I am so incredibly sleepy today. I have a creeping feeling that signing up for a ticket for tonight's performance of Canterbury Tales as well as yesterday may have been a very bad move. The performance was good and I had lots of fun (especially afterwards), but after having had a few drinks (and started speaking much better English, by the way; strange how that always happens) I stayed way too long and eventually went to bed at 1:30, after a hasty dinner (Chinese takeaway). This wouldn't have been too bad, had it not been for the fact that I then only had about four and a half hours of sleep before getting up to go to work. I sounded like Victor Meldrew when I woke up and looked at the time.

Anyway. Big surprise to see Nicola Walker hanging about reading the paper at the tube station. I was two seconds away from throwing myself at her feet and begging her to get back and save Spooks.

Well, gotta run. Ta-ta!

Labels: comedy, nicola walker, personal, theatre, TV

Oops, totally forgot to tell you I saw The Devil Wears Prada and The Departed over the weekend. Both fine films. A little bit disappointed in the ending of The Departed, but the rest of the film was really great. I even liked Leonardo DiCaprio for once! And in Prada I thought Meryl Streep (no surprise there) and especially Stanley Tucci were magnificent. I am increasingly impressed with Tucci, actually. Anyway, all in all I would recommend both films, but if I had to choose one, it would have to be Scorsese's flick. Very well put together and of course a stellar cast, especially Jack Nicholson and dearest Ray Winstone.

Over to telly...what on earth is Matt Day doing with his phoney British accent appearing in Spooks? I'm telling you--and this has nothing to do with Matt (who, in my mind, is still 18 years old and running after Sophie Heathcote in A Country Practice)--this series is shifting its focus alarmingly fast from global terror to sickeningly mushy romantic side-stories and I don't like it one bit. If they're getting rid of yet another character (and I am talking about Harry here), they've lost one of their biggest fans for good.

Labels: film, nicola walker, peter firth, Spooks, TV

Mmm...Apoptygma Berzerk. But I digress.

I suppose I should have written sooner. I just didn't. I thought I had, though. So, let's see...this edition will comment upon:

Mad people killing Amish schoolgirls. That's just despicable.

Little Miss Sunshine - a really good film. A must-see!

Do not read the message boards on IMDb. Sometimes they're well informed. Like about Spooks series 5. I am angry, but at least my number one reason for staying with the series still remains. :-)

If you can, you should get hold of Scum, the 1977 version (good luck, it's banned), as it is frighteningly good. And very young Ray(mond) Winstone, David Threlfall and Phil Daniels make appearances in it.

I have spent the last few days writing. The boring bit is that I have large parts of the story in my head, but I actually have to write them before being able to share. Shucks. Still, this makes the story change as I go along, which in turn makes it interesting. I feel I get to know this person from scratch. I bet they will surprise even me at some point. And that's when I know I've succeeded. Or should be admitted somewhere.

At the same time I am trying to cut down on the insane number of TV series I am watching. Too bad they keep coming up with new shows that I simply have to see.

And one last thing; I had this weird dream last night where I kept bumping into a Colosseum-style theatre wherever I went. They performed Evita and Christmas carols and arranged birthday parties and sing-alongs there 24 hours a day. I just couldn't get away from there, so I finally got a job. What I had to do? Sit on a chair or just walk around, while they were performing Evita. Aww, what rotten luck. ;-) Must stop being hooked.

Labels: current affairs, dreams, evita, film, music, musicals, nicola walker, peter firth, Spooks, theatre, TV, writing

...the new Maria: Absolutely brilliant! The best choice won, by far. She was the only one who could sing in key and did so persistently. She is also already a trained musical artist and an all-round likeable person. Well, that is before all this commotion possibly inflates her ego. Here's to Connie!

...the most annoying things on the tube: At first, I thought it must be people who try to squeeze themselves into the carriage before letting people off, but that is just a momentary annoyance, isn't it? (Unless you're a person who broods ill-will for months) However, people who sit down next to you and SMELL, really badly, are the most annoying to me. Because you can bet they are going the exact same route as yourself, so you cannot get rid of them either. How about a wash? How about NOT eating a ton of garlic the night before you go to work? How about brushing you teeth and making sure you eat food you can actually digest properly?

...the new series of Spooks: I am very eagerly awaiting every new episode. I love this show and have been aware of the...uhm...tension between Harry and Ruth since series two, so my romantic self would like to see something happening there. Seems like the writers may finally be caving in to what the actors have been treating us to for a long time.

...online grocery shopping: Fabulous when it actually works! Must post pictures of my first attempt. A little bit afraid when the guy brought four boxes of groceries to my door and all the carrier bags filled our kitchen floor. Oops.

Labels: Lloyd-Webber, musicals, nicola walker, online shopping, peter firth, Spooks, theatre, tube, TV

I had been hoping to see Mark Heenehan as Peron, but unfortunately this would mean that Philip Quast would not be performing. Must stop wishing for these things to happen, because as long as they're on the negative side of the scale they usually come true. Luckily my ticket was cheap (and for a great seat, actually). And I realised I actually love the show in itself, and not just because I am so highly biased towards Quast. Which is a very good thing. I was very disappointed with Heenehan, though. Shh, don't tell anyone, but I would definitely have preferred hearing/seeing Tim Morgan as Peron's understudy. I mean, wow, I have a feeling his voice talents are wasted in this production.

On the other hand, we have been very busy lately watching all the episodes of series 3 and 4 of Spooks. After all, the fifth series begins soon, my flatmate had not seen the third and fourth series and I had only seen them once, which is below par.

Remembering "9/11" today. Mostly by steering away from any documentaries and observing one minute's silence in a few moments.

Labels: current affairs, evita, musicals, nicola walker, peter firth, philip quast, Spooks, theatre, tim morgan, TV

Finally, after five days without the 'Net, I'm back for a short visit. Hopefully by this time next week my internet connection will be permanent once again, after almost four months without. Yes, that has been very scary.

On Saturday there was heavy rainfall outside as well as indoors - we were lucky compared to our next-door and upstairs neighbours, whose flats were flooded. Some of it came into our flat as well, but we only needed about ten towels and a bucket and by then the rain had stopped. Who knows what our place would have looked like if we hadn't been at home, though. I think I realise now why the wacky Brits put their electrical sockets halfway up the wall.

It didn't destroy my glee as the fourth series of Spooks started on Monday, though, and in only three days the fifth series of Waking the Dead begins. I am warming up by watching the first series on DVD. Quote from the Radio Times: "Det Supt Boyd (Trevor Eve) and his fantastic beard tackle another gory case". I almost laughed my head off. RT's editor Alison Graham obviously is very fascinated by his beard, not that I blame her.

Anyway. We got our "sorry asses" (thought I should use that expression, since Prince Harry did the very same today, in his first formal interview) off the couch/sofa/settee (all depending on to which class you think you belong) and became involved with a local AmDram group yesterday; my flatmate wants to be on stage all the time while I would like to be as far away from the limelight as humanly possible. Did I hear you shout "set design"? Thought so.

My imported DVD of Evilenko came from Italy via City Airport the other day and was delivered through DHL. Now, that is sad. Made me an even bigger fan of Marton Csokas's, though, which is a good thing (I think).

And finally, as I was looking for facts to support my theory that there are in fact countries out there that don't have any national debt (I protested loudly to this utterance by some previous financial something or other for the British government (it's a bit sad, really, that I didn't catch his name, as that would have made this story much better), as we were watching How to Start Your Own Country (Danny Wallace (or "King Danny", if you're a citizen of Lovely) has to be one of the best new presenters out there, I'm sure - he's so good at what he does that he seems invincible)) - I found this little article from the Telegraph back in 2004 (which would be "last year"). It's about Norway and its relations to the EU. As a firm believer in the EU as well as a fervent pro-EU campaigner back in 1994 (what the hell was I thinking) - even though I wasn't old enough to actually vote - I found this article to be highly interesting (if not just a wee bit too one-sided, but then again hardly any journalism is non-biased these days). A patriot like me wallows in a report like this, but it may also seem like we're awfully selfish. My point of view is that being outside of the EU makes our nation better, our economy flourishes and that way we can contribute much more to the common good of the world than if we were a member. Knowing my luck, this time we'll probably become a member.

I totally forgot about the Norwegian election on Monday, as this country strangely enough was much more interested in the fresh win over the Aussies in the last test of the Ashes; and you're right, I have no idea about cricket. As they were talking about the standing at lunch (I have recently learnt that a cricket match often has two breaks: Lunch and tea. Oh my.) the guy on the news said that the score was 193-5 or something, which meant that things could go either way. In any other sport this would have been a remarkable score, but those cricket maniacs have to show off with their public school code, don't they? I decided I should just wait for the final score and take it from there. Nevertheless, during the weekend I was reminded of the general election back in the old country, and was rather happy about the result. At least the dangerous parties didn't win enough seats to make a majority coalition, which is very good news indeed. Those so-called Christian Democrats and Progress Party (i.e. VERY right wing) people scare me, quite frankly, with all that hate and exclusion they preach. What I find to be ridiculous is how they fail to see that their two agendas can be made into one quite easily. The Christian Democrats don't want to be associated with the rather racist Progress Party, and yet they believe more or less the same things. At least the Progress Party isn't that hypocritical.

Now to some good news. For those of you who actually read the comments on this blog, you may have read Aug's comments about Death of a Salesman (the Oslo version). I finally got to read the reviews today and just as I thought, they seem to think that Dennis Storhøi is too young for the part. I thought the same thing when I heard about it, but then again I'm not a director and should probably keep my mouth shut (even though I don't). Still, good reviews all around...and we do read and heed the reviews when they're on our side, don't we? Ahem. Anyone going to see the play (uhmm...Aug?) had better send my regards to the cast as well as my regrets for not being able to give them most of my money this year, haha! But I'm stuck here for a while, and today I read that Philip Quast will be extending his stay down under until next year. That's just my luck, isn't it.

At least our building may have been on telly last night. That's something, I guess. I'm off to have my usual fish and chips and watch 49Up and all the other quality Thursday viewing. I'm even going to watch The Bill next week, simply because it's going out live.

Current track: Well, I seem to have "Yes Sir, I Can Boogie" on my mind.

Labels: comedy, dennis storhøi, film, marton csokas, nicola walker, Norway, personal, peter firth, philip quast, Spooks, sport, theatre, trevor eve, TV

Haha, no, I haven't gone mad all of a sudden. I was just sitting here thinking about tonight's episode of House, starring Hugh Laurie, who emulates an American accent in the most brilliant way and who's been voted one of telly's sexiest men. If you haven't seen the series, you should. I really want Dr. House to be my GP, basically because he's so hopelessly blunt with people, and he has the most wicked sense of humour.

And then I found myself visiting "Mr. Storhoi's" website (part of my daily ritual, together with this page, EZBoard, VG Nett (tabloid news from home), IMDb (because there's always a film or actor I have to look up) and the Philip Quast message board) and realised today (or tomorrow, all depending on how you look at it) is the opening night of Death of a Salesman in Oslo, and I am almost as nervous as I would have been if I were part of it. But I'm not, which annoys me but doesn't surprise me. Here's to good reviews (which means Mona Levin should back off, as her reviews are very crudely written - and yes, she's one of the few individuals whose work I don't mind slagging online) and many happy performances for the cast, crew and audience.

Am I going a bit too far when I order a DVD from an Italian site when I don't know any Italian and end up paying about as much as the DVD is worth just in postage? The interesting bit was that I understood much more Italian than I first thought...although finding United Kingdom on their list of countries was a bit of a drag, haha! The sad part is that the film I bought is supposed to be rather dull. Perhaps I need a hobby.

Ooh, and for some reason I have started watching Arrested Development. I thought it was "just another one of those American sitcoms", but it isn't. This one is actually hilarious (according to myself), and even though I skipped the whole first series I got into the story very quickly.

Now, how to survive the return of both Waking the Dead and Spooks within the scope of a few weeks? I may have a seizure of some sort. Or, I could just find myself a new hobby and realise that the telly is not my friend.

Current track: I think I have "Suddenly I See" with KT Tunstall on my mind right now.

Labels: comedy, dennis storhøi, nicola walker, online shopping, peter firth, philip quast, Spooks, theatre, trevor eve, TV