Nik Nak’s Daily Teaser — 6-6-2026 — Stranded at the Drive In

6th June, 2026: Drive-In Saturday.

Right … it’s officially Saturday: and I’m bored and frustrated!

Bored … as it’s the weekend.

I’ve been persistently trying to contact BT: to re-arrange my broadband connection.

I managed to contact them, yesterday.

To find that my original request hadn’t gone through, as they had me listed at the wrong address: Number one, instead of number two.

And that they would be contacting me this coming Friday, to give me a date for the upgrade.

That’s … 

Frustrating.

Especially as it’s now the weekend: which means I have to wait until Monday, before I can chase this up!

Arrrgh!

~≈🛜≈~

The other frustrating thing … ?

My Mac’s seems to be stuck in a permanent bout of overheating: something seemingly caused — according to the bundled Activity Monitor app — by a process called corespotlightd.

As per suggestions on Apple’s Community Support pages, installing Macs Fan Controls seems to help deal with the temperature.

But is dealing with a symptom — the overheating — rather than the problem: which, as far as I can see, is how the Mac’s Spotlight feature deals with the location of Pages files.

I get the impression this is going to take a long time to solve … 

~≈🥵≈~

Yesterday was sad: as the death of actor, Anthony Stewart Head: best remembered as Giles, in Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, as Uther Pendragon in Merlin, and from a series of coffee adverts, back in the day.

Apparently?

He died of complications of pneumonia, at the age of seventy-two.

It’s sad … especially as — from the little I know — the condition is eminently treatable … !

It’s … well … 

Sad … 

The man will be much missed.

~≈🥵≈~

From Paris With Love: Boom Bang a Bang … With cheese …

Well, there’s a thing …

I think we’ve actually managed to generate a Blogger label that mentions Movie Night Adrian.

Or at least, mentions Movie Night Adrian’s hat.

The one he’s oh-so-politely indicating in the photo … ?

Yes, that hat …

Which is relevant, of course, because the pair of us were both at my place, tonight, with a copy of the Pierre Morel directed, Luc Besson/Adi Hasak co-written film, From Paris With Love.

Well …

The fact Adrian was over was relevant.

Not necessarily the hat.

The hat’s not relevant.

Seriously …

Forget about the hat …

… … …

I’m in burble territory, aren’t I … ?

I can just see Kevin D, Trevor, Kaiju and @MamaAlfy giving me meaningful looks …

At any rate …

Tonight saw both Movie Night Adrian and I at something of a loose end, with only a copy of From Paris, With Love as entertainment.

There certainly wasn’t anything on TV, I know that much.

And I’ve got to admit, From Paris, With Love is definitely entertaining.

It sees Jonathan Rhys Meyers as James Reese, an aide to the US ambassador to France, doing the occasional … ah … side-job for one of the shadier sections of the Central Intelligence Agency.

And getting a last minute job at an awkward moment; not long after his girlfriend, Caroline*, played by Kasia Smutniak, proposes, he get’s a call from his CIA handler, to fish one of their senior operatives — Charlie Wax, flamboyantly played by John Travolta — out of a French Customs office.

Which is where it starts to get … hairy …

‹‹‹~›››

Now, I’ve got to admit, this is one very over-the-top little action adventure film.

And one that makes no bones about being a touch OTT, or a touch … ahhh … light hearted, when it comes to things like realism or the consequences of its lead characters actions.

Were that much running around and shooting thing’s to happen in real-world Paris, I suspect at least one gendarme — in a very French, very stylish, romantic, deeply philosophical mannerº — would start to ask snotty questions.

Especially about things like jurisdiction, gun licenses and (possibly) evidence.

But, aside from all that … ?

I’ve got no problem in recommending From Paris With Love to you.

Just make sure you leave your disbelief — and any lingering questions about the HATª — in the bucket provided by your local DVD rental store.

* Pronounced ca-ro-LEAN, rather than ca-ro-LINE, as in English.

º And possibly involving a baguette or a packet of Gitanes. Maybe a Gallic shrug, somewhere …

ª No, let’s just leave the hat, right there, shall we … ? Goody Gum Drops … !

The Taking Of Pelham 123

You know, it’s a Saturday, don’t you … ?

Don’t you?

Wish I did: as I write, it’s actually, technically, Sunday morning …

Ah HEM!

But that’s what usually happens if me, Kevin and Adrian start nattering after a film … !

Which went into all sorts of interesting directions, but mentioning those would be a bit of a …

Bit of a …

Lets call it a distraction …

Because tonight’s movie was quite a nice little thriller: Tony Scott’s 2009 remake of The Taking Of Pelham 123.

Which sees subway-train dispatcher, Walter Garber — gracefully played by Denzel Washington — go to work for what turns out to be something of a bad day.

One of his trains gets hijacked.

Which isn’t something I’d thought was doable, but the script certainly manages to pull off.

As does the villain of the piece, Ryder: played with a certain amount of colour by John Travolta.

And I’m actually rather impressed with both leading men: they handled their parts convincingly well.

•••••

Andrea, was I hussing, again, there?

It does sound ambiguous, doesn’t it?

•••••

I’m digressing, here.

The film’s name comes from the hijacked train’s call sign: it left Pelham Bay Park Station, at 1•23 PM.

And the hijackers see the passengers as means to an end: commodities, as Ryder puts it.

Ryder and his team are demanding $10, 000, 000, before they start shooting, and give Garber — and New York’s police, represented by Officer Camonetti, played by John Turturro — an hour to raise it from the city’s funds.

Given that Ryder and company have shot 2 passengers by the time they hand over their demands, gives what they’re saying a certain amount of urgency …

•••••

Now, I’ve got to admit, I liked this one.

Seriously.

It’s an entertaining, nicely acted, directed and written film: one that is also trots along at a pace that lets you feel the breeze going through your hair.

Rather than given you whiplash.

Personally?

Personally, I think — if you’ve got a few quid spare — it’s worth spending money on The Taking of Pelham 123.

It’s money well spent.

ΩΩΩ

Denzel Washington ... Walter Garber

John Travolta ... Ryder

James Gandolfini ... Mayor

John Turturro ... Camonetti

Director: Tony Scott

Screenplay: Brian Helgeland

Novel: John Godey

ΩΩΩ