charity shops heaven

Oh boy Oh boy - l struck lucky last week with my charity shops visit. Some of these books l have already read or have in different translations, and a lot of the cds l have copies of, but l nearly wet myself with excitement at finding this load of goodies.

As usual, all l need now is more time off work, and a bigger house to store all of my crap.

If only l could find this kind of stuff every time l went a searchin'.

                                             

toodle pip

surprised by the exorcist

I haven't started watching the new TV series of The Exorcist yet, as l'm recording them with a view to watching them all in one sitting. I did however, watch the film version of The Exorcist again recently, and saw something that surprised me - a demonic face appearing for a split second behind Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn). I've seen the film on many an occasion, got the video, DVD, and expanded DVD (with scary extras), but have never noticed this before.
I guess l must have been distracted during my other viewings, drunk, or hiding with terror behind the settee.
Either that or l need my eyes testing.

toodle pip

me and the happy plastic dinosaurs

I am nearly as ecstatic as the Dinosaurs in the bag. I have just finished work until Tuesday afternoon, it's Manchester United away at Liverpool tomorrow morning (one of the the most important games of the season), I have new books to read, DVD's to watch, pubs to frequent, and l am off to see Art Brut tomorrow night. Hurrah!!!!!!!!!

toodle pip

bernie mac - milk and cookies from the original kings of comedy dvd

After watching 'Soul Men' the other night, l got me a hankering for some Bernie Mac stand up. This is my favourite routine of his. He sure was one hell of a funny guy. Now "bust a motherfuckin' move"

toodle pip

spiral series 3 end

Finished watching this yesterday and it was fantastic. As l have said before, it was very similar to 'The Killing' , but faster paced and maybe even better. That is some compliment, as 'The Killing' was one of the best things l had ever seen. Apparently series 1 and 2 of Spiral are just as good (if not better), so unless they are going to be on the old glass teat very soon, l will be sending off for the DVDs. Marvellous stuff - Hurrah!

toodle pip

the killing

By jimminy, this series has been fantastic, just watched episodes 15 and 16 so there are only 4 more to go before it reaches it's conclusion. It is in Danish with English subtitles, but that has not detracted from the excitement and false leads in pretty much every episode. It is slowly paced but also flies by with lots of cliffhangers. One of the best TV shows l have ever seen, and l can't wait for the end (and then series 2).

Bet it won't be long before there is a British version, which will probably lose all that is good about the Danish one, although Wallender is OK.

toodle pip

never apologise - malcolm mcdowell on lindsay anderson

I have just spent a very pleasant afternoon watching Malcolm McDowell in his one man show about the director Lindsay Anderson, who he was with for 'If' and 'O Lucky Man'.

I really rate Malcolm McDowell and 'O Lucky Man' and 'A Clockwork Orange' are two of my favourite films, and he certainly knows how to control an audience and suck them into a tale.

The most moving part however, was when he was reading from Lindsay Anderson's diary, about his meeting with John Ford, just before John Ford died. Lindsay worshipped Ford, and found him to be humble and gracious, even though he was on his death bed (in fact he died about six weeks after the meeting). Malcolm reads the diary with just the right tone, not overdoing the accents, but making you imagine the scene as though you had been present yourself. A class act, and a tear may have been wiped away afterwards.

Just a shame I am back at work at 4pm (although I am home again later this evening).

toodle pip