2006 - that was the year that was

Well, 2006 has come crashing to an end with a coughing fit for me, so thought I'd do a little summary of events here.

My resolutions at the start of 2006 were:

• Read 50 Books - think I've done that, not entirely sure,
• Note all books read down - did that for a while, then moved and lost notepad, hence unclear answer to above,
• Do a night class - done that - yoga,
• Have at least 3 haircuts - might seem strange, but I had almost a fear of the hairdresser until recently. Have had about 6 haircuts so definitely done this one,
• Write for 4 hours a week (at least) - done that!
• Go on holiday somewhere I've never been - we went to Paris, which I'd been to before on a day trip. I don't know whether to count this as we did go to loads of places I've never been before, and certainly have never stayed there before...

So marginal success there. I'm pleased with myself for what I've achieved this year outside of these aims, notably applying for and getting onto the screenwriting course, improving my confidence in talking to other people, maintaining this blog, improving my fitness levels, buying a laptop, teaching myself some guitar, my growing interest in amateur photography, learning more about the industries in which I want to work, etc.

I think the resolutions for next year are:

• read 25 books (being a bit more realistic now, 50 too many with my workload),
• keep a diary,
• succeed in something, professionally, as a writer,
  
• start work on my novel again and complete a draft to send out to agents,
  
• dye my hair bright red (terrified of this but always wanted to do it),
• go to the cinema at least once a month, twice preferably. And not just to Cineworld.
• take more photographs,
• do not go back to work in the office full time, no matter how poor I get (otherwise no point in doing the degree!),
  
• do another night class - history? geography? a foreign language? photography?
  
• get my keyboard from home and learn piano again, maybe even get lessons after degree is finished.

Think that's enough for just now... They all seem do-able, at any rate. Shall have to copy them into my diary! Must remember to write in it tomorrow.


In terms of blogging, I started this blog on the 3rd of April, 2006. Since then I've written 82 posts. I've only labelled 15 of these as being applicable to writing - must do better with this.

I've been tracking visitors since the start of October, and have had 349 visitors since then. A ridiculously large number of these visitors have come from the Vicious Imagery blog (thanks, David!), with Google also providing a fair amount of referrals.

People from at least 39 different countries have visited, which I love. To think of someone in the USA, Japan, India, etc reading this is just lovely. As long as they liked it :)

In terms of referrals from Google, the most popular search phrases are:

• missread
• Jane Eyre + Ruth Wilson
• Simon Grohe
• Writersroom posted
• Toby Stephens

Loads more were also Jane Eyre or Run Tony Run! referrals, with a few strange ones thrown in for good measure. (I particularly liked ""screen academy" Scotland rubbish.")

Well, that seems like a good place to stop my summary of the year. I'm still ill, annoyingly, and have been up most of the night coughing wildly, only got about 3 hours sleep. I'm going to lie in bed and watch Jabberwocky now, I think, with a cup of lemsip. (Which reminds me, I'm getting a bit python obsessed after reading Michael Palin's diaries, and have ordered loads of other Python and Palin related goodies for myself. Very naughty.)

Not sure what we're doing for Hogmanay, but we have a bottle of bubbly, whisky, gin, wine and brandy, so we will be merry anyway! As long as I'm still awake at the bells I'll be happy.

Happy Hogmanay to you all - see you in the new year.

A Very Palin Christmas

Hello all. Hope everyone had a nice Christmas!

I'm still really quite ill, can talk now but feeling very bad... spent most of boxing day in bed, before watching 4 films in a row - Bedknobs and Broomsticks and the new Freaky Friday (which was alright) included. I have to say, I'm enjoying lounging around in the flat, eating rubbish, reading and watching lots of television and DVD's. I don't normally relax like this, and since I have little option (the couple of times I've ventured out this week I've been severely shaky and extremely confused) I might as well make the most of this imposed rest. I feel a bit bad about not doing anything for uni - 4 assignments due in January - but I had always planned to have this week as a holiday.

Loved the Christmas Episode of Doctor Who - I'm normally not a Catherine Tate fan and approached the episode with no small amount of trepidation. She turned out to be great in the role, and I enjoyed the whole episode. The fact that the first 15 minutes were full of action, so there was no resting, probably helped! I want to write for Doctor Who. (Doesn't everyone, though?)

Had a nice christmas, and (as the title suggests) it was fairly Michael Palin themed. I got the Monty Python's Personal Best DVD, which I started watching last night, Jabberwocky (which I've never seen before) and Michael Palin's Diaries: The Python Years: 1969-1979. I'm reading the diaries in between moaning about my illness and watching TV, and really enjoying them. He's had such an interesting life, and I love the way he writes. It's a candid mix of meetings with the other pythons, the ups and downs of their time together, the filming of the Python movies, his personal life with friends and family, political and social reflections etc. It's a strightforward editing of his own diaries, and as such was written for him, so if you do read this don't expect much laughing out loud (although I'm finding many of his stories funny), but I'm so glad I'm reading it, it's quite inspiring. He's long been a personal hero of mine, and someone I really want to meet and have a drink with.

Anyway, Palin's diaries have inspired me to buy a diary of my own, which I intend to start just before the new year. I want to attempt to keep it properly too, not to give up on the thing after a couple of weeks as I usually do. I was ridiculously good at keeping a diary when in my early teens (it had cats on it, and a big lock to keep out my brother - not sure how successful that was), but when I read it through aged 17 or so I was so embarassed that I burned it. Wish I'd kept it now, all my petty feuds and descriptions of the vile boys I "fancied" at school would make me roar with laughter now, I suspect.

As a bit of a sidenote for all you Edinburgh-ians who, like me, find it increasingly difficult to buy nice notepads etc in town, there's a Paperchase opened up on George Street, near Waterstones. It's really nice, I got my diary notebook there. Not too expensive, either!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone.

I hope you have a good time! I've lost my voice and appear to have a chest infection so it might be a little strange for me this year, but fun nonetheless.

Top 10 Christmas Films - the ones who lost out...

Those which have not made it to my particular list include:

• The Grinch - Jim Carrey one. Saw it in Australia when I was there for christmas a few years ago, and it was so out of place with the 40 degree heat that I never really saw it as a Christmas film. Plus Dr Seuss kind of scares me - so I haven't see How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
  
• Bad Santa - I haven't seen it, that's all!
• The Nightmare Before Christmas - it's more of a Halloween film for me.
• Holiday Inn - I haven't seen it, which I realise is a travesty! Maybe buy it for next year...
  
• Elf - I think Will Ferrel is great in this but it's too modern to be one of my classics.
• The Santa Clause - The elf kids in this are very funny, but as with Elf, this is not a personal classic for me.

Top 10 Christmas Films - No 1

1. White Christmas (1954)
And here you have it! My favourite Christmas film of all time! Ta-da, etc.

White Christmas is the story of Bob (Bing Crosby) and Phil (Danny Kaye), who became friends in the army during WW2 and afterwards set themselves up as a singing and dancing double act. When they meet a sister act, Betty (Rosemary Clooney) and Judy (Vera-Ellen), Phil decides to try and set Bob and Betty up. After a series of mishaps, the four head off to a lodge together, where Bob and Phil are booked to perform. They discover that the lodge is owned by Phil and Bob's old Army Major, and that business is failing due to a lack of seasonal weather. Together, the four try to revitalise the Major's business, while Phil and Judy conspire to make Bob and Betty fall in love...

Honestly, I love this film. I know, I know, it's cheesy, it's predictable, and Holiday Inn is sometimes better regarded. But the cast are all amazing - Bing Crosby is charming, Vera-Ellen is sharp, Danny Kaye is vibrant and funny and Rosemary Clooney is utterly fantastic in every way. I always wish Rosemary Clooney had more to do, in fact. I'm actually a ridiculous Danny Kaye fan - inherited from my Dad - and I love all his films. He's not got much to do in this either, compared to normal, but I think he's really sweet and funny.

Also, this has some amazing tunes in it, many written especially for the film. I'm a big fan of "Sisters", "Let it Snow", "White Christmas" and "Gee, I Wish I was Back in the Army."

Anyway, I love it. Wish it was on today - it's also packed away in my Dad's garage!

Top 10 Christmas Films - No 2

2. It's A Wonderful Life (1946)
Another classic! So well known that I really don't need to tell you about it - but I will anyway...

This is the story of George Bailey (James Stewart), a compassionate, kind-hearted businessman in Bedford Falls, who contemplates suicide on Christmas Eve, when life reaches its lowest point and a loan he needs to pay back to the evil Mr Potter goes missing. As he stands on a bridge above a river, ready to throw his life away, his kindness means that he can't help but save the life of a man who falls in the water. This man is Clarence (Henry Travers), an Angel who needs to earn his wings. He's been sent to show George the difference he's made to people's lives, to show him what a good, selfless person he is, and to show him how bad the lives of Bedford Falls' townsfolk would be without him.

This has a great cast, and I particularly love both James Stewart and Donna Reed as Mary Bailey.

I know that really the subject matter is depressing (man who wants to kill himself because life is so bad), but it all becomes so wonderfully uplifting that I love to cry the whole way through, waiting for the payoff! This is a film that my entire family will happily sit and watch together, without there being a dry eye in the house.

I wish this was on TV this year - I can't see it in the Radio Times! I have it on DVD but unfortunately it's packed away at my parents house :(

Top 10 Christmas Films - No 3

3. The Muppets Christmas Carol (1992)
This was also on this afternoon, and I enjoyed watching it a ridiculous amount.

Another retelling of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, starring Michael Caine as Ebenezer Scrooge. This is actually a really good version of the story, and has some lovely songs in it too. The story is narrated by Gonzo, who is aided by a constantly curious and clumsy Rizzo the Rat. it's a nice way to tell the story, as the questioning by Rizzo gives it gives a modern twist to the tale for children who might not otherwise be interested.

With a supporting cast of the regular Muppets - including Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy as the Crachit's - this is really good fun, silly and surprisingly moving at times. I cry at it each time I see it, especially at little Tiny Tim.

Michael Caine is a great Ebenezer Scrooge, and his performance is completely straight - which makes it work all the better. If he'd played his character for laughs or looked down on the film at all it would have really spoiled this. I love it.

Top 10 Christmas Films - No 4

4. Gremlins (1984)
This is on right now! I watch as I blog...

A brilliant film, this, blending dark comedy, family values, great characters, brilliant monster baddies and the cutest little critter on film.

Gremlins tells the story of Billy (Zach Galligan) who is given a Mogwai by his father (Hoyt Axton) for Christmas. The Mogwai is Gizmo (who I named my pet hamster after when I was wee), a lovely little fellow who is cute, intelligent, funny and sings a great tune. When Billy accidentally breaks one of the main rules he is to adhere to when keeping a Mogwai as a pet (do not feed after midnight, do not expose to direct sunlight, and do not get wet) he finds himself in charge of a mischievous horde of the little fellows. When they trick him into feeding them after midnight, they become Gremlins - nasty little creatures who are thick skinned and out for trouble, quite unlike Gizmo himself. The Gremlins run riot over the peaceful town of Kingston Falls (a modern version of Bedford falls), and it is up to Billy, Gizmo and Billy's sweetheart Kate (Pheobe Cates) to save the day (with some help, of course!).

I really do love Gremlins. I think Gremlins 2 was one of the films my brother and I watched the most when I was about 13, but this is my favourite of the two now. Directed by Joe Dante and written by Chris Columbus, it has a great eighties feel to it (it reminds me of the Goonies, Back to the Future and the Lost Boys - and not just because Cory Feldman is young and wholesome in it!) and is a good, scary family film. It's taken me about an hour to write this little entry, in fact, because I keep putting my laptop aside to watch the film! It also pays nice homage to a host of other films - Invasion of the Body Snatchers and It's a Wonderful Life in particular.

Really good fun.

Top 10 Christmas Films - No 5

5. Scrooged (1988)
Another re-telling of A Christmas Carol here, which is (almost!) my personal favourite. Bill Murray is the lead of the film, and without his portrayal of Frank Cross, the Scrooge character, I can't imagine the film standing the test of time...

In this version, Frank is a mean, sarcastic, cynical and selfish TV Executive, who is airing a ridiculous "live broadcast" version of A Christmas Carol on his TV channel. When he is visited by the ghost of his old mentor, he is warned to expect visits from three further spirits who will help him become a better person...

In this version, the spirits are also mean and sarcastic, and the Ghost of Christmas Present (played by the great Carol Kane) is my personal favourite - attacking Frank with a toaster, among other things. There's great support from the whole cast, particularly from Karen Allen as Frank's ex-girlfriend, the generous, kind and happy Claire.

I really love this film, and always find it very funny. I know it has its faults, but it's Bill Murray!!! I love the guy in everything (except the loathesome Broken Flowers, ugh), and this is a great vehicle for his sarcastic, put upon act. Great.

Top 10 Christmas Films - No 6

6. Scrooge (1951)
Come on now, we all know the story!

This is, of course, a classic retelling of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. It charts the story of Ebenezer Scrooge (Alastair Sim), a miserly old soul who lives alone and friendless, of his own choosing. The ghost of his former partner, a similarly nasty man, haunts him and tells him he will be visited by three other spirits, to learn the error of his ways. When faced with visions of his past, present and future, Scrooge is forced to confront his own character and change the way he behaves.

I remember Alastair Sim being a fantastic Scrooge in this, and also that I found the Sprit of Christmas Yet To Come really quite frightening. I also recall my dad getting quite excited about a colour version of this - but I only remember watching the black and white! I think this was known as A Christmas Carol in America.

I'd love to see this again, it's been ages.

Top 10 Christmas Films - No 7

7. Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
It's a classic! Put simply, this is the story of Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn), a man who believes that he is the real Santa. He is hired by a no-nonsense employee Doris (Maureen O'Hara) to perform as Santa Claus for a department store at Christmas. When his identity is challenged, an idealistic young lawyer Fred (John Payne) defends him in court.

With some nice subplots, including a budding romance between Doris and Fred, Doris's cynical outlook and Doris's daughter (Natalie Wood) inheriting her mother's disbelief in Santa, there's plenty in here to keep your attention drawn to the screen.

It's a charming, sweet wee film, and the remake in the early nineties didn't have the same appeal. I liked Richard Attenborough as Santa, but the rest of the cast weren't up to the same standard as the original - Maureen O'Hara is great as the uptight Doris, and Elizabeth Perkins was never as convincing for me.

Anyway, this is another film I used to sit and watch with my Dad, and although the ending builds up to a cheesy climax that's a bit big, even for me, it's a nice all round film and worth watching.

Top 10 Christmas Films - No 8

8. Home Alone (1990)
For those of you who do not know the story, I'll give it a quick run through. Kevin (Macauley Culkin) is left - you guessed it - home alone at Christmas. His parents have such a large brood that they don't realise they left him in the house, and they flit away on holiday without him. As his mother (played by the ever amazing Catherine O'Hara) and family try to make their way back home to the little tyke, Kevin has to continuously foil the designs of a couple of brilliantly stupid robbers - played by Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern.

With yet another screenplay by John Hughes, and directed by Chris Columbus, you pretty much know what to expect from this film. It's great, full of slapstick and cheesiness, with fantastic performances (John Candy has a nice cameo as someone trying to help the mother home) and horrific comedy violence. I think it's fair to say that if anyone really suffered physically as much as the "wet bandits" did in this film, they would have met a grizzly end.

I love Home Alone. It's funny, it makes me cringe (especially the bit with the red hot door handle), I cry at the old man with the shovel and it's got a great version of the Carol Of The Bells on it. If this was on tonight I would watch it happily.


Ok, so I said I wasn't going to be ashamed of this list, and I'm not, but so far I'm not doing myself many favours with you intellectuals out there. I apologise for nothing, nothing!!!

Top 10 Christmas Films - No 9

9. Santa Claus: The Movie (1985)
A strange one, this, as I watch it and see the flaws but enjoy it nonetheless. This is definitely a film which was very special to me when I was young - I think I saw it at the cinema - and I'm never going to dislike it.

This tells a couple of different stories, which are woven together with partial success. The film starts hundreds of years ago with the story of Santa Clause - a nice ordinary man who is whisked away to the North Pole with his wife to start his life as Santa. Once he is established, we are taken to the present, where one of the elves, Patch (Dudley Moore) leaves the North Pole to make his own way in the big bad world. He goes to the USA and is quickly taken under the wing of a gloriously evil "B.Z," played to perfection by John Lithgow. While Patch only wants to use his skills to make children happy, B.Z. wants to make as much money as he can. Things go awry, and Santa, Patch and a couple of kids have to try and save the day.

Certain moments in this film have remained with me since I was a child. I remember really wanting one of Patch's red lollipops that make you fly. I remember being quite scared of John Lithgow for a while. I only knew who Dudley Moore was from this (and Arthur 2) for a while. The meal that the little girl leaves for the homeless kid, complete with can of Coke, always made me want Christmas dinner. And the reindeer really did look like they could fly...

Thinking back on it, the film probably suffered from having Dudley Moore as the main character. This should have been all about Santa, but he's not even on the credits on the front of the DVD box! It's all about Patch and B.Z. and Santa hasn't got too much to do in the middle of the film.

Still, always makes me think of being little and enjoying Christmas, which is no bad thing.

Top 10 Christmas Films - No 10

10. Christmas Vacation (1989)
Starring Chevy Chase, Beverley D'Angelo and Juliette Lewis, among others, this is the story of an all American family Christmas which goes horribly wrong in the hands of well-meaning-but-inept dad Clark Griswold (Chase). When Clark's awful cousin (Randy Quaid) and his family come to visit unexpectedly, things go from bad to worse...

Slapstick is the order of the day here, with a simple (but effective) script by John Hughes throwing in as many horrific Christmas mishaps as you can think of, and rounding them up with a schmaltzy festive ending. It's fair to say that this is not a high brow film, but always makes me laugh and reminds me of being at home, wrapping presents with my dad and brother. Chase was on top form here, and the supporting cast are really strong. (Last time I watched it I was delighted to see Julia Louis-Dreyfus as an uber yuppy.)

This was always an "Anderson Family Classic" and when I was younger I thought it was the best in the "vacation" series. I've not seen the rest of them since I was a kid, but I suspect I'd feel the same now.

Top 10 Christmas Films

I'm now feeling ridiculously festive so I thought I would do a little countdown of my favourite Christmas films. Don't expect to see entirely classy films in here (though some of them are) as these are my personal favourites for which I shall not apologise!

I'll start my count from 10... posting may be a bit random and dependant on time rather than desire to post, but I will get them all done by Christmas.

Can't leave well enough alone

I can't fight the temptation to tinker with my blog layout constantly. It's too easy with Blogger Beta to fiddle with the colours etc.

I quite like this purple. I bet this afternoon I regret it and long for the days of grey and yellow again...

Let it snow

Yay - it just snowed.

How exciting. I love snow. I'm actually like a giant child when it comes to fluffy white stuff falling from the sky, I can't get enough of it.

I'm going to have to resist the temptation to feel festive. It's too early. Like David, I'm tired of all the Christmas adverts etc which have been on TV for the last month.

But with snow and a trip to Edinburgh's "Winter Wonderland" last week, I am feeling a wee bit jolly...

Stranger Than Fiction

We went to see Stranger Than Fiction last night, and I really enjoyed it.

This is the first feature from screenwriter Zach Helm (who we will soon see directing and writing Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium), and I thought the script was particularly good. It's a lovely idea, and for the most part is brought to the screen extremely well by director Marc Forster.

I think the tone was probably the film's main weakness. I don't know whether this was down to the script or to the direction, but it really didn't come together throughout. Some particularly comedic scenes would be followed by quite heartfelt drama, and they never connected smoothly. Still, it worked well on the whole, and I laughed and cried in all the right places.

Will Ferrel was a pleasant surprise, and he coped extremely well with the dramatic and comedic elements of the film. Emma Thompson was magnificent, as you would expect, and her performance towards the end of the film was particularly moving. Maggie Gyllenhaal and Dustin Hoffman were also as great as ever, but Queen Latifah seemed cast into a role far smaller than you would expect her to be. I was personally delighted to see the fantastic Linda Hunt on the big screen once more - she's been an actress I've enjoyed watching perform since I saw The Year Of Living Dangerously as a child.

It's too easy to try and draw parallels between this and Charlie Kaufman scripts, so I won't bother. He is an amazing writer but for heavens sake, he's not the only one with an idea which might be a little "out there." He just carries it off better than most...

The previous film that I saw at the cinema was Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny, and this was, predictably, SO much better. Go see it.