May. 19th, 2009
(no subject)
May. 19th, 2009 08:18 pmHey, ![[profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
gr_c17, Ship of the Line arrived in the post today. Sixteen more scenarios for Flying Colors, which you liked, msot of the from the American Revolution! Including one where the British fight THE DUTCH! Huzzah!
Also a box from Noble Knight with the new 40K rules and codexes for my armies, because you andjohn_arundel held a gun to my head...
gr_c17, Ship of the Line arrived in the post today. Sixteen more scenarios for Flying Colors, which you liked, msot of the from the American Revolution! Including one where the British fight THE DUTCH! Huzzah!Also a box from Noble Knight with the new 40K rules and codexes for my armies, because you and
john_arundel held a gun to my head...
a nice quiet evening
May. 19th, 2009 11:41 pm I got home, had a few beers on the porch with my book, cane in when it got too dark to read, fed the cats, made some pasta (enough for dinner and a couple of lunches), and watched A Shot At Glory while I ate it.
I know it's not the best movie in the world, and a lot of Scots footy fans probably can't stand it, but you know what? I don't really care. I love it. It's cheeseball in the hackneyed concept (small-town team takes on the big leagues while formerly great player has to redeem himself in the eyes of peers and family), but it's about football, it's set in Scotland, it has a soundtrack by Mark Knopfler, it has not just a mention but screen time and a speaking role for the only Scottish football referee (that I know of) ever to officiate in MLS (Hugh Dallas), and an appearance by a band that![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
redactrice saw play llive in Scotland. And did I mention it's set in Scotland?
I remember Chris and I saw it on 2001 when it came out in a premiere at the Kennedy Center (of all places). It was before we'd been to Scotland together, before I fell in love with the country, before I learned half of the (small amount of) stuff I know about it now. Now I can wince and pick out the three or four widely separated locales that Robery Duvall's "accent" draws on. I can tell just by looking at the little village the film is supposedly based in must be on the east coast because of the way it's harbour seawall is built. I can lust after the tower house that the American owner (played a bit unconvincingly by Michael Keaton) lives in. Since I've been in town after an Old Firm match, I can imagine the possibilities when, halfway through the movie, the former star is in Glasgow and rescues a little kid who's been spray-painting Rangers grafitti before the local Celtic supporters catch him. I can recognise some of the housing estate tower blocks in the background when the star's wife takes him to the Gorbals to remind him where he came from.
But mostly I just bathe my ears in the sound of all the Scots voices. Accents from all over, but all music to my ears. If there's anything that's as beautiful to me as the hills and mountains, the lochs and glens, the fields of grain and the sandy beaches of Scotland, its the voices of her people. I really couldn't say why, but there's no sound that makes me feel quite the way a Scottish voice does.
I know it's not the best movie in the world, and a lot of Scots footy fans probably can't stand it, but you know what? I don't really care. I love it. It's cheeseball in the hackneyed concept (small-town team takes on the big leagues while formerly great player has to redeem himself in the eyes of peers and family), but it's about football, it's set in Scotland, it has a soundtrack by Mark Knopfler, it has not just a mention but screen time and a speaking role for the only Scottish football referee (that I know of) ever to officiate in MLS (Hugh Dallas), and an appearance by a band that
redactrice saw play llive in Scotland. And did I mention it's set in Scotland? I remember Chris and I saw it on 2001 when it came out in a premiere at the Kennedy Center (of all places). It was before we'd been to Scotland together, before I fell in love with the country, before I learned half of the (small amount of) stuff I know about it now. Now I can wince and pick out the three or four widely separated locales that Robery Duvall's "accent" draws on. I can tell just by looking at the little village the film is supposedly based in must be on the east coast because of the way it's harbour seawall is built. I can lust after the tower house that the American owner (played a bit unconvincingly by Michael Keaton) lives in. Since I've been in town after an Old Firm match, I can imagine the possibilities when, halfway through the movie, the former star is in Glasgow and rescues a little kid who's been spray-painting Rangers grafitti before the local Celtic supporters catch him. I can recognise some of the housing estate tower blocks in the background when the star's wife takes him to the Gorbals to remind him where he came from.
But mostly I just bathe my ears in the sound of all the Scots voices. Accents from all over, but all music to my ears. If there's anything that's as beautiful to me as the hills and mountains, the lochs and glens, the fields of grain and the sandy beaches of Scotland, its the voices of her people. I really couldn't say why, but there's no sound that makes me feel quite the way a Scottish voice does.
And, no, I really am quite sober. :-)