(Lord’s day). Lay pretty long, but however up time enough with my wife to go to church. … and Mr. Fuller, my Cambridge acquaintance, told me he was to preach at Barking Church; and so I to heare him, and he preached well and neatly. Thence, it being time enough, to our owne church, and there staid wholly privately at the great doore to gaze upon a pretty lady, and from church dogged her home, whither she went to a house near Tower hill, and I think her to be one of the prettiest women I ever saw. So home, and at my office a while busy, then to my uncle Wight’s, whither it seems my wife went after sermon and there supped, but my aunt and uncle in a very ill humour one with another, but I made shift with much ado to keep them from scolding, and so after supper home and to bed without prayers, it being cold, and to-morrow washing day.

No holding back here then. Pepys sees a pretty women and follows her home and then goes to a relation to be a mediator between an arguing couple. A typical Sunday you might say.

*****

OK I had a great day today but I want to get one thing off my chest before recording in chronological order. I decided to see the updated version of Blade Runner, having seen the 1982 version. I heard that Blade Runner 2049 was a recommended film so off I went to the Odeon Bath. My only concern was why had it had fallen short of expectations when it opened in USA. So was it worth the $150,0000,000 production cost?

the nearest to daylight that we got

I went to the ‘15.30’ show which means that the film started about 15.55. The trailers were all for other violent films, all of which were of no interest to me. Trailers normally consist of flashing an image on the screen for 0.5 seconds which is enough for the brain to absorb, in effect bombarding  you with concepts to bully you into the idea that it will be a ‘good’ film to see.

The whole is a dystopian USA Californian-based setting where replicants seek out other old version replicants and terminate them or retire them. The film is violent, the scenes go on for far too long, there are too many silences, the actors mumble to each other in a cool robotic way which is actually irritating,  and as the kill list increases I am wondering to myself if this is really the best that human beings can do to entertain themselves. I lasted 40 minutes hoping the film would get better but started to feel sick and depressed so left the theatre. There were about 16 other people there. If you want to know a summary of the film, here it is.
For the time I was there it was never daylight. Good set pieces though.

This lady was a prostitute and a replicant – or maybe she was not – who was sent to find out about the bladerunner. Frankly I don’t care what happened to either of them.

Now I admit that the film may have had a few twists and turns but the meaning if there was any was lost on me.  So I crept out of the theatre and reverted to what I was doing beforehand.

*****
OK, are you sitting comfortably,  then I will begin.

My regular readers will be familiar with my affinity for Jimmy’s Restaurant which is hiding upstairs directly opposite the bus station in Bath. I spoke with the manager about improving the food. Now I have noticed an improvement, little bits here and there which all adds up to a good experience.

a new dish

I congratulated the manager on the new dish and I think he finally realizes that I really care about the place and am fulfilling my promise to give positive feedback. Strangely, he seems driven and says that ‘we will get things right little by little’. I told him that things were already right, that’s why I return time and time again, but he was beating himself up for not being perfect.  See my blog on perfectionism by typing that word in the search box.

*****

And so, on to the delightful Parade Gardens BA2 4DF in the middle of Bath by the river and the sluice. They are having some sort of flower festival at the moment (Bath is an affluent city so they can afford such things). I will let the images speak for themselves.

Quote by Jane Austin ‘Oh Who can ever be tired of Bath’ in flowers

early British Railways period type face

a splendid display

In Memorium to Mark Parnell from his mother

I very much enjoy sudden changes of weather especially when sunshine is mixed with rain. It is impossible to capture fine rain but here it is.

fine shower

On to the City Art Museum. They are between shows. In the entrance there was a lady with a clipboard. She wanted to interview people outside the BA1 and BA2 areas which were classified as ‘visitors’. I hate surveys of all types and refused point blank. However I did chat about the activity of assembling the art works and said that people do not realise the artistry and effort of placing the works in the right places to sit together, not overwhelming but complimenting each other. After a few moments she caught someone else who was prepared to spend ‘just two minutes’. It is longer than that of course but if the interviewer said 10 minutes and more, no one would cooperate.

she was good at engaging people, though.

DIY

Upstairs, there is the most unglamorous coffee area I could  imagine. Who wants to fiddle around with coffee pods and where is the milk. Some artificial sweetener cum milk lurking in the depths of the machine no doubt. I agree that real live servers would be too expensive, but with so many coffee places yards away, is it really worth it. This is in the free part of the gallery so people can pop in and out at any time.

one side of the bag

On the stairs I met a delightful lady with a shopping bag from The Body Shop.  The owners have always had good ethics and I admire them printing the slogan on the bag AND printing it in french on the other side. Not a commonplace thing by any means.

and the other side

The main square by the cathedral always has buskers and musicians performing to quite a high standard. This chap has become rather tired of waiting for a lift and has apparently expired on the job.

waiting and waiting

this chap was singing meaningful songs with clear words. Impressed.

not everyone was paying attention though

an art installation at the side of the cathedral. “The Casting Out” by Martin Elphick, 2016

descriptor board

Jesus Christ rising from the dead

OK folks there is quite a lot more to go so to save you endlessly scrolling I will do more in part deux. Scroll up and click the entry on the right above this one