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The Boy auditioned today for a part in his school's 5th Grade Musical.  He was practising for it last night (reading out a few lines from the musical in question, Go West!) and had us in stitches, hamming it up with a cod wild West accent.  From the little I could overhear through the closed door of the audition room, he had a similar effect on his music teacher. Now we wait with baited breath to find out which role he'll be assigned to...

There'll be a video of the show, but I daresay no-one will be nominated for an Oscar.  Same's true of the film the Man and I went to see at the Spectrum 8 cinema last Saturday.  Hyde Park on Hudson, about FDR's meeting with the British King and Queen before the outbreak of World War II at his estate beside the Hudson river, has not been widely heralded by critics here. 

But we liked it - there are convincing performances by all the lead players, and it nicely portrays the way in which dramatic world events can often hinge on whether or not influential individuals manage to get along with each other at a personal level.  It's also an easy-on-the-eye period drama (though we heard members of the audience complaining that the scenery didn't look much like the Hudson Valley - we found out later that it was all filmed in Britain).