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June, 2005

  1. Richard Whiteley, IRP

    June 26, 2005 by dafyd

    Richard Whiteley

    (BBC Obituary)

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  2. Fin

    June 26, 2005 by dafyd

    End of the year.

    That’s it.

    8 months gone, and now 4 months of nothing before we start the second year.

    It’s strange to think that exactly a year ago I was still taking my A-Levels at the High School.

    Almost as soon as I’d moved into my room in Castle, I seem to have moved out again.

    8 months after saying good bye to everyone at Waterstone’s (and, indeed, 6 months after saying good bye again after Christmas) I’m back there, working more hours than ever (get your Harry Potters here, folks).

    Now, roll on October!

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  3. Rip, Mix, Burn, Ma’am

    June 24, 2005 by dafyd

    Private Eye cover 1135

    (Clicky for big picture – Private Eye issue 1135 – 24 June 2004)

    You can’t make it out that well in the scans, but the bottom stroke of the last E of EYE reads POD… possibly my favourite joke in this issue – subtle, but clever.

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  4. I’m Melting (The Return)

    June 19, 2005 by dafyd

    DeckchairsIt’s the 19th June, for crying out loud.

    I appreciate that it might be hot in Florida or Benidorm, but the temperature in Nottingham (Nottingham, of all places) is absolutely not supposed to be 28°C at quarter to midnight.

    I don’t do hot weather. Warm I can handle. Slightly chilly – fine. Cold – optional but permissable. But mega-hot? No thank you.

    I melt. Very quickly. And I don’t like it.

    Turns out that the government has issued new guidelines of how to survive a heatwave. We need advice for that, now, do we?

    Anyway – I think I’m going to take refuge in the freezer.

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  5. In transit

    June 17, 2005 by dafyd

    Home time.

    Everything’s boxed up (really not sure how it’s all going to go in the car, though), ready to go home.

    Just in case I get home and find that someone has messed up the network so I can’t get back online (it always happens), I’m leaving someone to keep an eye on you.

    Ever get the feeling you're being watched?

    So behave.

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  6. Castle spirit?

    June 16, 2005 by dafyd

    Gah.

    I’m annoyed.

    Like, seriously pissed off.

    Tonight was the semi-finals and final of the Inter-Collegiate Challenge, previous rounds of which I have already blogged about.

    The eagle-eyed amongst you will have spotted that I mentioned that we were missing a member of the team in the last round.

    This time, there were two of us. The captain had already given his apologies – he is involved with the Taming of the Shrew, so, fair enough, he couldn’t make it. But the fact that two other members of the team – half the team – couldn’t be bothered to walk 5 minutes to DSU really annoys me.

    Yes, it may be the last formal of the year. But it is, quite frankly, embarrasing that these people were happy to leave the two of us sitting like lemons in front of an audience, representing Castle. How does it reflect on Castle when half the team doesn’t turn up?

    One of the absent people is a member of the college Boat Club – somehow I doubt very much that he would leave one of his rowing fours in the lurch like that.

    Hmmph.

    Oh – suffice to say we lost. Not by a huge amount, though – I have absolutely no doubt that if we’d had a full complement we would have thrashed Grey.

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  7. Well chuffed

    June 13, 2005 by dafyd

    I, along with Messrs Alvers and Hindle did a pub quiz last night (as every Sunday), at the Woodsman on Gilesgate.

    Now, normally we enter as a big team, but last night a lot of people had either gone home or gone to the Big Band gig at Castle.

    Normally, we don’t do particularly well. Not abysmally, but not brilliantly, either. As at most pub quizzes, I think, there is one team that has been doing the quiz for years and always wins. It is their right.

    Well, we won. And not by a little bit – we got 45 out of 60, while those in second place could only manage 39.

    We rock.

    The prize? £7.50 to split three ways. That’ll pay for the quiz for the next five weeks, then…

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  8. Castle Day

    June 12, 2005 by dafyd

    Castle Day

    This post is coming soon – in the meantime, check out the photos!

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  9. Films x 3

    June 11, 2005 by dafyd

    Ah ha. As promised, three sets of film reviews. Now, I should just point out that it usually takes me a good couple of weeks after seeing a film to realise that it was, in fact, crap. I am always blown away by the big pictures and loud noises, and forget that I’m not actually enjoying what’s going on – so take some of these reviews with a pinch of salt… at least, until I come to revisit them in a bit!

    Kingdom of HeavenKingdom of Heaven

    A watchable action epic – nicely crafted in costumes and sets, scenery and mood. The battle scenes were a good mix of epic scale and close action, pandemonium, but coherent and not overly gory. Kind of a muddled fictional story with snatches of real history sprinkled in – but in the end the story line was just not as interesting as the real history and characters of this time. I think we can say that Ridley Scott was pretty brave to attempt to tell the story he has done (Muslims and Christians, ostensibly at war, actually getting on rather well) in the current world climate (Muslims and Christians, ostensibly not all at war, actually getting on rather poorly, generally) – he deserves mega-kudos for getting across a rather balanced view of the protagonists and giving us glimpses of reality while telling his tale.

    Overall, I didn’t feel that Kingdom of Heaven ever really had the pace of Gladiator, but then again it is a different kind of epic – where Gladiator was very much one man’s story, Kingdom of Heaven is the story of two huge civilisations clashing, catalysed by one man. It’s still miles better than Troy…! Certainly a diverting couple of hours, and it might even leave you with something to think about when you leave the cinema.

    Sin CitySin City

    This movie has a real WOW factor. The artwork and the characters bring a graphic novel to life. And graphic it is! There is a generous helping of violence, which can get a bit much, but I think it’s fair to say that you do get consumed by great action and cool storytelling! The time and effort that has gone into recreating the iconic style of the graphic novel really shows. A pretty-much all-star cast is perfect in all of its roles, Mickey Rourke particularly making a dramatic comeback as Marv – a career-defining performance for him, I think, and a worthy return to Hollywood.

    If you have enjoyed the works of Messrs Rodriguez (Spy Kids excepted) and Tarantino (especially Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction), you’ll adore Sin City. If, on the other hand, you cower behind the sofa during a particularly violent bowls match, you might want to consider another film.

    Mr. and Mrs. SmithMr. and Mrs. Smith

    A terrific summer movie, which can have fun without insulting your intelligence. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have great chemistry, often sparring with words and weapons – and director Doug Liman keeps the pace of these words and weapons fast and furious, as several action sequences, including an incredible car chase, blow the audience away. to counter-balance the big bangs, though, the film has a great sense of humour (The OC‘s Adam Brody sports a Fight Club t-shirt opposite Brad Pitt). Like the Bourne Identity (Liman’s previous big-explosion blockbuster – and one of my favouritest films), Mr. and Mrs. Smith is a total blast – just sit back and enjoy the big flashes and loud bangs, without worrying to much about what’s going on around you. Proper popcorn film-making. Brilliant multiplex escapism.

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  10. That Was The Week That Was

    June 10, 2005 by dafyd

    So… last Thursday my ickle brother came up to Durham for a couple of days. We didn’t do a huge amount – the touristy stuff in Durham takes all of an afternoon – but it was a welcome break from the current tedium of, umm, not a lot.

    He went back home on Saturday afternoon – and I went with him. I know term finishes in three weeks, but nothing really was happening in Durham, and it was good to catch up with friends back in Nottingham. Freestyling and I went to see Kingdom of Heaven on Sunday afternoon.

    On Monday I went down to London to visit relatives in Greenwich and to spend a day learning how to cook curry – which was my 18th birthday present from them. But more on that in just a sec. Because I always manage to book trains that give me a ridiculous amount of spare time wherever I’m going, I had most of Monday and Tuesday afternoons in London.

    Monday, I ended up at the Science Museum (yeah, I know, I’m a geek), ostensibly to check out the Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy exhibition. The exhibition itself was a fantastic colection of sets, props, costumes and trivia from the recent film – including the Vogons and Marvin. Yay!

    But it was the rest of the museum that really impressed me. Now, I’ve not been to the Science Museum (properly) for a long time, since the days when I didn’t really appreciate what it was I was looking at. This time, though, I had the whole afternoon to explore the collections – which was, in fact, nothing like long enough. I had forgotten – or never truly realised – quite how much there really is in the Science Museum. From a working recreation of Babbage’s first Difference Engine to Apollo 10′s Command Module, from Stephenson’s Rocket to tiny nano-submarines, there is a huge, fascinating collection forming a cross-section of the past 2,000 years of invention and innovation.

    And on the Tuesday I did this curry cooking thing. Something that I would honestly have never thought of doing on my own, but it was actually really fun and useful. I was easily the youngest there, but the ten of us got on really well. The session was at Deya, a trendy restaurant co-owned by Michael Caine that “offers traditional dishes with a contemporary twist”. Basically, we’re talking a considerable step up from your local Indian takeaway.

    Tuesday afternoon I wandered around London for a bit, popping in to Waterstone’s Picadilly (because I can’t help it) and the Apple Store in Regent Street (wow – plenty of people have raved about Apple Stores already, so I won’t – but trust me, it is worth a visit!). I was going to go straight back up to Durham on Tuesday evening, but as I had a flexible return ticket, I stopped at home for another couple of days.

    On Wednesday, I popped into Nottingham to talk to my ex-manager at Waterstone’s to see if they would take me back for the summer – they will, so from June 25th I will be a Bookseller again! I had nothing else to do with the day, so I ended up at the cinema watching Sin City. What a film! Again, I’ll review this one eventually in a different post.

    Thursday afternoon – back up to Durham. In the evening, the Castle quiz team was playing Mary’s in the quarter finals of the Inter-Collegiate Challenge. Despite missing a team member, we won by 175 points to, umm, 50.

    And finally, today, David and I went into Newcastle to see Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Once again, you’ll have to wait for a review, but suffice to say that I did enjoy it!

    Tomorrow, Saturday, is Castle Day. Not too sure what that entails yet, but I do know that the bar opens ridiculously early and closes very late…

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