Being Mr. Kenny

Will, I finishated my essay. I also use the word ‘well’ too much. Yeah, so I got it to 1, 600 words, or there abouts. 1, 662 to be exact. That is 92 % of the word limit so I’m happy.

I recently got the marks back for my last essay (which I bloggerated about all over the old blog - page 4) . I got 55, which is a 2.2 I’m quite happy with that. I was expecting some comment like “Fail. What did science ever do to you?” but apparently it wasn’t that bad.

I also went to see Garden State the other day. It’s a film by Zach Braff, the guy out of that comedy Scrubs and it was absolutely gorgeous. Really really nice, and very funny. So go and see it.

Hooray! I’ve finished all my work now, and I can go home to Christmas.

I’ve just finished reading Saturday by Ian McEwan. The novel takes place over the course of a day, and it recounts what happens to the neurosurgeon Henry Perowne. The story takes place in London, on the day of the anti-war march.

Some of the things I liked best in the book were the observations McEwan makes about everyday life. For instance, he talks about half-remembering something you might have said once: without being able to recall the exact words, you still have the vague sense that it was foolish or embarrassing. I liked this because it’s an observation I’ve made myself.

I also liked the way the novel was so current, and yet slightly historic. It talks about the impending (as it was in Feburary 2003) war in Iraq, and the characters wonder, and argue over, what will happen afterwards. It will be interesting to read it again in a few years’ time.

The tone of the book is fairly introspective, from Perowne’s point of view, but it makes for an interesting perspective: you can identify with Perowne as you follow him around his day.

Ian McEwan’s website is at www.ianmcewan.com.

Well, my posts lately have been a little crappy, what with being just things like “look at this site” or “look at this part of my site” so I’ve decided to try to make this post really good! I also read something over at A List Apart about making your blog something other than “look at this site”, and having discovered dooce.com I have new drive to write properly, at least for a while :D.

I’m currently watching Weeds which is just about the best thing I have ever seen. Well, at least in the last few months. It’s just so good. It’s really funny, and the lead character, Nancy, is really human and wonderful. I love it.

I’ve also just seen that new Solpadeine advert. If you’re in the UK, next time you watch TV look out for it. It features a naked guy all contorted with his head stuck simultaneously in the ground and up his ass *, or at least that’s how it seems to me. Anyway, it’s a stupid and weird advert.

Currently, I have been temping. So far I have been put to work (doesn’t that make it sound like I’ve been confined to a poorhouse :D ) as a cleaner, where one of the tenants quizzed me about a previous employee (who evidently I was standing in for) who had promised to be a witness in some case involving a gun. I have also been employed to promote a certain newspaper in a certain supermarket, which was actually a lot of fun. I have been responsible for the sales of 362 newspapers over the last two days. Woot! This week I am going to work in data entry, which sounds like I’m doing something unseemly to a member of the cast of Star Trek: Next Generation, but will in fact involve punching nnumbers into a computer. Well, it’s not much different from “designing” a website, which is what I’ve been doing at the same time. That involves punching letters into a machine and watching the tiny but oh-so-important changes on the screen when I press refresh. It’s lonely and pointless work, hehe, but I love it. Some guy just said, “I know what you did. I know you stole that goat. Goat thief!” Just thought you ought to know.

Also read a good book recently. It’s called Case Histories, and it’s by Kate Atkinson. It’s about a private detective called Jackson who solves missing people cases. It’s her best since Behind the Scenes at the Museum, which was sheer mastery and had me blubbering like a, well I can’t think of a good enough analogy, but it made me cry. And so did this book!

Just flicked over to Most Haunted, one of those ghost shows. Did it used to be presented by Yvette Fielding? I can’t remember. Anyway, the one with Yvette was really funny. They’d get Yvette down in some cellar and say there was ghosts in the place, and then she’s feel something touch her. I always expected to see Person In Charge Of Squeezing Yvette’s Hand on the credits, but it never appeared. Currently there are two guys in a graveyard, and it’s actually quite spooky. One of them just fell down a hole! It was really scary! I have goose pimples, and I think I’m going to go to bed before I get really scared. There’s enough swearing to take the edge off though :D

* Yes, I have used the American spelling here. But only because it sounds better in this context…

Went to see War of the Worlds last night. Have to say I wasn’t overly impressed. I would say why here, but that would be spoling the ending, so instead I’ve made a separate list of reasons.

It’s all spoilers, of course, so you have to select the text to see it.

Insignificance

Last night I went to see Insignificance at the Sheffield Lyceum. The play involves four influential American characters in a hotel room: a Nobel prize-winning physicist, a blonde bombshell actress, a famous baseball player and a US senator.

The play starts late at night when the professor is visited by the senator (the characters are obvious in their identity, but their names are never mentioned). The professor is then visited by three other characters, and their interaction reveals more about their character and history. (Wait, did I actually just type that? Isn’t that possibly the most redundant sentence?) The story is touching and emotive, and the play questions the things in life to which we give significance.

I found it highly entertaining; it was funny in places and heavy and thought-provoking in others.

Paul Simon - Rhythm of the Saints

The other item which I am reviewing is Paul Simon’s The Rhythm of the Saints. A while ago some people from my Church went out to Uganda to help build a school. A couple of Sundays ago, they showed a presentation which detailed their work, the beginning of which featured s song by Paul Simon which is utterly mind-blowing. The song is The Obvious Child and it is completely gorgeous. I’ve never wanted to dance so much! The following song, Can’t Run But is also amazing. I’ve not had time to listen properly to the other songs, but from what I have heard the album reveals Simon’s interest in tribal music (sorry, that’s the stupidest term, but it’s the only one I can think of).

I actually can’t believe how good Paul Simon is. he is so incredibly talented. All his songs glow with the most amazing energy.

Ha ha! My housemate got given the book Eats, shoots and leaves for Christmas, and it’s marvellous. Below is a link to an extract. This book should be given out to GCSE school leavers, with a legal requirement to read it on pain of terrible, terrible death.

http://eatsshootsandleaves.com/excerpt.html