It's a strange old world sometimes. The last week or two, here in the Great Southern Land (but in the upper reaches of said country), it's been raining up a storm....or, well...showering cats and dogs? Umm, yeah. That thing that happens when there's lots and lots of wet dribbly stuff coming out of the sky (ok, so I am very much aware of just how wrong that sounds, thanks very much - no need to write in and let me know!) :-)
Either way, it's most certainly storm-season here in the Sunshine State (where, perhaps - just perhaps, mind - it has rained more in the last year that it has in England in the same time), and while we are again due for another week of thunderstorms and torrential downpours, I don't plan on talking about the ruddy weather for much more of this blog!
So, instead, I thought I might converse on other things - like sunrise and sunset times (God I'm boring at times, I know!). But it's something that interests me, especially since one of my dearest and closest friends buggered off to London for two years with his dad (lucky sod!).
He's been filling me in on English curiosities, such as the fact that the sun is still shining at 10.30pm in London (I'm guessing that's only in Summer though?), when it has well and truly set this side of the pond by 7pm at the latest in Summer in Queensland, and about 4pm in Winter. What I want to know, and perhaps Ceramix in Berkshire can help me out on this one, is "if the sun goes to bed at such a late time, and gets up around 3am (so my friend says), how the hell do you sleep?" Or is England full of people who only sleep six months of the year, and party the other six? :-) Just wondering, mind...
But apart from thinking odd thoughts about our cousins, the Poms (affectionate terminology only - no offense intended!), I've also been super busy with this story competition. What story competition? Didn't I mention it? Oh - Brisbane (the capital city of Queensland), despite being hit by bad storms, is having their "One Book, Many Brisbanes" competition again this year, and my sister suggested (somewhat forcibly) that I enter it. So I am.
I know why I tend to write short stories, though, and not medium-length ones! Medium-length ones are hard, that's why! I'm learning that my attention span is not very long at all, and I don't like being made to concentrate for long periods of time, even when it's for something I like doing! (if I were any younger, I'd chuck a tanty about now...)
However, I'm getting there. I will probably be a lot more there tonight when I stop writing in my blog and get back to the story-telling, but I'm getting there nevertheless. It's been a hard road for me, this particular time. So that my sister doesn't edit my story to mere point format (sorry, Sis, but I know you don't like all the fluffy descriptive stuff, scientist that you are), I've done it for her, so where I once had a story of about 2500 words (I need 4000-6000 though), I managed to edit it down to 744 words. AARRGGHH!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh well, but I've been busy since then, and added more story-line, bone structure, and general words (words are good!) to make it a bit more fleshed out. I've even got it up to 2624 words now, so I guess I'm about half way. And at least it's all planned out - just needs fleshing out. I'll get there. I have to - it's due in a week!
What else have I been up to? Moving copious amounts of ex-trees around in little piles all over my front yard, watching my back deck quickly disintegrate now that there's no branches overhanging it, enjoying the odd day of sunshine while absolutely hating the 30+ degrees Celsius temps. You know, usual stuff.
And because I haven't in ages, (and to keep my sister happy), I'll give all of that and more to you in point form :-)
1. I hate summer in Queensland, due to A) storms, B) intense heat, C) localised flooding in the Caboolture Shire means I can't get out of my ruddy house, even to buy my dog some food!
2. Been catching up on the Inspector Lynley Mysteries on Foxtel. It's a bit odd, because I've been getting both the first few early seasons (when he had the blue car) and also the more recent stuff (now he has the nice flash red car), and two different Helens are hard to deal with. And yeah I know - she got killed. God I hated that ep!
3. TOP GEAR IS BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!! (don't even bother to ask what I think of the Aussie version - the ONLY one worth watching is the Pommie one).
4. Vegemite is officially 75 years old this year.
And.It.Tastes.Better.Than.Marmite.
(and I eat it with a spoon - yummmmmm)
5. last night the moon and two planets played smilie face all night in the sky. It made the news and Mum rang me to tell me all about it, so I went and had a look. When I get around to it (and if they are any good) I'll upload the pics I took of it.
6. Still waiting to hear who will replace our sexy tenth incarnation of the current inhabitant of the little blue box that makes wooosshhhing noises, and that I wish (desperately) would appear in my lounge room one of these days (or nights - either is fine by me!)
7. Also waiting patiently for news of when Series 3 of Robin Hood is to be broadcast (England, Australia - I don't care. Just some news!). It is going to be very very odd without Lady Marion, and now that Robin Hood has/is left/leaving......umm, pray tell, how do you have a show called Robin Hood without a character called Robin Hood?
8. Scarily (or maybe not), I recently found a 10 episode disc of DRAGNET among my DVD collection, right along with a mixed double disc of episodes from Peter Gunn and another similar cop show. I think the scary part is that I actually thoroughly enjoyed them! Or perhaps it's that I remember watching Dragnet on TV when I was supposed to be in bed :-) Yeah, that'd be it!
9. I haven't watched many monster-movies of late (Godzilla is more a winter thing, I think), preferring to stay in and watch the BBC classics that are being broadcast on a Thursday night. It started early this year with "North and South" (gotta love Richard Armitage), and went from there. Most recently we've had "Larkrise to Candleford" which I thoroughly enjoyed, and they've just started "Jane Eyre". Not sure how I feel about that one yet. I practically know that book backwards, it being one of my favs from when I was a kid right through to adulthood, and I am always on the lookout for versions of it and the other classics. But I think the problem I have is with the person put in charge of turning it from a novel into a 4 part tv series. The script-writer, perhaps. Either way, she's the same one who did "North & South" (previously mentioned above), and just like that one, she's cut swathes of the good stuff out. Fair 'nuff - it's her job - and she's doing the authors a favour, actually, because you HAVE to buy the book just to be able to fill in all the gaping holes she leaves - but damn it makes it hard to follow sometimes!
I mean, both are equally watchable, and lovely and all that (especially N & S with it's wonderfully haunting soundtrack), but I actually had to go and buy Elizabeth Gaskell's novel just to find out what was missing. Not that I minded. I've actually become a big fan of hers now. But while I thoroughly enjoyed watching Richard Armitage swan about in top-hat and tails (and a cravat! Can never forget that, or the scene towards the end when he finally took the bloody thing off!), I was well and truly aware that there were huge chunks of necessary bits removed. Okay, so maybe necessary to me. But I like to get the whole picture. Not the highly edited version. I LIKE the fluffy descriptive stuff :-)
And she's doing it again to "Jane Eyre". Sob. :(
No fair, no fair, no fair!
Either way, it's most certainly storm-season here in the Sunshine State (where, perhaps - just perhaps, mind - it has rained more in the last year that it has in England in the same time), and while we are again due for another week of thunderstorms and torrential downpours, I don't plan on talking about the ruddy weather for much more of this blog!
So, instead, I thought I might converse on other things - like sunrise and sunset times (God I'm boring at times, I know!). But it's something that interests me, especially since one of my dearest and closest friends buggered off to London for two years with his dad (lucky sod!).
He's been filling me in on English curiosities, such as the fact that the sun is still shining at 10.30pm in London (I'm guessing that's only in Summer though?), when it has well and truly set this side of the pond by 7pm at the latest in Summer in Queensland, and about 4pm in Winter. What I want to know, and perhaps Ceramix in Berkshire can help me out on this one, is "if the sun goes to bed at such a late time, and gets up around 3am (so my friend says), how the hell do you sleep?" Or is England full of people who only sleep six months of the year, and party the other six? :-) Just wondering, mind...
But apart from thinking odd thoughts about our cousins, the Poms (affectionate terminology only - no offense intended!), I've also been super busy with this story competition. What story competition? Didn't I mention it? Oh - Brisbane (the capital city of Queensland), despite being hit by bad storms, is having their "One Book, Many Brisbanes" competition again this year, and my sister suggested (somewhat forcibly) that I enter it. So I am.
I know why I tend to write short stories, though, and not medium-length ones! Medium-length ones are hard, that's why! I'm learning that my attention span is not very long at all, and I don't like being made to concentrate for long periods of time, even when it's for something I like doing! (if I were any younger, I'd chuck a tanty about now...)
However, I'm getting there. I will probably be a lot more there tonight when I stop writing in my blog and get back to the story-telling, but I'm getting there nevertheless. It's been a hard road for me, this particular time. So that my sister doesn't edit my story to mere point format (sorry, Sis, but I know you don't like all the fluffy descriptive stuff, scientist that you are), I've done it for her, so where I once had a story of about 2500 words (I need 4000-6000 though), I managed to edit it down to 744 words. AARRGGHH!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh well, but I've been busy since then, and added more story-line, bone structure, and general words (words are good!) to make it a bit more fleshed out. I've even got it up to 2624 words now, so I guess I'm about half way. And at least it's all planned out - just needs fleshing out. I'll get there. I have to - it's due in a week!
What else have I been up to? Moving copious amounts of ex-trees around in little piles all over my front yard, watching my back deck quickly disintegrate now that there's no branches overhanging it, enjoying the odd day of sunshine while absolutely hating the 30+ degrees Celsius temps. You know, usual stuff.
And because I haven't in ages, (and to keep my sister happy), I'll give all of that and more to you in point form :-)
1. I hate summer in Queensland, due to A) storms, B) intense heat, C) localised flooding in the Caboolture Shire means I can't get out of my ruddy house, even to buy my dog some food!
2. Been catching up on the Inspector Lynley Mysteries on Foxtel. It's a bit odd, because I've been getting both the first few early seasons (when he had the blue car) and also the more recent stuff (now he has the nice flash red car), and two different Helens are hard to deal with. And yeah I know - she got killed. God I hated that ep!
3. TOP GEAR IS BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!! (don't even bother to ask what I think of the Aussie version - the ONLY one worth watching is the Pommie one).
4. Vegemite is officially 75 years old this year.
And.It.Tastes.Better.Than.Marmite.
(and I eat it with a spoon - yummmmmm)
5. last night the moon and two planets played smilie face all night in the sky. It made the news and Mum rang me to tell me all about it, so I went and had a look. When I get around to it (and if they are any good) I'll upload the pics I took of it.
6. Still waiting to hear who will replace our sexy tenth incarnation of the current inhabitant of the little blue box that makes wooosshhhing noises, and that I wish (desperately) would appear in my lounge room one of these days (or nights - either is fine by me!)
7. Also waiting patiently for news of when Series 3 of Robin Hood is to be broadcast (England, Australia - I don't care. Just some news!). It is going to be very very odd without Lady Marion, and now that Robin Hood has/is left/leaving......umm, pray tell, how do you have a show called Robin Hood without a character called Robin Hood?
8. Scarily (or maybe not), I recently found a 10 episode disc of DRAGNET among my DVD collection, right along with a mixed double disc of episodes from Peter Gunn and another similar cop show. I think the scary part is that I actually thoroughly enjoyed them! Or perhaps it's that I remember watching Dragnet on TV when I was supposed to be in bed :-) Yeah, that'd be it!
9. I haven't watched many monster-movies of late (Godzilla is more a winter thing, I think), preferring to stay in and watch the BBC classics that are being broadcast on a Thursday night. It started early this year with "North and South" (gotta love Richard Armitage), and went from there. Most recently we've had "Larkrise to Candleford" which I thoroughly enjoyed, and they've just started "Jane Eyre". Not sure how I feel about that one yet. I practically know that book backwards, it being one of my favs from when I was a kid right through to adulthood, and I am always on the lookout for versions of it and the other classics. But I think the problem I have is with the person put in charge of turning it from a novel into a 4 part tv series. The script-writer, perhaps. Either way, she's the same one who did "North & South" (previously mentioned above), and just like that one, she's cut swathes of the good stuff out. Fair 'nuff - it's her job - and she's doing the authors a favour, actually, because you HAVE to buy the book just to be able to fill in all the gaping holes she leaves - but damn it makes it hard to follow sometimes!
I mean, both are equally watchable, and lovely and all that (especially N & S with it's wonderfully haunting soundtrack), but I actually had to go and buy Elizabeth Gaskell's novel just to find out what was missing. Not that I minded. I've actually become a big fan of hers now. But while I thoroughly enjoyed watching Richard Armitage swan about in top-hat and tails (and a cravat! Can never forget that, or the scene towards the end when he finally took the bloody thing off!), I was well and truly aware that there were huge chunks of necessary bits removed. Okay, so maybe necessary to me. But I like to get the whole picture. Not the highly edited version. I LIKE the fluffy descriptive stuff :-)
And she's doing it again to "Jane Eyre". Sob. :(
No fair, no fair, no fair!
1 comment:
To answer some of your points/questions:
Sleep? What's that? It's not the light but the bl##dy birds starting their tweeting at sunrise. That and the mad woman down the street who switches her house alarm on and off early every morning. It's quite noisey grr. I'm maybe not the best person to ask- I don't sleep that well to be honest. Too much going on through my mind perhaps so often end up whatching crap tv in the wee small hours...
Top Gear is cool isn't it? A programme about cars that you don't have to be a Petrol Head to enjoy. The piece on the Ferrari Daytona vs the power boat was just wonderful this week, very 60's.
Hmmm never actually tried Vegemite but it is now on my "to do" list. Question is, is it made from brewer's yeast? No coincidence the Marmite factory was next door to the Bass brewery. Might explain a lot LOL.
My money is on Paterson Joseph grabbing the keys to the you-know-what. Look out for the remake of Terry Nation's Survivors, currently on BBC1, featuring PJ...
Robin Hood, Robin Hood riding through the... There's a Dr Who shaped gap in the BBC's schedules in 2009. My vote is for an Easter start. Maybe. Who will be Hood after season 3? I think perhaps the current Earl of Loxley might have a change of heart, take the mantle and say "We are Robin Hood"..? Richard Armitage is currently playing a shifty goodguy in Spooks and for those that like that sort of thing, takes his shirt off a bit LOL.
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