This Happy Post

The collaboration of Noel Coward and David Lean produced some of the finest films in British cinema. One of them is the superb This Happy Breed, starring Robert Newton and Celia Johnson.

Remembered for playing villains, Newton is anything but menacing in this role. Celia is beyond wonderful, as she always was.

This is a YouTube video that’s sure to be pulled, so don’t save it for later. Watch it now.

https://youtu.be/8_6eBYUWk2Y

A perfect double-feature with this film would be the previously featured Here Come the Huggetts.

Gorging on McHuggetts

Beeby Baby

I have been listening to BBC radio stations since they first became available online. Before that, NPR began carrying selected hours of the BBC World Service.

This is the complete list of BBC radio stations.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/stations

Whether it’s the widely heard Radio 2 in London, or local station Radio York, announcers are actively engaged with their listeners in a way that’s nothing like American talk shows. (Which reminds me to say that when I renewed my SiriusXM subscription, I stepped down to the level that doesn’t include Howard Stern. Never have and never will listen to him.)

A favorite BBC station of mine is the sister of spoken word station Radio 4. Radio 4 Extra is where radio plays and features of all sorts from the archives can be heard.

The Beeb is under the same sorts of partisan attacks that NPR gets, with calls to change the funding model. The New Yorker has this to say.

Between 2010 and 2019, the BBC’s budget fell by thirty per cent in real terms. Punishing negotiations with the government have forced the corporation to find savings of up to a billion pounds a year.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/04/18/can-the-bbc-survive-the-british-government

I am sufficiently interested in, and devoted to the BBC, that I have ordered the Kindle edition of the new book that’s cited in the article.

Cookie Crumbs

Web browser cookies, especially so-called third-party cookies. The subject of great controversy, because they can be abused. But sometimes they can be useful. Last year I’d contacted a couple of local contractors about replacing the walkways in front of the house, and along the side of the garage. I wasn’t happy with either of their proposals, so I waited until this Spring to try again.

A house around the corner had some work done that looked all right, and using Google Chrome I contacted the contractor. I met with him and the quote came in at almost exactly the amount I’d guessed it would. That’s good, but it’s not for all of the work that needs to be done, which includes replacing the driveway. I’d have to find somebody else to do that work. As I contemplated the walkway estimate, an ad appeared for a contractor who can do all of the work. I clicked on the phone number and left a voice message.

Follow-up: That second outfit is a no-go. A lot of aggressive sales talk that boiled down to them wanting so much money for the walkway it was obvious to me they only want to do the driveway. A neighbor had his driveway replaced last week by a different outfit, so I called them. Once again I am reminded of how comparatively easy it was finding good contractors in Arizona when getting my late parents’ house ready to sell.