Choices

What’s Worse?

~ beetleypete ~ 52 Comments

Here I sit trying to decide which kind of weather to moan about, and having to choose between two options.

Last week we had exceptionally cold weather, and for some regions of the UK snow brought chaos to roads, railways, and electricity supply. Over in the East, in Beetley, we had sharp frosts, some lovely sunny blue skies, and very cold nights.

On Sunday morning, I was woken up when it was still dark by heavy rain hitting the windows. By the time I took Ollie out for his walk, it had slowed to just ‘rain’, and the raindrops were cold when they hit you. Later that afternoon, we had to drive to see our grandson for his birthday celebration, and that drive was in heavy rain that persisted throughout the night.

When I went to bed at 11pm, I could hear the rain hitting the windows, and when I woke up today, it was still raining. 31 hours of constant rain that has made it dark enough to need the house lights on constantly. But although it is still cold, currently 5C, there is no frost, no traffic disruption, and no ice.

On balance, I have to choose rain over snow and ice, as it is less dangerous.

And I own two umbrellas.

The Votes Are In And The Poll Is Now Closed

~ beetleypete ~ 21 Comments

I recently asked readers to choose between three options for my next fiction serial in October.

The Next Fiction Serial: A Reader Poll

As promised, I counted the votes, and here are the results

Total Votes: 27

Option 1: 3 votes

Option 2: 10 votes

Option 3: 14 votes.

So Option 3 is the winner, and the serial will begin some time in October. Don’t worry if your choice didn’t win, as the other two options will eventually be posted in some form or another as future serials.

Thanks to everyone for taking time to vote.

Top Ten Films

~ beetleypete ~ 12 Comments

Back to 2017, and a film post many of you have seen. My main interest in reblogging this is that I have recently reviewed my choices, and I find they still hold good now. New followers might like to see them.

beetleypete

When I first started this blog in 2012, Top Tens were all the rage. Most days, it seemed to me as if there was a Top Ten of everything on the blog. This ranged from the top ten cute cats, to the top ten favourite film stars, through to the top ten favourite places to go in the world, and the top ten best snack foods. Top Ten mania had hit blogging, and could not be avoided.

Not long after I started to write posts about film and cinema, the ‘Top Tenners’ came knocking on my door. They sent me links to their own top tens, and asked to know my own preferences. Who were my favourite actors? My list of best directors? The questions went on and on. The barrage was relentless, for a while. Some blogging sites were even called ‘My Top Ten’, and other variations. These Top…

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Thinking Aloud On a Sunday

~ beetleypete ~ 52 Comments

Watching television.

From my preteen years until very recently, I always complained that there was ‘nothing on’ when it came to TV watching. We went from two channels to three, then to four, and soon had many more to choose from. My current set-up has almost one hundred channels, though many of those are ‘Plus 1’ of others, starting one hour later, and some are the best-avoided shopping channels.

In addition, there are the channels available via the Internet, using NOW TV by paying a subscription, as well as Netflix, which I have not long had access to. The four channels of the BBC alone provide enough viewing across all genres to satisfy most people, and the numerous commercial stations offer more populist alternatives if you want them. I also have four free film channels, showing a mix of familiar re-runs, alongside films that have often only been released this year.

As the ‘Good TV’ season arrives every Autumn, the different broadcasters compete by showing all the best stuff at the same time, usually 9 pm. We have a PVR that can record two channels, and allow us to watch a third, but four is still a stretch. But we also have the ‘catch-up’ services on the Internet, where we can see a programme broadcast up to twenty-one days previously, as well as being able to binge-watch an entire series in one night, should we wish to do so.

I study my TV magazine (strangely still called Radio Times) religiously, and play around with the timer settings on the PVR until I can squeeze in everything I want to see, including the series record of those serials I have become addicted to. This sometimes takes so long, I could have actually watched something instead of doing that. Then once I am satisfied it is all scheduled, I can sit back and relax.

But the real problem comes next. I have all that stuff recorded, but little or no time to watch it, because of having to watch the actual ‘live’ TV that is on now and cannot fit on the recorder. I have been learning very quickly that there are not enough years in a life to watch everything I want to see. And that’s without even mentioning Netflix!

At the age of 67, my cry of woe is very different. I no longer say “There’s nothing on”.

That has changed to “There’s too much on!”

Let’s be careful what we wish for.

A-Z Film Challenge

~ beetleypete ~ 25 Comments

As anyone who reads this blog will already know, I don’t participate in any challenges, or those ubiquitous ‘awards’. Despite being asked many times over the years, I do not pass on any ‘chain-style’ blogging posts, or make that claim on other bloggers in my community. I have always preferred to leave it to the individual to decide how they prefer to blog, with no criticism of any other bloggers intended, or inferred.

But I was always a little concerned that I would be considered to be a ‘cowardy custard’ of the blogging world. So thinking about this today, I have decided to complete one of those widely-seen A-Z challenges. I have made up my own one, and will ask no other bloggers to participate. I cannot guarantee that each post will fall on the appropriate day. After all, life goes on. But at some stage during the month of May, I will list 26 films worthy of consideration, in alphabetical order, starting with A. Without asking for your permission, I will discount prefixes such a ‘The’, and ‘A’. The film title will have the appropriate main letter of the alphabet prominently displayed though.

I had the rather unrealistic notion to make this just one post. I would type up a list of 26 films in alphabetical order, and leave my readers to deal with the result. Fortunately, I saw sense, so will post once a day on this theme.

No doubt the forthcoming list will feature many films that I have previously highlighted on this blog. For that, I make no apology. You may not agree with my choices. That is your prerogative, and any suggestions in the comments will be most welcome. I am putting my toe in the water of such challenges, so please bear with me.

For those of you who have no interest in films or cinema, consider it to be ‘Time Off’

Things I miss about London

~ beetleypete ~ 34 Comments

Whenever I talk to friends and family, they eventually ask me what, if anything, I miss about no longer living in London. When I first moved here, it was such a relief to get away from it all, that I used to reply that there was nothing that I missed at all. This is not true of course. You cannot spend sixty years in the city of your birth, without regretting a few things left behind. I have been given to reflection lately, and thought of a few things that I really do miss, so here they are.

The view from Waterloo Bridge

This is possibly the best aspect of the river in London. All the ‘best bits’ are visible from this bridge, though in itself, it is an unattractive, concrete monstrosity. It does nonetheless provide the perfect viewing platform for anyone interested in the sights of London. They are not all there. There is no view of Buckingham Palace, or the parks, and some may argue that the real London, of markets, housing estates, and busy arterial roads, is not represented. It doesn’t matter. Standing on this bridge, day or night, can only ever leave you feeling uplifted, and glad, at least for a short while, to be a Londoner.

Bar Italia, Soho

This coffee bar, at the heart of one of London’s busiest, and buzziest districts, is an institution that has endured the invasion of Starbucks and Costa. After a late night out in the capital, or a visit to Ronnie Scott’s jazz club opposite, there is nothing better than to grab a table outside, in any weather, and watch the busy life of Soho unfold before your eyes. Free entertainment, at least for the greatly inflated price of a double espresso. Worth every penny at 3am.

24 Hour Buses

You will always hear a lot of negative stuff written and voiced about London Transport. The reality is, that they provide an excellent bus service, that in most of London, certainly in the central area that is ‘open late’, runs for 24 hours a day. You can go for a long night out, and get home again, for less than £4 (at the last price I paid). There are issues around this, of course, though they are the fault of your fellow passengers, not the bus companies. There may be drunks on the bus, and there may also be vagrants, travelling in the warm, for the price of a ticket (or not!). Despite this, the vast majority of journies are safe, reliable, and a real reason to be glad you live in such a huge city.

Restaurants

I have written about this before, in other posts, so will not go on too long. There are almost endless restaurants in London, the choice of cuisine vast, and you know that you can always easily walk to somewhere for a good meal, often with no need to make a reservation. I don’t know many other places like that in the UK.

Walking

Elaborating on part of the above, I miss walking too. Not the kind of walking that involves donning wellington boots, and grabbing the dog’s lead though. Walking around the city, in busy periods, and quiet ones too. Despite my familiarity with London, I never failed to discover something new, when walking. An alley never seen before, or a quirky shop, that I never realised existed. You can still walk in the countryside here, but the irony is that you have to drive somewhere to do it. In the most open environment I have ever lived in, there seem to be less areas that are actually accessible, due to fences, farms, and land ownership. You can try walking about down the peaceful country lanes, though I would not recommend it, as the traffic gives little thought to pedestrians. The best option here is to head to the coast, though that involves driving, finding a car park space, and making sure that you are not going to need a toilet!

Choice

Living in a city like London, choice is something that you take for granted. Choice of restaurant, choice of bar, choice of shop. You can choose which museum, attraction, or concert to go to, and even choose how you will travel there. As a Londoner, not having these options never occurs to you. They will not be taken away, if anything, just added to. The old saying, ‘spoilt for choice’, must surely have originated in London. Living in semi-rural Norfolk, choice becomes a luxury. It is something that you have to travel for, at least as far as Norwich. Even there, it only exists on a very small level, compared to the metropolis. If anyone ever considers life away from a big city, they should contemplate the removal of choice, and how much that may affect them.

So, just six things missed, though some of them are pretty big. There are at least as many things that I don’t miss, so the balance is in there somewhere.