WebOct 12

I love a good quiz. And there aren't any pub quizzes here, mainly because there aren't any pubs. So once a week I sign in to

JOHN KUTNER'S MUSIC QUIZ.

Sometimes there is a theme, sometimes there isn't. There are plenty of participants many of which are better than me. I normally end up between 50th and a 100th over the 12 week league averaging between 7 and 8 points out of 10 but I once managed 38th with an 8+ score average.

In addition he has a "single of the week" page giving the story behind the song, birthdays for the week and other trivia pages.

If you like a music quiz then why not join in? Just please don't beat me!

WebOct 11

Todays website is an important one for us but other than perhaps a look at some pictures, of very little interest to anyone more than a few miles from where I sit.

LOUPIA WEBSITE

This is the official website for our village. It lets us know what is on, sometimes, allows us to see who is selling up, and gives us a chance to swot up on the history.

The downside is that it is, of course, in French!

WebOct 10

Photographs once again.

BBC PICTURE CHALLENGE

The BBC run a photo competition every week. I enter quite often but never get a picture published but one never knows. Well, I do. I tend to be more of a snapshot photographer and don't put the time in to get the right shot or to frame it properly but one day I might have a lucky break. Interesting to see what others make of the topic. Sometimes it is very literal and others it is interpretive. So now I need to work on - On Toast, Footprints and Shivers over the next three consecutive weeks....

WebOct 9

I do like a good show tune. Or I do when I'm in the mood. Other than Elaine Paige on Radio 2 of a Sunday lunchtime you only get to hear songs from musicals in special programmes so I was happy when a friend online linked to

ENCORE RADIO.

Although it is only available online I can get my fill whenever I want. And that includes when I'm driving as long as the mobile network holds up. To be fair, even as an enthusiast of musicals, I can't manage much more than two hours without needing a change. But dipping in and out is a pleasure.

WebOct8

Today's site is another of my photography tools,

IPICCY.

iPiccy is a photo editing site which is easy to use. I can use it so it must be. I'm sure there are better ones with more features but it has enough different actions and filters to make me feel as though I am in control without having too many you don't know what they are for.

In additions to photos, I've discovered, or rather I've realised, it is good for improving scans that I've made.

I haven't tried the collage part of the site yet but I should probably try as no doubt we will have plenty of opportunities to make hundreds of collages of Grand-daughter no 1 once the Magnificent M realises it is possible.

And best of all it's free and being a web based programme it isn't eating up 100s of gigabytes of the hard disk to change a 2 mb photo.

The foolowing site is the one I guess we should blame for us ending up living in France.

FRENCH PROPERTY LINKS

From the very first time we thought about the possibility of moving we checked out what was available, really to see what we might want when we retired. It was on this site we found the house which, although not the house we bought, meant we ended up seeing the house we bought.

Whether you fancy the idea of relocting or just want to see what a comparable house costs in France to the UK, you can browse for hours looking as French chic, or wrecks and a smattering of houses that still have gaudy 1960's orange geometric wallpaper.

WebOct 6

There are loads of backing tracks to sing along to on YouTube if you want a bit of Karaoke but if you want to go one step further then the site for you is

AMERITZ

There are thousands of professional backing tracks which are all very well, but the addition that they have over some others, is the chance to change the key that the music is in so it sits comfortably in your range. They are great for practicing with before performances, even if you are just chorus and often proves that you haven't learnt the words half as well as you think whilst you've been practicing against a recording with the lyrics sung. I tend to use them for singing but actually they would also be good for solo instrumentalists.

Lots of different genres and with the occasional sale there are times when you can pick them up very cheaply.

A bit of a niche site perhaps but an important one for me.

WebOct5

Sometimes French radio is too much and I don't fancy any of my cds so where do I head?

LIBRIVOX

This is a vast range of audio books that you can download free. I have been working my way though the detective mysteries. It's been very interesting listening to books written around 100 years ago. There are often things crop up that are relevant to political or social situations now and it gives a different perspective on the present times.

It is based in the USA so most of the readers are American which can lead to some interesting pronunciations of British place names some sounding funny but others being annoying.

There are many genres of fiction and non-fiction therein, with famous authors and others whom have probably not been heard of in many a year.

Anyway, it's free, so why not downoad one. There's not much to lose and a lot to gain.

WebOct 4

Today brings another site at which I while away time when I should probably be doing something a bit more constructive.

PUZZLE MADNESS

It has a number of different format puzzles miainly based on japanese number puzzles. A number of versions of Suduko of which I prefer Mathdoku, a particularly bad mashup of Japanese and English terms. Whilst being number based I like Nonograms. On this site they are random puzzles but a brief google search comes up with some magnificent pictures,

a modern version of painting by numbers.

They also have what for me is one of the most pointless puzzles - wordsearch. There isn't any skill in it. But each to their own.

Now, do I write the work emails I have to do or am I going to be diverted to do today's puzzle.......

WebOct 3

Today's site charts all things astronomical.

HEAVENS ABOVE

Whilst Kirsty McColl sang "it's hard to wish on space hardware", should you wish to do so, this is the site for you. You can follow the International Space Station, Hubble Space Telescope and a number of satellites, the positions of the planets in the sky in case you want to spot a tiny point of light which might just be Jupiter, and what's happening to all those satellites they got excited about when they were launched? Like Voyager 1, which is still going some 140,000+ light years away!

The reason I originally found it was because of Iridium Flares. This is where light from the sun bounces off a satellite and as you look at the sky you see it flare up and die away. It interested me for a bit but then I thought it was a great way of getting kids involved in astronomy beyond just showing them stars.

So, if you want to know what is going on up there bove your head, this is the site for you.

WebOct 2

Throughout my time Blogging I have occasionally picked up on photography sites that I can flex my artistic muscles over. The one that occupied my time most was BLIPFOTO. It is a simple premise - Just post a picture a day. Whether you choose to run your page as photo only, give a basic description or a full post explaining it is up to you. I haven't actually posted anything for about 10 months although I keep thinking I will go back to it. I "met" a few people through it who became online friends. Even as I write this I am thinking it would be a good idea.

Anyway, if I do post again it will be here, on DAY BY DAVE

WebOct 1

Welcome to the month long Weblog event. A different website each day that means something to me either for personal reasons or just for interest.
But where to start? Particularly as I haven't had time to think about this for long. So I am going to start where I start with my day's browsing. Which is with another blog.

DIAMOND GEEZER

You may or may not be familiar with him. Diamond Geezer is based in Bow, East London and blogs every day. every singe day. And not just a quick dozen words about what he had for breakfast, although I think that has once happened, but a good 500 - 1000 words per day. He's been doing this longer than I have and if nothing else I admire his stamina.

Some days his post is very local to where he lives. Who of his readers can forget this years Bus Stop M saga. Although even some of thoe posts are interesting. But through his site and the occasional gems that pop up I now know there is a place in Essex which has a scale model of the solar system. Not just in a display case but starting on a village green with the Sun. The planets are then placed radiating out from the sun in their correct orbital positions. If I remember correctly, Pluto is somewhere in a field outside of the village. He also won't blog on behalf of companies
wishing to promote themselves which usually leads to a quarterly review of what he's been asked to write about and the ways in which he is approached.

In the last week, and this is quite a good week to look at he has covered;
1/10 - A look at Hampstead and Camden as part of an ongoing series looking at the proposed London Boroughs which never happened.
30/9 - 50 years of Radio 1. Looking at the daily running schedule every 5 years and where the DJs are now.
29/9 - What transport plans were proposed in 2006 and what happened to them.
28/9 - A visit to the Heights of Abraham in Derbyshire
27/9 - A visit to Derby which was mainly spent on the train with little time in the destination itself.
26/9 - 50 things that niggle me. 50 things that annoy me. 50 things that make me angry
25/9 - A look at Wandsworth as part of the same series as 1/10.

I think it is definitely a blog for those who have a connection with London but he certainly has plenty of readers from around the UK and the rest of the world who get an insight into his world. I commend him to you, if only for an occasional dip in to see what he has been up to and why.

Weblog October

Following on from Messrs Brennig and Masher's month of blogging earlier this year I declared I would suggest something for the month of October. All through September I have been wrestling with two ideas as to which shoud mark my premiere appearance of Blogger in Chief for the month. Having had sleepless nights and hours of in-depth thought I have decided to throw both ideas out of the window and go with something else.

This blogging lark has been around a few years now, I myself have been about it for the thick end of 20 years. And I thought why not go a bit retro. In the beginning, and should any young person inadvertently look at my blog whilst looking for something more interesting and not realise it, originally, weblogging was about listing websites that might be of interest to others or linked to each other by theme. Therefore for the month of October I will choose a website per day which I have in my favourites or have used in the past, and say why it is a favourite or what it is about etc.

And if Messrs Brennig and Masher chose to join me I will be honoured. And if anyone else joins in I will be even more cock-a-hoop.

Broken!

Well, I thought since my chest was still hurting a bit, although a great deal better, I ought to go get an x-ray 5 weeks after the event. I was being nagged by too many people to get it done. As always it was very efficient and within minutes of the x-ray I had the results in my hand. I've broken my sternum. Yep, I appear to have broken myself in half. Perhaps if I fit a hinge system to the back and zip at the front I could open like a Russian doll. That would be fun.

Anyway, having left it 5 weeks I'm not really able to take advantage by lying on the couch like a Victorian maiden with an attack of the vapours. But that's what we are like us Northerners. Our bodies break but we still carry on. Slowly. Although I think that might be my advancing age.

Bang Crash Wallop.

Well, it's not been the best of days.

I was travelling into Limoux this morning when I had to pull slightly right to avoid a lorry coming the other way. Unfortunately it was at a bit where the bridge cuts in left.

There was a van/bridge interface clash.

I managed to block half the road at a 45˚ angle. So I had 15 minutes of traffic directing and then the Gendarmes turned up. They rang for a breakdown truck whilst directing the traffic. They were very efficient. Their main concern was getting the road clear. So much so that they didn't bother checking my licence, insurance, anything. Not that there would have been a problem if they had. But no doubt in the UK I would have had drink and drug tests, all my paperwork checked. One of the most interesting things was how many people stopped to ask if I needed help. Possibly 1 in every 5 vehicles coming past. Sometimes 2 or 3 cars in a row. It's one of the things I like about being here.

Anyhow, the van is now at a garage where a loss adjuster will decide if it's repairable or dead. I think it might be touch and go!

Closing Credits

Well, that didn't go quite to plan.

We have been exceptionally busy during June. Much busier than we should have been. The weather has been very unusual and the pools don't like it. I wasn't short of time for watching films because you can do that late at night when knackered but as for writing up reviews, well, I was just a bit short of brain power.

Had I have been on the ball then you would also have been reading about

And on a rather co-incidental but sad note comes the news of Barry Norman's death.

Credits Roll.

Film 2017 - 3 of 10 - The Jungle Book 2016

So worried are Disney that you may mix them up, the official title for this film includes the date. They needn't have bothered.

A friend recommended the film and I certainly had misgivings. Even if this second version was from Disney it couldn't live up to the original cartoon version could it?

I started watching and within 15 minutes I had to turn it off. It didn't compare with the original and so I had to take a decision and alter my state of mind.

Second time round I started watching a film called The Jungle Book made last year. And from then it improved once I disassociated the two films.

Jungle Book has a special place for me as I grew up going through the Scout Movement from Cub to Venture. One of my best friends at the time's family was immersed in our local pack. His mother was Akela, his Dad - Hathi, Sister - Bagheera, Uncle - Kaa. his brother, on becoming of age, was Mowgli.

But back to the film. As one would expect, the CGIs are very good and to have a real life Mowgli, Neil Sethi, didn't seem out of place with the background. The story follows the original, and by that, I mean the original book, well enough. And as it is CGI'd characters other than Mowgli it is not really viable to comment on their acting ability. By the end of the film I had got used to seeing the characters as depicted in this film although I wasn't that enamoured with Kaa the Snake, perhaps I wanted to be mesmerised by the kaleidoscopic eyes of the original animation. The character I found completely out of place though was King Louis. There was nothing regal about him, just his enormous size. Too enormous in my book.

The soundtrack contained the original songs Bare Necessities, Trust in Me and I Wanna Be Like You. To my ear, not one of these matched the versions of the animated film.

I think this film would be best enjoyed having never seen or heard the original film and soundtrack. It would then stand on it's own merits, but you cannot remake such a classic film and hope to score a similar success, although they are now trying it with Beauty & The Beast. Just because technology moves on and you have more bells and whistles doesn't mean you can automatically improve things no matter how you market it and hype it up. Just don't try to fool me man-cub!

New to the Jungle Book franchise? - 3 vines out of 5.
Seen the original? - 1 Prickly Pear out of 5

Film 17 - 2 of 12 - PS I Love You

This is a Chick Flick. Possibly the most chickiest one you can get. It would be a rom com as there is plenty of rom but the subject matter precludes a com really. And so intense is it's appeal to certain members of the female sex that I shall divulge the effect it had on two of M's daughters at the end.

So, the premise is this. Hilary Swank (no tittering at the back!), plays Holly, a young American lady who visits Ireland on holiday. She meets Gerry, played by Gerard Butler, whom I am reliably informed should only have his name mentioned if you are going to follow it up with the words "witness the fitness", and they get married. It is not a spoiler but the main pivotal point of the movie, is that he dies. And Holly is devastated. As she might well be. And she thinks her life is over. And then a message turns up for her on her birthday from Gerry. Not in a "blimey, is he really still alive" sort of a way, but in as much as he has planned this before his death. In fact there are a number of messages and letters which make their way to her, over a period of time, from various different characters whom he has tipped off and provided with the necessary.

There are some interesting co-stars. Lisa Kudrow, of Friends fame, plays one of Hollys friends. James Masters who was Spike in Buffy the Vampire Slayer plays somebody or other but to be honest he was forgettable. Kathy Bates is Hollys mother and doesn't break anybodys legs. And Jeffrey Dean Morgan turns up as one of Gerry's best friends, probably best known for his role as a patient in Greys Anatomy who stole the heart of the blonde doctor whose name escapes me. And finally, Harry Connick Junior plays her best male friend. Badly.

It is a pleasant enough film and it doesn't require much brain power.

Many tissues will be required.

I must now warn my male readers that there are two possible outcomes from watching this film wth your beloved. As the final credits roll she may be overcome with a wave of romantic sentiment and lie trembling in your arms ready for you to prove you are her man. On the other hand you could be hit by a tirade of abuse based on the fact that you don't have a romantic bone in your body and you wouldn't possibly do anything like that would you, you cold-hearted unromantic bastard, I don't know what I ever saw in you. I should have listened to my mother... etc. etc. Good luck!

Anyway, back to my original comment about M's daughters. So much did they fall under the spell of Gerard Butler and all the gorgeous "Oirish" people, that they booked a series of weekends away in Dublin to go find Irish boyfriends, just like Gerry. They failed. One of them did get an Irish boyfriend who lived nearby in London, but it turned out he was a twat.

Actually, I enjoyed it for what it was and whenever it is on tv, which is reasonably regularly, and there is nothing else on, we dip in again.

4 out of 5 shamrocks.

Film 17 - 1 of 12 - La La Land.

Dum dum dum, dum dum dum, d'dl um, da dum dum dum, da da dum dum dum. (Come along, we are all old enough to know that tune!).

So here we are, ready for the first of my film reviews. But where to start? Then it came to me......watch a film!

One of the films that has made much of the talk of the last 12 months or more is La La Land. Heralded as a return to the glorious days of The Musical, a genre which sees me both as audience and player, though on stage rather than on film, I was ready to be wowed!

The first thing to hit was the colour. The sky too blue, the grass too green, either the colour saturation or the contrast has been notched up in the cinematography department. I suspect the idea was for you to be hit by a blaze of colour. You are, but not for me in a nice way. And this is the first indication of how the film is going to be.

It is basically the story of boy meets girl, boy loses girl, and I won't give the end away.

The film appears to lack any real continuity. You can see the thought process of how it came to screen, 1) Let's make a musical, that hasn't been done for a bit. 2) Here's 5 bits of storyline I want to use and we'll make something up to link them even if it isn't very good. 3) Ooh my friend has some songs, we can use those somewhere. And so it continues.

So overpowering is this sense of mechanics that I never became attached to the characters. Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone put the work in but didn't seem to have that much chemistry. The only time I felt their characters connect and sizzle on screen was near the very end. If you watch it you will guess to what bit I am referring but would be a spoiler to mention it here.

The story ambles along from point to point and the other characters make their entrances and exits without being memorable. The music is ok. The big number as far as popularity goes is City of Stars. You've probably heard it I doubt you can hum it let alone sing it. Some of the jazz in it is good, obviously the incidental bits played by such luminaries as Thelonius Monk, but the new numbers as performed by what the credits call The La La Land Jazz Ensemble. I can't credit the pianist who plays Ryan Gosling's pieces and I am assuming it is not him, though for me, if it is, I prefer him as a musician than actor.

Everything you need for the film is there on paper but not on celluloid, or whatever medium they use these days. And it is no match for those musicals it so desperately wishes to emulate. Having said that, I do think it has a bright future, just not in this form. Eventually someone will write "the book" which will allow it to be performed on stage and I think there it might find it's forte as a stalwart of the am-dram musical scene for years to come.

It will come as no surprise that, despite it's 6 Oscars and gor knows how many other awards and nominations, I'm afraid for me it is a 2* rating. Not so much La La Land as La La Lacking.

Flying Visit

Back in the UK for a very swift visit. Two days of babysitting grand-daughter coming to an end and then two days of celebrating the Magnificent M's Big Birthday.

Once again, a visit here is anything but a relaxing holiday!