Things I Did Yesterday 06/09/08

Summer's done, man! It's done! But yesterday I:

- Had the day off, but got up early to walk down to Angel with Alex. There’s a Starbucks down there that has a great mezzanine floor which isn’t well used first thing in the morning. It’s perfect for writing and reading, and I’m trying to get into the habit of going there so as to get myself out of the house and doing something productive first thing in the day. I get there between 8.30 and 9.00, depending on Alex, and work through until somewhere between 11.00 and 12.00. That means I get stuff done in the morning, when my mind tends to be a bit sharper anyway, and have the rest of the day to do whatever the hell I like. It works pretty well, as I don’t spend the afternoon fretting about doing something worthwhile with my time, thereby procrastinating myself into inaction.

- Went into town and bought books for Josh’s birthday. I do love shopping for books, even if they’re not for me. I love bookshops. I try to always spend a little time in bookshops on my days off. There’s something incredibly relaxing about them. Frustrating too, given the number of books I want to read but probably never will, but on the whole it always feels like a worthwhile use of time. A Good Thing.

- Came home and pottered about. I had intended to do some organising of stuff, which Alex is hip-deep in at the moment, but never quite got around to it. Bloody internet.

- Watched The Fall, the new film by Tarsem Singh. It starts out well, promising to be something a bit special, like The Princess Bride married to the sensibilities of Guillermo del Toro, and there’s no doubt that the man makes a beautiful film. But it’s ultimately a bit flat. Which is a shame, because it is stunning looking, even though there are a couple of scenes that have taken their inspiration from Ron Fricke’s Baraka. Which, by the way, you should absolutely see.



I originally saw Baraka in the Paramount theatre in Wellington back when it was released. That was great, but I was lucky enough to catch a 70mm print of it playing in Madrid about 5 or 6 years ago and it was mind-blowing.

- Started watching Bill Bryson’s Notes From A Small Island tv series, but stopped after about half an hour. It wasn’t anything special and I think I’ll just read the book. Or get the audio-book. Speaking of which, I’ve started on the audio book for The Lost Continent, which I’m enjoying. I do find the narration a bit jarring though. I’m used to Bryson audio books being read by Bryson, and this is not. But distractingly it is very much his narrative voice.

- Realised that I stopped watching World at War about halfway through. Must get back to it.

- Watched a couple of Wire episodes. Gonna be a kick in the pants when I finish them.