Things I Did Yesterday 16/06/08

Sometimes it’s best to cut your losses and start over again. In that spirit, yesterday I:

- Worked from home for the morning. Made up title cards for the interview and inserted them throughout each segment, but was faced by an annoying level of pixelation in the lettering and logo whenever I rendered the finished result out as a movie. After some playing about I think I cracked it, but a frustrating amount of effort for something that’s going to go on YouTube. Still, the more care taken along the way, the less shit it will look in the end.

- Was owed 4 hours, so I took the afternoon off. At least that was the theory. In reality I just dithered around a bit more on the interview.

- Went out with Alex for lunch. There’s a great little Turkish place around the corner called Casaba which is basically a meze joint. Six quid gets you a plate of six different mezes, so we got two plates and shared. Very nice.

- Went home and pissed about a bit more on the bloody interview. Mind you, this is when I think I sorted my problem out, so it was time well spent.

- Made dinner and we sat down and went over wedding stuff. Came across a few problems which I think we came to an agreeable solution on. As ever we had to remind ourselves of exactly what it’s all about. Still plenty to organise, with a month and a half to go!

- Read some comics. I can barely remember what they were, which is a testament to their middle-of-the-road nature. X-Force: Ain’t No Dog had a okay back-up story by Jason Aaron, but is the first thing I think I’ve read of his that felt a bit pedestrian. Not like his current run on Ghost Rider, which is balls-to-the-wall crazy. The lead story was by Charlie "Moon ####ing Knight" Huston, who writes a story that feels very much like a nineties “gritty” tale. Unnecessary. Also notable for the juxtaposition of Wolverine graphically chopping the top off a man's head with the line, and I quote exactly, "Why the #### should I care?" Perhaps it's time for Gore Watch to live again...

- Watched In Bruges, which I loved. Lyrical, funny and not a little brutal, this is the kind of film that re-enthuses me to the idea of doing stuff myself. Colin Farrell reminds you that he can act, Brendan Gleeson is good as ever, and even Ralph Fiennes doing his best Ben Kingsley Sexy Beast impersonation doesn’t grate too much. Actually, I really like Ralph Fiennes, but to hear him put on some kind of cockney accent just doesn’t ring true.

- Started a new trashy bedtime book, a fantasy novel called The Lies of Locke Lamora. Good fun, essentially a heist story set in a fantasy stand-in for Renaissance Venice.

- Dreamt I was running down a platform, chasing a departing train. A part of me knew it was hopeless, but I just couldn’t shake the feeling I had left something important on my carriage. I gave up at the end of the walkway, bent over with my hands on my knees, dejected and out of breath. Not sure what it means.