Dostoyevsky Said Hell Could Be Nothing More Than A Room With A Chair. Sunderland Has Many Chairs.
If you're passing through Sunderland by train - which I maintain is the best way to see what the town has to offer - the first thing you will notice is that, unlike most Northern towns, its railway station is underground. This was planned as a tie-in with its previous, ill-advised yet honest, tourist board slogan: "Sunderland. It's As Inescapable As The Grave."
Sunderland also distinguishes itself from many Northern towns by having a town centre so utterly repulsive that even at eight o'clock at night it is almost completely deserted. The only creatures who dare to brave the surface are gangs of aggressive and violent children, a constant feature of Sunderland since it was first built by Cenobites in 1784. In fact, the town was named for these residents, having originally been called "Our Roaming Gangs Of Feral Children Will Tear Your Flesh A-Sunderland". In the words of the great Dr. Samuel Johnson, "If you're tired of living, I reccommend a trip up to Sunderland."
On a different note, I'm almost finished Beyond Black. Often when I read books I like to visualise what they might be like as a film, and though the complex flashback structure would make an adaptation of this book rather difficult, it does offer three excellent central roles - Alison, Colette and Morris, who I visualise as Julie Walters, Helena Bonham Carter and Michael Gambon respectively.
I'm quite amused by the running gag where everyone assumes Alison and Colette are lesbians. I had a couple of friends who were always mistaken for a lesbian couple, only (unlike Alison and Colette), they did actually have sex. They never really saw themselves as lesbians or even bisexual, it's just that one of them was unbelievably stupid and one of them was manipulative and in the closet. She used to reassure her that it was perfectly normal for two good friends to kiss, fondle and - yes - occasionally finger each other when they were drunk. I was amused and - well, there's nothing like honesty - a bit envious. Just a little bit.
What film should I see tonight? Jarhead (starts at 9), Memoirs of a Geisha (starts at 8.30) or Match Point (starts at 8.30)?
Unusual crush monitor - I'm starting to quite fancy Queen Latifah, a condition doubtless brought on by Auntie Beeb's airing of Chicago a couple of weeks ago.
Sunderland also distinguishes itself from many Northern towns by having a town centre so utterly repulsive that even at eight o'clock at night it is almost completely deserted. The only creatures who dare to brave the surface are gangs of aggressive and violent children, a constant feature of Sunderland since it was first built by Cenobites in 1784. In fact, the town was named for these residents, having originally been called "Our Roaming Gangs Of Feral Children Will Tear Your Flesh A-Sunderland". In the words of the great Dr. Samuel Johnson, "If you're tired of living, I reccommend a trip up to Sunderland."
On a different note, I'm almost finished Beyond Black. Often when I read books I like to visualise what they might be like as a film, and though the complex flashback structure would make an adaptation of this book rather difficult, it does offer three excellent central roles - Alison, Colette and Morris, who I visualise as Julie Walters, Helena Bonham Carter and Michael Gambon respectively.
I'm quite amused by the running gag where everyone assumes Alison and Colette are lesbians. I had a couple of friends who were always mistaken for a lesbian couple, only (unlike Alison and Colette), they did actually have sex. They never really saw themselves as lesbians or even bisexual, it's just that one of them was unbelievably stupid and one of them was manipulative and in the closet. She used to reassure her that it was perfectly normal for two good friends to kiss, fondle and - yes - occasionally finger each other when they were drunk. I was amused and - well, there's nothing like honesty - a bit envious. Just a little bit.
What film should I see tonight? Jarhead (starts at 9), Memoirs of a Geisha (starts at 8.30) or Match Point (starts at 8.30)?
Unusual crush monitor - I'm starting to quite fancy Queen Latifah, a condition doubtless brought on by Auntie Beeb's airing of Chicago a couple of weeks ago.