Month: September 2002

So it turn out that there are only 5000 copies in the world of the books we picked up last night and they are all sold out. We had semi-joked during the night about the thought we should have bought them all and put them on eBay. After hearing that news we were kicking ourselves…or in Dave’s case my desk for not doing so.

I fucking hate this world. I just cannot believe it still exists. I fucking hate this world. Sometimes I just don’t believe we deserve to live as a race. I’ve just come across a figure, I always knew it was a damn big number. Bigger perhaps than I can grasp in that context. But I had to go and run calc so I could get the figure to use it for reasons to be come clear later. In WW2, estimates range from between 50 and 60 million people were killed. Over a 5 year period, that worked out to around 30,000 a day, a fucking day.

So, tonight was the “evening with Ray” as we have been referring to it. Dave and I fucked off out of work shortly after four to get into Borders Oxford street in plenty of time for the 6:30 talk. We were the first there. Which was good, what was even better was they did in fact have several copies of the Magician 20th anniversary edition. It is leather bound, with marble end pages and an embossed cover. Translation: it is quite nice. Magician is not only one of my favourite fantasy books, it is one of my favourite books. They had seven for sale. There were three left when we were done. So I have that signed by Raymond E. Feist and I am more than happy about that. It was also a very reasonable £25. Oh and it also has some great chapter illustrations.

The talk was pretty good. Ray was quite funny and definitely entertaining. I was very glad to have gone along. In the good news front there is a good chance of more dark fantasy along the lines of Faerie Tale which I love and also the chance of two science fiction novels. I really like the sound of all of them ALOT. All in all a good evening. I hadn’t planned on buying his latest book in hardback, I normally wait for paperbacks but after hearing him talk I wanted it. So I picked it up and oh yes got it signed.

I hate the fact that my computer can’t render this properly and know I will spend some time in work tomorrow playing this. Pingis is a spectacular game, the detail and skill gone into it are just superb. It’s also damn addictive.

Series 7: The Contenders wasn’t great, in fact it was kinda bad. Nice concept but already covered pretty well in another Arnie movie The Running Man. Ending was kinda shit but left with a laugh. General consensus in the reviews is nice idea poorly executed and I think I would agree with that.

Work tomorrow…blah. I don’t know how much I actually have to do. I know I don’t feel like getting up in the morning already but then again I never do. The internet is so boring these days. I’m finding it harder and harder go get some decent entertainment out of it. Maybe it will all be better in the morning, now I’m gonna go sleep.

Vanilla Sky opens with a Radiohead track; Everything in it’s Right Place. I cannot ask for more than that from a movie.

Penélope Cruz is not all that attractive, Cameron Diaz is somewhat cute but not all that special. Jason Lee is particularly good as the best friend.

Cameron Crowe selects the best possible music for the soundtracks of his movies. I might have to pick this one up. Really enjoying it so far, funny and entertaining.

It takes a little turn for the strange throughout the second act and

I like the concept of the “lucid dream” it sounds very cool. Strong shades of Total Recall showing through, that was an action movie with some great concepts, this is the same concepts given heart and soul.

Ya know, its actually quite a sweet little movie once it all falls into place with a couple of pretty touching moments and a truly good ending. It does take a little to get there and the journey might not lead where you expect it to, but in the end it is rewarding.

It is completly unavoidable, we are coming up to the first year anniversary of September 11 2001. The (i) in the title is because I am sure this is the first of a few posts I will make on the subject. Its pretty hard to wander the web without seeing something about this on a regular basis. Metafilter has a lot of threads going on about it. One which caught my eye was a link to a Salon article called Forbidden thoughts about 9/11. Its a good piece and addresses a couple of interesting points.

Its about the only article I’ve seen in the mainstream press about the other possible thoughts to September 11th. In particular this thought which it quotes:

“Where is the acknowledgment that this was not a ‘cowardly’ attack on ‘civilization’ or ‘liberty’ or ‘humanity’ or ‘the free world’ but an attack on the world’s self-proclaimed superpower, undertaken as a consequence of specific American alliances and actions? How many citizens are aware of the ongoing American bombing of Iraq? And if the word ‘cowardly’ is to be used, it might be more aptly applied to those who kill from beyond the range of retaliation, high in the sky, than to those willing to die themselves in order to kill others.” — Susan Sontag, The New Yorker: Talk of the Town September 24th 2001

Diet Coke With Lemon is not nice. It may aswell have been called Lemon with a little Diet Coke. It just does not work.
Dropped the movies back to Blockbuster and picked up a couple more cause I’m bored and have nothing to do this evening, I got Vanilla Sky and Series 7: The Contenders

Holiday stuff looks like its gonna work out. I was talking to my sister earlier and it would appear that we can stay at her place in Tokyo. So some looking around the web gets return flights for £450. 14 nights in Tokyo would rock so much. She is gonna get me more info when she actually gets there in a couple of days and then I think I’m gonna book time off and flights.

This is a great idea but I suspect I would hate it.

Unsicht-Bar
The restaurant is in pitch black. All of the waiters are blind. You tell them whether you want meat, fish or vegetarian and you sit in pitch black and eat whatever they serve you. A wonderfully European idea.

And just a note on my last post, had the makers of Bring It On followed my rule of thumb it would have been the greatest movie of all time and the most sucessful movie of all time!

There is still time for the sequel tho, hopefully someone is paying attention.

Something strange happened to me a couple of nights ago. I was lying in bed not quite asleep but just at that point where I was going to be within seconds. I felt like I was dreaming but I wasn’t actually dreaming of anything, I was just in a dreamlike state. I had a sudden feeling of falling and then a thought of a concrete bollard, a small one the type along the side of streets. All I can tell you is that I ran into it and at fairly high speed. I was instantly awake and not only that but my knee pushed itself into the bed hard and bounced me back a foot or so, a noticeable distance. Just as if I had run into something. Suffice it to say I was very awake now and I was lying there with my eyes very wide open wondering what in the fuck had just happened.

I’m watching Mulholland Drive and I’m not sure what to make of it. It isn’t making all that much sense and I get the impression it isn’t suppose to. It seems like four or five movies all rolled into one with no connection between them. The two lead actresses have quite bizarrely got together for no reason at all. (Although a rule of thumb that in every movie the two cute lead actresses should get together on screen wouldn’t be all that bad a thing.) And now, not even ten minutes later in a scene that prompted the words “What the fuck?” they start at it again and it comes close to turning into a rape scene but now ends up being a solo scene. I officially now have no idea at all what this movie is about. Did I mention it was written and directed by David Lynch?

I am hoping the last 40 minutes make more sense but I am now reading Salon’s Everything you were afraid to ask about “Mulholland Drive” guide alongside and I’m still confused.

EDIT:
Ok, the movie is now over and I have read the entire guide to it. I have no clue what I spent the past 2 hours and 15 minutes watching. I I would like to note two things here. The movie hurt my head. The guide to the movie also hurt my head.

I can’t even tell if I liked or enjoyed the movie. I don’t understand anything, I am so very confused.

Great cast, shit movie.