Monday 20 July 2009

What's Worth Watching on British Telly

With Mike away across the pond and all our house guests gone, I decided to indulge in a bit of British tv watching. See, over here the lack of a telly or even a computer to play British-coded DVDs on does not stop one from watching tv. They have taken television on demand to a whole new level.

Via the internet we can get everything that has played on any of the BBCs for the last week. We can get anything that has shown on ITV in the last month and Channel 4, the most generous of them all, allows people with a British IP to stream both current content and classics. The only exceptions tend to be American films and tv shows which are usally "unavailable" (though Hill Street Blues is available from Channel 4 for some strange reason). BTW, I'm certain that no one in Canada will be able to go onto any of the on demand sites, so don't bother commenting that the links don't work.

Most of what passes for television here in Britain is crap, just like in North America. Finding something good to watch is a bit like trying to find a diamond in a murky puddle of pond scum. However, with a little research we have managed to find some series to recommend to our pals across the pond. Basically, my research strategy was to start with the new Doctor Who and work my way out. We enjoyed the Doctor Who Christmas Special for 2008 featuring David Tennant and David Morrissey. Having discovered that the two Davids had also played opposite each other in Blackpool, we rented it and were not disapointed. Blackpool is sort of a film noir musical, featuring a brilliant performance by Morrissey of an arcade owner with big dreams and little ethics finding his life spiraling out of control.

The Doctor Who revival has been led by Russell T. Davies, who has written most of the really memorable episodes. A search last week for other series that he has created and written brought up Queer as Folk (NOT to be confused with the American series with the same title, blech!). This is an older series from 1999 and 2000 (but still available for free on Channel 4 on Demand). The premise is simple enough, it follows the lives of three gay men in Manchester as they go drinking and clubbing and well you know the rest, however Russell T. Davies knows how to write for character and the actors deliver.

The third show worth mentioning is unrelated to Doctor Who (as far as I know): Ashes to Ashes. It is a spin-off of the tv series Life on Mars (again, not the American version), which was entertaining but not really worth owning. So far, Ashes to Ashes appears to be worth owning, though we're only halfway through the first season. In this series a female cop is sent into a coma by being shot. Trapped in her brain, she finds herself in the early 80s in London on a team led by the infamous sexist pig Gene Hunt (played by Philip Glenister). More fast-paced and funnier than its predecessor.

So, to re-cap, Alette's list of British television series worthy of being watched more than once:

Blackpool
Queer as Folk
Ashes to Ashes
(and Doctor Who)

Friday 17 July 2009

Our Scottish Seaside Vacation

From North Berwick with the Coupland Moores


We spent last week at the seaside in North Berwick with Kristen, Dave and their two children James and Aidan. We'd fallen in love with North Berwick the first time we visited and since the Coupland-Moores had requested a beach vacation while they were in Scotland, we settled on North Berwick. It has everything one could want in a seaside vacation: miles of beach, several castles nearby, walking trails, pubs, cafes, play structures, an eco-education centre, a harbour, stormy weather, sunny weather, surf, tide pools, seabird nesting sites, ice cream and locally-caught fish. In other words, something for everyone, with the added bonus of being only 30 minutes by train from downtown Edinburgh.

The highlight for me (AJW) was the boat trip we took to Bass Rock to see the colony of 150,000 nesting gannets. I remember a family trip to Perce Rock when I was a child to see a gannet colony. The experience left quite an impression, but nothing compared to Bass Rock. Birds wheeling, birds diving, birds chattering away to the little bundles of fluff in their nests. I wish I'd brought my camera but I was afraid of getting it wet in the open boat we took out there: the Sula II. Incidentally, the colony of gannets on Bass Rock was number one on the BBC's Nature's Top 40 show.

We could see Bass Rock from the kitchen window of the cottage we rented. In the evening light, even from several miles away it actually glowed with life. I tried to capture this in photos, click on the photo above to get to my Picasa album.

On another day we walked about 8 km to Dirleton Castle, which was a lovely ruin in a beautiful wooded setting. James and Aidan (6 and 2) did very well on the trek, though James would have been just as happy to end the journey at the playground at Yellowcraigs. Incidentally, playgrounds in this part of the world are pretty fabulous. They are all relatively new, kept in good repair and feature innovative and even risky activities. My favourites elements are a climbing tower that has "banisters" instead of slides to go down and a rope cage that spins around.

The highlight of the trip for Aidan was probably the day we went to East Links Family Park, a large petting zoo with playgrounds and trampolines. Animals are pretty mush his favourite right now. After a couple of hours at the Family Park we took the bus into Dunbar where we went to John Muir's Birth Place Museum, which is a beautiful and inspiring display about his childhood in Dunbar and his environmental activism in the U.S. As someone who studies nature writing, John Muir is a bit of a hero of mine. We also stopped by the fishing harbour to check out the ruins of Dunbar Castle, which at one time actually straddled open water. The castle is now an important nesting site for the Kittiwake gulls. Aidan threw a temper tantrum on the way home when we did not stop again at the East Links Park to see the "Anmos". Like I said, I think that was the highlight for him.

James enjoyed the Scottish Seabird Centre, spending two days there playing in the puffin burrow. The rest of the time was wiled away sitting on the beach, poking around tide pools, watching surfers, cooking, eating and drinking. So a good time was had by all. Even Japhur seemed to like the beach, lots to sniff at and comfortable sand to lie on, not to mention other dogs to watch cavorting in the waves.

In fact the whole experience was lovely enough to give me a fantasy of living in North Berwick next year. I've always rather fancied living by the sea. There doesn't seem much in the way of long-term lets out there, however. So maybe I'll have to wait a bit longer for a seaside life.

Friday 3 July 2009

Scottish Whisky Experience

Our friends Kristen, Dave, James and Aidan are visiting us for a few weeks. For Dave's birthday a few months ago, we sent him a gift certificate for The Scottish Whisky Experience in Edinburgh. On Saturday, he and I went for the whisky tour, which included some sampling. I must admit that I'd fallen a little behind in my exploration of Scottish culture, so this was a good opportunity for some catching up.

It was a reasonably fun tour in which we were driven around a set of tracks in a train car that was meant to resemble a whisky cask. I didn't learn much that I hadn't known already regarding the making of Scottish whisky, but the trip did help in my approach to acquiring a taste for whisky. In Scotland, we learned that there are generally four areas in which single malt whisky is made, each with a distinctive taste (this is most certainly an overgeneralization - this site refers to eight regions - but it gives me a place to start). From the sampling, I discovered a preference for whisky from the Lowlands. And afterwards, I purchased a small bottle of Glenkinchie whisky. In continuing to sample this evening, I'm still reasonably impressed by this choice. However, I think I'll have to continue practice to improve my technique. Stay tuned for further updates.