Crossroads

Last night was fairly quiet. I read the comic books that I got yesterday and watched a few of the review of the year shows. One of the comics I got was Let Me In: Crossroads which is a prequel to the movie Let Me In (the English-language adaptation of the John Ajvide Lindqvist book Let the Right One In, which was previously adapted as a Swedish film). The comic is an original story of events directly preceding the movie and it really works a lot better than I had expected. I bought it more out of curiosity than anything, because I really like both the movie adaptations and the novel. However I really liked the comic.

Today I went out and bought a couple of calendars and a diary for the New Year. 2010 has been a pretty interesting year, and the holiday in March was really good, although I'm still hoping that next year will be better.

Blade Runner

Last night I was watching the 1982 movie Blade Runner, directed by Ridley Scott and based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick. The film is set in Los Angeles in the year 2019, where most of the human race have moved away to "Off-World" colonies, where they are given their own android slave (known as "replicants"). The most advanced of these replicants is the "Nexus-6" model which are virtually identical to humans aside from their lack of emotions, however it is believed that in time they would develop their own emotional responses, and to safeguard against this each replicant is given a built-in lifespan of only four years. Rick Deckard (played by Harrison Ford) is a "blade runner", a cop who specialises in killing ("retiring") escaped replicants, and is given the job of tracking down a group of escaped Nexus-6 replicants, led by the charismatic but violent Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer), but soon finds himself having increasing doubts about who is human and who isn't. The film is one of the most influential science-fiction films ever made, with it's spectacular sets and production design virtually transforming the look of science-fiction throughout for the past thirty years. The film exists in about seven different versions. The one that I saw was the 2007 "Final Cut".

I was also reading a few of the Philip K. Dick short stories. The ones I read were "The Father-Thing" (about a boy who discovers that his father has been replaced by a vicious alien duplicate), "Foster, You're Dead!" (in which a boy worries about his family's refusal to buy a nuclear fallout shelter - which was a really big issue in the 1950s when the story was written) and "Human Is" (in which a cruel and selfish husband returns home from a trip to space as an alien duplicate, and his wife decides she prefers the alien).

It was the start of another week at work and it went fairly quietly as usual. The Film Festival starts next week so that should be a pretty busy time.

I've been listening to a radio show recently called My Teenage Diary in which comedians select entries from their teenage diaries. It is pretty interesting. As I wrote a few days ago, I read my old diaries a lot and sometimes they are really interesting. Although I was really boring as a teenager when the most exciting thing that happened was watching episodes of The Twilight Zone and Quantum Leap. I'm not any more interesting today, of course. I never really went wild and did crazy things when I was young, and I always regret that. I always think I missed out.

The Midwich Cuckoos

Last night I was listening to the first epsiode in a three part radio adaptation of The Midwich Cuckoos, based on the novel by John Wyndham. The story revolves around the quiet English village of Midwich where, one afternoon, the inhabitants suddenly all fall unconcious at once, as does anyone who comes within a two mile radius of the village. After a couple of hours, everyone wakes up apparently unharmed. However, it turns out that every woman of child-bearing age is suddenly pregnant. The pregnancies are all surprisingly brief and when the children are born, they soon show signs of strange powers. It's quite a famous story that has been filmed a number of times before (as The Village of the Damned). It was a pretty enjoyable play.

Later on I was watching the final of The Apprentice, which was very entertaining. I think this season has probably been the best one of the show so far. It has been very funny. Then I was playing some games on the Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection, some of them are obviously better than others, and a few of them have really not aged very well, but mostly it's a lot of fun, and the Sonic the Hedgehog games in particular are still great even after all this time.

Today of course was the start of another week at work and it was very slow and quiet and plagued by the usual endless computer problems. I got home at around quarter past five. I was having a look at some of my old diaries. I remember last year I had the idea of typing out all my old diaries and journals, but I kind of forgot about it and never really got done. My diaries are currently over thirty volumes. It's very interesting, particularly when I read about hings that were totally stressing me out years ago, for example eight years ago I was finishing university and I was convinced that I was never going to graduate. I was totally certain that I had completely failed, but in the end it turned out that I had passed. At the moment I have two main paper journals on the go. One is pretty much just about what I do every day and the other is more about my thoughts and feeling and opinions.

A Slow Week

Last night was fairly quiet. I was watching a bunch of comedy shows on TV, namely Father Ted, That Mitchell and Webb Look and Red Dwarf, so that was fun.

Today was another fairly quiet day at work, pretty much the same as usual. There was the Union meeting today, but I didn't go along. We weren't getting any time credited, and I really didn't feel like losing about an hour of my time. They are usually pretty much a waste of time anyway. I don't know, but the chances are there is probably going to be yet another strike coming up. There have already been two this year.

I got home at around half past five and made a microwaved spaghetti carbonara ready meal. It's felt like a really slow week this week, for whatever reason. It will soon be the weekend anyway, but I don't have any plans, except the usual of getting groceries and watching TV.

I'll need to get along with transcribing my old paper journals on to the computer.

Also I've not been doing much of my own writing recently. I really seem to be running low on ideas, which is quite aggravating.

Distorted DVDs

Last night I was watching my new Peep Show DVDs, but halfway through the fifth season DVD the picture was completely wrecked by distortion, which I was really annoyed about.

Later on last night I was watching a 1971 "Hammer Horror" film called Countess Dracula, directed by Peter Sasdy. In seventeenth century Hungary, an elderly countess (played by Ingrid Pitt) discovers that bathing in the blood of young women can temporarily restore her youth and beauty. She ends up becoming a serial killer, murdering countless victims so she can romance a young soldier, by pretending to be her own daughter (who she arranges to have kidnapped by bandits). The film was loosely based on the legends surrounding real life Countess Elizabeth Bathory (the so-called "Blood Countess") who was one of the inspirations for the story of Dracula. Like most of the Hammer Studios films it was very lavishly designed, if on a low-budget. It was quite fun.

I was up quite sharp this morning because, before going to my parent's house (as usual for a Sunday), I went along to the Cameo Cinema with my mum to see a preview of a French film called I've Loved You So Long, directed by Philippe Claudel. The film stars Kristen Scott Thomas as a woman who is released after fifteen years in prison for murder, and moves in with her younger sister and her family, as she tries to start a new life. It's very well-made, if not hugely original, and is very well-acted.

I stopped off afterwards and exchanged the Peep Show DVDs, before heading back to my parent's house. Sunday lunch was chicken, peas, potatoes and white wine sauce, followed by rhubarb and gooseberry crumble. The new issue of Fortean Times (the Journal of Strange Phenomena) had arrived during the week, and it was pretty entertaining. It was warm and dry enough to sit outside, which made a nice change.

When I got home I checked the Peep Show DVDs, and this time there was distortion on the fourth season disc! Luckily it seemed to only be effecting the main menus rather than the episodes, but I won't know until I've checked them all the way through. I was really, really annoyed! It's not the first time I've had to replace Peep Show DVDs, I don't know if there is a problem with the company that manufactures them or something.

One thing I noticed while transcribing my old paper journals onto the computer, is how little things have changed since 1999. If you substitute "college" for "work" it's pretty much exactly the same. Things never really seem to change that much. I suppose they can, but it's very difficult. I've got about thirty-seven volumes of diaries and journals that I've been keeping for about nineteen years. There is probably something very odd about my need to document every aspect of my pointless, dull life.

I Don't Want to Wait / For My Life to Be Over

Yesterday evening I was carrying on transcribing my diaries and journals onto the computer. It is interesting reading them in sequence because with diaries and journals I usually just tend to flick through them until I find what I want. Another thing I noticed was that in the earlier journals I was a lot more open about things, writing about my thoughts and feelings a lot more than I do now. I don't really know why that is the case, but I definitely have noticed it. Reading through them now, years after I wrote them, I really do value the openness in the earlier books. I'll have to try and get back to that.

I was watching an episode of Dawson's Creek last night. I used to really enjoy that show. I still like it. I always thought it was funny.

It was another quiet day at work today. They are upgrading the computer systems at work, apparently, and we all had to sit through a lecture about it this morning. There was some coffee and biscuits provided, but from where I was sitting I couldn't actually get to any.

I recorded a 1970s Doctor Who story from TV last night called "The City of Death". It was co-written by Douglas Adams (author of The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy series) so that should be fun to watch. I'll probably see it tonight.

Bring Back... Star Wars

Last night I was watching a documentary called Bring Back... Star Wars in which a guy travelled around trying to meet the cast of the original Star Wars trilogy, interviewing them about the films and inviting them to a special reunion. They managed to get a hold of a fair amount of the cast, except for Mark Hamill (who, according to the show, wanted nothing more to do with the Star Wars films) and Harrison Ford. There were some interesting anecdotes in the show, such as the fact that Anthony Daniels (C3-PO) and Kenny Baker (R2-D2) apparently couldn't stand each other. I was one of the people who grew up with those films. Return of the Jedi was one of the first films I ever saw at a cinema at age four. I remember seeing Anthony Daniels in person a few years ago promoting an exhibition of props and artwork from the Star Wars movies.

It was another dull and quiet day at work. There was hardly anyone in today because it was a public holiday.

I'm still transcribing my old journals and diaries onto the computer. It's the first time I read a lot of the stuff since I wrote it and it is really strange to read a lot of it. Interestingly, it tends to be all the little, piontless, dull things, that I always thought was really stupid to write down which ends up meaning the most in a way, because you tend to remember most of the really big things that happen to you, but it's the little, seemingly unimportant, things that make up life, really. That's what I think, at any rate.

Higher Learning

Last night I was watching a 1995 film on televison called Higher Learning, directed by John Singleton. The film is set during one semester in an American University, and follows three different freshmen students as they come to terms with social, racial and sexual issues. It was a very good film, but very much a message picture, with characters often seeming to be there mainly to make a point. It does make university out to be an exciting, dangerous, dynamic and interesting place. My university wasn't much like that, but it was fun. I kind of felt like I had potential and that anything was possible. I wish I could go back to that and kind of live the past ten years all over again, but do things differently.

I thought I would go through my old journals and diaries and transcribe them onto computer in case, God forbid, anything should happen to them. I started doing that last night, and it brought back a lot of old memories.

It was another quiet day at work and the office was almost empty all day. There is a public holiday on Monday and the office will probably be just as empty then.

After work I went out and had a drink and read some of my book.

Another Quiet Day (For a Change)

Last night was fairly quiet. I spent most of the time watching repeats of old comedy shows on TV and reading my books.

Today was pretty quiet as well, and I went straight on home after work, although I did stop to get a loaf of bread. I found a notebook of mine at the bottom of my bag this morning. It was full of a lot of random thoughts, because I used to carry it about with me and write on the spur of the moment. Actually, however boring this internet diary might be, my paper diaries would be an exercise in total tedium for any reader, as I write about my breakfast porridge, what I'm watching on TV, what is on my daily calendar and my thoughts and opinions about stuff (including some thoughts that may be slightly edging towards X-rated). I don't think they would make for a particularly entertaining or interesting read.

There is a Union meeting this Thursday to discuss possible strike action over the pay dispute.

Remembrance of the Daleks

Last night I was watching a four part Doctor Who story from 1988 called "Remembrance of the Daleks" on DVD. The TARDIS arrives in London in the early 1960s. The Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) is there to find a powerful alien device called "The Hand of Omega". However, two warring factions of Daleks are also searching for the device, and a military investigation are caught in the middle. It's a good story. It was one of the first Doctor Who stories I clearly remember seeing when it was first broadcast. It also had unusually good special effects. It was one of my favourite stories, I used to have it on video in a special edition Dalek box-set.

I was reading through some of my old journals and diaries again last night. They are probably my most treasured posessions.

Today was fairly dull again at work. At least it will soon be the weekend anyway.

Diaries

Last night was fairly quiet. I was looking through some of my old diaries and journals. They go back to when I was eleven, so it is quite interesting to look through them. Mostly my life then was pretty similar to how it is now, but it is quite surprising the way that memory plays tricks. I am glad that I managed to save them all.

Work was more or less the same as usual. There was more work in today anyway. I got home at around six.