COSMIC SIN
15 ★★ On digital and DVD from tomorrow
Cert
These days, having Bruce Willis on a movie poster isn’t a sign of quality.
It isn’t even a sign that it’s a Bruce Willis movie.
In recent years, the Pulp Fiction star has been happy to cash in his famous pate with cameo roles in B-movies. So it comes as something of a surprise when he hangs around for most of this low-budget sci-fi.
It’s the 26th century and humanity has colonised other worlds with the aid of a “quantum” device that bends the rules of space time. They’ve also developed a solar systemdestroying weapon of mass destruction called the “Q-bomb”.
Willis plays a renegade general tasked with leading a crack squad of unknown actors (and Frank Grillo) to nuke the home planet of fascist aliens.
It looks cheap and makes very little sense but there are some fun fights and a couple of amusing lines.
Fans of Grillo shouldn’t read too much into his prominent place alongside Willis on the poster. He’s hardly in it.
Bruce must be fuming.
Sunny skies and blue seas year-round will be at the heart of P&O’S newest ship when she makes her maiden voyage late next year.
Now revealed as the Arvia – from the Latin for ‘from the seashore’ - the Southampton-based line’s second Lng-powered Excel class ship will join the fleet in December 2022. Voyages on 184,700 gross tonnage Arvia, a sister to Iona, will go on sale next month with the focus expected to be the Mediterranean, Canaries and
Caribbean. P&O Cruises president Paul Ludlow said: “Arvia has been designed to travel to the sun yearround and to maximise views of the ocean and the seashore from everywhere on board.’’
He added that the vast space on board had ‘’enabled us to include a number of new and extraordinary features”.
More ship details will be revealed in the coming months.
pocruises.co.uk
Peacock Clock, Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg
Visitors to one of the world’s greatest museums rarely fail to be delighted by this British-made 18th century automaton which is still in perfect working order.
It was commissioned by Catherine the Great’s favourite military commander, Prince Grigory Potemkin, and the figures of the peacock, cockerel and owl are only set in motion on selected days, so expect crowds videoing it.
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It’s announced the time to the citizens of the charming
Swiss capital since 1405, though the tower itself has been through many incarnations over the centuries.
Today the
Zeitglockenturm (Clock
Tower) is one of Bern’s main tourist sights, with the ornate astronomical calendar clock featuring an astrolabe dial, the 12 signs of the zodiac orbited by the Sun and Moon, faces indicating the four winds and the Roman gods Venus, Mars and Jupiter.
Impressive enough, but this is the clock that reputedly inspired a young local patent clerk named Albert Einstein to develop his theory of relativity, based on what would happen to his watch if he was in a tram that left the tower at the speed of light.
In biting winds under moody grey skies, the winter woodlands around me were unsurprisingly devoid of songbirds hunkered down to escape the cold.
Yet one bird’s ominous outline could be seen amid the dreariness – the distinctive ‘flying cross’ shape of a raven on the wing.
As bulky as a buzzard and with a long diamond-shaped tail, the raven is a huge bird with a honking cry that carries far.
Ravens thrive in the cold. I have seen them trailing polar bears in the Canadian Arctic, eyes primed for blubbery seal scraps.
Winter in the Chilterns must seem balmy for them – but for too long their distinctive silhouettes have been absent from southern England – apart from of course at the Tower of London where legend states their presence ensures the survival of the Crown.
Persecuted as vermin during the 19th century, ravens were driven to the remotest parts of Britain.
More enlightened times have brought about something of a renaissance – and over the past decade there has been a 20% population increase to an estimated 10,000 breeding pairs.
Every walk along the chalk ridges near my home invariably produces a honk of a distant raven and, if I am lucky, the sight of two birds (they are monogamous and pairs bond for life) flying leisurely overhead with distinctive wing beats.
However, I was not anticipating seeing many birds at all on this particular lockdown stroll. A few fieldfares, dazzling-winged goldfinches and a rasping grey partridge looked the scant rewards for a long slog with the dog.
Then came the bugle of a raven, followed by a second. Unexpectedly, there was a third. A deer carcass was creating a scene you might expect from ravenous vultures in the Serengeti. Up to 16 were feasting, keeping the red kites at bay and dwarfing carrion crows waiting their turn.
Once described as the “great requiem bird of myth and legend”, ravens should be cherished rather than seen as portents of doom. Long may they fly over us.
Persecuted long ago as vermin they are now having a renaissance
Hi Diarmuid
I want to plant a bamboo in a planter box as a screen between us and the neighbours. I’d like one about six to eight feet high. Thanks
Ann Fitzgerald, via Instagram
Hi Ann
Bamboo makes a very good screen, and planting in a container will help to keep it in check.
I’d recommend Fargesia, the umbrella bamboo, which is a well-behaved ‘clumper’ that forms a dense upright habit. There are different varieties with attractive stems, such as the stripy ‘Pingwu’ or the reddish stemmed ‘Red Panda’.
All are low-maintenance – but do keep it well-watered as bamboos are thirsty creatures.