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July 26, 2003
This Week
Well, in most ways, this week hasn't been as bad as previous weeks, but in others...
The main news is that the virus that mum and dad caught last week latched onto me, but while dad is pretty much just grumbling and making it worse than it is, I have just come out of having breathing problems and dizzy spells (I feel better today, but it will strike again next week - it always comes back), and mum was admitted to hosital earlier this week and is still there because of it. She has problems breathing at the best of times, but apparently wasn't taking in anywhere near enough oxygen. I hope to be going up to see her this afternoon after the shopping, etc.
Ah yes, household duties.
Now, I don't mind cooking, cleaning, etc, but dad is so unhappy about mum not being here that he is basically 'slobbing-out'. I have to admit, I haven't exactly been perfect (I wash up in the morning, but considering what little I'm eating as I'm taking the chance to diet!!!), but to leave crumbs,smears of butter and jam and stuff on the worktop is just icky. And I know I've just had to clear my bedroom so I could see the floor (it's untidy again now, cos I'm doing something), but having to do the same each day to see the sink and worktop? It's like the last days of the Big Brother house (am I the only person not to have watched a single bit of this?). Ah well, hopefully she will be out on Monday, and no doubt will run herself stupid tidying up after us... even if we try to stop her (and I will, believe me).
As far as work goes, I've been co-opted onto a big policy sub-group (they only asked me to go to a loan store meeting in Accrington!), and on Friday my ex-boss managed to nag me for 10 minutes when I took hima copy of a paper from the meeting. Plus ca change. Otherwise the usual run of annoying/boring/irritation people, and even some clients. A few things have conspired to make me a little happy, though, like a plan I'm working through to pull me from the doldrums (but is currently depressing me as somethng isn't here yet from Germany that really should be!). Still, it could be worse.
Oh - and James & I battled through a lot of Will Rock last night (until 1.30+!) so I'm knackered. I agree with him that the game seems to work hard to piss you off -the number of enemies is scary, and the design of some of the levels...
And now I have to do the shopping, the washing, the ironing...
Posted by Badgers at 08:22 AM | Comments (5)
July 22, 2003
And The Hits Just Keep Coming...
Yeah, I hit something today.
But don't worry - the only victim is a shredded rear tyre! I was heading to my 3pm apointment on the M65 when I saw something in the road - it was too late to do anything - the next thing I know is a noise and suddenely the car seems a litle less responsive all of a sudden... I pulled off at the junction I was approaching an parked in a car park in Barrowford to assess the damage. I managed to get the tyre off and put the spare on - yet another annoying little expense, but what do you expect when the service is fast approaching!
And it seems something else has gone terribly wrong at work for me... I wonder why I twitch so much when the phone rings/someone approaches me/anything at all happens? Still, it isn't quite as bad as last week was... well, not yet anyway, though I do have a bad throat, terrible chest, I've been sick once today and now there's blood in the phlegm I'm coughing up. Still, just a week and a half to go until my week off... and the car's service... and a week of not knowing what the heck has gone wrong now at work...
As I say, the hits just keep on coming... expect me on pills by the end of the week!
Posted by Badgers at 05:58 PM | Comments (0)
July 18, 2003
My Head Hurts...
This week looked like going well, if it hadn't been for vegetating on the XP training course. And then getting back to work on Wednesday to find something that wasn't my fault going horribly wrong. And Mum and Dad starting to really come down with the sniffles. And an annoying client who had stormed off after the appointment before his overran, sending a rather nasty letter of complaint (which was 'lost' by managers, then another, and finally letting us know in no uncertain terms that I was a dumbo and had messed him around. All this, when we hadn't met, and all subsequent attempts to make an appointment with him were blown off by him!) And don't get me started on other stuff...
All in all, I come out of this week more depressed than usual. James' wife Marie papped her horn at me and told James at home that it looked like I'd had a bad day. If only she knew! Sigh. It's so good to have a website to share this crap on!
I have a Plan though, and while it isn't a great one, it will give me a new focus and hopefully raise me from these doldrums. I won't say what it is, but sadly it doesn't involve proposing to anyone. Like that would make me feel better!!! You can tell how bad this week has been when you see my latest Dream Diary - if I fought to stay in a world as screwed up as that one seemed to be, what does it say about this world?
Ah well - the weekend is here, and I intend to spend much of it on stage one of the big tidy-up - well, stage two as I started it ages ago, but never got round to finishing! Its a bit symbolic to tell you the truth - and I have to find stuff to sell on Ebay, so it's practical too. I hope to see the floor by Wednesday!!!
See! I can be happy and light-hearted... just not at the moment...!
Oh - and on getting home I find that a local nutter has been arrested for two murders nearby... Burnley is definitely the Place To Be...
Posted by Badgers at 10:31 PM | Comments (2)
The School Bus...
Ever had a dream you really didn't want to wake up from? Even though you know everything is wrong?
I'm getting ready for school, despite being the age I am now... James knocks at the front door, I go down, and we get onto the school bus outside. We get on board and sit with a tall young guy and a nice blonde woman. For some reason, all four of us are going back to school - school uniforms and all. The school is Towneley, though we are wearing red jumpers with a yellow lion on them. We chat about allsorts while the bus wanders through Burnley (at one point the tall guy asks if I'm 'in colour', as I look really tired and washed out (why is everyone such a good writer of dialogue in dreams?), and later once we swap seats (I get a numb bum in the corner) about getting better jumpers becaise he'll grow out of this one in a few weeks...)
As th bus goes round we all chat, the girl (whose face I know from somewhere) sits on James' knee, but when we swap seats she sits next to me and we chat. By now the bus is heading along St Andrews Street past my old house, (how it got there don't know) and goes down Ryland Street.... only to do a u-turn and come back up (narrowly missing a metal staircase). We look at our watches at the bus stops on Briercliffe Road and we get off (after noting that if we stay on, and the bus ever gets to school, we can at least say the bus was late!). I realise I have only my slippers on my feet - I dash back with the others waiting for me (though the direction we are going is Barden, not Towneley) and go through the door - the house is being done up a workmen are downstairs with mum planning stuff, and the floor is bare on the landing. I go into my bedroom and slip my shoes on, and I think 'why are we all so good at writing in dreams' (see above)... then the sky starts going dark, and a light comes towards the house drom the distance... it quickly becomes a badly superimposed old series Enterprise. By this time I have realised I am in a dream, and fight (literally) not to wake up - this seems like such a better, if weirder, world... I crouch by the window wishing it would stay... but then I woke up for real to this place.
Bugger.
Hmm. I don't recognise anyone in the dream personally (apart from James, natch, and the fact that the girl was familiar), but this one was odd. The school uniforms (red jumper with lion on it - from Harry Potter - maybe the Gryffindor prefects jumpers? That might make the tall guy an older Ron, and The girl am oldr Hermione even though they looked totally wrong) were interesting... but this was not the usual 'school' type dream. No corridors, no nothing, just a double decker school bus.
I wonder if any of it stems from what James was talking about on the night out... (I didn't put it in there as Marie might have read it and clouted him!), but he wondered what all the girls at school looked like now, 15 (!) years on... Now there's a thought to conjour with... I think half the girls and women who see me and come over to chat while I walk round town are from school, which is probably why they know so much about me, and I know zip all about them. But then, Jamius is a perv, so that explains his interest!
Ahem.
I can get where the workmen come from - first, yesterday morning I woke up to find a workman had come round to fit a hanging basket bracket as part of a community thingy (lots of hanging baskets to get rid of the drug dealers!), and the fact that I'm spending much of this weekend (and the week!) doing my bedroom. The Enterprise is in my head as James had mentioned that the old ship was in the mod he was trying in Freelancer. The slippers were possibly from the same source that drops you in all your naked glory in the middle of the supermarket frozen food aisle...
What really got me is that when I realised it had to be a dream, I actually fought to stay there! Shows how messed up real life is!
By the way - you wouldn't believe how many spelling mistakes I managed to put in this entry this morning... spoonerisms and total dyslexia abound - between that and my grasp of numbers (if I see more than two numbers together in a phone number, say, 0162 7564446, my brain hurts - there really MUST be something wrong up there...)
Posted by Badgers at 07:41 AM | Comments (2)
July 15, 2003
Look! Gran Can Suck Eggs!
Well, I'm just on the second day of my training course at the moment - at least after this I'll be able to use a decent system at work at last. Well, half-decent, considering that it is Micro$oft!
I have actually learned a few bits, but not much to really set the world to rights, or that I'll be using too much... but hey, if you want sparkly text, you can have it!
Jamius nagged me for a while last night when I showed him the mobo I'm hoping to get... and he kept showing me others he'd found on Ebay... not many of them running at 333mhz on the FSB, never mind 400! I think I'll wait for the dosh to get an ABIT NF7-S... it'll run at 333 with decent paired (remember that Nick!) memory, has Serial ATA and is ready for 3000XP+ Barton chips, or the hugely expensive 3200XP+ chips... should be futureproof for a couple of weeks!!!
Time for that Lottery win, methinks!!!
Posted by Badgers at 11:35 AM | Comments (1)
July 13, 2003
Yawn...
Well, I'm knackered, but there are no after effects of last night besides that - heck, even my last entry makes some sense! I still have a voice too! Still, it wan't much of a drinking night, was it? Though how James managed to screw the ball off the table and into the fireplace still has me in stitches when I think about it... talk about pride coming before the fall... We also wondered what would have happened if anyone, say, a girl, was there and it landed in her cleavage... would you have to play through, like in golf? And would you need a niblick... or just get a slap for your troubles? Oh, and Nick and his eyesight... I've realised why he goes for the older woman so ften, even when he gets up close enough to see them! He needs the tactile feedback - he uses braille!!! (Mee-ow!!)
Something that was fun was watching an inebriated fly land upside down (well, crash land) on the table in the beer garden at the Swan... Jamius being considerate flicked it off the table to it's doom.
Another thing - have you noticed how when you go into a pub or club, the chairs and tables are arranged in a certain way... but they soon move about and before you know it the people sat in front of you have moved ten feet to the right... or they return from the bar to find the table gone to the other end of the dance floor. It's almost unnoticable! You never see anyone pick up a chair (excepting those times when the guy asks if he can borrow the seat), and yet, they move. It's almost organic! And then there are the times when the chair just jumps out from under you as you sit down, though I fear that may have other causes...!
Anyway - just forgot to add another link in yesterday evening's 'blog (it was quicky rushed together before rushing out, but I didn't get a stitch in my side like James did when he ran down to met us at The Swan!). Y'see, I'm gathering sites like Badgers to link to for a specific Badgers Links page, rather than the one at RNP... Last night I gave you Dicks Without Chicks, here is another silly site... Minced Chicken! Funny news items, lists of odd things to do... Oddly enough, Badgers has been slowly becoming a meld not unlike those two sites over the past months, and I only just found them yesterday afternoon!!! There must be other people like me out there... and that worries me...
Posted by Badgers at 06:47 AM | Comments (3)
So,The Night Out, Then...
...was not quite as good as usual, for various reasons. The main one being that the Chicago Rock didn't open until at least 10.00, by which time you have to pay (usually its free before 10pm), probably due to the work being done to the Iron Works upstairs... Instead, the majority of the time was spent in the Garden Bar, which is every bit as gay as it used to be... - heck, I was even propositioned in the loos! Someone was asking me about my shoe size (ie clod-hopping)... That's not to say that there were no nice women out there, but nothing comared to the usual haul you can get in the Rock...
For a change, we tried the Cross Keys, and to be fair, its a different place to what it used to be last time we were in there, but it was dead - even after midnight there were hardly any people there. Maybe it's the summer holidays, or something, but the joint just wasn't jumping like it usually would be.
The best thing all night happened there, though, as Nick put 30p in the pool table and me and him played a game. Of course, he is pretty crap, and I don't just suck at the game, I blow! Anyway, James was watching and was laughing at my ineptitude, so he took over, and promptly struck the cue ball and knocked it into the fireplace... Laugh? I nearly wet myself!!!
Sadly, though, Nick had been on a fun day at work, and so was pretty knackered - in fact he didn't finish his drinks so I ended up drinking twice as much as the other two... and I'm not as far gone as usual. If I was, I might have got up and danced at the Garden Bar, but due to the clientele, I decided better of it. Sigh.
I also spotted something that will go on the list of photos to take for the OOPs pages... a locksmith that has closed for business... but has the 'open' sign on the door (that page will be updated once I move Badgers to roguenoid.co.uk next month).
SO, we set off home a little (!) earlier than normal - James, Nick and I nattered for a while by the town hall about the next night out (in August, it seems), and a brief bit of planning for Alton Towers (also in August).
So, I finally got Nick to go home to his PC (he has the memory and has left the video card at the shop, AK Computers, to be tested) and came home. Now my bed awaits! See you tomorrow, perhaps...!
Okay - Here's an update with a few extra (and more racy!) bits... Two girls spring to mind from last night, but neither for that reason!
The first was a blonde in a lot of demin - well, apart from the skirt. She was dancing like, well, a nutter! Thin as a rake, tall, and totally out of her tree! Still it gave us something to watch in the Garden Bar.!
The second was kinda the opposite. Smaller, fatter, and not quite as much denim - just in the skirt (what there was of it). And she certainly wasn't dancing. And not something to watch. Though she tried to make us. Especially sitting legs apart while modestly (!) adhusting her skirt to show less (and failing miserably!). Luckily, a large (read 'fat') bloke started to... well, not dance, exactly, but move. Look at it go! Whee!!!
Posted by Badgers at 02:18 AM | Comments (1)
July 12, 2003
Goddess Help Me...
...'cos I'm about to go out to meet a couple of the other idiots for a night out... There may be an entry when I get home, if I'm sober enough (which I usually am) or if I don't immediately strip off and fall into bed (to wake up at 6 o'clock tomorrow!!!). We shall see!
Also, we will get the latest on the Nick-versus-computer-bits-supplier debacle... the FX card works, but isn't too much faster than the built-in MX on the mobo... and the new memory stick (if it was new) is not working... and he was charged more than the list price for the video card anyway (the seller who will only remain nameless until I remember what it is) said it was £75, but due to the hassle, would let him have it for £60...
Ah well - oh - visit this site - it's called Dicks Without Chicks - these people could be me and the idiots except for a few things - we look far more hansdome (well, maybe not Andrew in the picture on the Mates page!!!), and there are women around us... just not standing so close!!! Check it out!
Finally - just finished the second Memoirs of A Bow Street Runner novel by TF Banks (The Emperor's Assassin) - rather good! And remember that we are just a couple of short days from the finale of Broken Saints!
See you when I'm sozzled!
Posted by Badgers at 08:00 PM | Comments (3)
July 11, 2003
Harry Potter and the Order Of The Phoenix, J K Rowling (Bloomsbury)
Well, due to other things it took a little longer to read this than it might have, but read it I did. James has given a quick run through the other books in his review, and I have to say that I read the first 3 books, one after the other, and then Goblet Of Fire came out at just the right time... but of course the next book took a little longer to arrive, even as a hardback. And what a long wait it has been... but was it worth it? In short, oh yeah.
You may have noticed in the comment I left that I found the opening chapters a little stressful... I stand by that, not just because I've just come out of a rather stressful time myself! The book, while there is a slight feeling of dotting the I's and crossing each and every T with it's mentions of events in other books, and making sure just about everyone you might have heard mentioned previously is seen or heard about, the book is a slightly different beast to it's predecessors...
There is an air of secrets hidden everywhere, and of lies muttered in every corner - this is by far the darkest book in the series so far. Harry, while at the centre of every page, is so out of the loop (the reader will realise much of what is going on before he finally does) during the course of the book that you really have to simpathise with him from beginning to end. All this stress, and taking his OWLs too!
Again, Rowling has pulled the rabbit out of the hat - just when the series should be becoming stale (most fantasy literature loses steam after the third book or so, and often fail to recapture it for the finale) she manages to set up the world for the next two books in the same way that she did at the end of Goblet.
And for those moaning that her writing style isn't very adult, so what - the series is for kids, but like His Dark Materials and Lord of The Rings, it trancends the barriers and even old men read it while watching tennis matches.
An excellent read, for young and old, but be warned that kiddies might find it a little scary as bedtime reading... which is a good thing - 4.5 out of 5 ('cos the last two books will be even bigger and no doubt even farther into the future!!!)
Have you seen the prices that these books were going for on Ebay in the days after release? This rare book (so rare you could go to WHSmiths and pick up a copy from the pile at £4 off!!) was going for tens of pounds... one I saw was heading towards £150!!! Madness!!! A few days pass, and even the copy with pages printed upside down at the beginning (I kid you not!) had only reached £49... If I play my cards right, I may be able to make a fortune by selling my first edition!!!
Posted by Badgers at 05:36 PM | Comments (1)
That was a close shave...
That is one of the most anoying weeks in my entire life over. Well, nearly...
I survived work for the past couple of days because the boss wasn't always in, and I got involved in other things (a meeting later this month at Accrington Victoria Hospital about something or other, various annoying phone calls, etc) to stay out of the way after flooding the boss' intray!!! Still, today hasn't been to bad - yesterday I got a cheap pair of shoes which are nice if a little tight from TJ Hughes, but spent lunch hunting round Winfields in Haslingden for shoes that would fit me and not look like barges... having size 11 1/2 plus feet isn't easy to live with, you know - stylishness is sooo out the window! The nicest I found look a little like giant moccasins, but they are Lee, so not too shabby. And very comfortable - I'll be wearing them tomorrow night if Jamius' plan for going out goes to plan.
I just got home to find that we have two BT Email phones (for the Community Alliance stuff) that I'll no doubt have to set up, and remember back in march when I mentioned the kimono that was damaged from QVC (or Ideal World, whichever shopping network they bought it from)? Well, the replcement is here, and it is lovely.. though not very turquois (maybe it's a dark blue colour there!)
So, onto tonight - I'll be zipping off to collect James to take him to Nick's (convoluted this) to try and sort out his computer problems. Maybe getting the high powered video card he picked up this week for EEK! number of pounds will help... And of course, James is pushing for a night out... if he's that desperate, it must be bad!!! Still, the night out will be fun for me - this week has ben so bad that I've booked a week off in August!
Finally, for the Ayu fans out there, her new EP/double single/whatever & is out, and its not bad - Ourselves is her usual song, ie good, and Grateful Days is so fun it has to be a summer hit! The PVs are pretty good )as usual) too... She seems to had had fun in the latter!
oh - and I finished Harry Potter and the Order Of The Phoenix! Expect my Review this weekend!
Posted by Badgers at 05:34 PM | Comments (0)
July 09, 2003
Momma Said There'd be Days Like These...
To clear a backlog, I've been pretty much confined to barracks this week at work - so yesterday I decided to get bloody minded. My boss wants me to sit at the computer giving her case closures, so I did. Until the computer went down for maintainance at 5.40pm. Then I had to go out to Rimington to deliver a spare textphone to somone. I returned home at 7.15. Add to this advising people on how to use XP (we've just started to switch from an antiquated system called OfficePower to MS Office), and coming home to mum & dad having questions about emails too... It's no wonder I haven't finished Order of The Phoenix yet!!!
Today was a little easier, for some reason - the boss said I didn't need to do any closures for a few days (I'd pretty much flooded her in-tray!!!), and I spent most of the day in the heat buiding a database of suppliers and planning my next PC...
Next PC? Yep - thanks to Nick's attempt (see Jamius' Blog for details - I felt that his style of writing would convey the chaos better than mine!) I decided to set about my own project, just to prove how easy it is. The only problem is that the next incarnation of Ayumi will be at the back end of the year due to finances... but it will be a heavily modded monster!
Sigh. Still, only two more days to go till the weekend, then a two-day course where I learn how to use XP... I think I might take Jamius up on the night out theis Saturday!!! Two of us getting melancholy (me over everything in general, and Jamius over not getting the GeForce4 Ti card off Nick!)...
Posted by Badgers at 05:58 PM | Comments (0)
July 05, 2003
Perhaps he wants Electronics Service Number Sixteen...
...I have the catalogue here somewhere... oops - no silly me, I let the Interossitor I built blow it up didn't I?
Found this today on an old email address I'm checking once in a while. I usually only get crap and emails from Jamius that have gone astray, but once in a while I get something interesting... here's one I received earlier! Feel free to send an answer if you know of a supplier, won't you?
Greetings,
We need a vendor who can offer immediate supply.
I'm offering $5,000 US dollars just for referring a vender which is
(Actually RELIABLE in providing the below equipment) Contact details
of vendor required, including name and phone #. If they turn out to be
reliable in supplying the below equipment I'll immediately pay you
$5,000. We prefer to work with vendor in the Boston/New York area.
1. The mind warper generation 4 Dimensional Warp Generator # 52 4350a
series wrist watch with z60 or better memory adapter. If in stock the
AMD Dimensional Warp Generator module containing the GRC79 induction
motor, two I80200 warp stabilizers, 256GB of SRAM, and two Analog
Devices isolinear modules, This unit also has a menu driven GUI
accessible on the front panel XID display. All in 1 units would be
great if reliable models are available
2. The special 23200 or Acme 5X24 series time transducing capacitor
with built in temporal displacement. Needed with complete
jumper/auxiliary system
3. A reliable crystal Ionizor with unlimited memory backup.
If your vendor turns out to be reliable, I owe you $5,000.
Email his details to me at: info@federalfundingprogram.com
Please do not reply directly back to this email as it will
only be bounced back to you.oqtbnmmygxcw stdzqlwhiy jbelwppex x tgzjr ktbnq
Posted by Badgers at 10:32 PM | Comments (0)
Manchester Journeys...
Wel, today was interesting - lots of little things to see and try not to get involved in... much of it without having to get off the bus! I'd forgotten my bag and the book I was going to read, so I had to look out the window all the way. Normally, this would be boring, but somehow today seemed to want to entertain me...
First, the bus was a little late, but then when the drivers switched at Burnley bus station, a big one got off, and a little one got on. He spent some time getting the steering wheel in the right position, and we set off. Only to stop again as the mirrors were not right. Three times. Then we picked up the ticket inspector who looked at our tickets and noticed that one lady and her sons had only paid for 1 1/2 to Manchester. Not their fault, as she had said 1 and 2 halves, but obviously the driver misheard her... that managed to slow the bus down more. And of course, this was the X44 that goes through Edenfield (though it wasn't a wasted journey as one person did get on - at the edge of Bury!)
Things ran a little smoother (if later) from then on, but as it was so late we were treated to the sight of the Jewish community of Prestwich all heading to/from the synagogue. A question - why is it Jewish people get so dressed up? I mean, forget how Christians (spit) get dolled up for church - these guys, gals, be they man, woman or child, get dressed so smartly, usually all in black with long black coats and those black fedora hats that are soooo black? And do they have to look so incredibly serious about it all? Even the people who had big furry hats on (the fedora's in the wash, perhaps?) I don't mean to seem ignorant of the faith (being a Techno-Pagan-Buddhist-Shinto-Atheist kinda guy), but it all seems so... so... much!
Oddly enough, it was a rather religious day in Manchester - there must be a conference there - as lots of people were out and about with 'Give God Glory' name badges, and there was an old man with a banner proclaiming something about light and truth, and darkness and not truth or something. Sadly not as much fun as a couple of years back when I ws sitting reading in Manchester by the Library and two... lets just say Christians... came over and asked me if I had ever thought about Christianity. I got a book out of my bag on Wiccan practices, and said, "Well, actually, I'm a Pagan..." They actually did a double-take and ran. One of them had eyebrows that would have met in the middle when I said it, except that they already did. Oh, and apparently those people in suits that knock at your door at inconvenient times say that my views are pretty much in accordance with the teachings of the Bible. Yeah, I try not to laugh, but HAHAHAHAHA!
In Manchester there were also two people who obviously didn't want people to realise they were lesbians. Despite the short, spiked hair, the dungarees and the hand holding. And an idiot who stopped the bus on the way in, the driver waited till he'd finished the fag he was smoking (not the brightest of bulbs, our driver, I feel), asked if we went somewhere (we didn't), sauntered off to light another cigarette as we set off again. And also an old woman who waited in the bus stop, the bus stopped to let someone off, but she got up and walked away. I had Waiting in Green Velvet by Joshua Kadison playing in my mind... obviously not the bus she was waiting for then...
Still, apart from coming out of Forbidden Planet with only 3 Battle Of The Planets comics an Astro City and a Strangers In Paradise, and Waterstones not having Patrick O'Brians's Fortunes Of War in , it wasn't too bad. And I did get 2 seasons of B5 on DVD! Note - You can get Season 1 at HMV for £24.99 in the sale bit, and its £37.99 for Season 2 at MVC. Just for those who care...
There - that bus talk should get James interested!!!
Posted by Badgers at 06:33 PM | Comments (1)
July 04, 2003
Thank Goddess That's Over!
Another week, another 7 days nearer checking out time...
Between people dithering (should I cross the crossing while the man is green... ooh - cars... um, should I? Yeah - no.. ummm), No traffic in the mornings followed by loads at the most annoying points in the day (like when I'm already 45 minutes late for an appointment 'cos a colleague wants me to help her get her XP settings done.. and show her how to send emails...
Still, yesterday I had the pleasure of taking an outreach worker with me in the afternoon to show her what I do when I assess, met the new Director of Social Services this morning (nice guy, though I felt he was going to sell me something) and generally hoped that the week would end so I could get home!
Tomorrow isn't too bad though - I hit Manchester and will be coming back with the 3 Patrick O'Brian novels I need and possibly the first season of Babylon 5 on DVD if all goes well (Ah - a credit card with credit again!!! Hmm - maybe I'll wait a tad longer!). We shall see - something tells me I might not spend much there tomorrow... not with servicing on Camille coming up soon...
Later, possibly!
Posted by Badgers at 08:42 PM | Comments (0)
July 03, 2003
The 3 'R's - Remakes, Re-inventions and Re-visioning
Its interesting that when things get updated nowadays, they become 're-visioned' or 'reinvented'. Like Spangles. After all, the audience of today doesn't want to see the same show that they watch in their millions in reruns, right?
Okay, so it worked with Star Trek (as, lets face it, ST:TNG had little to do with the original series, did it?), so why not try it again? Hmm - let's look at the evidence... and I don't mean the re-visioning that is Enterprise...
Doctor Who: Lots of good things from Paul McGann to the new TARDIS control room, but WTF - snogging? A motorcycle chase scene? Half-bloody-human? Not the Who we remember, or really want to see... check out Shada over at the BBC Doctor Who site to see it done well... McGann and Lalla Ward deliver Douglas Adams' lines brilliantly.. but oh to have heard Tom Baker doing it! Oops - I'm digressing!
The Invaders: Oh yes, this will be good - take the classic original series, make it into a miniseries but ignore the ideas behind the original, have the eponymous invaders polluting the atmosphere to terraform it for their own race (and breath exhaust fumes from the back of a car while they are at it), and totally throw away Roy Thinnes...
Wild Wild West: Is it any wonder people stayed away from this horrid creature that had so little to do with the classic 60's series?
The Avengers - No no no no NO!
Some successes exist of course... Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (the 1980 version - use the original star, Kevin McCarthy in a brilliant throwaway gag, improve elements of the original, make it really scary - can you forget the ending? Like ever?)... The Fugitive (the movie just took what it needed, ignoring the wandering-round-helping-people stuff, and it had Tommy Lee Jones in it)... The Addams Family (take only a little from the series, then convert the original cartoons by Charles Addams - masterstroke! And they had Christina Ricci in them)... and of course Charlie's Angels (take the idea, make sure Cameron Diaz can be available (!) and make fun of the series in a modern way, while staying pretty faithful to it. Especially the pretty part!)
And so, dear reader, to the point of this little missive... Thunderbirds, Battlestar Galactica and The new V miniseries... all three are being/have been remade.., but at what cost?
Thunderbirds seems to be coming off far worse of the three - this despite directors and producers saying it would be true to the series. With the Tracy family rather, um, young... but then, they did say they were going for the same feeling as Spy Kids... Of course, having Gerry Anderson on board from the start might have been a good idea, rather than just asking him to pose for photos. Apparently there is a teaser that went out with the Hulk previews, and Thunderbirds 1-3 are apparently not too far removed from the original designs, but while FAB-1 looks nice, it not FAB-1. And not just because it isn't a Rolls Royce. I mean, looking at the pictures so far released, I'm sure Lady Penelope would have a far cooler convertable top on it than that seems to have... it looks pretty shabby compared to a 206CC... See images here After years of waiting, this looks like it will wreck everything... I wish I'd completed my script from a few years ago (never to be sent off, of course) which acts as an updated prequel to the series... as this is supposed to... kinda like Enterprise, I suppose.
Battlestar Galactica on the other hand, seems to be getting a better chance, but some of the changes may disturb die-hard fans... though the Vipers look absolutely right - even James will like them! Okay, I can live with the fact that Starbuck is a woman (somehow a sassy woman with Starbuck's attitude seems right for today - though I have a feeling we will not be so lucky to find a character like Stargate SG-1's Major Carter), and the casting of Edward James Olmos as Adama is fine. I'm not too worried that the Cylons are going to look different (to be expected) or even that some look human (there is a plot reason, however shaky). But it won't be Battlestar Galactica (and not just 'cos the Battlestars are also redesigned). It's a shame that Richard Hatch's planned remake never saw the light of day, as that was a true continuation of the first series. The jury is out, though I hope for some superb FX... Check the offical site here
Finally, lets see about V. Kenneth Johnson is involved. Note how his 'limited' involvement in V - The Series meant that it sucked, while his work on Alien Nation and the sequel TV-movies meant that they didn't. Note original cast members. Note continuation. Shame it is only planned to be 3 hours long - surely a 10-part series a la Taken or Band Of Brothers would do it more justice... ah, but then we might get another little girl popping up with the power to save the world... we shall see. I fear this might be so good that it will drop into production hell, so don't get your hopes too high.
Of course, other series are coming up or (thankfully) in production hell... Quantum Leap is on hold for more than just the reason that Scott Bakula is on Enterprise (the script and plan sounded crap, and no involvment from Donald Bellisario!!! After what happened to Airwolf's final Canada-based season! Blasphemy!), The Prisoner (how likely is it that it will happen? I don't know, but Patrick McGoohan is more than a little involved...perhaps too involved, considering the last episode of the series...!)
Y'know, maybe I will finish the Thunderbirds script and get it online, at least as fan fiction... perhaps once I've finished re-visioning and reinventing I.T. for the animations...
Posted by Badgers at 09:05 PM | Comments (3)
July 02, 2003
How Many Meetings Can One Man Take?
Sigh. Not a busy week so far, except yesterday (3 hours behind on visits and I couldn't find one place at all!). Today, though, was the cracker. First, ths morning was a half-day 'away day' at The Higher Trapp Hotel. This is not a meeting in name, but involved talking about the future of Social Services and should we go for the Investors In People award. Not entirely dull, I'll admit, but by the end of the morning my bum was numb! And my brain was following along quite nicely! Then I had to dash out to see the lady I couldn't find yesterday. I returned to work just in time to start the Team Meeting - fa far more dull meeting during which I have been known to go to sleep... sadly the only seat left was next to my boss, so that was out of the question...
Ah well, at least that is out of the way - and I got some info on my job - apparently in a week or so I won't be covering half of my area, and at the moment they don't know what will happen over there... I sense this will get messy...
Oh - does anyone know how to stop yourself from having to reformat your PC all the time (apart from getting a Mac, of course)? Jamius is having more problems... though at least he sent his "HEEELPP!!!" email to the right address to get an answer within a month...
Posted by Badgers at 05:49 PM | Comments (2)