Dream Country

Last night I watched the final episode of Psychoville which was really good. That’s been a really good and pretty unconventional series, mixing bizarre Gothic horror with conventional sitcom elements. It managed to be consistently pretty scary and gruesome as well as being very funny.

Also last night I started writing some of my own things again, for the first time in a couple of months, so that was pretty good.

Today I got into work at eight o’clock again this morning and, because I had built up so much time during the week I was able to leave at around two. I got a couple of The Sandman graphic novels be Neil Gaiman. The ones that I got were Dream Country and A Game of You. The Sandman was a comic book series that ran from 1989 to 1996. The Sandman is Morpheus, the personification of Dream, and the series takes in history, fantasy universes, literature and mythology. The comics were always hugely imaginative and entertaining.

“Things need not have happened to be true. Tales and dreams are the shadow-truths that will endure when mere facts are dust and ashes, and forgot.”
-The Sandman written by Neil Gaiman.

Flexitime

Last night was pretty quiet again. I watched an episode of The Wire, and, when I had got to bed, I listened to the first part of a Lord of the Rings tape. The tape is of a thirteen part radio adaptation of the book from 1981. Each hour long epsiode is on one tape. So I listened to the first half of the first episode.

I got into work very early again, at about eight in the morning, and had another very quiet and pretty dull day. I made about an hour of flexi-time, so I am intending to leave early tomorrow. I left at around five. I was hoping to find a cheap tape recorder. I used to have one, but I’ve lost it.

I had some microwave Singapore Noodles, so that was nice. It makes a change from the usual microwave meals. I’m anticipating it being another quiet evening tonight.

Reading Memories

Last night I got home kind of too late to really do much, except watch The Wire.

Today I once again got into work early, pausing on my way in to renew my bus pass for another month. It was another pretty quiet day, and I left the office at around five o’clock.

I had a microwave chicken jalfrezi curry with pilau rice for my dinner and it was really nice.

It’s been another fairly uneventful day. I was thinking of the first books I read. I always remember my Mum reading the CS Lewis Narnia books to me when I was five. Strangely enough even though it was so long ago I can still remember them really clearly and I can remember my Mum reading them really clearly even today. The first sizeable novel that I read myself was The Hobbit by JRR Tolkein when I was about nine. I think it’s one of the things about fantasy is that aside from any other kind of genre it opens up the imagination.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Last night I was watching the first of a two part documentary called The Scandalous Adventures of Lord Byron hosted by actor Rupert Everett, in which he followed the footsteps of the legendary poet through Europe. It was pretty interesting and entertaining. Later on I watched an episode of The Wire.

I got to work early this morning, and managed to leave pretty early. I went along to the Cineworld cinema to meet up with my Mum. We were there to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, directed by David Yates. It’s the sixth in the series of films adapted from the popular novels by JK Rowling about a teenage wizard studying magic and fighting evil forces. The film is pretty faithful to the book, and hugely entertaining.

After the movie I went along to my parent’s house for something to eat, before heading back home.

Order of the Phoenix

Last night I was watching the movie Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which is the fifth of the movies based on the Harry Potter series of books by JK Rowling. I actually really do like the books, and the films. They are really entertaining. I was kind of put off reading the books for quite a long time because they were children’s books, but they do appeal to all ages. The sixth one is in the cinemas at the moment. I haven’t seen it yet, but I’m thinking about seeing it tomorrow.

I got into work really early today, at about quarter past eight, which meant that I managed to leave early, so that was really good (our work operates on a flexitime system). When I got home I had a microwave chicken chow-mein meal, which was really nice.

I’ve been reading the non-fiction book Public Enemies by Bryan Burrough recently. It was adapted into the film of the same name starring Johnny Depp. The film is different to the book, in that the film concerns itself almost entirely with John Dillinger, whereas the book discusses a whole range of the American gangsters and bank-robbers who were active between 1933 and 1934.

The Secret History

Last night I finished reading the book The Secret History by Donna Tartt. The book was first published in 1992 and tells the story of a student named Richard who goes from California to study at a prestigious university in Vermont called Hampden. Shortly after he arrives he discovers a group of five students who spend all their time together and are the only students to take a course in ancient Greek held by a charismatic and eccentrc lecturer. Richard manages to join the classes and soon gets drawn into the enclosed world of the group, only to find out that the student’s extra-curricular activities are leading to murder. It’s a very well-written book, and very entertaining. The story revolves around a murder and the first half of the novel depicts the events leading up to the killing while the second half deals with the events of the murder on the close-knit group. It’s not really a mystery boook because the identity of the victim and the killer is revealed in the opening pages of the book.

I was also listening to a radio adaptation of The Big Sleep based on the Raymond Chandler novel. Set in Los Angeles, the story revolves around Private Investigator Philip Marlowe trying to track down a blackmailer. It was turned into a famous film starring Humphrey Bogart.

Today was really quiet. I went out broefly to and took a walk around, before stopping off to have a drink and read my book. Then I just went home.

Jekyll and Hyde

Last night was very quiet. I ended up falling asleep on my couch, and woke up at about half past four in the morning, when I got to bed.

I went along to my parent’s house today instead of my usual Sunday visit. We got my groceries on the way, along with some sushi for lunch. After lunch I listened to a radio play version of Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, based on the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson. The story is set in 19th Century London and involves a lawyer investigating the connection between his good friend, the quiet, respectable Dr Henry Jekyll and the violent, psychotic criminal Edward Hyde. It’s pretty faithful to the book. Interestingly enough, the original pronounciation of Jekyll was “Jeek-el”, instead of “Jeck-le” which is more commonly used. The idea was the title was supposed to be a pun on the game “Hide and Seek”.

When I got home, as I was taking a box of nachos out of the bag, the bottom fell out sending cheese, salsa and sour cream all over my kitchen floor.

It’s kind of fun when I go to my parent’s house on the Saturday, because it means that I have the whole of the Sunday to do whatever I want, really.

Twin Peaks

Last night I watched an epsiode of the old Twin Peaks TV show on DVD. I’ve got a box set of the first seven episodes plus the feature length pilot episode. I hope they bring out the rest of the show sometime. The show ran from 1990 to 1991 and is set in the small town of Twin Peaks just on the Canadian border, which is thrown into turmoil when the body of local prom queen Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) is discovered wrapped in plastic in a river. An eccentric FBI agent, Dale Cooper (Kyle McLachlan) is called in to solve the crime. As he digs deeper into the lives of the townspeople, Cooper soon discovers the dark secrets that hide behind the town’s pleasant facade. At the time it was really kind of a new thing, and it became a massive hit. Before long it was followed by shows such as Wild Palms, Northern Exposure, The X-Files and American Gothic.

On my way into work I got a copy of Total Film magazine. It came with a free copy of the book GoodFellas by Nicholas Pileggi, which was adapted into the classic movie by Martin Scorsese. I have read it before about thirteen years ago.

It was another really dull day at work. One good thing was that I did manage to get a ticket to see Richard Price and Clockers next month. Also my headache is better now.

Tape and Wire

Last night was pretty quiet. I watched an episode of The Wire and read some of my book. I was also listening to some more of the Pet Sematary tape. It’s a story about a man who discovers an ancient burial ground which has the power to resurrect the dead. However, those who come back in that way are always horribly changed somehow. It’s a very dark and pretty gruesome story, and the radio adaptation is very faithful to the book. Stephen King once claimed that it was the scariest book that he had written.

It was another very dull day at work, and my headache, which had pretty much cleared, began to resurface as the day went along. I’m feeling okay now, though.

One thing I found out was that novelist Richard Price is going to be in town next month and is going to be introducing a screening of the movie Clockers at a cinema and answering questions about it. I would really like to see that. Interestingly, Price wrote a number of episodes of The Wire, and that same day I have a ticket to see David Simon, who created the show. However Simon is in the evening and Clockers is in the afternoon so I would be able to see both.

About TV Shows

Last night I was watching the first of a new series called Desperate Romantics, which was a drama about the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, a group of 19th Century artists. It was actually quite interesting. I also saw the first episode of the fourth season of The Wire, which was really good. I do find it interesting how so many shows these days seem to be like one story strung out over the entire series (The Wire is always a single story that runs through the whole twelve to thirteen episode season, and each season leads into the next). I do think it can work really well, and it’s very good with the whole DVD box-set thing. Although I tend to feel slightly lost if I come to the show late.

It was a quiet night last night, with no strange noises. Before I went to sleep I was playing a tape of a radio adaptation of Pet Sematary based on the Stephen King novel.

Today was not a good day at work. It was long, annoying, and I ended up with a really bad headache. I was very glad to get home. However, the good thing is that the cold is gone.

I’ve not done any writing for awhile either. I had an idea for a story about two people living in an apartment, which they think contains the entire universe and all it’s contents. It turns out that there is an implant in the brain in one of the people that’s being used as a communication relay by bored and argumentative aliens, while the other one, much to his disappointment, is turned into a small, cute yappy dog. It’s supposed to be a comedy.

I’m also still trying to do the research for the Canada move.