What are we watching on TV?

No issue and I could see the first act, the female group, being a big draw as an opening act. I was a bit surprised how far down they were in the voting. They spent big on their attire too with the matching suits and hats.I hope they get enough gigs to get a return on their outlay. The lads all seemed to feature tees and jeans.

Another oddity, was there a sale in Takemine guitars down the road in the Donnybrook branch of Guitars 'R Us or up in Stillorgan? Apart from the wonderfully personable Paddy the banjo player and the female three-some, all the performers used the same brand of guitars. Gibsons beyond their reach at this stage maybe? Some beautiful looking instruments though, including the spectacularly decorated one played by the lad who did the Garth Brooks song.

We're abrim with musical talent thankfully and my oldest granddaughter is making great progress with her concertina, to the extent that since Christmas-time, her Mammy has dusted off her tin-whistles and they now practices the new tunes together. There's a great old buzz in making music together. At Easter they copied some of their music for me to learn. To prove you can teach an old dog new tricks, the terrier is making great progress with them.

I think RTE missed an opportunity to ramp up the text voting numbers and revenue; a pair of concert tickets to Shania's concert for one of the voters who picked the winning act wouldn't have gone astray. But hey, what do I know? :cool:
 
I voting juries thought he was the best of that bunch of ' entertainer's'. I don't think Shania will get too excited though ..I thought that the female group sounded quite good though.
 
Simon Reeves - Cornwall. Available on some documentary channels. Filmed around 2020 when we were just kind-of getting over Covid. Watch for the Taco brothers - a pair of likeable men who were let go from their respective hotel kitchens during Covid. They set up their own kitchen in a horsebox and towed it to a beach in Cornwall. They were providing upmarket food cheaply. Not great with the figures they calculated what daily take they'd need to turn a profit. A working tin mine was visited where the owner suggested more tin was necessary as it was used in solder in almost every electric/electronic product. Tin is being imported into the UK at the moment. There was the well dressed hotel manager who was made redundant during Covid accepting food from a charity. The programme could have been made about Ireland. I found it compulsive viewing with relevant personal accounts, magnificent scenery, people struggling to make a living etc. Plot Alert:- The Taco guys didn't break even and put their horsebox for sale.
 
This is a Bomb - the Nevada Casino Heist. A 3-part BBC documentary with filmed reconstructions about a ransom attempt at a Lake Tahoe casino in 1980, when a large but ingeniously constructed bomb was placed inside a casino - supposedly delivery of a new computer. The incident happened before my time, so it was all new to me and there's some painful reflections from some of those caught up in a family tragedy that had devastating consequences.

I have a massive backlog of Michael Portillo episodes to get through, I dunno why the BBC drop all the new episodes at once, after Japan, Korea and Central Asia he will be back with more Continental Railway Journeys.

Lucy Worsley will also be back next week on BBC2 with a 2 part documentary on the American Revolution.

Ian Nathan and his movie critics group look at another set of classic movies on Sky Arts - Chaplin and Three Days of the Condor up next.

And cosy but knowing murder mystery series Death Valley with Timothy Spall returns for a second series on BBC1 this Sunday.
 
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I saw the Irish author/comedienne Aoife Dooley interviewed on the telly this morning, small statured young lady, a delightful bit of a header, she dresses in a red crab costume to promote her books :). The latest is one of a series of graphic novels about fishes & other sea-creatures. For ages 5-8 but see what you think of them for children in your life, the newest one is half-price on amazon.ie. Aoife's been published in Polish, Catalan, French and a few more. She writes book books as well and identifies as autistic. One of my grandchildren is diagnosed as neuro-divergent so I keep my eyes and ears open for materials such as these.
 
odyssey06 said:
she identifies as a sea creature!
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She may do but didn't say so in the programme! Tommy Bowe looked far less convincing in her costume and he couldn't get the pincers to work. I was surprised he managed to stuff all that rugby ruggedness into the rig-out.
 
Feels more appropriate to mention here...

Actor David Burke has died aged 91. On TV he was known for playing Dr. John Watson in the initial series of Granada Television's 1980s The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1984–1986). He was married to actress Anna Calder-Marshall and they were both members of the Royal Shakespeare Company. In the theatre, Burke originated the part of Niels Bohr in Michael Frayn's Copenhagen (1998).
His son Tom Burke is also a well known actor and has starred in many recent TV series e.g. Strike, Legends, War & Peace.

en.wikipedia.org

David Burke (British actor) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
 

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BBC 2 Tonight 23:30 Dark Waters, film 2019

RTE on-line TV guide says "A defence attorney takes on a lawsuit against a chemical company and unravels a history of pollution. Drama, starring Mark Ruffalo"

BBC Film Choice on page 43 in this week's Culture supplement says, "This legal thriller stars Mark Ruffalo and tells of how the American conglomerate DuPont created carcinogenic 'forever chemicals' (which stay in the bloodstream) and released them into the environment, affecting 99 per cent of life on Earth. Ruffalo plays the crusading lawyer Rob Billot who tackled DuPont, with Tim Robbins as his boss. (2019)"

Interesting difference in emphasis and content in the announcements. Neither talks of the flocks of birds that dropped stone dead from the skies in areas surrounding the manufacturing plants when filtration systems were purged into the atmosphere. The film also stars well-known everyday products like PTFE, Teflon, etc made from the chemicals in question. They get their mentions in the credits following the film.

I've seen it before, and I'll watch it again.
 
A very good movie, a dark theme and sombre production.

And along with movies like Erin Brockovich, highlighting the extent corporations will go to bury their responsibilities and put profit before people.

Some rare victories for the little people against the multi $$bn corporations - what else is occurring where the joe soap citizen has not the means to right a wrong.
 
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mathepac said:
The film also stars well-known everyday products like PTFE, Teflon, etc made from the chemicals in question.
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The 3m Corporation, Union Carbide and ScotchGard also get starring roles in the film. A recurring theme in the film is that laws won't protract us, governments won't protect us, only we can protect us.
 
Sister Sara said:
A very good movie, a dark theme and sombre production.

And along with movies like Erin Brockovich, highlighting the extent corporations will go to bury their responsibilities and put profit before people.

Some rare victories for the little people against the multi $$bn corporations - what else is occurring where the joe soap citizen has not the means to right a wrong.
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I was in Russia during the Communist era and East Germany and Romania shortly afterward. The level of environmental damage there was like nothing I have ever seen anywhere in the world. When governments, organisations or companies are unaccountable, when the ends justify the means, then they sometimes behave terribly and, more particularly, terrible people often end up in charge.
 
Purple said:
When governments, organisations or companies are unaccountable, when the ends justify the means, then they sometimes behave terribly and, more particularly, terrible people often end up in charge.
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100%, and no laughing matter.

Chernobyl was a very good series on Sky a few years back.

Official Secrets with Kiera Knightley and Ralph Fiennes

Insider with Russell Crowe, Al Pacino. I attribute this movie with helping me finally give up cigarettes. I had been trying to give up cigarettes for a few years. After watching this I couldn't bring myself to buy another packet. That was 25yrs ago. :)
 
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One to set record for... The American Revolution - a major new documentary series from American film maker Ken Burns (The Civil War).

Starts Tuesday 16th June on BBC4. 6 x 60 minute episodes.

Voiceover cast includes: Peter Coyote as narrator & Tom Hanks, Samuel L Jackson, Kenneth Branagh, Damian Lewis, Adam Arkin, Mandy Patinkin, Josh Brolin, Claire Danes, Jeff Daniels, Morgan Freeman, Paul Giamatti, Matthew Rhys and Domhnall Gleeson.

Site faviconBBC Four - The American Revolution, Series 1, 1. In Order to Be Free (May 1754 – May 1775)

Site faviconThe American Revolution (TV series) - Wikipedia
 
Some more documentaries related to American Independence.

RTE1 Freedom Founder Thomas McKean: About the last man to sign the Declaration of Independence, of Irish ancestry.
(recorded but haven't watched yet due to World Cup)

BBC2 (N. Ireland) Declaration: The role of Ulster-Scots in driving American Independence.
First episode already aired on Sunday. Covered some familiar ground, but there was a nice segment on the work involved in the actual printing (overnight by candlelight) of the Declaration of Independence by printer John Dunlap (born in Strabane).
 
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