From Facebook – The View from the Nest

Jane Eyre (1997)

Intrigued by Samantha Morton’s brilliant cameo as Circe in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, I dug out the 1997 ITV adaptation of Jane Eyre on DVD, in which she plays Jane. What struck me was how self-contained and understated her performance was. She conveys emotion and thought with little more than a look or half-smile, rather than relying on lengthy explanations. The film is less romanticised than some I’ve seen and, especially in the first half, has a real sense of suspense. Like all adaptations, it has its strengths and weaknesses, and at only 108 minutes, inevitably had to leave out substantial parts of the novel, but I still think it is a good version and well worth watching for Morton’s performance if you can find it on YouTube.

A Brain Surgeon, a Rabbi, and Em Dash Graham Walk into a Bar

This morning I read this on Rebecca K. Reynolds’s Substack, which struck me as balanced and sensible:

https://beccaberryquitecontrary.substack.com/p/a-brain-surgeon-a-rabbi-and-em-dash

There seem to be two equal and opposite reactions online to the use of AI: either embrace it (pretending it has not been used) or reject it completely (as a crime to be exposed). As with most black-and-white answers, neither quite reflects the world we actually find ourselves living in. The reality is more complex. AI is a tool, and one of its strengths is when it is used as a collaborator: a well-intentioned but honest critic or editor. It challenges our assumptions and exposes the gaps in our thinking. What it never was intended to be is a substitute for our own thinking or creative input. Rebecca’s suggested system would bring clarity and honesty. In its present form it is very subjective, but it is a start. We would know: 1) what AI did; 2) how much of the finished work it touched; and 3) how intensively it was used. The point is not to declare a piece good or bad, but to make the help visible—and so build trust. Having seen the passions this subject arouses online, I do wonder whether that is possible. (SN 2, WD3)

My first football match

Came across this today. The program from the first football match I remember going to with my dad, 27th April 1963. I would have been eight then. I have a vivid memory of one of the older Spurs fans telling me where the “Hotspur” name came from. So, got to see Jimmy Greaves and Danny Blanchflower. Sadly for them, shortly afterwards my allegiance switched to Ipswich Town (and stayed there) who were playing Burnley that day. It also mentions the “bad weather.” That classic piece of British understatement was a reference to the “Big Freeze” of 1963 which started after Boxing day ’62 and lasted continuously for ten weeks until a thaw arrived in early March. I’m told it was the coldest January in England since 1814. Another memory from then was building a snowball in the road outside our house that was almost as big as I was. Memorable because back then we rarely got snow being low-lying and close to the sea.

An experiment with AI

My Grandfather during WW1 recovering from wounds.

Another experiment with AI. First the original B&W photo scanned at 600dpi. Then the colourised version. I found a contemporary tinted image and instructed the AI to match the colours of the uniforms closely. My grandfather George is at the back on the left (as you are facing). Context: This is a First World War hospital back home. I knew he had been wounded but not the circumstances. He later returned to active service and was captured by the Germans at Messines on the 10th April 1918 during their Michael offensive, which initially caught the allies by surprise. I shall be digging into that to see what more I can discover. I remember him as a gentle man, who never said a harsh word about anyone.