 |
Crimson Wing (DVD)
by ghoti
'Once upon a time, in the heart of Africa, there was a lake of crimson fire'. This documentary is as much about the lake where flamingoes breed as it is about flamingoes, and as such, it's an extraordinary view into an otherwise inaccessible world.
The film follows the life cycle of the birds, as it takes place on Lake ... Natron in northern Tanzania. Lake Natron is a mineral rich shallow lake, with an active volcano on its bank.. For six months of the year, it is dry and barren, then the rains come, and so do the flamingoes. As the flamingoes mate, so the rains stop, and the lake starts to evaporate, leaving incredibly hot, hostile salt islands. It's on these islands that the eggs are lain and hatch, and on these islands that they take their first steps and their first steps towards independence.
The chemistry of the volcano and the lake, give the algae that the flamingoes eat the red colour, which leads to the characteristic pink flamingo colour. The lake itself, after an eruption, looks like a lake of fire, or something from Mars, and gave rise to the legend of the phoenix, as the flamingo flies away. The flamingo's latin name is Phoeniconaias.
The crew of three were the first people ever to film on Lake Natron. Living in an abandoned missionary hut, they became immersed into both the local society and the scenery, wild and beautiful. Their love, and their familiarity, with both are very evident.
Narrated by Mariella Frostrup, the film has plenty of pauses where the cinematography and the animals themselves tell their story, but the more scientific details are explained in a very user friendly way. This is a film that both I and my 4 year old learn from, and there's a lot to take in.
The cinematography is simply breathtaking. Almost every frame is a work of art, and the music is like a feature film score. It is clearly intended to reach out to everyone, both those who normally like nature films and those who would normally prefer fiction, and I think it works on that level.
On a parental note, there are a few moments which get quite scary. At one point, a maribou stork attacks a chick, and the palpable distress of the baby led to a few necessary cuddles in our house.
Similarly, the issue of death and life is dealt with in a typically Disney manner - all about the circle of life, animals returning to the earth and being reborn in a physical sense through fertilising the soil, and so on. If you haven't talked about life and death yet, it's worth being aware of!
With regard to bonuses on the DVD, they are about the making of the film. My 14 year old and I found them fascinating, and I imagine any teenager with an interest in cinematography or drama would, but my 4 year old found them boring.
Read the complete review |
 |
The Geoff Hamilton BBC Collection (DVD)
by ladybracknell
Any gardener over the age of about 50 will remember Geoff Hamilton as the friendly face of the BBC's Gardeners World programme. Gardeners World had been running since 1967 and Geoff fronted the half-hour Friday night programme from 1979 until his untimely death in 1996 just days before his sixtieth birthday. Over his time on Gardeners ... World, Geoff Hamilton presented several spin-off gardening series: The Ornamental Kitchen, The Cottage Garden and Paradise Gardens and the books accompanying each of these series became immediate best sellers.
I have these books myself and over the intervening 20 or so years they've proved an invaluable source of information and inspiration. When the first of these three series, The Ornamental Kitchen Garden was broadcast back in 1990, Geoff's revolutionary idea (at least it was a revolutionary one to modern gardeners) for combining the growing of fruit and vegetables amongst the flowers in a garden in a manner which was not only productive but also visually appealing, his credentials as the country's most authoritative gardening guru were well and truly established. When he died so suddenly, for regular viewers of the programme it was a devastating blow as it was like losing a well loved friend. Even now, almost 20 years since his death, Geoff Hamilton is spoken of in almost reverential terms and he's proved a hard act for subsequent presenters of Gardeners World to follow.
Although I had the books, when the BBC released this boxed set of the three special series to mark the 40th anniversary of Gardeners World, I rushed out to buy it as there have been several occasions when the text of the books hasn't quite managed to convey exactly how a specific task should be carried out. Having access to the DVDs where I can actually watch Geoff Hamilton carry out these tasks in the manner in which they should be done has proved invaluable.
This box set of three of the most popular gardening series will prove essential viewing not only to former disciples of Saint Geoff such as myself but also to newer gardeners who will find his down-to-earth practical advice invaluable whether they're trying to create a kitchen or cottage garden or simply endeavouring to make their gardens into a little bit of paradise on earth.
The Ornamental Kitchen Garden:
There are six half-hour episodes on this DVD taking the aspiring gardener from the initial design through to the finished and productive garden. For me, this has proved to be the most useful of the 3 DVDs. Like most people in Britain, my garden is quite small and needs to combine growing ornamental plants alongside fruit and vegetable and growing them mixed in amongst each other rather than in two distinct parts of the garden is a very practical solution. In these times of economic austerity more and more people are growing their own produce and this series teaches exactly how it can be done in practical terms and without compromising on the look of the garden.
Episode 1 gives an introduction to the whole series and after a brief history of kitchen gardens this episode concentrates on the design process. Although Geoff's design for his own ornamental kitchen garden is rather larger than the average modern garden, he offers plenty of advice on possible variations. As Geoff was one of the first to advocate organic gardening, long before everyone else jumped on the band wagon, he also introduces the viewer to the concept of growing produce in harmony with nature rather than relying solely on chemical solutions.
The remaining five episodes build over the growing season and covering a specific task such as hard landscaping for the garden, creating borders and growing fruit against walls and fences with tips on creating espaliers, fan training and other methods of growing fruits as well as composting and propagation.
The principal rule in building this kitchen garden is to keep it ornamental and Geoff demonstrates how to build pergolas, arches and arbours and how to introduce water into the garden. The idea of a pond may seem rather advanced but Geoff shows how even a small pool created from a half barrel will attract birds, animals and insects into the garden, all part of the armoury against the dreaded slugs, snails and other nasties.
The Cottage Garden:
This is another six episode series which covers the creation of two cottage gardens, for the rich man and the poor one. The rich man's garden is a more formal concept and uses rather more expensive materials in its creation whereas the poor man's is very much of the make-do-and-mend variety but is nevertheless very attractive and gives the viewer lots of ideas to adapt for use in their own garden.
Although the series covers the building of these gardens episode by episode and follows Geoff's organic gardening principles, it also takes time out and detours to look at some spectacular cottage gardens all of which have something to inspire and are full of ideas which can be adapted to suit any garden.
Paradise Gardens:
For me, this is the least useful of the three DVDs but being the last series Geoff Hamilton presented before his death does give it an added poignancy.
Everyone's idea of paradise is slightly different so this was a huge subject to tackle and if I'm honest, it doesn't always completely succeed but this is largely because six episodes simply aren't enough to do the subject justice. What the series does, however, is demonstrate how even the smallest piece of land can be transformed into someone's idea of paradise whether it's a Chelsea roof garden owned by someone to whom money is no object or the balcony of a council flat lush with greenery and all grown on a shoestring.
During the course of the series, Geoff Hamilton not only creates his own idea of a garden paradise at Barnsdale but also visits a variety of secluded gardens not only in country settings but also in town and inner city environments and also demonstrates how water and scent can add an extra dimension not just in large gardens but even in tiny spaces.
In summary:
This box set is essential viewing for anyone with an interest in gardening and will appeal to amateur and experienced gardeners alike. There is something for just about everyone to found in these episodes. At £11.99 for 9 hours of viewing it's great value, too.
Although these series don't carry as much information or detail as the books which accompanied them, they make a very useful addition for the simple reason that to actually see the creation of these wonderful gardens is guaranteed to inspire even the most reluctant gardener and it's a pleasure to watch again a man who was so passionate about gardening and who managed to inspire so many.
It has to be said that 2012 was not the best of gardening years given the torrential rains and grey skies which resulted in ruined crops or at best much reduced yields for Britain's gardeners. When it was impossible to get out into the garden, I found much solace in being able to put on one of these DVDs and enjoy a visit with a much missed friend as he toiled away in his sunny garden.
Read the complete review |
 |
Ice Road Truckers - Complete Season 1 (DVD)
by masterpj
I discovered Ice Road Truckers on the History Channel during its second season so my girlfriend bought me the first season so I could see it from the start. There are 3 discs in the box and it cost £10 in Tesco at the time, they only seem to have the later series at the moment but this can still be bought online for even less. I think ... that under £10 for 8 hours of entertaining TV is a good price, it isn't something I would watch over and over again but the dvds have been passed around to everyone in the family so were good value for money.
For those of you who have never seen the programme, it is a documentary following the lives of truckers in Alaska. These are not any ordinary kind of trucker though, these are ice road truckers! They drive over "roads" which are basically frozen lakes and rivers to transport loads to remote towns and villages which cannot be reached when the ice melts, until it freezes again the next year.
The loads seem extremely heavy to be driven over less than one metre of ice, the trucks carry mining equipment to gold mines, jet fuel and other building supplies.
To make the show a bit more interesting it focuses quite a lot on the competitiveness of the drivers. The drivers each one to complete the most loads in the short 2 month season, as each load means more money. The drivers can earn a whole years wages in this short time.
You are introduced to the drivers, there are six of them in this series, as the episodes go on you get to know each driver a bit more. My favourite is Alex, he has a huge family to feed with his wife and 11 children. You want him to do well as he is a likeable character, you see him praying for a safe journey and winding up the man everyone loves to hate, Hugh "The Polar Bear" Rowland.
Hugh is a real pain in the backside, he thinks he is the best driver around, is extremely competitive and is absolutely desperate to get the biggest load count. It seems that he loves to see other drivers have problems as it means they will be delayed and it will be one more load for him. Alex, on the other hand, would stop to help anybody with problems on the road.
T.J is a young trucker who is new to the ice roads and does nothing but moan, as does Rick.
I do think Ice Road Truckers is edited a lot, almost to force your opinions of the drivers by making Alex the good guy and Hugh the bad guy, but it is entertaining.
Also edited are scenes such as drivers being a bit cocky saying they are great drivers, immediately followed by a slip up of some kind. I'm not too sure the events happened immediately after them blowing their own trumpet, it seems far too coincidental but it does make good watching.
The early episodes introduce the drivers, explain what their job entails, what loads they are carrying and a bit of information about the ice road itself.
As the series goes on we see the problems they face, there are oil spills, injuries and speed limit problems, mechanical issues, closed roads because other trucks have had accidents and the drivers competing to get the loads.
The later episodes see the drivers rushing to squeeze in the last runs of vital supplies before the road starts to melt, it's quite gripping to watch the drivers taking trucks with 100 tonne loads over melting ice.
This was a very good series, especially being the first series as it was something not really seen before. I saw the second season on TV and had no desire to go out and buy it, the seasons then seemed to get worse each time around, well not that they got worse, I just felt "I've seen this all before". For that reason I wouldn't buy any of the other seasons but I am glad I got this one as it was good to see it from the start and see how it all began.
I would never have thought I would enjoy a programme with a trucking theme but it is really good. I have heard a lot of people say that this is a man's programme but I watched it with my girlfriend and she enjoyed it, as did many female relations. It's well worth a watch.
Read the complete review |
