Please Release Me!

Harry O

Do you remember Harry O?

I do. He's my all time favourite TV detective. Harry O was a classic American crime drama television series that aired for two seasons from 1974 to 1976.

The series starred David Janssen as Harry Orwell, a private detective living on the beach in a cottage near San Diego. He had been a San Diego policeman until he was shot in the back and forced into retirement.

Harry O is probably the best American TV crime drama of the past thirty years and the character Harry O was without a doubt one of the most compelling. It was very likely one of David Janssen’s best performances.

The series had brilliant scripts, written by Howard Rodman who created the series. They were full of humour, wit and often melancholy. The cinematography was unusual and elegant, more typical of film than TV. Harry was a well rounded character, bohemian, complex, vulnerable and memorably portrayed by David Janssen. His voiceovers were a significant part of the early shows where he philosophised about his life. Remember? 

Days happen to you... and sometimes I wish I could go back to when I was 17 again. When I was 17, I once said, “A woman is like a bus -- let her go. There’ll be another one along in five minutes.”  But that was a long time ago...

Take a trip down memory lane, listen to the great theme tune and watch a clip of David Janssen's wonderful portrayal of Harry O in part of an early programme in the first series, Gertrude. The quality isn't brilliant but it's OK.

Oh how I love those voiceovers!

I remember watching this on the BBC on Saturday evenings. It was very popular in the UK possibly because Harry O was more like the kind of TV detective we tend to prefer. Flawed, vulnerable and with a good heart! The locations in San Diego and then later in Los Angeles were a bit different for us too.

Unfortunately the series was axed after only two seasons as the demand for more violent TV programmes increased and Universal Studios who produced it went along with that.

Sadly it has never been released on DVD. Currently Warner Brothers holds the rights and has no plans to do so. There are numerous scam websites taking money for Harry O DVDs that don’t materialise and others that sell low quality materials produced from TV showings, so don't fall for the scams. So many other TV programmes of this genre, yet nowhere near the quality, have been released, but this one has not.

I have to say I'd love to see this series again and so I created a petition to send to Warner Brothers who seem reluctant to release it.

If you remember the series and would like to support this petition please sign it. If you have never seen Harry O, and you prefer more realistic TV crime dramas than the ones we are fed with today, perhaps you’d like to sign too. You would be in for a treat!

If you'd like to help promote the petition please feel free to put it onto your Blog, email to friends or put it onto Facebook. I'd be very grateful.

Post 162

A Bad Week in January

It started as a bad week in January and it kept me from blogging for quite a while. 

On the Sunday, our little old cat Tuppence started to have serious problems with her heart and although I didn’t realise it at the time her joints were giving her trouble too.  As if that wasn’t bad enough two days later my husband was diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus (gullet).  It has been a difficult few months and thankfully Eric has recovered but sadly little Tuppence didn’t.  It was heartbreaking letting her go, but it was the best thing for her. I started to wonder whether we were ever going to get back to a normal life.

I won’t go into the details of my husband’s treatment, all I’ll say is that it’s been fantastic and thankfully, successful. Well as successful as things can ever be when you've had cancer. There are no guarantees.

Our National Health Service comes in for criticism but I have to say it's amazing. The speed at which my husband was treated and the quality of treatment and care was phenomenal. I dread to think how much it must have cost. The care has continued with our local community nurses who came out every day after he was discharged.  If we were relying on private medical insurance, I doubt if we would be able to get it for him. If we could, we wouldn’t be able to afford it. It’s already a nightmare getting his travel insurance.

I try not to be too Political (with a capital P) when I blog. However I hope the Conservative government invests as much in the NHS as the previous Labour government has done. The Conservative track record on the NHS isn't good. Margaret Thatcher and co. decimated it by massive underfunding. The NHS is one of Britain's greatest achievements and it’s our country's most most priceless asset! So politics over, now to the information bit of the posting. 


Check this out and be aware of the dangers of oesophageal cancer as very few people know much about it.

We hadn't heard anything about cancer of the oesophagus before January and although it's not common, it's the seventh most common of the cancers in the UK with 7,000 new cases every year. We were surprised to find that it's on the increase worldwide. Apparently the North East of England and Scotland have the highest incidence of this type of cancer in Europe.


There are two different types of cancer of the oesophagus, adenocarcinoma and squamous. I won't go into detail here, you can find out more on the Patient UK website.

What causes Oesophageal Cancer?

Apparently there are various causes of cancer of the oesophagus:

• Ageing! It's more common in people over 65 and in men. 
• Diet is a possible factor. A high fat diet and obesity are thought to increase the risk and a vegetable and fruit rich diet is thought to reduce it. 
• Smoking. 
• Drinking a lot of alcohol especially spirits. 
• Acid reflux. 
• Food and drink temperatures. Some research has shown that high temperatures could be a factor. 
• China and the Far East has a higher incidence than Europe. This could be due to environmental factors and/or diet. 

If you want to find out more about the causes check out Cancer Research UK. 

So what are the symptoms?

Well unfortunately there are no early symptoms for this type of cancer.  Sadly most cases are advanced before they are diagnosed. The most common symptom is difficulty swallowing and feeling that your food is getting stuck in your throat. Less common symptoms are persistent hiccups, coughing, weight loss, indigestion and vomiting.

Eric was one of the few people diagnosed through a total fluke. His symptoms hadn't been any of those listed but our local doctor sent him for an endoscopy to try to find out what exactly was wrong. This detected a minute tumour which was then found to be cancerous but thankfully it was diagnosed very early. He had his operation (very drastic) but didn't need any further treatment. It's been a slow recovery for him and he still has quite a long way to go, but he has a very positive attitude which certainly helps. 

It goes to show that you should always get checked when your symptoms are persistent.

As for me, I'm just starting to relax and get my life back on track. Well I was this week and now we have the school holidays and grandchildren. No rest for the wicked!

Post 161

Conversations With Lauren

I have some great conversations with my granddaughter Lauren. I really should have recorded them all.

The problem is I haven't to laugh. She hates you laughing at her. However sometimes it's hard to keep a straight face.


On the way back from the park this afternoon this was how the conversation went:


Lauren: Niamh's grandma got runned over by a bus.
Me:        I hope she's better now.
Lauren: No, she's in the ground. That's what happens when you get runned over, you get digged in the road!


There's no answer to that!


Post 160

Ridiculous Complaints Made by British Holidaymakers

Often when you’re on holiday, you hear people making daft comments/complaints about the hotel, food, staff etc.  Obviously I only hear the English comments, aside from English,  I only speak a smattering of Spanish so I have no idea what the French, German, Russian holidaymakers say about the place. Our reputation is one of a nation of moaners and I sometimes think they’re right.

A couple of years ago in a Greek hotel we've stayed at for a number of years, one particular English family complained about the food.  Believe me the food was amazing. At lunch there were two restaurants serving lots of different dishes, meat, fish, pasta, vegetables, salad etc. There were, Chinese buffet two evenings, French & Greek a la carte two evenings, Italian & Greek buffets the other evenings and there was a fantastic choice of all types of hot and cold food.  My daughter and I don’t eat meat yet we never have a problem finding lovely food.  Well this family complained about the food and asked to eat in the Chinese restaurant every night.  They said that all they had to eat was pizza and chips for two weeks. What a load of rubbish!  I don’t know where they had been eating but it certainly wasn’t at the hotel.  They even commented on Trip Advisor that they had never been so pleased to see a McDonalds.  What a shower!

I read about the “Twenty Most Ridiculous Complaints Made by Holidaymakers” on the Daily Telegraph website today and maybe they were not the most stupid tourists after all. These complaints were taken from research by Thomas Cook and ABTA.

Here they are in all their stupidity:

• "We booked an excursion to a water park but no-one told us we had to bring our swimming costumes and towels." 
• A tourist at a top African game lodge overlooking a waterhole, who spotted a visibly aroused elephant, complained that the sight of this rampant beast ruined his honeymoon by making him feel "inadequate". 
• "On my holiday to Goa in India, I was disgusted to find that almost every restaurant served curry. I don't like spicy food at all." 
• "It's lazy of the local shopkeepers to close in the afternoons.  I often needed to buy things during 'siesta' time - this should be banned." 
• "I think it should be explained in the brochure that the local store does not sell proper biscuits like custard creams or ginger nuts."
• "I was bitten by a mosquito - no-one said they could bite."
• "It is your duty as a tour operator to advise us of noisy or unruly guests before we travel."
• "We had to queue outside with no air conditioning." 
• "We found the sand was not like the sand in the brochure. Your brochure shows the sand as yellow but it was white."
• "There are too many Spanish people. The receptionist speaks Spanish. The food is Spanish. Too many foreigners." 
• "The brochure stated: 'No hairdressers at the accommodation'. We're trainee hairdressers - will we be OK staying here?"
• "I compared the size of our one-bedroom apartment to our friends' three-bedroom apartment and ours was significantly smaller."
• "My fiancé and I booked a twin-bedded room but we were placed in a double-bedded room. We now hold you responsible for the fact that I find myself pregnant. This would not have happened if you had put us in the room that we booked." 
• "It took us nine hours to fly home from Jamaica to England it only took the Americans three hours to get home." 
• "No-one told us there would be fish in the sea. The children were startled."
• "We bought 'Ray-Ban' sunglasses for five euros (£3.50) from a street trader, only to find out they were fake."
• "Topless sunbathing on the beach should be banned. The holiday was ruined as my husband spent all day looking at other women."
• A guest at a Novotel in Australia complained his soup was too thick and strong. He was inadvertently slurping the gravy at the time. 
• "The beach was too sandy." 
• A woman threatened to call police after claiming that she’d been locked in by staff. When in fact, she had mistaken the “do not disturb” sign on the back of the door as a warning to remain in the room.

I wonder whether people from other countries are as daft as this! You start to think that maybe everyone should take an IQ test when they apply for a passport.

Well as my Mam used to say “Some folks are just not safe to be let out!”

Post 159

Change of Background

I decided to change my Blog background. I chose the clouds and aeroplane design because that's where I'd like to be at the moment. Even though the weather is lovely, I'd love to be on a plane going somewhere different where I wouldn't have to worry about cooking or cleaning. I can dream.

The biggest plus of all would be I wouldn't have to watch the World Cup either!


Post No 158

Anyone for a Tattoo?

I felt like a bit of a laugh today and so as I was on YouTube I watched some Victoria Wood. You just can't beat her when you need a bit of cheer!

Take a look here on my Telly Addict Blog.

Post No 157

Can you believe it?

I’ve been watching John Isner (USA) & Niicolas Mahut (France) playing tennis at Wimbledon on Court 18.

So what’s amazing about that you ask. Well they started to play yesterday in a first round Wimbledon tennis match. It has continued today and will go into its third day tomorrow.

The match has broken all kinds of records. The final set alone has lasted longer than any tennis match.

It's the longest Grand Slam tennis match ever played (almost 10 hours and not finished yet), has the most games ever played in a tennis match and the most aces served, 98 (Isner) 95 (Mahut).

The final set has just been abandoned at about 9.15pm due to bad light. The score? 59 games all.

Forget the World Cup! This is much better.

Post 156