Modern Vespa

Ouch! The advisory only mentioned foul language and smoking. We should have been warned about Yoko. That sound is certainly not for the faint of heart.

Chris from CLE

As much as people like to blame Yoko for the breakup, I got the impression that Epstein's death, and their inability to replace him, was the real impetus to their disbandment.

Depeche Mode 101, 1989.

I have been a Depeche Mode fan since Just Can't Get Enough came out. This strange documentary about a road trip they put together for a group of young people to follow their US tour in a band bus, that culminates with a concert at the Rose Bowl in 1988, showcases Depeche Mode at their best, and offers insight as to why they became one of the most successful rock bands of all time that doesn't have a drummer.

Recently completed:

Guilt (BBC Scotland) Season 1 & 2 (eagerly awaiting 3)

Only Murders in the Building Season 1 (eagerly awaiting 2)

Ghosts (BBC) Seasons 1,2 & 3 (eagerly awaiting 4)

Spring on Zarechnaya Street -1956 USSR

A romantic comedy made a few years after Uncle Joe died. A worker at the biggest steel foundry in the world, and it is big, and the teacher who comes to educate the workers about literature, have a mutual attraction. But can an educated teacher fall in love with a simple factory worker? This is the Soviet Union on it's upswing, so of course she can. It does take the entire length of the movie for this to happen. One thing I don't think a lot of people realize, I didn't, is how accessible higher education was in the USSR. The factory worker is encouraged to become an engineer, and all he needs to do is take, and pass, the science and mathematics courses offered free after work. His friend, an engineer, took that path, and encourages him to do so as well.
Much like the American propaganda series Friends, everyone has a house that they probably can't afford, and they all get along. Draft beer is plentiful and there is a lot of drinking and dancing, and apparently threesomes weren't altogether uncommon in the worker's paradise in 1956, likely due to post-war demographics. There are a few cars and trucks and a train to take people to various parts of the biggest steel foundry in the world.

This film was made for a domestic audience, so the odds are that, like the American propaganda series The Brady Bunch, it was a somewhat accurate, if a bit idealized, portrayal of day to day life than we might have been taught growing up in the US during the Cold War. For that alone, it's an interesting watch.

I am a big fan of the 7 Up Series, and there was a USSR version. A few years after they started filming, the country disappeared. Nonetheless, they have continued the series. A surprising, at least to me, number of participants talk about how much better life was before. They were probably living in a place like we see in this film, and not the one where Rocky beat up Drago.

This probably belongs somewhere else, but last night, I saw Bela Fleck's "My Bluegrass Heart" tour show. Wow!

Three hours with Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush, Edgar Meyer, Bryan Sutton, Stuart Duncan, and of course Bela Fleck. Wow!

If these guys come to your town, go see it. Yeah, Wow!

Basically Johnny Moped - 2013 UK
In hindsight, there was a lot of lackluster punk rock, particularly in Croyden. Classic "own worst enemies" band biopic with an interesting twist. Chrissie Hynde was kicked out of the band twice, and was never heard from again. Meanwhile, Johnny Moped went on to become one of the most popular bands of their time, or vice versa. If you ever wondered if people who took a lot of drugs in their late teens and early twenties are coherent thirty years later, the answer is a resounding, "I know he's speaking English, but are there subtitles?"

This guy is on my bike safety wavelength. He analyzes rider behavior quite well.
https://www.youtube.com/c/DanDanTheFireman

Just watched the 2019 HBO Chernobyl series. Thought it was first rate and understand it is very accurate.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_(miniseries)

We saw that a while back. Compelling. Definitely a trip back in time...with the addition of a ton of drama that wasn't part of the news of the day back when...

Long Way Up on Apple tv.
Charlie and the annoying diva travel from Patagonia to LA about 120 km at a time on electric motorcycles they can never seem to find chargers for lol

Don't Look Up- Brilliant. A prescient indictment of modern culture, tech companies, politics, news and social media. A modern Modest Proposal. Great song by Ariane Grande and excellent acting throughout. Sadly, it often feels like a documentary.

Couldn't sit through it. Then again, if I knew we were all gonna go in six months I would probably feel relieved. My only chance of getting through my to do list.

Svengoolie. Tonite it's "The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms". Thrilling it's not, but probably the best thing on for New Years Day.

The Amazing Race US- They shot the first three episodes before the pandemic and lockdowns, then came back and shot the rest. Going to be interesting to see how they handled the time off.

Another vote for Get Back, and for me it's worth the $8.

I had to stop watching him. It was stressing me out too much.

My son gave my wife Disney Plus for a year for X-mas. I have been binge
watching the Star Wars - The Mandalorian. I expect many of you have already
seen this series.

Bob Copeland

Anyone notice today's episode of Boba Fett (D+)?

The "gang" with "modified bodyparts" . . .

On multi-colored step-through speeders. With multiple mirrors....

I see you . . . "Mods".

I just watched Lars and the Real Girl again. This is one of my favorite unknown great films. If you haven't seen it, well worth watching.

Simon and Garfunkel 2001 Concert in Central Park was another one I revisited. Very good performances, and all their best songs.

If anyone here is watching The Book of Boba Fett on Disney+, there are a few scenes in Episode 3 that my first thought was, "Vespas!"

I don't think they helped Harley sell a lot of electric bikes.

Pretty sure that was the idea - Lucas was quoted for E06 saying he wanted a "Rocket powered scooter". Thus, we got the Imperial Speederbike.

We've seen plenty of Chopper-styled speeders, about time we had an in-town Mos (V)Espa Mod with mirrors....

I see what you did there.

I was able to find a screen cap of them:

I'm seeing lines of a Vespa SS90, but BEEFED-UP.

^^ This is what happens when you sell your product to Disney.

Tonite, over antenna, we have Father Brown, the crime-solving priest, Death in Paradise, murder in the Caribbean, and Vera, head of a murder unit in the UK. We enjoy all three.

+1 for PBS and the miraculous, free antenna.

Nobody

We loved Nobody. What a hoot!

Enjoyed Nobody.

The Ventures: Stars on Guitars 2020

Documentary about one of the most impactful rock bands ever.

All of us are Dead on Netflix.

It's a 12-episode series out of Korea. My wife and I binged it on Saturday and thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm not usually into zombie movies/shows (I've never seen The Walking Dead), but this one worked for me.

Gomorrah on HBO italian mafia extravaganza
5 seasons of shootem up, with scooters in nearly every scene, maxi scooters, people doing drive-bys on scooters, with helmets without helmets, delivering drug/money on scooters, kidnapping on scooters

I'm absolutely stealing that...if you don't mind.

We've been watching Winter Olympic coverage in the evenings. It's more for background noise than anything.

Ditto. Since the GB hopes of a medal have started to dwindle, my interest in the games has also started to wane.

There's not much on on a Tuesday night at 10, but Major Crimes is showing "There's No Place Like Home" with Ray Romano's mom, Mrs C from Happy Days, Ron Glass who I know best as the preacher from Firefly and Serenity. And, let's not forget Tim Conway and Paul Dooley, who's been in so many things that you know his face, but don't know why (apologies to fans). Great show!

I watched the new Sister Boniface Mysteries last night. I really want to like nun who rides a Vespa to her duties as a CSI with a PhD in Chemistry set in the 1960s but the scripts and characters haven't exactly thrilled me. I'll watch a few more episodes to see if they improve though

Mrs f and I found ourselves totally engrossed in PBS' The Fall with Gillian Anderson. We started on regular PBS but started streaming it as one episode a week was too much suspense. Last night we ran three.

Man, do I want this serial killer to get his due...and it's taken forever!