Penstricken
Andrew Ferguson – Author
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TV Review: Stranger Things
Posted on July 26, 2020 Leave a Comment
If you’re thinking this sounds like a bit of a kitchen sink show, you’re absolutely right. The Duffer brothers who created the show seem to have painstakingly pieced together every single last light-hearted ’80s American sci-fi/horror trope they could think of and mashed them together to create this show. But you know… it’s not nearly as bad as it sounds.
Throwback Thursday: Ready Player One (Book Review)
Posted on July 23, 2020 Leave a Comment
‘Enchanting. Willy Wonka meets The Matrix’ (USA Today). That’s what the little quotation says on the front cover of Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.
High praise indeed. High enough to make me buy it and read it. But I know what you’re thinking: ‘did it deliver?’
Throwback Thursday: Can’t Afford Scrivener? Try yWriter.
Posted on June 25, 2020 Leave a Comment
Many years ago, when I decided to make my first serious attempt at writing a novel, I did what a lot of enthusiastic beginners probably do: I searched high and low for the perfect novel writing app. I didn’t know about Scrivener back then (in fact, I’m not even sure it was available for Windows at that time) but I did come across another app in a similar vein called yWriter by Spacejock Software.
TV Review: Life on Mars
Posted on June 21, 2020 Leave a Comment
DCI Sam Tyler (John Simm) is a British police officer who gets hit by a car in 2006 and wakes up in 1973. The rest of the series catalogues his continual clashes with his new colleagues as he tries to navigate the unfamiliar world of the early ’70s and figure out how to return to the present day.
TV Review: Another Life
Posted on May 24, 2020 Leave a Comment
My wife and I were very much in the market for another space opera. And so we did the only thing we could: dipped our hand into the televisual basket of snakes that is Netflix, only to get bitten by Another Life.
Throwback Thursday: Maigret (TV Review)
Posted on May 21, 2020 Leave a Comment
When I heard that Rowan Atkinson was going to be starring as the main character in ITV’s television adaptation of Georges Simenon’s detective novel Maigret Sets a Trap, my curiosity got the better of me.
Star Trek: Enterprise (TV Review)
Posted on May 17, 2020 2 Comments
After a little gentle coaxing from the wife and fifteen years late for the party, I decided to give Star Trek: Enterprise a second chance.
Super Snappy Speed Reviews: Children’s Edition (Vol. 4)
Posted on May 10, 2020 Leave a Comment
It’s time once more for another exciting edition of Super Snappy Speed Reviews: Children’s Edition!
Throwback Thursday: Mr. Holmes (Film Review)
Posted on May 7, 2020 Leave a Comment
Last year, I was standing waiting for a bus when one passed by (not the one I was waiting for) with a poster on the side, advertising a new film that was about to be released. The poster was plain white apart from a very well dressed and sour faced Ian McKellen. The title of the film was Mr. Holmes.
‘Oh, a new Sherlock Holmes film.’ I thought, my interest piqued. ‘I must remember to make time to go and see that.’
Suffice it to say I did not remember and, whether it was because of my own poor fortune or because the film was inadequately publicised, I did not see hide nor hair of that film again until this very year when I was perusing Amazon for something to watch and it recommended this little gem to me. The reviews on Amazon were generally good but there were also enough negative reviews to give me doubts. However, being a big fan of Sherlock Holmes and knowing that Ian McKellen’s acting is always a joy to watch (no matter how bad the rest of the film is) I decided to give it a chance.
Book Review: From Waterloo to Water Street
Posted on April 12, 2020 Leave a Comment
There is no doubt in my mind that anyone who loves a rich story, both history buffs and laymen, alike will appreciate From Waterloo to Water Street for the masterpiece it is.
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