Tuesday, May 27, 2003Project updateShadowheart - out 17th July. Trendy new cover design for it and all Raven books. Raven book six - tripping along just right. Very keen to make this the best one as it might (and never say never) be the last. Raven film treatment - taking a back seat at the moment (sorry Richard but the wait will go on a month or so, I think) New novels project - loads of ideas and potential. Still fantasy of course. Abandoning the genre is not an option. I think it might be big Joint writing project - one play down and in the locker for now. It's got used as a tester for the main event which is underway right now. It's contemporary and if we can get it right, has a very bright future. You read it here first. The weekend's sport - three out of four wasn't bad. And I have to say Cardiff deserved their promotion. Congratulations to all the play off winners. I was where all Wolves fans are now just three years ago. Dear Lord, but it's a sweet feeling. Ipswich next season? Straight promotion if the squad stays together. Play-offs....nnnnnnnnn... while it is sweet to win, nothing is as bad as losing and facing that next long hard season back in the wrong division. Still managed to get a good slug of work done mind. Probably because we rolled the Kiwis over in three days at Lords. Today's shock - girl has bath NAKED. What next in the epoch making, culture shaking Big Brother? (And I still am picking all this up from the media...) Today's whinge, or 'Meldrew' as it should probably be called (and for any who haven't seen One Foot In The Grave, an occasionally brilliant comedy, Victor Medrew is the name of the lead character. It's litter. What is it about London and those that live in it (and I'm probably actually talking about most places in this ought-to-be-beautiful country) that means litter lies everywhere. One prime example that is frankly depressing is Paddington Green, a well-tended patch of pathed lawn I have occasion to walk across from time to time. Every time I happen by, it has paper and plastic strewn about it. And this in a place with more bins per square foot than is actually necessary. The thing is, it is actually impossible to leave the Green without walkng past a bin. Unfortunately, the trouble seems to be either straight lack of respect for the environment, which is bad, or lack of respect for those wanting to enjoy the place after you've dumped your crap on the grass there, which is probably worse. I get the feeling habitual litterers have the notion that someone else will clean up after them so it isn't their problem. (Guess who'll be the first to complain about the rats, foxes and other urban vermin?) And that is most worrying of all as it points to so much that is wrong in a society where increasingly, people are unable or unwilling to take responsibility for themselves or their actions. Someone else should deal with it or someone else is to blame... I may come back to this ill later on in the blog but it's a subject that might lead to essay length entries. Juat take your litter to the nearest bin or take it home. No one else wants to see it. I shall now climb off my soapbox. Film talk - I saw 'Changing Lanes' this weekend. Ben Affleck and the excellent Samuel L Jackson (I may have said Morgan Freeman in an earlier life but that is merely senility kicking in. I have been memory-challenged all week). Cracking film. I'm not going to precis it, just rent it. Enough Saturday, May 24, 2003Stuff...Felt better after that rant about reality TV. And fantastic news for all obsessive sad cases, Big Brother is back. Another 8 weeks of being able to watch people walk around a house. Not something you can see anywhere else. Of course, the benefit is that these people were utterly unknown to almost everyone in the country the day before the series began. Which makes them really intersting to watch, obviously. Having conducted a thorough investigation into the effects on the stomach of consuming as much Pinot Grigio as possible in one evening (stomach lining dissolves, or at least feels like it), I tripped along to the launch of 'The Weavers of Saramyr' Chris Wooding's first fantasy outing for Gollancz. Looks a decent read and Chris is going to be one to watch. Plays the guitar as well (and very well by all accounts). Got to hate talent like that in one so young (says bitter and twisted ex-air guitarist approaching 40). It's the bank holiday weekend. England are playing cricket, there are play off finals and all sorts of other goodness. I'm supposed to be in front of this PC writing. It may not be quite the productive weekend I'd hoped but time will tell. Weekend predictions are these: play off winners: Bournemouth (who have gone 3-1 up as I write this. Sorry, 4-1), QPR, Wolves. Cricket - England (obviously). Here's a thing. I heard someone asked on Radio 5 Live (a truly excellent radio station) whther they felt more at risk in London after the increase in anti-terrorist security measures. He thought that he did. But I disagree. I've lived in London sonce 1986. There has been a threat almost the whole time from the IRA or whoever. You just live with it. But you don't get complacent. I feel we're in danger of being infected with some form of panic from across the Atlantic. The Americans haven't had to face up to the constant niggle before. Welcome to the real world. The one where when you throw your weight around, people don't like it. Where despite your belief you are right, not everyone agrees with you just because you are an elected democracy. My advice - look harder at your foreign policy and don't assume anyone else views the world in the way you do. Don't get me wrong, I think there is appalling inequity in many places in the world and I think countries like ours can have huge positive effect. Sometimes tyrants have to be removed. The problem is, our politicians don't appear to consider the consequences in a logical manner. Tuesday, May 20, 2003A thousand apologies......to any who visit regularly and find this journal ludicrously out of date. Actually, I'm probably saying this to a vaccuum and only have myself to blame but, with the wise words of Ariel in my ears: 'Update your blog and do it more often you lazy git', I thought I should make a new effort. This then, will be by way of a ramble. I have no excuse for leaving it so long. I'm no busier than before in most respects. And I'm just as irritated by pointless TV that for some reason unfathomable to me, obsesses the nation. Yes, I am talking about 'I'm a celebrity, get me out of here.' A more accurate title would surely be 'If I was a celebrity I wouldn't be here.' Do you know 9 million people in the UK watched John Fashanu have vertigo or some such? I wasn't among them but it was impossible to avoid hearing or reading about it. Think I should buy one of those sensory deprivation tanks soon because, oh dear Lord save us, Fame Academy is coming back. And to all contestants on similar shows, you get exactly what you signed up for so don't bother bleating. Take responsibility. Fear Factor people, how dare you look shocked when the plate of raw skunk testicles are uncovered for your supper. What were you expecting, Filet Mignon? Temptation Island people, why are you crying because your boy/girl friend went off and shagged someone else while you did the same? You are there to be paraded as weak-willed betrayers of your partners. Congratulations on conforming. Believe it or not, I've never seen a single episode of any of these misnomered 'reality' shows. You can get the lot from trailers, believe me. And yet, I seem to know more about what to expect than any of the contestants... Could be I'm just a killjoy cynic. Could be a lot of people are more stupid than I thought. Enough ranting about drivel, I'm in danger of giving it credence. Here's some drivel all of my own. Tell you what I am busier doing with no success whatsoever dammit all. Meeting the right girl. Now while there is something liberating about being single... beholden to no one, free to do anything on the spur of the moment, no long silences with more than one person in the room...own choice of music, TV, videos all the time etc... there is something missing. I'll sum it up like this. It's Sunday morning, you've got the papers, the coffee smells divine. So you take it all into the bedroom, climb into bed and there's no one there to enjoy one of life's perfect moments with you. That ain't so good. I always was crap at writing diaries. One of those that as a fall back position would describe food and weather. Very imaginative. So, I won't attempt an every day thing. Frankly, it won't work. But I will have a go at a two or three times a week thing. Ariel, if you're reading this from way over at TheAlienOnline.net, abuse is welcome as and when I slip up. And finally, a quick film opinion. I bloody love adventure films. Those that wash over you, don't try to be too clever but seek first to entertain and succeed in suspending credibility. Sure, if you looked, you could pick holes in them but why bother? Take them as they are. Right up there these days, partly because it's on Sky Movies so I've seen it a few times, is The Mummy Returns. I liked the first one but for me, this is better. Mucks about with mythology, makes no excuses for its heroes and villains and its simplicity makes it work. Just let it happen to you. And if you're reading this Stephen Sommers and are searching for another in the franchise, boy have I got an idea for you (and it isn't anything to do with The Raven, either)... Enough. |
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