Blogging wise, October has been a bit of a washout. There are lots of reasons for that, none of which I am going to go into.

November will be better.

The Doctor is dead. Long live The Doctor.

I was going to write, but it is late, I am cold and I cannot be bothered.

No time! No time!

Saturday. Went to work and saw a Scottie dog attack a bus. Evening went to see the Stranglers. I have written a review in my notebook. I need to type it up.

Sunday. Went food shopping and then went to see "Saw V". It is rubbish. Did the whole review in the notebook thing. Evening. Did a stack of ironing while listening to the best of the Mamas and the Papas. Watched "Burn Notice" and "Breaking Bad".

Today. Went to work. Watched more people be made redundant, including Jennifer's nemesis. Jennifer said that she didn't like the person, but it still made her feel sick. Evening. Cooked, washed up and watched "Spooks".

Phew!

Back tomorrow. More time.

Two desktops that I have failed to mention.

Anna Faris.



A week or so ago I left the house intending to see "The House Bunny". The bus did not turn up, so I saw the first film about to start when I arrived at the cinema. "Gommora". Not exactly a fluffy comedy. Far from it.

I will probably not now see "The House Bunny" until it turns up on my television set. In light of this tragedy I decided to immortalise Anna Faris as my desktop for the week.

My next desktop was Amy Adams.



I love Amy Adams. One day she will be mine.

My next desktop will not be a pretty girl.

**

At work, as expected since the asset strippers took control, there have been redundancies. Jennifer and I are OK, but we know at least 9 people who are on notice. One of those guys is a programmer who has been with The Company since Margaret Thatcher came to power. When he came out of his meeting he looked shell shocked. Jennifer was told to let him go home and to ask him to come back next week.

During the afternoon an email arrived from the CEO expressing sadness and regret, blah, blah, blah, and inviting applications for voluntary redundancy, pointing out that 'not all requests for voluntary redundancy will be accepted'. So, more redundancies are on the way?

It is all very sad, but that is the way of the world.

I am off to see the Stranglers tomorrow night, so the next post will probably not be here until Sunday. I last saw the Stranglers at the Birmingham Odeon in 1988. Time passes.

I am conscious of all the things I have not written about. I will try to do better in the future.

Tuesday evening was spent

1. Eating food. We had a Chinese takeaway. We were so knackered by an apocalyptically bad day at work, we decided that the mountain of fresh food we had in the fridge could go hang.
2. Watching the first episode of "Breaking Bad". I thought that it was very funny. I laughed all of the way through it. I will definitely watch the rest of the series.
3. Installing the software for Jennifer's tiny Creative Zen MP3 player. (Tiny? It was so small I thought it was an After Eight mint.) A stressful experience to say the least, mainly because Jennifer kep hanging over my shoulder asking me what I was doing.

I have been writing a largish post catching up on all of the film reviews I have thus far failed to post. So, if you will excuse me, I am going back to that.

I hope everyone is OK.

Jennifer did not call on Friday or Saturday. She did call yesterday, to say that she was on her way home, and would I like to meet her at New Street station?

Stupid question.

I suppose we are in a state of detente. Last night I ordered a Chinese takeaway. We watched TV. We talked about her Brother and his kids. We talked about the eviction on "The X-Factor" (Girlband! I told you!) We talked about Worthing and Brighton. We talked about nothing very much at all.

We tiptoed around each other all evening. There were no arguments. I didn't raise anything 'heavy'. I was scared to. At the end of the night, she went to her room and I went to mine. I suppose we are still together. Jennifer didn't say anything contrary to that.

Today I asked her Jennifer if she wanted to see "Quantum Of Solace" at The Electric in November? Sofa seat. Nibbles. Drinks. Jennifer said OK. She would like that. It will be the first film we have seen together since "Kung Fu Panda".

We will have a serious talk. We will work through things.

One minute with... Jerry Cornelius. (Shamelessly stolen from the 'One Minute With...' slot in The Independent. Yesterdays was with Roger Moore, so some of the questions will reflect the trade in which he gained his fame.)

Where are you?

In the back room surrounded by junk. I have just looked out of the window and noticed that my neighbour, the foxy Keren, has finally had her fence put up. It looks like a good, solid piece of work. Unfortunately it also means that I will soon be required to spend a day or two painting the fence on our side.

What was the last film you saw?

"The Rocker". It is not a masterpiece, but I thought it was OK.

Who is your favourite Director?

I have more films by Alfred Hitchcock than by any other Director, courtesy of several box sets, so I suppose I should say him. Of the newer bunch, my favourite would be David Fincher.

If you could have starred in one film, which would it be and why?

"Point Blank" as Walker. The film is a cult classic. A little masterpiece of a thriller. Frankly that should be a good enough reason for an actor to appear in any film, but beyond that Lee Marvin as Walker is tough, relentless, impenetrable, well dressed and extremely cool. Everything that I am not.

What distracts you from work?

TV, going to the cinema, surfing porn. Too much of the latter, lately. I am trying to stop. I have not looked at any porn today. It is a start.

What did you want to be as a child?

I cannot think of a single thing. I don't know. Ask my Mom. She might be able to give you an answer.

Who is your greatest inspiration?

Am I a person who gets inspired by people or events? I do not think that I am. That is a very sad thing to admit. These days am I that indifferent?

The film that changed your life is...

"Planet Of The Apes" from 1968.

I saw it with my Dad at the cinema during the rerun in the early 70's. We both enjoyed it a great deal. From then on we were always going to the cinema. I have been going ever since.

The film also led me directly to books. I first book I ever purchased was "Monkey Planet" by Pierre Boulle, the novel on which "Planet Of The Apes" was based. I started to buy other science fiction novels by the likes of Isaac Asimov, Harlan Ellison, Ray Bradbury, etc. I then started to read other kinds of books. It goes on.

Who is your hero?

My Mom, of course. She was widowed at the age of 43, pregnant and with 4 kids under the age of 10. (I was 14.) She was given the option to allow us to be taken into care, but refused. They were not going to take her fucking children. She went from a mouse, dominated by my Dad, to a woman who had to learn how to make decisions. She made mistakes, but she did OK.

We all have our problems, but basically we are all fine. None of us are on drugs. None of us have ended up in prison or in trouble. 4 out of 5 of us are working. We are the kids of an inner city, single mother. We should be scum. You know what? Take your cliches and shove them up your arse where they belong.

My Mom is my hero.

**

I got a bit down this afternoon. I went around to see my Mom and she told me to spend some money on myself. I have. I have purchased three movies from the '3 for 20 quid' offer at Zaavi and one on top. These movies.

1. "All The Boys Love Mandy Lane". I loved this movie. For a horror film it is just outstanding. Just a beautiful looking movie that works on all sorts of levels.
2. "The Notorious Bettie Page". Ditto. Considering it is about the most famous fetish model of all time, it is kind of sweet and innocent, while also being quite rude and very funny. Well, I laughed all of the way through it. I think that Gretchen Mol should have been nominated for an Oscar for this one.
3. "Before The Devil Knows You're Dead". Outstanding thriller. Great turns from Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke and Albert Finney. Marisa Tomei is also outstandingly sexy, as if I needed to point that out.
4. "Southland Tales" . Richard Kelly's followup to "Donnie Darko". I have never seen "Southland Tales". It was booed at the Cannes film festival, withdrawn and recut, losing half an hour of footage in the process. Then it was released 18 months later to terrible reviews, except for the Empire Magazine reviewer who quite liked it. I was just dying to see this movie, but it was in and out of British cinemas faster than George W. Bush out of a meeting with his economic advisor. Maybe one day they will release the full cut.

I will watch one of these films after "The X-Factor" results. Who is going home tonight? Ah... That might well be Girlband. I hope so. I have a bet on that JLS will be the top group in their category.

It has been a rough couple of days. There has been no inclination to blog or surf very much at all. Maybe you noticed? Lot's of promises made. None of them kept.

Jennifer has gone. She will be at her Brother's until Sunday. We have been arguing a lot. You might say that the atmosphere has become very tense. A couple of days ago she said that she wanted some time to think about 'where we were going'. She made an emergency holiday request at work and she was gone.

For the best? Or course. We cannot carry on like this. We are constantly rubbing each other up the wrong way, failing to communicate, doing everything alone. I hate the amount of time she spends working. She hates my indifference and bad attitude. I do not want to carry on like this. Bugger the whole 'no sex' thing. This has become a 'no relationship' thing. It is a shame that she didn't want to sit down and talk to me, and instead felt the need to go to Worthing to think about 'where we are going'. It doesn't matter. I will welcome any step to resolve this situation, however it presents itself.

I hope we are together after this weekend. I really do. I love her.

**

Of all of the artistes who recorded for Motown during the Golden age of that label (1959 through 1972), my favourites were the Four Tops.



They were not the best selling, most iconic or most innovative artistes to record for Motown, and they were never much cop live (I saw them in 1992 on a Motown package tour and they were dreadful), but I loved their records. They were magnificent.

Levi Stubbs died today. He was 72.

RIP.

Way too tired to be writing now. I promise I will be back tomorrow.

What was that line again?

'I will be back on Friday.'

Okey, dokey...

Oh, well. Couldn't be helped. In between TV ("The X-Factor", "Burn Notice" and the finale of "Alias" - FUCKING HELL!) , movies ("Gomorra" and "Nights In Rodanthe"), shopping, eating and general dossing about, I did not so much as go near the computer in days. If it helps, I did feel guilty. Hey! Not that guilty.

I am off now to do important things.

Tomorrow I will be going to see the England Under 21 squad run rings around the Wales Under 21 squad at Villa Park, so... wait for it... I will be back on Wednesday.

Fillums. I just love 'em.

"Brideshead Revisited".



It is a sad admission, but regarding the movie adaptation of "Brideshead Revisited", I am at a disadvantage. Every serious critic has either

a) Read Evelyn Waugh's 1945 novel, or
b) Seen the 1981 television adaptation

and literally all of them have painted the movie adaptation as inferior to one or both.

I cannot comment. I have neither read the book nor seen the television adaptation. I hope to do both, one day. All I will say is that, although the movie adaptation was no masterpiece, I rather enjoyed "Brideshead Revisited" as the reasonably good period drama that it was.

Matthew Goode was especially... er... good as Charles Ryder. He was an outsider, an innocent and a social climber. A man fascinated and mesmerised by the damaged aristocratic Flyte family and the circles in which they moved. It was a good performance, thank God, because it had to be. He was centre stage for the entire movie.

As good as Matthew Goode was, he was possibly exceeded by Emma Thompson in her extended cameo as the Marchioness of Marchmain, the head of the Flyte family. A cold, inflexible and disapointed woman. Dedicated to her Catholicism and slowly ruining her family because of it. I thought that Emma Thompson was so good she might even have a shot at Best Supporting Actress at next years Oscars.

Maybe when I finally get around to reading the book/seeing the television series I might be disappointed at how shallow the whole thing was, but until that unhappy day dawns, I thought "Brideshead Revisited" was not bad at all.

**

I will not be here tomorrow. Tomorrow evening I am off to the Carling Academy to see The Streets. I will be back on Friday.

I can feel a song coming on. I love this one.

In the news...

A priest writes on his blog, 'Homosexuals should have tattooed on their backsides, "Sodomy can seriously damage your health"'.

Jerry writes on his blog, 'Bigoted priests should have tattooed on their backsides, "This is an asshole"'.

David Duchovny has left rehab after successfully completing a course to combat his sex addiction. He had these words for the waiting press: 'I cannot wait to get home. I am dying for a shag".

Not really. I made that up. But wouldn't it have been brilliant if he had said that?

I was going to get working on a couple of film reviews this evening, but instead I watched "Underdog". It was terrible. Ce sera sera.

This weeks desktop.

Britney.



Hmm... Britney.

**

One more gripe about the Van Morrison gig.

They banned the sale of alcohol. The bar at the Symphony Hall was open for soft drinks only.

I hope that I do not have to get pissed to enjoy myself at a gig, certainly Jennifer doesn't have to, but to take away the choice of having a pint or two at the venue, before entering the auditorium? Bollocks to that! Too much like being at school. Too much like being treated like a naughty child.

Miserable, Christian sonafabitch. I hope his bread was stale, his water stagnant and that his hair shirt itched like hell.

Before the gig Jennifer and myself had a meal at the Mash House. Pie and mash. Food of the Gods. We also had a bottle of red. Nice.

Van Morrison at the Symphony Hall in Birmingham.



I thought that Van Morrison was shit.

Where do I start?

There was no support act. Van was onstage at 7:55. This was 5 minutes before the start time on the ticket.

Van played for 90 minutes to the second. (I couldn't believe it. I checked my watch.) There was no encore. You might be interested to read that we paid 45 quid each for tickets to this gig. That works out at 50p for every minute that he played.

Van's performance was indifferent. Oh, man... He gave nothing to the audience. There was no interaction. There was nothing. It might as well have been a private rehearsal. OK, he may have grunted 'Thanks' once or twice, but there was no energy and no sense that he wanted to be there. Just a feeling of overwhelming boredom.

On the four songs that I definitely knew ("Moondance", "Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?", "Brown Eyed Girl" and "Gloria" - great songs), Van didn't so much as sing the words, as slur them. Just like he couldn't be bothered.

Van was a real bastard to the gopher at the side of the stage who kept running on to replenish his drinks. The guy just couldn't seem to do anything right. Van also seemed really unhappy with the way that the band were playing. There were a few very sharp hand gestures and barked comments. I thought that the band were great and all of them were really good musicians.

His suit was too tight! Fat bastard! (OK, Jerry. Stop being silly. All of your suits are also too tight.)

The whole thing has left a bad taste in my mouth. What a fucking waste of an evening! I could have been at home watching "Run, Fatboy, Run". I wouldn't like to repeat what Jennifer said.

After the gig, there were several people handing out leaflets advertising the upcoming "Astral Weeks" gigs at the Hollywood Bowl. My comment, to the very nice looking Chinese girl who tried to give me a leaflet, was, 'You've gotta be kidding me?'

She shrugged.

Never again. Very disappointing.

Just checking in. Actually it needs to be a very quick checking in. Jennifer and I will be leaving the house in 21 minutes. This afternoon we are going to see the Pacino/De Niro thriller "Righteous Kill", then we are eating out and then we are going to see Van Morrison at the Symphony Hall. I am not completely au fait with everything Van Morrison has recorded in recent years, but he was one of those artistes that I have always wanted to see live.

It has been a busy week. No time for anything of substance. Certainly not blogging.

I have been getting up at 5am to get to work by 7am. It was tiring and it was draining. Many years back, when I was a young computer operator, I had no problems with the very early mornings. Times change. I was glad when I stopped doing that job and I wouldn't want to go back. Now I find that early mornings are OK in short bursts, but I find that at the end of the week a recovery period is required. Last night I struggled to keep my eyes open watching "Cor Blimey!" Nothing to do with the movie, as it was very good. When I finally did get to my bed, I slept for 10 hours.

I am an old a mature man. (My Dad used to say that a man is only only as old as the woman that he gropes. Ha!)

Gotta go.

My Brother never broke his leg when he was 14. He had a career in Football.

He started with Birmingham City as an apprentice. After a couple of years he signed for Liverpool. Spells at Manchester United and Newcastle followed. Then he got his dream move to Aston Villa. At the Villains he flourished.

In 1996 he was on the bench for England all of the way through the Euro 96 campaign. He found it frustrating. Little was he to know that 1998 was going to be his year. In the France 98 World Cup campaign, my Brother was England's leading goalscorer with 6 goals. That year we got to the semi finals, where we lost to Brazil.

My Brother never played for England again.

Dreams are visions of other worlds, glimpsed through misted up windows. Somewhere else my Brother was a hero.

This weeks desktop.



Mr. Rod Serling. Producer, writer and actor.

You must have heard of his television series' "The Twilight Zone" and "Night Gallery". If you haven't, then you can just go and bugger off, because obviously we have nothing to talk about. Rod Serling wrote many screenplays, including those for two stone classic movies: "Planet Of The Apes" and "Seven Days In May".

Actor? As the Narrator/Host of both "The Twilight Zone" and "Night Gallery" he was always an immaculately attired, urbane figure, with a cigarette in hand, distinctive voice and a slightly sinister, mocking air about him. It was a performance. It was a great performance.

Rod Serling died in 1975 during open heart surgery. He was only 50 years old. I was shocked when I read that. Such a waste. All those stories never told.

Rod Serling. Still a legend.

**

It took two plumbers to sort out the problem with the radiator.

Plumber #1 was sent by Homeserve, a company with whom we have a contract for limited internal plumbing support. Plumber #1 arrived in a car with a loud horn, that collapsed in the street as soon as he pulled up. He had a big red nose and wore large shoes. On his lapel he had a flower that squirted water.

Yes. He was a clown.

He could not isolate the radiator. He could not shut off the flow of the water to the radiator. He could not do anything. He suggested certain things, which would have cost additional money and involved shutting off the water to the whole house and leaving us without any heating. I said "No", sent him on his way and complained to the nice lady on the Homeserve help desk. We will not be renewing the contract.

I found Plumber #2 in the Yellow Pages. It was a random selection. A company that looked like they had a few certifications awarded to them. Difficult to know if they mean anything.

Plumber #2 arrived. He isolated the radiator. He took the radiator off the wall and drained it. We discussed getting a new radiator installed on a different wall and he gave me a quote. We had a cup of tea and discussed the prospects for the Villa and the Blues this season. I paid him. We shook hands. He left. He was in the house for about an hour.

Plumber #2 was a star. We will definitely use him again.