Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Disconnected

The Ood - a slave race who have communication devices forcibly attached by giant corporations to control them as a slave race. These devices become replacement brains and without them, the Ood become weak and vulnerable.

Oh, hang on... did I say "Ood"?

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Changes

I need to move home again. It’s not the most exciting prospect, but it has to be done. When I first moved into my Docklands apartment, I was over the moon. I had a spring in my step and a slight giddiness to my mood. It was secure, pet-friendly, clean, new and, frankly, almost perfect. The main problem is… the cost. At the time, I had convinced myself that security and happiness was more important than money and $450 was achievable if I lived on a tight budget. Well, it is achievable, but to continue this lifestyle would mean giving up having any sort of social life.

Also, the recent fire in the apartment block has tainted my love of the place. I no longer want to live in a high-rise full of students. I don’t mind apartment living, I would just prefer a smaller block with people living in "homes" and not "accommodation".

Trawling through the likes of Domain.com and Realestate.com is not much of a joy either. Trying to find somewhere cheaper that is also Pet Friendly is a nightmare. The ones I have come across are available NOW, but my current lease ends at the end of March. Damn it.

So, this is my call-out to all and sundry. If you have property that needs looking after, I am a very quiet, clean and tidy, long-term resident who will be one of the best tenants you could possibly hope for. Ask ANYONE who knows me. (And I prefer to live alone)

I am looking to pay no more than $350 a week, but very happy to pay less!! (Gosh, $200 would be nice - imagine the debts I could pay off! A lot to ask... I know!)

And I have a cat.

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Switch It On

Each of us can find a variety of different aspects of our lives that define us in many ways. Despite it's banality, TV can become one of these aspects as the shows we choose to watch can reflect our sensibilities and also reflect the state of our lives at certain periods of growth. I have always been a fan of TV generally speaking and lots of programmes have become embedded in my heart and shall remain there for ever more. However, the 1990s was a critical era in my life as it was a time of change, of growing up and becoming a man, and a time of establishing an identity for myself. Here I will briefly reflect on four of the TV shows that genuinely assisted in moulding the man that I have become.

The X Files

If ever a show understood the zeitgeist and hit at the right time, The X files was the one. Journalists were fond of calling the decade "The Paranoid 90s" and it's not really a surprise after a lot of people became disillusioned through years of corrupt and beguiling behaviour from governments around the world (although, in this day and age, we have become accustomed to it - par for the course, sadly). The X Files came along and told us "the truth is out there" and made us wary and taught us to "trust no one". The fantastical stories were played out with earnest sincerity yet with a touch of humour. The look of the show was immaculate and the performances from the cast sublime. Of course, everyone knows I think the world of Gillian Anderson; she is simply one of the greatest living actresses. The show ran for nine years and I feel such passion towards it. You can read more about it here.

Friends

For some reason, some people like to mock those of us who like Friends and it does perplex me. It's a superb ensemble comedy that can be watched time and time again. Sure, Ross annoys the crap out of me, but I still cared about him and Rachel. Friends was one of those rare beasts that blended two genres together - in this case soap and comedy. We really cared about these twenty-somethings. I was at that time in my life when I was house-sharing and my friends were as close-knit as these characters were. OK, we weren't as pretty nor as funny, but we still had a damn good time. I loved this show so much, I even bought the recipe book (true story). For ten years, the antics of Phoebe, Joey, Chandler, Monica and, of course, Ross and Rachel kept us entertained, laughing and, on occasion, crying.

Absolutely Fabulous

Over in Britain, the comedy was going strong too. Jennifer 'the legend' Saunders turned the sitcom format on its head and produced some of the funniest characters to have emerged from the British goggle-box for years. Edina and Patsy were appalling. Two deeply flawed characters who should make awful role-models... but we all loved them. They could often epitomise everything we wanted to be but were too afraid to live it out. Mad, drunk, naughty, opinionated... they broke the rules and threw caution to the wind simply in order to have FUN. Every now and again, when I am having a rant, I 'channel' Edina Monsoon as there is something about her I can bizarrely relate to. It's probably the neuroses.

This Life

Ah, This Life, my lover, my friend, my despicable cohort. We found each other one night on BBC2 and it felt like a surreptitious love affair. Then, by season two, everyone else knew our dirty little secret and wanted in on the act. Oh, it was like a delicious orgy of rampant debauchery. As you can tell from my verbose and slightly perverted reaction to this show, it is something I feel passionate about. The lives of Anna, Miles, Milly, Egg, Warren, Ferdy, Rachel, Kira, Jo etc. got under my skin so completely. The programme ran for two seasons and was deliberately cut short so that it ended on a high - and WHAT A HIGH! I still recall the rush I was experiencing when the end credits rolled. I was beside myself. 32 episodes of legalities, shenanigans and heartache. Many imitators but none that can match the brilliance of Amy Jenkins' superb series.

So, there you have it. Sure, there were many other shows I watched, loved and adored (Star Trek, Twin Peaks, Millennium, The Vicar of Dibley et al) but this quartet defined that period of my life for me. TV Gold.

Friday, January 9, 2015

Keep On

Gosh, it has been a while since I updated this blog. Sorry about that, peeps.

Maybe it was writer's block; maybe it was a case of not being arsed; maybe I am just going insane from boredom!

I was suffering a bit from my old depression late last year. It certainly wasn't helped when there was a fire in my apartment block. Luckily, no one was hurt and, amazingly, my apartment escaped unscathed from fire or water damage. I am very grateful about that!

I was lucky enough to have a number of friends offer me a place to stay whilst the building was being made livable again and I ended up staying with my friend Chris (who was also more than happy to house Fizzgig along with me!). Chris is pretty much a saint as it's not many people who can put up with me for more than ten hours, let alone ten days. I don't use the word as often as today's youth, but Chris is 'Awesome'.

Anyway, this is just a quick post to say 'Hello' and I will endeavour to post more in 2015. I am also blogging about my desperate attempt to get thin and fit in time for my fortieth birthday. You can read about that here.

On a lighter note, I have enjoyed playing around with Photoshop and I created a collage of 50 of my favourite movies. It started out as 16, then 25, then 40... it kept growing. I still have missed off some other all-time favourites like The Time Machine starring the recently departed Rod Taylor and a whole load of Hitchcock films and Fred and Ginger movies. Still, I had to stop somewhere. What do you think?

My friend Kathy in the UK has suggested I get it printed onto canvas. I think she is a genius.

So, once again, sorry for the lackadaisical approach to blogging. I shall strive to keep on going for the rest of the year and see what thrilling stuff I have to write about. Weeee.

Trying WIll Young song titles for the blog now... mixin' it up.