192 - Break

 Got other things I need to do that are rather more important that this waffle, so I won't be posting for a little while. 

I'm on a break...

191 - Hundred

 So,  mentioned a while back about starting to watch the occasional bit of cricket during the pandemic era... and I expect I will continue to do so, and maybe actually get around to watching a match or two.

And apparently there's a new format of the game coming, based around each team having a limited number of bowls per innings - 100. 

Now, call me a cynic, but I can't see the point of this at all. Whilst I can understand why someone might not want to watch a match lasting five days ending in a draw, I can't see the need for a 100 bowls per side match.

I mean, there's already the T20 matches, where 20 overs - a total of 120 bowls - are played per side. Are there really any people out there who will be thinking "Oh, I couldn't sit through 120 a side, but 100... yeah, that sounds fine."

It just seems superfluous. 

And there's also even shorter formats anyway; there are tournaments with 60 bowls a side. 10 overs. The ones I've seen of these are quite exciting; proper attacking play.

Oh, and that's another thing; this hundred thing is doing away with 6 bowl overs and are having some kind of 10 bowl equivalent. 

Hmm. I dunno...

190 - Jolene

 So, every time I happen to hear Jolene, by Dolly Parton, on the radio - whether this is on Radio 2 or Greatest Hits Radio - I can't help but have the same feeling...

She begging Jolene not to take her man... but surely she should be saying the opposite. Go ahead, Jolene, take my man. But bear in mind that if he's cheated on me with you, he'll probably cheat on you, too. 

And if "her man" is going to cheat on her with Jolene, surely she deserves someone better than him, someone who won't cheat on her and appreciate her for how great she is. 

I dunno...

189 - Angry

 I think that's my word of the day. 

Angry.

Maybe one day I'll tell you why...

But that day is not today.

Sorry.

188 - Vaccine

 So, today's the day when people of my age become eligible to book a Covid-19 vaccine; but I gather the demand has been rather high. I tried to book, but the only locations it showed me were 20+ miles away, and I know there are places a lot closer than that. 

I guess I'll keep on going back to the website to see what pops up, as I'm told that's what you need to do as locations showing fluctuate. Why it can't just show you all the locations close to you, I don't know. It could just say "no available slots - try again" for those close, but unavailable. 

I dunno. 

Still, the time approaches. I won't feel close to being safe until about four weeks after my second shot, though; as I understand it that's when your body's built up the maximum protection it's going to get. 

And I want to feel safer again. 

It can't all go on forever. Something's got to give. 

187 - Rocky

 Flicking through the channels, I see ITV4 is showing Rocky 3. So, being a massive sucker for the Rocky film, of course I watch. 

This is despite the fact it's only in SD, has a flippin' DOG in the top left corner, and has adverts. And yet, just over to my side is a Blu-Ray boxset of six of the Rocky films that I could put on instead...

There's no logic, 

Like I say, I do adore the Rocky films. I had a binge of them last year, one a week over eight weeks, with my son (who was seeing all of them for the first time), and it is a glorious series of movies.

Of course, the first of them is the best. Goes without saying. But the rest are all damn great movies, too. Yes. All of them. Even that one you're going to cite as being a bit rubbish. It's not. It's great. Fine. You disagree. But you're wrong, and you're a grotesquely ugly freak. 

Yes, Rocky 4 doesn't have a second act. 

Yes, there's not a proper fight in Rocky 5. 

Yes, Rocky should be waaaaaaaay too old to fight in Rocky Balboa. 

But, you know what?

Absolutely NONE of that matters. 

It's a glorious series of movies. So much to love. The underdog becoming champion, becoming has been, becoming the inspiration for the next generation. You absolutely feel for Rocky across all eight movies. 

And that's one of the things that's not going to be the same when we get Creed 3; Stallone has said he's not going to be playing Rocky in it. And that's a real shame. I would at least have like to have seen a cameo from Rocky; maybe if it's even just a single scene of Rocky telling Adonis Creed that he's taken him as far as he can, and that he needs someone else to take over. A symbolic passing of the torch. HIs absence will be felt. 

Still, there is the new "director's" cut of Rocky 4 to come; hopefully they'll find that second act. 

As I watch, Rocky 3's getting very close to the point where Mickey's going to die. I would actually say that he's my favourite of all the characters across the 8 movies (I realise this may be sacrilege to some!), as Burgess Meredith is such a damn brilliant actor that I would gladly watch anything he's in. He's a brilliant Penguin in the Batman TV show, and I recall seeing him in a movie of the Steinbeck novel, Of Mice and Men as well. He just gave a brilliant performance in everything he did.

I just love these films...

 

186 - Endless

 Everything just seems to be an endless loop of repeating sameness, with only occasional divergences from the norm. I can't help but think there must be more than this, and try to work out how to get out of the loop. It's like that movie where the same thing happens every day, and the next day is the same... what was it called..? Ah, yes; A Christmas Wedding Date!

I bet you thought I was going to say that other film, didn't you?

What, Edge of Tomorrow?

I could keep on going with this, but the joke's wearing thin already. 

I never claimed to be any good at jokes. Though after telling a particularly funny one once, a friend said with humour like that I should be on the telly. It made me smile for a moment, until he added;

I could change channel...

Anyhow... how to get out of this endless loop of repeating sameness, with only occasional divergences from the norm. I can't help but think there must be more than this, and try to work out how to get out of the loop. It's like that movie where the same thing happens every day, and the next day is the same... what was it called..? Ah, yes; A Christmas Wedding Date!

I bet you thought I was going to say that other film, didn't you?

What, Edge of Tomorrow?

I could keep on going with this, but the joke's wearing thin already. 

I never claimed to be any good at jokes. Though after telling a particularly funny one once, a friend said with humour like that I should be on the telly. It made me smile for a moment, until he added;

I could change channel...

Anyhow... how to get out of this endless loop of repeating sameness, with only occasional divergences from the norm. I can't help but think there must be more than this, and try to work out how to get out of the loop. It's like that movie where the same thing happens every day, and the next day is the same... what was it called..? Ah, yes; A Christmas Wedding Date!

I bet you thought I was going to say that other film, didn't you?

What, Edge of Tomorrow?

I could keep on going with this, but the joke's wearing thin already. 

I never claimed to be any good at jokes. Though after telling a particularly funny one once, a friend said with humour like that I should be on the telly. It made me smile for a moment, until he added;

I could change channel...

Anyhow... how to get out of this endless loop of repeating sameness, with only occasional divergences from the norm. I can't help but think there must be more than this, and try to work out how to get out of the loop. It's like that movie where the same thing happens every day, and the next day is the same... what was it called..? Ah, yes; A Christmas Wedding Date!

...a white hole...???

Etc etc...

185 - Bullseye

 I do rather like these gameshow reboots that Alan Carr does - they're quite fun. Taking the originals, remixing them a bit, but keeping the essence of the orignal shows intact. 

They had a decent amount of different shows last series; hopefully it'll be similar this time around, and we'll also get a couple of shows they didn't do last time..

Part of me hopes the contestants on this one don't win the grand prize, just so Alan can get to say "Have a look at what you could have won..."

I know. 

I'm mean...

184 - RIP

 RIP Phil the Greek.

My favourite quote of his;

VIP at a local airport asked HRH: “What was your flight, like, Your Royal Highness? Philip: “Have you ever flown in a plane?” VIP: “Oh yes, sir, many times.” “Well,” said Philip, “it was just like that.”

183 - Sleepy

I feel sleepy today 

I think I may have to have an early night. Get a bit more kip. 

Normal service, etc...

182 - Needles

 The thing is, though, I can't stand needles. I know it's irrational. And even more irrational is that I know I can cope with an injection in to the upper arm (so I think I'll be okay for my two vaccination shots), but if it's anything to do with needles in to veins... no. Just no. Even the thought of it is making me shudder an wince. 

It is irrational.

It is illogical. 

But it's just the way it is, and no matter how much I try not to have a complete fear of a needle going in to a vein it persists. 

I dunno...

There must be a way to get over this irrational fear, but I don't know what it might be. I just hope it doesn't get to a crisis point at some point later in life. There must be a way. 

181 - Changing

 I just can't help but wonder how different things will be once we emerge from the other side of the pandemic. The last year or so has been just so weird, and despite the restrictions slowly, but surely, being lifted it seems the weirdness will continue at least until the end of the year, with distancing and masks and so on. 

And will we even get back to anything like normality after we get to the other side? 

We're going to end up with this as a dark cloud over our heads for a while to come. The vaccinations will help, but if we have to keep on having top ups as new strains, resistant to previous vaccines, become prevalent I can see further lockdowns in the future. 

The slow easing out of the lockdown is probably the right thing to do, as it means that as each restriction is eased we can see the impact of the easing. The opening of schools has, thankfully, not seen the increase in cases feared and the trend - new cases, deaths, hospitalisation - has continued downwards. 

Despite this, I do still have a sense of fear about the whole thing. Until I've had both my vaccine shots I still won't feel even close to being safe (and even then I'll still have worries). I worry very much that I'll end up getting it and dying, or getting the "long" variant and having symptoms lasting weeks or even months and not being able to do all the things I should be able to. 

I know it's probably irrational, but the possibility is there; people my age have been dying, and suffering with extreme symptoms. 

I dunno. 

I just want to make sure I get through this...

180 - Q

 Obviously, post #180 should be about darts in some manner, given the number's connection with the sport, but I've really got nothing to say about it. I suppose I could have talked about how great Jim Bowen was on Bullseye, and quote things like "Have a look at what you could have won..." but... it'd probably end up cliched. 

In any case...

Today came the very exciting news about the second season of Star Trek; Picard...

John de Lancie is returning as Q.

I mean, that's absolutely about the best piece of news they could have made. 

And there's a little teaser trailer for it here...

179 - Confusion

 I can't help but think about all sorts of things, and sometimes I can't help but have confusing thoughts. Thoughts that make me think one thing is both okay, and not okay, depending on how you look at an issue. There is a suggestion that being able to see, and understand, both sides of an argument is absolutely key to coming to a conclusion about it. I think that's right. 

'Cos if you can't weigh up all the options, consider all the issues. then any conclusion you may come to has the potential to be completely flawed.

And what matters isn't how you come to a correct conclusion, rather that you have come to it. 

That sounds right, doesn't it?

178 - Wrong

 So, the super hero movie marathon goes from one of the best super hero movies last week (Fantastic 4; Rise of the Silver Surfer) to one of, if not the, very worst superhero movies. 

And both are about the same heroes... ho-hum.

This is the 2105 Fantastic Four reboot - or as it is styled "Fant4stic". 

Okay. 

Right. 

Where do I start? 

My memory of this film, having on seen it the once in the cinema back in the day, was that it was, frankly, rubbish. Despite this, I went in to it with an open mind. To be fair to it, the movie starts off well, with a short sequence with Reed and Ben as very young kids which is rather fun, as Reed tries out his "teleporter" for the first time.

We flip forward a few years, and they're teenagers. This is a younger Fantastic Four than normal, but it does seem to to work. In fact, at the start of the movie I was thinking maybe I'd got things wrong about the film. I soon had that notion beaten out of me... As soon as the four get their powers the whole movie seems to fall apart. From that moment on, everything is just wrong about the movie.

The tone of the thing is all over the place, and there's none of the humour and wit you usually get with the FF. And the movie is just so dark, both in its tone and literally in the look of the thing. The four barely get to use their powers and spend far more time (when powered) apart than together. The whole thing just seems wrong. 

One of the things that the movie has received criticism for is making Johnny Storm black; to me the only people who think that's a bad idea can be described using one word. Racist. To my mind, the mistake they made was not also making Sue Storm black as well. 'Cos then they have to contrive a new backstory for the pair where Sue's been adopted. It just doesn't work. I can't help but think the studio wimped out by making this decision. 

And none of the main five cast (the four and Doom) nail the roles anything like as well as their counterparts in the preceding two films. Whether that's direction or script, I don't know (I suspect a bit from column A, a bit from column B...) I know Michael B Jordan is definitely capable of a lot better; I mean, he's great in Black Panther, and absolutely shines in the Creed films. He deserved better here.

Heck, the whole cast deserved better. 

The climax of the film - such as it is - seems to be over in the blink of an eye. The big FF V Doom fight is just getting going when it ends. And. Oh. Is that it? 

I mean, it is just so disappointing, and it's no wonder there were no more films with this cast. It's just... rubbish.  

I understand there were many behind the scenes issues during the production of the film, with extensive reshoots - including much of the climax, which would explain why it's so rushed and nonsensical, and boom... over in moments. I can't help but wonder what the original cut would have been like? My gut feeling is that the tone would still have been the same, wrong, but might at least have been a bit more cohesive. 

Still, with Disney buying Fox it now means there'll be another iteration of the FF - likely late 2023 or early 2024. Let's hope their version is closer to the previous two FF films than this one. There is some talk that John Krasinski and Emily Blunt may be Reed and Sue... could be interesting. But at least we know that this next FF film won't just be a one or two and done gig; these characters will be throughout the MCU for years to come and get the chance to shine, in the way Ioan Gruffud and so should have...

And, incidentally; Fant4stic had no Stan Lee cameo.

'Nuff said...

177 - Cows

 These cows are close.

These cows are far away.

It's all a matter of perspective. 

It's no mystery...

176 - Love

So, previously I said I'd be doing my strand of songs in the order I wrote them down on a piece of paper, as the whole point of it was that most were going to be posts I could slot in when I couldn't think of something proper an meaningful to post. But stalled at the fifth, 'cos it was going to be an epic post.

I've decided to ignore that, and skip over the songs that are going to take me linger tow write about, and go to number seven on the list. Which is a brilliant, and amazing song;

Bubblegum, by Helen Love.

And it did take a lot of umming and ahhing before deciding on this one, as there are so many great Helen Love songs. But I went for this one 'cos this was the first Helen Love song I ever heard played, as I recall, on Mark Radcliffe's Graveyard Shift show on Radio 1. 

It's a glorious slice of low-fi indie pop, and just makes me smile when I hear it;

I did toy with Punk Boy, as that would be a good counterpoint with P.U.N.K. Girl, and was a song brilliantly covered by Ash. The band, that is; not me. Though I do have a Punk Boy shirt...

But, no, this is the song.