VIEWING
Finished watching Berlin Station Series 3 Episode 2 today - frequent thunderstorms have kept me inside. A good excuse to catch up on viewing some of Richard Armitage's more recent work. Apart from the complaint I have mentioned previously with respect to Richard's diction, and a couple of scenes being too dark even on our large screen TV for me to see what the characters were actually doing, I enjoyed this episode. A few of the more subtle threads of the story may have been lost on me, but it is pretty easy to follow. Ep. 2 ended on a cliff hanger .... I won't describe as I understand what it is like not to be able to watch a program or film at the same time as others. As ever I am grateful to SBSonDemand for airing this at almost the same time as people in the US.
We had an early Christmas celebration with our daughter and her partner yesterday - they are flying to New York tomorrow. This is what they gave me ...
I managed to watch half of the movie last night before nodding off - I hasten to add that this was not because of the plot, but a consequence of me having a glass of champagne at lunch. I shall resume viewing tonight perhaps. I haven't seen much of Richard Armitage, yet ... about 5 or 7 minutes. I assume he plays some sort of cad who has duped Danny Ocean's sister? In that 5 or 7 minutes, I was very happy to see Richard actually smiling .. (very distant memories of Harry) ... good to see, and I wish we could see more of that smile.
LISTENING
At the risk of repeating myself .... Richard Armitage is a fabulous narrator!!! His narrations are something I can still get very excited about. Edited to Add: Except for Wanderlust !!
1. Currently listening to "The Other Queen" by Philippa Gregory. I'm enjoying it, but as history was not one of my strong subjects at school, I'm having to check the family tree of the Tudors and Stuarts. I'm pretty sure a lot of this is not entirely factual, but I don't mind a good story.
2. Have listened to this year:
- Heads You Win - Geoffrey Archer . Really liked this!! Loved Richard's accents!!
- The Man from St Petersburg - Ken Follett. Enjoyable, but didn't like this as much as Heads You Win
- Wolverine: Episodes 1 to 6. Hmmm .... not my cup of tea at all. Great sound effects especially through a good set of head phones. I haven't heard much of Richard Armitage in this yet... am I missing something?
- Their Lost Daughters - Joy Ellis. Loved it!! (I love detective stories and murder mysteries).
- The Murderer's Son - Joy Ellis. Really enjoyed that too.
- The Tattooist of Auschwitz - Heather Morris. I was moved by this story. Again maybe not factual enough for some, but truly memorable. Australia - we must help the refugees on Manus and Nauru!!!
- Wanderlust - Lauren Blakely. I managed to struggle through to Chapter 8, and I simply couldn't bear it. The only dud Richard has read over the past year ... and there was nothing wrong with his narration ... it was just the 'material' (or lack of), he had to read. :(
These are just the titles I have listened to over the past year - there are countless others I have in my library. The Heyers are fine, but disappointed that they are abridged. The stand out was David Copperfield. I have not listened to The Monster Collection or The Bloody Chamber - they are still too expensive.
I'm hoping to listen to Lords of the North again - Mr M and I have been watching The Last Kingdom (Season One) on Netflix. Good to see Uhtred on the screen, but I need to listen to Bernard Cornwell's book again. (Probably should read the entire series, I suspect).
Image Source: Rotten Tomatoes
OTHER NON RICHARD ARMITAGE VIEWING:
- Bletchley Circle - Fabulous!!
- Hinterland - Also bingeworthy!! Suspenseful.
- Shetland - Great murder mysteries. Beautiful scenery. I have to listen hard to the Scottish accents. Same as with Hinterland, above, which is set in Wales.
- Doc Martin repeats - always fun for us to watch. Doc is just so awful! Amazing to see Martin Clunes in person in the documentaries he makes!! Such a difference!
That's it from me. I have a busy week (don't we all) ... I am polishing brass in the Cathedral for Christmas; driving our two girls down to Sydney airport tomorrow morning; cat sitting; visiting Mum, and trying to fit in exercise.
BTW: Has anyone had success in completing the Couch Potato to 5km program??? I'm finding I have had to repeat weeks. Am now up to week 5, but no way will I be able to complete Part 3 of Week 5. Will have to modify and slowly decrease the rests to work my way up to 20mins non stop. It's a big jump from 2 x 8 min runs with rests in between, to expect us to then run 20mins.....
If I am remiss in writing on this blog over the next few weeks, I will be back in training for:
- A week of day walking with Mr 'M' 's family in February in the Snowy Mountains.
Source: "Holidays with Kids"
2. The Great Ocean Walk - 7 days 104kms in March.
Image Source: Walks91