A Perfect Fit

The Guardian and Sir David Attenbourgh. These two cultural icons have influenced all of my adult life and more. Happy birthday Sir David.

Looking forward to this ...

Dickensian

Dickensian by the BBC

Television at its very best. Flawless in every department.

once Upon A Time

Watching Episode 7 of Series 1 on the American television programme Once Upon A Time this evening I was surprised by the murder that occurred.  Given the gentle introduction of this series until this point (all the deaths so far have come about in the fairy universe).  The series, entertaining in its own way, is no less silly than it has been but tonight's episode took a surprising turn into darker territory than I'd thought the programme had been pitched at.  My surprise may tell us more, of course, about me but there you have it.  Silly but fun and, now, not as saccharine sweet as it has been until now. 

We're definitely watching too much telly on the Internet

With our stir fried vegetables and tofu (scrumptious) on our laps we watched another "Supersizers Go ..." courtesy of whoever uploads the ten-minute sections to Youtube.  This time Giles Coren and Sue Perkins subjected themselves to a week of 1970's eating.  I grew up eating that food.  The show was hilarious in parts: Smash re-hydrated potato mix and boil in the bag fish ... no joke in my teenage home.

Spartacus: Blood and Sand

It is truly bonkers but the longer the series went on the more compelling it became as television.  John Hannah tears up the screen.  Lucy Lawless pouts her way to a cliffhanger of unimaginable gore.  Despite myself I loved it and it has seen me through too many days like today, stuck in bed with a hole in my buttock.
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Tim Minchin's Storm

I'd never heard of Tim Minchin until Spike mentioned him today.  I've been missing out.
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More then mildly irritated man ...

... discovers why those who do have been raving about the television series Mad Men. I didn't drive Spike to Dooralong for father's day because the damn chain broke yesterday. Do I think there's a link ... no pun intended ... to the six weeks and work done in Revesby? Well, is the Pope a Catholic and do bears shit in the woods?

Seriously pissed off, by myself and much in need of distraction I turned to the web for diverting entertainment. After reading the UK Sunday newspapers, listening to Just A Minute and Mark Kermode's movie reviews on BBC Radio I finally caught Mad Men. I'm hooked. It's brilliant. The bravado of the writing is awe-inspiring. It's like watching a Richard Yates character step out of one of his short stories. At times it's hard to believe the world was like that but I can accept that it was ... the search for a company Jew, the silence of black characters in this white-man's world, the advertising men with their views of women (like a dog with a typewriter!!), the vulnerability of the probably gay character. I've seen four episodes now. I hope it stays away from soap opera. Brilliant television.
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The world seemed younger then ...

Stardust

We watched the DVD of the movie. Much better than I feared it would be. Claire Danes wasn't too bad at all, although I have no idea what Robert De Niro was up to.

Later Spike introduced me to Dexter Fletcher as Spike in Press Gang, neither of which were known to me (not even after discovering he had played Baby Face in Bugsy).