Have you ever discovered something rather trivial that has given you more a thrill than it should?
Well this little map has done just that!
Slow Horses is on the horizon so I’ve been rewatching the old series. Being nosy – I wondered – is that really a place in london so thanks to google maps street view – I discovered that yes it is! There the Italian restaurant Vecchio Parioli and just beyond is the walkway – number 123 – where Slough House is supposed to be based.
Anyway – as I looked at the map a bit more, I glimpsed a familiar name – Florian Court! The setting used as home to the estimable Hercule Poirot – Whitehaven Mansions!
I will absolutely put my hand up and say this absolutely thrilled me! No idea why – but I just thought that it was great that these two locations were virtually back to back. Also Yes I know “absolutely” is getting used too much but like WOW!
I might be making a mistake with this but it’s too late now.
It’s September and with September comes comfort. The days are getting noticeably shorter and giving us darker evenings. The weather, which hasn’t been great to begin with, is slowly getting a bit colder. Dark evenings and colder weather mean the autumn TV schedule is about to kick in. It’s time to curl up on the sofa, with a blanket and a cup of tea and see what’s on the box, or dig out a good book to lose yourself in. Tomorrow sees the return of Slow Horses, while next week we have the double delight of Strictly Come Dancing AND a new series of books from Richard Osman – “We Solve Murders” – This means I’m going to be sitting on the BorrowBox app so I can get to listen to it sometime this year.
As a lead up to these delicious comforts, I’ve borrowed the audiobook of The Thursday Murder Club, again. With the casting complete and the filming (presumingly) commenced, I’m not convinced it’s a good idea to have the book so fresh in my mind. For me I find it best to have a decent gap between book and film so that the finer details can fade a little and if they are changed in the film, I’m none the wiser, and I walk away feeling happy.
I think from here on in, I’m going to try to embody Joyce, although I’ve tried and failed previously – today is always a good day to start a fresh. There is something so good natured about her and as she says early on in TTMC she’s often overlooked, which can be worked to her advantage. I’m sure I’m overlooked but I’m not sure if I can work that to my advantage unless continuing to be overlooked counts (it does). I don’t know what it is but I just really like the tone of the character – she seems to find joy in even the most mundane of things (whilst being caught up in a murder investigation…)
Re Slow Horses, I’m going to try and leave it ’til the weekend – we’ll see if that really happens. I’m entertained by the fact that I’m delaying gratification with this for the weekend but refuse to do so with the new book coming out. I suppose that’s because with Slow Horses I can give in and treat myself, but once that audiobook hits the app, it gets booked up at such a manic pace that by the end of the first day the waiting list spans years! I fully expect to see 2030 by the end of the day. It comes away pretty quickly because you listen to it and then return it – it’s rare that you would keep it for the full 21days. So every early return whittles down the waiting times. However you still have to wait your turn, unlike Slow Horses when I can just give in and turn on the telly when I want!
Watch this and tell me, could you postpone watching??
I love listening to the radio – I have one in every room in the apartment even the smallest room!
Actually, that’s not exactly true – I did have a radio on my locker but retired it for the telly. What I mean by that is we get the radio through the television and the signal is much, much better! However this morning two things happened to be bring the radio back to the locker – I woke up in time to listen to Gloria on LyricFM and the remotes were over on his locker. The radio was found, plugged in and I snuggled back down to listen. It really was glorious! The reception wasn’t too bad either.
Speaking of reception – I mentioned earlier that reception is better on the telly – well that’s not really worth anything if there’s no electricity! As was the case last week. I had just gotten off the bus when all of the house alarms started going off. It seems that when the electricity fails you don’t get silence these days. I do like having no electricity – it’s like an adventure! Anyway with no telly or internets there was only the radio left! So out came my transistor (I don’t think they can be called a tranny any more) and the reception of BBC radio 4 was PERFECT! We listened away ’til the lights came back and at that point all of the static electricity that was being generated completely destroyed the reception. Now I know some will go what did you expect but it had never dawned on me before – yes, electrical weather but household, no!
Here is my old faithful –
I’ve had her for too many years than I’d care to admit to!
I’ve been trying to embed it but am not having any luck so please click the link and start to feel the spirit of Christmas even if you don’t tell anybody 😉
I will happily admit that one of my favourite poets is John Betjeman. Last night I was in bed watching Kenneth Williams being interviewed by Michael Parkinson. He was in the company of Maggie Smith & John Betjeman and towards the end of the excerpt they had a piece where Kenneth & Maggie read a Betjeman poem. It was beautiful! As P. says he could listen to Maggie Smith read anything but I have to say I thought Kenneth Williams was fantastic – once he’s voice is controlled it’s very moving.
On ITV3 they are holding a John Thaw weekend so I’m glued to the box. I loved Inspector Morse, both the books and the programme.
I will admit that I cried when Inspector Morse died – I remember it very clearly – sitting up in bed ’til the late, lamp on, no music. I was given the book for Christmas. In saying I cried when he died it might also have been that I was still a bit upset as my Grandad had died just over a month before.
There is one other thing I love about the Inspector Morse series and that was the soundtrack – written by Barrington Pheloung. There are parts of the music when is soars and it almost feels as if you heart wants to fly with it – it’s just so beautiful.
So here is the thing that makes me smile particularly 2min 43sec:
I love Time Team but life in the past few years has meant that I haven’t been able to watch it with the fannish devotion of previous years. However I’m watching a very early episode on one of the satellite channels and I looked up the internet to find out how early – and in my pursuit of trivia I found out that Robin Bush died in June. This makes me so sad ’cause I always found his input very interesting and thought it as a great loss to the show when he was no longer part of the team.
I know this is supposed to be a blog of things to make me smile but I had to put it out there 😦
Robin James Edwin Bush (March 12, 1943 – June 22, 2010) Rest In Peace.
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