Lockdown day #33

The birds woke me up again with a sweet song, and with discordant honks from the geese.  I decided, however, to have a lie in, and did not get up until after 10 ... what decadence!

After having my breakfast, and wishing birthday wishes to my friend Richard, I watched a few films.  There seems to have been a theme today (it is not St Sebastian's day, that was 20 January), but hey ho!

The first film, set in Toronto in Canada, was called "Sebastian".  Alex and Sebastian meet one fateful evening and it's love at first sight. However, Alex has a boyfriend and Sebastian is only visiting Toronto for one week until he has to return home to Argentina. To complicate matters further, Alex's boyfriend is Sebastian's cousin. Sebastian chronicles their week-long romance as both men learn to accept each other's differences, overcome their pasts, and let love into their hearts. As the week comes to an and Sebastian's time in Toronto comes to a close, can the two of them take a chance on love or will they lose each other forever?  It was a lovely film - and a lovely ending.

The second film I have seen before, and it is a delight.  "Belle et Sébastien" is set high up in the Alps and far away from the fighting of the Second World War, a small, peaceful village is home to a young boy named Sébastien. Sébastien is an orphan and life on the mountains is dangerous for a young boy. But he soon meets Belle, a wild dog who has a heart of gold. Sébastien tames Belle and they form an unshakable friendship. However, Belle and Sébastien's peaceful mountain village is soon under threat. Their village is close to the border of Switzerland, and the Germans occupy the area to prevent Jews from escaping. It’s up to young Sébastien and his trusty friend to foil the Germans' plans.

I have seen the Derek Jarman film “Sebastiane”, the only film I ever seen entirely in Latin (and no desire to see it again), but came across a very weird Czech film called “Utrpení sv.Šebestiána” (The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian) … interposing modern images with the tale from Roman times.     I am not sure if a Czech film is more approachable than a Latin film …

After having a quick visit to the shops for essentials (I got cheese .... hallelujah!) ... I had a nice conversation with a friend, and settled down for the evening continuing the Sebastian theme.  Helping me to do this was the "Air" by Johann Sebastian Bach from the 3rd orchestral suite (D minor; BWV 1068), 2nd movement.  A really lovely piece of music.

Christmas 2017 part 3 - 6-10 December 2017

So continuing my blog of my Christmas celebrations in 2017 - on 6 December I went to a concert in Sale.  On the way to the concert I had a meal at the Greek restaurant near to Sale Metrolink station - Sokrates Taverna - and ordered keftedes (Greek meat balls) as a starter and moussaka as the main course - £12 for two courses was a very reasonable price.  The starter came quickly, and the moussaka took a long time to come.  The reason was that everything is cooked from fresh, none of the food is pre-prepared.  Unfortunately I had to eat the moussaka very quickly, but it was really delicious.

The reason I was in Sale was that I went to the Sale Gilbert & Sullivan Society Christmas Concert.  It was not what I expected, and there was not enough Gilbert & Sullivan for my taste, but it was, nonetheless, an enjoyable evening.

The next day, 7th December, I caught some of the Manchester Civil Service Choir performing Christmas Carols at the People's History Museum (and I sang a few carols to myself as I was listening to them sing) and viewed the extent of the Cîroc around the Christmas Tree event at New Bailey (which was not very inspiring).

In the evening I met up with a friend and we sent to the Houghton Weavers Christmas Concert, in Prestwich, which was fun!

On Friday 8th December I went to Liverpool.  Liverpool Philharmonic Hall sent me an email close to my birthday offering me a free concert, and one of the options was A Russian Christmas on the afternoon of the 8th.  It was very good, and a very pleasant way to spend a Friday afternoon.

In the evening I watched another Christmas film on YouTube, this time it was "A Royal Christmas" - with the compulsory happy ending.

On Saturday 9th December we had snow!  I had planned to visit the Christmas Tree Festival at Oldham Parish Church and thought should I, or shouldn't I?  In the end I did go, and was pleased that I had ventured out.  It was, as always, a lovely event to do, and is now a firm fixture in my Christmas calendar.   In the evening I went to Didsbury to hear the Manchester Bach Choir sing Bush's Christmas Cantata.  That was pleasant, but it was a bitterly cold night and perhaps I might have wiser to stay at home.

On the 10th December I didn't do anything particularly festive, but did go to my choir practice which is always good fun.