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Chrissie

Ho Ho Ho

The Christmas display in Birmingham is well up to its usual unimpressive standards. Tourists are flocking from yards around to see the spectacle. Hm. Yes. Well, actually, I’ve just found that taking a snap of part of it while walking makes it almost look interesting

Ho Ho Ho

Psychedelic! Well, kinda.
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Success is…?

I think I consider myself an unsuccessful person in most respects. I’m always wary of buying into someone else’s subjective value system; our government would, no doubt, love to ram their values down all our throats forcibly if that were possible. I’m trying to define success on a personal level that means something to me.

Trouble is, even on my own terms, I can’t find much from my current or past life that would qualify as successful (or even especially rewarding, which is probably the best kind of success of all). I’ve wasted half my life treading water. I think my recent birthday still troubles me on that level.

I don’t think I relate to other people very well. Most people are very facile at pretending they’re okay (most of the time), really well adjusted and comfortable, etc. I’m not sure it’s possible for any of us to be genuinely comfortable in this intense, madhouse environment we’re living in. We’ve abandoned almost everything that constituted our default existence, and such profound artificiality can’t possibly hold together coherently. Well, I mean, it doesn’t! I think society is more culturally divided than it ever was, even though more people are straining to pretend otherwise. (Usually, alas, to flatter their own egos rather than to seek genuine change.)
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Stuck in the House

Terrible, rainy weather today. I’m not really stuck in the house, but I had a couple of non-urgent errands that this wretched downpour has dissuaded me from doing today. (Okay, I’m a wuss. Sue me.)

I had plans for last Wednesday. Saruman himself, Christopher Lee, was signing his autobiography, Lord of Misrule, in London at Forbidden Planet on Saturday and Borders on Wednesday. I thought I’d go for Wednesday. Alas, irrevocable transport problems put the kibosh on my plans… I did finally make it into Brum, but too late to get an affordable train that would’ve been on time. My only choice was a Virgin train for £30. I was forced to admit defeat.

Stuck in the House
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Best of Bowie

Well, not really. I was thinking about the patently impossible task (suggested by David [dead link]) of making a Bowie Top Ten (see my general Favourite Sounds list here). Can’t be done! But I’ll grab ten songs anyway and refuse to stand by them tomorrow, okay?

But first…

Best of Bowie

Older and craggier, but still a God! Sorry, just wanted to include a photo. Right, here’s my carelessly compiled list…
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No Letter From the Queen

Well, hey, I’m still here. No wrist-slashing antics during the night. I’m coping with being an old fart remarkably well. By my standards, that is.

And yes, this comes to you from a new computer, which came Tuesday. Last time I bought a new computer, almost two years ago, it was a second-hand piece of tat due to limited funds (my old old one blew up). So, okay, it’s only a computer… but it sure is nice to use compared to the creaky old brute I’ve been stuck with. 18″ TFT too—sexy! And I can burn CDs now. Of course, without a pack of CDs to play with, that isn’t much use. Today is shopping day, so that situation will be remedied shortly.
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Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

So, Lord of the Rings. The first episode, that is. It’s funny to think back, because two years ago I was really hot to see this at the cinema. I even re-read the books in anticipation of it. But it never happened, and my interest sort of waned.

Since getting a DVD player—we were probably at least two years behind most people there—my interest revived. (My interest in buying films on the whole has revived; I’d become entirely disillusioned with the horrors of VHS.) Last Thursday, I spotted a copy at Asda for a little under eight pounds. That clinched it.

Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
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