2011 — 6 May: Friday
Start every day, I always say,1 by paying your first combined gas/electricity bill since kicking off the "switch" process last November. Quite why it's taken Mr E-on quite such an eon to sort this out beats me but, since I've obviously inherited from dear Mama a dread2 of being in debt, what can I say? Besides, it's pension day, I'm still in a good mood from having watched "The Ugly Truth" last night (it made me laugh out loud quite often, which is always a good sign, and I enjoyed all the "extras" too, which is another one) and I've already arranged myself a little treat from one of my Jersey-based Blu-ray suppliers.
I'm always delighted to remind myself how vibrant Christa was in our earlier years, and amazed to see how faded one of my "Athena" Dali block prints has become since taking this picture on or around her (33rd) birthday in 1978:
Time (09:18) for another cuppa and some breakfast, methinks.
I'm so well-organised this morning... why, I've even done a supplies run and it's only 11:10. Pleasantly sunny without being hot, too. Pollen galore, but I now sniff disdainfully at pollen. Best not to blow your nose while drinking coffee, too, as a stroke awaits. Thanks, BBC. Being a long-term fan of Darrell Huff's wonderful little 1954 book "How to lie with statistics" I look askance at the "Being startled increased the risk by more than 23 times" assertion.
I heartily recommend the book:
Mel Calman's cover and cartoons alone are well worth at least 45.6% of the 50p I spent back in 1975.
I'm an hour...
... into yesterday's Kermode and Mayo film review podcast but — because I'd forgotten they'd moved it forward a day because of BBC Radio 5's tedious "election gubbins" analysis today — I only started listening at the "usual" time and therefore now have to pause it to nip over for a cuppa with Roger and Eileen. Ahead of which, I have to re-unite my DVD of Coppola's "The Conversation"3 with its cover artwork and dig out a case. (Roger wants to watch this excellent film again but needs a version with subtitles as the transmission he recorded lacks them.)
I'm wondering if...
... my veins contain any Bulgarian blood. Why else would the haunting sounds of "Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares" sound so familiar yet alien? I started listening to the new CD on my drive back from my blagged cuppa and, having just finished, realise I'm starving hungry. It's 19:10. Pause for food...
... it seems my friends at Amazon have been sitting on a batch of other stuff, too, including two CDs by Marianne Faithfull...
... something of a Robin Williams catch-up...
... and these four. I'm looking forward to the 2-disc gem from the BFI on a history of sex ed films over the years:
Precisely one of these titles is a replacement for an ancient LaserDisc, but which? [Pause] The 1991 Norman Jewison film, of course. It's just as relevant today, too. Good film. The Marianne Faithfull CDs are delightful, too. Indeed, they've been masking the rumbles of thunder outside. It seems to have been raining.
I also live in hope that this ridiculously-interesting looking book...
... will prove less of a brainache than the Julian Jaynes tome I've mentioned before. The ground is not totally dissimilar, after all.