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| Thursday, July 24th, 2008 | | 7:02 pm |
Domestic re-enactment of Lord of the Rings A cry went up and I (Sam, can't I be Boromir instead?) rushed to the Kitchen (shelobs lair) to find Lucy pointing at a large bumblebee (Frodo) which then flew into a spiders web at the top of the window and a big spider came out(Shelob) and rushed towards it, intent on death! It was too high up to reach so I grabbed a kitchen knife (Elven blade!) and scaled the work top (mountainy bit) and defty fought the spider back.. but was it too late? Cobwebby bumblebee half flew down to the corner covered in gossamy web. Shelob retreated. But the peril was not over as the orcs (alright Cats, ever interested in flying things to eat) homed straight in on half cobwebbed bee intent on eeevil. These too were defeated and Frodo (Bee) was rescued (in an egg box) and taken into Mordor (Garden) to continue the quest.. (yes, it seemed alright and flew off). Current Mood:  amused | | Thursday, July 17th, 2008 | | 7:20 pm |
Hoovers are Evil For some time I have harboured what must be the sinister truth that Hoovers are possessed of a malignant sentience. I am sure I am not alone in this, for instance: 1) Pulling the hoover behind you you may turn you back and a moment later discover it has turned-turtle and is upside down and immovable, yet there is no visible cause of this reversal. The Hoover did it itself just to be spiteful. 2) The hoover will become caught or hampered by a minor impediment, a small tug will result in the whole thing catapulting itself right into the back of your ankle with force entirely disproportionate to that applied. E-V-i-l. 3) Going round a corner or into a new room the power will suddenly go off.. MwUUrrrr.. you will discover the hoover has become unplugged but on restoring the plug will find there was still enough slack to carry on. It unplugged itself! These are the three main examples but others exist, such as the mysterious increase in suction power when you near something you DON'T want to suck up, like an earing or a coin or vintage penny black stamp, or that when unplugged it will slide the nastily upturned plug into a position to be trodden on by bare feet. Cats don't just hate hoovers because of the noise, they can sense the evil inherent within, there ruler is a small orange demon called Henry who delights in your domestic mishaps. Current Mood:  thoughtfulCurrent Music: Muse - Starlight | | 6:24 pm |
We lived where now? Less than 3 weeks after moving my memories of our brief stay at Richmond Street are fading rapidly, we are very much settled and happy here, thank you! Everything feels more spacious and the quality of light really makes a difference. The neighbours all seem okay, work is only ten minutes mostly downhill on the bike and even the Cats have settled quickly and without fuss, they have been allowed out the back to explore in the last couple of days too. In other news my application to become a PCSO has passed the first two stages including the exam like questions, now there is vetting and reference checking which will involve everyone I have met in the last ten years... well, not quite, aaaaand Then you get to the interview stage. If I don't get it I think it is still time to be looking for a new job anyway. SRS wise I took (ran) another class in absence of the usual teacher and really enjoyed it, I had a lesson plan and everything.. and then left the relevant book at home, but improvised anyway and on return found the points of the book were the same as we had worked out/practiced anyway. On Saturday Lucy and I are going to go and have a go at archery, hurrah! So, all is well. Current Mood:  cheerful | | Thursday, June 26th, 2008 | | 10:00 pm |
O F F L I N E WE shall be.. o..o ...oo OFFLINE for at least a week, and no home phone number. I will still be able to nip into an internet cafe every couple of days to check e-mails and Lucy can check hers at work so we will be reachable. See you soon! Current Mood: thoughtfulCurrent Music: New model army | | 6:38 pm |
Surely I'm not in the 'MoJo' reading generation? Entwistle found guilty of murder When I read this headline I thought it referred to the bassist from the Who, not some " IT " bod I'd never heard of, am I middle aged yet? Current Mood: amused | | Monday, June 23rd, 2008 | | 2:24 pm |
Best foot forward.. I have before me an application form to become a Police Community Support Officer, its depressingly indepth and I'm about to phone the recruitment office to see if it matters that I can't provide the name, date of birth and current addresses of several distant step relatives I've not met for about 20 years, or in fact ever. There is also several big 'give examples of..' questions at the back which I'm told are most important as they come up in the interview process. This morning I went to see a friend who already does the job to ask questions as there were a few things I was uncertain about, whether I'd 'get on with'. I'm still keen, like any job there are good days and bad it seems but generally you come away feeling your doing good and one day is seldom like the next. Communication and being able to get on the right side of people is key and I think I have those qualities in ample amounts, of course I'm not keen on getting involved in conflict but who is.. it goes with the job from time to time.. duties include being a uniformed presence, curbing anti-social behaviour, door to door enquiries, guarding crime scenes, dealing with parking an untaxed vehicles, welfare checks, collecting evidence like CTV tapes, and general low level policing.. certainly more of an effort and potential stress than my current work but ultimately more worth while than giving out a few parking tickets. Hours are between 8 am and 12 midnight which is not really a selling point, but you have to weigh up the positives and negatives, hmm. Next step then, finish big form and hope for the best, then there is an interview/open day for successful candidates, my friend says I should do well and hes an instructor in Hove, although interviews have never been my strong point.. ohhhhh big decision but I feel the best one, I've been in my current job for 3 years and not being able to drive or choosing to be a ticket monster tends to curb any upwards advancement there, ultimately it will become drudgery, time for something more challenging! I think. Current Mood: contemplative | | Sunday, June 22nd, 2008 | | 10:29 pm |
Sweeney Todd Pretty much crap. An important thing when writing a musical is actually having some decent, memorable songs.. those in the film are pretty much just Mockney-plot-dialogue-with-heavy-handed-r epeated-verse-to-tell-you-something, like the pies are not very nice, over the course of five minutes. CGI London was only slightly less flat than most of the characters, for whom I cared not one wit. Which is one more wit than the film writers evidently had. The end. Current Mood:  blah | | Saturday, June 21st, 2008 | | 11:26 pm |
Stardust What a hugely under-rated film! A wonderful and witty story with great caste and lavish production.. and sadly barely any promotion when it came out, or perhaps just promoted to the wrong audience. This kicks the arse of 'the golden mongbus' by a mile. I think people thought it was a kids fantasy film, and yes it is one level, but theres plenty of eye-brow raising and fnar fnar action with the films keen sense of humour, helped by a supporting caste with many British actors, this really is like a 'Princess Bride' for the new century. Magnificent, if you watch this film and don't like it then I pity you. Current Mood: amused | | Friday, May 23rd, 2008 | | 2:36 pm |
C u l t u r e Last weekend saw me going along to a friends stag Night, Duncan (film extra, occasional stuntman, sword instructor and medical journalist), starting at an Italian restaurant where the (naturally red) wine flowed freely but remained respectable despite the fact our party was surrounded by no less than 3 hen parties going on at the same time and some mildly amusing photographs were taken which probably seemed like a good idea at the time. Then it was on to the Komedia where one of our group had wrangled free tickets for the Krater comedy club.. I dont remember much of it for some reason (I didn't feel that drunk) but the first guy was quite funny spinning a set purely out of questioning people from the audience, and naturally scoring high when he found a solitary American. The second guy may or may not have been 'count Arthur Strong' playing a different character namely an aging Jew who mainly took the cheap 'ooh Brighton is full of gay people, oi geshoi!' route and I'm glad I wasn't the only person booing at the end. It was then those 2 Japanese chaps 'Gamarjobat' who were pretty funny although more of the act relied on neo-slap stick humour which was a little marred as I always seemed to be in a position to not quite see what was going on. I wisely declined from going in search of a pub that was still open after that, for which I was later glad. On another theatrical note Lucy and I went to 'Intimate encounters' on Wednesday, where you are individually treated to an interactive performance centred around the theme of intimacy which I really enjoyed, everyone seemed to have a slightly different experience, puzzlement, laughter, re-assurance, sensuality.. it was all there and I was very glad I went despite missing a workshop on Long sword the same evening. Then went and ate at 'Buffet island', a Chinese all you can eat where I once took this a bit too literally, which we usually enjoy, and did this time for slightly different reasons.. It was quite quiet being a wednesday with a big football match on, which was actually on in the resturant and I asked if we could sit further away from the TV 'Oh you want to sit here?' came the reply gesturing directly TOWARDS the TV, rpeating it met with the reply that the other side of the resturant was being cleaned, which clearly it wasn't... and I considered saying 'lets go' but we had already tried 2 other places and found them closed or no longer doing the deal we went for (tapas for a tenner!). We were actually amused by the bloke sitting alone just along and the conversation he started with a table of middle aged women opposite "Do you know Bill? "What 'Cigarettes' Bill?" "I dunno.. any Bill' "Yeah, I do" and.. "Go and get this nice man some.. y'know.. Fruit!" (something exotic obviously) "No don't I hate being waited on!' (waiter comes over) Would you like anything else sir? "Yeah, I'll have another beer please." Theres a certain type of blokey bloke who simply has to talk to people, given the slightest opening to do so. We were also glad he was talking to them or it would probably have been us instead. Current Mood: amused | | Tuesday, May 13th, 2008 | | 6:59 pm |
I R O N M A N So I 'finally' got to see it, and was impressed. Beginning at the end, I seldom use the expression 'oh My God' for a couple of reasons but found it entering my mind at the 'after the credits snippet', to some it would be a ho-hum 'thats cool' moment, but to a card holding comic geek it means rather more, oh yes! Wow. Its a very good adaptation bringing elements of several Iron man mythoses together for the screen version and featuring most of the established background (the arms dealer, the abduction, Shield, Pepper Potts, James Rhodes, a mention of the Mandarin etc), even a computer system called 'Jarvis'. Effects are very good but not the be all and end all, Downey Jnr makes a great Tony Stark who you do feel for and his transition from heedless playboy to would be hero is believable and engaging, and without being a complete turn of face either. I read one review that said it was a shame it built on characters quite well and then 'turned into transformers' for the last 20 minutes..' and this big punch up syndrome was the bane of many a comic book film, this is partially fair but how else could what is basically an action film end but with a bit of confrontational.. action? 30 minutes of dialogue and soul searching? I recall Superman returns was panned for going out with a whimper and not a bang. It must be quite tricky for script writers to find a novel approach to ending a film like this. Apparently the contracts are all signed up for Iron man II so roll on 2010! Current Mood: pleasedCurrent Music: unidentified guitar sountrack riff | | Friday, April 25th, 2008 | | 6:39 pm |
| | Sunday, April 20th, 2008 | | 9:16 am |
Meanwhile on the other side of the world... Most of you may be aware that Lucy is away doing her charity trek in New Zealand, she is nearing the end now and they have cleared mount Fyffe which was apparently the toughest bit, and the team leader said dthere group has made the best time on both mountains so far. After many days of rain the sun seems to have come out at last and tomorrow they have a bit of a rest amongst Dolphins and Maoris. I am very proud of her. She is an inspiration! Literally, I am looking at some charity challenge organisations myself although the hard thing to find out is how much you have to raise for them, obviously the further afield the more expenses to cover so it would probably be about £3000 at least for Africa, perhaps a bit less for dog sledging across Norway. I think the challenge is raising that sort of money more than the activity at the end! I have just sent for info on doing a charity skydive, not quite so epic but it is something I have wanted to do for a long time anyway, and the £400 seems a small amount after Lucys efforts. Much to think about. Current Mood: contemplative | | Thursday, April 17th, 2008 | | 6:52 pm |
Filum Lucy is away in New Zealand at the moment, trekking for the kittens! So I have taken control of the Ilovefilm rentals, including these.. 'Apocalypto', somewhat diapointing as most of the talk about this film had been about its majesty, realism and.. bloodyness, neither of which were up to that much. The trouble with Mayan/aztec culture is that film or documentary makers fixate on the human sacrifice side of things, just like banging on about mummies and pyramids when it comes to Eygpt... and this takes up a large chunk of the film after the characters have been introduced, the rest of the film.. well, if you've seen pathfinder or even Rambo then you might have deja Vu. Its not bad, it just dosn't live up to expectations. 'Come and see' A russian film about war but not a 'war film' as such, in the same way that Apocalpse now is not a war film in the sense that say 'the dam busters' is, one review described it as a psychological horror film and I suppose that isn't so far off, said review also questioned how no one (or animals) were harmed during the making, but as a russian film from 1985 I'm not sure if they weren't. It does not look dated at all though. It follows a boy who joins the partisans after the invasion of Russia and sees him through a series of mostly unpleasant experiences, the starkest of which being the burning of russian villages and related atrocities. The German invaders were a bit demonised but it is no propaganda film and the rural Russians are somewhat simple and cattle like themselves, there are certainly no heroes. There is an art house feel to much of the film with sound and vision occasionally becoming twisted round, with some good and often tragic or thought provoking parallels between scenes. Highly recommended if your in the right mood. Family guy: Blue Harvest. This is a double length episode which completely re-tells Star Wars (a new hope). Very enjoyable, both reverential and piss taking at the same time. I actually bought this but didn't enjoy it enough not to ebay-it-on after a couple of viewings, which was a shame but worth seeing if you are a fan of star wars or family guy, it was done in agreement with Lucasfilms so originals music and scenes can be used with abandon. na-na-nanana-naaaa-naaaah! Current Mood: amusedCurrent Music: Metallica | | 6:52 pm |
Filum
Apocalypto, somewhat diapointing as most of the talk about this film had been about its majesty, realism and.. bloodyness, neither of which were up to that much. The trouble with Mayan/aztec culture is that film or documentary makers fixate on the human sacrifice side of things, just like banging on about mummies and pyramids when it comes to Eygpt... and this takes up a large chunk of the film after the characters have been introduced, the rest of the film.. well, if you've seen pathfinder or even Rambo then you might have deja Vu. Its not bad, it just dosn't live up to expectations. | | Saturday, March 29th, 2008 | | 1:55 pm |
Best thing since Hot Fuzz! We watched 'Black sheep' last night and it was exceedingly good fun, you'll never look at sheep the same way again. Highly recommended gory black humour. In other news a relative of mine, Mr P Stearman, has apparently died in an air crash in Africa.. and left me 12 million US dollars, good job the lawyers managed to track me down via internet and contact me.. so next time I post I'll probably be in Barbados! Current Mood: amusedCurrent Music: Bim whirring and rolling about | | Tuesday, March 25th, 2008 | | 12:18 pm |
Explorations Piratechno on Saturday was one of the best nights out I've had for ages. So many people had made an effort to dress piratey that it was rather more like being at a party than a gig, the band creating a folk-sea-shanties-into-indie-punk-cabare t experience complete with dancing/fighting/can-can dancing wenches, accordians and narrative linking the songs together, ended up dancing/bouncing down the front. I think Pirateyness and booze makes any occasion into great fun. We have unleashed the Cats onto the world outside and the lack of screaming hysterics on this blog should tell you they have not got lost or injured or even been out of sight for more than five minutes, as far as I know. There first advanture began as curious trepidation and broke into gambling outbursts of excitement, today they are a bit pensive again but I think thats just cos its a bit nippier out. Went for a great long walk yesterday from Hastings to Rye, mainly along the coast and including outbreaks of snowy weather and sliding down muddy trails, or up trees, and a rather mediocre pub lunch experience. Its not long now til Lucy sets off for new Zealand, must order in two dozen tinned pies. We had a 'property inspection' this morning by our agents, typically we had forgotten all about it and I opened the door and went Eeeek to myself, the house is clean but was in a bit of a state after yesterday and me being in the process of sorting some boxes of 'stuff' out, 2 minutes warning would have seen it all tidied up, but never mind. Now off to try and contact the student loans company, AGAIN... as after dialling a very long number and slecting options it tells you all staff are busy and the line goes dead. Current Mood: chipperCurrent Music: Bill Bryson | | Tuesday, March 18th, 2008 | | 12:35 am |
Badgers in da hood The kittens, or rather young cats, have now had there relevent, ahem, not-having-kittens-operations and we will be introducing them to the outside world this weekend, I do worry about them getting lost or into trouble but it has to be done of course and the back gardens are enclosed by terraced houses so they cannot get to the front/road. Iiiiiiiim sure they will be fiiiiiine (gulp). I'm thinking of going to see Piratechno on Friday http://www.komedia.co.uk/event.php?id=1193&dst=1206131401 who seem to be at the popular end of a growing sub genre of 'indie/folk/cabaret/pirate music' Fancy dress optional but I suppose I'd make an effort. I have now seen that we have Badgers living at the bottom of the road! I've seen plenty of urban foxes but urban Badgers? I've never actually seen a Badger before, I rather like them myself. Thats all for now folks! Current Mood: chipper | | Tuesday, March 11th, 2008 | | 12:08 am |
Head breakingly good time! This evening was the annual 'Dagger trophy' Tournament which I managed to win last year and so was defending against all comers with a variety of weapons, I love it, lots of random weapons, lots of people! I felt I aquited myself well enough, with some memorable moments such as: Breaking the other guys quarterstaff with a rapier (alright, it was a bit of dole padded with foam but it looked good). Knocking someones mask off with a reunita (withdraw body, counter strike) Disarming someone attacking me with a quarterstaff using a backsword, this was the best.. I seem to have discovered how to beat a quarterstaff with a single edged weapon (alas a bit late in round two). The quarter staff really is the best all round weapon you can use, its so versatile, good reach, adaptable, no false edge, equally good in defense and attack) and was complimented on being able to adapt to whatever weapon form I'm up against, using tactics, however the same chap described my as being gung ho in the next sentence, which I suppose is fair enough. Flinging a cloak in my opponents face with a 'Ha!' and striking whilst they were 'distracted'. I always forget I like using a cloak. More than holding my own with a 'french smallsword' which I'm entirely unfamiliar with, but I always maintain that as long as you know which bit you should be hitting someone with at least some of it should come naturally. I ended up regretting there wasn't more time to have a third round, my arm got a bit tired at one point but by the end I felt more energetic than I was half way through, its a great workout. A fantastic evening, with a few bruises to remember it by. Current Mood:  accomplishedCurrent Music: Still Hanoi rocks in my head | | Friday, March 7th, 2008 | | 12:11 am |
Dead, jail or Rock n' roll.. or home for a cup of tea. Alright, I'm not actually having a cup of tea, but.. my ears are ringing and I have hic-ups. Hanoi Rocks were indeed good, but perhaps not great.. Having infiltrated down near the front... Its good that a band plays a mix but they must have played everything off their new album and most of the 'classics' were towards the end. I expected a surge of people as soon as they came on but this never really happened, perhaps because of the strange mix of ages in the crowd, at least half of whom were probably from the 'first time round' who had dusted off their bandanas. being an old git I was bouncing around as much as anyone but not that many others were. Tch, young people today! I did indeed shake hand with Mike Monroe and Was tempted to go to the engine rooms for the after gig party where the band were said to be going on to (possibly) but thought better of it. It was certainly a good evening, I'm just a bit underwhelmed to be honest perhaps for expecting more of a non stop 'greatest hits' package. Still, something to remember! Current Mood:  giddyCurrent Music: Hanoi rocks - Dead by Christmas | | Monday, March 3rd, 2008 | | 2:22 pm |
Hello Cleveland, Heelllooo Cleveland! I've just booked myself a ticket for Hanoi Rocks at the Concorde II on Thursday and am re-aquainting myself with them via youtube... Tradegy, Mystery city, Lightning bar blues, up around the bend.. classics! and surprsingly some of there new stuff (A day late, a dollar short) is at least as good as there old stuff. Now, where are my cowboy boots and feather boa? Current Mood: nostalgicCurrent Music: Hanoi rocks - Oriental beat |
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