A^3's Cube

"The Importance of Being Earnest" of course, starring Ncuti Gatwa. Which is currently free to stream online via YouTube until March 18th.

I hadn't realised before starting to watch it that Julian Bleach (Davros) is in it too, and also Richard Cant ("Blink"). I knew Sharon D Clarke (Grace, Thirteenth Doctor era) played Lady Bracknell. Oh and Ronkẹ Adékọluẹ́jọ́, who plays Gwendolen, also appeared in a couple of Twelfth Doctor TV stories. Ncuti Gatwa's main co-star Hugh Skinner hasn't been on TV Who, but has appeared in Big Finish audios. Oh and Amanda Lawrence (Doomfinger in "The Shakespeare Code") is also in it!

I've watched the first half of the play tonight and will watch the rest tomorrow or the next day. Very much enjoying it.

Got to the end of my 4-a-day home blood pressure readings (was filling the complete form, and just had space left to do 2 final readings this morning). My average over the week-ish is coming in at 125/80. That'll do nicely.

I have a cerebrovascular disease, so keeping my blood pressure within safe levels is important. But my readings in the health centre are not reliable due to white coat syndrome. I am happy to check at home.

Martin hears me chortling on the sofa as I’m taking my blood pressure readings. Comes through. “Aren’t you meant to be chilling out?” “I am chilling out! I’m laughing in between readings!” 123/74 and 120/74 tonight. I’ll continue filling the form with four readings a day (two morning, two night) till Saturday. Highly amused though. I definitely have white coat syndrome, and my home readings are fine. Happy to check it though, given my life-threatening cerebrovascular disease.

Martin's just taken a delivery at work of a crate of 12 bottles of Sheppy's low alcoholic cider for me. It's been sold out recently in our local supermarket, and it's my usual Saturday night tipple now (had to switch to low alcohol), so we decided to order in bulk. I am now highly amused at how his surname at delivery has been recorded: "It was received by manston." 😜

We were originally going to order direct from Sheppy's in Somerset, but they don't routinely deliver outside England and Wales, and you need to get a special quote for elsewhere in the UK. Sheesh! So ordered instead from Beers of Europe in King's Lynn, who let me order easily, and no hefty delivery surcharges for us in northern but still lowland Scotland. The package arrived the day after dispatch. Good courier too.

Bit late in posting my first version of this for 2026. I'm not reading as many books as a year ago. But I have now finished a fair number.

1. The Hobbit: Graphic Novel by JRR Tolkien, illustrated by David Wenzel
2. Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
3. Stone & Sky (Rivers of London) by Ben Aaronovitch
4. A Venetian Bestiary by Jan Morris
5. Doctor Who: 1001 Nights in Time and Space by Steve Cole and Paul Magrs
6. Everything Will Swallow You by Tom Cox
7. Normally Weird and Weirdly Normal: My Adventures in Neurodiversity by Robin Ince

Of these books The Hobbit graphic novel, Hamnet and A Venetian Bestiary were all 5-star reads.

The graphic novel version of The Hobbit was quite enchanting and engrossing in its approach, though it took me a few pages to get used to how the characters were depicted visually. Bilbo in particular had an extremely pudding bowl haircut!

Hamnet is one of the most astonishing novels I have read for a long time. I wrote a fuller review of it here a few weeks ago.

And A Venetian Bestiary was a gift for any lover of Venice, myth and legend, and animals and more fantastical creatures.

The Tom Cox novel was a 4-star read for me. A strange book to describe, a mix of life story and magical realism, set in the West Country. A lot felt autobiographical, knowing the author's life, e.g. the setting and frequent references to old vinyl records. Also the travails of living a peripatetic renters life, and difficulties finding a place to rent with pets. But it's also remarkably imaginative, and moving too. And very, very strange, while still being refreshing in its approach. Recommended.
 
The Rivers of London book, the Doctor Who collection and the Robin Ince book were all 3-star reads for me.

The Rivers of London book had an original Scottish setting for a change, in Aberdeenshire, but felt rather scrappy in its plotting and storytelling, and the relocation of Peter and so very many of the other core "cast" to from London to Scotland also felt forced and unrealistic. I also found some of the storytelling too predictable, especially nearer the end of the book.

The Doctor Who book is presented as a storyteller telling folk tales, but is more retellings of Doctor Who adventures from the past. Many of these retellings were fresh in their approach, but not nearly enough of them. And it didn't work so well for me if I didn't recognise which TV story it was retelling, especially when I struggled to visualise some of the creatures described.

And the Robin Ince was an interesting read about neurodiversity, but not general enough for me. Though I appreciated a lot of the insights into ADHD (which Martin clearly has) and anxiety (which I have - generalised anxiety disorder) particularly. It was just too tied to the author's own life story, and framed through that, in a way that wasn't generally applicable enough for me.

Sorting a teetering pile of accordion sheet music books, as well as more elsewhere in the house. Still more to go through, but have identified those I won't be playing again and would like to pass on. Also have a bunch of piano sheet music books (but keeping loads of others). To go to charity soon.

I am too prone to buying more and not playing what I've already got. And some things just don't work well for me. I even found duplicate copies of Irish and Russian accordion music books! The sitting room music area is looking more trim now and manageable. And the other music will go to new homes.

Now just checking if our local Oxfams will take the sheet music books, or if they'd prefer us to take them to the city centre shop, which does specialise in music of all kinds, including sheet music.