There is nothing more real than magic

I was saddened to hear of the passing of Albert Finney, but it gives me a chance to pass on a solid gold story of his salt-of-the-earthiness.

Apparently, when he was down-sizing he asked my friend Frankie (how on earth he knew her I know not) to help by getting rid of his bric-à-brac via car boot sales. He warned her though, not to sell on anything that could be traced back to him which meant that she was "stuck" with items like a copy of Proust's À la recherche du temps perdu inscribed to him by his then wife Anouk Aimée, a Tiffany photo-frame engraved to Daddy Warbucks which featured in the movie Annie, and the Marley company sign from the movie Scrooge.

What shall I watch to celebrate the great man?

Geoffrey Firmin: How, unless you drink as I do, can you hope to understand the beauty of an old indian woman playing dominoes with a chicken?

Under the Volcano ought to do it. He got an Oscar nod for Geoffrey Firmin in that. A part likely to speak to me I think.