Easter Decorations

Last night was pretty quiet. I stayed in and watched TV and read some of my books. Today I went along to my parent's house for lunch. We had spicy chicken fajitas for lunch, and in the afternoon I went out with my Mum and we got a small branch, which we do every year, because my Mum likes to decorate them for Easter. I'm listening to a radio play version of Torchwood (a spin-off from Doctor Who about a group in Cardiff fighting off alien threats) in this episode they are investigating a group in India who are using alien technology to live forever in "one perfect day" (140 years ago). It bears a passing similarity to an issue of The Sandman comic. It's pretty good though, and works well on te radio. It's the second episode of The Walking Dead on TV tonight, so I'll be watching that.

The Fear Machine

Last night I was watching an episode of Spaced which I thought was really funny. I also finished reading the graphic novel John Constantine, Hellblazer: The Fear Machine written by Jamie Delano and illustrated by Mark Buckingham, Richard Piers Rayner, Mike Hoffman and Alfredo Alcala. The story was originally published in nine monthly installments in the Hellblazer comic-book between 1988 and 1989. In the book occult detective and amateur magician John Constantine is on the run in the English countryside after being falsely accused of murder and joins up with a group of New Age travellers. However, before long he finds himself caught up in a bizarre conspiracy involving a sinister corporation who intend to use ancient magic and a psychic little girl in a devestating new weapon called "The Fear Machine". However this itself is part of an even greater conspiracy which reaches to the upper echelons of power. As an ancient and evil supernatural force awakens, even Constantine believes that it is too late to stop them. It was a good story, perhaps not the best Hellblazer story, but not bad at all. The artwork is slightly crude by the standards of modern comics but it isn't bad at all. I've reviewed it over at Permanently Weird. Fans of The Sandman would also recognise a very brief appearance from Morpheus, the main character in Sandman.

Today has been fairly quiet. I went out to get my groceries for the coming week and watched a couple of episodes of The Big Bang Theory, and also part of a show called Into the West (mainly because Rachael Leigh Cook was in it). I've started reading a book called The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac which so far looks like it should be pretty good.

I think it's the Oscars tomorrow night. I've never understood why there's so much attention paid to what the people are wearing on the red carpet, because it's not a fashion show it's a movie awards show. Also it must be stressful enough for people being nominated without the worry that if you pick the wrong outfit it would be all over newspapers magazines, the internet and TV shows. One of the things that I like about the Oscars is that there are certain things which are completely inevitable. For example at several points there will be shots of Jack Nicholson in the audience with a massive grin on his face wearing his shades indoors.

A Bunch of Books

Last night I saw the movie Antichrist, directed by Lars von Trier, which dealt with a couple (played by Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg) , left dvestated by the death of their young son. The husband decides to take his wife off the medication she has been prescribed for her grief and perform his own kind of therapy which involves them going to their isolated woodland cabin, only to find that nature has seemingly gone violently out of control. The movie is really bleak and very depressing. It is also pretty explicit in places. However it is very well-made. Apparently Lars von Trier wrote the film as a way of dealing with his own depression and many of the images come from his own hallucinations and nightmares. It is really too powerful and striking to ever get dull.

I also finished reading the graphic novel of The Sandman: Endless Nights written by Neil Gaiman. The book was started about five years after The Sandman series was completed and it is seven self-contained stories each one concerning a different character. It was a really good book.

Today I went out with my Dad in the morning and I bought a couple of books: The True Blood Omnibus by Charlaine Harris (which contains the books Dead Until Dark, Living Dead in Dallas and Club Dead) as well as the book Weaveworld by Clive Barker. I went along to my parent's house for lunch and in the afternoon my Mum had to go along to supervise at a birthday party for the kid of a friend of her's. She came back just before I was set to leave and she was absolutely shattered. Apparently it was a kind of disco party with about thirty kids, all about seven and eight, and aparently every single one of them hyped up on fizzy juice and cake.

Endless Nights

Last night I was listening to another of the Sherlock Holmes stories on the radio. This one was called "The Retired Colourman", based on the 1926 short story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and told the story of a retired art supply dealer who enlists the aid of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson when his younger wife runs off with another man, taking a large amount of his money with them. However Holmes soon suspects that the truth is far more sinister. A 'colourman', by the way, is an old term for a man who makes or sells paint. It wasn't one of the best of them, but it was pretty good. That's the last in the series, apparently. I wish I could find those Sherlock Holmes tapes that I used to have, but I think they've gone, and I've never been able to find them either in the shops or online. It often seems to be the case that you don't even look at something for years, and then as soon as you've thrown it out you suddenly realise you want it again.

I did some more of my writing and then I watched some of the sixth season of Red Dwarf on DVD, which was really funny.

Today I went out and had a look at the shops. I got the soundtrack CD of True Blood, the movie Antichrist on DVD and the graphic novel of The Sandman: Endless Nights by Neil Gaiman. That's me got the complete set of The Sandman now! I went along to American Express to get some information about my planned holiday, but it looks like the flights will be too expensive so I might have to rethink it.

The Kindly Ones

Last night I was reading the graphic novel of The Sandman Volume Nine: The Kindly Ones written by Neil Gaiman. Unlike the previous entry in the series this one is a single story. When Lyta Hall's three year old son, Daniel, goes missing she blames Morpheus, "The Sandman", Lord of Dreams, and for revenge she makes contact with The Furies, the Kindly Ones, unstoppable, supernatural agents of vengeance who attack those who spill family blood and will stop at nothing until they have destroyed their target's entire world. As war comes to The Dreaming, Morpheus discovers that there are more sinister forces at work. It's another great story with actually a really epic sweep. There are a lot of sub-plots and things going on in the story, so it is probably best to read the others in the series first. Also, don't read the introduction before you've read the book, because it does contain a major spoiler about the ending.

Today I went along to town and got a couple of DVDs in the sales, including the third season of Blake's 7. By sheer coincidence I met my Mum in town and we had coffee together, so that was nice.

2009 has not been a bad year at all for me, but then it hasn't really been a particularly good year either, it has been kind of bland. The main things that happened this year for me were my holiday to Amsterdam and getting my tooth out. What I would like for next year is for something really good to happen. It would just be great for something to change for the better for once.

Tomorrow, of course, it's New Year's Eve (or Hogmanay as it's called in Scotland), and I probably won't be able to get back on-line for a few days, so I hope that everyone has a really great New Year and all the best for 2010.

World's End

Last night I was reading the graphic novel The Sandman Volume Eight: World's End written by Neil Gaiman. The story revolves around a couple driving from Seattle to Chicago when they get caught in a "reality storm" and find themselves stranded at the mysterious World's End Inn where they encounter a selection of bizarre characters who are also sheltering from the storm. While they take refuge they tell stories to pass the time, and it's these stories that take up most of the book. Interestingly, like many of the one-off Sandman stories, the series main character, Morpheus, the personifciation of Dream, barely appears, and in a couple of the stories doesn't feature at all. The stories are scary, exciting, funny and like most of The Sandman stories have a genuine sense of wonder, and they are complemented by some great artwork. The thing with the Sandman graphic novels is that when I start reading them I am often genuinely shocked and surprised by what happens in them, which is great.

Later on I was watching a Doctor Who story on DVD called "Image of the Fendahl". basically, The Doctor (played by Tom Baker) lands on Earth to prevent the use of a dangeorus "Time Scanner". However it turns out that the scientists working on the Scanner have unearthed a twelve million year old human skull, which seems to have strange powers. As people start dying of some unknown force, The Doctor discovers the truth behind the evil reputation of the local area, as the scientists awaken a powerful and ancient alien force. It was an interesting story which came up with science-fiction explanations for old superstitions, supernatural phenomena and the occult.

I went into work today and it was very busy, there weren't many people in either. I only stayed for about six hours and then went home. The next time I go into work will be next Tuesday, when I start back properly.

Bioshock

Last night I was playing some of Bioshock on the PlayStation 3. It is a pretty good game set in an underwater city called Rapture, where you play a character who has to go through the city in order to get to the surface, unfortunately most of the inhabitants of the city have been driven insane and violent by genetic engineering, and then there are these eerie little girls who are guarded by large powerful robots. However you can find weapons strewn around and also find money to buy various weapons and energy foods, along with various power-ups that give you special powers. You can also "hack" into vending machines so that you can get equipment and power-ups for free and also hack into security robots so that they attack enemies instead of you. It is a really fun game.

I also watched a Doctor Who story from 1969 called "The War Games". Basically The Doctor (who is played by Patrick Troughton) and his friends arrive in what they first believe to be the trenches of World War One, but soon discover that they are on an alien planet divided into various "Time Zones" each containing a historical war from Earth where brainwashed soldiers from Earth's past have been brought by aliens and forced to fight. It was pretty good.

Today I went out to the shops and bought a graphic novel called The Sandman: World's End written by Neil Gaiman, which means I have all ten volumes in the main Sandman saga now, and a book called The Diarists' Diary 2010. I also used one of my vouchers that I got for my brothday to get the CD soundtrack of the movie Magnolia and a DVD of Doctor Who: Image of the Fendahl.

I have to go to work tomorrow for one day. After that, I'll be finished with work until the new year. It feels really weird that it has now been a decade since all the fuss about the Millennium and the "Y2K Bug" and everything. It does not feel as long as that at all.

The Chaser

Last night I listened to an episode of the radio series of The Twilight Zone called "The Chaser". The episode told the story of a young man who is madly in love with a woman who is oblivious to him, until he buys a love potion which turns out to work far too well. It was a pretty funny story and very enjoyable. After that I listened to a story being read in a series called Classic Tales of Horror. This one was called "Man in the Bell" and was about a man who is trapped at the top of a church bell tower as the bell is rung.

Then I finished reading the graphic novel of The Sandman - Volume Seven: Brief Lives written by Neil Gaiman. The comic book series of The Sandman ran from 1989 until 1996, and tells the story of Morpheus, more commonly known as Dream, and also known as The Sandman, the Master of Dreams. He is one of the Endless, a family of immortal beings, who also include Death, Delirium, Desire, Destiny, Despair and Destruction. In Brief Lives, Dream joins his sister Delirium as she searches for their brother Destruction who abandoned the family 300 years previously. It is a great book, and I really thnk that The Sandman is probably the greatest comic book series ever made, and probably one of the best fantasy stories ever published.

After that I finished reading A Most Wanted Man by John le Carre. The book is set in Hamburg and concerns Tommy Brue, the wealthy owner of a failing British bank based in the city. One night he gets a call from a young lawyer, Annabel Richter, whose new client is an illegal immigrant from Chechenya, who has the key and details for the largest account in Tommy's bank. Tommy has to find out how the man came by the information and also why he is being trailed by three of the world's most powerful intelligence agencies. It is a pretty good book, and a fairly exciting thriller, but not as good as the classic le Carre novels.

Today was a really quiet day at work. In the afternoon there was a meeting about a new rewards scheme being implemented at work, which involves giving people gift vouchers. The meeting itself could have just taken twenty minutes, but due to all the questions, comments and debate it ended up taking an hour and a half.

We also all got new chairs, and they have hired consultants to help teach people how to sit in them. Despite the fact that they are pretty much ordinary chairs, and I would have thought that most people would already know how to sit in chairs. On the way home I got a pack of blank VHS video cassettes.

There is also a vampire series starting on TV this week called True Blood, which I have heard of before but have never actually seen, and that is followed by a new series called Generation Kill, created by David Simon and Ed Burns (the creators of The Wire), so that should be a good night on TV.

Monty Python

Last night I watched a documentary called Monty Python - (Almost) the Truth: The BBC Lawyers Cut. It was about the history of the "Monty Python" comedy troupe, set up to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Monty Python's Flying Circus TV series. A lot of people go on about the six members really hating each other, when from what I've heard and read, they really got on pretty well. There were arguements about what sketches were or were not included in the series, Terry Jones apparently used to get frustrated about the technical limitations of the TV show, and John Cleese left at the end of the third season to do other things, but it just seemed to be what you would expect from a group of talented witers and performers who all had their own ideas. It was funny though. I'm quite a big Monty Python fan so I knew most of it already. I remember I was eleven when I first saw the show and I really didn't find it funny at all. I didn't get the humour and the animation sequences just completely freaked me out, but when I saw it again four years later I thought it was hilarious. I used to have the video game for the Amstrad as well. That was the funniest video game I have ever played. You had to go through this "Name the Cheese" mini-game to get to the main one, and then you played this character going around this world styled around the TV animation scenes searching for the four pieces of your brain, which had run off and split up. Along the way you had to eat cheese and defeat killer Keep Left signs and attacking dead parrots by shooting fish at them. Also when you least expected it, the Spanish Inquisition would show up to torture you with comfy chairs and soft cushions.

I watched the end of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy which was very good and surprisingly faithful to a very difficult book for a TV adaptation. It's the kind of show that probably wouldn't be made these days, because it is so sedately paced, so you need to give it time and patience to work.My parents had returned from holiday on Friday and so this morning my Dad came round and we went along to the Ocean Terminal shopping mall, where we had a muffin and coffee at Starbucks before going back to my parent's house. My Dad had to go away early because he had some Golf coaching to do. The latest issue of Sight and Sound magazine had arrived. There was a really interesting article in it about the recent wave of vampire movies. It actually gave me afew ideas for this year's NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). There was also an interesting article in one of the Sunday newspapers about Stanley Kubrick's unmade film about the life of Napolean, which he had managed to fill 88 boxes with thousands of pages of script, notes, designs and photographs for the film. Kubrick himself joked it was "the greatest film he never made." For lunch we had some sushi to start and then chicken and mashed potatoes in white wine sauce, followed by marshmallows in chocolate fondue.

After lunch, my Mum and I went out to town to look through the shops. I got some new posters and a graphic novel called The Sandman - Volume Seven: Brief Lives written by Neil Gaiman. Which means that I now have seven of the twelve main volumes in The Sandman graphic novel series.

I got home at around quarter past five and spent about an hour and a half putting up the new posters.

A Game of You

Last night I was reading the graphic novel of The Sandman: A Game of You written by Neil Gaiman. The story concerned a woman who used to dream about an elaborate Narnia-style fantasy world, however she has not dreamed about it for several years, until her dreamworld starts to invade her real life. It was another really good story, very well written with some really impressive artwork.

This morning I went along to my parent's house as usual for a Sunday. The latest issue of Sight and Sound magazine had arrived. This month's feature article was called "The Wild Bunch" which features profiles of fifty movie directors who "make films that are uncategorisable, in which cinematic language, taste and even reality itself are bent to their will". There was also a competition to win fifty movies on DVD from twenty-six of the directors profiled in the feature (that would be £800 worth of DVDs).

After lunch we all went along to Princes Street Gardens to listen to the free outdoor jazz concert that they have every year. It was pretty good.

Revenge of the Fallen

Last night I read the graphic novel of The Sandman: Dream Country by Neil Gaiman. It wasn't one continuous story, instead it was four self-contained short stories. In the first one a failed novelist keeps a muse captive in order to steal her inspiration, the second story gives a cat's eye view of the relationship between humans and their feline friends, the third story involves the first performance of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream for a bizarre supernatural audience (this story won the 1991 World Fantasy Award for Short Fiction) and the fourth story involves a forgotten superhero who yearns for death. It was short but absolutely brilliant.

Today I went out and did some grocery shopping. In the afternoon I went along to the cinema and saw Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, directed by Michael Bay. It's the sequel to the 2007 film Transformers based on the popular 1980s series of toy robots. In this film the evil robot Decepticons, headed by Megatron (voiced by Hugo Weaving) are helping a powerful ancient robot, while the heroic robot Autobots, headed by Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen) team up with the American military to try and stop them. Along for the ride are teenagers Shia LaBouef and Megan Fox. The movie is almost like a two and a half hour trailer. The problem really is that the non-stop action becomes quite wearying after awhile, add to the fact that the robots look so similar it's sometimes hard to tell which one is which. Even the movie's star, Megan Fox, described the film as "incomprehensible".

After the movie I had a bottle of Budweiser beer and a packet of plain crisps, and then I went back in to the cinema to see Moon, directed by Duncan Jones. The story revolves around an astronaut (played by Sam Rockwell) who has been alone on the Moon working a three year contract with only a computer (voiced by Kevin Spacey) for company. Now coming to the end of his time on the Moon he is naturally looking forward to returning to Earth and his family, until he starts to experience headaches and strange hallucinations. This movie is a serious piece of science-fiction in the vein of movies such as Silent Running and Solaris. It's a spellbinding story and very well-acted by Sam Rockwell. Also the near future in which the movie is set in looks realistically grubby and lived-in. Very good movie.

Dream Country

Last night I watched the final episode of Psychoville which was really good. That's been a really good and pretty unconventional series, mixing bizarre Gothic horror with conventional sitcom elements. It managed to be consistently pretty scary and gruesome as well as being very funny.

Also last night I started writing some of my own things again, for the first time in a couple of months, so that was pretty good.

Today I got into work at eight o'clock again this morning and, because I had built up so much time during the week. I was able to leave at around two. I got a couple of The Sandman graphic novels be Neil Gaiman. The ones that I got were Dream Country and A Game of You. The Sandman was a comic book series that ran from 1989 to 1996. The Sandman is Morpheus, the personification of Dream, and the series takes in history, fantasy universes, literature and mythology. The comics were always hugely imaginative and entertaining.

"Things need not have happened to be true. Tales and dreams are the shadow-truths that will endure when mere facts are dust and ashes, and forgot."-The Sandman written by Neil Gaiman.

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!

Fables and Reflections

Last night I was reading the graphic novel of The Sandman: Fables and Reflections written by Neil Gaiman. Rather than being one complete story, the book collected nine more or less self-contained stories from the universe of The Sandman. The stories were all very interesting and imaginative.

I finished writing my story last night so I was pretty happy about that.

Today was the start of another week at work. The weather was really hot and sunny again today and so I walked into work instead of using the bus. It was another pretty dull day. The only real excitement came when a group of crows were fighting over a scrap of food outside the window, which was exciting enough to bring almost the whole office to the window, and just goes to show how exciting life is at the office.

Season of Mists

Yesterday I read the graphic novel The Sandman: Season of Mists written by Neil Gaiman. The story revolved around Morpheus, Lord of Dreams, who thousands of years ago condemned a woman to Hell after she rejected him. Convinced by the rest of his immortal family, The Endless, that this was wrong, Morpheus travels to Hell to rescue her. However, Lucifer has not forgotten how Morpheus humiliated him in the past and is preparing his revenge. It was a really good story.

Last night I was watching The Dark Knight, directed by Christopher Nolan, in which Batman (played by Christian Bale) has to fight against master criminal The Joker (Heath Ledger). It is a really good and complex superhero movie, with plenty of spectacular action, and brilliant performances, especially from Ledger. I remember watching it at the cinema when it was out last year.After the movie I went on to the computer and was up until about half past four in the morning writing. I've pretty much finished the story, but I want to rewrite the last part because, after I've thought about it, I'm not really happy about it.

Today was another really bright and sunny day. I went along to my parent's house as usual for a Sunday and we had a barbecue. Which was hamburgers, sausages, chicken legs and salad followed by strawberries dipped in melted chocolate and beer. It was really nice. We always like having barbecues but the weather is very rarely nice enough to allow us to have them. We didn't have any at all last year. It was also nice enough to just sit out in the garden.

When I got back I listened to the final episode of Voices From the Grave, which this week told the story of a parson who takes over a new parish in a small English village and promptly bans a violent annual fighting game, much to the horror of the villagers. The decision also enrages evil ancient forces which demand a blood sacrifice. It was a pretty good one. That has been a good series actually.

A Murder of Quality

Last night I was up late reading again and didn't get to bed until about five in the morning.

Today the weather is really hot and sunny. I headed out to go to the comic book store, but the buses had all been diverted due to a march, so I pretty much had to walk up, and I saw some pretty good comics, but I didn't buy anything there. Instead I walked back to the main shopping street and bought another couple of The Sandman graphic novels by Neil Gaiman (the ones I bought were Season of Mists and Fables & Reflections). I'm collecting them at the moment and I think there really great. I walked home and stopped off to get my groceries for the coming week. When I got back I was taking out my rubbish and I was just putting it out when the bag split, but luckily I managed to clean everything up quickly.

This afternoon I am listening to A Murder of Quality on the radio, an adaptation of a John le Carre novel. The stroy revolves around regular le Carre character George Smiley as he investigates a murder at an exclusive English public shool. Unlike most le Carre books this was a "whodunnit" detective story rather than a spy thriller, but it's still good.