'huge, queer and tawdry' but 'much admired by the public'

Of all the things I said I'd do in my month plus of liberty, 'drinking sherry and watching The Equalizer went down the best, which was odd because when I first proposed that one I was just extemporising. Still, even once my brain caught up with my mouth I remained keen, and it is heartening to know that a series I remember as a great treat from when I was tiny still holds up now. Yeah, you better believe that an ageing Brit in a nice suit is the hardest man in New York, punks.
Speaking of ageing, dapper Brits - I was very sad to hear that Patrick McGoohan has left the Village. News I missed until near midnight, despite lunching with cappuccino_kid whose 'Portmeirion' remains the best Prisoner-related cultural artefact outside the series itself. It was made known to me in an on-stage announcement just before the climax of a set by the rather impressively Tiger Lillies-esque Rude Mechanicals, at which they did a cover of Jonathan Richman's 'Pablo Picasso' that maybe even bettered the original. I was there to see the surftastic Deptford Beach Babes, and was startled by the profusion of men in hats. Also startled that Dalston is within walking distance, but hey, so are lots of places these days - Clapton, for instance, by way of Abney Park Cemetery. And Richmond's edge turns out to be a fairly easy walk from Hammersmith, via Barnes and Mortlake. All these London enclaves, lovely little areas I want to call 'spooky' except that term could seem negative, and I love them.

Mighty Boosh fans - are you all aware of FDA's 'Androgynoel'? I was recently introduced to it by Young Persons and have since become slightly obsessed. Imagine Half Man Half Biscuit's younger brother failing to pull in East London, then going home and making a song, bitterly.
(While we're on Youtube - Britney's 'Womanizer'. When I first heard this, I felt it was a step back from the plot-loss masterpiece of her previous album, and I stand by that. 'Piece Of Me' was genuinely defiant and controversial. This tries to be, but ultimately - the best threat it can offer the womanizer is that he gets gang-raped by Britneys? Oooh, that's me terrified into better behaviour. See also Battlestar Galactica where ( Spoilers 3.10 )