Lancs CCC return - In the House/Dans la Maison

With two matches still to play, Lancashire County Cricket Club have won Division Two and next season return to Division One. (HOORAY)


Yesterday, England won the fourth ODI, well done lads, to level the series at 1 - 1.

Pocklington, East Yorkshire.

With the cricket season nearing its end, I am turning to autumnal pursuits of walking, film watching, figure painting and reading, not necessarily in that order. On Wednesday I caught the bus from York to Pocklington, about 45 minutes away, for a 6 mile walk out from the town centre. The outward walk was very nice, from Market Place, past this very well preserved/restored Austin Cambridge pickup, down to Canal Head, for two miles along the Pocklington Canal. The canal fell into disuse in the 1930s and is now overgrown. The Pocklington Canal Amenity Society have been working on the canal for some years and they have restored some parts of the canal as you can see in the photos. Unfortunately the return walk was not good, I followed what I thought would be quiet country lanes but was nearly flattened by fast moving HGVs and agricultural vehicles; tractors have got very large and very fast and many of the young men that drive them seem to look down their noses and despise walkers, or may be that's just fear talking...

Film of the week - the poster above. "Dans La Maison" or "In The House", a French film directed with great aplomb and humour by Francois Ozon. It stars Fabrice Luchini as a 50 year old literature teacher and Kristen  Scott Thomas as his wife who works in a gallery. Both are disillusioned with their lot and their colleagues, until one of Luchini's pupils submits a very good essay about his friend's house, the house of the title. Luchini was very good and this was the best performance from Scott Thomas that I have seen for some time. Philip French in "The Observer" very aptly called the film a teasing comedy. I thoroughly enjoyed it and whilst I did not laugh aloud I was very engrossed. One of the best French films I have seen for some time. If you are a fan of modern French film, I recommend this to you.