Message from 'Jimmy Eat World'

Don’t get comfortable.
Don’t be sensible.
Swing with all you have.
Stop me if you can.

Wise words indeed.

:D

http://jahphoto.deviantart.com/art/The-Thinker-57816583

Sneak Peek

SNEAK PEEK

A preview of the up-coming 'Tale of Teeth', in the form of the brief making-of that will be appearing on the DVD.

Contains a few scenes from the film, the cute little girl actress running around and dancing a lot and a very small interview with yours truly.

I can't wait!

:D

Manic Monday (Thousand)

Word of the day, courtesy of Mo, is One Thousand. Technically two words.

A phrase that is often spoken or written or just rudely bandied about, is that “One person can make a difference”. Whilst this is true to some of life’s important exercises, baking a cake for example, I think that the phrase is only half completed. It should read:

“One person can make a difference but the next thousand are a whole bunch more important”

Not as catchy, I admit.

Person #2 through to person #1001 are the key people in these kind of decisions. Imagine a world in which someone made an inspired speech about change, and every person who listened to him failed to do anything. Who really has the power to change things: the lone man or the silent mass?

Where would romantic comedies or sports films be if someone started clapping and no one followed suit? Instead of the infectious clap, a staple of these kind of films, you’d just be left with a weird person clapping on their lonesome.

The only reason these single people get loads of attention is because they are the ones that get to make the fancy speeches and stand on higher pulpits to the rest. But, put anyone on some higher plane of ground and they’ll seem wise.

So whilst it is important to acknowledge the power one lone person can have on the shape of the world, let us not discount the masses. Those brave souls who listened and followed and did what they were told.

Without them, we’d all be weird people clapping on our own.

:P

http://wooxscissorhands.deviantart.com/art/One-in-a-Crowd-77832573

Fayely Gets Older

One of my first memories of Faye takes place in a Drama lesson, in a studio surrounded by curtains. We were performing a ‘Monty Python’ sketch, in which John Cleese teaches a bunch of students how to defend themselves against a banana. I had drawn said banana on a white board, since I was playing the Cleese role.

So remember, drama room surrounded with curtains and a banana drawn on a white board. The scene is set.

For some reason, which time has let me forget, we were both behind the curtain, messing about. Whatever we were doing, play-fighting perhaps, it was causing ripples visible to people outside the curtain.

Faye commented, “I’m fairly sure this seems dodgy.”

To which I replied, “It’d be even dodgier if I told people I was back here showing you my banana.”

And from that lame piece of innuendo, a friendship was born. Maybe. Perhaps the sparks of companionship happened earlier. It isn’t important.

What IS important, is that seven or eight years later I was at her house, eating cupcakes and celebrating Miss Faye Tims turning the grand old age of twenty-one.

She has grown her hair for a bet, appeared in my film, taken part on many adventures to London, bought kittens, supported my need to dress up in fancy dress at least once a month, met my bike Squeaky Bob, fallen out with Squeaky Bob, stayed up late talking with me on too many occasions, got drunk with me on too many occasions, lost money on the It-box, been a loyal reader of both my blogs, becoming infected with my love for Buffy and House…

*BREATH*

…always provided a roof over my head when I needed it (I can now navigate her house in the dark), always provided a lift when I needed it, talked pop-culture with me, provided me with retro toys, stalked cars when asked, and always been there for hugs.

It’s been a fun (Read: odd) few years and I’m certainly looking forward to the next one. And one thing hasn’t changed: the innuendo.

Although now we don’t hide it behind curtains anymore.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FAYE!

:D

Walking In A Surreal Wonderland

Today, I awoke with a double take, something right out of some kind of Warner Bros Cartoon. I reached up to grab my charging phone before retiring back to the warm comforts of bed sheets. It took me several moments to realize something.

Outside was white!

By white, I mean that overnight it had snowed. In fact, forget overnight. I had arrived home from the pub at half-twelve and hadn’t slept until half-three, and it was certainly NOT snowing during that time period. It had snowed in the very brief that I was in the land of nod.

This may not seem all that spectacular in and of itself, but a few other factors have to be taken into consideration. First, it was April, not known for its snow flurries. Second, it happened in the South of England, where it is very rare to even have a white Christmas, let alone any other time of year.

Thirdly, and perhaps what makes it most surreal, was that by the afternoon, all of the snow had melted. A few hours after I got up, it didn’t even look like it had ever been a festive wonderland. It just looked normal.

At this stage, I really wish I had some profound point to make on the subject. Maybe, I could comment on the sorry state of affairs that global warming has put us in (It concerns me a little that I typed ‘global warming’ with capital letters, as if it was the name for some kind of important evil, before changing my mind).

I’ll be honest though, I’m not so much the green activist. Sure, I see the benefits of recycling and will do so if provided the opportunity. I’ve also seen ‘An Inconvenient Truth’, but found a lot of it to be convenient lies. I like snow too.

A rant from me about the state our world is going, climate-wise, would be pathetic, false posturing and a waste of time. Especially when I could rant about the state our world is going, crime-wise, politics-wise or just plain wise.

Another way to round the blog to some kind of logical point or conclusion would be to compare and contrast the surreal climate to my life right now. I’m all over the place, things that I thought were true, weren’t, and I’m white.

The comparisons seem strained though, and I don’t melt in hot weather.

So I guess the best way to sort the situation out is just to stop looking for higher meaning in snow or my writing. Perhaps I should just bemoan the fact that I didn’t get any chance to play in the snow, and follow it with a sad face.

I didn’t get any chance to play in the snow.

:(

http://ginsui-rin.deviantart.com/art/Snow-47046252

Moo!

Cattle grates have one major flaw: cows wearing skis.

Why has no-one thought of this before?

:P

http://kangamoo.deviantart.com/art/cow-character-5599026

Five On Friday: Non-Disney Films Every Kid Should See

Don't get me wrong based on my title: there is nothing wrong with Disney films. However, whilst I feel that Disney films will stand the test of time, and to a certain degree they already have, the films below are ones that I worry will be forgotten, lost in an ocean of films with fancy special effects and current fads.

This can't happen! Each one of these is a gem in story-telling and film-making and the very idea that any of them will be replaced in a child's life by 'High School Musical' or some other teeny-bopper lacklustre effort (Although, in their defense, I haven't seen them) concerns me greatly.

Also, for the purposes of this, Pixar counts as Disney, otherwise it would be a list of five Pixar films.

Hook


First things first, this trailer sucks. I'm sorry, but it was the 'official' one.

Second, this film was slated by people as Spielberg's worst mistake. Harsh words, but then I was a kid when I first watched this. Even as a watched it as an adult, I clung to my memory of it from childhood.

The film has everything a kid could ask for: Sword-fights, food-fights, flying, fairies, pirates, and Robin Williams. It's all filled with such a sense of fun that any down sides are quickly forgotten. Also, Dustin Hoffman IS Hook, in one of those rare cases where actor and character merge and no-one can tell where one begins and the other ends.

The Goonies


I have to admit now, I never saw this as a child, and for that I feel a little cheated. Again this involves both Steven Spielberg and pirates. It works in a similar fashion to Harry Potter; Every kid wants to be a wizard and every kid wants to have a band of friends that find a treasure map.

The film gets quite dark at points, but this is a good thing. I don't think that all kid's films should be happy and upbeat, if only to not patronise our children. The darkness only makes the eventual victory all the greater.

Back To The Future


Everything about this film cements its 'classic' status. Micheal J Fox as Marty McFly, Doc Brown and a speaker blowing the main hero across the room. A time machine in a Delorean, the broken clock, the dance at the end. I mean it. Everything.

Not only will this film entertain your kid, it'll also teach them about time paradoxes, for the future when time-travel will be possible. Very important, I'd say.

Ghostbusters


The one and only film on this list that doesn't have a credit for Mr. Spielberg attached to it.

I saw this film again, as a teen, and was very surprised at the amount of adult content involved. Some parts are quite terrifying and also full of sexual innuendo (Hmm, every time I write that I imagine the Todd from 'Scrubs' saying "In-your-endo!"), but as a kid this was one of my favourite films.

Again, it taps into a base childhood dream, to fight ghosts and have a cool theme tune.

Gremlins


Quite a horrifying film, for someone young, but like Ghostbusters I have to use the yardstick that if it didn't scar me as a kid, then I doubt it would scare anyone else.

Not only does this have small evil creatures blowing up in microwaves and old ladies flying out of windows, it also has a very important moral message: Don't feed gremlins after midnight!

Also, Gizmo is the epitome of cute.

Runners-Up
Indiana Jones - Only left out because with the release of the new film, I doubt it will be forgotten for a long time.
Star Wars - The original trilogy. I feel it is important to get them to watch it before pop-culture tells them who Luke's real father is. Although I watched 'Return of the Jedi' first, and still enjoyed the whole experience.
Lord of the Rings - For the older child.
Any Pixar Film - Sorry, it has to be said. These are the BEST, by a very long way. Smart, funny, visually brilliant and watchable for both adults and children alike. Perfect.

:D

Me Is Grammar Nazi Too!

When used correctly, the English language can be an amazing thing. It can be used to woo someone you love, inspire armies, or transport people to faraway places that don't exist; a good piece of prose makes you forget that someone took the time to arrange the words and construct the sentences.

Used wrongly, which is ever so often the case, it grates, feels forced and makes you well aware that some monkey-idiot must have mashed the keys or held some kind of crayon (All he can manage) in his un-dexterous fist and scrawled what could barely be recognised as anything approaching the English language.

It seems like lately I've been becoming more and more aware of the way language is constructed and what makes a good sentence. I've been busy on my dissertation, but have been stopping every few minutes or so just because I don't like the way the sentence reads. Usually it is just a case of using a comma or not using a comma, or using a colon instead of a semi-colon. But I can't continue unless I fix it, make it sound right.

Part of the reason for this, I feel, is 'The West Wing', in which they spend a lot of their time discussing the way words sound whilst writing speeches. Not only has it taught me rules about the cadence of words, but has also taught me some new ones: effete, incendiary, and the aforementioned cadence.

Another part of the reason is this very blog. Since I'm writing almost every day, excluding when I cheat, I get more of a chance to examine how I write, what works and what makes me want to hang myself. It is also quite interesting to compare how I'm writing this now, and how I'm writing my dissertation. I've trashed a thousand words of it, just so I could start again and write more casually, like I am now. Why? Because I write better like this, argue my points better, and it is just more fun.

The last little bit of the reason is that I'm spending way too much time talking to Emma who, put nicely, is very articulate and who, put nastily, is a grammar Nazi! This is a girl who corrected herself on 'Messenger' when she put "Isn;t" instead of "Isn't". Pedantic much?

I'm starting to feel like I did after a year of 'Media Studies' when I could no longer watch a film without analysing it. The negative side is that I'm spending too much time deconstructing sentences and most people don't care quite as much as I do. On the plus side, good writing means more now. I appreciate good prose so much more now, because it has passed my grammar tests.

It is a shame then that most people don't write well. It's true. You go blog-trawling and you'll discover a weird and wonderful world of spelling and grammar mistakes. No paragraphs, no commas, sometimes no full stops.

Seriously people, full stops are basic grammar! They should be the first thing you are taught in school. Without them, your writing drones on and on and on and on and, you get my point now?

Without paragraphs and commas, your writing becomes an unstructured block. That is a fact. It is hard to read and, you know what, I won't. Unless you have something really interesting to say, I won't make the effort. And if you're writing without commas and paragraphs, whatever you're saying probably isn't that interesting.

But this is all the tip of the iceberg, and only really a problem if you're writing professionally or faux-professionally (As in blogs). My issue with the general public is their utter laziness of spelling. I can deal with lack of commas, but 'u' isn't 'you'!

Quick aside: Yes, I do use 'u' to mean 'you' whilst conversing on MSN, as well as 'ur', 'wanna', etc. This just helps speed up what I type, making the whole thing resemble a real conversation.

'Lyk' is not a suitable alternative to 'like', or a word at all. It is one letter longer, and I don't get why someone would prefer it. 'Gr8' too, is not great.

Yes, I am a believer in the idea that language must evolve to fill a need in current society. But I will also happily highlight to any language mangler that the four most important words in that sentence are 'to fill a need'! Of course, with the invention of mobile phones and, arguably, the Internet, our language needed shortening to fit the form, resulting in the invention of 'gr8', 'lyk' and 'n00b'. But no-one, beyond lazy idiots who cannot see the beautiful form language can take, is asking for these new words to be used in letters, e-mails, blogs, or on TV (Newsround, I'm looking at you)!

Spell check exists for a reason. You can easily find grammar rules on the Internet. Even if you're still confused, get someone else to proof read your writing. Don't accept lazy grammar any more. Take a stand against it right now, before you turn on the TV to find yourself watching '7-3 4PPR3\71(3'

:D

PS. I understand that some people's reaction to this will be to look through what I have just written and find any grammatical or spelling errors, just to point out how high and mighty I've been, despite the fact that I make mistakes too. Let me help you with that.

I use commas way too much, you'll notice that I often cite three things when listing stuff and yes, places that don't exist can't also be faraway. (<--- Notice the rule of three again!)

Any spelling mistakes are probably typos.

The difference is that I know of and care about the rules before I bend them slightly. I know that 'alot' isn't a real word, but use it as a casual alternative to 'a lot'. And I know you shouldn't begin sentences with 'and'. Also, anything in brackets is not important enough to be there (But I like having witty asides).

I'm not perfect, but then who is? If only people who do things correctly were allowed to complain, the 'Daily Mail' wouldn't exist.

PPS. Every time I look at the title, it makes me cringe.

http://jaydler.deviantart.com/art/Grammar-Rocks-25028431

This Blog Isn't About Anything

This blog isn't about hangovers or the dangers of alcopops.

This blog isn't about viruses and evil advertising campaigns.

This blog isn't about Limewire asking stupid questions.

This blog isn't about the merits of Muse over the Goo Goo Dolls or about balloon acrobats.

This blog isn't about steak or greasy mushrooms.

This blog isn't about 'The Apprentice' and its interesting editing choices.

This blog isn't about my kinky sexual preferences and especially not about Alan Sugar involved in them.

This blog isn't about Stephen Fry's Scottish accent.

In fact, this blog isn't about anything at all.

It's probably not even worth reading.

:P

http://skywarrior81.deviantart.com/art/Nothing-Happened-64471017

Fools

This morning brought two pieces of bad news, when I woke up. The first, that it was WAY too early to be awake, was predictable, as I'd set my alarm for that time.

The second, heard on the radio, was that the EU had decided to pass a law which would replace the pint glass. Beer would now be served in half-pints to curb binge drinking. They would also be plastic glasses, instead of glass.

After climbing out of bed, I raised my fist to the EU, which at that time were hovering over my room in my mind, and shouted "You can take my pint glass, but you can never take my FREEDOM!".

Then I remembered what day it was.

So yes, I may have been 'got', but it made it very entertaining to listen to people ringing into the show and bemoan this state of affairs and how the world has become such a nanny state.

Fools!

:D

http://loki-88.deviantart.com/art/The-Fool-17052736