Category Archives: TV

Carpet

Almost at the end of a film on Netflix and I see my old bathroom carpet.

We’ll, it’s actually on a boat, or on a set that resembles a boat.

No not the ear, the carpet.

Yes, the carpet.

I had to pause the film to take a picture, so there’s a huge title on that last picture.

I was newly divorced at the time. Of my divorce, not the film. The carpet was free, leftover from an office refurb. Who was I to refuse free bathroom carpet.

The Quatermass Xperiment

I’m currently watching the Quatermass Xperiment (1955) on TV.

AKA the creeping unknown.

As a young child, I found this film pretty scary. Following the return of a space ship to Earth, with its nose buried deep in the ground, the experts arrived at the crash site.

As a young child, I wouldn’t have known what a VW T2 was, even though I had one of those German police VW car and van models.

So I wouldn’t have noticed that the experts had arrived in a T2 split screen.

One unusual thing about the van was the radio set in the engine compartment!

Inside Out

Well, the past couple of days were pretty unusual. The BBC’s Inside Out team were filming in the pub for a programme about how hard it is to run an independent bar.

The team (Chris, Andrew and Phil) we’re great, particularly presenter Chris Jackson who kept on working behind the bar when he was no longer being filmed.

The day was so busy, there was little time to take pictures.

What we’d not expected was that the team would be such a nice bunch of people.

There was obviously a serious theme to their visit; running a pub isn’t easy, particularly one that that wasn’t surviving when we bought in. However, after a few months, there’s light at the end of the tunnel.

The programme will be shown on BBC1, on 10th February.

Filming

Walking to a bus stop in town the other night, I noticed bright lights to the side of the high level bridge. On investigation, I found that a film crew were at work.

Film 4

I quite like Film 4’s Christmas commercial. Well, perhaps not the commercial itself; the soundtrack’s great. Eels’ Everything’s gonna be cool this Christmas.

El Gringo

I’m on a bus to Washington right now. I’m meeting a mate there, then we’re off to a computer fair in Sunderland. I’ve not been to one of those in around a decade, probably longer. The internet pretty much killed off computer fairs, so it’ll be interesting to see whether this is more than a one-off. And what they have to offer now that phones and tablets have decimated the desktop market (I still have two desktops).

Anyway, a couple of minutes ago, I passed a man walking down the street. He was carrying a newspaper and, I’m assuming, a bag of cans (beer, rather than beans). Before High Fell club closed a few years ago, I often used to see him on buses. He used to catch a bus outside the club at closing time. He often had a carrier bag, filled with (another assumption) meat. Whatever day of the week I passed the place, he’s be at the bus stop at closing time.

I named him El Gringo, because he’s short, somewhat round, balding, with slightly long hair and a huge Zapata moustache.

Looking back, I’m not sure why I gave him that name. With a sombrero and an ammunition belt over his shoulder, he’s be a classic spaghetti western bad guy.

I was surprised to see that he’s still alive.

The ReZort

Currently watching a film, called The Rezort, on Netflix.

Think of it as Jurassic Park without the dinosaurs. And with zombies instead.

A computer virus disables fences. You can guess the rest.

Lost in Space III

Ok, I grew up with this stuff, so please let me run with it.

Robot B9, the robot, and Dr Smith.

And the new robot and Dr Smith.

Accepting that the second picture is in color, and Dr Smith is more than marginally less camp, (and the acting is a lot better in the new series) I still feel that the original robot is more appropriate when compared to the (second attempt at) the modern version.

I feel the need to join a club.