There are four of us in this house and there are things we all come together to watch on the telly. By necessity, those things have a ‘common denominator’ quality to them. That doesn’t mean they are bad though.
We like
Gogglebox too and we’re glad it came back on Friday, though we haven’t sat down
with the newest one at time of writing. We’re all adults now, the youngest
being twenty, but we still fast forward through the naughtier bits. Life’s too
short.
Monday
night is Quiz Night, with Only Connect and University Challenge both getting a
watch. Gosh, this sounds very highbrow, but it isn’t really. We don’t have a
high hit-rate on the questions, and they are getting harder and harder these days as the end of both series approaches and the semi-finals and finals kick
in. But, again, you get to know the returning teams a little and Jeremy is nicely
unpredictable. We watched one from ten years ago on YouTube one evening and it’s
amazing how Jeremy’s pace of questioning has slowed over the years. None of us are getting any younger, I guess.
My own personal
treat is to watch a film. Late at night, when everyone else has gone to bed or
at least to some other room, I’ll see what I can dig up on Netflix or Prime or
recorded off the telly. I usually can’t manage the whole film in one sitting ‘cos
I’d never get up in the morning and I’d just fall asleep anyway, but I can usually
get a flick in over three sessions and that’s not too bad. Most recently, I
watched ‘The Trial of the Chicago Seven’ and found it to be very entertaining.
Before that, it was ‘The Rental’, which was okay and ‘Sputnik’, which I also
enjoyed. Next up might be ‘The Dig’. I’d like to see the original version of ‘Rams’
so I’ve booked that in too.
I read too.
Mostly at night but I’ve rediscovered the joy of sitting on the couch and
getting some pages in. Recently, I became quite immersed in ‘The Mirror and the
Light’ by Hilary Mantel. I surprised myself by how involved I got into it all.
Lockdown, I guess. I also enjoyed ‘The Mercies’, though I’ve been advised that
enjoyed is not the word to use. ‘Shadowplay’ was also very involving. At the moment,
I’m reading some George Moore for Castlebar Library Book Club and learning some
stuff as I go.
I got a
nice pair of Bluetooth headphones for Christmas, so I use those for music and a
podcast or two while I’m cooking. I’m a long-time listener of Kermode and Mayo
and they are like old pals who help to see me through.
I had pretty
much given up on going to the Cinema before the current trouble arrived. I
wonder, will I go back a little more afterward? I don’t feel a particular drive
to do so but there is a feeling that one should celebrate our eventual emergence
from this cloud by seeking out groups of people and places where we will once
again be able to congregate. I’ll wing it, I think.
As with
everything else this year, I do these things, but I feel I should be doing more.
I read but should be reading more. I walk but should be walking more. I garden…
no, wait, I don’t garden but definitely should be gardening more.
How much of
an effect has the last year had on me? It’s hard to know. Not much, perhaps,
but really quite a lot. I feel older than the year that has passed. I’m like a stone, on the ground, and the pandemic is like a constant drop of water, drip drip dripping down onto me. Any effect is hardly perceptible but,
over time, there will be some kind of a dent in me. A hollow. It will hold water when it
rains. Maybe small birds will come and drink there, maybe an insect will drown…
Ack. Don't think too much. Entertain yourself. Here’s to home entertainment and minding ourselves and taking care of each other.
Oh, I write a blog too. I nearly forgot about that. Thinking about it and doing it and sharing it has been an important part of my home entertainment programme.
Thank you for dropping by.