Also available right now in the V&A is the exhibit about the development of the Burberry trench coat, how it evolved from an outdoor, military style jacket into a fashion accessory for the wealthy. It’s not a big display and can take you anywhere from 15 minutes to half an hour to go through. I however found the exhibit interesting and would recommend it to anyone interest in fashion.
An assortment of Burberry trench coat designs, showcasing the evolution of this iconic British garment.
The exhibit is free and available till Sunday 3 January 2027
This is a free exhibit, although it’s more like a scavenger hunt. The trail takes you through the museum and you can easily be distracted along the way. Because I know I did by many objects.
Just right of the main front entrance to the museum you have Freddie up high in his Flash t-shirt from when he and Queen did the sound track to the Flash Gordan film. You then follow through the museum to the second outfit where he dons a crown and cape.
The third outfit is in the Japan gallery; he had a strong love for Japan and its culture and this is a rather nice setting. There are two ways to follow from here on the trail. You need to go upstairs, but you could be sent all the way around through the café where the Morris, Gamble & Poynter rooms are.
The display for the fifth outfits, two of them in the tapestries room are accompanied by the music of Bohemian Rhapsody and with the accompanying music has a bit of a wow factor in its own right. I’d had thought that was the last display for some reason until one of the ladies that work for the V&A told me don’t forget the sixth and final piece and I made my way to it to see Freddie in his famous red costume with all the cameras in their display case facing him. That is celebrity at its best.
If you have half in your day I recommend it. The display is still available until Sunday 17 January 2027.
Often on a lot of weekends I walk from my home, down to the old railway line which they only open on weekends and get some nature. The route takes you into Lyndhurst Park, and this is where the problem lies.
I had stumbled on a huge pile of clothes, rubbish, it’s a lot there. So I reported it to Barnet Council first only to be told to report it to Barnet Parks. (Which I have done now.)
I felt upset, especially which I consider the area has a certain history with the railways and London transport. So I put my video on YouTube! The only curse now is that everyone gets to hear my voice!
I was saddened to hear of the death of Patrick Stewart today. I grew up watching Star Trek in the 1990s adding to my love of science fiction to real science and even exploration. I love to go explore the history and other countries on this planet. I feel that is partly down to how Star Trek inspired me growing up. And Sir Patrick is a part of that.
I went during the week for a visit, and it was a nice day out in sunny London. The grounds are magnificent to wander around and have a lot of interesting things to see, including the birds on the long, narrow river.
The house itself has a lot of history and was built as a pleasure palace, but for me it felt oddly constructed. For one adult, you’re paying £13.50, which isn’t that cheap, but then the house needs well over a million pounds to keep itself running each year. The day I turned up, there weren’t many people around. In fact, it felt like there were more staff than visitors.
With your ticket, you’re given a little sound box to listen to the history of the house. You can point and zap at objects to listen to. You’re introduced to a fair amount of information. Will you be able to absorb it, or will it all be in one ear and out the other?
The blue room
Many of the paintings felt too new, as if they didn’t have any age to them. The rooms felt impressive and large, but functional? The whole place felt off for me. Maybe it’s the Feng shui in me.
When I left the house, I surprisingly felt more comfortable in the gardens. I first walked round to see the sad old dilapidated greenhouse. I felt sorry for it, then I went to the café to have a bite to eat. Maybe I would have been better off bringing my own lunch! What I chose from the hot menu was, let’s just say, a McDonald’s burger could have tasted better!
Greenhouse And the greenhouse sad state.
As I had driven here, I decided to make my way round. I tried to extend my car-parking stay for an extra half an hour, only for the phone app to charge me double! I enjoyed the walk through the gardens, along the river, into the wooded area and back up before leaving.
One thing I didn’t do was visit the kitchen garden. I may have missed out there.
All in all, not a bad place. You can visit the gardens for free, so it’s good for the locals. If they want more people, they really need to advertise better.
My mobile is doing its security thing by not allowing phone numbers to dial through and then I get a message “please add me” I listen; hear a female voice “Please add me on WhatsApp”.
I’m like, why? What’s your name? Who are you? Where are you from? And most notable, what do you want? You want me to add you, but haven’t introduced yourself?
I ask these questions to myself and wondered at first, wrong number? So, I just ignored the first two messages. However, when it’s happening multiple times, yep, it’s a scam. And now I think about it, it’s the stupidest scam ever! Because these scammers don’t give any indication of importance or any inkling to reply. As you can see from my voice mail above. It’s repetitive!
I can only suggest to people who also get these, ignore and block.
When the film opened, I felt the very first scene of Krypto the dog peeing was just… stupid! This set off the rest of the film for me, with what I would call immature filmmaking.
And a woman who might not know she can get drunk, early in her youth, finds out she can get drunk under a red sun? But is this film truly about Supergirl, or is it a vengeance film with womanhood and female power at its core? Because we are introduced to Ruthye, whose parents and brother were murdered by a space pirate called Krem, which sets off a chain of events.
One event even goes as far as poisoning Krypto the dog, and this binds Kara with Ruthye on their path.
There are moments when Clark contacts Kara during the movie and, well… I wasn’t a fan of the actor David Corenswet, who played Superman in the previous film. His cameo here just doesn’t have the on-screen chemistry that I feel is required for Superman. There is a certain aura which Superman needs, and he really doesn’t possess it.
However, Milly Alcock’s casting as Kara doesn’t bother me. She has a certain degree of presence which can fit the role. However, the stylised direction from director Craig Gillespie makes some parts feel all over the place.
There was the moment when she was in space, taking apart the female pirates. I rather liked that scene; it was one of the few parts of the film which felt clever and thought-out.
Another directional aspect was the use of the Kryptonian language. I honestly didn’t see the need or point of this. It was meaningless and, at the same time, took away the actors’ ability to perform, leaving the moments feeling wooden.
There is also a problem with rhythm and flow throughout the film, but it has its moments. Overall, it’s watchable, but nothing really stood out or impressed me.
One final thought, I really don’t want to give the final of the film away, however, there is a moral question: would Otto Binder, the creator of Supergirl, have liked the fact that Gillespie broke that moral code? I feel there is a question here, and a wound that cannot be healed now.
A while back I tried to list some toy cap guns on eBay, only for eBay to remove them and say they were against their policy because they are replicas.
Really? These tiny little guns? Replicas? They are just kids’ toy cap guns, about 40 years old. However, I was beaten by eBay!
The same policy issue can apparently happen with charity shops, so I don’t think I can even donate them.
So, I decided to take them down to Camden and try the antiques shop. The guy wasn’t interested, nor were the other retro games shops. So, I’m completely busted out.
I am wondering if they are actually sellable or not. And sadly, during my adventures, one of them broke.
My last options are that someone might make an offer in the comments section, or I will eventually just throw them in the bin!
If anyone knows whether these old toy cap guns are actually sellable, let me know.
This action-packed film is well made, well written and has lots of emotion. I actually felt sad watching this in parts, almost having tears in my eyes. But I enjoyed most of the movie.
After the events of the last movie, where Dr Strange erases Peter Parker’s memory from everyone, everyone has forgotten who Peter is, but everyone still remembers who Spider-Man is. This changes the dynamic between old friends, and the film feels very much about re-establishing those friendships.
From the other side of the spectrum, you have Jean Grey, who is normally a hero. She starts off as the bad guy, but is she really an anti-hero? Jean’s powers are off the chart. She is able to control people, and that is dangerous. But at the same time, I found this to be a violation of nature. So, I was in two minds about her.
While watching the film, I learned about one aspect of the Marvel universe that I knew nothing about, which is Damage Control. Spider-Man was basically flying around New York, and I actually felt like I was in a computer game. There are aspects that felt very much like the 2018 release of Sony’s Marvel’s Spider-Man game. The jumping, web shooting and the overall style were very similar to that game.
His relationship with Frank Castle also had that rather odd comedy about it. Then you have Bruce Banner, aka The Hulk, who seems to be a shadow of his former self, but is still powerful.
Then there is The Hand, operated by Damage Control, but I don’t know why the storyline feels off here. It’s like I’ve missed something from a previous film or story. I love the style of ninjas in New York, but the storyline itself doesn’t quite seem to fit together properly.
All in all, it’s not a bad film, but not brilliant either. I enjoyed it, and there were some genuinely emotional moments, but some of the story feels as though a few cogs in the machine are missing. There are pieces here that I enjoyed, but I was left wondering whether I had missed something along the way.
Couldn’t have been that long ago that Amazon added He-Man to their listings. I did the free month sign-up to watch the new Spider-Man Noir. However I also watched this.
The film starts off introducing us to Adam as a kid in training, accompanied by some truly terrible dialogue. The language in the early parts feels stupid, immature and unfortunately, that sets the tone for the rest of the movie.
Adam then gets sent to Earth! Well, why not? They did that in the first film. Here, we discover he has grown up, spent years on Earth, and landed a somewhat pathetic, mundane job. After more cringe-inducing moments, we are treated to some cool rock music while he plays detective, searching for the sword that grants him his power. Then comes the invasion of an assassin looking for Adam and the sword. Oh wait, the police don’t do their jobs and just run away! So do nearly all the bystanders. The lack of background extras in this scene was jarring to say the least.
One scene I did like, realizing Amazon Studios was also behind the film, was the little Easter egg of an Amazon delivery truck ploughing into a bad guy. As for the cameo by Dolph Lundgren? It gets a hard “meh” from me.
By this point, I realized Daniel Pemberton’s overture score was surprisingly weak, and the addition of the rock music felt like an attempt to cover up that musical deficiency.
We finally return to Eternia, and Adam gets to activate his sword. I don’t know about other people, but while Nicholas Galitzine looks well-toned, he still felt too thin for the role. I expected someone much bulkier to play He-Man.
As for the casting, the worst of the lot has to be Alison Brie as Evil-Lyn. Evil-Lyn is supposed to be powerful, imposing, and possess a real physical presence; I’ve always pictured the character as tall. Brie is none of those things. She lacks screen presence and simply didn’t understand who the character should be. That weakness was glaring. Meanwhile, Jared Leto’s voice work as Skeletor felt all over the place, and even Battle Cat’s voice irked me.
As the storyline progresses, it shamelessly rips its style from other franchises like The Matrix and Mortal Kombat. Then, wham—they steal the iconic song “Princes of the Universe” by Queen. That track was written for Highlander. Dropping it into this film just highlighted another weakness in the score, and honestly, I consider it franchise theft.
Even though I sat through the whole thing, I walked away deeply disappointed. The only thing I can admire is the set design and visuals. However that can’t save you from a terrible script.
