barkingstars

Books

I finished reading The Book of Evidence by John Banville. This was recommended to me by AI and it was very good but also not much fun. My review is over here.

I also read Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons which was very funny. Another AI recommendation. My review is here.

I’m currently trying to decide what to read next but it will probably be another AI recommendation.

Films

I saw Collateral, starring Jamie Foxx and Tom Cruise. I’d recently enjoyed other Michael Mann films so wanted to dig through some more of his stuff. This was fun if rather daft. My review is here.

Exhibitions

MI5 – National Archives

It seems unfortunate to be writing about this exhibition when MI5 have been in the news for lying in court, but then they have always been shady, it’s what they do. There is a danger that exhibitions like this, when they have the thumbs up from the organisation in question, are going to be a bit credulous.

I don’t think there is much reason to worry. Everything here is very much established fact. Activities during the Second World War, Kim Philby and associates, Spycatcher, Oleg Gordievsky, the Krogers. And that’s part of the problem: it feels like we’re going over the same stuff all over again. It isn’t helped by the fact that these have been covered much better by other exhibitions in fairly recent memory. The Police Museum exhibition at Museum of London covered the Krogers very well, showing more of the objects they were found with than you’ll see here. The Deception exhibition at IWM covered Philby and co much better.

I’ve really enjoyed a lot of the exhibitions at the National Archive in recent years but I think this one is a bit dull. If you’ve not seen or read much about spying of late then this may be worth a visit but otherwise you can probably skip this one.

London Transport Museum – Acton Depot

The V&A has recently opened Storehouse which is where they keep all their objects that aren’t in museums, and you can visit it any time you like. Unfortunately this innovative approach is not possible everywhere. The London Transport Museum has an enormous depot in Acton where they keep many of their objects but they only open it to the public a few times a year. Buses, trams, tube trains as well as maps, signage, furniture and other miscellaneous bits and bobs. It’s an incredible collection.

As I walked around I was sometimes nostalgic for the transport of my youth. The old Jubilee line carriages, the routemasters and the first pay as you enter buses that took over my route to school. But I was also fascinated to see the trolley buses that seem like such a curiosity now. You can speak to volunteers about the work they done restoring some of these vehicles.

There is a bit of a celebratory feel to the area. I mean it’s not the Notting Hill Carnival, but if you’re at all nerdy about transport then this really is a fun day out seeing a working store in action around people who genuinely love their subject.