Off Topic The Review Thread

[Stroller]

A new barber shop recently opened down the road from me, so I thought I'd give it a go. It was an interesting experience.

Communication was minimal, as the chap spoke very little English. This was good in that the usual unwanted conversation about holidays and stuff was not forthcoming, but it made it difficult for me to let him know what I wanted doing, or to ask him exactly what he thought he was doing. The haircut went well enough (there's really not much anyone can do with my hair at this stage) and I wasn't shocked when he gestured towards my eyebrows (I had been taken aback the first time I encountered this, though). What did surprise me was when he lit a small gas burner and proceeded, unannounced, to set fire to my ears! Well not quite, it was to singe away the ear hairs, I discovered. Having done all this, he turned on the tap in the basin and urged me towards it. Confused, I went to wash my hands before splashing my face. No, he wanted to wash my hair - something I would normally have expected to be done before it was cut. After this he began to massage my face with some stuff (something I had to put a stop to because I broke my nose a couple of weeks ago), before administering hot towels. This last was most enjoyable.

Now, perhaps I've led a sheltered tonsorial existence, but all of this seemed beyond the call for a £13 haircut, so I gave him £15 and left happy.

 

[Uber_Hoop]

A new barber shop recently opened down the road from me, so I thought I'd give it a go. It was an interesting experience.

Communication was minimal, as the chap spoke very little English. This was good in that the usual unwanted conversation about holidays and stuff was not forthcoming, but it made it difficult for me to let him know what I wanted doing, or to ask him exactly what he thought he was doing. The haircut went well enough (there's really not much anyone can do with my hair at this stage) and I wasn't shocked when he gestured towards my eyebrows (I had been taken aback the first time I encountered this, though). What did surprise me was when he lit a small gas burner and proceeded, unannounced, to set fire to my ears! Well not quite, it was to singe away the ear hairs, I discovered. Having done all this, he turned on the tap in the basin and urged me towards it. Confused, I went to wash my hands before splashing my face. No, he wanted to wash my hair - something I would normally have expected to be done before it was cut. After this he began to massage my face with some stuff (something I had to put a stop to because I broke my nose a couple of weeks ago), before administering hot towels. This last was most enjoyable.

Now, perhaps I've led a sheltered tonsorial existence, but all of this seemed beyond the call for a £13 haircut, so I gave him £15 and left happy.

Great stuff, Strolls. Yes, I’ve been using a Turkish (Kurdish to be precise) barbers for a few years now. Not all of them are comfortable doing the fire bit, but you certainly get your money’s worth.

I usually get the beard trimmed as well as haircut and eyebrows, so £20 is a reasonable price for me.

They don’t understand “just cut out the grey bits, will you?” though.

 

[Steelmonkey]

Great stuff, Strolls. Yes, I’ve been using a Turkish (Kurdish to be precise) barbers for a few years now. Not all of them are comfortable doing the fire bit, but you certainly get your money’s worth.

I usually get the beard trimmed as well as haircut and eyebrows, so £20 is a reasonable price for me.

They don’t understand “just cut out the grey bits, will you?” though.

You're a cosmopolitan lot down there! I'm lucky to find some pissed up bloke with some garden shears and a *** hanging out of his gob!

 

[kiwiqpr]

the whole setting fire to your ears part is very wierd the first time you get it done

 

[Uber_Hoop]

A very pleasant weekend away in the Cotswolds last week. I was hoping to bump into David Cameron so that I could tell him what I thought of him, but he must still be in the south of France with his 'trotters up'. We stayed at the Bell Inn in Moreton-In-Marsh, which is said to have been Tolkien's inspiration for the Prancing Pony in Lord of the Rings. Pleasant enough, and a really lovely room in a converted hayloft, but too many things wrong to get a positive review (the shower was too hot to stand under with no apparent way to reduce the temperature, and the TV reception was constantly cutting out). Moreton-in-Marsh is an unremarkable market town, but a few miles down the road is Boughton-on-the-Water which is a ridiculously pretty village on the river Windrush. The river is very shallow - probably four or five inches - and there is a football match held each year in the river, which sounds like great fun. The best thing about the weekend though, was a rather boozy Indian meal at The Spice Room in Moreton-in-Marsh. I guess it's unlikely that anyone reading this will find themselves in Moreton-In-Marsh, but if you do, try this place. The staff were very attentive without being intrusive, the food was excellent and so was the wine. We had a sizzling mixed grill starter to share, I had Chicken Madras and my wife had Monkfish. We ordered a white Rioja, and it was so nice that I was pouring the last of it half way through the meal. The waiter was straight over to ask if we wanted another, and we really didn't need to think about it. To top that off, when we asked for the bill, we were offered a drink on the house, so we asked if they had Limoncello. So after having had two bottles of wine between us, we were presented with two enormous glasses of lemon liqueur. Tip-top service, lovely food and lots of excellent booze for £72.

Am in Moreton in Marsh as I write. Having a frisky couple of days staying at The Stag in Stow. Beautiful area.

 

[Uber_Hoop]

Great series and thoroughly enjoying it (1 episode left to go). Amazing to see such a sad history of just one house.
Agree Olusoga seems a very charming and intelligent historian.
Thanks for the recommendation G

Finally watched the final episode. Really enjoyed it. The cynic within me wonders how random was the choice in house - I wouldn’t be surprised if they’d found an interesting story (such as the Joshua Alder plaque episode) and spread out from there in both directions - but this didn’t detract from an interesting story.

I hope Olusoga does another in another city sometime soon.

 

[sb_73]

Sat through 3 hours of “Avengers: Endgame” this afternoon with my lads.

Overwrought, overblown, long-winded and self-indulgent.

I enjoyed the last one (“Infinity War”) but this one was hugely disappointing.

The box office has me in the minority, of course.

Just seen this and I completely agree. Except for fat Thor and the thirty seconds of him and the Guardians of the Galaxy at the end a real drag.

 

[Steelmonkey]

New Sky/HBO mini-series Chernobyl - just watched the first two episodes, compelling viewing. Difficult to assess how true an account of the events this is due to the secrecy of the soviet regime, but if even half of it is correct it's one hell if a tale. Didn't realise how bad it actually was, and how close it came to being a hell of a lot worse. Some true heroes and some slippery top brass trying to cover their arse!

The only downside for me is all the actors are English, speaking in their own voices - think I would've preferred it if it had been in Russian with subtitles or at least with Russian accents to add some extra authenticity to it.

 

[DT’s Socks]

Watched GOT finale and was blown away by the brilliant conclusion of what has been the best TV series of all time

Outstanding stuff nothing touches it now imo

 

[Stroller]

Watched GOT finale and was blown away by the brilliant conclusion of what has been the best TV series of all time

Outstanding stuff nothing touches it now imo

What, better than Noggin the Nog?

 

[Staines R's]

Watched GOT finale and was blown away by the brilliant conclusion of what has been the best TV series of all time

Outstanding stuff nothing touches it now imo

Really ? To be honest I was a bit disappointed (at the ending).
In the whole the series has been the best thing on tv for years.

 

[DT’s Socks]

Really ? To be honest I was a bit disappointed (at the ending).
In the whole the series has been the best thing on tv for years.

I disagree it was a beautiful balanced ending

 

[Staines R's]

I disagree it was a beautiful balanced ending

Fair enough Paul, each to their own.....I just thought it was a little flat.

 

[sb_73]

Fair enough Paul, each to their own.....I just thought it was a little flat.

Who won? The answer will be meaningless to me.

Book - The Pursuit of Italy, by David Gilmour (not the Floyd guitarist I think). A really well written, and easily read, book on a very complicated subject the history of Italy, or more accurately the Italian regions before they became Italy in 1861 and after. Enjoying it very much.

 

[Uber_Hoop]

Fair enough Paul, each to their own.....I just thought it was a little flat.

I’ve never seen a single episode. All I know is that Sean Bean does what he does in everything these days... snuffs it.

I was told that another way to watch the show is to watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but flip over to 5 minutes of Pornhub every 25 minutes or so.

 

[Uber_Hoop]

What, better than Noggin the Nog?

Racist!

 

[Steelmonkey]

Fair enough Paul, each to their own.....I just thought it was a little flat.

Have to agree - I've just watched the last episode and it all felt a bit rushed (in fact, most of this last season has felt that way). Far too many sub-plots left hanging, screaming for side-shows to hit the screens in the coming years.

In all, it's been brilliant TV, even though it went off script from the books about half way through Season 2. For those who didn't watch it, you missed some great work - it's been labelled as fantasy, but the political intrigue and in-fighting in the early seasons was up there with the likes of Wolf Hall, whilst some of the battle scenes were as good as any I've seen. Yeah, there was quite a lot of shagging too, and it always seemed to be as soon as the missus walked in the room!! They had to pull the punters in somehow though!

 

[Staines R's]

Have to agree - I've just watched the last episode and it all felt a bit rushed (in fact, most of this last season has felt that way). Far too many sub-plots left hanging, screaming for side-shows to hit the screens in the coming years.

In all, it's been brilliant TV, even though it went off script from the books about half way through Season 2. For those who didn't watch it, you missed some great work - it's been labelled as fantasy, but the political intrigue and in-fighting in the early seasons was up there with the likes of Wolf Hall, whilst some of the battle scenes were as good as any I've seen. Yeah, there was quite a lot of shagging too, and it always seemed to be as soon as the missus walked in the room!! They had to pull the punters in somehow though!

My thoughts exactly.....this last season was obviously rushed and the writers were told you have to wrap this whole saga up now in 10 hours, come what may, so get on with it.
For the past 7 seasons the depth of each character (even sub characters) has been built up slowly and for me personally, I could of carried on watching for another 10 years and still not got bored.......if it carried on like it did.
As I said earlier, it all went a bit flat (Battle for Winterfell especially which killed off a major part of the story in a complete cliche of ‘baddie almost winning until last minute hero saves the day’).....the series was and is better than that......

I feel somewhat cheated.

 

[Staines R's]

Just watched ‘Gemma : My Murder’ on I player, about the murder af a young woman with special needs called Gemma Hayter in Rugby 2010.
Shocking, compelling and very hard not to be in floods of tears for what her ‘friends’ did to her.
Well worth 30 mins of your life.

 

[sb_73]

Just watched ‘Gemma : My Murder’ on I player, about the murder af a young woman with special needs called Gemma Hayter in Rugby 2010.
Shocking, compelling and very hard not to be in floods of tears for what her ‘friends’ did to her.
Well worth 30 mins of your life.

This was huge news round this way at the time and sporadically since, and I saw bits of this programme, but knowing what it was about found it stunningly depressing and have to confess I dodged out. It is a damning indictment of human nature and nearly makes you want to give up hope. A truly appalling story of exploitation and sadism.


On the flight back I watched The Old Man and the Gun, a trueish story with Robert Redford (in what he says will be his last film) as an aged habitual bank robber and jail breaker. It’s beautifully acted and filmed (set in 1981), no gratuitous violence, a reminder of what a proper movie star looks like. I really enjoyed it. Tom Waits, Danny Glover and Sissy Spacek also feature, it’s a class production.