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.

Drawing

Last night was fairly quiet. I did try some drawing, but it didn't turn out to well. In fact it kind of sucked. I don't know whether it's because I'm out of practice, having not done any drawing in years, or if I just have absolutely no talent at drawing. I hope the latter isn't the case, because it sometimes feels like I can't actually do anything, at least not well. I do like drawing. I'm going to try and maybe get some better pens and inks to see if maybe if I experiment a bit it might help.

I was back at work again today and it was another really quiet day. I got home at around quarter past six.

Factory People

It was a really quiet evening yesterday. I write a bit of my script and watched an episode of Blake's 7 on DVD. It is a really good show and usually pretty well-written, even if the production values and sepcial effects have really not aged well.

It was a really average day at work, and fairly dull (which I guess goes without saying). Right now I'm watching a TV documentary called Factory People about the group of people who used to hang around Andy Warhol and his studio, the Factory. It is pretty interesting, and gives a good insight into what life was like in a more than slightly strange group. Interestingly enough Warhol always seemed to me to be less interesting himself than the stuff that he had going on around him.

Goya's Ghosts

Last night I was watching a movie from 2006 called Goya's Ghosts, directed by Milos Forman. The movie opens in Spain in 1792 where the Inquisition are investigating the works of successful painter Francisco Goya (played by Stellan Skarsgard). However, one of Goya's models, Ines (played by Natalie Portman) is arrested by the Inquisition and "put to The Question" (tortured). In order to release her, Goya is forced to make a deal with hypocritical Inquisitor, Lorenzo (played by Javier Bardem). Although the historical setting of the movie is fairly authentic, the plot is entirely fictional. The movie is visually very lavish and very well-made. Apparently it had pretty bad reviews when it was released but I really liked it, and Natalie Portman looked great. It reminded me in many ways of Forman's earlier film Quills, in that they both feature an iconoclastic and controversial artist (in the case of Quills it was the Marquis de Sade), both of them semi in love with a young muse, and struggling against a hyprocritical authority figure. Personally I preferred Quills.

It was another really dull day at work, and as usual I was really glad to get back home this evening.

Malcolm's Films

This evening I went out after work to go to the Printmaker's Gallery to see two short films about my friend Malcolm. Malcolm works as a cinema projectionist and in his spare time he makes surreal comics. The first film was a blend of animation and film footage of Malcolm drawing a variety of horses in his sketch-pad, and the second was Malcolm playing his father tending a garden that was growing feet (Malcolm's dad was a chiropodist). The place was completely packed out. I didn't get to speak Malcolm, who I have known since we both started school, but I did meet his new girlfriend and she seemed very nice.

Tomorrow I have my first date in about two years! It's with a girl named Beth. I am still trying to get over my feelings for Michele, but I am working on it.

Evening Class Week Two

The class this evening went really well. I read out the story that I wrote last night to the class and the tutor said that it was gripping, suspenseful, dramatic and atmospheric. She also siad that she thought I was a naturally giften storyteller, so I was pretty happy to hear that!

I'm having a night out tomorrow to see some experimental, underground films, one of which was made by my friend Malcolm. It should be a good evening actually, with two films, two live bands and an art exhibit.