Hedgehogs and Hairspray.

Watching DVD’s again. I’ve finished watching my set of Blackpool discs. It was a really good series. I think you need to have something of the Brit about you, or be Anglophilic to appreciate some of it. I can understand why Viva Laughlin (a US re-production of it made by/for CBS) failed. I found something outrageously sexy about David Morrissey’s voice in it. I loved the kitschy musical segues.

More discs arrived by post yesterday. After spending the morning doing the whole bankruptcy petition thing at the local county court, I needed some light relief. One disc to arrive was Hairspray. I’d been wanting to see it for ages. Just the mere notion of John Travolta in drag was funny enough! Oh, it was SO good. I just freaking LOVE musicals! I’m a gay man trapped in a heterosexual woman’s body!! I’d love to see it in the West End now. I’d love to see Michael Ball as Edna. Musicals are even more special when you see them in the theatre. I haven’t been to the West End for a musical for years now. Last one I saw was Cats, just before it ended its run. Maybe, just maybe for my birthday or something. Anyway, it was just the “pick me up” I needed. I LOVE the music of the show.

After watching that, I just had the TV on Big Brother. Chris was looking out the loungeroom window with something in her sight, seemingly. I suggested to Em that she might have spotted a hedgehog, so Em went outside to investigate with a torch. And lo and behold, there was a hoggy outside! He was out in the garden, rummaging around. Em went back inside to get some dog food for him, but then he slipped away under the bushes. It was lovely being able to go out into the garden to see him though, even if it was just for a fleeting glimpse. Em says there are LOADS of slugs and snails around at the moment and she keeps seeing hedgehog droppings (amazingly, very slug-like shaped poo – who’d have thought?).

That’s it for now, I’m off for another DT fix.

DVD’s

After working on my list of U2 songs for yesterday’s post, I watched some DVD’s. It’s SSSSOOOOO the non-rating season in the UK. Here’s a sample of the “delights” on TV last night.

As of 6pm:

BBC1:
News 6.10-6.30
My Family 6.30-7.00
(a modern day Brit family comedy – ie: not THAT funny) – OK if you really ARE stretched for something to watch)
Last Choir Standing 7.00-8.00
(yet ANOTHER reality TV talent show – this one obviously about finding “the” choir group of the UK – I just can’t generate any interest in it)
The National Lottery: This Time Tomorrow 8.00-8.50
(yes, our lottery programme goes for that long! They usually have some quiz show linked into it. This one is seemingly called “This Time Tomorrow” where the quiz winner gets flown off to an exotic location as their prize)
Casualty 8.50-9.40
(hospital-based drama series)
News 9.40-10.00

BBC2
The Weakest Link 6.15-7.00
Dad’s Army 7.00-7.30
Carry On Camping 7.30-9.00
(Lord have mercy! Don’t get me wrong, sometimes I DO love an old “Carry On” film, but not prime time on a Saturday night!)
Cor, Blimey! 9.00-10.45
(TV drama about the Carry On films and stars of the movies)

ITV1
Twins 5.35-7.30
(the movie with Arnie and Danny De Vito)
New You’ve Been Framed 7.30-8.00
(one of those home video compilation shows – give me strength)
Who Dares Sings 8.00-9.00
(another reality TV show – basically karaoke on TV)
Foyle’s War 9.00-11.00
(drama series about some war bloke or something. Dunno. Never watched, never will – even despite David Tennant being in an episode once)

Channel 4
Gok’s Fashion Fix (repeat from Thursday night) 6.00-7.00
(hosted by fashionista Gok Wan, telling people who care what’s hot in fashion and trying to help members of the public improve their fashion sense)
Channel 4 News 7.00-7.30
Day Of The Kamikaze 7.30-9.00
(a documentary about Japanese Kamikaze fighter pilots of WWII)
Big Brother 9.00-10.00
(the day’s “highlights” from the reality TV show’s house)

Five
Superstars 6.05-7.00
(has-been athletes competing against each other for reasons beyond my comprehension)
Five News 7.00-7.15
Cricket on Five 7.15-8.00
(the day’s highlights of the current test between England and South Africa)
NCIS 8.00-9.00
CSI:NY 9.00-10.00
(sorry, I’m not interested in CSI:Anywhere – well, maybe I’d watch CSI:Luton! – NOT)

The only cool thing to be had on was highlights from T In The Park (Scotland’s big music festival – think Glastonbury but in Scotland) on BBC Three. I just recorded what I wanted to see.

So, hence DVD night.

I watched a film called Deja Vu with Denzel Washington. Oh My God! That film WAY surpassed what I was expecting of it. I just sort of remembered it being talked about on film reviews and stuff, but couldn’t really remember much about it, but added it to my rental list anyway. Oh man it was good! A lot more Sci-fi based than I was expecting too. The ending was a tad far-fetched (I suppose it’s just that Hollywood need for a happy ending), but the film had me glued.

After watching that, it was time for a bit of a DT fix, so I started watching the TV series Blackpool. I watched the first two episodes. I remember wanting to watch it when it was on the TV, but just never got the chance. I think I was worried by the musical slant on it that it might be too kitschy. It IS kitschy in those scenes, but fun. And Mr T is being quite sexy in this show. I love this running theme they have through it that his character – a detective called Peter Carlisle – he is completely addicted to sugary foods. So far – just in the first two episodes we’ve seen him eat chips, ice cream, candy floss, cake, and biscuits. In nearly every scene he’s in he’s eating something. Like a bloke would stay that skinny eating all that junk food? The ice cream scene is particularly yummy. DT eating ice cream from a cone, licking the ice cream off – I can’t tell you how much I was wishing to be the ice cream!!!

I think had I got to watch it on the TV I might not have stuck with it. It’s a bit of a slow-burner. The plot doesn’t really develop until the second episode. But now I’m really dying to watch the rest of it. The lead guy in it, David Morrissey is going to be in this year’s Doctor Who Christmas special. And there are rumours he might end up being the Doctor’s new assistant. Here’s my fave scene so far, with Messers Tennant and Morrissey being ever so slightly homo-erotic.

Not the best clip, but the others up were out of sync.

I’ve got Run, Fat Boy, Run to watch later on. I’m scarily now starting to get a thing for Dylan Moran! I’m on a real geeky-sexy trip at the moment! Next thing you know, I’ll be watching the whole series of Black Books (which I should anyway because by all accounts it’s wonderfully funny). He’s touring around the country at the moment. I’d love to see him again. We saw him at the Cambridge Corn Exchange a few years back and he did this thing about Irish men, and their hair. I was in stitches. Here’s a clip of it from another performance in Dublin (from the official DVD release).

Dylan Moran on Smurfs.

Favourite Music Artist – U

I’m sure all of those who know me will know that there was only one choice (of the limited choices you can make under “U”) I could make here…

U2.

I wanted to choose all my favourite U2 songs through the years, so instead of clogging up my blog with a load of U2 YouTube videos in posts, I’ve been working on a pages system to add my faves.

To view, just point the mouse to the menu link “U2” just below the blog picture banner. A drop down menu will show favourite pages listed for the 80s, 90s and 00s. Just click to view them.

If not, click the links here…

http://larelle.wordpress.com/u2-favourites-80s/

http://larelle.wordpress.com/u2-favourites-90s/

http://larelle.wordpress.com/u2-favourites-00s/

(page updated September 18th, 2011 at 20.47)

Favourite Music Artist – T

Just the two here…and I’m into both of them on and off, but of all the “T’s”, I like them most.

Travis
[youtube=http://youtu.be/zzUdJ-5fscA]

K T Tunstall
[youtube=http://youtu.be/pdu_IWxSSk4]

Bit of a Scottish theme going on with this one.

You know what’s coming next…
(visual clue below)

Favourite Music Artist – S

This is such a HUGE category. This is my absolute slim down version. These are the ones I had to mention. Why are there so many “S’ groups/artists?!

Anyway, in no particular order…

Simple Minds
[youtube=http://youtu.be/TmmdCRGLoD8]

The Smiths
[youtube=http://youtu.be/INgXzChwipY]

Split Enz
[youtube=http://youtu.be/NduGJ0F5sdI]

Favourite Music Artist – R

Just the two here.

Radiohead
[youtube=http://youtu.be/IrTB-iiecqk]

Street Spirit

(The) Rolling Stones
[youtube=http://youtu.be/RVEdYYMlOJ4]

Far Away Eyes

Old Photos

I’ve put a lot of old photos up that I found in the drawers in the bedroom. Some of them were pictures of Chrissy as a kitten. They’ve been buried for ages and I didn’t even realise we had so many pictures of her as a kitten. Here are two of my most fave kitten shots of her….WARNING: CUTE OVERLOAD!

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To see the full set of photos, click here.

Sadly Chris went from the super-cute kitten we see above, to this scowling diva below…

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Gruesome Scene – and Doctor Who spoilers (for those outside the UK).

This is what I saw in the bathroom last night.

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The little blob underneath the spider had just hours before been a moth. Life is cruel…

And so…on to the Doctor Who finale’.

It turned out exactly the way I didn’t want it to turn out really. Here’s someone’s YouTube splice of the end of the penultimate episode picking it up on the final episode.

Oh man, it was David Tennant all along!! Still, at least a little further into the program, we get this…

It’s a little bit in (and it’s a long clip), but we get…

Two Doctors! Scrum-didley-uptious!!!

I was SSSOOO pee’d off towards the end though, when Rose gets to go off with the part-human Doctor! Sssssoooo not fair!!!

As for the program itself. It seemed a little too busy. Russell T Davies seemed to be trying to tie up too many loose ends. I really was disappointed plot-wise that he went for this “cop out” regeneration. Having us all on tenterhooks all week wondering if all the filming people had seen of the Christmas special with David Tennant was just a huge smoke-screen and he actually WAS leaving.

I am a little confused about the whole Bad Wolf Bay beach scene where Rose goes off and lives “happily ever after” with the half-human Doctor. And the fact that she needs to go back to living in a parallel universe, I just don’t get that. Having all the characters from other spin-offs and everything as well made it busy.

I dunno. I kind of wanted to dislike it, but I didn’t. I felt shafted over the regeneration, but then was pleased to have two Doctors (three really if you count Donna in as being part-timelord). I really didn’t understand the point of Mickey and Jackie being there. Or even Sarah-Jane for that matter. There was a role for Rose to play in that she came to warn the Doctor of the Daleks plans to destroy all the planets they’d captured, and a role for Martha in trying to save the Earth by blowing it to smithereens (?!), and Jack as well, because the Daleks got Torchwood involved. But other than that, there was just too much scope given to needless characters. I know it was RTD’s swan-song as he gives up the helm of head writer and executive producer, but perhaps someone else would’ve written a better end-of-series script. He’d written such a good script for the 11th episode, but these final two seemed rushed.

Anyway, that’s about it for now. Just had to get that Who stuff off my chest.

Favourite Music Artist – Q

This one is a no-brainer. There wasn’t really much choice for Q, so it HAD to be…

Queen! My fave Queen song – Radio Ga Ga

[youtube=http://youtu.be/rBUr1pSWTVI]