Wednesday, December 22, 2004
Ah, Denmark.
The smell of hops and barley and some sort of cooked meat. Spuds in all shapes and sizes. Utterly well-dressed people who nevertheless manage to look pretty much the same. Practical footwear.
I'm going back home this afternoon, which is most enjoyable. I'm already fantasising about log fires, copious amounts of food, presents, live candles and the return of my sanity.
I am also anticipating trundling up and down my childhood's high street for last minute buys, a couple of beers at my local and several discussions relating to 'immigrants' who, supposedly, are all thieves, rapists, quite lazy, bit silly and generally looked down upon.
*Sigh*
Perhaps I'll just stay at my parents' house and not open a paper, turn on the telly or answer the phone for a week.
Merry Christmas!
The smell of hops and barley and some sort of cooked meat. Spuds in all shapes and sizes. Utterly well-dressed people who nevertheless manage to look pretty much the same. Practical footwear.
I'm going back home this afternoon, which is most enjoyable. I'm already fantasising about log fires, copious amounts of food, presents, live candles and the return of my sanity.
I am also anticipating trundling up and down my childhood's high street for last minute buys, a couple of beers at my local and several discussions relating to 'immigrants' who, supposedly, are all thieves, rapists, quite lazy, bit silly and generally looked down upon.
*Sigh*
Perhaps I'll just stay at my parents' house and not open a paper, turn on the telly or answer the phone for a week.
Merry Christmas!
Sunday, December 19, 2004
Sometimes the BBC will actually give you something for your licence money. Last night it was Stage Beauty, released only this year and famous for allegedly instigating 'Billy-gate' (one actor, two actresses, one of whom pregnant).
The only thing is, it's not that good a film. The acting is flawless but somehow it seems the film cannot decide whether it is a comedy, a drama, a historical account, a sociological exploration, a comi-socio-account or a drama-histo-exploration. The result is something oddly cold and disengaging, in spite of the obviously gorgeous Crudup. And Samuel Pepys, one must not forget, was not just kindness and light, as portrayed by the otherwise wonderful Hugh Bonneville, but was, remember, a man who beshat himself regularly.
This afternoon I've got tickets for a preview of The Aviator, which I am looking forward to with equal parts dread and joy. I just really, really want it to be a good film, mainly because of Scorsese and Di Caprio (Beckinsale reminds me of Blackpool and comparing her to Ava Gardner does make me slightly queasy) but suspect something rather overlong, overglitzy and just as disengaging as Gangs of New York - and Stage Beauty.
Update:
Yes, too long, but really rather wonderful.
Beginning: newsreel-like manner does nothing for depth but plenty for style.
Middle: a lot of talking.
End: definitely not as soppy as could easily have been although perhaps a bit unsatisfactory. Or not, as it did make me want to find out more about Howard.
I think Leo is lovely and a superbly gifted actor. I don't know why people dislike him so much.
And Blackpool: glitzy on the surface but quite superficial.
The only thing is, it's not that good a film. The acting is flawless but somehow it seems the film cannot decide whether it is a comedy, a drama, a historical account, a sociological exploration, a comi-socio-account or a drama-histo-exploration. The result is something oddly cold and disengaging, in spite of the obviously gorgeous Crudup. And Samuel Pepys, one must not forget, was not just kindness and light, as portrayed by the otherwise wonderful Hugh Bonneville, but was, remember, a man who beshat himself regularly.
This afternoon I've got tickets for a preview of The Aviator, which I am looking forward to with equal parts dread and joy. I just really, really want it to be a good film, mainly because of Scorsese and Di Caprio (Beckinsale reminds me of Blackpool and comparing her to Ava Gardner does make me slightly queasy) but suspect something rather overlong, overglitzy and just as disengaging as Gangs of New York - and Stage Beauty.
Update:
Yes, too long, but really rather wonderful.
Beginning: newsreel-like manner does nothing for depth but plenty for style.
Middle: a lot of talking.
End: definitely not as soppy as could easily have been although perhaps a bit unsatisfactory. Or not, as it did make me want to find out more about Howard.
I think Leo is lovely and a superbly gifted actor. I don't know why people dislike him so much.
And Blackpool: glitzy on the surface but quite superficial.
Monday, December 13, 2004
Went to see Garden State which cheered me up considerably. It's always nice to be reminded that many people have it worse than I do, fictional or not.
Zach Braff is a lovely actor and has a way with dialogue that I really, really like.
He's got his own Garden State blog (not sure if it is actually his, but I daresay it's pretty likely) and my only real complaint is the fact that he seems to be a Keane fan. (Someone at the Guardian said that Keane sounds as if their music is made in a place that otherwise makes office supplies, which is an absolutely brilliant image.)
And then I found this useful little bugger, so things are slowly lightening up.
Zach Braff is a lovely actor and has a way with dialogue that I really, really like.
He's got his own Garden State blog (not sure if it is actually his, but I daresay it's pretty likely) and my only real complaint is the fact that he seems to be a Keane fan. (Someone at the Guardian said that Keane sounds as if their music is made in a place that otherwise makes office supplies, which is an absolutely brilliant image.)
And then I found this useful little bugger, so things are slowly lightening up.
Sunday, December 12, 2004
Aha!
At the moment I'm being f***** over by Hotmail AND Blogger (not to mention WORK) and is off-line not merely by choice.
I'm also loosing property, such as:
1 bright red Tatty Devine lobster brooch with black beady eyes
2 Danish designer pixies
If anyone can help...?
Anyway, I don't actually have much to say, except that I have gotten my promotion, but this could very well turn into a curse more than a gift and, trust me, Christmas cannot come soon enough. I'll be going to Denmark, which will be nice.
At the moment I'm being f***** over by Hotmail AND Blogger (not to mention WORK) and is off-line not merely by choice.
I'm also loosing property, such as:
1 bright red Tatty Devine lobster brooch with black beady eyes
2 Danish designer pixies
If anyone can help...?
Anyway, I don't actually have much to say, except that I have gotten my promotion, but this could very well turn into a curse more than a gift and, trust me, Christmas cannot come soon enough. I'll be going to Denmark, which will be nice.
Friday, December 03, 2004
Tabloid journalists.
They look like real people. They move like real people. Some of them could even be considered smart (but not clever).
They do, in actual fact, resemble what would be the hideous off-spring of Christine Hamilton and Alastair Campbell over an infidelity with Jeffrey Archer.
(Melanie Phillips, do me a favour and never, ever speak of adopted children again. Or to them, for that matter. Or to anyone else. Of anything else.)
They look like real people. They move like real people. Some of them could even be considered smart (but not clever).
They do, in actual fact, resemble what would be the hideous off-spring of Christine Hamilton and Alastair Campbell over an infidelity with Jeffrey Archer.
(Melanie Phillips, do me a favour and never, ever speak of adopted children again. Or to them, for that matter. Or to anyone else. Of anything else.)
I am sorry and aware of the lack of activity on this blog.
All I can say is that my place of work is in turmoil; I may be changing my job (albeit within the same company), the hysterically neurotic woman is leaving (thank God!) and I am in turns annoyed, exhilarated, exhausted, desperate, in despair and in love (but that's at home and has nothing to do with work).
I'll be back.
All I can say is that my place of work is in turmoil; I may be changing my job (albeit within the same company), the hysterically neurotic woman is leaving (thank God!) and I am in turns annoyed, exhilarated, exhausted, desperate, in despair and in love (but that's at home and has nothing to do with work).
I'll be back.
Wednesday, December 01, 2004
On World AIDS Day it's discouraging to see that not only is it a question of money, but also still a question of ignorance.
A fifth of the UK public agreed that: "It is people's own fault if they get HIV/Aids".
Once I read a agony doctor's column in a local magazine (Denmark) and the question was this: 'I am worried that I may get AIDS. Should I worry?'
The answer was: 'If you are not an intra-venous drug-user or a homosexual, no, you shouldn't.'
Would that be one of the reasons why there are now 53,000 people in Britain diagnosed with AIDS, out of which 58% are heterosexual?
These web-sites are worth checking out:
Avert
Marie Stopes
Terrence Higgins Trust
And there's a couple of events if you are free tonight.
A fifth of the UK public agreed that: "It is people's own fault if they get HIV/Aids".
Once I read a agony doctor's column in a local magazine (Denmark) and the question was this: 'I am worried that I may get AIDS. Should I worry?'
The answer was: 'If you are not an intra-venous drug-user or a homosexual, no, you shouldn't.'
Would that be one of the reasons why there are now 53,000 people in Britain diagnosed with AIDS, out of which 58% are heterosexual?
These web-sites are worth checking out:
Avert
Marie Stopes
Terrence Higgins Trust
And there's a couple of events if you are free tonight.
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