SOME COMMENTS FROM LOCKDOWN

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As the lockdown continues and we start to suffer more and more from cabin fever, here are some thoughts and comments . . .

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Two grandmothers were bragging about their precious darlings. One of them says to the other, “Mine are so good at social distancing, they won’t even call me!”

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In that the bulk of our office staff are restricted to their respective local government areas, our office is now being conducted remotely. Phones are diverted and we are communicating with each other, and dealing with matters, via email and text messages, more so than by telephone. Signing and witnessing od documents is being done by audio visual means.

Strange days.

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I have rediscovered some of the delights of free to air TV and items on Youtube.

Here are some recommendations:

Great British Car Journeys

Peter Davison and Christopher Timothy, who played Tristan Farnon and James Herriot respectively in the 1978 Brit TV series All Creatures Great and Small, have remained lifelong friends since those days, Forty years later they get together to recreate the 1930s golden age of motoring by travelling roads away from the main roads and motorways in a 1936 Morgan using original maps. Along the way they meet interesting people, rc[;pre fascinating locations and discuss various matters of history.

Well worth looking at, especially if you love a bit of Brit whimsy. Find it on Youtube, also called Vintage Roads

All Creatures Great and Small

Quality TV programming remains watchable over the years, as much as the Marx Brothers films are still great today. So it is with All Creatures Great and Small. Another very watchable series of the life of a veterinary practice in the Yorkshire Dales in the 1930s, Aye, there be naught like ut on television, I tell thee,

Look it up on Youtube, Season 1 and various later episodes. The 1978 version is best but the 2020 remake is also worth a look.

Hairy Bikers

It is exactly what the names says, two hairy bikers who travel the British Isles discovering recipes and foods whilst cooking their own dishes and presenting information. By the way, the 2 bikers, Si King and Dave Myers have been cooking as a duo for over 20 years but are not a couple, You could do worse than watch their 6 part series from 2019 when they travelled the length of Route 66, much like Billy Connolly did on his hog but this time from a culinary perspective. Entertaining.

Look up the episodes on Youtube.

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The enforced stay at home has resulted in 7mate, 7two and 7flix having become my favourite free to air stations, much to the annoyance of Kate, who does not share my tastes . . .

American Pickers

Canadian Pickers

Aussie Pickers

Storage Wars

Pawn Stars

Hardcore Pawn

Swamp People

Aircraft Investigation

Crash Investigation

Some others . . .

Mystery Diners

Australian Survivor

I can see Steve M rolling his eyes and face palming.

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Some recommended movies we have watched:

The Trial of the Chicago 7

A 2020 American historical legal drama film which follows the Chicago Seven, a group of anti–Vietnam War protesters charged with conspiracy and crossing state lines with the intention of inciting riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Hard to believe that this happened in relatively recent times, great cast.

The Beautiful Fantastic

A 2016 Brit film about a young woman with obsessive–compulsive disorder who works in a public library and is trying to write a children’s book. Her fear of plants causes her to neglect the garden of her rented house causing her landlord gives her one month in which to improve the garden, or face eviction. As the story progresses, she develops relationships with her curmudgeonly next-door-neighbour, his doctor, her cook/housekeeper, and a male inventor who frequents the library. Good film.

Greenfingers

A 2000 British comedy film loosely based on the true story about the award-winning prisoners of HMP Leyhill, a minimum-security prison in the Cotswolds, England, a story published in The New York Times in 1998. Charming and moving little film.

The Dig

A 2021 British drama film based on the 2007 novel of the same name by John Preston, which reimagines the events of the 1939 excavation of Sutton Hoo. In the late 1930s, wealthy landowner Edith Pretty hires amateur archaeologist Basil Brown to investigate the mounds on her property in England. He and his team discover a ship from the Dark Ages while digging up a burial ground. Ultimately, the amateurs end up in conflict with the bureaucracies but succeed in revising Brit history.