It's My Life (apparently)

OK, I'm now a bit worried - this is becoming a habit - almost an addiction. It's June and last night once again I've somehow ended up at a Bon Jovi concert...

It's really strange. This concert is at Twickenham - 2 stops from me on the train. My friend and I have a pint at a pub on the river and head over to the stadium - the weather is windy but looks like it will hold. Once again I'm amazed at the demographic of a Bon Jovi concert - it's young (most are in their 20s) and it's probably over half female. Guess it proves sex appeal sells.

We have good seats - high up in the gods but front and centre. The support act - Biffy Cyclo - is dreadful. All the other UK dates have The Feeling as support, but tonight they are playing Glastonbury. It's also the same evening as the Mandela concert so I guess getting a decent support act was always going to difficult.

In front of us are a group of people who, as the evening unwinds, act out an episode of a soap opera. One bloke can't handle his drink and goes through the 5 stage of drinking so brilliantly observed by the excellent Larry Miller. At a couple of points his wife/girlfriend is in tears and the security guard keeps a close eye, having a quiet word on one occasion. It's never threatening or hostile, just distracting - he's just a complete pillock who can't handle his beer, makes an idiot of himself and you do wonder if he has 'special needs' and has been let out with his social workers for the evening.

The concert is what you'd expect from a best selling group who have been around for over 20 years. They are a tight unit, completely at ease with each other and the crowd and it comes across. Bon Jovi will never be at the cutting edge nor have artistic credibility - but they do a great concert and give the fans exactly what they want - and really, you can't ask for more. For me the weirdest thing is simply walking all the way home from such a big gig - gradually the crowds ease but they are still several from the concert walking alongside us all the way back to TW11.

Overall, a good evening at the local concert venue.

Priceless (Hors de Prix)

In this lovely French film Audrey Tautou plays a gold digger out to snare herself a rich older husband on the French Riviera. One evening she mistakes the bartender for a rich hotel guest and they spend the night together. He is smitten but she leaves, not knowing who he really is. A year later she returns and eventually the truth dawns.

The bartender - a lovely performance full of warmth and charm from Gad Elmaleh - still pursues her, but knowing who he really is, i.e. not wealthy, means she isn't interested. Through a bizarre set of circumstance the bartender ends up being a gigolo to an older woman. However, he still loves the younger gold digger - will he eventually win her over??

Give that the film has a slightly unpleasant premise - both characters after all are providing companionship and sexual services to older, richer partners - the film could have been tacky. However, what you actually get is a lovely, light romantic comedy - a basic boy-meets-girl and loses her plot, but one well done. Both leads are excellent, playing the parts with charm and humour, and both look stunning - especially Audrey Tautou who looks incredibly glamorous and miles apart from her kooky Amelie character.

If you get a chance, see it. It will only be remade in Hollywood in a couple of years with Ashton Kutcher and Lindsay Lohan in the lead roles. You have been warned!

Website of the week

To find more graphical representations of songs and films, go to the excellent graphjam.com.

And they say accountants can't have fun...

Lights, camera, action?

Spent yesterday evening 'workshopping' with a small group of actors and writers - absolutely fascinating seeing words you've written come to life in front of your eyes.

It's also scary - as the scene you've written unfolds there is a slightly strange apprehension in your stomach as you wonder whether it's any good or complete drivel. Does it make sense? Does it sound natural?

What did I find out? The dialogue is OK but the actors found my lack of written directions a little strange. Yes they want freedom to add to the words - but they need something to start them off! I also discovered that changing a single word in a small exchange can really help/hinder its flow.

Nice to do something - no matter amateur - completely different to the day job.

My Secret Addiction

Having a minor sort out/tidy up. Stack all of my unread books in to a pile - it's rather large.

Currently I have 22 unread books - of which 11 have been started before I got distracted by something newer and more shiny. Breakdown of the 22 books is;

• 2 novels
• 3 political
• 5 theological
• 3 biography/history
• 3 sports related
• 6 film/journalism related

Not sure what it says about me - my inability to walk past or into a bookshop (new or used) seems to be a possible addiction. Do I need an 'intervention' or to phone my 'sponsor'?

The Garden City

Always good to catch up with people and spend time with friends and yesterday was doing just that in the delightful Letchworth Garden City - one of whose claims to fame is that it had the first roundabout in the UK.

Is a little strange going there as I've connections with the area - I spent a few years growing up in Hitchin, the next door market town, where my grandparents lived for around 40 years, and an uncle and aunt were married in Letchworth.

It's a fascinating space - a development of the early 20th century it remains a charming town with a sense of its own identity and community. It has some wonderful architecture and wide grassy boulevards - there really is a sense of space. All this just 30 odd miles and a 30 minute train ride from Kings Cross.

Driving back I reflected on whether such a development could possibly happen today - I suppose the nearest is Poundbury. As I drove past Stevenage and Hatfield - two lovely Hertfordshire old towns ruined by town planning - I realised that such developments definitely weren't possible in the 1950s and 1960s.

Still a partial plant

Spent the day on an 'awayday' with a group of people. Was a interesting day getting to know people a little better. and part of the time was finding out our preferred 'team roles' using those devised by Dr Meredith Belbin.

I'd done this a few years ago so knew a little of what to expect. Would my preferred 'team roles' have changed much (or at all) over the past 6 years?

Results were in - I'm still a Monitor/Evaluator and a Plant. Does this signify a lack in progress of my personal development? Or I'm comfortable with who I am and play to my strengths?

HIGNFY

The joys of spare ticket syndrome have stuck again as I've just spent a very pleasant evening watching a recording of Have I Got News For You.

Alongside Ian Hislop was BBC newsreader Kate Silverton, and with Paul Merton was poet, broadcaster and 'professional northerner from Barnsley', Ian McMillan. Hosting the evening - Jeremy Clarkson.

A good evening started with Jo Caulfield doing some stand up to warm up the audience and then into the show. The actual recording started at 7.50pm and ran for 2 hours - with a few retakes it meant it finally finished at 10.10pm.

OK, it wasn't a completely riotous 2 hours of non-stop humour - inevitably there were a few misses - but much was good quick witted stuff. Kate Silverton was told she looked like a particular C4 style/clothes show presenter, Ian McMillan told a great joke about a Yorkshire tombstone amongt other slightly surreal observations, Ian Hislop had his usual pithy observations, and Paul Merton had a couple of great one liners and flights of fancy - one answer he gave in the "missing words" round was superb and had Jeremy Clarkson in tears.

Clarkson held the whole thing together well but a particular highlight was Paul Merton telling some old gags - probably dating back to his early stand up act 20 years ago - while we all waited for the retakes to be set up. Simply excellent.

Tomorrow night, BBC1, 9pm.

The Magic Rectangle

Just over halfway through a busy week. Lots of stuff going on - work, evening meetings, discussions and catching up with people.

Decide to unwind with a brief bit of telly. Unlike most of the nation I couldn't a monkey's about The Apprentice, but thankfully there is the return of Location, Location, Location which I'm able to catch on C4+1.

Now, I actually can't stand the rash of property porn shows there are on our screens - most seem evil and generally they all merge into a ghastly 'Grand Design in the Attic in the Sun with a Property Doctor Show' - but I do have a soft spot for Location, Location, Location.

Well... for Phil and Kirstie.

Well... mainly for Kirstie.

If having a thing for Kirstie Allsop is wrong, I don't want to be right.

I've said too much...

Website of the week

Remember the 80s? Flock of Seagulls haircuts, shoulder pads, and mobile phones the sizes of briefcases proudly boasting a talk time of up to 45 min!

Then, of course, there were the 'delights' of the 'mixtape'.

I don't think 'enjoy' is the right word...

Strange Week

It's been a strange week.

The bank holiday makes it a short working week and the office is quiet, but there is still loads to do.

News that I've got a ticket see the NFL game at Wembley in the autumn is well received - the amount it will cost perhaps less so!

A potentially quiet weekend - especially in comparison to recent ones - is slightly tempered when I look at my diary and see how busy the coming week is.

A couple of other situations put things in perspective and reinforce the fact that as much as I love words, sometimes saying or writing the right things is incredibly difficult.

Indeed, sometimes I wonder if words are ever enough?

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

The hat is back. After a long 19 year wait we get the next installment of the adventures of the mid-western university professor. Was it worth the wait?

Well, er, no. Let there be no doubt, this film is an absolute stinker - it is awful.

Cate Blanchett seems to have wandered in from the adjoining film lot as she appears to be a SMERSH baddie from a 1970s Bond movie. Her accent is three parts generic East European villain combined with one part Chelsea; whenever she says "Doctor Jones" she sounds like she live just off the Kings Road. Ray Winstone plays a character called Mac whose reason for being in the film seems to pop up every once in a while and shout "Jonesy!" at the top of his voice. Shia LaBeouf (the bloke from the Transformers film) is Mutt Williams, a quiff adorned, leather jacket wearing teenager who is supposed to be some type of "Marlon Brando from The Wild One" character but actually ends up looking like a reject from a Village People tribute band. I could go on...

Are there any good bits. Well, yes. The start shows promise with a nice 'Area 51' allusion and some references to McCarthyism in the USA - although this is partly undone when one the interrogators is played by the 'Janitor from Scrubs' and 'Jim Robinson/Marissa in The OC's stepdad/the bloke from Ugly Betty' is the senior army general. Harrison Ford is excellent, he still has great comedy timing and screen presence. Karen Allen, from the first film, returns as Indy's love interest but doesn't get enough screen time. Jim Broadbent is wonderful as Indy's university boss, but even that sub plot is inconsistent - Indy is threatened with the sack yet he is a tenured professor...

It's a mish-mash. Spielberg said he wanted to reduce the use of CGI in this film - yet two big scenes, a nuclear explosion and the grand finale, are simply rammed full of CGI 'magic'. Lucas said he didn't want to make another Indiana Jones film until he had a story and script of sufficient quality. If this is the best he could find after 19 years - a story that seems to have given up half way through and simply added some leftover pages from an X-Files episode to pad it out - you wonder what on earth he rejected.

The hat still looks great, and the soundtrack is excellent with those wonderfully familiar sounds, but overall you sort of wish that everyone, including you in the audience, simply hadn't bothered.

Website of the week

More proof that some people have way too much time on their hands.

Voices and Vision

Spending a couple days back in the Midlands so after heading back up the M40 I toddle off to send the afternoon in Worcester with my Mum.

Although I've been to Worcester on numerous occasions I've never actually been around the cathedral - and what a lovely place it is. It's been around for centuries and is packed with surprising history - for example I never knew it was the final resting place of King John. A tea stop in the lovely refectory - I can recommend the flapjack - and then a potter around the cloister which contained an art exhibition - Voices and Visions - from Worcestershire schools, much of which is excellent (for more see here).

A stroll along the picturesque river and a potter around the city centre - a pleasant start, in pleasant weather, to a bank holiday weekend.

Champion the Wonder Horse...

I didn't watch the Champions League final - it was exactly the sort of game I want both sides to lose. Mind you, with Drogba being sent off for a girly slap and Anelka, Ronaldo and Terry all missing penalties, it was very nearly the ideal outcome for me.

It also highlighted the power of the internet as within hours I'd been sent the picture below.

Iron Man

Tony Stark is a Bill Gates type figure in arms manufacturing. A young genius, he became the head of the family multinational business, developing and selling high tech weaponry, as well as being a sort of rock star/playboy figure in the world of commerce.

He gets captured in Afghanistan and realises that - shock, horror - some of his weapons have got into the hands of the baddies, i.e. non-US forces. He escapes, has his epiphany and decides he wants to 'make a difference.' As part of this he develops an Iron Man suit to fight for good and justice etc. etc.

As popcorn films go this is pretty good - the special effects are excellent, there is the semblance of a plot, and there is good use of humour. Robert Downey Jr is excellent as the lead - funny, vulnerable, strong when needed. To be honest, he pretty much carries the film and is worth the price of a ticket alone. It would have been a lot worse with someone else in the role. He's ably supported by Gwyneth Paltrow and Jeff Bridges. The film does lose its way after about 90mins - it's well set up plot wise but then seems unsure where to take it, perhaps they had an eye on the sequel?

It's not a brilliant movie, but it's far better than any of last year's rather poor threequels and is a good 'popcorn' watch. I came out from it with two thoughts - how cool is Robert Downey Jr? And how hot is Gwyneth Paltrow?

For the excellent Mark Kermode's take on it see this review - this one has even intercut some of the good Doctor's vocal impressions.

Website of the week

And you thought your sofa was ugly?? Just look at the winner of last year's Ugly Couch Contest.

For some more details see here, and for some previous winners look here.

Catching up

It's been a busy week- ridiculously so. Various stuff - work stuff, other stuff - culminating in doing, somewhat bizarrely, a sort of talk to a local youth group.

Overall a busy and bitty week - hopefully tomorrow will be a chance to veg out.

Hello Z gap!

Look, I'm on the web!

Busyness

Apologies but been a hectic week so a lack of posts.

Hope to catch up fully this weekend.