Hey, exciting though my current current affairs news is at the moment, life in TV World is far more exciting.Your old mate Sis is proud to announce he has a (maybe) direct link to - wait for it - Steven Moffett himself.!! It might just be that my various wild Who ramblings might be able to get through to our shiney new head writer. One of my chatty friends in the library who (bizaarely) shares a name with grumpy genius (and Sam admirer) McKay of Stargate: Atlantis fame used to work for BBC Wales and saw the writer on a daily basis. Together, we've had a little chinwag regarding the Big Bad in the 2010 Season and he seems to think there's some mileage with the Evil High Council arc and possibly bringing back Omega. However, another side of my head says that Moffett will come up with some totally wild new ideas for the new regular series - Steven is definitely on a parallel with Robert Holmes from the cla$$ic series as opposed to RTD's JNT - who was always stomping about going "Wouldn't it be great if so& so came back - find some way to make it happen" . Indeed, Moffett has now gone on record to say that under his tenure, there will be some all new monsters and frightening stuff going on.

So much telly ground to cover this blog with season reviews - and so many lost opportunities, unfortunately - you can't blame it all on the US Writers Strike - there's just too much retread ground, poor concepts and all-round sloppyness. For all-round sloppyness, I really don't want to, but I have to mention the recent Bionic Woman flop. The satellite channels must be really up against it because this seems to be on wall-2-wall - and my God, it's awful. Eight episodes is seven too many here - sixty minutes of my life I will never get back, no matter how hard I try to recreate the creation of black holes in my front room. I'm already three experiments in debt from being dragged to see Rocky Balboa - trust me, the same mistake will not be made with the movie of Mamma Mia - as Jon Stewart mentioned to Pierce Brosnan on the Daily Show, " If all the guys I see at a bachelor party are singing Abba, I somehow don't hold very much hope for the wedding....".

Plus I start to see now why Tim Kring was so worried about Season 2 of Heroes and publicly decided to apologise. It's nowhere near in the Bionic Woman category of awful , but it did seem a little rushed. But there are little flashes of excellence through the eleven episodes - Matts dads' illusion sequence in Fight Or Flight, The immunities in the blood which save Nathan in Four Months Ago and Noah in Cautionary Tales and David Anders (the best character this year). Having six months to polish before The Butterfly effect in September for Series Three should help - and the Beebs decision to showcase a week or so after US transmission is fantastic. Should bridge the gap neatly between now and Jan 2009 for the long-awaited return of 24 Day Seven !!

Obviously, being Summer, the blockbusters are here at the flicks to make up for telly mediocrity - WALL-E, the Dark Knight, I Want to Believe (x-files2) & Hellboy: Golden Army. Reports on them in upcoming blogs. But a library cloud has a silver lining - end of July, the city lost its supplier of new DVDs so we have to cast around for a new company. ( No new Heroes Series2 Discs for the moment). This gives me the chance to catch up on some films I had missed - 3.10 To Yuma , Bee Movie , American Gangster, , No Country For Old Men, The Assassination Of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford.

No matter how anyone slags this last film off , find out for yourself. It's a real Marmite film - you hate it or love it with a passion. Mark Kermode (the Uks only film critic that matters) stood up and defended this when no-one else would - and , of course, he's right. A gorgeous sweeping film with great music, lush rolling fields, great narration and two towering central performances by Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck - another great case of how the main character (James) being killed off doesn't mean the end of the film, it just develops it further.

And - finally - I got round to seeing The Prestige. (Like to think I'm catching up on films with Christian Bale in directed by Chris Nolan). Think at the start , I said to myself "It's a Victorian magic show - whats the interest in that?" But it's a huge huge film - the cast list is impressive and then some - Bale, Hugh Jackman, Scarlet Johansson, Michael Caine , Andy Serkis (off LoTR & King Kong), David Bowie (??!) - and what a twist. Nolan pulls off the impossible here. They say a magic trick -when you know the secret- loses its magic - its not so with this film. It stands up to repeated viewings - must have seen it three times over the weekend and was still impressed. If there's a 2 or 3-disc spec edition out there , my moneys on that one - no wonder everyones gaga about how good the Dark Knight is when Nolan has such a quality back catalog (Memento, Batman Begins and now this). Why so serious ,people? Don't worry, my popcorns booked soon...

Resident Evil Update

Even managing to progress with some seriously ace evenings of zombie blasting. RE3 - Nemesis was re-finished end of June (finally managed to put pay to that growling "STARRRRRRS" horror, thank God) and also just put pay to Code Veronica X!

(Thank you , thank you - its too much!)

A slightly different setup on this game because of the fact it first came out on the unlamented Dreamcast before swopping format.This game was huge - two discs , dodging back and forth between five different locations with items you need for Locations 5 right back at Location2 for instance - God, it was tough. I thought maybe the fact it originally came out on a different format meant there might be some loss of familiar element, but no, the gangs all here. Chris & Claire, Wesker and some nasssty creatures. Liked the fact that swopping between Chris and Claire throughout the game meant you had to think carefully about weapons to use (since if Chris has the Shotgun for instance, when you were playing Claire for a considerable time, you couldn't use it - major drawback). Also the improved graphics where the third person scene shifts when you go around a corner - its far more fluid than just one scene to next.

Some major CG Cutscenes here as well deserve special mention - Alexia transforming to the Ant mutant looks the bomb and the final faceoff between Chris and Wesker again is tense. The hardest boss by far is Claire vs Nosferatu on the Antarctica heliport - hitting a moving target DEAD on the heart with a sniper rifle that only has 7 shots available needed a tricky combo of range (and a frustrating evening to figure out). So in contrast , it was great just to let loose on the final mutant with submachine gun , magnums and launcher blazing.

So a bit of change of focus coming up - RE0 (the prequel) has an interesting twist where you control two characters at once -one dead and its game over. As for RE4 that ditches survival horror completely - can't wait. That's the game that the temptation works on - but I thought "no have to go through 1, 2, 3, CVX and 0 " first. Its getting closer.. also RE4 on the Wii which allows me to start all over again with the Umbrella Chronicles before RE5 in 2009/2010.

Did you know also you can buy a PS2 for 50 quid??? How crazy is that? I can feel a major Grand Theft Auto quest starting soon as well....

And finally.....

It's no question that sometimes I wish some of the library customers would turn mouldy and start groaning so I can blast their heads off. Recently, as some of you may know, the council services took a two-day strike over pay - so I was down to work being relief and then all of a sudden, I was told I wasn't needed. Its quite unrefreshing when coming back to work on Friday , folks decide to take the fact that their bins haven't been collected out on you - as we are suffering from a worldwide credit crunch , the idea of my colleagues wanting more money isn't that appealing - indeed , we were accused of being - wait for it - "Over-Reaching Greedy Money-grabbing Scum". See, it was worth reading through all that praise and moaning for that little ray of light, wasn't it?

Looking to carry on liking being liked...

Enjoy the sun, Sis x

"If you're an alien, how come you sound like you come from the north?"

"Lots of planets have a North!" - Rose + the Ninth Doctor, "Rose" (A1) -2005

I'm afraid its with North America that I have to start my latest blog/rant. Hello again, by the way everyone - welcome back if you're an old mate, if you're new, this is a good place to start. I'm one of those that like the US electorial system - I suppose it comes from watching my favorite season of The West Wing, Season 6. A very brave experiment to devote a whole season and a half of a telly show to an almost real time search for Martin Sheens successor. I love the fact you see Jimmy Smits right at the start of the process - scratching around in the depths of winter after deciding to run for nomination looking for any hustings, any chance to get some publicity. And slowly but surely, the profile grows, through the conference and nomination, through the famous Season 7 debate (both East and West coast versions), and the show surviving the tragic death of John Spencer as Leo to a triumphant election 2-parter and through to inaguration and those great final episodes where you see the end of the old team and the start of the new.

And now it seems its happening for real with Barack Obama. Seriously, where was he five years ago? And now it's the heart vs the head for early November. But I get the distinct impression that this long haul is not everyone's cup of tea. So I thank God that a sardonic savior is around to put the daily struggle in perspective - yes, its Jon Stewart.This assault on the funnybone is definitely one of the highlights of my new digital satellite future. Whats that, you say? Sis hasn't finally sorted himself out and got some extra channels?

YES!!!!! It's finally happened!!! Just before May Day (May 5th), I took decisive action and plugged a sleek black box in for some cracking new shows. And The Daily Show is worth being around for any day of the week - don't know how America survived during the writers strike. It's actually put to bed quite a number of famous urban myths - as well as destroying the concept that the American censors are the strictest in the world, I can discount the fact that most Americans supported the war in Iraq. Am I right in thinking that us Brits came out against the invasion and government first and the Americans have followed suit with Bush? The open fury that Stewart has for the whole process is quite astonishing - regularly getting ex White House staff on to press questions of corporate malpractise and homicide based on the apparent lies we were told.

Throughout the long-drawn out struggle between Clinton and Obama, Stewart has carried a torch of mania and outright giggling where no subject is safe. It gives me a unique balanced view of a fascinating process - and recently on June 3rd, one "guest" drew parallels with the campaign and another long drawn out affair, Lost.Referring to the campaign, the quote was "How has something this boring not been cancelled?" followed by the legendary "Where's the polar bear, man? Come on - it's a polar bear!! On a tropical island !!!".

Genius. Just genius. On the subject of Lost, just briefly, is what I'm hearing about "There's No Place Like Home" true? They haven't done what I think they've done? Bloody hell - talk about jumping the shark.....

Let me put my librarian hat on now -its Reader Recommends time.

Three choices this time around - two (OK, three books) and a truly odd film. I've got everything Bill Bryson has written (apart from his slightly tedious "deconstruction of language" tomes) - and two of the three books has a definite northern feel. Oddly , both the writers are current Radio 2 DJ's and shared a show together - its Stuart Maconie and Mark Radcliffe (the latter of legendary Mark+Lard fame on Radio 1). Radcliffe's saga is an epic story of power struggles , fame and scarves set in the dynamic and shifting world of folk music. Being a current DJ, Radcliffe should know and this experience shows through in the text of "Northern Sky"- all the right questions are asked, some at the wrong time leading to some tasty confrontations. Maconie prefers the real atmosphere of northern towns and townsfolk in his "Pies and Prejudice: In Search Of The North" - again , very lyrical passages and glorious descriptions of places and people both oddball, hilarious and deadly serious. Well worth searching out.

The film in question is Perfume: Story of a Murderer. From the opening five minutes with a quick-cut and brutal birth, you know this is going to be something different from your usual run-of-the-mill romcom or search for hidden treasure. Cut faithfully from the novel by Patrick Suskind (which I also completely recommend - very florid and lovely prose - almost scent on the printed page), the brutal story of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille , the most gifted procurer of scents ever born, is told from filthy birth through to his outrageous and flaming death by way of a twist the likes of which you have Never seen before. Trust me, if you want an original way to avoid the gallows, this is the way to do it. You know from a French/German co-effort, no quarter is going to be given - and some sterling support from Dustin Hoffman and Alan Rickman make this one of the most original films of the decade so far.

Finally, I can put a ten-year struggle to bed. Resident Evil 2 is finally complete - I have always hated the fact that I walked away at the final battle a long time ago thinking this is unbeatable - but last month I returned to Raccoon City older and wiser and finally the Birkin beast bit the dust!!! Plus with an added extra - the true end after you beat the game as Leon and Claire with the slimy train finish. I was so happy to finally put the game to bed thought I was going to fall at the last - but just managed to hang on and catch the oohh- so- Guitar Hero credits. Very funky.

So at the moment , I'm running at full speed from an annoying beast who smashes through doors, grumbles "STARRRRS" at me and smacks me over the head with iron bars - yes, it's the Nemesis. Responsible for my biggest shock of the series yet back in the day when I completed the game, it's a little test of just how much I remember. And that's before the little diversions of Code Veronica X and the prequel 0..... blasting heads has never been so much fun....

Summertime...... and the zombies are easy........,

Regards, Sis .x

Being in a job in the libraries has its notable perks - one of which is free issue of CD's and DVD's. OK ,you have to wait for them to come out on DVD - come on, I haven't got that fast a system to tackle program downloads just yet - future dreams - but providing you give the paying public first option on the popular releases , you do eventually get the chance to see a hell of a lot of stuff for no pence at all. This is why my yearly media review looks like it will come in two parts because there's just so much good stuff to watch. And as usual no time to type it all up. So this is why its x weeks late. I was never very good with deadlines.

One of the categories that has impressed me this year has been documentaries.The noughties for some reason are turning out to be a cracking time for docs. Or maybe I never noticed them before. Anyway the list is certainly impressive :

Bowling For Columbine, Farenheit 9/11 and Sicko (the Michael Moore trilogy - whether you think he is Anti-American or not, whether you agree with his views or not, the fact still remains that he's a damn good filmmaker and cuts like a devil.)

Supersize Me and the 30 Days series from Morgan Spurlock.

Capturing The Friedmans (both astonishing and controversial showing the costs of alleged child abuse).

The Falling Man (media fallout in the wake of 9/11)

That Spelling Bee national competition where all the kids cry when they lose.

The latest title to join these leaders of their field is The Bridge.It's amazing all the time you think of these world famous sights and you never hear the darker side and the true stories surrounding them - in this case the Golden Gate Bridge. It's a sobering sight to watch real time footage of jumpers and people who have taken the so called "easy" way out. There's a staggering shot five minutes in of a wide shot of the bridge - suddenly your eyes are drawn to a splash , one minute there the next gone - and you're thinking " Did I just see that?" Very disturbing. Just like the ripples it causes in the circle of family and friends. "Could I have done this differently?", "If I could have been there" etc. There's also a first hand account from the one person who survived the drop and the water - strong subject matter, but a story that needs telling - all the best documentaries deal with such stories.

Of course it would be much easier if I only preferred one particular genre , but that's just the problem - there's so much good stuff that one day I'll be watching true life horror stories and the next day I can turn my brain off completely and watch 24.

As you may or may not know, there's been a lot of criticism chucked at S6. They say it's a series that goes nowhere new in plot development- they say the finale lacks any cohesion and they say that Jack is weakened by his family constantly getting in the way. These people are the sort of people that view Jack Bauer as an indestructible no mercy USA killing machine and for the producers to write in any sign of emotion is somehow un-American. From my point of view, the season suffered from having to ditch the baggage of - boo hiss - Audrey Raines. You've gotta say that Seasons Four and Five are garbage - both have weak villains throughout; (Mandy, plus the characters played by Arnold Vosloo, Julian Sands and "Robocop" are all terrible) and/or weak bosses (Erin Driscoll anyone>?). Plus that useless tub of lard Edgar - it was a party in our house when the virus got him.

My seasons ranking of 3,1,6,2,5,4 comes in for a bit of stick.

But Surnow, Loceff and Cochran had to clear the decks this last season - get rid of the dead wood. And Audrey and her dad were top of the tree. Chucking out CTU as well is an unexpected bonus for S7 (when we finally see it after the Writers Strike is sorted).When you look past Sourpuss Raines and Dad, there's a lot to like about Season Six. Let me count the ways:

•i) Unexpected deaths: Curtis was a kick in the teeth - and Milo getting a bullet I did not see coming at all. Very powerful stuff.

•ii) Great guest stars: Peter MacNicol was terrific all year - a huge performance - plus great turns from Alex Siddig, Ricky Schroder and Rena Sofer (very nice as Jack's sis in law)

•iii) Greg Itzin: having the spotlight off Logan this year was wonderful and you could see Greg was having a whale of a time trying to wind his way back using Jack as a bargaining chip. Lovely scenes between Kiefer and Greg - it was just a shame it ended when it did.

•iv) Weak President Palmer: after David was such a massive presence during Seasons 1-3 , it's understandable that Wayne was under such pressure to perform. So it was a shock when we discover that he's not destined to succeed.

•v) And finally: huge episodes. The opening episode is just fantastic - to find Jack in the state he's in after the Chinese problems is such a departure. And it's good to know they don't cut any corners with the mini-nuke - the fallout (both political and radioactive) hangs over the rest of the day from 10am onwards.

So in honor of the extended 24 break, I present: THE FIVE BEST 24 VILLIANS .

5/ira gaines(Michael masee) - A honorable mention for 24's first villain only lasting twelve hours. It is said you are only as good as the team around you and Ira stands out from the team of fools like a diamond. I still quote his eternally genius line about the end of times around pubs and clubs "You're either dead or not dead. Here. Let me show you.....". A brilliant little cat and mouse sequence from the hospital and when Gaines realizes "its either Bauer or us" as to which one gets the bullet when Andre brings in team B, you feel for our doomed number 2 nasty. A great face off with Jack to end as well - nice one Ira.

4/cheng zhi (tzi ma) - Whether you think 24's later seasons sparkle or suck, you have to appreciate in the land of heightened drama where nasties come and go in three hours, a reoccurring villain is a rare thing. That's why Cheng has to be on this list - he's responsible for a major shift in the 24 timeline where Jack spends all that time in a Chinese cell. The continuity works as well - picking up the thread from the embassy attack in Season 4 and working all through Jack on the run through the release and the family connection with the Chinese politician. So Cheng is a villain by association - the story behind the scenes makes him a major player.

3/Stephen saunders (paul Blackthorne) - OK, I will defend Season 3 to the hilt, it's a fantastic year despite all the moaning about Jack not supposed to show any emotion, betraying his superman roots etc etc. But again the continuity works here - Saunders being a part of Jacks team on the Drazen mission who was left for dead. Here, however, being English, Stephen isn't capable of being truly nasty, especially when CTU slightly declaw him once they grab his daughter.

This time its all about the setpieces - Saunders is responsible for some of the best sequences up on screen in 24's history. The virus in the hotel is just brutal and then you have three final episodes from heaven - Jack pursuing Tony where Saunders is pulling his strings after kidnapping Michelle - the exchange under 6th street bridge - the F-16 attack - all at such a high level. You think things can't get any better when Jack threatens to chuck Jane into the doomed hotel. And then the writers top it all with that terrific final - a throwaway death , but helping to identify the rogue agent leading to the final battle in the school. Fantastic stuff.

2/victor drazen (dennis hopper) - I, like many people, watched Victor in the Saugus cells and thought "24 has truly arrived". It was a major major coup to get such a big movie name like Hopper to star as the big bad for the year. He may just be around for four hours, but what an impression. Again, it's the history between the two that makes the scenes sparkle - a player returning from the dead out for revenge. Victor (or Victors family) being behind the whole events of Day One - the Saugus scenes are wonderful, the Jack as a bomb hour from 10pm is great - and you have the best final hour in 24's history , just shading Day Three. They have recruited many other famous actors since, but none bigger than Dennis.

1/nina myers (sarah Clarke) - Well, there's no contest, is there? The queen beeyatch from Hell. Nina Myers was trouble with a capital T. You don't need me to catalog all the ways this slippery snake has brought trouble and pain to the 24 universe - being a former agent turned traitor, Nina knows everything. The writers tell you there's a mole all the way through Day One and knowing its Nina puts a completely different slant on the events at the pit head. Does Ira tell Jack to shoot Nina knowing shes the mole? Whether that's true or not, Jack's mercy comes back in a big way to bite him at midnight on Day One.

It's also the wonderful little asides Nina has with the other cast - the pitying look Tony gives her after the capture in CTU's parking lot and the slow mo sequence in Day Three when Kim sees Nina finally dragged through CTU ( in a great reverse from Day Two when she's interviewed after the old CTU's bombing with Jack). In a way, the subplot with Kim wanting payback for mum Teri's death makes up for all that terrible filler with the leopard and the baby. Just when you think that maybe Kim isn't strong enough to pull the trigger or the writers aren't brave enough to get rid of a major story asset, up steps heroic Jack - and Bang! Bang! the beeyatch is dead.

-----------------------------------

Of course, with a certain former CTU agent coming back from the dead(?) in Season Seven , we might have a new leader , but is it a big bad or just a supporting role... we wait and we wonder....

Events just written occurred in realtime.

Be careful out there, Sis x

Days in new job - The ton (100)

Different libraries worked at - Six

Christmas meals eaten with different teams - Four

Wrong things said at the wrong time - Definitely two

Number of children read to at one time - Thirty-Five !!!!

Boy, was I so wrong.

Whenever my eight-year-old nephew and five year old niece come to visit, they love their stories - and just sometimes, you can pick the right story so that you get that magic moment where you glance over at them while you're reading and they are spellbound. Open mouth. Silent. Genius times.

So, when my time came to serve on the library services Reading Rocket (that's the mobile service that goes around the playgroups, nurseries and schools of our city), my bosses said to me "Nothing to it, matey. Usual issue of books, telling stories every so often - it'll be a good day out for you." No problem then.

Until you arrive in the parking lot and let the teachers know that the Rocket has arrived. Suddenly you look out the window and see the whole cla$$ descending on the van (with teacher leading the way). It's like the moment in films with a war assault or charge - close up on defenders face. Moment of panic. Instant gulp.

I'm not a teacher - my school days are well and truly behind me. If I wanted to be responsible for education, I would have visited the gym more often , bulked up, learned the mantra "If your name not down, you're not coming in" in a deep throated growl and become a security guard. All of a sudden, I am the librarys sole representative around the suburbs. Eeeeek.

Anyway, it's all about the three I's : INTEREST, INTERACTION and I-CONTACT. (Har Har Har). I've determined my best series of books which I term "the voices". As long as I listen to the voices, I'm fine.

No seriously, books with monsters, large bears or young children are fine because l adopt the voices and everythings great. Hell , if it worked on Jackanory , it can work here. With the monsters , you get a great reprise from the kids just like on Monsters Inc. You tell them to repeat after me - a phrase followed by a great roar and hands in the air. Still get a shiver down my spine whenever that works out.

Plus, in a moment of madness, I agreed to don the red suit and white beard on Christmas Eve in the Santa storytime. No pics unfortunately (cause the parents have to sign a form to say its OK and my colleagues didn't want to spoil the "mood".) Anyway, of the two sessions we had, I said I would only do one (to gather information and tips). I know for a fact that parents were coming up to the desk on the first one and saying "I think Santa looks as if he would rather be somewhere else - he's a bit embarrassed". Just as well given that our first choice had gone out and drunk a few too many falling down waters known as Vodka. Now that would have been a real Bad Santa. So by the time my turn came around, the get-up had the full works - books as presents , bells, a little plush Toy Santa that was just the dogs (just for the record , I decided to save the line " Which of you wants to hold Little Santa" until I hit the clubs - surprisingly successful!).

Otherwise , you know the drill. Carols, Ho-ho-ho, "whose been good this year" (both the kids and my managers had been), "if you've been bad, all you get is a bowl of cold gruel" and plenty of shaking of bells. I even had the kids running after me as I disappeared back to ride Rudolf. It was lovely but somehow I think I've inherited the gig for future years. I'm sure the bookings in place for late this year.

Having not updated my blog for two months - I know am such a slacker - lot of media reviews to catch up on - some excellent new documentaries to add to my ****c list , also have finally caught up on Lost S3 and 24 S6 as well as the finale of Heroes S1. All very worthwhile great shows , but they've impressed me for different reasons during 2007. The continuing writers strike in America looks to have put pay to the new S4 and S7 for spring 08 , so I've got time to reflect and smile. I've also got my album reviews to drag through, so you can laugh at what ear mangling garbage is in my top ten for the year. So a couple of HTML heavy lists to get through and then I can start 2008 with a clean slate.

And the big day itself?

Well, my sister and both my nephews and niece were around for the present opening. Great to have them here and a chance to experience the first run at a new family dynamic since this was the first Christmas without my two granddads who both passed during the past year. So as you would expect , very different , younger scene and a refreshing change if that isn't too cruel an observation. It was great to take the kids attention away from smashing up the house for a couple of hours allowing Mum to get on with the important work - looking after the youngest, getting the food ready etc. Finley is really into jigsaws at the moment, so the late morning right through to Xmas dinner time was taken up with one of those new globe jigsaws with curved pieces that you build up to form the world. I sorted the pieces, he speedily zapped them into place and we were all finished before the table was set. I felt I had dodged the bullet in terms of time - he's only eight , so imagine the trauma if we hadn't have finished...

So the day went ; Sleep in, Practical presents, Tricky jigsaw completed to time , lots of turkey and pud, Happy Feet on DVD, lots more turkey and cake , plenty of champagne and strong lager. Good times.

Plus I managed to save Angus (the youngest) from a watery end by grabbing him from the edge of the pond at the local park.

I'm a bit of a hero and all round saint really. Just hope that some more people appreciate that through 2008.

A late Happy New Year to all and hope the leap year is a good one. Sis xx

"I thought you didn't like talking to people."

"I don't like talking to my friends and family. Strangers I have no problem with...."

- Cheryl and Larry David, "Curb Your Enthusiasm"

Days in new job - Forty Different libraries worked at - Three

Job aspects muddled through without training - All of them

Customers out for an argument - One Smart alecs out to beat the system - Too many...

Yes, Constant Reader, (and I'm sure Stephen won't sue for mimicking his style) sad as it may sound, they're some tragic individuals out there who try to exploit the library service for the excellent service that it provides. Whether it is failing to return the latest exploits of Jack Bauer on DVD (Season 6 review on its way soon- and I'm sure you've heard the excellent cast rumour for Season 7- which I won't reveal in case some of you haven't- all I will say is that the show suffers from shaking up all its old faces) or those stressed out folks on a spooky island (the massive S3 now available!) or trying to talk their way out of massive overdue fines , it falls on us, the trusty staff, to track these grumpy guts down and try to make their life a happier place once again. Give them the time to get it all out of their system.

And here's where I put my double-standard head on.

All because sometimes I love being a fly in the ointment. All because I simply want to understand my position and where I stand in relation to the greater order of things. If that takes time for me to sort out, fine. The problem for the service provider is I ask the questions that no-one expects, for instance that only an insider would know. I know very well what happens if I tow the line, tick the appropriate box and go "baaaa".

I get screwed over.

To avoid all this takes time. It's time the service provider doesn't have. I have just had a rather bruising encounter with the JobCentre where I overheard the deputy manager referring to me saying "if he wants an argument about it, sit him down at a free table and I'll sort him out". Just part of the rough transition of life that limbo provides. When you're in work, fine. When you're out of work, fine (up to a point where you want to be in work). The problem is in between. The benefits people want you to disappear because you've got a job, you're new employers expect you get everything you can from benefits. You see. Limbo.

So what I'm saying is if you get a sales or service person who allows you the time to work everything out to your satisfaction, make sure you let them and the managers of the place know. Those people are like gold dust- they're worth holding on to.

TV Watch(feeling very unoriginal 2day)

Since last couple of blogs, I have caught up on both continuing series and a new discovery. Delighted to say that the new discovery is The Wire.

How's this for a recommendation? A few months back, I was browsing through the box sets at the library and came across S1 and 2 (of course the third series is out now and the fourth has been on HBO). A complete stranger came up to me while I was reading the box blurb and said "Don't want to influence you or anything, but Best. Series. Ever". You can't get any better than that, can you?

Just like me preaching to the masses about Carnivale - Best. Series. Ever. As a result, I am looking around expecting dodgy packages to be dropped from upstairs flats and talking to my dogs and homies getting worried about the "re-up". Of course, that's what makes the series so raw with its attention to detail- language and story arc. It's really well crafted how for Series 2 , they focused in on the docks story while still overseeing the drugs issues and the characters from Series 1. Some brutal deaths , some unexpected deaths and some wonderful performances - Bubbles, Stringer Bell and Omar ( how the costume department picked out that court outfit I'll never know.)

Dominic West as McNulty is of course, simply wonderful - another fly in the ointment, a person who gets results, but a person who treads over every superior in his way to get those results. Also never clocked that he was in "300" - another film that just looks the dogs. And the actress who plays his ex-wife is hot.

Looking forward to Series 3 and 4.

The continuing series is the phenomenon that is Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Why this isn't totally massive I will never know - maybe it's just too unsettling for some people to know that someone like Larry David exists in real life, who gets the bird no matter what he does, whether for good reasons or not. Season 3 has contained the quote at the top of the blog - now you know I could have replaced that with Susie Essmans tour de force at the restaurant opening on car washes, but hey I don't want to be barred. For someone who Larry has to prompt to adopt the explosive character of Jeff's wife, that phrase is a doozy.

My favorite episode of the season has to go to the "Corpse-Sniffing Dog", though. The couple they have dinner with are used as a story punchbag (the wife in particular goes through the mill) , the dog is rescued in a nice way with the whistle at Jeff's expense and Larry gets Jeff's daughter drunk. Priceless.

Heroes Update(Flying Man!!)

After the collection of quality episodes that was on my first collection DVD (Collision, Hiros. Seven Minutes to Midnight and Homecoming), the recent fine run of form has filled up my second disc. We have "Six Months Ago" , with the Sylar genesis storyline ; "Godsend" , so many good moments here , the first hint of Kenseis' sword , more priceless moments between Hiro and Nathan (best double team on the show!) as well as the stunning New York bomb vision and Chris Eccleston showing up at the end ; "The Fix" with some genius Claude sarcasm throughout ; "Unexpected" with the Superman flying scene , a nasty betrayal by Isaac and another good teamup with Ted and Matt.

But all that is knocked to the side with the unstoppable juggernaut that was "Company Man". Proof indeed that you can create great drama with so little of the main cast (just Claire, Matt and HRG). The standoff in the kitchen is jawdropping , the flashbacks slot in perfectly and the firestarter finish - well, need I say more? Deserves every mark of its top episode of Season One status. Awesome throughout.So just four more weeks for the genesis season - I expect more spooky developments , a refreshing change with "Five Years Later" and just how do you stop an exploding man? I'll find out on December 5th....

My tune of the week is locked in my head now and won't come out till Christmas. I've always been a fan of kids TV themes and the latest quality tune direct from the Cbeebies stable is Space Pirates , on here Sat mornings.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/spacepirates/songs/

Believe me, once you hear it there's no escape...

Taking my pills, thrills and bellyaches, Sis x