Take off your watch, your rings and all

I was engaged by the feature film I watched last evening. S and I laconically strutted down Eastgate Street and, with not one backwards glance, entered Gloucester’s Guildhall Arts Centre in order to view Broken Embraces, the recent motion picture directed by Pedro Almodóvar. I enjoyed the fellow’s last feature, Volver, and its star Penelope Cruz sparkled again in Broken Embraces. Cruz plays a secretary-cum-call girl whose attempts to become an actress impact on a range of finely crafted characters. The plot is fascinating, full of twists and turns, while the varied personalities’ idiosyncrasies and nuances entwine with wit. It proved a fun and challenging hour or two.

I encountered a charming fellow in my local Cooperative Store this evening. P was in my year at school and I haven’t seen or spoken to him since 1984. It was pleasant to shake his hand (in the biscuit aisle) and chew the fat but it was vaguely unsettling to meet a chap after 25 years and be casually discussing the cricket score within just three minutes of crying ‘Halloa’.