cinema – Just Olga

Hi all:

“If you read this”…Yes, like in a novel or a movie if you read this…No, hopefully I’ll be OK, though. My case is not quite as dramatic. But I’ll explain…

Those of you who’ve been reading my blog for a while will remember that a few months ago I left my job to explore other things, do more of my writing, take on the translation of other writers’ work (if there was any demand) and learn about books. After my initial visit to Hay-on-Wye (see more here) I thought I’d love to spend more time there. I corresponded with Anne Brichto from Addyman Books and she kindly agreed to have me learning the business of the day-to-day running of a second-hand bookshop.

I started working (mostly learning) in June and it’s been great. I had hoped to stay the whole summer, but as you all must know by now, things don’t always go according to plan and life has a way of doing its own thing. Best laid plans and all that.

I had planned to do a whole series on my experience at Hay, and although I’d been keeping a diary whilst I’d been there, I still hope to be able to go back soon and carry on, so I’m postponing the series until I can re-start in earnest. But I didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye. As I programme my posts in advance, if you’re reading this post that means that the matter that took me away is ongoing and it might take me a bit longer than I’d like to come back. So by the time you read this I won’t have been at Hay for a few weeks.

The highlights…

Me in Addyman Annex. I can't see without glasses, that's my excuse for the face — Me in Addyman Annex. I can’t see without glasses, that’s my excuse for the face

Getting to know a bit better Anne, Derek and the whole staff of Addyman Books. Thank to Anne for trying to teach me her insights into the business (old dog comes to mind) and the ins and outs of the art of cataloguing and Amazon world of wonders. And also for the friendship and the suggestions of places to go and things to do in Hay. I’m sorry we didn’t get to expand the activities more, but hope we’ll have time soon. Thanks to Marion who was unlucky enough to have me under her wing at Addyman Annex most of the time (Simon was lucky enough to be on holiday), and gave me her wisdom not only with regards to books, but also Hay and life in general. I’ll especially treasure the night out to celebrate Marion’s birthday in Hereford. “Oh what a night!” could have been written about it. Molly, I’m sorry I won’t hear more about your adventures but I’ll try and catch up soon…

Hay is a wonderful place full of character and characters. I love the cinema (Richard Booth is not only the King of Hay and has a beautiful bookshop/coffee shop but has diversified into many venues…from a Yoga studio to a cinema), the Castle, the market…

And I’ve loved spending some time at Annie’s house (hi Mike!) and enjoying her garden and its fruits (beautiful raspberries, peas, mange tout, beans…and more to come), the hens (that although now are not escaping they’ve decided to hide their eggs and every day is like an Easter egg hunt!), Flora (the cat) and Ivy (the dog). We’ve gone to the theatre together (not the god, cat and hens…), shopping, to the cinema, to the Tapas Bar, have chatted about life, have supported me…And Annie is quite determined that I should move to Hay, so we shall see…

I nearly forgot that we went to the Open Microphone at the Globe, but I leave you a picture.

Unfortunately I had to leave before I could visit the area better, but I also include some random pics…

View from Abergavenny Castle. Can you see the people paragliding? Not sure I can either but they were there!

And my link to the previous post on my experience there.

https://olganm.wordpress.com/2014/06/24/hay-on-wye-here-i-come/

Thanks to everybody in Hay-on-Wye, thanks to you all for reading, and you know about liking, sharing and all that….I hope to come back soon!

Is there a future for cinemas?

As long as I can remember I’ve always loved going to the cinema. The first movie I remember going to watch with my parents was Pinocchio many years back. I’m from Barcelona (neighbourhood of Sants), and remember having gone to watch the movie to one of the cinemas of the neighbourhood, Gayarre (today an apartment building, I think). Although the cinema we had closer to us was the Liceo (today an electrical and white goods shop), I remember I used to go to the Bohemio (now a car parking) many Sunday mornings. We didn’t visit the Arenas (still in existence but now specialised in gay movies and much smaller than it used to be) very often.
When I was 11 or 12 years old they opened the Palacio Balañá that was the first multi-screen cinema of the area (still standing), and I remember queuing for ages to watch Grease when it first came out (yes, I’m that old).
I imagine multi-screen cinemas were in part responsible for the disappearance of the neighbourhood cinemas. Of course, new and better televisions became available, home video (do you remember Beta and VHS?), and going to the cinema, instead of being an everyday occurrence became more an occasion or ‘going out’. Most of these neighbourhood cinemas did not show new movies but rather films that have been showing for some time and people lost interest in that. (I wonder if land and property interests might have had anything to do with it, as any plot of land to build in was very valuable in Barcelona, and now even more so). I remember many other cinemas that disappeared in Barcelona, like the Cinerama (that burned down and now it’s a hotel in Avinguda Paral.lel, where I queued for ages to watch Star Wars), the Cataluña, (in Plaça de Catalunya, with most comfortable seats ever), the París…
When I became older I made an effort to watch movies in original version (rather than dubbed, that was, still is, the usual), and although at the beginning you could count the cinemas showing them with the fingers of one hand, that became more widespread.

I was quite happy to discover, a few years back, during one of my habitual visits to my parents, that they had opened a cinema of the Renoir chain (part of Europa Cinema initiative to show European movies) nearby (Renoir Les Corts). I went often. When I visited my parents this September, it had closed down. Worse still, the Casablanca, one of the cinemas I used to visit when I started watching original version movies (only two screens, and sometimes you could hear the movie playing in the screen next door) has also closed. As it was located at the very beginning of Major de Gràcia (just across Diagonal from Passeig de Gràcia and some of the most iconic buildings in the city), I can only imagine how much the plot will be worth. I’m not too surprised as I remember 2 or 3 years ago I went to watch a movie with a friend, Ágora, and they opened the screen especially for us as there was nobody else. La guía del ocio, a magazine I bought religiously when I went on holiday, that listed all the spectacles in the city, has also disappeared.
I know the financial situation in Spain is difficult. And there are many shops closed (not only cinemas). Yes, I’m sorry about it. I also know it’s not a unique situation. Here, in the UK, there are cuts, many shops have closed and there is an invasion of Pound shops.
Why do I feel so sorry about the closures of cinemas? I don’t know. I guess it’s probably because I always felt they were special places, where all of us, together, could share in an extraordinary imaginary experience, live unthinkable adventures, take somebody else’s place… They can make huge TVs, super/hyper/high definition, 3-D… but for me they will never be able to compete with the cinema experience.

Luckily for me I live in Penistone where we have a cinema I adore. The Penistone Paramount is a tiny jewel. It dates from 1929, they use if for theatre and other performances, concerts, it has a cinema organ (the Mighty Compton Cinema Organ) and they have monthly organ concerts (and I’ve had the pleasure to watch silent movies with organ accompaniment, I can’t recommend it enough), you can sit upstairs or downstairs, they have a licensed bar, they have break in the middle and you can go for a drink…I love it and I hope it will be there for years to come. Because if there’s something we need more than anything else, is magic.
I leave you links to the Penistone Paramount:
http://www.penistoneparamount.co.uk/
Penistone Paramount in Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penistone_Paramount_Cinema
And comments in Trip Advisor. It seems I’m not the only one who likes it:
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g186364-d3315592-Reviews-Penistone_Paramount_Cinema-Sheffield_South_Yorkshire_England.html
Thank you for reading, and if you’ve enjoyed it, don’t forget to like, comment, share and CLICK!

Stop rustling that popcorn! Four simple rules for behaving at the cinema (metro.co.uk)

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