The Watch (Discworld)

Not to be confused with the not-very-good 2012 comedy film, this review is about the TV series that was inspired by Terry Pratchett's Discworld books.

I love the Discworld books. Over the years, I've read them at least three times each, so maybe I'm a little biased with this review. The question is... in which direction?

In my opinion, the criticism that this TV series received was unwarranted, a gut-reaction from people who were expecting something else. It's not a TV adaptation of the books but is inspired by them. For example, some of The Watch members are physically inaccurate when compared with the descriptions in the books - but where do you find actors with the physical characteristics of the more unusual Discworld characters? I prefer not to see an overuse of CGI in place of actors.

I enjoyed the series. It was entertaining and I thought two of the best characters portrayed were Richard Dormer's Sam Vimes and Jo Eaton-Kent's Constable Cheery.

If you haven't formed your own fixed ideas of what this series should be, give it a try. I watched it twice and now I have the DVD-set so that I can watch The Watch whenever I want.

The series is no longer available via BBC iplayer but the DVD-set is currently under £10 on Amazon. There are also trailers on YouTube that provide a taster.

Also available are DVDs of: The Colour of Magic, Hogfather and Going Postal - plus Discworld books, of course.

By the way, I found the opinions of another film & series reviewer on IMDB to be quite interesting, too.

English Grammar (Professional Writers) Rant!

Surely, professional writers should know basic rules of grammar? For example: 'should of' should be 'should have' of course, most people are aware of this but I've found the wrong use in a few novels. If it's spoken by a character, then it's a character trait and acceptable. Otherwise, no.

There are many gripes but today's annoyance is the unnecessary use of 'up' at the end of sentences. Here are some examples: 

• Pick the rubbish up should be Pick up the rubbish;
• Pick my parents up probably doesn't mean Pick up my parents but Collect my parents;

The same rule can apply with 'drop...off'. So, instead of drop the package off, try drop off the package or even 'deliver the package' which eliminates the need to think about the sentence structure. To me, 'Drop the package off' is an invitation to complete the sentence in the absence of the writer doing so, e.g. Drop the package off the top of a tall building.

Sometimes, the 'up' isn't required at all, such as: 

• Clean this mess up should be Clean up this mess or just Clean this mess;
  
• Please fill the box up is the same as Please fill the box;
• Hurry up is the same as Hurry!
  

I'm sure that you can think of many, many more.

Add these to my other grammar gripes,of which there are quite a few! For example, take a look at the following examples of incorrect grammar from those who should know better:

From the FT, 26 Jan 2024: "In Poland last year, almost half of men aged 18-21 backed the hard-right Confederation party, compared to just a sixth of young women of the same age."
This, of course, should be compared with.

From Mrs Downie A Level Media blog: "The news agenda of this paper [The Daily Mail] is different to The Guardian."
Tsk! Mrs Downie, it should be different from.

Most likely, this post isn't going to make a huge (or even small) difference to journalism grammar standards, nor will it improve teaching in schools, as A-levels are presumably gained at current standards. However, optimism is one of my characteristics :) 

***

By the way, I'm not ranting at everyone because they may not have had the best English tutors or English grammar may not be their thing (doesn't matter how many times people have tried to teach me certain other things, like electronics or history dates, sometimes your brain just can't take it in).

 

In an English Country Garden

Is anyone here interested in Gardening?

The awful weather we've had in England in early summer 2024 wasn't too bad for the gardens; the flowers are finally beginning to bloom, strawberries have been abundant and lawns seem to require cutting daily.

We've cut the lawn, pruned hedges, eaten hundreds of strawberries, made strawberry jam, propogated plants from cuttings (so many that we've given them away, as we did with the strawberry jam!) but we haven't been able to sit and relax in the garden because there has been a constant cool wind.

Following a heatwave in 2022, last year's weather set the standard for what we are experiencing this year.

The roses and climbers we planted a couple of years ago did nothing last year but are quite prolific this year. Similarly, although the fruit trees we planted in the winter of '22 died in the below freezing temperatures, their replacements from last winter are (fingers' crossed) growing well!

 

If you'd like to add your comments about gardening topics, that would be great! Meanwhile, looking out of the window at the lawn, it's time for another cut.

 

Parkour, Paris, Uzbekistan

I recently discovered this amazing video, filmed in Paris, a demonstration of the skills used in Assassins' Creed digital games...

 

Which led me to this incredible fan-made short, filmed in Uzbekistan:

There were a couple of instances where it would have been better if modern technology could have been edited out, e.g. electrical floodlights - but that takes nothing away from the overall experience.

Having watched these, I remembered a holiday post about touring around Tuscany in Italy, with visits to the village of Monteriggioni and the small town of San Gimignano, locations featured in the classic Ezio games. 

Meanwhile, if you liked these productions, here are more Assassins Creed Meets Parkour videos (links below, in date-release order)

• Assassin's Creed 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAhPaiajwDY 
• Assassin's Creed 3: https://youtu.be/Py-yRjM0le8 
• Black Flag: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYP4wKD-6J8 
• Unity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8b1zWOgOKA 
• Syndicate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFRscoOkkb8 
• Movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SY0EhJcciw

Enjoy!