The Queen

Hello!! Beautiful day here in London - sun shining, crisp and cool. And it's Friday! Hooray!

Anyway, went to see the movie, The Queen, last night. I went with a new friend, Shannon, who is from Calgary and was involved in IR there. I didn't know her there, but we have mutual friends and she was given my contact info when she moved over here. She's great - we had fun.

The Queen was a fantastic movie. I would recommend it highly. It was a sensitive yet accurate portrayal of the unique challenges and personality of the monarchy here in the UK. I am a big fan of HRH Queen Elizabeth II, much more so since I've been living here and have truly come to understand how hard she works and how awful her job is. I am so thankful that I'm not her! She lives in a gilded cage - surrounded by wealth and privilege and seemingly very powerful, yet trapped by her position and responsibilities. And, it's not like she can just "quit" and get another job. She didn't even ask for this one. Yet she carries off her duties with grace and aplomb and makes it all seem easy. The movie was about her and her reaction during the time surrounding the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. It explains a lot of the seemingly cold response from the royal family, and gives a glimpse into life behind the mask. It also deals with issues of motherhood and duty and the expression of emotion. It is definitely a must-see. No dogdy language or nudity - you could bring your young children, but they would be bored silly (assuming they aren't already silly!). Well worth the money (and it's more expensive over here!).

I'm flying to Canada tomorrow - spending a couple of nights with my parents in Linden, and then off to Calgary for Monday and Tuesday for meetings and whatnot. I fly back to London on Tuesday afternoon, arriving back on Wednesday morning and heading straight back into work. I'll be back in Canada for 3 weeks at Christmas and in January, so this is just a work-related trip with an extra day for family.

I'm planning to go to Malta for a weekend at the beginning of December. I have kept in touch with the woman I met on the plane trip down the first time, Donna (May 17 2006 blog), and she is going back to Malta, stopping in London to stay with me for a few days. I'm pretty excited about that. In Malta, we've arranged for a horseback riding trip around one of the smaller islands, and a trip to M'dina, the ancient capital city, known as "The Silent City" (they're not going to know what hit them when I get there!! haha!!)

Anyway, better get to work. Cya!