Ryan and Reese

Gutted. Although I have to say it's not wholly surprising, especially after his somewhat over the top reaction when she won the Golden Globe. But still, gutted.

Halloween Disaster

So I had a wonderful idea for a Halloween cake. I was going to adulterate the red velvet cake, and wicked witch-ify it. Green sponge instead of red, black frosting instead of white. It was going to be so cool. In theory. In my head the Elpha-Cake was bright green sponge with jet black icing. One bite and you'd be defying calories.

However, first of all I toyed with the recipe, taking a recipe for a three tier cake and trying it in a two tier version. SO didn't work. The fucking thing wouldn't set in the middle but the outside was way overcooked. The sugar all separated out and rose to the top. And then there's the colour. Instead of bright Elphaba green, it ended up looking like something I had grown on my shower curtain. And the frosting turned purple instead of black. So it went in the bin. Gutted.

Fall Back

The clocks have gone back an hour and this means the summer is officially over. To mark the day, I am going to put the lyrics to one of my favourite songs up.

End of the Summer

The summer ends and we wonder where we are
And there you go, my friends, with your boxes in your car
And you both look so young
And last night was hard, you said
You packed up every room
And then you cried and went to bed
But today you closed the door and said
"We have to get a move on.
It's just that time of year when we push ourselves ahead,
We push ourselves ahead."

And it was cloudy in the morning
And it rained as you drove away
And the same things looked different
It's the end of the summer
It's the end of the summer,
When you move to another place

And I feel like the neighbor's girl who will never be the same
She walked alone all spring,
She had a boyfriend when the summer came
And he gave her flowers in a lightning storm
They disappeared at night in green fields of silver corn
And sometime in July she just forgot that he was leaving
So when the fields were dying, she held on to his sleeves
She held on to his sleeves

And she doesn't want to let go
'Cause she won't know what she's up against
The classrooms and the smart girls
It's the end of the summer
It's the end of the summer
When you hang your flowers up to dry

And I had a dream it blows the autumn through my head
It felt like the first day of school
But I was going to the moon instead
And I walked down the hall
With the notebooks they got for me
My dad led me through the house
My mom drank instant coffee
And I knew that I would crash
But I didn't want to tell them
There are just some moments when your family makes sense
They just make sense

So I raised up my arms and my mother put the sweater on
We walked out on the dark and frozen grass
The end of the summer
It's the end of the summer
When you send your children to the moon

The summer ends and we wonder who we are
And there you go, my friends, with your boxes in your car
And today I passed the high school, the river, the maple tree
I passed the farms that made it
Through the last days of the century
And I knew that I was going to learn again
Again, in this less hazy light
I saw the fields beyond the fields
The fields beyond the fields

And the colors are much brighter now
It's like they really want to tell the truth
We give our testimony to the end of the summer
It's the end of the summer,
You can spin the light to gold.

Battle of the bulge

After my posting with Jake Gyllenhaal inadvertently giving good bulge, I was idly surfing on the Just Us Boys message boards (which will in time, I am sure, throw up a darndest thing or two) and I found the following pics.

First up is Eric McCormack, in a still from Will & Grace. I stopped watching that show in the middle of season 4 so the pic below was news to me



Looks pretty impressive, no? But of course, it's TV and he's on a show that has a fairly sizeable fan base so he could have padded himself out to appear, well, fairly sizeable. However, in early seasons of the show, he was shown naked on a couple of episodes. Here's a still from one of those



Now this shot is obviously designed to make you think he's in the buff but his modesty is protected. So the bulge isn't meant to be seen by anyone. And yet it still looks roughly the same as in the first pic.

And now it's the pic of the bulge that started it all. In the season that I stopped watching Dawson's Creek due to being completely unable to tolerate that pouting idiot Katie Holmes, Chad Michael Murray popped up in some early episodes to sleep with and cheat on Jen. I remember emailing with my friend Lottie the next day, asking if she'd watched the show and whether or not my eyes had been deceiving me on the CMM front. Her reply was "Yeah I saw it and as for Jen's friend, he seemed, um, gifted". Ever since then, this has been my euphemism for the well endowed and it always will be. So that's what I mean when I say this is the bulge that started it all. Anyway, check out the gift for yourselves



Sigh. Yes, he divorced Sophia Bush after like 3 minutes, and yes he's now dating a 12 year old but look. Just look.

People on internet message boards say the darndest things 2

Okay, so I don't know if it's strictly speaking a message board, but this little nugget of madness comes courtesy of Yahoo Answers. First of all, the question:

"Hi, the other day me and my girlfriend had an argument over whos turn it was to turn the dishwasher on. One thing led to another and it turned into a full scale fight. To cut a long story short I lost my rag when she pulled down and ripped up all my Kelly Brook posters off the living room wall.I therefore retaliated by attacking her italian pottery of body parts. i ended up destroying the 2 items i mentioned in my question. I think the ornaments cost her quite a few pennies so do you think I should apologise?"

I can't believe this is an actual serious genuine question, can you? But let's say it is. Surely it's rhetorical, no? Anyway, here's the answer that, if I were a cartoon character, would have made my eyes pop out of my head:

"I WOULDN'T SAY ANYTHING BLAME IT ON THE PET IF YOU HAVE 1 IF NOT JUST KEEP RUNNING DOWNT STOP OR SHELL CRUSH YOUR B.LLS"

All grammar, punctuation and hideous hideous caps are left intact from the original posting.

And I've had such a bad day

A few weeks ago, there was some weird energy floating around and everyone seemed to be having a really rubbish day of it. Work went to hell in a handbasket with some nasty complaints that spiralled out of control. My housemate took the prize though. For those of you not keeping up with current affairs, my housemate is also my best friend of twelve years now, who happens to have very bad fibromyalgia, a fucked up back and apparently no immune system anymore. This time last year she got a hardcore case of glandular fever and since recovering from it (which in itself took six months), if you so much as cough within 10 feet of her, she is laid up in bed for a week with flu. In addition to this, and the only thing you need to know about her to make sense of the following, she has had a weird recurring fungal type skin infection on the palm of her hand since February and nothing seems to shift it. So in the middle of everyone around me at work having a shit day, she sent me this text, having just left the doctors after some blood tests:

"Well this day just gets worse! Taxi went the wrong way. Got a really gruff nurse who used both my arms like a pincushion she hated, so now bruised and many plastered on both sides and was too cowed to ask about my hand. Tried the chemist, who was Russian and not thrilled to be off his mobile, he suggested arnica (homeopathic for bruises) and vitamins. FUCKING retard! And then some mad old man told me to fuck off at the bus stop! Am now on way to another chemist, which I fully expect to explode"

I was laughing so hard by the time I got to the end of it, I had tears running down my face and couldn't speak to tell people what I was finding so funny. She was having a bad day, but a dose of Schadenfreude cheered mine right up.

Got -wood?

I spent the vast majority of yesterday watching Deadwood on DVD, making it through the end of Season 1 and the beginning of Season 2. Then in the evening, I watched the double episode debut of Torchwood. Hence the title of this entry.

Deadwood is absolutely incredible. Obviously extensively researched, it is also wonderfully written (if a little too reliant on the insult "cocksucker". If there was a drinking game based on that, you'd be shitfaced inside of five minutes) and has some of the most rounded and 3 D characterisation that I have seen on a TV show in a long time. The performances are uniformly excellent, there is genuinely not a weak one in the bunch. Stand outs are Timothy Olyphant as Seth Bullock, who I originally mistook for Michael Biehn. His chemistry with Molly Parker is just incredible. And, surprisingly, Ian McShane as Al Swearengen. I am very much not a fan of his and his performance in the stage musical version of Witches Of Eastwick was embarrassing to witness (unsurprisingly, he was fired from that show). So it's quite shocking to see him be so good here. Who would have thought it? Not I. Of course, HBO's insanity of how they haven't renewed this for its 4th season is well documented so I won't add anything there. I'm still smarting over their cancellations of Rome, Carnivale and The Comeback.

And then it was time for Torchwood. The much awaited spin off for John Barrowman for his character of Captain Jack Harkness from the first series of the new Doctor Who, this show is very much NOT for kids. Being transmitted after the 9pm watershed on a weeknight (as opposed to the Saturday teatime slot occupied by the good Doctor), this sets out its stall from the very beginning, throwing a "fuck" and a "bugger" into the first five minutes. I am not the biggest fan of sci-fi but I do love me some John Barrowman, so I gave it a whirl. It was actually great. Pleasingly twisted, it still made time for some light humour and it's not afraid to shy away from anything. In Doctor Who they never made any bones about Jack's bisexuality and so, with a later timeslot and less constraints, the first two episodes contained some boy on boy AND some girl on girl action. Good stuff. The first episode was all set up and exposition for anyone who didn't watch Who, the second dealt with an alien who took over humans and could only survive on orgasmic energy, cue some sex scenes and a smattering of nudity. Let's see if the strong opening can be maintained....

Possible new semi-regular feature from PCB

Ok lets give this a try.

Along with the "movies on my radar" month by month guide, I thought I'd try adding another fun feature. Tentatively titled "People on internet message boards say the darndest things", it's going to feature some of the more ridiculous (for whatever reason) postings I find during my trawls around the net. I should preface this entry by saying I used to be a very active member of an internet message board. When I started at American Express, I took a little break from posting there. Recently, I've been reading the site again and everything there has changed so much that I very much doubt I will ever go back and post there again. Don't get me wrong, I had a great time on there and I have met and made some wonderful friends, some of whom stop by my blog, all of whom I intend on keeping. But as far as posting on the boards again, I don't see that happening anytime soon.

Anyway, what better way to start with some posts I found on the IMDb boards? It came up on the comments section of an earlier post, I believe the one about United 93 that the IMDb boards seem to be full of a very special kind of stupidity. This morning I was perusing the Marie Antoinette boards over there and came across these prize gems of idiocy that I would like to share with you all:

First up:

"Ok i went to see this movie with my 18 year old sister she thought it was pretty good me being a 26 year old male did not I did not know if it was suppose to be serious of somewhat funny the music throughout the movie was new age? I mean i can see the artists point of view through song but damn ok here is the worst part her head does not get whacked off??? Come on it was the only reason i did not run to the movie being played next to us.."

The worst part was the lack of a beheading? Lovely!

And then I found:

"OH wow...what is there to say?
Horrible acting by Dunst. Way too over dramatic. Unrealistic accent.
Horrible costumes. Unrealitic with what they would have worn back in the century!
4. Too much modern music. They didnt even have c.d.'s in the 1700's!
that was a major plot hole!"

All I have to say about the above is WAY TO MISS THE POINT!

And I have, of course, saved the best for last.

"why did they make this movie? there no point to bring this story to the big screen. The studio that made this movie just lost money. the reason they lost money is because they had pay Kirsten Dunst salary which is probally a decent amount of money. I knew this movie would flop after i saw the trailer, it look so dumb. I am not say it dumb because it is a chick flick because i liked the notebook and other movie like that. I knew no one would pay eight dollars to see this movie. Why does the studio make these movie that place back the 1700's. I guess i am right because this movie got number 8 at the box office and only made 5 million dollars this weekend. They tried to promote this crap on all the TV stations but it stilled failed. Last week the marine came out it got number 6 and made 7 million dollars. The resaon I said that that movie only promoted on WWE Television, it was not promoted on network television like Marie Antoinette was. The director is a very good and the lead actress Kirsten Dunst has alot of talent. I hope these actress and director get better project in the future. I hope this last movie about this crap."

For once, words truly fail me.



So there you are. This feature will not exclusively be about the IMDb boards, though God knows they are such a treasure trove of dumbfuckery, they'll feature fairly often.

A little something to brighten your day

Well, to brighten the day of everyone who, like me, thinks Jake Gyllenhaal is the hottest man walking the planet. Here's a little pic of him just walking around. Wearing clothes. But not, quite obviously, wearing any underwear. God love him.

Let them watch cake

Went to see Marie Antoinette last night. Had some crazy old man in the front row who apparently had the hearing of a bat, because every time I took a swig of my drink, he would wheel round and glare at me for disturbing him. It wasn't even like I was rustling crisp bags or something. Whatever.

Anyway, the film itself was an odd confection. A bit like watching Dangerous Liaisons and Cruel Intentions at the same time. The narrative was a little too flimsy. I know her objective was to humanise Marie Antoinette and in that she succeeded, but it needed a stronger framework to support itself. None of the characters, save the title one, came into sufficient focus. A shame, because every frame was a work of art to look at. If as much care had been poured into the script as it had into the mise en scene, this would have been a masterpiece, one that rivalled the aforementioned Frears movie, rather than invited less than flattering comparisons to it.

Movies On The PCB Radar: November 2006

November 3rd:

Nothing. Not a single damned thing. You know why? Because Borat comes out today and nothing else bothered to challenge it as it's widely expected to be a huge smash. Well I fail to see the humour in the character and I think Sacha Baron Cohen is a fucking cunt, so I'll be giving this one a wide berth.

November 10th:

Ah ha! Now this is more like it. First up we have



I am very much looking forward to this. It opened in the States this weekend (sigh, the Limeys are so behind) to strong reviews and I hope strong box office too. It's a great cast, a mightily talented director and an intriguing plot. Not overly keen on the poster though.

Next up is



Which, if the trailer is anything to go by, we can file under C for Curiosity. It looks fundamentally odd and the fact that the Arbus estate withheld the rights to all her works doesn't exactly bode well. Still. Shainberg is the man who gave us Secretary and Downey Jr is never less than interesting to watch. I used to be the hugest advocate of Nicole Kidman but now I find her too distractingly thin and brittle to watch. I can't help but think this would have been a happier match of actress and material if Samantha Morton hadn't backed out.

And then there's



Anthony Minghella is back. After the relative disappointment of Cold Mountain (though I still loved it), he has shied away from adaptations in favour of writing directly for the screen. A tale of an architect whose chance encounter with a burglar at his office causes his love life to spin off its axis, this could end up being a strong contender for my film of the year. And I could watch Juliette Binoche in anything. She's absolutely glorious. Love her.

Finally this week, there's



Which couldn't be more British if it tried. A story about a teenager adapting to life at university, it stars James McAvoy who I have loved since Bright Young Things (it floors me every time I hear him use his real accent. He's SO Scottish and there's never a trace of it in his performances unless of course it's required). It also stars Dominic Cooper, so all the History Boys groupies will be fawning over this I don't doubt. Well back off, bitches. He's mine, remember?


November 17th:

Well it seems all the films were squeezed into that week because this week sees just one major movie release. But it's a doozy.



Oh. My. God. I am officially so very fucking excited. Daniel Craig has been a controversial choice for Bond (there are websites devoted to boycotting the movie and everything) but I think he'll be top notch. Anyone who saw Layer Cake will surely think the same. He can do suave and sophisticated while being rugged and gruff. Perfect. He is also a fine actor, a higher caliber than a lot of his predecessors (please note I said "a lot" and not "all" so the Connery fans can pipe down at the back). A Bond film is always a reason for PCB to get happy and this promises to be a cut above. Joy.

November 24th:

Presumably expecting the Casino to be Royale for a little while, the final weekend in November only sees one noteworthy release. But it's another that has PCB all in a tizzy.



Yes, really. I just think it's going to be wonderful. The story of a girl in Franco era Spain retreating into her imaginary world doesn't sound that wonderful. But this is from the man who gave us The Devil's Backbone and HellBoy, so if anyone can pull it off, he can. Oh, Santa Clause 3 also opens, but like I give a shit, right?

Grudgier

Saw Grudge 2 this afternoon. I expected it to suck. It did not disappoint me. Stuffed full with bad dialogue, paper thin characters and shaky performances, it was also criminally dull. And, a few minor jumps aside, I laughed out loud during some of the "scarier" moments. Bless.

This is my 100th post. If ONLY it were more meaningful.

Movies On The PCB Radar: Remainder of October 2006

I thought, for shits and giggles, I would do a month by month breakdown of all the upcoming movie releases that are, for one reason or another, catching my eye. So let's start with what's left of October.

This weekend:



I know I know, booed at Cannes, historically inaccurate blah blah blah. I really rate Sofia Coppola as a director though and it looks gorgeous. Whether or not it'll be interesting to watch is open for debate. That it will be endlessly fascinating to look at is a foregone conclusion. Who the hell designed that ugly ass poster though?



Does this one need an explanation?



Now I should start by saying I FULLY expect this to suck. The first one was absolute rubbish, an incoherent pile of fright free gubbins. But I love Amber Tamblyn. I'm sorry but I do. So I'll see this. And not be scared by it.


Next weekend:



While we're on the subject of pointless sequels to horror movies....I will defend the first movie as being truly inventive, creepy and by the end, downright terrifying. It did not need a sequel. It sure as hell does not need a second sequel.



Though this creepy little chiller is apparently by all accounts a brilliant film. It comes laden with praise from just about every film festival in the Northern hemisphere. We'll see.



Already come and gone in the US, the reviews were very harsh. But with a cast like that, I'm going to see it whatever, aren't I?

Wasn't as tough as I expected

Managed to make it through yesterday emotionally unscathed, which was an acheivement. I guess it helped that work was crazy busy and I got to be mean to someone who wasn't happy with the outcome of their complaint. Then, when I was on overtime in the call centre, I got to be mean to someone who had used their card incorrectly. Ah, so satisfying. Also, there are a couple of guys in the call centre who I absolutely adore and who, without realising it, brightened my day no end with their idle banter. Though I think I shocked the office a little. I forgot a) how loud I can be and b) how quiet our office is. I was talking to one of the boys in the call centre on the phone, at my desk. There is a woman who works in the back office team who all the boys love. I don't really see it, but there's another woman who I think is absolutely stunning. She looks like a smudged photocopy of Scarlett Johanssen. Her name is Zora. Here's the conversation had about her:

Me: Well for me, it's all about Zora.
Upstairs Boy: What does she look like?
Me: Kind of like Scarlett Johanssen. She's absolutely gorgeous.
Upstairs Boy: No! How did I not know about her?
Me: I dunno, I am sure I have mentioned her before.
Upstairs Boy: And she's really that attractive?
Me: Oh hell yes. I would totally hop the fence for Zora.

At which point, EVERYBODY stopped what they were doing and looked at me. So now we all know I have the hots for Zora. Mercifully she moved to a different department in Amex on Friday so I was saved the embarrassment of her also hearing. Whew.

But on the way to work, it was a whole different story. I can't stop listening to Caroline, Or Change. During my 35 minute walk to work yesterday, "Lot's Wife" came on. Every time I listen to that song, every hair on my body stands up and I get chills like crazy anyway. However, yesterday when it got to "Take Caroline away cause I can't be her, take her away I can't afford her" I got so overwhelmed I nearly started crying. In the street. I managed to pull it together but I remember thinking "Oh dear today is going to suck". And I was wrong.

Today could be a difficult day

One year ago today, I flew home from my three month job hunt in New York. I vividly remember leaving a note for my flatmates as they were all at work when I left for the airport. I remember writing that I was fighting back tears, and I was. I was so miserable to be leaving. The misery was however, at that point, leavened by the fact that I had the offer of a job. From how they were talking in my last interview, they wanted me back asap and would try and put everything in place to have me back by Thanksgiving, but failing that, Christmas. And here we are.

The Devil and The Departed

I finally got round to seeing these two movies, which opened last week. I have let so many movies slide over the summer and into the early autumn, and there are SO MANY coming up that I am dying to see that I figured if I don't see these now, then I never will. And I'm so glad I did.

The Devil Wears Prada was silly fun but at least it knew and revelled in this fact. I have a secret crush on Anne Hathaway anyway (I totally watched Ella Enchanted just for her) so even if this movie SUCKED, I would still have enjoyed watching her. But it didn't suck. It made me laugh and it didn't bore me. Meryl Streep was glorious fabulous as Miranda Priestly, giving a performance that was a masterpiece of understatement. There is something far more unsettling about contained fury and it's much more interesting to watch. However, the film belongs to Emily Blunt, who as Miranda's first assistant, has a fair amount of the best lines and lands them all with a deadly accuracy. I've been a fan since I saw her first ever professional performance on stage opposite Judi Dench so it's pleasing that she stole so much of the limelight here. Eye candy came in the form of Adrian Grenier. But he always looks dirty to me. And not dirty in a fun sexy way, but dirty in a "here's some soap" kind of way.

The Departed is sheer genius. Scorcese's best major film since GoodFellas. A remake of the Infernal Affairs trilogy collapsed into one big movie, the 150 minute running time actually feels too short. Hopefully there will be a 4 hour director's cut some day. The performances, the editing, the direction, all are spot on. For me the biggest surprise was Jack Nicholson, who's always Jack Nicholson, but even he decided to turn in a performance. Okay it wasn't perfect, it was a titch incoherent in places, but that I think is down to the running time. There is, of course, Oscar buzz for this already. I don't think it will win anything. I'd even be surprised to see it nominated to be perfectly honest. Why? It's too violent and too complex for the Academy. I might be wrong, but Scorcese hasn't been shown the love from them, ever. I doubt they're about to start now.

We celebrate it even though it isn't in the Torah

So, yesterday. It was a ball, it was a blast. I made it into London with enough time to buy myself some new boots, drop off the Alias discs and make it to the theatre on time. I met up with my theatre companion at noon and the first show was not until 3pm. The reason for the lengthy pre show time was he is recently back from New York, where he had himself a time and therefore we had a LOT of catching up to do. And as I couldn't spend time with him between shows, we had to do it all before we came to the Cabaret. In addition to the NY stories, he also told me something that made me see him in a whole new light. In a good way.

So in my previous entry I mentioned my fear that Anna Maxwell Martin would be taking the afternoon off. She didn't and thank the baby Jesus because she was pretty much the only outstanding performance on stage over at

Cabaret

I have to say, if she weren't in it, I wouldn't have given this revival a second thought. I saw the Studio 54 revival 3 times and was absolutely blown away by it each and every time. Any subsequent production I see is going to have to really go some to escape the long shadow that is inevitably cast. And this one didn't make it. I tried to take it on its own terms, really I did. But I couldn't. The main reason I couldn't is because this new revival is pretty much a smudged photocopy of the Studio 54 run and the stuff that has been altered has been changed for the worst.

The staging is off. It's unnecessarily complicated half the time and the vast majority of it is all moved around by the ensemble which just looked cheap. "Mein Herr" suffered particularly badly with the cast wheeling on a huge box, splitting it in two and having Anna Maxwell Martin climb up between the two halves and sing the number while they all danced behind her and were blocked from view by said huge box. Weird. And more than a little annoying after the cunning staging of "Don't Tell Mama" with the beds upended and used as cages. Ah well. It was almost like two people directed alternate scenes because it would go from great to shit to great to shit again.

I'm all for reworking scenes but if you're gonna change something, change it for the better. "If You Could See Her" ditched the gorilla motif and instead had the EmCee in an outfit that had a pig bride on the rear. Didn't work. At all. The interval had been moved to the first appearance of "Tomorrow Belongs To Me" which was turned into a full blown number replete with a naked ensemble. Which is fine but the way it was staged before signified the rise of Nazism, from a harmless song by a choirboy to a chilling singalong at the engagement party. Here we go from full blown number to Fraulein Kost singing it alone at the party. Weird and, it must be said, unsuccessful.

Performance wise, James Dreyfuss doesn't cut it as the EmCee. Not sexy, not menacing, not really anything. "Money" was great though, I'll give him that and it was the best choreographed number of the show. Sheila Hancock as Fraulein Schneider was fine but that was to be expected I mean, she's Sheila Hancock. Harriet Thorpe's Fraulein Kost was also fine but couldn't do a German accent. Neither could anyone else in the show, alas. The rest of the performances ranged from average to awful. Shame.

It was all about Anna Maxwell Martin. She's truly phenomenally talented. And while her recent BAFTA winning performance in Bleak House has increased her visibility, I truly think she'll be another Kelly Reilly in that she never stops working, the critics always adore her but she stays off the fame radar. Which is fine with me. Her Sally Bowles was a thing of rare and special beauty. Desperately aware of her limited talents and trying oh so very hard to maintain the pretence of fabulousness, it was a brilliantly nuanced performance. She's taken a lot of flak for her apparent inability to sing, but of course Sally Bowles can't. So her performance numbers were deliberately lame but she nailed her book songs plus the title number, which is the most crucial moment in the whole show. All in all though, I would file this whole experience under 'disappointing'.

And then it was over to the National for the first preview of

Caroline, Or Change

I'm always wary of first previews. Particularly at the National where due to having shows running in rep, their tech time is always insufficient. Also, I was wary of the show as a whole because despite owning the cast recording and trying to listen to it several times, I haven't been able to get through it. Well, I needn't have worried on any count.

The show is utterly fascinating. Structurally flawed and musically all over the place, but never less than fascinating. After seeing Idina in Wicked I said I was no longer that annoyed at her Tony win. Well now I've seen Tonya Pinkins's Caroline and I'm furious all over again. I am amazed that a performance as incredible as this could be so overlooked. It's legendary, historic, matchless. Her character is prickly and unlikeable, even pious. But you warm to her, you sympathise with her. And the emotion she unleashes during "Lot's Wife" has to be heard to be believed. It blew the back wall out of the theatre, chilled me to the bone and ultimately moved me. She's surrounded by a host of excellent performances (Anna Francolini as Rose Stopnick is a joy) but she leaves them all in the dust. If the Tony debacle is repeated over here with the Oliviers, I swear before holy God....

Well this is fun

Those of you keeping up with current events will know that today I am heading up to London for a packed day of fun. As well as seeing two shows (the matinee of Cabaret(hopefully, only want to see it because Anna Maxwell Martin is Sally Bowles and the poor lamb has been missing some shows while struggling with a virus. Opening night was last night so she had to go on and so potentially she might take this afternoon off, who knows?) followed by the evening performance of Caroline, Or Change), I have to do some shopping and return all those Alias discs to the friend I borrowed them from BEFORE I meet my theatregoing companion at noon. In the two hour between show time, I have dinner with another friend planned. Busy. Packed day.

So it's only fair and right that I should enter my third week of sleeping like total shit. I've been waking up in the night for no apparent reason and/or waking up before my alarm goes off by some margin. This week, it upped the ante a little and for the past three mornings I have woken up at 6:30am having not been able to get to sleep the night before. Which is harsh enough when you have to get up an hour later for work. But when you don't have to get up until nearly 9am, it's really fucking annoying. Ah well. In other news, I have now lost 30lbs. Slowly but surely, slowly but surely.....

I'm out of the vortex. For now

I am free, for now, from the grip of Sydney Bristow. 88 episodes in three weeks, not bad going. The show is insanely brilliant, if a little all over the place and I shall pass full judgement on the show with a proper blog entry when I have watched the final 17 episodes that are season 5. The cliffhanger of season 4 is an absolute humdinger, I have to say and that I have to wait until Nov 20th for that season to be released on DVD is torture. At least I have two season of Deadwood to occupy me in the meantime and season 5 of 24 is out on Nov 6th. TV whore? Me?

In other news, I attended a preview screening of The History Boys this morning. Now, some of you will be aware that I managed to miss this play with the original cast on both sides of the Atlantic, so the movie is a nice consolation prize. I loved it. It's beautifully written and the fact that the original cast are all in the movie obviously means the performances are all spot on. I was distracted by just how enormous Richard Griffiths has gotten though. I was entranced by Frances De La Tour, her effortlessness and her indescribably wonderful voice. As for the boys, well Samuel Barnett was as glorious as I had heard he was and of course, Dominic Cooper was a sensation. But he's mine, MINE, do you hear me? I have loved him since he made his stage debut in Mother Clap's Molly House about 5 years ago. The scene where he seduces Stephen Campbell Moore's Irwin was so intense I could barely stand it. The transition to the screen isn't 100% successful though. The ending probably works well in the theatre but the transition is so blatantly theatrical that it doesn't quite cut it on film. On the whole, I have to say the film has left me with an unshakeable feeling of profound melancholy. Which is no bad thing.

This week, I get to see the first post opening night performance of the new Cabaret revival followed by the first preview of Caroline, Or Change. I am so very excited. I'm seeing them with a dear friend who has recently been in NYC so we have a lot of catching up to do. I can't wait. It'll be a welcome relief as work has been so very harsh this past week. Lots of nasty problems to be dealing with and I have clashed more than once with people in higher positions than me into the bargain. Fun.

I apologise for this interruption to your blogging service

But I have been sucked into an Alias vortex and I just can't escape. A friend has loaned me seasons 1-4 and I am utterly addicted, I've ploughed through 60 episodes in a scarily small amount of time (9 days). Only 28 to go and then a frustratingly long wait until Season 5 is out on DVD....