Open and Shuttered

Just watched Shutter Island on DVD, having missed it in the cinemas, and I must say it's not what I expected (bar certain aspects of the denouement). The trailers suggested something fast-paced and nerve-wracking, yet I found my attention wandering during the very slow first hour. The major twist was completely predictable, but the details of it, the twist within the twist, were actually quite harrowing... and the last line of dialogue from US Marshall Teddy Daniels, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, is certainly poignant.

I suspect my weekend will be spent resting as much as possible. I managed to do a bit of photography today, but the light wasn't great and I ended up taking a nap while the camera recharged, so I didn't get everything done. Alternity Skywarp has been released from his packaging at long last, but not yet transformed. Starscream is very odd... but the robot mode fits the character, and actually has some similar features to the Masterpiece version, most notably the hip kibble. I like the asymmetry of transforming the bonnet, windscreen, roof and rear panel into robot mode's 'wings', but the overall appearance of robot mode is smooth, spindly and organic - not entirely in keeping with the very mechanical look of the other models so far released.

It's been a funny old week... From the ridiculous power-play by Editorial to the equally ridiculous final throes of one of our largest magazines every (last section going to press on Monday, along with the next two magazines) and, bizarrely, next week looks like it won't be too bad.

Really not sure what to make of our new Publishing Director. She's clearly made promises she was never going to be able to keep (this month), and is doing a fair old job of motivating folks to get her closer to living up to those promises... but the lengths she's had to go to due to the pathetically low yield on sales may well be her undoing. She has a plan, knows how to execute it, knows the sort of person to hire (one of my Copy Controllers was more than a little flustered that one of the new recruits actually wanted to act as Copy Controller for her own clients right from the point of sale, despite the facts that - in theory - it makes our jobs a lot easier and that level of commitment to the clients is about the only thing that might save the company once Production moves to head office.