Update-type-thingy

I guess I should do an update. Well, Roy Scheider died. That's a sad loss for cinema. The guy rocked. Always at his best playing neurotic characters on the edge, always ready to loose it - the kind of characters, and character actors, that Hollywood no longer utilises to their own potential. And the 2008 Oscars forgot to mention Scheider during the "In Memorium" montage bit.

Saw a Scheider film I'd never seen before, COHEN AND TATE, from 1989. Extremely rare b-movie crime/thriller, crying out for a DVD release. From director Eric Red - THE HITCHER, BODY PARTS. Haven't enjoyed a film like COHEN AND TATE for a long time and loved every gritty little minute of it. Roy Scheider stole the show in the film. I'd never seen him play a villain - apart from ROMEO IS BLEEDING - and he really lit up the screen with the intensity.

There was an earthquake in England the other week. It was about 1 AM, and I was on the computer, thinking, I really must go to sleep soon, when my glass of melted ice and lemon and lime soft drink (or pop, as it's called in the UK), started to shake just like the scene in JURASSIC PARK. Then the walls started to shake, then the bed, and then I did what you're not supposed to do in an earthquake, I jumped up and panicked, ran downstairs in my boxer-briefs in the dark, shouting: "What the fuck is that?" It was over in a few seconds.

I've slept through earthquakes before. Slept through storms where the windows rattled and the house shook. When I'm asleep, I am dead to the world, so this was the first time I'd experienced a tremor awake. It was a bit creepy. Very intense. Complete lack of control, where all you can do is just endure what is happening, and wonder if it'll ever stop. Thank fuck it did.

Still haven't 100% shaken my killer cold. It's really starting to fuck me off now. It's becoming second-nature to blow my nose. I'm surprised the thing isn't as red as Rudolph. Too add insult, I woke up this morning with a crick in my neck, so now I'm feeling like a broken puppet. What next? No, God, don't answer that one.

Saw a rare British horror film from the sixties called THE SHUTTERED ROOM - loosely based on a H.P. Lovecraft story, with Gig Young and Oliver Reed. Very atmospheric.

Haven't done ANY writing lately. I've just not felt up to it, but really want to start writing something soon. I can feel the urge to write building up, and I'm actually sat at my desk typing this blog, so that's a start.

Oh and I'm still smoking, but I've switched to roll-ups ... which is interesting. They taste completely different to regular cigarettes, but I am getting bored of the whole smoking thing. I think, sometime soon, I'll give up for good and go without.