Unexpected Holiday - A Curse in Disguise?

So - it turns out that, due to various work based-rubbish, I've suddenly found myself with two weeks of holiday time to be used up within the month. I realise that this doesn't seem to be something to complain about (along the lines of "my diamond shoes are too tight"), but it does leave me at something of a loose end. My second week off should be okay, coming as it does in at the arse-end of September, but in order to not lose my allocated holidays altogether, I've suddenly found that I'm going to have to take next week off. Which would be all well and good, were it not for the fact that I've had no time to prepare for it, and will have no actual money to spare for actually doing anything.

Usually when I take a holiday, I visit my parents. They live out in the country, and it's always a joy to take a week or so out from city life and relax in their country idyll. But - with the rusty bite of irony - they're actually on vacation themselves for three weeks (in Canada, no less), so that's not an option that's open to me. There's a couple of friends that I could visit, but, given that we've had no time to synchronize holidays as James Bond would have synchronized watches, that's going to amount to little more than a couple of day trips.

So - any suggestions as to what I can do with a week's worth of free time? Bearing in mind that I'll have no money. And that everyone else I know will still be working. And that I really don't want to spend a week fingerpainting or playing with Play-dough.

Of course, it'll be a good excuse to do more running: but what I really need is a some kind of project with which to while away the hours. This is a "use-it-or-lose-it" kind of holiday; and with no money and no time to plan anything, if I'm not careful I'll just end up rattling about in my empty flat for the bulk of it. Which would not be good.

So if I can help anyone out with anything, gimme a shout. I can do the web-site design thing: not terribly well, admittedly, but better than a poke in the eye. Just. If you can keep me occupied during my otherwise pretty-bleak looking vacation, get in touch. All offers considered. Probably not entirely seriously, though.

Turns Out I'm Not The Best Blogger In The World...

Well, I'm not exactly a regular poster so far, am I? Three posts on the first day and then nothing at all for a week or so. And that's even with people commenting on my posts - I actually feel guilty that people are reading this rubbish and I'm not even doing them the courtesy of adding new stuff as often as I should. Maybe I just need some time to get into the habit. That and a more interesting life so that I actually have something to say.

In my defense, though, I have actually been quite busy for the past wee bit. Well, maybe "busy" is too strong a word. "Occupied" might be better. I don't mean to harp on about the dearly departed Bob (or "Beelzibob", as he was often known in life) - but an otherwise pretty grim time has been softened somewhat by good friends showing up unexpectedly, having heard what happened. All of my best mates knew how much that little guy meant to me, and I really appreciated having them round in my otherwise lifeless flat. All the more so because Bob had actually peed on more than one of them in his time. And I'm fairly sure the rest were on his "To Do" list.

Still, I'm swiftly coming to the realization that this blog really isn't going to be very entertaining. If I could work out how to do it, I'd put a link to ksra's blog to your right. Then at least you could track her progress on her "American Idol" adventure. Although she's already my Idol for just going for it in the first place.

Me? I'm kind of resigned to the fact that, in order to be halfways interesting, I'm going to have to start making stuff up. "Scots and Idle" is never going to get any pulses racing. But did I mention that I was abducted by aliens over the weekend? I'm still walking funny...

The Passion of the Christ

So - I watched Mel Gibson's pet project today. And was mostly underwhelmed. It's well shot, and looks pretty, but, as a film, it's rubbish.

First off - most people know the story anyway. It's kind of a given that it's not going to end well.

Don't get me wrong: I have a lot of time for Jesus. I wouldn't call myself a Christian, but I think that Jesus was a pretty good bloke with a lot of interesting stuff to say - a peripatetic philosopher of the old school. Obviously, this blood-soaked saga is Mel trying to get closer to the actual man behind the suffering - it's almost as if he tries to make him more divine by emphasising his mortality. But then he puts Biblical words into Jesus' mouth - "Lord forgive them, they know not what they do", etc. He does convey how brutal crucifixion actually was - but; it's not like anyone ever thought it was otherwise. He doesn't show anything that anyone with any imagination hasn't already thought.

Jim Catweasel (or whatever his name is) just has to look pained and be drenched in fake blood. There are some occasional flashbacks to the Sermon on the Mount and the Last Supper and suchlike, but they're so brief and short that they might as well not be in there (although I did like the scene when Jesus makes a table. That, rather than watching the flesh being flayed from him bones, made him seem human.)

So - crucifiction hurts. It's not fun. Does the film make any point other than that? No. It's basically two hours of watching a guy getting a wincingly serious kicking. It says nothing about Jesus' message, it conveys nothing about what he actually said (it focuses entirely on how he died) - and actually makes Mr. Christ come across as a smug handwaving git. Oh - and the subtitles? They just distance you from the story even more. And I say that as a big fan of foreign films. "Carandiru" is superb. And says more about the human condition than this movie does.

A Tribute to Bob

I hate to start this thing off on a depressive note, but it wouldn't feel right if I didn't mention that Bob died a week ago today. Bob was my cat: not so much a pet, more of a moody flatmate who didn't pay any rent, relied on me to buy all his food, and never actually learned to use the toilet. Don't get me wrong - I've had flatmates like that before, but Bob was the only one who used to curl up on my stomach and purr fit to burst as I stroked his soft white underbelly.

I truly loved that little bugger, all the more so because he hated everyone else in the world. He had that "Paddington Bear Hard Stare" perfected, and used it liberally on everyone but me. I'd had him ever since he was a little kitten - and he was always a kitten with me, but a tiger with an inferiority complex with everyone else. I still can't believe that I've lost him.

My tiny flat seems twice as big and ten times as empty without him. He's still around every corner and behind every door. In a way I'm glad that he's still slinking through my head, but it cuts me to the bone to know that that's the only life he has left to him.

The First Post - apparently it's hard to play on a bugle

So here I am. Inspired by the inimitable k_sra and her infectious blogations, I've decided to give this weblog thing a shot. Will I keep it up? Will it be interesting to anyone else but me? Only time will tell. Still, it has saved me the expense of buying a diary.