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Two things which amused me today:
This week's News Quiz, especially Robin Ince and Steve Punt's (canonically accurate) riffs on the postal services today v. the postal services as seen in the Sherlock Holmes books. ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) x_perdita enjoyed this too.
She hasn't seen this yet, a definitive summary of last night's Question Time. |
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*Nothing enhances the experience of watching "Strictly Come Dancing" as much as seeing it with someone who a) knows how hard the dances are b) the personalities of the professionals c) the back-stories. I now am quite looking forward to seeing some American Smooth next week.
And technically of course the show is a marvel, ; a live 90 minute plus broadcast hosted by a word-perfect octogenarian, with all the money the BBC throws at it up on screen for all to see.
*The most impressive taxi ride I have ever had : courtesy of Kevin, All District Radio Cars. Immaculate car, fascinating man -- two sons with college scholarships in the US, a parent governor of a local school, spending his 60s between the UK, Spain and Miami. And possessing a book collection of Chinese propaganda valued by John 'Pompey' Westwood, no less.
*Celtic cross-stitch pattern jewellery is very interesting to me at the moment, even more so next year.
*Occasionally I check spotify to see if they've added one my favourite songs from a lovely album -- "The Kid", performed by Lucy Kaplansky, Richard Shindell & Dar Williams, aka Cry Cry Cry. It's now there, and sounds as wonderful now as it did when I first heard it ten years ago.
EDITED TO ADD: Either spotify have the title of Cry Cry Cry's last album track wrong, or that song is even more enlightened than originally intended.Current Music: Lucy Kaplansky, "Just You Tonight" |
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Thanks to some regular train journeys, I have now finished:
A Shilling for Candles by Josephine Tey. One of my favourite movies is Young and Innocent; I had no idea how little of the original book made it onto the screen. So we get the brilliant, young, independent Chief Constable's daughter Erica Burgoyne; a man hunt across the Southern counties; and not much else from Tey's work. Which is just as well, perhaps, because although the anti-Semitism is sadly par for course for the period it's quite depressing to find the empathetic Inspector Grant musing on the American songwriter being 'typical of his tribe'. |
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So, following the intervention of an ankle-breaking manager, my submission deadline was extended and the last piece to go went in on Monday. (SF, in which we wonder if Eoin Colfer will write something almost, but not quite entirely, unlike Douglas Adams.)
I've had to write the next 20 item piece longhand, which I'm gradually typing up for submission -- my pick of 2009, which stars Andrew Sachs, Robert Hardy, and John Arlott, among others.
Meanwhile... strange days indeed. Had a pretty much perfect Sunday with x_perdita, shopping in Asda and then cooking the roast (well, watching her do it, but I did make some very nice gravy and some stuffing with garlic butter.) She let me nap through "Strictly Come Dancing" and then we watched the first four episodes of Season One of The West Wing. If there's another TV series which reels off four episodes of such quality, with such an incredible cast, from the get-go then I'd like to watch it. With x_perdita. And I can't wait for the magnificent episodes to come, but as she reads this blog I'll stay schtum as to what they are and when they are. (Clue: at least one on the other side of the disk we've just been watching.)
At work my own communication lines with the ankle-impaired boss (shades of POTUS in the Pilot) are mainly through a mobile line so faint that he might as well be on Mars rather than just eight miles down the road.
EDITED TO ADD: Good Lord, those episodes of The West Wing we watched first aired in the U.S. ten years ago this month. |
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...a phone call from x_perdita, plans for tomorrow, and finding that the soundtrack for (500) Days of Summer is now on Spotify.
EDITED TO ADD... The beauty of this sort of soundtrack + spotify is hearing what else the artists' have done. I particularly love the country/jazz/swing of Meaghan Smith's The Cricket Quartet, something I'd never have come across other wise. |
| » Mini-Behemoth & Behemoth 4 |
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The October Editorial:
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Spoken Word Sales… at Christmas. Which are...
We're simply the best / Using Acrylics / Why Spoken Word? / What's in the Box? / Double or Quits / Did you find what you wanted? / The safe bets / The Eighth Habit : Using this resource.
Crime done - Stieg Larrson, Michael Connelly (Harry Bosch in Kowloon... and IKEA), Margery Allingham, Ruth Rendell (the unabridged edition is less than 50p more than the abridged), Patricia Cornwell, James Patterson, Paul Temple and Albert Campion.
Next SF, and a top 20 of 2009.
Sep. 22nd, 2009 @ 08:32 am
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| » Songs for Swingin' Two Year Olds |
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Spent Sunday afternoon with my brother's family. He plays a mean guitar (his pride and joy is a fridge sized new amp) and at the end of the visit he played some current hits for the kids to dance to.
The Ting Tings "That's Not My Name" (They call me 'girl'
They call me 'Stacey'
They call me 'her'
They call me 'Jane'
That's not my name
That's not my name
That's not my name
That's not my name) etc, which they bopped around vigorously to. Next, the song the Kings of Leon meant to record about underwear. Yes, that's right, "Your socks are on fire".
Sep. 21st, 2009 @ 09:35 pm
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| » Bethemoths part 2 and 3 |
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...of 5 is done, covering David Attenborough, Justin Lee Collins, Neil Oliver, Andrew Marr and John O'Farrell. Which would be a pretty good dinner party line up.
Just A Minute, Tickling the English, On the Margin, Mitchell & Webb and the Now Show.
"Subjects for the panellists to talk about without hesitation, deviation or repetition in 2009 included loyalty cards, my expenses, my carbon footprint, five things to do with a potato, and twittering." I've sat in meetings like that.
Sep. 21st, 2009 @ 08:20 am
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| » And another thing.. |
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I've been thinking about when the anniversary of us should be. 16th January 2008 was when we first met (yes, I went through the old rotas and looked it up.) But I think the date has to be the Wednesday in the garden, and at the cinema; 09/09/09.
Sep. 18th, 2009 @ 11:23 pm
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| » Hooked on a feeling |
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So, as I was saying, I'm very inclined to share how well things are going with me/us.
( Good, I would say! )
Sep. 18th, 2009 @ 10:20 pm
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| » Behemoth part 1 |
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I've been commissioned to deliver various pieces of work for next week, the most challenging of which is 'The Behemoth' -- a preview of 25 - 30 new audio releases due out between October and December. To discipline myself to get down to it, I'll be posting the work as I complete it. Comments welcome if anyone wants to say anything!
( 6 down, 30 ish to go. )
Sep. 17th, 2009 @ 07:35 pm
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| » Taking this blog into new, uncharted territory |
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Can't sleep (again), just as I couldn't one week ago. For similar reasons, no red wine involved at all though. (And it was really a flimsy excuse seven days ago, wasn't it...)
( It gets a bit sentimental from here... )
So that's that; I just want share it all at the moment.
Sep. 17th, 2009 @ 03:20 am
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| » Top of His Game |
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In other news... thank the stars that Simon Mayo is staying on Five Live in some capacity. Wittertainment had to continue, of course. (I loved Mark Kermode's video blog entry announcing the reprieve). (Hello, Jason Isaacs! Hello, Fairport Convention!)
His interviews this week - over just the last two days - have been object lessons in engaging, sympathetic, intelligent questioning. Whether it's been talking to Brooke Kinsella about her late brother Ben, probing Michael Palin about the roads not taken, or finding out about Iain Banks' performance in Monty Python and the Holy Grail (and then getting Iain Banks to compare Transition to Turn Left!) -- all have sounded effortless.
(I particularly enjoyed hearing listeners text in their slight encounters with Michael Palin, commenting on his nice-ness; Iain Banks' enthusiasm for being in the presence of the former; and the star of Home Time taken aback with how appreciative the critics were of her show. I'd swear I could hear her blushing.)
I've now got into the habit of listening to the full show on the i-player whilst cooking my tea; I will admit to moving the slider along to skip over the ghastly new arrangement of the Five Live sig tune, however.
Sep. 16th, 2009 @ 11:26 pm
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| » Going from B to A then back again |
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Wednesday was spent with the wise and wonderful x_perdita, visiting her shop which is, frankly, something to aspire to; well-stocked, immaculately presented, to the standard which I know takes a lot of effort and organisation to achieve. After the tour I asked x_perdita when I could start, having had the induction.
We both enjoyed (500) Days of Summer , an indie-flavoured romantic comedy with Joseph Gordon-Levitt (equally fab ten years ago in 10 Things I Hate About You ) and Zooey Deschanel (in the sort of role which she can hit out of the park.) The movie has the best on-the-streets musical interlude that I've seen since Enchanted .
Then back for some very drinkable Spanish red wine from M&S, and lots of conversation. Very relaxing, which is the whole point of being on holiday; x_perdita is terrific company.
Sep. 12th, 2009 @ 07:30 pm
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| » Books and movies |
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Spent Tuesday at the Reading Vue, a multiplex in need of some care and attention; a broken escalator, signs warning of the air con being out of order, that sort of thing. Caught up with The Hurt Locker (intense, but a film of two halves; there's an attempt at some sort of plot about halfway through which doesn't pay off ~ better I think to have stuck to the quasi-documentary style all the way through.)
District 9 is tremendous gory fun; if you only see one socially aware shanty-town set SF thriller this year (or this decade) then this is the one. Plot holes in it that you could send a mothership through (e.g. the oppressed aliens happen to have super-powerful bio-weapons which they never use? Why?).
Caught up with the proof I've been saving for the holiday, Michael Connelly's 9 Dragons . Just a tremendous, exciting read, with Harry Bosch cast adrift in Kowloon searching for his kidnapped daughter, out of his depth and making bad judgement calls. The best in this series I think for at least three or four years.
Finished reading Martin Cruz Smith's Arkady Renko novel Wolves Eat Dogs , which has been on my to-read pile for three years; the background setting (Chernobyl) is drawn so vividly that the foreground detective story gets a bit lost. The writing and characterisation is superb though -- here's a taste:
"The samogon had its effect; Eva looked more dangerous, Vanko more dignified, Roman's ears went red and Maria glistened. There was a solemn dipping of food while Roman poured another round. Arkady found the pickles crisp and sour, with perhaps a hint of strontium."
Sep. 12th, 2009 @ 06:47 pm
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| » En vacances |
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Just to wrap up Saturday to say how much I enjoyed the Masterspy, a series I remember watching on Sunday afternoons probably because I liked the animated credits, the sense of a story behind the quizzes, and the suave assurance of William Franklyn. (Chance in a Million I would happily pay money to own, and would love to see a 'Comedy Connections' style programme on it.)
The edition of Out of Town gave me a chance to identify items that were in my wardrobe nearly 30 years ago, as modelled by contemporary Hampshire children.
Finally, words really fail to adequately describe "The Losers", except perhaps to quote Mrs Alan Coren:
"When I was writing my piece last night, my wife Anne came and looked over my shoulder as I typed away, and she suddenly said, halfway through reading it: 'When you are 60 years old, are you still going to be writing little pieces about men called Norman Foskett?', and my blood ran cold."
Sep. 10th, 2009 @ 07:34 pm
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| » (5) Days of summer (hols) |
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Can't sleep because a)I have to get up promptly tomorrow to visit my parents and b) I had quite a bit of red wine earlier this evening. So time to blog about the time spent so far en vacances.
( Stourbridge Memories II )
To be continued...
Sep. 10th, 2009 @ 03:35 am
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| » Critical Space |
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Summer is over, and I've now blitzed my way through all-but-one of Greg Rucka's seven Atticus Kodiak novels. ( And here's why... )
The books never really took off in the UK, and one American entry is bizarrely out of print. I will probably get, in hardback, the latest (and rumoured last) in the series, The Walking Dead, having been tantalised by its first six chapters online.
Sep. 4th, 2009 @ 01:33 am
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| » Swipe to win |
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There's really just the one Firefox add-on available at the moment that works with spotify -- a simple right-click/search function. Which is all I need, really.
Sep. 4th, 2009 @ 01:08 am
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