Let's go back

Wishing I was listening to :-

More Adventurous by Rilo Kiley

(Not out yet)

The Mitchell and Kenyon collection

Long sentence alert

Dab-hand Dan Cruickshank was at the helm of a wonderful serious of programmes about some 800 rolls of film from the turn of the last Century. These were purely commercial films made to make money from people leaving factories or walking in the park. Maybe we would not be so interested in corresponding film of these things today but from 100+ years ago they are fascinating. This was 35 years before The Road To Wigan Pier and yet so many issues were the same showing that it is really only the last 50 years or so where the difference has been made to the living conditions of most people. For years I have thought about how the life expectancy of the average person was until 100 years ago so low compared to the 80 years or so you can expect today and yet saw that all the famous people from those ages, if they died of natural causes, were so much older than this average. It is clear that living conditions make so much difference. My Dad saw a store in the black-and-white film of Nottingham that he recognised from when he was younger - still before the last war I think though.

Half-way through Genie at the moment. Report on completion.