I have been very hit and miss blogging so far this year, not the sort of habits I want to get into so this week I am making an active effort to get back into the swing or scheduling and posting regularly, so what have I been watching…
Television & Youtube
I am totally obsessed with watching this, to the point where I subscribe to the Youtube channel and watch the clips as well as recording both the US and UK versions on my TiVo box
I decided to count it for both as I do watch it both ways, who ever came up with this idea is brilliant after all we have all pranced around at some point singing into a hairbrush or other object pretending to be someone famous, now we get to watch celebs do it as well, there have been so many clips that I could have chosen but I decided to just share a couple of my favourites.
Song
I have not watched any films this week so instead I am going to leave you with my top three tracks from the Oasis greatest hits album that I have been listening to this week, peobebly not the ones you might be expecting…
So we begin with something that seems to have divided viewers from the comments I have seen…
Personally I thoroughly enjoyed this but I can see where people who had not watched all the previous series struggled with it. The idea of him taking a Victorian case to act as a form of mind palace was inspired and my only complaint is damn that Moffat and I hold Mark Gatiss equally responsible that I might have to wait a while year for another episode. I appreciate it involves scheduling these big name stars together but come on boys you could have at least had it written by now instead of being about to just start work on it. I do enjoy the way they play with the modern and canon views of Holmes and the juxtaposition of other characters both as plot devices and reflections of the roles they would have been expected to maintain in the the Victorian era fascinating. One bonus feature was the inclusion of a quick clip of The Woman aka Irene Adler and for those who are interested I had read a very interesting article you can find here speculating as to whether she could have in fact been based on a real person.
Film
This week there is no film, I sat racking my brains trying to think of one I have watched this week but the truth is there hasn’t been one. However you still get a clip, this was on over Christmas and though I didn’t watch it I, like a while generation or two probably know the whole thing more or less word for word, when it was on a friend commented on Facebook just how amazing to think this film is now over 75 years old and it just goes to show you cannot reproduce true star quality, no matter how many remakes, reboots or spin offs they try to make only one person will ever truly be Dorothy.
Youtube
I love these even when they are picking at songs I quite like lol
I want you all to know I did start this post earlier then I decided to decorate my bathroom, am now exhausted but it looks cool just need to decide on a new shower curtain now as the old one looks a little grubby compared to the fresh gloss paint, so I shall keep this short and sweet…
Television
It can only be one programme…
What can I say without spoiling it for those who have not seen it yet, typical Moffat! you are dragged at a fast pace through ever possible emotion going, bitter sweet at the end but WOW! And if you are prone to the *feels* get your tissues ready before you begin don’t be lulled by the caper that begins the show.
Film
Okay technically not a film as it is 4 hours long and was made to be shown in two parts for TV but near enough
I love this, my kids love this and for me it is the perfect Christmas film, shed a few tears while watching when the monster asked if there would be more Discworld films and I had to say that I doubt it in my lifetime, and also knowing that the man himself would not be there to appear in cameo.
Song
Okay I am changing the rules and adding in an extra category, it will be either a favourite or something new I have just heard that week, for this week instead of a Youtube video you get one of each first up my favourite ever Christmas song then second a new song I heard last week which impressed me so much I bought the album
And finally the WordPress pixies have produced their annual report…
Okay so it is the time of year where everyone gets annoyingly lovey-dovey, it is also almost a year since I joined the ranks of singledom though hopefully with far more grace than Ms Jones.
While I am certainly not in a rush to get back out there in the dating world I have recently started considering what I am looking for in a future partner and I have realised that I am looking for a person who certainly does not exist. In fact I think of the spell made in Practical Magic to find the true love with a person who could never exist to stop Sandra Bullock’s character from ever falling in love.
So let’s examine my impossible man…
Lets start with looks, and yes as I say I fully accept not only am a shallow but I am also aiming way above my own level, and yes I know I am not quite hideous but I am no supermodel either so Brad Pitt is aiming high, but I am even fussier than that as I like the young pre-Angelina Brad, you know long hair Legends Of the Fall Brad, I would also accept Thelma and Louise Brad or Interview With a Vampire Brad but not Fight Club Brad.
I like my guys tall so over six foot is a must, and as well are in fantasy land here he of course will have the perfect body, not for me that is something like this, think rugby player, wrestler, preferably with the tattoos. Actually any type of sportsman with muscles will do, as long as they stop before the veins pop out, that makes me feel a little queasy.
Right so far seems fairly simple, I need to find a sporty model who doesn’t mind a girl with plenty of curves, except this is where is gets really complicated, you see what I want mentally from a partner is not something that is as easy to match up. You see in many ways the things I am looking for in terms of personality and compatibility are far harder to find.
I need a guy who gets quotes like this without me having to explain it…
I want someone who understands this world without me needing to tell them about it…
I want I guys that will love me as much as this man loved his Elizabeth…
I want someone who has the brains and mental complexities of a genius…
And on top of all this he has to understand my kids will always come first, that he will find me sat at the computer at silly o’clock because I can’t sleep and so I am writing or chatting to friends on the other side of the world. They need to understand when I sit staring off into space that sometimes it is better not to ask what I am thinking as the answer may be disturbing and involve a gruesome death.
Sometimes I think the only way I would ever find my perfect man is if I wrote him as a character, but then he would still not be perfect, after all perfection gets boring very quickly.
As I said at the start I am not seriously in a place right now to start a new relationship and maybe my wish list is indicative of that but should you have the phone number of a wrestling, geeky, sci-fi nerd then feel free to send it my way lol but until then I think the only men in life will be a monster and a timelord from Gallifrey and you know what I am okay with that.
But that being said, I love watching the wrestling, and this week marks 25 years of one particular character ‘The Undertaker’. I used to watch years ago but then there was a time I could not afford to pay for the sports channels, now as I get them for the rugby I have picked up watching wrestling again and I have to say I still love it. If you look at wrestling as a series sport then of course you will be disappointed but it is not the in ring action that really keeps it going, it is the writing, the story lines, rivalries and characters them selves. If you consider the character of the Undertaker and allow one storyline per year (and in reality he may have two or three) and compare that to releasing a book each year, then there are very few series that keep going for that long and allow the main character to alternate between the good guy and the bad ass. Even more traditional forms of soap have very few characters that stay in a show for that long and have major plots on a regular basis. If you want serious sport watch the Olympics if you want great entertainment then sometimes you have to just let yourself ignore the obvious short punches.
Film
I have discussed this film before but have no idea what happened to that post it may have been as part of a challenge, it goes to show the importance of tags at a later date lol. The thing I love about this film as much as the film itself is the idea of a single second or action having the power to change your life opposed to the idea that fate will always bring you back to the same place. Whenever there is a disaster there are always those people who just missed a plane, people who were running late cursing as the missed a bus or train only to later discover that it was actually a blessing. We have all driven past accidents knowing if we had been two minutes earlier we may have been in it. It is that idea of what if vs it was meant to be that I find fascinating, have you ever had a major life changing moment as a result of missing a bus or train?
Youtube
Now I know Bunny can be a little annoying to some people but personally I love her quirkiness and that she encourages young girls to just be themselves and not worry about being ‘normal’, whatever that is supposed to be on any given day. I really like this series because we have all seen those products on TV that seem like they would be really cool, very occasionally we take the plunge and buy one, half the time we go on to be disappointed. I love that she really does put these products to the test, if someone tells her she has done it wrong she often does a second follow up video having tried viewer suggestions. She buys these products herself and has no qualms about telling it as it is, and inspires honesty, integrity and individuality as traits her viewers should value, plus the monster loves watching her as well.
The last few weeks I have been rather slack in terms of blogging general but even more so on certain days, so today we are going back to the original format I intended for these posts so let’s go…
Television
Given my away day this week it can only be one programme…
The reason I have chosen to discuss this, other than the obvious, is also that the season finale is fast approaching and we know that Clara’s days are numbered. It was really interesting watching the panel with the writers of the show and learning the way that they craft the stories was fascinating. Sometimes my daughter complains that I read far too much into plot points and come up with far too many kooky theories but I fear that the writer in me cannot help but see extra links even when they are possibly not there. One thinks Steven Moffat did say that has really stuck in my head is that if you hit a wall the chances are that whatever is wrong is not what you have just written, it is somewhere further back and one you find the error everything else will fall back into place.
Film
Rewatched this this week…
I loved these films the first time round, sadly so did the kids which led to the DVD’s becoming extremely scratched to the point where only a couple actually still worked, but, as we recently acquired an xbox One and the full box set was on offer at work (throw in staff discount) I decided to invest in a Bluray box set and I have to say the picture quality is fantastic. The thing that struck me was firstly just how young they all look but also just how rare it was that the original cast stuck it through all the films. In books we have full control of how our characters age, but in film that could have been problematic, you cannot be sure how someone will look as the age, and though make up can fix some things others are not that easy to sort out. Imagine if the twins playing the Weasley twins had suddenly developed differently, if one had shot up a couple of extra inches or the other had put on weight, though they are identical twins these things can sometimes happen. I hate to think that in ten, twenty years time they will probably feel the need to remake the films because of new technology and hope JK retained the control to make sure it never happens.
Youtube
I love this series ‘Everything wrong with…’
I generally dislike sequels and people cashing in on franchises, also as the parent of a 7 year old monster who wants to be a palaeontologist, they give unrealistic expectations. Okay he knows that dinosaurs are not real but he also now believes every piece of amber should contain an insect and that you can get DNA from every bone dug up. As a bonus though I want to show one of the monster favourite programmes at the minute that we recorded on the Tivo box.
Yes I know I could have dressed up and made an effort but I decided to go to work as I was lol.
That evening after dishing out chocolate eyeballs and answering the door with a monster sized Grim Reaper by my side, I settled down for an evening of TV. Now the last couple of weeks I have not really watched much as I have been so busy and as I have only a week left to get the edits finished I probably won’t watch much this week but it was Halloween so I think I deserved a night off.
First up was Doctor Who, the monster skipped this weeks as he is terrified of Zygons, every child should have a monster that scares them and as he loves Daleks, and Cybermen, it would appear that shape shifters scare him more than robotic style baddies. I loved it.
Next up I had a choice Most Haunted Live or Rocky Horror Live, well after a little emotional battle MH won though I have recorded Rocky Horror so I won’t really miss out. MH got the win as I actually had a friend who was there on set as she is a member of a paranormal group in that area but in a way this post is not about the shows themselves but the haters who watch them.
I get that when you watch a show for a while you begin to believe you know what you are getting and if the programme changes or evolves then you can feel put off. What I do not understand is watching a programme week in week out if you do not like anything about it, that people actually waste precious hours of their life to watch a programme they no longer enjoy just to be able to go on line and bitch about it afterwards. Now of course Doctor Who has always polarised opinions but that is nothing to the reactions to Most Haunted.
Now I love the show but I do not watch is as a serious paranormal investigation show, there are others out there that fill that role better, but I watch it for pure entertainment value. So as you can imagine a live show on Halloween has to be a must see for me, but I cannot understand the people who watched it for three and a half hours only so they could pick it apart and declare it all to be fake. The fake debate is one for another day, I do not believe they fake it all but I do believe they over react for the cameras, hey this is TV after all. But given how short and fleeting life is why do so many people waste time on the negative, if you don’t like something don’t watch it, grab your remote and hit the button. And what is more why abuse those who have enjoyed a programme, insults have never yet made a person change their opinion to the best of my knowledge, live and let live.
And if you don’t want to believe things go bump in the night, don’t spend an eighth of a day watching a programme with Haunted in te title!
It is Tuesday so there should be TV post but guess what? Today so I am going to chat a little bit more generally about my TV likes and dislikes.
First of all I am rubbish at watching TV, no really I am, if it were not for TiVo and Netflix I would never get a whole series of anything watched. I used to be good at watching programmes religiously so I cannot say if the change has come about because of the invention of recordable TV and Catch-up channels or if it is due to the change in my life itself. So now rather than watch one episode a week I binge watch several at a time, this year I have found even shows I love such as Strictly and Bake Off have fallen into the watch later category.
There is however a danger in doing this for the shows I love. you see channels such as the BBC look at the viewing figures to decide which shows to carry on and when to put them on, my beloved Doctor Who suffered from a drop in the ratings when up against the rugby the other week unleashing numerous articles suggesting it was in trouble, the fact is once iPlayer viewings are added in plus overseas viewings and DVD sales it becomes apparent that the show continues going from strength to strength. The one thing however that does become vulnerable is the time slot, after all if more people are recording it and watching it later does it still need its Saturday night prime time slot, for me I still say yes but the fact the show is slowly being moved later and later suggests others may not agree, and tradition may not be enough to keep it there.
I have noticed one thing about myself when I watch shows that have a competition element and that is when I was younger I would have a favourite who I wanted to win and would cheer on, now as I get older I find the opposite, rather I don’t care who wins as long as it is not which ever person I have taken against, usually for being too smug, and during Bake Off this year I actually cheered when something one person made went wrong. I think by the time I am old I may have turned into Miss Gulch from The Wizard of Oz lol
The other thing I want to mention here is films, it takes something pretty outstanding to get me to the cinema these days, the cost is ridiculous and the seats at our local cinema are not too comfy if you are larger and have a bad back already, but again it is becoming less of an issue. Chances are you only have to wait around three months for the DVD to come out or to be able to watch it via one of the movie sites on SKY or Virgin for a fraction of the price of a cinema ticket, for those who cannot wait and are less scrupulous there are numerous sites where you can watch it online while it is still in the cinema, though I personally don’t use those.
Despite the family time and socialising I have managed to fit in a little TV…
Television
Who do you think you are? No I am not asking you, though of course your answers would be fascinating but I have been watching the new series…
This is a slightly different one to normal in that it concentrates for the first part on his granddad rather than the usual starting point which is normally a relative a generation older than the ones they knew. The real fascination in this one though was that he actually retraces the places his grandfather served during WWII. His curiosity is something I can relate to having known my own granddad fought in the war but never actually discussing it with him. It was one of those things you always felt you could not bring up, and I wonder if he would have talked if I had asked, to be honest I think not, but if I had the chance to walk in his shoes and see the places he fought and in his case was held I would do it in a heartbeat. Doing the family tree gets easier each year with the adding of records on line but a list of names and dates mean nothing unless you know the stories that go with them.
Film
Occasionally you watch a film that matches up to the film it is based on, for me this was one of those…
I am not going to go into the film itself as such but keeping with this weeks theme of putting yourself into someone else’s shoes this is a perfect choice. If you had asked me ten years ago or when this film first came out I would have told you I would not want to continue if I has in Lincoln Rhymes position, now I can appreciate the fact that as long as you can think, communicate and have a quality of life that physical limitations are not the end of a life. However like Rhymes I live in fear of the vegetative state, I have expressed numerous times to my family that I would not want to be placed on life support under any circumstances I have a fear of being trapped concious in a body that cannot communicate. trust me if you knew what goes on in my head you would not want to be trapped with it as your only company.
Youtube
Not much to say about this other than Lucy captures this demon disease perfectly and we can only hope one day we wipe it out completely.
I was going to use a different film this week but something happened the other day that has made me question interpretations. A guy stopped me in the street, initially because he thought he knew me from somewhere but then to tell me I was pretty and ask for my number. I panicked!
You see this guy was good looking, obviously younger than me and with a rather nice physique. You might wonder why these are all negatives, well the fact of the matter is I could not believe he was actually seeing me as I am. That sounds strange I know given I was in full view in my lovely day job uniform and in broad daylight but I felt like he was totally out of my league and it was either candid camera or he was asking so he could have a laugh with his friends later. And yes I know this makes me every bit as shallow as I was assuming he was, and I was judging purely on appearance but when something seems too good to be true isn’t that almost always the truth of the situation?
So on we go and you will see how this ties in this week…
Television
This weeks choice will probably feature frequently in up coming weeks, yes it is the time of the year again the Bake Off Has commenced…
There have been two programmes so far cakes and biscuits and I know you are going to be scratching your heads trying to work out how I can tie a baking programme to me opening paragraph and to writing but really like everything in life it all comes down to ingredients.
Watching the programme you get the classics, the combinations that are tried and tested. This also is like stories, the Beauty and the Beast theme, the Cinderella or Snow White plot lines, we all know them know who the characters should be and how the story unfolds just like a well tested recipe though of course even that can go wrong if the timing is out. In many ways we treat life the same, we know what we are comfortable with, the types of people we normally gel with and it is easy to stay in that comfort zone. The fact is that the variety of ingredients is growing greater and greater as the world becomes a smaller place. People meet online every day, I know a couple of couples who have taken the chance on transatlantic love, for some it has worked better than others but they dared to take a chance to believe in a person they have only met in a cyber world, should it then be so hard to trust in what we see before us, to believe that it is worth a chance of throwing two ingredients together than we would think would taste horrible just in case is creates something fabulous?
Film
I remember going to see this in the cinema with my best friend and our partners at the time, both of whom are now ex’s, we enjoyed it, they both started whining half way through about how long it was…
I think this is a film which grows on you the more you watch it. The first time you watch it there seem to be too many stories, to much going on, so many twists that it is hard to follow an overall plot, then the second time you realise like real life there is no plot, there are only stories, stories that intersect, overlap and and characters that play longer more important roles than others. The film begins with more endings than conventional start points but it also proves the old adage that as one door closes another one opens. The best thing about this the layering, the way you have the same theme played out in variations each adding something to the whole.
My only slight issue is the length, any of the story threads could have made a film of their own but wrapped together two and a half hours seems a reasonable length the problem is that when you are watching the first time trying to take everything in it can seem a little much. This is a film that need rewatching much like classic novels which need a few reads before you soak up all the nuances that make it outstanding, if you have not watched this film I recommend you watch it then get it on DVD and watch it a few more times and if nothing else it has Colin Firth, do I really need to say more?
Youtube
Just to remind us that sometimes we don’t need to think too deeply things can just be exactly what they say they are and nothing more than a bit of fun…
Paula Acton 