Wednesday Wonders 11
The Blacklist, Lee Madgwick, Querkywriter Keyboards, Ozone Coffee, Covent Garden
1. The Blacklist
I do love a good network TV show, and the Blacklist was one of the great successes of the latter stage of the form. James Spader plays Raymond Reddington, the international "Concierge of Crime" who offers to help the FBI catch the worst criminals in the world. Clearly he has an ulterior motive but, given that we have ten seasons of this, it's going to take a while to figure out what that is.
Like many shows of its kind, this starts as one thing and, once the execs have moved on and stopped fussing, becomes something else. In the case of the Blacklist, it starts as a fairly standard espionage thriller, runs like that for three episodes and then suddenly Tom Noonan (the serial killer from Michael Mann's Manhunter) shows up in Episode 4, dissolving bodies in a bath, and we realise this is becoming an awful lot more Gothic than advertised.
Spader is great. The roll call of guest stars is breath-taking. The show is convoluted, patchy and ridiculous, like a lot of long-running shows, but it moves so fast that it doesn't really matter.
2. Lee Madgwick
I first came across Madgwick's work on Twitter back in the day. There is something entirely mesmerising here.
https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2025/10/lee-madgwick-surreal-buildings-paintings/
3. The Qwerkywriter Keyboard
Lord knows, I love a mechanical keyboard, and this is one of my favourites.
4. Ozone Coffee
UK readers who take coffee seriously need to investigate Ozone. A vast, ever-changing menu of ethically and sustainably sourced coffee from around the world, roasted to perfection by Ozone themselves.
5. Goodwin's Court
Finally, anyone who has a spare £2million might find this interesting: https://thespaces.com/buy-one-of-the-oldest-houses-in-covent-garden/10/