Like The Proverbial Bus

Life can be odd can't it? One minute Marion and I are bemoaning the fact that we've got nothing on and the next we get a glut of activity all at once. This is happening in the next few days as, after a period of inertia, our free time has suddenly sprung into life. So much so that we are going against the grain and paying for two cinema tickets tonight instead of taking up the usual Orange Wednesday offer. Yes, after a potter around the gym we are off to see "The Last Exorcism". Will let you know what we think tomorrow.

And on Wednesday it's the local hospital for a check on my hip and back again in the afternoon for Marion's mum's annual check after her successful cancer operation five years ago and then Marion's off out to a charity food evening. Then on Friday we're travelling down to near Haye on Wye to celebrate close friends' wedding anniversary. Back late on Sunday and on Monday off to see Stephen Fry's show being beamed live to FACT in Liverpool and on Wednesday off to Teddington to watch the recording of two episodes of Paul's "A League Of Their Own". And then back to normal and staying in watching the telly.



Which is not always a bad thing as ITV1's "U Be Dead" proved last night.One of those fact is stranger than fiction stories, it told the tale of a successful psychiatrist and his fiancee whose lives were ruined by a stalker. From the text message of the title "U Be Dead" I guessed that the stalker would be a west country type like that archaeologist in "Time Team" or Phil in our stores. But she turned out to be a lunatic Argentinian woman who bombarded the couple with sinister and threatening text messages, cancelled their wedding reception and, when the doctor became involved with another woman, took a used condom from the bin and used the contents to frame him for rape almost wrecking his career - you couldn't make it up. A great couple of hours drama from ITV and, although when you Google the show, photos of David Morrissey and Tara Fitzgerald come up, the true star was Monica Dolan who was chillingly convincing as the stalker Maria Marchese. Well done ITV drama.Five stars.



And speaking of convincing performances, we watched "Couscous" at the weekend. Hasfia Herzi (above) plays Rym, retiree Slimane's girlfriend's daughter. The story tells the tale of Slimane trying to realise his pipe dream of opening a boat restaurant on a quayside in a southern French port - a simple premise but one that is wrapped in a multitude of layers. These layers - family,age,immigration, bureaucracy, retirement, love, infidelity and much more unwrap beautifully before us but rarely do you see as powerful a contribution on screen as that of Herzi who manages to instill her character with such feeling that she makes you feel that you know her. A wonderful film.Look out for it on DVD. Here's a taster.