A stuttering start. Yesterday I:
- Finished reading LOEG Century: 1910. It's a good read, but as much as it has been billed as a stand-alone, it very much feels like a first chapter. Which is fine, given that it will serve as part of a greater story. Not that there aren't aspects which are sewed up within the issue, and the dominant Threepenny Opera musical moments will I suppose be specific to this issue alone. I wonder if the following chapters will continue with the musical numbers. Anyway, unsurprisingly, I recommend it highly. Due out late April and I guess I would be remiss to plug the fact that Gosh will be having a signing with Moore and O'Neill when it comes out.
- Finished reading Total Film, which I had picked up on mine and Alex's daytrip on Saturday (did a 17km country walk out in Sussex - very nice!) As much as Total Film is a puff-piece mag, I do enjoy having a flick through to see what's coming out in the month and even the upcoming film features are somehow more enjoyable to read than they are online. I'm going to try and get to the movies a bit more, perhaps setting Monday evenings aside for it. Just been missing too much good stuff.
- Worked! Always strange, that first day back at work after a period of time off. Still, it was nice to start back on a Sunday and ease myself back into things. Lots going on (surprise surprise), with some library stuff to deal with. Fairly short staffed too, so spent the morning on the till. Exciting stuff!
- Met up with Doug and Tom for a couple of drinks and a catch up, which was very pleasant. Something else I intend to do a bit more of, especially now summer is here.
- Watched the final episode of Battlestar Galactica which, despite not explicitly answering a number of questions, was a fully satisfying conclusion. I particularly liked the way in which they took their time to wrap things up, bringing the focus firmly back to the characters over the plot. Good work.
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Monday, March 23, 2009
Things I Did Yesterday 23/03/09
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Things I Did Yesterday 21/03/09
Oh why not? Yesterday I:
- Felt rather spaced out for most of the day. If you don't know, I've been away in Sydney for the last two weeks for a wedding. Just long enough for my body to properly adjust to the new time zone, so although I managed to get a proper nights sleep on Thursday I still spent the whole day wandering around feeling as though I should be asleep.
- Attempted to sit down and get caught up on emails, web reading and general life admin. Didn't do terribly well. For example, I overspent terribly on my trip and had to borrow from our joint account, which I need to now sit down and calculate a repayment plan for. Couldn't really face that, so I went to the movies instead.
- Saw Bronson, what on the surface appeared to be a Chopper-like biopic of the man glorified by the tabloids as "Britain's Most Violent Prisoner". Charles Bronson (formerly the much milder-sounding Michael Peterson) has - apart from two brief periods of about 2 months each - been in prison for thirty five years, thirty of them held in solitary confinement. They actually have a separate unit set up for him and two other prisoners who are considered too much of a danger to other prisoners and guards to be held on standard cells, though he has apparently not been involved in any violent incidents for the past seven years. Certainly an interesting character, who has also won awards for his art and poetry produced while inside, as well as written a fitness book based around the regime he developed in solitary confinement.
I'm always a little sceptical about this kind of film. I loved Chopper, but it can't be argued that it didn't glamourise the man. Oh sure, he's horrible and there's an attempt to lure you in with his roguish charm then horrify you with the reality of the man, but I can't help that a number of people come away from that film more entertained than anything. Bronson looked much the same, but I'm pleased to say its anything but. I think the kind of guys who would like to glorify a man like Bronson will come away from this wondering what the hell they had just watched. It's art-house through and through, sometimes annoyingly but mostly to good effect. The narrative is unconventional and although it may seem to begin with that Bronson is being set up as something of an anti-hero, by the last scene its clear he is anything but. Not that it condemns, per se, but rather just underlines how tragic he is. There is clearly something in him that can't be fulfilled, a kind of gnawing hunger that has hollowed out his existence and stolen his life away. At least, as portrayed by the film.
All in all, an effective peice of film carried by a fantastic central performance which plays against expectations. It's still sitting with me this morning, which is a good thing.
- Stopped by work and picked up the last couple of weeks worth of comics to read, which I haven't really touched yet. Oh, for those who might be jealous of such things, I also grabbed the uncorrected black and white galley for The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Century: 1910, the first issue of the new series from Messrs. Moore and O'Neill. Started it on the way home but haven't gotten around to finishing it yet (unlike previous series, this is coming out as three 80-page one-shots, each set decades apart over the course of a century). It's curious, reading LOEG with such a different line-up, but I'm warming up to it. It's nice and dense with several strands being set up, including Nemo's daughter struggling with her destiny, the return of a serial killer and Mina and the boys (and boy/girl Orlando) looking into an occult threat which looks to be the overarching plot for the series. So far so good! Nice to read in B&W too.
- Popped out and met Alex for a drink after work with a mind towards getting some dinner and just about fell asleep in the pub. So we came home, got some takeout and chilled.
- I started watching the third-to-last Battlestar Galactica and fell asleep. Woke up just in time to see the credits come up. Went back to sleep.
Sunday, March 01, 2009
Something I've Been Meaning to Post
Unbelievably I've been meaning to put this up for about a year now, but I was waiting until I had uploaded them all to Flickr. Well, I'm still just uploading NZ, so I thought I'd just get this done now while I have a couple of minutes. My absolute favourite photo from Bangkok, if not our whole Antipodean trip from last January lies below the break here. The story is this:
We were on Khao Sahn Road on our last night in Bangkok, just having a couple of beers and watching the world go by. For those who've never been, Khao Sahn Road is backpacker central. It's quite tacky and tourist-geared, but definitely toward the younger, beer chugging set. So it's nice and cheap and there's a lot going on. Anyway, we were sat in the bar and I noticed a larger guy come in with a Thai girl.
Now, I don't think it's anywhere near as bad as it used to be, but you still see what I might charitably describe as a number of "unlikely" pairings when walking around Bangkok. I'm sure many of them are perfectly wonderful love stories, but I get the feeling many aren't.
So this guy came in and sat down with this girl and they proceeded to sit in an increasingly uncomfortable silence. No conversation, the guy fidgeting and looking a bit miserable really. The girl looked everywhere but at him. This wasn't the vibe of a couple who have had a fight, but rather two people who just aren't clicking. This was great, I thought, a wonderful opportunity for me to get a photo of something which I had so keenly noticed around town over the previous few days. I got the camera out, all casual-like, sitting it on the table, turning the flash off. All the while chatting to Alex, I glanced down occasionally to line up the shot from the table-top, resting my hand on the camera like some kind of master spy. Brilliant. Looking at Alex, I gently pressed the shot button.
Now, the shot that I was expecting, that in fact I got on a second try, was this:
But the shot I got upon initial inspection, the shot that had me do a quick double-take, was this:
HOLY SHIT!
My initial reaction was of course - me being me - GHOST! Perhaps this woman was some kind of restless spirit, returned from the dead and luring this man back to God only knows where in order to exact her revenge on all men. A cunning ruse, unmasked by my trusty camera.
Or perhaps someone just walked past at the wrong time.
But still, I love it! I love the possibilities of it. I love the fact that no trace of the woman remains; that you can even see the back of her chair, she's so perfectly obscured. Fucking brilliant!
So now that's done. Hoorah!
Wedding Wishes
We received our wedding gift from Mr Jon Chandler the other day, which I'm thrilled to present below! It's a portrait which, to be honest, captures mine and Alex's day-to-day life pretty well...
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Credit Where Credit Is Due
I should really have mentioned that my book choices were made based on the recommendations of David N. over on his excellent We Can Rebuild Him blog! So far its two for two, though my next read is the third book in Joe Abercrombie's First Law trilogy.
Fuller update coming soon!
Thursday, February 05, 2009
Something. Anything.
So my week of nothing continues apace.
I'm reading Joe Abercrombie's Before They Are Hanged, which is every bit as enjoyable as the first book in the series. One curious thing has happened though: after barely any mention of it in the first book, or for two thirds of this one, suddenly there's sex everywhere. It's handled well and doesn't feel out of place with the relationships between the characters, but it's a little odd.
I've decided I need to read something a little different next (if I can resist going straight into the third book in the trilogy), so I've ordered Cold Skin, by Albert Sanchez Pinol, The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolano and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz. I've also got Aravind Adiga's The White Tiger on audiobook to listen to on the walk into work. Whichever I decide to pick up first, it'll be nice to read something with no swords in it.
Not much else to report. Got James' stag do this weekend which should be fun. Work is going a little crazy as all the libraries try to spend the last of their money. And my wife is as cool as ever.
Oh, and a month from now I'll be winging my way to Sydney (vis Seoul)!
Monday, February 02, 2009
JaNoWriMo - A Round-up
Little bit snowy today!
So, the whole novel writing thing is done and suddenly I feel a little lost, as though a rug has been pulled under me. Don't get we wrong, I'm very happy not to be waking up with a word count ahead of me, but I had a month of driven purpose which has now come to an end and it's a slightly odd feeling.
But what did I learn?
Discipline
It was amazing, really, how good I was about keeping up the work throughout the month. I have never been one much for self-discipline, but setting myself these firm daily targets worked a treat. I took it very seriously and so I made the time for it when it needed it. I was lucky, in that I already had daily time set aside for writing which was just about enough for what I needed. I certainly fell off the wagon once or twice and so near the end I was having to use evenings as well, but to be perfectly honest, outside of the last couple of days, the project actually had very little impact on my normal evening activities. Well, except for the fact that I felt a bit knackered.
Style
I was certainly brought face to face with my limitations as a writer, at least as the writer I am currently. The lack of real prose work for a number of years definitely shows in what I was doing. My writing felt blunt and clumsy, with no real gift for descriptive work. I wouldn't say it felt beyond me, but it definitely felt as though that particular set of skills were atrophied. That's not to say there was nothing to be happy about. I occasionally churned out a neat turn of phrase or a nice piece of action. The character work wasn't a total dead loss either, though still (always, really) needs some effort. The overall effect of being confronted with this was quite disheartening at first: can I actually write at all? That kind of stuff. As I went on, however, I learned to relax into it. I even have the feeling I might be pleasantly surprised by some of the work when I go back to it. I've no illusions about discovering some kind of masterpiece there, but I think there may well be some good stuff.
But the real lesson is: needs work.
Plot and Pacing
I read work by people I know, just blogs and the like by people who aren't employed in any capacity as a writer, who have writing styles that make me feel incredibly inarticulate. Not the style per se, but the sense of flow and structure. I used to pride myself on the structure of my essays. I always approached them as I would have a programming exercise, repeatedly breaking down questions into smaller and smaller chunks. I can tell you one thing though: I have no instinct for it. I approached this novel with a mind towards making it up as I went along. In some ways that was great. I felt total freedom to take the story where I wanted it to go and enjoyed the challenge of writing myself in and out of corners. To be honest, at this point I have very little idea how it all sits in terms of pacing and plot. I'm not optimistic though. Next time I plan to spend some more time laying out the structure. Not to slavishly follow, but rather to control the pace a little more and better allow myself to build tension and character development.
Patience
I must admit, this is a real problem for me. I hate the amount of time it takes to get anywhere while writing prose. Don't get me wrong, I love getting into that flow where suddenly hours pass without you realising, but I do find myself despising the drudge bits. The necessary exposition that I don't really want to go over because I know it already. Silly, really, but I guess that's the ditch-digging writers always go on about. Still, beats real work, eh?
Was it Worth it?
Absolutely. I loved doing it; loved the feeling of purpose while I was doing it and loved the sense of accomplishment at the end of it. I feel my writing has had a real shot in the arm and feel much more confident about tackling other projects that now present themselves. It's the longest narrative I've ever completed, not to mention the first creative thing I've actually finished in years. For anyone who has been dithering over half a dozen projects they haven't quite been able to finish, or really wishes they could get back to doing some writing but [insert reason], I recommend giving this a go. It's a great procrastination-beater.
What Next?
Well, I'm doing nothing for a week, then I'm going to get some journal writing done again as well as start working on a radio-play for young master Tom Crowley. I want to do an adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's Captain of the Polestar. I'm not going to even look at the novel (which I don't actually have a title for yet) until after I get back from Australia at the end of March. I harbour no illusions of it being anything great, but there were at least a few salvageable ideas in there. After that, we'll see. I'm definitely going to do NaNoWriMo again in November and I think I know the story for it, so I'll start prepping that later this year. I think I'll try and stick to one project at a time, as it's too easy to seize up otherwise.
And that was that! Thanks for the support folks, and for those who thought about doing it this time but didn't manage it, let's go for November!
