Convalescence Care Package

I heard today that an amazing little lady has had an accident and is confined to her bed for the next few weeks ... It's not really bad, it's a broken ankle. So it's bed rest for the Little Lady for the next few weeks. (Virtual Hug).

Ankles are awkward. I've had my share of broken bones and fractures and other mishaps with my bones but I've been lucky that I've still been ambulatory with them. The most serious were a broken wrist (which was put in plaster), the dislocated shoulder (an 18 month injury) and the broken ribs. Can't do much with ribs, except try not to laugh too much and go see a doctor if there's blood (which there wasn't). Oh and I think I stress fractured my back as a teenager and had a micro fracture in my shin.

But ankles and other load bearing bits of the body are awkward. Broken bones like humerus, fibia/tibia, radius and ulna (long bones in arms and legs) heal when put in casts that give them a scaffold to build themselves back up on. But joints are a bit more awkward to heal.

I hope she gets back on her feet soon. And before that cabin fever starts sinking in. But I have had a request. I'm calling it a Convalescence Care Package. Lots of music, nothing melancholy. And I'm expanding that into books and movies. Here goes !

If you're having a grey day and need some cheering up, look no further than Mindy Gledhill's album, Anchor. It's a wonderful piece of happiness and joy with tracks like the one which kicks it off, California (better on the album). And it continues the Happy from there. Heavily recommended.

Telly can be good to keep you busy, keep you grinning. I'm looking forward to the Librarians coming back. It's another Noah Wyle programme, whatever he gets involved with tends to be golden and the Librarians was no exception. There's also old stuff like :

Macguyver;
The original Men From Uncle;
All the animated series - Ulysses 31, Dogtanian (yes, it's kiddie stuff but that's no reason why you should drop it off the Fun Stuff list if you enjoy it !), must actually watch Mysterious Cities Of Gold sometime too and I have the Dungeons and Dragons series that I've been meaning to watch for ages.

A game to keep you busy ? Has to be laptop or tablet and not too stressful. How about Machinarium ... it's a puzzle game with a super cute robot who is trying to get back to his partnerbot. Magical masterpiece. I've never finished this one, must go back to it. That and The Banner Saga which has recommendations from everybody.

Talking of cheap stuff - www.humblebundle.com run lots of offers, including content for Android and e-book and PC stuff. Their e-book bundle isn't interesting at the moment (Star Wars stuff) but hopefully better will appear when it changes over tomorrow.

Books ? I'd first go to Larry Niven's Ringworld series. Little gritty but it's a ride through the most distant part of the Known Space novels. It's a dangerous place and full of adventure. Most of the Heinlein books too. Usually good fun reads.

I remember the Anne McCaffrey Dragonriders of Pern books being really good too. Not read them for years now. Good books and my favourite character there, Menolly, was forever linked to Julianne Regan of All About Eve. They're a goth band so a bit too melancholy to link here. Beautiful songs though. Their first album was their best with songs like Wild Hearted Woman. I know a few of those, they're fun. (This friend ain't gonna be a stranger for the girl with stars in her eyes)

But we have happier songs than that. I've been impressed with Caro Emerald ever since hearing one of her tracks used for Strictly Come Dancing. That was Dr Wanna Do. Both of her albums (and the live one) have been amazing.

And while I was looking through the library ... I spotted A Town Called Eureka soundtrack. Another wonderful scifi series that was all about the fun. It never forgot that the true purpose of entertainment is to ... entertain. Some of the new series like Walking Dead have been more about the gore. Stay with the fun !

How about a movie or two ?

I really need to watch Spirited Away again. I vaguely remember it from watching it a decade ago and really enjoyed it then. So how come I haven't watched it again since ? I dunno ! They did a cracking job with the recent Narnia films too, shame they didn't manage to film all the books. Anything by Pixar ! And the magic Bolt. Charming film that is one of the few that gets me in the feels. Spot the dog person :-). Robots is another great film, with voice acting from the one of a kind and sorely missed Robin Williams.

And a random neuron just made me think of Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy. I'm not that big a fan of the books but BBC did a wonderful adaptation a good few years ago. Here's the theme tune. And a bonus ! Someone's put the whole series up - enjoy while you can ... Wonder if I can find the soundtrack. The 2005 film is a bit pants though.

More music ? Here's a few happy highlights :

Anything by Little Boots. Dancing is her Remedy.
Dubstar's bounciness. Sarah Makes It Better with Stay.
Kate Bush's Lionheart. Fun album.
I always enjoy Katie Melua purring at me with songs like Thank You Stars.
Lisa Hannigan with that picture story book in Lille.
Lucy Spraggan with the very naughty Beer Fear.
Norah Jones knows who her favourite Man Of The Hour is (WOOF!).
River City People burned bright for a short time. Their first album was full of excellent songs like What's Wrong With Dreaming ?

And a few more films to pass the time :
Galaxy Quest - a spoof on Star Trek and a piece of excellence.
Serenity finishing off the excellent Firefly series. Much fun.
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.
Fifth Element. One of the best scifi films of all time.
All the Indiana Jones movies. Ok, maybe not the last one.
Lilo and Stitch !
The magic of the Princess Bride
A rather different gangster movie in Bugsy Malone.

And I'll close on that ideal film for one who needs to heal. What else could it be ? Who else could it be ? It's gotta be Baymax. And I really need to watch Big Hero 6 again.

I hope it's not too long before this Very Pretty Lady gets back on her feet :-). I hope she is satisfied with her care package :-).

PS Addon - how could I have missed the Discworld novels ? I need loads of those to read. Always funny, always good fun to read.
PPS Missed another - Guardians Of The Galaxy ! Awesome film, great soundtrack. Am Hooked On A Feeling ...