gavinf1980

Tonight is Children in Need, and since it's a good cause, I thought I'd mention it here; I'll be sure to donate some money myself. Not sure if I'll watch the show itself, maybe I'll wait for the highlights rather than plough through a whole marathon viewing.

With the bad weather today, I've not left the flat much, just left the flat to get my haircut and get my flu jab, and get a few coffees. I like that in this one show I go in, the same man always seems to be serving, and I enjoy having a chat about football (he support Spurs).

The film last night was enjoyable: Four Trails is all about a gruelling run in four stages around China, the sort of thing you need to be super fit for, as it seems to be full of hills/mountains. It was weird seeing runners doing large amounts of the run wearing masks, presumably because it was all shot when Coronavirus was more of a thing. I always believed that running in a mask wasn't a good idea, but I could be wrong, just a few nights ago a man ran past me with a mask on. It was only after the film was over that I noticed that the three of us were the only non-Asians in the cinema. We got a quick drink afterwards in the local Microbrewery.

Today is one of those days when I seem to be full of little slip ups, and I'm always trying not to treat little things as major blunders; I always judge myself harshly over little things, and beat myself up inside.

Tomorrow, I start a new Strava challenge: Zalando 21.1km: Your Place, Your Way; this can be completed by running or walking.

Talking with others in church in time of Coronavirus: Masks on, and optionally, glasses off. I think I've only spoken to the other guy a couple of times; I wonder if he's still got a church to go to.

1. Have you ever stayed in a hostel? If so, where? Did you like it? If you haven't stayed in a hostel, would you?

Only if a Youth Hostel counts; I stayed in one when I had a week in Manchester with University. If I don't count that, I expect I would, but I'd need at least one buddy to come with me, better than on my own.

2. What is your favo(u)rite airport that you've been to? Why?

I've not exactly thought about this before - Amsterdam is quite a nice one, I guess. A lot of the airports I've been to in the past really feel like "roughing it" in terms of facilities, and they're not even in third world countries. I must be too fussy.

3. What is the best museum you have visited on vacation?

The Egyptian Museum in Cairo was quite something; very rich in Egypt's history with mummies and death masks.

4. Have you ever made friends while traveling whom you keep in touch with on a regular basis?

I've made friends, certainly. I remember hanging around with another kid while in a hotel in Spain when I was six. I've made friends from other people who showed up on walking holidays, but I have not kept in touch by any means.

5. Have you ever had a conversation with a seatmate on a plane?

Only with family and friends, really. Last year I had a few brief chats with the man next to me going to Florida, but since he slept for most of the flight, the opportunities were limited.

I wonder who put this here; seen on a short walk while we were still in lockdown back in 2020. Coronavirus mask art.

I did a sketch of myself and one of the neighbours, back when we masked up in the corridors during the Coronavirvus lockdowns. There was something cool about when you were both masked up, like you were following the latest trend together.

Two films I've seen recently that should meet some of the ohnotheydidnt film challenge criteria (yes, I'm still trying to do these).



I watched The Terminator some time ago, and forgot that one of the actors (Lance Henriksen) was in the Scream franchise: Scream 3, a film so bad that it killed the series for me and I didn't watch past this one.

I really enjoy The Terminator though and like to return to it as often as I can, just watching Arnold's first appearance as a ruthless killing machine sent from the future. Some of the special effects are quite wobbly-looking forty years on, but the other thing that makes this film for me is Linda Hamilton's performance as Sarah Connor, as she stands up against her pursuer.



Tonight, I watched a more recent film, Haunt where a group of young people come across a "haunted house" attraction on Hallowe'en. I did google the word "giallo" while I watched, and turns out its an Italian film genre that involves suspense, murders and masked killers, and this definitely counts.

Its guessable that when they see a masked "actor" attacking a bound up woman, this is no acting performance, but that the mask-wearing gang running the haunted house mean to bump off the visitors, one-by-one, in a way that is a little bit like the Saw franchise. The first three quarters or so of this film were quite good, but towards the end I started to wonder if some of the running time could have been cut out, as it turned into a montage of killings, followed by a couple of twists at the end that came in quick succession. Without giving much away, the final scene resembled a gruesome version of Home Alone.

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Companion Piece by Ali Smith

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book comes as a sort of final book to Ali Smith's "Seasonal Quartet". I think the main character, the artist Sandy, was mentioned in the previous books, but I'd have to read them again to find out. At the start, Sandy is contacted by an old school friend out of the blue, but the friend's twin daughters (one of whom is non-binary) seem to think there is more to their friendship than meets the eye. There's another subplot too about Sandy's father being ill.

The novel is set during the Coronavirus pandemic, so Sandy spends much of her time in her own home, speaking to her friend via Skype. The novel portrays two different extreme views about the situation. When the twins show up to confront her at her home, she complains about them not wearing masks while they insist the pandemic is over. Sandy's attitude towards the pandemic reminds me of my own in ways, at least in that she shares the reluctance I had back then to even to speak to others when I went outside, as I was too unsure about the new rules.

Ali Smith's writing style is very unconventional, and its one that the reader has to get used to. In this book, she jumps into flashbacks occasionally. One chapter keeps flashing back further and further in time, through to Sandy's childhood, and her relationship with her father.

This is one of those books that I had to sit down and think about afterwards, and almost dropped the rating to 3 stars after one segment about an unnamed girl who trained to be a blacksmith (this seemed to be a story Sandy's father was telling). I'm used to Ali Smith's books going off on tangents that seem unrelated (usually when the narrative switches to new characters), but I was unsure as to why this had been inserted. My first reaction to the ending was that I was confused, but thinking about it, it made sense. It seems to be a book about opening up our lives to others, and moving on from the worries bought about by Coronavirus. As I thought about it, I realised that the final scene made perfect sense, and that was what earned it the extra star.



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Okay, this is a bit of crazy fan fiction, but the X-Files have never done an episode about a superhero. I also liked the mental image of David Duchovny clinging on to a giant clock face.

It was hard to write at times, but when I got what was going to happen in mind, I started having fun. It will probably need a bit of cleaning up - I don't know what Philly City Hall looks like, and I could always move the action to a fictional location.

The episode's coda comes from an idea that popped into my head from seeing a social media post - I don't remember who to credit that to.

Incidentally, I would definitely cast Bob Odenkirk as Charlie Pink.

Episode 12X13: It’s the Great Beyond, Charlie Pink

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The presentation went well yesterday; unfortunately the quiz was suddenly cancelled, but a group of us went to the pub anyway and even had ourselves a short quiz to make up.

I stayed up a bit later than planned, but was having a good time. It was good to see the guys behind the bar getting into the Hallowe'en spirit by dressing up. We had a guy wearing a V for vendetta mask come over to take our beer glasses. We then headed to another pub and some of us got whiskies.

I'm a little tender today, but I'm going to practise some self-care, but may go out to play badminton after work. Either that, or drinks, but I won't stay in the pub too long.

Gee playing at a gig with Billy Skins fifth; also featured Indi and the Vegas.



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