Bucket List

[Carol]

Have read all the Russian classics, including War and Peace. But I find that as I get older I only want to read what I think I will really enjoy. Have just finished The Martian by Andy Weir. Thought it was an incredible book.

[Tori]

Carol wrote: "Have read all the Russian classics, including War and Peace. But I find that as I get older I only want to read what I think I will really enjoy. Have just finished The Martian by Andy Weir. Though..."

I'll look it up, Carol. I like the sound of an 'incredible book'.

[Carol]

Andy Weir is the son of a particle physicist and has a background in computer science. He initially self published the book as his previous lit. efforts had been rejected by publishers. He published it chapter by chapter on his web site and it was very popular, so he self published at the lowest price on Kindle, 99 cents.
It has since been taken up by an audio publisher and Crown publishers and was on the New York Times best seller list. It will be released as a film starring Matt Damon in Nov. 2015.
Have written a review of it, if you're interested.

[Anna]

Carol wrote: "Have read all the Russian classics, including War and Peace. But I find that as I get older I only want to read what I think I will really enjoy. Have just finished The Martian by Andy Weir. Though..."

I leave books like 'War and Peace' well and truly alone and then enjoy the films. Lazy, I know, but there's not enough time...

I can watch a film on telly and do something else at the same time. Reading in the adverts and sewing during the film.

[Tori]

Anna wrote: "Carol wrote: "Have read all the Russian classics, including War and Peace. But I find that as I get older I only want to read what I think I will really enjoy. Have just finished The Martian by And..."

Absolutely! Life's too short. Couldn't agree more.

Thanks Carol. I'll take a look at your review. ;-)

[Carol]

Anna wrote: "Carol wrote: "Have read all the Russian classics, including War and Peace. But I find that as I get older I only want to read what I think I will really enjoy. Have just finished The Martian by And..."

Or even reading during the film, as I found myself doing with Murder in Paradise last night!

[Tori]

I don't expect anyone to share my passion at having ticked this one off the list, but last night I performed the second movement of Rachmaninoff's 2nd piano concerto with my son. I'm happy and relieved to have done it. It was just a local Male Voice Choir concert and my son was the guest soloist in each half. I had the privilege of going on with him during the first half and being his 'orchestra' on another piano. It was very scary and very wonderful. One off the bucket list!! Yay.

[Bill]

Still impressive and a neat one to have on your bucket list, Tori. Congrats!

[Tori]

I think so too, Bill. Thanks. If anyone is unfamiliar with this concerto, well, after feeling a justified sense of shame, you can redeem yourself by going onto Youtube and looking it up. We are talking about the most famous and the most popular concerto in the world after all. Anyone on the planet who is a stranger to it hasn't lived yet! The fantastic pianist Stephen Hough comes highly recommended by me. Wonderful stuff.

[[deleted user]]

Travelling is the most listed thing on my bucket list. I want to go to Ypres in Belgium, I passed through on a WW1 tour last year but it's a beautiful place and has such devastating history that I'd find it really interesting to explore further. I also want to go to Wilfred Owen's grave in Ors, France, that's probably number 1...and become a bestseller haha!

[Tori]

Rebecca wrote: "Travelling is the most listed thing on my bucket list. I want to go to Ypres in Belgium, I passed through on a WW1 tour last year but it's a beautiful place and has such devastating history that I'..."

I remember Ypres well, Rebecca. My hubby used to be a history teacher and has taken many a group of kids over there to the battlefields on school trips. About 14 years ago, we went as a family and did the various cemeteries etc. Very moving.

[[deleted user]]

Tori I'm on my phone so it won't let me reply directly but I agree, it's a very moving place. I went Hill 60 and that's really strange. There's some kind of stillness in the air. It's ironic (is that the right word?) how beautiful it all looks though compared to what happened not that long ago. It's 100 years but really thats not a million miles away.

[Joy]

Tori wrote: "I don't expect anyone to share my passion at having ticked this one off the list, but last night I performed the second movement of Rachmaninoff's 2nd piano concerto with my son. I'm happy and reli..."

Wish I could have heard you and your son! I'm sure it was lovely. :))

[Ian, Moderator]

Must be on You Tube by now with millions of hits.

[Tori]

Joy wrote: "Tori wrote: "I don't expect anyone to share my passion at having ticked this one off the list, but last night I performed the second movement of Rachmaninoff's 2nd piano concerto with my son. I'm h..."

When you look around after performing and there are a few tears in the audience, you know it's been acceptable.

I took my musical son back to Manchester yesterday to embark upon his master's degree. He's getting a new piano teacher at the college who will be much more demanding of him than the last. Exciting stuff. It was such a privilege to spend a day alone with him yesterday. Bernard is back at work, so it was just me and The Lad. We played favourite CDs all the way there, then lugged all his stuff in his new pad and built his electric piano which went in his little bedroom. Electric pianos aren't much cop, but at least you can turn them down and practise until late at night, so they have a use.

Lol, Ian. Yeah, if we'd recorded it, it may well have been in the billions by now!! But sadly, we didn't!

[Joy]

Sounds like fun! Hope your son enjoys grad school. Is Manchester far from your home?

[Tori]

It's the other side of country. I live near the east coast, Manchester is in the west. But this is England, Joy, not New England. In real terms it's only about 100 miles and takes about 1 hour 45 mins door to door. Could be worse!

[Joy]

Tori wrote: "It's the other side of country. I live near the east coast, Manchester is in the west. But this is England, Joy, not New England. In real terms it's only about 100 miles and takes about 1 hour 45 m..."

Good that he isn't far from home.

Watched a TV series last night called Vera. It's based on some books. I love to see the English countryside!

[Ian, Moderator]

You've just got to love Vera's mac.

[Tori]

I've never heard of Vera or her mac. Is it any good?

I agree with Joy though - the English countryside is always worth looking at. When I went to Leyburn on my day out with St Bernard in July, it occurred to me how fantastic our countryside is. Just stunning. And it's surprising how much of it there is. We imagine, when we live in cluttered towns and cities, that there isn't much greenery left. There's tons of it. When you travel across it by air, you realise that our rolling hills are plentiful still. It's a bit sad and shameful that we Brits don't see enough of our own country. It's always so flipping cold that we opt to hop on planes in search of some warmth instead. My brother - even the great Nick - has lived in Bournemouth for the best part of 15 years and I've never been there. In fact, I've never been to the south coast. We went to Devon once and the weather was pants, so we've never been tempted to repeat the experience!

[Ian, Moderator]

I like Vera. Dour, blunt and northern.....what's not to like lol? And set just to the north of you in the NE which always looks lovely, but have never been except to Redcar which isn't but was a good day at the races. Based on the Vera Stanhope novels by Ann Cleeves: https://www.goodreads.com/series/5415...

[Anna]

Tori wrote: "I don't expect anyone to share my passion at having ticked this one off the list, but last night I performed the second movement of Rachmaninoff's 2nd piano concerto with my son. I'm happy and reli..."

Oh Rachmaninoff's 2nd! Superb. Let me know if you perform down south!

[Joy]

Ian wrote: "I like Vera. Dour, blunt and northern.....what's not to like lol? And set just to the north of you in the NE which always looks lovely, but have never been except to Redcar which isn't but was a go..."

Have you read any of those books Ian? It's a great series. We get it on PBS.

[Tori]

Anna wrote: "Tori wrote: "I don't expect anyone to share my passion at having ticked this one off the list, but last night I performed the second movement of Rachmaninoff's 2nd piano concerto with my son. I'm h..."

Ha ha! Unlikely, Anna. My son's performing the whole concerto with orchestra in Chester next June though! Exciting stuff. It will be the first time he's played an entire concerto with an orchestra. Rather him than me, but I'll be there to show support, weep on the front row and generally embarrass him, of course. What are mothers for?

[Tori]

Ian wrote: "I like Vera. Dour, blunt and northern.....what's not to like lol? And set just to the north of you in the NE which always looks lovely, but have never been except to Redcar which isn't but was a go..."

Hmm, sounds intriguing. Dour, blunt AND northern?! What could be better.

The NE is indeed a lovely stretch of the country. There's the North York Moors, Robin Hood's Bay, Whitby and all that gorgeous coastline up in Northumbria - it really is very pretty indeed. Shame it's freezing cold really. We had to trot off on an urgent mission to Durham a couple of years ago because one of our kids had left his passport in his jeans pocket and I stuck them in the washing machine. We were due to go on holiday, so we had to rush to Durham to get a passport quickly. That was a lovely place too. It's the one and only time I've been. The one ugly sight is The Angel of the North. We pass it every time we go to Newcastle with our daughter. I don't know what that thing is about, but it's far from angelic.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en... - A few nice scenes from Robin Hood's Bay. So cute!!

[Anna]

Tori wrote: "Anna wrote: "Tori wrote: "I don't expect anyone to share my passion at having ticked this one off the list, but last night I performed the second movement of Rachmaninoff's 2nd piano concerto with ..."

What are mothers for? Best not mention changing nappies then.

[Tori]

Anna wrote: "Tori wrote: "Anna wrote: "Tori wrote: "I don't expect anyone to share my passion at having ticked this one off the list, but last night I performed the second movement of Rachmaninoff's 2nd piano c..."

Urgh! No - way past that stage, fortunately. It never bothered me at the time, but looking back, I've handled my fair share of dung and enough is enough! If and when it ever comes to grandchildren (and that seems impossible for the foreseeable future) I'm planning to use a peg on my nose ;-) You've got to plan ahead, Anna.

[Joy]

I think Vera takes place in Northumbria. The actors have kind of a Scottish accent so I presume it's close to Scotland (am I right?) Brenda Blethen is great and the young guy (David Leon I think) is really cute!

[Ian, Moderator]

It is set in Northumbria which is just to the south of Scotland though the accents of that general area are very identifiable as Northern English ones. I haven't read any of the books but have seen all 20 episodes in the 5 short 4 part series and they are uniformly good, mostly because of Brenda Blethyn who is a fine character actor. The early episodes are based on the books.

[Joy]

Ian wrote: "It is set in Northumbria which is just to the south of Scotland though the accents of that general area are very identifiable as Northern English ones. I haven't read any of the books but have seen..."

I agree about Brenda, she is great in Vera and everything she appears in actually. Thanks for the clarification re their accents.

[Tori]

A tiny item off the bucket list tonight. Bernard had to go to a meeting in London today and he brought home a box of Hotel Chocolat chocs for me. I've never had those chocs, though I've heard people raving about them, so I did decide a few months ago - being a big chockie fan and all - that I'd better sample some before I kick the bucket. There were only 12 in a box that cost 15 quid! So we scoffed the lot in about 15 mins.

What? Well, it would have been rude not to!

The verdict? To be honest I was underwhelmed. Give me Thornton's Continental any day. Nice of Bernard to bring me some chocs home though. It's a bit of an anniversary for us today. It's 29 years ago to the day since we started going out with each other. Downing several hundred cals in a quarter of an hour seemed like a fitting way to mark the occasion.

[Joy]

Happy anniversary of your first date! Sweet of Bernard to remember!

[Tori]

Thanks Joy. I was amazed he remembered too. 30 years together next year. That's crazy. I'm only 21!!

[Joy]

Time flies, doesn't it? We are lucky we picked great guys! :-))

[Tori]

Joy wrote: "Time flies, doesn't it? We are lucky we picked great guys! :-))"

Indeed we are.

Yup, time flies. Don't know where this year has gone at all. Doesn't seem five minutes since I went on my cruise with B. That was July!

[Helen]

I used to have a box delivered monthly.