The cake Virginia did for Meredith's 45th birthday.

After going to see my mother's gravestone in Histon Virginia and I then drove up to Stamford to see Burghley House, only slightly held up by a A14 stop start standstill. It was a dull day with dollops of dampness, not good for the camera and I hadn't got the batteries charged properly either. The size of the place intimidated us, we had to drive round it before we could drive into the estate, and then walk a fair distance between the different attractions. The food perhaps wasn't as good as a National Trust place, but the "Gardens of Surprise" was splendid, a set of artistic water fountain themed displays. There were devices you could actuate, trapped doorways which you risked a soaking going through, and eerie Roman busts which moved when you weren't looking.

For the first time ever I walked to work! Not as close as those who work in a shed in their gardens, but more sights to see. Here are some of those sights - or sites?

The weekend saw a major milestone - Virginia turned 50! She had chosen to have a barn dance to celebrate (or Ceilidh sounds more classy doesn't it!) So we turned up at the Baptist Church in Histon at 5pm (this being a convenient good sized venue which we knew well.) And discovered we had left the Church key at home. Minor panic dealt with. So back again to start setting up for the kick off time of 7pm. I had been worrying about all the chair moving around that was going to be required beforehand, and while it was just Virginia and I trying to get the main hall clear I was panicking, convincing myself I was wearing myself out. It really lifted my spirits when friends arrived early and gave a hand to creating a dancing space. Not just that the job got done quicker, them just being there was vital moral support. To have the feeling there's other people there to share the load is so precious.

"Blackguards" is a turn-based RPG set in The Dark Eye world of Aventuria, setting for Daedalic's Adventure games "The Chains of Satinav" and "Memoria" which I previously enjoyed so much. The main story is about a bunch of misfits stopping a supernatural cataclysm, partly told with flashbacks. One great aspect of "Blackguards" is the balance of story and gameplay, there's less of a feeling of mining as there is in many RPGs to get your characters stronger. Each battle comes with a dollop of story, and though there may be fewer battles than other RPGs the battles tend to be larger in scope and significantly give your characters the equivalent of XP. There's a great variety of battles too, requiring a range of strategies and abilities to succeed. From the word go how you develop and arm your characters is important - in passing I found customising one's character at the start better than using one of the precooked characters. There is a sense of achievement when you win the battles, you haven't just gone through the motions as you do when mining in other RPGs. The ruleset used is different to other RPGs, as is how you use the XP (here called Adventure points). Understanding the ruleset is key to doing well, there is some explanation of it. You can enhance your character at any time using the Adventure points, there isn't levelling up as in many RPGs. On the downside there are times when you find yourself in a sequence of battles, more or less unexpectedly. Until you've gone through once you don't know the strategy to follow - this is a bit unfair. At times the graphics misbehave, the dead don't lie down properly. What you can do or ought to do can be non-obvious. Perhaps something is lost in translation. This is a very addictive game, so addictive I've started playing it again to see if I can get a better ending!

The cake Virginia did for Lianna and Andy's wedding.

Look at the Lake District

The weather was fine as my father explored the grounds of Anglesey Abbey by means of one of their mobility scooters. He went so far I was worried how late we would get back! We rounded off the afternoon in the cafeteria there, finding plenty of space despite the coaches visiting.

"The Four" is a A film loosely based on a 1970s wuxia series by Wen Ruian. The film adds fantasy elements into the original stories, and is in the same area as Tsui Hark's "Detective Dee" film. Also similar to another Tsui Hark film ( "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate" ) are the effective tracking shots which show how technically able Chinese filmmaking is. The plot of the film is about conspiracies in Imperial China, rivalries between different security services, mixed with necromancy and nastiness. A rich stew of ideas but well stirred and presented. "The Four" has a decent villain with some good lines. I like a decent villain. The strengths of the film lie in the world it depicts as much as the story and characters. The mechanical contrivances that Merciless has in the Divine Constabulary, the recreation of bygone Chinese streets and inns and waterways, the tableau of the various confrontations of the characters. You could say there are Matrix style moments such as when Merciless stops a load of darts in midair. Or even a steampunk influence on the steam driven machines. But this is a film to sit back and enjoy, not to over analyse. The English translation I saw was slightly wonky. So Merciless gets rendered as Emotionless which isn't as effective as a name. But I'm used to the English subtitles being unintentionally interesting in Far East movies. There are apparently sequels in the works and I'm looking forward to them.

"The Kick" is a film directed by Prachya Pinkaew of "Ong Bak" and "Chocolate" renown. Instead of Muy Thai the fighting style featured is Taekwondo, but apart from that this is another varied martial arts film. The plot has a Korean family who are into Taekwondo who by chance foil the theft of a valuable ceremonial knife. The robbers kidnap the young son, the family have to steal the knife to get the son back. That's enough to justify plenty of fight scenes. The final battle takes place in a zoo so we also get elephants and crocodiles. There is some humour amid the athletics. The fights are impressive, a range of settings to avoid boredom, but while crowd-pleasing there isn't the depth of Ong Bak and "Chocolate". More could have been done with some of the characters, the villains are one-dimensional. But a pleasant and fun watch.

"Security Unlimited" is a classic comedy from the Hui Brothers. The plot has Michael Hui as a petty-minded manager in a private security company. He and his brothers stumble through many farcical situations. Many side-splitting moments from the driving instruction through to the raid on the exhibition of the jade burial suits. As in many of Hui's films there are moments of high suspense, and also running gags.

"All Night Long" has an ill-assorted group of women suddenly finding themselves with a pile of stolen money. And the dead body of a bank robber who expired in the convenience store they are in. As they try to clean up in various ways they contend with customers and police. But just as fortune seems to be smiling the rest of the manic bank gang turn up... One of those films that just seems to work for me. Deft stylish direction. Changes of pace and mood which keep things bubbling along. Very funny and colourful.

The cake Virginia did for Pastor Steve's farewell feast.

"The Private Eyes" is about the adventures (or rather misadventures) of a bumbling private detective agency in Hong Kong. The Hui brothers in full flow. Many fine hilarious moments including the finale as Shek Kin's gang raid a cinema.

"All the Wrong Clues" is an exercise in style. The plot: gangsters swindlers comic police private detectives femme fatales ingenues homicidal killers mayhem Al Capone in Hong Kong. Tony Rayns hated this film, seeing it as selling out by Tsui Hark. This is a very commercial film, which doesn't make it as far as a plot really let alone social comment. But it is a display of scintillating style and Hark's wizardry.

"Peking Opera Blues" is set in China which after the fall of the Qing dynasty was subject to bickering warlords. The lives of a gold digging musician (Cherie Chung), the patriot daughter (Brigitte Lin) of a mercenary general, and a girl (Sally Yeh) wanting to break into the male ranks of Peking Opera performers intertwine. The Chinese title "Dao Ma Dan" comes from Peking Opera as does the spirit of the film itself. Three wonderful female leads. Very funny at times gallows humour. Roller coaster direction which ranges from slapstick farce to pure poetry in motion. A message of the future belongs to the young.

"The Grand Heist" is a crime heist comedy. What makes it different from other such films is that it's set in feudal Korea, and what's being stolen is ice. There's a bit of comedy, the expected unexpected characters, a touch of martial arts - but the star for me is the setting. So the film teaches about the cycle of the seasons in Korea then, of how ice was harvested from the lakes during the winter, then stored for use during the hot summers. And how control of that ice was a lucrative monopoly. The period setting is well realised, with its rituals and aristocratic power struggles, and its costumes. That feels correct. The plot has a ne'er do well son who wastes his time collecting books suddenly up against it when his noble father is the victim of a plot to control the ice business. The son seeks revenge on the lord behind the plot by planning to steal all the ice from the lord's warehouse in one night. To do so he assembles a team of oddballs. Yes derivative. Yes some of the fun is best enjoyed by the target Korean audience. But there's fun there if you let it be fun. At one point in the film a heroine gets to dress in a period wetsuit which adds spice at the cost of feeling anachronistic. But this isn't a film to be taken too seriously.

Gamescom 2014

"The Butterfly Murders" sees a writer seeking to record the happenings in war-torn medieval China. He goes to investigate reports of homicidal butterflies at a remote castle. His researches uncover a convoluted plot to take control of the martial arts world. An innovative blend of SF, horror, fantasy, and martial arts film which was Tsui Hark's debut film. Rooted in Chinese martial arts fiction yet defies that tradition by having a writer as hero. Here bizarre devices replace Tiger Claw techniques in the martial arts battles, with the film's McGuffin revealed only at the end. Surreal images such as the castle covered in butterfly nets.

"The Master's Sun" is a TV mini-series written by the Hong sisters who have written a number of successful such mini-series. It starts Kong Hyo-jin as a woman troubled by her ability to see ghosts. By chance she finds touching the CEO of a giant mall frees her temporarily from her occult affliction. Step by misstep she and the CEO begin to relate to each other. This is a romance - by the end all has been resolved much as in one of Shakespeare's lighter works. It is perhaps darker than other mini-series by the Hong sisters, but not that dark. Comedy wins out over melodrama, and there are some genuinely funny moments. It has appeal even to Westerners, in fact I think it could be remade with changes as a Western TV mini-series. The CEO (So Ji Sub) is an entertaining character, especially when he's being mean and insensitive. There is some sharp dialogue in here, and emotionally charged scenes. The romance swings between extremes, and is only balanced in the final episode. There is also some depth here, real people behaving in real ways.

A cruise to the Western Med on the P&O "Azura", including a gondola ride in Venice.

"Shadowrun Returns" is a traditional turn-based isometric 3rd person RPG game. The game is not as glossy as some other RPGs, the graphics have a well tried look, but it's very playable and fun. The setting for the game is interesting, blending both magic and science. I played as a mage, but there's other options like deckers who can enter a cyber world. The story is definitely noir, involving people being killed for body parts and corporate corruption and crime bosses. The storyline is very linear, but acceptable. There's lots of character interaction and dialogue. I got quite into it, there's a lot of options in how you can evolve your character yet I managed to complete the game. People say the "Dragonfall" expansion is even better (this is a full blown game more than an expansion) so I'll definitely try that!

"The Greatest Love" is a TV mini-series written by the Hong sisters, perhaps their best. It's about the tangled romantic relationships between an arrogant self-centered superstar, a washed up girl idol with a heart of gold, a successful manipulative girl idol, and a doctor naive of the entertainment industry. On one sense the series writes itself, no bets on who ends up with whom. "The Greatest Love" is a mixture of romance, farce, and social comment. There are some strong romantic moments, particularly effective is the end of the last but one episode, where it all comes together for the heroine. There are some fine scenes of farce and comic misunderstandings, which Kong Hyo-Jin as the eccentric heroine plays to the hilt. Worth watching just for that. "The Greatest Love" is set in the Korean entertainment industry, and portrays that as an artificial construction of artificialities. Image is everything, not reality, as exemplified by two of the leads having a sham relationship just for the benefit of contracts. Perhaps the series says it's really what in the heart that matters, and the hero does have a change of heart in more ways than one. "The Greatest Love" also features the Internet, and how extreme opinions are fostered by that superficial medium. How apparently meek and caring individuals will express cruel hateful words in the electronic world. How such unimportant utterances can have great effects.

"The Grand Ellipse" (2000) is set in the fantasy world in which Paula Volsky had set others of her books like "The White Tribunal" and "Illusion". As far as I know it is the last book so set, and it is also the best - revisiting many of the locations from the previous books. A strong female lead, the adventuress "Luzelle Devaire" competes in race organised by a mad king for the chance to meet him. So she can plead for access to the one thing that might save her Vonahr homeland from being assimilated by a militaristic regime. The one thing being a magic called sentient fire. Very Jack Vance like, through "Luzelle's" eyes we experience many strange cultures as much as one of Jack Vance's heroes would. Also Jack Vance like there is much comedy and farce, with outstandingly nutty characters like the mad king who felt "Grand Ellipse" was a better title for his race than "Big Oval". There are themes here common to Volsky's others books. Old-fashioned honour, and old-fashioned magic, have almost been relegated to fairy tale land. In the world of this book they still exist in small corners, in forgotten places. You can read more or less into that. There are also analogies with the history of our sad world. So the "Grewzian Imperium" is very Germanic, and as ruthless as a Nazi war machine. But such analogies are not to be taken too far. This is an enjoyable work of fiction, one I like rereading.

The Rithmatist (2013) is a young adult novel set in a fantasy version of our real world. The United States is instead a united group of islands using steampunk technology. Korea conquered Europe driving European refugees into those islands. Where they face a wild magic of two-dimensional chalklings held only at bay by the power of the Rithmatists. The magical system is a star of this book, very inventive. Brandon Sanderson has created a system so different to the normal magic in other books, yet one logical and somehow natural. The book is adorned with the drawings that Rithmatists use to express their power and fight their battles. The magical system harks back to drawings on cave walls, giving it an archetypal feeling. The hero of the book is Joel, son of a late chalk maker (the Rithmatists use chalk to do their drawings). Joel yearns to be a Rithmatist himself, can do their drawings better than many actual Rithmatists, but does not have the spirit of magic in him. Joel not being a Rithmatist himself is important to the book remaining interesting, which makes his relationship with other characters like Professor Fitch and Melody deeper and necessary. Most of the action of the book is set in a University which is half academic, half Rithmatist magical. The social setting is one with an aristocracy. The Rithmatists are privileged members of society, the ones who keep the wild chalklings penned up around the mysterious tower in Nebrask. Joel's story is clearly not finished by the end of this first captivating entry in the Rithmatist saga. Brandon Sanderson has a son called Joel but writing a sequel has got repeatedly delayed. He has chosen to focus on his Cosmere stories.

"Serenity" is Joss Whedon's tying up of loose ends following the shameful cancellation of the "Firefly" TV series. "Serenity" has less of the wonderful world Whedon created for "Firefly", and has less of the character interplay and evolution that "Firefly" had. That's inevitable. But as a chance to see the "Firefly" saga completed "Serenity" is invaluable. There are strong performances in there, better appreciated if one has seen the "Firefly" series first of course. The world of "Serenity" isn't as large as "Firefly"'s which range from Wild West cattle ranches to high-tech spaceships, but is still fascinating. "Serenity"'s story arc focusses on River more than Mal, and becomes her redeeming her life. Whedon toys with the viewer at the climax of the film, allowing him as director to have his cake and eat it. Perhaps more a tribute to the "Firefly" series than a standalone film in its own right, but still an enjoyable SF movie in which right triumphs over wrong.

"Firefly" is a fusion between the mythic Wild West and a high tech future where man has left an exhausted Earth and colonised other worlds. A shamefully cancelled series. Mal Reynolds, on the losing side on a failed war of independence, makes a living running errands in a space transport. Errands like transporting cattle. He gets caught up in the sinister activities of the Blue Corporation when he takes on board a pair of refugees from the Alliance, one of whom is the disturbed telepath River, victim of experiments. Very strong group of characters with great interplay and promising story arcs. A shame their stories were not fully told. The setting of "Firefly" is an intoxicating blend of American and Chinese, of rich affluent society with space age gizmos against poor farmers scratching a living from the soil as they might have done in "Shane".

We went again to see the Christmas Show at the Thursford Collection, a long drive but worth it. We get there early to at least have lunch before the coaches disgorge their hundreds and it becomes difficult to move around. It's great meeting up with my cousin there and her husband. The show is well done, they vary it a bit year to year (so this year we had a Norfolk bor comic and a circus performer), it was sensibly choreographed and performed but it just didn't thrill me as it did the first year we went. I'm jaded I know.

I went up to London for the day to see some of the fourth AdventureX computer games convention. There's a writeup on GameBoomers. I had the luck to interview Theodor Waern, and Dave Gilbert.

"Boys Over Flowers" is a Korean TV drama based on a Japanese manga 'Hana yori Dango', whose title (literally Boys over Flowers) is a pun on a Japanese saying of "dumplings over flowers" meaning people who attend a flower festival Hanami but only go for food rather than appreciate the flora. The plot is nice and simple - poor girl "Geum Jandi" who has a heart of gold finds herself at a school for the mega-rich where she runs up against the elite F4 gang of four. Cue some noble suffering, rich snob falling in love despite himself, misunderstandings, machinations of mother who only wants the best as a daughter-in-law. As an example of the genre it's very watchable. There's lots of eye candy locations, emotional baggage to work through, subplots. The men in the drama are very flawed, the women in a way drive the drama along. The leads don't have to be great actors as their roles call for naivety. It all ends happily, pleasing "Jandi's" best friend.

"Rent-A-Cat" is a series of episodes about a lonely woman Sayoko who attracts cats. She runs a service renting out these cats to fill holes in the lives of lonely people. But is unable to fill the hole in her own life. The cats are big stars of this film, very cute and cuddle yet mysterious and magical. And there's plenty of them. Sayoko herself is a bit on the eccentric side, the whole film while quiet and comfortable has many weird touches to enchant the eye and mind. Sayoko lives by herself, just with a shrine to her late grandmother who started her down the path of being a cat woman. Each day she loads up a trolley with adorable felines, and wheels it along a path calling out "Rent a cat" through a loudhailer. The episodes in a way are the same episode with variations in the cat being rented, who it's being rented to, and how Sayoko earns a living. The viewer has to decide how to understand this film, what is or isn't fantasy. But perhaps such films are not meant to be understood, but enjoyed on a deeper level. Like the pleasure of having a cat sitting on your lap!

"Suspiria" is a masterpiece by Dario Argento known for his florid horror shows. It stars American actress Jessica Harper as a young ingenue who comes to study at a German dance academy. But this is a dance academy with a dark and fantastic secret. She will follow the clues to the centre of the web of evil. This is a horror film. More showy than a Hammer shocker, but of that ilk. A number of victims are mysteriously murdered. The heroine finds it hard to make the outside world believe her. Alone she has to face down the evil. That summary may be enough to stop people watching "Suspiria". What lifts this above the stock shocker is the pacing, the use of sound and colour. Goblin's rock music makes audible the witchlike intimidation and menace. The overloaded colours expose an inner tortured world. Jessica's taxi ride to the academy presage the violence to come, presage her journey to the heart of darkness. So is "Suspiria" just slasher entertainment for the arthouse? Curiously there are old-fashioned morals amidst the mayhem. Innocence triumphs over corruption and greed. But "Suspiria" is a film to experience not to analyse. IMHO. The climax of the film is surrealist and transcendental - like Jessica we have reached a place of symbols which we cannot decode. A trip to take.

"Labyrinth" is a worthy film from Jim Henson of Muppets fame which mixes live actors with puppetry. Made as digital effects were beginning to make an impact (the owl is partly digitally animated) the film is a showcase of what can be done by skilled and imaginative puppeteers. The plot has young Sarah who annoyed at being left to look after baby Toby wishes the goblins would take him away. And to her dismay they do - to redeem the situation she must venture through the Labyrinth to the goblin city and reclaim Toby. Monty Python's Terry Jones contributed to the script and it is chockful of off the wall touches and British humour. The goblin king Jareth is played by David Bowie whose ambiguousness tending to androgyny is very apt. The goblin king could have been an echo of Sarah's inner psyche, Bowie also performs some songs with manic Muppet accompaniment. The film is full of little brilliances, from a well of helping hands to Jareth juggling with crystal spheres. Some of the effects don't quite work, or would have been done better digitally - the dance of the fiery creatures who toss heads around is iffy, and the Escher staircases aren't quite there. But taken as a souped up Muppet show this is splendid stuff. The elements of the film do fight against each other. The theme is potentially quite adult but there's rather puerile touches too. The film is potentially profound but has very trivial moments too. The sheer range of situations confuse rather than emphasize a message. But this is a masterwork of puppetry.