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I Don’t Need No Steenkin’ Hot Weather

Yesterday was Shopping Day™, and I went into Birmingham. The weather continues to displease me. First thing in the morning, it’s chilly; by noon, it’s blisteringly hot; by late afternoon, a cold wind has been added to the mix. I don’t know, maybe this inconsistency is what Global Warming is about. All I know for sure is, it’s incredibly annoying. Particularly the blisteringly hot bit… but then, I’m no Summer Fan.

Anyhow, I bought a video: Touch of Evil. Oh no! Another Orson Welles film! (I bought The Third Man last month.) Yeah, well, I’m a fan, and since I’m not buying books at the moment—I’m still slogging through The Stand at present, with about 260 pages to go—I’m spending what little spare cash I have elsewhere. As with The Third Man, it’s been at least a decade since I saw this one. We’ll probably watch it tonight, so maybe I’ll comment further tonight or tomorrow.
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Our Flat-Hunting: The Last Stand!

Well, we did have a lead on a new home. But someone put a bid in first, so, POOF, now we don’t. I have mixed feelings. I really hated the location, if I’m being honest, so in that sense there’s relief… on the other hand, we’re still very much stuck here. *sigh*

However, we have spotted another suitable property, advertised today. The asking price is slightly lower than the last one, and even better, the location is preferable (not ideal, but definitely preferable). More news on that soon, I expect. I’m taking nothing for granted, but keeping my fingers crossed.
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Reg Dwight Vamps It Up!

Ah. So Elton John is making Anne Rice’s Vampire Lestat into a Broadway musical. Almost nothing Mr. Dwight does these days sparks my interest, but this sounds particularly dreadful. At least he isn’t taking the lead role himself. That would require an extra five or six vertical inches, major liposuction and weight-training, plus a different species of cranium-hugging beastie. (Then again, the vertical discrepancy didn’t stand in Tom Cruise’s way…)
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Looking for Stephen King?

Current reading = old reading I never quite made. Mom bought me Stephen King’s Bag of Bones in hardcover back in Christmas ’98. I’m not sure why I never read the thing. I dug it out a few nights ago and when mom saw it she remembered she’d bought it from Asda—where it had been proudly displayed on a stand that proclaimed it King’s Latest (which, at the time, it was).

I’m just over halfway through, and I can say that I’d deprived myself! It’s a really great book. Not very fast-moving, really, but rich in character with lots of intriguing detail. For another opinion, read Kevin Quigley’s review. I’m giving it a big thumb’s-up (of course, if the ending disappoints me, I might go back on this).
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Favourite Fiction

Yep, another top ten. Which I might have posted earlier, but I had something to do (more later), plus I didn’t finish writing the list out until around noon. And so:

TOP TEN BOOKS (fiction)

01. The Complete Sherlock Holmes (Arthur Conan Doyle, 1887-1927) Fiction’s greatest detective. Over a span of 56 short stories and four novels, the quality is a mixed bag—the worst can be quite dull, the best simply magnificent. Almost all of them have great moments. Doyle was the reluctant creator of a true legend.

Favourite Fiction
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Bombing for Freedom

Today’s war news: the coalition aces have bombed Mansour, because Saddam ‘might’ have been there, and blitzed the Palestine Hotel where numerous journalists were based. We don’t know if they got Saddam or not, of course, but we do know they blasted another bunch of civilians (you know, the ones they’re ‘liberating’) into the next world based on their so-called ‘intelligence.’

I’ve said it before: I just want it to end…
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Christmas Entertainment

No updates over Christmas period. I couldn’t be arsed. Actually, I have (yet again) been wondering what purpose this Web site serves at all, and I’m lost for answers. It is something to do when all else fails, yes. I enjoy fiddling with it sometimes. But it doesn’t really say much or do much. It’s just there. Hmmm.

Christmas was quite boring. The television was generally rubbish, so no surprises there. The Only Fools and Horses special was pretty good—somewhat better than last year’s weak effort, anyhow. I OD’d on the soaps a bit, and they were, uh, full of shocks… Jamie died in EastEnders (wow, big surprise), Ray was the stalker in Emmerdale (wow, even bigger surprise), and Richard didn’t kill anyone in Corry (actually, that was a surprise).

The Hound of the Baskervilles film (mentioned here) was fairly good. It wasn’t quite as faithful to the original as had been implied, but I did like it. Although, Richard E. Grant being in it (as Stapleton) made me realise what an absolutely perfect Sherlock Holmes he’d make. Richard Roxburgh’s Holmes was okay, but Grant could have been genuinely great. A missed opportunity.
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Retail Therapy

Today, being out shopping (for food, not pleasure, alas), I passed a book store and I of course succumbed. Some people buy shoes; some people can’t pass a novelty shop without buying some little cuddly toy; but me, I guess it’s books. It used to be comics more than books, but books are better value for money these days, and comics don’t have many Jack Kirbys out there anymore. (*sigh* I might get nostalgic.)

It was a close one. This store had several copies of Stephen King’s Cycle of the Werewolf, with wonderful illustrations by Bernie Wrightson. I wanted this so much when I heard about it maybe 17 years ago, but amazingly, I have never seen it for sale anywhere. I didn’t even know it was still in print. Anyway, that’s earmarked for purchase v.v. soon. I passed it today.
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