2016
Well, happy new year, while there’s still 20 minutes to say it in 2015. Which was a rubbish year. Will 2016 be any better? Fred isn’t convinced…
bah humbug
Everything Under the Sun
Quiet round here, innit? I was thinking about making my obligatory Christmas Humbug posting, but I can’t be bothered. Haven’t felt much like blogging since… Read More »Everything Under the Sun
Bob Monkhouse, R.I.P.
Bob Monkhouse has sadly died. I heard it on a radio playing in the background this morning while I was out and about. Immediate thought: ‘Shit.’ It wasn’t a great surprise, but I was hoping his treatment would give him a bit longer.
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Good Riddance
Well, I guess Christmas is almost over for another year. The Day Itself is done with. It seems like our television schedulers have given up any pretence of making any real effort this year… I wonder if that reflects an overall feeling of growing apathy?
Christmas day was just like a weekend day, really. Only with decorations and turkey. We ended up watching My Fair Lady in the afternoon, which I hadn’t seen for years. I’m not a musical fan, but this one’s a sentimental favourite for unknown reasons. I like it. Rex Harrison was great.
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Ho Ho Ho
The Christmas display in Birmingham is well up to its usual unimpressive standards. Tourists are flocking from yards around to see the spectacle. Hm. Yes. Well, actually, I’ve just found that taking a snap of part of it while walking makes it almost look interesting…
Psychedelic! Well, kinda.
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The Intershit is Net
Just about everyone has linked to it by now, so I might as well do it too: The Internet is Shit.
The trouble with this site is that it’s also shit. It’s eleven pages of brief soundbites in humongous type. Maybe there’s some subtle irony in this, but it’s kinda wasted. In other words, bah, humbug, I’m the 37,000th person to give this poorly-made bilge free publicity!
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Computer Fakery
Since I was droning about Harry Potter earlier… today (er, yesterday), I read the appalling story/rumour that they might use cast-off footage of Richard Harris from the first two movies, combined with his stand-in and computer trickery, to generate an artificial ‘performance’ for the third movie!
I really, really hope this is only a rumour…
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Christmas Approaches
I got pretty bummed out yesterday, but it was just over general stuff. Nothing major. Mom was in out-patients briefly, to have a couple of skin cancers removed… not serious, just an unfortunate side-effect of the drugs she takes as a transplant patient. (Kidney transplant, 1990.)
Today, we watched the 1956 Moby Dick movie on Channel 4. I generally don’t watch afternoon films, but I’d actually never seen this one. It was directed by John Huston, screenplay by Ray Bradbury. Anyhow, glad I finally saw it. Gregory Peck—who I’ve always had immense admiration for—was typically brilliant as Ahab. And it reminded me that I’d like to see To Kill a Mockingbird again sometime, as I hardly remember anything about it (I saw it a long time ago). Harper Lee’s original novel is excellent, and would probably be in my top ten list if I thought there was any sense in making in such things.
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Goodbye Chrimbo
YES! Christmas is over. Should I be glad? Don’t really know. Anyway, I wish everyone a great New Year.
It wasn’t the worst Christmas ever… I’ve spent a lot of time (maybe too much) re-reading Lord of the Rings, which I had not experienced since… oh, maybe 1985. I figured I should do this if I plan to see the film sometime, as I don’t remember all that much about it and, if I have criticisms, I’d like them to be well informed.
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Karaoke Queen
I got asked to a pub last night where there was some karaoke going on. I don’t have a single clue why I bothered, because the mere concept is depressing—this is the kind of hopeless naffness you get sucked into when you don’t have a life. And sure enough, a parade of ageing and not-so-ageing exhibitionists mounted the stage and murdered a stream of 30-year-old songs that were crap to begin with.
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