Dare to Tell

Welcome to a cloudy South Manchester with a hint of blue sky and some sunshine later. 

Well it is now official. 

The UK is the laughing stock of the world. 

Having shot ourselves in the foot by leaving the EU, the most recent Prime Minister, Liz Truss, tried to impose her stupid economic plan on the UK even though people told her what would be the fallout.

The result? Mortgage rates have shot up, interest rates have shot up and the stock market plunged. The pound collapsed and fell to its lowest level ever against the dollar. The whole world watched in disbelief as we started to self-destruct. What did she do? She sacked her chancellor, a man who instigated her plans and totally agreed and she replaced him with another man who has openly criticised her and completely U-turned her policies.

Her party has fallen apart and unfortunately has two years left before the next election can turf them out. 

And now, this week, she resigned as Prime Minister, after a mere 45 days – making her the shortest ever serving Prime Minister in British history. 

So now we have to look for yet another new leader – well when I say “we” I mean approximately 150,000 members of her party. 

This will be three leaders in a year!

Understandably there is the beginning of a outcry demanding a General Election. They won’t call one because at the moment, the polls suggest that her party, the Conservatives, will be annihilated; most of the lunatics in her party just want to hold on to their jobs – albeit by a thread. 

And guess who is stepping up to put himself forward for the job? None other than the clown prince of dumb scarecrows, the cheating, lying sack of shit that is Boris Johnson. 

You can’t make it up. They reckon that three people will stand – Rishi Sunak, who lost to Liz Truss, Penny Mordaunt, a mad uber-Brexiter, and the idiot who caused the chaos in the first place, Boris Johnson.

I swear that if that clown is chosen, I will seriously consider retiring next week and leaving the country.

Watch this space. I will distract my raging mind with some silly questions, as usual from Sunday Stealing. 

1. What type of day are you having? 

So far it is not bad, despite the economic chaos that is set to ruin the UK. I had a slight lie in this morning and enjoyed an omelette for breakfast accompanied by a huge cup of tea. I am off out with a few friends for a meal as the last celebration of my 60th birthday, which incidentally continued last week with a visit to the lovely city of Copenhagen in Denmark (another new country). I think today will be a good day as long as I don’t watch the news. 

Was there anyone who "made your day"?

Mrs PM always makes my day as do my cats. I was woken up by a hungry Ziggy and I found him rubbing his head against mine just before a purring Star(dust) approached and flopped next to me. Always good to be woken up by cats (as long as it isn’t too early of course). 

Are you liking how you look today? 

I look the same as I usually look – a mad-haired old baboon wearing a polo shirt and jeans. I may make an effort when I go out later by putting on a shirt.

Have you ever eaten a bug? 

I have been offered bugs in China and I flatly refused in the politest way he could. However, I think I might have accidentally swallowed a small insect on a couple of occasions in my life. It had no adverse effects and I think my antennae actually suit me. I love the blue hue too. 

Are you vegetarian? 

Not at all. I love meat. I do have the odd meat free day though where I eat fish instead of meat (though some vegetarians argue that fish is meat too). 

When was your last paycheck? 

15th October. 

How many pets do you have? 

I have two black cats called Ziggy and Star (though I call her Stardust). They are about two years old and basically rule our house. At the moment, Stardust is sitting behind me on the arm of the sofa watching me and listening to my music and Ziggy is at the bottom of the garden watching birds in a nearby tree. 

Here they are:

What kind of toothpaste do you use? 

I use Colgate cavity protection. It tastes reasonable. 

Are you closer to being rich or poor? 

I am definitely not rich but I am not poor either. I guess that I sit in what we in the UK call “the middle class”. I was born into a working class family but thanks to university and a decent career I have climbed a couple of rungs of the class ladder.  

What was the last gift someone gave you? 

That would be for my birthday a couple of weeks ago where I received a few gifts from friends and family.

One of my mates simply bought me a Milky Bar because I look like this guy:

Do you appreciate that person? 

You mean those people? Absolutely. I love them all.

Did you talk to anyone you didn't like today? 

I haven’t been out yet so no. My guess is that I will talk to a few people later when I am out but I am pretty sure that I will like them all. 

Do you like picnics? 

Not really. I did have a good picnic about twenty years ago on the bank of the river Thames with a mate of mine in Richmond but that was a one off because it was a beautiful day and we had a fair amount of wine as we sat watching the boats heading too and from London. I often see people having picnics in the local park and I can’t say that I’m tempted to do it myself.

What book are you currently reading? 

I’m reading “The Other Emily” by Dean Koontz. It’s an odd story but typical of Dean Koontz, a man whose books I have enjoyed for the past forty or so years. 

What song did you last listen to? 

I listened to Devin Townsend’s recent superb new single called Moonpeople:

His new album is out in November. It sounds like it will be up to his usual standard.

How many tabs are open on your computer? 

Just the one – with the questions from Sunday Stealing.

Are you a very stressed out person?

Not these days. I used to be but when I was in my thirties I decided to try to eliminate stress from my life. It has largely worked, although it happens occasionally. 

Memory Vault

Welcome to a sunny South Manchester. 

Today is a special day that I have tried to brush under the carpet but failed. Yes – it is my birthday and, worse, it is a significant one. 

I have just entered my seventh decade. I am 60 years old today.

I don’t look my age and I certainly don’t feel it. My ageing body has slowed down over the years but I still feel quite spritely for my age and I am fairly active. 

I share my birthday with Bruno Mars, Chevy Chase, Jesse Jackson, Matt Damon, Sigourney Weaver, Paul Hogan, Sadiq Kahn (current mayor of London) and Ursula von der Leyen (current president of the EU) amongst others. 

Somebody at work told me that yesterday was the birthday of the nutter in Russia, Vladimir Putin – thank goodness I don’t share a birthday with him – too close for comfort though. 

Later today I am going to a beer festival with friends in Sale (which is about five miles from where I live) and then we are going to an Italian restaurant. Should be good. 

Anyway, let’s answer some daft questions from Sunday Stealing.

1. What period of history is your favourite to read about?

I’m not really a history buff but I am fascinated with a couple of eras in history. 

The first is the Roman Empire. At school I learned Latin – which at the time I thought was totally pointless – and as part of that we delved into Roman history. I found it fascinating and I still do. Latin actually helped me a lot because many words in English are derived from Latin and also, it uses noun forms that are similar to German and it helped me get to grips with German grammar. Also some Latin phrases are still in use today and as a child I used to attend Catholic masses which for the first few years of my life were in Latin. Hard to believe these days but it is true.

I am also fascinated by Vikings having watched the brilliant series of the same name. 

Finally, I love the time of Henry VIII, arguably our maddest king. 

2. What is your favourite genre of fiction?

It used to be horror but these days it is science fiction. Most of the novels I read these days are space operas or books involving elaborate and complex science fiction concepts, such as time travel, parallel universes – and of course your typical alien invasion novel (for example The War of the Worlds). 

That said, I like a good thriller or espionage book, like those written by the creator of Jason Bourne, Robert Ludlum. 

And I still read the occasional horror book (Stephen King for example). 

3. Do you choose a book by its cover?

No. I choose a book based on the synopsis on the back of the book. 

4. Where do you do most of your reading?

I don’t read much during the daytime unless I am bored. Most of my reading occurs in bed or if I am travelling. On a recent trip to Greece I ploughed through a massive space opera whilst sitting by the pool. On Thursday we are going to Copenhagen and I will read while flying and in the airport and, of course, when we return to the hotel after a busy day exploring the city. I am really looking forward to it because it is a new country. 

5. Without looking, guess how many books are in your TBR pile. Now, look. Were you right?

There are three books on my Kindle right now that I am waiting to read. I don’t need to look. 

6. How many movies are on your TBW list?

Probably about twenty. There are some classic movies that I want to watch that I have never got around to (like Schindler’s List).  

7. What's your favourite genre of movie?

As with books, I love science fiction movies and also those involving super heroes. Yes, I am still a child at heart when it comes to movies. I also like comedy films and thrillers.

8. Do you still go to see movies in the theatre?

Yes, although we haven’t been for a few months. I think the last one I went to see was Spiderman: No Way Home which was brilliant.

9. You have $10,000 and no strings or obligations for one full day. Where do you go and what do you do?

I would first go the bank in order to change it into pound sterling, hoping that Liz Truss’s attempts to destroy our economy haven’t caused our currency to crash through the floor. The exchange rate today is $1.11 to the pound, which is not very good at all. That would give me £9009. 

Since it’s my birthday, I would spend it on things just for me – electronic gadgets mainly and then I would take what is left and go out for a lovely meal with some close friends.

10. How many songs are on your favourite playlist?

Since I have recently embraced Spotify, I have just been going through my CD collection recently in order to create a playlist of “liked” songs in order to reproduce the list of songs I have iTunes in Spotify. I have a lot of music and it is taking time but as I plough through the thousands of songs I have on CD I am also researching new stuff that is related. I am about 70% through my collection and the size of the playlist is 7000 songs give or take a few hundred. I imagine it will exceed 10,000 at the end. 

And then I will start creating other playlists for specific use and also exploring new music thus making my list of "liked" songs absolutely huge. 

For example I will create a walking playlist containing upbeat pop and rock songs, a progressive rock playlist for long drawn out self-indulgent prog masterpieces, a mellow chill out playlist for listening to while I am working, a heavy metal playlist for when I want to clear the cobwebs from my head and many others too (70’s pop, 80’s pop etc.).

I’m going to have a lot of fun.

11. What method do you use to listen to music (Spotify, iTunes, Pandora...)?

As I said above, I have just migrated to Spotify but I also plan to buy an mp3 player to accommodate my CD collection. I plan to use Spotify mostly but to also use my mp3 player when on an aircraft or travelling when I can’t get a signal. I know that I can download songs with Spotify but I would rather use that storage on my phone and tablet for more important things. 

12. And Finally ...

I’ll leave you with three songs that topped the charts on my birthday. 

First – this was number one in the UK:

This was number one in the US:

And finally this was number one Down Under:

When I listen to all of them (and I recognise all of them) I feel quite old.

Autumn Meme

Welcome to South Manchester where autumn has kicked in and, although the weather is still reasonable, the temperature is dropping and more rain is coming. The nights are drawing in and my 6am morning walks are in the dark. The good news is that I usually catch a decent sunrise at this time of year, if the clouds decide to dissipate enough for me to see the sun.

Talking of autumn, let’s look at this week’s Sunday Stealing, which is entitled “Fall Meme”. I assumed that it was all about falling over, something I haven’t done for years, and only then when I was slightly inebriated. I assumed that it would be about how many times and how spectacularly you have fallen over in the past.

But then I realised that by “fall”, my American friends mean autumn. 

I’ve never really understood how “fall” has managed to stick around across the pond as a replacement for the season after summer. Yes, strictly speaking the leaves do fall from the trees at this time of year but to call the whole thing “fall” is perplexing to me, a simple Englishman. 

I will of course answer the questions but, being the pedantic English person I am, I will extend my spelling corrections from beyond “favorite” to “favourite” and “color” to “colour” to include the change from “fall” to autumn”.

I apologise for this but I am slightly OCD when it comes to English. I annoy Mrs PM constantly but particularly so when watching American programmes on TV – especially when somebody says “math” instead of “maths”!

I will stop babbling now – let’s just answer the questions, shall we?

1. Favourite autumn holiday: 

In the UK we don’t have any official holidays during autumn. The last public one is in August and we have to wait until Christmas before the next ones. That said, there is nothing to stop us from going on holiday during this season. In fact, in some ways it is better because in southern Europe it is still warm but not oppressively so like it can be in summer. We have just been to Greece, just at the start of autumn and I am going to Copenhagen in a couple of weeks, where the weather will be similar to that of the UK.

2. Best thing about autumn walks:

I walk between three and four miles every day if I can and, as I said, this is usually in the early morning on a school day. At this time of year, if the weather is right, I can watch the sun rising as I stroll. I love sunrises and sunsets. Also, in autumn, the temperature is usually cooling to a point where it is ideal for walking and added to that, as the weeks go on, the leaves on the trees change colour before they fall off the branches and that can look quite beautiful.

3. Favourite autumn chore: 

I have no favourite chores at any time of the year so there is nothing I can say to this one.

4. Least favourite autumn chore: 

Cleaning up leaves. So annoying.

5. Best change in the home: 

My favourite season is summer and autumn marks the end of that period, with darker nights as winter approaches on the horizon. Nothing changes at home apart from the energy bills start to increase and it gets darker earlier. These are not good changes. I do like the fact that the football season arrives though, which means watching more games on TV.

6. Best tree in the autumn: 

Any tree whose leaves turn red or orange.

7. Autumn ritual: 

I don’t have an autumn ritual. Maybe starting to consider where we will be travelling to the following year.

8. Most frustrating thing about autumn: 

I think I answered that above. Autumn marks the end of summer for another year. 

9. Favourite autumn decorations: 

We don’t have any decorations for autumn. All that comes when Christmas arrives.

10. Favourite clothing: 

I am guessing you mean “favourite autumn clothing”. Again, I don’t have any. I tend to change from T-shirts and polo shirts and start to wear shirts instead and even jumpers towards the end of the season. I have no favourites.

11. Traditional autumn candy: 

I rarely eat sweets (candy). 

12. Favourite sound: 

There are no particular sounds of autumn that leap out as a favourite.

13. When does autumn begin for you?

We usually head to southern Europe in September (lockdown permitting) and for me autumn starts when we return from that. 

14. What is your favourite aspect of autumn? 

My birthday is in autumn so I guess that I can say that it a fairly good aspect of the season. The problem is that it means I am a year older and since my mid-thirties I have stopped counting them.

15. What is your favourite autumn memories?

My favourite memories of autumn are when I am out of the country in a warmer place. If we head east or south on a long haul trip it will either be in spring or autumn. Sadly there isn’t one this year but we have plans for that in the future. 

16. What do you like to drink in the autumn?  

I drink the same in autumn as I do the rest of the year typically.

17. What's your favourite autumn food?  

I eat pretty much the same food all year round. I guess in autumn though we tend to start eating more soup, casseroles and warm stodgy food that we don’t eat in summer.

18. What colour is autumn?

Autumn is a red/orange colour with the leaves from the trees and the sun rising in the morning when I walk.

19. What does autumn smell like? 

In the earlier stages, autumn smells a bit like summer but as it progresses and the leaves start to accumulate on the ground, this dissipates into boring dampness. Thankfully there are still traces of summer at least for another couple of weeks.

20. If you could go anywhere in the autumn, where would you go?  

Somewhere warmer. It would be southern Europe (France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Portugal, Malta) or further afield to the far east.

Trapped in a Room

Welcome to a cloudy but still slightly warm South Manchester, the day after we have returned from a week’s break in Greece. It was really good with lots of sunshine, great food and total relaxation. I feel energised.

There was one casualty though; my trusty iPod has developed a fault, causing me to make a momentous decision. 

I am going to join the youth and subscribe to Spotify.

It’s a really difficult decision as I have a lot of CD’s upstairs (and if you are reading this Mrs PM, I am definitely keeping them). I am going to buy a cheap mp3 player to use for my daily walks and on my travels when I can’t get internet access (like flying for example) but everything else will be Spotify.

I am also going to invest in a new smartphone as my current one is cracked. The protective contraption I bought for it fell apart and became useless. I threw it away, only to drop my phone and crack the screen in my own house about a week later. That happened when I had Covid-19 a couple of months ago. 

I’m not too bothered because it was due to be replaced anyway.

Back to music – it is the end of an era. I will buy no more CD’s and rely on Spotify’s enormous collection to listen to new albums and expand my horizons into that vast database of songs. What I am going to do though is to produce a series of posts next year highlighting my fifty favourite albums from my collection of CD’s, using them as an excuse to drift into any thoughts associated with them. Self-indulgent I know but it will be fun for me.

Anyway – for now, let’s answer some silly questions from Sunday Stealing. 

1. If you were trapped in a room with the person who asked this for 24 hours, what would you do? The answer cannot be romantic or sexual. 

I would spend eight of those hours sleeping. In the remaining sixteen, I would simply chat to that person. What else can I do? Given that this period would be sixteen hours I would try to learn as much about him or her as I could. I hope it’s not you dear reader because you would be bored to death listening to me drone on for hours on end.

2. If you could learn any language instantly, what would it be? 

Spanish. I am trying to learn it at the moment and I am quite enjoying it. At school I studied French for five years and I can still get by with that. French would be my second choice. I also studied German for three years and of the three languages I claim to be able to speak, it is my weakest (mainly because it is the hardest). 

I can also sense that some readers might suggest that I learn English. If you are thinking of leaving such a comment, my reply will be “Don’t be naughty!”.

3. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be? 

I would be completely bored reading just one book for the rest of my life no matter how interesting it is. I think it would have to be one of these vast science fiction space operas that are in multiple parts and stretch to thousands of pages. 

4. Favourite song lyric? 

I have several favourite lyrics and it depends what mood I am in. These keep cropping up:

Nine Inch Nails: 

I hurt myself today, to see if I still feel

Rush: 

Some are born to move the world

To live their fantasies

But most of us just dream about

The things we'd like to be

Sadder still to watch it die

Than never to have known it

For you, the blind who once could see

The bell tolls for thee

Whitesnake: 

Like a blindman, I can feel the heat of the sun,

But, like a blindman

I don't know, I don't know,

I don't know where it’s coming from

Spinal Tap:

When we die, do we haunt the sky?

Do we lurk in the murk of the seas?

What then? Are we born again?

Just to sit asking questions like these?

5. Favourite album? 

That is one of the most difficult questions you could ask me. I have been looking at my CD collection recently as I said above and trying to get the list down to one hundred and then to fifty. I managed fifty finally but I can’t get any lower than that.

Here is one that you will read about from that fifty should you choose to do so. It is called “Hand.Cannot.Erase.” by Steven Wilson. Here is the title song from it.

6. Which time of day would you say is best for you work-wise?

Definitely first thing in the morning. My mind is at its sharpest and slowly deteriorates as the day goes by. I tend to attack the most difficult things at the start of the day, those problems that require the most thought and analysis. I tend to leave the more mundane crap to towards the end of the day. 

7. What do you think people assume about you from first glance?

How did that chimp manage to escape from the zoo and buy clothes?

8. Favourite city that you haven’t visited? 

How can you have a favourite city that you haven’t visited? Surely you need to visit a place for it to become any kind of favorite.

I guess you mean, what city that you haven’t been to is the city you want to visit next?

Well that’s easy. I’m going there next month. Copenhagen in Denmark. I think I will enjoy it. 

9. If you received $10,000 but had to give it away, what would you do with it? 

I would give it to a local charity, one that helped people who are struggling in these times of crisis, partly due to the pandemic, Vlad the Invader’s war, Brexit and Liz Truss’s mad budgetary plans that occurred yesterday. The UK is in a right mess at the moment.

10. What is one book you wish you could get all your friends to read? 

A lot of my friends have a completely different taste in fiction books to me and would not be interested in any of them. I might try to persuade them to read “Atomic Habits” by James Clear though. I had already adopted the concept of habit forming when I came across it, and it takes this concept and runs with it. 

I have found it quite helpful.

11. What is one movie you wish you could get all your friends to watch? 

Again, a lot of my friends don’t share my taste in films either. I would probably recommend something like Inception and tell them that they need to watch it when their brains is at it’s sharpest.

12. If you could create one thing, what would it be?

I would create a novel or a progressive rock masterpiece. I need talent to do both so it’s unlikely.

13. If you could play any musical instrument, what would it be? 

I think it would be a guitar. I am currently trying to teach myself a piano but only because guitars are more difficult.

14. What is your favourite item of clothing?

I don’t really have a favourite item of clothing. I dress for the occasion and just pick clothes that suit whatever it is I am doing - or should I say Mrs PM chooses them.

15. What is your favourite card/board game?

I’m not a huge fan of card games or board games. I usually get coerced into playing the odd card game at Christmas but I don’t really enjoy them. 

A Tale of Two Elizabeths

 

Greetings from South Manchester on a cloudy day with hints of sun and blue sky. 

I am going to answer the usual Sunday Stealing questions (see later) but first I thought that I would talk about two ladies called Elizabeth who have made quite an impact to the UK this week. Apologies in advance for the rambling post – you can skip to the questions if you like.

First, the Queen of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth has died at the age of 96. She was known as Queen Elizabeth II and had a good innings both in terms of her age and also in terms of her reign, being the longest serving monarch in our history. She was on the throne for 70 years celebrating her platinum jubilee earlier this year. She was even working up to two days before her death on Thursday, accepting the resignation of Boris the Clown as Prime Minister and asking his successor to form a government the same day. More about that later.

She has been queen my entire life and it will be odd for us in the UK as now we have a new monarch, her son King Charles III who is king now but will be formally crowned in due course. Our new coins, notes etc. will bear his face and name alongside many other things and the transition will be gradual with many things like post boxes still bearing the ER insignia for a while, I imagine, rather than CR that will come soon.

So what do I think of all this? 

Regular readers know that I am not a royalist at all. With my hand on my heart, all I can say is that I am ambivalent to the Windsor family. I don’t hate them but I don’t love them either. When they appear on the news because one of them tripped up and fallen over in public, I tend to switch it off. To me they are just celebrities, born into the role and not people that I have the remotest interest in, a bit like reality TV stars. I have said that if I had met the queen, or if I ever meet the king, I would not follow etiquette. To me they are just people – not any better or worse than I am.

But now the UK has gone mad. The flagship TV channel BBC 1 has had wall to wall coverage of this news story, shelving all programmes since it happened (including today – Saturday) with 24 hour news about the queen and tribute after tribute from famous people all over the UK as well as politicians and tearful members of the public. There is not one bad word about her or her family. 

Most if not all celebrities and politicians have to praise her, or say how utterly fantastic she was, lest they are alienated and cancelled for saying anything bad or even hinting at any criticism. They are positively falling over each other to express their grief and praise. 

People who have never met her are pontificating all over the news and crying as if she were a member of their own family. 

She was arguably the most famous person in the world but I don’t understand it personally. Royalists reading this may frown at best upon reading these words – others will condemn me. I don’t really care. She was just another person to me – a famous one admittedly – who was a part of British culture. 

She has been part of my life at a distance for my entire 59 years on this island called Great Britain, so as I said above, it will be weird without her on the news all the time but I am not mourning her loss as royalists want me to. I just want the over-the-top coverage to stop now and for us to get on with life. We have enough problems in the UK without having to stop everything for one passing. 

I do hope she rests in peace and my thoughts are with her family but that is all.

Actually, one more thing will change. The National Anthem of the UK is called God Save the Queen. This, and the lyrics, will change to God Save the King. That will take a little getting used to.

This leads me onto the next Elizabeth I want to talk about. 

On Tuesday of this week, Queen Elizabeth II’s last major duty was to finally accept the resignation of the King of Clowns, Boris Johnson. Good riddance to the incompetent buffoon who was the worst Prime Minister that we have had in my lifetime (and possibly ever). His replacement is the second Elizabeth in this post – Elizabeth “Liz” Truss, the third female Prime Minister we have ever had. 

To say that Liz Truss is out of touch is a massive understatement. She may not be quite as bad as Boris Johnson (let’s face it – Ronald McDonald would have been a better Prime Minister) but her leadership campaign exposed her as being another bad leader. She already had a massive U-turn and refused to do an in-depth interview with a high profile BBC political journalist saying that “she didn’t have time”. 

The truth is that he probably would have torn her apart.

All she had to do was to convince 140,000 members of her party that she was up to the job – that’s 140,000 people deciding the future Prime Minister. I think that if a Prime Minister resigns, we should have a General Election because Liz Truss basically told this elite group of people what they wanted to hear.

You may think that I am getting ahead of myself in criticising her but her policies fill me with no confidence and she actually praised her predecessor. 

Anyway – here is a video of what we might have to suffer from her.

God help us!

Okay – now to the questions from Sunday Stealing: 

1. What flavour Popsicle is the best? 

In the UK, we call “popsicles” ice lollies and I used to love one that was around in the 1970’s called an Orange Maid – it is apparently still around today though I haven’t had one for about forty years. These days I tend to eat chocolate covered ice cream lollies called Magnum. Delicious.

2. Do you have a DVR feature with your cable? 

I have Sky TV which comes with a box capable of recording any program on any channel. What I tend to do is record entire series and watch them at my leisure and at the moment there is a lot of stuff to watch, including movies, documentaries, gigs and normal TV series. It’s so easy to use.

3. How many drawers does your dresser have? 

We have a couple of dressers scattered about the house. Two have four drawers and the biggest one in the second bedroom has six drawers (but is largely used to store non-clothing items.

4. Is your closet a mess? 

We don’t have a closet as such, just a cupboard under the stairs. Is it a mess? Partly. When you open the door you see some stuff on the floor like the vacuum cleaner and other similar household bits and pieces and some shelves that are neat and tidy containing all manner of files and books. To the left we hang coats but at the back it is a bit of a mess – mainly because it is difficult to get too. To be honest we should sort it out because we don’t actually know what is in there.

5. Have you ever solved a Rubik's Cube? 

I have never owned a Rubik’s cube even when everybody else seemed to have one. I have had a go at them but ultimately it would have wasted too much of my time, so I guess the answer is no.

6. Describe your favourite pair of pajama pants: 

We call them pyjamas in the UK – pronounced the same but spelt slightly differently, just like all of the American spellings I usually correct when answering these questions. We also call them jim-jams (well I do anyway because I am weird).

I just bought some new ones actually as winter is approaching. They are officially called “leisure wear” but I use them as pyjamas. One is black and the other a dark blue. Both are very nice and very comfy.

7. What colour is your wallet? 

My wallet is black. I like black wallets.

8. Do you find flea markets and thrift shops enjoyable? 

I don’t find shopping enjoyable so I am hardly likely to favour flea markets and thrift shops above any others.

9. Have you met amazing people online? 

I’ve met one fellow blogger once, a very sweet and funny Australian lady called Kath who has moved to Geneva, Switzerland. I caught up with her when I was working there. She actually wrote about the experience. You can read it here. 

I would be quite happy to meet other bloggers. 

10. Would you be happy if I coloured a picture for you? 

Sure – why not?

11. What show do you think 'made' the 90's? 

For me it was the science fiction epic Babylon 5. I absolutely loved it. I love Star Trek but this is much better (something that almost alienated me from a few die-hard trekkers I know). Here is a taste of what it is like:

Rumour has it that they are rebooting it. That will be amazing if it is true.

12. Are you happier now than you were last year? 

Personally I’m not sure. Certain events have unfolded over the course of the last twelve months both personal and otherwise that have challenged my usual content self. That said, the outlook now is on the up and I feel (hope) that next year will be better.

13. What are you currently drinking?

I am drinking a huge mug of decaffeinated tea. I prefer caffeinated (or full fat) tea but over the past few years I have all but eliminated caffeine from my diet. I feel better for it.

14. Do you trust people easily? 

I approach people positively and I hope that I can trust them but to be honest it depends on the person. I like to think I am a good judge of character and so far my trust has usually been well placed. I tend to avoid toxic and aggressive people although I will always be my usual friendly self, even to them.

15. What are you looking forward to in the next three months?

The first thing is my trip to Greece on Friday. Mrs PM and I are travelling to Zante for a week of relaxation and I can’t wait. 

We have also managed to slip in a weekend to country I have never been to before. Next month we are travelling to Copenhagen in Denmark for a long weekend. I am really looking forward to that because I have heard that the Danes are brilliant people. 

There also may be a university reunion in November, another trip abroad, this time to a city I have visited many time – Amsterdam. If that comes off, I will have been abroad five times this year. 

Of course three months includes Christmas, usually a busy time, and we have a couple of things planned with family and friends that should be good.

Movies

 

Welcome to a slightly dull South Manchester. The weather has been nice recently but it looks like it may actually rain later today. I guess as summer is effectively over and we welcome autumn, we have to expect a little rain now and then. 

Today’s Sunday Stealing  talks about movies – or films as we tend to call them in the UK (personally I use both terms). 

Shall we dive in?

1. Best movie you saw during the last year.

That’s an easy one: Spiderman: No Way Home. I love super hero films (I’m still basically a kid at heart) and Spiderman has always been right up there as one of my favourites, from the days when I used to watch the Spiderman cartoons in the 1970’s. I knew most if not all of his nemeses and in this movie, not only did they bring the best ones back, I though bringing back Toby Maguire and Andrew Garfield to join Tom Holland was a brilliant idea. And we had Dr Strange thrown into the mix too. 

If you haven’t seen it, I thoroughly recommend it.

2. The most underrated movie.

I cheated on this a little because I have to say that if I genuinely like a movie, I don’t care what other people think. I don’t really know what constitutes an underrated movie – so I looked up a list of what films Google thinks fall into this category. Of all the lists that I saw, one film popped out immediately – The Dead Zone – based on the novel by Stephen King. I remember seeing the film at the cinema when it was released in 1983 and, if you are not familiar with the story, Christopher Walken plays a man who has a road accident and wakes up from a coma five years later with the ability to see a person’s future just by touching them. Of course, Stephen King is one of my favourite authors so it was fairly obvious that this story would be right up my street.

3. Favourite love story in a movie.

I don’t really like romantic movies. It’s not because I am not a romantic person; I just think that it is usually just contrived and artificial. That said, I guess love can be a motivator in some movies so I reluctantly accept that it plays a part. Regular readers will know that I particularly don’t like romantic comedies – apart from one, which is Notting Hill – not because of the love story, but because of the characters that surround the two main ones. I will therefore reluctantly nominate that one.

4. The most surprising plot twist or ending

I’ve seen a lot of movies with plot twists and I love them. I would have said The Sixth Sense apart from I spotted the plot twist about halfway through the film. The one I didn’t see coming was The Usual Suspects – so I will say that one.

5. A movie that makes you really happy.

I’m not a big fan of so-called “feel good” movies. Again I find them a little artificial. I am a little weird so give me a great action flick and I will be happy. Let’s just pluck one out of there (there are so many to pick from) – Terminator 2: Judgement Day – a bloody great film.

6. A movie that makes you sad.

I have been know to cry at movies. I try to be all masculine and macho about it and hide my emotion, but my entire body lets me down – from my heartstrings to my brain and ultimately my eyes as tears flood down my cheeks. 

“I’ve just got hay fever”, or “there’s something in my eye” are two excuses I have prepared in case I am spotted in this fragile state. Please don’t tell anyone.

The film that brings out the worst response like this has to be The Elephant Man. It’s just so sad.

7. Favourite made for TV movie

I am going to include mini-series when it come to “made for TV movies” and again I am going to select one based on a Stephen King novel. The film in question is Salem’s Lot, which I saw in the late 1970’s and starred David Soul (Hutch from Starsky and Hutch) and James Mason. 

It scared me half to death and I loved it. I still get shivers down my spine thinking about it.

8. A movie you’ve seen countless times.

There are hundreds of films I watch over and over again. Mrs PM rarely does this and questions why I do it. The answer is, honestly, that I just love them – even though I know what will happen. So let’s pick one. I’m going to go for Inception because I think it is just brilliant.

9. A movie with the best soundtrack

I think for this I am going to select The Warriors, one of  my favourite cult movies of all time. The music fits in perfectly with the movie. The theme from the Warriors is just amazing. Here it is:

“Who are the Warriors? I want ALL … the Warriors. Send the word!”

10. Favourite classic movie

How do you define a classic movie? I’m going to cheat and pick two. The first, and oldest, is Way Out West featuring the legendary Laurel and Hardy:

The other classic movie I love is Some Like it Hot with Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon and, of course, Marilyn Monroe. 

11. A movie that you hate.

There are lots of movies that I hate and the ones I hate most are those that I went to see based on the hype but left me stone cold.

One such movie is Dead Poets Society which I thought was rubbish, even though I love Robin Williams. Another is Independence Day, which despite the big budget and some great special effects, is hilariously terrible.

12. A movie that changed your opinion about something.

I don’t think any movies have changed my opinion about anything. However, there are a few that have intrigued me because they are through-provoking. Being a geek with a very vibrant but weird imagination, I look at sci-fi with a totally open mind and I think the main concept behind The Matrix was incredible, i.e. that although we are living what we think is a normal life, the truth could be a nightmare scenario. I just love that idea.

13. A character you can relate to the most.

I am going to pick a marvel superhero, not because I am a superhero – rather because I know how this guy feels. Bruce Banner, aka the Hulk is a scientific guy who prefers to stay out of the spotlight but will always be there to help if required. Of course, I wouldn’t like to become a towering colossal giant green anger monster – that’s not me at all – but everything else in terms of how he deals with his condition, I do kind of relate to.

14. A movie that is a guilty pleasure

I don’t like the term guilty pleasure because you shouldn’t feel guilty about anything that brings you pleasure. As I said above, if I like a movie I don’t actually care what people think or whether they agree with me. 

I guess what I am looking foe here is a movie that is universally known as “not good” that I thoroughly enjoyed. I am going to go for Jean-Claude Van Damme’s Timecop. Again, I love the concept if it means having to deal with the muscles from Brussels in the starring role, that is a small price to pay.

15. Favourite movie based on a book/comic

There are lots of them. I am going to cheat again and pick two because the movies go together: Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame – both brilliant movies.

16. A movie that disappointed you the most

Star Wars Episode i: The Phantom Menace – the less said about that the better.

17. A movie from your favourite actor/actress

I don’t really have a favourite actor or actress. I appreciate that there are some brilliant actors out of there but I just watch movies for the movie itself, not who is in it. 

I will pick two based on actors who are good.

The first is Goodfellas, starring Robert de Niro who is a great actor.

The second is The Silence of the Lambs because it stars Jodie Foster who is a great actress.

18. Favourite movie from your favourite director.

Again I don’t have a favourite director so I will pick a movie by a director who is good.

I’m going to go for Inglorious Basterds by Quentin Tarantino.

19 .Favourite action movie

I love action movies and it is hard to pick a favourite from that huge list. I’ll select one that I saw recently: Mission Impossible: Fallout. 

20. A movie you wish more people would have seen.

Cult films tend to be a niche that you only hear about by word of mouth and I assume that such films don’t tend to get the number of viewers that you would expect. I’m going to select my favourite film that is broadly labelled as a cult film. That film is 300. I love it.

This is Sparta!

21. Favourite documentary

I am fascinated by cults, in particular, Scientology. I have seen various documentaries about this particular cult but the only one that is a movie is Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief. 

22. Favourite animation

I have to go back a few decades for this. When I was a kid, my mum took me to see The Jungle Book and I have loved it ever since. 

23. Most hilarious movie you’ve ever seen

Without a doubt, this is The Life of Brian, a controversial film that is actually still banned in a few place. At the time, it was released, lots of cinemas simply refused to show it, hailing it as blasphemous. The reality is that it simply makes fun and, as a Catholic, I don’t find it blasphemous at all. There are some brilliant jokes in it and I had to go and see it a second time because I missed so many jokes the first time because I was laughing so much.

24. A movie that you wish you had seen in the cinema

I tend to go to the cinema to see most movies that I want to see. There are a few that I have missed due to one reason or another and ended up having to see them on the TV some years later. To be honest, I can cope with that unless it is a full blown action movie or one that is filled with special effects that look much better on the big screen. 

Of all the ones I have missed, I think Starship Troopers is the one I most regret not seeing at the cinema. 

25. Your favourite movie of all time.

That is a truly difficult question that I can’t answer. I could perhaps list my top 100 movies but even that would be tricky. I am therefore going to cheat and simply not answer this one.

Upstream Life Part Two

Welcome to South Manchester on a warm and sunny afternoon. 

Shall we answer some silly questions from Sunday Stealing?

1. Your favourite sport.

My favourite sport is football, not the game that Americans play that is like rugby with armour, but proper football, known as soccer in America. In the UK we rarely if ever call the game soccer – it is football!

The team I support, Walsall, are languishing in the fourth tier of the English Football League. They are my home town team and I handed my football soul over to them when I was too young to know any different and I have supported them ever since. There have been highs and lows over the decades, mostly lows if I’m honest, and the last two seasons have been a terrible low point. They finished in the lowest league position in my lifetime the season before last but have started this new season a little better. The club has acquired a new investment and there seems to be some money knocking about. Consequently Walsall have made a reasonable start in the early days and I hope that we actually get somewhere this season. 

2. A quote to live by.

“Try to be good. And if you can’t be good – be careful”

3. A city in the US you would like to move to.

The city I would give the dubious honour of accommodating the Plastic Mancunian, should I choose to ever uproot and go across the pond is San Francisco. I have been once and spent a very enjoyable four or five days there on holiday (or on vacation as an American might say). 

I wanted to go there ever since I watched Steve McQueen in Bullitt:

I was a total tourist; I went up the Transamerica Pyramid, ate a meal in Chinatown and Fisherman’s Wharf, took a trip to Alcatraz, had a ride in a car up and down these amazingly steep hills, had a ride on a cable car, had a trip to Sausolito, visited Golden Gate Park and even managed to find time to do some wine tasting in the Napa Valley.

I would of course have to change my blog name to The Plastic San Franciscan – a bit of a mouthful but I think it works.

4. 3 beautiful little things in your life.

Mrs PM and my two kids, I reckon.

5. What made you laugh today?

Last night I recorded a TV show called “The Last Leg” which is a comedy show that takes an irreverent look at the news, presented by Australian comedian Adam Hills. I watched it this morning and as usual it made me laugh. Here is a taste of it what it is like:

6. A good deed you did today

I’ve haven’t had much of a chance to do a good deed today. I’ve fed the cats though – I guess that’s a good deed.

7. Activities you like to do when you are bored.

If I’m bored, I tend to watch a bit of TV or sit at my laptop and either write jibberish (like this) or watch funny videos on You Tube. I sometimes also play a football game on my PS4.

8. Are you a procrastinator?

I’m less of a procrastinator than I was a few years ago. These days I have various techniques that push me into doing things that I need to do. 

Sadly, it doesn’t always work though.

9. Your thoughts about dying

I plan to live forever.

10. What super power would like to have?

I would like to have the ability to become invisible and I would use that technique to go places where I shouldn’t like to a gig or a football match without a ticket. 

I would also like the ability to teleport. That way I could travel to a foreign land in the blink of an eye and be back home for tea.

I think I’d also like to be able to read minds. I’d be a bit worried about what I may find in there. 

11. Top 3 Netflix series

Stranger Things is absolutely incredible. Mrs PM and I have recently binge watched season 4 and we simply can’t wait for season 5 (which I believe will be the last one sadly).

Squid Game is also brilliant. 

I’m currently watching the Umbrella Academy which is also very good:

12.  Things you want to do before you die

I’d just like to travel to as many countries as I can and also write a novel (even a crap one).

13. Your biggest fears

I’m terrified of heights, which is odd because I never used to be.

In terms of what is happening in the world, I’m a little worried about what is happening and the way we as a world are sleepwalking towards oblivion. 

The UK itself is also sleepwalking into disaster with these two pillocks fighting to be the next Prime Minister. I don’t want either of them.

14. What makes you angry?

Many things – for example the two people I mentioned in the last question.

15. Do you listen to podcasts?

No but I want to start doing that. In fact, I did once consider creating my own; I don’t think that is going to happen though.