Wittertainment Correspondence - Finally Caught up and AALS

My most recent attempt at emailing wittertainement on 27th November 2015

Dear On The One Hand and On The Other Hand, (Mark seemed to say this every week in Spring 2015 and I'm surprised no one brought it up!)

Might as well start in the traditional way, L-T-L, 2nd-T-E, 1st-T-R-O? (Read Out?!)

I remember the days when I would listen to your much shorter show safe in my understanding of what movies to watch. If Mark liked it (Pans Labyrinth) I was to stay clear. If he didn't like it (The Holiday) then I could look forward to enjoying it. Then came the pivotal day of my listening life. Driving my sister to uni in Leeds, Mark reviewed Mamma Mia. My sister became a wittertainee but never again could I use my simple method of choosing movies. But fortunately after a while your programme became to me, what jaws is to sharks and tinker tailor is to spies (at least according to Mark), not about the films. Then I could continue to listen with enjoyment. 

Today is a big day for me as I am up to date for the first time since at least when I was married 3 years ago! I have tried many times to get my husband interested using the wittertainment methods. Thank you for your Leisure Society references as he is a big fan, but unfortunately I can still not call him a wittertainee. Consequently I have not been able to keep up with your lengthening witterings. 

I am up to date because three months ago we came to Uganda and you became my running, baking and scary-mutatu-journey companions while here. I started in September with last Christmas' show from the pub which seemed very strange in the heat of Uganda. Since then I have gone through awards season, the launch and results of Well Done U, missed another cruise, discovered witterpedia and cos play and heard about the odd film. Travelling here to Uganda on an arsenal related airline, I was blown away by the choice of films to watch and not being up to date with your good selves, most of them I didn't know anything about. Fortunately my aforementioned wittertainee sister is up to date and had told me about 'Inside Out' so that was the one film I watched and what a good choice. It was so good then to subsequently hear the review and the multiple weeks it stayed in the top 10.

While listening to the last year of podcasts I have been compiling a list of films I would like to see and I will look out for them on our onward flights next week from Uganda to Japan. I wonder what this list says about me?!

Pride

What we did on our holiday 

Belle

Boyhood 😀

Interstellar 

Still Alice 

Focus - mark says 😒 but still want to see

Train wreck

That Versailles one?!

Big hero 6

Amadeus

Silent running

The Martian 

Suffragette 

Now I also have to factor in AALS but I do enjoy a good cry so it shouldn't be a problem. 

Thanks for the wittering

Catherine 

Far too British to put my actual qualifications 

PS A personal thank you to Simon, who about this time last year gave my husband the primary science quality mark silver award at the Royal Institute. Thank you also for writing a card to my (still aforementioned) sister, Lizzie, saying congratulations on her new job! She was absolutely delighted with your card, thank you! I also enjoyed Itch Craft, that my husband bought for me for a Christmas present that day, and I would like to ask where you are with the possibility of a film, but as you are both so careful (!) about not mentioning your books on your show I feel it unlikely to get an answer!! 

Pps I'm clearly not a very good wittertainee as while in Uganda I spent quite a long time trying to get snapchat and have failed to ever get a message from you! Oh woe is me!