Tuesday, June 21, 2005
phew!
OK in case I hadn't told anyone, I had an interview today for a job that I really really really want. I just got home from it (it was an all day thing) and am exhausted so this is a brief post but I think that in spite of a couple of stupid gaffes it went pretty well... I'll know by the end of the week so expect a post about it then.
Thursday, June 16, 2005
mmm Dark Knight-ey goodness!
Tonight a bunch of us went to see Batman Begins. Brilliant film! Cinema generally falls pretty low down on my list of personal priorities. For one thing (thanks to the house's resident videophile) I have a really nice TV at home hooked to a TiVo which spends every hour of every day busily sifting through the hundreds of channels being broadcast at it wading through the dross for stuff I might like to watch. After all that electronic effort it seems rude to ignore the results in favour of something else. Also if I'm going out with friends I prefer being somewhere where I can actually interact with them (that being half the fun of friends) and if I'm by myself I'd rather just go home, or up a hill.
That said something about the advertising for Batman Begins perked my interest and I'm glad it did because I've not been so gripped by a movie in ages. I suspect it is one of those films you need to see on a big screen... preferably close to. That's exactly how we did see it thanks to a school party thwarting Liz's usual preference for middle row seating. I really like being at the front for action movies (I find it adds to the immediacy of action secuences if they fill my field of vision) but not enough to make a point of it when most of my friends really prefer sitting further away from the screen...
Anyway the film was stunning - instead of being the kind of dried-up franchise-wringer it could so easily have been, it re-engages with everything I find appealing about Batman (and darkly-brooding-troubled-comic-book-heros-with-big-arms in general) presenting the whole thing in a completely fresh and yet thoroughly familiar way that I just loved: Gotham City feels real and yet still legendary and 'other' - this isn't just Comic action set in familiarly real surroundings (ala the excellent Spiderman movies) it's a place out of a whole other reality, but one you could perfectly picture yourself walking though.
Better still there are people in it! The acting is only 'holywood blockbuster' but that can still be good, in this case it really is... 'course when you're dealing with a cast that includes names like Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine you'd expect good things, but I've been disapointed before - not this time though: characters like the setting feel solid and believable while still approriately removed from the mundane... this is comic-made-real, or at least as real as it gets on screen.
...and of course it didn't hurt at all that Christian Bale spends a fair amount of screen-time without his shirt on* ;) Seriously though if you like comic book movies at all and have (for whatever reason) been holding off seeing this one then (in my opinion) you should go see it. now.
* Bale's never really seemed like my type before and to be honest he still isn't outside the context of that film, but for 141 minutes there he was absolutely magnetic! ...must be a Batman thing: the same peculiar phenomenon happened with Val Kilmer iirc
That said something about the advertising for Batman Begins perked my interest and I'm glad it did because I've not been so gripped by a movie in ages. I suspect it is one of those films you need to see on a big screen... preferably close to. That's exactly how we did see it thanks to a school party thwarting Liz's usual preference for middle row seating. I really like being at the front for action movies (I find it adds to the immediacy of action secuences if they fill my field of vision) but not enough to make a point of it when most of my friends really prefer sitting further away from the screen...
Anyway the film was stunning - instead of being the kind of dried-up franchise-wringer it could so easily have been, it re-engages with everything I find appealing about Batman (and darkly-brooding-troubled-comic-book-heros-with-big-arms in general) presenting the whole thing in a completely fresh and yet thoroughly familiar way that I just loved: Gotham City feels real and yet still legendary and 'other' - this isn't just Comic action set in familiarly real surroundings (ala the excellent Spiderman movies) it's a place out of a whole other reality, but one you could perfectly picture yourself walking though.
Better still there are people in it! The acting is only 'holywood blockbuster' but that can still be good, in this case it really is... 'course when you're dealing with a cast that includes names like Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine you'd expect good things, but I've been disapointed before - not this time though: characters like the setting feel solid and believable while still approriately removed from the mundane... this is comic-made-real, or at least as real as it gets on screen.
...and of course it didn't hurt at all that Christian Bale spends a fair amount of screen-time without his shirt on* ;) Seriously though if you like comic book movies at all and have (for whatever reason) been holding off seeing this one then (in my opinion) you should go see it. now.
* Bale's never really seemed like my type before and to be honest he still isn't outside the context of that film, but for 141 minutes there he was absolutely magnetic! ...must be a Batman thing: the same peculiar phenomenon happened with Val Kilmer iirc
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
unexpectedly beautiful
As a rule I do not like two wheeled road users. Cyclists (with a couple of notable exceptions) are inept wankers with no road sense whatsoever, and motorcyclists... well the less said about them the better (although again, there are always exceptions eh Steve?) but to reiterate, as a rule I do not like two wheeled road users (and anyone who's driven with me more than about twice knows just how much of an understatement that is. Even when it's said twice.)
All of the above makes the following even more amazing.
Tonight I was driving home at the end of a long-ish but rather lovely day. Work hadn't been especially anything - the school is approaching the end of term and I'm approaching the end of the school so between us both things are pretty wound down at this point - but the day had. My walk at lunchtime was through an almost perfect image of early summer (or late spring for those who live further south). I walked through the elegant and dappled leafy shade of Morningside, down to the banks of the canal where tiny flecks of sunlight played in the ripples and a family of swans alternately charmed and intimidated passers by. Even being indoors most of the day was actually pleasent: the vaultlike nature of the Library meant I could enjoy the warm sweet air as it swam past through the open windows, but that I wasn't bothered by the heat (yes I know it wasn't that warm, but my internal thermostat is long since set to 'Scottish' and anything over about 22 ºC makes me I feel like I'm being slow cooked)
All in all it was a playfully lovely day and though I was very tired from staying up late with Liz the night before, and in spite of still having no firm news about any of the jobs I might be going to do next, I was in a very good mood. I've blogged at length about my drive to and from work, so you all know how beautiful the landscape I drive through can be and how much joy I get out of the driving itself. Other road users however are seldom a source of joy - in the city (and in Scotland generally in my experience) they're unusually courtious by and large, and that often makes me smile, but out on the open road they're either just in the way, or else they're in a near-suicidal rush* and I'm in theirs which is stressful. Cyclists are almost always the former and motorcyclists are invariably the latter. I wouldn't have expected the sight of either would make me happy let alone both!
So I reach the start of a long downhill slope about half way between work and home. Down near the end of said slope a motorcyclist who overtook me about two corners before has met a cyclist and pulled alongside. Perhaps they knew each other, I'd actually rather imagine it was just something about the atmosphere, but as I drove down the hill toward them I could see that each rider had their head turned to look at the other. Perhaps words were being spoken but again I'd rather imagine not. After a few moments they joined hands and rode like that for a while: hands joined and looking at each other. It was a long straight stretch with plenty of visibility and completely clear ahead (otherwise I'd have been furious at the obstruction and recklessness) but as I swept past them and onward toward home I was really struck by the unexpected beauty of it. Two people out enjoying the road and the sun, meeting briefly and taking a moment to share it.
I think I'm going to hold onto that mental image of them and try to recall it the next time some two-wheeler does something infuriating.
* Anyone who wants to drive faster than I do on that road (or indeed anywhere!) is insane. I probably drive too fast on it most days (cue uproarious laughter and accusations of understatement from those friends who've commuted with me) so the amount of overtaking which still happens is a source of genuine amazement to me
All of the above makes the following even more amazing.
Tonight I was driving home at the end of a long-ish but rather lovely day. Work hadn't been especially anything - the school is approaching the end of term and I'm approaching the end of the school so between us both things are pretty wound down at this point - but the day had. My walk at lunchtime was through an almost perfect image of early summer (or late spring for those who live further south). I walked through the elegant and dappled leafy shade of Morningside, down to the banks of the canal where tiny flecks of sunlight played in the ripples and a family of swans alternately charmed and intimidated passers by. Even being indoors most of the day was actually pleasent: the vaultlike nature of the Library meant I could enjoy the warm sweet air as it swam past through the open windows, but that I wasn't bothered by the heat (yes I know it wasn't that warm, but my internal thermostat is long since set to 'Scottish' and anything over about 22 ºC makes me I feel like I'm being slow cooked)
All in all it was a playfully lovely day and though I was very tired from staying up late with Liz the night before, and in spite of still having no firm news about any of the jobs I might be going to do next, I was in a very good mood. I've blogged at length about my drive to and from work, so you all know how beautiful the landscape I drive through can be and how much joy I get out of the driving itself. Other road users however are seldom a source of joy - in the city (and in Scotland generally in my experience) they're unusually courtious by and large, and that often makes me smile, but out on the open road they're either just in the way, or else they're in a near-suicidal rush* and I'm in theirs which is stressful. Cyclists are almost always the former and motorcyclists are invariably the latter. I wouldn't have expected the sight of either would make me happy let alone both!
So I reach the start of a long downhill slope about half way between work and home. Down near the end of said slope a motorcyclist who overtook me about two corners before has met a cyclist and pulled alongside. Perhaps they knew each other, I'd actually rather imagine it was just something about the atmosphere, but as I drove down the hill toward them I could see that each rider had their head turned to look at the other. Perhaps words were being spoken but again I'd rather imagine not. After a few moments they joined hands and rode like that for a while: hands joined and looking at each other. It was a long straight stretch with plenty of visibility and completely clear ahead (otherwise I'd have been furious at the obstruction and recklessness) but as I swept past them and onward toward home I was really struck by the unexpected beauty of it. Two people out enjoying the road and the sun, meeting briefly and taking a moment to share it.
I think I'm going to hold onto that mental image of them and try to recall it the next time some two-wheeler does something infuriating.
* Anyone who wants to drive faster than I do on that road (or indeed anywhere!) is insane. I probably drive too fast on it most days (cue uproarious laughter and accusations of understatement from those friends who've commuted with me) so the amount of overtaking which still happens is a source of genuine amazement to me
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
Tock*-less
Something is wrong: I feel sluggish and grouchy for no good reason (persistent bad weather not being enough of a reason imho) It could be a lack of direction, anxiety about this whole work business, or possibly it's down to a spell in the doldrums... Ha! yet another reason I need a dog.
*For those of you who've never read, or can't remember the Phantom Tollbooth Tock is a watchdog, and just now it feels like I could use his help.
*For those of you who've never read, or can't remember the Phantom Tollbooth Tock is a watchdog, and just now it feels like I could use his help.
Sunday, May 29, 2005
catching up
Just back from a weekend down south* catching up with folk and generally chilling out... OK "chilling out" might not be entirely accurate: I spent most of the weekend helping my folks convert the top most bedroom in their house from an essentially unused space into a new master bedroom (they'd already done most of the hard work, I just helped out building flat-pack furniture.)
Somehow the whole clan (me, my two siblings and their respective partners) seem to have settled into the same visiting pattern and without any conspiracy this weekend saw all five of us converge on the ancestral home. I love that the world is small enough for that to work out like it does - in spite of the inevitable smattering of sibling friction (sorry 'bout that Al) it's always great to see everyone.
Sunday afternoon I spent running about catching up with some old friends including Carol who I'd not seen in ages and whose kids Lauren and Katie are easily twice the size they were when I last saw them - Lauren drew me a picture look:
...I suppose most people would stick it to their fridge but I'm not most people. At Carol's I also met the infamous "missus" aka Andrew - the man who's making an honest woman of one of my oldest and best friends this summer. For the record C'rol I wholeheartedly approve - he's lovely.
Going back to Doncaster always has a kind of restorative effect on me which is strange given how much travelling it necessitates and how busy the weekends always are. Dad once suggested it's because there's a restorative quality to feeling that you belong. I think he's absolutely right, and I'm lucky that I do quite a lot of belonging.
*It's only just stopped feeling strange to me to refer to the North of England as "down south" even though 'home' has been a good way north of there for almost a decade now.
Somehow the whole clan (me, my two siblings and their respective partners) seem to have settled into the same visiting pattern and without any conspiracy this weekend saw all five of us converge on the ancestral home. I love that the world is small enough for that to work out like it does - in spite of the inevitable smattering of sibling friction (sorry 'bout that Al) it's always great to see everyone.
Sunday afternoon I spent running about catching up with some old friends including Carol who I'd not seen in ages and whose kids Lauren and Katie are easily twice the size they were when I last saw them - Lauren drew me a picture look:
...I suppose most people would stick it to their fridge but I'm not most people. At Carol's I also met the infamous "missus" aka Andrew - the man who's making an honest woman of one of my oldest and best friends this summer. For the record C'rol I wholeheartedly approve - he's lovely.
Going back to Doncaster always has a kind of restorative effect on me which is strange given how much travelling it necessitates and how busy the weekends always are. Dad once suggested it's because there's a restorative quality to feeling that you belong. I think he's absolutely right, and I'm lucky that I do quite a lot of belonging.
*It's only just stopped feeling strange to me to refer to the North of England as "down south" even though 'home' has been a good way north of there for almost a decade now.
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
back from the wilds!
sorry it's been a tad quiet round here of late folks: I've been away on Projects again. This year (for my last one) we had the ideal combination of a really great group of kids, and unbelievably good weather! ... oh yeah and a kick ass music festival half way through.
I'm not going to do a day by day run down of the fortnight like I did last year - for one thing I'm kinda busy - but I will say that I'm really going to miss that aspect of working here... 's a shame you can't keep a job for only two weeks of the year.
As in previous years I've come back from all that fresh air and excercise wondering how I manage to spend so much of the other eleven months of the year indoors sitting on my arse, so anyone who's at all up for geting out there into the hills over the next few weeks need only mention it in passing and I'll be there! Hopefully this time I'll keep the momentum up and make a year-long habit of it.
I'm not going to do a day by day run down of the fortnight like I did last year - for one thing I'm kinda busy - but I will say that I'm really going to miss that aspect of working here... 's a shame you can't keep a job for only two weeks of the year.
As in previous years I've come back from all that fresh air and excercise wondering how I manage to spend so much of the other eleven months of the year indoors sitting on my arse, so anyone who's at all up for geting out there into the hills over the next few weeks need only mention it in passing and I'll be there! Hopefully this time I'll keep the momentum up and make a year-long habit of it.
Thursday, May 05, 2005
change
After my friends went to see Hitchhiker last week Hamish blogged about how it wasn't the same, meaning that the film didn't really grab him the way the book had when he first encountered it (the book being his first brush with Adams' multifaceted and gloriously inconstant story)
Leaving aside the particular merits of the film for now (except to say that I personally loved it) when I came out of the cinema this evening having seen the Guide for the first time a week later than everyone else, (but thanks to Liz, with just the same sense of occasion and giddy excitement!) its not-the-same-ness was one of the things I'd found most exciting and engaging about it.
Change is something I can relate to right now.
On Friday last week I handed in my resignation at work. I'll work at my current job for another two months because that's the length of time my boss and I agreed suits us both best, but after that I'll leave... and right now I have no idea what happens next. Changes are afoot, some are scarey and as-yet-unkown but change is what it's all about after all.
Change is part of what makes life worth living: growth, development, discovery... it's all about the next interepretation of "today" being different than the last one was. Hopefully you keep the best elements, build on earlier versions, develop themes... but change is a vital part of life in every sense. Not that it's not also important for there to be things which stay the same, but those solid elements should be the kind which support and encourage growth and development (I'm lucky in having a lot of such support in my life) so that their very stability facilitates change...
I've much more to say on this, and about a lot of other things but I'm tired and really must sleep now.
Leaving aside the particular merits of the film for now (except to say that I personally loved it) when I came out of the cinema this evening having seen the Guide for the first time a week later than everyone else, (but thanks to Liz, with just the same sense of occasion and giddy excitement!) its not-the-same-ness was one of the things I'd found most exciting and engaging about it.
Change is something I can relate to right now.
On Friday last week I handed in my resignation at work. I'll work at my current job for another two months because that's the length of time my boss and I agreed suits us both best, but after that I'll leave... and right now I have no idea what happens next. Changes are afoot, some are scarey and as-yet-unkown but change is what it's all about after all.
Change is part of what makes life worth living: growth, development, discovery... it's all about the next interepretation of "today" being different than the last one was. Hopefully you keep the best elements, build on earlier versions, develop themes... but change is a vital part of life in every sense. Not that it's not also important for there to be things which stay the same, but those solid elements should be the kind which support and encourage growth and development (I'm lucky in having a lot of such support in my life) so that their very stability facilitates change...
I've much more to say on this, and about a lot of other things but I'm tired and really must sleep now.
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