Sandra Says Blog

  Series one, episode one, after the sad passing of the previous vicar, we see an amusing if a little annoying David (Gary Waldhorn) the chairman in the sleepy country village’s parish council committee meeting. We already see the dynamics of the characters in this cleverly worded and executed script. Well the new vicar has arrived, it is brilliant, Geraldine (Dawn French) is bouncy and brilliant, just what the sleepy village needs to be woken up and you could say the alarm clock has just arrived. Also modern life at the start of the introduction of ‘Women vicars’. New beginnings/changes need to be gotten used to. It is actually clever of Alice (Emma Chambers) in a weird kind of way to swap wine to a Blackcurrant brand because of the previous vicar’s small drinking problem. Yes, different but well done. I hate the letter, poor Geraldine this is so sad. I love the vote after though, also Sunday was a success. Yes. ‘Lady Godiva’ not being able to find time to go to the hairdressers w...

  Sandylands When I first saw the trailer to this program it was billed as an original. However, my first thought was of another program ‘The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin’ 1976 with Leonard Rossiter . Where the main character also faked his own death and came back. Although watching the first episode this is where the similarities between the two programs end. So in epis ode one, it is a bit of a cliché really, people living in their own little world by the sea set in their own unique, strange, funny and unusual ways and a young lady Emily (Natalie Dew) who managed to escape into the big wide world or in this case London, comes back more, now I don’t want to be mean but the only way I can describe it is as, worldly wise. A part that is amusing yet awkward is karaoke duets with one person singing, yeah it doesn’t work. Well when it comes to ‘The morning after the night before, this could be classed as a different to the normal hangover, Dad Les (Sanjeev Bhaskar ) is alive. Epi...

  I know ‘Cut and Shut’ are really dangerous and should not be done and I cannot condone this illegal activity, but what I do find amusing and only in the nature of this short story, and it is not that Lev is in trouble with the wrong people, it is however, that Lev seems to have a part from the wrong car. An image springs to mind of a back end of one sort of car attached to the front end of another type of car in some sort of mismatched set up like a child's drawing or a challenger from a TV show. I like how resourceful Gloria is in tending to Lev’s wound ‘Sticky tape’ this part, to me, is confusing as it could literally be tape, but it could be surgical tape, however, I would have thought it would have been more specific if it was that. I like to think it was, as described, ‘Sticky tape’. That is funnier to think about. Now ‘Cut and shut’ people, throws’ up a whole new, different weird image. This is clever and imaginative. Well we all would want the best for our children, but ...

  At the start of this book it very quickly describes the business dealings of Sheila O’Brien. I had to read this part carefully, pay attention and concentrate on what I was reading as it was a very busy chapter with a lot going on in it. It builds a strong start to this story. The next chapter goes off in a different direction, you have to read on to see the connection to Sheila, which is, I feel, a good/nice one. Now in the third chapter we meet/read about Mr Bancroft. It is good to see that Sheila is a good, strong and independent woman and can hold her own. I like this kind of woman and reading about them and what they can and do achieve. This book describes and captures the ‘Gangster’ world, it is well written so you can clearly picture it as you would if you were watching a movie. Watching a movie you would see the scenes play out on the screen, in this book there is just enough of a description to set the scenes really well so that you can also fill in the images as if, as...

  Shopaholic to the Stars by Sophie Kinsella The Emails at the start of this book are hilarious, you only need one half of the communication because they say it all as to what the queries were. I find starting a story in a novel this way is unique, also clever as it has been reasonably commonly known that the first line whether it be an essay, or anything can be the hardest to write. The way this book starts eliminates the said issue. In the first chapter there is so much crammed in, including undersized shopping, being star struck or not depending who you are and how you feel abou t things in and around Los Angeles, a race to be run and what I find as really interesting, Becky is questioning how Eskimos kiss and do their lips stick together in the cold . It is however, commonly known the Eskimos kiss is to rub noses. This part could explain the reason for the different technique, it certainly made me think. Now I hope Becky gets her reference as there is a lot riding on it. Chapt...