a night at The Office
On Saturday night, BBC2 broadcast a retrospective on 'The Office' and broadcast all of Series 1 together with soundbites from the creators (Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant), the cast (Martin Freeman, Mackenzie Crook, Lucy Davis) and celebrity fans (Ben Stiller, Christopher Guest, Matthew Perry, David Baddiel, Richard Curtis).
My favourite episode of Series 1 is 'Staff Training' for all the normal reasons and for this rendition of 'Free love on the free love freeway' - I just love the harmonising from Gareth at 1:24 ('She's not dead').
couple of HD channels for Virgin Media
Recently noticed a couple of additional HD channels now available on Virgin Media.
- C4 - not that much of a bonus.
- ESPN - will broadcast all the football matches previously screened by Setanta - in High Defintion - at no extra cost. Superb.
Slightly irritating that Virgin Media can send me a fun packed newsletter (via email) but don't have a blog or sensible way of communicating this useful information to me.
History professors
'You see - Thora Hird. I am aware of her work. You fancy her.'
open letter to Tony Hawks
This is the first in a series of 'open letters' when I send emails to people who I admire or have had a major influence on my life.
I will post my 'open letter' and subsequently will post the individual's response (with their permission).
To kick things off, an open letter sent in February 2008 to Tony Hawks (UK author, comedian and occasional 'talking head' on those interminable BBC series that look back to the 1980's).
Obviously, Tony has been very busy this year which must explain why I haven't had the common courtesy of a reply (yet).
Hi Tony
You don't know me (I bet a lot of your emails and fan letters start like this) but many years ago I saw you in the reception at the Chine Hotel in Bournemouth.
I recognised you, you saw me staring at you and gave me a weak, knowing smile, probably dreading the awkward exchange that you feared was about to happen.
I was considering coming up and introducing myself. However, I didn't for the following reasons:
- I had this awful mental image of stuttering 'Hi Tony. I've see you on TV and I think you are quite funny' while you were trying to query a mysterious charge on your hotel bill.
- My wife has never heard of you and would wonder why I was accosting a complete stranger at the reception desk.
- I had to go to check on my two little children who were at loose in the soft-play area.
Anyway, I never did make it over and many years later, I still think you are quite funny and I have just finished 'Piano in the Pyrenees' which I thoroughly enjoyed. So much so I am immediately going to buy your other books ('Fridge Round Ireland', 'Playing Moldovans at Tennis' and possibly 'One Hit Wonder').
All the best, Andy
PS. Tell those techies who designed your Web site, it doesn't appear to work on Firefox thus alienating a large part of your target audience.
Sky channels back on Virgin Media
Rejoice ! After 18 months, Rupert and Richard have ended their standoff and the Sky channels will be returning to Virgin Media.
Now, I wonder if some kind soul could fill me in on the last 18 months of 'Lost'.