One Woman Goes To ....

Wootton Bassett

This article and picture was in today's paper. I don't know if it's the mundanity of the the high street as part of the final journey that makes it so stark. But it wrenched.

No bonnets please.

Definition of a good friend. One who provides you with your evening's viewing AND the dinner to eat in front of it.

My life having been hijacked by Walker watching I am now going to blog the TV dinner to go with it. ( Yep - it may have been ondes Martenot and Wagner yesterday but it's back to bad Balthazar and siblings today)

Raised on a diet of Pollyanna and forced school feeding of Jane Austen where visitors added to the woes of the unwell by ta ta ta ing a bowl of calves foot jelly from under the covers of their quaint baskets, the ill of yesteryear could amongst other things, only dream of having a branch of COOK nearby,instead of a surplus cache of calves feet to boil up. ( For a moment it makes me wonder where the calves feet of today trot off to but I can hear some throat clearing coming from Gillian and Hugh's direction so I'll stop that).

In comparison my freezer is thoughtfully stacked with 'homemade' COOK dishes, each with its simple, almost austere label, instructions and the name of the person who made it. So to Robert Stevens who 'cooked' for me this evening, compliments.

Bet Mr Darcy couldn't rustle a Roasted Vegetable Lasagne to match yours.

Does this happen all the time ?

Or is it a bit like Lucy and the wardrobe? Only when I venture into far corners of dark heavy places that I would usually pass without a backward glance?

Today this means reading the whole of the Observer Review section. Amongst other articles I have diligently digested ones on Jeremy Kyle, Cold War design, Billie, Baghdad head bangers and spectacular Scouse spiders. The breath of which begs the question - should I get out more or actually stay in more often?

Page 17 and a little past the halfway mark (phew!) and I read a review of the Proms (Prom 64) and come across mention of a musical instrument which I have never ever heard of. The ondes Martenot. I think I learn that it's the signature instrument for Wagner's Tristan and Isolde.

That absorbed, I move on to Miranda Sawyer's radio roundup and a review of Brel et Moi: Alastair Campbell on Jacques Brel. Yes him ( Alastair - I didn't know who Brel was either). But far more bizarre. 'Brel used the strange sound of a ondes Martenot in some of his songs'. Then also reviewed from Radio 3 that week - 'The power of the Ondes' described as a fascinating summary of this amazing early electronic instrument'. All of which prompted the reviewer to look up ondes Martenot on Google Image. She was duly impressed.

Do Observer journalists operate some kind of buzzword bingo sweepstake ? Or is the ondes Martenot the double decker of the musical instrument world. None and then three all at once ?

Anyway according to Miranda 'you'd know it if you heard it : an eerie horror-film wail'.

Spooky.

Missing from yesterday's post

Today's photo is of the house from Brothers and Sisters. I don't know if it has a name. It may just be known as 'Mum's'. But as Southfork was the Ewings so this Pasedena pile is to the Walkers. This is not going to become a B&S blog but yesterday having forgotten how to link I am going to correct that today. Plus a bonus link.

Here's the B&S's box set I am watching and one for 'The Brothers'. I don't rememember the plot detail of 'The Brothers' but I do remember the excitement it brought to otherwise deathly Sundays. Were there any sisters in it? If so, no title acknowledgement for them.

The bonus link is to Kitty's engagement ring. Yes, a plot spoiler I know. But the ABC website is full of spoilers. For those who come late to the party there is no respectful 'if you don't wish to know the score look away now'. But I enjoyed the 'you may not be engaged to a senator but...' and wanted to share....

What 70's treasures might 'The Brothers' merchandise line have given us....

Sometimes when you can't do what you want to do ... you find something even better instead....

Back to blog after an extended summer break but to the temporary colonisation of the sofa to recuperate after an op. Surrounding me are piles of magazines,books and DVDs ready for distraction and entertainment. Enforced rest is a bit like being plunged into a powercut. You can't do what you were planning to do or what you would normally do so you think - never mind - it's a great opportunity to do this or that instead . So you go to get started and then - guess what- that also requires power or light of some kind. So I keep thinking now would be a great time to do...and then realising that my mind can think what it likes, my body is on candle and swan vesta wattage right now and until the power comes back on that's that.

However my limited range is not without obligations or responsibilities. My loaned DVD stack includes many ' this is one of my absolute favorites'. Each one presented and pitched by its sponsor as if not to watch it would be akin to pinning my recovery on the slickest of snake oil purveyors.

Of the 'Brothers & Sisters' season one box set, at 988 minutes it was a tough sell. 'Perhaps if you watched 1 or 2 episodes before going into hospital then knowing you had 21 more still to come, it would be something to look forward to ...'

Not wanting this healing burden to rest so heavily on Calista's slender shoulders I desisted. The right decision. Knowing what I know now, how could I have counted backwards into anaesthetized oblivion without knowing how it worked out Walker wise ?

'Brothers & Sisters' is the perfect mesh of my 1st grown up TV must watch 'The Brothers' with the shimmering gloss that the 70's just didn't have ( hair,interiors,perfectly catered parties,cashmere,lip, kitchens large enough to host any family sized showdown).

So with 19 episodes still to go of season 1, the whole of season 2 and with season 3 starting this month in the US I am a gluttinous late adopter.

There had better not be any power cuts.