Laurie O’Donnell

LTS has added a lovely set of classroom resources to support the forthcoming movie ‘The Waterhorse’. It has been placed within the context of Scotland’s Culture as the myth of the Loch Ness Monster is one of the first things that people from other countries associate with Scotland. Our talented staff , in particular Patrica Kemp and Mark Oxbrow, have once again shown why the LTS Online Service continues to be the most popular website for Scottish teachers looking for resources to support learning and teaching.

I have just finished Ian McEwan’s ‘On Chesil Beach’. This is a beautifully crafted novel with hardly a wasted word. An acutely observed piece that took me back to McEwan’s early short stories and the exploration of social taboos, eg ‘First Love, Last Rights’. It was one of these books that I just didn’t want to finish – it was all over a bit too quick …

The Cohen Brother’s latest masterpiece ‘No Country for Old Men’ is just great entertainment. Wild, funny and violent in equal measure. They are back to their best with this movie which for ranks beside my favourite of theirs ‘The Big Lebowski’. Tommy Lee Jones is wonderful as the Sheriff – he doesn’t need to act but just plays himself in whatever movie he is in and whatever part he has.

Managed to escape to the pictures recently to see The Departed. Warner Bros promote the movie with ‘Cop or criminal? What’s the difference if you’re facing a loaded gun.‘ Really great acting by Nicholson, Damon and Di Caprio. Back to Scorcese at his very best. If you can cope with the extreme violence then you will really appreciate the filming, the script, the setting and the score. Also one to see at the cinema rather than on DVD (unless you have a really big telly!). Is Di Caprio as good as the De Nero of Taxi Driver or Raging Bull? Probably not there yet but under Scorcese’s direction is getting better and better.

I don’t get out very often enough to the pictures and I really enjoy watching movies at home. Recently I watched one of my favourites, the 1962 adapatation of Harper’s Lee Pulitzer Prize winning novel ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ with Gregory Peck in the Oscar winning role as the lawyer Atticus Finch. Great story and a fantastic portrait of the US of the 1930s with a strong message that still has a resonance today (the definition of a classic?).

To paraphrase Atticus Finch you never really know someone until you have stood in their shoes and walked around in them.