Dear 2008

I am not sure I will miss you greatly, but I have a feeling you may be on a par with 2009. 2009, don't disappoint me.

Yrs,

Macka

(RE) SEEN Sleeping Dogs

Ahh, I have found out why I haven't had proper titles... I am a dumb@r$e. There is no need to respond to that chums... Anyway, I rewatched, after a number of years, Sleeping Dogs with Sam Neill. It's still quite good and prescient of what was to come in 1981 (sort of) with the Springbok tour. There is a very good 'making of feature' with luminaries of New Zealand film talking about how they cut their teeth on this one. Good stuff.

RECOMMENDATION: Thumbs-up

PURCHASED AND SEEN (A BIT) - Season 4 BSG1

I decided to buy the first part of the final series, I am enough of a fan to do so. I had to fight the hordes at JB Hi-Fi though. It was an ugly, ugly, ugly scene man in that shop. Too little space and too many people. In a reversal I have started with the DVD extras and the mini-sodes with a young Bill Adama. Good fun, especially the old cylon suit design. Ah, the days when cylons were cylons.

RECOMMENDATION - Thumbs up - so far.

READ (nearly) Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson

This is another reprint ($12.99) from the penguin orange range. This book is a frothy look at the English language, its history and development. Overall, fun but a bit light weight, which I guess is to be expected. I had my doubts about some of his facts and sadly they were not referenced so I couldn't check them. Meh.

RECOMMENDATION: thumbs in the middle.

SEEN - The Wire Season 4

I have just finished season 4 of the Wire. Still good, still complex, and still interesting. Season 4's theme was education and inner city schools, which doesn't sound all that sexy, but actually was very moving and enlightening. There was some good character development all round. My only quibble would be that with the DVDs too date there has been a lack of extras, this season had the usual commentaries plus a couple of half hour documentaries. The documentaries were okay, but felt a little tacked on.

RECOMMENDATION: thumbs up!!!!!