as you take another hot sip from your cup.

A more important question, do enough people really care about where our modern conveniences come from? I think people care about all the issues raised in such documentaries as "Black Gold" but the way the world works seems to make them powerless. It seems that when a film forces you to examine the world and to see injustice, it it by those with a passion saying, "Look at this—this is wrong." Then, the viewers agree saying, "Yes, it must change, it is wrong." But the problem is so big and the forces supporting it is so powerful that any change seems impossible. How would a revolution start? How could people defeat such wealth and power? I don't know the answer to that, but enlightenment must surely be a key stepping stone in the process....people must know, must understand. Films like this one are stepping stones, that tell stories that must be heard...maybe while enjoying that cup of coffee.

If you could pause the world and hit the rewind button on your cup of coffee you would be taken back, via retailers and roasters, to coffee plantations. Some of that coffee might take you back to Ethiopia. Ethiopia is the largest producer of coffee in Africa. Over 15 million people depend on coffee for their very survival. Its a concept that is not so easy to imagine at first. In the Western world jobs come and go in a persons life. Whilst employed by a company we depend on that company for money but if it goes wrong, if we lose that job then we look for another.

The people in this documentary, however, have no such luxury. They depend on coffee....not to wake themselves up or get through the day with their morning meal, but to make sure they, and their families, have a meal at all.

I was struck at first by how green parts of Ethiopia are. This shows my geographical ignorance more than anything but the only times I have seen Ethiopia on the news it has been a barren place suffering from famine and with a desperate need for aid. I saw Ethiopia as a beautiful place and one that seemed fertile for growing crops, especially in the South. The main crop grown is black gold...not oil but the much prized coffee bean. The comparison with oil is not just convenient for the title...coffee is the second biggest trading comodity after oil. It is big business and therefore a lot of money is involved. Four multinationals control the market: Kraft, Nestle, Sara Lee and Procter and Gamble. They are the key players in an 80 billion dollar a year market. Like I said...a lot of money.

The film followed a man, Tadesse Meskela, who manages the Oromia Coffee Farmers Co-Operative Union representing 74,000 Ethiopian coffee farmers. He struggles to get money for his farmers as the price the Western world is prepared to pay for the coffee has hit a 30 year low. This comes on the back of a colapse in the global trade agreement. Times are hard for his farmers as they struggle to make the money they need to survive, let alone prosper....despite them supplying a product that people will pay good money for. The bottom of the chain though doesn't see a drop in comparison to people higher up....it is incredulous that this is how the system works.

The coffee pickers in the factories in Addis Ababa make just half a dollar a day. Their product eventually sells in shops for 3 dollars or more for just one cup. The low prices being paid to the farmers lead many to start growing chat (a narcotic) in its place. They do not want to grow it....but they need money. They would grow anything to be able to provide for their families. This felt like another tragedy as the west, who would condemn the growing of drugs are, by their greed to not pay proper money for coffee, forcing the farmers into an action that no one wants them to take.

I think the film depicts a western world who simply does not realize this. There are interviews with workers from Starbucks who are happily reporting that their brand is getting bigger and bigger. There are coffee "artists" winning awards for their drink...and people just drinking cup after cup of coffee...2 billion cups drunk in the world per day. These people are not insensitive. I think they are just numbed by an ideology in which comercialism tells them how to live. As Tadesse says in the film, "People in the west just need to think about what they are drinking."

Other subjects in the film included the theraputic feeding centres, where malnourished people are forced to go because they cannot afford food; and a meeting of a community where citizens try and work out where they will find the money for a new school. During this meeting, one man offers to sell his shirt. People here might say "I would sell the shirt off my back....". This farmer meant it...he would sell anything he owned to help the community. We cannot imagine this but it is a reality. We must not only imagine it but recognize it and see it for what it is, a man made tragedy. It needs no complex metaphors and overblown conclusions...it is just wrong.

If the West leads the world...then this film suggests that we are bad leaders...we give a bad example to developing countries on how to treat those worse off than you. Our leaders in governments and corporations pull the wool over our eyes on a daily basis. Advertising encourages us to think only of ourselves and our own pleasures. Corporations do not seek a better world, only a better bottom line. This film and others like it should serve as a call to arms for ordinary people to want change for others more than for themselves.

Seven million Ethiopians depend on aid every year and one line stuck with me after the film. A man was standing at the distribution center for aid and he was clearly unhappy. When asked what he felt about the aid he said, "My children are learning something negative from this. They learn begging. So no, I am not happy to see the aid."

When I reveiew this film I am also reviewing others such as The 11th Hour and The End of the Line....all of which have important messages that we must act on. We should make a start and hope that future generations find a better way.

Grace rating

10/10

Text: Mark

Much needed editing: Katy :)

Clash of the Titans

Starring: Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes and others

Lady Katy

My only initial reason for wanting to see this movie was that I grew up watching the old one. You know, the one with the giant talking Maggie Smith head and the mechanical owl, Bubo. I’ve always had a particular interest in all things mythological, so the 1981 version of this film was a constant in my VHS player.

I was excited when the remake was announced, being as I wanted to know what wonders they could do with effects these days and what actors they would choose. Who would be Perseus? How would the Kraken look? How would the story change? As interested as I was in this, I still couldn’t make myself pay to see it in the theaters. One movie ticket pays for half a month of my online movie subscription so I figured I could wait. I got all my answers recently when the DVD was released. I got it on Blu-Ray of course because c’mon, if you can, might as well watch it in high def!

So to start off with, they chose Sam Worthington to be Perseus. Avatar guy, as I had called him up until this point. This was a change for me; they decided to go more “gladiator” rather than “son of the gods”. I can handle this, maning up Perseus. Andromeda didn’t want Fabio battling the Kraken, I get it. As far as the acting goes, Sam did an okay job…as did everyone else. It was just okay. No one really sucked, but no one blew me away either. Hades was played by Ralph Fiennes and I couldn’t for the life of me get the image of Voldemort out of my head. Especially Hades first scene with Zeus…you could have totally switch out Liam Neeson for Michael Gambon and I would have totally forgotten what movie I was watching.

Despite the okay acting accompanied by the okay special effects; there were a couple little things I did appreciate in this movie. They had a throwback element in one scene…where Perseus is getting ready to embark on his quest to find the witches who will in turn lead him to Medusa (who by the way they failed on, they just put snakes on a pretty CGI face…she’s suppose to be a repulsive monster!). Anyway, in the original, he uses the mechanical owl to show him where the witches are but since in this version we have Io leading the way I think, he doesn’t need it. But, he passes a trunk while collecting his gear and pulls out the beloved (to me) mechanical owl and goes “What’s this?” or something and they tell him to leave it. I thought it was nice to give a shout-out to the original film. The other thing I appreciated was that they didn’t sex it up…the female characters were not Greek strippers and there was not a ridiculously unnecessary sex scene, even when Zeus seduces Danae (who I believe was the daughter and not the wife originally).

Overall, the movie did entertain me even if it was a lot of the time for the mere purpose of me wanting to compare it to the other. They left it very open for a sequel as Perseus does not end up with Andromeda after saving her (whereas in the original he was married to her basically before the whole adventure began) and Io comes back to accompany him on what I assume will be more adventures. Will I watch this sequel if it occurs? Yes, because I’m a sucker for myth movies even if they disappoint me in the end, my curiosity will win over.

Grace Rating: 6/10

Sir Mark

Thanks to Lady Katy for her review.....now its me again, to add my thoughts :)
As this is a film we have both seen you can enjoy our first double review...I can feel the excitement just went up a lot there!

To start off with I must confess I have never seen the original film....something that I will rectify soon as I am convinced from Katy's description that it is worth seeing.  I therefore only have my knowledge of parts of the mythology as a background to my viewing of the film.  I was very interested in Greek mythology, a well as Norse legends when I was at school so the plot of this film appealed to me...also I was interested in seeing what Sam Worthington got up to after he left Pandora....he was bluer the last time I saw him....

OK well he is as good a place as any to start....he was average.  Maybe his acting was no better or worse than in Avatar but I thought he was disappointing in this.  I am afraid I thought the same of most of the actors in the film, none of them stood out for me as having given a great performance.  Lets face it, this is a story which could have been so much more narrative driven and less giant scorpion based (that scene went on a bit...maybe giant scorpions are cheap to hire for film work).  A lot of times a film resorts to massive effects when it has not much in the way of a tale to tell...this is different, there is such a deep well of story here, great characters, exciting adventures, that I felt a bit cheated by the over use of CGI and the lack of character development.  It felt a bit like a computer game....jumping from one cut scene to the next with some game play in between.

Its funny what Katy said about Voldermort...I had the exact same thought...throw in a Patronas charm and a few Dementors

So what did I like?

You can tell its not going to be a long paragraph here....I could pad it out a bit....did I ever tell you about the time I wrestled an alligator whilst on a secret undercover mission?...good times....good times.....  OK that's padded a bit.  I liked the introduction, the animation used to tell the initial background story was slick and creative.  I liked the sets and the look of the film...that was one of the most annoying things...the film looked sweet, looked like it should rock the mythological world and for it to be as soulless as it was made it a bit of a let down.

It was not a truly awful film and comes nowhere near the Mark and Katy's Worst of the Year award.... I actually like films that say to you "its OK, leave your mind outside the door, you won't be needing it for this film" and when done well they leave a smile on your face....this one just didn't.  The Gods would not be impressed.

Grace rating
By Poseidon' trident...only 4/10

PS Round of applause again for Lady Katy's first review :)

Overall Grace rating: 5/10