Legendary

Popped off with my mate Paul to see I Am Legend today... A vampire film that never mentions the word 'vampire' (though it does sneak in the term 'darkseeker' a couple of times), starring Will Smith (yes, he sings - kinda - but no, he doesn't dance) as the last survivor of a plague that kills off the population of New York (and then the world) or turns them into haemovoric monsters.

It's a very strange film, not least because you'd tend to think Smith is miscast in the role of a scientist, but he acquits himself as admirably as usual. What makes it strange is that he makes dread pronouncements like "social order has completely broken down", and yet misses the very obvious implication that the monster who leads the hunt against him is hounding him because it's his daughter Smith captures for his experiments.

It's also quite a hard film to watch at times, notably when he has to kill his dog - his sole companion for the first half of the movie. The effects of his loneliness are shown in a quite light-hearted (though still creepy) way at the beginning, when he visits the video store, but when one of his 'friends' is used to bait a trap, and he later runs into another couple of survivors (predictably), his fragile sanity is very well played.

Not having read the book, I don't know how close this movie adaptation is... but it does have a saccharine ending. Perhaps not a happy ending in the traditional Hollywood sense, but it's rather less believable than the cinema ending to 28 Days Later (let alone the original ending!).

Several background details will, no doubt, raise an appropriate smile. My favourite would have to be the Batman/Superman movie poster prominently displayed in one scene. Are you toying with us, Warner Bros?

Before the movie, Paul and I were browsing in the nearby shops, and overheard some guy in the DVD section of HMV telling his companion "This is what I Am Legend is based on". He held in his hand not the book by Richard Matheson, but the DVD of The Omega Man, starring Charlton Heston. It is wrong to wish such people dead?

On the train home, a grubby, chavvy 'youth' offered his review to a couple of grubby, chavvy friends: "Da reason iss shit, yeah, is dat 'e kills 'imsewf at da end... E's da hero..." It would hardly be worth pointing out that there's a lot of movie before that happens. And to put it in perspective, yes he kills himself, but in doing so he gives two other survivors the opportunity to escape. It's what's known in the trade as 'a noble sacrifice' and it shows that, while he wasn't exactly the nicest person on the planet (even with the planet's population reduced so dramatically), he wasn't such a monster that he'd let his own sense of hopelessness get in the way of the survival of others.

Fun note: the 'Creature Vocals' were provided by Michael A Patton... a name which should be familiar to fans of Faith No More. It's the very same Mike Patton. I kid thee not.

My mate Paul goes back to work tomorrow, to do the Year End accounts for his employer. He mentioned that he's likely to be looking for a new job in the New Year, largely because the late nights of Year End are getting him down and because, this year, his boss warned him to keep next Sunday free, in case they all have to come in to finish the work. Paul was going to ask for a day off in lieu, I suggested giving them the option of paying him double time (because they wouldn't normally, even for a Sunday...) or time and a half, plus the day off in lieu.

When I brought him up to date on the events at my work, he was rather incredulous. I can't say I blame him... but that's why I'm hoping for a swift escape.

In the meantime, for those who were wondering...
18

(the image behind the number of five year olds I could take in a fight may be blocked by some anti-spyware programs)

Supply and Demand

There's a very strange force at work...

Whenever I realise I want something, or could make use of it, it's nowhere to be found, however common it was when I couldn't care less.

Deciding I don't want it anymore doesn't help either... This strange force knows it's a bluff.

And so it is with a couple of TransFormers Energon figures - Rodimus and Ravage. I don't even want the figures, really, it's the weapons I'm after. I had the rather cool idea of giving Movie Starscream a couple of afterburners for his robot mode and discovered that E-Rodimus's handgun was the perfect fit (if you know where to plug it). A couple of those, with a coating of the right kind of paintwork, and he'd had a spiffy pair of burners. The missile is a flame, too. It's a no-brainer.

But Rodimus is nowhere to be found... So I had another brainwave - E-Ravage has a decent looking cannon (not the homage to G1 Megatron's fusion cannon - the other one, with the spring loaded missile) which would have the same size of peg. I tried it for size and, sure enough, it looks passable. Not as good as the gun from E-Rodimus but, hey, any port in a kitbashing storm, right? And E-Ravage was a bit of a shelfwarmer, on account of being rubbish, right?

Well, yes... up until I wanted him.

Heard from my old mate Paul yesterday, suggesting either shopping or catching a movie for Sunday... Sounded like cool idea at the time. Sounds even better now - my mother just asked if I'd be interested in coming along to a Sunday Lunch (99% certain it'd be in a pub) with her mother. I swiftly replied that Paul had suggested going out. Safe! (I think)

I mean, really, it'd be in a pub (that 1% uncertainty suggests it might be a case of popping over to mother's mother's flat), it'd be typical, dull pub food, crap conversation - most likely a rerun of all the conversations I had with my grandmother on Christmas/Boxing Day (apart from the 3am one *shudder*), and lots of trudging around in the cold. Not exactly my favourite combination, or anything to look forward to. At least with shopping, I could end up buying some cool stuff at post-Christmas sale prices... and at least with a movie, I'd be going out to see a movie. Hell, if Paul and I can manage both, that'll be even better.

Part of me really hates that I dislike being with my family this much. My grandmother is old, she has Alzheimers, and she's probably happy to see any and all family as often as possible...

A Day of Small Accomplishment

So, yes, I stayed at home.

My folks left sometime after 8am and, a couple of hours later, my sister phoned to ask if they were on their way yet, mainly to give her an idea as to when she should start cooking. By my reckoning, they'd have been most of the way there by then... possibly not, if Mother's Mother was in tow.

I spent my day reading (finished The Power That Preserves, book 3 in the first Chronicles of Thomas Covenant), doing more TransFormer painting, watching more Beast Machines, watching the TF movie, and even doing a bit more writing. Not much, nothing very substantial, but something that needed to be done.

As well as some writing, I had a quick read - towards the end of today - of some of the older stuff I've written... Things that have been 'on hold' for several years. Most of what I read was still hitting the right notes... even though so much of it was very telling of what was going on in my head at the time. One of these days, I really hope to focus on the writing, and make some headway with it.

I also - by strange coincidence - partook of more alcohol today than any other day so far in this festive season. A glass of Pimms, and a nice mix of rum and ginger ale. Not sure why I chose today to get into the alcohol... other than just not liking drinking around my folks.

Right now, it's storming like crazy outside... As usual, I'm feeling a draft... but for the most part, I'm just glad it's not so cold that we're having a blizzard rather than a rainstorm.

Returning to normality

Mother's Mother has returned home and, despite the suggestion that she might be staying over again tonight, the spare room has returned to its normal state. Following the 'visit' this morning, I'm glad of that in so many ways... It wasn't mentioned at all this morning, so either she just didn't mention it, or she'd already forgotten it. I'm happy to leave it, either way.

...But, the story goes, she will be heading to Swindon with my folks to visit my sister and her husband in their own digs. Apparently she seemed very keen each time it was mentioned (or, as my mother put it, "each time I reminded her") and she's not been to their new place, so I can understand why she'd want to go... but I can also see that it's going to be a terrible journey for her. Even when we reserved seats, we had to stand on one outward journey because the seats were double-booked. The idea of her having to stand for a couple of hours journey isn't a pleasant one, and I can see her getting quite upset. Then, when they arrive, she'll have to contend with a three storey house, with nothing but staircases joining the floors. She used to live in a bungalow, then moved to a flat in a block with a lift. She has enough trouble with our staircase - having to cope with more isn't going to be good for her, unless they let her sleep on the ground floor (in the dining room?)... Still, it's her granddaughter's new house.

I, on the other hand, will be remaining at home... Hopefully getting a few things done, but probably not. Today I spent reading, watching Beast Machines and TransFormers movie featurettes, and surfing the internet... Big news (comparatively speaking) is that the 2008 TransFormers Collectors' Club exclusives have been officially announced: The Seacons were more or less confirmed months ago (bar the behind-the-scenes legal arrangements), but the 'fan favourite' is none other than...

*Drum roll...*

Nightbeat (ta-dah!)

All things considered, I really wouldn't call that a no-brainer choice. He was one of the 'Headmasters Junior', was only released as Nightbeat in the US and UK (in Japan, 'he' was Minerva/Minelba, a female transformer who was a Red Cross Porsche (obviously)) and, as far as I was concerned, Nightbeat played a very small role in all things TransFormers - he was a Cybertronian detective... literally, a gumshoe. Still, they're using a mold I didn't pick up from the Energon line, so I may buy him. Of course, factoring in that I didn't buy it because it wasn't a very good model, and that he's such a strange character, there's a very good chance that I won't...

...And I'm still not sure about the Seacons.

Weirdness

While I am not inclined to see it as in any way sinister, I was nevertheless disturbed when, at about quarter past three this morning, I was awoken by the sound of someone shuffling in my bedroom doorway.

After a while of this shuffling, I was awake enough to turn over and see who it was. I said a bleary 'hello' to Mother's Mother, then repeated the greeting as it seemed she hadn't understood.

"Oh," said she, "I've come the wrong way... Where's the other room?"

Not sure whether she meant the room she was staying in or the bathroom, I asked "Which other room?"

When she clarified that she meant the spare room, I pointed her in the right direction, and she left.

I tried to go back to sleep, but the episode left me feeling very uncomfortable. She had been standing silently in my doorway for at least a minute... That's easily long enough to determine that she wasn't in the right room, even ignoring the huge difference in size and layout...

...And then, where had she come from? The spare room is the first she would have come to from the bathroom, while mine is the third. Had she come from the spare room intending to find the bathroom, she'd gone the wrong way. Even if she was remembering the layout of her own flat, rather than this house, she'd still gone completely the wrong way...

There was no sense to it at all.

And then another thing started to bother me, as I finally slipped back to sleep: Normally her voice quavers with age and nerves, but it was rock steady at 3.15am when she was in completely the wrong place.

But, like I said, I'm not inclined to see it as in any way sinister...

Boxing Day Blog #5

Boxing day draws to a close, and my sister and her husband have left. Downstairs is quiet... I'd imagine they're watching TV.

Had a brief, private catchup with my sister before she left - told her about all the office politics and that one of the Commercial Managers has a nasty brain tumor (that's a scary number of cancer-related illnesses we're aware of this year) and then, on a lighter note, discussed the Thomas Covenant books that I'm reading.

Turns out she (tried to) read them several years ago, but didn't get very far - most of what she remembered was from the first book, though she was certain she'd read the second, if not the third. She did remember the Illearth Stone, but nothing of the other significant events or characters of the second book. While she admitted that she had a hard time with it (not least because of the unsympathetic 'hero'), she pretty much dismissed it as 'derivative of Lord of the Rings', and summed up the story by saying "It's got horse-y people like the Rohan, a giant who sings, and a glowing green stone".

Yeah. Just like Lord of the Rings, then.

I may yet convince her to try again... I'm perfectly happy to read about heroes who aren't heroic, but my sister prefers her fantasy to involve good people (even if they are flawed) winning out against evil. At a stretch, one could say that Thomas Covenant is good - refusing to wield his power because he doesn't understand (or, for that matter, believe) it... but it would be a stretch.

Boxing Day Blog #4

Having dozed through a couple of hours of afternoon, I felt compelled to return downstairs.

Yep, it was excruciatingly dull.

Conversation had dried up completely, Mother's Mother was repeatedly scouring the TV listings (not that she wanted to watch anything... more that she'd normally just have the TV on and wanted to know what might have been on), and everyone had commenced the cold meat and pickles phase of Christmas fodder.

It's times like this that I wonder why we bother with a Family Christmas. We're not that big a family, nor are we especially close. What little news there is gets quickly disseminated throughout the year, so there's nothing new to discuss. and what little there is to talk about generally gets repeated three or four times for the benefit of Mother's Mother, who won't remember any of it anyway.

A short while earlier, I noticed she was using the bathroom without the light on. The light switch is hard to miss - half the time, it'd smack you on the head as you walk in (not hers though, obviously, because she's too small). The pull-cord is easily within reach, and doesn't require much strength to operate - she has exactly the same arrangement in her flat... It's all rather depressing.

Boxing Day Blog #3

Managed to do a bit of writing - not as thorough as I'd have liked, but at least it's something - and calm down a bit before going downstairs.

Today's present was the 2-disc Special Edition of TransFormers... No real surprise there, as it was pretty much the most obvious present in the entire world.

Lunch consisted of a salmon/cheese with prawn type of thing as a starter. I passed my prawn on, because just looking at it made me lose my appetite. The rest was fine, but had obviously suffered from being frozen and then thawed in the fridge. Main course for everyone but me was venison and mixed veg. Mine was leftover turkey and gammon from yesterday. I really don't do red meat, but game is even worse... I've tried venison, and it really doesn't agree with me - taste, texture, and what it does in my stomach later on.

Conversation was much more lively that yesterday, but did quickly turn to geeky technical stuff, and English county politics.

I'm feeling very tired - not the conversation, honest... nor the booze, as I only had a glass and a half of wine again.

Boxing Day Blog #2

And already it gets worse.

Following the visit from my sister, I actually managed to straighten out some thoughts out and start writing (not into the main document - I've had to start a new one because I couldn't fit what I need to write into the main set of notes).

Just now, I've had my mother knocking on my bloody door, asking if I "want to open some more presents".

For fuck's sake... a bit of peace and quiet is all I fucking need to finally get some fucking writing done. I don't give a flying fuck about presents until I've got this shit done.

I'd quite like to get it right.

Boxing Day Blog #1

Wonderful...

Over the last couple of days, I had some rather cool ideas about one of the characters I'm trying to write about... Nothing that would make a story, but certainly several details to flesh things out.

Today, I figured I'd write some of it out while I remembered it because I so often forget these little pieces of the puzzle. I didn't do it when I first got up because - for whatever reason - sitting at the computer early in the morning will often upset my stomach and, with Mother's Mother staying over, I knew there would be hell to pay if I ended up occupying the bathroom before she was up and about.

So it was past 11.30 before I started making any moves, and after midday before I started up the computer. No worries... I still remember it all...

During this time, though, my sister and her husband had arrived. My sister, being a pest, decided to pay me a visit (because I wasn't already downstairs). Being nosy, her first move was to examine my monitor and, seeing it was something to do with this character of mine, started asking questions and generally distracting me from my purpose.

I wasn't particularly welcoming, and eventually she got the message and left... but not before completely befuddling just about every thought I'd had by reminding me of stuff that's at least a couple of years out of date. What a brilliant start to the day.

And to think, I was looking forward to her visit... and had bought her a present intended to help with her writing.

Christmas Day Blog #4

And in the final few minutes of the day, it seems that Mother's Mother is staying the night - probably for the best, as it means we can keep track of her and make sure she's taking her medication, etc.

The day hasn't been as excruciating as it could have been, but it really is hard to know what to talk about - if at all - when there's someone in the house who can ask the same question several times within only a few minutes.

Tomorrow may be better, or it may be worse... I'm off to bed, to read for a little while before I got to sleep.

I've made out quite well this year: Beast Machines season 2, The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Mordant's Need, a Tron 20th Anniversary Special Edition red lightcycle/grey Sark, the Batman: Knightfall radio play and another Pratchett... with more to come tomorrow, from my sister and her husband. Not to mention a very fancy pen...

A Startling Retraction

Only probably not startling at all.

The thing about collecting TransFormers is that there's always something I don't know about lurking around the corner. Some reissue, exclusive or limited edition that I just have to have... Admittedly there aren't that many of them, but they're out there.

One such was the black and white 'Gasket Police Type' from the Galaxy Force line in Japan. Literally, Gasket repainted as a police bike. It was limited in that it was available from Toys'R'Us in Japan for one day only, with the purchase of any other TransFormers toy. The model is one of my favourites of that size class in the line, despite its simplicity, because it's quite well designed. The only flaw is that it was consistently misconstructed, up until the BotCon 2006 repaint as Rattrap.

I've even bought more movie toys that I wasn't intending to get... Payload, for example, and the '78 version of Bumblebee (which, being perfectly honest, I bought 'because it was there' as much as I did it for the customising possibilities). It's a decent model... just not as good as the 2008 version.

Christmas Day Blog #3

So, Doctor Who - Voyage of the Damned.

"In a production system with fixed and variable inputs, beyond some point, each additional unit of variable input yields less and less additional output. Conversely, producing one more unit of output costs more and more in variable inputs."

This is the law of diminishing returns, and it applies wholly to the new Doctor Who. Each new series has been less than the last, and each Christmas Special has been bloody awful.

It's almost as if they come up with a collection of dialogue that they way to include, then figure out a way to include them and fit the premise of the story around these pre-determined factors. The end result is incredibly patchy, feels very poorly-written and poorly-acted and leaves one wishing they'd never decided to resurrect Doctor Who.

David Tennant cannot be held wholly responsible, though his portrayal of the Doctor is in every way inferior to Christopher Ecclestone's brief tenure. Not even Russell T Davis is wholly responsible, though his rampant fanboyism has certainly contributed to the decline of the series (if I hear one more random character spout forth about how "wonderful" the Doctor is, I shall be physically sick). Production values have been consistently high (for the BBC doing Sci-Fi)... The problem is that they've lost, by degrees, the essential storytelling prowess that made even the worst of the old Doctor Who watchable.

I wasn't particularly inspired by the trailers for the upcoming mini-series, or the trailer for the new series of Torchwood. Diminishing returns applies to something that starts out crappy just as well as something that starts out brilliant. Adding Martha Jones to Torchwood almost certainly won't improve it... And whatever character James Marsters is playing will forever be compared to Spike, even if he's not a vampire.

Bit of a shame, but there we go...

Christmas Day Blog #2

Lunch was mercifully brief and, as with the morning, rather quiet. Food was pretty good - Turkey, dry cured gammon, cocktail sausages and mixed (rather soggy) veg all round, and the requisite Christmas Pudding though, while everyone else had a seafood/shellfish starter, I had a mixture of Italian meats.

Not sure what caused it but, over the years, I have grown a dislike of seafood, and shellfish in particular. Prawn cocktail used to be the staple Christmas starter in this household... but some years ago, I found I couldn't stomach it anymore. The flavour and texture no longer appealed, not matter how much sauce I used.

The Christmas Pudding really was good, though... and while I always need to drench it with cream to cover the sharpness, it tasted good, didn't leave my throat burning, and didn't clog up my mouth.

Grandmother asked (for the second time so far) if I had any holiday plans for the coming year and, again, I gave half an answer. Taking a holiday would be nice (BotCon, though I'm not sure Cincinnati has much else to offer as a holiday destination) but I'd rather just move out of home.

After lunch, it was back to the living room for The Queen's Christmas Message (also mercifully brief) followed by a documentary on the fifty years she's been doing it on television.

Of course that lead into All Star Family Fortunes, with Vernon Kay, so I'm back at the keyboard. Sometimes I wish they'd just shut down television for Christmas, rather than serving up the usual rubbish.

On the upside, I did see a short trailer for the winter season on ITV2, including The Bionic Woman, starring an ex-Eastender and the new Starbuck. Looks quite promising.

Christmas Day Blog #1

As in, the official "My Christmas Day Experiences" thang.

Well, it's half past one, and it's already pretty excruciating. Present from Grandmother: Terry Pratchett's Making Money. Present from parents: BBC Radio's Batman: Knightfall series on remastered CD. My mother made very sure I understood that this was an extra gift, because they'd already got me my winter coat and new raincoat (despite the fact that I'd repeatedly made it clear I intended to buy at least a winter coat for myself).

Very little conversation has happened. There isn't a great deal to talk about (apart from office politics, which aren't exactly appropriate Christmas conversation), and what little we do talk about just doesn't penetrate Grandmother's Alzheimer's. She's already asked twice what one of my father's presents is, and if he keeps playing with it (and, since it's a tool, that kinda goes without saying) she'll probably ask again.

She's asked me if I'm "in the same place" work-wise, to which I replied that the company had moved to West Kensington. Moments later, she asked if it was the same kind of work... She doesn't remember what the work is, or anything much about the magazines (despite having several brought to her over the last few years, most of which have my name listed quite prominently). It is at once heartbreaking and utterly frustrating. People at work often praise me for my patience when training people, but I have no patience for people who will not or cannot remember anything I tell them... Which puts me in a very uncomfortable position with ailing family members.

In the grey silences, Grandmother has popped out of the room (twice) to ask my mother if she needs help with anything, and it was only by chance that the second time perfectly coincided with the need to lay the table.

Either that, or my mother was just being polite... Either way, she made no mention of the previous enquiry.

Helen and Mark are coming round tomorrow, so today is liable to be pretty darned quiet. I honestly don't expect tomorrow to be much better, but at least there will be some conversation that won't be continually repeated... and it won't be as quiet.

Playing catch-up

So much crap has happened since the last post. I started writing about that, but it was all too depressing. Hey, it's Christmas Day, for crying out loud. I don't want to depress myself unnecessarily.

So, briefly, in the New Year I shall be looking for a new job. The pathetic, selfish, lazy good-for-nothings I work with have defeated my optimism, and I cannot carry on with them any more. Idle degree-educated wastrels, who think the world owes them a living.

In many ways, I have no reason to leave... So many things have gone well for me there over the last couple of years, and the potential is still huge. But I feel I have given so much (time, effort, loyalty) and they have given so very little... but they expect so much. Not 'in return', even. They expect their rewards up front. Even those who have cost the company thousands in their mistakes are baying for more money in their pockets. Their attitudes and 'work ethic' are so alien to me, I cannot imagine they'll ever understand how wrong they are.

Better, for me, to get out as soon as I can, and let them realise their folly in their own time.

A Startling Truth

OK, dramatic title, not so dramatic subject: I've just realised that, barring any new stuff that tickles my fancy, my collection of TransFormers is almost as complete as I want it to be.

Let's tackle the movie stuff first, because that's recent and easy:

Leader
Optimus Prime
Megatron
Brawl

Voyager
Blackout
Ratchet
Ironhide
Starscream
Thundercracker
Rescue Ratchet

Deluxe
Jazz
2008 Bumblebee
Scorponok
Wreckage
Barricade
Bonecrusher
Arcee
Longarm
Dropkick
Landmine
Stockade
'Stealth' Arcee
'Stealth' Bumblebee

Three more to go, and I'm done. The rest of the repaints aren't exactly lighting my candle.

I've already got more than I originally intended to get in the Galaxy Force/Cybertron line (though I may cave in and get Chromia/Thunderblast, just for the sake of it), all I want in the Superlink/Energon line, and all the halfway decent stuff in the Micron Legend/Armada line. Classics is also complete (including this year's BotCon set!), I have all the Robots in Disguise/Car Robots that I want (including 2 BotCon Lamborghinis), and all the worthwhile Binaltech/Alternators. With my recent purchases of Rattrap (BW and BM flavours!) and Airazor, I'm pretty much done with Beast Wars/Machines too... I may get some of the BW reissues - original Cheetor, Tigatron, Waspinator, Rhinox, maybe even Dinobot - and I continue to debate picking up Tigerhawk and 'Big Red Dragon' Megatron, but that's really it.

Going back to G1, there are a few of the Autobots I'd like to grab - Mirage, Sunstreaker, Trailbreaker... maybe Bluestreak and Smokescreen - but, thanks to various reissues, I've got pretty much everything I wanted but missed out on 20-odd years ago.

I'm far from being a completist. In all things, I get what I like the look of, or whatever amuses me (I'm looking at you, Beast Wars Break!). They don't have to be any good, either (G1 Wheelie, anyone?).

It's a weird feeling... Just about everything I still want should be reasonably easy to find (G1 Mirage and Sunstreaker are being 'unofficially reissued' by some very talented knock-off merchants) and so, until the next line, there's nothing to hunt.

On the subject of the next line, Animated... It's all very impressive, but clearly aimed at kids. Sure, they all are... but Animated really looks it. I'll probably get Optimus Prime and Megatron... Possibly Bumblebee, Lockdown, Prowl and Starscream... Maybe even Blitzwing and Blackarachnia... But that'll leave me with nothing to look forward to until the next Movie line.

Oh, and the TFCC Exclusives. I'm debating (read: not really interested in) the Seacons, curious about this other exclusive they're hinting toward, and very keen to finish the Club Combiner (for which I'll need to renew one more time). I'm hoping they'll come up with something exciting after that, because I really like being a member...

But, seriously... All the TransFormers I want? Surely some mistake?