life

Istambul (Not Constantinople)

/ saxonbullock2000 / 1 Comment

Today is the trip home, so won’t be too heavy duty…

I wrote that on Thursday morning, and boy was I regretting it by Thursday evening. Thanks to a whole selection of weird occurrences my supposedly simple four-hour journey by train from Edinburgh to London (having basked in the magic that was WALL-E in the morning) turned out to be an eight hour journey into one of the lower circles of hell. ‘Signal Problems’ meant we got stranded at Doncaster station for 2 1/2 hours with virtually no news, and then limped the rest of the way into London, getting in at 11.10 (instead of 7.20). And, just to compound things, I was too late to get to Waterloo for the last train (at 11.20), so I was bundled into a Taxi with a couple of other Hampshire-based passengers (paid for by the Train company) and driven on a fairly epic journey back home. 2.10 am was my arrival time, so Friday was, to be honest, a wash-out. I managed to get myself together for the interview with Tarsem Singh, but other than that was not able to get much done. Today was a little better, however, and I’m getting back into the swing of things. I wish I did have the chance to slump, but there’s proofreading to do, reviews to finish, and an interview to write up, and other problems to sort. Friday is the day when we’re off on holiday, and everything needs to be done by then. At some point, I’m going to stop, and breathe out a very long sigh of relief. Just not quite yet….

Crosseyed and Painless

/ saxonbullock2000 / 2 Comments

Ah. There you are. I was wondering where you’d got to.

It’s funny- I can remember Edinburgh Festivals in the past where I got to do regular blogging. Not this year, though- it’s Thursday morning, I’m going to be heading off to see my final screening soon (Pixar’s WALL-E, one I’ve been seriously looking forward to), and I think I’ve been able to pause twice in the last seven days. Balancing two interviews, the related work (transcribing, editing), getting enough sleep and watching as many movies as possible has not been the easiest job- it’s been one of those times when every single hour is spoken for, and you simply can’t take your eye off the ball. And, just to make things even better, I don’t even get to stop. Today is the trip home, so won’t be too heavy duty- but tomorrow, I’m interviewing Tarsem Singh, director of The Fall, I’ve got a stack of proofreading to do when I’m home, plus two reviews already of films I’ve seen here. We’re off on holiday a week on Friday- and for various reasons, the time up until then is simply going to be insane. I’ll get through it, but I can’t help feeling it’d be nice to acheive a little balance in my life- going from the kind of frustrating “what the hell am I going to do now?” quiet of a couple of weeks ago to this kind of full-on craziness is a little too much to cope with at times.

Whoblogging on last week’s episode will be happening, but at a point where I’m actually able to string two sentences together. It might need to be a double-bill with this week’s instalment (an episode which looks like it’s certainly going to be off-the-scale in terms of “How many past characters can we cram in?”, which isn’t necessarily a good sign…)

Now- must go and persuade myself that I am really awake.

Zzzzzz

I Ain’t Got Time To Bleed…

/ saxonbullock2000 / Leave a comment

Saturday evening, and enthusiasm is not exactly running high. Partly it’s the general sleep deprivation of hostel living (no matter how long you sleep, it’s never quite enough…), and partly it’s the general stresses and strains of trying to fit watching as many films as possible into as short a space, along with doing all the work I’m doing on the interviews. The first one has been transcribed and roughly thrown together, which’ll make tomorrow much easier- but I’ve got another to do tomorrow, and ideally they’re all due in on Monday.

Between all this, I haven’t had many opportunities to truly enjoy the bit I like of film festivals- sitting in a screening room watching lots of movies. I’m averaging two a day at a moment (but will hopefully increase once I get past Monday), and yesterday was TIRIMASU, a heartwarming and very charming Dutch drama about an ageing actress, and BANANAZ, a behind-the-scenes documentary on cartoon band Gorillaz which was thinly made, far too shambolic and at least half an hour too long. Tonight I’ve got two hours of a documentary about the Abu Girab photography scandal (it’ll be depressing, but at least I’ll be paid for it), and hopefully the evening will get a lot more fun with creepy-looking Spanish time travel murder mystery TIMECRIMES.

I also went to a party last night- but film related parties are very rarely the kind of environments where I can have fun. The free booze was nice and the place was fairly roomy, but I didn’t truly enjoy myself, and it generally ended up with me feeling that I need to throw a lot more energy into my writing. I’m never going to feel like I completely belong here, so it’d be far more sensible to head in a direction where I have a chance…

The one advantage is that with my decision to not do the whole festival, I’m not too far from my departure date. Next Thursday is my exit, and if I can keep myself busy, I really don’t think it’ll take too long to come around.

Tick tock tick tock…

For Sleepyheads Only

/ saxonbullock2000 / Leave a comment

Arrived in Edinburgh- and it’s strange to be here without the mania of the Fringe Festival going on. It’s almost as if the city is half dressed, and there’s a certain feeling of energy that’s lacking. Speaking of lacking energy, I’ve also briefly encountered the problems of staying in a hostel when someone in my eight-bed dorm on the first night turned out to be an epic snorer. And, of course, he had to be on the bunk directly above me. And, to make life even weirder, he turned out to be a journalist I know who’s also covering the Festival- but thankfully, last night turned out to be a whole lot easier. Yesterday, though, was a bit of a wash-out thanks to being so ridiculously tired, but I still managed two films- MARRIED LIFE (a stylish noir-esque drama, well acted but a little too on-the-nose) and ELEGY (Brilliantly acted, gorgeously made, but very dour and a little hard going at times).

This morning, I’ve got the first of three interviews I’m doing at the festival (one of which, ironically, is happening next Friday as a phone interview because I’ll be back home by then…), and I’ve got to try and factor in sorting the interview (and the one on Sunday) as well as seeing as much as is possible. I’ve said it before- Film Festivals aren’t completely designed for human beings, but I’m here, I’m busy, and I’m going to get through it somehow.

The adventures continue…

At Home, At Work, At Play

/ saxonbullock2000 / Leave a comment

Life for the last few days has been somewhat frantic, as it always is before embarking on a significant adventure. I’m off to the Edinburgh Film Festival tomorrow for the first time in two years, and for the first time I’ve got a significant amount of work there (including two interviews) which is actually going to make me feel like a journalist rather than just someone who watches lots and lots of films in the desperate hope some of them might come in useful. I’ll be going with my handy, near-pocket sized Eee PC, so hopefully I’ll have access to wireless in a variety of places – my input on the blog may vary wildly over the next eight days. Either I’ll be doing it every spare minute, or you won’t hear from me until late next week – but either way, I’m entering a somewhat busy time. Hang onto your hats…

Young Hearts Run Free

/ saxonbullock2000 / Leave a comment

After an exceptionally difficult couple of weeks – not helped by a large chunk of work abruptly being rescheduled – there’s a glimmer of light. I’m in the run-up to the Edinburgh Film Festival, and thanks to a collection of interviews, it’s actually become something that’s already paid for itself twice over before I’ve even gone and seen any movies there. There’s also been an increase in the amount of work I’ve got to do, and a couple of lucky breaks, while I’ve also learned something important about myself over the last couple of weeks. Structure is something I need in my life if I’m not going to end up running around like a headless chicken in panic mode, so I’m gradually working on a couple of plans which will hopefully keep me on track, even if they take a little while. Sometimes, having a little bit of understanding about the way your head works is a very important and useful thing.

Schedule Schmedule

/ saxonbullock2000 / Leave a comment

You know when you’re looking forward to something, and it acts as a kind of beacon? You may be having a somewhat crappy (or downhearted) time, but you think to yourself “Well, not long until…” I’m an easily pleased sort – and I was looking forward to finding out what the S4 finale of Lost had in store, especially as it’s a double-sized edition. Plus, I was looking forward to the eighth and final episode of the current chunk of Battlestar Galactica. Turns out that, for reasons completely unknown, they’re airing next week rather than this week. There’s a gap in the schedule for apparently no reason whatsoever, and it’s been officially compounded by having to wait an extra week to see the opener of Steven Moffat’s new Who two-parter.

I am officially vexxed.

In better news, I managed 4,000 words of new (if not particularly brilliant) fiction. It has, however, left my brain feeling somewhat fudge-like. Things will turn around – it just might take a little while to start happening…

Dissolved

/ saxonbullock2000 / 5 Comments

A day that could safely be described as difficult. I got another rejection for the novel this morning – and while I’d like to say I was terribly stoic and solid as a result of this negative news, I’d be lying through my teeth. It’s one of those times when I could really do with a gigantic amount of work to keep me occupied and stop the dogs in my head from barking, but fate being its usual self, I’ve got a semi-quiet patch before a serious amount of proof-reading, followed by the Edinburgh Film Festival which, together, will take up most of June. I’m just feeling rather tired and in need of distraction at the moment, like I’m patiently waiting for something that’s never actually going to arrive, and while I know I’ve got to be positive, there’s also a side of me that needs to forget about this and damn well get on with stuff. It’s never good when your usual outlets for relaxing after this kind of thing don’t work, or when you have the bright idea to call someone for a chat and it turns out that nobody’s home.

Anyway- while I may be a little down, I’m not out. And I’m certainly not about to let any of this beat me.

Black Tambourine

/ saxonbullock2000 / 1 Comment

A rather action packed weekend – a family visit to Devon and Cornwall which, for the first time, had to be compressed into a weekend thanks to time restrictions. Everything went fine, thankfully, a good time was had by all, and we even managed some decent weather after a somewhat shaky start. We drove back last night – and while five hours of solid driving is always going to be an unwelcome proposition, it all went well, and it was a relief to do it at a point when the traffic was pretty light. I’m now at the cusp of another week, with a book to read and review by Thursday, and a screening of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull to see tomorrow (which I was undecided on – but the initial reviews seem to suggest it’s at least up to the standards of Last Crusade, which makes me feel better…), plus more work to do on the follow-up to The Hypernova Gambit. I got another turn-down from a publisher last week – the waiting is a little difficult at times, what with the mollases-speed that publishing tends to go at, and it’s sometimes hard to keep the faith and enthusiasm going when it seems to take a very long time for something to happen (and so far when it has happenned, it’s been people saying they don’t like it…). I’m not going to give up, though- and I’ve got a whole selection of really, really odd ideas for the later books – I just want the opportunity to actually do them…

Welcome to the Machine

/ saxonbullock2000 / Leave a comment

Weeks have passed, and aside from my vague Whoblogging, I’ve been keeping quiet here. My TV output has gone way down, mainly because I’m now doing a column for Vector, the BSFA magazine, and trying to sculpt my ramblings into 3,000 or so coherent words isn’t the easiest thing in the universe. (I’m also hugely thankful to coalescent for being prepared to edit out all the stuff that doesn’t work…). My most recent one was all about Torchwood, but I did try to actually tackle what I feel is conceptually wrong with the show, rather than simply bitching about the multitude of surface errors. There was a Torchwood-related link in this week’s Torque Control that said something significant (which I instantly wished I’d actually said in my article) which is that it’s a show that’s good at giving its audience what it wants (and no more) – and I think this is also true of New Who.

A short burst of yet more Who-related burblings…