Memorabilia Haulage

So, the spring Memorabilia show at the NEC.

I actually booked in advance, meaning early entry, so my partner-in-crime was up at the crack of dawn to drive round to pick me up, then get us both to Birmingham as close to the 9am opening as possible. We made excellent time, despite a brief stop for petrol and another 'service' break en route, arriving somewhere in the region of 9.30am.

Yet again, I am amazed by the difference in organisation between Memorabilia and the London Expo but, rest assured, I shall do a full compare-and-contrast at the end of May, following the next London show. Both use PDF tickets, which are printed out and waved in front of barcode readers at the entrance. Getting into Memorabilia was a breeze... but then, isn't it always?

At first glance, it looked like a small show - typical for spring, I guess - but a quick spin around the outside of the hall revealed that the whole thing was being used, but the stuff up the back was all low-lying, very much obscured by the big, brash stalls that occupied the bulk of the space.

And, wow, what a selection. Detailed breakdown of my haul in a moment, but the first stall that caught my attention had stacks of TRON Legacy stuff - literally stacks of it: one of the guys operating the stall said they'd picked it all up at a "cheaper-than-wholesale" price, and other vendors had bought up a chunk of their stock to supplement what they'd brought themselves. Of course, when this stall is selling an average of about £10 cheaper than high street, you'd have to be pretty bonkers to buy from someone who's adding anywhere between £5 and £10 to the average high street price.

For example, I picked up the smaller-sized Kevin Flynn Lightcycle for £5 - a whole £10 off normal price. The larger, updated Lightcycle (pull-back motor, electronic lights and sounds, two ramps!) weighed in at £8 (another £10 saving), and the super-deluxe, part die-cast Sam Flynn Identity Disc (electronic lights and sounds) was a mere £10 (bringing my total saving on my first purchase of the day to £30!).

The guy I spoke to had kept some of the stock for himself - wisely, as I remember the merchandise from the first film all but disappearing, and fetching hefty sums on eBay - and was pleased to have sold so much to other vendors, but distinctly unhappy about their markups. Even so, he expected to have sold out completely by the end of the show. I was offered the Recognizer set, with the small (die cast? can't remember) vehicle models but, despite its amusing lights and sounds (on what's effectively just a carry-case!), I passed. It's way too bulky, and there were other things on my shopping list.

So... What else did I get? Feast your eyes...





As part of the entrance package, there's the Voltron Collection One DVD set - absolutely free. The other DVDs are the Claymore boxed set (which I tried to find at Forbidden Planet recently, and have so far only found online for about £30+), Makoto Shinkai's 5 Centimetres Per Second (which I forgot to look for last time I was in Uxbridge) and Ghost in the Shell 2.0 (the first movie remixed, not a new edition of Innocence, since I had the original movie on VHS but hadn't yet 'upgraded' to the DVD release). How much did this little lot set me back? A mere £11

Yes, you read that right. Eleven pounds.

Manga Entertainment were pushing a chunk of their catalogue - old and new - very aggressively (well, tiny stall but very compelling prices), the new DVDs were £5 (yes, the Claymore boxed set was £5 - £10 less than one volume if bought separately) and GitS2.0 was one quid. I think this was my second proper stop of the show, and I was already making out like a bandit in terms of savings. Seriously, I expected them to tell me the price labels were a mistake... or to just send Security after me when I walked off with eight DVDs after handing over only £11.

Of course, this all came to an end when I started picking up TransFormers... Prices averaged £15 for a Deluxe, so I tried to only pick up the things I don't expect to see in the shops for a while. I did see one Animated Rodimus... for £25. I could have bought him... part of me regrets not doing so... but, however rare he may be, I object to paying £25 for what should have been a mass release, and I'm not that keen on the mold anyway. Arcee might have been different, but I didn't see her.

I picked up the one and only Hunt for the Decepticons Highbrow I saw - an awesome-looking plane that becomes a very... unique robot. Generations/War For Cyberton Soundwave was a no-brainer... though I must confess I find his alternate mode - a wheeled vehicle, for crying out loud - rather unimaginative. It's Soundwave, though, so I'm inclined to forgive. For the Autobots (whose shelves I've only just rearranged, so I'll be sorting them out all over again soon) I picked up Kup and Wreck Gar, so I may put together a shelf of TF Animated Movie characters, apart from my general Classics shelf, allowing me to give more prominence to the Parallax/Ultra Magnus upgrade set and Warbot Defender... and I may add in the G1 coloured live action movie Arcee, just to round it out, since I have no intention of purchasing any of the roundly terrible third party versions of her. The Decepticons are to be supplemented by Scourge (I still sincerely doubt I'll bother getting Classics Galvatron - there are way too many TankFormers, and I have no wish to encourage them), Skullgrin (Straxus/Darkmount is a cool model, and this G1 Pretender homage is a decent reuse of that mold) and Dirge (while I have the BotCon version from a couple of years ago, he's just a repaint of Ramjet).

What did I pass on? Well, aside from the overpriced Animated Rodimus, I decided to hold fire on Wheeljack (love the Tracks mold, but with my Autobots shelf pretty full right now, I can afford to wait) and Thunderwing (another Pretenders homage, but it looks a bit crappy, and I'm not so much of a fanboy that the character - big in the comics - held any significant appeal) and Perceptor (which I may reconsider, since he was quite prominent in the animated movie, but I'm not too fussed about a weird looking half-track that turns into a too-strong homage to the G1 robot).

There were also things like the Targetroids, which look pretty cool and have met with decent reviews, Masterpiece Rodimus Prime (probably just outside my price range, and I'm not madly keen on it anyway - would prefer the Protector upgrade set for Classics Rodimus), the USB adaptor Device Label Blaster, and probably several other bits and bobs that didn't quite tickle my fancy far enough.

All in all, the show was pretty awesome. Amazing, considering the winter shows are generally the best. Guest-wise, there wasn't much of particular interest... Russell Tovey and Sinead Keenan were there to represent Being Human (half hour panel in the afternoon, plus spending lots of time signing autographs and being filmed on camcorders and phones), Dirk Benedict from The A-Team and the original Battlestar Galactica and the remaining cast of 'Allo 'Allo were the Retro TV contingent, and the whole sports area was easily bypassed. I did almost walk into Warwick Davis as he wandered the floor before taking to his booth, but that's the closest I came to any of the stars.

The only other purchase I made at the show was a couple of the closeout T-shirts from Genki Gear, who are preparing to unleash their new range in a couple of months.

We were there for about two hours, all told, and it was a very satisfying experience, though I did feel a nagging pang of guilt that I hadn't found anything to be used as presents in upcoming birthdays... Plenty of time for most, though... I hope. I may spend the next few days remembering things I should have gone back for, but it was good to be in and out before the crowds took over.

On the way back, we stopped off in Stratford, having lunch with a friend of my companion and taking a wander round the marina (picking up icecreams along the way) and visiting a shop that specialises in remaindered books, in which I bought one of those poseable wooden artists' models for a mere £3. I've been after one for years, but either can't find them when I look, find them too expensive, or only see them when I'm not in a position to buy one.

I ended the day with almost £100 still in my pocket which is pretty much unheard of when I've actually bought stuff at a show. Granted, I did pass on a few things I needn't have... but there's still the London Expo to come, and I don't know how much interesting new stuff will be there...

So Much For Inclination

And I had such high hopes for today...

I looked through my folders o' stuff for things I might turn into more T-shirt designs and drew a blank (pardon the pun)... I'm sure there was something I thought would be perfect over the weekend, but I've looked over the lot today, and nothing caught my interest.

Played a bit more Muramasa, as much for inspiration as to get closer to the end... Kisuke seems far harder to level-up... or maybe I should just stick with the swords that seem to do me some good, rather than upgrading as soon as possible..? In any event, I'm onto Chapter 5, and I've only just broken Level 20... which seems a bit crappy. I'm not particularly inclined to backtrack all the way, but that might prove necessary... after all, I have one sword conspicuously absent from Momohime's collection (most likely from an optional battle I haven't fought), and I'd rather not have the same with Kisuke.

The art is amazing, though, and the multiple levels of parallax scrolling in the background are truly incredible. It's quite embarrassing that I almost passed on it, not knowing that it was related to Princess Crown on the Saturn... but then, I wasn't aware of Odin Sphere - another game by Vanillaware, for Playstation - at all until I happened to find reference to an artbook for it online yesterday.

I also watched the last three episodes of Paranoia Agent today, and each one was a real WTF moment all to itself. Most of the third disc was side-stories or backstory with little main plot advancement. Those three episodes were interesting diversions, but of no real merit. The final three jump back into the story, but take it in completely bonkers directions in an attempt to tie up the loose ends of this short (13 episode) series. The true nature of Li'l Slugger is revealed, and then Tokyo is destroyed by some black viscous fluid. Guilt, it seems, can be a terrible thing. The end certainly isn't what I was expecting (or what I was hoping for) and I feel rather let down. It's not the usual botched rush-job ending - the series has been well-paced throughout - but it just seems that little bit too weird. Those hoping for a logical conclusion, as with Perfect Blue, will likely be similarly disappointed. It doesn't necessarily feel that the explanation given is the one they originally had in mind at the start of the story.

It occurred to me today that I should probably shop around for a converted Saturn, or I'll never be able to play the import games I have lurking around... A quick Google search turned up the usual suspects in the UK, neither of whom have any in stock. I may have to look into buying a standard Saturn and getting it converted myself... The only other alternative is to buy a Japanese Saturn and a step-down transformer, but then I can't play any of the US games I picked up along the way. Out of desperation, I looked up emulators, since even my machine should be plenty powerful enough to emulate the Saturn... but all I seem to get is the startup screen, occasionally a message about RAM which, invariably, I can't read, and then a blank white screen. Oh, and no sound... despite it supposedly being available... More investigation may be necessary.

Should have gone to the shops today, too... or at least gone out to empty my bins, but I just couldn't be bothered. Strange and troubling how I can go so quickly from doing constructive stuff to loafing about feeling sorry for myself.

Being Shirty

Well, after a comparatively busy week and a rather lazy Saturday, I actually made a bit of use of today... though I did only get out of bed after noon, which is a bit crap.

Following the T-shirt idea I had a couple of days ago, I realised I could resurrect some of my old graphic design work for use as T-shirt designs. Retro-looking videogames are having something of a renaissance these days, so my stuff - out of date when it was done - should, in theory, be exactly right for today's market.

The only question is do I sell my designs, or do I attempt to go it alone? In theory, I have sort-of access to a printer capable of printing direct to T-shirts... but, since it's not direct access, no tests have been performed as yet. And there are now three designs I'd like to try...

...With more to come... probably

...I have ideas, I seem to be able to churn this sort of thing out quite quickly on the PC (it was so much slower on the machine it was intended for!) and it's not as if I have any shortage of time. I should probably make the most of the inclination while I still have it...

Experienced

So, the Doctor Who Experience at Olympia in London.

It is testament to the change in attitudes towards one of our most beloved and longest-running Sci-Fi TV serials that such a thing exists in the first place. Normally, this kind of show-and-tell with interactive bits is reserved for the likes of Star Trek - many times this afternoon I was comparing this experience to the Trek show at one of the hotels in Las Vegas - and, while small and nowhere near comprehensive, this show is perfectly formed, and wisely keeps itself from becoming a Who Geek's paradise.

You start in a small hall with displays of costumes and set decorations from the most recent series and, at the appointed time (yes, tickets are timed entry) you are lead by staff (conveniently yet incongruously wearing shirts with 'STAFF' printed on the back) through to a storeroom on Starship UK (from The Beast Below) where an information unit (from Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead) highlights some of the more interesting exhibits before the Doctor interrupts from his prison in the Pandorica MkII ("It's not even a different colour! Boring!"). Without going into too much detail about the storyline, you're lead through the TARDIS (not really enough interactive bits, pneumatic floor), into a Dalek spacecraft (with hints of upcoming events?), through a dark cavern with a couple of 'statues' and into a room with an impressive 3D cinematic presentation (not much to it, though). From there, you're released into the main museum section, filled with costumes, props, and two (count 'em) TARDIS control rooms. Monsters old and new are presented well, including a range of Daleks from the oldest to the newest... and it's very strange to see how their height changed over the years. The weirdest thing, though, is how much of this show was "on loan from private collector", including the older of the two control rooms! I know the BBC is notorious for disposing of its old props, but it was sad to see how much was on loan.

The section on sound effects and music could have been a bit larger, or had a bit more variety, but it was a nice inclusion nonetheless, highlighting the important role played by the Radiophonic Workshop. One other cool-for-kids section was the mirrored area where the choreographer from the TV show has done a video that teaches visitors how to walk like Cybermen and the scarecrows (from The Family of Blood).

The gift shop - somewhat unsurprisingly - is well stocked with DVDs, but at prices far above the average high street shop. You'd have to be very forgiving, desperate, or just overcome with Time Lord Geekiness to pick up your boxed sets there. On the upside, they're also very well stocked with the action figures (and I'm still amazed that the BBC bothered with such luxuries, let alone did them so well), playsets, and myriad sonic screwdrivers... from the custom Wiimote, through pens, torches and projectors, all the way to an actual functioning screwdriver in the shape of the current Doctor's multi-purpose tool. I didn't buy anything this time, but I may check the price of the Wiimote elsewhere, and pick one up on my next visit - yes, I'm geeky enough to go a second time, I think. Maybe even one of the screwdrivers, as a funny gift for my father. A life-size Karen Gillen standee was tempting... but I think not.

Depending on how quickly you pass through the museum section, and how scrupulous you are about taking photos (or taking advantage of the green screen photo booth) the event could take anywhere between an hour and two hours... so it's £17 well spent.

Actually getting there turned out to be a rather strange experience, but only because I'd forgotten what time I was supposed to be meeting my old mate Paul. He'd emailed me earlier in the week, to say that we were booking to go in at 2pm, so we should meet at 1pm. Somehow, in the intervening time, I'd been rolling those times an hour backward every time I thought about it. I went to bed last night thinking we were going in at 1pm, so meeting at noon... and got up this morning thinking we were going in at noon... so I was waiting at the station for Paul shortly before 11am. When it became clear, over an hour later, that something was more seriously adrift than I had guessed, I decided to head home and check the email. Sure enough, when I got home, fired up the computer and re-read his instruction... it was time to leave again. I admitted my mistake when he arrived at the station, and he found it quite amusing. Considering I have a calendar hung up in the hallway, you'd think I'd write it up there, including the times...

Compare and Contrast

Today's lazy day was extremely lazy. My washing up is piling up nicely, despite the fact that I had planned to do that pretty much first thing in the morning. All I actually did was sit around watching anime (volume 2 of Basilisk, volume 1 of Paranoia Agent) or playing Muramasa.

There's an interesting comparison to be drawn between Basilisk and Muramasa. Both are 'ninja stories', both are full of overblown, stereotypical characters... but one is compelling and the other is still not. By the end of volume 2 of Basilisk, I've been introduced to several more characters, but most of them are dead already, and I've gained no deeper understanding of any of them. The two families involved have been at war for ages and for some nebulous and unexplained reason, but had to adhere to a non-aggression pact arranged by their shogun. He now has recinded that pact, with his stated reason being that he wants the next shogun to be the last man standing in an all-out war between the ten best warriors in either clan. It's taken 8 episodes for one clan to learn of this, while the other knew from the start because some of their ninjas intercepted the messages bound for both clans, destroyed one copy and kept the other.

The art style is variable... most of it is pretty good, vaguely serious... but the 'Juliet' of the piece is far cuter than any other character, and seems out of place. She appears to be the reason for the title (as far as I can tell so far), since her only skill is the ability to nullify anyone else's skill just by looking at them.

The skills themselves are interesting in their variety, but there seems to be no rhyme or reason to who gets defeated by whom... they are all at the mercy of the plot.

Muramasa, meanwhile, is progressing nicely in the second story. Amnesiac Ninja is basically at the mercy of the plot, going wherever seems most logical... and has just found that the very man who sent him to steal a particular demon blade was the one who then took it away. His clan think he betrayed them, and no-one really seems to trust him... which leads to some pretty epic battles along the way. I'd wager that Kisuke's game is harder than Momohime's, if only because his enemies are more complicated. The second boss (unless I've forgotten one!) is a samurai princess on demonic horseback. She fires arrows, some of which home in on the player character. The horse charges and stamps. There are barriers which can protect you from arrows, but the horse is inclined to ram through them as much as it will jump over them.

I am constantly being blown away by the sheer beauty of Muramasa, its many-layered parallax backgrounds, and its linear but oh-so-interesting parallel stories. I'm never quite sure if I've achieved the right level for a particular stage (probably not, for the most part), but it's a reasonably forgiving game, and I've only actually died a couple of times.

Paranoia Agent looks to be Satoshi Kon's last anime, since he died last August of pancreatic cancer. This is a terrible shame, not least because he was working on something when diagnosed, but also because the projects he worked on were quite unlike any other anime. Perfect Blue may not have quite lived up to the "If Hitchcock Met Disney..." hype, but it was a great fun movie with a surprising twist that came as the result of a tragic backstory you can guess at through the many implied parallels. Paranoia Agent started out as an investigation into a series of seemingly random attacks by a kid on rollerblades. His victims so far are all completely nuts, including a toy/cartoon character designer who talks to a plushie of one of her creations (and it talks back), a private tutor who has a split personality, and so also works as a prostitute, and a 'number one' student with serious rage issues who - for a time - was suspected of being the attacker. By  the end of volume one, the attacker has supposedly been apprehended by his latest victim - a mob-connected policeman... but we shall see.

In other news, I've had another cool idea for a t-shirt... but this may be one I farm out to one of the companies that sells t-shirts online and at the conventions. Well, it's an option...

Busy Week/Lazy Day

Well, after three days of being out and about to some extent, I think I can safely give myself a fairly lazy day at home. Yesterday, I was invited by my parents to go with them to the Barnes Wetland Centre (aka Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust London). Considering how sunny and comparatively warm it had been for the first couple of days this week, it was a massive disappointment to find that the weather had turned cold and overcast, but the trip was nice and relaxing. The Barnes centre can only be described as a 'beautiful wilderness' only a short trip from the middle of London. Hell, considering how quick the bus ride from Hammersmith was, and the fact that we could see the recently refurbished church tower from the on-site restaurant, even through the haze, we could probably have walked from the station.

But the bus ride meant we hadn't expended too much energy just getting there, so we had plenty to spare for wandering around the centre itself. It's nicely laid out, with paths winding almost naturally through the reeds, and only a few bridges over the deeper areas. Countless species of ducks, geese, swans and other such birds swarm around, occasionally taking flight and visiting other pools. Many a time, as we wandered around, I cursed the speed of my ancient (ten year old) digital camera, as flight after flight of geese got past me before the shutter finally reacted to a press of the button.

The many hides dotted around are quite nicely located so that, where the banks are too high to see over, you can pop indoors (where it's surprisingly warm until you open one of the viewing windows) and get very nearly right to the water's edge. The Peacock Tower is especially good, because it's windows give a 360degree view over the centre from its first and second floors.

Clouds of insects followed us around for much of the walk, though obviously they didn't stray too far from their territory. I don't think I've ever been buzzed by so many flies in one go... My mother suspected it may have been her hairspray that attracted them, but I got the feeling they just liked annoying any and every passer-by.

Being a bitterly cold day, naturally I got home with a splitting headache, but it was quite slow to arrive. I first noticed it as we left the centre but, stopping off at my parents' house for a light dinner (Tesco Sushi is actually not half bad, though the seaweed was a bit soggy) seemed to slow its progress. By the time I left, though, it was dark, and so the cold was that much more vicious... and waiting for a train in an open air station really didn't help.

So, yes, today, I won't be getting up to much... But tomorrow, I'll be heading up to Olympia for The Doctor Who Experience...

Finality

Part of me can't quite believe I neglected to even touch on the series finale (rumoured to be The Finale) of Being Human on Sunday night. Then again, I was tired... Didn't even stay up for the end of Outcasts, but I don't think I missed much there. Yesterday I was tired from my trip to the Thames and subsequent playing of Epic Mickey for most of the evening.

I know, excuses excuses.

So, as with previous series, it came to quite a bloody end. Well, if not 'bloody' as such, there was certainly a lot of death. At one point, it looked like just about everyone would end up dead, then it looked like everyone (well, the four leads, at least) would survive... then it all got Complicated. I must say that, while the climax was clearly supposed to be quite emotional, it was nowhere near the weepie factor of the first episode of this series. Partly because the stakes (har har) didn't feel quite so high, partly because there was the creeping sensation of more going on behind the scenes.

If the rumours are true, and Being Human's planned three-series run has reached its conclusion, then it's gone out on a faintly confusing and exceedingly inconclusive note. If, in fact, there will be more next year... Well, I'm not sure how I feel about that.

On the one hand, things have escalated to the point where it would be very difficult to keep Being Human going in its current, excellent form. On the other hand, I'm one of these people who wants to know "what happens next?", and I find it incredibly frustrating that we're tantalised with such an incredible future that we're never going to see anywhere outside our own heads.

But maybe that was the point all along?

Addendum: This answers part of the question...

Popped uptown again today to meet my Pensions Advisor... I'm not entirely sure what I was expecting of this meeting, but we talked more about my current situation (work, or the lack thereof, mortgage, comparative levels of personal responsibility - I confessed to being almost jealous of his family situation, while he was jealous of my relaxing weekends - savings, my last job and the disasters that have been unfolding since around this time last year) than about my pension - either the personal pension which he administrates, or the company pension which closed with my redundancy. I have a letter to sign and return which gives him authority to deal with the company pension administrators on my behalf, but his main advice was to wait until I'm working - one way or another - before making any plans for the money they're holding.

After that meeting, I wandered up to Forbidden Planet, since it was just a short-ish walk up Shaftesbury Avenue, and was pleasantly surprised to see a far better selection of TransFormers on their shelves than has previously been on offer. Still nothing that I wouldn't find in the normal shops, and slightly more costly at that, but far more shelf-space was occupied. I toyed with the idea of picking a few things up, not only TF-related, but eventually decided against... though I did pick up a couple of Anime boxed sets - Basilisk (think Romeo and Juliet, but with ninjas) and Paranoia Agent, a recent series from the guy behind Perfect Blue. By the end of disc one (of six) of Basilisk, I had reminded myself why I dislike ninja anime - the all-too-frequently wooden acting, the portentious/pretentious dialogue, and the dull insistance on discussing special ninja techniques before unleashing them. I'm hoping the complicated romance will carry the story... but for five more discs?

I'd hoped to pick up several others but, while Forbidden Planet had the individual volumes (for about £15 a pop), the boxed sets were notable by their absence. Since the two sets I bought came to less than £60, I wasn't about to pay more than that for each series for which there were no boxed sets... which, I'm pretty sure, are available online. And, now I'm at home most days, I can afford to order online...

The Family Lunch

Not wishing to sound cruel or heartless, but I am glad my grandmother decided not to join us for our Sunday dinner at my parents' local pub. The pub dining experience - for me - is generally bad enough, without repeating the same conversations every few minutes because she doesn't remember anything anyone tells her, and has begun to fabricate memories to substitute for those she has lost to Alzheimer's. I hate that she's alone apart from the daily care visits, or when my mother visits to check her cupboards and fridge are properly stocked, but it's so difficult for anyone to be around her these days (she regularly chases the care visitors away, and can be downright objectionable if they're not white) because she's so stubborn and so easily confused.

My niece is as sprightly as ever, and now definitely seems to remember who I am. When she first saw me on Sunday, she still ran away into her mother's arms, but when my sister asked her if she remembered her uncle, she replied with an emphatic "yes", so she probably just didn't expect to see me, as I hadn't been there when she went to bed the night before.

I was wearing a particular t-shirt, upon which is an illustration of a cat and, when I showed it off, my niece pointed at it, and quite excitedly said "cat!". She even showed signs of the beginnings of understanding that the cat's expression mimicked my own incredulous raised eyebrow. She still isn't speaking much intelligible English other than "yes", "no" and "more, please", but she's certainly getting there... It really is quite amazing to see her develop.

The lunch itself was, I confess, not half as bad as I'd feared. Sure, the pub was crowded (had everyone had the same idea of having a Mother's Day lunch in advance of the day?) and virtually all the tables had been reserved, but the food was good (new menu), portions were more than adequate (the 'Kids Menu' portions were probably aiming for something older than two, though!), and the service was friendly. They had - most improbably - run out of chocolate sauce for the desserts, but my mother and I were happy to 'make do' with the hot chocolate sauce that's intended for use with fondues.

Just for a change, my sister left before I did - the plan all along was for her to return home on the Sunday afternoon - with me staying for a light dinner before finally sloping off home.

Today, I've been uptown, treating a friend to a Birthday trip on the London Eye - which, unfathomably, she has never been on before, despite it having been around for more than ten years now - and a 40-minute Thames cruise. I'd done both before, many years ago (though on that occasion, I spent the first quarter of the London Eye's rotation snogging, so I missed the initial climb), and additionally been on the London Eye at least twice before - once with an old schoolfriend (his sister got free tickets, I believe) and once with a group from work (I seem to recall a couple of Salespeople discussing the idea of flashing the next/preceding pod). Still, on a good day, it offers an excellent view of London.

It was a good day today, right up until we boarded the London Eye... but at least our Thames cruise was sunny and reasonably warm... while the wind wasn't blowing.

Extra treats for me were twofold - for one, my friend paid for brunch and lunch, for the other, she'd bought me a TransFormers 'Reveal the Shield' Lugnut in Sainsbury's (of all places! Must get myself to Smyth's soon!) over the weekend, and today I got my hands on it.

Wouldn't You Know It?

Just about every morning this last week, it's been bright at sunny when I get up in the morning (or lunchtime... y'know, whatever). Today... not so much.

Completely overcast, though not especially dark cloud, and now it's raining... Now I need to get ready to go over to my folks' place for the Family Lunch.

And my hip/backside has been very painful. It's responding well either to the application of my wheat sack, or the ibuprofen I took earlier (meaning no Lansoprozole today). Or possibly both. Time will tell.

I've also turned my matress this morning - I realised it was probably overdue, but I'm not sure it has any bearing on the state of my back/hip/bottom. We shall see, though. When I turned it, vast conglomerations of dust were blown out from underneath the bed. Not so much 'dust bunnies' as 'dust mammoths'. Seriously, I could fashion a convincing beard from all that dust...

An Eclectic Mix

While there was sufficient light today, I started photographing miscellaneous bits and bobs - things I collect, but which aren't TransFormers related - for a side project. Didn't last long, though, as the camera's battery running out put a serious additional delay on proceedings. Got a fair bit done, however... not much more to add now.

All this meant that I didn't get done the sketching I wanted to do today - meaning Wednesday is likely to be my earliest next opportunity to spend any quality time on sketching. Tomorrow, I'm having lunch with my family. Monday and Tuesday I'm heading uptown. Realistically, Tuesday afternoon is a possibilty for doing stuff... but it's still getting dark quite early and sketching in electric light just isn't pleasant.

Not much in the way of interesting television today, but there were two movies I decided to watch. The first was The Pursuit of Happyness, in which Will Smith plays a 'triumphing over adversity' role in a movie based on a true story. Smith tends to be very likeably in just about everything he's in (easy for me to say - I've never watched The Fresh Price of Bel Air), and his performance as a father struggling to eke out a living when everything seems to be going wrong is very compelling. It makes its point very well and without decending into saccharine or preaching - everyone is free to pursue happiness, but achieving it takes a lot of work, and that should never be taken for granted. So many times, I found myself thinking "It can't possibly get worse for him", only for it to do just that... and yet, by the time it finally went right for him, I was expecting another disaster.

Compare and contrast, then, to Double Jeopardy, in which Ashley Judd is convicted of murdering her husband, only to find he faked his murder, shacked up with her friend after changing his name, then killed her and reinvented himself all over again... The central premise is that, under US law, one cannot be tried twice for the same specific crime... So, having spent time in prison, ostensibly for murdering her husband, she was then free to actually commit that crime. Of course, she didn't really want to... she only wanted her son back... but the way it all came together was predictable and far too convenient. Prime example: the revelation that her parole officer was once a lawyer pretty clearly telegraphed the way the latter half of the movie was going to go... and I figured it might have gone so much smoother if she'd involved him from the start... but still, it felt tacked on. Almost as if the writers got to the end and realised they needed to plug some holes, so they rewrote elements of the parole officer rather than introducing more characters. The most glaring proof if this possibility was that the bad guy/husband had moved to New Orleans for the finale of the film: when confronted by his wife and her Parole Officer at the end, he pointed out that Louisiana always goes for the death penalty in murder cases. Wife points out she's already been convicted of his murder, so she could kill him in the middle of Mardi Gras and get away with it. Parole Officer confirms the Double Jeopardy rule.

I'm happy to report that I'm still reasonably tidy... though there are a few things I need to get done tomorrow... whether they happen before or after Family Lunch will be decided largely by what time I get out of bed tomorrow...

Tidier

Spent a small chunk of today sorting out my kitchen and bathroom cabinets, following the purchase of more contents for both. They're now in a semi-reasonable state and, perhaps more importantly, my kitchen worktops are now far clearer than they have been for months... in fact, probably moreso than they have been since I properly moved in.

The question, gentle reader, is how long the contents of the kitchen cupboards will remain in the cupboards. I am notorious for "not putting things back". If it's going to get used, it might as well stay out, right?

And I wonder why my home is always so untidy... Sheesh.

Spent another small chunk of the day playing Muramasa: The Demon Blade on the Wii... I've probably mentioned that it's by the same folks who created Princess Crown on the Saturn, one of my favourite import games which I will get back to playing eventually, once I figure out the best way of getting my hands on a converted Saturn.

Muramasa is, in spirit, Princess Crown 3... though obviously it has a far more Japanese setting, and much of the artwork seems to be straight out of Japanese paintings. I originally started playing it as Momohime, since her character model is so much cuter than Kisuke, and kind of reminded me of Galadriel from Princess Crown. I've now got to the final chapter of her game and so, rather than 'complete' it straight away, I figured I'd give Momohime a break and start playing Kisuke's game. Considering how fluid it all is with a heavily levelled-up Momohime, Kisuke's early battles seem like a real chore. The first boss took way longer than it should have, simply because I'd grown used to having it easy. Low stats and low-powered swords make a hell of a difference with my lackadaisical play style.

I also made a start on yet another writing project... yes, I know, I've got about a dozen on the go already. This one is different... far simpler... and it's as much an art project as it is a writing project. Basically, it's an illustrated kids' story about a cat. I have the whole story planned out (which makes a change, considering the idea only occurred to me a few months ago), and much of the narrative is already written out... I just need to fill in a few sequences and then...

...Start drawing...

After I decide how it's going to look, of course.

Considering I worked with a few illustrators during my time in publishing, I was half tempted to ask them to quote on doing the pictures... but I have a vague idea of what I'm after, and I'd be doing myself a disservice if I didn't at least try to illustrate my own story.

This was probably the 'busiest' day I've had in a long while... I didn't do everything I wanted, but I got some constructive work done, rather than just arsing around on the interwebs.

For a change.

Reflux Redux

Technically, I suppose that title is a tautology... but then, I've always said I wanted to be the world's first Crusading Tautologist. I'd be like the Indiana Jones of wordplay.

But anyway.

My hip started playing up recently... or rather, my lower back did, and after a few days the pain was distilled and focused to a point behind my right hip. Consequently, I stopped taking my prescribed Lansoprazole so that I could take some Ibuprofen for the pain - that particular analgesic being contraindicated by the gastro-suppressant, and yet the only thing that ever works for muscle pain.

It's taken a few days - maybe as many as four, as I haven't really been keeping track - but I have begun to feel the acid rising again. I may take another dose of Ibuprofen tonight, then switch back to Lansoprazole tomorrow... or perhaps just go with the Deep Heat spray, which helped overnight at the weekend, and take some Lansoprazole before I retire. I should probably make my mind up soon, lest I awaken during the night with a throat full of bile.

I contacted my Pension advisor today - I haven't seen him in more than 12 years, but I've spoken to him a couple of times since first setting up my personal pension back in my second job - and have arranged to meet up with him next week, now that my job-related pension from my last position has been closed, and I need to sort out what I'm doing with the funds... Rolling it into my personal pension would be the best idea, but it's tempting to just cash it in and do something ridiculous, like take a looooong holiday.

That said, I'm going stir-crazy already... more time off is probably not a good idea, unless it's a touring holiday... something with prearranged activities. Something as far away from London as possible...

He enquired after my employment status and, when I told him I'd been made redundant back in December, he asked "So... how's daytime television?" Har har. Thankfully, I'm managing to avoid it quite nicely, unless there's a good movie on.


Also looked into driving lessons... I'm long overdue for learning... but, in the main, driving seems unnecessary... and owning a car prohibitively expensive. More insurance, more tax, petrol costs, maintenance... All kinds of crap I can really do without. And it's not as if I have anywhere to park a car...

Still feeling a bit mopey... tempting to go out to Harrow tomorrow and just throw myself into driving lessons, just so I have something to do each week...

Angst

It's a sad fact that I don't have very many friends. This has been a pattern throughout my life, to be honest, but now I'm in my mid-thirties, it seems all the more depressing.

The scene was set, I'm told, in primary school, when a rearrangement of classes between one term and the next meant that I was no longer in the same class as most of my friends... and I didn't really make many - if any - new ones. Of course, this did eventually change. By middle school, I had quite a collection of friends who I'd hang out with in school and occasionally visit outside of school. Then high school happened, and most of my old schoolfriends went elsewhere, so I made new friends during my teens.

But, of my group, I was the only one who didn't go to university. After my A-Levels, I spent a year looking for my ideal job (I've probably mentioned this at least a dozen times a year), failed because techology suddenly surged forward, far beyond what I could do, and so settled on the first job that looked interesting.

In my first job, I didn't really make friends because I was much younger than most of my colleagues. I started hanging out with one intermittently, but we fell out a few years ago, and haven't spoken since.

In my second job, I was in much the same position, only more so. Easily the youngest one there, and all of them had been a close-knit team for ages before I started. I was liked/respected because I did my job very well... but wasn't part of the 'in crowd', and so didn't hang out with anyone there. I ended up resigning after a kind of breakdown, and had been seeing a shrink for several months. It all seemed to suggest I couldn't really cope with the office environment.

About nine months later, I started my third job... in which I was neither the youngest nor the least experienced in my field... But, by this point, I was being very aloof. I started hanging out with most of my colleagues, but slowly withdrew - for no discernable reason, other than that I was just finding it 'difficult', and tended to have anxiety attacks when in large groups of colleagues. It's a noise thing - if I can't hear myself think, I start to panic, and withdraw further and further. Some of my colleagues probably found it baffling... but only rarely would they not take 'no' for an answer. I was liked, but very closed-off. I basically didn't feel like trusting and befriending anyone because of what had happened in my second job. In one respect, this turned out to be a good thing, because several of them were psychos... but it surely counted against me when a couple of them started spreading nasty rumours about me, and turning colleagues against me in a vicious little powerplay.

As the cast list changed over the years - not just in my department, throughout the entire company - and we were bought out not once but twice, I pretty much stopped hanging out with anyone from work for years. I had a couple of outside-work friends (one or two from my school days, one from my first job for my first few years in this job), so I really didn't feel the need to be spending personal time with the people I worked with. Then again, by this point, I was beginning to be older than most of my colleagues...

About halfway through my time there, I'd lost a couple of friends and made a new one, but the cast list in the office just kept on changing. It was hardly worth learning names, let alone getting to know people, as they'd be gone in a couple of days/weeks/months. By the time I was made redundant, I was a 'popular stranger' to most of my colleagues... and, while I accepted the invitation to monthly dinners with a group of them, their own life dramas are already beginning to get in the way.

Now I'm unemployed, living alone, not seeing any friends with any regularity, one of my friends is also kind of my ex, and, while I'm trying to move on via eHarmony, I'm finding it uncomfortable. I hated internet dating the first time I tried it, and this is no better, personality profiling or not. I'm spending my days mostly at home, considering all the things I could be doing, but not actually doing them.

Lately, I've started to think that the best thing I could do is throw myself into a new office job, and just be as stupidly open as I can handle, just to break the habit I've grown into of being terribly guarded. I'm half tempted to get myself down to the Job Centre, to see if I get lucky a second time, and find myself a completely different line of work...

...Which I've said before, and not acted on...

Further Visitation, Or Lucid Dreaming?

In a previous posting, I mentioned having been visited on at least two occasions by something I have only been able to describe as 'a presence'.

Well, make that at least three times, as of last night/this morning.

Just for a change, I didn't stay up late to watch all the movies I'd flagged as interesting. I wanted to go to bed last night, rather than this morning, just for a change... just to see what difference it made. I actually slept reasonably well, but didn't get out of bed significantly earlier this morning owing to the 'events' of the night.

First of all, I'd liken in to Night Terrors, only without the terror. Quite the opposite, really. That said, looking at the symptoms and root causes on that linked Wikipedia page, I suspect that's precisely what it is - I've been sleeping badly for ages, and really not eating well (or regularly, sometimes getting by on one meal a day), and most of the listed characteristics of depression are present. But, hey, I know I'm depressed.

So, what actually happened?

I woke up at one point during the night/early morning to find I was not alone in bed. A familiar female form was curled up next to me, between me and the bedroom wall, with my cartoon cat neck pillow poking out behind her, and the majority of her face obscured by my pillows. The corner of a subtle smile was just visible.

I thought, for a moment, that it was a former lover... but realised that this form was slimmer, with darker hair, and the smile wasn't quite right.

Nevertheless, I tried to put an arm round her, but couldn't move. I tried to voice a protest, but what came out of my mouth wasn't really speech - I could move the air as necessary, but I couldn't shape words in my mouth... which seems similar to December's 'visit', as I recall. Somehow she understood, and I got the impression of a refusal (though not a harsh one, more a kind of "don't be silly, go back to sleep"). It's hard to be certain what happened next, but I seem to remember eventually being able to move, because we did shift positions. Part of me is ready to dismiss this as nothing more than a very lucid dream...but, normally, my dreams are not quite so geographically accurate in their representation of rooms - either in this flat, or my parents' home.

The next thing I remember with any certainty was waking up to the sound of the cleaning crew doing the vacuuming in the office space next door. That would be about 6.30am.

I woke again around 9.20, but only managed to fully awaken and drag myself out of bed an hour later. Another hour later, and I'm thinking about breakfast...

On Nomenclature

Currently watching a British comedy horror movie called Severance, set on a 'team buidling weekend' for a group of people who work for a company that makes weapons. They're not at the right lodge, and there's someone stalking and killing them.

The survivors at this point have holed up back in the lodge, having lost another couple of their number when the coach they were trying to escape in crashed, and separated them.

One of the group suggests barricading the doors and windows, and another points out that would be difficult, as they have no way of securing the barricades. One of them suggests looking in the bag brought by another member of their group, who recently lost his lower leg to a beartrap.

"Well, he's not gonna have a hammer an' nails in there, is 'e?" asks Danny Dyer's character.

The character played by Laura Harris tips out the bag, and picks up a hammer and a bag of nails.

What's the name of the guy who packed a hammer and nails for a team building weekend?

Gordon.

Yeah, that'd be about right. Your honour, I rest my case.

Couldn't Agree More...

In my random trawlings of the interwebs, I came across this little gem from Slightly Relevant.

All I can say is 'Hallelujah'...

Bad enough that CSI routinely slips into Minority Report/Blade Runner territory for its so-called investigations, but I actually watched the episode of Law & Order: SVU referred to, and was positively insulted by the representation of both games and gamers. Look at what's available these days: aside from the likes of Mario, Sonic, Donkey Kong, etc, how many games still actually use the time-honoured 'level' structure? Sure, there are stages... chapters... sections... but no-one calls them 'levels' anymore, do they? And have RPGs, particularly of the MMO variety, ever had 'levels'

And this idea that sensitive data somehow gets encrypted into a game, so that it can only be accessed by winning?

Um... What if the user actually needs the data themselves, kinda in a hurry?

Seriously, I know logic is not a consideration for most of these writers, but if they're going to come up with sensationalist crap, they at least recognise that some of their target demographic/audience will know more about the subject than they do.

Not So Much 'Down On The Upside' As...

Up on the downside?

Which is to say, I'm finding vaguely positive aspects to being out of work.

Yes, indeed. The mind-numbing, frustration-inducing, crushingly depressing ennui and sense of nothingness about my days does have a small upside. And, believe it or not, it's Television.

Now, bear in mind I'm only on Freeview - conscientious objections to paying for televisual content beyond the License Fee, and all - so I don't have the full spectrum of entertainment available to me. Lord knows, I spend most of my days with the TV off all day unless I'm playing videogames or watching DVDs because there's so little worth watching... so it's a welcome gift when the Freeview channels actually offer something of genuine interest.

First up in today's splendid lineup was Breakfast at Tiffany's - a movie which, somehow and for no specific reason, I have spent more than 36 years not seeing. I figured that, since I enjoyed the recent showing of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (similar situation with that), I'd give it a whirl, and add it to the gradually increasing list of classic movies I've finally bothered to watch.

Glad I did, broadly speaking... but it is quite distressing that so many people these days - male and female, if I'm honest - are the Holly Golightlys of their own little worlds. It's just a shame that real life isn't as simple as that film - you can't just give them a stern talking-to in the back of a cab as they're running away again, and snap them back into reality... But then, as I have related in a previous posting, the reality is far, far more complicated than anything addressed in that movie.

Still, it was a pleasant bit of fluff for a story about people who were - essentially - whoring themselves out to their respective 'benefactors' (the background 'White Knights' of the piece) and doing their damnedest to ignore the consequences to themselves. One of them sees the other's 'Dragon' and, because this is a movie, manages to conquer it and also defeat their own in one stroke. Subjective 'realities' notwithstanding, because that just wouldn't be a happy, romantic ending.

It reminded me my I should never, ever again try to be the 'White Knight'.

Fuck... Just really depressed myself.

Moving on.

Memento - sounded intriguing, and yet I managed to miss it in the cinema, and haven't picked it up on DVD because I was worried it wouldn't be as good as I hoped. Christopher Nolan's first big movie, and now one of several co-written with his brother Jonathan. The film follows its own story in two different ways, both episodic: One way runs forward, and fills in the character of the protagonist... the other runs backwards and tells the main bulk of the story in a deliberately disjointed and disconcerting way. It's one of those films that keeps you guessing, despite starting at the end of the story... very well put together, and I may end up buying the DVD now, to go in the same part of my collection as the likes of Shutter Island and The Usual Suspects.

Nothing much planned for the weekend... I should probably take the advice of a friend and go for a walk or something, but it's turned very cold again. Loathe though I am to feed my own stir-craziness, but I suspect I'll be lurking around the flat doing not much at all.

Maybe play a game... maybe watch a movie... maybe do some sketching... maybe do some writing (wouldn't that be something).

Actually, on that note, just so I know I've written it down somewhere... One thing I really hate about internet dating - well, relationships as a whole at the beginning, but particularly internet dating because that's currently pertinent - is that, despite my cynicism, I do find it all too easy to open myself up to people... And one of the worst things about that is that I love to talk about my writing. The more I talk about it, the clearer it becomes (still slowly, but it happens). The more I talk about my characters, the more they talk to me, the closer I get to understanding their stories, to the point that I can actually write them out.

But when I talk about my writing to any extent with people to aren't really 'friends', or whatever, I just end up feeling violated (pardon the melodramatic terminology), because I'm basically scared that my writing will never actually amount to anything... but now they know about it. Years down the line, when they still don't see any books with my name on them on the shelves at Waterstones, they'll be thinking "yeah, I was right, he was never going to get it published"...

And part of me really wants to prove them wrong, but part of me is shrivelling up because there's a good chance they are right.

Wow... that's just even more depressing.

Time for bed.

Ps. Approximately an hour after 'completing' the above post, and before I go to bed, I'd just like to point out that I am, in fact, aware that the only person that's actually spending any time thinking about whether or not I'll get published here is me. Everyone else will likely forget me long before such thoughts might occur to them.

Recurring Themes

Had another dream about burglary last night only, rather than being set in my own home, this one was back at my folks' place.

Strangely, while I was in the lounge, sifting through one of the cabinets, I was able to observe - somewhere behind me, so technically in the hall - a group of about 4 youths who were clearly watching what I was doing. What I was doing, at the time, was moving my toys about, putting my Wii away and moving my computer out of sight, because I was going out.

My parents (and sister... so this dream was set many years ago) were already out, so I seemed to want everything to be nice and secure. Perhaps we were preparing to go on holiday?

In any event, I did everything I could, then left the house. I have no recollection of what happened while I was 'out' but, upon my return, I immediately knew something was wrong. A quick glance into the lounge (a curious mixture of my own lounge and that of my parents in terms of both layout and content), I noticed that it had been stripped bare - all my toys gone, the Wii and the computer also removed, cupboards open and empty, or just plain missing. I have the weirdest feeling that the Saturn was still on my coffee table, but couldn't swear to it.

I found an envelope which contained what appeared to be a removals invoice - as if we had requested that the house be burgled and the contents moved to the address provided... But the name of the company and certain other details were very definitely Polish, while the group of youths were very definitely not.

When the rest of my family returned, I presented the 'invoice' and explained that we'd been burgled while I was out, but the first reaction was to try to contact the removals company and explain that there had been a mistake (either in the 'collection' or the delivery address - I'm not certain). Once that option was discounted, a sense of apathy descended - there was no point trying to do anything about it.

Not exactly uplifting...

Chilly

The weather during February seemed to be broadly on the improve - sure, it rained a lot, but it seemed warmer... And so, naturally, the moment I start turning my heating down, or reducing its hours of operation, it starts getting cold again. Nice.

Popped out today to post off a cheque for the Managing Agents, sending along with it a selection of photos of my bathroom and hall ceilings, so they can see that the leak has definitely had some effects. Walked down to the local Tesco, too, to pick up some snacky-things and breakfast cereal.

Right now, I just feel like going back to bed... so perhaps I shall...

Friendly Rivalry

Approximately half my life ago, I studied Richard Brinsley Sheridan's The Rivals as part of my A-Level English course. It was quite a fun play - written in something approaching contemporary English compared to all the Shakespeare I'd done in years past - and, as was the standard in my school (or with my teachers, at least) was 'read' in the form of a pre-performance script read-through. Various folks in the class were 'cast' as a particular character (with occasional 'understudies' defined for important parts, in case of absences), the the play was 'performed' around the table.

Every so often, The Rivals turns up in a London theatre, and I've been trying to see it for years. Unsuccessfully, it must be said, until last Friday... when a particular performance, at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, starring the great Penelope Keith and Peter Bowles, was putting on its penultimate evening show.

Annoyingly, it's been running since before Christmas and, at one point, I thought I was seeing it the week after I was made redundant. Even worse, when I was dragged back into the office for a final three days, I told my parents that they would be going to see The Rivals in my stead... but I was confused. The tickets I had at that point were for Tron Legacy.

Not that my parents were too disappointed - they loved the 3D spectacular - but it did kind of set the precedent for 'not getting tickets for The Rivals'.

In the end, I booked late on the Thursday night (or possibly early on the Friday morning), and popped uptown at the appropriate hour to pick up the tickets and have a quick wander before the performance began. From Haymarket, I traipsed past Trafalgar Square, to Leicester Square, then back to Piccadilly... venturing into HMV for a quick browse, all to kill time in what was one of those very rare instances where I got into town in very good time. Do I detect improvements in the Piccadilly line?

In HMV, I picked up a Wii game called Samurai Warriors: Katana, mistaking it for the new Samurai Warriors game which, in theory, was released months ago, and yet hasn't turned up in any shops I've been into. Turns out Katana is like the sword-wielding equivalent of something like Time Crisis or House of the Dead. Not very highly rated in reviews but, after a quick game over the weekend, I can say it's certainly better than 'mediocre'... certainly not one of the best Wii games ever, but fun nonetheless... and with free-roaming sequences, horse riding sequences, and firearms as secondary weapons, it seems to have a fair bit going for it.

But back to the theatre...

The Theatre Royal looks like a fairly average London theatre from the outside - the many (small) entrance doors are labelled for the section of the theatre they lead to (though the entrance hall is actually open, so one can use any door, then pick the most appropriate staircase) and, once into the theatre proper, it seems at once very small (perhaps that should be 'intimate'?) and quite enormous. Cinemas may originally have followed the palatial, temple-like template set by theatres, but they are now completely plain compared to the marble, gold leaf and frescoes that adorn any self-respecting theatre.

As a sidenote, I booked a ticket for the Stalls, because they tend to offer about the best view, and was annoyed - though absolutely not surprised - to find myself hit with a 'booking fee'. Bizarrely, though, £1 of this £4 surcharge goes to the theatre's restoration fund. I'm not quite sure how they work these things out but if I'm paying about £50 for a theatre ticket, of which £4 is simply for booking a ticket (which is surely a necessity?), and of that, only £1 is going to the theatre's restoration... what's the purpose of the remaining £3 of booking fee?

And why charge a booking fee at all? Why not just make the ticket £50, of which £1 goes toward the theatre's upkeep?

I've never understood 'booking fees', except inasmuch as the act of taking payment by credit or debit card actually costs the vendor money.

But anyway.

To cut a long blog post short, the performance was excellent... I'd only quibble that Penelope Keith was perhaps too good as Mrs Malaprop ("her select words so ingeniously misapplied, without being mispronounced", as Julia puts it, while Ms Keith's performance kept making me wonder if perhaps my understanding of the English language was at fault). Peter Bowles was utterly perfect as Sir Anthony Absolute - keeping his 'frenzy' in check, but implying its depth more than adequately. I was a little surprised that they were treated by the publicity as the only stars, considering the performance I saw featured Gerard Murphy as Sir Lucius O'Trigger and Tony Gardner as Faulkland. Perhaps not quite in the same league as Keith and Bowles, but well-known nonetheless. And, while Lydia Languish was played by a relative unknown (relative being the operative word - Robyn Addison has her fair share of credits, and is likely to get a lot more based on her performance here), Julia Melville was played by Annabel Scholey, who I eventually remembered as being a key player in the first season of Being Human. Captain Jack Absolute (what is it about the rank of Captain that attracts so many Jacks?) was played by Tam Williams, who - I learned by chance last night - was the videogame addicted killer in an overblown Lynda La Plante 'thriller' about the perils of online gaming, back in the late 90s. The production was pretty much full of familiar faces, so I was glad I'd picked up a programme and spent the interval leafing through and thinking "Ah, yes... that's where I know them from!"

The story wasn't exactly as I remember... but then, according to the programme, this version was essentially cobbled together from the three existing manuscripts by Sheridan. The original never made it past its opening night because it got slated for being too bawdy... and I suspect the incongruous (and silent) character of 'Whore' was from that draft. She didn't quite fit with the idea that Jack Absolute actually loved Lydia Languish... but then, did he? He made the point himself that he was keen to elope with her only after she came into her inheritance. Everyone remarked upon her beauty, but what evidence was there that young Jack Absolute cared for anything beyond her money, except for his references to Sir Anthony having married for love...?

Still, laughs aplenty... excellent performances all round... shame they stopped at two encores, as I'm sure the audience would have been delighted to keep clapping for several more.

Popped over to my folks again at the weekend, with my sister and niece down for another checkup at Great Ormond Street. Being over there is a strangely frustrating experience... it's almost impossible to have a conversation while young Kate is up and about but, as soon as she's put to bed for a while, everyone just starts reading newspapers or magazines. Bad enough when I'm the only guest... but when my sister is there as well, I really feel that I may as well not be there.

Which seems to be a bit of a running theme... Clearly two months of inactivity does not agree with me... When I first started looking for a job, straight out of high school, I spent a year pursuing my dream job... failed utterly... then took the first job that looked interesting in the Job Centre. When I resigned from that, it took me nine months to prepare myself for another job (yes, my first job seriously fucked with my head). Now, after sticking with the same job (essentially - my role changed quite dramatically) for eleven years, I'm starting to wonder if I need to get back into a bustling office environment as quickly as possible.

I don't exactly have a packed social calendar, I have very few friends, hang out with them infrequently, and this whole eHarmony thing is just getting depressing - each new group of 'matches' seems worse than the last, as if I'm already scraping the bottom of the barrel (which I sincerely hope is not the case) - but I'm back to doubting that I even want to be dating at the moment. Rare enough that I find someone I enjoy hanging out with... the idea of spending however long on emails only to find the person still is not who they seemed to be... isn't exactly appealing at the moment. There's a reason I don't tend to open myself up to new people until I know them well, and going against my nature in the hope of meeting someone online has been disconcerting... and previous experiences have never been great.