Three Billboards Outside Molly's Darkest Hour

Okay, I'll admit it. I haven't done any blogging for ages. Since before Christmas, it turns out. I guess the whole working at Rios again and then family time in Scotland got in the way of all that. So I'm back, I'm here, I got stories to tell and I'll start with Oscar season. Since it's Oscar season.

Summer means big action movies, the so-called 'blockbusters' and such, but January/February time? That's Oscar season, because the award shows are all gearing up for the big one and the distributors and producers want their films to be fresh in everyone's memory when it comes to golden statuettes time.

So what have I seen? Given my limited budget and time (for some reason that I can't explain), I've managed to go see Molly's Game, Darkest Hour and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (which I only just got back from).

My concise thoughts:

Molly's Game is tightly written, which is exactly what I expected from an Aaron Sorkin film. It tells the true story of Molly Bloom, who ran a high-stakes poker game in LA and then in NY and how it nearly destroyed her entire life. I very, very much enjoyed this film, although I'm not sure that Kevin Costner was right for the part of her dad. It appears that Idris Elba was saving up all the acting that he didn't do in Dark Tower for this one, as he was a great co-star to Jessica Chastain, who utterly captivates you on the screen of this one. Very interesting real life story, I recommend this one.

Darkest Hour. Wow. Jon suggested that as they get older, all great British actors have a go at King Lear or playing Churchill in some capacity. If this is the case, they can now all quit bothering because Gary Oldman has nailed it so utterly thoroughly that there's no need to make another film about Churchill ever again. Part of me just wishes that this, The King's Speech and Dunkirk could have somehow been made in conjunction with one another, Marvel style, so that Oldman and Firth could have done the bedroom meeting together. That would have topped it. A truly excellent portrayal that slightly overshadows the rest of the film.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is, quite frankly, one of the most wrenching films I've watched in a long time. One moment, you're made to feel like crap by what's happened, then you're made to laugh out loud, then you're made to sympathise with the people you thought you were supposed to dislike in this twisting, turning story of... of I don't even know what. This is an excellent, excellent film and I'm still kind of speechless about it, an hour after it finished. Peter Dinklage probably wasn't all that necessary for the whole thing, but it's just nice to hear him using his own accent for a change.

So yeah, probably won't get the chance to see Shape of Water, Hostiles or The Post (Jon went to go see that one without me), but hey ho, only so much time in the week.

And money on the spreadsheet.

My Own Personal Ball+Chain

So I'm back doing some shifts at Rios. If there's one thing that I really, really didn't want to be doing with my life, it's doing some shifts at Rios. I've put in my time there, I spent nine years and six months there previously, from July 2006 to December 2015 and quite frankly, all my love for the place and whittled away over those years.

But right now I'm a bit strapped for cash and I'm unable to get a proper job, what with the impending trip to Scotland meaning that I'm leaving on the 19th. So I'm back doing some shifts at Rios. Part of it feels like I've never been away, everything just came flooding back as muscle memory. Some of the little details have changed, sure. But mostly...

I dunno. I don't really like being back, but what I don't like even more is that I don't seem to mind being back. That niggles at the back of my head.

We'll see, won't we. As far as I know I'm just doing stuff this month, but there's a chance that going forwards into next year I might do more.

Other stuff.

My exercise routine is going well, I've kicked it up a notch from going swimming four times a week and thinking about doing some more into going swimming four times a week and going power walking twice a week. Apparently the best time to do that is early in the morning, when it's bloody freezing outside and there's not as much traffic around.

Apparently.

Get it in my Veins (pt2)

So why am I so addicted to coke and its various spin-offs, iterations and imitations? I don't really know. When I've been off it for a while, I don't really miss it. Sometimes I play that I do, but to be honest, I'm perfectly fine to carry on without it, it's just that I know I'll keep drinking it if I don't try to regulate myself in some way. Hence my efforts to count millilitres and all that malarkey.

I'm well aware that I need to change what it is I do with my life, mainly in the diet area (the exercise area is actually going quite well, I'm trying to build it up slowly). This is going to be difficult, since I'm nearly 34 and I have a lifetime of bad habits to try and break myself of. If only I could find some way to take my coke addiction and re-apply to something more constructive, like fruit.

Me and my guys, we play New World of Darkness quite a lot, which has a system in which your character chooses a Virtue and a Vice, these are used to define what it is he does when up against the wall, his best and worst aspects, as it were. Often in the past, Kerry and I and others used to discuss what would be on our 'real life' character sheets, should such a thing exist. Which then leads folk to vastly overstate their own capabilities. But the Virtue and Vice thing was always something that we never fully discussed with each other, since it could be viewed as too personal. The Vices are the seven deadly sins.

Mine is Gluttony.

There's no doubt in my mind about that. I eat to excess, I often don't really realise that I'm doing it and I need to figure out a way to change that. Coke is simply an extension of that. I look at how much I want and then figure not to stop there. It's my body, after all, part of me says. Can do what I want.

Which is true.

But it's not going to help me keep my health as I get older. I always used to say that I was super-healthy because I never seemed to get ill. The odd cold. That was about it. I figured I had an awesome immune system. Well, that will fade with age and I need to know that I've made some effort to shore up the defences of my body against the ravages of time.

But it's just so tasty...

Get it in my Veins (pt1)

So it's back to Coke Addiction Land for me, since I'm just such a helpless snuffler. I looked back over my calculations for October and realised that I messed up when it came to my consumption for that month (I'm sure you're scandalised). I mixed up pints and cans of full fat. I was supposed to aim for 39 pints and 26 cans, and instead got 26 pints and 39 cans.

Now this actually works out better in terms of cutting down, since a can of coke is 330ml and a pint is 568ml. So let's do some maths, since that's a hobby of mine. So what we should have had in October was this:

568 x 39 pints: 22,152ml

and

330 x 26 cans:   8,580ml

which is

in total:       30,732ml

That's of course putting aside the ridiculous amounts of diet/zero/sugar free litres, the cans of the same, the litres of full fat in bottles... but I digress. What we actually had in October was this:

568 x 26 pints: 14,768ml

and

330 x 39 cans:  12,870ml

which is

in total:       27,638ml

Which gives us a saving of 3094ml (which is just a shade more than 9 cans of coke) from the total that I should have been aiming for. Go me, I guess? I'll work to this model going forwards, so the cans and pints will be reversed.

More thoughts in a bit.

Hernias and other Illnesses

So my Dad is in the process of trying to get a double Hernia resolved and has just had his pre-op appointment. He's got a month to wait before the actual keyhole surgery, so he's having to keep his feet up and not do much walking. He's not an athlete or anything but he's always been mobile enough, he plays golf regularly and walks his dog twice a day, so having to stay in one place for a long time is a tad unusual for him.

I guess that my parents are now at the age where I should worry more about their health. They're an active enough pair for folks in their sixties, the beagle keeps them walking plenty and they're genuine socialites, got a lot of friends. Should I be concerned for them? No more than I should be concerned for anyone else. Me and my Dad don't always see eye to eye, but I hope he comes through this alright, as I'm sure you understand.

Mortality has been on my mind lately, I was reminded of my friend Tom who passed away a few years ago. He had a miserable few years of it when he was living in the Reading and Newbury area, I think that things picked up for him when he moved to Swindon. He was troubled in the depression area, but he was a big heart and very imaginative. I miss his joviality.

Basil too. He was a good boy. I've loved all of our beagle hounds very much, but Basil (as my family will agree) was a beagle apart. He didn't really like people very much unless he'd known you a long time. I could write for pages and pages about Basil. Most people daydream about being with someone else from time to time. I daydream about sitting on the sofa next to Basil. He liked to lean against you if you were one of his folks. Just sit there and lean. Or lick you. He always thought that you weren't clean enough and needed to bathe you. I miss him too.

My thoughts for the now.

Two Cents

So it turns out that people I used to look up to are now molesting arseholes? It's been a pretty weird couple of weeks in the public sphere, to see so many big names laid low by their past indiscretions. Makes me wonder how and where I stand in all of this and how it affects me. More importantly, I wonder if I've ever affected it, as it were. I wonder if I've ever made a girl feel uncomfortable or pressured just by something I said, something I didn't really think about it.

I probably have. Back when I first started working at the Corn Exchange, I kinda considered myself to be the victim of sexual harassment, as a certain stage manager made it abundantly clear that she liked to toy with me. Now, many years later after many other circumstances, she and I ended up being together briefly (and that was ill-advised). So did it work? Did she pressure me into being with her? I guess, kind of. It didn't work out in any way that's positive for her, though.

So have I done it? Yes, I think so. When I was young and stupid, I did inappropriately touch a woman who was staying at the pub I worked at. She was much older than me and I'm not sure how she felt about it. She was being quite flirtatious earlier in the evening, so I don't think I was entirely out of my bounds but I do feel that perhaps I crossed a line. I won't say any more than that, really. It was a learning experience, now that I think about it, just not one that I realised at the time.

Complicated world that we live in. Makes you feel pretty bad about being male, sometimes.

Almost Had A Job...

So for the last five years my brother has been working at a Hotel, I probably shouldn't name it, so I will simply refer to it as The Hotel. He is leaving his job at The Hotel (which is long overdue, to be honest). His direct manager asked him if he knew anyone looking for work to replace him. My brother correctly said 'well, just Al, but he'll say no'. Which I mulled over. Given that it's a live in position, it's alright pay, it's long hours and there are a hundred thousand crappy stories that go with that job... well, I wasn't tempted until I heard the final part. I wouldn't have to wear a tie at this job.

Regular readers (all two of you) will know very well my stance on ties by now, but if you happen to not, let me summarise for you: Ties are bad. Al does not wear ties. Clear on this? Good, great. Hearing that I wouldn't have to wear a tie made me consider doing this job and so I let my brother know to arrange me an interview, which almost happened. Almost happened indeed. Alas, it did not and I am not particularly gutted about it. See, turns out that the General Manager stepped in and said 'What? A minion wishes not to wear a noose around it's own neck? There can be no changes to the uniform!!'.

Thusly, no interview.

Consequently, no job.

Reasonably sure that I would have done pretty well at the interview as well, given how desperate they seem to be up at The Hotel. But if they don't want to allow staff to be able to dress themselves as an adult, then they'll not get it. Never mind, I'm sure that something else will come along.