WYSIWYG

What You See Is What You Get. This is a journal blog, an explore-blog, a bit of this and that blog. Sharing where the mood takes me. Perhaps it will take you too.

Menolibrikul; A List Of Things Worth Your Time

Strictly speaking, this label ought to conjure up thoughts of books/reading... but I intend to apply it to things watched, also. Mainly because these past two months, I have not read any books at all. Sinful, given I have quite the queue of the blighters awaiting my eyes.

Anyhoo. The key reason for not reading has been all the time taken up with AZing - and also trying to get through the other queue I had built up in bookmarks and 'watch later.' You know how it is. You look up one thing and find 87 others, then discover you are down that rabbit hole of infinity. But it uncovers some gems. I just wanted to share a bit of what has caught my attention. (A few got mentioned during A-Z, but it shows the impact they had they are getting a second outing!)

NUREYEV: you will not be surprised that I opted to rent this (and may well go back and buy it); that preview doesn't really do the film justice. It was wonderfully shot and edited, and the choreographed interludes depicting RN's early life are excellent.

ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATRE; The full show of four pieces plus commentary between. Apart from the second one, I would watch them all again, multiple times! (Not that the second piece wasn't good - somehow the choreography just didn't grab me - or possibly the music...)

CORIOLANUS; I like Shakespeare - and I very much like the cast of this production! It will bear another viewing.

MCCULLIN; the preview tells you all you need to know.

DEUTSCHLAND - '83, '86 and '89; I have found these three series quite fascinating. A time well-remembered - good to get a glimpse from the other side. Some excellent humour in amongst the serious goings-on. UK viewers can find all series available on All 4.

TAKE THE HIGH ROAD; What to say... I have never been a soapie watcher. I would still say that I am not. However, when it was announced last year - probably to fill some lockdown hours - that STV would be replaying the entire series which I refused to watch back in the day, I did put it on. Mainly because it caught my father's attention. There were very few things that kept him awake through the entire viewing - and which would spark some conversation about the content. TTHR proved to be a success on both points and we became a bit more bonded over the show. Not least because all the exterior shots were all filmed around Luss (on Loch Lomond) and over onto the Cowal peninsula, near the Hutch! The opening title sequence is varied and one of them is taken over the Rest And Be Thankful stretch of road. It is also a laugh to see the 1980s as they were and to watch the cast settling into their on-screen personalities. Since my father passed, it has become my Friday afternoon binge and I laugh and gasp and remember our shared time...

There have been a few other shows and movies in between... Vera, Midsomer Murders, Bloodlands, Line Of Duty, Masterchef... sigh... too much to see too little time!

What have you been watching lately?



20 comments:

  1. nureyev is our word too... a dog named fter the famous dancer was easys dad and we love to watch ballt videos at youtube ...

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  2. Hi Yam - great selection you've given us ... Coriolanus - yes ... the others I need to look at ... but thanks for opening our minds to other subjects. I watched Great British Menu promoting British inventors - which was fun to see who they brought to our attention ... the Beeb rushes it though - which I dislike! Cheers - Hilary

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    1. Hari OM
      Yes, I enjoyed this season's GBM - but agree that sometimes we hardly got to see much of the process; I think to keep a wider audience, they were avoiding being too much of a cookery show and more about the menus and subjects themselves. This was one of the better series though, I felt and I was so glad they found a place for Jude (who I'd followed in previous seasons) without it feeling too "well it's your last go" sort of thing. Yxx

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    2. Thanks for agreeing with me! Yes - I was glad they included Jude (they were obviously empathetic to him) ... and I loved his invention take. Maxwell's colour wheel was interesting ... I may do a post - in due course! Get over the G7 Summit first ... better weather down here today - cheers Hilary

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  3. The Sewing Bee! That is my to go to on a Wednesday and when I was away, I made sure it was recorded so I could watch it later as there is no iPlayer here!
    From today onwards we are getting the latest season of Bake off, which I will mostly be watching on my own as the parents are due to leave for a couple of weeks. Other than that I have been rewatching Doctor Who (new series) and am now on to Matt Smith's Doctor and Clara. The day before yesterday I saw the episode where Clara is called Oswin and as I loved that episode and the name...

    Watching things on my computer is still a no-go as the sound option has broken at some point. Not sure what happened, but it is very annoying.

    Klem

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    1. Hari Om
      Oh yes, of course, the sewing bee!!! This has been a particularly fun group this year... (are you not able to hang a set of speakers from the laptop? If you have tried and that also didn't work then it is the audio card in the hardware that has blown - and is replaceable if you have a local PC workshop.) Yxx

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  4. Well, where to start ...

    On Netflix:

    Summer of Rockets; Behind her eyes, The Queen's Gambit; Godless; - all excellent dramas.

    I also like Anthony Bourdain's travels and his 12 series of Parts Unknown is fantastic to pick and chose from - there is usually a cookery element but it is so, so , so... much more than that (You'd love it Yamini I'm surer, because of where he goes to visit - from the Bronx to Bhutan - Iran to Iceland...)

    Film; saw Nomadland at the cinema (good but not that good) - on streaming I enjoyed The African Doctor, various spy thrillers, News of the World (Tom Hanks and good) and Midnight Sky

    And finally - totally different but Malcolm Gladwell's new podcast series is - as always - among the best that podcasting has to offer.

    Enough for now.

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    1. Hari OM
      OOOOHHHHH, Yes Mark, some of these I have seen and some are on the waiting list and some I have not been aware of but will certainly investigate!!! I didn't even start on podcasting recommendations here - but I have several that I've been enjoying there too. Thanks for taking up the listing invite! Yxx

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  5. I am not a watcher . the only thing I watch is each night, with Bob, 2 hours of movie/tv. I rather read than watch. I do watch a boring video sometimes for a nap, if i can't do it while reading. I just need a 10 minute doze. My rabbit hole I drop through is reading, playing in software, creating post. Bob watches the news, i prefer to read it. i hear something floating down the hall and search it and quickly read the details. Bob sill say, there was anothe mas shooting in CA and I say where, what, when he doesn't know. I read the details so i know what to rant about.
    I do use youtube videos to excercise

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  6. Have been watching Noraly aka 'Itchy Boots' traveling the world on her motorcycle and Abrar's Wildlens motorcyle trip from Germany to Pakistan and he is now riding around beautiful North Pakistan.

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    1. Hari Om
      I see these are both available via YouTube - I shall add them to my list!!! Yxx

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  7. YAM I am 87 kinds of happy that your have once again been able to enjoy books and movies. Books especially would be missed by me.
    Hugs Cecilia

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  8. Those are all interesting videos to watch. My favorite that was playing on our PBS Masterpiece is Atlantic Crossing. I learned about a part of WWII that I never knew.

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  9. Wow! That is quite the cultural list! I am a reader and since I retired in November, I have read some 90+ books! Most are pure brain candy. Action, adventure, fantasy, sci-fi - interesting plots good story and likeable characters but nothing that is really great literature. When I've not been reading, I've been blogging, meditating, cooking and cleaning. The house has not been painted or had any major work done, for 25 years. The husband was a smoker-so prior to painting walls and ceilings, they have to be cleaned and sanded, (yuck and ugh) Being an older woman, standing on a ladder with my arms over my head is not something I can do very long without taking a break for the back muscles. I have also been dealing with replacing the car and some of the aftermath of Dave's passing. Being so far from a city this entails driving - LOTS of driving! Oh yes, the nearest hardware store is a 2 hour drive as well, so when I need more supplies, yep, jump in the car and listen to a book! I love Libravox!

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  10. I have just finished watching The Pact on the BBC i-player. And Innocent on ITV. Both very good stories and acting. I tend to binge watch these types of series as I would forget what was happening if I watched them weekly. I have been reading a lot during lockdown and joined two online book clubs too.

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    1. Hari OM
      Hello you! I have not seen either of these, but will take a peek... I do tend to do the binge-watch thing for similar reasons. That said, I did rather relish the tense week of waiting between episodes of Line Of Duty recently - allowing for lots of discussion and guesswork to take place among fan groups! Yxx

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  11. Watched the dance troupe and it is amazing. Thank you for the recommendations. namaste, janice xx

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  12. Thanks for the list. The Deutschland series are something I will look at. I too was impressed by the Ralph Fiennes Coriolanus. In general I'm much more of a reader and listener and less of a watcher (although I've been enjoying Michael Palin's travel series repeats). Just finished reading Lamorna Ash's 'Dark, Salt, Clear - Life in a Cornish Fishing Town. And at this time of year I'm outdoors whenever possible - today's bike ride, Turriff - Milltown of Rothiemay - Whitehills -Banff - Macduff - Turiff, was great. It was even sunny for the second half of the ride! Cheers, Gail.

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  13. I've been reading a lot. Lots of junk TV, too. sigh. I have to be kind to myself.

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  14. I am so addicted to the Great British Bake Off! I sure wish I could bake like they do - especially the breads! I will have to check out some of these other suggestions.

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