6:26 pm Monday, 31 December, 2007
Archive for December, 2007
But they’re not what I came for, and I’m sure you see that too
11:19 pm Tuesday, 25 December, 2007
Last week when I was in Forbidden Planet I picked up the new paperback by Jack mcDevitt; Odyssey. He’s a sci-fi writer who I got into while I was in the US. He’s hard to describe, I’d say it’s light sci-fi but that wouldn’t really be fair to his books. He’s very easy reading with decent characterisation and so the books flow very well. The concepts aren’t entirely out there but they kinda are too. I very much like how he’ll often raise concepts or questions and do nothing with them, they are left there to be wondered or thought about.
Anyway I picked up the paperback and sped throughout it. Good fun. I enjoyed it enough that I went out and bought the just published hardback of his next book. I can really only say the same thing, good fun. Probably not worth picking up in hardback but I was so in the mood for it, it was a good investment. So this morning when I finished that, I needed something to read. I had about 6 sci-fi books that I could easily put my hands on but none of them were really about space and that was what I was looking for. I ended up going for a re-reading of Iain M. Banks debut (well with the M anyway); Consider Phlebas. It’s very enjoyable and I’ve spent a good part of today going through it. I sat in the pub for a couple of this evening and without a newspaper I made another couple of hundred pages headway through it. Good stuff. It also means that I have the next book, and indeed the next book lined up. I can simply go through some of the Culture series. That’ll be good.
A little while ago, I mentioned that I was watching Picket Fences again. Well I generally like to watch DVD’s in bed on my laptop. The problem is that disc drives on Macbooks are well lets just say not the best and mine rejects discs on a semi-regular basis. So I got three discs in and the next wouldn’t play. It’s an odd show. It’s not as good as I remember it being but perhaps I’m more jaded by David E. Kelley’s quirks and legal shenanigans now 15 years and several series more later. I suspect it actually was better first time around. Don’t get me wrong, I am enjoying it and I’ll be off to watch another episode soon.
But anyway when the disc wouldn’t work I moved onto the first season of Rescue Me and well pretty much mainlined that and the second season and now I’m in the first few episodes of the third (Paige Turco!!). It’s an FX show before you think anything so only really half seasons! It’s an odd show, none of the characters are really likeable or at least they are (for the most part) not meant to be. The cast are excellent and it’s good to see Dean Winters with a good gig. Between watching him in this and watching American History X (side notes: a) an excellent movie but I know I’ve mentioned that before, b) is it wrong to be able to date a movie based on when Avery Brooks shaved his head and grew a goatee?), I’ve decided that the next show up for rewatching has to be the excellent Oz.
Other than that well, some CoH. A chunk of work on my second ‘toon over the past few days getting some levels in. Almost ready for RWZ and other fun stuff. Some good badging on my main and some other general bits and pieces.
Not a huge amount more going on. Tomorrow looks to be pub for the evening which should be fun. Not sure what the day’ll bring, perhaps a cinema. Despite varied reviews I’d like to see I am Legend and of course I haven’t yet seen I’m Not There.
Then again, I could just stay at home and try not to spend any money. Perhaps a better plan…
1:28 pm Monday, 24 December, 2007
It never once occurred to me that because I have not been paid for the month of December and that the company are holding my payment in lieu until all the documents are returned that there would be no money in my account for my normal end of month payments.
I’m sure this can’t be right, I’m sure they can’t withhold my pay like that.
Jesus fucking h christ. That’s just what I need. So now, I have no idea when I get any money and I’m fairly sure I’m not going to be able to transfer money from my already shrunk backup account to pay any of these in time.
Just what I need.
Just stay in my bed till the morning comes
1:19 am Sunday, 23 December, 2007
Alright hello. As I have some time on my hands now, it’s time for some changes around here. I’ve been writing in various places online for about 7 years now and I’ve never really been happy with anything for very long.
So now I’m going to take the time and figure out what I actually want. Please excuse the dust.
For a quick catchup though.
It’s going 1.30 in the AM and I’m shattered. My sleeping patterns are all over the place. Some nights I’m getting 10-12 hours sleep which feels lovely but I’m quite tired in the evenings.
One notably odd thing is that no matter what time I’ve been going to bed, three nights running this week I had a lovely young Scottish girl serenading me. I’ve been putting the radio on (usually Virgin) and three nights running as soon as I’ve turned off the lights they played Amy McDonald. It’s growing on me quite a bit but it’s odd.
Other musical stuff. The Pogues on Tuesday evening was good. It was missing something compared to previous years, there just wasn’t quite the same energy to it but it was still a good night out.
The next night was Springsteen in the O2 and quite simply Because The Night was worth the price of admission alone. Wonderful stuff. An excellent excellent gig. I was very disappointed that The River had been left off but when the second song is a segue from Radio Nowhere into No Surrender, you really just cannot complain too much. A great great gig.
Everything else is stressful.
One of the things I do want to do here is actually setup a travel blog. I did it when I went to Japan years ago and enjoyed it. I’d be much happier doing it now with more travel and with photos and with more to say. I have one piece of travel actually booked, I’m going to Egypt in January. The rest is kinda up in the air but it looks like Hong Kong in February and Peru sometime over end of March, start of April. After a night out on Friday with a number of people who had taken significant time out to travel, I am wondering whether I could take a year and travel. I think I could afford it but I’m not sure it’s right for me. Still, maybe that’s kinda the point?
Either way I need to get somethings booked soon. My sanity is a little frayed at the moment and having some stability and some framework would be good.
Anyway this is your annual reminder that I fully fall into the bah humbug catagory and I do not celebrate your religious holidays (nor any justification you can come up with for your celebrations) and hopeless a request as I know this is but please do remember there are people who this time of year means nothing to…
I know, what a waste of typing that was. I know that a number of people will ignore anything I say and use the *I just* excuse. That is the way of the world.
It’s now way late and I’m sure I have a date with Ms McDonald, so good night all.
1:57 am Wednesday, 19 December, 2007
Things I did not know #874
The IRA campaign was entirely based on executing people who talked about sex.
I got the movie script but I don’t know what it meant…
1:28 am Thursday, 13 December, 2007
Wow well you lot are keen. I seem to have quadrupled my traffic here in the past week and that’s without even posting anything. Though it does appear that some of you are visiting several times a day. While I’m glad you are so interested, might I suggest you look into a feed reader and head down the RSS route?
- Season 2 of Dexter is miles better than season 1 and I’ve enjoyed it a good deal.
- The other night I read True Grit. It was another one to finish before turning off the light. Good stuff.
- The Golden Compass was dire on almost all fronts. Short of some of the cast, I can’t think of a single redeeming feature and I enjoyed the books.
- My In Rainbows discbox arrived. I own vinyl, I doubt I’ll ever play ‘em. CD 2 needs more listening but the main album has really grown on me in the past week.
- I’m going to Egypt in January.
- I have bought some Bil Bryson books to try and inspire myself…and a number of guide books.
- I gave my sister my ticket for the Manics tonight. I’m somewhat annoyed but I’m just wasn’t feeling up to it today. Annoying.
- I was listening to some Doves earlier today. They started so well, a not bad album with two standout tracks Pounding and in particular There Goes The Fear and then a rather poor second album and I’ve not heard a thing from ‘em since.
- I keep reading how NME was good once, way back in the past, but I have such a hard time believing it.
- I read Chronicle of a Death Foretold the other day and it was okay. I think I’m missing something about Márquez, nothing has really hooked me. I do own and want to read Love In The Time Of Cholera and more so 100 Years of Solitude. I should get to ‘em.
- I seem, oddly for me, to be in a short pieces mood. I bought a collection of mountaineering essays/articles by Jon Krakauer and I’ve been enjoying going through them. I also bought The New Granta Book of the American Short Story which I want to get stuck into sometime soon.
- I’ve also read a number of Asterix books recently and have been very pleasantly surprised to discover they are as much fun as they were when I was younger and that there are even more levels to ‘em than I had realised.
- The postman brought me a lovely small package today and I hugely enjoyed crawling around under the table with a screwdriver putting a nice little memory upgrade into my computer. It’s doing a little better so far. New computer coming soon anyway but till then…
- Yesterday the postman brought me a slightly larger package. I ordered from art from my friend Jill and it’s arrived. It looks even better than I expected. Now I just need to figure out how and where to hang it.
Alright that’s it for now. Sleep time.
The Hollow Men
2:31 am Saturday, 8 December, 2007
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.