|
|
|
April 17th, 2009
11:18 pm - This is what happy looks like
Yeah, so I never really update this thing anymore. I'm getting by alright, although being unemployed right now is treating me about as well as prolonged periods of enforced inactivity tend to - ie., I'm going quietly nuts. Interview on Monday, so fingers crossed. Other than that, all is well, much as before.
Good job that I finally built up the new bike frame I bought back in January into a complete bike, then, because it means I've got something to keep me sane. I took it out to the woods for a good hard thrashing as soon as I took possession this afternoon, and it's even better than I could have hoped it would be.
Here we are, in action:
Those trees to the left-hand side of the photo, which appear to be growing at a weird angle? They're not, it's just a misleadingly-foreshortened photo. That hill's a lot steeper than it looks, which is why I'm way off the back of the saddle. Honest.
The bike's name is Patsy. I don't care how lame this makes me.
Current Music: Opeth - Heir Apparent
|
January 3rd, 2009
11:51 pm - "Change, my dear. And it seems, not a moment too soon"
So, there's a new Doctor Who. And, in a startling break from tradition, he appears to be about 12. I'm reminded of Frank Miller's introduction to the Dark Knight Returns trade, in which he talks about his motivation for doing the book in the first place - I'm really not sure I'm ready for the Doctor to be younger than I am. I was expecting to have to wait at least a few more years before reaching that particular milestone, but...well, here we are.
A foetus, yesterday
I was initially very sceptical, but on reflection, I'm willing to be persuaded. He's very, VERY young (and this is, for me, even with the precedent of Peter Davison, just as big a "break with tradition" as casting a middle-aged black British guy like Paterson Joseph would have been - there's plenty of precedent within the show's history for Time Lords changing race/skin colour, after all, and as everyone and his dog pointed out months ago, Joseph's role as the Marquis De Carabas in Neverwhere was about as shameless a rehearsal-run for the Doctor as any actor's ever been given), and with his floppy hair, striking cheekbones and all-round skinny youthfulness, Matt Smith is a lot more reminiscent of Tennant than I'd have liked. That sense of a stark physical contrast from the previous incarnation was the main reason I was so enthused by the rumours of Joseph, or (even better) Chiwetel Ejiofor being in the running.
It would have been nice, wouldn't it?
If it was anyone but Steven Moffat doing the casting, I'd be downright despondent right now, but Moffat's involvement gives me considerably more cause for optimism. Not because I think he's a God Of All Things Who, like so many seem to (I was hugely underwhelmed by his Season 4 two-parter, and still reckon most of his non-WHO work has been profoundly hit-and-miss at best - to say nothing of the fact that, in his own way, he's every bit as unbearably smug and self-adulatory as Russell T. Davies), but because he's frequently claimed that his favourite classic-series Doctor is Peter Davison.
Davison's probably my second-favourite Doctor after Patrick Troughton (who, with his childish-attitude-in-an-old-body is almost the precise opposite, interestingly), and the sense of an old mind in a too-young body (and the frustration which ensues from having so much wisdom and experience while trapped in a physical form which is too young, too lacking in authority) which he brings to the role is one of my favourite things about the character.
By casting someone so strikingly-young as Doctor Eleven, they've almost guaranteed that this will be the sort of Doctor we'll be seeing, because Moffat's smart enough to realise that otherwise there's a very real danger that the character will simply lack credibility. This, in contrast to the way Smith looks, gives me considerable hope that his Doctor will be a far more cerebral, less manic incarnation of the character than Tennant's children's-television-presenter-on-speed version. Which is, pleasingly, exactly what I was hoping for.
The big question, of course, is whether Smith's a good enough actor to pull it off - I've heard good things, but he hasn't made a huge impression on me in anything I've seen him in. Like a lot of people, I'll be seeking out his earlier performances with great curiosity over the next few weeks.
I still can't really picture him as the Doctor yet, but that's far from necessarily a bad thing. So, I'm somewhere between guarded pessimism and cautious optimism - which isn't a bad place to be, really. It would be no fun if I were genuinely dreading the onset of the next Doctor, but unrealistically-high expectations would almost certainly have left me disappointed when the new series finally began.
Hmm.
Current Music: Steve Earle, Feel Alright
|
December 16th, 2008
03:20 pm
Hello, all. I'm still alive, still in Norway, still married, and still reasonably content.
Also, this is my new toy, of which I shall be taking delivery in January.
I'm only getting the frame - I already have almost all the requisite parts to build it up into a complete bike - and mine's white, rather than the anodized silver shown here, but frankly, none of you care anyway, so this picture will do.
It is a thing of AWESOME BEAUTY, and it is costing me a frankly obscene amount of money. And I'm completely OK with that.
Current Location: At work
Current Music: Carcass - No Love Lost
|
July 9th, 2008
06:42 am - "It ain't no sin to be glad you're alive!"
Number of times I have been awesomed by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band this week: 2
Number of times you have been awesomed by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band this week: 0
I WIN
Also, I am now married. Here's a photo:
Well-wishings, condolences, advices and dire predictions of doom, misery and divorce to the usual address. Also, some thoroughly-deserved seething jealousy at the fact that you all missed two of the most AWESOME CONCERTS I'VE EVER BEEN TO would be appreciated.
( Boss setlists and another wedding photo )
Current Location: Married bliss...
Current Music: Bruce Springsteen, obviously
|
April 26th, 2008
March 30th, 2008
11:47 pm - "Take the skin and peel it back...now, doesn't it make you feel better?"
Behold, one and all, my new and exciting Finger Of Unutterable Pain!
So, yeah. Clearly having decided that the broken leg and chronic tendonitis weren't nearly enough to be getting along with, the Gods of Pain in their infinite wisdom tried to cut off my finger this morning in a freak accident at work (long story short...bit of malfunctioning equipment got stuck and slammed shut on my finger with a loud metallic 'KLUNK', followed almost immediately by cries of horror from all witnesses as blood began squirting forcefully from my hand in gloriously-excessive quantities). Fortunately they didn't quite succeed, but I still had to wait around in casualty for about 4 hours for a specialist hand surgeon to come and stitch my finger back together again.
The surgery was pretty straightforward, and all-in-all it could have been a lot worse, but it's still a bit of a bugger. It turns out that no serious harm was done, but the initial "blood spraying all over the fucking place" factor was high enough to be moderately alarming at the time. The operation itself was fascinating, though. It was done under local anaesthetic, so I was conscious throughout, which meant I was able to talk them into letting me watch. He opened up the whole top of my finger - pinning the skin back far enough to fully expose the joint so he could check for nerve or tendon damage (which it turns out there wasn't much of). Having never seen my own naked bones before, this was more than a little odd, and was followed by a bit of poking around, stretching and slicing before he gradually sewed the whole thing back together, layer after layer.
The anaesthetic meant there was no pain, but I could still feel everything he was doing with frankly disturbing clarity, right down to the thread being pulled through my flesh during the stitching-up process. Very, very strange, almost reminiscent of an out-of-body experience - "how odd, that's my hand I'm looking at". Not an experience I'd care to repeat, but interesting nonetheless - it's not something you get to see everyday, after all.
So, I'm off work again. Hurray!
Oh, and last night's Melechesh/Immolation gig was excellent. I was briefly-tempted to attempt to pass the finger off as a metal-related injury, but common sense and basic honesty prevailed in the end.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/growf/pengies/wideeyed.gif) DUDE. MY FUCKING FINGER.
Current Music: Radiohead - House of Cards
|
February 23rd, 2008
12:41 am - "Tinted Love"
Current Music: Penderecki, St. Luke Passion (O Crux Ave)
|
February 8th, 2008
03:17 pm
Upcoming gigs for which I currently have tickets: Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Dillinger Escape Plan, Immolation, Aesop Rock, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band (twice), and Kylie Minogue. That should keep me going for now - problem is, there are at least 6 or 7 other shows coming up which I'd really love to get to, and I simply can't afford all of them. I hate having to make decisions.
For my own sake (it's like thinking out loud, only not), I'll list the ones I'm really interested in:
American Music Club 29/02
Alicia Keys 11/03
Einstürzende Neubauten 28/04
Hayseed Dixie 04/05
Explosions In The Sky 04/05
Dio 30/05
Any and all advocacy/advice/hectoring would be appreciated.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/growf/pengies/confused.gif) torn
Current Music: Miles Davis - Live at the 1963 Montreal Jazz Fest.
|
February 2nd, 2008
02:20 pm - Winter
|
January 16th, 2008
08:43 pm - "Red Rain"
I don't care how cool this isn't, I think it's awesome. Nice version of a spectacularly great song (shut up, it TOTALLY FUCKING IS), with the novelty value more than making up for a slight clash between the voices of the three singers.
On a similar note, only EVEN BETTER, this:
is quite, quite magnificent.
|
December 3rd, 2007
10:35 pm - "It's Grim oop North"
Summer 2005
Winter 2007
Yes, as I rather doubt anyone was about to inform me, I know I've posted the first picture here before. I just noticed the similarity when I was copying some recent pictures from camera to PC, and liked the contrast.
( A few more winter+bike pictures behind the cut )
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/growf/pengies/yawn.gif) tired
Current Music: Heitor Villa-Lobos - Bachianas Brasileiras No. 2
|
November 11th, 2007
11:01 pm - "Nine-mile skid on a ten-mile ride, hot as a pistol but cool inside"
I've had an absolutely magic day - not even the fact that I had to work from 7.30 this morning could spoil it. ( cut for possibly-tedious bike-related babbling )
Anyway, since it's been ages since I updated this thing, it would be terribly remiss of me not to add that it was great to get to see so many of you last month, that I'm sorry I didn't get to meet up with more people but the schedule was pretty tight, and that plans for next June's WEDDING OF THE CENTURY continue more-or-less apace. I should also mention, for anyone who may not be aware of it, that in lieu of a traditional lads'-night-out stag party, I'll instead be organizing (or, for preference, having other people organize on my behalf) a massive weekend get-together in Edinburgh at some point next year, most likely early summer. Everyone likely to be reading this is warmly invited, women included. Accommodation for as many folks as possible will apparently be available, courtesy of several generous Edinburgh-dwelling friends of mine (some of whom are even aware of this plan, and have signalled their consent. If you live in Edinburgh and weren't aware of this until now...surprise!), so there'll be no excuse for not turning up.
Anyway, Amy Winehouse's recent Oslo concert wasn't quite as horrendously shambolic as I'd been led to expect, but still not nearly as good as it would have been had she been vaguely less fucked-up on drugs and booze. Radiohead's new album is probably my favourite record of the year so far (I paid £6 for it, which seemed fair), with strong competition from Okkervil River's The Stage Names, Ted Leo/The Pharmacists' Living With The Living, VNV Nation's formulaic-but-still-irresistable Judgementand Battles' Mirrored. Anton Corbijn's biopic of Ian Curtis, Control, was beautifully shot but about as thin as you'd expect a more-than-two-and-a-half-hour-long film about a guy who died age 23 would be - Michael Winterbottom's 24-Hour Party People covered the same events in a 10-minute subplot, without significantly less detail. Cronenberg's Eastern Promises is, again, visually-remarkable, with one of the best fight scenes ever committed to cinema (an absolutely brutal, visceral down-and-dirty knife scrap featuring an extremely naked Viggo Mortensen in a Turkish bath), but is let down slightly by some very clumsy exposition thrown in to explain the finer points of the story to anyone not paying sufficient attention, and a largely-superfluous Naomi Watts (who plays her very thinly-written character very well, but still feels uneccessary). Also, to say that I'm burbling with excitement at the prospect of next week's David Tennant/Peter Davison multi-Doctor scene would be to sadly underestimate the depth of the utter, utter joy which occasionally threatens to overcome me entirely.
*Phew* So, that's me, then. Anything interesting happen to any of you lately?
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/growf/pengies/happy.gif) elated
Current Music: The Wildhearts - Destroy All Monsters
|
September 22nd, 2007
02:08 am - "You put your left leg in..."
I had my cast removed on Tuesday. Right now, dead skin is sloughing off my left foot and lower leg in a manner not unreminiscent of a snake shedding its skin. I'm not entirely certain if this is revolting or awesome. Certainly satisfying, though, after nearly two months of being unable to scratch my foot without the aid of a knitting needle.
Still fookin' sore, mind, and I can't walk properly without crutches. Next week's holiday should be a laugh. Edinburgh folks should probably expect to see me rocking the House look, complete with walking stick. Hope Danny doesn't mind me temporarily borrowing his "funny cripple" crown...
Current Music: Bob Dylan - Ain't Gonna Go To Hell For Anybody
|
September 20th, 2007
02:12 am
OK - I mentioned this a few months ago, but it seems reasonable to assume that most concerned parties have forgotten all about it by now.
Malin and I are going to be in Edinburgh in 2 (two) weeks' time, from the 29th September. We're hoping to spend a few days there before going down to visit my parents in Northumberland, but I'm way out of date with contact details for most people I/we know who live there. So, if you're Edinburgh-based, and fancy meeting up while we're there, let me know via comments or e-mail me (marknpatterson[at]gmail[dot]com).
Cheers!
Oh, and I got the cast taken off my leg yesterday. Feels great. Also, fooking painful.
|
August 8th, 2007
01:07 pm - Ow.
So, I broke my ankle on the way to work this morning.
How are you all?
Current Music: The Farthest Star, VNV Nation
|
August 1st, 2007
11:40 pm - IMPORTANT(ISH). FAO: YOU LOT
So, I'm getting married next June.
Right now, we're in the (very preliminary) stages of planning the damn thing, and it'd be tremendously helpful to have a vague idea of who might want/be able to come. So, if you'd like to attend, and might be able to make it to Norway for the 28th of June, 2008, please, PLEASE post a comment here.
I don't think there are too many people likely to see this who I wouldn't want at the wedding (as a guideline: if I've never met you, you're probably not going to be invited, but beyond that, you'd probably be at least moderately welcome), so if in doubt, say "aye, why not". It's not a guarantee that you'll be getting an invite - with the best will in the world, we probably aren't going to have room for absolutely everyone we'd like to be there - but that's something I can deal with once I've got a rough idea of who might be able to make it if they were to receive an invitation.
Oh, and if you know anyone who you think would possibly want to be there but doesn't check LJ regularly (or at all), please pass the word along. The worst that can happen is that I'll have to send "sorry, we'd love to invite you but there isn't any room at the wedding" emails out to a few people.
Thanks!
|
July 18th, 2007
12:46 am - "It's got a basket, a bell that rings and things to make it look good"
About 25km north of Oslo, Sunday 15th July
Not pictured: shitty, shitty "summer" weather.
|
July 12th, 2007
10:34 pm - "No phone, no pool, no pets"
Right - I need to ask a favour of someone - anyone - on my friends list who happens to be based in either Edinburgh or Glasgow.
Malin and I will be visiting the UK in the first week of October - Sunday to Sunday. At least part of this week will be spent visiting my parents in Northumberland (so, Durham folks like Kirsty and LiznJamie can probably expect a visit), but since there are a bunch of folks up in Scotland who we haven't seen for aaages, it'd be nice if we could come up there for a few days. Problem is, we need somewhere to stay, and Malin's not happy with the idea of crashing on someone's floor for several nights (I think she's getting old). We'll just book a room in a hotel/B&B/hostel if necessary, but if anyone has a spare room/futon/mattress/sofabed we could beg the use of, that'd be even better. Umm...help? Obviously, some form of recompense would be offered, even if it's just buying a load of groceries and/or cooking a nice meal or two (I'm immodest enough to say that, particularly since starting to work in a kitchen, I've become an thoroughly-decent cook).
Also, anyone in the UK who can make it up to Northumberland/Edinburgh/Glasgow in that week, it'd be lovely to see you.
On an entirely-unrelated note, I've just kitted my bike out with an entirely new, and rather more expensive drivetrain (cassette, chain, derailleurs, shifters, chainset - the works), and topped it off with gorgeous, light-as-a-feather, and absolutely bling-tastic carbon fibre handlebars/bar-ends. The total weight of my bike has been reduced by almost a kilo, it looks like a million dollars (which is mildly worrying, since it isn't currently insured - I may have to rectify this, as it's now the most expensive thing I own by a terrifyingly-huge margin), and my bank account has taken a horrifying punch to the gut. It felt very odd - and extremely unpleasant, frankly - to be paying almost as much for parts as I did for the whole bike last year, but I had to remind myself that (a) I can actually afford it now that I'm in full-time employment, and (b) this was what I'd planned to do all along. The slightly sick feeling of oh-my-god-I-just-blew-over-6,000-kroner-with-a-single-swipe-of-the-visa-card was diminished almost as soon as I swung a leg over the bike, though - the difference is substantial, and I haven't even tested it off-road yet.
Photos of the shiny new awesomeness will probably be forthcoming. Be warned.
|
July 2nd, 2007
09:55 pm - "Just go forward in your beliefs..."
I wouldn't normally do this kind of thing (lies!), but given the subject, I couldn't resist.
As seen on ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) littleshebear's journal...apparently if you see this meme, you should post a quote from Doctor Who. So, I will.
"That is the dematerialisation control, and that over yonder is the horizontal hold. Up there is the scanner, those are the doors, that is a chair with a panda on it... Sheer poetry, dear boy. Now please, stop bothering me!"
William Hartnell was awesome.
|
July 1st, 2007
09:26 pm - "See me...feel me. Touch me...actually, no. Please don't touch me"
New blog up at http://grouchomark.blogspot.com. Go, see, check it out.
There are only two posts so far (a general introduction, and a scarily-long discourse on precisely why last night's episode of Doctor Who was utter crap), but there should be more coming in the next week.
Please, anyone who does actually read it, let me know. I'd hate to think that I'm just shouting into a vacuum.
Current Music: The Secret Machines - 'Pharaoh's Daughter'
|
|
|
