Some things and some not.

I have been watching, reading and listening to some stuff that I'm going to discuss here and now.

As far as watching goes, I was interested by comments on social media about the Netflix series of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. The general consensus of opinion seemed to be that it was crap. I loved the books but I wasn't a fan of the UK series so an American series seemed interesting, so I decided to watch it to see just how bad it was. Now, my personal opinion is that it has about as much to do with the novels as I have to do with being a fish. To be honest, apart from the title and name of the lead character, there is nothing that really connects them. Having said all that, I think it's brilliant. It's well written, well acted, we'll made and had me gripped from the first episode. If you forget about any connection to Douglas Adams and watch it purely as a bizarre, funny, action comedy, it is good and I hope they make another season.

I was lucky to be one of the few that braved to severe weather to go to The Underdog Gallery on Thursday and got to see, not only a couple of unique short films by Billy Chainsaw and Jason Atomic, but also the UK premiere of the fantastically crazy Frankenstein Created Bikers. This film is brilliant, it's mad in many ways, it's full of great gore and fighty stuff and also completely insane scenes and plot points, many of which make less than no sense. It is well worth a watch and should raise a smile or two on any face.

I'm happy to see No Offence back on TV, it's an excellent programme that straddles the fence between comedy and drama beautifully.

Looking forward to, what will probably be, my only visit to the main stream cinema this year when the final film in the Resident Evil series hits the UK. I am excited and hopeful that it won't be a disappointment.

I final read The Billy Fidget Letters and it is a good but strange book, worth a read but keep an open mind.

I have started reading the first of Danny Baker's autobiographys To Sea In A Sieve and, although not far into it, I can already see similarities in his and my youth, it will be interesting to see where it goes.

I've been listening to some new folky stuff a lot of which hasn't really done much for me, and some thrashy metally stuff which has been, to be honest, really not my thing. So on the whole most of the newish music I've heard has been less than interesting or exciting or worth it.

Well that's about it for this time, be back sometime.

Recent things: some old, some new.

I have been reading, listening to and watching a few things recently that are new (at least to me) and a few things that I have revisited. I thought I would share them with you and my thoughts about them.

Starting with books. Continuing my trial of new books and authors I have taken a few books out of the library recently which I thought could be interesting. The first is called 'Me And You' by Niccolò Ammaniti. It is a really well written story of family fragmentation. There is a full review on GoodReads but it is worth just reading it without prior knowledge (which I think is true of most books, the discovery that is part of the enjoyment). The next one is called 'Falling Out Of Time' by David Grossman. I found this a little hard going at times, partly because it is written almost like a play. It is a well focused book about loss and community. The third book is 'Bar Balto' by Faiza Cuene. It is a brilliantly written crime novel with a difference, all you read are the statements of the witnesses and suspects. I am about two thirds of the way through the excellent book 'The Billy Fidget Letters' by Nick Battle and Eric Delve, which is about conversations with God. Then I have the first of Danny Baker's autobiography 'Going To Sea In A Sieve' and 'Festival Of Insignificance: a novel' by Milan Kundera, that I am looking forward to reading. All of these books are well worth a read and I would recommend them to everyone.

Moving on to TV and I've been watching quite a bit of stuff lately, both on normal TV and on Netflix. So let's start with comedy. On Netflix I've been watching a series called 'Danger 5' it is a bizarre adventure comedy from Australia that is difficult to describe but it has elements of many other shows including The Mighty Boost and Police Squad but with an originality and strangeness all of it's own. On normal TV, BBC to be exact, I really like 'Two Doors Down' an excellently observed sit-com set in Scotland with a set of odd neighbours. On the drama front, I absolutely loved series 2 of 'The Missing', a brilliant story that was well made and had a fantastic cast. On the BBC iplayer I'be watched a great series, another Australian import, called 'Deep Water' which is a interesting crime show that has a few twists and turns that make it more engaging. On Netflix I've been watching 'How To Get Away With Murder', season 1 was excellent and I'm pleased to say season 2 is just as good, and a tad confusing in parts. I have also watched the new season of Charlie Brooker's fantastic 'Black Mirror' and it is just as great as always, brilliantly made and acted, we'll written and thought provoking, and a little worrying too. All of these shows are well worth a watch if you get the chance.

I haven't seen many films of late, except on TV and most of those are old ones, but I have been listening to a bit of Radio. Alexei Sayle has been back on the BBC with a great short Radio series called 'Imaginary Sandwich Bar', it is still on the BBC Radio iplayer and is his usual mix of shouting, political insight and social comment mixed with some personal stories, and is just great.

We'll,  that's about it for this post. If you have any comment or suggestions for me to watch, read or listen to please feel free to leave a comment here. Thanks.

Out With The Old, In With The New

As you may, or may not, be aware I had an entertainment blog on another blog site that had basically the same name as this blog. I have had to abandon that blog because the site it is on is rubbish and I now cannot gain access to my blog at all. I hope to be able to import the posts that I put on that blog at some point as I am not going to repeat them on here unless there is no possible alternative. Anyway, I was part way through, for those of you that don't know, an A-Z listing of songs. The tracks, and things, that I list are not my favourites necessarily but are just songs, or whatever, that I know and that stand out for me either in a good or bad way. So I will be carrying that list on from the point I stopped on the other blog.



As a welcome to this, new....ish blog, (maybe I should have added a V0.2 to the end of the blog name😄) I am going to post some random links to some songs and music I like. So here goes and welcome to the new home of my entertainment blog.



Leornard Cohen - I'm Your Man



Beth Orton - I Wish I'd Never Seen The Sunshine



Cradle Of Filth - Dusk And Her Embrace



Spoiler - Electrifying



Gregory Issacs - Night Nurse


That's it for this introduction, more soon.


Any comments always welcome, thanks.