Weekend & Leisure

What's On

Looking back on a wonderful Artweeks Anne James reflects on some of the highlights
Radio stars get no rest for Wicked Katherine MacAlister meets the Archers women in real life
Star quality - with VIPs in tow Chris Gray is impressed by the food at Sparsholt pub
Hooked on puppy pub Helen Peacocke feels blessed by a Cotswold pub with a warm welcome

News

Focus

Folk girl Jackie Oates Waking up to lullabies

10:44am Thursday 18th April 2013

Tim Hughes speaks to Jackie Oates ahead of her Oxford Folk Weekend gig

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Theatre

Archers stars ready to be Wicked Women

10:50am Thursday 23rd May 2013

It’s always good to put a face to a name, but when your names are Sara Coward and Sunny Ormonde, and you’ve been Caroline Sterling and Lilian Bellamy in The Archers for years, the thrill is even more pronounced.

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Music

Preview of Gilbert and Sullivan Festival at Blackwell's

1:56pm Wednesday 22nd May 2013

Pirates lurking among the bookshelves, Oriental gentlemen serenading you as you browse — what on earth is going on?

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Food

Hooked on puppy pub

1:21pm Wednesday 22nd May 2013

Every Thursday I tip my puppy Barnaby into my ancient Mini, secure him into his special seat belt and head off to a dog-friendly pub and walk in the Cotswolds.

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Outdoors

Buzz word is bees for all gardens

1:17pm Wednesday 22nd May 2013

I don’t need Friends of the Earth, whose efforts at protecting bees I commend to all, to tell me that bees are in decline. A video taken in my old garden at Hook Norton in 1996 is proof enough. Some 12 years after it was taken I watched for the first time in disbelief. Above the flowers there was a constant flow of movement as bees, hoverflies and other invertebrates moved through the garden like a spinning thread. I’m afraid I rarely see that 17 years on, despite the fact my garden at Spring Cottage is full of bee-friendly flowers. It is very depressing. I’ve been into bee watching since the early 1980s, when I tracked red-tailed bumble bees in Northamptonshire, to help bee research. I remember being unsure whether they were red-tails (Bombus lapidarius) or not because the bees were so small. Eventually I had to send one off to Cambridge University for confirmation. I learnt not to go on size, but markings. A red tail has a black body and a red tail, but when a colony is young the first bees out are very small. I got very excited when I had a nest under my study window recently, although most nests are only used for one year. Every year the lawn is covered with little grey pyramids of soil, set round neat holes and these are made by hundreds of Ashy mining bees (Andrena cineraria) active in late Spring. I find I cannot weed out the blue muscari bulbs which pop up announced as much as I would like to, because these mining bees forage on them all the time. We have the Tawny mining bee (Andrena fulva) in another area, although there are far fewer. Bee flies predate the mining bees by dropping their eggs from the air in Dambuster style. We think we also have the predatory Cuckoo bee Nomada lathburiana, though at first we thought it was digger wasp. The bee flies flock to the primroses with their permanently straight proboscis jutting out. We allow everything free rein, all part of being green for you can’t discriminate between predator and pest, or divide saint from sinner. Eventually they balance themselves out. The chief causes of decline are loss of habitat, particularly our flower-rich meadows. Many were ploughed up in the Second World War, but it’s still happening today. Too many fields offer a monoculture useless for wildlife. Pesticides and herbicides have reduced wild flowers on the verges and headlands and verge mowing and car exhausts have both added too much nitrogen, encouraging coarser plants.
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Art & Exhibitions

Conscious – Unconscious and the Oxford Community Data Stream Modern Art Oxford

10:59am Thursday 23rd May 2013

Contemporary artist Stephen Willats’ connection with Modern Art Oxford (MAO) began in 1967 and this, his fourth MAO exhibition externalises the idea of networks of people. Stephen says his fundamental aims involve exploring relationships between people and his idea that connections are fundamental to civilisation.
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Books

Local author Stephanie Dalley

11:48am Thursday 23rd May 2013

The Mystery of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon (Oxford, £25) represents 20 years of study by Oxford historian Stephanie Dalley, of the Oriental Institute.

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Columns

"It's all a bit mad . . . but I like it!"

2:12pm Tuesday 21st May 2013

“Curiouser and curiouser!” I think as I walk around what used to be the blacked out door to the Cricketers Arms on Iffley Road. I am looking for a way into the new gin joint that has taken its place.

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Today's events

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10:30: Artweeks at WOA Bampton; Spanish Sing-Along time! Summertown

11:00: Oxfordshire Art Weeks Chipping Norton; ARTWEEKS EXHIBITION Woodstock; Businesses in Bampton from the middle of the 19th Century Bampton; Story Time! Summertown; Nigel Fletcher Art Exhibition Banbury

11:15: Baby Yoga Summertown

11:30: Craft Club! (end May 31) Summertown

11:45: Tatty Yoga Summertown

12:00: GCSE and pre-GCSE classes (end Jul 1, 2013) Cowley; Andrea Stultiens: The Kaddu Wasswa Archive Oxford; Andrea Stultiens: The Kaddu Wasswa Archive Oxford; Flo Park Photo Competition Oxford; On These Magic Shores: An Exhibition of Contemporary Illustration At O3 Gallery, Oxford Castle Quarter in association with Comma Oxford; Artweeks @ Oxford Castle Quarter Oxford; Artweeks @ Oxford Castle Quarter Oxford; Engravings With Light Dorchester on Thames; Gwen Raverat: Engravings With Light Dorchester on Thames

13:00: Artweeks Exhibition by Michele Field Kidlington; Artweeks Exhibition by Michele Field Oxfordshire

13:15: Gallery Talk Oxford

13:30: Blood Donation Session Blackbird Leys

14:00: Drawing Tutorial Oxford; A Monk’s Tale - the Hidden Habits of Wallingford Priory Wallingford; At home with the Queen of Crime Wallingford; Prophecies, Histories, Legends and Law in Drawings by Old Masters Oxford

15:30: Play Dough Fun! Summertown

17:00: Wicked Women Oxford

19:00: Bingo Littlemore; May Ball (May 24) Steventon; Original Music Didcot; Young & Strange - Magic, Illusion And A Hate For Each Other Oxford

19:30: Ryan Francesconi + Mirabai Peart Oxford; Mark Bebbington (piano) Oxford; The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Berkshire; Dream on... Oxford; Concert with Andy Flannagan Abingdon

19:45: Josh Widdicombe Chipping Norton; The Memory of Water Chinnor

20:00: JdP - Jonathan Powell (piano) Oxford; Bingo Woodstock; The Seagull Oxford

20:15: Father of the Bride Reading

20:30: Quiz Night Iffley; Open night Oxford

21:00: Mike Maddams Witney; Decades Witney; Inside Out Wantage; Pete McCray Bicester; Pedro Ruiz Kidlington; Laurence Faringdon; Nikki Loy Southmoor; C.Ody Bicester; Pete Watkins Eynsham

21:30: Artweeks Exhibition Summertown

22:00: Mummers, Maypoles & Milkmaids Photographic Exhibition Woodstock; Higher Echelons Promotions Present Prestige&Classic Featuring Manny O Oxford

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Cinema: Now showing

The Hangover Part III

Alan suffers a mental breakdown in the aftermath of his father's death, and Phil, Stu and Doug offer support.
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Fast & Furious 6

Tenacious federal agent Luke Hobbs tracks down fugitives Dominic Toretto and Brian O'Conner and offers to expunge the racers' criminal records in exchange for bringing down British criminal mastermind Owen Shaw.
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Epic

While attempting to rebuild bridges with her madcap father, 17-year-old Mary Katherine aka MK is magically shrunk and stumbles into the kingdom of the Leaf Men - tiny, brave warriors who protect the forest under the guiding light of Queen Tara.
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The Great Gatsby

Stockbroker Nick Carraway is drawn into the glamorous world of millionaire war hero Jay Gatsby, who throws the most lavish parties in swinging 1920s New York.
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Star Trek Into Darkness

Starfleet is rocked by a terrorist attack in London masterminded by the mysterious John Harrison.
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Iron Man 3

Billionaire industrialist Tony Stark is used to hogging the headlines for his showy antics but he finds himself in the spotlight when diabolical foe The Mandarin destroys personal relationships and nudges the inventor to the brink of self-annihilation.
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Epic 3D

While attempting to rebuild bridges with her madcap father, 17-year-old Mary Katherine aka MK is magically shrunk and stumbles into the kingdom of the Leaf Men - tiny, brave warriors who protect the forest under the guiding light of Queen Tara.
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The Big Wedding

Alejandro Griffin asks his adoptive parents, Don and Ellie, who are now divorced, to pretend that they are still married so that his biological mother, a devout Catholic called Madonna, won't be offended.
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All Stars

Youngsters Ethan and Jaden, who attend a youth club called The Garage, vow to save the building from the bulldozers by organising a talent show.
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Love Is All You Need (Den Skaldede Frisor)

An English widower and an unhappily married Danish hairdresser come together to celebrate the impending nuptials of their respective children and kindle a spark of attraction of their own.
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Oz The Great And Powerful

Small-time circus magician Oscar Diggs bids farewell to 1905 Kansas and is sucked into the eye of a tornado.
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My Neighbour Totoro

Mei explores her new home and stumbles into a magical briar patch, where she befriends a rabbit-like spirit, which she christens Totoro.
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The Croods

Grug Crood is a caveman, who has taught his family to be afraid of the dark and new experiences.
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A Hijacking (Kapringen)

Somali pirates seize control of a Danish cargo ship and hold the crew hostage, hoping to secure a sizable ransom from the ship's owners back in Copenhagen.
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Wreck-It Ralph

Wreck-It Ralph is the bad guy in a game called Fix-It Felix Jr, which has stood the test of time in an arcade.
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The Reluctant Fundamentalist

An Islamic fundamentalist group kidnaps an American college professor.
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Royal Opera House: Donna Del Lago

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The Eye Of The Storm

Elizabeth Hunter is the ferocious grand dame of a wealthy family in the Sydney suburb of Centennial Park.
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The Place Beyond The Pines

Stunt show motorcyclist Luke Glanton learns that he has fathered a son by one former conquest.
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Me And You (Io E Te)

Fourteen-year-old Lorenzo pretends to go on a week-long skiing trip with his classmates then sneaks into his basement, where he is surprised by his drug-addicted half-sister, Olivia, who needs somewhere to crash.
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Grave Of The Fireflies

Fourteen-year-old Seita and his younger sister Setsuko are caught in the devastating attacks on the city of Kobe during the final months of the Second World War, which ultimately claims the life of the children's mother.
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Trainspotting

Film adaptation of the cult novel by Irvine Welsh, focussing on heroin addled youngsters in Edinburgh during the '80s.
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La Strada

The strongman Zampano needs an assistant for his touring act, and purchases innocent maiden Gelsomina from her mother.
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The Stone Roses: Made Of Stone + Q&A

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BAFTA Short Films 2013

For the first time, seven titles nominated in the Short Film and Short Animation categories at the British Academy Film Awards are screened around the UK, showcasing a wealth of home-grown talent behind the camera.
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Timmy Time

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The Impossible

Henry and Maria arrive in the tropical paradise of Thailand with their three sons, Lucas, Thomas and Simon.
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This Is Spinal Tap

Sixteen years after its initial release, Reiner's cult mockumentary struts its stuff back into UK cinemas.
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Reality

Neapolitan fishmonger Luciano crosses paths with former Big Brother contestant Enzo, who makes a small fortune from personal appearances.
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Les Miserables

Convict Jean Valjean is granted parole and reinvents himself as a revered factory owner.
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