The Loss of the Old Coast Path from Porthleven to Loe Bar

We think of the granite cliffs of Cornwall as standing against erosion - but things are fragile in times of storm and climate change ... and not all the cliffs of Cornwall are granite.

Part of one of my favourite local stretches of coastal path (Porthleven to Loe Bar) has disappeared, undercut and fallen away after recent storms. This means it is now too dangerous to walk and has been closed by the National Trust whilst they work out how to reinstate a route by taking it further inland.

So these are a few photos from a walk I can no longer take.

 

Being observed

Bluebells

Grass and sky

Looking west towards Rinsey

Animated Discussions: Loving Vincent

I'm looking out for "Loving Vincent" - a film produced by Polish animator Dorota Kobiela and film director Hugh Welchman (who also worked on the 2006 animation "Peter and the Wolf"). They just got an Oscar nomination and the European Film Academy gave it their 2017 European Animated Feature Film Award.
The project was Kobiela's labour of love which everyone said could not be done: a film about Vincent Van Gogh animated with frames individually painted in the style of the man himself. "CGI it": they said. "No": said the team whose dream it was.

From a test run in 2012 they managed to tackle problems such as frame size vs varying canvas size of source paintings; film timeline vs depicted seasons in chosen image; varying styles of the painter (Van Gogh) himself... you name it.

And with a team of 80+ painters (including Helford-based artist Sarah Wimperis) and a method involving rotoscoping live-action filming ... They did it.

Take time, if you can, to watch the "making of" video at the end of Ashley Lo Russo's  Review of "Loving Vincent" on the Canadian Animation Blog.

Mrs D's Criminal Reading

I'm not really yawning, honest. But aint it hard to get up on a cold and frosty morning? Or in my case a grey and raining morning.

But I can have a lie-in because this post is about Mrs D's criminal reading habits. She's contributed a list of her favourite Brit-Euro-Crime reading in 2017 to the Euro Crime blog and you'll find that list here.

Now I guess I had better get up and put the kettle on.

Whiffled

Has you ever been whiffled by a horse? Well, that is to say, breathed with and snuffled quite warmly, gently and noisily. It was very new to me. As was I to the horse, a young rescue who still won't be ridden because of the way he was introduced to the idea.
But his rescue owner said he would be fine. And he was. And it was me that was all giggly and nervous. But there. Now I have shared breaths with a horse.

The Miniaturist

One of the British telly programmes I enjoyed over Christmas was The Miniaturist. Well I would, wouldn't I ... all those miniature lovelies destined for Nella's dollhouse; a touch of the supernatural; lovingly detailed Dutch interiors; a flavour of family saga (although exceeding brief - a touch, a blink as such); an insight into the religious and social politics of that place and time.

I didn't understand why the BBC broadcast it in two unequal-length parts (one and a half hours and then an hour) which tripped up the pace of the ending for me.

But it was very sumptuous, visual ... and lovingly miniaturised.

January 2018: The Doll's Doubts

So here I am again and here you are too. I have to say that, after posting to this blog for seven years or so, I am wondering whether I can go on with this. I get older, ironically angrier, and therefore less inclined to play and have fun.

I wondered whether to simply make images with a single sentence or link: one a day... snap, snap, snap.

I wondered whether to migrate to another platform (cos Blogger is lonelier than it used to be and Mrs D do enjoy her time at WordPress.) But where to go? Tumblr's parent company has been gobbled up by Verizon - not a fan of net neutrality.

Instagram is owned by the giant Facebook now ... although I think they are currently supporting net neutrality...

I am full of confusion. I may pack my bags and leave but, for now, I appear to have made another post!

All good wishes for 2018. As the immortal Bette Davis said in "All About Eve" 

... "Fasten your seat belts. It's going to be a bumpy night."

Peace And Comfort And So Forth

I have been pretty hopeless at posting recently. Nevertheless I and The Old Man do send out our warm wishes for this midwinter. And, of course, wishes for Peace.

The time has come for me to stop trying to keep up with hoped for high standards of cleanliness, decor, good food and ultimate Christmassy stuff and wish you all ... good will.

Animated Discussions: Wolf Children by Mamoru Hosoda

I am not so much of a wolf ... as I am a rabbit. But you know that I love my cartoons and that I love Japanese cartoons particularly.
Yesterday I watched "Wolf Children" -  Mamoru Hosoda's 2012 film release, very reminiscent of the Ghibli tradition of fantasy family tales for all ages.

Its story is about student Hana who falls in love with a mysterious young man she sees at her college lectures. But his dark secret is that he is a werewolf, a race long thought to have died out in Japan. Their love affair continues and he and Hana go on to have two young children: a girl, Yuki (Snow), and a boy, Ame (Rain). Fate forces Hana to lose her lover and soon the intrusions of modern urban life prove too much for Hana and her tiny human-wolf children. Hana moves to a rural community and the film follows the family as the children grow towards adulthood. How can Hana raise them as a human on her own? And how will they live? As wolves or humans?

I enjoyed the film very much but somehow it missed something that I find in the Ghibli classics. It's not so much the visuals, I think, as in the story-telling. Ghibli or rather Miyazaki's characters can be subtly drawn in terms of ambiguity or gender "type". In Hosoda's film it seems that boys are expected to be "tough" wolves and girls to be more human "tender" and perhaps woe betide if they do not conform that easily. Mmmnn! (She do say stroking her old-lady chin thoughtfully.) But it's a great story which involved me and The Old Man easily on a wintry evening.

And I wouldn't mind getting hold of a copy of the the next Hosoda: "The Boy And The Beast".