Fly me to the moon Alps

I must be in a good mood, or something. Maybe it’s the fact that in less than a hundred hours, the Festering Seaon™ will be over and done with. Woo and (repetitively) Yay indeed.

Anyway, a little email flittered into my inbox from Sapientum – and wow, can he creep *Grin* – asking me to draw some attention to his plea for emergency crew on a hot-air-ballon trip to the Alps. Typical NHS, 18 month waiting list, and as soon as the person’s needed elsewhere, #bing# to the top of the list they go. So – if you’re free and fancy a trip in a cramped capsule to the Alps, give Peter at Sapientum a yell…

Paid

I’m sure I’ve said it before, but one thing I still love about being self-employed is seeing the invoice get paid for the work I’ve done. (Yes, particularly when it comes in at an opportune time, like today) It makes all the hassle and grief worthwhile, and even after being self-employed for five years (on and off) there’s still that big smile that appears on my face, that feeling of “Yeah, that was work that was worth the money – and they thought so too”.

Blinding.

Shortest Day

Yes, we’re past the midway point. The 21st was (or at least should be) the shortest day, AKA Winter Equinox Solstice (corrected, thanks Peter). So now the nights will start getting shorter, and we’re over the big hurdle for another year. Woo, and indeed Yay.

Autumn Photos

Ooops. As always, I’d forgotten about some shots I took a while back on a trip to Derwent Water. They’re now online and loaded into the Photos section. Also, I’ve remembered to update the index page for the first time in three months or more. *Sigh*

UPDATED : Yes, OK, I’d chuffed up the pages, so some of the text wasn’t readable in IE5 and 6. Mea Culpa. ’tis fixed now, though.

Antisocial

I’d just like to say that if my neighbour’s burglar alarm is still going off when I get home, I’m going to take a fucking hammer to it. All bloody night the knacking things been whistling it’s way into my subconscious. The thing is, even when the police say “there’s nothing we can do”, they’ll still happily nick you for criminal damage and – oh, sweet irony – “breach of the peace” if you go and disable the fucker.

And what does the owner get, for having an alarm that doesn’t comply with the standards about turning off after 20 mins, and that’s basically bloody annoying? Sweet F A. Nothing. There’s a logic in there somewhere, but shit if I can find it.

Return of the King

No plot-twists were harmed in the writing of this piece. So yes, at last we come to the final part of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Two films that – in the inimitable words of my brother – dont even have proper endings. (Yes, he’s going to see this one – after wasting five-plus hours of his life watching the other two, he wants to see how it ends) At three and a half hours, it’s no short film either. If you go and see it, make sure it’s in an auditorium with comfortable seating, and decent legroom if possible. Otherwise you’ll just be uncomfortable by the last hour.

Not that that’ll damage too much. I’ve heard it said elsewhere, but this is a film that suffers from a surfeit of endings. Fr too many of them – and some done in amazingly mawkish Hollywood-friendly fashion. By the end of it, even I was praying for the bugger to finally display the words “The End”.

Overall, the film’s still stunning. The effects and visuals are amazing, particularly Helm’s Deep, and Minas Tirith – truly impressive. A couple of effects are slightly shonky, particularly the ones where the hobbits are in shot at the same time as those of “normal” size, but that’s pretty forgivable. Shelob is fairly grotesque, and Gollum is rendered exceptionally well. He’s an integral character and part of the film – and there are no real occasions where you disbelieve his existence within the world of the film. As a computer-generated actor, it’s at least a generation above anything else – even Dobby the House-elf.

Overall, thoroughly enjoyable – but it could do with finishing about 30 minutes before it does, and without all the mawkish bollocks that goes with it.

Surviving the Festering Season

Many thanks to both GF and Ionicus for giving me these links.

First of all, Ionicus recommended the BBC’s “How to avoid christmas” page – some fun suggestions of how to not appear to be a Scrooge while still disliking the Festering Season™. “Pretend it isn’t happening” is kind of difficult to carry off, “Spend it in Jail” sounds worryingly promising (I wonder if you can get a commuted sentence for killing people out doing their Christmas shopping?), and “Do Something Worthwhile” has been done by me for several years prior to this. But for me, I think the plan for next year may well be “Leave the country“. SOunds like a plan – disappearing somewhere that’s a) hot and b) doesn’t do much for Christmas. Perfect.

Green Fairy’s contribution, however, appeals even more. Well, this year anyway. The Christmas Resistance Movement – complete with block-art WW2-style posters and propaganda. Absolutely excellent. They have my support, that’s for sure. And quite probably my membership in future years…