This Month I'm Loving...

The cooler weather, bowls of steamy hot soup and socks.

I love socks.

Long socks, short socks, stripey socks, spotty socks.  The brighter the better, though I am also rather fond of long, black socks, the longer the better.  My current favourites are my latest purchase -  a pair of Big Bang Theory Soft Kitty socks.

Yes you heard correctly. And yes I *adore* them because Reasons.

Damn Sheldon Cooper and that Soft Kitty song.  And if ever someone makes a pair of Supernatural socks (the show, not the other...) I'll be the first in line.

As always I've been discovering a world of new things.  Many of which aren't available for purchase in New Zealand.  Yet...

Our selectors at Auckland Libraries are amazing so I know that when these do become available they will probably be purchasing them.  In the mean time here's an advance preview of things to watch out for.... and which I can't get enough off.

Teen Wolf

I totally blame Tosca for this one.  She's the one who kept taking about it.  So of course I just had to give it a try.

And of course I've become completely and utterly hooked.  And don't get me started on Sterek....

Trust me you really don't want to know.  What you do need to know is that it features werewolves, hunky guys, great music...

It was pretty much a given that I would love it and become addicted to it... all in a completely non-obsessive way...

Vikings

Blood and mayhem.

It's a thing.

And I make no apologies that I have a certain weakness for it.  Especially when it involves good storytelling and great characters.

Ignore the fact that Vikings is made by the History Channel (even though it is) or that it's creator was the man behind The Tudors (which he was).

Vikings is a rousing tale that follows the mythic adventures of Ragnor Lodbok.  There's also swords and leather and men with beards so you just knew I had to be there.

Utopia

As much as I like blood and mayhem and supernatural things I also like things that are just a little dark... okay make that a lot dark.

Utopia fits the bill perfectly.  There's brutal deaths (and that's just in the first few minutes), weird characters and a comic which may just hold the destruction of mankind in it's pages.

Mikky Ekko

I mentioned above that one reason for watching Teen Wolf is some of the great music and this artist is just one that I've fallen for.

Most people probably know him through his duet with Rihanna on the song Stay, but you really need to check out his solo stuff which is even better.    I'm hanging out for his debut album which hopefully will be coming out later
this year.  Until then Youtube will have to fill the void.  Check out this song of his which has been on constant repeat on my Spotify account Who Are You Really

Haim

Another artist that is due to release their debut album later this year, Haim are three sisters who have been slowly building up a huge following over the past year,

I fell in love with them when I heard their song Don't Save Me earlier this year.  It's bouncy and catchy, just like the rest of their music.  You just have to check them out

8th Doctor Who Big Finish Adventures

After my last post you're all probably aware how much I have fallen in love with audio dramas so it will come as no surprise that I am just loving the 8th Doctor Who adventures which I have been working my way through.

Paul McGann is just as brilliant doctor and he has the perfect voice for audio and as always Big Finish have produced a series of just wonderful audios which I know I will probably listen to again and again.

The Hills Are Alive With The Sound...

A shortish post from me this week.

The body as they say is willing but the brain has decided  to go on complete strike and be bloody difficult. Writer's block sucks.

Big time.

Still it could be worse.  This post could have started with "See Jane run.  See Dick run." which is just about the standard that my brain is capable of at the moment.

I'm going to blame it all on the BBC and Big Finish.

Now I never thought of myself as an audio book fan.  I had, of course, tried some many years ago but somehow I found them just a bit... flat.

Then I got onto Big Finish.  First with their array of Stargate audio books and then with their 8th Doctor Who adventures starring Paul McGann as the Doctor. Wanting to expand my horizons from just listening to science fiction I then discovered the BBC or more accurately BBC4.

It was like finding the holy grail.  Or least what I imagine it would be like.

The variety that the BBC produces is enormous.  From comedies to crime dramas to Shakespeare and Sci-Fi.  I have become hooked.

And like all addictions I just have to share.  So here's just a small taste of what I have been listening to and more.

Murder in the title [compact disc] : a Charles Paris mystery / Simon Brett.

I *adore* Bill Nighy.  So when I found that he featured in a series of radio dramas featuring an alcoholic, womanising actor who seems to constantly stumble across dead bodies where ever he goes I just had to give them a try.

And I'm so glad I did.  The Charles Paris mysteries featuring him are just marvellous with Nighy being... well Nighy..

Cabin pressure. Complete series 2 [compact disc] / written by John Finnemore.

A BBC4 find.  The appeal of this was that it featured Benedict Cumberbatch.  Or the Cumberbeast as he is known as to his many fans.  It also sounded really funny.

And it is. Gloriously so.

 In fact I guarantee this will have you laughing out aloud.

The adventure collection. Volume 2 [compact disc]

As a Doctor Who fan I just had to try these series of adventures read by David Tennant.

Though they don't have a full-cast like the ones above, Tennant's voice worked really well for me.

Then again I'm probably biased.


Torchwood [electronic resource] : the lost files.

The last story in this audio book made me cry.

Really.

I bawled my eyes out.

If that's not a recommendation I don't know what is.

Desert Island Discs [compact disc]

I haven't listened to this - yet.

But it's on my list.

The idea of famous people being interviewed about what book, music etc they would take to a desert island sounds fascinating, so how could I not give it a go.

The big sleep [compact disc] / Raymond Chandler.

I love the movie The Big Sleep with Humphrey Bogart so finding out that there was a audio-dramas - done by the BBC no less, I just had to add it my list of To Be Listened To.

It also features Toby Stephens (member of the RSC,  son of Dame Maggie Smith and the villain in the James Bond movie Die Another Day).

I can so imagine him as P.I. Philip Marlowe.

This Month I'm Loving...

well any month that isn't February.

I hate February.

And yes I know it's kind of silly to hate a month. But I do.

There's just something about February that is off-putting.  Whether it's the heat, the fact that the holidays and relaxed mood of Christmas is finally over or strange vibes in the air.  There is something about February that is unsettling.

Strangely enough I've discovered that I not the only one to feel this way.  Which is nice  - it's always great to find someone who shares in your insanity, whether it's rational or not.

Luckily for me I've discovered heaps of new things to help ease the unsettled blues as well as getting reacquainted with some old friends.

So how is the month that shall not be named, treating you?

The Lumineers

Music as always is one of the best way's to shake those unsettled blues away and The Lumineers are one of my favourite new discoveries.

These guys (and girl) are amazing.  A folkie-indie-pop band I could easily listen to them all day... oh right I pretty much do.  Their music is catchy and bouncy and just a pure delight.

I can hardly wait for them to do another CD.

My favourites are Ho Hey, Stubborn Love, Flowers in Your Hair and Submarines.

My one and only thrill / Melody Gardot.

At 18 a car ploughed into her while she was out cycling.  What helped in her in during the years of recovery was music.  From her hospital bed she began writing songs.

And this, along with her other 2 albums, are the results.

Featuring nearly all original material she is a jazz-blues singer along the likes of Diana Krall and I have just fallen in love with the song Who Will Comfort Me.  It's just a great foot-tapping jazz song that is sure to make you smile.

Punk goes pop. Volume 4 

Now I'm not a huge punk fan.  But as they say there's punk and then there's punk.

I love the Clash and The Cure and The Pretenders.  Bands who had punk roots in their music but who also sang across other genres.

Now of course there's a wide range of punk styles and bands who fit into other genres.  It seems that punk has become popular - who knew.

This CD features an array of punk artists doing they own unique take on some popular songs.  My absolute favourite is Tonight Alive's version of Little Lion Man which I think is almost better than the original by Mumford and Sons.

Golden age [compact disc] / [by James Goss].

I have a new addiction. 

Yes I know I have a lot of addictions (Supernatural, fanfiction, books, chocolate...)

But audio books or more exactly audio dramas have completely hooked me.  Or at least the TV show based ones have.

I blame it all on Big Finish.  Nearly all their audio's feature a full cast plus sound effects and they are AMAZING!

The Stargate ones were the first and from there I just had to have more and so onto Torchwood and Blake's 7 it was.  The Blakes 7 The Dust Run and The Trial had Benedict Cumberbatch (how could I go wrong) and the Torchwood ones... well let's just say the one of the stories in  Torchwood: the lost files made me cry.

Now I just holding out for some more Stargate ones to be made and maybe some with David Tennant as Doctor Who (cross fingers).  Until then I've got the BBC's Neverwhere with James McAvoy, Benedict Cumberbatch and co to look forward to.

PS: If you've got any recommendations let me know.

Zoo : the graphic novel / James Patterson, Michael Ledwidge

I've read the odd comic in the past.

Buffy Season 8, Angel Season 6.  That kind of thing.  But I've never gone out of my comfort zone of comics based on TV shows.

That is until I picked up this one.

James Patterson was part of the appeal.

I've always enjoyed his books (at least his earlier ones) so thought it might be alright and the story held even more appeal.  Dystopian, animals gone wild, man fighting for survival.

Yep definitely my kind of thing.  And books with pictures... well how can you go wrong.  I mean really pictures make things a lot easier


Inside HBO's Game of thrones / Bryan Cogman

Game of Thrones.

If you haven't heard of it you don't know what you're missing.

This show has it all.

Betrayal, treachery, blood-letting, sex, violence and families who give a whole new meaning to family squabbles.

It seems like we (the fans) have been waiting for forever for (too many for's) season 3 to start let alone the next book in the series.

Beautifully illustrated, this book might just help with some of the impatience and fill the void in with your Game of Thrones addiction.

Roll on the 31st March.

The Guild 

I love Felicia Day.

She's funny and quirky and hugely talented and probably one of the biggest and well known geeks around.

From her writing and starring in her online web series The Guild, to guest starring on Supernatural, to staring up her own YouTube TV channel (Geeks & Sundry - check it out); she is a one of the biggest online personalities around.

Think a female Wil Wheaton (who also appears on Geeks & Sundry) with a bit more sass and red hair and you've probably get a glimmer of who Felicia Day is.

Go the Red-Heads!