I'll never grow out of Disney

Recently I have been ‘educating’ a friend who has spent her childhood deprived of the wonders of Disney! She argues that she spent her freetime outside in the fresh air where children should be but a bit of Disney on a rainy afternoon or a saturday evening before bed has not caused me any major damage! It is almost unbelievable to me that a child brought up in the western world has somehow missed all the magical stories Walt Disney has brought to life.


About a month ago I thought Disney had lost its essence. The movies they have been churning out recently (barring Pixar studio’s productions) have been nothing on the classics I grew up on. The exception to this rule surfaced with ‘Tangled’ which adhers to the classic disney charm but with new computer graphic technology. The only thing that annoys me is that it is perhaps a little too sickly sweet. The villains are not scary if indeed you read a villain into the story at all - surely you could argue the henchmen and Mother Gothel are just misunderstood? I would be difficult to claim this for characters such as Maleficent, Jafar, Ursula or Hades? Another observation is the lack of memorable songs, the music in 'Tangled' is okay but that is about it. Rapunzel's 'usual morning' song may be sweet but will never play like a broken record in my head throughout the day like 'A Whole New World', 'Can you Feel the Love Tonight' or 'Kiss the Girl'.

Nevertheless, tonight I will delve into further new territory and watch Ratatouille which others have sworn to be the best disney movie of the last 20 years. I will withhold all judgement until I have seen it, however, it seems impossible that any more contemporary disney film could beat these childhood favorites (the ultimate has got to be The Lion King hands down);









I'm missed out so many as well... Mulan, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, The Rescuers, Phocohontas, Cinderella, Bambi, Brother Bear, The Fox and the Hound, Lilo and Stitch, The Aristocats, Robin Hood, Dumbo, The Sword and the Stone, Pinocchio, Peter Pan, Tarzan and 101 Dalmations to name but a few! All are amazing stories, I hope I never grow out of them!

xoxo

A Memoir

He was closer in stature to a wolf than a dog. Occasionally I would look out into the garden in the summer and imagine a lion lazing beneath the trees rather than our oversized German Shepherd, Kray. He had always been big, as a puppy and as a young dog he used to jump up on his hind legs and nearly overshadow me. But despite his great strength and power, Kray was a gentle giant and had the nicest temperament of all the 12 puppies we have trained for guide dogs for the blind.

We always knew when my Dad returned home from work as children. There would be a stampede of heavy paws to the door and a high pitched whining noise as Kray tried to stick his noise through the letter box. The moment the door opened Kray would start ‘crying’ and whining wildly as my father tried to get a foot through the door. For such a large animal I’ve always found it comical that Kray rarely barked but used to cry like an excited toddler if he made any noise at all. He truly earned his nickname ‘Kraybaby’.

Despite his formidable size, Kray, was fearful of the oddest things. Whilst he was young our granddad's tortoise bit him on the nose, the poor boy was so shocked he never quite got over his wariness of the shelled reptiles. He never chased other animals and use to lie quite at leisure in the garden with our cat, Travis, and my rabbit hopping about him. Sometimes I link his unorthodox fears to the idea that although very obedient, Kray was probably quite dim witted. By the way of an example Kray had an absolute obsession with chasing and trying to catch light. His obsession was so intense that he tore up the dining room carpet in our old home in a desperate and hopeless attempt to grab a flicker a light. You could let the sunlight shine on the face of a watch so that the reflection hit the wall of a room and watch Kray chase it for hours.




There was something about Kray that left a lasting bond with my family, we were used to puppies moving on but when Kray left for his training just over a year after we first carried him home our house felt empty. We were missing something. So when we were offered him back in his retirement 9 years later we all jumped at the opportunity. I still remember the day we picked him up from the centre. The moment Kray recognised my father he went wild with joy crying and whining as he used to. He still knew us, remembered us and loved us.

Kray passed on last week and we are all so sorry to see him go. He truly was man’s best friend and the memories he left us with will forever bring tears of happiness.

All my love.

xoxo

Magic Beneath your Fingertips

I was sent this piece just over a month ago and fell in love with Ludo Einaudi's extraordinary song writing talent.



Of all the instruments I have heard and experienced (aside from the human voice) the one which will always send shivers down my spine is the piano. The piano was my first love, it helped me to discover music and melody. I look back to the days when I was small, I used to write little songs in a notebook and take them with me to piano lessons. My piano teacher would accompany me singing them and suddenly the beautiful chords she played would bring life and breath to my bare lyrics. The song became tangible, grew wings and took flight.

I have chosen another path for now and no longer have the time to play as I did. When I hear pieces by Einaudi or Yann Tiersen I miss the feeling of keys beneath my fingertips. Playing with pure melody allows you to play with absolute openness. You can learn to pour your heart into improvisation; fears, desires, passions and sorrows so that the pieces you play are raw and stripped bare. It is those pieces that hit home for me. There is something about the pianist who plays with such dexterity, honesty and passion that alights my soul.

Hope you enjoy this little gem too;





xoxo

P.S. Thank you for the music always! (you know who you are) ... well at least most of it is pretty decent! ;)

Those by which memories are made

A little bit of a 'mixed bag' approach to blogging today. I'm aware have been gone for some time due to revision and exams and want to do some catching up! My whole world semi-ceases to turn during exam periods. My room was in dire need of hoovering, the pile of washing started to create a small mountain range and my exercise regime went flying out the window alongside the healthy diet. On the bright side I am through the tunnel and have been released into relative freedom for the next 4 months. Heaven.

I spent my first weekend of liberty travelling around cornwall with my family. We visited the stunning and unique Minack theatre briefly, Sennen Cove and finally Land's End to watch my father conclude an insanely long cycling trip from John O'Grouts to Land's End. It really is an achievement when you consider he cycled over a 1000 miles from the very northern tip of Scotland to the most western point of Cornwall. Well Done, Papa! I'm so proud!

We dined at a restaurant in Mousehole Bay (pronouced Mow-zel) its a very sweet little fishing village which is famous for its Stargazey Pie. Although I dislike seafood the Stargazey pie is quite unique because unlike normal fish pies the stargazey has fish tails and some times heads popping out of the pastry for decoration. There's a children's book you may have read once about The Mousehole Cat it brings back a flood of memories from my childhood; below is a rather long video version I've just discovered:

Recently I've been inspired by looking at old photographs from times past, there is something so elegant and graceful about them;






More to come when inspiration surfaces!

xoxo