At Christmas I came to the decision that I'm not happy with my life. Not that I'm not a postive thinker - far from it in fact. It's just that for quite some time now I've been stuck in a rut - grinding away at a job that is not fulfilling and only marginally interesting mostly to pay for a house that too expensive really for me to run all by myself. Now I'm past 30 and heading on my way towards 40 I can feel my subsconcious gnawing away at the rest of my mind. What have I really done with my life? What have I got to show for it? Who have I got to share it with? Why am I not doing more music, or writing those novels that I keep talking about? Why am I not travelling more?I think I'm perhaps too well balanced to succumb to a fully-blown mid-life crisis but I am developing a deep yearning for some kind of change. I promised myself that in 2009 I'd try to be more focused and more constructive but it feels like swimming in treacle. In many respects old habits die hard I guess and it doesn't help when all of a sudden there's so much good stuff on TV... *sighs*
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The current Reason To Exist is of course the new (and final) run of Battlestar Galactica 4.5 being shown on SkyOne (although I can't bear the wait, I also can't be arsed how to qork out how to download it any quicker). This is perhaps the finest, most challenging and most rewarding genre TV ever made. Everyone talks about how great The Wire is, but I think BSG pushed the boundaries of storytelling even further. In no other show have I ever seen such poignant and inventive messages about war, faith, hope, love and death. In no other show have I ever recoiled in my chair or had an inclination to cover my eyes. If you're not watching it then you should be. When it's over TV will never be the same again.
Others shows now on that are worth catching include Lost (SkyOne), 24 (SkyOne), Generation Kill (FXUK), Dexter (ITV), and Dead Like Me (Sci-Fi UK). I've passed on Demons (ITV) as quite frankly the first episode was abysmal. I also missed the start of Being Human (BBC3) yesterday but hope to catch it on Iplayer this week before it disappears.
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Moving to the big screen I've recently seen Slumdog Millionaire, The Wrestler, Frost/Nixon and Underworld 3: Rise of the Lycans. Slumdog was a great feelgood movie, and the best thing Danny Boyle has done for ages. The Wrestler was simply heartbreaking - I really hope Mickey Rourke gets the Oscar for his compelling performance (also - how fit is Marisa Tomei?
). Frost/Nixon was very well-observed and illuminating - Sheen might not look so much like David Frost but he sounds just like him. Frank Langella steals the show though really - a very convinving and captivating performence. Underworld 3 by comparison was trash really. The story was effectively already told by the previous two films, and they didn't add any surprises here. Rhona Mitchell and Bill Nighy were great to watch in vampire mode, but the torrid seriousness and over-gothicness of it all was almost too much for me (and I can normally take quite a lot). Bah. At least it was better than Twilight. 
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Some of you may have already heard about the best job in the world. I've actually been thinking about submitting an application ( it would certainly resolve my lifestyle issues as noted above) On the site you can actually see all the applications submitted so far and you can rate them for their quality. Ironically, the majority of the entries are pretty drab, and very few people are making an effort to show that they've learnt anything about the islands, the reef or the local wildlife. I actually have a cunning plan which should make my application stand out - more news as and when I get around to doing it
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On Friday I went to Totttenham Chancers on Seven Sisters High Road to go to the Clinker - a roving club night devoted to experimental jazz and avante garde performance. I mainly went to support my friend John Calahan, a performer of some repute who used to be signed to Warp Records. The first act was your typical jazz improv ensemble - random plucked double-bass plus super-fast scales on soprano sax plus disjointed fumblings on a really cheap and nasty drum kit - and quite frankly I didn't think much of them. The second act was a pleasant surprise however - a lovely girl called Laura Moody played cello while singing several of her own songs. It was something like Regina Spektor in her weirdest mode but with string backing instead of a piano. Then the unqique Mr. Calahan with his special brand of electro-pop, followed by three guys whose act seemed to consist solely of playing single, dissonant chords at extreme volume for minutes at a time. Quite a bizarre and yet strangely entertaining night, and I came away resolved to try and see Laura Moody perform again some time...
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The current Reason To Exist is of course the new (and final) run of Battlestar Galactica 4.5 being shown on SkyOne (although I can't bear the wait, I also can't be arsed how to qork out how to download it any quicker). This is perhaps the finest, most challenging and most rewarding genre TV ever made. Everyone talks about how great The Wire is, but I think BSG pushed the boundaries of storytelling even further. In no other show have I ever seen such poignant and inventive messages about war, faith, hope, love and death. In no other show have I ever recoiled in my chair or had an inclination to cover my eyes. If you're not watching it then you should be. When it's over TV will never be the same again.
Others shows now on that are worth catching include Lost (SkyOne), 24 (SkyOne), Generation Kill (FXUK), Dexter (ITV), and Dead Like Me (Sci-Fi UK). I've passed on Demons (ITV) as quite frankly the first episode was abysmal. I also missed the start of Being Human (BBC3) yesterday but hope to catch it on Iplayer this week before it disappears.
---
Moving to the big screen I've recently seen Slumdog Millionaire, The Wrestler, Frost/Nixon and Underworld 3: Rise of the Lycans. Slumdog was a great feelgood movie, and the best thing Danny Boyle has done for ages. The Wrestler was simply heartbreaking - I really hope Mickey Rourke gets the Oscar for his compelling performance (also - how fit is Marisa Tomei?
). Frost/Nixon was very well-observed and illuminating - Sheen might not look so much like David Frost but he sounds just like him. Frank Langella steals the show though really - a very convinving and captivating performence. Underworld 3 by comparison was trash really. The story was effectively already told by the previous two films, and they didn't add any surprises here. Rhona Mitchell and Bill Nighy were great to watch in vampire mode, but the torrid seriousness and over-gothicness of it all was almost too much for me (and I can normally take quite a lot). Bah. At least it was better than Twilight. ---
Some of you may have already heard about the best job in the world. I've actually been thinking about submitting an application ( it would certainly resolve my lifestyle issues as noted above) On the site you can actually see all the applications submitted so far and you can rate them for their quality. Ironically, the majority of the entries are pretty drab, and very few people are making an effort to show that they've learnt anything about the islands, the reef or the local wildlife. I actually have a cunning plan which should make my application stand out - more news as and when I get around to doing it
---
On Friday I went to Totttenham Chancers on Seven Sisters High Road to go to the Clinker - a roving club night devoted to experimental jazz and avante garde performance. I mainly went to support my friend John Calahan, a performer of some repute who used to be signed to Warp Records. The first act was your typical jazz improv ensemble - random plucked double-bass plus super-fast scales on soprano sax plus disjointed fumblings on a really cheap and nasty drum kit - and quite frankly I didn't think much of them. The second act was a pleasant surprise however - a lovely girl called Laura Moody played cello while singing several of her own songs. It was something like Regina Spektor in her weirdest mode but with string backing instead of a piano. Then the unqique Mr. Calahan with his special brand of electro-pop, followed by three guys whose act seemed to consist solely of playing single, dissonant chords at extreme volume for minutes at a time. Quite a bizarre and yet strangely entertaining night, and I came away resolved to try and see Laura Moody perform again some time...
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Do you know what your novels are going to be about?