SHH on HBO
Thought my Australian friends would love to read the overwhelmingly positive reviews of Summer Heights High, which started screening here on Sunday. Click here for a website that will take you to the reviews.
The jury's still out, in my opinion, on the American version of Kath and Kim, now into its fourth or fifth week. I'm never sure if I'm laughing because it's funny, or because I so well remember the original episode being presented. I will keep watching, though,because I really want it to succeed.
Showing posts with label TV. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TV. Show all posts
Wednesday, 12 November 2008
Thursday, 30 October 2008
Recovery
The head cold is in retreat, leaving me with the traditional cough, croak and cold-sore. Noice.
I haven't had the brain power to do very much lately, and I'd hoped to have been churning through Lily's quilt.
But all I've felt like is reading and knitting.
Beanies for Will and his mates, who really like them. The endless rounds are quite soothing when you're feeling off.
And a Monteagle bag from Mason Dixon Knitting. You can find a lot of them on Ravelry, too.
In my haste to start this one, I used the wrong sort of yarn and the wrong sized needles. But what the hey.
It involves some fun stitches, and should all unravel when it's finished to reveal a handy string bag for shopping. It's quick, too.
:: We've been watching Mad Men on DVD. It's set in a Madison Avenue advertising agency in 1960. First episode was very clever, and the period is brilliantly created. But by the third episode, I need a break! So many hideous characters! Such rampant sexism and general arseholery. Shudder.
It won lots of Emmys, but I can see why it hasn't been a massive hit.
Plus, at the end of every episode you feel as if you've smoked a pack of Camels — without the filter tips — and downed a litre of scotch. I'll get back to it after a rest from it!
:: I wrote a story for my old paper back in Perth. felt a bit rusty at first, but as soon as I got the intro down, I was off!
:: We're off to see Neil Young tonight! Yay! With the election so close, he'll be hot to trot. I'll have to have a nanny nap this arvo to manage to keep up late tonight. Death Cab for Cutie is supporting — don't know them at all. But I've discovered — thanks to David — that the band name was the title of a song by the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band from the sixties, which they performed on the Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour. You can see that here. I've been a huge Bonzo Dog fan, since my brother and I lovingly watched every episode of the kids' show, Do Not Adjust Your Set, when we were very young.
:: We've almost settled on another apartment in New York for next week. Despite losing all our money on the last booking rip-off.
:: Got to go — need coffee.
The head cold is in retreat, leaving me with the traditional cough, croak and cold-sore. Noice.
I haven't had the brain power to do very much lately, and I'd hoped to have been churning through Lily's quilt.
But all I've felt like is reading and knitting.
Beanies for Will and his mates, who really like them. The endless rounds are quite soothing when you're feeling off.And a Monteagle bag from Mason Dixon Knitting. You can find a lot of them on Ravelry, too.
In my haste to start this one, I used the wrong sort of yarn and the wrong sized needles. But what the hey.
It involves some fun stitches, and should all unravel when it's finished to reveal a handy string bag for shopping. It's quick, too.:: We've been watching Mad Men on DVD. It's set in a Madison Avenue advertising agency in 1960. First episode was very clever, and the period is brilliantly created. But by the third episode, I need a break! So many hideous characters! Such rampant sexism and general arseholery. Shudder.
It won lots of Emmys, but I can see why it hasn't been a massive hit.
Plus, at the end of every episode you feel as if you've smoked a pack of Camels — without the filter tips — and downed a litre of scotch. I'll get back to it after a rest from it!
:: I wrote a story for my old paper back in Perth. felt a bit rusty at first, but as soon as I got the intro down, I was off!
:: We're off to see Neil Young tonight! Yay! With the election so close, he'll be hot to trot. I'll have to have a nanny nap this arvo to manage to keep up late tonight. Death Cab for Cutie is supporting — don't know them at all. But I've discovered — thanks to David — that the band name was the title of a song by the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band from the sixties, which they performed on the Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour. You can see that here. I've been a huge Bonzo Dog fan, since my brother and I lovingly watched every episode of the kids' show, Do Not Adjust Your Set, when we were very young.
:: We've almost settled on another apartment in New York for next week. Despite losing all our money on the last booking rip-off.
:: Got to go — need coffee.
Friday, 18 January 2008
Red-carpet ready
I have bought the perfect outfit. I'd have loved colour, but I don't wear a lot of black by day, so what the hey.
I chose an elegant evening skirt in overlapping layers of satin. I'm trying hard to describe it without mentioning scales but, ultimately, that's what comes to mind. But not frills or flounces, heaven forbid. It's narrow, flares gently out from beneath the knee and, viewed from the side, fits neatly under the backside and then sweeps out in a sort of subtly Edwardian profile. Very me.
With it I've chosen a neat velvet camisole with quite a low neck, which is worn under a fitted devore velvet evening jacket in much the same style as Helen's (see post a couple below this) but with velvet revere lapels and cuffs. One velvet button under the bust.
No alterations needed at all.
:: I had a great day out shopping, with Amanda, one of our managers at the Bondi, who is coming to the galah with us. She's perfectly gorgeous and snapped up an exquisite Calvin Klein gown in a ridiculous size (2), and I have spent the morning shortening it for her by a whopping 13 cm — including train and lining.
This is Amanda's apartment block downtown in the early morning sunshine — i just love that part of the city.
This is the view across the road from her building ...
:: In Macy's, I was looking at one of the make-up stands, wondering why the manufacturer made only two colors of nail polish — brown and pink — when I realised these were, in fact, cosmetics for dogs. Honest ...
... I suppose the picture should have alerted me, but I just wasn't expecting this in among all the scents and cosmetics!
Then, at the end of the handbag section, there's this neat little contraption ...
... an iPod vending machine! God, I love this crazy place!
:: Dave and I have been working our way through the entire series of The West Wing, on DVD from Netflix, interspersed with lots of MSNBC coverage of the (real) presidential election — it's riveting now we are into the primaries and caucuses! I feel I am at last getting some inkling of the way it all happens — and it's fascinating watching the candidates' debates.
All of which has been useful in these long, slow weeks of the screenwriters' strike (over royalties from online distribution). The strike has meant there have been no new episodes of a lot of popular and high-rating series, like Grey's Anatomy (which I love but Dave can't stand), and even the late-night talk shows. So TV has been more or less at a standstill, apart from re-runs of old episodes of House, which my TV is programmed automatically to record whenever it shows, and on whatever channel. Suits me down to the ground!
The strike has also had an effect on this year's season of American Idol, which started this week. So huge is this show that, with prime-time advertising time at a premium because of the writers' strike, a thirty-second ad slot on the show costs $1 million. Imagine!
I have bought the perfect outfit. I'd have loved colour, but I don't wear a lot of black by day, so what the hey.
I chose an elegant evening skirt in overlapping layers of satin. I'm trying hard to describe it without mentioning scales but, ultimately, that's what comes to mind. But not frills or flounces, heaven forbid. It's narrow, flares gently out from beneath the knee and, viewed from the side, fits neatly under the backside and then sweeps out in a sort of subtly Edwardian profile. Very me.
With it I've chosen a neat velvet camisole with quite a low neck, which is worn under a fitted devore velvet evening jacket in much the same style as Helen's (see post a couple below this) but with velvet revere lapels and cuffs. One velvet button under the bust.
No alterations needed at all.
:: I had a great day out shopping, with Amanda, one of our managers at the Bondi, who is coming to the galah with us. She's perfectly gorgeous and snapped up an exquisite Calvin Klein gown in a ridiculous size (2), and I have spent the morning shortening it for her by a whopping 13 cm — including train and lining.
This is Amanda's apartment block downtown in the early morning sunshine — i just love that part of the city.
This is the view across the road from her building ...
:: In Macy's, I was looking at one of the make-up stands, wondering why the manufacturer made only two colors of nail polish — brown and pink — when I realised these were, in fact, cosmetics for dogs. Honest ...
... I suppose the picture should have alerted me, but I just wasn't expecting this in among all the scents and cosmetics!Then, at the end of the handbag section, there's this neat little contraption ...
... an iPod vending machine! God, I love this crazy place!:: Dave and I have been working our way through the entire series of The West Wing, on DVD from Netflix, interspersed with lots of MSNBC coverage of the (real) presidential election — it's riveting now we are into the primaries and caucuses! I feel I am at last getting some inkling of the way it all happens — and it's fascinating watching the candidates' debates.
All of which has been useful in these long, slow weeks of the screenwriters' strike (over royalties from online distribution). The strike has meant there have been no new episodes of a lot of popular and high-rating series, like Grey's Anatomy (which I love but Dave can't stand), and even the late-night talk shows. So TV has been more or less at a standstill, apart from re-runs of old episodes of House, which my TV is programmed automatically to record whenever it shows, and on whatever channel. Suits me down to the ground!
The strike has also had an effect on this year's season of American Idol, which started this week. So huge is this show that, with prime-time advertising time at a premium because of the writers' strike, a thirty-second ad slot on the show costs $1 million. Imagine!
Sunday, 28 October 2007
Indoor activities
Dave and I are home alone this weekend and we're staying put. R-e-l-a-x-i-n-g after the madness and chaos of the past week. Reading, telly, coffee, newspapers, chocolate, tea, knitting, and cooking.
Yesterday, Netflix (how I love you, how I love you) came through with the goods: two DVDs of The West Wing, to which we are totally addicted. We never got to watch it while it was new — it was always on a bit late for us in Australia. But this is the way to go, with non-stop episodes, no ads, high-def wide-screen viewing. I love everything about this show; it's perfect weekend viewing.
:: Finished Mum's socks last night, and they're ready to be sent asunder down-under. They're a bit small for me - Mum has teeny-tiny feet. Knitting them kept me going through the unknown on Monday and Tuesday - a day and a half spent knitting, watching fire updates on the telly as the news just kept getting worse and worse, and speaking on the phone to family and friends all over the place anxious for news of us. You can't wring your hands while you're knitting!
:: We've packed Will off to Las Vegas for a rock festival, with a lot of bands I've never heard of, as well as Queens of the Stone Age and Muse (which even I would love to see, though the volume and crush would be more than I could stand - I'd go to a rock concert if I could sit on a patch of grass, in the breezy shade, with a folding chair and a picnic, tea and good coffee available just over there, the band pretty close but not very loud, and big video screens so I could keep a dignified distance. Oh, and it would all be over by 9.30 pm).
Will's gone to Las Vegas with Stephanie, a friend of our eldest son, Simon, and now one of our much-loved managers at the Bondi. After the tensions and restrictions of the week, it'll do these young'uns good to get out of the smoke and ash and haze and dust for a weekend, into the (relatively) clean air of Nevada, for two days of screaming and yelling. We shouted them two nights at a hotel on the strip, and Steph's driving and being The Boss. I can't wait to hear all about it when they get back!
:: At some stage, we're going to call in at the Carmel Valley fire station where they are distributing free masks so you can more safely go outside and attempt to clean up some of the ash and other muck that has settled over everything since last Sunday.
It's a worry, though, whether or not to leave it and wait, because as fast as you sweep it up, more of it will settle. And the news reports about the dust are scary, saying that while the burnt plant material the ash contains won't hurt us, there will also be traces of hazardous substances that we really ought not to breathe in. Impossible!
Dave and I are home alone this weekend and we're staying put. R-e-l-a-x-i-n-g after the madness and chaos of the past week. Reading, telly, coffee, newspapers, chocolate, tea, knitting, and cooking.
Yesterday, Netflix (how I love you, how I love you) came through with the goods: two DVDs of The West Wing, to which we are totally addicted. We never got to watch it while it was new — it was always on a bit late for us in Australia. But this is the way to go, with non-stop episodes, no ads, high-def wide-screen viewing. I love everything about this show; it's perfect weekend viewing.
:: Finished Mum's socks last night, and they're ready to be sent asunder down-under. They're a bit small for me - Mum has teeny-tiny feet. Knitting them kept me going through the unknown on Monday and Tuesday - a day and a half spent knitting, watching fire updates on the telly as the news just kept getting worse and worse, and speaking on the phone to family and friends all over the place anxious for news of us. You can't wring your hands while you're knitting!
:: We've packed Will off to Las Vegas for a rock festival, with a lot of bands I've never heard of, as well as Queens of the Stone Age and Muse (which even I would love to see, though the volume and crush would be more than I could stand - I'd go to a rock concert if I could sit on a patch of grass, in the breezy shade, with a folding chair and a picnic, tea and good coffee available just over there, the band pretty close but not very loud, and big video screens so I could keep a dignified distance. Oh, and it would all be over by 9.30 pm).
Will's gone to Las Vegas with Stephanie, a friend of our eldest son, Simon, and now one of our much-loved managers at the Bondi. After the tensions and restrictions of the week, it'll do these young'uns good to get out of the smoke and ash and haze and dust for a weekend, into the (relatively) clean air of Nevada, for two days of screaming and yelling. We shouted them two nights at a hotel on the strip, and Steph's driving and being The Boss. I can't wait to hear all about it when they get back!
:: At some stage, we're going to call in at the Carmel Valley fire station where they are distributing free masks so you can more safely go outside and attempt to clean up some of the ash and other muck that has settled over everything since last Sunday.
It's a worry, though, whether or not to leave it and wait, because as fast as you sweep it up, more of it will settle. And the news reports about the dust are scary, saying that while the burnt plant material the ash contains won't hurt us, there will also be traces of hazardous substances that we really ought not to breathe in. Impossible!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)