High and Low Culture

Stewart and I meet at The Lowry tonight to see the English Touring Theatre’s production of Twelfth Night. It’s not a Shakespeare play I have ever seen or read before, but Stewart’s pre-show summary of “twins, people taking different identities, love triangles, misunderstandings, shipwrecks – you know the usual sort of Shakespeare comedy stuff…” proved pretty accurate.

A couple of the actors were a little below par, but others more than made up for them and overall it was a thoroughly enjoyable production. I should get to the theatre more often.

The only downside it that neither Stewart nor I had time to eat before the show and we turn out just after 10pm to find Lime has just stopped serving and with the knowledge that the fridge at home is pretty bare.

There’s only one thing for it – I introduce Stewart to the splendours of the Paradise kebab shop in Longsight (naan made to order whilst your heavenly chicken shish cooks on the charcoal grill). It’s Stewart’s turn to buy and he’s well impressed that his donner in naan, my chicken shish and two cans of drink come to £4.50. Somehow memories of the theatre fade with his remarks re me being a cheap date.

I think he was joking…

Collateral

Phil, Sarah and I went to see Collateral tonight, which was surprisingly good. I normally have very little time for the smarm-bucket, ego-fest that is Tom Cruise, but in this he’s OK – or as Phil puts it “not too Tom Cruisey”. He is however acted off the screen by his co-star Jamie Foxx, who puts in a startling debut major film role as the taxi driver having the worst night of his life.

Above all though, this movie belongs to Michael Mann. His hallmarks are all over it: the pace, the motion, the attention to location, the mood, the use of music etc.

We’re agreed though that the final scene lets the film down badly. I won’t include any spoilers here, but the final acts just don’t ring true and it’s a shame that a fairly fantastical tale successfully manages to suspend one’s disbelief, only to falter at the final hurdle. It’s too big a price to pay for the ‘neat’ ending.

Secret TV Histories

Round at Stewart’s tonight, eating Chinese and watching Spaced DVDs, he makes the following admission:

"Well I was on Crackerjack you know…"

Sadly it seems he didn’t even get close to winning the famed pencil.

Whereas I do have a pen from my own sad childhood TV appearance, but I’d have to be far drunker before I’d admit what show that was…

Oranges are Not the Only Fruit

I always find that each time I read a book, I discover new things; new layers, new angles, new stories, new things to love, new things to hate.

At book group tonight we gather upstairs at Fuel in Withington (our new improved home!) to discuss Jeanette Winterson’s Oranges are Not the Only Fruit


I think this is the third time I’ve read this book and this time I found I could see beyond the abuses of the church community to see the love and belonging that is also there. I’m also more frustrated than ever at the jump to the final chapter. I want to know how the heroine moved from a place of being disowned and leaving to a restored (albeit strained and uneasy) relationship.

Others in the group clearly have different relationships with this book. One guy struggles with its meandering style and lack of firm direction and control. One woman can see it’s shortcomings, but holds it ever dear as being the source of her realisation of her own sexuality.

As ever one brings so much of one’s own situation and story to any novel.

Sunday - the end of a long weekend...

I think I’m too old to do two big nights out in a row…

I eventually emerge from my duvet mid-afternoon. Apologies to anyone who rang me before that point and got a rather incoherent response.

Secretly I’m glad that plans to meet up with friends tonight fell through, so I cook up some fajitas and curl up on the sofa for the rest of the day, alternately reading and listening to the iPod and watching TV/videos.

I even get to watch Gladiator in the evening, which means I can cross that one off my list of “films everyone apart from L1z has seen”.

My verdict? A good film, but I can’t quite see what all the fuss was about.

Hangovers and pirates

Still tired from last night, I somehow find the energy to head back into town in the evening to meet with Jo. We kick things off with a meal in Eden before heading on up Canal Street drinking, ending up in Vanilla with Steph and friends until the early hours.



As ever Jo and I have a great time and a good laugh together. Tonight strangely the main source of amusement is the Captain Jack Sparrow look-a-like perched at the bar in Eden. I kid you not the guy had the full pirate costume on from the ribbons in the hair to the pirate style boots. Bandanna and eyeliner – the lot. No sign of a costume party though – so we’re left struggling with ‘why?’.

Maybe he's just running a week late on international talk-like-a-pirate day?

We do however manage to take a few surreptitious piccies on my camera phone so at least people can’t just say we were drunk and imagining things.

As if!

My New favourite Band?

The traffic getting back from work tonight is utterly horrendous, so plans of cooking before heading out are shelved and instead it's a rush to get to the Apollo in time. Thanks to the ever running 192 service we make it just in time.

We miss the first support (the ever a bridesmaid never a bride Ikira Colt), but catch the second a bunch of Swedish head cases called Cdoa. Very Talking Heads…well if Talking Heads were Swedish and had a bloke in a tweed jacket and leather driving gloves playing a xylophone…

This is just a taster of the Swedish mayhem that is about to be unleashed by the headline act.

The Hives rock! The new album is really good, but live it’s transformed into utter greatness.



Pelle demands adoration from the audience and the audience are happy to comply. This is a band that knows how to give a performance.

Elated we head on to one of our favourite late night drinking holes Big Hands although Laura who has been drinking since lunchtime bows out gracefully and heads home.

Big Hands is hard to describe. Laid back, yet trendy; excellent whilst eclectic music from the DJ; chilled yet buzzing atmosphere; welcoming yet slightly seedy décor.

Oh and good beer. Which turns out to be Stewart’s downfall. It was that fatal 11th pint…

Referrals

Firstly, thanks to Caroline for the info on how to set up a site meter - perusing the stats is fascinating. I'm stunned how many people pop past each day to read this strange exercise in journal keeping.

I particularly love seeing how people got to this Blog. Mostly through other Blogs unsurprisingly, but it's the Google searches that really intrigue.

So far searches that have led to my door include people trying to find a Manchester Curry house, a Buckfast Tonic Wine T'Shirt and an Evelyn Waugh quote.

Most intriguing though is that someone searched on Google for "L1z". Just "L1z". And this blog comes up as entry 91 out of (about) 16,900,000 hits.

How scary is that?

So scary in fact I'm editing everything to L1z now!

Decision made

Ok so I’ve made my decision.

I’m not going to go to Namibia next April.



It was supposed to happen this November with me accompanying Sarah on her work trip, combined with some ‘holiday time’.

Thing is Phil has now changed his mind and wants to go and the revised timing (due to issues over there) really sucks in terms of my work and the end of a 5yr contract, start of the next (potentially with different company etc).

Not that the three of us don’t get on really well, but it is a different dynamic. On the other hand it does give me the freedom of not feeling Sarah’s trip is dependant on me accompanying (aka driving) her.

I guess however the deciding factor is that the timing is appalling and financially it’s just not good. Job security right now is very low and the cost of the trip has increased significantly on early estimates (even with binning the going via Cape Town option that I was really wanting to do). Not the time to go into debt. The option of a trip in 2006 still remains – so I figure that’s the better option.

Will still feel hugely sad in April though when Phil and Sarah head off without me.

Of course that’s providing I find the courage to break the news of my decision to Sarah…

Decisions, decisions...

I hate the decision making process. Weighing up the pros and cons, thinking through all the issues, trying to work out how you really feel about the choices etc.

Stewart tells me that I just need to listen to my “inner voice”. My full response doesn’t bare repeating, but involves phrases such as “taking adult responsibility for ones choices”.

Not that I don’t agree with what he means about trying to establish how you really feel about something, but surely that has to be in conjunction with using our rational abilities to consider the issues?

After all if I don’t check my diary to discover that the option being considered clashes with something else I really want to do, my ‘inner voice’ is uninformed.

Admittedly my line about “I have about as much respect for the inner guide approach as I have for people who say “just listen to what God is telling you” – in fact it’s pretty much the same thing if you ask me”, may have been going too far…

Strangely though, once I've made my decision I'm usually at peasce with it. Once I’ve done the process I stick with my choice and accept whatever consequences follow in the knowledge I made the best decision I could.

After all the alternative outcome is always lost to us, so we can never ‘know’ if we made the ‘right’ choice. Kundera explains what I mean far better.

Good Gadget, Bad Gadget?

I’m still deeply in love with my iPod. I haven’t quite got all my music loaded yet (the downside of a large CD collection), but being able to carry even what I do have done anywhere with me is fantastic.

Given that Chris Moyles is becoming increasingly annoying and in the absence of DAB in the car (and sorry I just ‘don’t do Radio 2), I wanted a way of linking my iPod to my car stereo. Or in fact any radio anywhere. So I now own one of these:



And after some tweaking around I’ve got it working reasonably satisfactorily in the car (obviously for legal reasons, only when I’m driving in the US), if I place the iPod in one particular place and don’t wave my arm around between it and the aerial.

At home though (obviously for legal reasons, only when my home has been transported Wizard of Oz style to the US) I still get major interference between the iPod and either one of my stereo systems. The only really good signal is achieved if I prop the iPod so it’s literally touching the wire aerial. So much for the 10-30ft abilities its spec boasted.

Which kind of destroys the point of being wireless.

I’ve tried all different frequencies and volumes and still no joy.

Any ideas anyone?

Last night was bought to you by the letter 'L'

It appears that I have been made to unwittingly listen to copious amounts of Led Zeppelin.

Basically we fell asleep to Lambchop and woke up to Lemonjelly, which means during much of the intervening time, thanks to iTunes, the Zep was making its way into my subconscious.

Aren’t there laws against this kind of subliminal influence thing?

I’m just grateful the alarm clock went off before we hit M and Marillion…

Note to self – insist on vetted playlists in future!

Peaceful Weekend

A lovely peaceful weekend; lots of relaxing intermingled with a ton of paperwork and further progress on the immense task of getting my CD collection onto my iPod.

(still lovely – purrrrr, purrrr!)

Priority booking privileges on Friday also mean I manage to sort REM tickets for Old Trafford in June and thus avoid having to get up at dawn on Saturday. Not cheap though and quite how a company justifies both a service charge and a processing fee is beyond me.

The weekend is rounded off with a Sunday night curry at the Punjab and then back to Stewart’s place. The cats are it seems, becoming savvy to what my arrival in the house means and a very amusing Benny Hill style chase ensues as Stewart attempts to get both cats into the back half of the house and shut the door.

I’m sure my spectating and laughing was helpful in some way…

In a fatal end move, Sweep leaps from the ironing board onto my lap in pursuit of sanctuary. Bad move - no sanctuary here buddy!

Politically aware mice and zombies

Mouse update... activity could be clearly heard in house when I got home around 6.15pm. Tracked the sound down and have discovered their food source. A bag with some mini bars of Green and Black's chocolate in, that Sarah gave me as a pressie some time ago (and I have to be in the right mood to eat straight chocolate...weird I know). Anyway... at least I can now say this about my unwelcome tenants, at least they are on the organic and Fairtrade tip...

Much as I hate to discourage such right on scavenging, I remove the chocolate, save for small piece that I place on a trap at the previous location of bag. Let's see how the like it now...

Having set this up I head out for dinner and DVD's.

Shaun of the Dead - fantastic. If you haven't already seen this film then I highly recommend it. If you liked Spaced, you'll love this.

Probably the best British film for a long while and it's a testament to the strength of the whole cast , that for once Bill Nighy, even in what is a fairly minor role, doesn't steal the show.

The DVD has some good extras on it as well. I particularly like the section entitled "Plot Holes". Wondering how Ed survives the sacking of the pub and ends up in the garden shed? Well now you can find out - all explained by pictureboards accompanied by a voiceover from the relevant actor.

Maybe the Hell Boy DVD will explain that spotlight. Somehow I don't think I'll be buying it to find out.

Announcement of a New Arrival

After an annoying (even if in retrospect quite comical) start to the day, my mood is instantly brightened with the arrival of my new baby.

If I was a cat I’d be purring right now.

Oh fuck it, the thing's so lovely I'm going to purr anyway! Purrrrrrrrrrrr!