In an effort to try and think up a new and (hopefully though probably not) interesting update for today, I stumbled on the genius idea of doing a bit of cross self promotion. So…
Before the weather became colder than a Polar Bear’s jockstrap, it was incredibly windy instead (Who says the UK lacks variety in weather?) This made for some stormy weather as the wind whipped up the sea something rotten and made conditions by the coast quite interesting. Though if you’re the young lad in the photo, all you are interested in is playing Chicken with the sea. Anyroad, it also gave me a chance to try out my new telephoto lens. Which turns out stunning pictures without ever really feels like it is putting in any effort. Still, given what it cost me, it should do.
Anyroad, here are the best 30 or so I took that day all loving preserved at Flickr forever more. I will be posting links to any new Flickr sets here, mainly cause I’ve yet to find a decent WordPress/Flickr plugin that works properly.
So 2010 then, the year of giant baby feotus’s in space, giant black monoliths devouring the planet of Jupiter to help speed up the evolution of nearby Europa and the subsequent appearance of two giant suns in the sky.
Yes, I’m sure someone has done the whole 2010 thing alot better than I have but it’s difficult as a Sci-Fi fan NOT to love either the book, and dare I say it, the film. Like so much great Science Fiction, and indeed Fiction generally, it fires up the imagination so well. Which kind of leads me to todays ramblings. Every New Year starts off in the same way; resolutions, promises, efforts to improve oneself that of course never actually a) last or b) improve yourself. Even a cursory glance down below will see that the efforts to improve myself last year managed to stay in place for a whole 6 days before the whole thing fell apart, as it so usually does.
2009 wont exactly be remembered as a vintage year but it certainly wasn’t bad either; just a bit meh. Ok maybe not meh, definitely a bit bland though. Why? Do you even care? Not if the Google Analytics are anything to go by. I guess 2009 and the other 9 years that belonged to the noughties (thanks The Daily Mail!) were one where I probably manned up a bit.
Perhaps not as much as a certain Tim Maughan has proposed some people do but certainly looking back at the way I was in December 1999 and where I am now, at least as a person, is quite a shock.
I still don’t feel like I’ve found my “calling” as yet but as a person I feel far more learned than I did ten years ago. I wouldn’t claim for one second that the last ten years have been all smiles and sunshine, cause it quite clearly hasn’t but I wouldn’t change any of it for a second. And if we do manage to survive past December 2012 and live to see 2013, then I do think that the next 10 years have the potential to be very, very special. Will it? Find out in about 3644 days when I next update the site. You know, if I’m not busy.
The upcoming film version of the graphic novel Watchmen is remarkable for several reasons.
That despite many people, including directors such as Terry Gilliam, claiming that it is unfilmable, that there is even a film version coming to the big screen at all;
Despite these said people claiming for nearly 20 years that it was unfilmable, once it appears that it is and that it might be PROFITABLE, two of the big Hollywood studios are now fighting over who gets the lionshare of the profits (20th Century Fox who claim to still own the rights to the novel despite never optioning a film version or Warner Bros., who now technically do and have funded the project from start to finish.) And that even more ironically, said lawsuit could HOLD back the release of the unfilmable novel;
And perhaps most importantly, any film version could possibly satisfy the endless stream of fan(boy)s who view the book with the same religious fervour that a religious fanatic would view The Bible or The Qur’an.
*Quickly checks spelling of Qur’an on Wikipedia in case he ends up being hunted down like a Dutch MP before moving on*
And it’s that third one that I think is so relevant. Even though I have read Watchmen and thoroughly enjoyed every last page of it, I am also aware that the novel means so much more to so many, each one having there own interpretation of the text. While this is always a sign of good writing in any medium (several possible meanings, each one valid, yet the reader/audience never being told or lectured to as to whether they are right or wrong) it does lead to everyone picturing things in different ways. For example, even as a fairly “entry level” fan, I still don’t think Rorshach sounds nearly gravelly or sadistic enough, at least if this trailer is anything to go by.
And I wont even get started on the news that the ending might not be as described in the book, which personally speaking always seem a bit weird and never properly explained, but that is for someone with a better knowledge of the book than me to get into. But going back to that first point, maybe that it was why so many people have claimed that it is unfilmable; not that it’s impossible to film, more that it SHOULDN’T be as so many people have their personal interpretations and visions as to how the project should look and sound. Frankly, as long as they get the Dr. Manhattan sections (arguably the best written and most moving pieces of the book) right then everything is fine by me but I’m sure the AICN crowd wont be so easily swayed.
It would seem that the new version of Ghost In The Shell has a similar problem too, recently reviewed at Tim Maughan Books and getting alot of traffic as a result; so many people have come to love and admire what the original version has to offer, that any update (however good it clearly does look) is always going to upset or annoy those fan(boy)s. Although there is an argument that no matter what they do, they are always going to be upset but then that is the very nature of the fanboy/zealot.
It’s interesting to see how everything pans out with regards Watchmen. While there is news today that the lawsuit is close to being resolved (ie Fox will be paid a large sum of money) it still remains to be seen just how well Zack Snyder has brought the project to the big screen. His previous two films, the remake of George Romero’s Dawn of The Dead and the homo-erotic masterpiece that was 300, had a style and look about them that would clearly work extremely well within the Watchmen “universe” but can Snyder nail enough of the minor details to sate the fanboys? Keep watching to find out.
There is a problem I seem to have. No, this isn’t more about my bladder concerns (something else I can thankfully banish to 2008) but more to do with here.
Throughout the day I have a seemingly never ending supply of thoughts going through my head. Anything and everything usually; some stuff I’d like to share, some stuff I probably shouldn’t and some things that are technically illegal in 47 of the 50 US states. Though quite why I spend my days thinking about MDF, I’ve no idea. Or however that joke from I’m Alan Partridge goes.
Problem is, I have a never ending supply of things to say, but never a way to say them. On a basic level it’s a form of writers block but it seems to go a bit beyond that; some other kind of mental block that I could really do with sorting out cause it does seem to extend to my everyday life as well as this humble little interweb home. For example at the moment I seem to have plenty of thoughts on Liverpool’s form in the Premier League and Rafa’s apparently remarkable rant against Sir Alex, which was neither remarkable or a rant; the wonderments of Fallout 3 and why it’s inspiring me to visit Washington this year; and in turn why resurrecting beloved franchises from the past can be a dangerous thing for anyone to do (partly inspired by my mate Tim’s review of the update of the Ghost in The Shell) as well as countless other things such as politics, the economy, gaming, travelling and the world at large.
I suppose I could do with getting my head round it fairly soon. Not cause I seriously believe that what I have to say is important, more that the longer I let these things lie, the more they annoy and frustrate you (one thing I did learn from last year, but I’m not getting into that here and now.) And I’m certainly not concerned with coming as sounding childish and amateurish, as if I was I certainly wouldn’t have imported all my old Blogger posts.
A start would be to touch on the thoughts raised above but simply devoting some time here would enough of a catalyst to get the mind up and running properly for 2009, and a properly running mind something that was sorely missing in 2008. And I think with that, we can put 2008 firmly in the back of our minds and move onto bigger and hopefully better things. Or at the very least one of the two, anyroad.
A lot has been written about Barack Obama’s election as US president, particularly about bringing Hope and Change to America. In fact, he himself had said it so many times that by the time he stood in that park in Chicago nearly 9 weeks ago, I was glad that he had finally beaten McCain just so he could get some new material. That’s not to take anything away from what he’s achieved (as if I could), and I’m certainly not going to go all Sean Hannity on you and start claiming that now Obama is in office, he’s going to start letting all of his crazy long bearded, white head-dress wearing friends in. Or for that matter do a Robin Williams and claim that he’s going to go all Hardcore Gangsta Rap on us come Jan. 20th. (As a side note, could anyone explain why Youtube has been running so slowly recently. Has Pakistan been up to it’s old tricks again?)
As well as his two helpings of Hope and Change, what’s also been written about in press of the more Right Wing persuasion is can Obama actually do anything to sort out the mess that Dubya will/has left behind. Never mind the Charlie Foxtrot’s that are Afghanistan and Iraq, the US economy is in deep, deep trouble and while we in the UK and losing Woolworths and potentially others too, the US has lost slightly more important High Street institutions such as Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, Fannie May and Freddie Mac who instead of helping to rot the teeth of 8 year old kids with cheap and nasty Pick and Mix, were helping to keep large portions of the American banking system afloat. In fact, that is one thing (and probably the ONLY thing) that I appreciate about this country at the moment is that we, at the very least, take a rather dim view on economic fraud. Although perhaps not quite on the same level as somewhere like Switzerland where you can serve longer in jail for economic fraud than you can for murder. Which says alot about the mentality of the Swiss but I digress.
Obama faces a big gamble when he gets into office. Once he’s cleared the Pretzels, cans of Miller Light and the razor blades with that odd white powder on them off the Oval Office desk, he faces a not insignificant challenge in restimulating the American economy. Can he manage to do what very few presidents, with the possible exception of Bill Clinton, have done and manage to convince Americans to do something other than make money out of making money. As I said, It’s a gamble and I hope for him it stays out the red and in the black.
What does all this talk about Number 44 have to do with me? Well, I’m hoping that some of that hope and change that he is so clearly fond of can rub off onto me. The last twelve months have been fairly emotional for me in one way or another. Some of it out of my control, Some of it completely under my control but most of it unremittingly dreadful from start to finish. From screwing up friendships to the death of my Grandmother to ending the year in pain thanks to a bladder infection, it was one thing after another in 2008 and for the first time in many years, I’m glad we are starting a New Year.
I guess the point is that 2009 represents a fresh start, a chance to put all the heavy shit (well, as heavy as my shit ever gets) from last year behind me and start sorting things out properly. Of which this humble blog is, hopefully, going to be a part of. Never mind talk of design, I think some content would be a start and I hope to get into a swing of things fairly soon. As for New Years Resolutions, well I was going to end by saying that my only resolution was to not make any more resolutions but it would seem Stephen Colbert beat me to it…
I’ll say one thing in Colbert’s favour. He’s good.
