Moana

This afternoon, Shirley and I took Little Phoebe to the Odeon Luxe cinema in the centre of the city. We were there to attend the 12pm screening of "Moana 2". This popular animated film has just about reached the end of its tether on the cinema circuit and that's the main reason why today's audience comprised of just the three of us. We had the best seats in the very centre of the auditorium.

The sound system was so thunderous that Phoebe covered up her ears during the ad and preview section. She doesn't like loud noise and at just four years and one day old, she does not fake this distaste. Shirley asked the cinema staff to turn it down a notch or two and they kindly complied.

If as an adult you do not have much contact with small children, you are probably mystified by the very mention of Moana. She is a Disney figure who starred in the first film that bears her name in 2016. We watched that one down at Ian's house in Fulham, London at Christmastime 2022. It was spectacular and yet very human too. I loved the way that references to genuine Polynesian life and history had been woven in to the fabric of the film. We all enjoyed it.

Moana lives on the fictional Pacific island of Motunui. She is the daughter of Tui, the island's chief. Ultimately it falls upon her to fight for the island's future  in a battle between the ancient forces of good and evil. It's roughly the same theme in "Moana 2". Of course it is of some socio-cultural significance that Moana is female and pretty tough.

In both films we meet the huge shape-shifting tattooed figure of the demigod Maui whose streetwise voice is that of Dwayne Johnson. He befriends Moana and acts as her champion.

"Moana" and "Moana 2" are visual masterpieces that demonstrate how far Disney animation has come. Both films contain strong musical elements and songs. It is easy to lose yourself in them - especially on a big screen.

As Christmas had just passed by, we were a little stuck when thinking about gifts to buy Phoebe. You might be interested to learn that all four gifts  were "Moana 2" branded - a jigsaw, a singalong microphone, a Moana doll and Moana 2 shower gel. I am not proud to admit this but that's how it was.

When we emerged from the dark cinema, Sheffield was bathed in golden light - the glare so sharp that you had to shield your eyes. Phoebe refused to put her coat on because, bizarrely, after the recent wintry weather, it was now as if summer had arrived early. Perhaps Moana and Maui the demigod had had a hand in that.

Maui in "Moana 2"

Poem

 

Vestiges

It was the last of it -

Trailed alongside rough stone walls

Or under trees where shadows stick -

Slumped snowmen or heaps by driveways

This hidden world turned green again.

But in the solitude of altitude

Still whiteness still upon the moors

Wadding treacherous hollows.

Up there, I found a ewe once -

Suffocated by a drift and stiff

Above Eyam -

The lamb inside her frozen

And nothing left to do.

Oh where shall we go

Now May’s already calling?

This life is but a passing show

Where once white snow was falling.

And all that remains is lost.

Gripping

"The movie of the rescue was made by Ron Howard and is really sensitively made. Worth a watch if any of your readers haven't seen it. Unsworth deserves his MBE and more - the eternal gratitude of everyone who watched with bated breath for news of that rescue attempt." -  Tigger's Mum

It may seem astonishing to some "Yorkshire Pudding" visitors  but occasionally my blogposts are underpinned by online research.

See Tigger's Mum's comment above. I already knew about that film. It is called "Thirteen Lives" and I watched it this very evening. It is almost 2hrs and 30 mins long. We have access to Amazon Prime TV and I found the film there.

It makes no reference to the fellow that Bob in Camden, South Carolina has renamed Leon Skum. He didn't even get to be a footnote which was fine by me. Even Vernon Unsworth's role in the film is pretty small but he was the one who effectively made the rescue happen by urging the Thai authorities to fly in a group of experienced British cave divers.

The Thai Navy divers had been trained in sea diving. Obviously, wriggling through complicated pot hole systems is an entirely different proposition.

The cultural context of the drama took me back to my own time in Thailand. Effectively, I spent a total of eleven months living and working over there. With that experience in mind, I thought the film's Thai background was pretty authentic.

"Thirteen Lives" was in the end a feelgood film about human kindness, bravery and ingenuity - fighting to get those twelve boys and their young football coach out of the Tham Luang cave network before heavy monsoon rains made any prospect of rescue utterly impossible

Of course the ending is utterly joyous even though one of the Thai divers lost his life down there. 

It was great to watch a film that did not involve guns, murders, detectives or police enquiries. I was gripped by it. Perhaps you would enjoy it too if you can also access Amazon Prime.

Vernon

 

This is a modern English hero. His name is Vernon Unsworth and he was awarded the MBE medal for what he did in northern Thailand in the summer of 2018.

You may recall that back then twelve Thai boys and the assistant coach of their football team became trapped by rising waters in the Tham Luang cave system. Their lives were in danger but they had not drowned. They were trapped in an air pocket far from the entrance. It took the efforts of hundreds of people to extract them from their predicament.

Key to the rescue effort was Vernon Unsworth who lived in Chiang Rai, northern Thailand with his Thai girlfriend Woranan Ratrawiphukkun. For many years, Vernon had been a caver, exploring cave systems both in Great Britain and in South East Asia. He knew the Tham Luang system better than anybody and had spent many hours mapping the labyrinth with its complicated twists and turns, its flooded and its dry zones.

I have been into pot holes in Derbyshire myself and I have a sense of their character - little galleries you have to squeeze along on your belly or your back, twisting left or right or up and down. It's not easy and I found it all pretty claustrophobic.

The boys entered the cave system on June 23rd and it wasn't until July 10th that they all got out though one former Thai Navy Seal died during the rescue operation. His name was Saman Kunan.

Someone else who got involved was Elon Musk. He offered to get the boys out with a submarine that was quickly developed for the challenge. However, what he and his team came up with was totally inappropriate. It was inflexible and had an unreliable air supply. It plainly would not work and Vernon Unsworth and other members of the British cave rescue team said so describing the submarine idea as a publicity stunt. It might have worked when tested in a Californian swimming pool but it would be useless in a natural cave system.

Musk was piqued and angry about the dismissal of his ill-considered plan. Consequently, he referred to Vern Unsworth as "that pedo guy" and also called him a "child rapist" without evidence to back up the claim.

Later Vernon Unsworth bravely attempted to sue Musk for defamation but of course Musk was able to buy the services of fancy lawyers to fight the case and he won. Apparently, in spite of his court victory,  Musk did apologise privately  to Vernon Unsworth. He was just jesting - apparently using the kind of harmless slur that schoolboys use in South Africa.

In his entire life, Vernon Unsworth had never previously been accused of paedophilia and there is  no record of him ever interfering with children. Musk just made it up to dirty the man's character in a hurtful and unjustifiable manner. Maybe Musk realised that the submarine idea was crazy but he got mad about the rejection anyway. 

This is the kind of bloke Musk is. He only really cares about himself and his agenda. He is megalomaniacal. I wish he could be made to spend a week or two on his own in the Tham Luang cave system without his smartphone or any other opportunity to tweet his endless spoilt schoolboy messages on "X".

Defeat

 

Hull City's Joao Pedro this afternoon

A few weeks have passed by since I last drove over to Hull to see my beloved football team in a live match. Today Hull City played Doncaster Rovers in a third round F.A, Cup tie.

My friend Tony had secured our tickets and I met him outside the stadium  half an hour before kick-off time.. Nobody seems to know why this game was scheduled for midday on a Sunday but it was. Increasingly, football authorities in league with TV companies change match times with little thought for loyal fans and the inconvenience they may experience.

Anyway, on this occasion, I did not mind overmuch as the early start meant I could zoom back to Sheffield after the match to enjoy Sunday dinner with the family.

It was a cold day - the temperature hovering around freezing. I wore my long johns, leather gloves and Hull City beanie hat as well as my  warm manager's coat - probably the best  clothing item I have ever purchased. It has served me well for twenty years or more.

I had a bad feeling about today's game for Doncaster's current manager, Grant McCann, was sacked by Hull City and they have a senior player called Billy Sharp who left The Tigers last summer. And so it came to pass.

Doncaster scored first through Luke Molyneux after 51 minutes with City's Colombian midfielder Gustavo Puerta cracking home the equaliser after 80 minutes. Of course the home fans went wild.

We had several chances to win the tie in the last ten minutes and in the half hour of extra time that followed. However, the game went to a penalty shootout and when Mason Barstow blasted over the crossbar the ominous ending was just round the corner.

I caught the service bus back to the "park and ride" facility to the west of the city and then sped back to Sheffield for a tasty Sunday dinner that, for once, I had not prepared myself.

In spite of the defeat, it was a good day and as always it was good to see Tony again. Our conversation never ends. 

Untitled

Recent family pictures. There's Shirley in her element at Christmastime with our three lovely grandchildren. Little Phoebe screwed her face up as three year olds are often wont to do at photo time. She is holding her cuddly friend - Monty the Sloth.

Below, still holding Monty, Phoebe has managed to get herself in Margot's cot. Two sisters together. I like the latent mischief in this photograph.

Phoebe will be four years old next week and we don't know what to buy her. After all she has got everything she needs and Christmas has only just passed us by.

I put a search into Google - "good birthday presents for a four year old girl" and most suggestions involved colourful plastic. Here in the western world, we give our children far too much plastic - mountains of the stuff.

Early next week, I think we will visit a branch of "Smyths" toy stores and the "Hobbycraft" store close by. I am sure we will find something for her there. She is surprisingly good at jigsaws. Maybe we will find her a 48 or 60 piece jigsaw to tackle. I plan to make her birthday card this year - not to save money but to give her the idea that to demonstrate one's love a card or gift might be handmade.

I am planning to drive Clint over to Hull tomorrow morning in order to watch Hull City's third round F.A.Cup match with Doncaster Rovers. Trouble is that I have acquired an irritating ticklish cough so I intend to head out to a supermarket shortly in order to pick up some throat lozenges.

Last weekend's snow continues to hang about, overstaying its welcome, but at least the temperature this evening is up to 0°C. Last night it was down to -5°C. The forecast is for much milder weather kicking in from Monday onwards. The sooner our pavements are ice-free the better.

Boobies

 Closely related to the gannet, there are in effect six distinct species of booby. 

A pair of blue-footed boobies...

A pair of brown boobies...

A pair of masked boobies...

A pair of Nazka boobies...

A pair of Peruvian boobies...

A pair of red-footed boobies...

Well that's enough of that. I have got better things to do with my time than staring at pictures of boobies...