Simon Read

I'm not sure I've ever seen her in anything other than The Pink Panther

The ghosts of #Christmas past: Robert Wagner, Claudia Cardinale, Capucine and Peter Sellers next to a Christmas tree in 1963

There's another chance to catch up with this cracking comedy thriller today on @talkingpicturestv.bsky.social at 3.30pm. It's worth watching just to enjoy the regulars who inhabited a long-gone part of Soho and London life

It's a correct guess

Sometimes only an indulgent impy stout will do. This is an 8.1% Imperial Salted Caramel & Chocolate Biscuit Stout from Zagreb's The Garden Brewery. It's rich without too much sweetness, which makes it a perfect warming brew for a cold December evening. Cheers!

YouTube video by Natan Santos The Beatles - Day Tripper (Official Video)

60 years ago this week The Beatles hit number 1 with the classic Day Tripper. It stayed at the top for 5 weeks. It was the 1965 Christmas number 1 and ended up being the 7th best-selling single of the 60s.
Quick trivia: it was a double A side with what? youtu.be/AYZlME0mQB8?...

The ghosts of #Christmas past: Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton outside their chalet in Gstaad, Switzerland on Christmas Eve, 1973

YouTube video by HD Retro Trailers All the King's Men (1949) ORIGINAL TRAILER [HD 1080p]

#blackandwhitefilm of the day: All The King's Men, 1949. Ruthless big-shot Broderick Crawford becomes a power-crazy politician in this prescient Trumpian tale which won three Oscars. It predicts the corruption and lies of the US today on @Film4 at 4.30pm
youtu.be/DivcuGBAHcI?...

Taxpayers lost £10.9 billion to fraud and error as the previous Tory government’s pandemic response left the front door open to fraud
hmtreasury-newsroom.prgloo.com/news/covid-f...

The job search continues.
My work as a taxi driver ended after I charged a customer £20 to take them round the corner to the launderette. They said I'd taken them to the cleaners.

The ghosts of #Christmas past: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall and their son Stephen in 1951

James Graham's Punch to tour schools using profits donated by West End producers A new version of James Graham's Punch specifically for young people will tour to schools across the UK thanks to profits from the play's West End run

Punch is such a powerful play and it deserves to be seen by a much wider audience. This is such a great initiative www.thestage.co.uk/news/product...

Retail protections, who needs them? Not professional clients, reckons the FCA, which is moving away from "prescriptive and complex templates". Its proposals will free firms to offer diverse products to clients who can afford risk. What could go wrong! www.financialplanningtoday.co.uk/news/fca-set...

YouTube video by Damontager Psycho Official Trailer 1960 HD

#blackandwhitefilm of the day: Psycho, 1960. You'll never shower again after seeing Hitchcock's horror. Janet Leigh steals £40,000 to take to her boyfriend's home. But she makes one mistake: she stops for the night at a secluded motel on BBC2 at 11pm youtu.be/Wz719b9QUqY?...

The job search continues.
When I trained to be a locksmith I was hopeless at replacing doorknobs. I just couldn't handle it.

Crikey, a little bit of history at a wallet-busting price.

I'll stanza firm

I've a stinking cold and the doc said I had poet flu. That means I'll get verse.

When I first saw Bournemouth play they were still called Bournemouth and Boscombe Athletic. Just checked and they changed their name to AFC Bournemouth in 1971 #oldfella

YouTube video by Screen Clips Showgirls Need Pom Poms - Saloon Bar (1940)

#blackandwhitefilm of the day: Saloon Bar, 1940. Pub regulars Gordon Harker and Mervyn Johns try to prove a drinking pal is not a murderer. Funny and thrilling and greatly evocative of a characterful 30s Soho boozer atmosphere on @talkingpicturestv.bsky.social at 2.15pm youtu.be/uFs5irSK9So?...

I've had a fun and interesting week. I hope you have too.

It is.

Treat yourself today to 2 brilliant British #blackandwhitefilms on @Film4 from 12.55pm until 5pm. The Fallen Idol is a touching thriller of a boy's torn emotions, directed by Carol Reed. Nicholas Nickelby is a cracking adaption of a Dickens classic stuffed with great characters.

Early evening view across #London from Alexandra Palace.

Football used to be the game of the ordinary people. Now it's the game of the too-much-money elitist class

We saw A Christmas Carol at the Alexander Palace Theatre. It's a great high-ceilinged venue, a brilliant play, and a joyous production with Matthew Cottle a convincing Scrooge and Neil Morrissey a fitting Marley and other characters. Worth the trip. God bless us, everyone!

Is it too soon for a Christmas show? Not for me. Today's matinee #theatre treat is A Christmas Carol, adapted by Mark Gariss at the Alexander Palace Theatre. It's a new venue for me, so I'm excited by that as well as seeing this version of Dickens' classic.

I saw End at the National Theatre. It was an emotionally Involving story with great performances from Clive Owen and Saskia Reeves.

It sounds atrocious. You should not have been left in that position