Monthly Archives: December 2010

Dawn Treader forebodings

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I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was a pretty good stab at the original novel, with added action which was still part of the original plot (mostly). Prince Caspianwas likewise, but with a lot more additional plot, there being a lot less original plot to work with. But the extra plot slotted in well and I liked it. It even drove home the point Lewis was trying to make: trust Aslan.

But I wondered even then what they would do with Voyage of the Dawn Treader. It’s a picaresque novel, a series of only loosely connected adventures. It’s also the one where the kids from our world really are surplus to requirements. They are along for the ride. Caspian could easily have done this all on his own and told his friends about it when they met up again in The Last Battle. How, I wondered (with some trepidation) would they turn that into a Hollywood movie?

The answer, apparently, according to Rober Ebert, is they’ve turned it into a bloody quest.

I suppose it was inevitable – it may even have been the only thing they could do. And I hope it works, because it’s my favourite of the novels, and if this tanks then there might be no Silver Chair, which would be a shame and which really is a proper quest adventure. (I would love them to get Alan Rickman as Puddleglum … but they probably won’t.)

But even so. To quote Mr Ebert: “Narnia is threatened by evil forces from the mysterious Dark Island, which no one has seen but everyone has heard about. There is a matter of seven missing magical swords representing the Lords of Telmar, which were given to Narnia by Aslan the Lion (voice of Liam Neeson) and must be brought together again to break a spell that imprisons the lords.” Gak, gak, gak, and eek.

It may yet work. I may even watch it, but probably not in the cinema unless there’s a 2D version. Yup, to rub it all in, it’s 3D. Meh. But! Even if it doesn’t stink completely, if it doesn’t have the Dufflepuds, and doesn’t have Eustace the dragon, and most especially if it doesn’t have Reep finally getting his heart’s desire at the end of the world … well, I tell you now, I will be very stern and disapproving.

Rutter season

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I have been playing with Xtranormal‘s State, which lets you make CGI animations out of a menu of pre-defined backgrounds, characters and actions. Dialogue is entered by you the user and recited in monotone HAL-like American (though user voiceovers can be recorded) and additional soundfiles can be inserted.

So, from last year’s Christmas Eve Christingle service I give you “Light of the world”. Dialogue by YT and Logan Walker. Music by G.F. Handel and John Rutter. Based on an original idea by St Luke.

Occasional recipes: Paprika chicken with spicy red cabbage and beetroot

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Haven’t done one of these for a very long time. I still feel a traitor to the childhood me when I serve up something with beetroot in it but trust me, it’s actually quite nice. Under the right circumstances. I.e. not boiled to within an inch of its life, like at school.

H’anyway:

  • 3-4 chicken breast fillets. (If you get absolute slabs, like I did, experience shows you might want to slice them into thinner slabs …)
  • 1 red onion, sliced
  • 400g red cabbage, finely shredded nuked by food processor
  • 1 tsp crushed chillies
  • 250g beetroot, chopped. (Instructions from Waitrose say “fresh, scrubbed, trimmed and cut into matchsticks.” Ben says chopped. And have something to catch the drips, because opening and cutting up cooked beetroot is what badly planned open heart surgery must look like.)
  • paprika
  • 75g creme fraiche
Dust chicken breasts with paprika. Make several deep scores diagonally across the meat and fry chicken pieces in olive oil, scored side down. Reduce the heat to lowest setting and fry for 20 minutes, turning halfway through. (Be aware that the Waitrose notion of “lowest setting” might still be substantially higher than what your cooker goes down to.)
Meanwhile fry onion for about 5 minutes, add cabbage and chillies and cook for a further 5 minutes.
Add the beetroot, cover and cook for about 10 minutes.
Pile cabbage onto warmed serving plates, place a chicken fillet on top of each. Stir creme fraiche +1 tbsp water into pan juices, heat until bubbling and pour on top of chicken. Serve with buttered new potatoes.
At school I always found beetroot insufferably bland and often still do, despite my eyes having been opened as to the miracle that is borscht by a student trip to Moscow in 1987. But that same blandness and texture nicely complement and counteract the chillies. Trust me.
And if you can, follow this up with your wife’s apple and mince pie.