What are you watching?
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Proper retired I am these days. Become a daytime television watcher, well, quite selectively.
These two relaxing half hour programmes are currently on Rewind TV:
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Old Country, presented by Jack Hargreaves, made in the mid 1980's, looking back on the life before WW2.
Horses, carriages, fishing, rabbiting, dogs, tools, farming, pottery, smithing; back to an age when life was slow, and everyone DIY'd.
Episodes also on youtube -
Discovering Gardens, presented by Michele Brown and Giles Brandreth, made in the late 1980's.
Lovely English garden estates, with the owner-gardeners explaining and advising. An absolute gem.
Seems to only be on tv.
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I don’t watch a lot of stuff, but someone just recommended Soviet Jeans to me, and it sounds good. Eight episodes, you can get it through PBS Passport.
Set in Soviet Latvia in 1979. Dictatorship, KGB, a love story, a counterfeit jeans caper. Here’s the trailer.
Link to video -
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I just started Mampuku, which just started on Netflix. It’s a Japanese “asa-dora,” a style of tv show that airs in the morning on NHK (Japan’s public TV station), so people can watch them at breakfast (and there’s a rerun at lunchtime). Each episode is 15 minutes long and airs Monday through Friday, and one series/story usually lasts something like 6 months (and then the story ends, there are never “new seasons” the way there are with American tv shows). The stories are usually based on some real life person, but with enough details changed that it doesn’t make sense to call them biographical or a true story.
Anyway, Mampuku starts in 1938 (in Osaka) and is loosely based on Momofuku Ando, the man who created instant ramen and cup noodles. The characters’ names are changed, and the main character of this asa-dora itself is actually his wife. I can’t say much more beyond that because I just started it.
The shows generally have pretty high production quality, with amazing sets and costumes. So far this one looks to be no exception.
There are very few asa-dora shows available in the U.S., and this might be the only one on Netflix right now, so I was really excited to see it come up in Netflix’s schedule.
If you’re interested in pre WWII Japan, or learning about how instant ramen came to be, check it out! https://www.netflix.com/title/82746649
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I just started Mampuku, which just started on Netflix. It’s a Japanese “asa-dora,” a style of tv show that airs in the morning on NHK (Japan’s public TV station), so people can watch them at breakfast (and there’s a rerun at lunchtime). Each episode is 15 minutes long and airs Monday through Friday, and one series/story usually lasts something like 6 months (and then the story ends, there are never “new seasons” the way there are with American tv shows). The stories are usually based on some real life person, but with enough details changed that it doesn’t make sense to call them biographical or a true story.
Anyway, Mampuku starts in 1938 (in Osaka) and is loosely based on Momofuku Ando, the man who created instant ramen and cup noodles. The characters’ names are changed, and the main character of this asa-dora itself is actually his wife. I can’t say much more beyond that because I just started it.
The shows generally have pretty high production quality, with amazing sets and costumes. So far this one looks to be no exception.
There are very few asa-dora shows available in the U.S., and this might be the only one on Netflix right now, so I was really excited to see it come up in Netflix’s schedule.
If you’re interested in pre WWII Japan, or learning about how instant ramen came to be, check it out! https://www.netflix.com/title/82746649
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@ShiroKuro This sounds fascinating!
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That sounds so cool, Shiro! I have a great picture book called Magic Ramen: The Story of Momofuku Ando. It’s a favourite of mine and kids love it.
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That sounds so cool, Shiro! I have a great picture book called Magic Ramen: The Story of Momofuku Ando. It’s a favourite of mine and kids love it.
I have a great picture book called Magic Ramen: The Story of Momofuku Ando. It’s a favourite of mine and kids love it.
I had no idea such a book even exists in English! Although, I shouldn’t be surprised. He’s quite the popular figure on Japan. He has all these famous sayings and there are tons of books about him. There’s actually a story about him in one of the Japanese language textbooks I teach out of, so I’m hoping there will be some scenes from this tv show that I can use in class (the Netflix show is in Japanese of course so it would be great for that). I just have to try to watch to the middle of the show before September…
If anyone here decides to watch it pleas let me know!
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