JasonBlog

The internet - Sweded

This will make sense if you've seen the film Be Kind Rewind. Even if you haven't it's fun to see the internet redone as a high tech thing pretending to be a low tech thing.

http://www.bekindmovie.com/google_home.html

Bendy clever dancy man

I was doing some research into how certain frozen drinks manufacturers promote their drinks and came across this man - David Elsewhere - who dances on a couple of soft drinks adverts. He's a very bendy and clever man.

I never thought I'd be into that

Over the past year, I have surprised myself on several occasions by developing an interest in things that I could not have predicted. Three of these are whisky, Elvis Presley and Poker.

Whisky is something I've always wished I liked, and have tried many times to make myself enjoy it, but only recently could I say I actually looked at a small glass of whisly with a positive anticipation. Before this, whenever someone gave me a glass - or very occasionally a bottle - I would think "oh no - how am I ever going to get through this". But at Christmas a corner was turned and I now enjoy a shot every now and again.

Similarly with Elvis - I had less than no interest in his music a few months ago, and although I wouldn't today call myself a fan exactly, I'm interested enough to listen, and really enjoyed the Aloha from Hawaii DVD I got in London last month. I'm now keen to see the 68 Comeback Special. It's strange that I've come to this so late.

And finally Poker. I used to read the blog of a conedian called Richard Herring, and one of the reasons I gave up reading it a couple of years ago was that he got really into poker, and started blogging about poker all the time which bored the pants off me. The about 6 months ago Ian de'W started a Poker Night that a few of us go to each month along the street, and I have to say that I've become hooked. Particularly since the weekend when I got a Poker game for the PSP and have played it constantly over the last few days. I've become much better as a result. Can't wait till the next Poker night - my reputation as Newbiggin's biggest poker loser might be about to change. Yeah - I bet.

Katrin and Oliver have been watching me play poker on the PSP, and have been asking me why I won or lost a hand, and which hands are better than others, and how the gambling bit works. It's actually much easier than their Yu Gi Oh card games, so they picked it up pretty quickly. This afternoon I walked into the living room to see that they had started playing poker with a pack of cards and my poker chips. And they were playing it properly - using all the correct terminology. It was slightly surreal, like coming in to hear the discussing philosophy or the stock market. There was something very strange about seeing souch younk kids behaving in such a grown up way. I joined them for a few hands, and Oliver (9 years old) wiped the floor with me.

I'm looking for a new unexpected interest. Any suggestions? Not football please. I draw the line there.

If you're happy and you know it...

There's a great episode of The Simpsons where the kids are in school - it may even be Sunday School - and Bart starts singing "If you're happy and you know it say a swear". The other kids then say words that they think are swear words, but actually aren't - the result is very funny indeed. Ralph Wiggum's word is 'mitten', and this makes me laugh lots and lots.

Recently, my kids and me have started to sing it ourselves, making uo our own non-swear words. So far some of my favourites are plankton, earwig, blister and fluff.

Let's all play it now.

If you're happy and you know it say a swear...

I am a neglectful blogger

It's always the case that when there is most to blog about, there is least time to do it.

It's also the case that when you're a bit down or tired, blogging can seem a chore.

And when you're happy and content, blogging can seem low on your list of priorities.

And when you're bored, blogging sometimes just isn't what you need to get your interest going.

For me, the reason recently for the big gaps, is partly time management, and partly wondering what amazing blog can break a 7 or 8 day gap. The longer I leave it, the more amazing I think the next one needs to be to justify the gap. Not that any of them are amazing of course, but you know what I mean.

I also don't want this just to be a blog that describes where I've been all the time - as fascinatng as that is, obviously.

So I still want to communicate, but have found it lower on my list of priorities recently, and I've also been pretty busy and preoccupied by life's fullness. So there. I'm not exactly apologising, but at the same time I'm most awfully dreadfully sorry.

I went to Tynemouth Market on Saturday with the family and met up with The Grays who live along the street. Someone I know who runs a stall there gave me a 1974 Goodies Annual. Ker-ching!!! There was a stall selling realistic looking baby dolls that were ugly and very real looking - photos to follow.

Enjoying the new seriews of Gavin and Stacey. Enjoyed Planet Terror - the Rodriguez sement of the Tarantino/Rodrigues Grindhouse film. Enjoyed Nathan Barley - which I rented from Love Film. It's the Chris Morris / Charlie Brooker sitcom about fashionable 20 something journalists that, when it first came out I didn't enjoy, but now do because I think it was a bit ahead of it's time, and also I've matured a bit and things don't have to be totally shocking to be funny.

I also enjoyed the 2 new puddings by The Proof of the Pudding. I was photographing them this week - Lemon Sponge and Spotted Dick. Delicious and lovely. Mmmmmmm. Photos to follow.

Good noght for now.

Stormy Monday

I spent some of the afternoon on the promenade and beach, despite one of the most ferocious storms in months, because we had quite rare weather conditions - a dramatic high sea, and nice sunshine. That doesn't happen very often, and I was keen to photograph Couple under these conditions for Sean Henry's new book - out in July - photo deadline today.

Later on the sea covered the entire beach - even reaching the promenade - and strange sandy coloured foam filled the area around the new horseshoe steps. It was strange, but nowhere near as dramatic as it used to be before the sea defences. A storm like this would have been washing gardens away.

Screen stuff

I've seen a few good things recently that have interested me and provoked my thoughts.

On Thursday last week I went to the pictures for a late showing of There Will Be Blood, with Ian. I knew very little about it before going, except that it was about oil, starred Daniel Day Lewis who'd won the Oscar this year for his performance, and it was directed by P T Anderson, who directed two of my favourite films - Magnolia and Punch Drunk Love. So hopes were high. And they weren't misdirected - great film about a man's greed and determination to get rich and successful at the expense of everything else. It's a tragedy, I suppose, in the strict sense - as he starts off poor and honest and wise, then slowly descends into a kind of madness, trusting no-one, alone and unhappy. It was the sort of performance that almost demanded an Oscar - almost over the top at times, but always compelling, and reminiscent at the end of his performance as Bill the Butcher in Gangs of New York. Gripping stuff and recommended - the 'milkshake' speech near the end is delicious, and is based on an actual speech by some politician near the time the film was set.

I've also discovered (after everyone else as usual) Gavin and Stacey - the 'sitcom' about a Welsh girl and Essex bloke who fall in love over the telephone and decide to meet up and get together as a couple. It's very funny and well acted, thanks to a superb cast including Alison Steadman and Rob Brydon. Good writing which avoids cliches where possible, and the situations are believeable - unlike Terry and June.

I also got round to watching a DVD I borrowed many months ago - Flight 93. This is the story of the United Airlines commercial airline hijacked on September 11th, destined to be slammed into The White House (probably) but brave passengers overpowered the terrorists and brought the plane down in a field instead. I wasn't expecting a great film to be honest, but what I got was a great film. I'm always a bit wary of films about real events, as it's easy to over-dramatize things and seem a bit sensationalistic. But this wasn't like that - and the way that the story unfolds in pretty much real time, with no famous faces or individual heroes makes it a bit more like a documentary or reconstruction, and all the more compelling for it.

Apparently the attention to detail is  meticulous, and most of the people playing the air traffic controllers and ground crew are the real people playing themselves, which gives it a truth. I'm tired of seeing square jawed models making tough decisions that sound like lines from trailers. Here we have ordinary people, confused, frightened, doing the best they can to piece together information and try to make the right choices with huge implications. One of the most stressful films I've ever seen - and we all know how it ends - so job well done, and a befitting testimonial to the people involved.

This weekend has been a pretty good one. On Saturday Ian fixed my Beetle, which those of you who read this blog might remember was fire damaged a couple of weeks ago on the way back from the Ukulele Festival. A bit of fuel pipe had corroded and fuel was leaking all over the engine, and it ignited, burning all the insulation off the wiring. So - despite it being his birthday - he got on his hands and knees and rewired the engine. It fired ip first time (by which I mean it started, not burst into flames again) and now we have 2 cars again for what seems like the first time in months. Thanks Ian. Thian.

On Saturday afternoon I was scheduled to do some photography in Newcastle. I've worked with Almost Unwearoutable for several years, and they make very expensive and high quality handmade knitwear. Victoria who runs the company met me with a model called Larna at the Pitcher and Piano on Newcastle's Quayside for a photoshoot of a new range of knitwear.

When I arrived in Newcastle it was nice and sunny and perfect conditions for the shoot. But by 2.20pm when the others turned up, it was absolutely torrential rain, and a completely dark stormy sky. We had a coffee and talked about rescheduling, or doing the shots in the bar instead, but 20 minutes later it had cleared up, and the blue skies returned. It was unbelieveable that it should clear up again so quickly and so completely. We had to stop a couple of times and wait for the sun, but the finished shot look like it's hot and summery, when in fact it was quite cold.

Larna attracted lots of attention from passers by - and the typical blokes in the bar were knocking on the windows and waving at us. A few people came over to find out if it was anyone famous. One woman accosted me at the bar suspicious that I was exploiting a vulnerable young woman. I assured her that I was taking photographs for a knitwear company, and she kept saying that it was concerning her and that she worked for social services protecting the rights of vulnerable females. I asked her to go and talk to Victoria (who's a pensioner) and Larna to find out from them whether we were doing anything underhand, but she chose not to, and went off with her friend smiling to herself. No idea what that was all about.

We got the shots we needed - most of Victoria's other knitwear is aimed at the Country market - so we were trying to make this clothing appeal to a younger urban audience. The Quayside was a good place to shoot, with lots of interesting backgrounds in a very small area. I'm quite pleased with the results, especially considering it was almost cancelled because of the rain - I really didn't think it was going to happen.

Continuing the birthday season, it was my mum's birthday yesterday, so we had her over for a celebration meal with my family. That was really nice. Then in the afternoon Katrin and Ollie went off to a local park with some friends, where Katrin promptly lost her mobile phone which we'd got her for Christmas. Amazingly, it was found by 4 teenage girls who phoned me and told me they'd got it, and I went up to collect it. That was lucky!

This week is a busy one. I have to do some work on a big client's proposal, and that always makes me a bit stressed. But in general, I seem to be a bit more motivated at present, and things are getting done. Long may it continue.

Frankie and the Alley Cats

Our cats are very fighty at the moment. Sparky - our youngest - always terrorises Abigail - our eldest - by chasing her up the stairs raping her as she screams and howls. It's all harmless - he's shooting blanks - but she doesn't appreciate the attention and rough treatment. Also Ginger and Sparky fight too - male bravado - but I was stroking Ginger yesterday morning after he'd been attacked by Sparky, and Ginger started attacking me - silly sausage! So now I have a very suspicious looking wound on my left wrist which makes it look like I'm harming myself.

On Sunday evening, I had an encounter with a bunch of different cats, at The King's Head in Seaton Sluice. It was Frank Bertorelli, and his 50s rock and roll band, The Alley Cats. I'd tolk Frank that I'd come along, and that I'd take some photos - and this I did. The band were great - raw energy, loud rock and roll in a packed but not smokey, and very friendly pub. It was standing room only, and I had to squeeze through the gaps to get onto the floor at the front to take the photos. I felt like proper Paperazzi. And another Frank - a bloke who sells his paintings in Rebecca's shop, and has been working on our house recently, bought me a drink, the lovely fella. What a nice crowd. Frank B's performance was ultra high energy, and I thought he'd go through the ceiling at one point he was jumping so high.

The new week started with me getting up very early to take a photo of cobles sailing to sea in the dawn light. I waited for over an hour on the beach, but they didn't go out on Monday, despite perfect calm weather. Bummer. I've now got a couple of contacts with boats who can go out later in the week. I need the shot for a book project that I'll tell you about later if it happens...

Another thing I'll tell you more about later (if it happens) is a band project I'm determined to get off the ground. After the excitement of Ukelear Meltdown, I decided that I'd like to perform the music of the Beatles on the ukulele, and so preparations have been made, and I'll report back when there's something to show and tell. I've had one rehearsal, and I'm cautiously pleased...