2007 Review
So. 2007. Pretty good, overall. Particularly memorable moments for me:
- After an early-morning phone call, nonchalantly driving to the hospital where my sister was due to give birth. I had books and food to share with my father, assuming we'd be in for the long haul. In fact Aimee was born ten minutes after I arrived.
- Meeting Abi.
- Feeling completely bloody stupid at a university interview.
- Walking into the first day at said university, as terrified as I've ever been.
- Trying not to shake as I photographed a friend's wedding ceremony and reception.
- Walking around Stratford in the snow, and building Boris.
- A bad week in June.
- Photographing a couple dancing in Stratford's floods - this shot became my most popular photo on flickr.
- Putting everything on hold to read Harry Potter 7 spoiler-free.
- Asking Neil Gaiman to sign a book on photographic theory.
- Finally, finally nailing the foxtrot at my dance group's Christmas Ball.
- Keeping friends and family up until all hours on a Sunday night by making them perform various ridiculous acts to create a bonkers photo.
Resolutions:
- Get more organised. All my free time is now completely taken up with photography, dancing, guitar and blogging - I'm pretty much running at full capacity. I don't mind this at all, but a bit more organisation would be a very good idea.
- Practice the guitar more, as I've been slack for a few months.
Thanks to everybody who's read / commented on / linked to my blog this year, and particular thanks must go to Damian for his hard work deflecting massive spam attacks.
Numerologically speaking, 2008 feels boring. Eight is definitely the least interesting of digits. Still, I won't hold that against the next twelve months, especially as there are important things like a new Indiana Jones film to look forward to. Bring it on.
Robin Hood Season 2 Finale
Watching Robin Hood is a bit like going to the panto and finding everyone on stage taking it seriously. Last year's season finale was a bit bonkers, and yesterday's more of the same.
I missed the first half hour, but I think this was the basic plot: the Sheriff of Nottingham and Guy of Gisborne head off to the Holy Land to kill King Richard. As you do. They take Marian, recently exposed as an ally of Robin, with them for no particular reason. Robin and Men follow, determined to thwart said scheme.
So, machinations lead to Robin, King Richard (sans any kind of bodyguard), Marian and Men wandering about in the desert. Robin does a completely rubbish job of strategising a coherent plan, and they all end up running around a bizarrely deserted village, which culminates in the Sheriff of Nottingham firing an arrow into King Richard's back1. Oh dear.
King Richard then loses consciousness and falls off his horse in the deserted town square. The Sheriff somehow isn't around so Guy of Gisborne is the man on hand to finally finish off the King. Will he do it? He's been having crises of conscience all series - which path will he choose? Up turns Marian, who stands between him and the King in Heroic Fashion. She knows Robin and the other superheroes are around somewhere, so all she needs to do is keep him talking for a few seconds.
Obviously, this is a stressful situation. If I'd been Marian, though, I think I'd have gone with 'Guy, I love you and if you don't kill the King I'll marry you' as opposed to 'I'm in love with your sworn enemy and am going to marry him, you moron, yah boo sucks to you'. The former might help, since he clearly fancies you2, while the latter might, say, get you stabbed in the chest. I actually wasn't expecting that.
Everyone else turns up half a second later. Guy and the Sheriff give up on trying to get at the still-unconscious-and-exposed King Richard - if only they had some kind of weapon that worked from a distance - and instead elect to escape on magic horses. All King Richard's injuries are instantly cured by removing the arrow, so he's back to full health, but Marian dies in Robin's arms. It was actually a little bit sad, mainly because Marian's one of the few you can bring yourself to care about. After that two more cast members announce they're leaving, there're some obligatory Koran references, King Richard doesn't send word to have the Sheriff killed or anything, Robin looks even more depressed than usual, and they walk off into the desert. The end.
In the 1980s ITV 'Robin of Sherwood' the original Robin died heroically and was replaced. I think they should have stolen this plotline. Kill off Robin, 'cause he's annoying, and have Guy, the most watchable character by a million miles, switch allegiances and become the new Robin Hood. His first act would be to fire Little John for being overexcitable, and Much for being a waste of space. Sorted.
Apparently Series 3 is in production. Yikes.
Coldy
It's been quiet around here over the Christmas break as I've spent most of it lying on my parents' sofa, feeling ill. I've given up trying to predict when I'll get over it, so shall just wait it out. I went on a 7 mile walk this morning so must be a bit better, but am pretty exhausted this afternoon.
In the meantime, and in the spirit of New Year lists, here are the 9 Most Badass Bible Verses.
New Toy
Everybody have a fun Christmas? Hope so. I have so far watched rather a lot of television and eaten rather a lot of chocolate, which is what Christmas is for, I say. I've also been merrily playing with a shiny new Canon 400D since Tuesday. It's smaller, lighter, faster and a higher quality than my old 300D, and talks very nicely with my Canon flash.
It also came came with an Image Stabilising lens, something I've been after for years, which lets me take photos at shutter speeds as slow as 1/10 second without noticeable camera-shake. The whole package is excellent - I love it. Should be great for the digital photography module next term.
My cold never really went away, probably due to my ignoring it and not slowing down in the slightest, and came back with a vengeance on Tuesday evening. Lemsip hasn't phased the thing in a week, but today it finally started having an effect, thank goodness. Haven't slept very well since the weekend before last, so it'll be nice to actually get some rest.
Merry Christmas!
Something of a manic day today, what with last-minute deliveries, wrapping, present deliveries and carting a car full of...I don't know what, really, but it sure as hell was the entire car...over to my parents'. Finally all done, and I'm just settling back to relax for the evening. Phew.
Tomorrow will be even crazier, with ten of us plus a 3-month-old baby, a 5 year-old and a labrador. I may have to escape with Megan for a while once the madness starts; she'd like a walk, I think.
I had a comment read out on Radio 2 earlier. Ken Bruce was asking for reasons to play 'Santa's a Scotsman', so I texted in saying I'd made my guitar teacher tab out the entire solo, but I'm not sure he believed it's ever been on the radio. I am famous! I expect to be invited to all the New Year celeb parties.
Watched Muppet Christmas Carol yesterday. I am now of the opinion that MCC is the perfect Christmas film - it's one of the few that somehow never gets old, no matter how many times you see it. At least tying with Miracle on 34th Street (the b/w version), anyway.
Merry Christmas to anybody reading - hope it's a good one.
Evil atheist fundamentalists are going to upset us all
Any kind of fundamentalism, be it Biblical, atheistic or Islamic, is dangerous.
I think we can agree that fundamentalism, suitably defined, is indeed horrible. I'm not sure what atheistic fundamentalism is meant to refer to, but helpfully he spells it out. Here's what we're going to do: let's pretend for a minute that it's real. It's not, of course, but we'll give him a pass as he can't be expected to research his Christmas messages and perform all his Archbishop-y duties. Here is his list of the things fundamentalist atheists are supposedly doing:
- Forcing councils to rename Christmas 'Winterval'
- Making schools put on plays other than the nativity at Christmas
- Getting crosses removed from hospital chapels
- Advocating that religion in general and Christianity in particular have no substance
- Advocating that some view the faith as "superstitious nonsense"
- Making 'virulent, almost irrational1 attacks' on Christianity
- Forcing schools to stop their children sending Christmas cards with a Christian message
- Making airlines refuse their staff permission to wear a cross around their necks
Holy shit. Those atheist fundamentalists are really pulling out the big guns. Councils are renaming Christmas? The humanity! Just for fun, here's a list of the things Biblical and Islamic fundamentalists do:
- Kill people for not worshipping their deity
- Kill people for performing abortions
- Kill people for trying to convert to another religion
- Kill women for...pretty much anything
- etc.
Not a disgusting comparison at all, then. What a revolting thing to do.
- Freudian slip [↩]
Yay Alesha!
Definitely the closest final yet. I thought they were neck and neck after the first half, so it was really down to the show dances. Matt's was probably technically better, but it just didn't do much for me - the style of the music and costume was good, but it didn't have the extra spectacle I wanted from a show dance. Alesha's was, to be fair, a little messy once or twice1, and I suspect the final lift went wrong, but I still preferred the powerful performance and style overall. It's just a shame she didn't completely blow everybody away with a Darren & Lilia / Mark & Karen style final dance, though, and I'm sure she could have. I can see how you could argue the other way based on tonight's show only, but imho there's no doubt that talent-wise Alesha was the fair winner.
No more proper Strictly for 9 months. What am I going to talk to people about now?!
Update: I take it back. Just watched the show dances again (shut up) and Alesha's messiness was mostly camera angles - what looked like an imbalance was just the supporting arm while the other was hidden from view (directing such things must be a nightmare). Not spot-on perfect, but better than I thought; still not sure about the final lift though. Somebody pointed out that Matt didn't move much in his, which is true but a bit mean - he was still pretty damn sharp. Would that I were that good. Am in the mood for dancing now. Shame it's 2320.
- although the camera angle can trick you in this regard - I didn't think the earlier ballroom dances were shown to their best effect [↩]
Settling in for the Strictly Final
Is exciting. The last two finals have been edge-of-the-seat stuff, and a highlight of my Christmas break. I'm not sure tonight's will be quite so tense - Alesha is 'Manchester United' to Matt's 'Watford' according to the head judge, and it's hard to disagree - but anything can happen on the night (muppetgate!) and it'll be easy to get caught up in it.
Should be spectacular entertainment, too: they're both performing five dances - five! - but it'll likely come down to the show dances, always difficult to enjoy on first viewing as your heart's in your throat hoping they don't make a mistake.
I don't want it to be over, though - with the results show on a Sunday I've had a Strictly fix (not to mention Claudia) every day since October. January may be bleak.
There must be an easier way
I am weirdly impressed by the effort this person put into my parcel.
Hello!
Hey, thanks for coming! I'm Andrew, and this is where my headthinks come to breed. They often meander around humanism and photography, but they're flighty and you can't trust them, so anything is possible.
Do feel free to email me - I get lonely:
Your hair looks swish, by the way - have you done something new?
Recent Comments
- vicky: going up this weekend having done all the welsh peaks except 4 snowdon, cant wait
on Climbing Snowdon. - vicky: what, how can u live in the 21 c and say that, probably a sexist thing
on Climbing Snowdon. - vicky: da iawn laura, cant believe what im hearing, all this fuss, anyway love the site, and i agree, normal people who swear and curse clomb mountains cos we live in the...
on Climbing Snowdon. - Andrew: Did a few quick test shots to check the light levels, then balanced the camera on the arm of a bench, set it for a 20s exposure and hoped for the best
on ISS. - lynsey: Wow, how did you take that photograph?
on ISS.
