vodkafan

It had to be done

I can't think of any I have read! Sorry

It might be Finland's turn next year then! I remember back when there were only a few countries and we all used to get turns at winning quite regular...I am sure there was a sort of agreement going on.

Enjoying In The Year Of Jubilee. Today I dumped about 20 physical books from my bookshelves and deleted them from my TBR. The majority of them I had not read but I just lost interest in them. I brought them to work in a carrier bag and left them in the canteen, they will soon disappear. Another four or six I have decided I will read ASAP and then dump those too. Thank heaven for the kindle! Books there don't take up any space.

Mad Max 2 again

Athena how did you manage to get all those books home from the two places you went? That is a huge haul. For most of us it would be a years reading or more.

I dunno Noll. Between people just voting for the country next to them and this gimmick win it's just took a huge right angle turn to planet ridiculous. I just read that "Conchita " is actually just a bloke called Tom. I just heard the song at the end it seemed unremarkable at best. Do all the women have to have beards next year to be in with a chance? I mean, I don't mind gay people but they are just the same as everyone else. So why has every event now got to be about that?

My wife/exwife texted me and told me Eurovision was on. I didn't see any of the acts but just watched the voting. It was so surreal it was like watching the Capital people from Hunger Games? What is going on with the bearded lady? What is that all about? I guess it all stopped being about the music long ago....if it ever was about music at all

You are so cruel to me

Great thanks people!! Hi Ben

I saw half an episode of this but I had never seen it before . It had a painfully shy geeky guy who meets a nice dark haired woman on a train (this actress is now on Coronation street -or might be Eastenders- don't know her name or character though!). He is so shy that just for something to say he tells her of all things that he has an artificial leg (he hasn't) and when against all odds she wants to go on a date with him he has to keep up the pretence. Does this ring bells for anyone? I would really like to know the name of the series. (edit) I just googled the actress and she is Alison King who plays Carla Connors

That's it? You are not going to tell us if she was beaten up, traumatized, made into someone's mother of a puppy dog!, turned into a junkie , had her neck tattooed and learnt how to pick locks?

I have chosen In The Year Of Jubilee as my next Gissing book and am already two chapters in. Unlike The Nether World this one is very humourous right from the first page.

The Nether World 4/5 George Gissing I found this one of George's very hard to get through. Its not that it wasn't good; it was very good. As ever there seemed an almost magical perfect balance to me of plot, character and dialogue. But we are introduced to characters whose lives are so relentlessly grim that there is almost no hope of escape, and only one or two of them manage not to be dragged down into bestiality. George Gissing does quickly make you care about his characters. It was mostly for fear of what would happen next to poor little Jane Snowdon that sometimes I had to stop reading. But in the end there is an interesting and peaceful ending, though not as happy as the Odd Women or The Unclassed . This is a very moral tale, and the bad people meet bad ends, the people who eventually "go to the bad" also meet bad ends, and the good people- well I will let you find out for yourself, but they get sorely tested before the end of the book! There are no rich people in this story. It revolves around households of artizans and labourers who struggle to survive..the Victorian underclass for whom there is no cushion of financial security. Nobody in this story earns more than £2 per week, and most earn half that or less. £50 a year was considered as on the poverty line back then; as a rough rule of thumb £1 then is equivalent to about £100 now- can you imagine trying to feed a family and live on £100 per week or less? You might just manage so long as you stay healthy enough to work but once you get sick or old or are out of work the desperation can be imagined. I am not going to attempt a full review , but just paint a picture with a few words. The main character is little Jane Snowdon. Her mother dead, she has been abandoned by her father and given into the care of the vile Peckover family, where she has been turned into a "slavey" (or young maid of all work) and so ill fed and abused she is frightened of her own shadow. It turns out that she is a Cinderella when a mysterious old man appears and reveals himself to be her grandfather and takes her away in the nick of time. Rumours abound that the old man is in possession of a lot of money, although he spends little; this only fires people's imaginations that he is holding it all in trust for Jane after he is dead, which because of his age cannot be far away. The Peckovers- most especially the hateful daughter Clem- cannot bear the thought of the simple Jane having a better life and their plot to get hold of the money is advanced by the return of Jane's father, who is tricked into marrying Clem . There is a separate but entwined sub plot involving the Hewett family and their friend Sidney , an artizan who is the other moral character in the book, who had always tried to be kind to Jane when she was a slavey and who Jane therefore worships secretly. There is no elements of humour in the book; Gissing must have been in a grim state of mind when he wrote this. Well worth reading though.

This one is difficult for me as I haven't watched telly regularly for at least 12 years and if I am interested in a series I usually obtain it on DVD . The majority of these are from my childhood! Rome season 1 (the HBO version, as the BBC mauled the first two episodes of ours) Victorian Farm Upstairs Downstairs UFO (1970) Sapphire And Steel Robinson Crusoe (dubbed German black and white series shown when I was a kid) World At War documentary series Paper House (70's kids TV series based on the book Marianne Dreams) Timeslip Star Trek (original series only)

Oh I forgot Avengers Assemble that was so bad

I haven't seen any of the Transformers films. I suspect I would not like them. I also avoid nearly all comic book superhero movies so although I know I wouldn't like them, I cannot comment on them. My kids seem to like X men so I have seen bits of those films only.

There are sooo many....but here's 10 I have seen. There are many more I have simply avoided because I knew they would be stinkers Showgirls I am Legend Willy Wonka (Tim Burton version) Ender's Game (walked out the cinema) Porkie's 2 Journey to the Center of the Earth remake Mission Impossible 2 (that doesn't mean I liked the first one-I haven't seen it) Marmaduke Alvin and The Chipmunks (It's no wonder kids are growing up stupid) The Day The Earth Stood Still remake

I forgot Raising Arizona.

Pouring with rain today in the west midlands. Supposed to be on all day with no let up. I can believe it the sky is as dark and grey as if it was dusk.

Ah, I have to disagree dtr. Because when you look at a trilogy as individual films there is always one that you like better than the others; so you must be hard with yourself and make that one your choice, even if it not the first one in the series. That's why I chose Mad Max 2 . It was overall a much better film than the first film. In the same way Aliens is a better film than Alien.

I read a couple of reviews that gave an example . I like weird stuff like that.

OK here goes: Blade Runner Journey To The Centre Of The Earth (1959 James Mason version) The Good The Bad And The Ugly Kung Fu Hustle Conan The Barbarian (Arnold version) Total Recall (Arnold version) Strictly Ballroom Platoon Get Carter (Michael Caine original) Muriel's Wedding edit: I just realised that there is one Chinese, two Australian, one Spanish , one British and five American movies in my 10

You seriously expect me to cut in down to 10 ??

Yep- hard not to cry when he looks at the ocean and then lets his horse gallop off down the beach for the last time..and when Denzel picks up the flag