spooks hunted in Autumn

Early in the year I re-watched some of the Spooks series, which had run its course and finished after its ninth (?) series. We joked at the time about whether they'd need to come up with a privatised version next and 'lo' it appears to be so.

It looks as if the initial premise of the new series will be an agent Samantha being hunted a la Jason Bourne - with a dash of Homeland surveillance.

An observation about Spooks was it's London-centric nature and I think the new series starts here, although the private enterprise spin of should make it easier to move to other locations.

We shall see - although it's slightly worrying that it is already being advertised as an Autumn show. I like to think we are still in Summer.

quick fix sky reception after snow storm

There seem to be two methods, which are dish height dependent.

(1) lower dish. Hit it with a broomstick to dislodge ice and snow.
(2) higher dish. Throw a football at it to dislodge ice and snow.

I have used both methods successfully, although I expect they are frowned upon by Sky.

* I know the picture is of a barbecue. The Sky dish picture was a bit too blurry

enjoying a mud free glasto experience

In 2008, for Glasto we were camped near the hill by the tepees.

This year it'll be Glasto on the telly, although we did manage the Isle of Wight festival a couple of weeks ago.

I've watched a small slice already including Regina Spektor, the Ting Tings, Lily Allen and Fleet Foxes. All good, although you really need to use the red button ;-) to get the set coverage rather than an odd track followed by random filler.

But I can't help thinking of 2007.

2006 didn't happen. But there was always 2005.

and remember : Ketamine - Just say Neigh.

clanger

A small celebration of a TV legend today, with the passing away of Oliver Postgate, a childrens' television show developer with a canon of work developed in a particularly British way. Early watercolour cardboard cutout stop animation developed in a cow shed and later three dimensional sets for knitted puppets filmed outdoors under whatever lighting conditions prevailed.

I'll include The Clangers as a favourite, complete with the Soup Dragon, the one Cloud with a mind of its own and the home knitted idealism of the whole series.

I suspect many would hear Oliver Postgate's voice, whether in Clangers, Noggin the Nog, Ivor the Engine or Bagpuss and be reassured of a quirky and interesting tale where nothing really harmful would happen.

Away from small films, he was also a political activist, railing against nuclear weapons, urging thought about the environment and debating this year on the economic woes.

But I'll stick with his inspiration as a storyteller who could create many strange yet positive worlds for children of all ages.

Update : I see Bobkat has a similar thought also with a great video extract about the iron chicken