12 Comments

It looks like one of the screenwriters is R. C. Sherriff, who wrote the beautiful novel “A Fortnight in September” about a family’s annual trip to the seaside. I believe it has been republished by Slightly Foxed Books. Highly recommend!

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I enjoyed this film—thank you for recommending it. I wondered if it was a lightly disguised account of the disasters afflicting the Comet aircraft but apparently it predates those crashes. Like you, I have been watching old English films lately. The Ealing comedies are a favorite; the script of “Kind Hearts and Coronets” is to die for, as are the actors’ performances.

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I tend to forget that you finish so early in US education. Over here in the UK, state schools (in contemporary British English, the word only applies to establishments taking pupils up to the age of 18) don't finish until two-thirds of the way through July, and universities (apart from Oxbridge) a month earlier. Presumably, though, things will be a bit easier for the next few months?

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We are used to the American university semester system, which ends in early May and resumes around Labor Day (first week in September). But Thales, where Tony is teaching now, is offering an accelerated degree program for a B.A. in three years rather than four. He had only a three-week break, and was sick for part of that time. The summer trimester ends in mid-August. So the summer will not be our own this year. Tony's teaching load is light, fortunately. I keep hoping we can get ahead with W&S, but most of the time we are pedaling fast to make our deadlines!

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Perhaps this is a film that should be watched closely by the current crop of thumb-twiddlers over at Boeing....when they're not busy, of course...

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I think calling them "thumb-twiddlers" may be kind. Every time a whistle-blower comes forward they end up dead...

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:(

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Corrigendum: The first time the '1400' figure is quoted, you write '1400 miles', which would mean that the first time a plane crossed the Atlantic, it would suffer metal fatigue in the middle of the ocean! The second time, you've correctly referred to '1400 hours'. Is it possible to change it?

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Sue, what you caught is how tired we were last night. Tony rarely makes a mistake like that. I do all the setup for each essay and missed it. I'm fixing it now!

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Oh, it was obviously just a lapsus keyboardi, but I thought it was best to point it out so you could correct it. I'm not surprised that you're tired: the amount of high-quality content you produce is astounding.

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It was Tony's mind on overload, for sure. We have tried to get ahead on W&S, but can never reach that goal. This past weekend was busy with graduation and visits from students and families, as well, including a houseful yesterday! Thanks for joining us, and really, this one did get away from us!

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Among the "very strong supporting cast" is Glynis Johns, who plays an extremely assiduous Flight Attendant.

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