Snow

The night before last it snowed in Durham, which reminded me of something I plnned to write a few weeks ago. Here it is.
Snow is fun. It looks really cool, and sledging, snowball fights etc, are very enjoyable. But after a while, it all gets annoyingly wet and cold, some of it turns to sluch, and travelling, by foot or wheels, is difficult. Snow is fun, but then it gets annoying.
The best thing about snow is not sledging or snowmans or anything like that. The best thing is the strange way that it unites people. Complete strangers will suddenly go out of their way to help each other out of a problem caused by snow. It's nice to see.

Almost overwhelming

It was my birthday on Monday. Which was nice.
In the evening I played football with some friends, as is our custom on Monday evenings.
Upon my return to my house, I found about 30-40 friends gathered in my kitchen yelling 'surprise!', singing Happy Birthday, complete with party poppers, balloons, cake and presents!
It was genuinely one of the biggest shocks of my life, and made me feel almost overwhelmingly loved. It sounds cheesy, but it was just one of 'those moments'. I was still shaking an hour later.
It made me realise, as I do every few weeks at the moment, how lucky I am to have the friends I do, both in Durham and elsewhere.

Bridge to Terabithia

This is possibly the best film I’ve seen since The Lord of the Rings.

A few weeks ago, my sister bought me this DVD, saying I’d like it.

Now the compulsory shout-out is over, I shall explain my outrageous opening statement by means of a review.

Bridge to Terabithia is the story of 12 year old Jess Aarons.  He is bullied at school and has no friends until new girl Leslie Burke arrives next door.  The two become friends and invent an imaginary magical kingdom in the nearby woods.  The film follows their adventures, which give them a means of escape from school and their families.

I won’t spoil any more for you.

In explanation of the opening statement:

• The story is wonderfully told, completely convincing, and surprisingly gripping.
• The acting is nothing short of outstanding.
• The line between reality and imagination is trod perfectly and the two are very cleverly combined.
• The moral of the story is vitally true but not overly preached.
• The film moved me in a way that no other film, except LOTR, ever has.

The operative word in the opening statement is possibly – Stardust, Shrek 2, The Prestige and others are all contenders, but Bridge to Terabithia is right up there with them and is, I think, a more important film to watch than any of them.  If I could list five films you should watch to help you become a better person, Bridge to Terabthia would definitely be one of the five.  It might even be top.  It is truly superb - one of those films to which words cannot do justice.  Just watch it.  With tissues.