UnorthodoxY Archive It's wasn't what you thought

I’ve been busy, hence the lack of posts. Really, it’s not just laziness this time. Here’s a bit of a catch up post to fill in the gap. So, what have I been doing? Well, I’ve been …

Playing Poker. Last time I mentioned The Nuts Poker League I was just a player. Now, somehow, I’m organising a game. Every Tuesday night I run a poker night in the Persevere. It’s a bit more difficult than I expected but I think I’m on top of it now. Come along if you’re in Edinburgh on a Tuesday night — it’s a fun night out. Most of the time.

Going to the Cinema. I’ve seen a couple of films. Die Hard 4.0 is lots of fun if you don’t take it too seriously. McClane takes enough punishment to kill a normal person within the first twenty minutes of the movie, but by the time he’s destroyed his first helicopter you stop caring. They stretch it a bit towards the end (you’ll know what I’m talking about when you see it) but I liked the final few minutes a lot, it contrasted nicely with all the over the top stuff that proceeded it. Go see it.
I liked Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix less, the last half an hour are great but the rest of the film seemed a bit rushed and disjointed. It seems like they were just going through ticking off the important plot points in order to get to the end. It it was always going to be a difficult book to turn into a film and my view appears to the minority, so maybe it caught me on a bad day. Worth seeing anyway, but I’d wait for the DVD if you haven’t seen it already.

Going to the Zoo. Eh, not much to say. I went to Edinburgh Zoo. It’s a zoo, and it’s quite difficult to shake the “animals in concrete cages” vibe even though they’re trying very hard to be a more modern attraction. Still an interesting place to go and visit, well worth a day trip. But I preferred the Highland Wildlife Park which is run by the same people and has a much less zoo-y feel to it.

Sorting out the Festival. Less than two weeks until the start of all the various Edinburgh festivals. I’ve picked up tickets to a few things but I’m mostly going with my traditional plan of sitting around one of the big venues drinking and picking shows at, more-or-less, random.

Booking a Holiday. I’ve still got around four weeks worth of holidays to take from work so I should find something to do. Last year it was Russia on a train. This year it’s pretty much Mexico on a bus. I’m going to a wedding in Mexico City at the beginning of November so I’ve booked to a little tour of Central America and I’ve sorted a return flight out to Los Angeles. I think I’ll dot around the big cities on the western side of the USA before and after the Mexico part. It’s vague plan but it’s still a plan. Yay. The only problem is it’s still three months away.

And that’s what I’ve done. With more birthdays, weddings, movies, poker and festival stuff, to come I’m going to continue being busy for the next few weeks.

So today I’m going to relax, lie on the couch, drink beer, watch the Grand Prix and then read some more of the new Harry Potter book.

Not a bad plan for a Sunday.

I watched Taking Liberties last week — the official site says:

Right to Protest, Right to Freedom of Speech. Right to Privacy. Right not to be detained without charge, Innocent Until Proven Guilty. Prohibition from Torture. TAKING LIBERTIES will reveal how these six central pillars of liberty have been systematically destroyed by New Labour, and the freedoms of the British people stolen from under their noses amidst a climate of fear created by the media and government itself.

Which is pretty much what it does. It’s a film made up of separate stories, all true, highlighting the erosion of our civil liberties. A film like this could have been a disjointed affair but it’s actually structured in a sensible way that makes it hold together very well as a film. Of course it has a bit of an agenda but the examples they show are still disturbing enough even if they’ve been cherry picked to show the extremes. I’d have liked to see more of the government trying to justify themselves, mostly it’s stock footage and ‘ambush’ interviews, but I guess there wasn’t much chance of getting ol’ Tony to do a sit down interview for a film like this.

All in all it’s an excellent film and one that you really should see, just to see some of the stuff that goes on in the UK.

And last week lots of people did see it, the cinema was quite busy. And noisy. I think because it was a documentary people thought that they could add their own commentary.

Look, I know it’s a film about free speech but shut up! Or at least attempt to whisper your thoughts to your friends. You know, use your inside voice. Don’t bray loudly that about which protesters you’ve met and which fields you’ve camped in.

We might still have to time to save our civil liberties but I fear that old fashioned Great British good manners are beyond help.

Bonus film news, everyone and their dog has already linked to it but just it case you’ve not seen the trailer here’s your runaway summer blockbuster: The Simpsons Movie.