Remains of the day
I've just watched Persepolis, at last. It's a wonderful film- the story draws you in, and the bitterness of the tragedy is quite overwhelming. The animation is beautiful too- there's barely any detail in the characters' designs and their lines are all very clear and simple, but the intricacy of the symbolism is beautiful. And the way some of it is just silhouettes of black and white gives so much impact as well. The story scenes and flashback scenes near the beginning are especially wonderful. The simplicity of the animation and the horror of what they're about is really quite disturbing. I teared up at the prison scene. I like the theatre-group-ish 'Oh What a Lovely War' sketch aspect that the beginning has as well. It makes you think.
(And when I compare it to 'Oh What a Lovely War', don't mistake me for implying satire- it's deeply moving in a very different way to 'Oh What a Lovely War', but some elements of the structure, the way the overarching narrative breaks off into smaller stories near the beginning, struck me as similar.)
My one criticism would be that some parts feel a little rushed. The beginning sometimes feels like several years and some very significant developments are being skipped over in a few minutes. Oddly, it doesn't feel like that in the later parts of the film, where the jumps between periods are much larger. But they feel like they have a slower, more natural and gradual pace.
Inb a lot of places, it also strikes me as one of those films that would work beautifully without sound. That's how I first saw it- on the screen at HMV on mute. I didn't have a clue what it was, but the animation alone was so beautifully horrifying that I had to ask what it was and buy it. But it's the flashbacks and stories at the beginning again- I tried to find examples, but there aren't any videos of those parts that I can find on youtube. They're very stylised, and these images are so intense that they deliver such amazing poignancy without the voice-overs or music over them.
All in all, very good film, beautifully animated.
Right, on from there...
I've finally applied for a job. The Water Works/ Lloyd's pub, whatever it's called. I'm not sure how much it pays, but it means I can work evenings and it's within walking distance.
And today I saw this chalked on the floor outside the union.
Shell were doing some kind of advertising or recruitment thing a couple of days ago, but the student population in general is (rightly) none too friendly towards Shell.
I think this pretty much sums it up.
And just in case you weren't totally clear.
I'm thinking of making icons to some of these. Pro-eco icons. It sounds good to me.
Today I got very studenty and sat in the window of Coffee Revolution reading Angela Carter. Except it wasn't studenty in the actual student sense, because I had the seminar in which we discussed that book an hour later, and I was only on chapter two. I have no idea how I managed to get so behind so quickly. Oh wait- yeah I do.
But I discovered that I am definitely not a coffee person. Not by any stretch. At all. I had a tiny little Americano, and I couldn't even drink half of it. Disgusting stuff. The taste sort of feels hollow to me. And I could taste it all day, even after a can of Ubuntu cola and half a packet of ginger nuts. For some reason it reminded me of a bizarre mixture of exhaust fumes and fag smoke.
Y'see, being vegan now, I can no longer have the hot chocolate, so I need to find me a new coffee shop drink. And I doubt it'll be any kind of coffee. Next time I think I'll give green tea a try. I've always had a fancy for that stuff. Tho lord knows why.
Something else relating to the union: Guess what this reminded me of.
Does this not just scream out for editing?
Damn, I should have taken the picture straighter.
Oo, and if anyone cares for my opinions of fashion- H&M. Be prepared to fall in love with inanimate objects.
If I have £20 to spare at any time soon (which is looking increasingly unlikely- when the rent cheque comes out I'll be around £150 overdrawn again), I've promised myself that I will buy this dress.
They sell relatively cheap wide-leg flares too. Tho unfortunately, they're all about six inches too long for my midget pins.
And I've suddenly realised that if I want to do anything for Samhain, I'd better get planning. I really want to have a traditional sort of thing, with a burning wicker man and everything, but I can't think where I could. The back garden is nowhere near big enough for a fire. And I don't know how to make a wicker man.
I've got no idea what to go as for Hallowe'en this year either. Last year I was Ginger Spice, which wasn't anywhere near as scary as it could have been.
Also, I've been mullig over this idea for a while- a new C2 on ff net, The Femme Boosh. Basically, an archive for femslash and female-centric gen and het. I know there's a fair bit of femslash buried in the archive, and some Gideon-centric stuff too, I think. Somewhere for people to go when they want a break from all the cocks and bumsecks.
But I wouldn't want it to be just an archive tho. I'd create a forum to go with it, and use it to organise challenges and things. Get back to state of actually knowing people on there. It'd be fun.
But... I'm not so sure the community on there in general is so hot on femslash. I mean, Adele, for example, generally reviews everything I write without fail (and I know I need to read a fat bombload of hers that I've missed, argh), but she did not review my femslash. Is the Howince monopoly too big, perhaps?
So do you reckon I should at least broach it over there, or is the idea DOA? Opinions, please.
Erm, that's all I have to say for now. Harry's house party tomorrow, yay! It will be full of PhD Maths students and their tutors, which is why Harry wants as many panto people as he can wrangle off the streets to turn up. I SHALL BRING RUM.
Harry, incidentally, is the man who started me off drinking double gin and tonic. I both hate and love him for it.
(And when I compare it to 'Oh What a Lovely War', don't mistake me for implying satire- it's deeply moving in a very different way to 'Oh What a Lovely War', but some elements of the structure, the way the overarching narrative breaks off into smaller stories near the beginning, struck me as similar.)
My one criticism would be that some parts feel a little rushed. The beginning sometimes feels like several years and some very significant developments are being skipped over in a few minutes. Oddly, it doesn't feel like that in the later parts of the film, where the jumps between periods are much larger. But they feel like they have a slower, more natural and gradual pace.
Inb a lot of places, it also strikes me as one of those films that would work beautifully without sound. That's how I first saw it- on the screen at HMV on mute. I didn't have a clue what it was, but the animation alone was so beautifully horrifying that I had to ask what it was and buy it. But it's the flashbacks and stories at the beginning again- I tried to find examples, but there aren't any videos of those parts that I can find on youtube. They're very stylised, and these images are so intense that they deliver such amazing poignancy without the voice-overs or music over them.
All in all, very good film, beautifully animated.
Right, on from there...
I've finally applied for a job. The Water Works/ Lloyd's pub, whatever it's called. I'm not sure how much it pays, but it means I can work evenings and it's within walking distance.
And today I saw this chalked on the floor outside the union.
Shell were doing some kind of advertising or recruitment thing a couple of days ago, but the student population in general is (rightly) none too friendly towards Shell.
I think this pretty much sums it up.
And just in case you weren't totally clear.
I'm thinking of making icons to some of these. Pro-eco icons. It sounds good to me.
Today I got very studenty and sat in the window of Coffee Revolution reading Angela Carter. Except it wasn't studenty in the actual student sense, because I had the seminar in which we discussed that book an hour later, and I was only on chapter two. I have no idea how I managed to get so behind so quickly. Oh wait- yeah I do.
But I discovered that I am definitely not a coffee person. Not by any stretch. At all. I had a tiny little Americano, and I couldn't even drink half of it. Disgusting stuff. The taste sort of feels hollow to me. And I could taste it all day, even after a can of Ubuntu cola and half a packet of ginger nuts. For some reason it reminded me of a bizarre mixture of exhaust fumes and fag smoke.
Y'see, being vegan now, I can no longer have the hot chocolate, so I need to find me a new coffee shop drink. And I doubt it'll be any kind of coffee. Next time I think I'll give green tea a try. I've always had a fancy for that stuff. Tho lord knows why.
Something else relating to the union: Guess what this reminded me of.
Does this not just scream out for editing?
Damn, I should have taken the picture straighter.
Oo, and if anyone cares for my opinions of fashion- H&M. Be prepared to fall in love with inanimate objects.
If I have £20 to spare at any time soon (which is looking increasingly unlikely- when the rent cheque comes out I'll be around £150 overdrawn again), I've promised myself that I will buy this dress.
They sell relatively cheap wide-leg flares too. Tho unfortunately, they're all about six inches too long for my midget pins.
And I've suddenly realised that if I want to do anything for Samhain, I'd better get planning. I really want to have a traditional sort of thing, with a burning wicker man and everything, but I can't think where I could. The back garden is nowhere near big enough for a fire. And I don't know how to make a wicker man.
I've got no idea what to go as for Hallowe'en this year either. Last year I was Ginger Spice, which wasn't anywhere near as scary as it could have been.
Also, I've been mullig over this idea for a while- a new C2 on ff net, The Femme Boosh. Basically, an archive for femslash and female-centric gen and het. I know there's a fair bit of femslash buried in the archive, and some Gideon-centric stuff too, I think. Somewhere for people to go when they want a break from all the cocks and bumsecks.
But I wouldn't want it to be just an archive tho. I'd create a forum to go with it, and use it to organise challenges and things. Get back to state of actually knowing people on there. It'd be fun.
But... I'm not so sure the community on there in general is so hot on femslash. I mean, Adele, for example, generally reviews everything I write without fail (and I know I need to read a fat bombload of hers that I've missed, argh), but she did not review my femslash. Is the Howince monopoly too big, perhaps?
So do you reckon I should at least broach it over there, or is the idea DOA? Opinions, please.
Erm, that's all I have to say for now. Harry's house party tomorrow, yay! It will be full of PhD Maths students and their tutors, which is why Harry wants as many panto people as he can wrangle off the streets to turn up. I SHALL BRING RUM.
Harry, incidentally, is the man who started me off drinking double gin and tonic. I both hate and love him for it.