Bamboo, Buddhism, Monsters and Magic A fine couple of days have just passed. Saturday was a productive day where Cecile and I tidied our junk-filled backyard and put up some bamboo screening along a low wall to produce a space that, although a little bare, now seems to be a step nearer to being able to be called ‘a garden’. Bodhidharma achieved enlightenment staring at a wall for nine years. I spent six hours staring at a wall and attaching fencing to it with a variety of power-tools. I’m presuming that enlightenment must feel very similar to fatigue and chronic backpain! After achieving enlightenment and a tidy garden, our friend Georgie came round and we talked rubbish, ate Cecile’s rather lovely ‘experimental quiches’ and played a few boardgames. On Sunday, after a bit more garden clearing, we went to the Harry Potter experience somewhere near the magical land of Watford . This was a Christmas present from my folks and although I’m not the biggest HP fan in the world (I enjoyed the first few books and films but couldn’t quite see why those books got all the attention rather than hundreds of similar ones), this was brilliant. The trip starts with two rooms of a guided tour and then lets you go and explore two large sound-studios full of old sets without any external guidance. Those first rooms I found a little alarming as young, enthusiastic guides kept asking you to shout out what your favourite character is, or how much you love Harry Potter! It’s all a bit American for me! I’d just driven to the rubbish tip to dump a car-load of garden-waste and then fought my way through the traffic of North London . I am British. I need to be slowly acclimatized to the idea of having fun, not forced into it like a Butlins-detainee! Anyway, once allowed to wander on our own we were left to marvel at the shear brilliance of the craftsmen who make the films. The monsters, effects, and set-dressing was all so beautiful and it made us lament that the real world is so drab when we can have a world that looks like this. The effects department even built a few houses which looked like a modern suburb or a Tudor cottage but when you tap the stone structure you discover that it’s fibreglass: light and waterproof and perfect in every detail… and alarmingly better-made than our house in Wood Green! If you are a model-maker you really should go. If you like fantasy films, go. If you like window-shopping for beautiful crafted objects that never appear in the Ikea catalogue, then go. In fact, we all need a little magic in the real world.
Posted on: Tue, 01 Apr 2014 17:45:54 +0000
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