23-05-24 - Wednesday I - Good Luck to You, Leo Grande

We watched this film back in April now. I was planning to write about it before now, but I didn’t get around to it. It was a lovely film, a real two-hander. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that it was based on a play. Emma Thompson was great in it, it was kind of downbeat, which I like more often than not, and it was really sweet too, while also being about sex, and so weirdly graphic without being graphic.

Anyway, I wanted to record that I’d watched it and I liked it. And here’s the link on Amazon if you wanted to watch it yourself / selves.

TTFN. 

23-05-21 - Sunday I - The Night Agent

So, last week TW & I watched The Night Agent. An absolutely brilliant bit of telly, it had our hearts in our mouths several times in every episode and it was so enjoyable we watched all ten episodes in three nights. 

We did have to suspend disbelief, I mean some of it is complete cobblers, but why let reality get in the way of a story well told? I said it was enjoyable hokum, and I stand by that, and I think we’ll watch the second series if and when it appears. 

We haven’t watched much telly at all since we moved house to be frank, and it’s been nice to take some time to immerse ourselves in a story and relax as the story happens “to” us. We enjoyed it so much we are now watching The Diplomat which is another Netflix special; it is not as “high octane” as The Night Agent, but it is enjoyable and it’s got a pretty good cast too.

I do need to carry on watching The Expanse, I stopped watching that a while ago, but I really enjoy it and I’ve been told that it just keeps getting better - I’d like to find out! So we’ll see how that goes. 

Anyway, it’s sunny out so I am going to enjoy some sunshine. 

TTFN. 

23-05-20 - Saturday II - Fräulein @ Prince Albert, 26th April

Wow. I saw Fräulein at The Great Escape in 2022, and although I had already booked to see Ditz on Thursday 27th, when I saw that they were playing I had to book tickets. I went with Dave who loves a bit of live music, it’s always nice to introduce friends to new music. The Prince Albert is a small venue with a capacity for 110, so any gig there feels intimate. 

Fräulein are a rock duo, consisting of a male drummer and a female guitarist / singer, and they are really quite angsty. They remind me of Pixies, in a good way, and there were times during the evening where they cranked up the volume / emotion during songs and I found myself expecting them to go loud at that specific point, or agreeing that it made sense at that point, if that makes any sense. Maybe I was remembering their 2022 gig (at Zahara nightclub of all places!), but listening to them play felt like I had come home; although it was angst and noise and raw emotion it felt comfortable and warm.

I did ask if they were playing The 2023 Great Escape but I think they had other commitments  unfortunately. Safe to say though that I will be keeping an eye out for them visiting Brighton again, and I will be in the audience somewhere… I really liked them and hope they go on to bigger and better things. 

TTFN. 

23-05-20 - Saturday I - Leith Ross @ Chalk, 18th April

Saw Leith Ross again last month. Really enjoyed it, as expected, but it was a weird experience. The last time I was at Chalk it was to see Dry Cleaning, and that was a sold out event. This was sold out as well, but it was a completely different demographic, due to the nature of the act. Leith Ross is a young Canadian singer / songwriter who is gay and prefers “they / their” pronouns. So understandably the audience was completely different to the crowd at Dry Cleaning. The main differences were that I could see the stage, since the rest of the audience were mostly young women under 30, and they were shorter than the crowd I am used to at a gig, and the toilets had been changed to non-gender specific. I felt weirdly  out of place, but not in a bad way, it was as if I had been transported into the future in some weird way. The crowd weren’t as reverential as they were at the Bess Atwell gig I went to, but it was really inclusive and everyone seemed to be really happy to be there; it felt like a celebration more than anything else, despite some really dark and honest songs from Leith. The one that got me last time I saw them was “Tommy”, which was nostalgic for a male grandparent; admittedly it was just after Dad had passed away but it really spoke to me and so I was happy to go again to see them perform with TMO. 

Leith Ross has a great voice and some really great songs, and they deserve some wider appreciation, I think. I don’t know if I’ll go and see them perform live again, but I’m certainly open to hearing their songs on the radio and Spotify and I would recommend searching them out and listening to a track or two to see what you think. 

TTFN.

23-05-08 - Monday I - The Kings Coronation

Well, it happened and I didn't watch it. People now seem more worried about the arrests of the protesters than a 74-year old man in a robe. According to news sources even he was bored, and he was actually being crowned king! At least we get a bank holiday out of it, even if it does look like it's going to rain all day. Oh well.

TTFN.