Blog! 'Sex and the Single Girl' is a lovely girlie weblog, a bit like spending the evening with your mate's girlfriend. The one you keep company because her boyfriend is a bit busy: "I'm pretty lonely at the moment.... I can't even tell Matt this because I know how much he is working.... I don't want him to feel guilty... I just need him alot more than I have him right now. I feel like we dont talk enough.... we only see each other once a week, and only talk on the phone maybe twice....for short periods of time. I feel like I'm being neglected, but I know in reality that he is so exhausted and makes the time anyway... to write me back, to call."
TV Ian Jones of Off The Telly reviews David Letterman: "For 10 or 15 minutes, first standing at the front of the stage, then from behind his desk, Letterman persists in churning out these twee, crass, often embarrassingly crap jokes and observations, to the sound of an acutely corny musical “response” from the band (a comedy drum roll here, a po-faced bass solo and chirpy keyboard riff there). Recurring topics of late have included St. Patrick’s Day - “My cab driver this morning had a green card pinned to his turban” - and Liza Minelli’s nuptials - "This wasn’t a wedding, it was an episode of Love Boat." Naturally the studio audience lap it up, while Letterman’s mock contrition - "You have to understand, I’m not proud of this stuff" - just makes them cheer all the louder." Actually I quite like David's interview technique. Cate Blanchett certainly seemed a lot more relaxed on 'The Late Show' than 'Parkinson' where she looked like she might cry if Mike said anything bad.
Film 'Clockwatchers' was a small-budget film about four officeworkers and they're attempts to stay sane within a stifling environment. It was largely ignored, depite the presence of Lisa Kudrow and Parker Posey. Now the creators, Jill and Karen Sprecher are back with '13 Conversations About One Thing' a meditation on 'happiness' and how to achieve it. This is a fairly standard interview, with a few notable nuggets which should have been remembered the other night:
"We tend to approach stories in terms of character. It's like Aristotle says: Character is plot. If you know your characters, you know how they will act in different situations. One thing we find necessary is to know our ending when we write. The meaning of a movie is ultimately contained in the ending, and it gives us something to write toward."
How many times have seen a film, where the characters are well drawn and interesting, but who are lost in a plot which has been imprinted upon them. Examples to the usual address.
"We tend to approach stories in terms of character. It's like Aristotle says: Character is plot. If you know your characters, you know how they will act in different situations. One thing we find necessary is to know our ending when we write. The meaning of a movie is ultimately contained in the ending, and it gives us something to write toward."
How many times have seen a film, where the characters are well drawn and interesting, but who are lost in a plot which has been imprinted upon them. Examples to the usual address.
Film The Oscars 2002
Which I did stay up for, live. Went to bed at about ten-to-six in the morning, not live. For once, the show was thoroughly entertaining and felt like a celebration of film, not the mutual-backslapping seminar it usually becomes. Before I get to how I did, some moments of note from the live coverage: the cast of the new Spiderman film appearing on stage to the tune of the old TV cartoon ('Spiderman, Spiderman, does whatever a spider can' -- conducted by John Williams no less); anyone who saw the BBC coverage will have visited upon Greg Proops getting a mention in for Clive Anderson and Danny Baker, Dyan Cannon (who ... why?) laughing like she'd never heard comedy this funny before and Tom Conti (oddly name checked by Julia Roberts during the show) looking like someone who wanted to be somewhere else) and Alan Cumming in a stupid white suite; the audience clapping for no clear reason for five excrutiating minutes before the show. So on with the debriefing...
Best Animated Film:Waking Life Not nominated (why?) somehow knew 'Shrek' would win although I didn't love any of the nominations.
Art Direction:Amelie Moulin Rouge, which was to be expected I suppose. Only bone for Baz of the night.
Cinematography:The Man Who Wasn't There The Rings, oddly. Although there were a large number of styles at play.
Costume design:The Rings Moulin Rouge. Again, could have gone either way, although Rouge does have a stupendous number of unique designs.
Film editing:Momento (surely) Black Hawk Down. Surely not. Haven't seen although the clips I have seen seem to be of a traditional war film.
Foreign language film:Amelie No Man's Land. Wierd.
Makeup: The Rings. Quite rightly. Finally I got one right.
Music (score): The Rings. And again. Although a bit of a surprise to be honest considering the competition.
Music (song):Vanilla Sky Monsters Inc. Thank god they finally gave Randy something.
Sound:The Rings Black Hawk Down. See above.
Sound editing:Monster Inc Pearl Harbor. Huh?
Visual effects: The Rings. Yep, pretty much.
Writing (adapted screenplay):The Rings or Ghost World I think this was the moment in the proceedings when I realised eveything was going to go terribly wrong.
Writing (original screenplay):Momento (surely) Godford Park. Just as happy.
Best Supporting Actor:Sir Ian McKellen Jim Broadbent. Again, no complaints.
Best Supporting Actress: Any of them. Jennifer 'The Rocketeer' Connolly, then.
Best Actor:Tom Wilkinson Denzil. Worth it to see the colour drain from Russell Crowe's cheeks.
Best Actress:Judi Dench Halle Berry. You've got to love her.
Director:Peter Jackson Now I've nothing against Ron Howard personally. 'Apollo 13' is a great film. So is' 'Far and Away'. But he's up against David Lynch and Robert Altman. Artists. People whose films you can write whole books about. Nope, see doesn't work.
Film:The Rings How could 'A Beatiful Mind' win? Now again, haven't seen it. But it seems from what I've read to be a fairly conventional Hollywood film. So of course it wins. Wouldn't want to waste the Oscar on something which innovative and special, would we?
I'm going to bed. I need to catch up on some sleep.
Which I did stay up for, live. Went to bed at about ten-to-six in the morning, not live. For once, the show was thoroughly entertaining and felt like a celebration of film, not the mutual-backslapping seminar it usually becomes. Before I get to how I did, some moments of note from the live coverage: the cast of the new Spiderman film appearing on stage to the tune of the old TV cartoon ('Spiderman, Spiderman, does whatever a spider can' -- conducted by John Williams no less); anyone who saw the BBC coverage will have visited upon Greg Proops getting a mention in for Clive Anderson and Danny Baker, Dyan Cannon (who ... why?) laughing like she'd never heard comedy this funny before and Tom Conti (oddly name checked by Julia Roberts during the show) looking like someone who wanted to be somewhere else) and Alan Cumming in a stupid white suite; the audience clapping for no clear reason for five excrutiating minutes before the show. So on with the debriefing...
Best Animated Film:
Art Direction:
Cinematography:
Costume design:
Film editing:
Foreign language film:
Makeup: The Rings. Quite rightly. Finally I got one right.
Music (score): The Rings. And again. Although a bit of a surprise to be honest considering the competition.
Music (song):
Sound:
Sound editing:
Visual effects: The Rings. Yep, pretty much.
Writing (adapted screenplay):
Writing (original screenplay):
Best Supporting Actor:
Best Supporting Actress: Any of them. Jennifer 'The Rocketeer' Connolly, then.
Best Actor:
Best Actress:
Director:
Film:
I'm going to bed. I need to catch up on some sleep.
Moving Hello there. Yes I've moved again. As I've mentioned before the whole port5 thing was always skin of the teeth and according to Vicky, "Friend of mine just told me that Portland's name servers have gone up the swanny - BIG disaster!" I think this must mean that they've lost everyone's password which means I can't ftp so I can't update (which is why it looked like I hadn't been updating since last Wednesday). Luckily I'd just updated the template to load the titlebar from somewhere else, so I could add the not to subtle graffitti above to it. Last night I moved everything to Blogspot. I emailed everyone I could think of to let them know, but I'm not sure how many of you are just casual readers so this seemed like the best way to let you'll do it. I'll keep it up there until next Monday, and hopefully everyone will have moved with me by then. Such a pain. Hopefully, though, it will draw your attention away from Evans... and now AD FREE!
Features One hundred and one things I would put into Room 101 ... why not list some of your own choices on your weblogs?
Quiz! Are You A Hit-Obsessed Weblogger?
45 points is in the 40 through 59 precent
TYPE U (HIT-UNDECIDED). You have a healthy number of readers that you'd like to maintain but you don't think you can keep them happy all the time. It bothers you when your weblog gets less hits than usual. You know there are things you can do to increase hits to your weblog but you just don't think you're desperate enough to actually try it.
45 points is in the 40 through 59 precent
TYPE U (HIT-UNDECIDED). You have a healthy number of readers that you'd like to maintain but you don't think you can keep them happy all the time. It bothers you when your weblog gets less hits than usual. You know there are things you can do to increase hits to your weblog but you just don't think you're desperate enough to actually try it.
Music Looking over The Rolling Stones Cover Archive, one thing is abundantly clear. In the past, a moustache would lead to automatic appearance. Now it helps to be a blonde young thing.
History When 'Schindler's List' won the Oscar there was almost a feeling of atonement, a demonstration that America hadn't forgotten that it stood by and watch genocide from across the atlantic, not wanting to get it's hands dirty. Samantha Power's new book "A Problem From Hell" looks at why when these things continue to occur, still little or nothing is done. The Atlantic asks her for the Coles Notes version:
"What surprised me was the extent to which officials involved in shaping policy could define their responses as moral—that they could feel they were doing something that was humanitarian, that was moral, that was in the long-term interests not just of American security and American wealth but of their own values. The sophistication of those denial mechanisms was striking to me. But then the other thing that surprised me was how many people had stood up. The book is told through the travails of these individuals who really did try to move the system, and I was very pleasantly surprised to know that in most cases there were these individuals who did take the promise of "Never Again" seriously and who did believe that American power carried with it some kind of responsibility."
Isn't this the global politics version of walking by when someone is being beaten up in the street?
"What surprised me was the extent to which officials involved in shaping policy could define their responses as moral—that they could feel they were doing something that was humanitarian, that was moral, that was in the long-term interests not just of American security and American wealth but of their own values. The sophistication of those denial mechanisms was striking to me. But then the other thing that surprised me was how many people had stood up. The book is told through the travails of these individuals who really did try to move the system, and I was very pleasantly surprised to know that in most cases there were these individuals who did take the promise of "Never Again" seriously and who did believe that American power carried with it some kind of responsibility."
Isn't this the global politics version of walking by when someone is being beaten up in the street?
Titlebar In case you're wondering ... 'The Big Breakfast' is finally put out it's misery at the end of this week, and Chris Evans is reportedly in talks to present. And since he doesn't seem to be doing anything but Billie Piper at the moment ...
Oscars As I gear myself up for the marathon which is the Oscars (see you at five in the morning) here are some acceptance speeches of the past. Like an an acid flashback we have Gwyneth's marathon from 1998:
"I thank my family... my grandpa Buster. I want you to know that you have created a beautiful family who loves you and loves each other more than anything, and we thank you for that."
And Dustin Hoffman on winning for Rain Man:
"I'd also thank Tom Hanks, Max Von Sydow, Edward James Olmos and my good friend Gene Hackman for their wonderful work, even if they didn't vote for me... I didn't vote for you guys either."
"I thank my family... my grandpa Buster. I want you to know that you have created a beautiful family who loves you and loves each other more than anything, and we thank you for that."
And Dustin Hoffman on winning for Rain Man:
"I'd also thank Tom Hanks, Max Von Sydow, Edward James Olmos and my good friend Gene Hackman for their wonderful work, even if they didn't vote for me... I didn't vote for you guys either."
Feelings The title of this weblog has been notoriously ironic because for some reason I never really get that depressed. Whenever I think that thing have hit the wastebin, some words flitter though my mind, spoken by my mother once when I had a gripping hangover: "This too will pass." In other words, we need to look towards the future always. Nienna of Swanky offers her case for optimism, and it's a piece which should resonate with everyone who's ever considered the unmentionable:
"Don’t believe me, consider these two facts: a. If you are reading this, chances are you have a computer and a modem. Most people in the world still can’t afford the luxury of a black and white T.V. b. If you don’t own it, chances are you are viewing this in a library, a friend’s house, or an internet café. That means you have easy access to a computer and a modem. Most people can’t even claim that. You might think that these are meaningless points, but if you stop and consider it, think about what those two things say about the society you live in and the kind of life you lead. Chances are, you have food, you have indoor plumbing, you can take a shower with hot water, and you have a roof over your head. Those things show that life isn’t that bad, really."
"Don’t believe me, consider these two facts: a. If you are reading this, chances are you have a computer and a modem. Most people in the world still can’t afford the luxury of a black and white T.V. b. If you don’t own it, chances are you are viewing this in a library, a friend’s house, or an internet café. That means you have easy access to a computer and a modem. Most people can’t even claim that. You might think that these are meaningless points, but if you stop and consider it, think about what those two things say about the society you live in and the kind of life you lead. Chances are, you have food, you have indoor plumbing, you can take a shower with hot water, and you have a roof over your head. Those things show that life isn’t that bad, really."
Politics Ian Duncan Smith relaunches the Conservatives as the caring party. Like many people watching the speech supporting I couldn't stop wondering -- why did they choose another bald person, my point being that he looks and sounds too similar to William Hague to be effective. The reason Blair and Kennedy as leaders is because they offer something disinctly different to their predecessors, not only visually but verbally. The Tories now feel like ten people in search of a mandate.
TV According to all reports, it looks like ITV Digital may close shortly. Nothing seems have been mentioned in any of this about how it will effect customers, and disrupt their access to digital television. I'm a customer. I'm -- how shall we put this -- royally pissed off. Apart from the fact I'll be missing the one reason I got the thing for in the first place (UK Gold) it's little things -- what it you're in the middle of a season of you're favourite TV show -- hasn't the whole thing been a waste of money? And even more ignominiously, Sky will have won. And the really galling part is -- it's all due to over inflated prices for a spectator sport. Just as I was falling in love with BBC4 as well ...
It's Just Another Super Sunday I got up at about 10:00am. Watched the Fonz on the telly and went to the shops. I got A set of Transformer colouring posters. On sunday I played a game called Gisbourne's Castle'! This is like an adventure hame in which, you, Robin Hood, has to find Maid Marion. Another game I played was called Night World in which you are Lee Lance, the great explorer, looking for one golden silk. Every so often, Lee Lane turns into a gargoyle, which has powers, like being able to climb up walls. Later that day my Auntie Sue came and told us about her holiday in Bournemouth.
[Welcome again the ten year old me. I use to play a lot of computer games, and not very good ones by the sound of it. But that was Acorn Electrons for you. I will point out that I didn;t go out much at that earlier age -- this wasn't really the sort of area for that kind of thing...]
[Welcome again the ten year old me. I use to play a lot of computer games, and not very good ones by the sound of it. But that was Acorn Electrons for you. I will point out that I didn;t go out much at that earlier age -- this wasn't really the sort of area for that kind of thing...]