02 May 2021

So I have been tinkering yet again with my phlog writing script. When 
will this be finished? Who knows!! I suppose only when I go beyond my 
skill level probably. Anyhow, I now can update phlog posts to my 
heart's content without having to remove duplicated entries in the 
gophermap. There was no desire to leave the house today. Weather was 
fine but desire left me. 

Only 1 more week until the next sumo tournament though! Having 6 
tournaments a year is a great part of sumo. Each tournament is 15 days 
long so there is plenty of action in a sort of intense period. 
Thankfully there are great people who edit the afternoon's bouts so 
that they fit into 30 minutes each day. This stops life from getting 
in the way of the sumo. It is shaping up to be an important tournament 
with several of my favourites hopefully fighting their way from the 
second division to the first division. One of the second highest 
rankers (ozeki) is at threat of demotion (kadoban) which always adds 
an element of excitement. I do enjoy hearing all the preparation 
gossip thanks to the hard work of Kintamayama who runs a mailing list. 
You can subscribe to the mailing list at dichne.com. I heartily 
recommend it as you get a lot of background information. However, the 
wrestlers do tend to keep repeating the same positive vibe statements 
about working hard and keeping focused. 

I have been enjoying a TV series called Unforgotten. It is a UK series 
which currently sits on Netflix. The programme focuses on a couple of 
detectives who look into cases where a body has been found after many 
years. There are lots of twists and turns with lots of parties 
involved but it does not take the piss with it. Events feel like they 
could possibly happen but keeps dramatic. There are 3 series of 6 
episodes which means it is nicely manageable. I heartily recommend it 
if you want a good detective series. I do love a good detective 
series of books or programmes. My only issue is that I tend to compare 
them against the greatest series of films, TV programmes and books - 
Henning Mankell's Wallander. It is both ridiculous, comedic, tragic 
and most importantly human. Wallander is a typical person with the 
same sorts of concerns we all have - getting old, concerns about 
relatives and what to eat next. The crimes are sensational and can be 
towards the extremes but the route to solving the case is not. Henning 
Mankell uses the books to discuss social themes of Swedish society in 
the late 1980s and early 1990s. This is in the same spirit as the 
Martin Beck series by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo. Wallander in film 
often involves adapting books but occasionaly new stories appear. 
There are 2 Swedish series of films and a BBC series of TV programmes. 
Netflix has started a series about Wallander's early career. It is 
good but involves a shocking instance which starts it all off. This 
seemed a bit too shocking for the sake of the spectacle. However, the 
writing seems to make up for that lapse. There is a second series 
appearing and I am looking forward to it.