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Some Recent TV Thoughts
Sorry, this is going to be a bit of a disparate entry about all things television. ITV As most people have noticed – well most people in the UK – ITV has rebranded, and no longer do we have ITV1. Instead, ITV has returned. It’s got a whole new curvy logo, and to be honest…
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Ceramic Handmade Radios
At lunchtime I chanced across this shop in Berwick Street, Soho. Inside they had handmade DAB radios and BlueTooth speakers built from ceramic bodies that were cast in Stoke-on-Trent before having the technology added down south. Josiah is the name they’re being sold under. They’re not cheap, but they’re functional pieces of art. Some of…
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Screwball Continued
[A continuation of my exploration of Hollywood screwball comedies of the thirties and early forties in the BFI’s season. See part one here.] And so the BFI’s Screwball season continues, and I’ve seen a few more films. A couple of weeks ago there was an illustrated introduction to the season from Peter Swaab. He’s the…
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Kindle for Android Moans
As I’ve been using my Nexus 7 more and more, it has also meant that my “old-school” Kindle has seen less action of late. I find it more convenient to carry a single device and use the Kindle for Android app on the tablet. Yet it does sometimes feel that the app doesn’t offer all…
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Retail
And so it has come to pass that HMV is in administration. When an unplanned “Blue Cross” sale popped up before the weekend, the writing was on the wall. At time of writing, we can perhaps remain hopeful of some kind of partially successful outcome of the administrators seeking a semblence of a successful business.…
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Screwball
If there’s a genre films I really love, it’s screwball comedies. His Girl Friday has always been one of my favourite films, and alongside Bringing Up Baby, epitomises what I love in the genre. The rat-a-tat dialogue, strong female characters, the prevalent design – lots of art deco, and in general the sheer delight. These…
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Radio Times – 26 December 2012
As a special extra treat (!), I’ve added Boxing Day to this year’s annotated Radio Times pages. OK. The rest of the family was watching Downton, and it leaves me a little cold. I suspect that personally, I’ll be catching up with the thing I’m most looking forward to – The Girl – on iPlayer…
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Radio Times – 25 December 2012
My very occasional suggestions of what to watch on radio and television this Christmas. As ever – these are best viewed large (radio, TV) so that you can read my comments. A very happy Christmas to everyone who reads this blog!
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Moscow
I’ve just spent a few days in Moscow giving a talk to the Russian Academy of Radio at their annual get together. Clearly, if I was going all the way to Moscow, I was going to be sure to find a bit of spare time to get out and take some photos, and the good…
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Television Scheduling Moans
Last week Channel 4 stripped their four part thriller, The Fear, across Monday to Thursday, nightly at 10pm. They ran lots of press advertising that I saw, even after the first episode had aired. I’ve explained previously why I think TV channels that adopt this kind of scheduling are foolish. But rather than go through…
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Newspapers and Tablets
The majority of the UK press has been vehemently reacting against the recommendations last week of the Leveson report, and in particular reject any kind of government legislation of their industry in spite of the systematic abuse that many titles have treated members of the public. But as they do that, one wonders – with…
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Radio Festival 2012 – Some Thoughts
During the Radio Festival, I was busily writing some contemporaneous notes about what was happening at the sessions I attended. But these weren’t really a considered view – more, what struck me as interesting or worth repeating at the time I was writing them. Having had a couple of night’s sleep since then, these are…
Podcasts, Radio, TV, Books, Cycling, Photography and More
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Yellowface/All The Lovers In The Night
Yellowface by R F Kuang I first came across R F Kuang with last year’s very enjoyable Babel, an alternate history of the British Empire told in a world where magic exists and is controlled by an elite group of individuals. Yellowface is very different, but no less enjoyable. It’s a book about books, and…
Hadrian’s Wall
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