Alcatraz

I finally took a break from playing The Pioneer Trail on Facebook and thinking up reasons why I can’t go back to work getting excited at the prospect of a possible return to gainful employment, and watched some telly that wasn’t random documentaries like the 74 Stone Accused (fascinating as it was, it left me rather nauseous). First up was the first two episodes in a new series on Fox called Alcatraz.

I hadn’t read anything about this show, but the first 15 minutes were enough to tell me that JJ Abrams was involved somewhere,and it wasn’t the presence of Jorge Garcia , it was the overall look and feel of the show that gave it away. I saw the show’s title in the listings for this week – don’t know how I missed it last week, probably drugged up, as per usual (don’t go calling the old bill, it’s my prescription stuff ). and my interest was immediately piqued, as I do have a “thing” for that place. From the mystery surrounding the escape of Frank Lee Morris and Clarence & John Anglin, did they survive or not, etc. to the alleged paranormal activity on The Rock, I have watched numerous shows regarding the place – this is the first time I’ve seen a TV series set there – I was curious to see what it was all about.

Surprise number one was the initial voiceover – Sam “Jurassic Park” Neill doing his bestest American accent telling us that the prison was closed due to spiralling costs and the place becoming decrepit, all prisoners to be transferred to other prisons…. except that’s not what happened! They all disappeared! OK, I was kinda hooked there and then. Throw in the necessary mix of cast to go with great story: Hot chick, played by Sarah Jones, (best screenshot I could take, honest!)

Old fella, Sam “Jurassic Park” Neill, Nerdy guy, who happens to be a doctor, who wrote books about Alcatraz and owns a comic book store, Jorge Garcia. Another Hot chick, but with a history, Parminder Nagra. Recipe complete. Add a bad guy to hunt each week, meanwhile keep trying to find out why and how they disappeared, why they’re back, who’s behind it, etc.. I’m pretty sure Sam “Jurassic Park” Neill’s character, Hauser, knows more than he’s letting on. For instance, at the end of the second episode we find out something about Parminder Nagra’s character, Lucy, and I’m fairly certain Hauser already knew that little titbit of goss.

Overall, it’s a very enjoyable 40 minutes of telly and I’m definitely looking forward to next Monday for the next episode.

OK, off to watch Two Broke Girls now. One day I’ll give up smoking and I’ll win the heart of Kat Dennings. Yes, I’ve seen the pictures.

TTFN

Now Playing: Romeo's Daughter - Delectable - Have Mercy

Catching Up

Friday was spent catching up on some documentaries and other factual shows I had recorded over the past millennium but never got around to watching.. Started with a few National Geographic shows; in particular Diving the Labyrinth about exploring the blue holes in the Bahamas, and Manta Mystery about manta rays. The one about the blue holes was fascinating, as I’d heard of them but didn’t know much about them. At one point they were diving past the skeleton of a  1970’s diver who was not very lucky on his dive – just in case you hadn’t heard all the comments on how dangerous and extreme blue hole diving was! I’d like to add, the narrator needs to learn how to pronounce Bahamas. He repeatedly referred to them as the BO-hamas – incredibly vexing.

After the NatGeo session I had a couple of Panoama’s to watch. Panorama is a BBC current affairs show, which has been running for over 50 years. It is very often interesting, thought provoking, upsetting and very informative. The subjects do tend to vary wildly, but are related to recent news stories. I watched ones on PFIs, an alleged Russian spy, supermarket price wars and an adoption crisis. The PFI show was very annoying – to hear of so much money being taken away from the NHS by big business investors leaves one fuming, and then they claim the figures used to convince Liverpool to opt for a new PFI hospital had been fiddled to make them more appealing – I was appalled. The alleged Russian spy farce was so well ridiculed in the press and on TV by the time I watched the show it was nothing new to be honest, though I must admit I hadn’t quite realised how young she was was, and how old the Liberal MP was. Lucky bugger. Supermarket price wars may be in the news, but it’s hardly a new thing, and the main thing to come out of watching that show is that the big four national supermarkets are constantly breaking the Advertising Standards Authority consumer laws and getting away with it. Don’t go shopping if you’re just throwing things into your trolley – check the prices on the shelf and at the till – or the status quo in my case – I don’t trust them. The most heart-breaking show was the one regarding an impending adoption crisis in the UK. Since the Baby P case there has been a 40% increase in children being removed from their parents, with no subsequent increase in social services staff. I’ve seen a few shows regarding adoption recently, in particular plans to drastically reduce the amount of time it takes for prospective parents to become successful. Whilst this is a good move, and will help many children find a permanent loving family, it does little to help those removed with their siblings, whose only hope of adoption is to be split up. Finding a stable, loving and permanent home must be the ultimate goal, and splitting up siblings seems to be a last resort, but it does seem to me to be a rather harsh solution after all these kids have been through, but what else can be done? The liberal in me says give the back to their parents and support the parents more, rather than just taking them away, but I’ve no idea of the specifics of any of the cases and I’m no way qualified to get involved.

I’ll also be updating Wednesday's post with the concluding instalment of Public Enemies.

OK. Enough for now. Nice to see telly recovering from the Christmas break. CSI:NY and Supernatural were on last night, the second season of Portlandia started (more on that soon, I only just discovered it, and I love it!) and Law and Order UK started it’s sixth series, not bad for a show that premiered three years ago. More on those once I’ve watched ‘em. TTFN.

Post-Catstration Revenge

Do you like what I did there – post CATstration? Geddit? Never mind.

I’m either suffering from intense paranoia, or I’m reading far too much into the actions of an otherwise loveable, and loving tabby cat. Possibly both. I had every intention of sitting on the sofa and watching the second instalment of Public Enemies tonight. Bob had different ideas. The sofa is his, you see. It was an exercise in futility. He bounced between wanting to play fetch (he can be rather vocal when he thinks he’s being ignored) and wanting to investigate the television – closely. After 20 minutes of watching a cat’s arsehole and listening to a cat object to his ball not being thrown, I gave up. It hadn’t even started yet. Now I’m sat at my PC Bob has taken up his regular position on my desk (there’s a cushion there for him, I’m a softy) and he’s fast asleep next to a speaker that has Nightwish blasting out of it. He’s just waiting for me to try watching something, then he’ll be rested enough for the next round.

I’m uploading the second instalment of Public Enemies – I’ll update yesterday’s post with the link when it’s done.

I was intending to post about Mrs Brown’s Boys at some point. I heard about this show only recently, even though it’s been around about 10 years or so in Ireland. Last year BBC Scotland with RTÉ put out a 6 episode first series, and a second series started this Christmas. It is rather rude and sweary – possibly why I fecking love it. The whole thing is created by Brendan O’Carroll who also plays as Mrs Brown. I could go on and describe it all but either watch it, or read the Wikipedia page which does a better job than I could. Interestingly, according to RTÉ the Mrs Brown’s Boys Christmas Special was the most watched TV in Ireland over Christmas with a 48.6% share (the Irish have better taste than us – they get Eastenders, too but it didn’t get a look in)! Not bad considering some of the criticism levied against the show by the Irish press.. Whilst looking at the viewing figures, the critics reviews make one think they’re out of sync with the rest of their country, especially the “vaguely embarrassed to be Irish.” in the Irish Independent, LOL. Apparently it’s a 50/50 split. 6.6 Million in the UK watched the Christmas special – nowhere near the Eastenders Christmas episode, but it was best in it’s 10pm spot. If you don’t mind a bit of sweary fun, look out for Mrs Brown’s Boys, Monday 9:30 BBCOne or iPlayer or those naughty places, but not torrents cos they’re shite and Virgin cuts me off for seeding stuff.

I’ll update the link on yesterdays post and go watch it now – ttfn..

Now Playing: Nightwish - End Of An Era - Creek Mary's Blood

Private Enemy

Right now my private enemy appears to be insomnia. I actually fell asleep around 9.30pm then woke 2 hours later with Bob snoring in my ear (he likes my orthopaedic pillow) and the wind making strange noises outside (the roof’s already leaking, I’m sure it’s gonna fall off, and I’ve been woken by that once before!).

So I decided to check out my latest recordings. There’s a pretty decent 3-part drama just started on BBC1 called Public Enemies. The series centres around Paula (Anna Friel) a probation officer just returning from suspension after an offender she gave a second chance to committed another murder, and Eddie, a murderer released on licence after serving 10 years.

I’ll be honest. If I wasn’t awake and in need of something to keep me occupied, and the eye candy that is Anna Friel was not on offer, I might have passed this by and watched a DVD. I’m glad I didn’t. Whilst it’s hard to feel sympathy for a murderer, the actor Daniel Mays does a splendid job in the portrayal of his vulnerabilities as an offender on probation, and you do start to feel that prickle of empathy.

All in all, I’m definitely looking forward to the remaining two instalments of this show. It’s currently available on the old iPlayer but if you can’t get it try below, I’ll edit the post as the concluding parts become available (tonight and tomorrow night, no long waits, thankfully).

Part 1 – 550mb

Part 2 – 550mb

Part 3 – 550mb

Blogger Labels: Public Enemies,TV

Where was I?

I was going on about mid-season stuff that’d already ended during my absence. I’ll continue with 2 SyFy favourites – Eureka and Warehouse 13.

Eureka ended it’s fourth season in September under a very dark cloud, with most fans Knowing that the next season, starting with a December, Christmassy, episode, and concluding in the new year, will be it’s last. The general reaction is of utter dismay, though as the network that failed to pickup Firefly, no-one’s terribly surprised, just saddened. It’s had it’s scheduling mucked about with so much even TiVo’s don’t know when it’s on. I’ve found reactions to Eureka are a little like Marmite – you either love it or hate it. Some folks just don’t dig a town full of geniuses, inventing stuff and getting up to all sorts of mischief. Others, including myself, love it. The upcoming season 5 premiere on Dec 6th sees the entire town transformed into animated versions of themselves. Watch this preview. .

 

Warehouse 13 ended it’s third season in October, and returns for it’s  “holiday special” on December 6th.

Sidebar: Christmas is A holiday, not THE holiday – so it’s a Christmas special, not a holiday special. OK, I’ just had to get that off my chest. The Christmas special sees the return of an old enemy, watch the preview.

 

Looks like a great episode to whet your appetite for season four, all I know so far is that 13 episodes have been ordered for 2012.

It’s a shame they’ve decided to shit-can Eureka – I really enjoyed the crossovers between these 2 shows. Well done SyFy

There are bound to be loads of show’s I’ve neglected to mention – a combination of pain meds and MS causes me to forget things very easily, so don’t be surprised if I bring the subject up again. I’m planning another entry soon – either tonight or tomorrow detailing some of the new stuff I’ve been watching. About time, eh?

TTFN.

Now Playing: R.E.M. - Part Lies Part Heart Part Truth Part Garbage 1982-2011 - (Don't Go Back To) Rockville

Face-Off?

Instead of going to bed at a reasonable hour, last night/this morning I wrestled with Blogger and my new template, trying to change the default fonts. There’s still one – the date – which is using Arial/Helvetica – but it took so long getting the rest done, by the time I’d learned enough CSS to realise what I was doing wrong, I was too tired to fix it .

So I now know the name of the offending class – just need to change it’s properties, but adding custom CSS doesn’t work, looks like I have to actually edit the template directly.

OK, enough about the facelift – gonna write a lot of rubbish about telly stuff in an hour or so – just watching Life’s Too Short from Thursday night on BBC – very funny stuff.

TTFN

Let Me Entertain You?

I spent hours installing dozens of free apps and games on my iPod in order to earn free chips to buy new armour in Buddy Rush – so much so that I ran down the battery and didn’t get a chance to play with my new armour, so I’ll bore my reader with more telly musings whilst it charges.
I previously touched on a couple of the shows that aired during my absence. I’ll continue, I think, with Combat Hospital. 13 episode first season broadcast on Global which I think is Canadia (little maple leaf on the parental rating box in the top left gives it away). It was also broadcast by ABC but they skipped episode 11. So far no word on whether there will be a season 2 – it is, as they say, on the bubble, which is a shame as I enjoyed the show. The show is about a Role 3 military hospital in Kandahar and is set in 2006. The hospital is staffed by ranks from many of the allied forces fighting in Afghanistan, but primarily USA, Canada, UK and Australia (main cast). In the first episode we join newcomers Bobby Trang (Terry Chen) and Rebecca Gordon (Michelle Borth) as they join the team and find their way around. It’s most definitely not a 21st century M*A*S*H, but I don’t think it’s trying to be. The show has faced a lot of criticism from the US media, but from what I’ve seen on TV guide sites such as TVRage.com and TV.com viewers generally like the show, rating it 7.2/10 and 8/10 respectively. However, viewer appeal alone is not enough to save a show – Jericho was adored by the interwebs – but it wasn’t enough to save it.
Just a quick mention for Breaking Bad which has just finished it’s 4th and final season. I’ve only discovered the show this year and am partway through the second season – so no spoiling me on that plx!
In March this year Southland finished it’s third season, and it will be returning to TNT in January 2012 for a fourth. I find Southland to be very gritty and raw; I’m not familiar with the inner workings of LA cops, so I can’t vouch for their authenticity, but it is definitely good telly!

OK – gonna end this for now – need to eat, and my iPod is charged – time to play Buddy Rush
Now Playing: Regina Spektor - Far (Special Edition CD & DVD) - Wallet

Christmas Episode - Haven-This December

Christmas Episode - Haven-This December: Haven is wrapping up for the season, but an all-new Christmas episode will be unwrapped this December.

Just saw this - wonder where this fits in with the showdown on the Cape Rouge and whether Nathan is the tattooed man that brings about Duke's Downfall? If they're in Chronological order, then obviously not. This also ruins 6 months of semi-suspense. Mind you, it is Haven - it could be someone's dream/trouble. Also it is SyFy - maybe they'll rope in WH13 and Eureka for a mega mindf**k crossover episode? :P

Back, for good?

I’m bored. Can’t play World of Warcraft due to an argument with a flight of stairs (I lost) on top of which I have a cold the week after my GP performed a miracle and managed to enable me to experience sensation in my left arm; unfortunately the sensation was intense agony, the method was a flu jab.
I usually babble about current telly stuff and other nonsense, and I will, but I’ve missed babbling about a good many shows I enjoy as they have been and gone for this year – in particular Haven. Oh how I love thee, Haven. Or is it just Emily? No, It’s the show as well. The season one cliff-hanger was a doozy, two Audrey Parkers? ZOMG? How!!!111 Season two’s cliff-hanger is less so – Duke & Nathan fighting on boat, camera  cuts to boat exterior, gun goes off! Oh noes!! Who is dedded!! Well, neither IMO – they’re both main cast & important to the story – killing either would be a mistake. Besides a wild shot inside a metal hulled ship would be lethal for both, but they never let physics stand in the way of a good story on th’telly.
Another SyFy show that’s been and gone whilst I was away was newcomer Alphas. Whilst I thoroughly enjoyed the show, I had my doubts as to whether it would be picked up for another season, especially after an eleven episode first season, but it would appear that SyFy have more confidence than I and have picked it up for a second season. Pictured to the right is Afghan-born Azita Ghanizada who plays Rachel Pirzad, one of the two major reasons for watching Alphas; the other being Laura Mennell, who plays Nina Theroux. There’s some blokes in it too supporting them, of course. If you’ve not seen Alphas, think Heroes, but more believable, and also done on the cheap. That’s not fair. It doesn’t look cheap, it’s nowhere near as far fetched as Heroes was – and usually each of the Alphas has to pay a price for using their gift. For example, Rachel can enhance one of her senses by an incredible amount, at the expense of her other senses, which leaves her vulnerable – something you’d think they’d take into consideration before utilizing her, but then that wouldn’t be good telly would it?
Another show I really enjoy came back in July, Rizzoli & Isles. It took an early break in September but returns to complete it’s second season run in late November – so far 15 episodes are on order so there are another 5 to watch. I was introduced to the show via a friend just after the first season started. I’ve since read quite a few Tess Gerritsen novels on my Kindle – very enjoyable books, but there’s something about the on-screen chemistry between Angie Harmon & Sasha Alexander that goes beyond any dark or dry humour in the novels. As well as being a fan of the show, an avid read of the books, and an admirer of beautiful women, I have to declare an additional bias here: I am still mourning the sudden death of Caitlin Todd, so frequent doses of Sasha Alexander in any show helps to soothe the loss.
Since I’ve been droning on for well over 500 words, to avoid TL:DR I’ll finish this post. I’ve got lots more boring telly stuff to bore you with in future posts – but even I’m getting fed up of my own voice (in my mind!).
TTFN

Now Playing: Regina Spektor - Begin to Hope – Lady

Outsourced

Just a quickie for now – I’m off to be poked and prodded by some kid in a white coat who claims to be a doctor.

Just watched a new comedy called Outsourced – it was fantastic – just how I imagine the Virgin Media helpdesk

Having worked in a call centre, it appears they are the same the world over. Anyhoo, if you can, watch it. I found a link http://hotfile.com/dl/71345235/6755fec/outsourced.101.hdtv-lol.avi.html not where I get my viewing fodder from, but it’s the same release.

Let me know what you think. The only problem I foresee is they may run out of jokes – there’s only so many times you can joke about hot food burning your ring etc. before it gets tired, but we’ll see.

Michael’s Telly Blog

Gonna rename “Dude …?” to “Michael’s Telly Blog” or maybe “Bored Shitless” – I bet you can do votes with this thing …. bugger it – cba.

So, new seasons and new series are upon us, and about time too! Luckily we’ve had SyFy keeping us sane with such staples as Eureka (off till December now, poo) and Warehouse 13 (Eddie and Joanne get a load of stick, but Scags saves it for me, get my geek on, etc.) and not forgetting newcomer, Haven. Gotta say, I really love Haven, which usually means it’ll get canned, so I hate it, hate it, hate it!

 

This week kicked off with a new season of House. Was an odd episode, but given the last episode, it was either going to be Bobby stepping out of the shower, or a whole season examining a relationship. Guess the writers are too young to remember what a great get out of jail card Dallas offered I’ll leave Two and a Half Men alone – I only download it for my son… honest!

Just caught a few new series’ though – Hawaii Five-O was kinda fun, kinda silly, but at least they managed to avoid Dog the Bounty Hunter whilst shooting it so, they did OK. The Event, looks good, kinda weird, but we like weird so, we’ll wait and see. Chase was great – nice to see Kelli Giddish again – hope making Past Life didn’t totally screw her career up – I liked it, but no-one else AT ALL did, so ….? Lone Star looks good too – be nice to see how it develops. Also caught the pilot of a show called Terriers – started earlier this month, so I’ll need to check for any other episodes – was quite funny, not too over the top – lots of clichés though, ex-cop & ex-alcoholic, immature men, ex-wife. Open verdict till I see more. Not big on US comedy shows, as the phrase itself seems to be an oxymoron, but there have been notable exceptions. Mike and Molly may well be one of them – though King of Queens was thought to have consumed every fat joke possible, some have been resurrected, possibly recycled, possibly via a pooper-scooper. Not that bad really, better than most – so I’ll run with it, see how it pans out.

I’ve not looked at the schedules for any more upcoming new series, it’s on my to-do list, but two shows returned tonight and I’m about to watch them – NCIS and NCIS:Los Angeles – so I’ll sign off now, and report later – maybe I’ll have read the upcoming schedule by then too…. or not.

FML

Lack of updates reflects the activity in my life right now.

Going through one of the troughs in a life of troughs and peaks, sitting on my arse watching TV. World Cup is a nice highlight – of course, not the England games. USA vs. Algeria was a good match – and Spain vs. Chile was good, if dirty.

Summer always presents a lull in good TV – all the decent US shows have ended, and the TV bosses expect everyone to be on holiday, so they just dump shit on. Worthy exceptions to this rule are Lie To Me and Leverage, both of which I feel are worthy of proper seasons, not the annoying mid season spot. Lie To Me viewers are treated especially bad – the show started with a short run, January to May 2009, then reappeared in September with a promised 2nd full season, then it was whipped off the air for 6 months. Still, you come to expect this sort of shit from Fox, just look at Family Guy’s treatment.

So I’ve spent the last few weeks watching what the various channels are offering online. 4OD has a nice collection of documentaries, Unreported World in particular. I don’t watch much TV on the actual TV – I can never remember what’s on and when. I do have a Virgin+ box with a HDD to record stuff, but always forget to use it, or indeed forget that I’ve set it. That can be quite a nice experience, finding I’ve recorded a whole series of something, and forgotten about it.

I’m currently watching The Professionals – from 1977. I remember watching these as a kid, but it’s great looking back now at the famous faces whilst they were young, the terrible over-acting, and the crappy not-so-special effects. I used to think it was brilliant, still do, but not for the same reasons, lol.

It’s all coming to an end

By which I mean TV shows.

Just watched the season Finale of CSI: Miami – another season, another cliff-hanger. To be honest, it’s lacking in originality. Last season on CSI:NY they had the drive-by on the bar which the entire team was inside of. I can’t recall exactly but I’m sure it’s happened more than once on Miami too. C’mon – we all read TV Rage/Futon Critic/TV Guide et al – by now we know if a show is returning or not, and it’s hardly likely to come back with just Eric and Horatio is it?

And this morning finds me mourning the passing of an old friend. Yes, 24 has finally finished after 8 glorious seasons (or days). I was surprised they didn’t kill Bauer off – I suppose Fox is thinking Films, just as they did with The X-Files.

You won’t find me mourning the ending of Lost though – ‘cos I don’t watch the piece of shit – but I believe that’s another show that’s ended it’s run (far outliving my expectations).

Last week saw the season finale of one of my favourite shows, Fringe, with a real treat in store for season three. I was also dismayed by news that 2 new medical shows which started this year will not be returning: Miami Medical (for
UK viewers think Casualty on crack!) and Trauma (Casualty on crack driving a helicopter). Trauma was good, well, kinda OK – watchable, but very samey. Miami Medical, however, will be missed. It’s got some great characters, fast paced and lots of shouting “Stat!”, just what every medical drama needs. I wish it could have stayed around but it’s viewing figures have been dropping lower and lower each week. I suppose they’re lining up another reality show or a sitcom about a cat to replace it. Or maybe a loop of a coin on the end of a chain spinning with the voice-over saying “Look” Shiny!!” Anything to keep the US audience watching.

Still, it’s not all doom and gloom. The end of the season means the start of mid-season shows Lie To Me and Leverage – both top quality shows which I’ve been looking forward too for a long time. Lie To Me is especially good, just because Tim Roth is in it – genius casting. Oh and USA network are having another season of White Collar – quite an interesting departure from the usual FBI drama.

So tonight both flavours of NCIS finish. Both the veteran and it’s sibling are scheduled to return (thanks CBS). Wednesday sees the season finales of both Criminal Minds and CSI:NY, both of which are coming back too, only Criminal Minds is expecting! Yes the show being (crappily) called Criminal Minds 2 has been green-lighted – it is due to star Forrest Whittaker, who was in a previous episode of Criminal Minds with his high-tech team, tracking down a serial kidnapper/murderer. I’m quite looking forward to that.

And finally, FlasForward will end on Thursday … for good! ABC – what the f..? Apparently cancelled after the final episode was shot, so there’s little chance of any real tying up of the storyline.

OK, I'll direct you here for a full update of the status of TV. Looking at the list it seems ITV have cancelled The Bill – I’ve not watched it since June and Carver (before he got fat and booze ridden) so no loss for me, I was just surprised it was still running after 26 series. They probably had it tucked away on ITV3 or 4 :P I only watch 2 shows on ITV – Lewis and Midsomer Murders (though with John Nettles set to leave Midsomer, I don’t know if I’ll still be watching).

I just looked at how much I’ve just written, and realised I watch too much TV. Bah, impossible. There’s no such thing

I AM NOT CRAZY

For the record, I like to watch shows such as Destination Truth, MonsterQuest, Ghost Hunters and Mystery Quest. I also watch car-wreck shows such as Paranormal state, Paranormal Cops and Ghost Lab. I am quite sceptical, but love the idea of cryptids and would love to be convinced. I’m not, but would love to be.
I also think there’s something paranormal going on in a lot of ghost sightings/haunted places. I’d love to see some proof, I haven’t, but I’d love to.
However, I do object to being grouped under the “paranormal” umbrella, when you include all those Americans who believe in UFOs. I say Americans because, besides David Icke, they are the worst offenders. Yes, they offend me. OK, I concede they have some pretty weird videos of strange things in the sky, which warrants further investigation. But how on earth do you come up with these stories of reptilians and greys, etc? I mean, seriously? The X-Files was great sci-fi, but it was just that: fiction. When I was younger, before the interwebs,  I used to read a magazine on the paranormal, and even back then resented the inclusion of these stories. At least bigfoot and ghost stories have blurry photos to back it up (somewhat). What do they have of aliens? Drawings and bad photoshopping. ffs.
So in summary, I might watch some programming that mainstream science finds questionable, but at least I don’t believe there’s a colony of grey/reptilian/human clones living underground that fly around, abducting red-necks, cutting out cow’s arseholes with “lasers” and infiltrating the world government. K? k.

Oh, and FYI - mediums are liars.

What a crap week that was

Title says it all really. Another boring week in a continuous stream of boring weeks. Highlight of the week – eye test on Monday. My opticians, D&A, were recently bought by the Boots chain, and since they already had a store in Bolton they closed my D&A branch. Luckily, the same optician I’ve visited for the last 10 years, Rachel, transferred. I’m not a fan of change – I’m a bit odd like that. This is my first eye test since the MS diagnosis – I was given a much more thorough exam than I’ve had before. Lots of machinery involved, including digital imaging of my eye, which showed a very healthy optic nerve – nothing to worry about.
My new glasses should be ready Monday or Tuesday – so there’s next week’s highlight sorted.
The picture to the right are the frames I ordered as my main pair. I got a second pair free, but couldn’t afford to get slimmer lenses so had to get standard metal frames, similar to my present ones, but black rather than gold.
Anything else good last week? nah. TV was a bit light – got a few episodes to watch still, 24 and FlashForward, and the return of Supernatural.  I spent the week watching crap on Hulu, and playing Lord of Ultima. If you have access to Hulu, check out this – a fantastic story about Yellowstone’s grizzlies. Watched it this morning and was glued to the screen – stunning animals. The picture to the left is Brutus, Casey’s “pal”, best man at his wedding – Casey, the presenter, employs Brutus to give us up-close examples of grizzly behaviours he shows us in the wild.
OK, fed up of typing now, ttfn.

Tourettes (I am going to hell)

If there was ever any doubt over which way I’ll go when my number is up, pissing myself watching Tourettes: I Swear I Can’t Help It on BBC iPlayer just sealed my fate.
I know it’s a serious neurological condition, I know I shouldn’t laugh, but I did … a lot. Maybe it has something to do with Bo Selecta doing a parody of the guy (John) in an earlier documentary, but replacing him with Gareth Gates.

See, not my fault. Bo Selecta made me laugh at it!

“MOBY DICK!”

The Return of FlashForward

All hail, for it has returned!

Yes, Wednesday night’s little catch-up, “What did you see?” was followed last night by a double dose of ABC’s fantastic drama series, FlashForward. I did mention the catch-up yesterday, but neglected to look forward one day to see Thursday’s listings, so I was pleasantly surprised to see this double episode this morning.
I won’t go spoiling you, I’m not mean. I know Five will be showing it soon in the UK, before the hiatus they were only a week behind the US, so watch out for the return! There’s no point watching “What did you see?” unless you totally forgot everything that happened before Christmas. Even my bad memory still clung on to the events :) So be prepared for a few answers, a few revelations, and yet more unanswered questions. Yay!

Another Makeover?

Well, I’m sat here watching really bad Steven Seagal films (The Foreigner anyone?) waiting for my new phone to arrive, and thought “Hey, I know. I’ll bugger about with my blog template … again!”

Just realised I’ve not grabbed last night’s Destination Truth so I’m off to do that. ttfn

Wednesday

I love Wednesdays. Double dose of NCIS. I’m not a hater of the new NCIS Los Angeles, I like it. Mr Cool J is, well … cool :). It's not a patch on the original NCIS, but it’s just a baby – I just hope it gets a chance to mature.
Other reasons to love Wednesdays? White Collar and Southland. I know these are all Tuesday night shows in their home country, but it’s Wednesday here in Blighty when they get aired.
I could do a post each day about TV – I tend to watch a lot. So watch out tomorrow for “Thursday” lol. CSI: NY and Criminal Minds. Just checked my schedule: Ghost Hunters is back! Loved the live last week with Josh Gates – was great to see the cast in the studio answering fan questions. Will be nice to get back to the regular format though – too much interruption for my liking. One thing I found out at a Sci-Fi/Buffy convention thing in Blackpool many years ago: I hate whacked out fangirls (and fanboys). It was a free ticket – I hate to waste stuff. Stop mocking me!!!
Speaking of Josh Gates, his SyFy show, Destination Truth, returns next week (17th March) – I can’t wait. Love it!