The eighty-third TV show: #764 Outnumbered

I've been struggling how to approach this series. We've watched it before and enjoyed it. There are a bunch of good moments and it's quite recognisable - this is what life with kids looks like. At the same time, I've not been overly enthusiastic about watching it either. Why? I think part of it is that the show has a tendency to repeat similar beats and doesn't always bring something original to the table. That's fine in shorter stretches, but not when you binge a bunch of them. That's not because of the parents' plots. Claire Skinner and Hugh Dennis are good, as expected, carrying whatever they need to do while having the right level of exasperation at the kids and their actions, while dealing with their grown up problems. Tyger Drew-Honey, as he's slightly older at the start of the series, gets more to do as well and continues to be a delight to watch. The level of awareness is greater, which means he's as game as any of the adults, which creates both fun and emotional situations.

Ben and Karen, the two younger kids, feel less strong. The show, at least early on, relies quite a bit on improvised reactions from the kids, not scripted. While handled quite well, it can hit a lot of the same notes, at times quite manic, and that gets quite exhausting - you keep hoping for something new, but it doesn't get there, while also not developing much through the episode. The later seasons get better at that, as the kids grow into their roles, but if you're watching it in order now, I think you might almost want to skip to later seasons.

For a first watch, though, it's a lot of fun, especially seeing the kids grow up and develop. They change away from their initial roles, but in the end, enough is recognisable throughout to make this a fun, if small scale comedy.

The eighty-second TV show: #591 Waking The Dead

When this came out of our bucket, we were quite excited by getting a show we've been looking to (re)watch for a long time. Waking the Dead follows a squad that investigates cold cases (often, but not always murder) that have had new leads discovered. They investigate, following a bunch of standard procedural leads, but as often eschewing the standards for other options. What helps is that we have a team with distinct disciplines here, a forensic scientist and psychological profiler who both work as major parts of the team (rather than being called in, as on so many other shows, or their work being done by regular detectives.

Now, for spoiler reasons, I've only covered the first team from the first four seasons - the change at the end of the fourth season (which I don't know about) is apparently a big change that I wouldn't want to know yet. This initial team, however, feel strong. Boyd feels like the tough cop at times, as the lead character he seems to have to be wrong, but moves forward to get things resolved. Grace and Frankie, the aforementioned psychologist and scientist are probably the two more interesting characters, and the ones you're rooting for. Slightly outside the chain of command, they're opinionated, less led by the needs of the case but more by the situation they see in front of them. They feel like strong personalities and the interaction between Boyd and the two of them often works really well. Mel, as the recently promoted cop, gets the brunt of the bad times, and so seems less secure - she seems less likely to call the others on their things or assert herself, which gets her in trouble at times. Spencer... is a bit of an old time cop, but he's mostly the work horse to get chores done, I never quite felt he was as distinct a character as the others.

The cases themselves have quite a mix too. Some are standard murder plots, though one where the different skills all tend to get used. Others are already solved murders, revisited for various reasons. I don't feel like there's always a twist, although some are there, and are good, and in fact it sometimes eschews the expected procedural twist. Then there are psychological explorations, where finding the culprit is not the most important thing, and the psychology behind the victims becomes more important. Breaking Glass, for example, was one of the episodes that won the show its international Emmy, and it the investigation into the mind of the victim, how he got to where he was, felt more interesting and important than finding the perpetrator, with even the final scene revolving around that. It feels far more natural.

There's a definite difference between season 1 and later seasons. Boyd becomes more tender, not just the angry cop from before. Mel seems a bit more certain. More important, the banter between the team becomes a lot better - it's a lot more natural and the show relies on it more to convey information. There's not as much lecturing and it's a lot more entertaining to watch. It feels like the heart of the show that really elevates it beyond just a procedural.

Still, I have many more episodes of this to watch and I'm looking forward to it - they're decent chunks of content that require more concentration than other shows, but have enough levity to not make it heavy viewing that would put me off.

The thirty-sixth classical recording: #279 Frederic Chopin - Ballades

Here's a different way of approaching it. Where we mostly listen to these songs online, often through Spotify, on a recent holiday to Chopin's homeland of Poland we went to a live concert. A talented pianist played a selection of works including Chopin's four ballades. The atmosphere of such a concert, with about 30 people in the room, felt quite different, more intimate as the pianist got into the music completely. The ballades made this even more impressive, as they sound complicated, mixing speeds and generally seeming full on. There are breaks in the music, but they're quite deliberate to lead up to a further theme. It's a wonderful variety in sounds that lead to amazing music that's enough to carry you away. I'm glad I got to see this live - it made it even more impressive.

The ninety-ninth album: Merle Haggard - I'm A Lonesome Fugitive

In between the different rock albums I feel I've been covering lately (with a Frank Sinatra diversion), country has gotten lost. I have, in fact, been expecting one more often than I've had one actulaly play. Here we really have one, though, the title track immediately dumping you in a country blues song, describng life on the run as an escaped convict. The songs continue in that vein, with different levels of energy, but it's country, and mostly good country for me at that. Sure, there's a lot that blurs together - but it gave a good background to my day, while being impactful enough. I don't expect to ever really love country, but this was decent, especially with the mood it was trying to invoke.

The ninety-eighth album: Donovan - Sunshine Superman

For the songs list, I covered Season of the Witch, the sixth song on this album. I feel this song might not have been the most representative, as the album won me over a lot sooner, with the folk rock music of these songs being amended by psychedelic rock elements, introducing different instruments and sounds to enhance the song and the story it tells. Legend of a Girl Child Linda, the second track, was enough to do that, and it both sounds really good and tells its story well. Even Season of the Witch works better in context, although it doesn't feel like the strongest on the album.

The ninety-seventh album: #97 The Kinks - Something Else By The Kinks

With the Kinks moving towards a poppier rock - without too much psychedelia or hard rock, this album feels inclined towards easier listening - we get a friendly list of songs with diverse, smart lyrics, somewhat of a variety of styles, but all staying within a 'normal' sound, aimed at a wider audience. I'm not sure whether this is intended or the sound they wanted just felt this way, but there's some good pop songs in here, even if they have a rock bend. Even then, Love Me Till The Sun Shines takes it the other way, mixing in more psychedelic sounds - I guess we get a lot of different influences here and Dave Davies seems to lean more towards that while Ray goes for the poppier songs.

I prefer these songs though. I've mentioned my appreciation of Waterloo Sunset before and it still is as good, and the other songs that draw on this are the ones that are best to listen to. There's some Beach Boys influence, but it keeps it simple, as much as it needs to be, and doesn't go too far. Here, this is where that approach works.

The eighty-first TV show: #435 Twin Peaks

Man, that was a ride. We watched the full original run of the series (minus the movie) and it was an amazing treat. The world of Twin Peaks feels so realised, it's easy to slip in, which allows for a heightened mystery - it's a soap opera with a mystic crime story mixed in. It's fascinating and, ignoring the less interesting second half of the second season, has many things to hold your attention. What's going on, how will it resolve, but also, what weird thing does it come up with next? And the season finales steadfastly refuse to tie up plotlines, to the point where we got the big reveal partway through the second season, to help with the outrage.

I hate to call this Lynchian. While elements of his work are present and have a noticeable influence, a lot of other notable elements come from Mark Frost (the soap-within-a-soap being one of the meta elements that is such) and people imitating Lynch's style - and in the best cases putting their spin on it. Kyle MacLachlan, playing Dale Cooper, the protagonist of the series, is impeccable, creating a fully formed, quirky character that help in a strange world that wants to stay grounded.

And then there are the red curtain rooms and mystical happening, but I feel that also just needs to be experienced, really. Go do that instead.

The ninety-sixth album: #96 Jefferson Airplane - Surrealistic Pillow

I'm sure I've said this before, but the songs list has primed me for the innovations in rock that are about to happen, and these psychedelic rock albums really tell me how we're still stuck somewhere before that. I'm not sure this is the most psychedelic fare out there, but it takes the gentler sounds that we've seen come from folk rock and the Beatles and plays with that. The first recognisable song here is Somebody to Love, a rock classic that I can only imagine successors would want to play with. It's not necessarily ambitious (although this might be hindsight speaking) but it's solid music.

The fourty-seventh comic: #417 Kampung Boy

Now to a somewhat sweeter story. Kampung Boy is the story of a boy growing up in a kampung, a village, in Malaysia. It covers his parents, his education (mostly religious, at least initially) and his friends. There's stories about his daily life, but also how the modern world enters this life, both by the machines mining for tin and traveling in cars. It's a story of life that doesn't exist much anymore and the story ends as the protagonist leaves the village, both because his parents sell their rubber plantation and because he goes to boarding school - as he leaves the kampung, he is no longer a kampung boy.

It's a small, simple story. There are no big threats or adventures, but they are parts of life, combined into a narrative. It's a fast, satisfying read that entertains and enlightens well.

The fourty-sixth comic: #169 The Marsupilami Robbers

Spirou (or Robbedoes as I know the character) is a comics character I've been aware of for ages, and the Marsupilami might have been going around me for even longer. I never was a big fan of the character, either in comics or TV series - too goody-good and not enough interesting stuff going on there. Fantasio (or Kwabbernoot) was more interesting as the sidekick, but others were more of a favourite.

Here, it doesn't quite land for me. I don't hate it, but not all of the gags landed and the timing felt off - the story seemed rushed by putting in a few too many things. The Marsipulami is a nice idea, but doesn't come off well here and I'm not quite sure why this story, in particular, would be chosen. It's fine, but doesn't feel that great.