Tuesday 29 November 2011

The Wonders of Matronymics

I's looking over Mrs Doonuthin's shoulder whilst she's reading her copy of Michael Ridpath's latest Icelandic set thriller "66 Degrees North". She's enjoyin it too. I can tell. She's slowin her crunchin on tortilla chips and the glass of red by her side is still practically full.

Anyways I am most impressed by the system of family names in Iceland.  Sons take Father's first name +..."son" and daughters take Father or perhaps Mother's name + ..dottir.

I do rather fancy struttin around as Greydoll Cecilsdottir or Greydoll Sybilsdottir.

Whatever. Now my dear little parthenogenetic daughters have a proper family name courtesy of Icelandic custom - Aurelia Greydollsdottir, Beryl Greydollsdottir ..........

I am happy.

Sunday 27 November 2011

Tuesday 22 November 2011

The Rook Scientific

So I'm a bit late getting downstairs this mornin... Busy swabbing out the bathroom etc. And when I gets down, The Old Man says...

"So you missed Jim Al-Khalili then..."
"You what?"
"Jim Al-Khalili... The Life Scientific.... on Radio 4... just now..."
"Yes?"
"Today talking to a scientist, Nicky Clayton about her work with crows... says they can work out problems that human children can't..."
"Damn. I likes rooks and so on. I'll have to Listen Again as they do like to say on the Radio. Or download it as a Podcast...."

Sunday 20 November 2011

The Old Man Watches "The Killing 2" on BBC4

So. There we have it. Saturday nights on the telly worked out.

As you may know The Old Man does have some problems with things like film or telly dramas... that facial recognition thing... (see Post for 6 Sept 2011)... So I's being all careful about it and says that as long as I can watch Episode 1 in real time... and Episode 2 is recorded for me to catch up with... then he's let off and we can watch something else at 10 pm. Cos I know he did manage most of the first series... much to my surprise.

He looks at me uneasy but says OK. And so we watch the first episode at the end of which The Old Man lets out a great sigh of relief. Then he says to me:

"Think I'd like to watch something else now. Rather than straight into the next episode."

"OK" say I, "I'll just pop out for a mo... be back in a minute..."

So I come back a few minutes later...
and The Old Man is sat there.... gripping the arms of his chair.... with the credits for Episode 2 of "The Killing 2" rolling up the screen.

"Hey! You..." yell I.... as I settle down on the sofa.... just in time...

Friday 18 November 2011

Deadlines

Reblogged from the group blog Drawn.....
which brings my attention to great little film on YouTube from KreativMagazin illustrating that deadlines can be a problem.... and creativity can take time to blossom.

Oh Yeah....


Thursday 17 November 2011

This Saturday - The Killing 2

Just a little reminder.
This Saturday Nov 19th on BBC4 at 9pm. Sara's back on British TV in series 2 of Danish thriller "The Killing".
Episode 1 at 9pm and episode 2 follows at 10pm. The Old Man will complain that he can't possibly sustain two hours on the trot.... wimp! But hey.. what are HDDr gizmos for, or "catchup" on the Internet.

And... And... for those of you Sara fans who are also knitaholics... Radio Times (19th - 25th Nov issue) has a knitting pattern for the new red sweater. Yes. The new one. Well they certainly hope to boost sales.

Monday 14 November 2011

Mrs Doonuthin Comes to Tea

Will you just look at the state of her?

Some elder-folk just never grow up.

Maybe all that red wine and all those tortilla chips finally destroyed whatever was left of her sense of propriety.

She says she's goin' to a fancy-dress party. But I just do not believe her. I know her too well.
I think it's her "new look".

Sunday 13 November 2011

Graphic Passions: Norwegian Ink: Comics Artist Jason

And just in case you think it's purely a question of Scandinavian Crime Writing... Consider the possibilities of Scandinavian Comic artists...

My eyes were drawn (by the group blog Drawn!!) to an interview with Norwegian comic artist Jason by Dan Wagstaff on his book culture blog "The Casual Optimist"... which is great.

I borrowed Jason's "The Living and the Dead" from my local library some time ago. (Good choice!) And very much enjoyed it.... Zombies as Krazy Kat. (If you don't realise my tastes by now...) So for me this was a happy reminder of the intriguing work of another comic artist which I'd like to see more of.

Oh and comic artists in Norway? Well let's just say that Jason decided to base himself in France for more work opportunities. Bande-dessinee and all that.

Saturday 12 November 2011

"The Strand" & a Short Interview With Jussi Adler-Olsen

Lyin' around listenin to BBC World Service as I do. I catch their arts programme "The Strand" which includes a short interview with Danish crime writer Jussi Adler-Olsen on the popularity of Scandinavian Crime Fiction. Check out these links to find out more and "listen again".

And...and..and...
.....following on from yesterday's post about BBC4's Scandinavian Crime shows there is a Stop Press for Wallander portrayed by Rolf Lassgard. BBC 4 is showing a feature-length Wallander story "The Pyramid" starring Rolf Lassgard tonight, Saturday 12 Nov, at 9pm... repeated November Fri 18 at 01:30 am)

Mrs Doonuthin reckons you should know about all this stuff.

Friday 11 November 2011

More Scandinavian Crime Comes to the Telly

I meant to say....
that the Independent mentions several Scandinavian treats coming to BBC4 in 2012.

One is a Danish/Swedish co-production titled "The Bridge" - because the body of a woman is indeed found bang in the middle of the Oresund Bridge that connects Danish Copenhagen and Swedish Malmo - which means that a two-country police team has to be assembled in order to investigate the crime.

Another is "Sebastian Bergman" - two 90 minute films starring Rolf Lassgard (last seen by us as Kurt Wallander in a feature length version of "The Man Who Smiled") as a detective investigating the death of a 15 year old boy. You can read a bit more about both of these here.

There is also a Danish political series "Borgen" from the same production company as "The Killing".

Meanwhile... and for something a bit more Gallic... anybody got any news on the fourth series of French crime serial "Spiral" aka "Engrenages"?

Thursday 10 November 2011

Harvesting My Squashes...

All two of them! But there you are.

They's a good size each so worth it if they ripen off and store well.
One's a Crown Prince, bless him. The other is a Musquee de Provence which should turn orange when ripe. I've never eaten one of those.

Ooops! Not in front of the children.....




Monday 7 November 2011

Red Sweater Day: "The Killing 2" is Coming

Hang on to your nicotine chewing gum, Sara's back.
And this time the sweater is red.

Yup! Splendid Danish crime serial "Forbrydelsen" returns to BBC 4 with Series 2, starting Saturday Nov 19th. You can read the Independent's article and their interview with lead actress Sofie Grabol here.
But meanwhile make sure you clear the calendar, set up the HDR or ... whatever it takes to make sure that you see "The Killing 2" from the very start.

Me? I'm sittin' in front of the telly right now... and I ain't movin till I seen it....

Friday 4 November 2011

Time to Go Home....

We walk on the moors and wait to see the starlings which don't quite arrive when we hope but hey I reckon we's too early in the season. But we do see lots of cormorants hanging their wings out to dry instead.

I do feed the farm goat with carrots in order to discourage it from eating my clothes - whilst I'm in them.

We buy stuff in Glastonbury from the biggest eco-organic supermarket that I've ever come across. And we queue up and eat good veggie grub from Glastonbury's Rainbow's End Cafe.

We get a visit from old friends Photo-Girl and Hubbie from Bath. We share lunch and a good chat and a moory-reedy walk with them.

I see the places that The Old Man lived in when he's growin' up.

And I have to say ... last but not least... I do love my stay at MapleLeaf Middlewick Cottages in the wooden cabin with it's garden and view of old orchard fields, horses, hungry goat, chickens... and The Tor.

But..... it time to go home.

Thursday 3 November 2011

A Beautiful Morning in Somerset

Mist rising up from King's Sedgemoor below this hill.

You can see the checquer board effect of the rhynes, narrow drainage channels, running through King's Sedgemoor below.

"Wow..." I did say. As did several others standing on the hill.

Wednesday 2 November 2011

My Own Little House on The Levels

Oooh ain't she sweet? A Shepherd's Hut all for me to sleep in.

Wake up in the mornin', open the blind and stare out at The Tor.

I do love it.

Tuesday 1 November 2011

We Did Go on Holiday!

We goes to Somerset ... land of The Old man's upbringing and land of my very first student years all those decades ago.

Like the faded hippie that I be... I chose a place right next to Glastonbury.

Here you can see us standing in the garden of the wooden cabin what we stay in....next to a little orchard ... with Glastonbury Tor right behind us.

Oh I always wanted to stay in a wooden cabin. It were nice.