Cartoon Exhibition

Last night was pretty quiet. The clocks went forward one hour last night and then I was playing Uncharted 2: Among Thieves on the PlayStation 3 for a while. It is a really fun game. This morning my Dad came along to pick me up and we went along to the Gyle Shopping Centre. We had a coffee and a scone before going our seperate ways. I got two books: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon and Blue Blood by Edward Conlon. I also got a magazine about emigrating to Canada. We went along to my parent's house, where the new issue of Fortean Times had arrived. The main features this month were about weirdness in Victorian times. For lunch we had chicken with lemon and bay leaves along with fried potatoes, onion and red peppers. In the afternoon my Mum and I went along to the Gallery of Modern Art to see an exhibition by Jeff Koons, an American artist who uses advertising style photography, coloured mirrors in the shape of cartoon animals, and lifesize sculptures of cartoon characters. It was pretty good.

Six Hours

Last night was really pretty quiet. I watched an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents set in San Francisco in 1909 about a dowtrodden file clerk who shoots his boss when he gets sacked but is shocked a couple of days later when he is asked to return to the office as usual and his boss is apparently alive and well.

I was at work today and in the morning we had to go to a meeting about the new corporate plan. Due to the recent problems with the housing market the organisation have been losing a lot of money and they are expecting that to continue, and they are looking at ways to save money, although we were all assured that they were not planning any redundancies, basically they are letting it happen through natural wastage. Anyway, it's one of these regular panics that boil up every so often, but I am still definitely planning on the Canada move.

I left after six hours today and when I got home I decided to order the video game Dante's Inferno for the PlayStation 3, so that should be fun.

A Perfect Spy

Last night I got some beer on my way home from work and watched a few episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, which were pretty good. I saw three episodes and the best one that I watched last night was called "The Case of Mr. Pelham", which was directed by Hitchcock himself, and was, unusually for the show, a supernatural story about a man who thinks that his life is being taken over by his exact double. A very similar theme was used for a memorable episode of The Twilight Zone a few years later.

I was off work today because we were on strike due to this big dispute about changes to the conditions at work. I went out and got my remaining Canadian dollars converted and used the money to buy the complete set of Twin Peaks on DVD. Now I'll finally be able to watch the whole series.

Back home I watched the last few episodes of A Perfect Spy, which was a really good show, if very bleak. It was made in 1987, and I doubt it would be made in the same way today, mainly because it is very slow-moving, which works for the story, but probably today they would want more action in it.

Dawn of the Dead

Last night I was watching the 1978 film Dawn of the Dead, directed by George A. Romero, on DVD. It was the second of the Dead series of zombie films, following Night of the Living Dead, and takes place sometime after the first film where the zombie plague has become much, much worse. The story tells of two news reporters who have been trying to keep the station on the air as long as possible, and two members of a SWAT team who team up together and use a helicopter to fly out of the city and find some safety. However, due to lack of fuel, they are forced down at a large shopping mall, where they have to hole up and survive constant attacks from the flesh-eating zombies. It's a much bigger movie than the previous one with a lot of gruesome, action set-pieces. It is pretty good, although it does lack the intensity of the first film. It was fairly successfully remade in 2004.

It was freezing cold outside again today, although I know that if I get to Canada I'll have to get used to it being much colder. I only went out once today and that was to get my groceries for the week. The rest of the day I spent cleaning at home.

Busy Work Day

Last night was really quiet again, and I spent most of the time reading my books and watching TV.

Today was another dull day at work, but it was really busy, due to all the problems yesterday. It was actually kind of chaotic. Everywhere was absolutely freezing outside and all the pavements were iced up, so you had to be really careful where you were walking. On ym way home I stopped off and bout some milk, sugar and the latest issue of Empire magazine which was doing it's 2010 preview issue this month.

I sometimes wonder whether I'll ever get a girlfriend this year. Actually I do think it's highly unlikely, and I have pretty much given up on it. To be honest from what I've seen from other people and the experiences that I've personally had of dating in the past I think I'm probably better off out of it. If I get to Canada then I might try again, but I probably won't. In general, I suppose I always get nervous about going for the stuff I want because, knowing me, I'd screw it up in some way or something would go horribly wrong and I'd end up more miserable than I was before.

Sorry about that last paragraph, it's not particularly cheerful.

Back to Reality

Last night was pretty quiet. I watched an interesting documentary called Dear Diary, which was hosted by Richard E. Grant, and was about diaries and diarists. This installment was about whether it was advisible or even possible to truly reflect everything about a person in their diary. It was quite good.

Today I went back to work after the break over the Christmas holidays and pretty much it was as if nothing had changed. One of the main computer systems crashed and so that caused no end of trouble. Mostly there was enough there to keep busy. Someone lent me a book called Confessions of a Justified Sinner by James Hogg, which looks pretty interesting. I got home at about six in the evening.

I really hope that this year is really great for me. As I said, last year wasn't a bad one for me, I just wish that it had been better, if that makes sense. I still have my Canada plan, so I hope that that works out this year.

About TV Shows

Last night I was watching the first of a new series called Desperate Romantics, which was a drama about the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, a group of 19th Century artists. It was actually quite interesting. I also saw the first episode of the fourth season of The Wire, which was really good. I do find it interesting how so many shows these days seem to be like one story strung out over the entire series (The Wire is always a single story that runs through the whole twelve to thirteen episode season, and each season leads into the next). I do think it can work really well, and it's very good with the whole DVD box-set thing. Although I tend to feel slightly lost if I come to the show late.

It was a quiet night last night, with no strange noises. Before I went to sleep I was playing a tape of a radio adaptation of Pet Sematary based on the Stephen King novel.

Today was not a good day at work. It was long, annoying, and I ended up with a really bad headache. I was very glad to get home. However, the good thing is that the cold is gone.

I've not done any writing for awhile either. I had an idea for a story about two people living in an apartment, which they think contains the entire universe and all it's contents. It turns out that there is an implant in the brain in one of the people that's being used as a communication relay by bored and argumentative aliens, while the other one, much to his disappointment, is turned into a small, cute yappy dog. It's supposed to be a comedy.

I'm also still trying to do the research for the Canada trip.

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me

Last night I watched most of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, directed by David Lynch. The movie was released in 1992 and was based on the Twin Peaks TV series. The show revolved around the investigation into the murder of high school student Laura Palmer (played by Sheryl Lee) in the small American town of Twin Peaks. The movie version is a prequel to the series, which opens with an FBI investigation into a similar murder a year previously and then goes on to depict the last seven days of Laura Plamer's life. The series was a kind of blend of murder mystery, soap opera, supernatural horror, surrealism and comedy with genuine warmth. The movie, however, pretty much takes everything that was dark, twisted and just plain weird from the show and makes it central, including making plain many of the darker subtexts of the show. It was a huge commercial failure pretty much everywhere, except for Japan where it was a huge hit. I've seen it many time before. I first saw it back in 1996 before I had seen any of the series, and so I didn't really understand the movie - although the movie is pretty obscure even for people who have seen the series. I've always liked it because it is scary, weird and genuinely moving at times. Watching it again brought back a lot of old memories from that time. I remember seeing David Lynch give a talk a couple of years ago, and he was asked if there was ever going to be any more Twin Peaks and Lynch replied that as far as he was concerned Twin Peaks was over, and he was finished with it.

On a side note, I really think that Twin Peaks had the best opening theme music of any TV series ever.

It was a really dull day at work again today. My cold is much better now, but it's still lingering slightly, so I didn't really have the patience for it all today, as I haven't really all week. However it should, hopefully, be all over with by the weekend.

I'm also still working on planning everything for the Canada move. I really hope that everything works out well with it all.

The Russia House

Last night I finished reading The Russia House by John le Carre. The book was first published in 1989 and tells the story of Scott "Barley" Blair, an obscure British publisher, who is sent a couple of notebooks smuggled out of Moscow, which contain vital secrets about Soviet defence capabilities. The British Secret Service, who intercept the notebooks, need to find out whether the information is genuine and whether the author is genuine, a plant or a madman. The dishevelled, womanising, wise-cracking, jazz-loving, alcoholic Blair is far from the ideal spy but the Secret Service, reluctantly, decide to use him to travel to Moscow and contact the woman, Katya, who smuggled the notebooks. However, the spymasters don't plan on the pair falling in love. John le Carre, who was a British spy himself for many years, has made a career writing espionage thrillers which concnetrate far more on character than on action. The Russia House is certainly well-written with interesting and well-developed characters, and also a strong vein of humour. It is very much a product of it's time, the closing years of the Cold War. It was turned into a film in 1990 with Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer.

This morning Dad came to collect me and we went along to the Ocean Terminal shopping centre. We had a cheese scone and mocha coffee for breakfast. Then we split up. I bought the book Public Enemies by Bryan Burrough. It's a non-fiction book about the American gangsters and bank-robbers of the 1930s and the rise of the FBI. The recent film Public Enemies was based on the book. I know I should be saving, but I've been doing pretty well actually. Aside from this weekend, I've not bought any books or DVDs or video games for well over a month, and the books I bought this weekend were all on sale.

When we got to my parents house we had some chicken salad and boiled potatoes, followed by a strawberry tart and some home-made raspberry ice-cream, which was really nice. After discussing matters with my parents I have come up with a date to move to Canada. I plan to go over there on 10 March 2010. My Mum advised me to go along during the Spring because it would be easier to acclimatise to the weather before it got too cold. Also it provides time to get thing sorted out and arranged. I thought March would be the best time. The actual date was just one that I came up with. It makes it easier when I can think of an actual date set. It seems like a long time away, but it's really only eight months, and there is an awful lot to do. Then again you can't rush these things, and the time will soon pass.

Nearly the Weekend

The third episode of Torchwood was really good and ended on a great cliffhanger. It was also the last of this week's batch of episodes of The Wire. There are only three more episodes of season three to go now and the action is definitely hotting up.

At ethe weekend, I might buy the book The Corner by David Simon (creator of The Wire). I know I should be saving to move to Canada, but I have a ticket to see David Simon at the Book Festival and so I could get the book signed.

It was another really quiet day at work today. I left work about half an hour later than I had planned, but I'll probably leave early tomorrow.

Torchwood

Last night I was watching the second episode of the new series of Torchwood. It was a really good one. The story involves every child on Earth suddenly stopping still and delivering strange messages, apparently foretelling the arrival of aliens to Earth. The creepy children reminded me a bit of that John Wyndham story The Midwich Cuckoos, in which the entire population of an English village suddenly fall asleep all at once one afternoon. When they all wake up, it turns out that every woman of child-bearing age is pregnant, and they give birth to apparently alien children with devastating psychic powers.

Later on I was watching the latest episode of The Wire. It's getting towards the end of the third season. I always find it amazing how that show mananges to tell one story over thirteen hour long episodes without it ever feeling stretched or artificial. It must take a lot of working out.

It was another quiet day at work today. The new work organisation that a number of the bosses had worked out yesterday lasted about three hours before it was abandoned. Also the work computer systems had to be shut down for half an hour this afternoon, which wasn't too bad, because I just read for half an hour.

At the moment I'm listening to the third and last of the Torchwood radio plays from last week, which I downloaded. They have been really good.

I had an idea for a TV show, but I might wait until I'm settled down in Canada before I write it. I'm still planning it and trying to work things ou about the move. Although, as I said earlier, it's easier said than done, it should still be possible.

Public Enemies

Last night was pretty quiet. I ended up falling asleep on my sofa at one point. I spent most of my time watching comedy shows on TV.

This morning I went out and got my groceries for the week. This afternoon I went out to the Cineworld Cinema to see Public Enemies, directed by Michael Mann, and based on the book by Bryan Burrough. Set in 1933, the film tells the true story of notorious bank robber John Dillinger (played by Johnny Depp) and his pursuit by FBI Agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale). The movie is a really entertaining action crime thriller, with a very interesting back drop. The film is pretty long (it runs close to two and a half hours) but it all moves well. I always like all these stories about the 1930s gangsters and bank robbers.

I would quite like to see the new Transformers movie sometime. I liked the first one, and I can remember the old animated movie which I saw in the cinema back in 1986. I pretty much grew up with the toys and the cartoon series and I collected the comic for years. I wish I knew where they were now, but I have a horrible feeling that they've all been thrown out now.

I've been trying to save money for the Canada move, and so have been wondering whether to go without my monthly Sandman graphic novels. Although, I suppose I can still budget money for the occasional books and so on, it's just being a bit more careful with spending.

I called my Mum this evening and she said that my Book Festival tickets have arrived. I ordered them a couple of weeks ago, and the Festival itself is in August. I should be seeing Neil Gaiman, David Simon, Margaret Atwood, Frank Skinner, Will Self and Arthur Smith. I tend to get important mail sent to my parent's house, because there is much less chance of it being misdelivered.

It's another really hot day today.

Happy Fourth of July to anyone celebrating it!

Gonzo

Last night I was watching the documentary movie Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, directed by Alex Gibney. The film tells the story of the life and career of the author and journalist Hunter S. Thompson, who is most famous as the author of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Hell's Angels and Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72, and for his pieces for Rolling Stone magazine where he pioneered what he termed "gonzo journalism" which is a style of journalism in which the reporter, instead of just reproting what's happening, becomes an active participant in the story. The film consists of archive interviews with Thompson (who died in 2005), home movies of the author, news footage of the times and events, interviews with his friends, enemies, colleagues and wives, along with actor Johnny Depp reading from his books. Hunter Thompson was an interesting guy who led a very eventful life and the film is full of fun stories. Also although the film is largely respectful and admiring of Thompson and his work, it's not blind to his flaws (although it doesn't really dwell on them). The film is definitely a must-see for all Thompson fans, and also for anyone who is interested in the American counterculture of the 1960s and 70s. It's also full of great rock tracks from the '60s.

Today was yet another quiet day at work. We all had to watch a video about the restructuring of the company's upper management, which doesn't really effect any of us.

I've been looking on the Craigslist site for jobs and accomodation in Canada. I'm aiming to go over there maybe the end of this year or early next year. I'm not really sure yet. The year does seem to be passing by quickly.

Happy Canada Day to anyone who's celebrating it!

Saving

Last night I watched the latest episode of The Wire, which was on really late last night, for some reason. They're on season three at the moment (out of the five that were made) and it is definitely turning out to be pretty good.

Today was another quiet day at work, and there were more problems with the computer systems. Chris lent me a DVD of Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, a documentary film about the author of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and founder of Gonzo Journalism.

I'm trying to save money at the moment for the Canada move, which is always easier said than done, but it will definitely be worth it in the end, so I've stopped buying as many movie magazines and cut down on going to the pub.

The Ruins

Last night I was watching a double-bill of episodes from the latest season of Peep Show again. Later on I watched a 2008 movie called The Ruins, directed by Carter Smith and based on the novel by Scott Smith. The story revolves around four American tourists: Amy (played by Jena Malone), Jeff (Jonathan Tucker), Stacey (Laura Ramsey) and Eric (Shawn Ashmore). They are enjoying a holiday in a Mexican resort when they learn about an archeological dig at a recently discovered Mayan temple. Teaming up with another couple of tourists: Mathias (Joe Anderson) and Dimitri (Dimitri Baveas), they decide to take a day trip into the rain forest to explore the temple. Once there they discover that the archeologists have vanished, and discover that it might be connected to the rapidly growing vines that cover the outside and inside of the temple. It's a pretty effective and pretty gruesome horror movie. It's one of those films that (like the Hostel films and Turistas) seems to be set on discouraging people from ever going on holiday again.

I was also reading some stories in The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror Volume Nineteen. One of the stories I read was called "Still Water" by Joel Lane, in which the police tracing a gang of jewel thieves to an old house discover the gang have vanished except for one who seems to be obsessed with a pool in the back yard. The other story was called "Thumbprint" by Joe Hill in which an American soldier, recently returned from Iraq, is haunted by her past. The third story was called "Lancashire" by Nicholas Royle in which a young family discover that their new best friends seem to have far too much in common with them. I always like horror short stories, because usually the scare comes at the end, and the horror often isn't destroyed at the end, it's still there.

It was a very quiet and dull day at work as usual. I listened to some of my iPod songs (including some Sarah McLachlan tracks) and I'm still researching the move to Canada, but I certainly have come up with a reasonably solid plan of action.

TV and Research

I recorded last night's episode of The Wire because I didn't have time to watch it.

It was another pretty dull and quiet day at work today, for a change. They are reorganising their procedures yet again in the office. I got home at around quarter past six and had a microwave macaroni cheese dinner.

It wasn't a wildly exciting day today. The next Film Festival thing that I have booked is on Saturday (the last day of the Festival is on Sunday).

This evening I'm watching That Mitchell and Webb Look and working on my Canada move project.

Demo

Last night was pretty quiet. I was looking at web-sites for jobs in Canada. Later in the evening I saw the first episode of the third season of The Wire.

Today I was back at work. It was another quiet and dull day. Chris lent me a graphic novel called Demo by Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan. It's basically a series of twelve one-off stories centering around the lives of disaffected young people, most of them with some kind of supernatural power.

My next Film Festival thing is tomorrow when I'll be going up to see Roger Corman, the legendary "B" movie director.

Coldheart Canyon

Last night I finished reading the novel Coldheart Canyon by Clive Barker. Subtitled "A Hollywood Ghost Story" the novel was published in 2001, and the story revolves around Todd Pickett, an actor who is at the top of the Hollywood "A"-list, more due to looks than actual talent. However, it looks like his time at the top of the tree is about to come to an end because his movies have started to become less and less successful and, at the advanced age of 34 years, he is worried that he is getting older and that his looks are starting to go. This being Hollywood he decides to have plastic surgery done, however it goes wrong and leaves Pickett seriously disfigured. Anxious to recover away from the prying eyes of the press and his fans, Pickett retreats to a deserted mansion which used to be owned by Katya Lupi, one of the biggest stars of the 1920s, but whose sadistic cruelty earned the place the nickname "Coldheart Canyon". Before long, Pickett discovers that the Canyon is not as deserted as he thinks, when he meets Lupi who has not visibly aged a day since 1926, and discovers that the grounds are haunted by the ghosts of countless old Hollywood legends and bizarre monsters, who are imprisoned in the Canyon by an evil and ancient supernatural force existing in the house. The book is not as good as Barker's best work, such as The Great and Secret Show and Cabal (which was filmed as Nightbreed). However it is still a good read working as an effective horror story and an entertaining attack on Hollwood. Actually, Clive Barker, who lives in Los Angeles himself and is involved in the film business, criticizes Hollywood and the whole world of celebrity pretty savagely in the novel. There is a lot in the book that is really great, but there was a lot in it that could have been cut, really. The book is 750 pages long, and I think a couple of hundred pages less wouldn't have heard but I enjoyed it. As is often the case with Clive Barker it was very gruesome and violent in places and very sexually explicit as well at times. It's also full of fun (if often unflattering) references to Hollywood stars old and new.

I was also watching a movie last night called The Libertine, which was released in 2005. Set in England in 1673, the film tells the true story of the notorious John Wilmot, the Second Earl of Rochester, (played by Johnny Depp) who basically spent his time drinking and having sex with pretty much anyone, and penning poetry and plays when he felt like it, which are frequently very explicit and savagely critical of King Charles II (John Malkovich). The movie deals with Wilmot's difficult relationship with his wife (Rosamund Pike) and his relationship with a young actress (Samamtha Morton) who he trains having made a bet that he can turn her into the most popular actress on the stage. The movie is pretty and entertaining, with some great performances.

It was a pretty dull day at work. I was on my own at the table for pretty much the whole afternoon, so I spent the time listening to my iPod. I listened to the Juno soundtrack and an episode of The Mighty Boosh.

I've been thinking of moving over to the Nova Scotia area of Canada, but I might decide to go to Vancouver or Toronto.

Drag Me to Hell

Last night was pretty quiet. I spent most of the time reading Coldheart Canyon by Clive Barker. It's a horror novel about a major Hollywood movie star who becomes the target a horde of ghosts and monsters which he discovers in a deserted Hollywood mansion. It's pretty good so far, I'm about halfway through it. The rest of the evening was spent watching Red Dwarf and playing Sonic the Hedgehog as well as continuing with my writing, as far as possible, which wasn't really very far, because I've pretty much got stuck and researching moving to Canada.

Today was pretty quiet. My parents are on holiday in Madeira until tomorrow and so I didn't go out anywhere to eat today. I went along to the Cineworld cinema and saw Drag Me to Hell, directed by Sam Raimi. The movie tells the story of Christine Brown (played by Alison Lohman, replacing Ellen Page who was cast but dropped out) who works as a loan officer in a Los Angeles bank. In an attempt to impress her boss and get a promotion, she refuses to grant an extension on the mortgage of an elderly woman (Lorna Raver) who is about to be evicted. The woman places a curse on Christine causing her to be tormented by supernatural forces for a period of three days before a demon is due to arrive to take her to Hell. The movie is very reminiscent of the 1950s horror movie Night of the Demon which was in turn based on an MR James short story from 1911 called "Casting the Runes" and was also about someone cursed to be tormented for three days by a demonic force. However, while Night of the Demon was famous for it's subtle approach, Drag Me to Hell pretty much pulls out all the stops, especially when it comes to the volume levels - it's probably the loudest film I've seen in the cinema this year. It is a lot of fun and it's good to see Sam Raimi, who directed the Evil Dead movies, back to the kind of horror movies that made his name.