Summer Chilling

I felt like I needed a day to myself so I went solo today.
I headed off by getting a bus to Shepherds Bush to see 'Charlie & The Chocolate Factory' at the Vue cinema there.

Before I got to the bus stop I spotted a girl I used to go to school with who also used to be a girlfriend of one of my best friends.

She didn't see me but I had one of those, 'Hey, I recognise that person' type moments and called out to her. There was an awkward do we shake hands or kiss on the cheek so I just quickly went for the peck on the cheek. I always thought that she was a nice girl but she got dumped in quite a messy fashion by my friend after having gone out for seven years together. We had a quick bit of small talk broken up mainly by the fact that she had an appointment to make a few minutes later. I'm not sure that she's ever recovered being dumped, though I'm probably wrong. She certainly looks different. She cut her hair much shorter (I think it doesn't suit her at all) and put on loads of weight.

The film was okay but no more than above average really. It had its good bits and bad bits. It's hard to watch without comparing to to original which Gene Wilder really shone out from. It's certainly a different Willy Wonka in this one. There's a lot more to do with his origins, most of which just doesn't feel right to me. It's certainly not as much fun as the original mainly because it is a Tim Burton film so it has a darker side. Also, as much as I like Helena Bonham Carter (she plays Charlie's mother) I think she's got a bit lazy of late relying on Tim Burton movies to keep her going but I guess he is her fiancee!

The Oompa Lumpas (if that's how you spell them) aren't as good as the originals. They are all played by a short Kenyan actor called Deep Roy(!) who also seems to feature a lot in Tim Burton films (I remember him in Big Fish.) His severe face on all of the OLs just makes them look freaky but not in a good way. The Ooompa Lumpa songs are pretty much instantly forgettable unlike the ones in the original version which I can still remember today. They seem to have tried to jazz them up to make them more modern. Once again, it just doesn't quite feel right.

The young actor who plays Charlie does a brilliant job and, as always in Tim Burton films, the visuals and ideas are imaginatively impressive.

Well after the film I actually walked into London. It was overcast but warm so I thought, 'what the hell!'

I had my camera with me and took a few snaps here and there, just to get an interesting contrast with clouds in the background and darker foregrounds. So statues in Hyde Park and Green Park and then onto The Royal Academy Of Art to see the Summer Exhibition that's currently running. I get complimentary tickets through work and have been guilty in the past of letting them lapse so I thought I'd make good use of one of them as I had the day to myself.

The picture above was taken in the courtyard of the Royal Academy and is of Sir Joshua Reynolds, the first president of the RA.

I strolled around the exhibition for 2 hours and then left and wandered through the shops for a while too. I had nothing planned for the evening so the time was my own to waste doing whatever I liked. That felt good :)

I strolled down Oxford Street sitting in a street side cafe to grab a bite to eat (I was starving!) and then from Marble Arch down through Hyde Park but the clouds started to look very ominous at this point. Originally I was thinking of walking my lunch off by going down to South Kensington but no more than a minute into the park large drops of rain started to fall.

Being English, I carry an umbrella with me in my rucksack whenever there is the slightest chance of rain in the daily weather forecast, so I thought that I was well prepared.

Unfortunately it turned into a torrential rain pour with a huge cross wind! My umbrella (newly bought) tried its best but the right side of my trousers (just combats so they dried easily enough after) got soaked through as the rain lashed in under my brolly and tried to get to me. *sigh*

I made it to the underground station as best as I could and by the time it had come out at the other end there wasn't a drop of rain to be seen.

I'd left home at 9:45 and made it back around 7pm. Still, all in all, a relaxing day. I was glad of my hot shower when I got home and chilled out.