Reillys on Tour

On Friday night I went to the cinema and saw T2: Trainspotting with a mate. I loved it; for my money it's a wonderful film. Albeit one with a terrible name. I put it to you my alternative title is better... Ish. I went to see the original in the cinema. Like pretty much anyone of my generation I had the mandatory orange posters plastered on my walls. I read the book multiple times. I had the video, the VHS cassette (I'm that old). Hell, I had the green special edition VHS with the deleted scenes. (Which was probably only released because at that time the marketing men realised they could slap Trainspotting on * anything * and make some money.) If I was going out for a night I watched Trainspotting with a drink in my hand before I headed out. It was part of the vague rituals of my life. The film meant a lot to me. It's hard to express just why; excessive exposure has tattooed it into my mind. Part of it may be that the characters feel real. I have the same r...

There's this film called Away We Go . It's about a couple expecting their first baby and wondering where they should live. Over the course of the movie, they travel to different places in North America, spend time with different groups of friends and family. In the end, (spoiler alert) they work out where they think they should be. When Lisette and I first saw it we thought it was fantastic. It's got a great soundtrack. It's got John Krasinski, making me question my own sexuality and reinforcing Lisette's. It has beautiful locations. It has great characters. What's not to love? When we first watched it, the main theme of the film was just incidental to us. "Where should we live?" That's the question. Where should we be now? Where should we raise our children? Where do we belong? Over recent years this theme has become something Lisette and I actively think about. Never Let Me Go We live in leafy Twickenham on the outskirts of London. We hav...

It was a warm Thursday morning. Despite it being mid-September and the beginning of autumn it still felt summery. Just another day of sunshine. But that wasn't quite true, for today was Benjamin's first day of school. He was going to get up, eat breakfast, put on a shirt, shorts and a tie and walk the 6 doors down the road to St Stephen's Primary. Lisette had reservations about the tie; the shirt too for that matter. It seemed excessive for a child as young as 4. But they were the rules. She had other things to worry about; John was faintly baffled by the level of stress accorded to the difficulty in acquiring shorts. But there you go. The morning began as most mornings did. Lisette drank a mug of tea upstairs. The boys drank milk, played and sat around her. Downstairs, Radio 4 could be heard in the background as John flicked various knobs and twisted dials on his coffee machine until something was produced that sat somewhere on the scale between "cappuccino" ...

It is a truism that there are holidays it is a pleasure to go on and holidays that make you appreciate home. We have just returned from France where we chose to stay on a French-only campsite, miles from the nearest town, where there was no public transport and (crucially) without any transport of our own. For the first half of the holiday we seemed likely to be falling into the second holiday category. We piled misjudgement upon unbelievably bad weather upon sickness upon unavailable taxis until we made manifest a teetering blancmange of calamity. The whole journey was planned in order that Benjamin and James might meet their Great Uncle Yves and their Great Aunt Nicole. I'm happy to report this was achieved. There was a gathering of 3 generations of Priou, all in the same room at the same time and enjoying one another's company. The rumours that the French had outlawed Bermuda Shorts seemed unlikely to have any basis in fact. I mean, it's a joke, right? Outlawing ta...

Miss Rachel at Nursery had a grand idea. She would give Benjamin a number of words and ask him how he felt about them. So she did. As Benjamin responded she diligently scribed away the results and presented Lisette with this at the end of the day: It's not the best photo I've ever taken but the contents are gold and I didn't want to forget them. So here they are; Rachel's words and Benjamin's musings: Police Car "Mummy might be worried that James will wake up." "I like them because they make me happy; I like police cars." Fish "Happy. They swim everywhere and I like to see them swim under water, I like to catch them under water, but I don't have a fishing net, maybe on holiday but then I need a suitcase too." Mouse "Worried because it might fall over - it would run into something and fall." Crocodile "I think it might eat. I would be worried." Monkey "Because it swings on branc...

Fun fact, the word "typical" enjoys a vastly different meaning when used by Brits as opposed to when used by the Spanish. The English usage of typical is effectively: "It's rubbish and I knew it would be". Example: the word uttered upon learning there is no car parking space when you need one. The Spanish definition is simpler; it means "traditional". Consequently the examples are jollier: olive oil, tapas and maracas. The flaxen haired youth's name was Benjamin Luxford Reilly and, as he was fond of telling people, "I *not* a baby, I a big boy". It was another sunny day in Mallorca and it had been decided that a trip to the market was in order. Benjamin wasn't too clear what a market was exactly. He had supposed that it would be much like a supermarket, but apparently not. Benjamin's father delighted in telling him that whilst supermarkets were a relatively recent innovation, markets went all the way back to Roman and Gree...

My name is James Edmund Reilly. Hullo there! You seem a little bored. No matter; I have the remedy. Let me tell you about how my holiday began. That´s me It was Wednesday 15th April, 2015. In Twickenham, where I'm proud to lay my hat, spring was determinedly springing. I awoke at 4:30am to the tuneful warblings of birdsong. Not wanting to be left out I decided that I would join my feathered friends in their early morning chorus. I gave voice and cleared the lungs with a good howl. I imagine it really added something to the melody. After around 15 minutes of this I felt I was done. By now I could hear daddy downstairs moving around and I settled back to rest, content in the knowledge of a job well done. Not only had I added to the music of the morning but I knew Daddy doesn't like to waste the day. I'd given him the wonderful gift of an extra 2 hours of awake time before everyone else got up. I knew he'd be pleased as punch. Mummy and I soon drifted off again. Whe...