Mes Amis

Make me beautiful... Nip/Tuck is almost like a soap opera for people who think soap operas are a waste of airtime. Its glossy, its improbably, its ludicrously OTT and yet it all works brilliantly. The cast are uniformly excellent (including the mysterious monkey boy who plays Sean's son; a boy of somewhere around high school age with an improbably permanent five o'clock shadow) and even Julian McMahon comes of age from his days in Charmed. Not only that but the surgery performed by our plastic surgeon heroes are wonderfully gross (Tonight's cli-toe-ris graft was enough to make even me turn white) . And tonight had a sex scene that was one moment laugh out loud funny (Check out Sean's face when he comes up from between his wife's legs to see she's still not come) and the next horrifically sad. Brilliant...

Shouldn't you be working...? I know I have a deadline for next monday but I can't get on with my dissertation for some reason... must push myself harder... must work... Must apply for funding... Must find sense of direction...

ahem...

Till next time, mes amis

Au Revoir

Russel

What do I do now?

Mes Amis

I've been looking for a reason not to go... I need a job. Fucking desperately. Much as I love my colleagues at the shop where I work (I shall not name the place, lest I get in a bit of trouble...) I am only part time and to be honest, I need money. Writing - at least at the moment - does not pay bills. I even went so far as to look at a transfer to another shop in the company but I almost hope the other shop says no because I can't actually be arsed uprooting myself for a very small amount of pay. Today alone I have applied for ten jobs. Some of them I even want...

HST... For those who don't know (and you must have had a paper bag over your head) a few days ago, the esteemed Dr Thompson passed away. Reports of suicide are vague, but consistent. This is a terrible shame, and a great loss to literature. Neither left or right wing (The way he wrote you knew he thought both sides were full of pricks), HST lived like he wanted to and didn't take shit from anyone. I think I'm missing only one of his collections and I shall go out immediately to find it. He made us laugh, cry, puke and above all he made us think.

Until next time

Au Revoir

I object frankly....

Whats the point in asking someone for their opinion if you are gonna jump on them for it?
Sitting in class today with a happy clappy lecturer ,social science need I say more?
So she asks me if I think that something can be done to stop the destruction of the environment-
IN MY OPINION- so I said no. Not just no but a 2 minute chat with others in my class about my views, i.e a discussion. Not round these parts it seems. No I have been made into the villain of the peice. My name is now attached to shitty statements for example:
"there are some people, like rebecca, who believe we should just ignore environmental harm"
I did not, categorically did not, say that. I object strongly.
I also ate polo mints today, which was nice. They didn't misquote me.
A full draft of my arguement on my site: Geofreak

"Folks do things a little different round here"

Mes Amis

This is New Orleans, dahlin'... I love The Big Easy. Its one of the most perfect little films made. Its not got the world's best script (where the hell did that final revelation come from? How illogical was that?) and sure, it ain't got grand ambitions, but its got heart, soul, humour and its the kind of film that leaves you with a shiteating smile on your face. Dennis Quaid is just perfectly cool; tossing off lines with kind of abandon you don't see every day. Ellen Barkin is cooky, klutzy, sexy and smart all at the same time. Ned Beatty is fat. John Goodman is, well, John Goodman (with a Southern accent) and the music is amazing. It seems no one I know has ever heard of it, but trust me, its a forgotten classic and the kind of film you just can't help but grin while you're watching (well, if you're me anyway!)

Sinise Does It...CSI New York is a show I don't want to like. There are too many shows with too many spin offs and in an ideal world CSI should have left it with Miami. But shoot me if Sinise and Co haven't given us a great little show. While it seems more centred on the star (Gary Sinise) than previous incarnations its got itself a gritty look, some smart scripts and come good acting. And New York looks cold, man. So damn CSI:NY for being good, because I wanted to rant about it. Oh well, I can always go on about how much L&O:SVU sucks...

Until next time, mes amis

Au Revoir

Hey Ho Daddio

Mes Amis

The right stuff... So I actually do have a handle on what I was reading the other night... I'm a little crude, apparently, but working with my supervisor to sort it all out... Ah, I feel better now...

He's a Poet (don't you know it)... Just finished The Narrows by Michael Connelly... I hate serial killer books usually but Connelly's sequel to The Poet is absolutely superb... The Poet is one the best written and most convincing serial killer books I've read and The Narrows is a worthy sequel... The killer is nicely underplayed and even though I don't like the way Connelly's been writing Harry Bosch from the first person recently, he's still one of the best tecs on the block. Brilliant stuff...

Daddio... Has anyone else seen this dreadful sitcom starring Michael "Funny shaped head" Chiklis? and has anyone noticed how much he looks like This Guy when he has hair?

Anyway, till next time

Au Revoir

Russel

Iff X=Y then Z = balls

Mes Amis

Quantum irregularities What have I done to deserve this? Why did I have to pick a subject for my MLitt dissertation that would eventually involved quantum physics... I've been trying to read stuff all night about something call symmetry breaking and now my brain really hurts... Why oh why can't all philosophy just be vague spoutings about truth and beauty and the sublime? That way we could just make it all up and sound intelligent without having to say anything...

Twenty-Four is the most sublimely stupid show on TV... Jack "Mad as a terrier on acid" Bauer allegedly left CTU to live a gentler life... within ten minutes of the new series starting on Sky One he's kneecapped a terrorist... two hours later, he's robbing a convenience store so he can stall a guy he's been tailing until they can get satelite surveillance... He's barking mad, is Jack, and the kind of man you just don't want to know (He chopped off his daughter's boyfriend's hand last year - - it was in the line of duty, but I think he took some enjoyment)... It is also amazing how 24's villains are nearly always Arabs these days... but don't think about the political implications too much and this is just such a barkingly mad show that you can't help but fall in love with it all (Its just a pity Elisha Cuthbert's gone this series... And even I ain't watching The Girl Next Door just for her!).

Oh well,

Au revoir

Russel

From the anals of musical history

Mes Amis

European Union... Charlie Williams, author of the funny (and somwhat scary) Deadfolk has let loose some of the inhabitants of Mangel on his blog... well, one of them... standing in for "the usual bloke" Keith from Frotsoft - Mangel's premier internet design company (did they really design Microsoft's website, I wonder?) - has a bit of advice for those intent on buttering up a nice bit of crumpet (with jam)... I'll never mock Europe again...

Sideways... Its Swingers ten years down the line. Two guys go for a trip in the California wine country before one of them gets married off... the divorced, nervous writer just wants to drink the wine but his friend the actor wants to get it on the last week before his wedding... Sideways is funny, its rather sad and its brilliantly acted but FOR GOODNESS SAKES NOT ALL WRITERS ARE NEUROTIC.. Ahem... I'm sure, there must be some of us out there who ain't, at least...

Its a matter of opinion... so I just found the blog of some writer I reviewed a while back... turns out as a reviewer, "brother, [I'm] bad". Without going into details (the person kept my name and specific details out of things so I'll do the same courtesy) they thought they'd written something and I actually thought they'd written another. What I do love is that they ignore the fact I did say positive things about their work... its just that they failed, for me, in the bigger picture... and despite their best intentions, there was nothing that was different to anything else I'd read in the genre especially the big bestseller I compared it to... Oh well, that's what you get for being honest... I think some writers just expect automatic good reviews... At least Christopher Brookmyre has a sense of humour about bad reviews...

So that's it till next time.. nice to see you up here, Beccy... You'd forgotten you'd started this thing, hadn't you?

Au revoir

its been a while..

Since I could, hold my head up high etc.etc

So, lots of work on at the moment- 2x 2500 word essay and 1x 1500 words.
Barstewards.
Pleased to say I passed one of my modules today, I'm a happy bunny.
I didn't realise you had been writing in this so I apologise and will try harder from now on

Did you have yourself a merry little xmas?

Mes Amis

Did you hang your stocking on the wall?... Its been and gone and what fun it all was... Actually it was nice to be back home for a few days, drinking Czech beer and good wine and being stuffed by duck (No turkey this year - its a bloody tasteless bird, anyway!). It was an almost white xmas, too... got lots of frost but no snow.

Does he ride a red-nosed reindeer?... Poor wee girl at work came in with a red, red nose on boxing day. I had to laugh at first but she was clearly ill so home she went. I got someone else in to cover, but how do they expect us to survive with only TWO people on on boxing day when the stores like Next and so on had to ration the numbers of people they were letting in... sheesh...

Stuffing... So much for the diet, anyway... actually I have lost weight so that's good... and people didn't give me *too* much chocolate this year... But anyway, I got home last night from my folks and found the cupboards were bare... getting hungry I ordered a Domino's Double Decadence pizza, figuring I love pizza and I need the cheese... what the hell is up with that? Its like a shitty biscuit and some cheap cream between the layers. Absolutely foul. And I love pizza in all its glory... I won't be going back to Dominos again...

Anyway, I suppose that's all the crimbo news for now... take care, mes amis and

Au revoir

Customer Care

Mes Amis

Keep on... Well, someone's gotta keep this thing rolling regularly (and that's alliteration, folks, at least allegedly alliteration)...

A retailer is for life... Be kind to shop assistants this Christmas... that's my wisdom of the day. We're overworked, underpaid and when we say we don't know something it really means that - because management don't tell us everything we need to know. Sad truth, folks, but truth it is. We're people just like you, not emotional punching bags. And trust me, shopping may seem stressful but its nothing compared to selling. Nothing matches the stress of three people at once telling you its shocking you don't have their obscure gift idea in stock even though you had three of them on the shelves six months ago...

Destination... Book of the month - Destination Morgue by James Ellroy. Disturbing, violent, mean as all hell and a draining experience... Ellroy at his goddamn best with a mix of essays and memoirs culminating in three novellas... Not for the faint at heart but brilliant all the same...

4400... So the big revelation at the end of Sky One's alien abduction drama was pretty standard stuff... no spoilers but I've been loving this show and now the pay off's been, well, I'm just dissapointed... It was like they had fifteen minutes to go and hired a monkey to write the climax.. Bah...

Merry Christmas when it arrives... I'm going home to my parents and I'm going to relax and try to get the Christmas tunes and sound of Credit Card machines out of my head... Did I mention that retailing at Christmas is far more stressful than any shopping trip could ever be?

Till next time
Au Revoir

Hell in a Handbasket

Mes Amis

Children scream, are you listening... I hate working retail on Christmas... I really do. Little kids dragged around by their mothers, clearly bored and tired, screaming, shouting, ripping product, and allowing their children to do just the same thing... bleh... Did I mention I hate working retail at Christmas?

GRE... PIB... Where PIB means Pain in Butt and GRE means a test that New York didn't tell me I'd have to sit in October if I wanted to get into their PhD program next year... Goddamn, am I angry... so where to now for this would be philosopher? Probably same palce as Neitzsche - the loony bin and a syphillitic end (providing I can catch the disease...)

Deadwood... Did anyone catch this ace show featuring Lovejoy swearing and calling people foul names? The best bloody TV show on the box and screw those idiots who cried out that it was too violent/sexual/badmouthed... Such a shame the first season is at an end and such a shame I RECORDED THE WRONG BLOODY CHANNEL!!! Damn cable and its one channel at a time nonsese... but I ain't upgrading the Sky+... I'm no chump led by advertising... (And I'm also poor)...

Anyway, mes amis, that's all...

Till next time

Au Revoir

Here, there and everywhere

Mes Amis

The power of lunch So my mother came up to the flat the other day and said she thought my sillhouette was the ghost of Alfred Hitchcock... so what's my response? Atkins, I hear you say... Go to hell I reply! But I am cutting back... I have re-evaluated the lunchtime snacks at work and realise I may be eating too much KFC (I loooove my chicken) and possibly the chilli baked potatoes I alternate are adding a few pounds too...

Pushme-Pullme So what's the plan? Exercise... for a whole week I have been doing pull-ups and push-ups at seven in the morning after my alarm goes... And I've cut back on beer... how long will it last? Stay tuned and if I can keep up with the blogging thing I'll tell ya.

The Marvel Power-Shower Yeah, I have a working shower... for two years I had a coffin with a shower-head held on by a bit of string... Apparently it could have electrocuted me but I'm fearless, dammit, fearless! Anyway its nice to be clean with a new shower...

So what else is new? I dunno... I'm new to the blogging lark... Isn't this enough? Do you want more? More? What does it take to satisfy you people? Ahem...

Oh, visit crimescenescotland.com if you're a random visitor here... its my site and I love it...

Au-revoir

Russel

MESATWAT!

I came into uni 2 hours early today. Hence the new blog set up.
The place is full of Civil engineers and they all smell. All of them. yuk
And they are all yahs. they laugh like this: heeeeggggheeehhhheeeegggggg.
I think they are pulled aside and taught how to do it in 1st year.
got a class in 30 minutes- last one! hooray!

Also going to (a red head just walked in-girl...)
Sorry, also got the pantomine tonight, not the joys of the krankies this year I'm saddened to report but instead Gerrad Kelly and the fat bitch one... erm.... you KNOW who I mean. Scottish bird. ehhh.....Elaine.C.Smith. She shoved me off a pavement about 3 months ago you know.
Thats what happens in Glasgow, it's a Harsh Place.
So its a screaming puking night with the brownies in store for me. Hopefully not puking too much- haribo star mix barf and then vimto. You think maybe the sweets and drinks manufacturers are in league with the stain removal people, like: "VIMTO, sponsored by Daz"
Nasty. Real nasty.

To late to eat! Dammit, time has taken wings and flew like a toaster into the cloudless sky of margarine. (my metaphors suck)
I'll have to sit in class in agony now, unable to concentrate for the pain. (melodrama, ace!)

So here is the first post of our blog, cheers *clink*