Misfits Mid-Life Crisis Adventures in East London & Surrey.

Week 395, Saturday 8^th until Friday 14^th January 2022.

Things I learned this week, always check when buying online, let me explain.  I brought an old CD for a friend for Crimbo, when it arrived I was impressed because there were 2 discs in the case.  This week my friend played the CDs, both discs were wrong and not what she expected.  Looking closely one was MGMT first album “Oracular Spectacular” from 2007, which is very good.  The second disc was a mystery the picture didn’t give any clues, the small copyright writing said 1996 and mentioned it was a compilation.  Listening to it I knew a few tracks. after searching online I discovered this was the soundtrack for the 1995 film “Empire Records”.  Luckily my friend liked both, though this was funny and kept both.  Of course I have since re-bought the correct album cheaply and will definitely be checking that the correct disc is in the case.  I really must learn to look and check what arrives through the letterbox.

On A Slightly Related Topic…..

The Crimbo decorations have come down, I believe the date that people say they should have been put away way was 6th January.  Ours went down a little later, if the authorities decorations squad want to come round and deal with me they can I am in all day.  Personally I wanted to leave the strings of lights up, but sadly it’s not my house.  For the few weeks they are up each year I get used to them and like seeing them more and more.  Every year when they are packed away I really mourn there disappearance.  When I lived alone a long time ago in a small flat, one year I just left the lights up only being switched on occasionally to brighten the place up.  The real reason of course (and nothing has changed) is I am very lazy it was easy to just leave them on the wall.

Yes even my icy heart really misses the Crimbo decorations this time around.  One day when I live on my own again I will deliberately put up coloured lights and allow them to gather dust for 11 and a half months, only actually switching them on for a couple of weeks at the end of the year.

And Now For Something Completely Different……

One thing that has helped me get through the last couple of years of working from home and various lockdowns has been feeding the birds.  There are a number of feeders which I fill up each day and enjoy looking after.  I have signed up for the second year running to the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) Big Garden Birdwatch.  During the final weekend of January millions of people will count for one hour the birds that they see.  

A newcomer to the garden this week is a Jay, never seen one before.  Hopefully it will hang around and appear during the hour I do the Birdwatch.  But the real highlight of the week was seeing three Blue Tits together and a Robin shortly after, both I have not seen for months.  I can’t describe the joy that these small birds feeding and just being in the garden give me.  Fingers crossed during the actual count all of these birds will make an appearance.  Don’t get me wrong, Sparrows, Starlings, Magpies, Crows and Pigeons all make me smile but seeing any of the Tits (Blue, Coal and Great) and Robin’s would really make my hour of standing beside the window or sat outside on a step so much more rewarding.  I really am becoming a Twitcher more and more each day.

And Finally……

I love space and looking up at night.  I do have a small kids telescope, which is nice but never easy to use which is why it doesn’t come out very often.  Last year I did see Jupiter and the 4 Galileo Moons (Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto).   This week the biggest planet in our solar system was well placed for viewing so I tried again with my phone on standby.  I managed to get a couple of bad pictures, which was not easy to take I actually had to use the car resting the scope on a wing mirror to keep it still and stable.  What I find truly amazing is the light for my terrible pictures took about 47 minutes to travel roughly 853,7754569 km to reach Earth.  

Even though the image is terrible I am so pleased to have seen Jupiter and a couple of the moons again.  I am very tempted to purchase a proper adult telescope; this is something I have wanted for a very long time.  There is a lot I need to think about in 2022, could buying a Telescope be part of the plan.  Until then I will carry on looking at.

My Mid Life Crisis Conts……

This week I have watched:

“A Discovery Of Witches”, (S3, ep 1 to ep 5).  “Alias”, (S1, ep 21).  “Andy Warhol’s America”, (S1, ep 1 to ep 3, TX: 06/01/22).  “Another Life”, (S2, ep 9).  “Around The World In 80 Days”, (S1, ep 8).  “Babylon 5”, (S1, ep 14).  “Blake’s 7”, (SD, ep 1).  “Click”, (TX: 08/01/22).  “Death In Paradise”, (S11, ep 1, TX: 07/01/22).  “Digging For Britain”, (S9, ep 1, TX: 04/01/22).  “Into The Night”, (S1, ep 1 to ep 4).  “Lexx”, (S2, ep 14).  “Love Thy Neighbour”, (S2, ep 2 to ep 6)(“All Star Comedy Carnival”, “Love Thy Neighbour” Segment, TX: 25/12/72)(S3, ep 1 & ep 2).  “PMQ’s (Prime Minister’s Questions)”, (BBC News)(TX: 12/01/22).  “Star Trek (Animated)”, (S1, ep 2 & ep 3).   “Stargate Atlantis”, (S4, ep 7 to ep 9).  “Superstore”, (S6, ep 9 to ep 11).  “The Apprentice”, (S16, ep 2, TX: 13/01/22).  “The Apprentice You’re Fired”, (S16, ep 2, TX: 13/01/22).   “The Graham Norton Show”, (S29, ep 13, TX:07/01/22).  “The Good Life”, (S3, ep 1 to ep 7)(S4, ep 1 to ep 7)(“Silly, But It’s Fun”, TX: 26/12/77)(“When I’m 65”, TX: 10/06/78).  “The Man With The Golden Gun”, (1974).  “The Silent Sea”, (S1, ep 1 to ep 4).  “The Sky At Night”, (TX: 09/01/22).  “The Walking Dead: World Beyond”, (S2, ep 7).  “You”, (S2, ep 3).

“Doctor Who Watched This Week”……

“The Dalek Invasion Of Earth”, (S2, Prod Code K).  Ep 1, “Worlds Ends”, (TX: 28/11/64).  Ep 2, “The Daleks”, (TX: 21/11/64).  Ep 3, “Day Of Reckoning”, (TX: 05/12/64).  Ep 4, “The End Of Tomorrow”, (TX: 12/12/64).  Ep 5, “The Walking Ally”, (TX: 19/12/64).  Ep 6, “Flashpoint”, (TX: 26/12/64).

“The Rescue”, (S2, Prod Code L).  Ep 1, “The Powerful Enemy”, (TX: 02/01/65).

This week I have listening to:

“30 Animals That Made Us Smarter”, (BBC World Service/Sounds)(S2, ep 29, 10/01/22).  “Anglophilia”, (S3, ep 5, 18/06/19)(S6 ep 6, 11/01/22).   “Coronavirus Global Update “, (BBC World Service/Sounds)(08/01/22)(09/01/22)(10/01/22)(11/01/22) (12/01/22)(13/01/22).  “Doctor Who – Toby Hadoke’s Time Travels – Happy Times And Places“, (29.1, “The War Machines”, 10/01/22)(29.2, 14/01/22).  “Game Of Thrones”, (The Incomparable/TeeVee)(S7, ep 5, 14/08/17).  “Mystery Hour”, (13/01/22).  “Nick Abbot Whole Show”, (08/01/22)(09/01/22)(14/01/22).  “Producing The Beatles”, (ep 9, 22/07/19).  “Rob Beckett And Josh Widdecombe Parenting Hell”, (S4, ep 1, 11/01/22).  “Radio Astronomy (The Sky At Night Magazine)”, (21/05/18)(22/06/18) (23/07/18)(23/04/21).  “Screw It, We’re Just Gonna Talk About The Beatles”, (ep 6, 16/02/17).  “Smersh Pod – Smersh Side Special – “Theatre Of Blood”, (27/10/17).  “Something Who”, (Ep 54, 27/12/21).  “Space And Things”, (STP22, 28/01/21)(STP72, 13/01/22).  “Star Trek Universe”, (14/01/19)(16/01/19)(09/01/22).  “The All New Angelos And Barry Podcast”, (13/01/22).  “The Audio Guide To Babylon 5”, (ep 60, 21/08/16).  “The Friendship Onion”, (S1, ep 35, 11/01/22).   “The Nick Abbot Habit”, (10/01/22).  “The Old Doctor Who Show”, (ep 123, 12/01/22).  “The Radio Times Doctor Who Podcast”, (28/10/20).  “Tripodcast”, (ep 5b, 08/01/22).  “What’s Your Problem With Nick Abbot And Carol Mcgiffin”, (10/01/22).

Songs I Enjoyed This Week, Were By:

“Morrissey”,  “ABC”,  “ABBA”,  “Blondie”,  “Bruce Springsteen”,  “Bryan Adams”,  “Elbow”,  “John Travolta And Olivia Newton John”,  “Lou Reed”, “Lulu”,  “MGMT”,  “Smiths”,  “The Beatles”,  “The Mock Turtles”,  “The Muppets”,  “ The Velvet Underground & Nico”.