I was sad to learn that the last surviving cast member from Casablanca, my favourite movie of all time, Madeleine LeBeau, passed away this month in Spain. She played Yvonne, the one night stand that Rick casts off and is later seen emotionally singing La Marseillaise in defiance of the Nazis in Rick's Cafe.
Madeleine LeBeau 1923-2016
I've loved Casablanca since I first saw it when I was 17, it's an emotionally charged story that still resonates today. I'll be re-watching soon in tribute to Madeleine.
I used to do this years ago so here's a look at my current telly choice. This is not a review, it's more of a snapshot into what is on my telly at the moment.
Arrow, Flash, DC's Legends of Tomorrow
I grouped these together because they all are interconnected. Arrow I feel has lost some of it's darkness but is still compelling. The Flash, I feel, is the strongest of the group and is proper 'comic book' action. Legends of Tomorrow was the latest offering and most anticipated. Sadly though it's the most disappointing so far. I'm hoping it pulls it's socks up ready for season 2 (confirmed).
Supergirl
In the same vein as the Arrow/Flash shows (they even inhabit the same DC universe) this is a hero show supported by an ensemble support team. So far it's entertaining but not as gripping as it's siblings (season 2 confirmed)
The Simpsons
What's can I say about the Simpsons? Homer is a God amongst yellow men. Long may it run.
Daredevil
A Netflix exclusive show which does a great job of reinventing the blind hero after an abysmal movie adaptation. Dark, violent and moody - a superhero show for grown ups. Currently enjoying season 2.
Better Call Saul
Another Netflix exclusive and Breaking Bad prequel that's compelling to watch. Has the same BB feel whilst still being completely different. Just cracking through season 2.
Limitless
A sequel to the movie of the same name, this amusing drama is easy and enjoyable to watch (season 2 not confirmed). It'll be a shame if it gets cancelled.
11.22.63
A Stephen King standalone miniseries about a time traveller who has to prevent the assassination of JFK. I'm almost at the end, so far this is an amazing story. The only show on TV that I watch on transmission day.
Bates Motel
A slow burner up to now but as Norman Bates gets more crazy the better it becomes. I feel the best is yet to come.
Blue Bloods
Staple easy watching NYPD police drama about a family who all work in law enforcement.
This is just a small look at what I'm watching on TV at the moment. There is more which I'll share in a second post soon.
Being a shift worker means I'm at home in the day quite often. The local postman and quite a few of the courier drivers have figured this out. Others see a car on the drive (I don't use the car for work anyway). This means that quite a few of my neighbours have me as a drop off point while they work (this isn't a formal arrangement). What does annoy me is when they don't come round and pick it up straight away, some have been know to wait days!
The thing is when I receive a parcel and I'm not in it always ends up back at the depot with the smiley happy people. It's a real pain in the arse to go down and pick it up.
I've noticed how I become lazy when it comes to my cycling when I haven got a goal to aim for. I miss club rides and other cycling opportunities from time to time. The only constant is my commute which is always by bike (except when it's thick ice or snow).
Because of this I've set myself 2 new goals over the next 12 months which should kick me up the arse. Firstly I plan to ride the 65 Roses Holme Moss Classic Sportive again in September (it was an amazing experience last year) and secondly I've signed up to ride the Maserati Tour de Yorkshire Sportive. Both are challenging rides which should give me the focus I've been looking for.
Never seen this before but there seems to be a few spiritual gurus knocking about. One of these cards was pushed through my door the other was slipped under my windscreen wiper on my car. At first I found them odd, then I found them amusing.
Today it was planned that Morticia and I would be enjoying a meal for 2 in a nice restaurant somewhere. Then I found out this was the date set for my friend's stag do.
I've not been on many stag nights in the past, that's what comes of having a small circle of friends. I organised my best mate's years ago when I served as his best man. It was a difficult one as he kept cancelling so it ended up just being some drinks in town followed by a curry. My stag do was better (at least it had a stripper!). All this was many years ago, now the last of my group of friends is getting married and it's time to give him a 'send off'.
As a night out it was a good night. But was it a good stag? I suppose that's not for me to say, maybe that is the option of the stag? However this is my blog not his so my opinion is that it was too be considered a poor stag, at least until the point where I left it. Maybe after that they got to a strip club, maybe the stag is still taped naked to a lamppost somewhere just off Division Street? Somehow I do doubt it (I've asked for an update).
An impression of how the night
should have progressed
The problem in the first part was the numbers. There were a total of 3 participants (a 4th arrived late on just as I left). Having said that it was a good night.
I left to catch the last bus (23:50) which was the usual zoo of great unwashed. I was been stared at creepily by an Asian guy (who was either high on some substance or maybe suffering from a mental illness) and listening to the xenophobic views of a couple of drunk guys loudly discussing the Europe exit and immigration policy.
For the record it was a good night with good friends.
So my birthday is over for another year. I worked a day shift which was horrendous. Seriously it should be compulsory to get the day off - really it should be law!
I had no plans for the evening, except Morticia baked me a minced beef pasty (a favourite). I don't drink much but I do enjoy the odd ale, I have a small stash which I dipped into and enjoyed a Brains SA (to remind me of my favourite place in the world).
My gifts included pants, socks, a Kelo Ren glass, assorted chocolate and Sea Monkeys (I'm sure I'll be talking about them in the future).
Morticia's birthday is the day after mine, she is so much more popular than me, her cards outnumber mine threefold. We went to a local carvery as a family for a combined birthday treat.
Most people see today as the day they cast their vote in the local elections. I see it as my birthday.
I voted earlier in the week via postal vote as I didn't wanted to be bothered by it on my birthday. I've said many times that voting is important and I always make the effort.
My ballot papers
I'm working today so yesterday I had to go out and buy buns and biscuits for the team. It was challenging getting them to work on my bag. I'm glad I fitted panniers.
I'll say more about my day tomorrow when I can evaluate the occasion.
I make no apology for the Star Wars analogy and I'm certainly not making light of my situation.
Star Wars (force awakens) became poignant for me whilst thinking about current aspects of my life. Part of the story deals with a child who rebels against their parents and crosses over to the dark side. I feel this as my eldest daughter went over to the "dark side" 4 years ago. I also feel like Han Solo, as if I've taken a lightsabre to the heart. The hurt is always there and never goes away.
It's always hardest around birthdays and Christmas, she is missed by us all.
It's been the Tour de Yorkshire this weekend and once again I haven't been out to see it. I'm still carrying something on my chest which combined with recent events at work and my upcoming birthday have made me feel pretty low lately. It was decided that today we would do something special. Morticia's friend has her birthday today so combined with mine and Morticia's (next week) we thought it might be a good idea. Morticia is no good on fairground rides so I'm usually alone when it comes to that sort of thing. So is Morticia's friend. As a birthday treat we thought we'd take in Sheffield's newest attraction: The Sheffield Starflyer.
We went with Rags and our friends, Det and Moby. First thing I noticed when we arrived in the town centre was how busy it was. We only just managed to get a parking space (in the second car park we visited). I guess it was busy because it's the bank holiday combined with the World Snooker Finals. With that in mind I thought that there would be a queue and I was regretting not booking in advance. As it was there was no queue.
Morticia wasn't going on (not in a million years), neither was Rags nor Moby. It was just Det and me. I seem to surround myself with wusses when it comes to fairground rides. We paid our money and chose a pair of seats. We were the first on and we're made to wait whilst the rest of the seats filled up. This took about half a bloody hour, the attendants didn't mention the wait when we arrived. Anyway, we were in good spirits and the moment arrived where we were airborne.
Ride afforded great views but was over very quickly so not much time to take in the urban vistas (you can see other pictures on my Instagram).
Afterwards we had a walk to the Crucible Theatre and then through the Winter Gardens (which doubles for the TV studio for the snooker in the early rounds) and the Peace Gardens.
We went for a meal at Yates on Division Street, it was busy and a little rowdy, a little like a Saturday night, but we got seated. The food was ok but nothing really to write home about, and the portion was a little small. Not a patch on Wetherspoons'.
Morticia is of out with friends so I will be home with Rags. We've decided to have the household premiere of STAR WARS - THE FORCE AWAKENS. We haven't seen it since the cinema back in December.
We've also been to Iceland for a microwave curry. We're all set for an afternoon in front of the TV. I'm looking forward to seeing it again and re-appreciating the whole phenomenon. After this showing I'll be watching and analyzing ready for the next movie.
I know it's not Star Wars Day until Wednesday but it's the perfect opportunity to enjoy in peace (Morticia hates Star Wars). The curtains will be drawn and the phone on silent.
I'm constantly trying to improve my blogging experience and management. To this end I've been experimenting with Disqus, a 3rd party commenting system, to manage my comments (or rather your comments). Since I do most of this on my smartphone it would help that I can keep the comments together and respond / manage with ease.
It was a bit fiddly to set up but it seemed to work ok on both mobile and desktop formats. At the moment I have it disabled although I may activate it later today, I'm still not sure.
My worry is that the change would be detrimental for my current readers, you guys. You can still use your Google account as well as other authentication methods (like Facebook) but it does ask you to set up a password for a basic Disqus account.
I do love receiving comments, makes me feel like I'm not shouting into the void.
Supplemental 14:57; Disqus is now live as the comments engine. I'll be evaluating it fully over the next week.
Since the back end of last year I've been growing my beard. It has until last week become very thick and bushy. It's been great fun caring and grooming it over the winter.
The beard at its bushiest
It's getting to that time of year where it starts to get warmer (although you wouldn't think that with the cold snap we're currently experiencing) so I thought it'd be best to trim it down a little. As it goes I've left the length but it's not got the bushiness. I may keep thinning it down as the seasons continue but I'm really thinking of making it a seasonal thing, so from the end of the year it grows until the summer?
I'm a big advocate of using your democratic right to vote. People throughout history have fought and died for this right. Besides it's your licence to moan. You have no place moaning about current events if you did nothing to help control them (however insignificantly).
My dilemma is to to with Europe. This in or out referendum has me confused. Don't get me wrong, I'm not asking for advice on which way to cast my vote, if I wanted that I'd ask Barrack Obama(!) The problem is there are no hard facts, just opinions. These opinions are often offered as personal attacks on the 'other side'.
I have some homework to do on this since I know it's my duty to vote and the last thing I want to do is waste it listening to the views of megalomaniacs and xenophobes.
I've been looking through my blog posts for when I last renewed my mobile phone contract. It looks like I didn't share that event which is a shame since I would have liked to look at how I felt about the device back then.
Back in late 2014 I upgraded my LG Nexus 4 (which I'd been having issues with poor battery life) to the new LG G3 complete with 'circle case'. It's been a great phone although it became laggy at the back end of last year which I fixed with a factory reset and restore. A couple of months ago the SD card slot stopped working then this week, without notice, it began random rebooting, the WiFi and Bluetooth packed up. I tried everything to save the device from a premature demise. Sadly I failed and with the battery only lasting a couple of hours (it wasn't a battery fault, that was one of the many things I checked) it was time to source a replacement.
I was limited in my selection but I am now the owner of a OnePlus 2, a Chinese branded phone that's still fairly new to the market. I wasn't prepared for the quality of this device, the build is exceptional as are the features. There have only been a few devices (that I've owned) which have had that 'premium' feel, this is defiantly up there with them. For the record those devices were the Nokia E71, iPhone 4 and the Nexus 4. It's pretty much a stock Android experience with a couple of tweeks, which I prefer.
THE JARL
The face of the operation. You can find the full saga in the About Me section above.
MORTICIA
The Shield-maiden and my everything. They say behind every great man is a great woman; the truth is, I’d simply be lost without her.
MY GIRLS
Harley and Rags. Raising daughters has been the greatest privilege of my life. They’re grown now, but getting time with them is still the best part of any day.
THE BOY
Atreus. My grandson and the greatest gift. Son of Rags, he has brought a new level of meaning to everything I do.
THE BEST MATE
The oath-brother. We’ve been mates since we were 16 years old. Too much history to count and a bond that’s stood the test of time.
THE DOG
Magnus. The loyal hound. Whether we’re out on a long trek or just settled for a cuddle, life is infinitely better with him at my side.
