It's been nearly three and half years since my last update here but I'm thinking of starting to post again more regularly if only because I'm back to genuinely hating my life and I need somewhere to vent from time to time. It would be nice to make some new friends but heck, even if I'm just posting for my own ease of mind it'll be beneficial.
If anyone is out there lurking and you happen to be a Doctor Who fan who enjoys the films of Kevin Smith (I know - fairly random combo!) you may like this little image I threw together in Photoshop after last weekend's season finale.
And if it is just me reading this... well I know I like Doctor Who and the films of Kevin Smith so the picture will at least make me smile!
If anyone is out there lurking and you happen to be a Doctor Who fan who enjoys the films of Kevin Smith (I know - fairly random combo!) you may like this little image I threw together in Photoshop after last weekend's season finale.
And if it is just me reading this... well I know I like Doctor Who and the films of Kevin Smith so the picture will at least make me smile!
Okay even though I've been here for over three years I've never been good with the whole blogging / social interaction thing!
Well it's probably gonna get slightly worse as hopefully I'll be moving out on my own soon - I say hopefully because this whole thing has been dragging out but it's definately going to happen sooner rather than later. Anyway once I'm in my own place I'm not gonna have internet access straight away (the flat I'm moving to needs a lot of work and the room that will be my living room is literally full of junk (it's being used as a store room)!
I was going to cancel my membership here but upon checking I've noticed I'm paid up to August! So my account will more than likely remain active and hopefully I'll be back again before August - and I'll be a new man and I'll be treating it as a new start! I promise!
In the meantime if anyone needs me or just feels like getting in touch I do have a MySpace page (you'll be shocked to learn I've never blogged on it... but again that will change!) and I'll be able to access that at work!
http://www.myspace.com/douglasfir37
Well it's probably gonna get slightly worse as hopefully I'll be moving out on my own soon - I say hopefully because this whole thing has been dragging out but it's definately going to happen sooner rather than later. Anyway once I'm in my own place I'm not gonna have internet access straight away (the flat I'm moving to needs a lot of work and the room that will be my living room is literally full of junk (it's being used as a store room)!
I was going to cancel my membership here but upon checking I've noticed I'm paid up to August! So my account will more than likely remain active and hopefully I'll be back again before August - and I'll be a new man and I'll be treating it as a new start! I promise!
In the meantime if anyone needs me or just feels like getting in touch I do have a MySpace page (you'll be shocked to learn I've never blogged on it... but again that will change!) and I'll be able to access that at work!
http://www.myspace.com/douglasfir37
Okay firstly I love my new PC! For so long I've been running on a machine that crashed almost continously and was quite frankly a piece of shit... well I'd forgotten how much I loved being on the computer! For now this system is bug free and I'm having a blast!
Anyway since my last proper update I went to see the UK Premiere of Clerks II at the Edinburgh International Film Festival - I met up with a bunch of guys and gals from the View Askew boards (some old faces and some new) and a great time was had! The Premiere sold out so fast that they had added a second screening almost immediately afterwards so we got to see both screenings on the Friday night which Kevin introduced and did Q&As afterwards. Some of the guys spoke to Kevin on the red carpet beforehand but the weather was miserable and I was in the pub! But I didn't feel I missed out as I've met him so many times!
He also did a much more in depth Q&A session on the Saturday that was really good - the guy is entertaining as hell when he's just shooting the shit!
After that Q&A a lot uf us got tickets to "Jim Henson's Puppet Improv"... now let me tell you a bit about this genius concept for a live-show! Firstly it's basically "Who's Line Is It Anyway" with Muppets... although I should mention these aren't thep Muppets but just generic Muppets (mad scientists, cavemen, aliens, various animals, etc) - with Patrick Bristow (the guy who played the gay best friend in Ellen) acting as the compere. There are six puppeteers (Jim Henson's son - Brian, four other guys and an incredibly talented women) who take turns in picking random Muppets and improvising the suggested scenarios. The really clever part is they have cameras and large monitors so you can see just the Muppets on screen or watch the performers and the Muppets together on the stage. That was just a real treat because they are just incredibly talented and it's great seeing how they bring those pieces of foam & fuzzy felt to life!
The show was running for a few weeks and they were doing two shows daily - a daytime kids show and an evening adult show. We went to the evening one and they really take advantage and tackle some rather risque material and they even swore when needed (hopefully they never confused the shows and did that in the kids show!)...
Anyway I was the only real Muppet nut in our group of Kevin Smith fans but everyone really enjoyed the show and afterwards whilst we were hanging around deciding what to do next and waiting for one of our group to wrap up a phone call - the performers came out and I got to meet Brian Henson!
For a life-long Muppet fanatic that was amazing! Anyway here is me and the man...
Okay now I'm off to play Lego Star Wars II on my new PC!
Anyway since my last proper update I went to see the UK Premiere of Clerks II at the Edinburgh International Film Festival - I met up with a bunch of guys and gals from the View Askew boards (some old faces and some new) and a great time was had! The Premiere sold out so fast that they had added a second screening almost immediately afterwards so we got to see both screenings on the Friday night which Kevin introduced and did Q&As afterwards. Some of the guys spoke to Kevin on the red carpet beforehand but the weather was miserable and I was in the pub! But I didn't feel I missed out as I've met him so many times!
He also did a much more in depth Q&A session on the Saturday that was really good - the guy is entertaining as hell when he's just shooting the shit!
After that Q&A a lot uf us got tickets to "Jim Henson's Puppet Improv"... now let me tell you a bit about this genius concept for a live-show! Firstly it's basically "Who's Line Is It Anyway" with Muppets... although I should mention these aren't thep Muppets but just generic Muppets (mad scientists, cavemen, aliens, various animals, etc) - with Patrick Bristow (the guy who played the gay best friend in Ellen) acting as the compere. There are six puppeteers (Jim Henson's son - Brian, four other guys and an incredibly talented women) who take turns in picking random Muppets and improvising the suggested scenarios. The really clever part is they have cameras and large monitors so you can see just the Muppets on screen or watch the performers and the Muppets together on the stage. That was just a real treat because they are just incredibly talented and it's great seeing how they bring those pieces of foam & fuzzy felt to life!
The show was running for a few weeks and they were doing two shows daily - a daytime kids show and an evening adult show. We went to the evening one and they really take advantage and tackle some rather risque material and they even swore when needed (hopefully they never confused the shows and did that in the kids show!)...
Anyway I was the only real Muppet nut in our group of Kevin Smith fans but everyone really enjoyed the show and afterwards whilst we were hanging around deciding what to do next and waiting for one of our group to wrap up a phone call - the performers came out and I got to meet Brian Henson!
For a life-long Muppet fanatic that was amazing! Anyway here is me and the man...
Okay now I'm off to play Lego Star Wars II on my new PC!
Wooo-hoooo my first post from my brand new PC!
I've had the same PC for nearly a decade now and I'm not sure how I afforded it back then but it set me back £1400 back in the day! It was top of the line though and for a while it was great then it just seemed to get crudded up and eventually it did just blow up and die! But even then I paid a few hundred to get it repaired but it never quite got back to it's former glory!
So I just decided it had had it's day and so today I went and bought this new beauty!
Intel Pentium D 820 Processor, 2.8GHz, 800MHz FSB, 2MB Cache, Microsoft Windows XP Media Center, 1GB DDR RAM, 250GB Hard Disk Drive, Multi-Format Dual Layer DVD RW Drive, 512MB nVidia Geforce 7300GS Graphics, Built-In Digital TV Tuner + Remote Control, 8-In-1 Media Card Reader and a beautiful 19" TFT Flat Panel Monitor!
I will update more at the weekend but for now I'm off to look at naked ladies on my new 19" flat panel!
I've had the same PC for nearly a decade now and I'm not sure how I afforded it back then but it set me back £1400 back in the day! It was top of the line though and for a while it was great then it just seemed to get crudded up and eventually it did just blow up and die! But even then I paid a few hundred to get it repaired but it never quite got back to it's former glory!
So I just decided it had had it's day and so today I went and bought this new beauty!
Intel Pentium D 820 Processor, 2.8GHz, 800MHz FSB, 2MB Cache, Microsoft Windows XP Media Center, 1GB DDR RAM, 250GB Hard Disk Drive, Multi-Format Dual Layer DVD RW Drive, 512MB nVidia Geforce 7300GS Graphics, Built-In Digital TV Tuner + Remote Control, 8-In-1 Media Card Reader and a beautiful 19" TFT Flat Panel Monitor!
I will update more at the weekend but for now I'm off to look at naked ladies on my new 19" flat panel!
Okay I couldn't get the edit function to work on my last blog entry so if you didn't read about my trip (and for some reason you want to!) then you'll have to check out my last entry!
Anyway I am still doing the Clerks II banner competition which is taking up nearly all my spare time but I did make a promise to post some pics so I took a few hours tonight to put together this page...
http://www.viewaskew.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/vulgarthon2006/index.htm
It's all the pics from the NJ side of the trip and there's quite a few of them! I will post the NY ones but probably not for a while - as I said I'm in the middle of a time-consuming competition that runs until July 21 so I'm kinda tied up! But I will post them as soon I can - again I promise!
Anyway I am still doing the Clerks II banner competition which is taking up nearly all my spare time but I did make a promise to post some pics so I took a few hours tonight to put together this page...
http://www.viewaskew.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/vulgarthon2006/index.htm
It's all the pics from the NJ side of the trip and there's quite a few of them! I will post the NY ones but probably not for a while - as I said I'm in the middle of a time-consuming competition that runs until July 21 so I'm kinda tied up! But I will post them as soon I can - again I promise!
Okay I've been back a few weeks now but have been swamped at work and quite ill too so I've been putting this together quite slowly!..
EDIT: Update - since I'm doing the Clerks II banner competition I've got even less free time than usual but the photos are coming - promise!
Day 1 (Thursday)
Okay so I arrived in New York on the Thursday afternoon and even though I was wiped out I tried to stay up as late as possible which I managed to do by just walking all around the Times Square area and taking it all in! I also stumbled upon a place called Midtown Comics which was the best comic shop I have ever been in in my life - and it wasn't even on my list of places to visit! Eventually tiredness kicked in and I went back to the hotel and slept like a log!
Day 2 (Friday)
The next morning I woke up incredibly early - I think it was around 5:30am so I had a shower and a shave and headed off to Central Park which was just incredible! I spent a good few hours walking again and I walked about two thirds of the length of the Park which, if you know how big that place is, is pretty impressive!
I then headed over to Bloomingdales to get Little Brown Bags for my Mum and Sister! Whilst there I had a quick look in the Men's Department and found an awesome Doors "Morrison Hotel" t-shirt in this line of vintage/retro shirts! I'm not the kinda guy who usually gets excited about clothes but I was just very very happy about my new purchase!
That night I was going to see Miles Hunt perform in a place called Crash Mansion (you may remember me saying that Miles is my favourite musician and he announced this gig after I booked my trip which seemed like fate that I had to attend) but as I only had a rough idea where it was I went down there early. After walking around for a long time I eventually found it and then went and grabbed a bite to eat - after killing some time I got to the club early and after chatting with some people at the bar I went to sit down only to see Miles sitting with a small group of friends in the otherwise practically empty club! I figured this could be my one opportunity to actually speak to him and after some mental deliberation I did just that. What I didn't account for was how fuckin' nervous I was... seriously I was shaking and I look totally out of place in the photo I had taken with him.
Miles was splitting his set with Michael Ferentino (a regular collaborator of Miles) and just before he went on Miles' girlfriend came over and asked me if I'd like to sit with everyone else. I said no at first because I felt it may have been awkward but she insisted and so I moved over to their group. It then turns out that I'd been speaking to Michael's wife, Joie, at the bar so at least I sort of knew someone! Anyway both Michael and Miles kick-ass and after their set they decide to move the party over to another bar - they ask me to join them and by now I've had enough drinks to just accept the invitation! It's at the bar that I actually get to do something I never dreamed of... I got to just hang out and get very very drunk with Miles! I also met lots of other great people including another musician called Sport Johnson (who's now on my list of artists to check out).
Anyway after the party the group disperse and Joie mentions they're going to a burlesque show... well I don't have anything better to do so I tag along and on the way tell her & Michael a bit about Suicide Girls (they'd heard of the site but never visited it). The burlesque show is very entertaining and I get even more drunk! Thankfully I get a ride back to the hotel from a great guy called Doc and as soon as I get to the room I just fall asleep straight away!
Day 3 (Saturday)
The next morning I waste almost an entire day to nursing my hangover but I'll be damned if I wasn't grinning like a fool the whole time even though I felt like my head was going to explode!
That afternoon I meet up with my friend Adam (who is also going to Vulgarthon) and we end up in Best Buy where he gets a great deal on a surround sound system that we need to come back and pick up the next day (and where I buy too many DVDs... luckily Adam lends me a portable DVD player so I can watch some of them later). He also shows me around a bit as he's lived in New York for a while - it's always better to have a local on hand when you're in a new city!
That night we meet up with another Vulgarthon attendee, Daniel, and we go to see "X-Men: The Last Stand"... which completely blows! But we do get to see the trailer for Clerks II on a huge screen and it gets big laughs from the audience - which is a great sign!
After the movie we all decide to call it a night so I get my only early night of the whole trip! I grab some food and some beer and watch some of the DVDs I bought until I fall asleep!
Day 4 (Sunday)
I have to meet Adam again to help him out at Best Buy and decide to leave early so I can grab a burger or two at Wendys (because quite frankly they're the best burgers in the world)! Unfortunately because it's early Sunday morning none of them are open and I go hungry!
We manage to get Adam's surround sound system back to his office (several blocks away!) in a shopping trolley - which was fun! And then the rest of the day is basically more sight seeing and shopping - again it was cool to have a local as a guide as he took me to areas that I probably never would have got to myself because they're not really touristy (lots of second-hand / indie kinda shops).
Later in the day we head back to Broadway to see "Monty Python's Spamalot: The Musical!" - back when I first new I was making this trip I bought two tickets online. It was expensive but they were great seats and, even though all of big names have now left (I knew Tim Curry had left but I thought David Hyde Pierce and Hank Azaria where still in it), I still really enjoyed it (so much so that I'd like to see the version coming to London later this year)! It made me laugh because Adam was excited that Tim Curry's replacement was the guy who played the Mayor on Buffy the Vampire Slayer - I think he was the only person in the whole theatre who knew who he was!
Day 5 (Monday)
It's my last day in New York - I take one final walk around the Times Square area. I eventually check out of the hotel, meet Daniel and we get the train to Jersey! Whilst on the train we meet Adam who is taking Paige to Jersey as it's her first time there and when we get off the train we see Simon (who's from Ireland) also getting off the train! We all get together and head off to Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash (Kevin's comic shop that also has a ton of props from the movies on display) to pick up our tickets. We then head off to a nearby pub to get something to eat and have a few drinks - we get there to discover another twenty or so Vulgarthon attendees (a nice mixture of old and new friends)! Already it feels like I'm back with my second-family!
Days 6-9 (Tuesday-Friday)
Okay this little diary is getting long and quite frankly the next four days all sort of blurred into one anyway! So here's a what I can remember edited highlights of my time in Jersey!
The first day was spent milling around the hotel and catching up with everyone as they turned up - it was weird because this year there was the highest number of international attendees ever and strangely one group of them sort of closed themselves off from everyone else - I tried to interact with them but quite frankly I got the impression that I wasn't part of their little gang. Life's too short to worry about that sort of stuff so I pretty much left them to it - a lot of the old school people commented on the different atmosphere this time as usually everyone hangs out together but this time there was a little splintering-off going on... maybe we're all just getting old and the youngsters think we're not cool - of course we're the cats that Kevin recognises straight away and chats with so I think we still have that cool factor!
The event officially kicks off as Ashes Cigar Club were a guy called Roger has arranged for his band to play. I wasn't sure if this would be good or not because nobody has ever organised any sort of official "party" at previous events but it was a really good night - we leave quite late and the police are just starting to take an interest at all of the people spilling out onto the streets! Supposedly we go back to the hotel to get some sleep but a few more hours drinking take place before that happens!
The day of the Vulgarthon we get to the cinemas at 5:30am! This is Adam's idea and I just go along with it because it's easier to get a free ride than pay for a taxi from the hotel! The line steadily grows and we get confirmation that we will be seeing "Clerks II" and also "Catch and Release" (which is a movie by the woman who wrote the screenplays for Erin Brokavich and 28 Days - this is her directorial debut and stars Jennifer Garner and Kevin Smith! Don't look for it anytime soon though - she's doing re-shoots this summer and I believe it will be coming out in 2007)!
Also whilst we're lined up I get interviewed by the crew from the G4 show "Icons" (who funnily enough have also done a show on Suicide Girls due to air soon) - I can't remember what I said and I'm sure I look bad (as I was hung over!) so I'm hoping I don't make it into the show!
As we go in I say a quick hi to Kevin who comments on my snazzy custom shirt that I'm wearing! The day goes pretty fast and for once I actually stay awake the whole time... okay I nodded off a bit in one of the Q&As following the movies but I was happy I didn't feel I missed anything this time!
Some quick reviews...
Jersey Girl (The Extended Cut) - This is the original longer version of the movie that existed before everyone decided they hated Jennifer Lopez and Miramax cut Kevin's movie to bits! The sad thing is that Jen is really good in this movie and almost everything she did was cut (she's in this version for a good 40/45 minutes) - the fact that she's missing from the theatrical cut really cuts down on the emotional impact when she dies. What's sadder is that there are no immediate plans to release this version on DVD - Kevin would like to do it someday but it's not on the cards anytime soon
Small Town Gay Bar - Malcolm Ingram's excellent documentary about gay bars in the deep south. The version we saw was his first cut which had some problems with the flow of things but he already had a new cut that I later heard he had some DVDs of (if I'd have known I would have tried to get a copy)! Anyway it was a very moving documentary and it actually had me crying at one point! Needless to say I loved it and if you can you should check it out if it ever gets a wider release
Big Helium Dog - Was originally planned to be shown again this year during the lunch break for those who hadn't seen it but as things were running late it was dropped. I've seen it several times before so I can say it's genuinely funny and again sadly there are no immediate plans for a DVD
Catch and Release - Once they've done their re-shoots and re-edited it I can honestly see this becoming a firm-favourite of mine. Ulimately it's a chick flick but I've never been above admitting I like chick flicks! Kevin is hilarious in it and Juliette Lewis is pretty damn good too! Plus I have such a crush on Jennifer Garner how could I not love a movie where she is the lead actress!
Oh What A Lovely Tea Party - This is a documentary about the making of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and this is the second-time I've watched it. It's fun and there's lots of great moments but it's a real chore to watch in a cinema setting. If it were ever to show up on DVD I'd love it because I could watch bits of it at my leisure but it's a bit too much to sit through in a darkened cinema at the end of a long day!
Clerks II - Okay I managed to get to see this twice thanks to Ming who runs Kevin's websites and I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's my favorite Kevin Smith movie so far. It obviously returns to the style of Clerks in that this is a day in the life of our two favorite slackers (with two bookend pieces set before and after the events we see), but we also get the sort of almost cartoony comedy of Mallrats and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, the intelligent writing of Dogma and the emotion of Chasing Amy and Jersey Girl. This film really covers all the bases and I can genuinely understand why it got an eight minute standing ovation at Cannes. I'm not going to spoil anything but this movie is just amazing and I really hope it does very well because Kevin deserves it.
You know what - this entry is getting longer than I ever anticipated! So lets see - I got to go back the second day (which was the same event again because the first day sold out) thanks to Ming and we just hung out more than anything. Although obviously Clerks II got a second viewing! I also got to meet Marilyn Ghigliotti (Vernoica from the original Clerks) who was just there as a regular attendee! Oh and I, and lots of other fans, got really ill a few days after the event! Thankfully its passed now but the day I got back I was doubled-up on the floor with stomach pain and I had a real bad cold / fever for just over a week. Luckily I'm pretty much over it now!
I feel like I haven't even begun to explain everything - but this entry will have to do for now
EDIT: Update - since I'm doing the Clerks II banner competition I've got even less free time than usual but the photos are coming - promise!
Day 1 (Thursday)
Okay so I arrived in New York on the Thursday afternoon and even though I was wiped out I tried to stay up as late as possible which I managed to do by just walking all around the Times Square area and taking it all in! I also stumbled upon a place called Midtown Comics which was the best comic shop I have ever been in in my life - and it wasn't even on my list of places to visit! Eventually tiredness kicked in and I went back to the hotel and slept like a log!
Day 2 (Friday)
The next morning I woke up incredibly early - I think it was around 5:30am so I had a shower and a shave and headed off to Central Park which was just incredible! I spent a good few hours walking again and I walked about two thirds of the length of the Park which, if you know how big that place is, is pretty impressive!
I then headed over to Bloomingdales to get Little Brown Bags for my Mum and Sister! Whilst there I had a quick look in the Men's Department and found an awesome Doors "Morrison Hotel" t-shirt in this line of vintage/retro shirts! I'm not the kinda guy who usually gets excited about clothes but I was just very very happy about my new purchase!
That night I was going to see Miles Hunt perform in a place called Crash Mansion (you may remember me saying that Miles is my favourite musician and he announced this gig after I booked my trip which seemed like fate that I had to attend) but as I only had a rough idea where it was I went down there early. After walking around for a long time I eventually found it and then went and grabbed a bite to eat - after killing some time I got to the club early and after chatting with some people at the bar I went to sit down only to see Miles sitting with a small group of friends in the otherwise practically empty club! I figured this could be my one opportunity to actually speak to him and after some mental deliberation I did just that. What I didn't account for was how fuckin' nervous I was... seriously I was shaking and I look totally out of place in the photo I had taken with him.
Miles was splitting his set with Michael Ferentino (a regular collaborator of Miles) and just before he went on Miles' girlfriend came over and asked me if I'd like to sit with everyone else. I said no at first because I felt it may have been awkward but she insisted and so I moved over to their group. It then turns out that I'd been speaking to Michael's wife, Joie, at the bar so at least I sort of knew someone! Anyway both Michael and Miles kick-ass and after their set they decide to move the party over to another bar - they ask me to join them and by now I've had enough drinks to just accept the invitation! It's at the bar that I actually get to do something I never dreamed of... I got to just hang out and get very very drunk with Miles! I also met lots of other great people including another musician called Sport Johnson (who's now on my list of artists to check out).
Anyway after the party the group disperse and Joie mentions they're going to a burlesque show... well I don't have anything better to do so I tag along and on the way tell her & Michael a bit about Suicide Girls (they'd heard of the site but never visited it). The burlesque show is very entertaining and I get even more drunk! Thankfully I get a ride back to the hotel from a great guy called Doc and as soon as I get to the room I just fall asleep straight away!
Day 3 (Saturday)
The next morning I waste almost an entire day to nursing my hangover but I'll be damned if I wasn't grinning like a fool the whole time even though I felt like my head was going to explode!
That afternoon I meet up with my friend Adam (who is also going to Vulgarthon) and we end up in Best Buy where he gets a great deal on a surround sound system that we need to come back and pick up the next day (and where I buy too many DVDs... luckily Adam lends me a portable DVD player so I can watch some of them later). He also shows me around a bit as he's lived in New York for a while - it's always better to have a local on hand when you're in a new city!
That night we meet up with another Vulgarthon attendee, Daniel, and we go to see "X-Men: The Last Stand"... which completely blows! But we do get to see the trailer for Clerks II on a huge screen and it gets big laughs from the audience - which is a great sign!
After the movie we all decide to call it a night so I get my only early night of the whole trip! I grab some food and some beer and watch some of the DVDs I bought until I fall asleep!
Day 4 (Sunday)
I have to meet Adam again to help him out at Best Buy and decide to leave early so I can grab a burger or two at Wendys (because quite frankly they're the best burgers in the world)! Unfortunately because it's early Sunday morning none of them are open and I go hungry!
We manage to get Adam's surround sound system back to his office (several blocks away!) in a shopping trolley - which was fun! And then the rest of the day is basically more sight seeing and shopping - again it was cool to have a local as a guide as he took me to areas that I probably never would have got to myself because they're not really touristy (lots of second-hand / indie kinda shops).
Later in the day we head back to Broadway to see "Monty Python's Spamalot: The Musical!" - back when I first new I was making this trip I bought two tickets online. It was expensive but they were great seats and, even though all of big names have now left (I knew Tim Curry had left but I thought David Hyde Pierce and Hank Azaria where still in it), I still really enjoyed it (so much so that I'd like to see the version coming to London later this year)! It made me laugh because Adam was excited that Tim Curry's replacement was the guy who played the Mayor on Buffy the Vampire Slayer - I think he was the only person in the whole theatre who knew who he was!
Day 5 (Monday)
It's my last day in New York - I take one final walk around the Times Square area. I eventually check out of the hotel, meet Daniel and we get the train to Jersey! Whilst on the train we meet Adam who is taking Paige to Jersey as it's her first time there and when we get off the train we see Simon (who's from Ireland) also getting off the train! We all get together and head off to Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash (Kevin's comic shop that also has a ton of props from the movies on display) to pick up our tickets. We then head off to a nearby pub to get something to eat and have a few drinks - we get there to discover another twenty or so Vulgarthon attendees (a nice mixture of old and new friends)! Already it feels like I'm back with my second-family!
Days 6-9 (Tuesday-Friday)
Okay this little diary is getting long and quite frankly the next four days all sort of blurred into one anyway! So here's a what I can remember edited highlights of my time in Jersey!
The first day was spent milling around the hotel and catching up with everyone as they turned up - it was weird because this year there was the highest number of international attendees ever and strangely one group of them sort of closed themselves off from everyone else - I tried to interact with them but quite frankly I got the impression that I wasn't part of their little gang. Life's too short to worry about that sort of stuff so I pretty much left them to it - a lot of the old school people commented on the different atmosphere this time as usually everyone hangs out together but this time there was a little splintering-off going on... maybe we're all just getting old and the youngsters think we're not cool - of course we're the cats that Kevin recognises straight away and chats with so I think we still have that cool factor!
The event officially kicks off as Ashes Cigar Club were a guy called Roger has arranged for his band to play. I wasn't sure if this would be good or not because nobody has ever organised any sort of official "party" at previous events but it was a really good night - we leave quite late and the police are just starting to take an interest at all of the people spilling out onto the streets! Supposedly we go back to the hotel to get some sleep but a few more hours drinking take place before that happens!
The day of the Vulgarthon we get to the cinemas at 5:30am! This is Adam's idea and I just go along with it because it's easier to get a free ride than pay for a taxi from the hotel! The line steadily grows and we get confirmation that we will be seeing "Clerks II" and also "Catch and Release" (which is a movie by the woman who wrote the screenplays for Erin Brokavich and 28 Days - this is her directorial debut and stars Jennifer Garner and Kevin Smith! Don't look for it anytime soon though - she's doing re-shoots this summer and I believe it will be coming out in 2007)!
Also whilst we're lined up I get interviewed by the crew from the G4 show "Icons" (who funnily enough have also done a show on Suicide Girls due to air soon) - I can't remember what I said and I'm sure I look bad (as I was hung over!) so I'm hoping I don't make it into the show!
As we go in I say a quick hi to Kevin who comments on my snazzy custom shirt that I'm wearing! The day goes pretty fast and for once I actually stay awake the whole time... okay I nodded off a bit in one of the Q&As following the movies but I was happy I didn't feel I missed anything this time!
Some quick reviews...
Jersey Girl (The Extended Cut) - This is the original longer version of the movie that existed before everyone decided they hated Jennifer Lopez and Miramax cut Kevin's movie to bits! The sad thing is that Jen is really good in this movie and almost everything she did was cut (she's in this version for a good 40/45 minutes) - the fact that she's missing from the theatrical cut really cuts down on the emotional impact when she dies. What's sadder is that there are no immediate plans to release this version on DVD - Kevin would like to do it someday but it's not on the cards anytime soon
Small Town Gay Bar - Malcolm Ingram's excellent documentary about gay bars in the deep south. The version we saw was his first cut which had some problems with the flow of things but he already had a new cut that I later heard he had some DVDs of (if I'd have known I would have tried to get a copy)! Anyway it was a very moving documentary and it actually had me crying at one point! Needless to say I loved it and if you can you should check it out if it ever gets a wider release
Big Helium Dog - Was originally planned to be shown again this year during the lunch break for those who hadn't seen it but as things were running late it was dropped. I've seen it several times before so I can say it's genuinely funny and again sadly there are no immediate plans for a DVD
Catch and Release - Once they've done their re-shoots and re-edited it I can honestly see this becoming a firm-favourite of mine. Ulimately it's a chick flick but I've never been above admitting I like chick flicks! Kevin is hilarious in it and Juliette Lewis is pretty damn good too! Plus I have such a crush on Jennifer Garner how could I not love a movie where she is the lead actress!
Oh What A Lovely Tea Party - This is a documentary about the making of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and this is the second-time I've watched it. It's fun and there's lots of great moments but it's a real chore to watch in a cinema setting. If it were ever to show up on DVD I'd love it because I could watch bits of it at my leisure but it's a bit too much to sit through in a darkened cinema at the end of a long day!
Clerks II - Okay I managed to get to see this twice thanks to Ming who runs Kevin's websites and I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's my favorite Kevin Smith movie so far. It obviously returns to the style of Clerks in that this is a day in the life of our two favorite slackers (with two bookend pieces set before and after the events we see), but we also get the sort of almost cartoony comedy of Mallrats and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, the intelligent writing of Dogma and the emotion of Chasing Amy and Jersey Girl. This film really covers all the bases and I can genuinely understand why it got an eight minute standing ovation at Cannes. I'm not going to spoil anything but this movie is just amazing and I really hope it does very well because Kevin deserves it.
You know what - this entry is getting longer than I ever anticipated! So lets see - I got to go back the second day (which was the same event again because the first day sold out) thanks to Ming and we just hung out more than anything. Although obviously Clerks II got a second viewing! I also got to meet Marilyn Ghigliotti (Vernoica from the original Clerks) who was just there as a regular attendee! Oh and I, and lots of other fans, got really ill a few days after the event! Thankfully its passed now but the day I got back I was doubled-up on the floor with stomach pain and I had a real bad cold / fever for just over a week. Luckily I'm pretty much over it now!
I feel like I haven't even begun to explain everything - but this entry will have to do for now
Firstly I promise (hand on heart) that I will be doing a full update at the weekend with as many photos as I can scrape together from my trip! I would have done it sooner but I had a long weekend away this past weekend and I'm still really busy after getting back from the States.
Not to mention that Kevin Smith is doing a competition where you need to put this banner on as many websites as possible... so this counts as one more for me!
More on the awesome Clerks II in my next update at the weekend - but I won't be doing any spoilers because this film deserves to be seen fresh by everyone!
Not to mention that Kevin Smith is doing a competition where you need to put this banner on as many websites as possible... so this counts as one more for me!
More on the awesome Clerks II in my next update at the weekend - but I won't be doing any spoilers because this film deserves to be seen fresh by everyone!
Well I got back a few days ago and I can officially say I had the best time of my life!
I'm swamped at work and there's a ton of things to do at home (plus I'm away at the weekend) but I will update with all my stories as soon as I possibly can - hey, for once I have to some interesting things to say so I would be stupid not to!
Update (hopefully with photos) coming soon...
I'm swamped at work and there's a ton of things to do at home (plus I'm away at the weekend) but I will update with all my stories as soon as I possibly can - hey, for once I have to some interesting things to say so I would be stupid not to!
Update (hopefully with photos) coming soon...
