Interesting Lists

Some of you may know that this year is the 80th birthday of the legendary OTT director Ken Russell, who, among other things, is perhaps most famous for making Oliver Reed and Alan Bates wrestle in the nude in Women In Love and filling a studio with baked beans for Tommy. Among the things that Ken is a fan of, one television programme he says that catches his eyes simply so that he can laugh at how pathetic the rest of us have become is Big Brother.

I am pleased to report that so far I have not even ventured further than a vague curiosity on the opening night of this year's series as to who was in the house though I hear that it is no longer all women, boo hiss. I take pride in this fact - I have more interesting things to watch than a group of fame-hungry idiots arguing and sleeping with each other (or vice verca).

For example, thanks to Virgin Media, I have been able to watch the first series of Father Ted. Having only really watched the now classic Christmas special of this most hilarious of shows, I finally see what all the fuss is about. I also rather worryingly see more than ever the resemblance of Father Jack ("DRINK!") to our ex-Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, but let's not worry too much about that.

I have also been a frequent visitor to Film Four where, on Tuesday, I saw an excellent film called The King starring Gael Garcia Bernal and William Hurt. This is a very dark, Gothic film about a young sailor who leaves the navy to find his father, now a born again Christian preacher with a family of his own. When the sailor is rejected by the preacher, he begins a terrible revenge. I recommend this film to anyone who likes a deep thoughtful film.

It is not, however, on the Guardian's list of "1000 Films To See Before You Die". In fact, there are some interesting flicks on this list, some of which I'm really pleased to see on there (My Summer Of Love, Sideways, Lost In Translation, The Big Sleep), some of which I'm not so pleased to see there, (Titanic - what the hell?). There are also some surprises - Babe, for example, and Pink Floyd's The Wall, a film that, to my knowledge has often bee utterly derided. And yes, Tommy is there too. Happy Birthday, Ken.

Laters.

Back For One Week Only!

Yes, I'm back in Winchester after a lengthy absence. Well, a week. I just haven't got round to updating my blog recently is all. The Internet is down at home so there's my excuse.

I'm back in my house in Winchester so that I can make a start on my Final Year Project, or as I will probably refer to it from now, The Depressing 9/11 Project. I'm going to briefly look at the effects of the attacks on September 11th 2001 on culture, specifically on the ideas and theories of the Postmodern Movement. All that within 8000 - 10,000 words. Boy, do I know how to have fun.

But today is a landmark day in history. Children are dancing in the streets singing "Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead" and such; street parties are planned...yeah, I wish. It's the end of an era. Tony Blair, once upon a time the golden boy of politics, is now leaving after ten years as Prime Minister and with a lot of British blood on his hands. And I'm not just talking about Iraq, either.

But who do we have in his place? Why it's Gordon Brown The Beast, a gruff, grizzly bear of a man who was unopposed in a pointless leadership election; pointless because we all knew he would win it, pointless because he's not going to last very long. Newspapers on Monday reported that he may even call a General Election as early as next year. And yet who do we have in opposition? A toff and an old fart. No, I'm being too cruel here - I apologise to the old fart for calling him an old fart. As for the toff, well, until he actually says something or does something which gives a meaning to his policies and his party, then he's going to stay a toff.

I have always predicted that Brown The Beast would not last long as PM, but I fear that my predictions will run short if the opposition doesn't get its act together and do some blinking opposing. Otherwise the most interesting election next year will be the American one (my prediction: Hilary, but it will be tight - stop thinking witty responses to last comment) and the British public will lose complete faith in politics all together. We'll have a revolution on our hands and all power will be brought back to the monarchy, just in time for King Charles to ban all houses that don't contain at least one solar panel and one patch of begonias.

Laters.

How Angry Can One Alien Get?

Today I want to just give a huge shout out to a faveourite website of my sisters and mine - the Angry Alien site. Here you can find the home of the Movie Bunnies - a goup of animated critters who renact famous movies in 30 seconds. They have built up a large library of homages over the years, including a wicked James Bond medley. The Jaws one is pretty good too.

This site is creative, inspirational, and damn funny in some places. Good on you, Jennifer (I hope that's her name!) Please visit it and watch them for yoursleves, they're a laugh riot.

Laters.

"Freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeedom!"

...to quote Mel Gibson at the end of Braveheart. Except without the Scottish accent. And the whole knife-twisting-in-the-guts torture thing.

Yes, I had my last exam today and no, it did not go well but who cares? For the next twenty four hours (at least) I shall not even think about what I wrote on my exam paper. After that I will start to panic and so have to find things to distract me from thinking about how badly I did, how this will affect my career choices, yadda yadda yadda.

Speaking of which I have finsihed re-editing Shine On Me and am now back to where I started before re-re-re-re-editing Where Wild Things Grow. Me has other books in mind, but me no want to start on the next in the Green Ash series just yet. I am going to try and attempt to do what has previously often been impossibe: to write a sensible book for grown-ups; the kind of book people might study at an institution just like the University Of Winchester. I kid you not, I already have some ideas bubbling away in my brain. Now if I can just be bothered enough to start writing them down...

Laters.

That Time Of Year

Yes, it's coming up to that time of year when everything here winds up for the end of the academic year. Last night was our last Alpha course meeting, though there will be a new course next term and I've been asked to be a helper - yippee! On Monday we will have our last CU meeting in the evening, though in the morning I'll have had my last exam for the year. It was the last episode of Ugly Betty tonight - I saw it on Wednesday, wow! - and ER is winding down - don't kill Ray off, please!

Summer is truly here - we've had glorious sunshine in Winchester for about a week now, and it looks like it's just gonna keep on being glorious. Well, that's just lovely!

Laters.

We're All Going To Die

First off a retraction on a statement made in yesterday's blog about the new version of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. I have heard the tracks and most of them are actually quite good - I just don't think they're as good as the originals, but I guess I'm picky.

So on to today's blog, and the reason for the rather ominous title above. It seems that events internationally are spiralling towards a new Cold War between Russia and the US of A. All I say is someone get rid of Bush quick before things get any worse. Same with Putin. There, I've said it; nobody better try and assassinate me with some obscure nuclear liquid, or else there's going to be trouble. Grr.

Oh, and Yay! England are finally playing some football! Never mind winning the sport, they're playing it rather than pathetically mucking about with the ball. Let's keep this change going, boys!

Laters.

Mud, Mud, Glorious Mud

In this month's issue of Q Magazine comes free a CD (ooh, that rhymes) featuring live tracks from Glastonbury. Although there are no absolute stormers, there are still some great songs on it, like Keane's "Somewhere Only We Know" and Kaiser Chiefs' "Everyday I Love You Less And Less". But it brings to mind the fact that, yes, the festival season truly is upon us. And once again I have to rely on TV and radio coverage to actually be a part of it. Not that I'm complaining too much - after all, I don't want to take out another loan just to get a ticket to one day of a festival. But I suppose to truly live any festival, especially Glastonbury, you have to actually be there. Ah, well.

In other music news I see that music sacrilege has been committed by the re-recording of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by various artists. Again, I'm not too sure about why I'm complaining about this, as Kaiser Chiefs (again) are on this one, and the Razorlight version of "With A Little Help From My Friends" sounds all right. I'd like to know who's re-done "A Day In The Life" which is probably my favourite track off that most famous of albums, and if it's any good. All together now: time will tell. That's becoming my catchphrase that - not happy about that either.

Laters.

Fun For All The Family

In the news over the last week the one thing that has really caught my eye has been that of the planned theme park designed around the Harry Potter movies, due to be built in Florida. I'll be frank: this does sound rather excellent. What is it about theme parks that when we hear about them or actually go to them we turn back into little children?

But what a Harry Potter theme park is doing in America somewhat bugs me. Is not Harry a British institution, like James Bond or the Carry On films? Okay, the latter may have been a bad example, but I suppose it shows just how powerful the boy wizard really is internationally.

Not that we need reminding. There's no doubt that there will be riots when the last book in the series is published later this year, whether its about shops selling out or the actual ending. And then we'll know how it all ends - will this affect the film series? It seems to me that there is a somewhat lack of excitement surrounding the fifth film, Order Of The Phoenix, due out this summer. What will it be like once we know if Harry lives or dies, if Ron and Hermione ever get it on, if Hagrid ever actually says something which doesn't reveal a terrible, terrible secret concealed within the walls of Hogwarts? Time, as ever, will tell.

Personally, I think this opportunity is ripe for different directors to leave their marks on the series, maybe be more adventurous in how they're shot. My favourite one is Prisoner of Azkaban, directed by Alfonso Cuarón; it's just so beautifully filmed, it feels like a proper film and not just a kids movie, like the first two directed by Chris Columbus felt. Let's have more of those, Warner Bros, and leave the theme park to the Americans.

Laters.

The Early Bird Got Up To Catch The Early Worm...

...and then found that actually the Early Worm wasn't due to get up until two o' clock in the afternoon.

I have the first of my two exams today, and I made the mistake of thinking it was at 9am. So I got up nice and early, though was in a kind of a daze thanks to my old pal Morning Amnesia (TM). When I got to the University, however, I went to check which room the exam would be taking place in and saw to my utter delight - note sarcasm - that, actually, I needn't have got up when I did at all.

So I went food shopping instead. I ended up walking through Sainsburys pushing my trolley like a zombie shuffling around in Night Of The Living Dead. When I got back home it was only coming up for a quarter to ten. Nice.

Still, I guess I should make the most of it and use the time I have now to revise. My one nagging problem, however, is that this exam is taking place in the West Downs Centre, which is at the top of a very steep hill. It's at two in the afternoon, so I'll have to leave here at half one at the latest. This is, coincidentally, also the time when the sun will be at its highest. I will arrive at West Downs exhausted, hot, and sweating like a pig. And then I'll have to do a two hour exam. Oho, I know how to have fun, don't I?

Laters.

Two Down, Two To Go

On Friday we finally got our Postmodern Age presentation over and done with; it was a relief that I don't have any more presentations to stress about, and I think that the lecturers seemed to like ours, so here's hoping!

Now all I need to do is survive the two exams I have left intact. Piece of cake really, unlike Third Year, who has three exams to go and has perhaps more importance riding on hers than mine. Memo to self: do not make this face public knowledge when Third Year is in room!

Have I mentioned here that I finally finished re-re-re-re-editing Where Wild Things Grow last week? If not, I mention it now! Have already made a start on re-editing Shine On Me, the next in the series, but this is on hold at the moment, as revision comes first in almost everything.

Went bowling yesterday with the Alpha group; no strikes but I did pick up a few spares. Nice.

Laters.