WELL, for so many weeks I have been working to be elected to Ryedale District Council, under the law there is a time of Clearing whereby no published mention may be made by election candidates of the election and I have been squeaky clean in order to carry on with my bit of a column here in the Gazette and Herald.

It has been an interesting period and I hope there is mutual respect between the candidates who all worked hard with different opinions and I am extremely grateful for those 387 people in Norton West who voted for me.

There were interesting times on the trail for me – nipped by three dogs, a great big Alsatian that jumped up as tall as me the other side of the door barking furiously and not realising I could slip the leaflet through the letter box in complete safety!

The brilliant case of the man who, after I had put the leaflet through his door, stormed out of his house in stocking feet saying “Will you ‘flipping’ well stop doing that around here, haven’t you got anything ‘flipping’ well better to do? I am ‘flipping’ sick of this!” I have ‘paraphrased’ a little (also did a similar thing for another candidate’s supporter).

He went to bin and crumpled it up and threw it in – I didn’t think I had better point out that being paper it should really go into the paper recycling. I thanked him for his feedback and carried on.

The two of us (unusually there were 10 of us blitzing the Ward the night before Election Day) looked at each other and laughed as it was quite comical, though clearly not to the particular householder.

Well, that being the second time I have attempted election to Ryedale I will call it a day – maybe I can offer my services in time and motion to improve the efficiency of the counting system, those poor people who started at seven o’clock at the Polling Station and were still counting when I left at half past nine the next day!

Getting back to normality and what I should be writing here - The Milton Rooms has Snake Davis on this weekend and I will be pleased to be doing the sound balance – interesting that they played around Easingwold way with my friend doing the balance last Saturday. It will be interesting to compare notes though it was the smaller band then. I must get in touch and check the line up again for us in the Milton Rooms.

The Woodhams Stone collection open day is on Saturday the 16th of May, with a talk about the collection and a look at the behind the scenes at the Milton Rooms as well as a look at the Masonic Lodge, commences at 2 pm.

I watched Spooks (15) this week, after the election, and it was hard gritty and kept us guessing to the end. Peter Firth repeated his character as Harry Pearce, alongside a newcomer in Kit Harrington as Will Holloway, who opens the film in an unorthodox fashion who is called back to London.

The film started with a great scene and then went to a title sequence which I found a little of a nuisance but it went quickly enough. The main thing about the film was the excitement, probably the tension of the chase to find the terrorist and the traitor.

I am not giving much away here as there are some real twists and turns in the plot, which held me throughout, though I did get a little confused but was able quickly to catch up. A degree of suspension of disbelief is needed as they had a habit of turning up in different places rather quickly around Europe.

Just like the TV series it is a great spy thriller with a 15 certificate it is a film for grown-ups no laughs at all just a good story driven film with plenty of action story turns and realism.

Far From the Madding Crowd has gone down exceptionally well with comments like “It can’t be as good as the Julie Christie version!” And on the way out “It was!”

I suppose it is not my kind of film, and I don’t know the story, but I found it engaging and superbly filmed, though I did think it was a bit out of focus but it wasn’t – I assume that they have used a filter of some kind to give it an older feel.

There was a part where Old George sits down and I am sure that it is only left in because he was really cute! Martin Sheen is superb as William Boldwood. Carey Mulligan was believable as Bathsheba and Gabriel Oak was played really well by Matthias Schoenaerts. Tom Sturridge was Sergeant Troy and well suited to the part I thought.
 

Films from Friday:

A Royal Night Out (12A) starts its run from Friday and has gone down very well.

Far From the Madding Crowd (12A) continues for another week.

Spooks: The Greater Good (15) carries on the suspense for another week.

Two by Two (U) and Cinderella (U) staying with us for one show a day at weekends.

Avengers: Age of Ultron (12A) is back for a single show at weekends only.

Coming Soon: Pitch Perfect 2 seems to have some excitement around its release and the trailer looks fun. It will be with us for Half Term which is not long away now.

The Dark Horse (PG) (the documentary about a group of people in a Welsh village who form a syndicate to buy a racehorse) will be with us from the 29th all being well.

Tomorrowland: A World Beyond (PG) starring George Clooney starts on the 22nd of May for the families at Half Term as well.

Live Stage Productions: The second of the two Encores for A View From the Bridge is next Monday the 18th at six forty five with some good seats available.

We have just had the release of the new Royal Opera House season “ROH: Live” 2015/16, has six Live Ballets including; Romeo and Juliet, Carmen/Viscera/Afternoon of A Faun/Tchaikovsky Pas De Deux, The Nutcracker, Rhapsody/The Two Pigeons, Giselle, and Frankenstein. Live Operas including; Le Nozze Di Figaro, Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci, La Traviata, Boris Godunov, Lucia Di Lammermoor, Werther.