As my last post hinted at my efforts towards Nanowrimo this year were slowly failing and I stopped writing anything towards it a couple of weeks ago. In between work, stress, illness and the demands of being creative something had to be left behind and that story was it. Which is a shame because I was enjoying it. I have written over 15000 words and I'm quite happy with what I want to do with the story now so at least it has put me in a strong position to write the novel at some point. A time that I hope will be soon.
Work has been very busy, with long hours, lots of stuff going on and it has left me feeling exhausted and very tense. I have done the occasional nice thing, though. It was good to see Soo when she came over for a writing weekend a couple of weeks ago. It was a very focused and non-boozy weekend but we also managed to go and see Beowulf in Imax 3d. I've heard rumours that 3d is supposed to be the next big thing, with James Cameron looking to release his next film in 3d, but after so many attempts I guess I felt a bit cynical about it all. Beowulf was not the best film I have ever seen but the use of 3d lifted it to be something more than the interesting but shallow film that it is.
Yesterday we went to see Ratatouille which surprised me more than I expected and which I enjoyed more than I expected. It is fairly standard modern kids fare but is greatly helped by a good story and a slightly subversive feel generated by the way that the rats always remain rats - they are not really anthropomorphised in the way of most Disney films so when, as happens a couple of times, you see a large number of them on the screen at the same time you do see them as rats. And despite that you still prefer them to the humans.
The other good thing that I did yesterday was get hold of the Black Dossier, a new League of Extraordinary Gentlemen book by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill which comprises variously of histories of various members of the League, details of an alternate history of the world that might just be true, a comic story of how the dossier is recovered by a couple of old members, related paraphenalia related to the fascist Big Brother government of IngSoc and a 3d adventure extravaganza at the end. I've barely started it and I already love it. It is something perfect for the coming dark nights over the next week. Assuming I can get home at a reasonable hour from now on.

nanowrimo is not going so well. circumstances have conspired to allow me to fall well behind. so far it might be too hard to catch up. we'll see what another weekend of effort can do. despite this i am enjoying it. something about the excuse to just sit down and write despite a constant drive to look for reasons not to.

"The station is weirdly beautiful. Covered in blue light, the colour of neon reflected in a lover's eyes, it seems to be alive. Its web of collectors extend and contract along its length like a deep sea creature propelling itself along some dark sea bed, seeking and catching antimatter created in the tearing of the high energy rays passing through the planet's magnetosphere."

see http://www.centauri-dreams.org/?p=1567
ttp://uzwi.wordpress.com/2007/11/13/are-you-looking-at-this/

Nanowrimo is almost upon us again. I'm looking foward to it. My laptop has shiny new flavoured Ubuntu (amazingly easy to do this time). I have a few vague and confused scribblings that barely make sense, let alone a plot. I have a big stack of tea and coffee. I have a pile of books by my favourite authors to star at and curse when I need inspiration (for the record: Alfred Bester, John Brunner, W S Burroughs, Joseph Conrad, Sam Delaney, M John Harrison, Ursula Le Guin and Gene Wolfe). It's going to be awesome.
If you're interested in joining in just head over to the web site and sign up. If you want to follow my progress then my profile is here: http://www.nanowrimo.org/user/134290

In other news, I had my birthday, it was strange at first and then fun, I bought an ipod, and spent a couple of hours in waterstones but didn't buy anything. and went to the art gallery. work busy.

Got back from a week in North Wales yesterday. Had a very nice time. Saw lots of castles which I haven't been to since I was a kid and did a fair amount of walking. Also did Snowdon. I am not sure I've actually been up it before but now I can definitely say that I have. We had pretty good weather and the views were really nice. You can view the route we took in Google maps here or, if you have Google Earth installed you can view it in 3d. We also went to the bird sanctuary on Anglesey at South Stack but it's definitely after the season for it and there were no birds, only a couple of climbers.

Work has been very busy. When I haven't been working I've been writing, which has been nice, but then it got to the point where I couldn't face being on a computer when I got home and email's stopped being answered and all I could managed was the odd zombie fight on Facebook.
But I have am off next week. After tomorrow, anyway, and we're going to North Wales. Looking forward to green and mountains even if the weather isn't great.
Had a reminder that it is nearly time once again for Nanowrimo, an annual competition to write a novel in one month. The prize is a novel that you have written in one month. I really enjoyed doing it last time and it taught me a lot. I don't have any ideas for it yet so hopefully I'll spend some time on it next week. If you've ever thought about writing a novel I recommend that you check out the web site and consider giving it a go. It's not like you have anything to lose.

The US currently uses 20 million barrels of oil per day. First we’re going to ban plastic bags, slicing away a giant 0.16% of that consumption. Now, bring on the plastic bottle ban, slashing a full 0.02% from the oil guzzling. Take that, global warming!
Reason Magazine

We have a reusable bag from Tescos. It's environmentally friendly and I get points when I use it and don't use a plastic bag. Some of these things are even fashion statements. The other week I emptied it out and was astounded by all the packaging that the food I had bought was wrapped in. There are at least enough there to make 10 plastic bags. Suddenly it all seemed rather pointless.

When Zak said that she wanted to go to Celebration Europe, the first official Star Wars convention outside of the US, I was a little bit dubious. The grown up part of me wondered whether I really wanted to be trapped for three days in a giant space filled with costumed, light sabre wielding lunatics. Afterall, much as I love Star Wars, I am not a true fan. I don't read the books, I don't care who shot first and I have no desire to dress up as a jedi or collect toys. Another part of me was quite happy with the idea. The part that loved Star Wars as a kid, that still gets that slightly irrational feeling whenever I hear those opening chords of the music.

Friday

We arrived on the Thursday afternoon and spent the evening in the centre of London gawping at Big Ben and finding somewhere to eat. The next morning we queued with everybody else to collect ticket and band before heading in. The first thing we saw inside was a big mock-up of Jabba's palace. Beyond that was row after row of shop selling almost any kind of Star Wars merchandise you can imagine. Fortunately that is not all there was. There were also long, long queues to collect autographs (at a minimum of a tenner each we didn't bother) and for chats or shows with various people involved with Star Wars. These were mostly hosted by Warwick Davies, who did an excellent job. (Warwick is one of Zak's heroes so she was particularly happy to be able to get a photo with him later that day) So we went to see R2 D2's controller, along with Kenny Baker. We saw the puppeteers behind Jabba's movements in Jedi, and an interview with a slightly crazy Mark Hamill. After that was the opening ceremony with a very smooth Ian McDiarmid and a showing of Star Wars on a big outdoor screen. It was nice to spend the evening drinking a few beers in the sun while watching the film. It then seemed like a good idea to go to the bar and drink some more. Chatted to some other visitors, eventually hooking up with a couple of Scots and a man from Barnsley until they kicked us out and we staggered the 100 yards back to the hotel.

Saturday

Woke up a little later than planned so got up, ate breakfast and made it inside in time for a showing of the Clone Wars, a new CGI cartoon animation coming out next year. Looks good. Then made it in to Anthony Daniels, who played C3PO, who gave a great performance. He knows that all the people in the room watching him are probably certifiable but that they also have a great affection for him. Unexpectedly interesting was the chat with Rick McCallum who produced the prequel trilogy. He came across as intelligent, keen and happy to be there with an honesty to questions that seemed quite refreshing compared to the usual spin of DVD extras. Finally that day we went to see the Battle of the Bands which was between Darth Elvis and a death metal band called Anchorhead. Anchorhead won with a crazy reworking of pretty much the whole of the Star Wars theme. I am not a fan of metal but they did deserve to win. We went for a drink after that but felt pretty tired so decided to take advantage of having a TV for the first time in months. Not that there was anything worth watching.

Sunday

Sunday started with a quick trawl of the shops before the crowds arrived to see if there was anything worth buying. After that it was an interview with Ray Parks, who played Darth Maul, along with a crazy reenactment of his death scene. After that we went to look at the Vader Project. A bunch of young artists had all been sent a Darth Vader mask to decorate however they wanted. There were some brilliant results. That set us up to watch an interview with Billy Dee Williams who was tired, intelligent and, of course, smooth. That about wrapped it up for the day. We wandered around a bit more, took some photos, tried to get in to see Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) but had to leave before it started it - it was running about an hour later than planned.

So, overall, I had a good time. It was interesting to get some real insights into what have been incredibly important and influential films. It was fun to meet some other fans and I'm glad that I went. But, if they have another one in a couple of years time I don't think I'll go again. Fun as it was it did feel like there could have been a lot more. Not just in terms of guests but also organisation. From the beginning there seemed to be few people who really knew what was supposed to be happening and who could help. There were few instructions to guide people. There were fan films being shown upstairs that could have been playing alongside the (inevitable) queues to make them more fun. There could have been more free stuff. Probably next time it will be better. But even so, for now, once is enough. And no, I did not buy a light sabre.

Work has been very busy and looks set to remain so for at least the next couple of weeks. However I am feeling much happier about it than I was last week.
We went to see Monkey;Journey to the West on Saturday. It is an opera directed by Chen Shizheng with music by Damon Albarn and animations by Jamie Hewlett. It also has an outstanding cast of fantastic actors and acrobats which all combined into a fantastic, wonderful experience. The set and costume designs were great - really matching the artwork - and the movements of the actors amazingly well choreographed so it actually felt almost seamless as it switched between live action and animation. And this is despite having crappy seats with restricted view.
Much, much better than the Mahabharata.
And despite being busy and tired am making myself do some writing at last and work through my own, personally developed (and stolen) journal. Drew a picture of an apple today and some origami. And as soon as something is good enough to show I'll be sure to upload it.