Lean on Pete (film review)

15 year old Charley (Charlie Plummer) and his single father Ray (Travis Fimmel) are mewcomers in Portland, Oregon. Faced with yet another 'new start', Charley craves security and takes a summer job with a horse trainer (Steve Buscemi) down at the local track. He quickly forms a bond with one of the veteran horses, Lean on Pete. 

Charley learns that he should not get too attached to Pete as 'he's not a pet, he's just a horse' and once a horse is no longer winning then it's no longer wanted and is 'sold on'.

As his home life becomes more difficult, Charley becomes more and more dependent on Pete as his one friend and he has to face new challenges and problems.

This is a beautifully made film that is far sadder than I expected it to be, so it's probably useful to take a hanky! 

Lean on Pete is showing at Edinburgh Filmhouse until Thursday17 May. 

It would make a great double bill with the German film Hordur which I reviewed here.

A Sunny Bank Holiday

A beautiful day for a walk through Colinton and Craiglockart Dells by the Water of Leith and Crafty Green Boyfriend came along too as it's a bank holiday (and he took the bird photos below). This goldcrest, normally a bird that never stops moving, was very happy to pose for the camera

and this bullfinch was quite easy to spot because of his bright colours!

This cream spotted ladybird happened to be on a branch directly in front of my eyes, otherwise I might never have noticed it

The crab apple tree, which that ladybird was running around, is beautiful at the moment

as is the larch tree, whose flowers are developing slowly but steadily

 in the photo below, the young flower is shown beside two mature cones for comparison

Lots of people and their dogs were out along the river enjoying the sunshine. A perfect bank holiday.

Shadowy Cherry Blossoms

At last we have warm sunshine! It's beautiful out there today! Perfect weather for shadows.

for Shadow Shot Sunday.

Willow

I think the willow trees look at their finest at this time of year and this tree in Musselburgh had catkins that were low-hanging enough to easily capture in photos!

Meanwhile in the background, the willow warblers were singing their beautiful descending song.

Granton Goes Greener

I've just started a new part time, temporary job with Granton Goes Greener, a project working to help residents in Granton, Edinburgh to reduce their carbon footprints. One of the great things about this project is that it is very practical and potentially can make a real difference to people's lives on an everyday basis. Rather than being something scary but unrelated to their lives, climate change will become something that people can tackle in their day to day activities through swapping clothes, sharing food and learning how to ride and maintain bicycles.

The project is based at Granton Parish Church which is very much at the heart of the Granton Community, being the base for several lively community groups and a nursery of children who were pretending to be firefighters on my first day in the job. The church building will also be made more environmentally friendly, but I won't be involved in that part of the work!

The work is funded by the Climate Challenge Fund and  the Scottish Government's European Structural and Investment Fund.

I'm looking forward to the job and am aiming to also improve my bike riding skills (basically I can't really ride a bike!). I was perhaps overconfident in including that aim in my 'new in post' introduction post on the church website - as the Climate Challenge Fund has tweeted their interest in following my progress in learning to ride a bike properly!

If you're in Granton on the 12 May, you may want to pop along to Granton College's Community Day, which promises to be a celebration of everything in Granton! I'll be there promoting Granton Goes Greener so feel free to come along and chat! 

I'll post occasionally about this job over the next few months (at this stage the project only has a few months funding!) but mostly I'll still blog about the usual things!

Don't Run Whatever You Do! by Peter Allison

 

When I lived in Malawi I went on holiday one year to Botswana, spending most of my time in the Okavango Delta. So I was immediately drawn to this book, featuring Allison's stories from his time working as a safari guide in the Okavango.

The stories are varied, including adventures that go wrong, difficult tour groups and eccentric tourists, unexpected encounters with wildlife and life with the team of wildlife guides. They're entertaining, fascinating, informative and sometimes moving stories.

I particularly laughed at one particular group of tourists, most of whom were obsessed with birds to the exclusion of all else, one member of the group not even caring about the leopard sitting near the wattled starling!

Many of the stories reminded me of my times in Africa - accidentally bumping into elephants in the dark and having monkeys steal food from your camp being just two.

This is a very entertaining book for anyone with an interest in African wildlife.

Don't Run Whatever You Do! by Peter Allison published by Nicholas Brearley Publishing. The book is published in the US as Whatever You Do, Don't Run.

 

Inside the Box, a short story inspired by Schrodinger's Cat

Schrödinger was bored. He'd been stuck in this box for an eternity. Where was his salmon? Where were his toys? There wasn't even any catnip to be found. He knew better than to touch the strange objects in the corner so scratched the side of the box instead. Outside the two legs were talking.

“According to the Copenhagen interpretation, particles exist in all states at once until they're observed and here we consider the cat to represent a particle” a tall bespectacled female said to a group of young two legs gathered round her in the windowless lab.

“So, professor, you're saying that the cat is both alive and dead?” asked a female with her hair in a tight bun “Awesome!”

“Wow!” Schrödinger shouted from the box “Wow!”

The professor and her students looked round at the noise then shrugged their shoulders.

“That goes entirely against common sense” said a male in a Hello Kitty t-shirt.

“Wow! Wow! Wow!” Schrödinger's calls came to a crescendo.

Silence reigned in the lab for a few seconds before the professor cleared her throat “Well someone or something seems to be impressed” she said before continuing with her explanations. “Schrödinger himself originally used this thought experiment to demonstrate the practical limitations of the Copenhagen interpretation.”

If this is a thought experiment wondered Schrödinger, why am I locked away in this box when there are mice to be chased?

“What about the many worlds interpretation, dude?” asked a thin male with a wispy beard.

Several students giggled.

“Let him continue!” the professor nodded at the bearded male.

“Well, dude, once we open the box then the universes split and in one universe the cat is, like, dead and in the other, like, it's alive!”

Please let me go into the universe where I'm alive! Schrödinger shut his eyes and crossed his paws.

“Doood!” a short haired woman said “Like no-one believes that crap surely?”

More giggles.

“A lot of what we're talking about here is only theory!” the professor said. “And strange though it seems, the many world interpretation has some scientific validity and in fact there may be universes where all sorts of different cats turn out to be sitting in this box – cuddly or bad tempered? Ginger or black?. Many people, like most of you, are cynical, I know but it's worth bearing in mind that much of science is odd, so it pays to keep an open mind”.

Never mind an open mind, how about having an open box, thought Schrödinger. I'm dying of boredom in here.

“Wow! Wow! Wow!” he scratched on the side of the box.

“I think it may be time to open the box and see whether our subject is alive.” the professor said. “Remember, there are only two possibilities: yes or no".

The students gathered around in excitement as the professor carefully lifted the lid.

“Wow!” Schrödinger leapt from the box and looked around the lab. He licked his paws carefully one by one as he looked down on the tiny two legs looking up at him from round the table.

“Delighted to see I've ended up in the universe where I'm in control!” he roared.

He set up the Geiger counter, the radioactive substance and the vial of poison on the counter top then stalked out of the lab before the tiny two legs even registered there was a giant cat in the lab. He locked the lab door and turned to the waiting cats in the hallway.

“According to the Copenhagen interpretation, particles exist in all states at once until they're observed” Schrödinger said “and here we consider the two legs to represent particles.”

Originally published on the Quantum Shorts website.