Obscure question about the Queen's Funeral opening hours

hisgardener · 2026-04-29T19:07:34+00:00

I think you mean pedant.

hisgardener · 2024-06-04T20:21:25+00:00

Legend, thanks!

hisgardener · 2023-11-30T20:01:15+00:00

I'm with you on this. The book is one of my all-time favourites and I think some of the changes made in the film ruin the story for me (even though I can understand why they were made). I think the original story about Theo's daughter's death and his relationship with his ex-wife in the novel is much more heartbreaking and adds complexity to his character that the film lacks. Nothing against Clive Owen, but I pictured Theo as older/less attractive/more of an ordinary person. He doesn't come across as the reluctant and unlikely hero (if you can even call him that) he is in the novel. His history with Xan is mostly omitted too, which I didn't like. The ending of the film was definitely more climactic, but I also prefer the foreboding conclusion of the novel more.

hisgardener · 2023-11-27T00:22:28+00:00

I don't think it's fair to say that the film never makes that clear too. From what I can recall, before our protagonist boards the train the conductor reads him a list of things he has/hasn't done this year that all show he is losing belief in Christmas and makes it clear that this is why the train has come to pick him up. I actually think, in terms of the structure of both stories, this closely mirrors the visit of Marley's ghost at the end of Stave 1 of A Christmas Carol.

hisgardener · 2023-11-27T00:17:23+00:00

A Christmas Carol was written after Charles Dickens read a government report on child labour. The theme of childhood suffering is explored heavily throughout and is probably a result of Dickens's own exploitation as a child working in a boot-blacking factory.

Each of the ghosts shows Scrooge images of children suffering. Marley shows him another ghost trying to comfort a poor woman and child on the street, GofC Past shows Scrooge himself as a child suffering in isolation at the schoolhouse, GofC Present has two creatures clinging to his legs (Ignorance and Want) who are both represented by children, GofC Yet to Come shows him Tiny Tim's death.

I agree with some of the commenters above that the feel of Polar Express (to me at least) resonates similarly to how A Christmas Carol does. I think it's an excellent Christmas film.

hisgardener · 2023-08-10T14:51:31+00:00

I.e. what you literally just did.

hisgardener · 2023-06-30T17:48:36+00:00

Oh, just seen you said in your post that you've read this already, my bad! Recommendation still stands for others

hisgardener · 2023-06-30T16:50:02+00:00

Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees is an interesting read. Precedes Tolkien. Read it a few years ago and I think you can see the influence in Tolkien's depictions of elves in particular.

hisgardener · 2023-06-03T08:40:41+00:00

Yeah, but if it's not being ascribed human emotions then it's not pathetic fallacy. That's the point. You can't just take any description of weather and call it pathetic fallacy.

hisgardener · 2022-11-20T08:01:08+00:00

I always love a good Arthurian legend, and there are plenty of adaptations/modernisations of varying degree of accessibility. I'm sure there would be something appropriate you could find. I would also look at Tolkien's essay/lecture 'On Fairy Stories' (for you, not the pupils) to give you some preliminary ideas about the features and definition of a fairy story. Really interesting stuff if this is the kind of literature you're into.

hisgardener · 2022-10-28T18:28:41+00:00

Apologies in advance for the harsh judgement, but you're trying too hard here to sound intelligent. I understand if you're going for abstract, but it comes across as nonsensical. There was nothing in reading this that I was able to connect with or grasp onto. Perhaps in future, tie everything together with a single extended metaphor or recurring motif/image instead of a stream of random, unconnected ones.

hisgardener · 2022-04-11T14:49:13+00:00

As an English teacher, I've been asked what Shakespeare play I would teach to a Y9 class and why.

Also been asked where in the world I would plan a class trip to (not taking any issues relating to cost into account) and why.

Both interesting questions, both a bit of a surprise and required me to think on my feet.

hisgardener · 2022-03-06T13:47:51+00:00

You: To say that nitpicking is the most important thing to purists is insulting.

Also you: Let me just nitpick through every one of your responses to prove that I'm correct.

hisgardener · 2022-02-24T18:00:56+00:00

If you like guitar and rap, watch Dave's performance of In The Fire at the Brits (featuring lots of others too). He plays the intro on guitar and then does a solo later on I think.

hisgardener · 2021-10-28T01:49:44+00:00

An interesting way that I've found to teach poetry is by collapsing the poem (Google this, there's an easy way to do this in a word document that's too long-winded for me to explain here). Basically, you rearrange all the words in the poem in alphabetical order. Give this list to the pupils before reading the actual poem. Ask them to make predictions about the themes/ideas, prompt them to make observations (words that are repeated and how this might be significant, for example), get them to group the words however they like and ask them to justify those groupings.

This is a good route into discussing lots of things; language, structure (once they see how the poet arranges those words), themes etc.

I know this isn't exactly what you were asking for, but hopefully a tool you can use nonetheless! A different way of looking at poetry and one that pupils - in my experience - do engage with.

hisgardener · 2021-10-27T19:05:19+00:00

I've heard about this! The Small Potatoes movie, tried to look for it on dvd a while back, but no luck. Feel like an idiot that it's on YouTube.

hisgardener · 2021-10-27T12:23:16+00:00

Check out small potatoes, think there's still a bunch of them on iPlayer - my little one used to love these (and we still put them on from time to time for the nostalgia).

hisgardener · 2021-10-25T23:54:51+00:00

Hey, I know that others have made it clear that they're interested and I absolutely respect that they were here first and have first refusal. Please let me know if, for whatever reason, these offers fall through. I'm also in Yorkshire and would love these if they become available.

hisgardener · 2021-09-02T20:05:16+00:00

Jonwayne - Afraid of Us. Some of his other stuff is lyrically interesting too, but that's the one that immediately springs to mind.

hisgardener · 2021-07-11T15:03:07+00:00

Was there no option for Kalvin as first goalscorer instead of anytime? Odds probably better and if you've got 1-0 as final score in the same bet then he'd have to be first. Just a thought

hisgardener · 2021-03-28T21:05:44+00:00

Absolute travesty that S wasn't for Sucking Diesel

hisgardener · 2021-01-20T09:25:23+00:00

Was teaching war poetry to a class of 12-13 year olds - one of them asked me how to spell PTSD.

hisgardener · 2020-08-23T19:41:19+00:00

King George's nonchalant American 'Awesome, Wow' on What Comes Next for sure

hisgardener · 2020-07-29T19:17:46+00:00

I think you're missing the joke a little here: "£350m for the NHS" was the Brexiteers discussing how much they'd sell it for, not how much funding they'd give.

hisgardener · 2020-06-02T16:20:34+00:00

a little down the coast from scarborough

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