test please delete

[DoctorStrangelove]

The M&S breaded cod was very nice for a change.

This evening's first feature is "The Philadelphia Experiment Story (1940)" with Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, and Katharine Hepburn.

It's one of those quick talking 30s/40s comedies that make me wish I could come out with stuff like that.

Sadly enough, I seem to lack the script and the script writer.

The Philadelphia Story (1940) - IMDb

It's very good and many years since I last watched it.

Now watching "Rise of the Rockets" on PBS which is about the new breed of rockets including the SLS which is the Saturn V designed by a committee not including dear old Wernher.

They've taken 8 or more years to get essentially not very far.

Whereas von Braun went from the Redstone to the Saturn V in much the same sort of time.

Space Launch System - Wikipedia

[NickFitz]

Been raining steadily for two or three hours, but it's easing off now.

And my chicken casserole, still cooking, smells very nice indeed

[NickFitz]

Been raining steadily for two or three hours, but it's easing off now.

And my chicken casserole, still cooking, smells very nice indeed

Back to raining again

More importantly, my chicken casserole turned out exceptionally nice

I've never been that big on adding garlic to things but I've started using it occasionally, and I can see what all the fuss is about as it really enhances the flavour of stews and such. Two cloves in this one (which was three portions, two to be frozen), and they definitely helped

[NickFitz]

Tonight's major motion picture was Annihilation (2018), in which a mysterious, shimmering zone appears on Earth; conveniently, in the USA, rather than somewhere like Tunguska or the middle of Australia, where nobody would notice it for ages. It seems that nothing escapes once entering, except one bloke who's in a right state afterwards, but our intrepid heroines venture within nonetheless, and we travel with them.

When this came out, I vaguely remember reading some thread on Twitter wherein somebody railed against it. Their theme wasn't that it has a predominantly female cast (though I'm sure there were morons whinging along those lines to be found if one follows enough of the wrong people) but that the novel on which it's based has an important theme which is totally lost in the movie version. Unfortunately, I can't remember what the important theme is exactly; something to do with mankind's relationship to nature, IIRC. But forgetting that leaves me unqualified to judge if their criticism was correct.

Anyway, it has some really nice visuals, and some exciting moments, though it does feel a bit slow in parts. The ending seemed a bit of a mishmash too, with elements of handwaving. And it's unclear what point was being made exactly, which is presumably the theme from the novel they forgot to include. I'd rank it as OK if you're in a rather sedentary mood and want something that's often nice to look at, but it does leave you wondering if you missed something along the way, or if they just missed explaining why you were being taken that way.

And after that, as I'd been in the mood for something that had a fairly consistent level of action and that hadn't, I rewatched The Expatriate (2012) (which IMDb informs me was originally called Erased, though this is the first I've heard of it) of which I previously said:

Tonight's movie mania was The Expatriate (2012): the usual thing about a retired CIA operative being set up for a fall by rogue elements in The Company and having to flee and then fight back, the twist on this occasion being that the person he flees with is his teenage daughter, who (of course) had always been told he was a boring civil servant type. Oh, and it was set in Belgium, which probably counts as "exotic" to American audiences

It was pretty good as that kind of thing goes, I thought

which also reflects my opinion on this occasion

Goodnight all

[BrilloPad]

Funnily enough, Waitrose announced yesterday or the day before that they're closing their nearest store. The one that used to be nearest was closed last month

That isn't counting the ones at the Leicester Forest East services on the M1, as they're motorway services shops rather than proper ones, and you have to go on the M1 to get to them now they've put pass-controlled barriers on the staff access road. Could drive to the access road and walk down, I suppose.

Is the whole of Leicester closing down?

[DoctorStrangelove]

Morning all if all there be.

Grey.

Dark.

Dank.

Dreary.

Depressing.

November.

[WTFH]

Morning all wet one overnight.

[DoctorStrangelove]

Morning all wet one overnight.

Yes it's embarrassing when that happens.

In with the hoi polloi.

The chap next to me sanitised his mouse & keyboard before starting.

Now that's A Good Idea.

A client of progressives needs an Embedded C engineer to work on a project based in Anglesey Whales.

[BR14]

morning all


coming dahn in stair rods in soggy sarf herts

[NickFitz]

Morning denizens

Grey day here again. Dry though, at lest for now