Slight return

Well hot diggity. The SHAME. I haven't blogged since January! There are no acts of apology big enough to redeem myself on this one, but I think it's pretty clear I lost my blogging mojo. I want to call it 'blo-jo', but that sounds far too much like something else so we'll stick to the original phrase.

I did a lot of thinking last night, and that's why I decided to get back on here and slap some words down. I went through a period of not writing because I believed I had nothing to say, certainly nothing interesting, and who would care anyway? Then I realised that that's not necessarily the purpose of a blog, and it's not why I started one all those years ago. It was a place for me to air my thoughts, adventures, general ramblings etc. and keep track of them for future reference, hopefully so I can look back through the archives and exclaim 'Oh yes! I had forgotten about that!" and other acknowledging statements. Obviously it's pretty darn cool if people do read it and comment, but I need to force myself to do it for my own sanity, for recently, that is something I have been lacking.

So, I'm going to ease myself back into it by talking about two recent acquisitions that have been very welcome additions to the Pandah Palace, DVD boxed sets of Poirot and Columbo.

I'm a big fan of boxed sets, I love the packaging (even if it's crap), I love the feeling that you've got em all there, and mainly I like them because I am utterly rubbish at watching TV. I might see something advertised and decide it's worth a watch, but then I forget, or I see the first part and miss the rest. RUBBISH! We recently got Sky again which has helped with this because I have set up series links for the two programmes I watch, CSI: New York, and The Mentalist (a new show that I FORCED myself to get into because I thought I'd like it, and I do!). However, most of the other things I like to watch and have missed, are now in my collection as boxed sets, which means I can watch em when I like, and it works a helluvva lot better than me trying to remember anything! My favourite boxed sets that I have watched in their entirety but still dip into because I love them so much are:

Murder She Wrote
Complete Sherlock Holmes Collection (the Jeremy Brett one)
The Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes Collection
Tru Calling
Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)
Pushing Daisies
The Tudors

Now, I had been looking at the Poirot BS for YEARS, but it was always mega expensive, and all the others I have were the result of clever internet shopping and continual price checking:

- Murder She Wrote was actually a gift from Hefty for Easter last year so we'll ignore this one!

- Sherlock Holmes should have been £149.99 and for some bizarre reason, HMV had it up one day for £39.99 so I pounced! It quickly went back up to £114.99 which leads me to wonder if it was an error, but what do I care, it cost me 40 squids!

- The Basil Rathbone SH Collection was a Christmas present from Hefty, but by all accounts, it had randomly been dramatically reduced, so it's all good!

- Tru Calling, possibly my most successful bargain. Was around thirty punds on all the main sites for ages, then one day Amazon had it on there for £6.97! £6.97???!!! Bat-shit insane I say, but once again, I pounced!

- I bought Randall & Hopkirk (the original, not the shitty Vic & Bob one) before I went into hospital last October. It wasn't that much of a bargain, about £30 again, but I pictured days of boredom whilst I recovered and cos it was my favourite show as a child, I couldn't resist. As it turned out, I was SO ill that I never watched any of in hospital, but when I eventually got out, I made up for it!

- Pushing Daisies was £11.98, which I think is pretty good, though I pre-ordered series two for about £18, but I love it so much I'm prepared to bare the increase!

- The Tudors was craftily marketed. To buy series one was £7.98, to buy series two was £13.98. To buy series one and two in the same set was £17.98. Clearly, not a huge saving, but a saving nonetheless, and more convenient because there's a lot less packaging to contend with and it's all in the same box. SOLD.

I'm currently contemplating the 'Maid Marian and her Merry Men' set, it's on Amazon for £28.98, the complete set, very tempting, but I'm scanning the other sites in case a Summer Sale pops up and it drops. It's not that I'm tight, far from it (as anyone who knows me and my shopping habits will testify), but sometimes you feel like you're being ripped off, and my random checks on other sites soon turned the art of DVD price comparing into a sport. And when you bag a bargain, it's very satisfying!

Anyhoo, I love Poirot, always have, but it never seemed to drop in price so I had begun to think it would never be part of my collection. Then, when Good Friday rolled around and the Pandah Palace Easter celebrations began, there amongst my other giftages was 'Poirot: The Complete Collection'. Good old Hefty! And what a boxed set it is! It's glossy and shiny, fabulously packaged, and even has the most recently televised episodes in! I have pretty much made my way through it all, but I've also watched a fair few episodes again, I really do love it that much!



Now, I don't mind Columbo, I used to hate it but have grown to appreciate it over recent years, but Hefty loves it. So, when it appeared on Amazon for £35.00 (the full set again) he felt it was too bargainous to miss! So, we have also been watching that and I have to say, I have rather enjoyed it! I still find Peter Falk kinda creepy, he looks like he needs a ruddy good wash, but there's no denying it, Columbo is a genius, and I have taken great pleasure in seeing the smug looks wiped off more than a few famous faces (including Shatner Tim!).



So there you have it, a lengthy discussion about DVD boxed sets. Citin ey?!!

I'm going to watch some more Tudors soon, Hefty is working from home today which is always nice. I'm not very well at the moment so spending a lot of time in bed sleeping and just chilling really. I'd like to get back in to reading, I have a couple of books on the go, 'Sovereign' by C.J Sansom, I loved the first two books he wrote, all part of the same series, and 'Dexter in the Dark' by Jeff Lindsay, again, I've read the others, this is the latest one. Got a headache at the moment though, so I need to get off here and be text free for a wee while!




Ciao for now people, nice seeing you again.

iP