Some Times It Is Just Like That

Good Morning

Time

Time
a poem by Jazzy D




As we tread softly forward into the new year
With some trepidation and some unalloyed fear,
I remember the worst days of the lockdown
Feeling that we could all suffocate and drown
In which it felt how stationary life had become
And how we knew the meaning of humdrum
And that we were marked or fated
and that time was impossibly elongated.
May we never go back to those dark old days
And however we tread, find other simpler ways.

Oops!

Closely Observed Trains

A Czechoslovak film directed by Jiří Menzel - is one of the best-known products of the Czechoslovak New Wave. It was released in the United Kingdom as Closely Observed Trains. It is a coming-of-age story about a young man working at a train station in German-occupied Czechoslovakia during World War II. The film is based on a 1965 novel by Bohumil Hrabal. It was produced by Barrandov Studios and filmed on location in Central Bohemia. Released outside Czechoslovakia in 1967, it won the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 40th Academy Awards in 1968.

Ostře sledované vlaky (1966) EN - Closely Watched Trains

ENJOY

The Czech New Wave

The Czechoslovak New Wave (also Czech New Wave) is a term used for the Czechoslovak filmmakers who started making movies in the 1960s. The directors commonly included are Miloš Forman, Věra Chytilová, Ivan Passer, Pavel Juráček, Jiří Menzel, Jan Němec, Jaromil Jireš, Vojtěch Jasný, Evald Schorm, Hynek Bočan, Juraj Herz, Juraj Jakubisko, Štefan Uher and others. The movement was sometimes called the "Czechoslovak film miracle".




The films touched on themes which for earlier filmmakers in the communist countries had rarely managed to avoid the objections of the censor, such as the misguided youths of Czechoslovak society portrayed in Miloš Forman's Black Peter (1963) and Loves of a Blonde (1965), or those caught in a surrealistic whirlwind in Věra Chytilová's Daisies (1966) and Jaromil Jireš' Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970). The films often expressed dark and absurd humour in opposition to social realist films of the 1950s.

The Czechoslovak New Wave differed from the French New Wave in that it usually held stronger narratives, and as these directors were the children of a nationalized film industry, they had greater access to studios and state funding. They also made more adaptations, including Jaromil Jireš's adaptation of Milan Kundera's novel The Joke (1969). At the Fourth Congress of the Czechoslovak Writers Union in 1967, Milan Kundera described this wave of national cinema as an important part of the history of Czechoslovak literature.

This year I hope to watch many of these films from whatever sources are available. The BFI has many and some can be found on YouTube. These films are among the most fruitful, fascinating, and radical from that period.

Here is a link to the 10 most Essential Films of The Czech New Wave.

https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/10-essential-films-from-the-czech-new-wave/

Family Tunes

Peggy Seeger - The Invisible Woman

Peggy met Ewan in a folk pub in Chelsea London back in the late fifties and she fell in love with him and they stayed together till his death. Had many children including Kirsty. Peggy is now 86 years old.

Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger - Ballad of the Carpenter (1960)

A beautiful song about Jesus as the first socialist of the history written by Ewan MacColl and registered together with Peggy Seeger for their LP "The New Briton Gazette Vol.1" in 1960 and successively registered by Phil Ochs for his album I Ain't Marching Anymore (1965). The song was previously available on YouTube only in the version of Phil Ochs and now also in the version of the authors.

Kirsty MacColl - A New England

A New England was a Top Ten single for Kirsty MacColl in 1985. Billy Bragg wrote a couple of extra verses for the song just for Kirsty.

Kirsty MacColl died prematurely in December 2000 (age 41), she was killed in a boat accident in Mexico. She pushed one of her sons away from the boat, but she got hit and killed by it. In my opinion, Kirsty died a hero.

Kirsty MacColl - There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears he's Elvis (6 55 special)

RIP Kirsty and Ewan.

ENJOY

Good Night