death tribble

Octagon Man He turns into an octagon

Llama Lad He can summon llamas. They don't do anything, just come to him.

Jumping Bean Man He'll make the beans you are carrying jump around uncontrollably

Halitosis Man One breath and you are gone

Labour defeat the Conservatives in two by elections with one of the biggest post war swings from the Tories to Labour https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68305798

Bacterial Infection Boy He stops you by giving you a deadly contagious disease

Eyes down look in and here we go ! Maigret The Crime at Lock 14. I can easily recall this episode and the one that follows in the BBC series with Rupert Davies as Maigret. An attractive woman is found in a stable by a lock. Maigret is called in with his nephew to investigate. Barges are being held up while the crime is investigated. Michael Lonsdale make a repeat appearance in the show and this time he is playing an English major. The woman was the recent wife of the major. So Maigret has to interrogate him again. Lonsdale switches between French and English as a proper Brit would. The solution is the same as in the BBC show and the original book. My friend Maigret. An old criminal is killed and Maigret and nephew are called in to investigate. The man had a letter on him from Maigret and he bragged about how he was an old friend of the inspector. A Scotland Yard inspector accompanies him to observe his methods. The suspects are a gigolo and the woman he looks after, an artist and his model, the old criminal's mistress, the owner of hotel where the police are staying, a dentist and a crook. Maigret finds out that a fraud was committed and that is why the old criminal was killed. There are differences to the book but the TV series is true to it. Tales from the Crypt This is a portmanteau film made up of five stories. Several people are separated from a group investigating catacombs and are invited by a monk like figure to explain what they would do next. All of them suffer horrible fates after doing wrong and they are then put into the pit. It is an all star cast from the early 70s with Joan Collins, Ian Hendry, Peter Cushing and Ralph Richardson amongst the cast. A couple of the stories are not that scary to be honest. Vault of Horror This is another portmanteau and is better than Tales of the Crypt above. Five men enter a lift and find themselves stranded in a basement room. They then recount their nightmares. Terry Thomas is a retired business man whose treatment of his trophy wife due his obsessive neatness rebounds on him; Daniel Massey is looking for his sister as they have inherited money but no-one goes out after dark in the town she is staying in as bad things happen. Daniel's real life sister Anna; Curd Jurgens is a magician looking for a new trick in India and he exposes a local magician as a fraud and this rebounds on him when he sees a rope trick he cannot explain; Michael Craig is a business man faking his own death to collect on the insurance and he gets buried alive. Two trainee doctors get him dug up so they can study the corpse. Said doctors are played by actors in the popular Doctor In.. TV series; Tom Baker is an impoverished painter who finds out that two dealers and a critic are making money at his expense so he turns to voodoo to exact revenge. But he has painted a self portrait which is a mistake that will come back to bit him. Night Ferry This is a Children's film foundation film. Bernard Cribbins is a criminal mastermind who oversees the theft of a mummy from a security van. A boy witnesses it and tries to get others to help him thwart the robbers. He cannot go to the police as he caused an accident which led to a rail worker suffering a broken leg. The kids trail the villains as they try to transport the mummy and its case on the night ferry to France. Out of Bounds A kid goes to stay with his brother in Los Angeles but accidentally picks up the wrong bag at the airport which contains drugs. The drug dealer goes after his stuff and kills the brother and brother's wife but fails to find the kid and his stuff. The kid ends up being chased by the police who think he killed his brother and the dealer. But two DEA agents are also tailing the dealer. Has an appearance by Siouxsie and the Banshees singing Cities in Dust which delighted me greatly. The Dark Something is going around killing people and taking their heads off. They are inhumanly strong. But are they an alien ? William Devane and Richard Jaeckel star as the father of one of the victims and the cop hunting the killer. See once. Don't Look in the Basement A nurse goes to work at a psychiatric hospital just after a doctor and nurse there are killed. She has to cope with the odd atmosphere there and the patients. But one of the patients is the killer..... They Live Have not seen this in a while. Aliens using subliminal messaging to control the populace. But they have not reckoned with Rowdy Roddy Piper. It still holds up. Still worth seeing. Mannaja This is a spaghetti Western where a Bounty Hunter is after the owner of a silver mine but finds out that the man's deputy is worse. The Bounty Hunter is also good at throwing axes. Worth a look if you like the genre. The Secret of Seagull Island A woman tries to find out what happened to her blind sister after she goes missing in Rome. She may have gone to the mysterious Seagull Island owned by a rich Brit played by Jeremy Brett. But death haunts the area as the Brit's young wife and son from first marriage died nearby as have several blind women. The Hunt Rich liberals hunt right wing deplorables for fun. Except one decides to fight back. Plenty here to annoy both political wings but a pretty neat film although expanding the people who are being targeted for death would have helped. Dungeons and Dragons Honor Among Thieves Got this on DVD over Christmas and have now seen it. As someone who grew up with the game this was something I was dreading after the first attempt some years back and that awful cartoon. But this was so good. Whoever did the script paid attention to what the game could do and what players got up to. And didn't Hugh Grant have fun ? No Purple Worms and no Ropers and no Shambling Mounds. But we did get an Owlbear, Displacer Beasts, a Mimic, Gelatinous Cube and a fat Red Dragon. It was delightful. Scream (2022) The original cast survivors and a new batch of teens try to survive Ghostface. This was good. It was left to the new cast to carry the film while the originals contributed. Well worth a look if you have seen the original films. Midsommar A woman whose sister just died in a murder suicide incident with her parents goes to Sweden with her boyfriend who was about to break up with her. A Swede they have met invited them to a celebration that his home village is holding. Two other friends go with them. This film may tax your patience but it is remarkable and is reminiscent of the original Wicker Man. It is worth seeing but will not be for everyone. Super Bowl 2024 Just when you thought the Super Bowl could not get any better, oh boy did this deliver. I did not see the build up as I was watching a film on another channel but I saw the whole game. No score in the first quarter which was unusual. And then we have turnovers, a field goal and touchdown to leave the 49ers 10-0 up. And then Kansas claw two file goals back. The defensive side of both teams were playing on all cylinders. The half time show was nothing much to me as Usher just does not appeal to me. And then the second half and we go to overtime where each side must have a possession unless the defence scores. And we get a score with seconds left. This was not for the faint of heart. Congrats to the Chiefs.

I disagree entirely with this. Butcher has been building this for years. And in Battleground we get a culmination of a lot of things that have building for a while. Battleground by Jim Butcher Set over the course mainly of one night, Chicago becomes a battle field as a Titan and her Fomor allies try to take the city apart and anyone who stands in their way. They pick the fight on the Longest Day when Mab's power is at her weakest. And oh boy do we get a fight. There is no easy way out or reasoning this away after all the death and destruction. But it was impressive. And we get an explanation of stuff that happened in the earlier books as a hidden enemy is finally revealed and thwarted. But there is something to come in the next books. There was stuff I did not expect from Marcone for one and the sad death of another character in a way that I did not expect. And Harry is on the outs with the White Council once more. You have to have read most of the other books to really appreciate this one and you have to have read Peace Talks. And now the long wait until the next paid of books comes out.

February 14th Valentine's Day February 14th 1779 Battle of Kettle Creek. The US beat the British in Georgia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kettle_Creek February 14th 1797. Battle of Cape St Vincent. The British defeat the Spanish near Gibraltar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cape_St._Vincent_(1797) February 14th 1831 Battle of Debre Abbay in Ethiopia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Debre_Abbay February 14th 1852 Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children is founded https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Ormond_Street_Hospital February 14th 1876 Alexander Graham Bell applies for a patent for the telephone February 14th 1900 Battle of Tugela Heights begins as the British try to force the Boers to lift the siege of Ladysmith https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Tugela_Heights February 14th 1919 The Polish-Soviet War begins https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish–Soviet_War February 14th 1929 The St Valentine's Day Massacre takes place in Chicago https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Valentine's_Day_Massacre February 14th 1939 The battleship Bismarck is launched February 14th 1943 Battle of Sisdi Bou Zid begins in North Africa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Sidi_Bou_Zid February 14th 1944 Action of February 14th 1944 takes place when a British submarine sinks an Italian submarine crewed by Germany, in the Pacific https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_of_14_February_1944 February 14th 1945 The day bombing of Dresden begins https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Dresden February 14th 1946 the Bank of England is Nationalised February 14th 1949 The Knesset (Israel's parliament) convenes for the first time February 14th 1961 Lawrencium is synthesised for the first time. February 14th 2005 Youtube is launched Born this day Jack Benny, Jimmy Hoffa, Lois Maxwell, Vic Morrow, Alan Parker, Ronnie Petersen (Formula 1 driver), Gregory Hines, Kitten Natividad, Teller, Kevin Keegan (footballer and England Manager), Jim Kelly (Buffalo Bills QB), Simon Pegg and Cadel Evans (winner of the Tour de France) Died this day King Richard II of England, Captain Cook is killed in Hawaii, Viti Genovese, P G Wodehouse, Andrei Chikatilo (Russian serial killer executed), Marco Pantani (Italian cyclist who won the Tour de France), Bob Paisley (Manager of Liverpool football club), Dick Francis (Author), Louis Jourdan

Rest

Kick out the Jams

Inject a little levity into the situation.

February 13th 2022 Super Bowl LVI The Los Angeles Rams beat the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20

Two things. Candy Crush is working again after several weeks when it just would not load and kicked out. Was watching a film called Out of Bounds. Kid goes into a club where a band is playing. Siouxsie and the Banshees. The actual band. Playing Cities in Dust. I was gobsmacked and delighted.

February 12th 1429. The Battle of Herrings. English defeat the French in the 100 years war. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Herrings February 12th 1771 Gustav III becomes King of Sweden February 12th 1817 Battle of Chacabuco An Argentine-Chilean army defeats the Spanish after crossing the Andes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Chacabuco February 12th 1818 Bernardo O'Higgins approves the Chilean Declaration of Independence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilean_Declaration_of_Independence February 12th 1909 the NAACP is founded https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NAACP February 12th 1909 the SS Penguin sink and explodes. Ths is New Zealand's worst maritime disaster of the 20th century https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Penguin February 12th 1935 the airship USS Macon is lost. There are only two deaths and over 80 saved. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Macon_(ZRS-5) February 12th 1968 the Phong Nhi and Phong Nhat massacres take place https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phong_Nhị_and_Phong_Nhất_massacre February 12th 1990 Carmen Lawrence becomes the first female premier in Australia when she becomes premier of Western Australia February 12th 1994 the painting The Scream is stolen from the National Gallery of Norway February 12th 2023 Super Bowl LVII the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 Born this day Cotton Mather, Charles Darwin, Abraham Lincoln, Marie Lloyd, the 13th Dalai Lama, Louis Renault, Anna Pavlova, Omar Bradley, Lorne Greene, Forrest Tucker, Franco Zefferelli, Costas Gravas, Anette Crosbie, Joe Don Baker, Maud Adams, Michael Ironside, Simon MacCorkindale, Arsenio Hall and Christina Ricci Lady Jane Grey who was queen for nine days is executed this day Died this day Immanuel Kant, Lillie Langtry (Edward VII's mistress), Sal Mineo, Jean Renoir, Tom Landry, Sid Caeser, Steve Strange, Al Jarreau and Gordon Banks (English footballer)

Taylor Swift got a lot of coverage but not to the detriment to the game. We don't get the same 'feed' so you will have seen things I did not. Apparently she downed a pint of beer quite impressively so the presenters said but no-one saw it except in the stadium. She got into it. And kudos for travelling all the way back from Japan to see the game. That game will have shredded nerves.

Quarterback

I'll have to look it up on Youtube. In closing what adverts did you get as we don't get them on the overseas broadcast.

Motion (as in man in motion)

Juke (it's a move)

The closest game I have ever seen. I saw the Buffalo-New York Super Bowl and never felt that the Bills were in it. This could have gone either way down to the last seconds.

Helmet

Kansas score a touchdown They win 25-22 My that was close. That was really close

San Francisco get to the end zone but cannot get it in and so hit the field goal San Francisco 22 Kansas 19 Now Kansas get the ball

Kansas get down to the end zone with 10 seconds and 2 plays. The first does not go in so they go for a field goal and score. All tied at 19. Overtime for only the second time in Super Bowl history EDIT: it's 3:20 in the morning and I am not tired