Those Flaws Almost Made Them Greater

It's been a while since I've been to the theatre. Gone is the regular once-a-fortnight theatre visit, replaced instead with the sporadic visits to those things-that-you-really-should-see. With that in mind, I went to see Harry Potter and the Shameless Money-making Opportunity, or whatever it is actually called.

First off, let's just say the stage craft was spectacular, to get that out the way. It really was.

Given that I had read the script a couple of years back and could remember almost nothing about it I'm surprised that I was disappointed in the story. It was just a contrived, over-long non-story. A clunky device to allow the "best" Harry Potter characters to be revisited. A grab-bag of lazy, self-indulgent references.

And don't get me started on the fact that it was two parts, neither of which could be stand alone.

Still the stage craft was spectacular. But if I just wanted spectacle I'd have gone to the circus.

Not All Those Who Rhondda Are Lost

I've spent a fair amount of time in the Valleys over the years but have never really explored the area, partly not wanting to be a poverty tourist but mainly common-or-garden laziness. Read drunkenness.

Turns out its all quite scenic. All those tiny settlements are full of faded industrial grandeur with topography that lends itself to views. Merthyr Tydfil is postcard pretty, who would have thought?

In nature news, I saw a stoat kill a rabbit. That's the first time I've seen a proper mammal-on-mammal kill. I didn't even get that on safari. Go nature.

Tied up in Notts

What do you know about Nottingham? Robin Hood, Notts Forest and that's about it? Time for some learning.

Nottingham takes its craft beer seriously. Not certain if it is significant when compared to other cities, or whether I have just become more attuned to it, but it was definitely noticeable. I mean you expect it in Brewdog, or a pub called Six Barrels but Rock City? I thought that that would be like any other rock club I've been to where they are just serving two for one blue WKD. But no, Punk IPA as standard, with Wild Beer and Tiny Rebel if you knew where to look.

Some other Nottingham things:
The Dragon would have been just another pub, although one with a good people watching scene, but it had a scalextric race track in a secret room at the back. Who even knew that was a thing?

Pizza Storm was Subway for pizzas. Not sure how it hasn't existed before. It was ace. Although fairly sure I'm not the only one whose natural tendency is to go over the top. Maybe too many people want all the toppings and they just have to spend all their profits on rolling people out the door.

Stopped at Melton Mowbray on the way back. The pork pie and stilton combo was accompanied by a folk festival. Which was nice.