August has been a slow blogging month. Not sure why - as usual I’ve got a lot of nothing in particular to be verbose about. It’s more of a “can’t be arsed” phase. My Blog Reading has also fallen victim to that. So, dear diary, what have I been doing? Well, I have been…
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So there’s this book meme going around that’s based on the Big Read or something similarly populist and that I found out about at Lisa’s. There are some rules along the lines of having to bold what you’ve read, underline what you love, italacis/ze what you intend to read and strike through what you’ll never read/read again.

I do this more often with films (namely the Top 100 films on IMDB at any one point) but, you know, what the hell. I’ll do this as it’s a space filler.
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Is it possible to write, direct and edit a short film in 30 days?

The answer is, quite obviously, yes. Easily. I mean, you can do it in 48 hours as is evidenced from the plethora of “Make a film in 48 hour” type challenges that some festivals hold. The last time I planned to do one of those, I knocked up a rough first draft of a script in an hour or two but, as is ever the case, the scope and scale of the story evolved into something which would probably require far longer than 24 hours to film (with another 12 hours to edit). Other events intervened to put the kaibosh (sp?) on that though.
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When I started my present contract in Nottingham, I needed a place to live in during the week. I found a nice flat in an old converted mill that was well furnished and at a reasonable rate. For convenience, I decided to rent the flat under my company name but had to jump through some hoops such as credit checks and references before being able to do so. Even though the company has been around for 6 years, it’s only fully been used in the last 2 years so at the time had little solid credit history. In the end, I had to pay 6 months rent up front before the letting agency would let me move in which wasn’t a problem and was actually quite convenient. I’ve got to admit, though, that the entire process made me feel a little like I was in the wrong – like I was some sort of scam artist or potential criminal.
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It’s almost embarrassing to admit but my shiny new laptop has got a cold.

It’s my own fault, really, as I wasn’t paying attention. I also was doing something fairly – but by no means hugely – risky. Let me start at the beginning. Last weekend I got the urge to revisit an old game called SWAT 3 which is a tactical police squad shooter that’s set in real-life LA locations and can be quite entertaining. It’s an old game – released in 2000 or something but I still have the CD so installed it. Next task was to get patches for it which is not as easy as it sounds because a lot of the links to patches and a lot of the fansites which gave comprehensive patch information no longer exist but anyway, I managed to get that done. One problem remained: the game wouldn’t recognise the CD in the drive (which, I reiterate, was a genuine, shop bought, original CD). I was faced with two options: 1) Try to fix it or 2) find a no-cd hack for it (which, for those of you unfamiliar with these things, is a hacked file which allows you to play the game without needing the original CD in the drive).
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… The Dark Knight IS that good.

It’s nearly 24 hours later and I can’t help but think about the film and wonder if I can squeeze in another screening tonight. Already arranged to go and see it on IMAX with a friend but in the meantime, now I’ve had a day to digest, I think I need to see it again.

I haven’t felt like that about a film for a long time.
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As I slipped into my black armoured jacket, pulled on my mask and fired up the ignition, I had to remind myself that I am not, in fact, Batman and that my bike is not, in fact, the Batpod and does not come equipped with missile launchers with which I can blast cars out of the way as I speed back home to the Batcave - err, my flat.

The Dark Knight is fucking awesome. There, I’ve said it. I don’t really need to say anymore because that’s all you need to know and all I can get my head around to tell you. Ah, what the hell - here’s some more (surprisingly spoiler free) thoughts.
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The last time I arranged to see a gig in Nottingham Rock City, it got cancelled because the venue deemed that not enough tickets had been sold and would therefore move the gig to the neighbouring Rescue Rooms. That gig was Einstuerzende Neubauten and I can understand exactly why they cancelled because after visiting the Rescue Rooms last night, while a decent venue it does not have a stage big enough for Neubauten’s equipment needs. The Butthole Surfers gig last night was also scheduled to be in Rock City but similarly ended up in the Rescue Rooms too. What effect this might have had on the band’s performance I’m not certain but I do wonder if being told that you’re going to a smaller venue because the ticket sales weren’t enough would elicit a “fuck you” response from the group.
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November 4th is the publicized release date for Left 4 Dead, a new shooter from Valve and Turtle Rock Studios (who were responsible for new maps and ports of Counter-Strike). The basic premise of the game is familiar to anyone who’s watched Night/Dawn/Day of the Dead, 28 Days Later or, well, any zombie films. You play one of four survivors fighting your way through hordes of Infected/Undead and your goal is simply to, well, survive.

I am pants-wettingly excited about this game.
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We celebrated my father’s 70th birthday yesterday and after stuffing our faces with a gorgeous rack of lamb, some extremely tasty and very ripe brie (and assorted other delicious cheeses), summer pudding, champagne, wine, beer and chocolate cake, it seemed like a good idea to get into a wager with the members of my immediate family. My wife and sister-in-law had more sense than the rest of us pissheads - although thinking about it, my brother was driving and therefore sober so he’s obviously just a bit odd. He’s very much not like me at all.
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