Richard Hodson

Brit in Japan on sabbatical in Britain, reading books and teaching Japanese students about them... but mostly pictures of beer, to be honest.

[Richard Hodson @richhods]

I think I'm done here. I'm sure my thousands of followers and all those advertisers are going to miss me!

[Richard Hodson @richhods]

I get repeated tweets about Harley Quinn when I haven't read a comic since I was 13, repeated posts from Cristiano Ronaldo when I have almost no interest in football, and constant right-wing stuff on my feed, including even a tweet from D****d T***p the other day.

[Richard Hodson @richhods]

Enjoyed my recent flight back from the UK with @KoreanAir_KE as I always do - except for the horrible AI/animated safety video. Please go back to using real people!

[Richard Hodson @richhods]

A Year of British Beer 74 (and last): beer meets Black Forest gateau. Good but not a session pint!

[Richard Hodson @richhods]

A Japan theme for my flight back home: Perfect Days, Monster, Evil Does Not Exist. Enjoyed all three, although the ending of EDNE is a real puzzler!

[Richard Hodson @richhods]

A Year of British Beer 73: not sure how a hazy IPA differs from a regular one but, yes, it was “zesty”.

[Richard Hodson @richhods]

Watched The Comedy of Errors at Shakespeare’s Globe and thoroughly enjoyed it. A bit manic towards the end, perhaps, and my seat (?) made it hard to hear some lines, but it was great fun.

[Richard Hodson @richhods]

Two people asked me for directions on the street in the space of a couple of minutes yesterday. My default expression must have looked much less grumpy than usual!

[Richard Hodson @richhods]

Watched The Rings of Power 201. It’s like they’ve learned nothing about pacing from the end of S1. Excruciating. Glacial one minute, the next minute those elves are whizzing halfway around Middle-earth in the blink of an eye.

[Richard Hodson @richhods]

A Year of British Beer 72: “potent blend” is overstating it a bit, but this was quite tasty.

[Richard Hodson @richhods]

A Year of British Beer 71: refreshing. A touch of white wine in the first few sips, I think.

[Richard Hodson @richhods]

@DEMurray8 @rachellapides Kazuo Ishiguro did an MA in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia.

[Richard Hodson @richhods]

After an extensive tour of the roundabouts surrounding Gateshead, now we’re following Hadrian’s Wall west. Cheerful enough on board, although I’m not sure that the passengers there wasn’t room for in Newcastle will have been thrilled.

[Richard Hodson @richhods]

Inspired by Race Across the World, which we enjoyed watching as a family, I’m now trying my own mini-version, via a rail-replacement bus service between Newcastle and Carlisle.

[Richard Hodson @richhods]

A Year of British Beer 70: unusual, almost metallic maltiness. So good.

[Richard Hodson @richhods]

Watched Alien: Romulus at the cinema. Enjoyable enough. It's pretty much Alien all over again, which is both its strength and its weakness.

[Richard Hodson @richhods]

Watched Terminator Genisys (2015). First ten minutes: “Why did they bother?” From then to halfway through: “Oh, OK, this is ticking the right boxes!” Second half: “Why did they bother?”

[Richard Hodson @richhods]

I’ve never been to Ripon so I decided to go there on the bus. It takes forever and it’s running very late but it only costs £2, and you get to see some lovely countryside and drive through villages with names like Little Ouseburn and Marton-le-Moor.

[Richard Hodson @richhods]

Watching an ITV series called After the Flood. Someone gets a text or phone call in just about every single scene. Those constant ring tones are getting really, really annoying.

[Richard Hodson @richhods]

Finished it. I stand by my original verdict, but the last thirty minutes were an astonishing display of audacious commitment. If there's anything this film CAN'T be accused of, it's half-heartedness.

[Richard Hodson @richhods]

Now watching Goemon (2009). I’ve seen quite a few Japanese films, but this might be the trashiest and tackiest of them all.

[Richard Hodson @richhods]

Abysmal design, excruciatingly poor execution. Undoubtedly the worst Japanese film I’ve ever seen.