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Caroline Aherne: Queen of Comedy – BBC Documentary

By TV, Online Streaming & FilmsNo Comments

Caroline Aherne was the comedy genius responsible for The Mrs Merton Show and The Royale Family. Caroline was from Manchester, the North West of England.

Caroline had a tragic life including being born with a rare form of eye cancer, being a victim of domestic violence & abuse in her marriage, suffering with depression/possibly bipolar, alcohol dependency, bladder cancer and died of lung cancer at just 52 years old.

Despite all this tragedy and suffering, she had the wonderful gift of being naturally funny. It is for this talent and skill that she is remembered by friends in the BBC’s Caroline Ahern: Queen of Comedy documentary.

This excellent documentary is well worth a watch. It showed Caroline’s love of life with TV clips and interviews with friends, her humour and the impact she had on individuals lucky enough to know her.

So go check it out. Until next time,

Antony

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The Gorgeous Mawaan Rizwan – My New Celebrity Crush

By Love & Relationships, Thinking, TV, Online Streaming & FilmsNo Comments

I discovered the gorgeous Mawaan Rizwan through Taskmaster. Then I discovered his BBC Series Juice.

Mawaan is hilariously funny, eccentric and attractive. Then I checked out his Instagram and wow, he’s hot and very sexy. Mawaan is also gay – I think I’ve found my future husband.

I couldn’t resist sending him a complementary message:

Now, I just need him to checkout my profile and fall in love with me. Job done.

Write soon,

Antony

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My Recent Media Absorption

By Amazon, Books & Authors, Games, Music & RadioNo Comments

They say that sharing is caring. So today I wanted to share with you my recent media absorption, which includes a book, three albums, two TV programmes and a game.

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View on Amazon.co.uk
The Last Days of Magic by Mark Tompkins
The Last Days of Magic mixes mythology, magic and fantasy wonderfully. Ireland is the last stronghold of magical beings. But it is under threat. From King Richard in England and the Vatican.

The Vatican is determined to wipe out all creatures and men with magic. All creatures and men with magic came from fallen angels mating with humans. The Vatican believes that this is against God’s will.

There’s a wide range of compelling characters, a gripping plot and it is an easy and enjoyable read. It is the perfect example of a great fantasy novel.

Percentage Complete: 95% I will write a review of this book when I’ve finished reading it.

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View on Amazon.co.uk
Jake Shears by Jake Shears
The flamboyantly fabulous and drop-dead-gorgeous Jake Shears is back! Doing what he does best (apart from that ahem) – singing.

His self-titled album Jake Shears is packed with original and brilliant songs. I love Shears’ eccentricity and his unique view of life which he expresses in his music.

On Jake Shears there’s catchy tunes that stick in your head such as Good Friends and Sad Song Backwards to songs about sex such as S.O.B (sex on the brain) and Clothes Off. An album that I would highly recommend.

I have found my funeral song on Jake Shears. The exceptional ballet track Palace in the Sky. It gets you right here points to chest.

Percentage Complete: 100% I still have Jake Shears’ autobiography Boys Keep Swinging – A Memoir to read.

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DH00280-the-1975-album-cover DH00280 by The 1975
I love the upbeat, quirky and sometimes melodramatic music of The 1975.

Matt Healy’s (the lead singer) voice is hypnotic and high. DH00280 is a twenty-four track album of the band playing live at The 02 in London at the end of 2016.

I would love to see this band live. But in the meantime, at least I can play this album on repeat whenever I want.

I’m lucky that it’s a digital version and not a tape, otherwise I’d have probably wore it out by now.

Percentage Complete: 100% (Repeatedly.)

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View on Amazon.co.uk
M/F by Matt Fishel
Fishel’s music reflects the gay community and the Singer Songwriters’ experience of it.

All gay men will be able to identify with the lyrics. The music is pop-rock and Fishel’s voice is memorising. My favourite songs on this album include His ‘n’ His, Bored of Straight Boys, and The Gorgeous Ones.

I first heard about Fishel when he released his debut album Not Thinking Straight. This album was addictive and played constantly on repeat. Songs that have stayed with me from that album are: Radio-Friendly Pop Song, Behind Closed Doors, Alastair and the Football Song.

However I was less impressed with his second album Cover Boy. The only track I enjoyed on this album was a barely passable cover of Finally. Cover Boy was thankfully a shorter album than Not Thinking Straight.

M / F demonstrates Fishel’s return to the music of his that I yearn for and most relate to. A fantastic album and one that I would recommend.

Percentage Complete: 100% (On Repeat.)

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The Pyramid Code

The Pyramid Code is a five part documentary examining how advanced the Ancient Egyptians were. Interviewing experts, using visual diagrams and models, along with analysis of available evidence to present the case that the Ancient Egyptians were probably more advanced scientifically, architecturally and spiritually than we are today.

A truly fascinating and informative documentary. It’ll make you question what you’ve previously been told and accepted as fact about the ancient Egyptians.

Percentage Complete: 75%

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View on Amazon.co.uk
In The Flesh
I recently discovered In The Flesh on the BBC iPlayer. It’s set after a zombie uprising in Britain. The authorities have found a treatment that reverts zombies back to fully cognitive functioning people. They refer to them as individuals affected by Partially Deceased Syndrome (PDS).

The story is set around the Walker family. Kieren Walker is a young man who is released from a Detention Centre back to the care of his family and in his zombie-hating community. He has his parents and Jem, his younger sister who is a member of the Human Volunteer Force (HVF). The HVF rose up to eliminate the zombies after the outbreak. This unique angle is very interesting for a zombie genre TV series.

I’m only a few episodes in. But I’ll say this: it’s a very deep and dark drama series.

Kieren has side effects to the medication including flashbacks to things he did as a zombie – including the killing and eating of people. Plus Kieren wasn’t alive at the time of the outbreak. He rose from his grave. So why did Kieren with seemingly all of his life ahead of him end up dead and buried so young?

Although it’s brilliant series, I will admit that I have had to take some breaks during watching due to the level of darkness. I’ve actually found it a bit traumatic to watch at times. I guess it’s good that it makes me feel something, even if it’s something that makes me feel uncomfortable.

Percentage Complete: 33%

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theme-hospital-game-cover Theme Hospital
I bought the original Theme Hospital for under a fiver, for something to play why I wait for the release of the reinvented Theme Hospital called Two Point Hospital.

I’m enjoying it and managed to complete half of the game with only getting the game over screen a few times.

Percentage Complete: 50%

Looking ahead there’s loads of media to look forward to. First I’ve got a shelf of books waiting to be read. In addition to that I’ve got:

  • A big update for The Universim towards the end of August
  • The release of Two Point Hospital towards the end of August.
  • A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships album by The 1975 in October.
  • Dr Who returns to the TV in the Autumn.
  • A possible album from former McFly band member Danny Jones. A couple of weeks ago Danny Jones released an awesome single called Is This Still Love,

What media are you absorbing and enjoying? Leave a comment below and let me know.

Blog soon,

Antony

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Wonderful Websites – Music & Radio

By Amazon, Music & Radio, Technology, The WebNo Comments
wonderful-websites-image This is the ninth blog post in a series titled Wonderful Websites. The first focused on general health and can be read here. The second focused on mental health and mental illness and can be read here.

The third post focused on shopping and can be read here. The fourth focused on money and can be read here.

The fifth focused on gigs, shows and theatres and can be read here. The sixth focused on paganism and can be read here.

The seventh focused on gay culture and society and can be read here. The eighth focused on TV, Online Streaming & Films and can be read here.

Here’s Wonderful Websites for music & radio:

1. YouTube – It’s great for discovering new music. You can watch official music videos or lyrical videos. Plus YouTube will automatically find related videos.

2. iTunes – Podcasts – I love a good Podcast. Podcasts are like prerecorded talk radio shows. Two I enjoy are Desperate House Witches and The Gay Agenda.

3. iTunes – A quick and convenient way to buy and download music. I dislike the restrictions Apple are placing more and more on the music you buy through their store.

4. BBC iPlayer Radio – The great way to listen to and catch up any BBC radio station.

5. Gaydio Radio – If you like dance music you’d love Gaydio. I listen on the odd occasion. However a wider variety of music and some discussion programmes would better represent the diversity in the gay community.

6. Spotify – I got a Spotify Preimum free trial with a phone contract a number of years ago. I loved it. But when the free trial ended the £9.99 per month was in my mind too expensive for a service that you get nothing tangible from.

I tried the free version but the advertising was too frequent and quickly became too irritating to stand. So I don’t use Spotify at all now.

7. Heart Radio – I’ve recently discovered Heart Radio thorough hire car and courtesy car radios as my car has been off the road (see It Comes in Threes).

8. Smooth Radio – I like a bit of Smooth radio as it helps me relax. Even if they do repeat the same tracks far too often.

9. Amazon Music Unlimited – I’ve never tried Amazon Music Unlimited. I bet it’s great if you have Amazon devices such as the Amazon Echo.

Are there any music & radio websites that you think are useful that aren’t on the list? If so leave a comment below and let me know.

In the next post in my Wonderful Websites series I will list great websites for technology.

Blog soon,

Antony

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