Days 228 and 229

Not a busy weekend, got the papers and did the crossword:

…and got the Dimitri From Paris Salsoul Mastermix album, which has got great reviews and if it’s anything like Dimitri From Paris’ other mixes it should be great. 

I didn’t have time to listen to it as I was watching the last season of Burn Notice.

Burn Notice is about a spy, Michael Westen, who is branded as unreliable and burnt by his agency, which leaves him with no money or support and trapped in Miami. It turns out that Michael was burnt by a secret organisation who want him to work for them. The story centres on Michael clearing his name and taking down the organisation that burnt him and the consequences of doing this. The early seasons have a realistic tone and later seasons have a more fantastical tone, you could say that it moves from Harry Palmer to James Bond depictions of being a spy.  

Watching all seven seasons (and TV movie) over a week it was nice to see the relation between the characters develop and grow and to see characters motivations change and mature. For example, Michael goes from being 100% focused on getting back to in with the agency to not wanting anything to do with spying and just being with his girlfriend. Or Fiona going from a chaotic force of nature to someone who considers the consequences of their actions (while still being a little chaotic). 

There is a little repetition with the later seasons revealing that there was someone behind who Michael thought was leading the secret organisation, which means that Micheal has to go rouge. And the episodes with Patten Oswalt are a little too light hearted and kinda stand out from the other episodes. But I did have a few tears in my eye as the last episode finished and people died and others got their happy ending.

I found Burn Notice a really entertaining watch and if you haven’t seen it, you should give it a try.

Day 227

Aka Friday 15th September 2017

Walked into town today for my weekly foodshop and I picked up the latest issue of White Dwarf:

…I used to be a bit Games Workshop guy, I enjoyed the modelling aspects (building and painting the models) and the sci-fi and fantasy elements, and used to get White Dwarf monthly. But, I kinda drifted away and other things took its place. But I couldn’t pass up the Warhammer 40k 30^th anniversary issue! Plus, building and painting models could be a more productive use of my spare time (although not as useful as volunteering).  

I also picked up the Mindhorn DVD:

…which isn’t a bad film, there are a couple of laugh out loud moments, but it does feel very much like a film extension of a TV show, which we used to get in the 70’s and early 80’s (Hello On The Buses, Are You Being Served, etc.). And it has some of the same flaws, namely that they don’t take advantage of being a film and not limited to being in a TV studio and the story kinda peters out towards the end and leaves you feeling like maybe they had run out of money/film stock and couldn’t film the reminding ten minutes of story.  It's worth watching, but probably not worth buying to watch.

And here's today's crossword:

...and it went better than yesterdays, only needed help with 39% of the clues :)

Day 226

I had my second NHS Health Check appointment today and my blood pressure is still a little high, so they want me to come back next Monday to see the nurse prescriber to have a third test and to discuss what to do next if my blood pressure is still high (such as medication).

When I got back home, I’d barely sat down when the doorbell went and the postman had this for me:

Number 43 With Steamed Rice Please by Tsunami One (and released on Fuel Records) is an excellent breakbeat track, with vocal kung-fu’s hook, including the sounds of punching/karate chopping synced with the beats, which sounds massive on a good soundsystem with a good bass setup. Everyone who is into music should have a copy of this track.

And this is today's crossword:

...and it went worse then yesterdays! Either the clues are getting harder or I've been watching to much daytime TV :)