Sicknotes, Simians and surreal strokes of art
Been sniffing, sneezing and blowing my nose all last week. It eventually caught up with me Thursday night when my nose went into permanent leak mode where I should have tied a bucket around my neck to catch the drips. Personally, I blame it on cold community hall floors when at karate and plague invested work colleagues. It didn’t really matter as I missed my double shift of helpdesk duties on Friday but was really thinking ‘god I feel ill’ and ‘don’t want to spread this one around work’.
Friday also saw the last of Space Cadets on Channel 4. Although it was very cruel, they somehow swung it to look like heroes with £25k cash and a parabolic flight in Russia. I checked the internet and it costs around £200k to do that! Lost is filling in the blanks except it’s the blanks I’m not really interested at the moment. When are they going to get to the hatch? The University newsagent has the Lost magazine which previews Series 2. Apparently there’s more people on the island from the same airplane but from the tail end. Four new characters will be coming soon.
Saturday night was another visit to Harbour Lights cinema for King Kong. It was opening weekend and we still got good seats minutes before it started which is a little worrying as the place has been under a couple of times in the past. Film started off quite slow at first with too much mood music to create atmosphere to compensate for some non-descript acting and for the benefit of thick Americans who might miss the drama of the situation. The sub-story with Billy Elliot actor and the ship’s captain’s Number 2 was also lame. Good points for ‘Lumpy’ the ships cook played by Andy Serkis but more over for him going ape on Kong himself. As soon as they got to the island the whole film went into warp drive. The computer graphics for all the prehistoric beasts were amazing with some very original sequences to keep you amazed at what would happen next. Particularly like the snapping sounds of the T-Rexes. The beauty-beast relationship worked well to keep you interested in the plot and even the cheesy-cute ice-slide scene added an original slant on things.
Sunday was wrapping presents and getting creative pretending to be an artist wearing my new scarf indoors.
Back to the sick-bed of work with more helpdesk duties to look forward to. Today I went over to the campus art gallery where King Tat was being displayed. Steve Wilde had put me onto it after an email last week. Hansard Gallery
It was a good excuse to take my digital camera but had to sign a form to say I wouldn’t use the photos for commercial purposes. It was a basic mock-up of King Tutenkaman’s tomb but using old household rubbish you’d see at a carboot sale. Even an old Fiat Panda was there as the deceased’s chariot plus the whole installation had the feeling of discovery. The back room had a chest freezer for the body with some interesting graffiti on the surrounding walls. The receptionist got very chatty when I came out of the exhibition. I think she was lonely and went on about how we all have material possessions that will be left behind and what we’ll leave in life to represent ourselves. There was a gift shop which sold some great postcards which I’ve selected one of my favourites above. Also, there were the white Scotty dog models for sale signed by the artists for £19.99. It was hard to see whether it was part of the ‘piss-take’ or actually for sale. After asking the receptionist, she said the artists (Shaun Doyle and Mally Mallinson) might accept £10 each for them but weren't that bothered about selling them. Hmm, buying a piece of crap that could become a future investment or more crap for the Egyptian afterlife journey?
Friday also saw the last of Space Cadets on Channel 4. Although it was very cruel, they somehow swung it to look like heroes with £25k cash and a parabolic flight in Russia. I checked the internet and it costs around £200k to do that! Lost is filling in the blanks except it’s the blanks I’m not really interested at the moment. When are they going to get to the hatch? The University newsagent has the Lost magazine which previews Series 2. Apparently there’s more people on the island from the same airplane but from the tail end. Four new characters will be coming soon.
Saturday night was another visit to Harbour Lights cinema for King Kong. It was opening weekend and we still got good seats minutes before it started which is a little worrying as the place has been under a couple of times in the past. Film started off quite slow at first with too much mood music to create atmosphere to compensate for some non-descript acting and for the benefit of thick Americans who might miss the drama of the situation. The sub-story with Billy Elliot actor and the ship’s captain’s Number 2 was also lame. Good points for ‘Lumpy’ the ships cook played by Andy Serkis but more over for him going ape on Kong himself. As soon as they got to the island the whole film went into warp drive. The computer graphics for all the prehistoric beasts were amazing with some very original sequences to keep you amazed at what would happen next. Particularly like the snapping sounds of the T-Rexes. The beauty-beast relationship worked well to keep you interested in the plot and even the cheesy-cute ice-slide scene added an original slant on things.
Sunday was wrapping presents and getting creative pretending to be an artist wearing my new scarf indoors.
Back to the sick-bed of work with more helpdesk duties to look forward to. Today I went over to the campus art gallery where King Tat was being displayed. Steve Wilde had put me onto it after an email last week. Hansard Gallery
It was a good excuse to take my digital camera but had to sign a form to say I wouldn’t use the photos for commercial purposes. It was a basic mock-up of King Tutenkaman’s tomb but using old household rubbish you’d see at a carboot sale. Even an old Fiat Panda was there as the deceased’s chariot plus the whole installation had the feeling of discovery. The back room had a chest freezer for the body with some interesting graffiti on the surrounding walls. The receptionist got very chatty when I came out of the exhibition. I think she was lonely and went on about how we all have material possessions that will be left behind and what we’ll leave in life to represent ourselves. There was a gift shop which sold some great postcards which I’ve selected one of my favourites above. Also, there were the white Scotty dog models for sale signed by the artists for £19.99. It was hard to see whether it was part of the ‘piss-take’ or actually for sale. After asking the receptionist, she said the artists (Shaun Doyle and Mally Mallinson) might accept £10 each for them but weren't that bothered about selling them. Hmm, buying a piece of crap that could become a future investment or more crap for the Egyptian afterlife journey?
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