Post-Christmas roll

Hurrah.
I had a good Christmas/Boxing Day/Post Christmas sleep. I'm not going to go on about the snow, although it made me feel as if I was in a 1940s Christmas film...helping with the Christmas dinner as the snowflakes fell on the revellers below. Added poignancy this year as it may well be the last Christmas morning I wake up in the Maconachie family home; there's probably more room at Helen's house so it's likely we'd stay there next year. After that, who knows where we could end up? But Christmas isn't a time for philosphising, it's a time for sleeping, eating and relaxing.
The best part was seeing relatives (and future relatives) and friends (despite being trounced on both occasions at Risk), watching DVDs (Dave Gorman is a genius, I dare you to disagree) and eating junk food - I'm attempting to have a chocolate free day today. I also got a bit of frisbee in yesterday thanks to the guys from BUG who organised it; consequently my knee has flared up again today.

I have been watching a bit of the aftermath of the tsunami in South East Asia on satellite TV. Many of the people had no warning; I can't even imagine their sense of panic when water suddenly came rushing through their windows and doors.

Brian Wilson - Smile. Odd in places (it was devised in the 60s) but good, quite different to other music I listen to. I also completed my Sufjan Stevens collection by receiving 'Enjoy your Rabbit' for Christmas. I really must finish a compilation CD when I get back to Dundee (perhaps some sort of 'My Best of 2004', consisting of the music I was listening to during 2004, but with a snappier title)

See you in 2005.

Best foot forward

2 posts? (Doing work makes you do crazy things)
See the second review on this site for an example of bad film criticism
Reviews of Garden State

Now, I may be slightly more liberal than some Christians when it comes to movies - perhaps it is just because I am used to hearing "atrocious language" (the F-word used an incredible 30 times! Wow! Close your ears! He obviously hasn't seen Magnolia (yes, I know there are films with worse language, but this was the most recent example in my mind)) or maybe it doesn't register with me. I understand the whole garbage in, garbage out theory and maybe for particularly susceptible people this is a problem; Anyway, I don't feel giving a film a bad review solely on the basis of 30 words out of a total of thousands is justified - the short plot run down (biased by little digs), followed by some praise for Natalie Portman ("wonderfully played") then a comparison with Good Will Hunting...from what I've seen of trailer for Garden State it looks nothing like GWH (hopefully not as I thought it was pretentious crap, but I've only seen it once on TV)...concluding with a telling paragraph about waiting for it to turn up on TV "when hopefully the objectionable material will be removed".
In summary, points made about quality of film, 2 - Natalie Portman good, film good enough to watch; points made about side issues, lots. Perhaps the writer of the film put the scenes or the language in for a reason? Outright dismissal is religious nonsense. Write about the film dude.
Anyone seen it and wish to enlighten me? I'm quite keen, Scrubs is fairly amusing and a couple of the bits in the trailer made me chuckle.

Tis the season to be jelly

Hello all
End of term tomorrow, hurrah. Looking forward to the holidays and the sleep that it shall bring. Before then, a couple of hours work - yes the usual end of block Patient write-up rush (tests creative writing to the limits). Felt slightly Christmassy today but it soon passed when the wind blew my hood down and the sleet pelted my face.
Last minute:

Oxfam Unwrapped
Also World Vision

Mortgages are scary. I can't imagine ever earning enough money to pay it off...I don't understand the concept of borrowing an amount of money and paying back nearly double over 25 years; I hesitate "shelling out" £10 (except for CDs and DVDs - Amazon is dangerous).

Back to the coffee grinder. Yo ho hoomph.

It's not going to stop 'til you wise up

Alright?
I didn't make it to the KYTN event...lack of friends hampered my progress. I did, however, watch (between naps) the extended version of Return of the King. I don't know if it's a good thing that I find the extras on the DVD more interesting than the film. 4 and a half hours is an awfully long time. Not that it wasn't good - I enjoyed the twists and turns...perhaps less so with the random "comedy" bits that P. Jackson et al decided to bestow upon the extended version. I missed the extended views of New Zealand scenery that we got in the Two Towers; it seems silly to say that it seems less "real" but that's the feeling I got.
Also:
Magnolia - this was an experience which I was glad I had; I'm not sure if the film was enjoyable as such - much like the Pianist or Schindler's List (in a non-Nazi way) - it was a dark film, but had rich intriguing characters; definitely a film I would watch again - the "plot" is largely irrelevant. Also a great soundtrack from Aimee Mann - integral to the film.
Thirdly:
Burn the Maps is still brilliant. Just in case you didn't know.
And...finally:
Last week of term and not a moment too soon. The fatigue of 4 months is very rapidly catching up with me. Slightly concerned about the Jan-July phase in the new year. Oh well, it can only send me more "insane".
Yes. The Star Wars DVD box set tempts me, but I'm not a huge fan of these "digitally remastered" versions...no Ewok song? Do-do-do ai ai..

Dave.

You rock rock

Some films -
The Incredibles - good film, decent plot for an animated film, remembering that it is essentially a film for kids.
I 'heart' Huckabees - This was amusing...the plot is relatively guff but Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin form a visually comic partnership and the antics of the repressed aggressive Mark Wahlberg reminded me of an infantile 'Fight Club'. The pseudo-philosophy provided a worthwhile distraction provided you don't take it too seriously. Interesting points about learning by experience. I can see why people wouldn't like it- depends on your tolerance of pretension.
Speaking of pretension - this sounds interesting:
Kill Your Timid Notion
In Dundee's Contemporary Arts Centre - an attempt to marry experimental music with experimental film. Just the kind of thing I like. £8 for a day...I'd feel a bit lonely going on my own.
Underdeveloped thoughts there again, but I'm far too lazy to write anything detailed - and the effort of excavating long forgotten biochemistry is sucking my imagination.

Listening to James Yorkston & the Athletes - Just Beyond the River.

Nothing good can come of dead nostalgia

Hello.
Thank you to everyone who was thinking of and praying for the family over the last week.
Grandpa's funeral was yesterday. The service itself was good; not in an enjoyable way, but the scriptures read at funerals always give me hope and joy rather than despair;

John 14:1-4 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going."

I was glad to hear the stories of my Grandpa's life, times before I was born and the people to who he was able to minister both in an official capacity and the more informal side. He was certainly a man of the people, not in any false political way either, and the attendence at the funeral mirrored that.
Personally, I will always remember the time I was able to spend with Grandpa last summer, helping in the garden, and the random chats about sport, past holidays and his never ending interest in Scotland and my studies here. My thoughts and prayers will be with my Granny as she tries to adjust to a life without him.
Apologies for the somber nature of the posting this week, but I imagine you will understand.
Thanks.