A Nice Chianti

OK, a (temporary?) hiatus on songs "entertainingly" featuring the word back, because in my pre-bed web-browsing I have just seen something that surprised me. A lot.

How many minutes of screentime would you guess that Best Lead Actor Oscar-winner Anthony Hopkins had in his role as Hannibal Lector in The Silence of the Lambs? To help you out a bit, the film is 118 minutes long.

Answer to be found in this very interesting article about award season category fraud.

I don't like to complain

But because I have been ill for the past few weeks, I have been doing all my Christmas shopping online. And because I don't usually buy so many things online, my credit card company keeps stopping my card. They stopped it yesterday; I called to ask them to start it again, and they did. And then they stopped it again this morning.

Positive Spin

I mean, in years to come, I might be able to tell people that I was one of the lucky few who saw Edward Bennett in Hamlet, when he stepped in for David Tennant under dramatic circumstances, brought the house down with his spectacular performance, and launched his now-glittering career! Pity the poor folk who just saw boring old DT. Indeed, did I ever mention how I saw the actress who'd been the understudy in 42nd St and then took over the role, in a case of life imitating art? It was Catherine Zeta Jones. Fact. So the future me finds this totally exciting. Totally. Exciting.

This is Edward Bennett

I have three days to get as excited about seeing him as Hamlet as I was about seeing David Tennant. I have been a fan of David Tennant ever since Casanova, which was three years ago, so it's three years per day. It's a big ask but I reckon I can manage it. Otherwise, and I know it's an ensemble production etc etc, but it is a bit like going to see Aretha Franklin and finding out that she's lost her voice but they are going to do the gig anyway, with one of the backing singers on lead vocals. I mean, I'm sure the backing singer has a terrific voice. But she aint Aretha.

So, anyway, there is stuff to get excited about here. Ed has great eyebrows and nice lips. He probably kisses like a dream. Also, according to his Rada page, he can do the Lindy Hop and play the bongos. He has a clean driving license, which is important, because I don't have a car, and he likes swimming, and so do I. He likes swimming so much he has mentioned it twice. And he has played Hamlet at university, which is handy. We are totally overlooking the fact that not only does he hunt on horseback but he has put it on his CV. Because if not, that is going to fully interfere with the crush I have to develop by 7.30pm on Friday.

Mrs Edward Bennett. Mrs Marie Bennett. Mr and Mrs Phillips-Bennett.

I can probably wean him off the hunting.

Explanation

So it turns out that I picked up an infection in Uganda - henceforth, "trip of doom" - and have been ill ever since, only I didn't notice, because given everything that happened there I expected to come back feeling exhausted and depressed, and the five days of stomach upset that followed were just par for the course, and I was stuck on the book before I left, so no wonder I was feeling despondent and uncreative when I got back, and it's winter, so you'd expect to get laryngitis, and a chest infection, and a cold, and the headaches and dizziness were probably just signs of stress, and the weird-smelling pee was probably just the malaria pills, and -

Well, I'm on antibiotics now. I should be better by the end of the week.

Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiilllllllllll.

Pity me.

Having slept on it

I have decided that the new mix tape should go in a poppier direction, to please my nephew's sisters (it is a family gift after all). Eldest niece has recently taken to playing Singstar and is particularly proficient at 'Push the Button'. So pop suggestions, please; but - and here's the tricky part - they should not be rubbish.

Ultimate Mix Tape: Redux

Remember The Ultimate Mix Tape which I made for my nephew when he turned eleven? Made with much input from you lovely souls, as I recall.

Well, I have just spoken to my sister who tells me that it is the only CD that they listen to in the car and now the family at large (Mum, Dad, two boys, two girls, ranging in age from 11 to 3) (not including parents: they're in their forties) have asked for a sequel. Which is where you come in. What seminal tunes have I left out? How can I progress from these basics - some new musical styles, perhaps?

That original tracklisting once again:

1. Space Oddity - David Bowie
2. Tell Me Why I Don't Like Mondays - Boomtown Rats
3. Alright - Supergrass
4. Park Life - Blur
5. Brown Sugar - The Rolling Stones
6. Common People - Pulp
7. Hanging on the Telephone - Blondie
8. Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
9. Psycho Killer - Talking Heads
10. The Lovecats - The Cure
11. Take Me Out - Franz Ferdinand
12. I Fought The Law - The Clash
13. Baggy Trousers - Madness
14. Signed, Sealed, Delivered - Stevie Wonder
15. Surfin' USA - The Beach Boys
16. Subterranean Homesick Blues - Bob Dylan
17. The Boxer - Simon & Garfunkel
18. I'm Only Sleeping - The Beatles
19. Me and Bobby McGee - Janis Joplin
20. Teenage Kicks - The Undertones
21. Another Brick In The Wall - Pink Floyd

My nephew's favourite was Space Oddity, so we should build on that. Funnily enough it was my favourite song when I was his age as well.

Apologies

I think that my creative cup has run (temporarily) dry. It has been a tough couple of months. I have been very blog slack.

If you are missing me, there is a 40-minute radio interview with me here. I actually sound remarkably perky given that I was suffering from laryngitis at the time (and still am, or rather it has now mutated into a nasty chest infection.)

At some point in the future I am fully intending to have interesting thoughts again, and when I do, you will be the first to hear about them.

The Woman Who Talks Too Much apologises for the late running of this week's Strictly Come Dancing post

This is due to blogger laryngitis which has left me muted in every way. Austin's Paso was the best though, even if I could only whisper Ole.