http://ayearfromwinter.co.uk Sat, 16 Jan 2010 16:48:41 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en From the train's misted windows we see fields still covered with snow, rooks perching on skeletal trees, the wide sky clouded grey. It's noticeably colder than London as we leave the train at Huntingdon; coats and scarves are wrapped tighter as we scan the map looking for the quickest route ... http://ayearfromwinter.co.uk/2010/01/a-stranger-at-green-knowe/ A year from winter has retreated into the darkness for a little bit due to a whole great slew of other commitments. But, it's sleeping, not dead (it might growl and curl up tighter into a ball if you poke it with a stick). Hopefully, we shall return before too long. http://ayearfromwinter.co.uk/2009/02/retreating-into-the-darkness/ I've just returned from seeing the Nunkie Theatre Company's production of M.R. James' Oh Whistle and I'll Come to You, My Lad and The Ash Tree at the Barons Court Theatre -- a charming tiny theatre in the basement of the The Curtain's Up pub. The two stories are related by ... http://ayearfromwinter.co.uk/2009/01/quis-est-iste-qui-venit/ My new year's hangover was eased somewhat today by drinking tea, eating crumpets and watching The Innocents (Jack Clayton, 1961) on the 2006 DVD release of the film by the BFI. This was the second time I've seen the film, the first being a screening at the BFI a couple of ... http://ayearfromwinter.co.uk/2009/01/the-innocents/ Tumbledown cottage, originally uploaded by reynard. I've just watched Crooked House, Mark Gatiss' fantastic ghost story trilogy, courtesy of BBC iPlayer. The stories centred on the goings-on in a stately home from the Eighteenth Century through to the Twenty-first, and were all brought together with a suitably ghoulish ending. Gatiss is clearly well ... http://ayearfromwinter.co.uk/2008/12/crooked-house/ I've just returned from a week in Pembrokeshire. Here are some photos. http://ayearfromwinter.co.uk/2008/12/pembrokeshire/ It's maybe not surprising that music from a year from winter's collection often turns up in films, radio or television. This Christmas we've had a bit of the Christian Wallumrød Ensemble -- I think 'Wedding Postponed' from A Year from Easter as the background music for an advert for Radio ... http://ayearfromwinter.co.uk/2008/12/f-a-39/ Rook #1, originally uploaded by John Grey. Great photo of a rook on Flickr by John Grey. I love the sense of movement in it and the feeling it's like a snaphot of something glimpsed out of the corner of an eye. Very Jamesian. http://ayearfromwinter.co.uk/2008/12/rook-1/ Yesterday I saw Christmas on Mars, the Flaming Lips' film which has finally been released after a seven year gestation period. Going on my experience of the Lips' music and shows I was expecting a piece of gentle psychedelic whimsy but this was altogether much darker. The story focuses on a ... http://ayearfromwinter.co.uk/2008/12/christmas-on-mars/ Greenwich pathway blur #2, originally uploaded by reynard. No sign of anything M.R. James related as yet, but BBC4 is promising Crooked House, a new short series of ghost stories written by Mark Gatiss, a writer in which we can every confidence. Sounds promising. http://ayearfromwinter.co.uk/2008/12/christmas-ghosts/