Daylight Saving

Last night was pretty quiet. I watched some Twin Peaks and some ice hockey. The clocks all had to be turned back an hour last night for the daylight saving time, so that meant I had to lose an hour's sleep.

This morning I went along with my Dad to the Ocean Terminal shopping centre. First of all we stopped off at Starbucks and had some coffee and a muffin. Then we split up to look around. I got three books in the sales which were: It's Only a Movie: Alfred Hitchcock - A Personal Biography by Charlotte Chandler, Shout!: The True Story of The Beatles by Philip Norman and The Children of Hurin by J.R.R. Tolkien.

After that we went along to my parent's house. The new issue of Fortean Times magazine ("The Journal of Strange Phenomena") had arrived during the week, so that was pretty interesting. In the afternoon I went out for a walk with my Mum to see if we could find any good branches for Mum to use to make her annual Easter Tree for the house.

I'm off work tomorrow and in the morning I'm planning on going up to see Shutter Island, and in the afternoon I have a dentist appointment to clean up the area around where my wisdom tooth was removed in November. I might need to get a filling with that.

Everyday Life Resumes

It's been really quiet recently. Last night I was watching an ice hockey game on TV which I quite enjoyed.

This morning I went along to my parent's house as usual for a Sunday. After lunch I had a walk with my Mum to one of the nearby supermarkets. It was a fairly quiet day.

Work starts again tomorrow. It feels like I have been away from work for a lot less than three weeks, and yet at the same time it feels like I was in North America for a lot longer than two weeks. I really do miss all the excitement of going away and everything and it is kind of depressing that everyday life is starting to take over again.

Grand Theft Cosmos

Although I missed the first quarter of an hour, due to the aggravating interruption from the gas and electricity guy, I did listen to most of a Doctor Who radio play called "Grand Theft Cosmos", in which The Doctor (played by Paul McGann) and Lucie (Sheridan Smith) arrive on 18th Century Earth, where they are trying to steal a strange and valuable jewel, which has a strange secret. I have been enjoying the radio series.

I actually remember, thinking back to old video games, I used to have a game for our old Amstrad 6128 computer called Roland in Time, which was basically like a computer game parody of Doctor Who, where you had to run around the screen finding crystals and avoiding monsters and traps. Some of the old games were really good. I also remember the old adventure games, in which the story was told entirely in text on the screen and you had to type in what you wanted your character to do and the story would unfold accordingly. They were good. I remember spending hours on a Lord of the Rings one.

I went along to work today and I walked there and back as well. I'm walking in order to lose some weight. I don't want to get to Canada looking like Alfred Hitchcock. However, due to the fact that I was up later than I had planned last night, I ended up sleeping in for an hour or so. As a result I had to miss out on my breakfast. It was another really quiet day at work, as usual. The thing is, much of the job is working with information from computer files now, so it is theoretically possible to spend the entire working day without once rising from the chair, which makes it kind of dull.

Brave New Town

Last night I listened to a Doctor Who radio story called "Brave New Town". In the story, the Doctor (played by Paul McGann) and Lucie (Sheridan Smith) arrive in a seemingly normal English town, only to find that the town is forever repeating the same day (September 1st 1991). The town is also located in Russia, and surrounded by the military, also the townspeople, who are strangely unconcerned by the strange events, are all hearing the smae strange voice in their heads. It was a pretty good story. Later on I was listening to a couple of crime stories which were pretty good.

I did some more writing last night. It wasn't as much as I did last night but still some is better than nothing.

I did walk to and from work again today. It was another very slow and quiet day at work as usual. It was really dull.

Persepolis

Last night I was watching an animated French film from 2007 on TV called Persepolis, directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud. The movie is based on the autobiographical graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi. Opening in an airport in Paris, Marjane Satrapi (voiced by Chiara Mastroianni) contemplates boarding a plane to Iran, as she waits, she remembers her childhood experiences during the 1979 revolution in Iran, and subsequent war with Iraq. It was a really good movie, very stylishly animated, and intelligent, moving and often very funny.

Before the movie I did manage to do some writing which I was really quite happy about.

Today was the start of another week at work. In order to get some exercise, instead of taking the bus, I walked to and from work (which takes about half an hour each way). It was a very slow and very dull day in the office as it almost always is.

Taking a Walk

Last night I was watching the first four episodes of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy on DVD. The story, based on the novel by John le Carre, involves retired secret agent George Smiley (played by Alec Guinness) who is brought back to uncover the identity of a top level double agent who has infiltrated "the Circus" (the British Secret Service). The story is very intricate and complex, but there isn't really much action in it, the story unfolding at a slow and sedate place.

I went along to my parent's house for lunch, as usual, today. The latest issues of Sight and Sound and Fortean Times arrived today. For lunch we had roast chicken, diced roast potatoes with garlic butter and peas, with apple pie and cream for dessert. After lunch my Mum and I went along to the train station in order for Mum to get a timetable. Then we went to Starbucks for a mocha coffee and a chocolate muffin.

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.

2001 Maniacs

Last night I was watching a series of TV programmes that were on to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the popular sit-com Dad's Army. The show was set in a fictional English coastal town during the Second World War, and revolved around the local Home Guard platoon (the Home Guard were like a part-time army of volunteers during the Second World War who were ineligible for regular military service, usually on the grounds of age. Their job was to protect Britain if the country was invaded, which of course it wasn't). It's still very popular in Briatin, partly due to the fact it seems to be repeated endlessly.

Later on last night I was watching a pretty bad horror movie called 2001 Maniacs, directed by Tim Sullivan. It was a re-make of a 1964 Herschell Gordon Lewis film called Two Thousand Maniacs!, and the story involves a group of dim-witted college students making their way down to Florida for Spring Break, only to find themselves in a small town called Pleasant Valley, where the locals seem very friendly and hospitable but, of course, they are reslly intent on butchering their guests. The movie is quite amusing because it is so over the top, especially Robert Englund (better known as Freddy Krueger in the Nightmare on Elm Street series) as the town's mayor.

I went along to my parent's house for lunch today, and the latest issue of Sight and Sound had arrived featuring a long article about Clint Eastwood, which was pretty interesting. We went out to the coast for an hour or so to walk, but we couldn't stay for too long due to the amount of heavy showers.

Festival Bookings

Last night I was watching a 1997 film called Event Horizon, directed by Paul WS Anderson. Basically, in the year 2040 an experimental spaceship called "Event Horizon" disappears near Neptune while testing it's new 'Gravity Drive'. Seven years later, the ship reappears and a rescue mission (headed by Laurence Fishburne) got to investigate, accompanied by Dr. William Weir (Sam Neill), the "Event Horizon"'s original designer. When they arrive they discover the crew have apparently all been gruesomely murdered. Investigating the ship, the rescuers are confronted by terrifying hallucinations, which leads them to conclude that the Gravity Drive took the "Event Horizon" much further than anyone could have guessed, and that it has brought something back with it. The film is kind of like a haunted house story in space with very obvious similarities to both the Aliens and Hellraiser franchises. The special effects and sets are very impressive and there are some pretty spectacular action scenes. It also benefits enormously from a very talented cast. However there is nothing really new for fans and, despite being gruesome, it never manages to be at all scary.

Today I had the day off work and booked some shows for the Film Festival. I'm going to be seeing Ray Harryhausen (one of the pioneers of special effects) talk about his work, Dreams with Sharp Teeth (a documentary, narrated by Robin Williams, about the life and work of controversial science-fiction author Harlan Ellison), WALL.E (the latest Pixar anmated film about a cute little robot), Summer Hours (a French drama, starring Juliette Binoche, about family members fighting over a priceless private art collection), Red (a thriller, based on a novel by Jack Ketchum, about a man who finds his retirement disrupted by a gang of thugs), Married Life (a dark thriller about a man trying to get rid of his wife, starring Pierce Brosnan and Rachel McAdams) and the Surprise Movie (which is basically a mystery film which you don't find out what it is until it starts, basically). So I am very pleased I managed to get all of those.

This afternoon I went up to Holyrood Park with my mum. We had our lunch in a cafe there. I had a bowl of chicken and vegetable broth, a scone and a tuna sandwich. Then we walked around the park. It took about an hour and we walked around three miles. So, it's been a good day.

End of the Week

I set off for work early again today. On the way I stopped off for the latest issue of Radio Times and The Guardian for the Great Poets of the 20th Century booklet (which today focussed on Philip Larkin).

Work was pretty much the same as usual, and as usual for a Friday there was hardly anyone in. One good thing is that I have next Friday and the following Monday off. So I'll have a four day weekend next week.

As I was walking home I had only got half way there when it started to rain really heavily, so I ended up getting pretty wet.