Thames Path

Marlow → Windsor

Distance: 14.47 miles
Ascent: 112 metres
Duration: 4 hours 13 minutes

On home turf
« Not walked | Not walked »

And so to the walk of which we know every step.

The houses are just as big as on the previous leg. If anything affluence is even more visible, with boathouses attached to most properties and threatening notices warning of "laser security".

Yet we've become immune to this, having walked these paths so many times over the years.

For a few moments we became tourists again, playing with the echo under Brunel's famous Sounding Arch and later marvelling at the majesty of Windsor Castle appearing in the distance.

The bright autumnal light on this cold, crisp day brought the countryside to life and it felt as if this might be the very best stretch of the river thought I'm sure that's just familiarity talking.

Film

Steve Jobs

I try hard to avoid being an unwavering Apple fanatic. It won't help that the first time I've been to a cinema in five years is to watch this film named after the one of the company's founders.

In my defence I'll point out that those closest to Steve Jobs — his family and work colleagues — have treated the film with disdain. I might also add that I've frequently enjoyed work by Danny Boyle, Kate Winslet and Aaron Sorkin so a film they've all had a hand in was likely to curry favour with me.

It did impress. Much has been made of its dense dialogue, its innovative use of different film stocks to distinguish the three acts and the fact that this is really a film about broken people not computers. I've not seen reference to the presence of iconic fonts or the Arthur C Clarke interview/prologue.

For me though, the heart of the film is in one line. Introducing her to the first Mac, Steve Jobs tells his daughter, "there is literally nothing you can do to break this," and leaves her to explore the computer on her own. That goal — an unbreakable appliance — is something we should still be yearning for in technology. As for relationships, perhaps what makes them so special is that such a goal for them would be completely unattainable.

(Side note: things have changed since I was previously at the cinema. For a start, the box office is a machine. Unfortunately the user interface is so clunky and the implementation so unreliable I was left with a foot-long receipt of an aborted transaction and had to resort to human intervention. There's an irony here.)

Thames Path

Reading → Marlow

Distance: 18.55 miles
Ascent: 103 metres
Duration: 5 hours 48 minutes

Familiar but foreign
« Not walked | Not walked »

The landscape is getting more familiar. Running through towns and villages we've been to plenty of times before, this section of the river is distinctly recognisable though only the final two miles from Hurley to Marlow are well known to us.

The recent rain has made this a slippery, sticky and muddy walk today along the most exclusive length of the Thames that we've seen. George Clooney's new pad in Sonning, Paul Daniels' place in Wargrave and the rowing reaches of Henley all hint at the exclusive nature of this part of the valley. It may be undeniably beautiful, and certainly civil, but to us this could never feel like home no matter how familiar it is.

Gig

U2: iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE

A throwaway song from an interim album formed the emotional heart of this, U2's latest tour.

And I have no compass
And I have no map
And I have no reasons
No reasons to get back

And I have no religion
And I don't know what's what
And I don't know the limits
The limits of what we've got

Don't worry baby
It's gonna be alright
Uncertainty can be a guiding light
I hear voices, ridiculous voices
Out in the slipstream
Let's go to the overground
Get your head out of the mud baby

We're gonna dream of the world we want to live in
We're gonna dream out loud
Dream out loud

The lengthy stage lit by fluorescent tubes took on the form of a sanctuary and the text #refugeeswelcome appeared on the screens. A breathtaking moment from a spectacular show.