Swamp Thing

Last night I wrote some more of the Script Frenzy script, and I managed to get to bed fairly early. I was in work for seven and there was a baguette run. I had a panini with cajun chicken, roast beef, savoury cheese, brie, jalapeno peppers and English mustard. It was really nice. I was on a half day and left at around half past eleven. The day was really beautiful, the weather all warm and sunny so I walked along to the comic-book store, which took about forty five mnutes walking from work, and I bought a couple of graphic novels of Swamp Thing written by Alan Moore. It was the Swamp Thing series that really made Alan Moore's name and are among the most acclaimed comic series ever written. I've been wanting to read them for ages. On my way home I had a couple of drinks, since it was so hot.

Quatermass Baguettes

Last night I watched an episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus on DVD. This epsiode featured a dangerous gang of criminals who are so paranoid about getting caught that their plans never actually involve them doing anything illegal (their elaborate jewellery store heist is basically just one of them buying a watch, followed by a complicated getaway).

I got up at half past five this morning and was in work shortly after seven. There was a baguette run today. I had a white bread panini with roast beef, jalapeno peppers, savoury cheese, brie, sliced egg and English mustard. The resulting sandwich might have looked like something from The Quatermass Experiment but it did actually taste nice.

I took a half day and left shortly after eleven. I went out to the comic-book store and got Batman issue 708, Xombi issue 1, Northlanders issue 38 and DMZ issue 62. After that I went up to the stationary store and got some sketching pencils, erasers, pencil sharpener and a marker pen. I got my groceries for next week on my way home.

Disturbing Behavior

Last night was pretty quiet again. I watched a funny episode of The Big Bang Theory, and the rest of the evening I spent watching other fairly random stuff on TV.

I had another half day today, which was good. In the afternoon I watched the 1998 movie Disturbing Behavior which stars James Marsden, Katie Holmes and Nick Stahl, and tells the story of a new student at a seemingly quiet high-school, who discovers that a group of seemingly perfect students have been brainwashed. It was fairly average, but not bad. The film is reviewed at Permanently Weird.

It seems like the snow and ice is finally beginning to melt. Although there is still a lot of ice on the ground.

The Messengers

Last night I played for about an hour on Dante's Inferno, which is turning out to be a really good game. The graphics are really spectacular and pretty imaginative, and the gameplay is pretty involving.

Later on I was watching a movie from 2007 called The Messengers, directed by Danny Pang and Oxide Pang. The film tells the story of a young family who move from Chicago to a sunflower farm in rural North Dakota only to come under attack from demonic crows and ghostly figures who seem to target the family's troubled teenage daughter (played by Kristen Stewart) and their mute, psychic son. At times it kind of comes across as a weird hybrid of The Shining, The Birds and Children of the Corn. There are a few good moments in it but nothing really surprising.

I was on a half day today from work, so that was good, except that as I was heading back home and crossing the road a car ran a red light, almost hitting me. I managed to get out of the way in time, but still it was kind of a shock.

Another Half Day

It was pretty quiet last night. I spent most of the time again sitting in and watching TV.

I was on a half day at work today, and kind of glad that I was because the computer systems crashed again and caused absolute chaos. I went to the travel agent to sort out things about my holiday and then went to the bank to deak with some things.

Control

Last night I was watching the 2207 film Control, directed by Anton Corbijn. The film tells the true story of Ian Curtis (played by Sam Riley) who grows up in the Macclesfield area of England duing the 1970s, works in the local Job Centre and marries his high school girlfriend Debbie (Samantha Morton). He is also the lyricist and lead singer of local band Joy Division, who quickly start to become one of the most influential bands of the British post-punk movement of the early 1980s. However as the band increasingly become more famous, Curtis starts an affair with a Belgian journalist and soon the pressures of fame, combined with his increasingly complex private life and his severe bouts of epilepsy cause him increasing problems. The movie is beautifully shot and very well-acted. The film is based on the book Touching From a Distance by Deborah Curtis, Ian's wife, and the director, Anton Corbijn, knew the band pretty well having worked with them on several music videos. In it's look and style, the film has a lot in common with the British social realist, or "kitchen sink", films that were churned out during the 1950s and 1960s.

I took a half day from work today and then went to the travel agent to find out about prices and schedules for my holiday. After that I went and met my Dad to have a look at cameras and we went back to my parent's house for dinner, so that was nice.

Half Day

Last night I got to eight pages with my script for Script Frenzy, so it's going pretty well so far.

I was on a half day at work today, so I managed to get out at two. Later on this evening I am going to have a drink with my friend Joe, but until then I'm going to do some more work on my script.

Out for Lunch

Last night I was watching a 1990 film called King of New York, directed by Abel Ferrara. Christopher Walken stars as powerful drug baron Frank White, who at the opening of the film is released after a long stretch in prison. He returns to his old territory in New York City and immediately takes over his old gang and begins violently wiping out the competition, while also regaining his influence over the city's political elite. This time White decides to use some of his ill-gotten gains to finance an inner city hospital. However as White deals with rival gags and trechery within his own team, as well as three cops (David Caruso, Victor Argo and Wesley Snipes) who are determined to bring him in, events spiral violently out of control. The film is extremely violent and very bleak. Christopher Walken gives a superb performance in the central role, often looking genuinely sinister with his ghostly appearance. In it's original release the movie was a massive commercial failure but since then it has become quite a cult film. Abel Ferrara is a very prolific, but often very inconsistent, film-maker however this is defintiely one of his better films.

I was only in work for a half day today. At around midday I went along to the Ellwyn House Hotel for Owen's 30th birthday (which is a little over a week away), there were about six of us there and I had a prawn cocktail to start, followed by a sirloin steak with stuffing, potato and sausages, and finishing off with a slice of apple pie and cream, with two pints of Kronenbourg beer. It was pretty good. I got home at around three.

Time With Michele

Today was another quiet day.

This evening I went out to Le Monde to see Michele, and that was nice. We were there for over three hours. We have made arrangements to meet up next Friday at my place for a pizza and a DVD. That should be really nice.

Wednesday

Today was fairly quiet at work. I was only working a half day today and I'm also taking a half day tomorrow as well. This afternoon I went up with my friend Alan to see Shrek the Third which was quite funny. I've not seen the previous film, but I have seen the first one and I thought it was good.

On the way home I managed to get a copy of the brochure for this year's Edinburgh Film Festival. The booking opens on midday on Friday so I'll have to get my events chosen for then.

Another Week

I went back to work yesterday. I've still not been feeling myself and have been pretty down for the past couple of days. I only worked a half day yesterday, so that was pretty good. I'm really just trying to enjoy myself this week, to kind of cheer myself up a bit.

Last night I went out to see Die Hard 4.0 with Alan, Jackie and Michele. The film was a lot of fun, and we went out for a couple of drinks afterwards. I also went out after work today and had a couple of drinks with Alan and Joe.

I'm taking Friday off work, I've got a lot of time so I can easily afford the time. I might be going out with Jackie for a bit during the day and with Joe in the evening. Also the booking for the Edinburgh Film Festival will be opening then, so I'll be trying to get tickets for some of the films. I usually take a couple of weeks off for the Festivals is August for my main annual holiday. It's good to get the tickets booked up as early as possible because they do go fast. I should also be seeing Michele at some point during the week again.

So it should be a fairly eventful week.

A Half Day

I had a nice time with Michele yesterday evening. We met at a bar called Le Monde on george Street, which we went to when we met up last week. We were there for about two hours, before going our seperate ways.

I decided to take a half day from work today, not for any real reason, but just because I felt like it. I went to the New Yorker bar for my lunch and had a pepperoni and cheese panini, which was nice, served with nachos and salad. After that I went out and got a few T-shirts in the sales. I got a Clockwork Orange one, a Batman one and a shirt reading "Stay Classy, San Diego" (from the film Anchorman). Then I went down and bought a book as a present for my Dad's birthday next week.

I'm going out tonight with Michele and my friends Jackie and Alan, so that should be fun.