Thoughts on a Monday evening
Random things bouncing around my headmeats. Strangely, the second reading of the Planning Bill in the Commons is not holding my interest completely.
1) Saw the first 50mins of Back To The Future II last night, first time since seeing it at the cinema as a child. It's not just poor. It's piss-poor.
2) In the Marks and Sparks food shop/petrol station by where I live, there are signs saying "For your safety and convenience, shoplifters will be prosecuted." Eh? What an utterly disingenuous sign. How, exactly is that for my safety and convenience? If I'm not a shoplifter, it is a matter of supreme indifference whether shoplifters are prosecuted or not. If I AM a shoplifter, it is a matter of decided inconvenience if I am caught and face prosecution. What the sign is trying to communicate, of course, is: "We think YOU may be a shoplifter, but we don't wish to imply that and cause offence. We've still got our eye on you, sonny."
3) Last week, there was an announcement at E Finchley tube saying that the Circle Line (or something) was messed up because of a signalling fault/person on the line/pulled emergency lever/other bollox excuse, but that there was a good service running on all other London Underground lines. This was somewhat at odds with the screen display, which said that the next train would be in 13 minutes. Note to TfL: Just because you don't have a specific reason does not mean that you're not running a crap service!
4) How come, whenever Hollywood makes films set in Europe, European women are generally up for it with the (invariably American) hero regardless of circumstance? Vaguely watched The Transporter* on telly last night, and saw Hitman in the cinema last week (Transporter was fecking awful, Hitman was not as bad as it could have been, but still by no means good). In both films, the eponymous heroes bundle women into the boots of cars (twice!), are generally verbally abusive and showing as much charm and consideration as a Klansman at a Bar Mitzvah, and yet the boot-bundled women in both films act randier than a priapic stoat! The woman in Hitman is supposed to be a trafficked prostitute, for crying out loud! Is she really likely to want to jump the bones of a man she's just seen poison someone in a crowded restaurant and who has just kidnapped her!?!
5) Speaking of Jason Statham, how come he's seen more high-profile work than any of the other Lock, Stock boys (Nick Moran, Jason Flemyng and Dexter Fletcher being the others) when he's unquestionably the weakest of the bunch?
6) How do I avoid adding a colleague on Facebook who's friended me without cuasing undue tension?
*I know Jason Statham is English; he adopts a singularly rubbish American accent in this.
1) Saw the first 50mins of Back To The Future II last night, first time since seeing it at the cinema as a child. It's not just poor. It's piss-poor.
2) In the Marks and Sparks food shop/petrol station by where I live, there are signs saying "For your safety and convenience, shoplifters will be prosecuted." Eh? What an utterly disingenuous sign. How, exactly is that for my safety and convenience? If I'm not a shoplifter, it is a matter of supreme indifference whether shoplifters are prosecuted or not. If I AM a shoplifter, it is a matter of decided inconvenience if I am caught and face prosecution. What the sign is trying to communicate, of course, is: "We think YOU may be a shoplifter, but we don't wish to imply that and cause offence. We've still got our eye on you, sonny."
3) Last week, there was an announcement at E Finchley tube saying that the Circle Line (or something) was messed up because of a signalling fault/person on the line/pulled emergency lever/other bollox excuse, but that there was a good service running on all other London Underground lines. This was somewhat at odds with the screen display, which said that the next train would be in 13 minutes. Note to TfL: Just because you don't have a specific reason does not mean that you're not running a crap service!
4) How come, whenever Hollywood makes films set in Europe, European women are generally up for it with the (invariably American) hero regardless of circumstance? Vaguely watched The Transporter* on telly last night, and saw Hitman in the cinema last week (Transporter was fecking awful, Hitman was not as bad as it could have been, but still by no means good). In both films, the eponymous heroes bundle women into the boots of cars (twice!), are generally verbally abusive and showing as much charm and consideration as a Klansman at a Bar Mitzvah, and yet the boot-bundled women in both films act randier than a priapic stoat! The woman in Hitman is supposed to be a trafficked prostitute, for crying out loud! Is she really likely to want to jump the bones of a man she's just seen poison someone in a crowded restaurant and who has just kidnapped her!?!
5) Speaking of Jason Statham, how come he's seen more high-profile work than any of the other Lock, Stock boys (Nick Moran, Jason Flemyng and Dexter Fletcher being the others) when he's unquestionably the weakest of the bunch?
6) How do I avoid adding a colleague on Facebook who's friended me without cuasing undue tension?
*I know Jason Statham is English; he adopts a singularly rubbish American accent in this.