Monday, September 07, 2009

Mind Well the Tree

Last night I was listening to an episode of Fear on Four on the radio. The show was a series of half hour one-off horror dramas, which were originally broadcast on Radio Four in the UK, but they are now on Radio Seven. This week's episode was called "Mind Well the Tree" and told the story of a wealthy couple who inherit a large mansion from the husband's aunt. The husband who has always hated the place stays away from it as much as possible while the wife finds herself increasingly preoccupied by a ghostly presence surrounding an old, dead tree in the grounds. Later on I watched some of The Simpsons Movie which was pretty funny, and I kind of half-watched Taxi Driver, which is a really great film, but which I have seen many, many times.

Another week of work started today, of course, and it was fairly ordinary and very dull. I was looking forward to getting back, as usual. I musn't have slept very well last night because I was tired all day. Although I do always tend to feel much better once I get home.

The final three episodes of The Wire are being broadcast over this week. I do think it is one of the best shows that has ever been on TV. The show is a crime drama which ran for sixty episodes over five seasons, created by David Simon and Ed Burns. It's set in Baltimore and is initially about a police unit set up to investigate and gather evidence against drug dealing gangs in the city, using a variety of surveillance techniques including wiretaps. David Simon described the series as being a portrait of a major American city and the corruption in the various institutions. The first season deals with the drug trade, the second season deals with corruption on the docks, the third season deals with politics, the fourth season deals with the education system and the fifth season deals with the print media. Each episode is very complex and multi-layered dealing with a variety of plot-lines.

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