I'm going to star with TV programmes. Over the last year or so I have started watching some very good sitcoms. My favourites are probably Two Doors Down, Mum and Boy Meets Girl (which has just started it's second season), I would say that all three are worth checking out for different reasons and I couldn't really choose a favourite of those three. On the Drama front I really like Happy Valley, both seasons are excellent, I have also been watching and impressed by How To Get Away With Murder, the first season was excellent and I can't wait until season 2 comes on to Netflix. On the darker side but connected in a way, I am still hoping that Netflix will commission a second season of Dark Net, another series that is really worth watching. In somewhat of a departure, that may surprise some of my friends, I have really enjoyed watching The Great British Sewing Bee, no idea why really but it is just a good programme to watch. On to music TV, I love watching Glastonbury every year, partly for the bands I know and partly in the hope that it will introduce me to some new bands. This year I was a little disappointed by both ZZ Top and ELO, they both seemed to be a bit lack lustre. Ronnie Specter was great, I hope that at her age I have half as much energy. Muse were great, as always, Madness were excellent fun, and I loved watching Coldplay and Adele. On the new bands front I was really blown away by The Last Shadow Puppets, Aurora and Ellie King, but not overly impressed by The Foals. I've also liked watched the music documentaries on BBC4, although strangely I found the ones on Punk and Electronica better and more interesting than the ones on Rock and Metal.
Talking of Glastonbury and bands leads me on to things I've heard, again some new some not so new. Apart from the bands I discovered from watching Glastonbury, I have rediscovered my liking for electronica. I have been listening to Kraftwerk and early Depeche Mode, and also some John Micheal Jarre, I really love the strangeness and aloneness of the music, it makes me feel almost like I am in a alien landscape surrounded by speakers connected to a music making computer. Anyway, back to the music and in completely different directions I have also be getting back into prog rock and folk music. With prog I prefer the older stuff like ELP and Yes and bands like that, while with folk I like older stuff like Steeleye Span and Fairport Convention, newer stuff like Kathryn Williams and Beth Orton, and even newer stuff like Bird Radio.
And so on to Films, some of which I've seen on TV, some on DVD, some at small showings and an odd few at the Cinema. I'm going to start with one of the most recent, Death Walks. This is a film that was filmed in Romford, Essex, UK, not far from where I live and a place I know well. It hasn't been released yet but should be in some format soon (possibly DVD or possibly on-line) and is an amazing project. It has some "name" cast members, probably the most famous of which is Francesca Ciardi who was in the infamous Cannibal Holocaust. I went to the premiere of the film in Romford, the film we saw was a final rough cut NOT the finished film. This was due to technical problems. The film itself had some bad points but also many really good points, not the least of those being the cast. On the whole as a horror film it wasn't bad, not a great movie but not bad. When you take into consideration the fact that many of the cast were people who had never acted before or this was their first feature film, and the film was made on an absolutely zero budget (everything and everyone cost nothing), it is not only an outstanding project but an outstanding film. I have also been attending a film club at The Horse Hospital, Russell Square, London run by Billy Chainsaw for a while now, and he has now set up a new film club at The Underdog Gallery, London, which I have also been to. We have seen some excellent films there, and a few not so excellent ones. I must say that Billy new short film club is excellent, and the recent night when we watched a collection of films by Andy Stewart was just fantastic and I'm looking forward to future nights and more great films.
I haven't been reading much lately, but I have enjoyed reading some books to my little boy. We are currently reading The BFG, which we are both enjoying. The last two books we read were part of a series, they were the first two in the Spindlewood series by Chris Mould, they are really good children's books and well worth reading.
Well, that's about all I can manage and think of right now, more sometime soon or something.
Talking of Glastonbury and bands leads me on to things I've heard, again some new some not so new. Apart from the bands I discovered from watching Glastonbury, I have rediscovered my liking for electronica. I have been listening to Kraftwerk and early Depeche Mode, and also some John Micheal Jarre, I really love the strangeness and aloneness of the music, it makes me feel almost like I am in a alien landscape surrounded by speakers connected to a music making computer. Anyway, back to the music and in completely different directions I have also be getting back into prog rock and folk music. With prog I prefer the older stuff like ELP and Yes and bands like that, while with folk I like older stuff like Steeleye Span and Fairport Convention, newer stuff like Kathryn Williams and Beth Orton, and even newer stuff like Bird Radio.
And so on to Films, some of which I've seen on TV, some on DVD, some at small showings and an odd few at the Cinema. I'm going to start with one of the most recent, Death Walks. This is a film that was filmed in Romford, Essex, UK, not far from where I live and a place I know well. It hasn't been released yet but should be in some format soon (possibly DVD or possibly on-line) and is an amazing project. It has some "name" cast members, probably the most famous of which is Francesca Ciardi who was in the infamous Cannibal Holocaust. I went to the premiere of the film in Romford, the film we saw was a final rough cut NOT the finished film. This was due to technical problems. The film itself had some bad points but also many really good points, not the least of those being the cast. On the whole as a horror film it wasn't bad, not a great movie but not bad. When you take into consideration the fact that many of the cast were people who had never acted before or this was their first feature film, and the film was made on an absolutely zero budget (everything and everyone cost nothing), it is not only an outstanding project but an outstanding film. I have also been attending a film club at The Horse Hospital, Russell Square, London run by Billy Chainsaw for a while now, and he has now set up a new film club at The Underdog Gallery, London, which I have also been to. We have seen some excellent films there, and a few not so excellent ones. I must say that Billy new short film club is excellent, and the recent night when we watched a collection of films by Andy Stewart was just fantastic and I'm looking forward to future nights and more great films.
I haven't been reading much lately, but I have enjoyed reading some books to my little boy. We are currently reading The BFG, which we are both enjoying. The last two books we read were part of a series, they were the first two in the Spindlewood series by Chris Mould, they are really good children's books and well worth reading.
Well, that's about all I can manage and think of right now, more sometime soon or something.
