Random burblings since 1999
A friend had some bad news last week. He runs his own joinery business and took on an apprentice last year, a young lad of 17.
On Wednesday night the apprentice hanged himself.
Needless to say it has provoked a lot of thought about life, values and the like, and I’ve not been able to find much else to think about. Certainly nothing I’d post here, which in itself is sad as I would’ve in the past.
FYI: The previous post was in an effort to keeps things ‘normal’ but hasn’t worked.
When does a car, let’s say the Jaguar XJ Convertible I spotted a few moments ago, fall into the ‘penis extension’ category?
When it’s painted metallic purple?
Mr.Sevitz writes about plane boarding etiquette, or something like that, and reminds me of my own set of rules:
When boarding a plane
1. If it’s fixed seating. What’s the rush?
2. If it’s not fixed seating. What’s the rush? You are travelling economy and ALL the seats are as cramped as the next.
When leaving the plane
1. The baggage handlers need to unload ALL the bags, not just yours. Dashing off the plane is pointless.
Simple enough.
Now, if you choose to follow these rules you will be able to join a very particular club. Well, when I say club, I mean clique. Well… when I say clique I mean a loose understanding of shared principles.
You see I’m not the only one who thinks this way, and I just love that moment when I slowly rise from my chair, looking round to see who else is left and catch the eye of a fellow ‘patient traveller’ (PT). As we both reach up, unobstructed, for our hand luggage we share a quick glance and a shared message “Those fools”. A flicker of a smile and we are back to being complete strangers again.
Occasionally you can repeat that moment as you saunter over to the baggage carousel casually weaving through the assembled and agitated crowd, willing their bag to be next, deftly plucking your bags from the tracks and extracting yourself from the melee. Typically you emerge alongside a fellow PT and can again marvel at your combined brilliance.. er.. hmmmm.
OK, I’m overstating a tad but you get my point. You are all idiots and I’m wonderful.
Or something.
Just back from watching Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
Pretty good if you ask me. Although some of the younger actors need to be given a few more acting lessons… just as well Daniel Radcliffe (Harry) and Emma Watson (Hermione) are up to the job.
Of course it DOES miss out a lot of the detail from the book, but needs must and I think it works.
Louise is a bit miffed though as she’s a huge fan of the books. Which means I’m in the doghouse for saying the movie was pretty darn good. Still, the sofa is quite comfy..
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
First off, I think this is the best of the Harry Potter movies so far. It’s nicely dark and mysterious and to me reflects the qualities of the book. The direction is excellent, as is the editing, this is a smooth movie to watch with the scenes flowing nicely. The script is well handled (I’d hate to have to adapt such a well loved set of books), but some of the younger actors need to be given a few more acting lessons… thankfully Daniel Radcliffe (Harry) and Emma Watson (Hermione) are up to the job and appear to be maturing well into their craft. Of course the movie DOES miss out a lot of the detail from the book, but needs must and I think it works. Louise is a bit miffed though as she’s a huge fan of the books. Which means I’m in the doghouse for saying the movie was pretty darn good.
And now I’m in a good mood. Well a tolerable mood at least. Odd that.
Anyway, spent last night doing a favour for a friend, but as usual my ‘perfectionist’ view of things kept me up until 2am. I didn’t even get the damn thing finished either.
Which means that the fixes for Scottish Blogs are still outstanding, as is the re-design of this place. Ho hum.
In real life, aside from the new car, we aren’t up to much. Mundane, run-of-the-mill life is what we have (well, what we have fashioned), so much so that Big Brother actually looks interesting. Well, sort of…
I’ve just started reading David Attenborough’s autobiography, I’ve not bought any new CDs for ages (although have borrowed a Jeff Beck from a colleague and it’s pretty good), and nothing in the news has grabbed my attention particularly, well, not over anything else – I mean it’s all stuff I could comment on, but frankly I can’t be arsed.
Note to self: Go to bed early tonight.
Addendum: ANY comments about my lack of a perfectionist view of this here site will be… ignored probably. I’m not happy with it at the moment, which is why some things are broken. Hey hang on, I don’t need to justify myself to you!