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April 24, 2008
Return from Tehran
Seven hours in an aircraft preceded by getting up at the ungodly hour of 04.00 so that you can get to an airport miles from the city is not conducive to a restful or refreshing journey. Add to that chaotic security processing (VERY strict despite what many Western airport security people tell you!) which has you queueing for almost three quarters of an hour in order to get your main baggage x-rayed, your hand luggage searched and everything else you are carrying examined. Then you check in ...... OK, that bit isn't bad, nor was the Business Class Lounge. BUt now you have to get to the gate.
Advice to anyone flying out of the Imam Khomanei International Airport. It isn't far to any gate, but you have another security check to pass..........
Arrived in London safely after a boring flight during which I dozed (The guy in the seat next to me snored from start to finish) read a book I have been trying to finish and caught two movies. "The Golden Compass" was one, an interesting premise, but I can't help feeling sorry for the author of these stories. It seems to me that the more he tries to deny the self sacrificing love of God, the deeper he finds himself celebrating it. Even the attempt to centre all spirituality on humanity and animals fails since it simply points up the centrality and contiguity of all things spiritual - which, as an atheist, the author is desperately trying to deny. Spectacular CGI, some real tension in the movie and some baddies who are really rather too bad (Again pointing up the opposite of what atheist humanists want to portray about "Human Goodness") make an interesting movie. Possibly the books do the author more justice though in his premise.
The other is hilarious, "The Underdog" had me stifling laughter for almost the whole of it. Especially the scene where the flying beagle enters a high-rise office tower on one side and punches through all the little cubicles to exit on the other ...... Definitely worth the watching. Pure spoof with a surprising underlying message, albeit a predictable one, it certainly beguiled away the hours.
It's good to be home, to have the usual irritations on the Motorway rather than a bunch of maniacal ramraiders trying to ram thier way through the traffic - just the usual bunch of inattentive crawlers blocking lanes and masses of heavy transport blocking the rest. Good to be home.
I think my patron Saint has been on overtime for most of the trip though - I'll have to go and say thanks with some quiet time between us soon.
Posted by The Gray Monk at April 24, 2008 05:55 AM
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