hermes

Looks like it's been a while since my last update. Quite a lot's been happening to keep me busy, and although I could've squeezed in a few secs to update more I know most of you lot of my friend's don't even read this thing anyway. But for those of you who do pay attention see below...

The third week of August involved a trip up to Newcastle for the wedding of one of my best friends. The do itself was a small affair ina picturesque castle-hotel thing on the Scottich border. I got out of typical best man duties by playing the guitar for their service instead. They were pretty lucky with the weather and the bride looked lovely. The food at the hotel was pretty amazing, although I understand it wasn't cheap. This was followed by a party hosted by his folks a few days later and as the only other person who knew everyone coming (other than the Groom) I spent the day doing a circuit hobonobbing and making sure everyone was happy. Except for my wanker ex-flatmate who I managed to avoid nicely without incident (I was rather concerned he'd get drunk and start a fight with someone but thankfully he was very well behaved).

This month I've mostly been geeking out in a big way. I've made trips to Reading and Swansea to play a card game and weekend before last I camped out at a hotel at Heathrow for a sci-fi convention with fpkk for company. It was lovely to meet and/or be in the presence of some of the cast from Firefly/Serenity again (plus Gigi Edgely who played Chiana in Farscape) but the whole con thing was pretty bewildering. Nice to know that even though I consdier myself a pretty extreme geek, in fact there are many people out there who make me look positively mediocre and normal by comparison. And the hotel was rubbish too. Not sure if I can bothered to go through it all again if they hold another one. *shrugs*

I've also been doing quite a bit of writing. I've been making contributions to several print gaming magazines. Last week I submitted an entry for the Empire magazine Thunderdome thing and yesterday I submitted a bloodline proposal to White Wolf for their latest competition. I've also been updating the expansion material for my boardgame that they published at the beginning of the year, and I've also been writing up some RPG scenarios for another impending weekend away next month. And writing up some material for my involvement with EVE: Online.

I did take some time out yesterday to go see Children of Men and Clerks II. I've always been a fan of Clive Owen and I think the press has been a little harsh on him. King Arthur wasn't a great film but it's wasn't that bad either, just nothing to do with King Arthur really. His performances in Croupier and Inside Man were excellent and IMHO he deserves to do well. He fits superbly with the rest of the mostly-British cast in the hellish near-future depicted by Children of Men. I was quite touched by the film, and I'm not entirely sure why. Partly it's because the version of the future shown is so bleak and unforgiving, and it's also because it is easy to empathise with many of the characters - even with a few simple strokes they are really brought to life. The violence is quite gritty and disturbing too - the film doesn't pull any punches and I don't think I've seen anything like it since Saving Private Ryan. It's a real step up from Harry Potter. Mr Cuaron keep up the good work! Clerks II is a pretty typical Kevin Smith film, although IMHO it's a lot funnier than the rest of his work. I though Clerks I was ok, and it had it's moments - in fact I mainly didn't like the guy who played Dante his delivery felt a little scripted and unnatural to me. In Clerks II he's better, and the rest of the cast really helps to round it out. The new guy Elias is IMHO the best thing about the film (aside from the donkey) - I won't say more you'll have to go see it to understand. I also now have an new crush on Rosario Dawson - not only does she look cute in glasses but apparently in RL she's a major comic book geek!