Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Winter looms

Bloody hell - yesterday, overcast but reasonably warm-ish, today arctic tundra. OK, so that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but it's been cold and miserable today, which has in turn made me cold and miserable. Part of that might have something to do with the fact that I have a desk job, so I sit relatively still for most of the day; not scary "he's not moved in a while, do you think he's dead?" still, but still nonetheless. And it's been raining *biblically.* It's the kind of day where I contemplated leaving the curtains drawn when I left the house this morning, because it was only going to be dark, miserable, and crap when I got home in the evening, so I might as well save myself the effort.

Things didn't improve as the day went on. I went out at lunchtime for my regular jaunt to Secret Starbucks and came back looking like I'd thrown myself in a lake (still, it's good training for the Grim Challenge, which I really must get round to signing up for). The obvious downside of getting soaked at lunchtime is that I then had to sit there for the rest of the afternoon with soggy trousers. I briefly thought about taking them off, but decided against it purely for the fact that I'm wearing amusingly-patterned underpants today and I didn't feel like showing my whimsical side. Or my penis.

It's definitely a warm hoody and sensible undercrackers for me tomorrow.

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Do you remember my wicked de-cluttering idea from a few weeks back? Yeah, kind of went a bit quiet on that front, huh? Which probably makes you think I've not bothered with it after all the initial excitement. Well, yee of little faith! I have been doing it - in fact, this weekend just gone was quite possibly the pinicle of my de-cluttering efforts - rawr!

I read comics, I started - and finished - the new Gilbert Hernandez graphic novel Chance in Hell, which was awesome (and a beautifully-designed little book too), I spent Saturday evening - that's SATURDAY EVENING! - writing articles for work, and I spent the vast majority of Sunday finishing said articles. By the end of the weekend I was weary and spent, but totally glad to have cleared the decks. The only thing I didn't do was the hoovering, but I'm just going to tell people I've got shag carpet instead of wood-flooring now. Anyway, with this cold weather it's toasty on my toes!

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Has anyone seen the TV show Jericho? Y'know, the one that got cancelled but was revived after its fans bombarded the studio with packs of nuts?* Well, after missing the first episode last Wednesday, I managed to catch a repeat. And it was … hmmm…

When I first read the premise for this series - population of small town in Kansas witness a nuclear bomb blast in the distance, subsequently struggle to find out what's going on - I thought "ooo, that sounds good," but as it turns out the fiction was nowhere near the reality. Basically, the plot for the first episode went something like this:

A mysterious stranger with a strange, mysterious past who looks like a bad Skeet Ulrich look-alike goes back to his hometown of Jericho to ask his dad for money. Daddy says no, and he decides to leave after visiting his grandfather. Turns out gramps is dead - damn! Bad Skeet Ulrich look-alike gets in his car and heads off for parts unknown. A nuke goes off in the distance. Bad Skeet Ulrich look-alike crashes his car while looking at the explosion, killing two people in another car. He shows NO remorse, but we're made to feel sorry for him because he has a limp and an obviously fake head injury. Meanwhile, the townsfolk, who appear to be comprised mainly of bad actors, go nuts because no one knows what's going on, aside from the fact that a nuke has exploded. A sullen teenage geek finds out that another nuke has gone off in Atlanta, because his mum was on holiday there and she was leaving an answering machine message when she got wiped out - sucks to be her. Sullen teenage geek immediately goes into zero-emotion survival mode, thus suggesting that a future episode will be dedicated to him finally coming to terms with his grief. Bad Skeet Ulrich look-alike's dad, who is also the town mayor, gives a rousing speech in order to unite the town (the president from Independence Day would be proud).

Elsewhere, bad Skeet Ulrich look-alike finds a crashed bus full of little school kids. He saves one kid from suffocating after she banged her throat when the bus crashed by cutting her throat with a flick knife and shoving a bic biro in the hole. She miraculously awakens, and does not freak out about the fact that she has a pen sticking out of her neck and that it whistles when she breathes. Bad Skeet Ulrich look-alike heroically drives the damaged bus back to town. Credits roll. Turns out bad Skeet Ulrich look-alike was actually Skeet Ulrich. Shit!

I really wanted to like this series, but from the first episode I have to say it was pretty piss-poor. I would've cancelled it too. I will, however, stick with it for at least the next couple of shows, just in case it gets better. Heroes it ain't, though.

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Talking of cancelled TV shows, I had a bizarre dream at the weekend. I dreamt that the powers-that-be decided to revive The OC, but couldn't afford the main cast. That being the case they introduced an entire new group of characters, and occasionally they'd bump into Seth and Ryan who would appear for all of 10 seconds. They'd literally just say "hey," then nothing much would happen.

Not my best idea for a TV show, I must admit.


*Seriously, I couldn't make that stuff up.

24 comments:

WillowC said...

You do do that scary motionless thing though. Mostly in cinemas. And I really did think you'd died.

Tim said...

I slow my heartbeat. Like I'm going into hibernation or something.

Hibernation… Now there's an idea!

WillowC said...

No please don't do that - you were in my dream last night pretending to be dead, and then you told me I was a numpty for falling for it (seriously, ask Yaz, I told her in Morrisons). I don't want to be trying to revive you in reality, too. And then you wouldn't let me stay in the nice spare room because that one was for Graham. And then you didn't have any hair conditioner.

There's a reason they say other people's dreams are dull, isn't there? Sorry...

Tim said...

I'm sorry, but your dream has nothing on my OC revival. And you should probably lay off the herbal tea, yes?

Miss Smuggersham said...

Yeah, that Jericho show was such a let down. I was going to write 'so dissappointing' but at this hour I can't spell it.

Well at any hour.

Anyway, it's another example of a good idea. I can't believe they brought this one back, but cancelled all those other good shows. Firefly.

I just woke up from a dream where my Nona and I had to re-enroll at highschool for some extremely logical reason. It was more like university, except all the couches in the tute room were exactly like the ones she gave me. And then we could see and hear people's inner monologue with a little version of them sitting on their shoulders - they all looked like really scary marionette version of them or puppets of strange creature.

Then it turned into a murder mystery, I lost Nona and ended up at a dry cleaners for CSI evidence on human ashes.

Oh, and my dream boyfriend was a murder victim.

Maybe I should call the makers of Jericho. We have another hit!

Tim said...

I think we should all make our dreams into TV shows. Except for that one I had where … tee hee! Oh no, I couldn't possibly … No, that one is going straight-to-DVD.

That whole inner monologue thing you mentioned sounds like Scrubs. Oh if only real life was more like Scrubs!

Tara said...

If your office had air conditioner on, you'd be sniffling and sneezing about now. I swear my office leaves ours on until January. Usually when I catch myself sitting too long at my desk, I get up and go to the opposite side of the building for coffee, and then play "dodge the manager who wants a favor" on my way back. It's fun.

Tim said...

Air conditioning!? Good grief! We've got, um, windows. And … well, we've got air!

Dinah said...

I love that OC idea. It reminds me of the episode of CSI where it's focused on the lab techs, with the regular cast just walking around in the background.

Miss Smuggersham said...

Is that dream going straight to DVD or straight to IDV????

Tim said...

Dinah - Wouldn't it be awesome?! I reckon I could film it myself and just insert stock footage of the main stars from the DVDs!

T-Bird - I don't think that's the sort of dream IDV has…

Miss Smuggersham said...

Oooh! Now you have to tell!!!

Tim said...

Tell what?! If you mean about IDV's dreams, I'd prefer not to delve into that particular subconsious!

Inexplicable DeVice said...

Well, the SubC could always delve into you...

Yes! I'm back!

Miss Smuggersham said...

Slippery little sucker, aren't you? Well, if you don't want to tell us your saucy dream, then IDV and I will just have be relentless in our pursuit of the truth.

Relentless.

Could this be related to your first act of courage?

Mwahahahaha!

Tim said...

Inexplicable Device - They'll be no delving!

T-Bird - I didn't have a saucy dream!

Inexplicable DeVice said...

You know, T-Bird, I think you might be on to something...

Miss Smuggersham said...

I think I am. At least, if we both wish it (feild of dreams style) it will come.

Come on, Tim! You can do it! Han Solo would tell us all about his dream!

Unless it involved a Ton-ton.

Tim said...

But I didn't have a saucy dream! I merely meant that IDV's dreams wouldn't be suitable for DVD!!

Miss Smuggersham said...

Quote: "I think we should all make our dreams into TV shows. Except for that one I had where … tee hee! Oh no, I couldn't possibly … No, that one is going straight-to-DVD." End quote.

What else are pervs like me supposed to think!

Inexplicable DeVice said...

I agree. You're leading us on, Timothy.
My dreams are sauce-free (just like real life).

Oh, except for this morning's when I dreamt that David Beckham was about to get 'a surprise'.
Unfortunately, I woke up before completing the... uh... action.
What is strange, is that Mr Beckham doesn't really do it for me. What can it mean?

Tim said...

T-Bird - Um… yes.

Inexplicable Device - You're Posh Spice?

Inexplicable DeVice said...

* pouts before stalking off to TomKats *

Tim said...

Are you pointing as well? She points a lot.