Spies and Bicycles

Never mind running a festival, Alyssa's 10th birthday party put UK Now into the shade. Days of preparation finally resulted in a complex spy-themed afternoon of fun and intrigue for 12 girls. Liz did the lion's share and a great job she did too. Exhausting...
Afterwards we slumped on the sofa to watch Beijing Bicycle... finally. It's been comical; we've been trying to watch it for a year. The first DVD we bought ended up Chinese only despite boasting English subtitles on the package. The second simply didn't work. The third was in German (fine for Liz if not for me). We then tried to see it at MOMA art-house cinema but got the wrong day. But finally we watched it. And it was disappointing. It's a sort of re-make of the classic Italian The Bicycle Thieves from 1948, but transplanted to Beijing. It was well acted and the tension between the naieve young migrant and more knowing urban teen was OK, but it just went round & round in circles, much like the wheels of the eponymous bicycle.